Ally Burke & Dead Spider Hands

Ally Burke is an artist who likes to draw and paint monster girls. Burke has a shop called DeadSpiderHands on StoreEnvy where she sells her ghoulishly-adorable prints, original artwork, and even a coloring book. I think I may need to purchase a few items for my twelve-year-old niece whom I'm training to be a Halloween Princess. You can follow DeadSpiderHands on Facebook to keep an eye on what is being added to the shop.

Deluxe Monster Girls Zine Bundle

Bad Apple Brooch

Leslie: Tiny Painting

Sad Pumpkin Sticker

Monster Kitties Postcard Set

Dirty Thoughts: Original Drawing

Vincent Marcone: My Pet Skeleton

Graphic artist Vincent Marcone is spook-tacular and the man behind My Pet Skeleton. I found him through his shop on Etsy, but then meandered over to his website and was hooked. Take a few minutes to watch the short film The Lady ParaNorma on the website. It's wonderful and reminiscent of a sinister Dr. Seuss.

Marcone sells prints of his work on Etsy and a few pieces he calls the Velvet Rope Collection which include limited edition prints. Check these out.

Twisted Devotion

Pins and Needles

Scarecrow Print (Monster Cat)

The Lady ParaNorma Poster

Love and Rockets

The Ghoul The Scarecrow and The Raven

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Wow. I just finished reading Josh Malerman's novel Bird Box last night. It was the best horror book I've read in a long time. A nominee for the 2014 Shirley Jackson Awards, it's the kind of book you want to stop reading because you're getting too anxious and frightened, yet you can't do that because you need to know what happens.  I stopped reading for about an hour at the last ten pages because I didn't want it to end. It's that good.

Here's the Good Reads synopsis:

Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.

Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat--blindfolded--with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

This book is fast-paced and keeps you on edge the entire time. And, just in case, I think I'll close with a few eye masks from Etsy. They may not save you, but they're so fashionable you might not care. 

Sleep Forever Skull Mask by AppendageAccessories

Bat Sleep Mask by AppendageAccessories

Sugar Skull Eye Sleep Mask by theBodyBags

Satin Cat Sleep Mask by JuliaWine

Tipple Tuesday: Death in the Afternoon

The weather is going to be super hot for New England this week and I think I'm going to feel like I died in the afternoon even without this cocktail. Hopefully it will only speed up the process.

Death in the Afternoon is a cocktail created by Ernest Hemmingway, famous for his writing as well as his drinking, so I have a feeling this cocktail will do the trick.

(photo courtesy of Epicurious)

Death in the Afternoon

1 jigger of Absinthe

Add iced Champagne

A small amount of sugar can be used to round it out,

especially when using a verte absinthe

Hemmingway recommended drinking 3 to 5 of these slowly. I do not recommend that.

Jessica Harrison: Wait, What?

If you haven't seen the works of Jessica Harrison, well then, today is your lucky day. Images of her art are always floating around Pinterest because they make you stop in your tracks. Your fast scroll through becomes a "Whoa! What is that?" I particularly like the enamel and ceramic pieces from found objects. Harrison is currently exhibiting in Belgium so, if you're nearby check out her website for more information. The online store, on break for the summer, carries prints and scarves.  You'll want to check back another time.

Rosamond

Eleanor

Ruby

Painted Lady (6)

Painted Lady (10)

The skin miniature furniture is quite intriguing as well.

Armchair

Sofa

Silk scarves are something to lust over.

Bones scarf

Muscles Scarf

Tragic Beautiful

I know, I'm posting fashion shops two days in a row. I don't like to do that, but I'm in a shopping-for-clothes kind of mood. I'm sure you can relate to that. Tragic Beautiful is physically located in Australia, but this is a world economy so, "shop away!" I say. Tragic Beautiful carries women's clothing, makeup, shoes, accessories, and household goods. It's a big shop. I'm more than a little amused that they have subdivisions in the clothing section for roller derby, burlesque, and pole dancing. You'll have fun looking around. They were also featuring Widow Wear on their homepage. You don't see a lot of widows dressed like this, my friends. I think it might be a nice change.

Let's take a peek, shall we?

Weirdos Tank Dress

Addams Velvet Dress

Purple Cemetery Skirt

Death Card T-Shirt

Full Face Hoodie

Yin Yang Handbag

Moth Satchel

SE7EN Deadly

SE7EN Deadly is a web store that describes itself as "elegantly macabre." I'm not sure about the elegant part, but it most certainly is delightful. The site also says SE7EN Deadly "twists together...the graceful Victorian era and the harsh grunge of a traveling circus in the Great Depression." I can't argue with that. The shop carries clothing for women and men along with accessories, housewares, and art.

I'm a sucker for sweaters.

Be Still My Heart

Embroidered Tooth

I love the collection of lounge hangover pants they carry for women.

Memento Mori Yoga Pant

Overdose of Sin

And there's so much more....

Deadly Gluttony

Dementor Dress

For the gentleman:

Synn & Sons Casket Company

Embalming Fluid Pinstripe

Drinking Team

Overdose of Sin

And just because

Deceiving Beauties Pillow

Browse the shop. I'm sure you'll find something you love.

Lisa Zador: Unusual Artwork for the Discerning Eccentric

Look what I found for us! Curious Portraits, the Etsy site of artist Lisa Zador, claims to be "Unusual artwork for the discerning eccentric." Well, I think that describes us perfectly, don't you? I love Zador's whimsical portraits of animals, but of course, it's the skeletons that always draw me in. Zador has clients like Target and Publix Super Markets so we're fortunate that we can visit her Etsy shop for reasonably-priced and enchanting artwork made from prints of her work. I love the miniatures.

Headless Skeleton Miniature Portrait

Edgar Allen Poe Portrait

Moon Man Portrait

Skeleton Portrait Brooch

Skull Still Life

Dog Portrait with Nosferatu

Pumpkin Man Coasters

Zador also does custom portraits including a portrait of your favorite toy. Now, that would be just grand. I wonder whatever happened to mousey.