Here’s an awesome set of Photoshop brushes if you’re in the mood for something spooky.
This set is called “Old Bones” and was created by the talented artist Annika von Holdt. She has created a number of similar sets which wonderfully capture the melancholy Gothic vibe.
Check out the author’s site to download the brushes and to read usage information.
When we look at a picture or painting, it seems our eyes tend to zoom in on the people in the foreground.
How interesting that in Wilhelm Staehle’s art the same thing happens even thought the subjects are missing!
Each picture is in a old washed out style, often with Victorian elements but with modern punchlines.
Check your religious baggage at the door…
The popularity of Phillip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials has increased lately because of the release of a movie based on Book I, and as a result of the explosion in mainstream atheist literature (Dawkins, Hitches, Harris, etc.)
The plot of Book III: The Amber Spyglass, rolls along, though slow and dark at times, but Pullman’s greatest triumph is the world he has created, not the storyline. The daemon system, (whereby a human is paired to an animal which acts as an external soul) by this third book has become entirely natural and poignant. The connection between Dust/Original Sin/Dark Matter is stirring, but might not be sufficiently tied together for the casual reader.
The plot so far has carried heroine Lyra and her daemon to a cave where she is being held by her apparently evil mother. Lyra’s friend Will, aided by a knife which can cut through dimensions, comes to her rescue and they set off to find answers to the chaos around them. Lyra’s father, Lord Asriel, is making war upon heaven and the fate of the future world, and all worlds apparently, hangs on the choices made by Lyra, a neo-Eve. Aided by witches and gypsies, Lyra and Will adventure to different worlds including the world of the dead in search for answers. (more…)
Which author has not suffered the curse of writer’s block?
Never fear, for Seventh Sanctum has a number of random generators which can be used to combat this dastardly disease. Much like a game of mad libs, the site creates unexpected elements: from characters and setting to plot ideas.
For example, I gave the Romance story generator a click and here’s what it came up with:
This story takes place in a town in Cuba. In it, a cruel physicist attends a social event and meets a gas station attendant who inherited a family curse. What starts as contempt quickly becomes a passionate affair – all thanks to a failure. What role will a chest being opened play in their relationship?
Ooo la la…What’s that I smell? Could it be the next bestseller? Though the generators are likely for humor purposes, you never know….the kernels of some of the greatest works of literature are made up of some fairly stock components, and nearly all can be succinctly and irreverently reduced:
Romeo and Juliet: Boy Meets girl. They die.
Moby Dick: Dude chases whale. Everybody dies.
The Bible: Guy dies. Comes back to life. Sequel held up by publisher.
Well you get the idea.
“Led Zeppliminal: Stairway to Hell”
This one is an oldie but a goodie.
Led Zep’s Stairway to Heaven has been a core staple of classic rock for decades. The song and its famous solo frequently tops all-time popularity lists.
One day, someone discovered that a reversed portion of the song contained an apparently satanic message! If true, then it would be an example of backmasking, i.e. deliberately embedding a reversed message. However, the other option is far more likely–that the whole thing is just a conincidence.
Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page is a known fan of the occult and he had a strong interest in the writings of Alestair Crowley, so many feel the creepy and cryptic words are legit…What do you think?
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