I’ve been struggling lately. I know I am not alone; I believe we all encounter this particular phenomenon in the 21st century and I don’t think it necessarily does me any good belaboring the point, if not only to say that yes–I too suffer from this modern-day affliction of social media comparisons. Sometimes when I […]
I’m titling this a “mini-review” even though it is in fact a full dozen scents from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Winter 2020 collection being written about here. I’m just trying to manage expectations! Fir Needle and Smoke In the past year or so, my partner and I have switched gears about our future plans and […]
“Virgin in Adoration”, collage by @clayshaper. Original work by Quentin Metsys (1466–1530). @voglio.benedict // VOGLIO BENE “Portrait of Ala” by @anthonyazekwoh // Anthony Azekwoh @elisaseitzinger // Elisa Seitzinger Medusa by @juliedillonart // Julie Dillon “Mara” by @margo_kai @tinorodriguezartist // Tino Rodriguez “Moth girls” by @aleksandra_czudzak // Aleksandra Czudzak “In my feelings” by @_lauraberger_ // Laura […]
Sarah Darkly: Blackness and America’s Gothic Soul by Leila Taylor Darkly was an illuminating, insightful read that gave me pause with every sentence. Part personal memoir, part cultural critique, part valuable history lesson, Taylor meditates on the Black experience and gothic culture through a collection of observations on music, film, art, philosophy, architecture, decay, and […]
Friends, I haven’t got a thoughtful intro for this 2020 year-end version of Needful Things. It was a crappy year. Today I am sharing with you a list of things, sometimes small, or mundane, or banal things, that made it better. To coin a phrase from Maika, “fingers, toes, and tentacles crossed” that 2021 will […]
This last gallery of visual phantasmagoria and fantastical ocular flotsam for the year is a bit more melancholic and moody than usual, as my mood in these final days of 2020 is especially dark. But that’s only what I see when I gaze upon these works, and I like to think that art is neither […]
Well, it wouldn’t be 2020 if we weren’t talking about Halloween perfume reviews in December, right? But around the shadowy and haunted corridors of Haute Macabre every day is Halloween– and so too is the case for the spooky scent sorcerors at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. And I imagine you might feel the same way, […]
“History of Magic, Part II… Initiation” by Alison Blickle This installment of fantastical fodder for your eyeballs appears on a Monday morning, brimming with mystical, magical imagery to inspire your week. These visuals, by contemporary artists who reveal occult elements and philosophies through their creative gaze, all feature in The Art of the Occult, which […]
Whether the prospect of a Friday the 13th leaves you white-knuckled, triskadekaphobic, clutching at your lucky talismans, or if you consider it an auspicious date brimming with sanctified energies and bakers dozens, either way, there are vibes a-plenty. The vibe today, this Friday the 13th of November, in this strange sideways-smiling, bad-blooded hurricane of a […]
In celebration of The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic, the aromatic adepts at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have summoned forth a rare opulence of fragrances inspired by a handful of these curious images that transcend time and place. The Ars Inspiratio collection is comprised of five artful scents corresponding […]
To make up for last week’s lackluster entry in this month-long series, I set out to make week four a collection to remember. And I think I succeeded in doing so. It’s an eerie extravaganza! A spooky spectacular! And much like last week, I am not certain if it makes sense to order the following […]
I’ve been spending the past week thinking about what sort of introduction to pen for the following interview with Megan Rosenbloom about her debut nonfiction book, Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin. Intros are always the hardest part, aren’t they? How do you sum up […]
Week three was a bit of a bust, I’m afraid. I was overwhelmed and undermotivated and this led to me attempting to do a lot of things–probably too many things!– in uninspired, half-assed ways. However! I did try to fit something horror-related or at the very least horror-ish or horror-esque or horror-adjacent in where I […]
“Softly Spoken Magic Spells” by @brandimilne // Brandi Milne @ncwintersart // N.C. Winters @esao // Esao Andrews @ffo_art @quintanarte // Dan Quintana “Twilight in an October Garden” by @swallowsanddamsons // Anna Potter “Magickada” by @visualjamie // Jamie Wells “Una bambina Lunare” by @isajuna // Isa Bancewicz @nekotack // Miro Meguro Maria Germanova (commissioned by me!) by @handsomedevilspuppets A puppet-sizes version […]
Day Eight: Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl. Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl is restrained, melancholy, and softly ominous drama, a sort of off-kilter romance with a gloomy, gothic 70s haunted house vibe plus a placid pace to test your patience. Adele is a quiet young woman who has the opportunity to escape her miserable home life for […]
It’s that time again! Time for me to decide that I am committing to watching a horror movie every day for the month of October! Time for me to rationalize that one episode of a television series counts as a movie, that a music video counts as a movie, that a one minute and thirty-second […]
EDITED TO ADD: Sam here! I *do not* endorse this endeavor. I backed the Kickstarter, and then bought the second fragrance from their website. Only one of the two have arrived, and there are thousands of comments from backers on KS that never received their pledges after the funds were collected. The company has removed […]
Being a fair bit consumed of late, I’ll confess that I have been, regrettably, inattentive to all of the wonderful things that are generally of great interest to me in terms of art, fashion, etc. And this negligence is why I am just now seeing Hogan McLaughlin’s Spring 2021 collection and the marvelously innovative approach […]
This week I received my author copies of The Art of the Occult, and it was such a surreal, dreamy experience that I had to make a little film of it to share! For those who have pre-ordered their copies and are patiently awaiting the book’s arrival next month (pub. date October 13, 2020), I […]
Sarah May Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker A few friends read this before I got around to it, and at the time I felt so left out of their awestruck conversations revolving around these innovative, imaginative stories, it was starting to rub me a little raw. I wanted in […]
@marcomazzoniart // Marco Mazzoni “Twilight” by @rachaelbridge // Rachael Bridge @ellenjewett // Ellen Jewett @margriet.smulders // Margriet Smulders “Artery skein: my monster heart” by @aledelatorrec // Ale De la Torre @marisguii // Mariana Sguilla @kristinkwanart // Kristin Kwan @melissa_kojima // Melissa Kojima “Damp Trail” by @mister_caitlin // Cait McCormack @moonflesh // Lyla Mori Do you […]
No one ever accused me of being extra (ok, that’s a lie. Lots of people have.) So it occurred to me that we need a fun column to document our extra-ness, because come on, there’s not a one among the Haute Macabre writers who doesn’t have some weird, excessively over-the-top obsession or fascination or hobby […]
I had, for a time, sadly shelved the idea of a feature on digital collage artist Robin Isely, aka sliplead. I first mentioned this artist in my 2017 Needful Things roundup and I was immensely thrilled at the opportunity to connect with them for an interview, but unfortunately, their gorgeous Tumblr-hosted gallery–an obscurum of secrets, elusive […]
Earlier this year I read and was thoroughly charmed by Lisa Marie Basile‘s dreamily empowering Light Magic for Dark Times: More than 100 Spells, Rituals, and Practices for Coping in a Crisis –which Bust Magazine refers to as “The Artist’s Way for witches” (and wow, do I love that.) But in the past year or […]
@azumamakoto // Azuma Makoto “Oluwakemi 1863” by @bbychakra92 @rebeccachaperon // Rebecca Chaperon “Blue Resplendence” by @carolinejamhour // Caroline Jamhour “Mujer acostada” by @poni // Hilda Palafox @jhenry.work // J. Henry @dcpender // Dani Pendergast “The Night Watchman” by @sonyapalencia // Sonya Palencia “Cruox” by @studio.sheridansart // Laura Sheridan “The Flowers Of Evil” by @yoann.lossel // […]
“Man is full of secret drawers, only to be opened by psychoanalysis.” I’m rather tongue-tied and overcome in gazing the delicate marvel of this small but wonderfully expressive statue from the Parastone Museum 3D Collection, inspired by Salvadore Dali’s 1937 painting, The Burning Giraffe. The sculpture’s tiny drawers aren’t functional of, course, but I’m envisioning […]
Times are weird, man. To be frank, they’re pretty lousy. And though natural witch Sarah Bailey, troubled, warns crazed coven leader Nancy Downs in our beloved, witchy cinematic 90s nostalgia-fest The Craft, “nothing makes everything all better again”…wouldn’t you agree that an uncanny quartet of empowered teen witches for your collectibles shelf might make everything…just […]
Sarah Last month I mentioned the trials and troubles that I was experiencing while trying to read; lack of focus, constant distraction, and maybe even (and I hate to admit this) complete and total absence of interest. I wish I could say differently, but not much has changed over the past thirty(ish) days and I […]
“Le Comte” by @allisonsommers // Allison Sommers “Exhale” by @bitikart // Rim Bitik “Disconnect” by @visualjamie // Jamie Wells “The star” by @casimir0304 // Casimir Lee @yoheyhorishita // Yohey Horishita “Weep now or nevermore” by @brandimilne // Brandi Milne A motley crew of little mothlings by @handsomedevilspuppets “Like a ghost” by @ryanmrray // Ryan Murray @christophermichaelhefner // Christopher Michael Hefner “May Queen” by @memorialstitches […]
In spending so much time at home–and I already spent 90% of my time at home!–I’m really learning to appreciate the mundane, boring stuff that has been contributing to making my days feel “normal;” those ubiquitous, maybe invisible items that you don’t give a second thought to because they are so ingrained in your daily […]
