Demon Knight Blood Key

I've never been a fan of the "Tales From the Crypt" franchise, but the spinoff film "Demon Knight" is a great little B-movie. The story is surprisingly inventive, the acting is appropriately hammy, and the film features a wonderful prop, the Blood Key, as a major plot point. It's one of the most interesting occult artifacts ever created. Derek Marsh of Oblivion FX was commissioned to create a reproduction of the Key, and he documented the entire process. The final result is a beautiful piece of work.

Realistic Skin Texture

This tutorial on sculpting realistic skin texture would be helpful to anyone looking to create a creature specimen. If you're working with polymer clay I'd suggest applying a texture, any texture, to the skin of your creature. It doesn't take much effort and helps avoid the fake looking finish of raw, hand-sculpted Sculpey. Even something as simple as using a crumpled up ball of aluminum foil to impress a pattern into the clay will add an immense amount of realism.

Maps of Madness

Robert Olmstead over at Innsmouthmania sent a heads up about this collection of vintage insane asylum plans at Oobject. It's interesting to compare the varying approaches to design and patient management before the rise of humanist treatment in the early 20th century.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Arnold Edition.

Sculptor Mark Arnold brings us this trio of small Cthulhu idols cast in pewter. You can't beat the heft and finish of real metal.

Carved Wooden Cthulhu Idol

I finally completed the wooden Cthulhu fetish I first mentioned back in July. While I didn't fiddle with the idol's finish I did try a new treatment for the accompanying storage box.





To get the grungy effect of accumulated dirt and grime the box received a rubdown with "schmutz". The base for that is furniture paste wax and some shavings from a brown and burnst sienna crayon melted together in a double boiler. You then abrade some fine powder from earth-toned chalk pastels with fine grit sandpaper, add it to the liquid wax for a little color variation and texture, and stir well before decanting into an old Altoids tin and letting it harden. Apply it with a rag to anything in need of some age and you get a wonderful accumulation of grime in all the crevices.

If you like it, the idol is currently available on Ebay.

The Worms

Artist Amy Rawson brings us this specimen jar filled with squirmy fellows. There are few things with a higher squick factor than parasitic worms.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Jiggly, Wiggly, Gummy Edition

Jason McKittrick has almost single-handedly taken my annual Mythos themed Halloween party to new heights. Fresh from the molds at Cryptocurium comes... Gummy Cthulhu. With these and a few gallons of Nog-Sothoth Punch my success is assured.