The Pustulant Grimoire

Professional bookbinder Mille Cuirs returns to our pages with his icky "Le Grimoire Pustulant".

 

The Year of the Snake

Yesterday was the lunar new year, officially ushering in the year of the snake.  Jason McKittrick has just the thing to mark the occasion, his talisman of Yig, Lord of Serpents.

Idol of Baphomet

Morok Art Studio returns to our pages with their Giger-inspired Baphomet statue.  It's a great sculpt, and the rust/gunmetal finish looks awesome.

 

 

Amulet of the Nerevar

For years, Valara Atran has been re-creating some of the most obscure props from the Elder Scrolls series.  Her latest is this amulet bearing the Moon and Star sigil of the Nerevar from Morrowind.

 

 

Carved Agate Cthulhu

Allie Evers was kind enough to send over this wonderful Cthulhu idol sculpted from a solid block of moss agate.  It was commissioned from Skullis.com, which normally specializes in carved crystal skulls.

 

 

Fallout Consumables

Ammnra Creations brings us this tutorial on creating a variety of consumable items from the Fallout video game series.  The best part is right at the start, where he demonstrates how to use drinking party IV bags to recreate RadAway, blood packs, and irradiated blood.  After that he crafts a stimpak, Jet inhaler, and fusion core.  Spoiler alert: that section basically consists of "I 3D printed the parts and put them together".

That's become an increasing common theme in propmaking.  Don't get me wrong, there's certainly nothing wrong with that approach.  The results are absolutely authentic since they're adapted from the actual game models.  That said, I'm a devotee of the ol' skool "bash found parts together" method of prop creation.  3D printing seems to remove the creativity from that process and turn it into an exercise in kit assembly.  Your mileage may vary, obviously.

 

Ritual Dagger

Spanish artist Creadores a sueldo brings us this creepy ritual dagger.  Made from foam and LARP-safe.

 

 

I, Robot

Beastcraft Props produces characters for professional haunted houses.  They've made some amazing animatronics, but most of their work, understandably, is various flavors of undead and monsters.  Their latest is something different- an interactive robot.  I love the craftsmanship and theming on this.

 

 

Tome of the Dragonborn

Another fantastic bit of tomecraft from Alex Libris.  This time it's a Skyrim-themed journal featuring an embossment of the sigil of the dragonborn, hand tooled leather cover, and custom brass hardware.

 

 

Great Cthulhu

George Tsougkouzidis is one of the most talented Mythos-inspired sculptors around.  His latest is this Cthulhu idol he calls The Great Terror.

 

 

Vampire Skull

The talented Spooky Jack returns to our pages with this be-fanged vampire skull specimen.

 

 

Cthulhu in Onyx

Al Landron of Landron Artifacts brings us his Cthulhu R'lyeh fragment in a chipped onyx finish.  I've collected a number of his pieces over the years and can personally vouch for the quality of his work.

 

 

I'm not sure about the wisdom of channeling Cthulhu to get answers from a spirit board.  I have a feeling the responses will be more about immanentizing his return than actually being helpful.  That said, the gifted Maarten Verhoeven returns to our pages with this wonderful Cthulhu planchette.  

 

Fallout NCR Ranger

Larry Hastings of Vulture Productions brings us this excellent NCR Ranger costume from Fallout: New Vegas.  The LAPD riot armor is a kit he just happens to have for sale.

As an aside, I've continued my long history of getting hooked on Bethesda games over the holiday break.  After taking two years (!) to finish Skyrim I dove into Fallout 4 just after Christmas.  While the main story is terrible, it's really hitting my exploration and crafting buttons.

 

Tsanta Sideshow Gaff

A tsanta is a traditional trophy of the Jivaro people of South America, made from the heads of slain enemies.  At least, that's how things were before contact with Europeans.  After that, the foreign demand for the unusual oddities turned their production from a matter of ritualized vendetta killings to commercial gain.  Eventually, the tribe figured out that using animal heads to create fake versions was far more lucrative, and safer, than the old way of doing things.  Which lead to the Europeans of the 18th and 19th centuries making their own copies of the Jivaro fake versions to meet demand.

It's a funny old world, ain't it?

This example of a traditional sideshow-style shrunken head gaff comes to us from Albino Alligator. 

 

 

And My Axe! And Hammer! And Shield! And Tome! And More!

This impressive collection of dwarven arms, armor, and tomecraft, comes to us from Charuzo CosFam.  Technically, I think these may be "dwarfen" props, since the Warhammer version of the race is rather particular about their identity.  If you click through, be sure to browse around for more Warhammer cosplay goodness.

 

Vrykolakas Trophy

Jared Ruch of Grizzle Macabre brings us this mounted, mummified vrykolakas heart.  If you're raising your eyebrows and saying "What the hell is that?", you're not alone.  It's apparently a Greek vampire-like creature that dines on the livers of the living.

 

 

Wizard's Workbench

We kick off the new year with this cool tableaux of a wizard's workbench from McCormick Wands.