Metabolic Engine 01

This piece serves as a demonstration that something can be incredibly disturbing without a hint of gore.  In fact, I think Metabolic Engine 01 from sculptor Giusy Amoroso is incredibly beautiful.  It's also absolutely horrific.  

 

 

 

Masked Mummy

This wonderful piece comes to us from the appropriately named Relics of the Blind Dead.  It's a mummified head featuring a partial life mask.  An absolutely brilliant idea, with perfect execution.

 

 

Trophy Head

This ornate recreation of a Munduruku trophy head comes to us from artist Ojearte.   

 

Fungus Among Us

This creepy trio of mushroom mandrake specimens comes to us from artist Melanie Harrison. 

 

The Roswell Legacy

We've featured Creafae's work before, but their latest is an absolute banger.  It's a unique specimen from one of the greatest suppressed events of the 20th century- the head of one of the alien Greys that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico back in 1947.  The gaff itself is cool, but it's the dozens of supporting documents and items that really push it to the next level.  And it's all collected in a vintage aluminum specimen case with custom labeling.

These pictures really don't do it justice.  Clock through to check out the full gallery. 

 

You Gotta Have Heart

A centuries-old heart...

Silent for generations...

Begins to beat once more.

Long before modern medicine understood the heart's function, it was believed to be far more than a simple organ. Across Europe, it was regarded as the vessel of the soul, the seat of emotion, memory and life itself. In folklore, the preserved hearts of witches, saints and executed criminals were said to retain a fragment of the owner's essence long after death. Such relics were hidden away, sealed beneath glass, or entombed with iron to prevent whatever remained within from stirring once more.

The Tell-Tale Heart places one of these forbidden relics into your audience's hands.

Beneath an aged Victorian display dome rests the genuine mummified witch's heart, pierced with iron nails and preserved for centuries. It is introduced as an object steeped in folklore, a vessel that has lain dormant for generations, waiting for another living heart with which to resonate.

Dan Baines of Lebanon Circle Magic is no stranger to these pages. His latest illusion features a mummified heart that actually starts to beat while a spectator is holding it.  The Tell-Tale Heart isn't just a cool gaff and magic item, but would be an absolutely killer prop to roll out for a tabletop game. 

 

Mi-Go Specimen

I go, you go, we all go, for Mi-Go!  Jason McKittrick of the Cryptocurium brings us this "Mi-Go Pupa" specimen, the final release in his "The Doom That Came to July" series. 

 

Unicorn Horn

Burned Raven Tales is no stranger to these pages.  Their latest piece is this specimen of a black unicorn horn, complete with a labeled presentation box.  Just the thing for your cabinet of curiosities. 

 

 

Bottled Terrors

Tele-Pots brings us some classic "thing in a bottle" specimens.  On the left a demonic fetus, on the right a spawn of Cthulhu.   

 

Deadly Harvest

Artist Nathan Vent brings us this trio of mandrake roots, harvested at considerable danger to himself.  

 

 

Homunculus Brain

After a too long absence, Burned Raven Tales returns to our pages with this homunculus brain specimen.  

 

 

Casper

Spooky Jack returns to our pages with "Casper", a wonderfully aged fetal skull specimen. 

 

 

Mummified Fairy

This outstanding mummified fairy sculpt comes to us from artist Hector Lim Choon Hoong.

 

 

Troll Witch

"The Troll Witch was inspired by the fantastic Brian Froud’s front cover illustration from the book ‘Trolls’ by Brian and Wendy Froud. We created her with the blessing and guidance of the Froud’s and she stands as a homage to Brian’s work.  Photo taken in Brian & Wendy’s garden, where the Troll Witch feels very much at home."

I don't think I've ever seen a better recreation of Froud's aesthetic than this figure from Elfenwild.  He was a huge influence on those of us that grew up back in the 70s and 80s.  To this day his design work for the Dark Crystal defines my mental image of what magic circles should look like.

 

Infected Fae

This delightfully icky fungally infected fairy specimen comes to us from the talented Umbrateca.  The powdery, threadlike hyphae are a fantastic detail.

 

 

Making a Mummified Fairy

We've frequently featured the work of MonsterLabs Studios over the years.  Their latest is a detailed look at the design process behind a mummified fairy specimen.  It's an in-depth, behind the scenes feature showing the deliberate artistic decisions that go into making something truly memorable.  If you have any interest in gaff-making you should click through and read the whole thing.

Hell Hound Trophy

The talented Grant Cross returns to our pages with this gruesome mounted hell hound head.  There are just so many levels of squicky at work, what with the pustules, the dripping fluids, and the rotting flesh.  

 

 

Stop, A Head

The all-too-appropriately named Relics of the Blind Dead brings us this horrific cadaver head.  And by "horrific", I mean awesome. 

 

Thing in a Jar

We kick off 2026 with this toothy bottled specimen from Grant Cross.  The white membrane is liquid latex that's been partially rubbed off the figure.

 

 

Not of This Earth

Monster Labs Studios returns to our pages with this alien specimen in a containment tube.  The sculpt features some excellent anatomical work.