Cthulhu Fhtagn! Professor Pickman Edition.

Professor Pickman of Pickman's Vinyls brings us this unusual Cthulhu depiction.  Clear idols are few and far between, and this one also has a core of glow in the dark tinted resin inside the transparent body. 

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Broers Edition.

The talented Joe Broers returns to our pages with this intriguing piece.  Sadly, its historical significance has been tainted by the infamous "Piltdown Man" hoax.

Initially declared a great ‘archeological discovery’ the Piltdown Man, ‘found’ in 1912 in East Sussex County, England, turned out to be one of the greatest scientific hoaxes in history. Proclaimed to be the long anticipated ‘Missing Link’, it was ultimately revealed to be nothing more than a clever mixing of human and orangutan skull and jaw pieces.  Ironically, a real discovery, made in the same area only months later, was that of what is now known as the ‘Piltdown Cthulhu’. This small stone figurine, was unearthed by a laborer, James Simmons, at the gravel pits not far from where the ‘Piltdown Man’ had allegedly been discovered.  While the Piltdown Man hoax was sustained for over forty years, poor Mr. Simmons’ discovery was dismissed almost immediately as a fraud, considered to have been perpetrated by him in an attempt to cash in on then rampant ‘Piltdown mania’. Fortunately, a newspaper account published at the time eventually came to the attention of Sir Albert Arnold Mill, archeologist and authority on the Great Old Ones, and on Cthulhu, in particular. Mill met with Simmons, who had fortunately retained possession of the artifact, and established the authenticity of the man’s find. 

Cthulhu Pendant

James Morgan brings us a nicely done Cthulhu pendant created on a 3D printer. The amount of detail is just stunning.

Just My Type

One of the blessings of desktop publishing is how easy it is to create convincing paper props.  That applies not only to the technical process, but the imagery of documents.  At this point in time there are...what...two generations that have never used a typewriter as anything other than an affectation?  That makes any typewritten document "vintage" and considerably simplifies the suspension of disbelief needed to make a prop convincing.

For those particular projects you should check out Kingthings Trypwriter, a mildly distressed typewriter font that features a full character set and a free license.

The Black Goat of the Woods

A delayed celebration of Mother's Day today, with this very nice idol of Shub-Niggurath from Eolith Designs. 

June Parcel of Terror

Jason McKittrick's "Parcel of Terror" has been hugely successful.  When he first launched the idea there was some grumbling about him moving away from his Lovecraftian roots, and I have to admit I had my own misgivings.  Part of that was pure selfishness.  Mainstream horror is a much larger audience than our little Mythos niche, and I worried that we'd lose a fantastic talent.  Thankfully, that isn't the case.  If anything I think the success of the Parcels is freeing him up to tackle some really interesting props.

The latest Parcel of Terror features a classic "Dracula" sticker, "Chucky" refrigerator magnet, a gruesome trophy from the Jigsaw Killer, a page from the spellbook of Winifred Sanderson, a surprise Mystery Item, and a fragment from my beloved "At the Mountains of Madness".

The fragment is up to the usual high standards, but it's also one half of a larger piece that will be completed with the July Parcel.   That's a great concept that I don't think we've ever seen used in Mythos items before.  Admittedly, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing.  Assembling an artifact from multiple pieces is a trope that intensely appeals to my obsessive-compulsive nature.

The monthly parcel is just $35, including shipping.  That's an absolute steal for what you're getting.  I also wanted to mention how much I like the packaging it comes in.  That may seem minor, but the theming of the box and wrapping, not to mention the packaging stamps, really kicks the whole thing up a notch. 

And We're Back.

I wanted to thank you all for the positive thoughts and support over the last month.  At the same time, I have to apologize for dropping off the face of the earth.  I've been so overwhelmed that I haven't had a chance to respond to any of your emails, and I ask your indulgence as I wade through the backlog of messages. 

On the bright side, I suspect I'll have more time to actually work on projects moving forward.  Onward we go!