Vintage Poison Labels

Spookshows.com has posted some awesome scans of vintage poison labels. You can download each label individually or grab the whole bunch as a zip file.

The Sounds of Cthulhu: Dance Tunes of the 20's

If you're looking to create some atmosphere for your next "Call of Cthulhu" session you should visit The Hot-Dance & Vintage Jazz Pages. The site features a variety of period music in MP3 format at no charge, but if you really want a ton of tracks to work with I think it's worth paying for one of the very reasonably priced archive CDs. There's something about the juxtaposition of the jaunty tunes of the 20's with the horrors of the Mythos that really kicks things up a notch.

Quick and Dirty Tomecraft

Artist Dave Lowe has posted an excellent how-to for creating creepy old books at his blog:

I love old dusty books that look like they came from another time containing forgotten knowledge or secrets. I thought I'd make a few to accent some of the interior decorating this year.

The results speak for themselves. While his tutorial is more concerned with static props than producing Mythos tomes the utility of the construction technique should be obvious. I've used the paper towel faux leather technique to create covers before and the only real problem I encountered was cracking along the joint where the cover flexed when opened. Using a flexible adhesive like, not surprisingly, flex glue helps take care of the problem. If you try Dave's technique the only change I would make is to mix your base colors of paint into the glue when you decoupage the paper towels to the cover. That will save you a step when you start painting and produces deeper, richer colors.

Powder of Ibn Ghazi Label

See the invisible! Dispell all illusions! For immediate results, apply vigorously to creatures not of this earth or beings cloaked by an eldritch veil.

I know I'm skirting dangerously closely to the dreaded "Cute Cthulhu" syndrome, but a little frivolity is good for the soul. This is another patent medicine style bottle label for Halloween.

Tillinghast Field Warning Sign

The unfortunate results of Crawford Tillinghast's original experiments with his "Illuminator" device haven't deterred others from exploring it's potential. Cruise conspiracy sites on the web and you'll find dozens of stories that paint a disturbing picture of how his creation lives on long after it's inventor's death. Rumors of secret experiments in "stealth" technology using high-frequency energy fields aren't anything new, but the whispers of horrific accidents involving dimensional phasing are all too reminiscent of Tillinghast's unsettling end.

This warning sign is based on the idea that research into Tillinghast technology has considerably refined the capabilities of the original device described in Lovecraft's "From Beyond". Somewhere, hidden behind barbed wire and armed guards, there are labs and hangers where carefully marked areas are surrounded by signs like this.

Just click through for the high resolution version. Print it out on a sheet of sticker paper and you're good to go.

Marriage License Prop

Here's another marriage license, similar to the one I posted last week.

Whately's Vitalizer

So what exactly was Old Whately doing for all those years before "The Dunwich Horror"? He was quite the hermit in his dotage, but that extensive library of occult tomes probably took some traveling, and some money, to put together in his younger years. Hmmmmm...how could a magically gifted follower of Yog-Sothoth fund his collecting and travel at the same time?

I wish I could say that backstory was foremost in my mind when I came up with this, but the truth is I was just messing around with ideas for Halloween bottle labels. After all, you can never have too many questionable elixers for your party. As always, click through for the high resolution version.