Eglantine and Betony

Ever wanted to dress up Death from Sandman or look at what poisonous fey keep in their closet? Well now you can here. Eglantine and Betony is my personal favourite.

Vrykolakas

Many people usually think that vamps and werewolves are two completely different things, however its actually believed that the vampire myth grew out of the werewolf one. One thing's for sure, there definately has been a mixture of the two myths. In fact in Greece when American films are played in theaters the same word for werewolves is used for vampire. This word is Vrykolakas which is of Slavic origin. Many eastern countries and cultures have a variant of the word. The Greeks believed that a person could become a vrykolakas after death due to a sacrilegious way of life, excommunication, a burial in unconsecrated ground, or eating the meat of a sheep which had been wounded by a wolf or a werewolf. Some believed that a werewolf itself could become a powerful vampire after being killed, and would retain the wolf-like fangs, hairy palms, and the glowing eyes it formerly possessed.To the Balkans they were synonymous with vampires. They were always portrayed as harmful and in some cases brought about epidemics. One myth states that it "knocks on the doors of houses and call out the name of the residents. If it gets no reply the first time, it will pass without causing any harm. If someone does answer the door, he or she will die a few days later and become one. For this reason, there is a superstition present in certain Greek villages that one should not answer a door until the second knock." Another legend claims they sit on and suffocate a person as with a incubi. It could also only be destroyed on a Saturday(the only day the creatures would return to their coffins) and it could be done by exorcising it, impaling it, beheading it, cutting it into pieces, and especially cremating the suspected corpse. The last two statements also apply to a Bulgarian vampire.

Vampires

Found this here. Surprised me a bit as its all real myth on a tv show website.

Stories about vampires have existed since ancient times, all across the globe, from Babylon to India, Egypt to China and Greece to Romania. Original tales woven about these children of the night stirred up images of demonic beasts who fed on newborns and women to survive — nothing like today's sexy vampires who seduce their prey and come across more as humans than vicious bloodsuckers.

Being Bitten Wasn't the Only Way In
According to superstitions before the 19th century, it wasn't all about getting chomped in the neck. Vampires supposedly rose from the bodies of dead people whose lives went awry in the following ways:

Genetics.
Your fate could have been doomed while still in the womb. If a pregnant woman crossed paths with a black cat or didn't eat salt, she would be risking the fate of her child to the underworld.(I've also heard the one about the seventh son of the seventh son)

Character traits.
If you were born premature, out of wedlock or with an extra nipple or extra hair (or even red hair), the villagers probably would peg you as something unnatural. After you died, they'd take care to watch your grave for signs of vampirism.

Diet.
Vegetarians, back in the day, you'd be safer. Those who dined on the meat of sheep that had been killed by wolves, on the other hand, were fated for fangs.

Bad luck.
If someone cursed you or suspected you of sorcery and black magic, you were likely to pop up out of the crypt. And speaking of crypts — if you didn't receive a proper burial, chances were you'd end up in a bloodthirsty state.

Before Angel and Lestat There Was…
Although vampires have long been popular fictional characters, there are historical figures who were noteworthy for possessing just as much bloodlust as the mythical creatures that kept villagers behind locked doors at night. Here are the top two:

The original Dracula.
The Romanian prince Vlad Dracula terrorized the Balkans in an effort to keep the area from the Turks in the 1400s. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler for the slow and agonizing way in which he killed between 40,000 and 100,000 victims: He impaled any man, woman or child who broke his strict moral code against lying, stealing or adultery. Though he was unusually cruel, Dracula was not known to drink the blood of his victims.

The Hungarian "Blood Countess."
Elizabeth Bathory actually did eat the flesh and drink and bathe in the blood of more than 650 young girls, thinking they were her own personal fountain of youth. But this lady "vampire," who lived from 1560 to 1614, didn't get caught until she stopped preying on peasant girls and started targeting young ladies of lesser nobility.

Forget the Garlic Around Your Neck
Want to keep a vampire busy so it can't chase you? Here are a few lesser known tips from the olden days:

Throw down some poppy seeds.
Who knew these bloodsuckers were obsessive-compulsive? By the rules of folklore, a vampire feels obliged to count every single poppy seed (or millet) before it can go on its dastardly way.

Spread tar around your window or door in the shape of a cross.
Some suspect that the reasoning behind this tradition was that the evildoer would get stuck while trying to sneak in. Unable to escape the sun in the morning, it would perish.

Go green.
Vampires avoid plants with healing or mystical properties, like aloe vera. Rumor had it that they had a distaste for wild rose and hawthorn too.

Think outside the box.
Bells ringing, holy symbols (besides crosses), rain, falling snow and fire have all been on the list of things that supposedly spook off vampires. (And if you're really desperate, eating dirt from their grave may do the trick too.)

Les Morts de la France

Who'd have thought the French would be so strict about their dead? After all in the 1600s they were uprooting many of the undead and placing them in mass graves in the extensive catacombs under the city. Contrary to all that graves must be kept clean and tidy and cutting through one to smoke and have fun is a horrible faux pas. In fact people under the age of 14 are not allowed inside one unless accompanied by an adult. Singing or playing music is prohibited, animals arent allowed, and you cant even take pictures unless given permission. You can read more about it here. In the same spirit is this article which goes over some of the many monsters and myths of France, such as Melusine and the White Ladies, not the mention the Loup Garoux. Also for those of you who read the first article and want more information on the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery you can find it here.

The Evolution Store

On our trip to New York over the summer my dad accidentally found a wonderfully macabre little shop called The Evolution Store. I'm afraid if your thinking old musty Darwin tomes you'd be mostly though not totally mistaken. The store specializes in dead things. Skulls, fossils, and taxidermied animals for the most part. Human skulls, gorilla hands(and I really thought we all learned our lesson from The Monkey's Paw not to play around with these things...), and vampire bats in bell jars to be precise. This was something I found on the website that I missed in the shop however. It provides for an odd and amusing bit of information.

More Tales From the Crypt...

To understand the point of this post you must click to see the full resolution of this photo. My friend Iliana first posted this on her Livejournal and I thought I might as well post it here. The photo was taken around two years ago after said friend's grandmother's burial. Look over the shoulder of the man in the blue shirt and cowboy hat. See it? No one in her family knows who that is. She freely admits it could be a cousin or other forgotten relative and the fact that it was taken by a camera phone doesn't help either, but it makes no sense as to why the person should be so hidden from view. You'll just have to come to your own conclusions.

A Rag, a Bone, a Hank of Hair...

Reminiscent of Monique Motil's Sartorial Creatures are Tessa Farmer's "hell's angels" and "faeries". Her artwork is made out of real bits of organic debris such as tree roots, insect remains, cobwebs and animal skeletons. Her little nasties can be seen tormenting small birds and wasps and when looked at carefully it appears as if they are eating them. One piece even depicts a "faery" bursting from the inside of a bee which it has consumed. More information here

Some of her work:

ICEHOTEL

Since everyone seems to be in that good old commercial christmas spirit(I mean come on a month and a half away and already christmas carols on the radio??) so I thought I'd post this. It's been around since 1990 and is still kickin'. There are a couple out there but this one is located in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden near the river Torne. Every year the hotel has to be built again from the ground up, and every year artists come to design rooms for the hotel which boasts an ice church and Absolut Icebar.You can find more info here.

Some gorgeous rooms they've had in the past:

Katarina Fritsch

I must have been around four years old the first time I saw work by Katarina Fritsch completely by accident. It was in the old San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art I belive and her art work was pretty much everywhere. We didnt know who she was but my mom didnt want to go into any of the rooms with her sculptures though becuase they largly consisted of (you guessed it) rats. We saw the Rat King I beleive and Man and Mouse(which forever turned me on to incubi and succubi and that sleeping syndrome where you beleive ones on top of you, but more on that later...). However my all time favourite was her Ghost in the Pool of Blood. I absolutly MUST see that again before I die. Unfortunatly there's not much on the web about her. Here's what I COULD find however: and they are 1. Kind mit Pudein (Baby With Poodles), 2.Rattenkonig(Rat King) and 3.Mann und Maus(Man and Mouse)

Gloomy Sunday

Can you name a song that supposedly been related to over 100 suicides? No? Well here's one. Gloomy Sunday was first written in 1933 but rose to fame in America when sung by Billie Holiday in 1941. Many urban myths have surrounded the "hungarian suicide song" since it first aired on radio around the world, one such myth states that lovers who hear this song will jump to their death immediatly after. While that may not be true it's fair to say that the success of the song contributed to the composer's unhappiness as he knew he'd never be able to produce a second hit. In an ironic twist the composer(Rezso Seress) killed himself 35 years later. There is talk of the song actually being banned from radio stations for the sheer darkness of the lyrics. Though that extreme measure might not have occured there is enough evidence to support that the song got enough negative response that the lyrics had to be shuffled around a little to soften the meaning. This is shown in the last stanza. It was added when Bilie Holiday recorded to make it sound as if the first two stanzas were merely in the narrators head. Personnally I prefer the versions without it. One of the better ones was sung by Paul Whiteman in '36. You can find Billie's recording and 25 other "exquisitly sad songs" here