When assembling your Frankenstein monster (or flesh golem) you need a reliable place to source your parts. The worst scenario is to get body pieces from parts unknown.
Tim Kane
From Parts Unkown
Tag Archives: frankenstein
Monster Cafe: Frankuccino
Visit the monster cafe where the Frankuccino will give you a jolt of energy. We took all the power of Frankenstein’s Monster and mixed it into a caffeinated beverage.
Tim Kane
3 Weird Ways to Stop a Vampire (Carpet, Hairpin, Lemon)
Arkane Curiosities
Vampires rise from the grave to bite our necks and gulp down our blood. Not a great situation if you’re on the punctured side of the equation. The best way to cope with these bloodsuckers is to make sure they never get out of their coffins in the first place.
Wrap the Vampire in a Carpet
In areas of Eastern Europe, people bound the knees (or sometimes even the whole body) of a suspected vampire with a rope. This prevented the corpse from clambering out of the grave. People would take this one step further, and wrap a rug around the bloodsucker to completely immobilize it. In Ireland, people would pile stones on the grave to keep the Dearg-dul (Irish vampire) from rising.
In the case of the recently discovered vampire in Poland, the corpse had a padlock on her left big toe to symbolize that she would never rise again. Serbians took this one step further and cut off the toe of a Vlkoslak (a Serbian vampire).
Poke the Vampire with a Hairpin
Various sharp objects have been found in vampire graves, all meant to discourage the undead from leaving the grave. The discovery of a female skeleton buried with a sickle across her neck was not the first anti-vampire method. The idea with the sickle was to cut the head off if the vampire should rise.
Image credit: Miroslav Blicharski / Aleksander. Photograph:( Others )
Hairpins or thorns would also prevent a vampire from rising. These objects were inserted either under the tongue or in the navel. In Bulgaria they wrapped their version of a vampire (Krvoijac) with wild roses. The thorns of these were seen as a deterrent.
When dug up, people noted that some corpses looked plumper than before (due to the swelling of the body after death). Pins or thorns were thought to keep the body from swelling.
Give the Vampire a Lemon
A certain German vampire called Neuntöter was afraid of lemons. Placing a lemon in its mouth when buried would keep the vampire in its grave (they would sometimes cut off the head between 11pm and midnight).
The lemon has long been seen as a treatment for illness and poison. The ancient Romans used lemon juice to cure colds and fevers, while the Egyptians would drink the juice to protect against poison. Ancient Greeks claimed that eating lemons could help people survive being bitten by a poisonous snake.
Tim Kane
A Stumble of Zombies: Collective Nouns for Monsters
One of my favorite books that I read to my daughter (I’m stealing it the first chance I get) is A Dignity of Dragons by by Jacqueline Ogburn and Nicoletta Ceccoli.
What this book does is address the much needed names for collective nouns of mythical creatures. What the heck is a collective noun? Well, back in the nineteenth century, Victorians got awful bored with out any television or internet. They played a game where they thought up clever names for groups of animals. The idea was to get a name that encompassed the spirit of the animal. Some of my favorites are a crash of rhinos or a flamboyance of flamingos. Get the idea?
Jacqueline Ogburn came up with all sorts of collective nouns for mythical creatures, like: a bolt of hippogriffs, a splash of mermaids, and a dazzlement of Quetzalcoatls. I wanted to continue this trend, only with creatures from horror. Specifically classic monsters. Here’s what I came up with.
- a stumble of zombies
- a coffin of vampires
- a howling of werewolves
- a bolt of Frankensteins*
- a tanna of mummies**
- a caldron of wiches
- a clang hunchbacks
- an ectoplasm of phantoms
- a haunting of ghosts
- a glow of will-o-whisps
- a bottle of djinn***
- a trample of kaiju****
- a decapitation of headless horsemen
- a tinker of gremlins
- a hunger of ghouls
- a husk of scarecrows
- a marrow of skeletons
- a translucence of invisible men
- a beaker of mad scientists
- a lever of henchmen
- a scream of victims
- a probe of aliens
- a circuit of robots
If you can think of any to add to the list (no serial killers or the suck, just classic monsters) then add to the comments below.
Tim Kane
*Yes I know that the doctor is actually Frankenstein, but in the sequel it called the Bride of Frankenstein, and she’s intended for the monster, so… Let’s just settle on Frank as the monster’s name.
** Tanna leaves were a device introduced in the later mummy movies as a way of controlling the creature.
*** I know lamps are more common, but a lamp of djinn sounds weird.
**** This is the name for the giant Japanese monsters like Godzilla and Mothra. Go ahead, check out the wiki site.
San Diego Comic Con Shopping Spree
Even though I live in the same city as the San Diego Comic Con, I still treat it as a vacation. Thus, vacation spending. I give myself a budget and then spend every penny of it. Here are some stand out items (and where to find them) on the Exhibition Floor.
The first booth I plopped cash down was “Fuzzy Balls Apparel”. Yes, clever name. They were responsible for the hand sewn apple and the “eye” flower (which is actually a hair clip). You can find them at booth 4839. Another of my favorite booths is Conduct Happiness (booth 4832), home of the Pea, as in “pea in the pool” or the “pea pea dance.” I picked up another hair clip for my daughter here. The stuffed Frankenstein was from The Bijou Collectibles (booth C-01). I can’t recall where I picked up the stuffed kitty.
I’m always a sucker for steampunk and no one does it better than Weta (booth 3513B). I picked up yet another fabulous book from Dr. Grordbort. This year, it was Triumph, Unnecessarily Violent Tales of Science Adventure for the Simple and Unfortunate – written and illustrated by Greg Broadmore. I grabbed the last Berry Ninja apron (for kids). I can’t recall the booth, but I do know it was right next to Fuzzy Balls Apparel. Finally, the small book you see is “Wonderland Alphabet” giving each letter an Alice in Wonderland twist. This was from Archaia Entertainment (booth 2635). I just read this book to my daughter. It really goes deep into both Alice Books (Wonderland and Looking Glass).
I’m love T-shirts, but I detest the standard black or white fair. Snap T-shirts (I can’t locate the booth number, but it was near artist’s alley). This guy hand screens the shirts himself. Hard to see in this picture, but the shirt is a burgundy color. The book is called “So Good for Little Bunny” by Brandi Milne. This was from a combo booth with Griz Grimley and other artists (this might be booth 501). Finally the Frankenstein is a “Kooky Kans” from Mixo (booth 4633).
Enjoy the comic con and remember, there are ATMs in the lobby.
Tim Kane