Home Sweet Haunted Home

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity." ~Edvard Munch

                                                                                                                                

Wreath with Crows, $69

http://www.williamssonoma.com/

 

 Midnight Wall Sconce, $49.95

http://www.zgallerie.com/

Bronze Catacomb Sign, $695

http://www.gothicroseantiques.com/



Pierced Floral Sugar Basket with Red Lining, Sale: $372.00

httpwww.horchow.com/://

Scull Soap, $6

http://www.theevolutionstore.com/

 "Oh, may I join the choir invisible. Of those immortal dead who live again." 

~ George Eliot, The Choir Invisible



 

Happy Halloween.  Are you afraid of the dark?  I'm not. In fact, at times, I consider the dark to be my friend  and  Halloween to be one of my favorite times of the year.  Like many, I enjoy the costumes, artifacts, symbols; all the relative accoutrement's associated with the season of the witch.  The seemingly dark aura that surrounds such a spooky and haunted holiday seems to infer that it is inherently negative and associated only with that which is evil.  But, in fact, the history of the origins of this ancient post-summer celebration suggests otherwise.  



Girl in Web. Primitive hand hammered iron stand, $95

http://www.gothicroseantiques.com/ 

The practice of All-Hallows-Even (evening) finds it's origin  in the Celtic  harvest festival of Samhain, the earliest  association of which (witch)  is found in the Catholic celebration of All Saints Day dating back to around the 8th Century. This practice was kept up in the 16th Century by the Gaels and the Celts in the British Isles.  One of the most recognizable of objects associated with Halloween is the Jack-O-Lantern, which originally acted as a symbol in remembrance of souls held in Purgatory.  

The more modern imagery of Halloween borrows itself from such Gothic Victorian novels  as Frankenstein and Dracula along with many horror movies from the 1930's and 1940's.
 

Catrina
http://www.fuego718.com/

The celebration of The Day of the Dead or El Dia de Los Muertes begins it's festivities starting November 1st in many Latin American countries, most notably Mexico. It is also celebrated in South America and many Catholic countries in Europe as well.  It is all at once a solemn and joyful event that basically focuses on the remembrance of family members who have passed on.  Many family social gatherings take place during the two days of this holiday and include trips to cemeteries where their loved ones rest for eternity.  The celebration of the Day of the Dead has gained much popularity here in the states, possibly due to the assimilation of said Latin cultures into ours as well as an evolutionary response to a puritan heritage never having engaged in such traditions.



Day of the Dead
http://www.fuego718.com/
(Located in Williamsburg, NYC)

Recently this curious cat crawled her way through the Internet and visited some of her favorite virtual haunts digging up a smattering of unusual and peculiar objects as well as some very cool home furnishings reminiscent of the spirit, imagery and colors of Halloween. You may fancy such curiosities as mere decorations to be enjoyed during the holiday that comes but once a year, or perhaps you are truly possessed by a lifelong fascination of the unseen and mysterious and have a need to outfit your home as such.  I have included many symbolically inspired examples that serve to to evoke  deep introspection with an invocation to revisit to the inner vaults of the mind.

I hope you enjoy the plethora of examples I have procured for you as potential inhabitants to reside in your three-dimensional abode.  At any rate they are here to enjoy now as you can't take them with you and I doubt that Halloween is celebrated in the afterlife. I am going to assume that after we depart this life that we know, the big mystery is over. But who knows..maybe only the shadow..



Window treatment. To the trade
http://www.vollfischbacher.ch/





Linen upholstered wing chair, $1,898
http://www.anthropologie.com/







Pillow, $128
http://www.anthropologie.com/

 



  

 

Skeleton Pillow, download image for $1
http://www.etsy.com/



Valence, $32
http://www.shopplasticland.com/

  

                                                           

                  Check out the hauntingly beautiful "Chair Series" from artist Pat Genova

                                                     http://www.patgenova.com/

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." ~ Edgar Allan Poe 

Little Lizzie Borden, $185
http://www.gothicroseantiques.com/


 Talon Candlestick, Tall, $58

http://www.anthropologie.com/

“My mission in life is to make everybody as uneasy as possible. I think we should all be as uneasy as possible, because that's what the world is like.”

― Edward Gorey, Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey

Firescreen, $370
http://www.horchow.com/



Black beaded trim. To the trade
http://www.kravet.com/

           

To the trade.
http://www.vollfischbacher.ch/

Black Crow Coir Mat, $27
http://www.uncommongoods.com/



Hand woven carpet

http://www.kravet.com/



          Ghost Chair by Donghia. To the Trade

                    http://www.donghia.com/



Wall covering. To the trade.
http://www.leejofa.com/



 

 
 

Halloween Ghost - Needle Felted Miniature, $79
http://www.etsy.com/



 

Pair of vintage Bergeres upholstered in black patent leather
with gesso finish. C. 1940
http://www.janshowers.com/

                                                  

Hand-crafted witch black hat society purse, item# 180738217689, $65
http://www.ebay.com/


  

Italian marble coaster, $15
http://www.theevolutionstore.com/



Gelatin silver print of "The Unborn" by the great Gothic Surrealist photographer Clarence John Laughlin. It is signed by the artist.
http://www.stephendaitergallery.com/



Cemetery. Photography by Everett McCourt
http://www.everettmccourt.com/



Photography by Everett McCourt
http://www.everettmccourt.com/



Black crystal flowers -set 3: $35
http://www.zgallerie.com/



Pere Lachaise Cemetary, Paris



I could not end this blog without mentioning that more black cats and dogs in animal shelters are less likely to be adopted and more likely to be euthanized than any other shelter animal. Animals are neither objects nor accessories, but I could not pass up the opportunity as an animal lover and activist to promote adopting a pet rather than buying

one.

"Sami" is available for adoption

http://www.petsalive.com/

Happy Halloween.

Skeleton figurine, $11.69
http://www.target.com/