Merry Christmas From The Christmaspede

The Christmaspede wants to wish you a happy holiday this week, and spread its cheer by laying eggs in your bones. See you in 2008.

Read more

December 23, 2007 | Filed Under Arts & Entertainment, Books & Writing | View Comments 

Resist Your Body Hole!

Ito-Enigma cover“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is a short comic from Junji Ito, the author of several well-known volumes of Japanese horror manga. This one appears at the end of “Gyo,” and it’s a short, weird story: an earthquake reveals a fissure riddled with human-shaped holes, which perfectly match the shapes of specific individuals and exert a powerful control over them. It has a surreal, dreamlike logic that almost approaches that nightmare feeling of some of Lynch’s work (like the “Llorando” scene in “Mulholland Drive”).

Unfortunately, it sort of fizzles out at the end–taken to its logical conclusion, the concept becomes a bit silly instead of disturbing. But it’s worth reading for the overall tone and imagery, and the spookiness of the first three-quarters of the story.

If you can’t find Ito’s books in your town, you can get them through Amazon (the link will take you to the Monkeyskull affiliate page, where you can click the “Comics – Japanese Horror” section to see all the Ito comics I was able to find). You can also find many of them via a little Google searching. “The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is available in multiple locations online, so you can read it immediately:

“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” – Location #1 | Location #2 | Location #3

Ito-Enigma sample

December 23, 2007 | Filed Under Comics & Graphic Novels | View Comments 

Messed-up Kewpie doll things

Skinless KewpieAs if the classic soft-serve-headed Kewpie doll design wasn’t creepy enough, those messed up people in Japan have decided to mega-creep it out by a factor of ten, with a melting Kewpie, a skinless Kewpie, a starving Kewpie, and apparently a Kewpie with progeria (oh, that’s a Granpda Kewpie).

Then they go and make a horror-movie commercial that pushes the disturbing-ness even farther (see below for YouTube version).

Bondage KewpieApparently hanging a tiny Kewpie from your cell phone just isn’t enough these days–it has to be gold plated with a decal of poop on the chest, or tied up in a bondage pose. (Seriously, is that even legal?)

Of course, now I want one. The skinless one, just to make it clear that I’m not into bondage Kewpies.

A whole page of fucked-up Kewpies for you cellphone

[tags]bondage, cellphones, charms, creepy, dolls, Japanese, Kewpie, melted, offbeat, poop, skinless, tiny, ugly, unusual, weird[/tags]

December 17, 2007 | Filed Under Decor, Shopping | View Comments 

Big Face Tumor Is God’s Will

BigFThis man has never had his face operated on because he’s a Jehova’s Witness and he feels his condition is God’s will or something. Well, okay, but I would never be able to enjoy watching “30 Rock” with that on my face. I’d have to push the M&Ms into my mouth with chopsticks.

The guy’s story aired on the British version of the Discovery Channel on December 6th of 2007. The BBC writes,

Unwilling to accept a blood transfusion, Jose Mestre has allowed the bloody tumour that first appeared on his lip in adolescence to obliterate almost all of his face.

Now 15 inches long and weighing 12 pounds, it has blinded him in one eye and made eating a daily ordeal. As it begins to block his airways, doctors fear his life could be in danger.

British face doctor Iain Hutchison has offered to try a new surgical technique that coagulates the patient’s blood with ultrasound waves before surgery, alleviating the need for extra blood.

What we need to know: where does the tumor go after it’s removed? Can we assume that a large portion of it will be intact? Does it get put into a jar somewhere, then displayed to grim med students at a medical museum somewhere?

“Fighting the curse of the face-eating tumor” [BBC via Neatorama]

BigFace

[tags]medical conditions,tumors,deformities,oddities[/tags]

December 10, 2007 | Filed Under News, People | View Comments