Obscuria Gothic Shop will be vending the Florida Underground Music Festival on February 6, 2010. All ages show, doors are at 2:00pm, cost $7.
Florida Industrial Fest 2010
As the immeasurable sands of time renew themselves for the start of another decade, boundless new ideas, creativity and opportunities come forth. With that said, we have unveiled the first round of new products to our Gothic Shop here:
Here is a couple of the items included in this site update:
Venesective Blast Pipe Vampire Steampunk Ring
A devilishly ingenious invention based on Dibnah-pioneered principles, for intravenal pressure control when traveling at a very high velocity, or altitude. An articulated finger ring with glass rod cylinder and adjustable lower shank. A sacred blood vial vestibule envelops the Vampire’s immortal blood and is probably the most wicked ring ever created!
Venesective Blast Pipe Vampire Steampunk Ring
Eternal Light Pillar Candle Stand by Alchemy Gothic
The esoteric Latin inscription upon this amazing Gothic candle holder reads ‘AB AETERNO – ET PERPETUO – LUX MUNDI’, (From the Beginning of Time – and For Ever – The Light of the World). This decadent English pewter cast frame is on barley-twist legs with brilliant red glass ball finials. The sturdy base of this candle holder is made of black glass and is 5″ in diameter – which can accommodate either a votive or pillar candle.
- Eternal Light Pillar Candle Stand by Alchemy Gothic
First I’d like to share a bit about dragon lore in ancient cultures in part one of this piece, and then move on to how dragons are intertwined with modern culture in part two.
The dragon is a powerful, mythical creature of legend and lore that permeates multiple cultures worldwide. While the strength of a dragon is a constant in different societies, the appearance and significance is not. Today, many of us adorn our bodies with dragons for their qualities of good luck, well-being, and protection. Others collect symbols of the dragon’s power in the form of dragon figurines.
In the West, dragons were thought to bring hardships and destruction and often were the guardians of treasure and representations of greed. Societies such as the Norse used the symbol of the dragon as their figurehead, carving dragons into the heads of their ships and placing them on crests and shields. When Christianity was introduced, dragons’ reputations became even worse and they came to be known as satanic beasts.
However, in the East and even in some Western societies, including Celtic, Gnostic, Alchemy, and Draconic Wicca, dragons symbolize a supreme being. This divine creature is believed to represent the spirit of nature and the ability to transform. It offers hope, courage, and good fortune. Legend often presents dragons as the guardians of the “flaming pearl,” a gem symbolizing spiritual perfection. You will often see this pearl in dragon figurines and dragon collectibles. You will sometimes see Celtic dragons in a circular position, tail to mouth. As in paganism, the circle is perfection, the circle of life, transformation, and eternity. And further still, on the Astral plane, dragons are said to represent wisdom.
In our modern literature and movies, dragons are portrayed as terrifying, fire-breathing creatures that create obstacles in our personal journeys and that threaten to eat our women and children. Dragons worn with the more Western beliefs symbolize power and freedom and independence, but not usually an intention of evil. Most of the time, when we see a dragon, it isn’t a symbol to fear, but one of protection.
Dragon images make powerful amulets. Worn close to our body, the talisman radiates protection, drives away negative forces, and attracts good fortune. You can wear your amulet all the time, or you can wear it when you feel you need it. You may also carry your amulet or sleep with it under your pillow—it depends on what you are seeking.
In part two, the influential dragon makes an appearance in modern society and pop culture.
Checkout this contest being run by the lovely and talented writer/author Gabrielle Faust for the month of October. Win a $50 gift certificate to Obscuria.com! Details on how you can enter here: October Contests
About Gabrielle (synopsis from her website, for a more complete portfolio, continue here.)
Faust’s diverse talents have allowed her to pursue an eclectic career as an illustrator, technohorror author and leading industry entertainment critic. 2005 marked the release of her first published collection of poetry, Before Icarus, After Achilles, which was received by the public with a great enthusiasm. Faust partnered with Immanion Press in August of 2007 for the publishing of her cross-genre technohorror trilogy Eternal Vigilance, a post-apocalyptic vampire saga of epic proportions, the first of which, From Deep Within the Earth, was released in April of 2008. The second installment, The Death of Illusions was released in March of 2009. 2009 also saw the release of Faust’s second collection of poetry entitled Crossroads with Seraphemera Books. She is currently at work on the third installment of the Eternal Vigilance vampire series entitled Blood Kin
As a thank you to the community and to celebrate Halloween, TheUnclean.com is having a month long series of contests. All throughout the month of October, you can win prizes. Winners will be announced on October 3rd, 17th & 31st.
Some of the prizes include Splinter on DVD autographed by Directory Toby Wilkins, the book Zombies for Zombies autographed by the Author David Murphy, FEWDIO’s Nightmare House Vol 1 on DVD autographed by the FEWDIO team, new music from Black Tape for a Blue Girl, a $50 gift certificate to Obscuria.com (a gothic shop), VIP membership to BlueBlood.com, ZOMBIE! merchandise from MurderGear.com and lots more. So, if you want to grab your share, head over to http://TheUnclean.com/halloween for the details.
TheUnclean.com has continued to grow for over two years now, with content being focused on news, events and resources for the subculture communities. During this time, Bane Unreinen of The Unclean has been fortunate enough to interact with some really great people within the community. Writers, film makers, publishers, artists, musicians & DJ’s, fashionistas, models, horror enthusiasts and many others. Bane is eternally grateful to the community as a whole and to the people he has met so far in particular.
In the Orlando, FL area this weekend? Stop by and visit our booth at the 2009 SpookyEmpire Ultimate Horror Weekend (formerly Screamfest). We’ll be bringing all kinds of Gothic goodies, amidst rooms of cool horror merch , Celebrities, Zombies, Artists, Authors, Tattoo Artists and more – with a good 15,000+ guest attendance.
We are honored that the infamous Rue Morgue magazine contacted us to display an item in their deviantly dark “Needful Things” section of issue #93 September 2009. The featured item is the Nosferatu’s Rest Coffin Pendant , a wicked coffin shaped pendant inspired by F.W. Murnau’s German classic silent horror film and crafted by Alchemy Gothic.
Rue Morgue magazine is a Canadian based publication that gives a balanced look at horror in culture and entertainment through their website, magazine, festival of fear horror convention, radio station and more.
Our longtime friend Tanya Hostetler recently underwent a double lung transplant after a long time battle with Cystic Fibrosis – a serious and difficult to manage disease. Tanya’s other half Shawn Ohtani, and her love of the Metal/Industrial scene keep her going, along with her sense of humor and smart ass retorts. Along with such a live saving surgery comes tons of expenses, lost wages and difficulties to overcome.
A link to her experience/progress blog: Tanya’s Blog
This Saturday September 26th 2009 a benefit show is being held in her honor and as a fundraiser. If you are in the Orlando area, come out and show your support and see a great show!
Door admission: $10 @9:00 pm
The Haven Lounge
6700 Aloma Avenue
Winter Park, FL. 32792
Shinya Tsukamoto the chaotic and disturbing director who brought us Tetsuo the Iron Man, and Tetsuo : Body Hammer , is preparing to release in 2010 a third installment in this maniacal collection of industrial works called Tetsuo The Bulletman.
The first Tetsuo movie is centered around a buttoned-up Japanese businessman who accidentally rams his car into a cyberpunky ‘metal fetishist’ (Tsukamoto), whose jollies include transplanting metal parts into his body. After this encounter, the businessman begins inexplicably transforming into a metal man-machine, and soon finds himself merging identities (and bodies) with the similarly mechanized fetishist.
“Impressionistic and dark, the movie at times looks like an industrial music video. All the effects are stop-motion animation and prosthetics, which manage to capture the gooey, rusting look of a man halfway between office worker and deadly machine.”
In similar fashion, Tetsuo The Bulletman is abut an American man named Anthony who works in Tokyo and is married to a Japanese woman. Anthony morphs into Tetsuo when his son Tom is killed by the same metal fetishist who creates the Tetsuos in previous films.
Some could argue that this film is not true cyberpunk since there is not really a “punk” component of the movie’s antihero rebelling against authority or a totalitarian corporate regime set amongst futuristic dystopia. Nevertheless, this film is still considered one of the groundbreaking Japanese entries into the cyberpunk genre and can always satisfy your desire for industrial scenery.
Source: http://io9.com/5321543/tetsuo-the-iron-man-gets-a-crazy-english-sequel
New Steampunk Masks and Cyber Masks added to Obscuria – Darkly Unique Gothic Shop for July 2009!
How about having some ridiculously cool machinery none of your friends do?
A few samples:
Diabolical Steampunk Leather and Brass Cyber Gas Mask
Havok Droid Zero Cyber Gothic Industrial Gas Mask
After the final reconstitution of organic Bioskin is stretched over his third generation, genetically hacked exoskeleton, Havock Droid Zero secures his breathing apparatus. Skillfully powered with lunar charged auxiliary spikes, black battery acid tubing and a legacy green Havock droid symbol, this cyber mask is no joke and will add a darker shade of evil to your Cyber-Industrial style.
Infernal Anarchist Cyber Gothic Industrial Gas Mask
