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

Goths and clove smoking has been a longtime parodied, true to form, and consistent nuance of the Gothic subculture. Anyone who has been in a Gothic or Industrial club knows the familiar sweet, yet spicy cinnamon like smell of the draped in black cancer stick. Dark, smooth and sultry these conversation starters and occasional pickup magnets never fail to attract attention until the night is over and the first rays of sunlight beckon sleep.

While I am not a cigarette smoker, I have been known to enjoy a clove here and there with a few drinks. Lately I went as far as to stuff Djarum blacks into the discontinued in the U.S., fabled red and black Sampoerna Xtras box, just to get the satisfaction of confused looks.

Author Alicia Porter Smith ponders the question on her blog Stuffgothslike , “Why do Goths smoke cloves”?

“Is it because they are worse for your health than regular cigarettes, therefore beckoning Death at an accelerated rate? “

Perhaps unconsciously the urge towards rebellion and self destruction does drive Goths toward clove smoking, however it could also be the color, spicy/sweet taste and morose appeal.

Regardless of whether one is a smoker or not, another stab at withdrawing civil liberties has been actualized. The Obama administration has approved the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, a move that gives the FDA control to regulate every aspect of  Tobacco product advertising, distribution and who knows what else. The first step of which is banning “flavored” products, or using the terms “mild” or “light”.  We all know that when something is banned, people go out of their way to try and find it, import it, or create it to no end.

If the Government was paying 100% of everyone’s health care costs, I can understand their having a say in what you put into your body – since illness related treatment and prevention would come out of their pocket, but this is not yet the case.

I say let “we the people” make our own decisions about what we can consume, grow in our backyard, or purchase…  are we one step closer to a totalitarian dystopia?

What do you think?

Project Pitchfork LIVE in the USA 200!

Here are the confirmed dates so far (venues will be announced soon):

08/19/09 Houston (tba)
08/20/09 Dallas – The Church
08/21/09 Austin – Elysium
08/22/09 Phoenix – (tba)
08/23/09 San Francisco (tba)
08/24/09 Seattle – El Corazon
08/26/09 LA – (tba)
08/27/09 Salt Lake City – Club Vegas
08/28/09 Denver (tba)
08/29/09 Chicago (tba)
08/30/09 Minneapolis (tba)
09/01/09 Detroit (tba)
09/02/09 Pittsburgh (tba)
09/03/09 Toronto Canada (tba)
09/04/09 Boston (tba)
09/05/09 Philly – Shampoo Club
09/06/09 Richmond (tba)
09/08/09 Cincinnati (tba)
09/10/09 Atlanta – Masquerade
09/11/09 Jacksonville (tba)
09/12/09 W.Palm Beach – Respectable Street
09/15/09 New Orleans (tba)
09/17/09 San Antonio (tba)
09/19/09 NYC – Stimulate

… if your town is missing, then go and pester your local concert organizer until he capitulates and books us, all right?
http://www.pitchfork.de/concertenglish.htm

One of my all time favorite tales of wanderlust, surrealism and psychotropic pandemonium is about to get a stunning new interpretation. If the thought of a white rabbit, animated “inanimate” objects and Victorian curiosity makes you instinctively blurt out “Alice in Wonderland”, your right!

The Alice in Wonderland books were written by Lewis Carroll during the Victorian era, a time now remembered for its stifling propriety and constrictive morals and were an immediate success when published in 1865 . The creatures of wonderland have many arbitrary customs and their behaviors are all defensible with strange logic, but the customs are still silly or even cruel. There are obvious echoes of the Victorian world, as the animals are opinionated and have strong ideas about what constitutes appropriate behavior. The creatures’ preciousness and their arbitrary sensitivities mock the fastidiousness of the Victorian era – a true irony indeed.

The story always retains a sense of mystery and a fondness for the sinister; even the characters who aid Alice have a dark edge to them. The hints of mortality and the sense of fear in the books have only contributed to their popularity!

There have been numerous interpretations of this quintessential “tale” in various mediums including film, comics, giftware (like this teapot), theater, apparel and more. One of my favorite versions of the film is the twisted Jan Svankmajer Alice DVD, a dizzying blend of stop motion animation, puppets and live action – with a distinctely gothic tone and morose symbolism. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a fantastic collection of Wonderland inspired scents, on their page called: Mad Tea Party.  I’ve personally had the Alice scent, which is true to it’s components and description of milk, rose, carnation, bergamont and honey.

A related film that has yet to see the light of day is Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, a film by Marilyn Manson. The film synopsis hints of “a haunted writer in an isolated castle is tormented by sleepless nights and visions of a girl named Alice. He finds himself becoming a symptom of his own invention.“ WiKi source

Perhaps we may have to wait a while for that one… but in the meantime….

Tim Burton steps forward with a stunning concept for the Alice genre. Set to release March 5, 2010 the new Alice in Wonderland film will be a blend of live action and CG – released in both regular screen format and 3D!

The seemingly very well suited cast includes:

• Caterpillar (Alan Rickman)
• Jabberwock (Christopher Lee)
• Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter)
• Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp)
• Alice (Mia Wasikowska)
• White Queen (Anne Hathaway)
• Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover)