S2_05: Ghost apples, scary angels, and final girls
Hello and welcome to another edition of Tiny Wonderful Things! It's the last issue before Halloween so I've packed this edition full of final spooky things before we venture back to the shimmering, slow-mo, starry-eyed side of wonder. Today's featured image is of a ghost apple, a completely natural phenomena that requires a very specific set of circumstances in which the result is a transparent apple that looks like a crystal. Here's the science behind this ghostly magic.
What biblically accurate angels would actually look like
When someone says "angel", do you imagine a person wearing white robes with wings? Well, to kick off our final wonder vs terror issue is the terrifying truth of what angels actually look like based on descriptions found in the bible. One depiction actually reminds me of what an ant might see if we were looking at them through a kaleidoscope, which sure does make me wonder.
Poetry is better than cigarettes
Smoking kills, but at last count, more people buy cigarettes than read poetry. Found this cigarette machine that dispenses poetry at Vancouver bookstore, The Paper Hound. (My favorite if you're ever visiting!)
Spooky parody art
Dave Pollot, a software engineer turned artist, is known for altering thrifted art. He just released his Halloween drop which includes originals to be sold by a lottery system as well as limited edition prints such as '13', a parody of The Last Supper.
An architect breaks down 5 haunted houses from scary movies
Architectural Digest is known for their celebrity home tours. This video follows architect Michael Wyetzner as he takes you on a tour through famous scary movie homes from Psycho, Beetlejuice, The House on Haunted Hill, The Shining, and Get Out.
Book of the week: "I Am Not Your Final Girl"
Are you familiar with the final girl trope? It's in reference to the last girl or woman left alive at the end of horror movies, the one who confronts the killer and is left to tell the story. Famous final girls include Ellen from Alien, Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street, Laurie from Halloween, but they're practically everywhere. "I Am Not Your Final Girl" is a poetry collection by Claire C. Holland. Each poem is based on a character from a horror film and explores themes of womanhood through the lens of horror. How about that for a Halloween-night-in idea? Final girl films + final girl poems.
Bonus: For more spooky reads, check out the nominees and winners of the Bram Stoker Awards, Atlas Obscura's Weird Wondrous Wicked Halloween, and The Ghost in My Machine, an "internet campfire" dedicated to chilly things with cozy vibes. Until next time! If you make it...
