Featurette II

Life has a strange fascination with throwing unpredictable events without warning. Because of this, I’ve been away from writing posts to take some time to recover from illness and other time-consuming situations. During this time I’ve been exploring the Internet for interesting blogs of note, and I would like to share a few of these with you, lovely readers:

• Dark Side University: As quoted from the site, “Dark Side University is a goth community offering free classes on gothic, horror, vampiric, and Halloween courses.” Some of the previous courses included “Bats, Gentle Creatures of the Night”, “Gothic Cathedrals”, “The History of Halloween”, and “The Amityville Horror”. The coursework can be rather heavy, so I would suggest only taking classes if your schedule permits. That being said, the community is very warm and friendly, and I have discovered many interesting media through taking these courses. This site is highly recommended for the intellectually curious.
• Plagues & Epidemics: Lately I’ve been interested in early medical practices and epidemics. This site has served as the starting point for my research. The site features articles, artwork, old photos, and many other fascinating relics of the past. Such examples include these disturbing Plague Drawings by Clint Brown, information about Hans Holbein’s Alphabet of Death, and links to other interesting blogs, such as The Oddment Emporium. Sadly, the site hasn’t been updated since April 30, 2014, but I would recommend this site, in addition to Dark Side University, to those interested in uncovering the morbid history of early medical science.
• Drac Makens: I discovered Drac Makens’ channel while searching for other Goth YouTubers a few months ago, and I’ve been a subscriber ever since. Drac’s makeup ideas are absolutely gorgeous and creative; I’ve been inspired to stretch my cosmetic creativity thanks to her videos (I hope to recreate these four incredible looks in the future, for example). I also enjoy watching her speed painting videos, such as her painting "Higher Love" and her sandworm wall mount.
• SpookyLoop: I don’t have a Tumblr, but I’ve found many interesting Goth and macabre blogs after poking around on the site, including the aforementioned Plagues and Epidemics. SpookyLoop is another example. Each page of this blog is graced with beautiful images, lovely gifs, and fantastic musical recommendations. Anna, the owner of the blog, is a very sweet individual and an extremely talented artist and milliner. I would also recommend her millinery blog; her designs are absolutely gorgeous.

I hope you enjoy visiting these sites as I have, and I hope to return to blogging as soon as possible.