Darlings, are you ready for part two of our 2013 countdown? Read on for numbers eight through thirteen of the 13 Things You Missed on TYoH in 2013 (or click here for Part One if you missed yesterday’s post!).

8. Fast Asleep for 100 Years: Vintage Wax Anatomical Models

An art technique since the 1300’s, the use of exceptionally detailed wax figures to demonstrate anatomical principles first arose in the late 17th century. Of particular note were “Anatomical Venuses,” extremely realistic female figures finely crafted of wax, human hair, pearls, and rosewood, featuring both a languid, artistically beautiful form and a intricately functional anatomical model, blurring the line between art and science.

9. Like Something Strange, Undreamt-of: The Nightmare Illustrations of Stephen Gammell

With simple charcoal images, illustrator Stephen Gammell of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series created amorphous phantasms: nightmare wraiths with melting faces emerging from fog; unsettling churchyards with twisted, shadowy trees; ghastly surrealist arms that ate themselves. In honor of his introducing a generation of children to the shivery delight of a good scare, enjoy this chilling gallery of twenty-five eldritch illustrations by Mr. Gammell.

10. I Will Stitch Your Eyeids Shut: The Horror of Ommetaphobia

Heavy with symbolism, the eye has appeared as an iconic element in art and religion for thousands of years, from the Eye of Horus in ancient Egypt to the floating nightmare globes of surrealist photography and film. This import we attach to the eye makes it a common target for modern body horror – small wonder the eye-cutting scene in 1929′s Un Chien Andalou still ranks as one of the top 25 most shocking scenes in film. If you suffer from ommetaphobia (the intense fear of eyes), click no further into this collection of images featuring that symbolic orb, the eye.

11. All of the Magic of This Blissful Hour: 1922 Kodak Color Test Footage

Softly colored, almost ethereal, this clip of early full-color Kodachrome film made by Kodak in 1922 featured lovely actresses posing and gesturing for a hand-cranked camera, offering a beautiful and rare in-color glimpse of vintage 1920’s form and fashion.

12. The Bones of the Dancers are Heard to Crack: The English National Ballet 

The Romantic ballet of the early 1800′s emphasized fantastic themes, evanescent fairies in white, “the woman reduced to a pure spirit.” Leap into the 21st century of dance with the English National Ballet’s attempt to change the perception of ballet to something grittier, capturing the dark heart of physical expression with primal figures weaving together in an modern danse macabre inspired by classical notions of Heaven and Hell.

13. Check Out Anytime You Like: The Macabre History of Hotel Cecil

At the beginning of the 20th century, Los Angeles was a city on the rise, “destined to become the most important city in this country, if not the world.” It was to this tide of optimism and prosperity that Hotel Cecil opened its doors in 1927. But by the 1950’s, the hotel had acquired a growing pedigree of murders, suicides, and assaults, most recently with the bizarre 2013 disappearance and death of Elisa Lam. Read up on the sinister history of this still-operational hotel that some claim to be one of most haunted places in all of Los Angeles.

Related Posts:

– The Ghost in the Mirror: 13 Things You Missed in 2013 (Part One)

– Passing Ghosts: 5 Things You Missed in 2012

– Friday Night Features: Our Top Five Horror Shorts of 2013

Categories: Art & Inspiration

Tags: anatomy, art, ballet, beauty, Best of 2013, dance, early film, Elisa Lam, English National Ballet, eye, history, Hotel Cecil, lists, ommetaphobia, phobias, photography, science, Stephen Gammell, vintage