We’ve arrived at the time of year when special gifts for family and friends top our list of needful things. If you’re seeking that perfectly unconventional thing for the horror lover in your life, you may rest easily, kittens. Below is Eva Halloween’s Guide to 13 Unusual and Unique Gifts for Unusual and Unique People, our annual gift guide of the delightfully macabre and bizarre.  Happy browsing!

1. Dracula’s Conquest Rubber Stamp ($5) – Bring all the seductive power of Bram Stoker’s Dracula to your next crafternoon.

2. Vintage Clockwork Musical Monkey ($12) –  Stephen King’s 1985 short story collection Skeleton Crew included the tale of an increasingly sinister wind-up monkey who dealt death with every clash of his cymbals. Now you can bring that same creepiness into your own home with this vintage clockwork monkey for the low, low price of $12.

3. Haunted Mansion Bell ($15) – For the Haunted Mansion lover in your life, this elegant handbell will immediately bring to mind the immortal words of Madame Leota, “Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint, by ringing a bell…”

4. Tokyomilk Dark Hand Balm Arsenic #17 ($22) – From Tokyomilk’s Femme Fatale line, this louche unguent is redolent with the scents of “absinthe, vanilla salt, cut greens, and crushed fennel.” A fascinatingly inoffensive way to hint that someone’s flesh may be a bit on the dusty side.

5. Edward Gorey’s Dracula Toy Theatre ($28) – Edward Gorey, known for his disturbingly whimsical pen-and-ink drawings, also was an award winning costume and set designer for the 1977 theatrical revival of Dracula. This pop-up version of Gorey’s sanatorium of Dr. Seward  contains 2 stage sets with foldups and foldouts, plus die-cut furniture, props, and a cast of 8.

6. The Walking Dead Print Graphic Print ($35) – For the Walking Dead lover in your life, this graphic art poster created by Cooee Design features bold color and a (possibly literally) eye-catching design.

7. Bronze Wax Seal Memento Mori Necklace ($49) – Based on an antique wax seal, this lovely pendant features a skull with the classic memento mori inscription “So as you are, so once was I.”

8. Handmade Edgar Allen Poe Book Purse ($58) – Wear your love of spooky literature on your arm with a leatherbound book purse version of Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Handmade with midnight black lining, this clutch is the perfect accessory for a trip to the library or a night out in Baltimore. Flask and raven sold separately.

9. Sleeping Beauty 2: Memorial Photography by Stanley Burns ($85) – In 1990, Dr. Stanley B. Burns reintroduced the nearly forgotten Victorian tradition of postmortem photography with his landmark publication of Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America. Although his original compendium is currently out of print, this second hardcover collection of 186 pages includes photographs from American and European postmortem traditions.

10. Weevil Beetle Riding A Red Tricycle Shadowbox Diorama ($95) – This handmade taxidermy diorama from San Francisco purveyors of all things odd Loved to Death features a cheery weevil perched on a bright red tricycle. For when you want to be absolutely positive that yours will be the most unique gift in the white elephant exchange.

11. Octopus Tentacle Candle Holders ($140) – Whether Kraken or Cthulu, these disembodied bronze-finished tentacles have risen from the depths for reasons unknown, but are content to simply hold your lit candlesticks aloft…for now.

12. Anatomy of Digestion Plates ($270) – The human digestive system is a fascinating set of anatomy, astoundingly functional and, perhaps, beautiful as well. Decide for yourself with this set of anatomy and histology tasting plates from Anatomy Boutique, featuring hand-finished fine china in intricate patterns of teeth, mucosa, arteries and lobules.

13. 19th Century Victorian Tombstone ($2,000) – The term unusual gets tossed around, but when it comes to truly unique, consider this one-of-a-kind antique tombstone from the 19th century. Created for a departed soul in 1879 but carved in error, this headstone stood instead as a fabulously macabre business advertisement in front of the creator’s workshop. While the price is not inconsiderable, is money really an object if your favorite taphophile has developed a tragic chalk allergy or run out of wall space for rubbbings?

Hope this year’s gift guide helps make your holidays just a bit more happily horrible, kittens. For even more gifting inspiration, visit our previous years’ lists here, and stay tuned to TYoH for more Holiday of Horrors now through the end of the year!

Categories: Holiday of Horrors 2014

Tags: Christmas, Eva Halloween’s Guide to 13 Unusual and Unique Gifts for Unusual and Unique People, gift guide, gift ideas, holiday gift guide, Holiday of Horrors, Holidays, horror, lists