Curious History: Creepy Vintage Halloween Costumes, 1890-1900

These really are creepy. If you were too chose wearing one of these instead of current costumes, I think it would definitely up the creep factor.

Curious History: Model of Decomposing Corpse in Coffin, 1900

Crawling with maggots, this unusual wooden model shows a decomposing corpse exposed by an open coffin. Little is known about the model. It is thought to be a memento mori. These objects are reminders of death and the shortness of life. Memento mori come in different shapes and sizes. Up until the 1500s, death was often represented by a skeleton leading a living victim to their fate. A skull became a more common representation of death after this date. What makes this piece even more creepy is that its origin is unknown.  

Curious History: Pocket Watch Concealed in a Memento Mori, 1700

Memento mori (a Latin phrase for “remember your mortality”) are objects that were usually carried or worn by a person as a reminder of one’s mortality. What’s particularly interesting about them is that they were very common objects for hundreds of years. They served the purpose of reminding the owner of mortality and the shortness of life. Prior to the 15th century, the objects would usually be in the shape of a full skeleton or a combination of a skeleton and a healthy body. Early in 16th century, the trend evolved into the image of a skull or half skull, half face. The ones above served a practical purpose in that they contains a pocket watch.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the trend of having memento mori objects went out of fashion. This was around the same time that families ceased having viewings of deceased loved ones in the home and used mortuaries instead. The concept of caring for a family member’s body until burial was no longer the cultural norm. As a society we have distanced ourselves from the concept of death both mentally and physically. Considering death is as natural to life as birth, this is not necessarily a positive trend.

Curious History: Extreme Pumpkin Carving

 
American artist Ray Villafane has taken pumpkin carving to a whole new level. Using his background in fine art and his work in designing models for DC and Marvel comics, Ray turns pumpkins into gruesome Gothic gargoyles.

Curious History: Marvelous Monsters

 Artist Jordu Schell creates wonderful monsters and creatures, primarily for the film and television industry. Since his start in 1987, his work has been featured in Avatar, Alien vs. Predator, and many other productions.