Are you looking for a Christmas gift for a fellow horror-literature fan? Perhaps you’ve already bought them a book (or two or, perhaps, even three?) and want something else to complement these gifts? Maybe you’re looking for something for another Read Horror fan?
If you are in need of book suggestions themselves, please take a look at our 100 Horror Story Recommendations. If, however, you want a literary gift, that is not actually a book itself, here are a few suggestions for you:
1. Whilst many of us dream of owning something signed by the legend of Gothic literature, Edgar Allan Poe, we may have to accept that the chances of that are pretty damn slim (if you fancy it, you can buy a signed letter for a mere $65,000!). With that in mind, here’s the next best thing – this black coffee mug features Poe’s distinctive signature, in large white letters, and it’s a steal at only $7.
2. For the Poppy Z Brite fans out there, here’s a nice way to subtly identify yourself to other followers: this $18 cotton canvas tote bag features a fictional poster for the (fictional) band, Lost Souls?, who are featured across her work. The band consists of two characters (Ghost and Steve) and they play a big role in Brite’s first novel, Lost Souls, in which a teenager (Nothing), who discovers that he is the son of a vampire, tries to seek them out.
3. Even though Clive Barker’s Infernal Parade acti
on figures have been available for many years, they still offer something special: each figure comes with a segment of text inside its packaging, offering you the chance to collect all six in order to discover an exclusive and complete Barker story.
Individual figures range from £12.95 to £24.95 (or all six can be bought for £69.95).
4. This t-shirt provides us with a very modern way of honouring the woman responsible for one of the finest and most influential horror stories of all time – Mary (Wollstonecraft) Shelley. At only age 19, she wrote Frankenstein, which is still as powerful and relevant today as when she first scribed the legendary tale in 1816-1817.
The design is available in both babydoll sizes and men’s sizes, with prices starting at $19.99.
5. This excellent Lovecraftian t-shirt features a design linked to the most well-known of H P Lovecraft’s fictional manuscripts, the Necronomicon – specifically, the Latin version.
The story goes that, in the year 1228, the original, Arabic Necronomicon was translated into Latin, which was then banned by Pope Gregory IX a few years later. It is said that a 15th century Latin translation exists in the British Museum, and this t-shirt features a quote from that translated version. It’s sold on the Arkham Bazaar site and the quote is said to translate as the following: ’When the stars are right, R’lyeh will rise’. R’lyeh is the sunken city beneath the Sea, where Cthulhu lies imprisoned, and the image on the t-shirt, designed by Liv Rainey-Smith, depicts the great Cthulhu himself.
Prices start at $19.99, but if it’s too late for you to get this one in time for Christmas, why not order a gift certificate from the site instead?
6. Now, more Poe (no complaints, surely?)!
This is one for the writers out there – an Edgar Allan Poe journal (affiliate link), featuring quotes and excerpts from his body of work.
The cover features a quote from Poe’s reflective and thought-provoking poem ‘A Dream Within a Dream’: ‘all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream’.
With Poe quotes interspersed within the pages themselves, this should really help get the creative juices flowing for any horror writers out there who use this to note down ideas, as there are few as inspirational as our Lord of The Macabre…
7. This is sort of cheating, as there is only one available, but it deserves a mention: a Stephen King pencil (or trinket) box, found on an Etsy seller’s page.
The 8″ wooden box has been hand-sanded and hand-painted, not to mention decoupaged with actual pages (including a front cover) from a copy of King’s It. It’s selling for a mere £6.58 (or $10).
It certainly has a quirky charm to it, which is added to by the exclusivity of the item – if you want it, grab it quickly, before someone else does!
8. A gift that may be frowned upon by some horror fans, perhaps, but this one is a perfect way of introducing a genre classic to those who’ve not previously read it.
Here, you can order a personalised version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, where you can substitute up to 5 character names with the names of people you know. Perhaps, if you buy this as a gift, you will even make a horror fan out of somebody?
Dracula costs £18.49 from the IWOOT website, but other titles are also available on other sites, such as Shelley’s Frankenstein.
9. This one doesn’t need much explanation, what with the quill being an iconic image in the history of writing and literature. Whilst not in wide use nowadays, quill pens are actually available from many places online (Amazon for example). Indulge a horror writer’s decadent side and help them to create the perfect atmosphere for their creative pursuits – who needs laptops and iPads?!
10. And finally – not horror-specific, but definitely handy nonetheless! If you know someone who always complains that they’re forever being rudely interrupted when settled down with a good book, why not get this mug for them?
In those situations, who even needs (spoken) words? Simply show them the mug – they should get the message (we are not to be disturbed!)!
EMMA ROBINS
