So dramatic! DeathGlam black princess raccoon skull fascinator, made to order and can be custom made in other colors, $90

New Hampshire Etsy seller Cara Crass hand makes glittery and feminine glam confections with a gothic edge.  The fascinators for sale in Cara’s DeathGlamCouture Etsy store combine soft and pretty materials such as feathers, flowers, fake pearls and twinkling rhinestones with menacing animal skulls and chains.  The juxtaposition is striking.

Most of Cara’s pieces incorporate real animal skulls from small animals.  She actually works with two local taxidermists to source and prepare the skulls and animal bones.  All of the animal parts come from scavenged animals (they are not hunted to make the art).  She’s very open to custom orders so I suspect that she would have no problem making one of these styles with a resin cast animal skull instead of a real skull if you want the look without real animal parts.

Love the draping chains and the black and blue -- Midnight Lust badger skull fascinator, ready to ship, $80

Mink Jaw Hair clips in natural or bronze, $10 each

The Renee black and cabaret pink fascinator with glittered mink skull, $55

Bloody Valentine cat skull fascinator has white roses splashed with blood, $88

Life was Peachy crystal cat skull fascinator, $250

To see more or to buy, visit DeathGlamCouture’s Etsy shop.

A selection of profane artworks shown in Sacrilege. The large central piece, Obris Non Sufficit by Cam Rackam, shows Baphomet. Baphomet is an imagined pagan deity often confused with Satan. In reality it represents the duality of nature: dark and light, male and female, heaven and hell. Written on its arms are the latin words Solve and Coagulate.

Sacrilege, the desecration, profanation, misuse or theft of something sacred is the theme of a group art show currently on display at Congregation Gallery in Los Angeles.  I attended the opening on Saturday night along with a slew of other deliberate blasphemers.

One of the show’s central pieces, a large monochromatic painting by Cam Rackam entitled Obris Non Sufficit, depicts Baphomet.  Illustrations of Baphomet, including Cam’s, incorporate the words “Solve” and “Coagulate” written on each arm.   The translation of the Latin words are dissolve and congeal and they characterize an alchemical concept about breaking something down into its base elements, cleansing it of impurities and reassembling it into something more valuable.  This can be applied to metals or knowledge.  In the case of this group art show, artists deconstructed traditional religious iconography, cleansed it of its hypocrisy and dishonesty, and rebuilt it to reflect their own experience with organized religion.

You could tell artists had a lot of fun visually railing against aspects of religion and other things held sacred to our culture such as patriotism.  Everyone at the opening was in good spirits considering we’re all probably damned to Hell.

Birth of the Beast by Chris the Creep is my favorite piece I've seen from the Creep thus far. I love the vaginally suggestive composition, the mother's red eyes and the umbilical cord attached to the beast. The painting is available for $500.

Keri and her husband Chris the Creep talking to Tatomir

Denunciation by Tatomir Pitariu is bursting with symbolism including the vile rot spilling out of the inverted Christ figure's torso. The nail in his hand has a star of David carved on top and the words "Made in China" along the side. The Christ figure covers the flaming sun god and pagan pentagram. The painting is available for $466.

Works by Chris Peters, John Charles, Chris the Creep, Tatomir, Jean Paul Miller, Jacob Cass, Don Farrell, Mary J. Sheridan, Kat Gun and Derek Harrison

Artist John Charles

This Jesus is a Cunt t-shirt was perfectly on theme.

Three line works by Liv Rainey Smith and two pieces by Colm McCarthy

False Prophet by Tony Cupstid available for $1100

Pieces by Corey Urlacher, Scott Holloway, David Lozeau, and Jethaniel Peterka

In addition to the art, the Sacrilege opening included very special performances by puppeteer to the stars, Scott Land. Probably best known for his work on the 2004 film, Team America, Scott designs, constructs and performs with one of a kind marionettes. Each marionette takes approximately four months to build. His performances breathe remarkable life into the puppets.

Scott’s show opened with a very shady, trench-coat-adorned flasher who lurked around the room to the Pink Panther theme song.  He paused in front of members of the captive audience to reveal his light-up genitalia (the twinkling lights around his penis flashed when he opened his coat, so he really was a flasher).

The second number was surprisingly touching.  A tender clown blows up a balloon and takes flight (yes the marionette actually blows up the balloon!) until the balloon pops and he falls down to earth.  The contrast between the amusing flasher and the vulnerable clown was night and day and speaks to Scott’s artistry.

I was incredibly charmed by Scott’s show.  It was such a treat!  Watch his dancing skeletons, the final number of the night, tap their way into your heart in the video I took below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Visit my YouTube channel to see videos of the perverted Flasher and the sad Clown.  For more information about Scott’s remarkable marionettes, visit his website.

Dahlia Jane with the skeleton marionettes. I could have watched these little guys all night.

Artists Jean Paul Miller and Matt Levin

I love this painting. The colors and compositions are beautiful and the freak lamb is awesome. Lamb of God by Steve Rodgers available for $750

Gorgeous! Last Eucharist by Jel Ena

Artist and Gallery Curator Cam Rackam and Dahlia Jane

To see previews of the rest of the pieces in the show, or for more information, visit Congregation Gallery’s website.

Clint Carney live painting at the first Art Autopsy at Hyaena Gallery

Last night Hyaena Gallery in Burbank hosted its first Art Autopsy. Conceived as a monthly interactive live art experience, Art Autopsy features Hyaena artists creating art in the gallery.  Free and open to anyone, Art Autopsy offers a fantastic opportunity to observe artists at work and talk to them about what they’re doing.

The atmosphere was so casual and everyone involved was approachable and happy to discuss their process and mediums.  Sick dark artist and musician (of System Syn, God Module, & Imperative Reaction) Clint Carney serves as informal host. He set up his easel and acrylic paints in the back corner of the gallery and proceeded to paint a demonic compost of agonized faces and animal forms.

On the left you see Clint's painting in process and on the right the finished painting.

Clint was joined by sculptor Matt Levin, who creates gnarly and grotesque polymer clay sculptures using Super Sculpy.  Artists Clint Carney and Jason McCormack were picking his brain for techniques.  Matt builds the clay around a wire and tin foil armature and works it with tools until baking it in the oven at a low temperature (never higher than 225 degrees).  Because the clay is so sticky, with an almost chewing gum-like consistency, he can’t touch it directly when he gets to the detailed stage.  Instead he has to use small metal tools to carve out the texture he wants.

Matt showed me the original sketch he did for this piece, and it looked like a blobby caterpillar contorting.  It’s evolved into a more veiny, almost human form and it will continue to change as he decides how he wants the face to look.  It was fascinating to see how meticulous and detail-oriented he is.  He spent the whole evening working over the lower part.

Matt Levin works on his sculpture across from Jason McCormack.

This is one of Matt Levin's finished sculptures, Photophobia, available from Hyaena Gallery for $850

Across from Matt Levin, Jason McCormack dashed off this fantastic emaciated zombie drawing in ink on watercolor paper.  I haven’t really watched an artist dipping a brush in ink to draw before and I really liked the quality of the lines.

Jason McCormack doing an ink drawing on watercolor paper.

I was surprised to see Jason take out a toothbrush and dip it in ink to create the stippled background texture. I love the vacant eyes in this drawing!

Clint's System Syn bandmate, Atom Strange, working on his second painting. He's starting with acrylics on canvas and I really admired the fact that he's not intimidated to be working alongside more practiced artists. I like the ghostly forms coming out of the fire. It's a cool concept.

DW Frydendall drawing portraits of comic book characters for the Hyaena Gallery Art Vending Machine

Across from Atom Strange, DW Frydendall set to drawing small pieces for Hyaena Gallery’s Art Vending Machine.  What is an Art Vending Machine? you ask, well it’s a vending machine stuffed with little tubes of art by fantastic Hyaena artists.  Each tube is only $5 and might have a drawing, tiny painting, a Hyaena gift certificate, or knowing Bill, something disturbingly sinister.  It’s a lot of fun to open one of those tubes and an unbelievable opportunity to score an original piece of art.

I enjoyed watching DW Frydendall work because he whips up these comic book characters without any reference in front of him.  He looks off into space every so often and then puts his head back down to the paper and Batman appears.  Not being much of a comic book fan (I’m a girly girl, I don’t like comics, I do like dead babies), I requested a dead baby for his final drawing.

DW Frydendall's dead baby drawing. awwww...

DW Frydendall and Dahlia Jane

Besides the artists working in the gallery, the event also drew a great crowd of other artists looking to soak up tips and inspiration as well as art fans such as myself.  Conversation turned to weird Americana destinations along Route 66, TV and movies and DW Frydendall’s African execution axe.  It was a fun social event and I recommend it to anyone in the LA area looking to meet other dark art enthusiasts.  The next Art Autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday March 14. Visit Hyaena Gallery’s website for more information.

Here is a link to Clint Carney’s website.  To see more of Matt Levin’s work, click on his website. And DW Frydendall’s website is here.  Jason McCormack posted on his blog, The Real Zombie Muse, about the experience of creating art alongside the other artists.

This Roman era couple was buried together 1,500 years ago holding hands (via the Gothic Tea Society blog).

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my dreadful readers.  It may surprise some of you to learn that I am a hopeless romantic. I want nothing more than to find a true love that goes the distance (until my partner annoys me one time too many and I inject him with a paralytic that can’t be traced in an autopsy).  But what could be more romantic than spending eternity decomposing in each other’s arms?  Nothing!

This pair of embracing human skeletons was found in a Neolithic tomb in Valdaro-S.Giorgio near Mantova. Archeologists who found the couple in 2006 say the couple could have been buried some 6000 years ago. (via Cosmos Magazine)

Los Angeles Vanitas painter Chris Peters has several beautiful paintings depicting skeletons locked in eternal love including The Lovers (left) and All My Love (right).

The following images show that even after all the fun stuff has rotted away, the dead still enjoy physical expressions of love.  Or whatever…

These frisky skeletons are the work of french sculptor Jean-Marc Laroche.  The two sculptures were on display at New York City’s Museum of Sex from October 5 through November 4, 2011.  Human-sized and made of resin over steel, the sculptures, “are themselves quite joyful and they thumb their noses at death and present the afterlife as a roll in the hay,” Jean-Marc Laroche said.

“By showcasing the artistry of the human skeleton,” Museum of Sex curator Sarah Forbes explained, “we are able to think about sex from a whole new perspective.”

I’m not sure about that, but it does tickle my funny bone.

For more graphic skeleton sex, check out this 2008 Tulipan condom ad campaign by Guillermo Vega below. Images via the Behance Network.

The PVC and Taffeta Corset skirt is made to measure from black PVC fabric, spiral steel boning and crinkled taffeta for $325. The Black Lace Keyhole Blouse is $130

I’m seriously lusting after many of the romantic designs in Decadentdesignz’s Etsy shop.  The Toronto, Canada based clothing company custom makes dramatic and feminine clothing to order.  Combining Victorian influences with modern fabrics such as PVC, stretch lace and rayon, Decadentdesignz has a dark collection of corsets, dresses, separates and accessories that are sure to make heads turn at any goth club.

Black PVC and Lace Bustier is reinforced with spiral steel boning for $150. The Black PVC and Lace Mermaid Skirt has beautiful corset lacing up the sides, $150.

Black Lace Neck Corset is made from stretch lace fabric and spiral steel boning, $85

This is gorgeous! The Black PVC jacket is made to order for $275.

The Victorian Lace Ruffle Top is available in cream (shown) or black for $120. The High Waisted Taffeta Skirt is $115.

Distressed Mesh Dress with long sleeves, $165

For more information or to shop, visit Decadentdesignz Etsy shop.

Plague Rat Dahlia Jane in front of the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles

Tight-laced Corsets, delicate ruffles, striped stockings, glinting crystals, sugar dusted cookies, Suffer the teddy bear, blinding rage, lust for blood, sexual deviance, and mental illness all take center stage in Emilie Autumn’s dreamy concert.

I attended the Los Angeles stop of Emilie’s Fight Like a Girl (FLAG) tour at the El Rey Theater on February 4, 2012.  In many ways watching her show was more like watching a musical than a concert.  The unique blend of vaudeville, burlesque, cabaret and electronic industrial melodies, as well as her superb sense of story elevates Emilie’s shows to thrilling spectacle.

With her colorful and plaintive voice, Emilie slices her veins open and bleeds all over the stage.  Her emotions carry the show, which to quote from her new song “Girls! Girls! Girls!” becomes “a portrait of insanity, approached with pure humanity.”  The cell block number from her stint in a mental hospital is tattooed on her bare right arm.  Emilie’s audience embraces her because she is authentic.   She incorporates vaudevillian form to satirize the injustices society still places on women, the mentally ill, and especially mentally ill women.

The FLAG tour picks up where Asylum and the Opheliac album left off.  Emilie and her companions are imprisoned for the good of misguided society, and must adapt to survive.

Emilie Autumn silhouetted behind the clock with Naughty Veronica, the Blessed Countess and Captain Maggot draped on the rails

I was deep in the Asylum from the moment the lights went down, the red velvet curtain rose and a large clock prop with a silhouetted rat was revealed onstage.  Spending most of the show in a sparkly corset and wild, white mohawk, Emilie was attended by her marvelous and scrappy Bloody Crumpets, Captain Maggot, The Blessed Contessa and Naughty Veronica.

Most of the songs performed are unreleased cuts from the upcoming Fight Like a Girl album.  While I do prefer being familiar with songs before I go to a concert, it was exciting hearing all of her new material for the first time.

Setlist:

1. Best Safety Lies in Fear
2. 4 O’Clock
3. Dr. Stockhill/Opheliac Hidden Track (Speech Intro)
4. Fight Like a Girl
5. Time for Tea
6. The Art of Suicide
7. Take the Pill

(video I took below)

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. How to Break a Heart (Poem)
2. Liar
3. God Help Me
4. Dominant/Veronica’s Feather Dance
5. Girls! Girls! Girls!
6. Rat Game
7. Gears (Sound Effect)
8. We Want Them Young

(video I took below)

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. Gaslight
2. I Know Where You Sleep

(video I took below)

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. Let the Record Show
2. One Foot
3. Thank God I’m Pretty (Encore)

Each number was well choreographed.  The Bloody Countess did some gorgeous aerial work in front of a wheel chair bound Emilie in the dark and dramatic “Take the Pill”.  ”Girls! Girls! Girls!” featured my favorite choreography as Emilie appeared as a boy advertising the delightfully nutty Girls who mimed hanging themselves and other lewd antics.

I want to be a Bloody Crumpet.  Not only do they get to wear adorable Victorian-inspired outfits and cavort onstage.  But they’re also given license to be wildly naughty.  During “God Help Me” the Bloody Crumpets brought out tea implements and proceeded to generously include the audience by tossing out deliberately licked pink sugar-dusted heart cookies and dumping tea pot water upon their heads.  And Captain Maggot plunged into the audience for some crowd surfing.  Veronica indulged in corrupting not one, but two female audience members when she brought them up for the Rat Game (a girl on girl kissing game).  Picking one whose homemade glittered sign read, “Veronica!!! Be My First Lady Kiss” and another who asked her to be her Valentine, Veronica slyly planted devilish smooches on both their lips.

Emilie’s own story is one of abject despair.  A survivor of abuse, rape, a suicide attempt and genuine artistic/meaning-of-life angst, she conquers demons everyday.  I found myself strangely comforted when her main set ended with the new song “One Foot in Front of the Other.”  It’s a survival anthem for wayward girls everywhere asking, “How do we move beyond all of this misery?” and responding, “One foot in front of the other foot.”  It’s not overdone or melodramatic.  It simply offers solace for those dealing with similar feelings of hopelessness.

Emilie Autumn teaching Veronica to kiss in preparation for the Rat Game

I loved this show and cannot wait for Emilie’s new album Fight Like a Girl.  Meanwhile I’ve been replaying Opheliac on a near constant loop all week.

Visit my Youtube channel to see more videos from the show including Fight Like a Girl, Time for Tea and Let the Record Show.  Sorry there’s some sound distortion, but the picture quality is very good. For more information about Emilie Autumn, visit her website.  And Gothic Charm School has a delightful interview with Emilie discussing the FLAG tour here.

Are you an Emilie Autumn fan?  Have you seen her live and if so, what did you think of the show?

CustomCreature’s Preserved Heart Specimens

Heart Fetish Necklace taxidermy jewelry pendant contains a real squirrel heart that has been permanently preserved and sealed in a glass vial, $29

Etsy seller CustomCreature has several preserved animal hearts ranging from $14 to $198 which would make darkly romantic Valentine’s Day gifts. CustomCreature artist Sarina Brewer uses only ethically procured animal materials.  No animals are killed for the purpose of creating her art.  You can read more about where her materials come from on her Etsy profile.  Visit her Etsy shop to see more.

Ram Heart Dome contains a perserved ram heart enshrined under an 8" tall glass dome, $198

Dapper Cadaver Hearts

This 12 inch tall lucite case contains rabbit, pigeon, tortoise, frog and carp hearts for $125

Dapper Cadaver offers both detailed replicas and preserved animal specimen hearts.  To see more of their hearts, visit their webstore.

Lifelike Human Heart, Large is a cast replica of a large athletic human heart. It would look beautiful nestled in tissue paper, $50

 Blood Jewelry

The Love in Vein Pendant Kit comes with everything to safely make your own his and hers blood-vessel pedants including glass vials and stoppers, lock and key charms, alcohol swabs, blood extraction devices, transfer devices, gloves and bandaids. From Etsy seller LOVEINVEIN for $40

Erotic Skeletons

The Evolution Store has a huge collection of miniature hand carved erotic skeletons made in Bali from fossil walrus ivory, moose antler, and jet. Erotic Skeleton 36 is shown here, available for $269

Teddy Bears

Teddy Scares Edwin Morose Morgue Mini 6″ Plush (90003) from Amazon for $9.99

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company offers these 15" Teddy Bears, Horny Devil $59.99 and Love at First Bite Bear$89.99

Anatomical Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Skulls bon bons from Bond Street Chocolate are 72? chocolate and dusted with metallic silver. They come in a tin of 6 for $14

1lb Anatomically Correct Chocolate Human Heart from Pushin Daisies for $22.95. They also have a smaller, 10oz chocolate heart.

I'm not sure you could get one of these stunners in time for Valentine's Day, but they're too cool not to share. Marina Malvada makes chocolate skulls from the cast of a real skull. Each skull is $200 and in your choice of three flavors of imported chocolate. They usually take about three weeks to make. You can contact her to see if rush is available. photo via Cakehead Loves Evil

Insulting Candy Hearts

Etsy seller VonErickson makes these Anti Valentines Candy Heart necklaces. The Triple Heart Combo, left, is $35.32 and the Blue Drop Dead Candy Heart is $16.66

Dead Flowers

Dirty Rotten Flowers specializes in rotting bouquets. They offer decomposing bouquets for $29, decapitated roses for $25 and the I Love You Not carnations and deconstructed teddy (shown) for $27. The testimonials of people who have used the site for some payback are pretty funny.

I’m having a great time going through Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: For Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans & Independent Thinkers of All Sorts.  This bulky compendium has entries for more than fifteen thousand names, ranging from the most mundane to the strikingly unusual.  Whatever motivates your search for a name, whether it’s for a baby, yourself, or a character, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in this book.

It’s a great resource for fiction writers, especially those writing fantasy, historical fiction or horror, and seeking names for creatures of the night.  I’m going to keep a few of my favorite entries to myself, but I’ve made note of Nyx, Vacuna, Shade, Obsidian, Morag and Adriel so far.  Just looking at these names gives me ideas for twisted characters.

I haven’t thought up a name yet that I couldn’t find in the book.  The names are drawn from all over the world.  Each entry attempts to trace the origin and definition of the name as well as personages from history, mythology and pop culture who have wielded said name.  Lists in the back divide the names into more manageable categories such as the elements, the zodiac, pagan and magical names and colors.

A close-up of the entry for my name, Dahlia. Flamboyant? I never! Well, maybe just a little.... The entry for Jane says that it's a feminine form of John, which means "Yahweh has favored" in Hebrew. I'll take all that to mean that I'm a favored flower with good taste.

If I were you, I’d skip the introduction.  It actually put me to sleep when I was taking notes on the book.  It had a few interesting passages in the section “History of Names,” including the revelation that nicknames were used in Medieval Europe because of the superstitious notion that if someone knew your real name they could “witch” you. But for the most part, it rambled all over the place.

Name entries are much more succinct and to the point.  And if you really want to get in-depth into a specific name, the entries are a great jumping off point to guide your further research.

Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names is available from Amazon for $18.21.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.

In a letter to Anthony Ciaglia, sadistic rapist and serial killer David Gore wrote, “I think there is a place inside all of us that is drawn to a dark side.  It’s just that most people can resist it and take control.  While some of us give into it.” (310)

An exploration of the darkest impulses of the human mind is masterfully presented in The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man’s Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World’s Most Terrifying Killers.  This nonfiction book by journalist Pete Earley gives readers a rare glimpse into serial killers as they perceive themselves.

After a freak accident left fifteen year old Anthony Ciaglia with a traumatic brain injury that drastically affected his personality, he began a prolific correspondence with more than thirty incarcerated murderers.  Filled with rages that isolated him from his peers, Ciaglia looked forward to his daily trips to the “Murder Box” or UPS postbox where killers would send graphic depictions of their crimes and fantasies.

Over the years both the killers and Ciaglia found captive audiences who hung on each other’s every word.  Ciaglia offered the killers a window to the outside world and a nonjudgmental ear.  The killers gave Ciaglia insight into his detachment, a feeling of camaraderie (however misguided), and finally a sense of purpose when his hobby evolved into a mission to help solve cold cases.

The bulk of The Serial Killer Whisperer focuses on Ciaglia’s exchanges with just three serial killers: Arthur Shawcross, David Gore and Joe Metheny.  Earley’s decision to focus on in-depth profiles of these three men, rather than a general survey of all of the killers Ciaglia writes to, was wise as it keeps the reader from becoming overwhelmed.  Joe Metheny, in particular was fascinating as he claims to have served people human meat from his victims in barbecue pork and beef sandwiches he sold out of his roadside stand.

Ciaglia had the time and the interest to build relationships with these men.  We receive the benefit of a distilled look at their correspondences.  The letters are lurid, crude and obscene.  The killers describe victims’ awful ends with relish and it is horrifically gripping.

But the true value of the book is the access into the mindsets of the killers.  Of course their thoughts are edited with the goal of manipulating the reader (Ciaglia, and now us) to see them as they want to be seen.  Shawcross in particular bristles whenever he’s asked about his first two murders of two children but boasts about unbelievable exploits in Vietnam.

Weeding through the distortions, throughout the letters are revealing statements of the killers’ warped sense of reality.  “I chose them to die and I killed them with my hands because I respected the life I was taking from them,” Arthur Shawcross wrote.  Gore admits he always wondered why he felt compelled to take the scalps of women he killed as trophies.  Later he muses that after he’s executed he wants to be remembered as a man who tried to do good in the world even though he was unsuccessful.

Author Earley consistently strives to present a balanced picture of everyone involved.  Whenever possible, contents of the killers’ letters are compared to police reports and other witness accounts. Even Ciaglia’s temper and the pain it caused the people around him are exposed in detail whether he’s boasting about keying a stranger’s car, verbally berating his girlfriend or threatening to kill himself.  “It seemed that the only time I would communicate with my family was when I was verbally insulting them,” Tony admits in one of his letters.  “I don’t know what it was or why I was acting like such an ungrateful animal at that time, but for some reason I loved to make my mother cry.” (50)

Some fans of true crime accounts may be frustrated with the time the author takes to set up Ciaglia’s backstory from his accident until he begins feverishly writing serial killers.  But Ciaglia’s inability to return to the way his life was before the accident as well as his frustration with his out of control emotions becomes very important in the way he can relate to the killers.  The book goes down incredibly dark paths when killers encourage Ciaglia to become one of them and he begins to question his sanity.  This aspect of the narrative would have been far less poignant without the context.

Another source of dissatisfaction for some readers may come in the fact that the third act ends without the resolution of cold cases.  But it shows how selfish, untrustworthy and guarded Ciaglia’s pen pals are that they keep the truth to themselves even after there is no hope of their release.  Ciaglia has opened lines of communication that few others have accessed, however.  Perhaps in the future this will lead to new information.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  While I have read more true crime books than I can count, very few of them have been able to reveal the voice of the killers outside of the occasional confession or testimony.  And I admire the Ciaglia family’s openness to Earley exposing their story.  Anthony Ciaglia’s parents and younger brother were so patient and supportive with Anthony’s outbursts, recovery and interest in serial killers.  I enjoyed meeting them.  They seem like my kind of people.

The Serial Killer Whisperer is available from Amazon for $16.32.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.

Dahlia Jane wearing Arm the Animals Dear Hunter Baby Doll t-shirt and rescue dog, pekingese Audrey.

Once upon a time a little black pekingese was found wandering the streets in San Diego.  She was covered in matted fur and eating garbage to survive.  A Southern California Pekingese Rescue Group in Palm Springs took her in so she wouldn’t have to stay in a city shelter.  But no one realized that she was really an empress in disguise until I came along.  We fell madly in love and we lived happily ever after.

I first posted about Arm the Animals in 2010, and it’s still a great cause.  Their shirts and accessories feature empowering designs to promote awareness of animals in need.  I love the concept of animals having the means to retaliate against human cruelty and neglect.  And proceeds go towards animal rescue.

There are so many wonderful pets in need of loving homes.  And it took more than a little luck for Audrey and I to find each other.  Rescue organizations like the one where I found Audrey are run by people motivated only by their love for animals.  Even though they are tiny organizations with very limited funds, they make a huge difference one animal at a time.  Arm the Animals is partnered with two non-profit organizations which pull animals off shelter kill lists: Barks of Love Animal Rescue in Orange County, California and Strangest Angels Animal Rescue in Los Angeles.

Women's Panemic Hoodie in Purple (also comes in black and this design is available on t-shirts and tank tops as well) $42

Guy's RhinoBlasty 2.0 t-shirt $24

Cat-Astrophe v-neck t-shirt (this design is also available on a tote bag or hoodie) $25

Arm the Animals is looking to expand with new products and designs through a Kickstarter project.  Your pledges will help them grow and give you a chance to score new stuff including hats and hoodies.

Men's Squirrel-chuck t-shirts available through the Arm the Animals Kickstarter Project.

Dahlia Jane and Audrey

For more information on Arm the Animals or to buy, visit their website.  The striking Dear Hunter baby doll t-shirt I’m wearing in the photos is available here.