Watch Your Back
Now that the weather has cooled down a bit, there’s no better time to curl up under a blanket and binge watch a creepy show into the wee hours. Today I’m making three recommendations based on three things I’ve watched recently — so actually, this newsletter contains six recs. If you end up checking out any of these shows, PLEASE let me know, as I would LOVE to discuss!
Garden Party
MUSHROOM WALTZ PRINT - MSAFER ILLUSTRATION
I know I’m late to the party, but I just watched Over the Garden Wall for the first time on Hulu. An animated miniseries that aired on Cartoon Network in 2014, the show tells the story of two brothers who must find their way home after stumbling into a mysterious woodland called the Unknown. The animation style is achingly beautiful and embodies the essence of autumn: rolling amber wheat fields, cozy wooden cabins, forest trails carpeted in russet, all threaded through with an eerie undercurrent present in the best kid’s shows. I’m not surprised that in the years since its release, Over the Garden Wall has garnered a cult following that holds rewatch parties every October.
Artist Madison Safer’s cozy prints aren’t technically fan-art, but they embrace the same peculiar whimsy that Over the Garden Wall does. Also like the show, her paintings are quintessentially fall: a mama fox fills a wicker basket with chanterelles; two lovebird owls snuggle under a patchwork quilt; a field mouse waits for her kettle to boil. Of all of Safer’s prints, though, Mushroom Waltz feels particularly OGTW-inspired — but you’ll have to watch the show to see what I mean.
The Moth, The Myth, The Legend
MOTH ART DOLL - CHERTOPOLOH ARTS
In the age of prestige TV, sometimes you just gotta kick back and enjoy something unabashedly trashy. MonsterQuest, which aired on the History Channel from 2007 - 2010, does the trick admirably. Each episode unpacks an urban legend, furnished with interviews with insistent eyewitnesses, dramatic recreations, and — the best part — hilariously rendered graphics of the monsters. Take, for example, the Mothman episode, in which the cryptid in question is shown as a tubby, fuzzy sloth who screeches like a cat in heat. The show’s depiction gave me a good chuckle, but Chertopoloh Arts’ doll version captured my heart; Anastasia reimagines Mothman as a slight, fey little creature, very dapper and distinguished in his lace-trimmed finery, topped with a delicate ruff and tiny golden crown. This Mothman certainly wouldn’t be flapping around terrorizing the locals — he’s more likely to invite you over for afternoon tea.
Play It Safe
HANDMADE BROOCH ‘SAFE TRAVELS, DON’T DIE’ - FERN TALES
Part 2 of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries dropped on Monday, and I devoured it in one fell swoop before running to Reddit to gorge some more on fan theories and speculation. I’m not at all a True Crime Person, but I decided to give Part 1 a chance back in July and got hooked. Rather than a show like, say, Cold Case Files, which ties everything up neatly in an expedient 25 minutes, the unfinished business of Unsolved Mysteries is vastly more chilling — and heartbreaking, too, for the families who can’t get the closure they need. A brooch like this reminds me to do my best to get home safely, because having watched the aftermaths of sudden disappearances play out across my screen, I want to do everything in my power to never subject my loved ones to that. Please stay safe, everyone!
Tried one of my recs and loved it (or hated it)? Wanna get something cool on my radar? Drop me a line at kittylguo@gmail.com or swing by my Twitter @kitguo!