The Blood Pen, invented by Bob Partington, is a must-have accessory for any respectable vampire writer.

I know some of you have seen the Blood Pen ever since early 2008, but I just found it today and had to post some photos of it here. This creepy gadget features a syringe and a pen nib, connected by a plastic mechanism. After you fill the syringe with your own blood (seems reasonable enough), you stick it in place and start writing your bloody memoirs.

As you can see in the video at the bottom, it’s not the best writing tool, as it often drips more blood than you’d like, but the idea in itself is enough to impress you. I don’t much like the flashy silver feather attached, but I guess that’s just a matter of taste.

via Gizmodo

Chris Gilmour is a world famous artist who creates representations of every-day objects from cardboard.

You may have seen cardboard art before, but the level of detail and complexity of Mr. Gilmour’s works is simply breathtaking. Although he also works with “dirty cardboard” (salvaged from packaging cardboard boxes with labels and common writings), his “clean cardboard” pieces are he most astonishing. People often have the impression his cardboard sculptures are actually real objects wrapped in paper.

Take a look at some of his most famous masterpieces and be sure to pick your jaw off the floor.

Mike Stilkey is an artist from Alta Dena, California, who creates amazing works of art by stacking spine-painted books.

Mike had been drawing on book pages for a very long time, even publishing a book with 100 portraits painted on old book pages, called “100 Portraits”, when he realized it would be a good idea to paint on the book covers themselves.

His plan was to paint the books and then place them all against the wall, but he eventually got it in his mind that painting the book spines would be even better.He wasn’t very impressed with his first work, but when he presented it during the second Artist’s Annual group show, it got quite a lot of attention. Now his book paintings made Mike Stilkey one of the most respected artists of his generation

Photos by Dave Kinsey

via Fecal Face

These are the famous “fantasy coffins” used by the Ga Tribe, on the coast of Ghana to both mourn and celebrate the death of a beloved family member or friend.

The tradition of burying people in strangely-shaped coffins began roughly 50 years ago when a fisherman was set to rest in a funeral casket shaped like a fish. Ever since then photographers have been buried in camera-shaped coffins, people who like to drink in caskets shaped like beer bottles and avid smokers, you guessed it, in cigarette-like wooden coffins.

Families of the deceased spend enormous amounts of cash on these intricate caskets, sometimes even as much as $600. Sure, that may not seem like a lot to you, but in a country where the average income is somewhere around $50/month that’s a lot of money. The wealthier relatives usually put up  the most part of the sum with the rest of the families providing the rest.

The coffins of the Ga tribe symbolize the essence of the deceased, his profession, a vice or his place in the community.

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To celebrate the release of the “New Super Mario Bros” video game for the Nintendo Wii gaming system, a makeshift Super Mario Museum popped up at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center, in New York.

Remember all that Mario every day stuff that came out throughout the years. we’re talking about Mario shampoo, Mario lunchboxes, cooking pans, paintings and even Super Mario adverts. All were showcased at the temporary Super Mario Museum, outside the Nintendo World Store, in New York City.

Thousands of fans gathered outside the establishment waiting to admire all the priceless memorabilia, compete in Super Mario video-game challenges and get their hands on a copy of the new video-game starring the popular Mario and Luigi duo.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out the Mario Museum on site, Wired offers you a set of photos revealing most of the Mario items on display:

Known as “La Isla de la Munecas”, by the Spanish, The Island of the Dolls is perhaps the creepiest tourist attraction in Mexico. Located within an extensive network of canals, south of Mexico City, the island is a place of mystery and superstition.

Almost every tree growing on the island is decorated with old, mutilated dolls that give anyone the feeling that they’re constantly being watched. The story behind the Island of the Dolls began when a hermit by the name of Don Julian Santana moved here. Although he was married he chose to live the last 50 years of his life alone.

Don Julian used to say he was haunted by the ghost of the little girl who had drowned in one of the canals around the island. Some say he used to fish the dolls from the water because he though they were real children, but the truth is he was collecting and placing them around his home as a shrine for the spirit that tormented him. At one point he even traded home grown fruit and vegetables for old dolls.

Ironically, in 2001 Don Julian Santana was found dead by his nephew, in the same canal that he said the little girl drowned in. Now his Island of the Dolls is one of the world’s weirdest tourist attractions. Some tourists who visited this place claim the dolls whisper and you must offer them a gift upon setting foot on the island, to appease their spirits.

via Bizarre

Mass: We Pray, you could say it gets you closer to religion in a virtual way. Made my point and did it rhyming, thank you very much.

First of all, this is no joke folks, Mass: We Pray is a real gaming system aimed to help you and your family experience the joy of Sunday Mass anytime you want, in the comfort of your own home. “”After all, a family shouldn’t have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord” as it’s said in the game’s press release.

Mass: We Pray was obviously inspired by the revolutionary Nintendo Wii, but instead of Wiimotes and Nunchucks it features two cross-shaped motion-detecting remotes and kneelers for a genuine religious experience. You and your kids can participate in over 24 different ceremonies and compete in “fun” challenges like Ring the Church Bell,  Spray Holly Water or Shake the…Smoke Thingy Used in Church. The more you play the more grace points you collect and with them you can unlock the “uber-cool” holy mysteries. There’s even a downloadable expansion pack with even more “fun-packed” religious activities.

“Sadly”, Mass: We Pray will be available on Easter 2010, at the soonest, but you can pre-order starting November 20, 2009. So who needs boring games like Wii Sports, when you can have the heavenly Mass: We Pray.

Check the trailer at the bottom to see how happy it makes people.

Entitled “You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too”, the chocolate couch was created by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich for an art-exhibit appropriately named “Let Them Eat Art”.

The chocolaty art-piece was covered in a thick layer of chocolate that not only made it look like a brown leather couch, but also feel like one. All the couch details, including buttons and stitching were made from chocolate.

That chocolate couch looks so real I bet there was someone at the gallery door telling visitors not to sit on it.

via mocoloco

James Corbett takes used card parts and, using them like pieces in a puzzle, creates amazing steampunk sculptures.

Corbett showed artistic talent ever since he was a little boy. Colleagues at his Redcliff school would always tell him he’d grow up to be an artist. But, at 36 years old James was running a motor wrecking business. That’s when he started welding together a bunch of car parts and awakened the dormant talent inside. In just 18 months he closed his wrecking business and became a full-time artist.

James Corbet says he makes these original sculptures because he can and it would be a shame to waste his God-given talent. The Car Part Sculptor has exhibited his works in galleries all across the world.

via John Davies Gallery

Teeth and Silver go together like horse and carriage. At least according silversmith Polly van der Glas, who created a strange collection of teeth encrusted silver jewelry.

Polly van der Glas, who won the Craft Victoria Fillipo Raphael Fresh! Award, in 2006, handcrafts a unique type of silver jewels, using collected human teeth and hair. The teeth are collected from all around Melbourne and sterilised, while the hair is sometimes imported from China and India.

Apparently the teeth are pretty hard to come by in Australia, so maybe miss van der Glas should get in touch with an Indian street dentist. I’m sure they could work out some sort of agreement.

via Ecouterre