Handmade Horrors: Volume One: MORBID DECOR’s Classic Horror Lightbox Lamps

Hello my darling horror fiends! Welcome to my Handmade Horrors column. For my first entry into the macabre world of handmade goods, I would like to introduce you to the extremely talented craftsman Dave of Morbid Decor. He creates gore-juss lightbox lamps depicting classic scenes, characters, and movie poster artwork from some of your favorite horror films.

 What was your inspiration or motivation for your creations?
Well, I love horror films and I like to surround myself with the genre. But I’ve kinda outgrown thumb-tacked posters, you know? I want to represent my love of horror, the weird, the bleak with a little bit more adulty-like decor–keep the horror, but also make things that look like artwork.  So I started making lightboxes of my favorite horror scenes. Friends really liked it, so I started making them as gifts. Pretty soon, I realized I should sell these pieces I’d been making. My only rule was and is: make what you want.

What are your top 5 favorite horror movies?
Only five? This might be tough. Okay, here goes:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Curse of Frankenstein
Dawn of the Dead
The Manson Family
Evil Dead II

and if you want to get desperately nerdy, here’s is my top 5 DVD commentators:

1. Bruce Campbell
2. Bill Moseley
3. George Romero
4. Tom Savini
5. Herschell Gordon Lewis

Did you start as an Etsy seller, or were you selling your creations via other venues before you discovered Etsy?
Moronically, I started selling on myspace. It was a nightmare. Completely disorganized, getting contacted by psychos, and impossible to collect money from people. Then my friend Sharon told me about Etsy, and I’m wicked grateful for it. I really like Etsy;  it couldn’t be easier to use. But it’s still limiting. A lot of people don’t have nor want an Etsy profile to buy one particular thing, so I offer different ways to pay on my website.

For our readers who aren’t 100% comfortable with buying things online, where else can they find your creations? On the road!–horror conventions, tattoo shows, craft fairs. I infrequently vend myself, so Morbid Decor is represented by The TB Gallery at most shows. Here’s a link to my 2010 schedule.
I’m also starting to get my pieces into retail stores:
*Museum of the Weird–Austin, TX
*Finder’s Creepers–Des Moines, IA
*Gift Emporium–Kingston, RI
*House of Madness Tattoos–Manchester, MD

Do you create custom lamps? Yes! I really like making custom pieces. Here’s a link to my website with all the custom ordering info: http://morbiddecor.com/?page_id=107

Where else can we find you on the internet?
the Morbid Decor website: www.morbiddecor.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morbid-Decor/123472784348220?ref=sgm
My ebay shop, where I hock cool horror swag all the time: http://stores.ebay.com/MORBID-DECOR

Anything else you want our readers to know? Just that I’m really appreciative of my customers and retailers. I always try to make every transaction go as smoothly as possible, because these people are making the conscious decision to support an independent, not flicking away bills at Target, where it will go unnoticed. So thanks.

I dunno about you guys and gals, but I am putting one of each on my birthday/xmas/anytime wish lists!  I’m all for buying cool, useful stuff from actual people more than corporations leasing out to sweatshops. If it’s unique and handcrafted, I’m all about it! :D I’m looking forward to telling you about more creepy handmade horrors in the future. Make sure to check out the Etsy widget on my blog, it’s in the sidebar. I choose new favorites usually weekly, and will be showcasing many other artists from all over the world and the web right here on Horrornews.net!

Cheers,