Happy Friday / St. Nicholas Day / Krampus, everyone!

From Zazoo: “The Dark Crystal game is being released…and the announcement was made by a group of Fizzgigs!”

From Cassandra: An amazing story about David Bowie’s last creative works. 

Via Springwise: Sheep Inc. sells sweaters that last a lifetime, and if you buy one, you also “adopt” a sheep and get updates on its life. 

There’s lots of horrible news in the world these days. But there is also some beauty and some good news to be found. Here’s a site for when you’re feeling overwhelmed. 

Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone. We’re taking Monday off but will be back Tuesday! (Also, our Advent calendar posts will return. We’re going to do a week at a time this year, I think.)

It’s that time of year again, when everyone compiles “best of” lists. But it’s also the end of a decade, or nearly the end of a decade, depending on how you chart time. In any case, bring on the lists of the decade! 

By the way, next year’s color will be Classic Blue. Pantone says so, anyway.

Also next year: Libraries2020 is a new site from EveryLibrary , dedicated to getting the word out about public libraries during the 2020 election campaign and beyond.

Did you know that sites ending in .org are facing an astronomical price hike if the Internet Society sells the domain name off? SaveDotOrg is asking for your help.

And now, for something fun: The true tale of John Scalzi and The Case of the Felonious Bread, featuring 4,500-year-old yeast and an intrepid hound!

The amazing EPBOT people have made an illusion wall in their living room that is absolutely stunning. And you can make one, too!

In other lovely spooky happenings, check out this tarot deck made entirely out of natural materials (bark and plants).

Not so lovely, but cool and spooky: A “witch bottle” was discovered in an old chimney in Watford, England. 

And just plain cool in a weirdish way: There’s a “squeaky curtain” dividing mouse species in Europe!

Finally, the future is edging closer, with the advent of flying motorcycles! Keep watching the skies! 

(Speaking of advents, our advent calendar posting will be a bit delayed due to some technical complications. Keep watching for that, too.)

Benjamin Sack creates intricate impossible cityscapes, and if you’re in Berlin, you can see them firsthand at an exhibit. 

I had not heard of Ira Cohen before, but his Mylar Chamber images are trippy and wonderful.

Hello and happy December! This means it’s time for another Advent calendar. This year, we’re opening up Hot Wheels. See below for Day 1!

The Apostrophe Protection Society is admitting defeat in its valiant attempt to preserve good grammar. (The website, fortunately, will stay up for the foreseeable future.)

AI Weirdness is back to suggest some lovely(?) holiday pie flavors for you! 

And Grant Snider has a beautiful little comic about iridescence.

Greetings! It's been surprisingly busy right before the Thanksgiving break, so SpookyLibrarians HQ is throwing in the towel and taking off until next week. Until then, we leave you with this Fizzigig puppet from The Dark Crystal. Have a safe and spiffy week/weekend/holiday, everyone! Back next week.

Happy Monday!

I read Tedium’s article about tape hiss and then fell down a rabbit hole, trying to find the noise that played at the beginning of many cassette tapes. It’s called XDR (or test tone, sometimes) and of course I should have checked Metafilter first. 

Umberto Eco talked about what Casablanca, Hamlet, and The Count of Monte Cristo have in common – they’re wildly imperfect, which, oddly, makes them great. 

Why are haunted houses creepy? Aeon explores the spooky hallways in our minds.