Grim Reviews: Selected Cthulhuvian Themed Christmas Stuff

'Tis the night before Christmas. At least, in my time zone, and there's been nothing better to do right now than explore the web in search of yet more Lovecraftian Christmas items. Unlike Thanksgiving, as I noted last month, Christmas is veritably infested with the weird spawn of Cthulhu. Without further delay, I present my own selection of the best Christmas themed Cthulhuvian items making their rounds on the internet:

"The Last Christmas:" An epic comic from a couple years back, created by Gabe and Tycho, is still worth a look. It tells the tale of Great Cthulhu's rise during the holiday season, with expected effects: festivity turns to fear, madness instead of mistletoe, and the only one having a holiday feast is Cthulhu himself. A well drawn piece bleeding grim humor from every pore.
Cthulhu Plush Wreath: Appearing early next year in time for Christmas 2008, this toy seller takes the Plushie Cthulhu of ubiquity one step further: wreath form. Pictured at the top of this blog post, Cthulhu spreads his enlarged wings to form the wreath's circle, tied together by either a Shoggoth or a Derleth-style Elder Sign, depending on how one looks at it. A R'lyeh made wreath was probably inevitable, at least when considering the roots of the Western wreath, whose Medieval origins are almost sure to stretch back to pre-Christian times.
Cthulhu Christmas Tree Ornament: This soft Christmas ornament would be perfect for bringing a little eldritch horror to the Yule tree, if not for the high price. Most impressively, the merchant got Cthulhu's menacing expression right. And with the red eyes, it stuns one into realizing how well a red-green Cthulhu blends with the festive season. Coincidence or conspiracy of the Great Old Ones?
"A Lovecraft Christmas:" A take by Paul M. Lemieux on the classic poem, "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." This one is a fine accompaniment to the slew of Cthulhu Christmas songs that have appeared from the HPLHS noted in the last post. The ending is also a lighter one than most, at least for a brush with world shattering insanity and terror.
Lovecraftian Christmas Cookies: The Belly Timber blog still holds the record for best Lovecraftian holiday food creation. In 2005, several blasphemous batches of cookies were created for human consumption (an unexpected turn around, no?). Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath, a Shoggoth, and other entities man was never meant to put into culinary form were created. I read somewhere that an army of elite cultists soon arrived and destroyed the cookie cutters these snacks were forged from. Thus, the secrets of their creation will remain buried, at least from mortals without professional culinary design skills.

Finally, I'll close by saying MERRY CHRISTMAS from Grim Reviews, and offering a few of the better Santa Cthulhus from that eternal fountain of fan creativity, Deviant Art: