Horror-inspired Apparel! THE SHINING and TWIN PEAKS, now in scary wearable form…

And I don’t mean schlocky t-shirts…

Despite Facebook’s increasingly annoying propensity for not showing me very much of anything I want to see anymore, I did happen upon two interesting items this week.

First, some sneakers inspired by TWIN PEAKS. (Here’s a bunch of them on Ebay: you will note some of them have a black and blue color theme, while some have red, black and green; the latter ones seem to have that crazy zig zag pattern from the Red Room on the bottom soles).

If you didn’t know, Nike has a habit of creating expensive special edition sneakers that quickly become expensive collectibles. Not quite as cool as these custom Converse All-Stars, in my opinion, but pretty cool nonetheless…

The second item I came across was an entire line of apparel inspired by the film THE SHINING, the film based on Stephen King’s best-selling third novel, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Now, if you live under a rock and have never read the novel or seen the film (or the television mini-series) you’ve missed one of the greatest contemporary horror films and one of actor Jack Nicholson’s most iconic performances.

Mondo 237 clothing  is inspired by Room 237, to be specific (a location so haunting and fascinating, it inspired its own documentary film, which came out a couple of years ago).

The clothing line, most of it knitwear, features t-shirts, slippers, cardigan sweaters, scarves, hats and other items featuring a key to the hotel room (where some very horrifying and naughty things took place) hanging from the tag, and of course the bright red geometric print of the carpeting just outside the room.

TWIN PEAKS aired on television in 1989-1990. This year marks the 25 year anniversary, one which figures prominently in the show’s mythology (rumors of new footage have been proven false, alas, causing many fans like myself to become depressed whenever we think about it). THE SHINING is even older, having been released in 1980. So just what is inspiring all this nostalgic retreading of these two horror classics?

I don’t know and I I don’t even know if I care, but of course, some time soon I will be discussing the mini occult revival currently brewing in contemporary media…until then, I hope many people enjoy all this creepy creativity.