Leave my toasty toe toppers be!

I regularly give myself a rap over the knuckles regarding my approach to bloging. It is something I enjoy but struggle to find the time to complete. When I do find a few moments to compose an entry it turns into a list of notices that is slightly out of date and therefore probably of little note to most people. They are also generally quite lengthy and cumbersome to read.

So, I am setting some new priorities. Today I am going to jot down everything worthy of note at the minute…this may take some time as there are many topics for me to get off my chest, and then I will be free to make lighter entries of worth, hopefully on a more regular basis.

The followers amongst you will know that Halloween saw us at the Whitby Goth Festival. Whilst there, we held a raffle for one of our caged Sock Horrors. The lucky winner was Grant, pictured below with his prize ‘Hilomili’.

The 15^th of November was the Thought Bubble Sequential Arts Festival, organised as part of the 11^th annual Leeds International Film Festival. Sock Horror was one of the exhibitors to be found at the event which was held in Savilles’ Hall opposite the Royal Armouries.

The Thought Bubble team organised an excellent event with record numbers of people queuing to get in and meet their favourite comic book artists. There were many exhibitors, signings and presentations throughout the day, and it was great to see so many of you turn up there. We had a great time, met some real characters and were exposed to some great new comics and artists.

An artist of note for me was Dan Barrit of Ragadabah Art with his zombie ridden vistas of Leeds. His attention to detail is immense and well worth a look if you know Leeds at all as you can easily pinpoint the landmarks and buildings that are overrun by plagues of zombies and the chaos that ensues.

On a different note, I am pleased to be able to say that we have just 2 copies left from our first print run of our latest book Sockmosis; Survival of the Fittest. We have been in procession of these copies for just 4 weeks and we have already had to place another order. It is heartening to know that our message is getting out and the threat we face at the hands/feet/horns/digits of these creatures is no longer getting swept under the carpet. The next shipment should be with us shortly… and definitely in plenty of time for you to receive your copy before Christmas!

If you have not already ordered your copy of the Sockmosis survival manual you can do so here:

When worlds Collide

Survival of the Fittest

Alongside the delivery of books, we’re expecting to get our hands on another parcel any day now. This is something new that we’ve never done before, but after several requests and much investigation we have decided to branch out a little. I won’t say just yet, other than I’m excited to see the results and even more so to see your reactions!

We have also been feverishly busy restocking our outlets as people have already started their Christmas shopping, so you can find a fresh consignment of Horrors at a store near you. Just checkout our links page to find out where you can get your hands on Sock Horror.

As a consequence of all this activity you will find that our website (and other online stores) is decidedly low on trappings. I am currently surrounded by Sock Horror skins and the Fluff creature components, and am busy putting the finishing touches on many a creature with the plan to have the website updated with new stock over the weekend. If you can’t wait that long please remember that I do take commissions…at no extra charge. Just message me with your requests and I’ll be quick to get back to you to discuss the possibilities.

If all this activity isn’t enough for you, you will find us busily preparing for the Christmas fairs that we are attending, hosted by Chilli Lime Deli in Fleming Square, Blackburn.

The fairs will be held every Saturday in December and we have a pitch booked at all 3 events. There are going to be a variety of stalls and something for everyone; plenty to take your fancy and inspire you for Christmas, live music, mulled wine and a selection of hearty food to fill your belly in the icy weather.

OK, I think I’ve kept you for long enough. Thanks for reading to the end; I hope I didn’t ramble on too much. As a treat for sticking with me I’d like to furnish everyone that places an order before Christmas with a free gift. All you have to do is put the quote ‘Leave my toasty toe toppers be!’ in the comments section of your Paypal invoice and I’ll do the rest!

Stay safe…and chant to the doldrites – Leave my toasty toe toppers be!

Madame Horror

So the Goth weekend is over for another 6 months

... and I personally, do not know where the time went!

We arrived in Whitby on Thursday afternoon to be met with a great big black cloud and hailstones. This brought a smile to my face as I remembered all the times we’ve nearly been blown off the cliff or washed down the hills with the torrents, our full skirts acting as sails in the wind and our carefully sculpted hair destroyed in an instant. This is the Whitby we know and love.

We set up our wares in the smaller room of the leisure centre, spent some time getting to know the stall holders we would be spending the next three days with and then retired for a few drinks in our hired cottage.

We had a great time with Sock Horror on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and had fun getting to know those of you that could come to visit us there. It was lovely to chat to the people we had met on previous occasions and show off our latest creations and great to introduce new people to the concept of Sock Horror.

This year we also hosted a raffle to win one of our Caged Sock Horrors: Everyone that bought a Fluff Creature or Sock Horror was entered into the draw and the winning ticket drawn on Sunday evening. The lucky winner is Grant Walker...well done Grant.

Other news from the weekend:

For me the Whitby Goth Weekend is more than just an opportunity to flaunt Sock Horrors. It is about getting together a lot of the mates I’ve made over the years. We’ve been going to the Goth Weekend for 13 years now (and that makes me feel really old!) and as you can imagine we don't always go for the music, although this year the game was raised and bands we were excited to see were there; Voltaire and the Resurex in particular but also Christian Death and Specimen. Over the years we have built up a load of traditions; one of our favourites is the ‘Tat competition’.

The Tat Competition is nothing to do with who has the best tattoos (although we do regularly compare those), but is a game that we play over the weekend. Each person in the group has to go shopping for the best (or worst, whichever way you look at it) piece of tat. The most dreadful ornament you can find in the shops of Whitby for under £5. The one item that you would hate to have in your home or that makes you wonder who on earth thought someone would want one of those.

At the end of the weekend we get a stranger to judge our entries and chose which item is the most hideous; this usually involves placing them all on a table in a restaurant and getting the waiter to decide. This year we were lucky enough to stumble across Voltaire as we were leaving our cottage, needless to say we asked Voltaire if he would be our critic, and he and his girlfriend helped us out. What a funny man, he had us all in stitches as he narrowed down the selection and provided his verdict. Fortunately we got it all on camera...which we will post on youtube. Thanks Voltaire!

So, what does the winner get? Well, he or she gets to display the entire group of entries in their home for a whole year! I guess it’s a double edged sword but it’s all good fun (and scary how quickly you stop seeing the offensive objects around your home and stop explaining to visitors that said objects are not really of your tastes but are displayed as part of a competition!) At the end of the year all the items are collected together and made into a trophy for the next winner, who auctions off the trophy on eBay; the funds of which are donated to S.O.P.H.I.E.

I will post another blog shortly about the whole affair once we have listed the trophy.