Horrors of Etsy: 13 Spooky, Small Businesses to Support
Yvonne Villasenor
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Writer Arthur Conan Doyle once said, “Where there is no imagination, there is no horror.”
Here at Dread Central, we firmly believe in supporting our fellow horror fanatics and providing a platform for creators of all kinds.
Also Read: The 5 Best Mom-and-Pop Video Stores in Los Angeles
It takes an immeasurable amount of hard work and dedication to be a solopreneur or build a business of your own. One website that has made it easier for creators to run successful businesses doing what they love is Etsy.
Statistica recently reported that — as of 2020 — there are nearly 4.5 million sellers on Etsy and about 82 million buyers. Meaning, there are plenty of extraordinary stores to discover.
To help you find some of your new favorites, we’ve compiled a list of 13 spooky Etsy shops that are totally worth checking out!
1. 12 Months of October
Out with the “Live. Laugh. Love.” and in with “Live. Laugh. Lobotomy.” If you’re looking to spook-ify your home, then boy, do we have a shop for you!
Known as the original dark plaque Etsy shop, 12MonthsofOctoberCo specializes in dark home decor with a weathered and distressed aesthetic. According to their page, their decor is “intended to feel as though it was taken right out of the abandoned haunted house that sits at the edge of town, where ghosts dwell and light is replaced with darkness.”
Those with a passion for dark home goods, horror, and Halloween can choose from plaques inspired by The Shining, The Addams Family, and Bride of Frankenstein or those that let the household know you’re the “Pumpkin Queen,” “Kitchen Witch” or “Glamour Ghoul.”
Your ghoulish goodies will arrive wrapped in black kraft paper and a bow for no extra cost. 12MonthsofOctoberCo is a shop truly devoted to making you feel like it’s your favorite month year-round.
2. West Coast Horror
When it comes to horror-themed apparel, westcoasthorror has got you covered. (Literally.)
Westcoasthorror makes apparel for horror movie-obsessed fans. So, you can get yourself or that special horror aficionado in your life a t-shirt or sweatshirt referencing your favorite horror flick.
Don a tee or hoodie that displays a VHS stack of iconic favorites, the names of your favorite horror villains, and even memes.
You can choose between two colors for some products. Each t-shirt and sweatshirt generally range in sizes from small to 5XL. You can even message the shop owner for a custom and personalized order!
3. Greywick Lane
Do you splurge on Yankee Candle’s fall scent collection every year? GreywickLane has a plethora of autumn reminiscent scents with the packaging to match!
All things Halloween are the inspiration for GreywickLane’s candles, fragrance mists, and wax melts.
Their Etsy inventory includes candles inspired by Leprechaun, Child’s Play, Friday the 13th, The Lost Boys, etc. that smell like Lucky Charms, fruity cereal, campfire, and blood orange respectively.
GreywickLane also has scents that smell like popcorn, pumpkin, cotton candy and apple cider. I mean, what more could you really ask for?
Additionally, you can find adorable skull wax melts as well as pineapple jack o’lantern wax melts.
All candles are made with 100% pure soy wax. The’re also phthalate free fragrance, have a cotton wick, and are vegan friendly. The fragrance mist ingredients include: SD Alcohol, Water, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Benzophenone-2, and fragrance.
4. A Wicked Bootique
AWickedBootique lets the whole family in on the horror fun! Apparel sizes range from youth to adult sizes, so you can all match on your next outing or family photos session.
Adults can choose from a selection of Jason Voorhees, Pinhead and Pennywise shirts while kids can sport an Oogie Boogie, Frankenstein’s Monster or Ghostface tee.
AWickedBootique also sells face masks, stickers, hats, phone cases, bottle openers, tote bags, keychains and keychain holders.
5. Sybill Minnie Boutique
Have cats or dogs who actually enjoy wearing clothes? Australia-based Etsy shop SybillMinnieBoutique has an abundance of horror-inspired clothing options for your pet!
Designed to be both fashionable and functional, SybillMinnieBoutique’s clothing is created with a hole in one style front opening so your pet can move as freely as they’d like.
Your lovable, little monster can show off who their favorite monster is, whether it’s Chucky, Freddy, or Pennywise. Or, you can opt for several vintage horror characters on a shirt that also has a blood splatter pattern. Other patterns include Day of the Dead sugar skulls, skeletons, skulls and hearts, etc.
You can also inquire about creating a custom order for your pet if you’d like Emma, the store owner and Sybill and Minnie’s human, to order prints for your pet’s clothing.
6. Stevan Chase
If you love to collect art prints or stickers, look no further than StevanChase’s Etsy shop.
Stevan Chase Gonzalez is a character designer who handcrafts each character illustration using pencil, color pencils, markers and white gel/paint.
In addition to his posters of reimagined epic battles between horror characters and Marvel & DC characters, Stevan has a variety of horror character prints/stickers you can choose from, including: Leatherface, Candyman, Michael Myers, Gizmo, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Ash Williams, Hannibal Lecter, Captain Spaulding and Pumpkinhead.
He also has other iconic character illustrations available, like Neo, Tyler Durden, T-1000, Mr. Miyagi and Indiana Jones.
On his page, Stevan mentions:
“Many of these characters we grew up with. They made us laugh, cry, scared, mad, and even inspired us. There’s something about these characters that brings back memories. That’s why I tried to keep them looking realistic to the characters we watched. I hope you enjoy these illustrations.”
Each print can be personalized with a signature or message for free. Each also comes with a sleeve protector.
7. Bats and Body
Move over Bath and Body Works! BatsandBody is a dream-come-true for horror fans obsessed with body care.
You can scrub a dub dub with bath bombs, sugar scrubs, body butter and body oil inspired by your favorite horror films, whether it be Halloween, IT, Scream, Child’s Play, Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, Nightmare Before Christmas — you name it!
You can purchase individual items or get your very own set of body care products to keep your skin smelling and feeling good.
Each BatsandBody product is handmade, carefully packaged and comes with free stickers and candy to keep you in the Halloween spirit!
8. Nancy’s Jars
Does the phrase “Be kind, rewind” have a special place in your heart?
NancysJars is a UK-based Etsy shop that started the VHS lamp trend in 2016. Each lamp is hand painted and hand sculpted, made with completely original designs and the brightest of lights.
Crafted by an ex-visual merchandiser from the creative fashion industry, the owner of NancysJars opened up shop to keep her childhood memories alive and has actually turned her passion into a family business, selling over 22,000 products.
With more than 5,000 original VHS in stock, NancysJars can take your favorite movie, TV show, pop culture icon, or photograph and turn it into your very own VHS lamp!
Each product takes about 1-2 weeks to make. Optional VHS case stands, gift messages and personalizations are now FREE.
9. Nightmare Trash
NightmareTrash has an impressive array of custom movie displays, props and collectibles for every horror junkie looking to spruce up their home.
At NightmareTrash, you can find high-quality replica pieces from films like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Halloween, Scream, They Live, Saw, Phantasm and Critters 2.
The owner of NightmareTrash, Kyle, has been a professional FX artist, fabricator and graphic designer for over a decade. He says on the shop’s page, “Horror is my obsession, and I use that passion, a creative eye & mind to bring the items I would want in my own collection to life and offer them to our customers.”
He appears to have a fantastic staff as well, including Jessica, who is an assistant and shipper. And let’s not forget Freddy, a marketer and designer who “designed the original glove” and is “great at letting the shop know what new products the customers are ‘dreaming of’” and Michael, the receptionist who insists “it’s best to just email.”
10. Neil Eyre Designs
If you’re a sucker for figurines, NeilEyreDesigns has something for every kind of horror fanatic.
Love the Universal classic monsters? Iconic horror movie villains like Freddy, Jason and Michael? Halloween-themed characters like ghosts, witches and pumpkins?
You can find them here! Plus, some even glow in the dark!
These carefully crafted sculptures are bound to brighten any place you set them.
Neil Eyre sculpts, molds, casts and finishes every single one of his pieces. He also hand signs and numbers each piece before he ships them off.
All pieces are handmade to order.
11. Open the Cellar Door
Looking to add more dark and unique accessories to your wardrobe? OpentheCellarDoor has handmade jewelry created from found and salvaged objects, bones, antiques, etc. combined with high-quality materials.
Horror lovers can rock one-of-a-kind accessories like antique coffin nail necklaces, dagger earrings and grim reaper chokers. These products are definitely statement pieces that deserve all the attention that they get.
Kristina Cullen, owner of OpentheCellarDoor, is a one woman company who lovingly creates each piece in the shop. Her mission is to create products that are both spooky and beautiful using ethically sourced materials. Kristina’s inspirations include found and salvaged objects, ancient artifacts, rust, nature, decay, bones, taxidermy, doom metal, high fashion and the occult.
Products can be shipped worldwide. They’re carefully packaged with small, complimentary goodies. All materials are lead and nickel free.
12. Tater Rounds Beauty
TaterRoundsBeauty is a must-shop for makeup and beauty lovers who want unique and natural products. Known as “The Country Goth Brand,” TaterRoundsBeauty has everything from eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick to perfume, hair dye, skincare and so much more!
Owner Victoria Rodriguez is a one woman shop. She makes every product by herself, and goes above and beyond to guarantee her customers are satisfied with their purchase. She makes custom colors, chooses to keep her prices as low as possible by not using paper labels and creates individual products for those who have allergies.
With product names like “Hannibal,” “Dracula” and “Xenomorph,” any horror fan is bound to find something they love.
All makeup and beauty products are 100% vegan and cruelty-free.
13. GOREnaments
Remember the line in Blink-182’s “I Miss You” that goes, “And we’ll have Halloween on Christmas…”?
If you can relate or just wish every holiday felt a little more like Halloween, GOREnaments has a fantastic selection of handmade products to stay spooky all year-round!
Owner Sarah Cooke, who is best known as @the_pumpkin__queen on Instagram and co-creator of Spooky Swap Meet, makes stockings, ornaments, pillows and cards for every occasion. You can also purchase sleeping masks, face masks, key chains among other accessories.
Which spooky Etsy shops are your personal favorites? Let us know in the comments below so we can check them out!
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