Cherie Priest’s latest novel, Boneshakers, is an awesome-sounding steampunk zombie tale!
From the publisher:
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
This sound so cool! Makes me wonder – What would a steampunk zombie look like?
I had a little fun searching for Zombie Steampunk on Flickr. I thought these pictures were nicely done.
What a cool steampunk mononcle! Instructables.com has a detailed 13-step tutorial on how to make one yourself.
Like with any other project, we need to start somewhere. Usually I start sketching my ideas, to have some kind of blueprint to follow. This time I decide to do everything following only my creative talent (if we can call it a talent).
Materials needed:
- a 1.5 liter plastic bottle, the harder the better;
- an old leather purse (true or fake, no matter), ready to be dismantled;
- all-purpose glue, like mastic;
- an old pocket watch, not precious, not working and not reparable (maybe also not yours…);
- a piece of cardboard;
- a sheet of transparent plastic;
- elastic;
- 2 small metal hangers;
- gold, copper or bronze permanent marker;
- some uninsulated copper wire, medium thickness.
Instead of a purse and a watch you can use any kind of leather object big enough to provide the required amount of material, and any other mechanical device that can be reduced to a lot of cogs.
The copper wire should be uninsulated for showing the color. If you have a wire with transparent insulation, it will preserve the natural color of copper, otherwise it can develop an ugly oxide patina.
Optional materials:
- acrylic paint, any color you like;
- fixative or transparent varnish.
The paint is needed only if the leather’s color is wrong for your intentions. For a steampunkish style, you can use black, dark brown, dark bordeaux, anthracite or wet sand color paint. It’s up only to you.
I found this over at KittyHell, a website devoted to Hello Kitty.
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Steampunk used to celebrate functional mechanical cleverness, but over time has turned into some sort of costume game which is all about decoration. There is no doubt that the evil feline is all about uselessly decorating her face on everything, so the eventual combination of the two should have been predictable. Still, the Hello Kittification of anything is never a step in the right direction.
Very cool! Though some tiny kitty goggles would have been a nice touch.
Artist Tom Banwell has created an amazing collection of steampunk leather masks and helmets. Aren’t these something? These masks look like they easily belong in a big budget movie.
There’s definitely a Star Wars, steampunk Darth Vader feel to them. So awesome!
The steampunk gurus over at Outland Armor showed up at Dragon*Con in full force, with amazing steampunk Star Wars costumes!
According to official Star Wars blog, the team dressed as Queen Amidala, Padme Amidala,
Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Princess Leia Organa, Slave Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Aurra Sing.
The ScareHouse, located in Pittsburgh, PA, is one of America’s best haunted houses – and it’s heavily influenced by steampunk. Check out the video above to see some scary steampunk goodness!
I’d say their costume designer has the best job ever, don’t you think?
Take a look at this fabulous steampunk corset created by Nifer Fahrion. She wanted to make a beautiful, yet sturdy corset/work belt, and I’d say she did it perfectly. She explains on her blog:
For the past year, I’ve desired to create a garment which blends the femininity and elegance of a corset with the durability and ruggedness of a workbelt. Recently, I shared my idea with the talented seamstress and designer Robynne Winchester of Tulgey Wood Designs. She was instantly excited about the concept and agreed to collaborate to make it a reality.
What a great idea! Sexy and tough, a perfect combination.
Here’s another great pic from Dragon Con – a steampunk belly dancer! She looks so great.
I tried to find some Dragon Con steampunk bellydancing on Youtube, but nothing turned up. I did, however, find this awesome video of steampunk belly dances from a Ren Faire last spring. Very cool!
Now that you’ve got your cogs in gear and your sportin’ some Steampunk couture, you need a complimentary set of wheels. I vote for this wood-bedecked VW. It’s got a great Victorian-style vibe and it’s fully functional!
It may not have four wheels and cushy seats, but this recumbant trike is an equally cool wood-equipped ride:
