Necromance

Ahh, the Holidays. A time to offend people by saying, "Merry Christmas." (Oops! Did I say that out loud?) A time to say, for the umpteenth year, "I really need to save for this all year." A time to shop and wear out that plastic.

But where can the gruesomely inclined shop?

If you're ever in the L.A. area, specifically around Melrose Avenue, the place to go is Necromance. I met Nancy, the owner, a few years ago while working at my dental office in Encino, and was very impressed by her. We struck up a conversation about her store, and I bought a couple of gifts from there as a result. (I always try to support small business.)

Neat as a pin, and with a variety of neat gifts for those of us with darker desires, Necromance is a fun place to browse for hours.

The skeleton card holder will run you around $37.00, as will the Theda Bara cardholder. There are black parasols, Odd Fellows secret society pins, coffin flasks, old skeleton keys, walking sticks, and stuff for the etymologically inclined... It's all here.

And if you don't know if your sweetheart wants the coffin purse or the metal child's skeleton purse, you can always get a gift certificate. Online, too. How easy is that?