Scents of the Season

One great thing about October is that often there are some great spooky movies released during it. Often they're your basic classic/slasher/serial killer types, which are not my favorite, but I still appreciate their contribution to the season. This year, though, October brings a more Victorian-inspired offering - Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak.

I don't know much about the plot, but that's usually for the best with horror movies. I do know that Guillermo del Toro was involved with two of the creepiest movies I've ever seen, Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage. Both were creepy in a way that only deepened after I'd walked out of the theater and really had time to think about it, and both were deeply poignant and gorgeously shot. I have high hopes for Crimson Peak.

One of the coolest things about it so far, though, is some of the merchandising they've done for the film. Instead of thousands of mass-produced toys and cheap t-shirts, they've chosen to work with some smaller companies to do more creative, limited-edition products. First came the alternate posters from collector's darling Mondo, which io9 rounded up here.

But then, and far more exciting to me, came a line of scented oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I've loved their stuff for years. Everything they make is made from natural ingredients, cruelty-free, and unique. They maintain a catalog of inventive and original scents, but they also sometimes produce limited-edition lines timed to coincide with events or seasons. The limited-edition lines are made in small batches, and when they run out, they run out.

For Crimson Peak, they've created scents to wear, scented candles, and room "atmosphere" sprays. I attended their monthly event at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, where the scents were available to try but not buy. I liked several of the scents, including All That I Possess, Edith Cushing, and Fairy Tales and Lies, but the one that I'll be ordering as soon as it goes on sale is the movie's eponymous scent, Crimson Peak. It was spicy and smoky and just a little bit sexy, and I can't wait to wear it - and see the movie!