Silhouettes From Pop Culture by Olly Moss (Titan Books, 144 pp. $16.95): British artist and Mondo regular Olly Moss applies a charmingly démodé artistic medium to memorialize famous faces from film and TV. There’s no text, but you won’t need a cheat sheet to ID spot-on side-views of Doctor Who (all 11), Max Fischer, Mulder and Scully, Statler and Waldorf, Pinocchio, or the monolith from 2001.

Knitmare on Elm Street: 20 Projects That Go Bump in the Night by Hannah Simpson (Running Press, 128 pp., $17): If the non-knitters in your life sneer it’s only for softies, see how they feel after you unleash a (woolly, adorable) kraken or sic a sock-monkey-sized Nosferatu on ’em.

The Ultimate Princess Bride Wine Fan Pack (www.drafthouse.com/gifts, $106): Prepare to drink: The Alamo Drafthouse commissioned this special “Bottle of Wits” duo, As You Wish White and Inconceivable Cab; extra goodies include wine charms and a T-shirt.

Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices by William Gurstelle (Chicago Review Press, 240 pp., $16.95): Summer movies’ Sturm und Drang left you with apocalypse fatigue? Us too. Create your own movie mayhem in the back of the house with this updated how-to guide to making your own carbide cannon and electromagnetic pipe gun. And if you’re still mulling stocking stuffers, might we suggest a fire extinguisher and safety goggles?

Doctor Who: 11 Doctor Figure Set (www.bbcamericashop.com, $139.98): There’s a fine line between fan fiction and playing with dolls. Just sayin’.

This article appears in December 14 • 2012.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...