12/4/15: This is the wild and wonderful world of Matthew Roby. His birth took place on a Friday the 13th, and thus began his obsession with that unluckiest of numbers. After drawing, painting, and sculpting characters from popular culture and mythology, Roby wrote and illustrated a book, “The Fateful Fable of Thirteen.”

“A  modern day grim tale, all about 13 fantastical (but ultimately doomed) characters. Each one is cursed from birth, having been born in the mysterious month of Thirteenber. Bound together by fate, they’re destined to cause one another’s farcical deaths in a chain of unfortunate events, all concocted by the calamitous crooked creature, Thirteen.”

• Matthew Roby

It’s like Edward Gorey rides again. The illustrations are stunning, and Roby has created some beautiful sculptures from the book’s characters. Book, illustrations, and sculptures are all for sale in his Etsy store, Pickled Circus. But it’s Roby’s sculptures of both his characters from the book and his other works that really caught my eye. His pieces are really quirky and beautiful and deserving of attention.

You can follow the magnificent Pickled Circus on Instagram and you can buy his creations on Etsy.