Next time you're lying on the couch nursing a hangover, try picking at the scabs in your home collection: thrift-store art. Come on, you know it's hanging above your toilet or stove.

"Scab-Free": Normally, the artists of San Francisco's Black Heart Tattoo work on a canvas of human skin, but from time to time they turn their attention to less pain-fraught media. Encompassing ...

As scabs heal, they often start to itch. Make sure to avoid scratching them—this can cause further damage to the skin, and the healing process will restart. Using moisturizer or cooling ...

Fiction by Yoko Ogawa: The author’s story “Scab Painting,” of a woman speaking about her brother’s strange hobby. Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder.