CORONER DOES LIVELY GIFT BUSINESS; TOE-TAG KEY CHAINS, BODY BAGS READY FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE IT ALL.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Dead tired of run-of-the-mill Halloween costume shops?

For the gallows humored, the nation's one-of-a-kind Los Angeles County Department of Coroner's gift shop has some items to kill for.

Called Skeletons In The Closet, the shop is located at the Coroner's Office at 1104 N. Mission Road in downtown Los Angeles and features among other items beach towels, doormats and T-shirts emblazoned with corpse outlines.

For the more controversial, the barbecue apron may do, with ``Spare hands'' written on one pocket and ``Spare ribs'' on the other.

Popular among ladies, said department spokesman Scott Carrier, are the boxer shorts with coroner body logo imprints and ``Undertaker'' printed on the leg.

Among the 90-plus other items are ``Stay cool'' refrigerator magnets, toe-tag key chains, ``Sherlock Bones'' tote bags and body bags for clothing.

For those seeking Halloween costumes, coroner windbreakers and T-shirts have been popular within the past week, said Gisella Grey, who helps operate the small, 5-year-old store that literally began in a tiny closet.

Some people walk in off the streets, others use tour books from abroad to map out the shop as their first stopping point in Los Angeles, Carrier said.

``The irony and the funny part is they say they were on our way to Disneyland but they came here first,'' Carrier said. ``People who walk to a different tune come in. People who like the macabre. There's something unusual about it. The Coroner's Office is mysterious. It's the unknown.''

Customer Rachel Zaragoza, 27, of Los Angeles frequents the shop about a dozen times a year to collect items for family and friends.

``I just like the humor in it,'' Zaragoza said while shopping Wednesday. ``It also helps you accept death more. It makes you appreciate life.''

When Marilyn Lewis, a now retired former state employee, came up with the idea of creating Coroner's Office merchandise, the feedback was mixed, she said. While some wholeheartedly supported the humor, others were critical.

Some employees said the items were disrespectful of their jobs and wanted to bury the idea, Carrier said.

``It was kind of a venture into the unknown,'' Carrier said.

But the humor prevailed and crime has paid, coroner's officials said.

During the past five years, the shop has grossed over $2 million, Carrier said. And about every two months, vendors, employees and customers come up with new, uncanny merchandise ideas. Now, the shop needs even more space.

``It just took on a life of its own,'' the spokesman said.

The shop averages about 30 customers a day, Grey said. And the deathly apparel and goods are marketed overseas through a catalog, the Internet and a mailing list. The Coroner's Office also licenses its memorabilia in Japan.

Most of the profits go toward defraying the costs of the Youthful Drunk Driver Visitation Program, Carrier said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1) Scott Carrier, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, shows a novelty towel the agency offers for sale.

(2) Body-outline pens are some of the items sold online, by catalog and at the Coroner's Office gift shop in downtown Los Angeles.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News