This post has links to Amazon which may provide me with a commission for qualifying purchases, although it's about as likely as my suddenly becoming a newt.
Most of you know the creepy tween book series, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, probably from your childhood years. Maybe you came to the books later in life, as I did. My niece mentioned she had loved them as a kid, so I looked them up.
And wow! I became a fan, like, instantly!
It wasn't only the stories, themselves - some of which I knew in one form or another because of my love for folklore - but the artwork which captured my imagination.
While yes, I'm an artist whose talents lie in clay more than in painting and illustration at this point (though I suppose I could get another couple of drawing/illustration classes under my belt to improve my rusty skills), I have nothing but respect and awe at the creepy images painted with such skill by illustrator Stephen Gammell. I can feel the nightmarish quality of each one of them in my soul, and indeed, they throw me back to the disturbing and disjointed nightmares of my own childhood.
I bring these to you as inspiration for your future Halloween displays. Or maybe you can read these aloud to your partner or your kids, one each night of October.
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Many moons ago, I wrote a post which complained bitterly about the on-screen version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark being perpetually "in development." Unfortunately, at the time Guillermo Del Toro's wonderful adaptation came out, I was distracted by the implosion of my personal life and didn't write a review or even mention it, as far as I can tell! (It was good, in case you haven't seen it, yet! Definitely worth a watch, and I'm hoping for a sequel!)
Sorry, Guillermo!
By the way, there's a documentary about the stink the original books by R.L. Stine caused with parents, called, simply, "Scary Stories." Since I came to the stories as an adult, I missed the utter panic these books started in parents on behalf of their little darlings. Of course, this was during that "Satanic Cult" fever which was so ubiquitous in the 1980's, so I suppose I can see the upset. Sort of. While some doubtless still feel kids under a certain age shouldn't see the illustrations (or read the stories), I feel differently.
Of course, my grandmother read Grimm's fairy tales to me when I was a kid (they're still recommended for ages five and up, if you can believe), so maybe I'm not the best judge.
I will never forget the image of the talking, severed, horse's head from The Goose Girl...
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