Merry Christmas!

To All Our Friends

My card and wish for all of you, my Internet Friends!

Haunting Entities

Ghosts aren't the only haunting entities in our world. Faerie hosts have been thought, occasionally, to have breached the portal between realms and to have haunted our culture for centuries. 

One should be so lucky to see a sight such as this:

Johan August Malmstrom — Faerie Host — 1866

Them Witches

Gettin' them witches ready to RIDE . . .

William Mortensen — 1926

Graveyard Dancing

This uncommon Frazetta painting demonstrates the joy of graveyard dancing, especially when sky clad and witchy.

Frank Frazetta

Punkin Guts

O boy! Time to harvest those greasy grimy punkin guts!

Witches Come Forth

Witches come forth in many forms from an artist's vision.

Virgil Finlay 

Ghosts and Their Funny Ways

This is a Rackham that you don't often see . . .

Arthur Rackham — Ghosts and Their Funny Ways — 1902

That Painting

This fellow's portrait has my vote to be that painting in the massive frame in the dark cold hallway of a spooky castle, whose eyes follow you as you walk past.

Portrait of Willem II painted in the 1690s
by Godfried Schalcken

Hideous and Beautiful

Now this is what I expect a ghost to look like, hideous and beautiful.

Takato Yamamoto

Reading Such Books

And of course reading such books can heighten your imagination!

Both images: Anna & Elena Balbusso

Writer of Supernatural Fiction

Many a time, a writer of supernatural fiction will write most effectively so as to scare themselves. 

Many a time that works only too well.

Howard McCormick — Collier's Magazine cover 10-24-1908

This art published exactly 106 years ago 

(with the background color knocked out) 

Ghosts on Stairs

I've allus been afeared of ghosts on stairs. It's a phobia of mine.

A Little Halllowe'en-ish

Yep, it's always gotta be Sin mediating between Satan and Death...

William Hogarth — Satan, Sin & Death — somewhere in the 1700s

Actually, the story line here is a bit intriguing, as it emanates from Milton's Paradise Lost. Satan confronts the old guy, Death, who is blocking the way from Hell to Earth. Sin, in the middle here, reveals to Satan that she's his daughter...and get this...that Death is their incestuous child!

The engraving, below, is based on Hogarth's painting, losing in the translation, particularly in Satan's features. In the painting, Satan looks like he would if Peter Jackson were to film Milton's epic poem.

Colors

Oh, those vivid colors of Autumn!

William Welsh — Autumn 

If the Porch Light isn't On

If the porch light isn't on, 

you probably shouldn't expect candy for a treat.

Stephan Fabian

Odd Doings at Strathmore Manor

Ferdinand Staeger

More Autumn Loveliness

Frederick Sands Brunner — 1923

Autumn Sprite

It's such a beautiful Autumn day here. Thank you Sprite!

Margaret Tarrant — Autumn Sprite

That Damn Bell

Art: After Alfred Rethel — Death as a Friend — circa 1885

Don't go asking who that damn bell is ringing for . . .
you just don't wanna know.

Hmm, I wonder how I could phrase that in a classier way.

The Horror that Awaits

Demons make for excellent gondoliers, especially for transport to demonically mystic realms. 

These folks think they're going to a costume party, little suspecting the horror that awaits them—unemployment with outrageously outstanding student loans to repay!!!

Babil & Bijou — circa 1900

Hell Island

Devils are part of Hallowe'en lore aren't they? Aren't they? C'mon, I need to justify including this way cool painting of a submachine-gun-toting-gangster-devil, because, well, because it IS a way cool Mephistophelian characterization.

Artist, year? I dunno. 

This art was used for an Argosy pulp cover 
somewhere in the '30s or '40s.

Not What She Seems

This is where I want the Hallowe'en party to be. You're welcome to come in . . . but will you ever come out? 

Beware, the nymph is not what she seems . . .

Ferdinand Keller — Nymphe an der Quelle

Specter in the Bronx

Some reading material for the season . . .

 

Ghost Stories — March 1930

A Spooky Stupor

Autumn—late afternoon or evening is a delicious time to pull out an old anthology of ghost stories or a supernatural mystery. After dinner, you can read yourself into a spooky stupor where the narrative melts into a dream state and you're not sure if you are awake or asleep as you feel icy fingers caressing your neck.

Delphin Enjolras — early 20th century

Enjolras' favorite subject matter was a woman 

reading or writing by lamplight.

Druids

This time of year seems perfect for Druidic Rituals . . .

Sorry, again I don't know the artist or source

Spiders

Spiders are a part of the traditional Hallowe'en mash-up, and I despise spiders. Yet, I'd pay good money for a steampunk brass spider like this guy (if I had good money)...(which I don't). Steampunk and Hallowe'en seem like a fabulous match.

Sorry, I don't know the source of this creation.

Like Some Forlorn Ghost

The old cemeteries are wonderfully spooky celebrations of peoples' lives — with spacious tombs, sculptures that mourn,  and tombstones that portray the deceased, as here. 

It was spooky to stand in front of this tombstone, knowing that this gentleman's 200-some year old bones were 6 feet under me, even as he glowered like some forlorn ghost.

Changing of the Colors

Let's start the countdown with some Autumnal imagery. 

Frank Godwin (Looking ever-so like Maxfield Parrish)

 1919

The Spooky and Strange

Autumn is my favorite time of year, as it is for many. It's a time of embracing melancholy, a time of acknowledging decay and our own mortalities. It's bitter and it's sweet.

©Thomas Haller Buchanan — Autumn — 2014

This year I was going to refrain from posts about Autumn and Hallowe'en. But with encouragement from my cyber friend Tam B, I've decided to really embrace the theme, as my archives are bursting with eclectic images that demonstrate darkness, death and decay, yet many are sparked with accents of light and love. 

I avoid horror and violence in my collections, but I adore the spooky and strange. Some of my images may not be obvious to the theme, but resonate with me in some way. 

This will be my countdown to Hallowe'en. 

Favorite Kind of Princess

A madcap princess is my favorite kind of princess!

Swell Lookin' Frail

A swell lookin' frail in a semi-Art Deco-esque sort of way...

Edward Mason Eggleston — circa 1933

Queen of the Night

Now THIS looks like a sleepwalker, but it's the Queen of the Night!

Charles Folkard — Queen of the Night — circa 1915

Nocturnal Fantasy

A nocturnal fantasy, this is titled "The Sleepwalker", though it seems she's left walking far behind her . . .

Julius Diez — The Sleepwalker — 1907

Now, THAT's Entertainment!

 circa 1900

Seldom Seen

To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty tired of Monet's lily ponds and such, having seen them a kajillion times in my lifetime. Ah, but this seldom seen beautiful painting strikes a resonant chord with me!

Claude Monet

L'Église de Varengeville; soleil couchant

1882

Sweet Profile

A sweet profile painting, without being saccharin. I love the delicate 'lines' — a style used by a number of artists of this era. 

Paul Rink — 1890s

Arcadian Fantasy

Art Deco illustration makes any scene look like an arcadian fantasy.

George Brandt — 1921

Arcadian Deco

Art Deco Arcadia from just about a hundred years ago...

Thomas Baumgartner — circa 1915

Tromping Angels

Illustrations of Alphonse Mucha are very satisfying to my eyes, even when I'm not familiar with the story involved. Here, the young lady hears something...possibly the angels tromping by or the bells swinging like there's no tomorrow. Either way, it's a lovely graphic work, is it not?

If you know the story involved here, please do share.

Where Holy Men Fell to Earth

The old days, the old ways, promoted world travel with most compelling graphics. Travel posters were glorious.

Isipatana means the place where holy men fell to earth, based on the legend that when the Buddha was born, devas came down to announce it to 500 holy me. The holy men all rose into the air and disappeared and their relics fell to the ground.

Sounds like an extraterrestrial close encounter.

This poster portrays a Buddhist pilgrimage to the sacred site. 

Art by Dorothy Newsome — 1930ish

Color Variant

I've seen several different color variations of this piece, 

but this is the most pleasing one for me. 

Alexander Benois — Chinese Pavilion — early 20th century

The Night

This is "The Night", as it was 99 years ago . . .

Gruber_ 1915

Spooky!

I love spooky scenes in art, as long they're not violent. This one is yummy spooky—called Lithuania by Artur Grottger, 1864

Not by Mucha

This piece is what art elitists would think of as lowbrow art, kitsch, or art for the masses.

Yeah . . . so?

I think it's a charming Art Nouveau graphic that isn't by Mucha for a change. It's from an old postcard.

1903-ish, artist: I. Dunno.

Handsome Is as Handsome Does

A handsome character sketch of a handsome rake of a character...

Anton von Werner — 1875

The Mountain Spirit

This is a freaky cool German ad from 1917. Attention getting, ey?

Go Figure!

This art looks like it was drawn by Peter de Sève, for the New Yorker or such. Yet it was drawn by Otto Flechtner some 98 years ago. 

Go figure!