Spring Horror Collection: Spring Cleaning

Published

3 years ago

March 23, 2021

Court Court

As soon as one young couple tore down the yellow caution tape plastered across the front door, picked the locks and entered the abandoned house, the rest of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac followed suit. They were all curious about this two story colonial, for its owner was recently arrested for killing 15 elderly couples every Easter Sunday for the last six years.

“I always knew something was off about him,” one man said as he thumbed through a dusty collection of vinyl records. “Tony and I would invite him to our fishing trips and he never once accepted. Always had plans.”

“I always have plans when you invite me on your fishing trips.” Another man smirked as he tossed a broken digital camera on the sofa. “Does that make me a serial killer, too?”

Despite the cops leaving the home in disarray after searching for evidence, it was a rather unique, tidy place. The countertops were clean, the hardwood floors had a post-mop shine. The only thing discerning component was a rotten smell lingering from the spare bedroom, a stench no amount of cleaning product could mask.

“Innocent until proven guilty,” one woman rifling through the storage closet said.

“Edna, you’ve seen the news!” her husband yelled from the kitchen. “They literally found all the bodies that he stored in one of the bedrooms. The guy made no effort to hide them. Who knows what he did with them in there? Probably Ted Bundy and Ed Gein stuff going on in there.”

“Wouldn’t that be fucking something,” a young teenager muttered under her breath.

One man dropped a flower vase and frantically covered his child’s ears. “Hey! Maybe you want to not talk like that in front of my kid?”

“Dude, you literally brought your kid into a serial killer’s house. I think he can handle the fuck word.”

The conversations carried as they explored the rest of the house and found boxes of small glass eyes, a china tea set, an early 2000’s computer and monitor, little mirrors shaped like suns, a desk filled with crumpled papers and religious books, lightbulbs filled with dead succulents, bookshelves with DVD’s and action figures and video games. There were a couple rocking chairs, spoons, lamps, paintings of rabbits, a family of taxidermized rats, a starved Ficus, deer antlers, photo albums, a broken grandfather clock.

Everyone was in the kitchen now, their tote bags and purses filled with the serial killer’s belongings. Some put little sticky notes with their names on them on the bigger items. A group of teenagers discovered beer in the fridge and vodka in the freezer. The little break-in had turned into the essence of a neighborhood block party.

Edna was holding a framed polaroid of the serial killer when she said to herself, “He’s been to our house before. I met two of the victims, actually.”

The chatter came to a halt as everyone took in her words.

“Edna? What? When did that happen?” her husband asked.

“That one Easter a few years ago, when you decided to go on one of Tony’s fishing trips and leave me alone. He was the only one in the neighborhood who wasn’t busy, so I invited him over. It was the first and last time I ever talked to him. He said he had company and I asked him to bring them over. They were all sweet, he said they were his parents or something. I don’t know if they actually were. We went back here for dessert and ate right where I’m sitting.”

“What happened after that?” the young teenager asked.

Edna thought about it for a moment, tightening her grip on the frame, her hands shaking, her nose scrunching in disgust. Tears welled up in her eyes, she felt her cheeks burning. Suddenly she shook her head and smiled as she looked up at the audience of neighbors staring at her, eyes wide and mouths gaped. “Nothing. Nothing at all. I thanked him for the dessert, went home and never heard about the couple again. And now here we are.”

Original Creations

More Nail Polish Paintings by Jennifer Weigel

Published

6 days ago

May 12, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

Well, seems I’m at it again, with more nail polish paintings into found thrift store art. Why so many flowers this time…? Well a friend sent them and I just couldn’t help myself. They are so perfect for creepy fairy paintings. And for those of you who think fairies aren’t scary, you haven’t read much about the fey now have you?

Top left: Blue Fairy, originally painted by M Wadorf

Top right: Pegasus, originally painted by Edie Babb

Bottom left: Unicorn, originally painted by R Lovelace (After I painted this I realized I missed the opportunity to do a troll with a bridge and so I hope to do another along those lines in the future.)

Bottom middle: Fairy, originally painted by SD Janz

Bottom right: Dragon, original signed FZ, very sparkly with black-light sensitive eyes

And the most horrific of the bunch this time is this mermaid, who started as a weird bucket painting by Helen Miller… So, what’s in the bucket, Helen? Body parts? Fish? Plants not yet in bloom? I envisioned a trapped mermaid waiting to ensnare some unsuspecting land-goer, because no one would expect to find a mermaid there…

Mermaid in bucket, original by Helen Miller — Is this mermaid trapped in need of help or just trying to lure you close?

So I broke down and redid the unicorn to a troll. Apparently the troll was hungry… Anyway, here is the result. I am happier with it now.

Troll with toll bridge, original by R Lovelace — Hungry troll wants bridge tolls after eating innocent unicorn.

You can find more of my Revisitations art on Haunted MTL here, including links to even more nail polish paintings…

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.

Original Creations

Bloody Mary or More Doll Costuming by Jennifer Weigel

Published

2 weeks ago

May 5, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

So I came upon a Liv doll with no wig and decided to make her a mourning ensemble. The result was so reminiscent of this Bloody Mary music video based on the Lady Gaga song, by Ruben Samuel Cortez for his film school final (not the Wednesday TikTok remix, though that is also fun) that I simply had to share.

The outfit is made up of really fancy thick black lace leftover from a skirt I decorated for a party and an old translucent black handkerchief. It really reminds me of the table dancers in the music video but black instead of white (though it also alludes to some of the other outfits too, and Wednesday’s dress from the TikTok remake).

Close up of Bloody Mary doll's face — Close up of Bloody Mary doll’s face

I love the detail on the eyes on these Liv dolls, which are embedded and not painted on.

The Liv dolls’ eyes are just so lifelike. I think this is what attracts me to the Rainbow High dolls too, and why I had to turn the Makeover Failfix 2Dreami into Lady Amalthea of The Last Unicorn…

Failfix 2Dreami as Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn (not scary but one of my all time fave movies and I love how this doll turned out so I'm posting her here anyway) — Failfix 2Dreami as Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn (not scary but one of my all time fave movies and I love how this doll turned out so I’m posting her here anyway)

If you want to check out more of my altered dolls, I have posted several to Haunted MTL here:

Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.

Oh and here’s a bonus photo of the skirt that I got the lace for originally, titled Kiss My A$$.

Portrait of the artist, dressed for a Blue Jeans and Bling party

Original Series

Nightmarish Nature: Giants Among Spiders

Published

3 weeks ago

April 28, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

So, as you may have noticed, we have a special fondness for spiders here on Nightmarish Nature. Well, they are kind of the spokes-critters for horrifying animalia, perhaps because they are so freakishly different from us. Or maybe it’s because I find them a little disconcerting for all that I try to take the “you mind your business, I’ll mind mine” approach, at least if they stay outdoors. Or just because I really like to draw spiders for all that I prefer not to find them sharing my home (though I’ll gladly take spiders over other bugs or mice or larger critters who didn’t get an invite).

Anyway, this segment is devoted to the largest Giants Among Spiders, as if you didn’t have enough to worry about already. And the top place is contested based upon body mass or leg length. Most of these are tarantulas, which globally take top place among the large arachnids.

Goliath Birdeater Tarantula

The Goliath Birdeater Tarantula of South America is the biggest brute of spiderdom, weighing in at over 6 ounces. They build funnel burrows and are known to eat birds (although rarely), mice, lizards, frogs, and snakes, but largely any big insects including other species of spiders. They have urticating barbed hairs that they fling at would-be attackers as an irritant to escape. And people even eat them after they singe the bristles off. Here’s a National Geographic video showing this spider in action, in case you wanted to see a giant spider take out a mouse.

Giant Huntsman Spider

And with the longest legs, we have the Giant Huntsman Spider of Laos, with a leg-span of 12 inches. Their legs have twisted joints and they move in a crab-like manner, which furthers their impressive appearance. ‘Cause they’ve got legs, and know how to use ’em. They prefer to live in underbrush and cave entrances. These are like the big relatives of their Australian cousins, which we’ve all seen online and developed a healthy aversion to.

Everything's cuter when it's fuzzy, right? tarantula drawing by Jennifer Weigel — Everything’s cuter when it’s fuzzy, right?

Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater & Brazilian Giant Tawny Red Tarantulas

Next we have two more South American species: the Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater, which boasts one-inch fangs, and the Brazilian Giant Tawny Red, believed to be the longest-lived spider with a lifespan of up to thirty years. Both are in the tarantula family and have urticating hairs, a word you probably never read much before today unless you are in the hobby. So apparently South America is not the best travel destination for you if you struggle with arachnophobia, though I suspect you’d figured that out already. (I wouldn’t recommend Australia or Southeast Asia either.)

Face Size Tarantula

And finally the Face Size Tarantula, which has a very terror-inducing name reminiscent of the Face Huggers of Alien-glory. Anyway, these spiders have an 8-inch leg-span and live in India and Sri Lanka. They look kind of like big hairy wolf spiders with stripey legs, sometimes with pink and daffodil coloring.

If you enjoyed this eight-legged segment of Nightmarish Nature on Giants Among Spiders and their larger than life kin, please check out past segments:

Terrifying Tardigrades