“Friday the 13th” by JoseRealArt
Welcome to our ongoing series spotlighting original horror creations. The first piece we have is an illustration titled “Friday the 13th” by JoseRealArt on DeviantArt. Be sure to read out exclusive interview with the artist as well.
What was your inspiration for “Friday the 13th”?
I would say the Friday the 13th saga itself. I’ve been rediscovering the classic horror movies with a friend and always feel very attracted to the “killer with a mask” theme. There’s something on the inexpressive and mysterious about a mask that makes me feel terrified and seduced at the same time, and there isn’t more iconic mask than the Jason one.
What sort of tools did you use for the piece?
Photoshop and a Wacom Cintiq tablet. I used to be very “traditional,” I started with a small Bamboo tablet but felt digital was messy and I wasn’t happy drawing on the tablet and looking to the screen. But then I jumped to the Cintiq and it was great. It was a little hard at first drawing on the screen itself, but like a canvas its faster once you got the hang of it.
Do you have any projects you are working on?
Yeah, I’ve been working for a comic book publisher in Dubai and have a few small projects here and there. Keep an eye out for them.
Do you have any particular horror themes you like to explore in your art?
I’m a huge fan of H. P. Lovecraft stories for a long time and been working on a comic book anthology of short tales in my free time. Besides that, I’m very influenced by horror in general, the dark spaces of the world, and the human nature.
Do you have any particular horror films/books/movies you particularly love?
In my youth I was all over Stephen King (like all the edgy guys at my age) but nowadays I’ve been reading more science fiction. Regarding movies, it’s really difficult to choose just one, but would say Hellraiser, for me has all the elements: demons from other dimension and disgusting latex effects. Another personal favorites are Re-Animator and The Return of the Living Dead. More recently I loved the weird atmosphere of Hereditary, but It Follows blew my mind and its on my favorites list now.
Have you ever experienced something supernatural? Anything you would like to experience?
In my adolescence me and my friends used to mess around with Ouija, abandoned houses, and stepping into graveyards at night. We had a few strange and scary moments but probably those moments were just the results of hormones and nervousness of the moment. Today when I hear or feel something odd I always think it’s the mind playing tricks on me.
. . .
For more of JoseRealArt’s work, you can follow them on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Behance, and DeviantArt.
If you have an original creation you would like us to spotlight here on Haunted MTL please let us know!
Happy holidays! Where has this year gone??? Santa and I can’t believe it’s Christmas already, but I did manage to make you all a card again… Gotta keep with tradition or something. (Santa says I’m not thinking big enough…)
And to everyone celebrating other holidays and the solstice, may you have a blessed and wonderful season as well, I’m sorry I don’t do cards for that but I tend come from what I know, which appears to be inappropriate Christmas kitsch. Just like you’ve come to expect from me, I’m sure. Since that seems to make the rounds of all the holidays. 😉
Card reads Happy Holidays jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell rock!!! From You-Can-Jingle-My-Bell Santa and Jennifer Weigel here at HauntedMTL.
Image features a vintage doll (probably Merlin or Gandalf or the like) now dressed as Santa in a handmade Victorian style cloak with matching hat. He is holding his coat open to flash the viewer with a jingle bell ribbon hanging intentionally at his crotch.
This Santa was from a series of altered dolls I did back in the day, exploring different less appropriate takes on Jolly Old St. Nick.
As gifts, I present the other three…
Happy holidays and have a wonderful winter!
If you want to check out more of my altered dolls, I have posted several to Haunted MTL here:
So, now that it’s getting cold, here on Nightmarish Nature we’re going to talk about a different kind of terror – the starvation diet. It’s winter, and food is becoming ever scarcer, so many creatures will slow down to conserve energy. Let’s take this a step further to the sleep of the damned… But I’m not talking hibernation, or settling in for a sort of long winter nap version of seasonal affective disorder on steroids. No, I’m talking hummingbirds.
Sugar Rush
Hummingbirds are about the polar opposite of what you’d think of when you talk about inactivity. They’re more the picture-perfect speed demons. And yet, due to their crazy high metabolisms and constant need to refuel by consuming all the nectar and insects they can get their little beaks in or on, they have near death experiences on a regular basis. Even during the summer at night whenever the temperature falls too low. It’s like all their systems have to go offline for a bit just so they can survive.
Energy Suck
Essentially a hummingbird burns so much energy that he can die in less than eight hours of not eating. The little sugar daddy needs another fix just to keep going. This lifestyle is a far cry from the Energizer bunny. Essentially he has to enter a torpor state in sleep so he doesn’t succumb to his own starvation diet. Not every time, but when the temperature drops or food is scarce.
A hummingbird in torpor may, by all accounts, appear dead. He can be frozen in place, his tiny feet clasped rigidly around a branch as if rigor mortis has sunk in. He can be cold to the touch and unresponsive. He can face upwards, unmoving, breathing and heart rate slowed to near indiscernibility. He can even be hanging upside down, oblivious to the world. In fact, the hummer’s heart rate can reduce to almost one tenth of his waking state, and his temperature can drop by ~5o degrees Fahrenheit (~ 30 degrees Celsius).
Miracle Mavericks
Honestly, as shown in this article on Journey North, this ability to exercise such fine control over metabolic rate on a nightly cycle makes the hummingbirds more marvelous than terrifying, switching between cold- and warm-blooded. And they are very well-adapted to their eating regimens, especially given their diminutive size. But such is the cost of burning so much energy to keep going without much room to store fuel. Like I said, a strict starvation diet.
If you’ve enjoyed this segment of Nightmarish Nature, feel free to check out some previous here:
-Mountains-
A serene mountain landscape yawns; monumental evergreen trees fingering a brilliant azure sky stroked with wispy clouds. The air is crisper and fresher here, wafting its piney fragrance along the meandering deer path that bends and swerves down the gradual slope…
-Reset-
-City-
A bustling urban environment beckons, its diverse, brightly-clothed denizens laughing with one another, casually parting as you stroll through their midst. Sunlight dances through the crowd, reflecting off of towering buildings, cars, and bicycles. Sounds swell together as though breathing life into all interconnected within this rich tapestry of time and space. The street is a cacophony of alluring smells, and the savory scent of kosher all-beef hot dogs…
-Vegetarian-
Fragrant cumin zing of vegetable samosas…
-European-
Perfume of freshly baked baguettes embraces you in a warm hug as you sit at a small metal café table, savoring an espresso…
-Caffeine Free-
Lavender cremosa…
-Non-Carbonated-
Limonade…
-Reset-
-Beach-
The warm sand squishes between your bare toes as the soft ocean waves lap at your feet, beckoning you to wade further into the cool water…
-No Swimming-
The woven rope hammock stretched between two perfectly-spaced palm trees sways slowly as you lounge in its cradle, sipping a Mai Tai…
-Non-Alcoholic-
Iced lemonade in a highball glass through a red plastic straw…
-Eco-Conscientious-
Paper straw, the citrusy elixir providing respite from the steamy…
-Less Hot-
Warm breezy summer…
-Spring-
Spring air, children…
-Nature-
Birds…
-Silence-
You close your eyes, hammock gently rocking you to slumber.
We here at My Universe wish to thank you again for choosing our services. We know that there are many post-cataclysmic alternative realities available, and we appreciate your business. Please enjoy your respite from the societal collapse, and remember us next time you need to unwind.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website. And if you really feel like getting away and helping clean up the beach a bit, check out this relaxing video from Dylan Clark titled Seagrass. Or maybe that wasn’t so relaxing after all… 😉
-
Original Series4 days agoNightmarish Nature: Starvation Diet
-
Movies n TV6 days ago
Returning to the Soothing World of Evil with “The Demon of Death”
-
Movies n TV3 days ago
Heretic: ‘It’s a simple choice that should not be made simply: Belief or Disbelief?’
-
Movies n TV6 days ago
Rare Exports, a Magical Christmas Horror Movie Mess
