Haunted MTL Original – Hide and Seek – Chloe Ballew
“Hide and Seek” by Chloe Ballew
I stood on the edge, tremors racking my body. My best friend bet me he could beat me in a game of hide and seek and I had foolishly agreed. We stood together on the barrier of the midnight forest as the clock counted us down.
3… 2… 1…
We were off! Through the woods we went with only the stars to guide us on our midnight hunt. I ran at first, slowing my pace when there was a possibility of finding someone. Needing to be able to hear even the quietest of whisperers and faintests of whimpers, I kept light on my feet only moving when necessary.
Suddenly, a faint rustle came from the bushes to my right, the moonlight shone upon the greenery while my presence remained unannounced. Very quietly I crept through the brush trying to keep an upper hand. When I peeked over the bush a girl in her early twenties was laying, eyes closed in the mossy rocks. She was mumbling softly to herself.
Using my trusted pocket knife she was taken care of swiftly, blood staining my mask in the process. I kept her once sliver necklace to signify my first find of the night.
Through the forest my journey continued. By the end I had a silver necklace retrieved from my first mark, a pocket watch taken off an elderly man who was hiding near the creek, a small boot lifted from a young boy found up an oak tree, a crimson stained hair tie stolen from a ginger woman nestled under the roots of towering oak, and a rusty pocket knife pulled from the pockets of a man who attempted to fight back.
After the hour had run down I headed to our hidden rondevu spot near the creek and he had beat me there. Walking up to him I realized he was lost gazing into the dancing flames.
“What do you have,” he asked, not averting his gaze from the blazing fire.
“I got five of them, what about you,” I responded, holding up my dripping loot.
He turned around to face me with tears threatening to escape his deep blue eyes. In his hands he held two golden necklaces, a baby blue scarf, and a dirty doll, all of them as ruined as my finds.
“You lost,” I whispered to myself before pushing him into the fire he had been so fascinated with only moments before. As I stood watching the flames engulf him I found myself unencumbered. I had one and he had lost.
Chloe Ballew is an emerging author in the horror and thriller genres. She hopes to someday have her own anthology of short stories. When she isn’t writing she spends her time playing music, reading, and painting.
So I happened upon this very cheesecake-heavy premiere issue of Extremes of Violet, complete with pinups by some of the comic book greats of the time, and decided to make some Peeping Toms collage art by incorporating the voluptuous vixen into various crystal pieces to create a sort of fishbowl effect centered largely on her bosom (which is unavoidable).
Each of the Peeping Toms is shown from three angles because of how much the pieces shift as the light plays off the crystal. I started with these star forms.
The second bowl was even a bit iridescent, and violet at that!
Next I did a series of really perky busty bowls, which really get the feeling across that you are looking through the tiny peephole in a door as well as exemplifying the content even more. Note: these are shown in two rows with side details as well, so there are a lot of pics here…
I experimented a little and tried a couple of other scenes, like the portrait, as well. She’s staring back at the Peeping Toms…
I also tried this more square bowl form.
And finally, I found this little heart, which is my personal favorite of the group.
These works are a continuation of my Creepy Comics collage series, shown on Haunted MTL here.
Creepy Comics 5
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.
So I probably should have taken a before picture, but I found a faux wood stained plaster Jesus statue and turned it into Zombie Christ. Because it’s the second second coming. Or something. It’s kind of an offshoot of my nail polish paintings reappropriating thrift store art…
Anyway without further ado, I present…
I was a little concerned that I made him too green at first, but I’m happy with the finished result. This statue just looked so anguished. It’s eyes had been closed but I like them better open and even painted them with blacklight reactive nail polish so they will stand out even more and be interactive in other ways to add creepy factor.
Sadly I don’t have a blacklight anymore or I’d share a picture that way too. Oh well. I’ll leave you with a fun detail shot instead.
Next time I may make him more gray than green though. We shall see…
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.
So it’s been awhile since we’ve looked at some of the things I have gathered, so I thought I’d bring back my art collection for another round… Here are the first and second highlights in case you missed earlier explorations.
From left to right: M Pena Windstone Editions bat-winged flap cat, bone mask by Terry and Susan Wright, wood cat in skull by labcreature, real hair art by myself, pencil drawing of Barbarois Elder for Vampire Hunter D anime cel
From left to right: Barbarois Elder for Vampire Hunter D anime cel, Turn Me Royal portrait of my father and stepmother as Frankenstein’s monster and his bride, painted horse skull
Left to right: Overgrowth by Ellie Bradley, heart by TenderFlesh, praying devil girl by Torman’s Treasures
And a vintage plastic 2-foot Jack O Lantern I got at a yard sale and have kept on display on his very own stool in the living room since. So happy.
Anyway, there are some more highlights from my art collection, as it is always growing and evolving. I have lucked into several of these pieces at antique and thrift stores or acquired them from the artists or more. And yes, I still have Da Ting the taxidermy shih-tzu from the first of these posts.
