Night of the Cauldron: Part VI, The Scarecrow's Lantern

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part V, Bone Chimes Spider

Night of the Cauldron

Part VI

The Scarecrow's Lantern

Henry watched the headlights of the cars blur as they passed in the firetruck.  He could already see the green glow of the Woodsboro subdivision from the highway.

"Where's this at again?"  He asked Seth, the driver.

"Near the corner of Elm and Myers."  They sped up the exit ramp.  Several cars before them moved quickly into the emergency lane.  Henry double checked his coat and helmet.

Henry wasn't sure what they were going to find at the site.  The dispatcher's relay of the emergency calls had been confusing.  Some people had called about a column of green fire and other calls reported animal attacks and dangerous Halloween pranks.  Animal control had already been alerted and paramedics were on their way as well.  His truck and the one following would arrive first.

Night of the Cauldron Delays

The last two pieces for Night of the Cauldron are going to be delayed a couple of days.  These two pieces are taking a bit more time than I anticipated, but I'm plugging away at them and will hopefully have them both to you before the end of Day of the Dead.  In the meantime here's a teaser for the next piece.

Soon.

Night of the Cauldron: Part V, The Bone Chimes

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part IV, The Pumpkin Bogey

Night of the Cauldron

Part V

The Bones Chimes

Theo walked along behind his brother and sister.  Martin and Stacey rushed up the sidewalk to the next house for another batch of candy.  They giggled as they ran.  Stacey was dressed as a bright sunflower and Martin was the Red Power Ranger.  They disappeared behind a large framework of orange lights in the shape of a Jack O Lantern.  He heard them yell "Trick or Treat!" followed by laughter.

Theo sighed.  He wore no costume of his own, embracing the designation of adult for the evening.  He had planned to dress as Batman, but he had also planned a different Halloween night altogether.  Just before sunset, his mother had thrown him the wrench.

"You've got to take Martin and Stacey Trick or treating Theo.  I'm sorry, I know it sucks, but they called me into work."

Night of the Cauldron: Part IV, The Pumpkin Bogey

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part III, Ghosts of the Tree

Night of the Cauldron

Part IV

The Pumpkin Bogey

Alicia paced back and forth through her room as she put on her costume.  Eric had been hiding beneath his sister's bed for at least fifteen minutes waiting for the right moment.  He'd snuck in when she'd gone to the bathroom and slid quietly underneath.  He had to stifle his giggles several times while he waited, holding his hand tightly over his mouth.  He'd put on part of his own costume for the scare, a pair of fur covered latex werewolf claws.  He'd be rinsing the taste out of his mouth all night, but it was worth it.  Finally, Alicia stopped pacing and stood in front of her chest of drawers.

Eric jutted his arm out from under the bed and grabbed Alicia's ankle.  He growled like an angry dog as he did so.  Alicia screamed and leapt onto the bed.  Eric laughed and pushed himself out the opposite side.  He flew out the door before Alicia could catch him.  He was in the kitchen is seconds, Alicia just steps behind him.

Night of the Cauldron: Part III, Ghosts of the Tree

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part II, The Turnip Lanterns

Night of the Cauldron

Part III

Ghosts of the Tree

Jimmy ran down the sidewalk to the next house.  His bag of candy sloshed at his side, knocking against his furry chaps.  As he ran, his cowboy hat flew off his head.

"James Wallace!"  His mother called, using the tone that meant he'd better stop whatever it was he was doing and wait for her instruction.  He ran back to pick up his cowboy hat.  He scooped it up and tried to get it evenly back on his head.  Soon his mother was beside him.  She leveled the hat and pushed it down firmly in place.

"Much obliged ma'am" he said in his best cowboy voice and grinned up at her.  His mother smiled and directed him back towards the next house.  He walked slowly in front of her with his legs bowed and his hands firmly on the toy guns at his sides.  They both laughed.  "Gotta go rustle up some candy!"

Night of the Cauldron: Part II, The Turnip Lanterns

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part I, The Cauldron

Night of the Cauldron

Part II

The Turnip Lanterns

Margaret pulled her skirt free as she slammed the car door closed. Chuck moved around to join her.

"I didn't get anything on my skirt, did I?"

"Nothing there." He said without really looking.  Margaret adjusted her bustier and secured her princess crown.  Chuck, her Prince Charming, lit a cigarette and took a long draw.

"Gimme some," she said.  He passed the cigarette to her and lit himself another, almost blowing his exhale in her face.  "Really?"  He turned away and examined the night sky.  They smoked in silence but for the occasional labored exhale.

"Why are we even here?"  He didn't look at her.

"We don't have to stay long.  Let's just get through this okay."  She pleaded.

Night of the Cauldron: Part I, The Cauldron

Night of the Cauldron
Part I

The Cauldron

Traci brought the freshly carved Jack o' lantern out of the house.  She set it upon the railing at the edge of the deck.  She moved the bowl of candy to the small table beside the steps.  Turning the Jack o' Lantern so that it fully faced the driveway, she paused to admire her handwork. She adjusted her witches hat and her black skirt, being careful not to knock off her fake fingernails.  She was ready for the trick-or-treaters.

Her father was preparing a fire bowl further back on the deck.  Suddenly there was cackling laughter behind her.  She started and sighed, glaring at the source.  Hanging from the fence at the deck's edge was a creepy mechanical grim reaper that cackled, lit up, and shook whenever there was movement nearby.  She hated it, but her father enjoyed how it scared the other kids when they came up the side stairs to get their treats.  She swiped at its tattered robe and stuck her tongue out at it.  The reaper shook its scythe in mock menace.

Coming Soon: Night of the Cauldron

Something is brewing at Zombie Bites.  There is a strange green glow beyond the falling autumn leaves and voices echo on the wind.  Last year, Zombie Bites was haunted by the Halloween Zombie Outbreak.  This year, strange magick is afoot.  something is bringing Halloween to life.  It's the Second Annual Halloween Outbreak: Night of the Cauldron!  Night of the Cauldron posts will be part of the regularly scheduled Featured Creature.  Come check it out the week before Halloween!

Featured Creature UPDATE: Autumn Winds Original Scan

After this week's mention on my process with the purple and yellow sharpies, I wanted to share the original color scan for Autumn Winds.  I actually enjoy this piece a lot in its original form.  I spend so much time looking at black ink on top of grey pencil that the variation is very refreshing.  It's like artwork from some weird other world where the light is odd and the laws of physics are different, or the color green doesn't exist.  Check out the original post to compare it to the finished piece.

 
{Sharpie}

From the Sketchbook Archives: Halloween Poster Pieces

Here are some unused sketches and color elements for a Halloween poster from several years ago.  Much of the imagery here is inspired by early twentieth century Halloween paraphernalia.

Featured Creature HZO: Black Cat

"I work security over at the park off main and north.  The first one I saw was when I was patrolling near the front.  Halloween night is usually pretty busy so I had one other guy, Ted, working with me. I don't wanna talk about what happened to him, okay?

Featured Creature HZO: Bunny

"I was beginning to get worried.  My sister is never late.  When I got to her house, I let myself in and looked around.  No one was home, but her car was outside.

Featured Creature HZO: Witch

"Halloween night, yeah, that was when it all started.  I think I saw my first one over on main and third.  I was waiting at the traffic light when I noticed movement in front of one of the buildings across the street.  Another car passed in the opposing lane and that's when I saw her.

Featured Creature HZO: Dracula

"I heard one of the children gasp.  I looked up from my candy dish and saw a young boy in a Dracula costume at the end of the walkway.  It looked like  he had fallen or something.  His cape was torn and his pants leg was shredded and he seemed to be favoring one foot as he walked.  

Featured Creature Halloween Zombie Outbreak: Ghost

In honor of the of the darksome holiday of ghouls I am trying an experiment to see if my pen and pad are quick enough.  From now until October 31st, the Thirteen Days of Halloween, I'll be bringing you one zombie trick-or-treater a day.

From The Archives: 2001 Maze Poster Pieces

Featured Creature: Autumn Winds

With this week's creature, we're taking a brief respite from the Zombie outbreak and paying homage to the Halloween paraphernalia from the early twentieth century.  I've always enjoyed the rustic feel of those old Halloween decorations and cards.  They seem so odd to me.  I am fascinated by the jigsaw logic of putting a Jack-o-lantern head on a ghost body.  Fun stuff!

Featured Creature: The Return of Jack

Here's a hauntingly familiar face.  I should have known that once I broke out my pens, it wouldn't be long before Jack showed up.  Something about an revenant spirit with a flaming Jack-O-Lantern head and a bat cloak. What's not to love?

Halloween Re-Release October 25th

I found this nugget on the Halloween Movies Site.  I saw this a few years back on the big screen, can't resist another opportunity to see it again big and scary.  Check Halloween Onscreen for local times and theatres!  See you there!

Just in Time for Halloween...

Another blurb here to remind everyone that the t-shirts I recently designed to promote the HBA are still available through Neatoshop and the Horror Blogger Alliance.  If you are interested in purchasing one, the images below link directly to the ordering pages.  I got my HBA t-shirts in the mail a little while back and I've been working hard on this ad to show you how good they look!  I was like a kid at christmas when the package arrived!  Thanks Jeremy!