Operation Horror......

     I'm a huge fan of the horror genre, and weird fiction, particularly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like many I came to the genre via the works of H.P.Lovecraft and have been a fan for many years, after a somewhat faultering start with 'At the Mountains of Madness' which I tried and failed to read as a teenager - I was accustomed to the fast paced writing of his contemporary R.E. Howard at the time, and couldn't get to grips with Lovecrafts slow build and lofty vocabulary. In later years I returned to his work and have been an avid fan ever since.
     A couple of years ago I stumbled across CreepyPasta subreddit readings on Youtube and was instantly hooked. Their bald, matter-of-fact style, written as they are in a non-literary fashion, as though they were the real world accounts of the authors experiences (some claim to be true) was so refreshing and vivid in contrast with the more traditionally constructed prose of the traditional horror novel or short story. There's something raw and powerful about this non-style that really resonates for me, making these fan-fiction stories feel real in a way that more traditional writing somehow lacks.
     In the last few weeks i discovered (after a recommendation) the SCP subreddit and accompanying Youtube readings. If you don't know what SCP is, it stands for Secure, Contain, Protect. SCP is a fictional shadowy world-wide trans-governmental paranormal organisation dedicated to defend humanity, and the world itself from dangerous anomalous entities. Think of it as X-Files on roids  :) I'm truly in awe at the sheer imagination of the contributors on this subreddit, and I urge you to check it out. The range of subject matter is vast, and not all is to my personal taste but the imaginative creativity is certainly impressive and inspiring.

     This has all led me to consider how i can contribute to the genre in a (hopefully) meaningful way;
Recently in my spare moments, and just for fun I've been working on some illustrations inspired by
some of my favourite stories from CreepyPasta, SCP and the classic (public domain) old authors that began it all a century and more ago.
     My plan is to publish a book of illustrations once I've created enough material, and perhaps include segments of the stories that inspired the illustrations, crediting the writers that inspired the art and hopefully by extension leading new readers to their writing via my art.

For those interested in the technical side of the art making process I will also be including video painting demos and step-by-step tutorials on my up and coming Patreon page.

Here is a piece |I made for the series a couple of weeks ago;
I hope you like it  :)


CB