Hello September! My, how I have missed you!
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. On the calendar, September brings visions of leaves starting to turn, morning dew-covered grass, and crisp, cool evenings. Not happening here in Middle America – nope – we’re into multiple days of 100° plus temps with humidity so high that even the skeletons are sweating.
Nevertheless, I’m going to live in the illusion that Fall has entered the chat, and as long as I plant myself in my crypt-level office and studio, I can believe it is so.
While it’s true that I’m always on the hunt for “Code Orange” finds, I recently took a delightful detour, tiptoeing through the web in search of independent haunted artists, where I unearthed two new works. Over the years, we’ve collected quite a few indie pieces, both originals and prints, that now grace our office gallery wall.
I decided it was time to take stock of this ghostly collection, document each piece, and share the tour with you. It turned out to be a bit trickier than expected. While cataloging the artwork, I realized the details for a few of our earliest acquisitions had vanished into the ether. But for those that remain, I’ve cited and linked the artist in case you want to build your own Halloween gallery. (Note: This is not a sponsored post – just sharing the Halloween love!)
Please note that this virtual tour includes fingerprints, settled dust, and stubborn glass reflections at no extra charge. Because our Ghostly Gallery resides in our windowless basement office, it is completely void of natural light. Lacking the sheer willpower to haul in my awkward studio lighting, let’s just consider the shadowy, dim photos part of the eerie, spooky atmosphere.
If you’re ready to indulge in a little fine art for the phantom soul, let’s take the tour.
Pin this virtual tour to collect dark art inspiration, discover independent creators, and plan your ultimate seasonal gallery wall.
In our early years of hunting for Halloween, we often turned to eBay, which offered a wider variety of haunted goodies than we could find locally. In addition to auctions, I joined and, for a time, ran Halloween discussion boards where I got acquainted with prop builders, Halloween fanatics, and independent artists. It was here that we began building our Halloween gallery.
One of the earliest pieces we purchased features a giant jack-o’-lantern held by a grinning ghoul, wrapped in a cloud of sheer ghosts. I love the movement and color tones in this one – it’s soft and subtle, with just the right touch of fright.
Sadly, the identity of this artist is lost to me. I would often visit with him in the eBay groups, so I’m disappointed I can’t recall his name. The signature reads Morbidly(?), and this print is number 2/500.
Another early piece is this original watercolor that I titled Parade of Ghouls. Again, the artist is lost to time, and the only signature is a small skull in the lower left-hand corner. I purchased this on eBay, and as one of my absolute favorites, it sits at eye level right next to my studio desk.
A man startled from sleep awakens to a parade of ghouls, including a pumpkin head, witch, Frankenstein monster, vampire, mummy, and werewolf.
Late one night, a parade of ghouls marched by my bed.
Before the daybreak I may be dead.
If you were looking for me in the early 2000s, I was either selling Halloween online or chatting about Halloween online – the latter of which is where I met Wayne J. Tirone of Moonbloom. This is his original pen-and-ink piece titled Witch. It’s amazing how something as simple as a series of black lines can, in the right creative hands, be arranged to craft a story without words.
I ran across him online a few years back. I don’t believe he’s currently selling his artwork, but you can follow his musical journey here.
Gabriel is an original acrylic on canvas, and while it doesn’t have an explicit connection to Halloween, I found the painting a bit haunting. Plus, since our youngest shares the same name, I simply had to have it.
While there’s no evidence that this is a portrait of the mythical undead, the cool blue tones and stony gaze give me major vampire vibes. The piece is unsigned, leaving the artist unknown.
Another mystery piece in my collection is this acrylic on canvas – an early eBay find signed simply TK.
The subject matter – a skull paired with a glass of wine- is a classic motif often associated with carpe diem or memento mori. It hangs right by my office doorway, visible every time I leave the room, serving as a gentle daily reminder to cherish the present moment.
In the early days of eBay, there was a bounty of independent talent and no shortage of wonderful, haunted artwork. You could find oodles of originals – artist trading cards (ATCs), drawings, prints, painted wood, and even painted everyday objects with a Halloween theme.
One artist I discovered back then and still follow to this day is Carolee Clark of King of Mice Studios. I was fortunate to add her acrylic painting on a wooden cabinet door to our collection. It’s a sizeable piece that takes up a large chunk of gallery wall real estate, and it’s worth every single inch.
The ghostly trio of witches surrounds a cauldron under a full moon, reciting Shakespeare’s classic lines from Macbeth:
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Her studio is still active today, but you have to be quick – her new pieces disappear in an instant.
This wooden desktop magazine holder was another eBay find. Featuring a witchy cat duo under the full moon near a cauldron – I love the colors in this piece. It is close at hand on my desk, where it holds some of my Halloween collector reference books.
The artist is another mystery, as it is unsigned.
Lewis Barrett Lehrman was a prolific watercolor artist who published a regular e-newsletter from The Haunted Studio, keeping subscribers updated on his latest creations. His final issue in January 2014 – which I still have saved – announced his retirement at the age of 80. Though I had already acquired two of his prints, Judgment Before The Dark Court and Last Laugh, I often wish I’d snagged a couple more.
Last Laugh was produced in two variations: one featuring a coffin in the lower right-hand corner, and one without. Sadly, he passed away in 2023, so his marvelous work can now only be found on the secondary market.
Transworld Halloween is an annual convention that connects Halloween creators with retailers and haunted event operators. It was there that I had the pleasure of meeting artist and web designer Chad Savage – the go-to expert for haunt websites, branding, and original spooky artwork.
I made sure to pick up a signed print of his Phantom Jack, a pumpkin-headed character with a jagged grin who looks like he just crawled right out of a horror comic book. ::shiver::
If creepy, classic horror is your seasonal vibe, you can explore more of his work at Sinister Visions.
There is a noticeable gap between those early acquisitions and the more recent ones. During that time, I focused on running my own online Halloween shop and hunting down vintage pieces, but a few years back, we started gathering new ghouls for our gallery wall once again.
The next artist classifies her work as Victorian Lowbrow – hand-illustrated, dark-aesthetic pen-and-ink on illustration board. She is Madame Ashleigh Talbot: part mystery, part recluse, part macabre, and 100% old-school (no digital shortcuts here).
I followed her work online for over a decade, but seeing a piece in a California museum finally convinced me to bring her Poison Label Poster home. You can find her artwork in her online shop, Etsy, and various oddities museum gift shops.
Who’s There by Terry Wolfinger caught my eye during a visit to Halloween Town in Burbank, California. The Haunted Mansion vibe of the startled cemetery groundskeeper and his watchful hound pulled me right into the story – you can almost feel him sensing a ghost creeping up right behind him. The colors, the moody lighting, and the wide-eyed expressions create a perfectly eerie scene.
Wolfinger’s illustrations appear in magazines, video games, board games, book covers, and event posters. You can find this print and more in his online shop.
For four days every June, our city hosts the Smoky Hill River Festival, an arts celebration featuring more than 130 fine artists and craftspeople. We’ve met some wonderful creators there over the years, including Mollie Chounard, and have purchased several prints from her, including It’s Secret To Success.
Inspired by the pure imagination of Willy Wonka, her pop fiction and fantasy art pairs vibrant storytelling with a sharp sense of humor for a lighthearted, visually whimsical tale. You can find your favorite piece in her online shop or catch her at a local art festival.
Another Smoky Hill River Festival find is artist Hannah Gebhart. Printmaking and paper art are her specialties, and I am always in awe of those who have mastered block printing (or, as I call it, art in reverse). Three of her prints are tucked into our Ghostly Gallery: Graveyard Friends, Ghosty-Ghosts, and Hello Again.
She has so many other fantastic pieces that I’m sure we’ll be adding more to our collection soon. You can explore her entire print collection in her online shop at DinoCat Studio.
It took me all of two seconds to scoop up a print of Tai Taeoalii’s American Gothic Nouveau. As a longtime Frankenstein fangirl, I’m always attracted to the monster in all his iterations.
Taeoalii works in a rich mix of media – combining ballpoint pen, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, watercolor, and acrylic. His style is bold and eye-catching, with a cool, storytelling vibe. You can check out his website to explore the rest of his creations
And now we’ve come full circle to the latest pieces to possess our gallery walls, both discovered on Etsy.
House Of Midnight by Niki Quist of Gloomy Grove is a fine art giclée print featuring a shrouded ghost standing among pumpkins before a looming haunted house. (Artwork still in route – image will be updated once it arrives.)
The dark, moody, and muted tones pulled me right in. There are so many delightful details – from the shingles on the house and the cemetery stones to the twisted trees and starry night sky – that it feels perfectly Halloweenie to me.
And, lastly, meet Chester, the most adorable flying fox as he celebrates his first brush with mischief night. ((Artwork still in route – image will be updated once it arrives.)
This print, Chester’s First Halloween, comes from an intricate pen-and-ink drawing by Cat Mallard. The only thing that slowed me down from adding this bitty batty bat to my cart was making sure I also snatched up four matching stickers of the same piece! He just arrived, and I can’t wait to get him framed and hung in the Ghostly Gallery.
You can adopt your own version of Chester in her Darkling Woods studio on Etsy.
And with that, our tour has officially reached its final resting place. Thank you so much for wandering through our collection of ghosts and ghouls in our Halloween gallery with me!
May your own walls be filled with cozy nostalgia and eerie art this season.
Until next time – stay spooky.
