Halloween Special: A rundown of the creatives taking on the underworld

Date
30 October 2015

To celebrate everyone’s favourite holiday, All Hallows Eve, we thought we’d put together a rundown of films, exhibitions, illustration and photographic inspiration for costumes for you and your pets. We’ve got vampiric milkmen, hand-rendered Ouija boards, card-playing zombies, guitar-toting skeletons, vegan ghouls, a scary secretary and what we can only understand to be a Golden Retriever superhero princess. Let our Halloween special inspire some creepy work and on-point outfits for you and your pets on this spoooooooooooky weekend.

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Edward Monaghan

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Jonathon Calugi

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Jonathon Calugi

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Josh McKenna

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Sara Andreasson

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Bloodbath Exhibition: Sara Andreasson

71a London: Bloodbath Exhibition

Josh McKenna and Ed Tuckwell have curated an exhibition of illustrations that “dissect the uncanny and explore all manner of weird and dark subject matter that keeps us up at night.” Held at Church of London’s exhibition space 71a London, Bloodbath: The Halloween Hangover brings together the work of illustrators such as Sara Andreasson, Jordy Van Den Nieuwendijk, Lawrence Slater and Jonathan Calugi in a celebration of all things spooky.

Chris Goulder and Ben Stevenson: Deliveries Before Dawn

Directed by Chris Goulder and Ben Stevenson, Deliveries Before Dawn is a promotional film for Walthamstow-based Parker Dairies. A sort of Halloween special, the film follows the nocturnal life of the east London milkmen, with more and less obvious hints to their vampire habits throughout.

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James Burgess: Hell-umi

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James Burgess: Halloween Poster

James Burgess’ illustrations

London-based illustrator James Burgess produces an admirable array of work packed with dismembered hands, leather-clad zombies and Halloween puns. This year he has also designed the poster for DIY Space for London’s House of Horrors show, a covers gig featuring The Ramones, The Crumps and The Knock-Offspring.

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

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Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade, New York

Simon Way: Halloween Dog Parade

Photographer Simon Way shot this great series at New York’s Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park. The array of characters is quite incredible, with bizarre shop-bought and homemade outfits, some of which being indecipherable but nonetheless wonderful.

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Beach London: Ouija Exhibition, Crispin Finn

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Beach London: Ouija Exhibition, Maria Ines Gul

Beach London: Ouija

Beach London has curated a show of Ouija boards, with work by Crispin Fin, Maria Ines Gul, Adam Higton, Rob Flowers and Heresy. As well as the boards, they have collaborated with Everyman Cinema on a series of midnight screenings including The Exorcist .

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Rob Flowers: So Young Magazine

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Rob Flowers: Stellaween

Rob Flowers’ illustrations

Illustrator Rob Flowers seems to specialise in the imagery of the holiday, with a portfolio of pumpkins and ghouls ready for magazine commissions, posters and a great project with Stella McCartney’s collection of children’s clothes.

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Aaron Beckum: Microchip Blues

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Aaron Beckum: Microchip Blues

Aaron Beckum: Microchip Blues

In his self-directed video for Microchip Blues , Aaron Beckum tells the story of an office worker who may or may not be dreaming of California’s hazy, hippy past while crunching numbers in his corporate cube. Everything goes horribly wrong as his computer’s microchips take over his face and he turns into a psychedelic skeleton. Watch the film here.

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Lenny Letter: Lena Dunham’s Costume

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Lenny Letter: Lena Dunham’s Costume

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Lenny Letter: Lena Dunham’s Costume

Lena Dunham: LENNY

In the current issue of Lenny Letter, edited by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, Lena Dunham presents her Halloween disasters. Costumes include Medusa and a secretary, for which she ended up “looking way too much like a teensy alcoholic divorcée to be a good candidate for candy.”

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About the Author

Billie Muraben

Billie studied illustration at Camberwell College of Art before completing an MA in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art. She joined It’s Nice That as a Freelance Editorial Assistant back in January 2015 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis.

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