Halloween Love

Several years ago Kevin received a text message from his sister, Dana, asking, “Do you wanna scare little kids?”

Even for someone as odd as Kevin this was a strange text. He’d come to find that Dana had been working at the local Boys & Girls Club and they were putting on a haunted house for Halloween and could use some volunteers.

Laura had been working there for several years at that point and never had luck getting volunteers for her annual haunted house so when she asked Dana if she knew of anyone and Dana said her brother, Laura was skeptical.

But, to her surprise, Kevin showed up and there was a special connection between them almost immediately. It would take some time but they’d eventually come together, fall in love and get married.

Some years later Kevin was having a hard time deciding what to draw for his yearly Halloween illustration. He wanted it to mean something to him and really have that Halloween feel. As he looked around, desperate for any kind of inspiration, his eyes fell upon some photos from he and Laura’s wedding. One in particular caught his eye:

They had set up a small photo area at their wedding, complete with fun props. When it wasn’t busy they took the opportunity to have some fun and that photo was one of their favorites.

Love and happy memories played through Kevin’s head like a beautiful melody. Soon that melody merged with the Halloween atmosphere that decorated every corner of their house and an image and a story began to form in his mind.

Imagine being a trick or treater on Halloween night. You and your friends decide to take a shortcut through the woods when you hear something behind the bushes. It’s a light, haunting laugh. Someone is speaking and there are sounds of glass clinking gently together. 

You’ve heard stories about this forest being haunted and wonder what terrible fate could befall you if you’re caught by some terrible ghost. Nevertheless, your curiosity is too great and you creep forward and quietly move the bushes aside. 

What you find is a skeleton and some kind of tentacled mer-woman having an anniversary picnic under the full Halloween moon. 

With this image burning in his mind, Kevin set to work doing the drawing. He started with pencil on paper and then inked it with his trusty pens and his brush pen.

From there, the lineart was scanned into the computer and colored in photoshop. Some of the black outlines were colored as well to make something pop or to just soften the line since black is a very heavy color.

When all was said and done, Kevin felt that he’d done what he’d set out to do. He’d created a loving tribute to he and Laura’s love while keeping it in the Halloween spirit.