• Inktober #10 – Crabby- 2022

    The tenth Inktober prompt is “crabby”. The movie I chose for this prompt is the The Babadook. This movie is a wild ride. It does have it’s creepy parts but all in all it’s emotionally terrifying. The story is heart wrenching and touches base with many overwhelming feelings such as depression, anger, worry, fear and many more.

    I think the scariest part about it is how relatable it can be for anyone. It covers so many difficult emotions that most of us hide from the rest of the world. It’s a great reminder to make sure you don’t hide them too well because they might manifest into the babadook and you can’t get rid of the babadook!

    We all have our demons and this movie is a scary reminder of what can happen if you don’t face your demons. This is a psychological roller coaster of a movie so if you decide to watch it be prepared to check your emotions.

    Have you seen The Babadook? What did you think about it? Drop a line in the comments below! Check back tomorrow to see the next prompt, eagle.

    Take care, free spirits!

  • Inktober #9 – Nest- 2022

    The ninth prompt for Inktober is “nest”. The movie I chose for this prompt is “Them!” (1954). I don’t remember much about this movie except for the giant ants attacking a town. I watched it when I was about 3 or 4 years old with my great grandfather. I remember going over there to stay the night and my grandpa always had some kind of old monster movie on. I think this was where my passion for horror was first instilled in me. It’s in my blood I guess.

    I can remember being so confused while watching this particular movie about the giant ants. I was baffled by the size of the ants and I remember wondering, “Holy crap, is this real?!” I had no idea and at that age you don’t really know about the “It’s just a movie” adage. I was amazed that this was happening on the screen in front of me. It scared me but my fascination for this unexplained phenomenon was stronger than my fear and I wanted to watch more.

    There were several other horror movies I had watched with my grandfather at a young age but I don’t remember what the were. The only other one I remember was watching Critters which scared the life out of me but again I was too fascinated to look away nor did I express any fear because I didn’t want him to turn it off.

    This is probably one of my earliest memories and my first memory with my grandfather. I have always treasured those memories. Now that I’m older, I am grateful that he allowed me to experience those feelings for the first time; the joy of being scared but feeling safe in his home, the fascination of the unknown and the unexplained and the fearful curiosity to want to see more. The first time you experience certain emotions is always the strongest and you’ll never quite feel it that way again. Kind of like when you find your soulmate and you fall in love with them for the first time. Your emotions are always so powerful in the beginning because it’s the first time you’re feeling them. Emotions are like drugs, you can never truly experience that first high again. I guess it’s the same when you discover your love for horror.

    What was the first horror/monster movie you remember watching? How did you feel? Leave a comment below! Check back soon for the next Inktober prompt, crabby.

    Stay fascinated, free spirits!

  • Inktober #7 – Trip – 2022

    The seventh prompt for Inktober is “trip”. This prompt had several possibilities, it was just a matter of picking one! I decided to go with one of my favorite horror movies, The Descent (2005).

    This was one of those movies I had never even heard of until I randomly stumbled across it at the store. I had no idea what it was or if it was even supposed to be good so I took a chance and bought it. (This was before streaming services were a thing so you had to either rent physical movies or buy them…ah, the good ole days!)

    I was totally blind coming into this movie and once I had watched it, I was completely impressed. The story was great and believable, the actors were great, the monsters were awesomely creepy and had a back story that was logical and the ending was great. How often do you randomly stumble on a horror movie that has it all?!

    The gist of the movie is about a group of friends that go on a trip together, spelunking in a cave. That’s all I am going to say because if you haven’t seen it, you should give it a shot this Halloween season. You will not be disappointed.

    Plus, a little side note, the entire cast was all female. There are so many movies now that force the female roles and it’s done so poorly, it’s an embarrassment to the women watching. This one was just natural and made no point to be like “look at us, we made an all woman movie, pat us on the back”. No, it was just a movie for everyone to enjoy that just happened to be all female.

    Have you seen The Descent, what did you think? Tell me your opinion in the comments below! Check back tomorrow for the next prompt, match.

    See ya next trip, free spirits!

  • Inktober #6 – Bouquet – 2022

    The sixth prompt for Inktober is “bouquet”. This was actually an easy one to come up with even though I could only think of one horror movie for the word bouquet, Frankenstein (1931). Well, my first thought was Bride of Frankenstein but that one didn’t actually have a bouquet in the movie.


    Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein is actually the one with the bouquet. This was the fiancée of Dr. Henry Frankenstein. There is a scene where Elizabeth is waiting for the wedding to begin, meanwhile, Frankenstein’s monster is on the loose. He sees the future bride from outside the window and sneaks into her room, creeping up behind her.

    Have you ever seen the Frankenstein movie? What do you think of the black and white classics? Leave a comment below! Check back tomorrow for the next Inktober prompt, trip.

    Thanks for stopping by, Franken Spirits!

  • Inktober #5 – Flame – 2022

    The fifth prompt for Inktober is Flame. This prompt had several possibilities. There are several horror movies that have fires and literally end in flames. It was just a matter of choosing which movie I wanted to go with.

    There is one classic horror movie that I wanted to incorporate into this years Inktober series and this was the best prompt to link it to in my opinion. I decided to go with Carrie (1973). I am a hardcore Stephen King fan so I wanted to get at least one of his movies in here. I think I managed to get a couple in this year but you will have to wait to see the others.

    I’m sure there are very few horror fans that haven’t seen Carrie. Although, even if you haven’t seen it, many still know about the infamous ending with Carrie’s humiliation that immediately turns into her malicious revenge on her high school. Then, like I stated earlier, it all ends in flames.

    This is my favorite sketch that I have shared with you so far. I have never quite mastered drawing fire. It has always been a struggle for me to make it look realistic. I also wasn’t sure how I was going to make it look like Carrie (spoiler alert) had been drenched in pigs blood either, especially with a black and white sketch. However, I just went for it and hoped for the best. I am pretty pleased with how it came out. I’m quite proud of how I captured the scene. Not to mention, I am not the best at drawing people which is a yearly struggle for me when Inktober rolls around. Although, you will never get better at something if you don’t try. So in the end, one of the most challenging sketches has turned out to be one of my best for this years Inktober.

    Carrie is definitely one of those weird stories from Stephen King but it’s a different approach to the horror genre than your typical ghosts and goblins. Also, there is a remake released in 2013 that was also good. They both follow the same story line but each one is unique in it’s own way. I enjoyed watching both of them. Although, I believe the original holds a little bit more of that “creep” factor. I still would recommend watching the remake at least once.

    Have you seen the Carrie movies? Did you like the original or the remake better? Share your opinion in the comments below! Check back tomorrow for the next Inktober prompt, bouquet.

    Thanks for stopping by! Stay fiery free spirits!

  • Inktober #3- Bat – 2022

    The third prompt for Inktober is bat. Again, this was another easy one considering bats are a popular go to when it comes to horror. I wanted to do something a little different than your typical bat though. I decided to draw a “Vesp” from the movie, The Silence.

    The Silence is a Netflix original and in my opinion was a good movie. The bat like creatures called vesps were different and terrifyingly vicious. They relied on sound to find their prey so society had learned to become completely silent so as not to become victims to swarms of these ravenous little monsters. This is a similar concept to the more popular movie, A Quiet Place, which was released a year earlier in 2018. Although, other than the creatures being drawn to sound, that is the only similarity these movies share. Therefore, I think they are both deserving of a watch.

    Have you ever watched The Silence? What did you think? Share your comments below. Check back tomorrow for the next Inktober prompt, scallop.

    Thanks for stopping by, free spirits!

  • Inktober #2 – Scurry – 2022

    The second Inktober prompt is “scurry”. This was an easy prompt to come up with a horror movie. Several movies came to mind of eerie little critters scurrying around. Gremlins, Critters, They, Graveyard Shift… the list goes on. The one I settled on for my sketch was “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark”.

    There is the original from 1973 that I had watched as a child and the remake from 2010 that I watched as an adult. They had few similarities but were both great movies. For some reason little monsters have always creeped me out more than big monsters. I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s the fact that you can find a small space to hide from the big ones and they can’t get you but the little monsters are the ones hiding in the small spaces and will get you wherever you go!

    For my sketch, I drew both versions of the creatures. In the 2010 version, they are called Homunculi or tooth fairies. I’m not quite sure if they had a name in the 1973 version other than humanoid creatures but as you can see they are quite different from each other yet equally menacing.

    I will say that the remake is a more “hardcore” horror than the original so if you are looking for something a little easier to watch, I would go for the original. If you are a calloused horror fan then the remake is a lot more gruesome of a movie.

    Have you seen these movies? Which one was your favorite? What did you think of the remake? Share your opinion in the comments below. Check back tomorrow for the next Inktober prompt, bat.

    Thanks for stopping by free spirits! Now scurry along!

  • Inktober 2021 #28 – Crispy

    I drew a perch for this prompt because one of the things I’m going to miss is my dad’s fish fry! You may have read in a previous Inktober post that my family and I would often take my dad’s boat out on Lake Erie. We would spend all day in the sun, fishing for perch. Whatever we caught, we would bring back home and fry them up for one of my favorite meals of all time. My dad would take care of the fish and my mom made this home made tarter sauce. Together, it was sooooo goood. I never even remember what the sides were because I was so focused on the fish.

    I know I can have a fish fry anywhere but it’s not the same if my dad doesn’t make it. I always enjoyed his cooking. Some of the things he would make became my favorite meals. When I try to remake them though, it’s just not as good. I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing.

    Thanks for stopping by. I have one more Inktober sketch to do for my collection. I will not be doing #30 or #31. The prompts don’t bring up any memories for me. Plus it’s Halloween so I will be having fun with my son that weekend! Check back soon for the final sketch!

    Fry it up, free spirits!