The Dinner Party

       I had a hard time finding the place. The directions on the invitation were odd, a lot of back roads winding through dark woods.

      The house appears in the middle of a weed choked clearing. Neglected and run down it sits hunched over with some kind of black birds perched on the roof.

The man in the living room wears an out dated, moth eaten suit two sizes two small. He leads me into the dining room.

Next, the man in the bathroom enters bloated and constipated with liver spots all over.

Gliding across the room,her black see through gown flowing, the lady in the bedroom sits down across from me. Her make-up is smeared, her hair is out of place and dozens of rings strangle her fingers.

Following the lady is the man in the attic in his bizarre, black hooded cape.He sits beside me on the right. His eyes fixed in an eerie stare, he gazes nervously and suspiciously around the room.

Suddenly the man in the basement comes crashing in wearing nothing but a pair of dingy white underpants. Completely hairless with mold stained hands and feet he sits next to me on the left.

Lastly the man in the kitchen emerges. Gaunt and weak, his suit hangs loosely on his wire coat hanger frame. He strains and struggles as he pushes the rusty dinner cart into to room.

Under the tarnished silver dome is the main course consisting of lukewarm leftovers. Overcome by strange mix of  shame and dread I excuse myself  and leave slamming the door behind me.

A Night Like This

                    Those bizarre tourists are in town again. They always rent a space inside the attic.
                                                                           

 That's where they have their secret meetings. 

Secluded and suspicious.

They never use their real names and only speak in odd gibberish and hand signs.

 The strange lights and music escalate. 

My phone is ringing but I won't answer it.

 I don't wanna go into the house. They're waiting for me.

Trick or Treat

                   Ben Cooper boxed costumes from K-Mart ( Fangface favorite). Dead leaves crunching under Velcro laced sneakers. Black-light colored cardboard ghouls with crepe paper limbs. Black cats and jack o lanterns. Eerie lights, morbid music and death rattle voices. Plastic pumpkin buckets bloated with chocolate bars and Smarties. " Witch's Night Out" cartoon special on TV. Late night spook shows hosted by monster men in make-up. Mercer Meyer's "Little Monster" bedtime stories. Don't forget to check in the closet and under the bed. Turn my night light on!
                                                              

Last Chance Hotel

 Every reservation is booked for 5:45 pm on a Sunday evening.

     Paid in full by a force beyond our understanding or control.                                                                       

 The rooms in here burn with a mid August light. 

A light that penetrates every nook and crevice. 

 Boiling restlessness and chilling melancholy insist that this isn't a vacation.  

Check out time varies depending on the individual. Some guests leave bright and early without their luggage. However others leave in the dead of night lugging far more than they came in with.

 The sun never sets on the Last Chance Hotel and it never rises on it either.

Light and Shadows

   There is, unseen by most, a mysterious world hidden within our own.
                                                                            

There velvet light and silken shadows wage a secret war for our gritty, cracked reality.

It is out of their struggle that amazing visions appear.

Subject to our ever changing environment they are only visible for a few seconds then gone forever.

But, when captured and frozen in time they become beautiful, nebulous portraits.

                                                                               

 Like Rorschach tests administered by God, these images hold a mirror up to our subconscious minds,

revealing hidden truths, fears and desires.

! emocleW

The warm colors of consciousness fade giving way to the cool blue glow of late night TV. Though the body sleeps the mind remains...

       

      For me these three words are full of abstracts, secrets and mysteries. I just love them! They give off such a strange and fascinating vibe. I'm constantly trying to capture that vibe with drawings, paintings, comics, stories and photographs. This blog will be my attempt to document and archive the Open All Night phenomenon as it emerges.