Hidden in shadows and echoes we find a world of fear and a gathering of reflections, creeping like memories into our minds, like smoke in our eyes. And here, in the darkest of places, we recognise ourselves...

An introduction

The horror photography gallery is a relatively small one and if you spend time browsing through it, you'll no doubt notice recurring themes. It makes sense that artists who draw inspiration from similar sources will explore similar concepts in their work, creating images that at once feel familiar as we see our own nightmares through someone else's eyes, twisted and skewed by each individual's perception.

Rather than becoming annoyed ("that's copying!") or derisive ("that's such a cliche!"), why not celebrate each other's creativity by appreciating how other artists see our dark little world? From archetypal characters and widely held phobias to props and effects that no-one can resist playing with, creative horror photographers can infuse any concept with their own personal brand of fear.

In this series of articles you may recognise themes that you've explored in your own horror work and I hope you'll find some inspiration for your future photography. Don't forget to visit the artists whose photos you see here for even more awesomeness. Enjoy!

Lose yourself in...

Bleeding through bandages



Ocular terror



Blood spatter patterns



Hypodermics



Crime scenes

Further reading

If you would like to create your own horror photos, there's a wealth of really useful tutorials on dA covering everything from fake blood recipes to rotting teeth walk-throughs to lessons in turning your models into zombies. You can find these, along with horror definitions, dark art groups, past news articles, horror photography Daily Deviation round-ups, interviews, features and a whole bunch of other entertaining and helpful stuff in the Horror Resource Guide.

If you have written a horror photography or effects make-up tutorial that I haven't already added to the resource guide, please send me a note with a link to it so I can add it to the resource list. You are also welcome to note me with links to horror photography news articles you've written so I can help you promote them.

And finally, if you have a favourite horror photo that you would like to share with a wider audience, you are welcome to suggest it for a Daily Deviation feature. You are also welcome to suggest your own work for a DD if you like. To find out more about suggesting work for Daily Deviations, read my Daily Deviation Suggestion Guide.



<sub>Horror art is an acquired taste and people tend to love it or hate it (or at least just not get it). If you love it, great! If you hate it or don't get it, please move along politely and refrain from being insulting towards other people's creations simply because the subject matter isn't to your personal taste. If you don't get horror art and would like to chat about it, feel free to send me a note and I'll happily answer your questions as best I can.

I do my best to ensure that I'm featuring actual photographs and work which was created by the artists who submitted it. If you have genuine reason to believe that one of the features isn't a photograph but digital art being misrepresented as photography, or has been ripped from elsewhere, please send me a note with the details. Do not call out alleged misrepresentation or thievery in public comments, thanks.</sub>