Putting the Hell Into Halloween Artwork
filed in Book Cover Illustrations and Artwork on Oct.31, 2012
Book Cover art for Don MacPhail’s “X factor” – by artist Duncan Long
Halloween has come to symbolize the age-long struggle between good and evil. Ultimately evil is a rebellion against the God of goodness, and as such comes to a literally hellish end both in literature as well as in many religions.
“A Place Prepared for Them” – by book illustrator Duncan Long
A certain logic can lead one to ask, “If God is really loving, why would He throw a sinner into Hell?” Of course if one is going to assume that the biblical account of Hell is true, then one should also look to the source material for the answer to such a question. And the New Testament proclaims one important fact: God does give each person an “escape clause” from the punishment of Hell; He did so by sacrificing a Son on the cross. Thus anyone can avoid Hell by simply repenting of their sins and embracing that salvation of eternal life. So as far as the Bible is concerned, avoiding Hell is not only doable, it requires only a childlike realization that the solution is free and simple.
“The Accuser” (originally appearing in the Sun tabloid)
The biblical view also portrays Satan as the ultimate tempter, a jealous hater of mankind. This leaves Lucifer intent on dragging humanity into the fiery punishment of Hell (which was originally created for the Devil and other fallen angels).
“The Serpent’s Curse” – by illustrator Duncan Long
Little wonder then that the first appearance of Satan in the Bible is as the serpent that tempts Eve, ultimately leading to the fallen state of mankind.
“To Wake the Dead” by artist Duncan Long
Of course to be tempting, evil must enjoy a certain cold and decadent beauty. And often it promises a sort a corruption of eternal life — a sort of corpse-like existence of the undead, whether zombie, vampire, or something horrible that goes bump in the night.
“Tempus Fugus” – by horror illustrator Duncan Long
And it’s that deathly substitute of a living death for life that gives so much of Halloween and the horror industry the terror that appears on the silver screen as well as in books and literature.
“Witch and the Elements” – horror art by artist Duncan Long
Be scared. Be very scared.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
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When not ruminating over the theological implications of horror and Halloween, Duncan Long works as a book designer and illustrator. You can see more of his horror (as well as science fiction and fantasy) artwork in Duncan Long’s Online Book Cover Portfolio
