A torch lit her way into the crypt

As promised in this post, here is my other recent mostly-monochrome ghost painting, inspired by my recent readings. Although I always read Victorian horror/ghost/mystery stories, in the fall I amp it up a little! My favorite thing is to go to nearby forests, like Clayton Park in Monmouth County, NJ, or Rancocas Nature Center, in Burlington County, NJ, and intersperse walking with sitting on a log and reading. I can easily point out, for instance, the log where I sat and read "The Haunted Hotel" by Wilkie Collins, one October.

The setting that may have subconsciously crept into this little piece in part, though, was the basement of the Collins house in Dark Shadows where Barnabas' coffin lies. Last year I started rewatching them, on DVD, and this year I was able to score a large number of the box sets thanks to the used section of a favorite record store, where they tend to undervalue DVDs. Right now I'm watching the batch where they're in the 18th century but I plan to get through a couple hundred episodes this fall/winter! Whether I intend to or not, I'm sure that will influence my themes a little when I'm painting, since I usually paint and watch stuff at the same time. I can't just sit still, I have to do something!