Written by Jonathan Wojcik
NIGHTMARE MENAGERIE 2017: PART TWO
You've now shared Over 160 nightmares and counting this year, and as usual, I've begun to pick out some of my favorites to illustrate and review!PAPER BOY
Nightmare entities sure do love their goofy catchphrases and speech quirks. This spindly little paper guy has a pretty fun one to go with an unforgettable sounding design I still may have gotten entirely wrong.
It's all too easy to picture those puppet-like movements, too, with the stringy limbs floating around in the wind while Paper Boy has the time of his little life dancing around and sucking the color (along with the soul, or something) out of anyone who gets in his way...or I guess just kinda bugs him.
SOCKTOPOD
You can probably tell I draw Nightmare Beings pretty hastily compared to most of my other artwork, and nowhere near as good as any guest contributors tend to do...but a lot of these guys call for a squiggly, scribbly outline anyway! This one sounds almost like it would be made out of paper mache, though I'm sure it was a lot lumpier and wrinklier than I'm portraying.
The "sock puzzle" is a pretty unique idea, and the fact that this creature might make a task that inane into something life or death is the kind of quirky twist you find in some of the best SCP Foundation articles (...which I'm thinking of reviewing every day in December)
Perhaps there's supposed to be some clues to the puzzle scattered around the same dream-realm.
THE CLOUD
I gotta say, this is an EXQUISITE quality nightmare. If someone or something actually has to write and direct nightmares for people, they were at the top of their game when they conceived of this one. The opening mystery of the domed town, the horrible clown sounds, the increasingly awful sounding antagonist and the ultimate reveal are so perfect that I'm jealous I didn't have this one myself.
BARNACLE BOY
Speaking of jealous, how about when somebody comes up with the absolute best, most flawless horror monster you've ever heard of and they literally did it in their sleep?
FISH AND CHIPS.
THE GRATE
Haha, this concept is really grate!!! But really, I mean it. This might be my favorite of the year so far. I don't know if it was quite THIS encrusted with red lichen or even if it was this shape, but every single aspect of this mobile, malevolent street drain is just phenomenal in both its sheer strangeness and genuine fright factor.
PAST NIGHTMARE BEINGS:
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