A Happy Halloween

A Happy Halloween to all! This is Henry II, so named because when I was little I had a plastic skull model I named Henry. That first Henry was glow-in-the-dark. He didn’t have glowing eyes or attached candles, but he did have individual teeth I had to glue in one at a time (they glowed too). After putting the model together, I was so pleased with him, he was given top shelf status in my bedroom. My dad, who himself had a taste for the macabre, didn’t protest. Friends of the family who visited however, did have questions. Ah well… girls were so not expected to be weird or different.

Halloween was a big deal in my house. My father insisted on handmade costumes and handmade decorations. He was an artist and set designer, and had also worked as a display artist for major department stores. He knew his stuff.

I love that during Halloween the uninhibited is welcome, encouraged. The strange, the macabre, the garish, even the tacky.

But Henry isn’t tacky, is he? Nah… And he is ever-present by my desk. A good companion with glowing eyes.

For more of my photos that suit the Halloween season, check out my Memento Mori series.

Have a happy Halloween!

~ Nellie

Photo © Nellie Levine