The book series “Masters of horror” sold well, circulation is growing, and we are not dissatisfied this fact. Thank you, publishing house “AST” in the face of editorial “Astrel-SPb”. Anyway, that’s the first real series of foreign horror for many years. Not someone’s personal den (as a series of “Stephen king amazed,” which is published by the one and only Bentley little), and a multifaceted selection of both authors and dark areas. The last to date, the book is “Sacrifice” Graham Masterton. Recall the annotation of the novel:
David Williams arrives at the Isle of Wight to repair an old Victorian mansion Fortyfoot house, hoping to bounce back after a nasty divorce with his wife. But the first night he hears some loud noises in the attic, the afternoon sees the ghosts of long-dead people have abandoned chapel nearby and then discovers that the locals Fortyfoot house is notorious that for a century it is associated with the disappearance of children throughout the County and a legend about a terrible monster named Brown Jenkin.
Only this is no ordinary Ghost story. The evil that settled in Fortyfoot house, much worse and more powerful than any Ghost, and the life of David soon turns into an unspeakable nightmare in which people are dying, and past, present and future are woven into a single unbroken thread.
And while Brown Jenkin wins bookstores, “Zone Horror” decided to find out how he appeared on the cover. It turned out, final, shaded version, where the monster if the hat is not quite what was offered by the artist. Initially, the monster appeared on the cover in all its glory, but the publisher decided it slightly to “hide”. For greater secrecy or not to frighten impressionable natures – is not so important. It is important that we get the original illustrations, and can show you the Brown Jenkin uncut. Moreover, the Creator of the cover, the St. Petersburg-based artist Stanislav Galay, especially for the “Zone of Horror” commented on all phases of work (with clickable images). Pass the word to him:
“Night. Scary Victorian house. On the porch is a dark figure, pouring an alarming extraterrestrial light.”
Based on this simple and clear description, I started to work. The picture in my mind happened instantly – I wanted to make a cover similar to a poster for a horror movie. “Don’t breathe”, “Last house on the left”, etc., I gathered a small collection of thematic posters and covers, highlighted some of the key moments in their art-style and started to sketch.
Here’s what I got:
I sent the sketch to the editor, and he was asked to make the shape more elongated head, rat face and add a cloak. In General to work. Due to the tiny size of the character to make these changes was impossible, so I decided to increase the figure and make it “disgusting”. The idea is to leave the figure in the foreground I didn’t like, so I made the alternative– put the character into the background. So the cover became more similar to the poster for the film.
Both I sent to the editor.
I was glad that AST also chose the second option. Inspired, I took up the colour and atmosphere of the picture. Intermediate working versions looked like this:
Finally I got the result which was fine by me. This one:
But for revision I, just in case, prepared multiple color options. First, the sense of beauty is different in all people, and it has to be taken into account. Second, the editor can choose the atmosphere that best suits the specific book and the series as a whole.
Color options:
Further correction, in my opinion, was a bit controversial, but the last word always remains with the editor. So in the end the final version of the cover (without the lettering) looks like this:
I hope you found it interesting. Thank you.
Hell, it was really interesting. It’s one thing to look at a finished product, and quite another to observe his creation, looking to the territory of the Creator. Thank you, Stanislaw (by the way, you can visit his page). Well, we have to remind you that soon in the series “Masters of horror” will be released two more books: a novel Ramsey Campbell’s “the Grin of the dark” (may) and a collection of short stories by Thomas Ligotti “Songs of a dead dreamer” (June). Official plans have not been disclosed, but the editors already working on the future content of the series. Apparently, summer will be taking a little break, but we are looking forward to new products. Give Cthulhu, readers, they will not disappoint.
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