Well, I tried to save the best for last. This post at least has the
highest number of artworks I've ever included in one post before. Anyway, here goes:
Back in March the wife and I had a very good Saturday. We slept late, went out to eat, futzed around town, running a couple of errands, generally having a good time. It all culminated that evening with us having a blast at dinner (appetizer dinner, one of our favorites!), consuming more than the usual amount of wine and watching one of our favorite movies,
Evil Dead II. We enjoyed it almost as much as the first time we saw it. However, I often found myself (as I realized later) taking it a little too seriously at times, saying things like, "You know, someone actually going through something this extremely supernatural and horrific might APPEAR to be acting in an absurd or comical way. From my experience, the OUTWARD appearance of your actions is often out of step with what you're actually feeling INSIDE." In my mind I thought I was just having fun with my conjecture and my
'What if this was REALLY HAPPENING!?' thought exercise. What I didn't know at the time is that I was planting the seeds of fear in my own impressionable, wine-marinated brain. Not surprisingly, that night I had a nightmare.
It opens in some strange house I've never been in before (as a lot of my unpleasant dreams do). There's a zombie somewhere and it's all the fault of this douchebag son of some rich guy (apparently this is their house). Not sure why I know all of this, it's just the given facts of the dream.
Anyway, next thing I know I've opened a closet door somewhere in the house and find myself standing face to face with the aforementioned zombie. He's not all, "Bleearrgh! Graaaarr! Brains!" or extremely gross looking or anything. He's a middle-aged, balding man in a suit. He has a blank stare and is filthy (as zombies are wont to be) but the expressionless face looking back at me from the shadows of the freshly opened closet is particularly unsettling.
Jump cut to a side view of the the closet. From the top shelf of the closet, the zombie suddenly shoots out head first, arms at his sides, entire body parallel to the floor and stops at the waist. The room is lit with a sickly, bright (yet also dark) orange and the top half of the zombie is sticking out of the closet, stiff as a board like the top drawer of a dresser. Suddenly, his arms shoot out, doubling his visible length.
Next thing I see (not that I actually recall seeing it, it's more like my mind TOLD ME I was seeing it) is the zombie and the douchebag son wrestling on the floor in front of the closet. The room is still lit in that sickly orange as they struggle, the zombie now in full, aggressive "Romero" mode.
The scene changes again and I'm pretty sure I have the son safely behind me and the zombie is prone on the floor in front of me. I'm jabbing at him with a transfer shovel trying to decapitate him. We now seem to be in the living room. Beyond the zombie I can see furniture, potted plants, windows and glass doors that lead outside to a back yard or patio. It's night time and the room is now a dark, moonlit environment and I can see streaks of blood running down the zombie's face. I jab again with the shovel, a little off target, and hit him in the face. I don't see it but I clearly feel a splash of warm liquid hit my left cheek and eye.
Everything becomes a little unclear at this point, although in the next moment I somehow know that I've killed the zombie. Then I look up at the ceiling and I see the shadow of a thin, unclothed, headless figure. It's arms are flailing wildly and shooting from it's neck are what seems to be both short lengths of hair and what looks like small moths but they have no bodies, just a pair of fluttering wings, much like heart-shaped pieces of paper folded down the middle...
...I'm terrified and I realize the ghost of the zombie is casting this shadow! I panic and swing the shovel wildly at where I think the ghost is. The force of the swing in my arm and shoulder as I hit nothing is the last thing I feel.
***
I woke up, hungover and so dry my eyelids were almost making scratching noises every time I blinked. I was still pretty creeped out and, even though I keep a pretty much nocturnal schedule and there was plenty of daylight in the house, I was still seriously keeping a wary eye on the hallway for any shambling zombies that might be coming my way. After some liquids, pain killers and a light snack I was finally able to get back to sleep.
Lastly, here's another incarnation of the nightmare zombie:
Well, I hope you enjoyed this. I have to say this was the most vivid nightmare I've had in years. My only regret is that I wish I could've done more artistic justice to it. That's not to say I didn't produce a few decent images but I never really felt I completely captured the true vividness of the experience. Oh well, I guess room for improvement is a good thing.
Whew! Has this been a crazy month or what? I'm glad I took all the time off from work. Three-day weekends all month has been SA-WEEET! It's gotten me rested up and ye olde creative juices flowing as well! I look forward to the holidays and you should too, as I have a stockpile of new artworks just itching to be posted : D Thanks for stopping by, you crazy kids are the best!
