Night Creature Print

As Halloween creeps closer, I was trying to decide which of Edward Gorey's prints had the most frightening image. Night Creature Carrying Baby Aloft is one of Edward Gorey's most successful prints. To create this piece, Mr. Gorey wholeheartedly embraced the medium of printmaking and produced a striking image which could only be created through the printmaking process. I have print #40/50 in my collection.

With his use of shadow and light, Mr. Gorey conveys menace, darkness, and despair more convincingly than he could have in his standard cross hatched drawing style. In person, this print has a beautiful, almost three dimensional, inky black surface. This Night Creature does not have good intentions.

Edward Gorey modified a copy of this print by adding color to the image, and used the altered image as the cover for a 1987 vampire compilation book (see my post from February 9, 2014). While adding color to the image worked for the dust jacket, I still prefer the original black & white print.