Collectable Halloween horrors to scare your guests

The eye-watering array of haunting, grisly and gaudy paraphernalia I’ve have to fight my way through for the last two months at the supermarket has caused me to reflect on the lure such items have held for us, from the earliest prehistoric rock and cave art.

In times when most could not read or write, the Church found the most effective form of getting their message across was through allegorical depictions like ‘Doom’ paintings, depicting sinful souls being despatched into a gaping ‘Hellmouth’ by devils and demons at the Day of Judgement.

Hieronymus Bosch, the fantastical Netherlandish painter of the 15th and 16th centuries, is perhaps the most famous painter of these nightmarish themes. With the last Bosch painting at auction selling for over $212,000, it’s thought unattributed Bosch works could still be out there- so keep your eyes peeled!

Churches and churchyards are also the repositories of further ghastly depictions in stone, from skulls and crossbones on gravestones to the human, animal, hybrid and nightmare images that leer down at us from dark corners and rooftops.

Designed to see off evil and warn the congregation away from immoral behaviours, ‘gargoyles’ applies to the figures which act as water spouts, directing rainwater away from church walls, while others should correctly be referred to as ‘grotesques’.

Events such as the Reformation and the English Civil War saw many carvings removed from churches. Examples still come up for sale today at ecclesiastical architectural and reclamation specialists, although prices into the thousands reflect their history and uniqueness.

Becoming popular vernacular decoration during the Victorian Gothic Revival, antique and modern reproductions can be found relatively easily.

This collection of skull themed ‘Memento Mori’ (reminders of mortality), along with other Halloween horrors are currently haunting the centre, starting at £10.