March to Halloween: Creepy things in my home

Since I started this Steemit thing less then a week before Halloween I thought I'd kick the blog off with a series of posts with a Halloween theme.

My family and I don't tend to be "normal" (whatever that means). rather we tend to be drawn to the fantastic and the macabre. Just a quick walk around our house will attest to that! Honestly some things in our home might even run people off if they are a bit squeamish or easily creeped out. So here then are three things around my house that might weird you out:

#1: Our creepy collection.

This collection has been a labor of love. Some of it was found and cleaned by me (various cat bones and bird skull). Some of it was given to us by friends (the preserved lizard in the glass jar in the back). Some of it was bought by us (a human rib and human finger bone). And some of it is actually from me (turns out your dentist will give you your tooth back after they have extracted it). So with a mixture of pride and trepidation I give you our "creepy collection."

#2: My kid's "butterfly" mask.

So last year my middle child was assigned an art project for their English class at school. They were supposed to create a piece that was themed around butterflies. Well my child asked me to 3D print them a face and then proceeded to use clay to sculpt a "butterfly's face" onto it. Their point was a butterfly is exceptionally creepy when you view it up close. You add the uncanny valley factor with the human face and I think they have a point.

#3 Baron Stanhope painting.

So about a decade ago a friend of mine gave me this painting. He was friends with the painter who gave it to him while working at the painter's art store. We have no idea who the woman is but the painter and the painting both have good stories.

Baron Stanhope was an artist most of his life but after Pearl Harbor he decided to help the war effort. I read that he was too old to fight at that point so instead he got a job working as a foreman for Raytheon making radar dishes. After a time he got moved to a top secret project the company was helping the government with. Turns out they were working on The Manhattan Project and were helping develop the trigger for the first atomic bombs. Horrified at what he had helped built Baron Stanhope returned to his home town and dedicated the rest of his life to art.

To add to the story of the painting it has somehow managed to survive two house fires one of which was a house I was living at with my friend. Notice the sort of dark color the whole painting has? That's mild smoke damage from two fires!

I've always found the painting of the woman haunting. Add to that two house fires and the original painter working on the atomic bomb and I think you have a uniquely creepy piece.

Well that's some of the creepy things around my house. Tell me in the comments about something that is creepy in yours!