“May I have your name, sir?” asked the mousy young woman who stood just beyond the threshold of the concave wooden door.
Read moreIn the Shade of a Houseplant by Landis Blair • Mary Sweeney as Horror Floral
It was always the same spot. The exact same spot. First it was a money plant. Then a bird of paradise several weeks later. Then an aloe which was quickly followed by a schefflera.
Read moreCryptid Blues By Lisa Barcy and George Prince • Erin Cramer
I was picking a piece of viscera out of my teeth with a thin shard of femur when I received a communication from a littermate, one I long assumed had either trudged off to Alaska with the grizzlies or finally fallen into a ravine as dinner for the coyotes.
Read moreSpooky Rhymes and Creepy Content by Todd Summar
Words, like incantations, can serve as the backbone of any Halloween spectacle. Stories complement images to conjure a delightfully spooky mood.
Read moreEthereal Realm by Mary Sweeney & Tracy Whiteside
'Ethereal Realm' is a vision, as seen by Mary Sweeney (as Horror Floral) and photographed by Tracy Whiteside.
Read moreAnimal Party and The spirits come out at night... by Linda Scholly
Spirits peer out the bay windows of the breakfast room trying to see what’s going on in the world outside. Black vines grow around the windows as black birds and mice dance around the room.
Read moreSomething Strange is Afoot at the Harley Clarke!
Perhaps you have driven down Sheridan Road passed the Harley Clarke Mansion and seen its windows alight with scenes of not-so-scary Halloween horrors.
Read moreA House, Haunted — Windows by Kenneth Gerleve
One Halloween he picked up a book / And read in the library’s nook / The story, bewitching and clever, / Cursed him to read there forever
Read moreThe Aviary by Margot McMahon
Under the full moon, in the dark of night / Beware the bedeviled conservatory / If you witness the spectral birds take flight / You’ll be trapped in their haunted aviary
Read moreSkeleton Jangle by Erin Cramer
One Halloween night in 1927, they gathered after dark / All the fellas and dames met for a swanky shindig at the Harley Clarke / Every Halloween, they return to cut a rug underneath the full moon / Joined in their revelry by all their furry friends, the resident raccoons
Read moreThe Raven by Hannah Batsel
Once upon a midnight dreary, / A raven broke into the house / At first we were a little leery / He sat there quiet as a mouse
Read moreSkellies by Hannah Batsel
The Skeleton Sisters give many a fright / With their macabre merrymaking / They save their spooky tricks for Halloween night / And leave all the mortals shaking
Read moreA House Haunted — Windows by Hannah Batsel
Artist @hbatsel brings the party to the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston. Her carefree ghouls and mischievous creatures will haunt the windows of the house — and our website — all month long.
Read moreThe Haunting of the Harley Clarke Mansion
You may be wondering why we’ve called our annual Halloween spectacle A House, Haunted. Is the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston actually haunted?
Read moreGhost Bride by Alison Aldrich
A Murder of Crows by Beth Herman Adler
A murder of crows ascends the staircase together / An image made ominous by their ink-black feather / But this flight does not portend a gloomy foretelling / There shines a hopeful future for this bookish dwelling
Read moreA House, Haunted Returns!
We ghouls at Artists Book House welcome you to the haunted halls of the Harley Clarke Mansion — virtually, that is.
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