Homemade Horror Christmas Special – Horrific Treats For This Seasonal Time

Buying presents for friends and family at Christmas time can be tricky. Each person wants something unique and it can be tricky to get just the right gift. This can be even harder when your pal is a diehard horror nut. But don’t worry, Grizzly Bomb has you covered with this selection of collectible releases.

There are some old favorites here as well as some new sellers. Though not all of them are festive based, they are sure to bring a smile to any horror fan on Christmas day.

The Muppets Are Back – And This Pitch Episode Proves That’s a Good Thing

Most Muppet fans have already heard the good news: after a lengthy hiatus, the Muppets are returning to television in a new series, aptly titled The Muppets.

The Muppets Set for a 2015 Reboot on ABC

It’s time to get things started.

The Muppet Show ran from 1976 through 1981, and stared, among others Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and the always heroic Great Gonzo. Jim Henson’s group of puppets have been icons for near 40 years, and now thanks to Disney, a new generation of fans have fallen in love with Kermit and crew. ABC knows how much of a hot commodity the Muppets are, which is why rumblings of the network rebooting them for a new TV show are making the rounds.

Brandon Bird and Jim’ll Paint It Reimagines Nostalgia In Their Own Surreal Way

The internet is a great thing for creative minds. Sure the criticism an artist can receive is a heck of a lot harsher than what a face to face confrontation would be and you need to be ever vigilant of the dreaded trolls who are lurking at every dark corner of the web ready to rip your work apart. However, it does offer numerous benefits such as getting your work out to numerous people on a global scale and having the freedom to do what you like. This freedom has given us some superb pieces of work which when successful, can spread like wild-fire with pop culture fans and internet users alike. There is also freedom to interact with your audience in an instant way which just might not have been possible before. It is these elements of artist freedom that both Brandon Bird and Jim’ll Paint It excel in but they both use this freedom in very different ways.

Brandon Bird may not be a name that you know but his work is instantly recognizable. In fact one image in particular sent the internet into free fall when it came out. It is the image below that most internet users will recognize and it has popped up on numerous message boards and memes and has been embraced by the pop culture universe.

 

Brandon comes from California and has worked in some degree in numerous projects, most interestingly helping out the punk rock group the Aqauabats with their merchandise and show designs. The thing that is so great about Brandon’s work is the sheer creativity in his mashups (Peter Dinklage as Wolverine is incredible) but also the childlike innocence behind them. They embrace childhood whether it be the rejection of children you want to play with (Harrison Ford suffers from this in one painting), or the sheer excitement as an adult we get of seeing our childhood icons mixed up in interesting yet somewhat natural feeling ways. They always gel together so well no matter what is getting mashed up or how surreal the outcome. His merchandise enforces this notion with coloring books and adventure kits available that harkens back to a simpler time when we made our own entertainment. It is ironic then that the internet has embraced his artwork so much. Maybe we all just want to remember that feeling of childhood one more time?

 

Jim’ll Paint It also has close connection to the internet, more accurately it is his audience he relies on for part of his inspiration. Little is known about Jim (other than we think he is called Jim) but it’s what he does that is important. He takes requests from internet users on what to paint, with the more extreme and bizarre  the concept, the better. The love of retro and childhood shows that Brandon has embraced with his art is seen here because Jim’s (mostly) UK audience have looked back into their past for inspiration and got Jim to incorporate these memories into the pop culture icons of the present. So you have Jim Bowen from UK show Bullseye doing his best Thelma and Louis impression while the band T–Rex and Jurassic Park combine together to form a stunning visual piece. But it is not just retro stuff Jim excels in; his audience throw anything at him from Christian Bale watching over Ben Affleck’s version of Batman to Voldemort becoming happy he found a can of coke with his name on it. The great thing is though the audience give him the idea it is Jim’s incredible mind that puts it all together and gives his own unique spin on it. It is always an incredible experience to read what the person has requested and then see Jim’s surrealist version of it.

Both Jim and Brandon have their own websites where you can buy their products and also look for Jim’s Facebook page where you can check out more of his fans requests. If you want to see your favourite pop culture icons engaged in ways you never imagined possible, then keep checking out these guys work as they continue to create incredible pieces every week or so.

James Hance’s Relentlessly Cheerful Art

Relentlessly Cheerful Art is the name of artist James Hance’s website (As well as the title of this article. Clever, eh?) and it also happens to best describe his work. But before looking at his stuff it may be best if we get to know the man and who better to do that than his own UK website?

Hillary White Geeks Out Some Iconic Impressionist Art

Hillary White is a mash-up artist with a difference. She has taken some classic pieces of artwork (Rembrandt, Monet and Van Gogh are just a few of the artists she has tackled) and given a pop culture spin to them. Here is how she describes herself:

“I am a Maine native, born from the salty depths of a bubbling cauldron overflowing with 80’s pop culture, classical art and Alice in Wonderland. I spend most of my time painting classical art and pop culture classics and designing T-Shirts” — Hillary White

This means we get to see Muppets pose in iconic artistic poses while Freddy Kruger stalks the streets of a very famous painting. It is visual breathtaking to see these paintings re-imagined through Hillary’s eyes and even if you do not know the artist you will no doubt recognize the art or just the style of the piece. When comparing them to the originals you notice that Hillary has kept everything  that was incredible about these original paintings and skilfully added her choice of pop culture characters so perfectly that they fit right into the art they have been placed into. As a fan of low-budget Horror movies it is great to see some unexpected but very welcome cameos by slightly obscure icons such as the creatures from Ghoulies and C.H.U.D! Below is an example of a few of this reviewers favorites but look at her Society 6 page because she has tons more and a lot of them are for sale.

These would look great on any fan boy or girl’s wall.

Not only does Hillary do these types of mash-ups above, she also makes her own more traditional mash-up art and just to finish the article off her is an example of some of her better pieces. The great mix of different types of pop culture makes each piece of her work visually stunning. So if you like her work then look at her Deviant Art page  for even more examples of artwork and her up and coming work.