Maybe a little dramatic in the title but with the loss of Tobe Hooper last week, the recent loss of George A Romero also today being 2 years since Wes Craven’s passing, it’s kinda feeling true.

So yesterday i finished this piece.

I loved the idea that three of the world’s greatest horror directors getting together afterwards and hit the theatre.

This really got me thinking about influence and idols. We i was a kid these guys were some of mine. I vividly VIVIDLY remember when I first saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Most of the kids I knew growing up had heroes that played sports, action movie stars and rock singers. I was different. On top of illustrator greats like Bernie Wrightson (this is a whole other post), Richard Corben, Frank Frazetta, Mike Ploog and an assortment of other illustrators, Most of my heroes were horror movie directors and writers. Hooper, Romero and Craven were 3 of my top 5. Clive Barker and John Carpenter are the other two.

RIP guys! Enjoy the movie!

Of course before we get into this. I am flat out saying I DO NOT support/condone/believe in Nazi’s, white Supremacy or any of that shit!.
I am a gay man,
a majority of my immediate family are jewish,
and my Granddad was at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Now that’s out of the way, let’s move on.

I’ve been having a crisis of conscious of late. A few years ago I drew this.

It’s a parody mashup of Frozen and the fantastically schlocky 70s exploitation movie Ilsa:She Wolf of the SS. It’s always been a popular print for me but now i’m considering pulling it from my roster. This was designed purely as a silly movie mashup and I have yet have anybody get upset with me about the poster (at least nobody has said anything to me). Everybody seemed to get the joke. Even younger people who didn’t know about the original 70s movie laughed and seemed to get the sillyness that was what the intention.

Now certain world events and certain world leaders have taken what was a historical evil back to an acceptable lifestyle choice. Now I find myself questioning my own views about what’s acceptable and what’s not.

I have always been a big fan of dark and inappropriate humour. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve told more than my fair share of horrible tasteless jokes. As an artist I feel the concept of free speech and freedom of expression is one of the most important and vital parts of life. I’ve always believed that joking about horrible things is the best way of taking away the power that those horrible things have. I actively tried to never insult and or offend a person personally. But I’ve never accepted that there are any subjects that were taboo and/or unacceptable to discuss. I’ve always tried to live my life in the footsteps of a greater man. George Carlin!

Now that belief is in question. Because like most things in life, some person or persons have ruined it for everybody.