Om Nom Pinhead

Pinhead Om Nom is the latest addition to my wonderful world of deranged Om Nom’s.

The Cenobites started out with such humble beginnings in The Hellbound Heart, but then it wasn't really their story, it belonged to Frank and Julia. As should have been the movie Hellraiser, which stayed very close to the book, except Doug Bradly stole the show like some twisted Shirley Temple. With his merciless black eyes and resonating voice, it’s no wonder he became everyone’s Cenobite sweetheart.

This clip contains some of his best lines. The Cenobites come in at the 5:30 mark.

Clive Barker writes about how the fans built their own mythology around those earlier pieces in his introduction to the first Hellraiser comic. There you will also find a synopsis of all the Epic Hellraiser issues.

I love the combination of artwork and prose as a medium to express those ideas. A good friend of mine is not only responsible for introducing me to the Hellraiser comics, but he also produced the incredible work of fan fiction, Hopes And The Damned.

Other examples of image and verse can be found in the collection at the Pyramid Gallery, which further explores the puzzle boxes created by Lemarchand. There are music boxes, artwork and clever histories.

Another interesting puzzle box is the Cilicium Pandoric. The story of the Cilicium Pandoric is the second story about Sister Cilice written by Barbie Wilde who also played the Female Cenobite in the movie Hellbound:Hellraiser II.

The first story was her contribution to the Hellbound Hearts anthology. I thought this quote from an interview on The Labyrinth is worth noting. "It was inspired by re-reading Clive's Hellbound Heart novella at that time (where the Lead Cenobite is depicted as female) and didn't come from working on the Hellbound movie in any way." I would have assumed it was based on her movie role, I tend to forget the cenobite that would later become Pinhead, was written as having "the voice of an excited girl".

A little more on my Om Nom, I meant to give him leathery duds, but I found a Photoshop filter that gave his outfit more of a vinyl look. I know I'll probably go to Hell for this, but it cracks me up to think of Pinhead Om Nom be-boppin' up to the other Cenobites in his cruelty free pleather pants.

OK, now I'm going to Hell for sure.

If you want to do a better job of coloring than I did, here's your chance.

A Clockwork Orange Om Nom

 

 

To continue on my twisted Om Nom journey here he is to demonstrate that all you need to become A Clockwork Orange icon is a bowler and some false lashes. As always there's one in black and white one for you to color.

My favorite aspect of the movie was Malcolm McDowell’s eerily charming narrative which, among other things, haunts me still. But as melodic as Nadsat sounds from his lips, I prefer it in written form. For me reading Nadsat is like the Pop Rocks of brain candy, it kind of tickles.

 

Death Om Nom

 

The next addition in the Twisted Om Nom's is Death.   I don't draw much, almost never because I find it frustrating.  My abilities and my aspirations don't exactly see eye to eye.  I realize I'll never improve with that attitude, so these Om Nom's are my scary adventure outside of my comfort zone.  With each one I find out just how much I don't know, like how to draw draping cloth, but it's fun trying. If you've seen my  Sugar Skull Bunnies then you know I just recently discovered the world of converting sketches to line art following the basics of this video.  Death is my first attempt at trying to use the inking technique that's demonstrated in the video.  I think it does give the lines more character. I'm not sure how much I'll use it, but again it's fun trying new things. And here's one for you to color. 

 



My favorite Death is from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.  This is a great chart of how all the Discworld books are laid out.

My second favorite Death is from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series.

I can’t mention the Grim Reaper without writing about my son’s brush with Death. Last fall one of the state parks hosted a night hike.  Little did we know as we set off, how close we would come to Death that evening. But on our way back to the main shelter we saw Him. Lurking amongst the groups of hikers, He never mingled or spoke a word, just silently skulked around the fringes.  No matter how hard people, however unwisely, tried to engage Him, He never broke character.

My son had taken a seat atop one of the picnic tables, when I notice Death approaching behind him.  Death sat down next to him and although my son started when he saw who his new bench mate was, he didn’t say a word.  He just scooted over a bit and then so did Death.  My son gave him a look as if to say, “What the heck?”, but still he remain silent and scooted over a bit more and Death followed. And that’s how it went with two silent figures in the dark, one inching closer each time the other moved away, and I the only witness to this seated dance with Death. Until, “Whumph!” Death and I looked over to see two feet sticking up in the air, my son had scooted right off the edge of the table.  Death looked momentarily surprised in so much as one can looked surprised behind a cloth mask. When my son's head popped up and we could tell he was alright, Death let out a bellowing laugh that shook his entire hulking form.  

Some may claim to have laughed in the face of Death, but so far as I know my son is the only person to have made Death laugh. 

This was also the same Death that inspired my daughter to get a costume last year, which she used for Creepmas and she aspires to be Little Death on the next hike.

Creepy Clown Om Nom

 

 Where are the clowns? Send in the clowns.

Here is Creepy Clown Om Nom and his little black and white friend for you to color.

 

 

 

My first clown induced scare was Poltergeist. I love this bit by Dan Cummins about that clown and clowns in general.

Before that, the clowns of my childhood were depressing. They weren’t meant to be laughed with, they were meant to be laughed at. Unless they were being mean to other clowns, then it was ok to laugh with them. Velvet paintings of tearful hobo clowns illuminated the human condition, showing us the pain and misery behind the makeup. But it was this video that filled my young heart with utter despair, dancing clowns across a haunting melody. Shame on you Muppet Show, not only did I love you, I trusted you with my innocence.

My favorite and possibly the only clown movie I’ve ever seen is Killer Klowns from Outer Space. It’s an 80’s B movie, but it’s worth seeing at least once.

My last clown offering is Junie B., First Grader: BOO...and I MEAN It! We own all the Junie B. Jones books and they have been lovingly read and reread and when my kids are grown and gone, I'll still be reading them whenever I want a good laugh. In this one Junie B. learns some scary stuff about Halloween and decides to overcome her fears by being even scarier. What could be scarier than real witches and monsters? A clown of course.

Button Eyed Om Nom

 

Next up in the Twisted Om Nom series is a rag doll version.  Still fumbling my way through Photoshop, today I learned about patterns.

Here's the outline if you want to color your own.  

 

In the world of crafting googly eyes have the ability to add personality to any inanimate object, but button eyes have the power to create a soul.  There’s the creepy cute like Mr. Gosh in Roman Dirge’s Lenore comics.  There’s the creepy scary like the Other Mother in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and then there’s the pure creepy evil which I’ve already covered during Creepmas.

Sometimes button eyed rag dolls aren’t creepy at all, made from a few scraps and a lot of love, like Laura’s Charlotte.

Om Nom Vampire

 

 

I’ve decided to twist Om Nom into things that go bump in the night.  To start things off here is my take on the classic vampire. 

I could never do those “How to Draw” books, where they go from basic shapes to a detailed drawing in five easy steps.  I couldn’t get past step 1, my shapes were always disproportionate and never looked like the pictures. I thought after 30 years it couldn’t hurt to try again.  These Om Nom instructions are about as simple as you can get and I still couldn’t get mine to look the same.  That’s alright because mine are more Om Nom’s deranged second cousins anyway.

I’m also trying to learn how to color in Photoshop.  I looked at a few tutorials and what I learned was everyone does it differently.  So I’m just going to play until I figure out what works for me.  Here’s a black and white version if you’d like to color your own. 
 

Some Vampire literature that I don’t think gets nearly

enough recognition, in no particular order:

Both the Necroscope and the Vampire World series by BrianLumley 

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman    

This Is My Blood by David Niall Wilson