Halloween skulls
Which is more spooky: a malevolent leering skull, or one that looks like lonely death?
Halloween decor in the shops has got me thinking about the different skull designs you can find. Some of them have a rather malevolent look - I think it's the shape and angle of the eye sockets - while others are just skulls, of the sort you might find in an anatomy classroom. They definitely bring different vibes to decor.
An accurate skull has a creepy factor that has nothing to do with any implications of malevolence. An actual human skull says that here was a person who lived and thought just like we are doing now, and now they are gone and the skull is all that remains. A plastic skull, as long as it's reasonably realistic, can evoke that same discomfort.
That got me thinking about cobwebs, another popular way to make a creepy scene. A skull draped in cobwebs tells a simple and disturbing story. A person died, and nobody retrieved their body. It was left to decay until only bones remained, spiders spun webs over those bones, and now even the spiders have gone and left only dust.
It speaks to a real fear that probably resonates for a lot of people. Not just dying, but dying alone and in complete obscurity. Nobody to comfort you in your final moments. Nobody to give your body the dignity of funeral rites. Nobody to tell the story of who you were and what became of you. It's a bleak fate, and one that's entirely possible without any supernatural involvement.
In comparison, malevolent skulls or cobwebs inhabited by giant spiders seem almost comical. They have shock value, but they can't generate that deep unease that comes from thinking about our own mortality. They are, in a way, the fun side of creepy decor: horror safely wrapped up in an obviously fictional setting.
I'm usually a big fan of escapism, feeling like I get more than enough unpleasant truths without seeking others out. But when it comes to skulls, I definitely want the realistic kind. The understated angst feels more classy than the cartoonish horror, not to mention the fact that leaving them out year round says "quirky decor" rather than "forgot to take the decorations down".
My bedside table currently sports a lifelike but not to scale skull that I picked up a few years ago. I use it as stand for the wig that - in a slightly amusing coincidence - I wore for last year's Halloween costume. Every so often, a visitor will notice it and say, "I like your skull," a comment that could easily be misinterpreted if I hadn't noticed what they were looking at.
I don't suppose it says a lot about me beyond the fact that I'm too disorganised for strictly seasonal decor and also capable of spinning philosophical insights from pretty much anything. But we all have our preferences and that's one of mine.