Halloween Art

Call it Texas Gothic. A skull in the caliche, a skeleton on horseback, something in the sky over a two-lane road at night. The register is unsettling rather than gory — no blood, nothing that will keep anybody up. A few pieces will just make a visitor stand there a second longer than they meant to.

Skeleton Highwayman and Ghost Cowboy anchor the western end, with Cosmic Cowboy UFO Desert and Armadillo UFO Spaceship handling abductions. Dairy Queen Prickly Pear & Cow Skull may be the most Texas image in the shop. The shadow puppet series — horse, dog, bull — is quiet and strange, just hands throwing animals on a wall. The weirdcore side runs to Frank N. Furter, Shining American Gothic, Duck Lady, gap-toothed lips, and a raccoon in three separate incarnations, one of them neon. Mildred's Last Cigarette and the Smoking Grey Tabby are funnier than they sound. Panther City and the River Oaks Theatre cover haunted-landmark duty.

Good to know

How late can I order for Halloween? Give yourself production time plus transit, and a little slack if you want it framed and hanging by the 31st. Past that, order it anyway — almost nothing here expires on November 1.

Too scary for a kid's room? Mostly no. The shadow puppets, Ghost Cowboy, and the raccoons land as odd rather than frightening. Skip Shining American Gothic and Frank N. Furter for anyone under ten.

How do I build a wall out of these? Pick a thread instead of a theme: three shadow puppets, the raccoon run, or everything with a full moon in it. Mixed sizes read better here than a tidy grid.

What size for a hallway or stairwell? Vertical pieces at 11x14 or 12x18, hung a bit lower than you think. Narrow spaces are where the unsettling ones do their best work.

When October fades, the mood doesn't have to. Cowboy gothic keeps skeletons in boots year-round, weirdcore art stays unsettling in the best way, and prints under $100 won't haunt your bank account.