 "Photo: Photo courtesy of MEL KADEL")
The concept of “The Monster” has been toyed with for centuries by authors, directors and, especially, our minds. They are the ultimate devices to send a streak of terror ripping through the gut that transcends years of sleepless nights to make a lasting impression on generations.
After decades of reinventing the monster into a more grotesque version of the last, they have veered off the vile path into more unusual interpretations. Now, anything can be made into a horror-provoking creature — The Bad Seed morphed a precious young girl into the epitome of evil, and the Chuckie series turned a childhood toy into an axe murderer.
Domy Books is capitalizing on these alternative takes in their fourth annual Monster Show, opening Halloween night at its Austin and Houston locations. Directors of the show Alison Kuo and Russell Etchen carefully selected nearly 100 artists locally and internationally to wield their skills in the realm of making monsters.
Etchen said among the mummies and vampires are pieces that explore the quirkier intricacies of the mind — like Matthew Rodriguez’s “spaghetti man with a beard, holding a little kitty cat, surrounded by birds,” and Travis Millard’s creature strutting in sneakers whose body is composed of deformed, green hands.
Kuo (whose idea of monsters are “little, furry beasts” that “are kind of funny and friendly”) said the results are “pretty elaborate [and] a little bit rude sometimes,” but when the artist goes out on a limb is when the most fascinating art emerges.
“It could be like a screenshot from a weird B movie, or it could be what you would expect, like a drawing of Dracula,” Kuo said, “It’s the kind of thing where sometimes, people, they make a little bit of a leap. But I think that leap is interesting when they stretch it and think they can make something work.”
When: Saturday, 7 p.m. (runs through Dec. 3)
Where: Domy Books, 913 East Cesar Chavez St.
Tickets: Free
