Michael Lee-Graham’s Halloween Horror Series

Calling all horror nerds! Michael Lee-Graham’s Halloween Horror Series at The Beast of Brixton showcases 6 original pieces of work based on the Brixton-based graphic artist’s all time favourite horror titles. Each new poster has been influenced by the themes and ideas behind these unnerving masterpieces. For this, his first public show, the artist has created designs that sum up these dark concepts in single, striking images with a mix of detailed illustration and striking conceptual design. On show and for sale as limited edition numbered poster prints from Thursday October 20th at Mike’s favourite haunt The Beast of Brixton bar are:

The Babadook
One of the more recent additions to horror, the Babadook is the harrowing tale of a mother’s struggle with a dark entity in her home. You can look at the film as a ghost feature, or a movie about the struggle with mental-health and depression. Mike has created a piece that focuses more on the mother/child dynamic with The Babadook as a malevolent shadow in the background.

It
Heralded as one of Stephen King’s most controversial novels, this 90’s two-part TV series delivered Tim Curry’s standout performance as Pennywise the Clown, still as unsettling as horror greats like Jason or Mike myers. Mike has created a surreal, dream-like image which captures the idea that Pennywise is this incredible beast who exists solely to consume the lives of children.

Suspiria
Suspiria is visually, one of the most effecting movies in horror cinema history. An unrelenting watch as the visuals, sound, music and performances are cranked up to 11 from the start and build to a downright frenzied ending. Mike says “Suspiria is basically Black Swan with witches on acid”. Taking the setting of the ballerina school, Mike has added some beauty to the horror by using ballet poses for the figures amidst the hellish carnage.

Stranger Things
A show none of us knew we needed until it came crashing into our lives delivering a creepy dose of 80’s nostalgia, Spielberg levels of feels and Stephen King-style themes. With more seasons on the way, the first 8 episodes of this show deserve a special place in the horror hall-of-fame. Mike wanted to focus on the parallel dimension aspect of the show, creating a poster that works “Upside Down”.

Halloween
You can’t have a Halloween poster series without Halloween! Watching the original again recently is a real shock to the system when you realise just how subtly done this original was. John Carpenter’s original Myers’ heavy breathing while he stalks his victims is incredibly unsettling and oddly human compared to the sequels’ cartoonishly invincible Terminator-like incarnations, and it is this terrifying but human monster that Mike captures for the poster.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This film is perhaps, simply put, not the most fun watch. Things go from bad to worse for the poor teens and things take a much weirder turned beyond that. Mike wanted to focus on the grotesque Sawyer family from the end of the film because he felt it was the most affecting part of the movie. Creating a family-portrait of sorts is his way of showing how plain unsettling it was to see these horrific characters in their gross domesticity.

Michael Lee-Graham says “These modern classic horror stories have earned their place in our international psyche, and I’ve enjoyed the process of re-working their core themes for this series. The Beast of Brixton is the perfect place to hang them for Halloween- it's wonderfully weird up in there as it is!”