Horror Art

A great example of horror art would be gargoyles. Did you know that Gargoyles date back to ancient Egypt (4000 years!)? That was surprising to me, because I always looked at them from a totally medieval viewpoint. Of course, the most famous example of horror art are the gargoyles on Notre Dame de Paris, the ancient and famous French cathedral. Ancient Rome and Greece had gargoyles as well. They can be found all over the world actually, even in a young country like the United States. Chicago and New York have great examples of not only a functioning architectural design on its buildings, but in a creative sense, horror art!

Europeons that came to the States from years past brought their knowledge, history, art, and most importantly, their skills to create these stone creatures. Gargoyles serve a purpose, and that is to fashionably direct rainwater off of building roofs. The water would drain off of the roof and through the Gargoyle’s mouth, then onto the ground. Basically, it was a waterspout.

Statues of Gargoyles that are sold today are considered “grotesques”, because these don’t shed water. They are more of a garden “protector” as they have become to be known. As you’ll see in this article, Gargoyles also have been portrayed over the years as evil and friendly. Some artists have regarded the various designs of the Gargoyle to be inspired by ancient dinosaur bones (Dinosaur bones were apparently found and collected even in ancient times.) Gargoyles should be thought of through the prism of people; people who were exceptional artists, trying to make a living and creating an extension of their minds, however influenced by dreams, tormenting demons, dinosaur bones, religion, or perhaps the legendary Griffin. A few examples of modern Gargoyles and how they impact films, games, and modern life are shown below. They’re as popular as ever!

	I was seven years old when this came out, and it scared the you-know-what out of me. This movie was an Emmy award winning film with the legendary, and late Stan Winston (1946-2008) doing the effects, one of his first effect films he worked on. Stan is known for the make-up in a lot of films, most notably, the Terminator films.
They're even popular in games, as this Gameboy game shows!
	Who can forget the award winning 1994-1997 animated series Gargoyles: Season 1 & Gargoyles: Season Two: Vol 1? What a great and well made cartoon!! Cancelled now, and too bad.
Remember the 1996 Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame? This version had three Gargoyles as Quasimodo’s friends...Victor, Hugo, and Laverne. A classic film!
	A very cool grotesque statue-The Argos Gargoyle Sentinel Sculpture
A true water shedding Gargoyle- Roland the Gargoyle Sculptural Rainspout