Scarlet Street Magazine

During my tenure at Scarlet Street Magazine, I drew dark-humor cartoons for both regular column headings and feature illustrations. Everything here is simple pen-and-ink. The color art is versions of the magazine illustrations colored for their webpage, using Pantone magic markers. The concept for each piece was written by SS magazine editor Richard Valley. All art copyright John Payne and Scarlet Street.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Get it?
This art greets the reader on the contents page. I was shooting for Peter Cushing as Dr. Frankenstein.

RECORD RACK

Record rack is, of course, the regular column reviewing what's new in horrible music - er, horror film music.

BOOKENDS

Scarlet Street's column perusing mysterious new tomes.

THE CRIMSON CHRONICLES

We were delighted when Horror magazine legend Forry Ackerman, publisher of the legendary Famous Monsters magazine, began writing a column for us. I needed to convey the right dark and stormy mood for his creepy comments.

THE NEWS HOUND

The official logo (coffee mug version) for the mag's in-house (and house broken) reporter of what's what in the genre entertainment world.

SHERLOCK HOLMES VS JACK THE RIPPER

This was a simple bit of art for a one-shot article. I like doing dramatic silouhettes, it saves having to do details!

COLLINWOOD REVISTED

And sometimes I like to do details. This was for an article discussing the 1990s revival of Dark Shadows, a brilliant tv series starring Ben Cross and the exquisite Joanna Going, which the network executives didn't seem to get.

SCARLET O'HORROR

Though they haven't used her in the magazine, SS commissioned me to draw this luscious mascot and her ex-husband.

CIRCUS OF HORRORS

Scarlet Street devoted an issue to circus movies once, and we started off with this friendly little dead clown.

CIRCUS OF HORRORS

SCROLL, baby, this is a wide one!!
This art ran the full width of 2 pages in the Circus of Horrors article. I start out with normal clowns doing normal slapstick, and as we move along, the violence ramps up a bit.

Return to Line Art Index
Return to In Payne