Living in the Jaws of Hell

...



Halloween is kind of a big deal on our block. We have one of those neighborhoods which attracts carloads of parents and kids from other parts of town for trick-or-treating. Usually, everyone on the street does some kind of decorating. Not everyone goes as crazy as the house up the street which has a tableau of silhouettes enacting a slasher movie scene in the windows (complete with crime scene tape), a skull-faced ghost mannequin over the front door and enough fake cobwebs to trap all the fake flies in Oakland.

This year, we wanted to do more than just plunking the obligatory pumpkin on the front stoop. I was thinking of the above image which shows the entrance to the Hell Cafe -- a bar in Paris about a hundred years ago.




After a little slap-dash photoshopping, I had a plan for using the hell-mouth image on our front porch.




Fortunately, I happen to live with a brilliant scenic artist with a macabre sense of humor and a love for the spooky.




Lisa painted this over a couple of lunch hours at work this week. It's not the monster green of the original since she was using leftover paint, but that's a good thing since I was concerned it would look too much like the Incredible Hulk.

I installed it today and immediately my across-the-way neighbor was standing in the street saying, "Ooh yeah. I like that." I don't think I've ever heard anybody say, "Now that's different" with such admiration and awe before.

This is what it looked like before installation:


I can't wait to see it night with a red porch light.

As I write this, the sun is setting and I can hear some neighbors outside ooh-ing and ahh-ing.