Do you know where you are, Bartolome? You are about to enter hell. In hell, Bartolome, in hell!: the dead world, infernal zone, damned house, torture place, pandemonium, purgatory, avernus, fire, Satan—the pit! and the pendulum!

Charles Long, We Wait a Long Time To See You, To Beat You, 2005

Let's look over the checklist: Eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, watching college football, wearing a wig and sinister makeup, and listening to "Castlevania" by Cradle of Filth? It must be early afternoon on Halloween (Observed)! Only 8 hours until I don't look completely out of place.

While Halloween is inarguably the greatest holiday, we should take a moment to honor the lives and works of those artists who have been consumed by the accursed spirits. The case of Francis Bacon needs no introduction; it was a powerful succubus indeed that inspired him to paint Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X before spending him completely. Tom Friedman's Untitled is better known for the documentaries that explored his macabre bent, including The Omen and The Exorcist. (Both took liberties with Friedman's life story.) Of course, the debate still rages whether hundreds or merely dozens of teenage suicides should be attributed to Banks Violette, but he is nevertheless a tragic figure. And the less said about Rom Mueck and the victim subject of his Dead Dad, the better.

Molly Springfield, "Gentle Reader" [installation view], 2006.

Then there is the sad story of Molly Springfield, whose asylum residency led her to recreate in painstaking detail the calotype process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot. The documentation of her terrifying descent into utter madness may be viewed tonight at Transformer. Maybe they'll serve candy!

(Some links courtesy the spooktacular Edward Winkleman)