We hope you've all had an enjoyable Halloween! It's an occasion most dear to the good Doctor Crane, even more so under the guise of his Scarecrow persona. Now that the festivities are over, do you have any interesting stories to share? Did you dress up in a great costume and go out to show it to the world, did anything scare you or did you just have candy-filled househeld fun?

For our members located in the USA, we hope the apocalyptic weather did not cause you any damage and that you and your loved ones are safe and sound. From what's being said on the news, Halloween has been postponed in some places, so we wish those of you all a good holiday in advance!

A reminder: November 2 is the last day to submit to our Halloween contest or art jam, so if you wish for an extension of the deadline just leave a comment in this journal entry.

Halloween Drawings Feature






Questions to members: Do you read Batman fanfiction? If yes, do you have any favourite Scarecrow fanfics? How about fanfics focused on a Mistress of Fear? Are any of your faves submitted to dA or to our group?
If you have an answer to any of the above questions, we'd be delighted to feature your choices!

In a bold attempt to liven up the group, we proudly present our new contest and art jam!

NOTE: To all our members who have participated in our previous summertime literature contest, the judging was for a long time not managed in its fullness. We apologise for the big delay and with great joy declare the winners:
1st Place: ~The-Talking-Absol
2nd Place: ~MaddHatter13
3rd Place: ~rotten-apples
Congratulations to all! Please take a look at your prize list here [link] and contact the prize-givers with your art requests!

And now for our new group events:

I) Halloween Contest: Nursery Tales

Rules:
1) Artwork or story must feature Jonathan Crane and be somehow connected with the title theme 'Nursery Tales'
2) Artwork or story must feature (in their appearance or by mention) at least one member of his family or friends (who have appeared in official DC sources)
3) The theme of your piece should contain subtle creepiness, psychologically unsettling elements or contain humor appropriate to the season ('black humor'). For a brief description on how to effectively show horror, here is a useful article: [link]. This short article can be useful for writers, but also for visual artists, as it puts emphasis on the importance of setting a frightening mood without spelling it out with buckets of blood.


Deadline: November 2

Prizes (list in progress) - DONATORS NEEDED:
1st Place: Group art feature, placement in our 'Cream of the Crop' exclusive folder, 7 quality comments on your art, illustration request by *Teq-Uila, llama badge
2nd Place: Group art feature, 5 quality comments on your art, llama badge
3rd Place: Group art feature, 3 quality comments on your art, llama badge

II) Art Jam Horror Festival

An art jam is a group art activity where all participating members will receive a group feature and especially good entries will remain forever in our 'Featured' gallery folder, reserved for only selective art.

Rules:
1) Artwork must feature your Mistress or Mister of Fear in a situation that scares them or in which they scare someone
2) Artwork must give reference to a popular horror motif (such as a movie, novel/poem/short story, musical, series, and so on and so on)
2) References must be listed and described in the artist's comment area; here is a silly example: I used the scene from 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' (by Washington Irving) where Crane is pursued by the Headless Horseman, but replaced the Horseman with Batman because he is my Mistress of Fear's biggest nightmare.

Deadline: November 2

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE A PRIZE FOR OUR HALLOWEEN CONTEST, LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS BLOG ENTRY.

Finally, for a delightful Halloween prelude, head off to our newest 'Fearsome Features' blog entry, where there are spooky Scarecrow pieces galore!