Spooky Painting: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:TheHandsResistHim.jpg|frame|I ''knew'' I should have gone with the dogs playing poker.]]
Paintings, before the advent of the humble [[Spooky Photographs|photograph]], were the best thing to hang on your wall to provide a little culture, beauty and ''I swear that one just moved!''
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This is where a painting isn't normal. Maybe it's [[Phantom Zone Picture|trapping something]], maybe it's [[Art Initiates Life|developed a life of its own]], maybe it's a [[Portal Picture|gateway to another dimension]], maybe it's [[Cosmic Keystone|the source of power]] for an evil wizard, maybe it's just a cursed heirloom that brings misfortune... [[Portrait Painting Peephole|Or maybe it's actually the covering for a window with the "eyes" being the guy looking through it.]]
The [[Genre Blind]], upon hearing of this menace, may try to come up with an excuse that renders it harmless, or otherwise just [[Incredibly Lame Pun|brush it off]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In the horror manga ''[[Tomie]]'', a painter falls in love with the title character and produces at least one Spooky Painting.
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[In the Mouth of Madness]]'' has an hotel with one very interesting painting. Very, very interesting.
* ''Candyman: Day of the Dead''. The said Candyman's good side is held within a set of paintings, notably his own, and as everybody knows evil can't exist without good, so the girl had to destroy the paintings to kill(?) him.
* ''Deathbed: The Bed That Eats'' (1977) features a painting haunted by its artist.
* The painting above Laura's bed in David Lynch's ''[[Fire Walk With Me]]'': the painting is a portal to the netherworld, and when the angel leaves the painting Laura is about to die.
* ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' II has the [[Big Bad]] using a painting to generate a portal into the real world. After his defeat, it's transformed into a mock Christian painting (with Bill Murray's girlfriend and new baby son as Madonna and Child, and the Ghostbusters as the four Gospel writers).
** You collect more spooky paintings in the game; although they're just there for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]].
* In the [[Roger Corman]] film ''[[Lovecraft on Film|The Haunted Palace]]'', Curwen's portrait is the main way he insinuates his spirit into the consciousness of his unwitting descendant. (In the original story, ''[[H.P. Lovecraft|The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]'', the portrait had no supernatural qualities; it served only to show the [[Identical Grandson|similarity of appearance]] between Curwen and Ward.)
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* The eponymous room in E. F. Benson's "The Room in the Tower" contains a self-portrait by a woman who {{spoiler|committed suicide.}} Unfortunately for the protagonist, the portrait now houses {{spoiler|a vampire.}}
* Not quite a painting, but [[Montague Rhodes James|MR James]]' "The Mezzotint".
* [[Simon R. Green]]'s ''Hawk and Fisher'' story "The Bones of Haven" introduces Messerschmann's Portrait, a painting which, if you look at it too long, will trap you in the hellish landscape it depicts.
* In the [[Stephen King]] story "The Road Virus Heads North", found in the collection ''Everything's Eventual'', a writer buys a painting of a car, but the background keeps changing...
** And of course, there's the painting in ''Rose Madder''. The content of the picture changing is not its most unusual feature...
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* ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' is a good example where the painting reveals the true evil of Dorian's actions as his soul becomes more and more corrupted.
* Trumps in the ''[[Book of Amber]]'' series by [[Roger Zelazny]]: You can reach out to the subject of the painting, step through a Trump to join them, wherever they are, or you can draw them to your side through their trump, even stab them through the painted card.
* In [[Roald Dahl]]'s ''[[The Witches]]'', a witch traps a little girl inside a painting. She ages normally, and eventually disappears altogether.
* In [[H.P. Lovecraft|HP Lovecraft]]'s ''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'' the plot is kicked in by the discovery of the eponymous protagonist's ancestor's portrait that's almost identical in appearance to him. It often appears to be watching on young Charles as he works, but although it loses its menace for awhile, it later gets worse, surrounded by a miasma of undefinable dread. {{spoiler|As it turns out, the latter is due to the fact that the said ancestor is resurrected, and he kills Charles and stuffs his body behind the painting, presumably after first destroying it with acid, resulting in unpleasant smell that people interpret subconsciously as evil presence.}}
** Lovecraft also had the stories ''The Picture In The House'' and ''Medusa's Coil'' [
{{quote|'''Denis:''' "'God, but Frank is an artist! That thing is the greatest piece any living soul has produced since Rembrandt! It's a crime to burn it - but it would be a greater crime to let it exist - just as it would have been an abhorrent sin to let - that she-daemon - exist any longer." (...) She thought we couldn't see through - that the false front would hold till we had bartered away our immortal souls. And she was half right - she'd have got me in the end. She was only - waiting. But Frank - good old Frank - was too much for me. He knew what it all meant, and painted it. I don't wonder she shrieked and ran off when she saw it. It wasn't quite done, but God knows enough was there."}}
** When the protagonist ends up seeing the picture himself, after having being told the story behind it, he describes it as a gruesome imagery of witchcraft and decaying nature. He {{spoiler|draws his gun and shots it asunder, only to have the man that showed it to him freak out. Apparently the painting had talked to him and forced him to keep it safe. A few minutes later, the house is on fire and an undead witch drags the poor guy to his doom. The protagonist high-tails it out of there.}}
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* In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' two-parter ''Mona Lisa's Revenge'' the eponymous picture comes to life.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Fear Her" the girl's drawings both come to life, and draw people into them.
* A lighthearted example happened in a ''[[Captain Kangaroo]]'' skit where the Captain was in a museum and two paintings and a stone bust eat his banana, soda pop, and candy bar when his back is turned.
== Music Video ==
* [[David Bowie]]'s 1979 video "Look Back in Anger", in an [[Homage]] to ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'', has him as an artist who has just completed a painting of an angel—which was clearly modeled on himself. Examining his work and finding something...intriguing about it, he runs his hand over its surface. The face of the portrait doesn't change. ''The artist's'' face winds up disfigured.
== Other ==
* Inversion:
* Used in [[Disney Theme Parks|Disney's]] [[The Haunted Mansion|Haunted Mansion]] attractions around the world. Several paintings depict seemingly innocent scenes - a woman reclining on a couch, a ship at sea, a knight on a horse, to name a few - that change to horrific versions when lightning flashes outside nearby windows - the woman becomes a snarling tiger, the ship rides through a storm with tattered sails, and the knight and horse become skeletons. There are also a few that were originally installed at Walt Disney World that had eyes that would follow the riders, but the moving-eye effect (as well as most of the portraits) seems to have been removed during a 2007 overhaul of the ride, leaving the paintings static (although still suitably creepy in their design).
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* There are some paintings that appear to follow you with their eyes.▼
** Even without the obligatory "curse" backstory, "The Hands Resist Him" (above) is pretty damn creepy.▼
*** So creepy in fact, the developers of [[Scratches]] thought it would be funny to throw it into the game!▼
*** The inspiration for the painting makes it less creepy. The boy is the artist, and the girl is meant to protect him from the hands outside.▼
** Many of [[wikipedia:Goya|Goya's]] works are like this. He was part of the Romantic movement, in which paintings that captured a moment of the "sublime" - the ''old'' meaning of "sublime", which contained both awe and fear - were popular. Even his early works seem to have something quietly ''off'' about them; something he painted for a textile corporation had children playing, and one of them has a rather sinister smile. Later, Goya had a mental breakdown, reflected in his paintings. The most disturbing one, by most estimates, is [[wikipedia:Saturn Devouring His Son|Saturn Devouring His Son]].▼
** Almost every painting by [[Hieronymus Bosch]] belongs on this page. ▼
** The painting "The Nightmare" by [[Henry Fuseli]]. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare )▼
** The painting "The Crying Boy" has several copies and several of them have survived house fires without any damage done to them. This lead many people to think that it was "cursed". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crying_Boy )▼
** "[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Wiertz_burial.jpg The Premature Burial" by Antoine Wiertz.]▼
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* As a playground for classic horror tropes, the [[Ravenloft]] D&D setting uses this one a ''lot''. The darklord of Ghastria has a lifeforce-sucking portrait, Souragne's darklord has a collection of etchings that imprison the souls of his enemies, there's a spellcasting sentient painting in Castle Ravenloft, et cetera. Even tapestries and stained-glass windows get in on the act.
* A monster book for ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' features the idea of "ghoul portraits," paintings created using a vampire's enhanced Vitae that have a measure of sentience and access to vampiric Disciplines.
== [[Theater]] ==
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** The Stage 5 Haunted Ship of ''Dracula X'' has a painting that, if allowed to come close to Richter, will suck him into the artwork and then split itself apart, killing him instantly.
** In stage 15 of ''[[Castlevania|Vampire Killer]]'', the corridor leading to [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] has many full-body portraits of Count Dracula. The [[Final Boss]] room is dominated by an enormous painting of a demonic face which turns out to be Dracula's second form.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]], there are several paintings containing enemies during the Relm sidequest in the World of Ruin. There is also a boss monster in a painting at the end, which is an Esper possessed by evil.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: Ocarina of Time'' had Phantom Ganon charge out of a set of paintings in a middle of a temple, as well as Poes possessing the paintings throughout the dungeon.
* ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'' there is a beach painting in the hotel that gives the guest in that room "strange vibes." If Mario sprays it with water, the shape of a boo appears and Mario can jump through the painting.
* There's an actual enemy in ''[[Wario World]]'' that is called the Terrible Portrait. It's literally a living painting that shoots fire, ice and boulders at Wario, and takes the appearance of three photo frames with a face in the middle one.
* ''[[Zack and Wiki]]: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure'' had a section in a castle with paintings that were out to get you. One you had to blind to get past and another had a fish that would eat you if you got on its nerves.
* Beatrice's portrait in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''. Spooky for various reasons - most notably frequent deaths in front of it.
** Portraits. Most of the witches have a portrait that shows up at some point. How exactly the portraits are connected to the witches themselves hasn't been explained yet.
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* ''[[Luigi's Mansion|Luigis Mansion]]''. Obvious example is the painting of Mario (who's still screaming for help and banging on the front of the painting), but also the portraits of the various ghosts (well, they are the actual ghosts turned to paintings), anything in Vincent Van Gore's art studio (See [[Art Initiates Life]]) and various paintings in the mansion itself which can be pulled off the wall to reveal a creepy Big Boo picture (and various smaller ones which can't really be identified).
* ''[[Anchorhead]]'' has a whole gallery of creepy paintings done by one of the delightful members of the Verlac family. They get even creepier if you look at them closely...
* ''[[The
* In [[Amnesia: The Dark Descent]], you will often run into paintings of the castle's owner throughout your exploration. However, should your sanity start to slip (due to looking at monsters or staying in the dark too long), the face will change into something grotesque. What makes it especially creepy is how nonchalant it can appear as you're exploring, until you realize something's wrong...
* ''[[Silent Hill]]'' has a long and rich history of freaking gamers out with wall paintings. The [[Silent Hill 1|original]] has a funny/frightening lounge in the elementary school which holds a giant framed painting of gore and corpses. The hero comments on the poor taste of the picture. When the Otherworld takes hold, the lounge is replaced by the room depicted in the painting.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Silent Hill: Promise]]'' has one based on The Last Supper.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* One episode of [[Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated]] features an auctioneer trying to sell off what he dubs a "spooooooooky painting". No one seems interested in it but the monster of the week.
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* There are some paintings that appear to follow you with their eyes.
▲** Even without the obligatory "curse" backstory, "The Hands Resist Him" (above) is pretty damn creepy.
▲*** So creepy in fact, the developers of [[Scratches]] thought it would be funny to throw it into the game!
▲*** The inspiration for the painting makes it less creepy. The boy is the artist, and the girl is meant to protect him from the hands outside.
▲** Many of [[wikipedia:Goya|Goya's]] works are like this. He was part of the Romantic movement, in which paintings that captured a moment of the "sublime" - the ''old'' meaning of "sublime", which contained both awe and fear - were popular. Even his early works seem to have something quietly ''off'' about them; something he painted for a textile corporation had children playing, and one of them has a rather sinister smile. Later, Goya had a mental breakdown, reflected in his paintings. The most disturbing one, by most estimates, is [[wikipedia:Saturn Devouring His Son|Saturn Devouring His Son]].
▲** The painting "The Nightmare" by [[Henry Fuseli]]. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare )
▲** The painting "The Crying Boy" has several copies and several of them have survived house fires without any damage done to them. This lead many people to think that it was "cursed". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crying_Boy )
▲** "[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Wiertz_burial.jpg The Premature Burial" by Antoine Wiertz.]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Photography and Illustration]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:
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