The Shadow of Samhain: Witches and Halloween

This time I bring you the one and only Amanda Norman, UK photographer and writer extraordinaire, who is responsible for the The Vault's current outstanding banner. Amanda has chosen to explore the connection between witches and Halloween, a subject I understand will be explored further as the Shadow of Samhain series progresses....

I have been fascinated by witches and Halloween for as long as I can remember.

When I was a teenager, I was informed by my mother that we are descendants of Old Chattox, aka Anne Whittle who was tried and hung for witchcraft at Lancaster Castle, Lancashire, UK in 1612.

Better known as ‘The Pendle Witches’ due to them living in or around Pendle Hill in Lancashire, Old Chattox was head of one of the two families accused, the other being Old Demdyke and her family. The two families hated each other as it was believed that a member of Old Chattox’s family broke into Malkin Tower, the home of the Demdykes and stole belongings.

Between the two families, they were accused of murdering ten people and they more than likely hung themselves as they saw an opportunity to get revenge by accusing each other.

How it Started

Alizon Device, granddaughter of Old Demdyke encountered a peddler and asked him for some pins. It wasn’t clear if she was begging, but the peddler refused and a couple of minutes later suffered a huge stroke that killed him. Back in the 1600’s superstition was rife and it was believed that Device cast a spell to kill the peddler. Alizon upon being questioned confessed that she had sold her soul to the Devil. Alizon’s brother James also stated that his sister had confessed to bewitching a local child. Alizon also accused Old Chattox of murdering four men by witchcraft and of killing her father John Device who had died in 1601. Her father was said to have been so frightened of Old Chattox and her powers that he had agreed to give her 8lbs of oatmeal each year in return for the safety of his family. The oatmeal was handed over each year, but stopped a year before his death and John confessed on his deathbed that his sickness had been caused by Old Chattox for him not paying protection.

Elizabeth Device when being questioned claimed that her mother, Old Demdyke, had the mark of the Devil upon her body known to you and I today as a birthmark. I have the mark of the Devil upon me, but luckily I’m living in an era where superstition and ignorance isn’t paramount.

Have you ever asked yourself why witches are associated with Halloween?

Old hags with warts on their broomsticks or stirring a cauldron are associated with Halloween, but why?

Celtic belief tells the story of the old God dying on Samhain (Halloween) and the Crone Goddess mourns his death for the next six weeks by stirring her cauldron of life for all dead souls to return.

Samhain is the celebration to mark the end of the third and final harvest and is a day to commune with and remember the dead.

Walpurgis Night is the eve of May Day, (May 1) and is often associated with witches celebrating the oncoming of Spring in Central and Northern Europe. Another connection I personally have with this is that my Mother was born on May Day. Many countries celebrate this by lighting bonfires and burning straw witches and broomsticks.

You might be asking yourself if I’m a witch.

No I’m not; I do however claim the souls of models who dare to pose for one of my dark portraits....

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The Photography of Amanda Norman

She's been featured before in Visceral Visionaries, but I just wanted to share this amazing new video featuring the dark, beautiful work of British photographer Amanda Norman, creator of The Vault of Horror's banner. The video also features many rave reviews from admirers of Ms. Norman's images, myself included.

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Visceral Visionaries: Amanda Norman

The astute Vault dwellers out there may have noticed the spiffy new header adorning the top of the site these days, in place of the classic E.C. title card I had been rocking for the past three years. Well, the amazingly talented individual responsible for it is one Amanda Norman, one of the UK's most gifted horror photographers. The banner was kindly sent to me by Amanda, along with the answers for the following Visceral Visionaries interview.

I invite you to read on, and discover the haunting work of Amanda Norman in the process...

You've talked in the past about being inspired by Universal and Hammer horror. How so, and which films in particular stand out?
Universal Horror was my first introduction to horror. I was fascinated with these films due to the monsters and creepy imagery of old crumbling castles, lightning and fog-filled graveyards. I never found these films scary, but it's only now in my adult years that I appreciate how the directors of these films made use of light to cast long eerie shadows and to highlight spooky things. The Frankenstein and Werewolf movies particularly stand out as these monsters did make me nervous.
The posters to advertise these films are my true inspiration. They had such wonderful Gothic imagery and close-ups of the monsters' faces. These posters definitely inspire my dark portraits, and I've created my own 'B-Movie' style posters in tribute to them
To me, Hammer Horror was the adult version of Universal Horror, and as an impressionable teenager, I loved these movies, my favorite being the Karnstein trilogy : The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil. The graveyard scenes in all Hammer Horror movies inspire my graveyard photography.

Tell me more about this visual influence.
Back then, CGI was unheard of and wasn't needed to create an element of fear. I want my photography to have an element of fear for the viewer without using special effects. I set the scene for the viewer to conjure up thoughts of their own.
None of the models for my 'Dark Portraits' wear make-up. It's their face and the effect of lighting that produces the end result. More recently, in my color dark portraits, I've been playing with texture and color to create something a little different.

How did you first get into photography as a medium?
As a young child, my world was torn apart due to my mother marrying an abusive drunk who would beat her and torment me and my younger sisters. This resulted in us having to move away from family and friends and starting afresh. I loved the place where I grew up. I always visited the old graveyard and church that stood overlooking a bay, and I remember how peaceful and quiet it was there. I always read the gravestones and wondered what those people might have been like. One headstone sticks in my mind; it was of a young couple that died together in a motorbike accident and a photo of them is on the headstone. I re-visited the graveyard years later to capture my memories with a camera.

What came first, the portraits or the graveyard photography?
The graveyard photography came first and the dark portraits followed years later.


In your portraits, you talk about capturing the soul of your subject. Explain.
This question makes me giggle, as I like it!
When a person poses for me, I simply get them to relax and have fun in pulling faces and trying to get them to look evil. It's not that easy, to be honest, hence why I have to bring an element of fun into it. The result of the finished portrait always astounds me, because 8 out of 10 times, they themselves look like a particular monster, for example a vampire, zombie, etc. I don't ask the model to pose like a particular monster, and therefore I like to think that it's their soul that I've captured. It's not really, but it's just a bit of fun.

Would it be asking you to give away too much of your secrets if I asked the process by which you transform your subjects?
Kind of, yes! As I've already stated, it takes time, trust and lighting for me to show you my subjects soul.

What kind of imagery attracts you?
I don't like blood and gore, and I don't like images that reveal the story straight off. I like images that hide a story and show fear to the rest of us. It is then up to us to think about what is going on, and I've got one hell of an imagination.
Some of the best images I've seen are on horror movie posters, and the best one has to be of the priest standing under the light for the Exorcist movie. That's one scary film if you consider that it was based on a true story.

Describe the difference in your approach when you're doing something like graveyard photography, as opposed to portraiture.
I rely a lot on the weather here in the UK. If it's raining or too bright, I can't take the camera out. This is one of the reasons why I started taking 'Dark Portraits', because I couldn't get out and my creative juices were flowing.
When I'm out and about in the graveyard, I'm looking for old graves or statues of angels that look menacing. My goal is to invoke a sense of fear, and if the image isn't scary, then hopefully it will allow the viewer to think about the scene, how old the grave is, who's buried there and so on. I want my graveyard photography to be full of atmosphere and emotion, which isn't easy to portray.

Who inspires you? Anyone in particular out of artists working today?
There is one photographer who inspires my work, and that is Simon Marsden. His photography is dark and beautiful and I think that he's got the best job in the world. He visits all the old country houses and castles in the UK and takes photos. He also likes to tell tales of ghosts as well.

For all the photography geeks out there, tell us a little about the specific stuff you use.
Believe it or not, I'm lucky if I make $10 in one week from my photography, and therefore I don't have any specific equipment. I have an entry level DSL camera (Nikon D40) and a Canon Powershot G9.

How has the response been to your work?
Only the other day, I was telling a work colleague about my graveyard photography, and he looked at me as though I was weird, and said that it's morbid. Quite a lot of people do think that I'm strange, but I can't see what is so wrong about it. Perhaps they have a fear of death? I've only received small pockets of feedback, which has been in my favor. Unfortunately, I'm not well-known as a horror/Gothic photographer, and therefore not a lot of people see my work. In November 2009, I started work on my Zazzle store so that I could sell my photography on merchandise such as business cards, greeting cards and prints. This is slowly picking up thanks to Twitter.

What can we expect from you on the horizon?
In my fantasy dream world, I would be telling you what horror conventions I'm appearing at as I would love to take dark portraits and sell my photography. I would also love to tell you that I'm working on a joint collaboration with some of my favorite people, one of these being Drew Daywalt. Check out Daywalt Fear Factory on YouTube to see his amazing work that will provoke fear.
But back to reality. I've never attended a horror convention, and don't even have a car to travel. As for collaborating with Drew, that is merely a fantasy. I need to work more on self-promotion, as I'm not well-known for my work and people don't know about me yet.


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On that note, Vault dwellers, I say we do something to remedy that situation, don't you agree? To find out more about Amanda Norman, her Dark Portraits and graveyard photography, visit AmandaNorman.com.

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