Is it me, or is there something particularly creepy about vintage photos of people of the past in Halloween costume?
I highly recommend the book Haunted Air: Anonymous Halloween Photos from c.1875-1955 by Ossian Brown, which collects some of the best of these disturbing-yet-compelling pictures. (As I recall, this work first appeared on my radar thanks to suggestions from some of you! So thank you!) You can see a gallery of photos and quotes from the book here at BoingBoing.
"All the clocks had stopped. A void out of time. And here they are - looking out and holding themselves still - holding still at that point where two worlds join - the familiar - and the other."
— David Lynch, Introduction, Haunted Air
"These are pictures of the dead: family portraits, mementoes of the treasured, the held-dear-in-heart, now unrecognisable, other."
— Geoff Cox, Afterword, Haunted Air
