Haunted Paintings
The Phantom Ship

Let me be honest here, relatively speaking, slapping some fangs on a picture and making the eyes glow is pretty simple. It's also pretty boring. When I was first getting my feet wet doing this sort of art, it's what I did, Mary, The Count and Florence. As I pushed myself my work started to become more complex with complete back stories that added an extra dimension to the characters. Now I've added another dimension to my work by doing Haunted Paintings. Inspired by the Ghost Ship Painting in The Haunted Mansion I am proud to introduce The Phantom Ship. This is by far the most complex changing portrait I've done. As you can see from the close-up photos, the amount of detail this work has is amazing. I look at changing portraits every day but even I was awed by this transformation. Because of the amount of detail this work is only being released in a 16x20 size. To order your Phantom Ship go to www.hauntedportraits.com/cutter.htm

Bigger is Better ;-)

Back when I started experimenting with changing portraits I knew there was a market for smaller less expensive portraits. One of my competitors actually used to state on his web site that "Bigger is Better" and actually created a graphic to show the difference in size between his 16"x20"s and my 11"x14"s. He claimed that bigger was better. Funny thing was a few months later he started offering 11"x14"s and he used that same graphic show the two sizes HE offered.. Back in December I introduced my mini-HauntedPortraits in the very popular 5x7 size and now I am proud to introduce MONSTER-HauntedPortraits, my new supersized 24"x18" portraits. These are the largest changing portraits you can get anywhere. It's easy to frame in a standard 24"x18" size and looks great over a fireplace or anywhere where you need a larger size. People have been asking "Are your Portraits available in bigger sizes" and now the answer is YES. At almost 4x the size of my 11x14s, the MONSTER-HauntedPortrait will blow away your unsuspecting guest. To find out more visit www.hauntedportraits.com/biggerisbetter.htm

HAuNTcon Here I Come

I will be attending HAuNTcon 2005 in Dallas as a participant (hey I love scary stuff just as much as you). I'll be wearing a HauntedPortraits T-shirt, so if you see me, stop me and say Hi. It's always nice o meet the people that make this all possible.

Because you keep asking, we've made even more of the Haunted Portraits available in the mini 5x7 size. Welcome The Count and Simon to the mini-HauntedPortraits

I know that once you own a Mini-HauntedPortrait you'll become a collector of the most unique changing portraits available anywhere. To order yours visit here www.hauntedportraits.com/order.htm

Merchant Program

We would like to welcome one of our long time supporters back to our to our merchant program, HauntedVentures. Roy Bashers now carries not only my work, but also the work of my good friend Tim Turner from The Ghoulish Gallery. If you would like to join our merchant program, or know someone that would send me an e-mail to get all the details

The Omnimover

You may know them as Doombuggies from The Haunted Mansion but actually they were invented for the Disneyland ride Adventures Thru Inner Space in 1967. I've recently added a copy of the Patent that Disney was granted for the Omnimover in 1971 to my Haunted Mansion Blueprint page

Welcome
Heidi Kleinbeck

Welcome Heidi to the Gallery of Haunted Portraits. Heidi was a blast to do and if you have a child I know you can relate to the newest Haunted Portrait.

Fritz and Sadie Kleinbeck were the proprietors of the New Ulm, Texas Funeral Parlor. After trying for years, Fritz and Sadie were blessed with a baby girl, Heidi. Their little blessing, however, was a needy child that demanded constant attention. Exhausted by the child's unrelenting need for attention, they visited their doctor who advised them that they needed to not give in to Heidi's cries and that the neediness would stop.

Thrilled with the prospect of some rest, her parents agreed that no matter how much Heidi screamed and yelled they would ignore her. That evening they put Heidi to bed and, as usual, Heidi began crying. Her parents left the room and went and sat in the Parlor. Both parents were agitated by the cries but tried to ignore them. The cries became louder and more frantic. Then Fritz noticed out of the corner of his eye flashes of light coming from Heidi's room. Fearing that Heidi might have somehow knocked over the lantern, they ran into the room. Not a word of what Fritz and Sadie saw in that room was ever spoken. Fritz and Sadie lived out the rest of their shortened lives slaves to Heidi's constant demands.

Smoke and Mirrors
Now in each issue of my newsletter I'm going to share some of the details of the behind the scenes work it takes to create a Haunted Portrait. Heidi posed several unique challenges, first of which was it was the wrong proportion. Knowing I wanted Heidi to float meant she needed room above her head so she wouldn't float out of the scene. Creating extra space on top was pretty easy, the problem was when you add to the top you have to add to the sides to maintain the proportions. This meant that most of the railing you see on the left and right of her hands was created to match the rest of the scene from scratch. Another problem was that as Heidi rises you can see what was behind her. Again this had to be recreated. Heidi has three unique stages. Each of the stages is unique. You will notice that the face has a different expression in each stage. If you look closely you will see that as Heidi rises the shadows actually changes on the railing and floor. This is the sort of detail I put into every one of my Portraits that you simply won't find in work by others. Another special feature about Heidi is that it is created as a "Loop". As you pass by, Heidi will rise and then lower back to the original placement. To be one of the first to own Heidi, you can place your order here
www.hauntedportraits.com/heidi.htm

A Note From my Customer

Like everything in life, when you are exposed to something every day, like my Portraits, it's easy to forget how creepy they can really be. I recently received a letter from one of my new collectors about her experience with the "Mary" HauntedPortrait she purchased

"Hi Norm, Last week I received the "Haunted Picture" I had ordered. Even though it has only been hanging on my wall for a few days, it has already paid for itself in entertainment ! I hadn't said anything about having the picture, I just put it in a nice, old fashioned frame & hung it on the wall. When my "better half" came home from a rough day at work, he fixed his usual drink to relax, however 1 wasn't enough that night, & he fixed himself a second one. Half way through the second drink, he noticed the picture on the wall. When he asked me who it was, I told him it was my Grandmother's sister, then watched him from the corner of my eye. When he got up to look at the picture closer, the picture changed." When he got right up to it, standing in front, it was just fine. He started to walk away, then turned for a last look, when she was suddenly a vampire again ! He never said a word, just went into the kitchen, poured out the rest of his drink & told me he was going to bed early as he wasn't feeling well ! He still doesn't know what really happened. I haven't laughed this much in years. Thanks so much- Diane.

Thanks so much Diane. If you have a story about your HauntedPortrait or a picture of your HauntedPortrait hanging on your wall I'd love to share it with the rest of my collectors. Send me an e-mail

No Questions Guarantee

I want you to be completely thrilled with your purchase. Unlike one of my competitors who states on his site

"All sales are final - No Refunds"

I believe in my quality so much that if for any reason you're not thrilled, let me know within 7 days and I will refund your money and I'll even cover the return postage. Not that anyone has ever returned one but should that event ever happen I will do what ever it takes to keep my customers happy.