A dark and moody Halloween

It’s Halloween, and that means it’s time for some dark, moody pictures.  I’ll start with one of my favorite sinister shots of Little Corona Beach in Corona Del Mar:

I arrived at Little Corona to do some long-exposure work after sunset, and found a thick marine layer providing a very moody feel to the night. This image is filtered to mute the colors and increase the conrast, providing an almost black-and-white feel to the misty water and rocks, while the bluffs and houses have an old, washed-out look.  This shot is taken about 20 minutes after sunset, so the lights in the houses can be seen as a lone boat sits on the beach. (Marc C. Perkins)
Who just came ashore in that lone boat? Why do so many of the houses have no lights on? And is that a thin layer of mist creeping in over the oddly-still water?

And, of course, what would Halloween be without spiderwebs?

This spider web was covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove State Park.  It looks creepy to me, especially since the droplets look like they have little eyes in them. (Marc C. Perkins)
This spider web was covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove State Park. It looks creepy to me, especially since the droplets look like they have little eyes in them.

Or a misty trail, heading off into the unknown?

A trail winds off in the distance behind scraggly foliage into a fog shrouded unknown up a hill.  Taken in Crystal Cove State Park on a foggy afternoon, just before sunset.  I love the creepy feel of this. (Marc C. Perkins)
A trail winds off in the distance behind scraggly foliage into a fog shrouded unknown up a hill. Taken in Crystal Cove State Park on a foggy afternoon, just before sunset. I love the creepy feel of this.

Or a giant spider?

A large orb weaver spider (genus _Araneus_) sits in the center of her web, just waiting for some prey (you, perhaps?) to come along and get stuck in her web.  All eight legs, her giant abdomen, and her pedipalps are nicely visible, as is the central portion of her web.  These spiders spin their webs at dusk, hence the nighttime black background.  I love how her legs are spread out so that they connect to more than half of the major supporting strands of the web.  And yes, she was facing down, towards the ground. (Marc C. Perkins)
A large orb weaver spider sits in the center of her web, just waiting for some prey (you, perhaps?) to come along and get stuck in her web. And if you say "Squee!" to this instead of "Eeek!", you're my kind of person 🙂

And, as a special Halloween addition, I saw a ghost while photographing the Occupy Orange County camp last night (gallery here).  He was just a wisp of a man in a hat, holding a sign:

A long exposure shot taken at dusk shows just the ghost of a man in a hat holding a sign next to an empty lawn chair at Occupy Orange County - Irvine. (Marc C. Perkins)
A long exposure shot taken at dusk shows just the outline of a man in a hat holding a sign next to an empty lawn chair at Occupy Orange County - Irvine. Is this a ghost of protesters past?

Do you have any scary, creepy, or sinister pictures to share?

Have a spooky day!

[Updated to add the ghost picture on Oct. 31, 2011, with thanks to Alpenglow Images for the inspiration.]

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