Halloween Arrivals at Esocryptshop.com

ESOCRYPTSHOP.COM ARRIVALS

ESOCRYPT Shop

10/5/20242 min read

Starting this year, we hope to begin a tradition of creating holiday merchandise that people can continue to come back every season and enjoy. For 2024 both designs come from Esocrypt guildmember River V.C. and outside contributor Lee Bentley jr..

"I was really inspired by some of Bentley's work," River said, "I wanted to diversify, I really love spooky Halloween, that's my vibe, but I wanted to show both scary and spooky Halloween." Both Horrorland designs are available as of October 4th in a Red or Green variant. Both cost $29.99 with the proceeds going to support the creation of more content.

GNM: So how do you explain to someone the vibes of your designs? Why go for two different Halloween aesthetics?

RIV: "Halloween doesn't have to be one thing, it's a time when we get to dance around the things that freak you out or make you squirm. It's about being comfortable and feeling vulnerable. Some people really gravitate toward the gore horror aesthetic because it's a good statement. It's a symbol of pride, toughness, and community to sit through depraved acts on-screen, pointing out they're flaws and realness. It's just one of the reasons but it is one I see a lot. It's like fantasy trauma bonding. I find it beautiful."

GNM: What about the other side?

RIV: "Then you have the spooky horror. There wasn't a lot of spooky horror because, in my mind, the genre stemmed from the aging Monster movies of the 40s-60s. But then there came this wave of people influenced by what their parents or grandparents were showing them, and you suddenly got these caricatures of Halloween that became ingrained into our generation. Spooky then has to ride the wave of being seen as childlike, before then coming around again to stick with us."

GNM: Has Spooky stuck you think?

RIV: "Oh yeah absolutely. I actually think it's gone too far..."

GNM: Oh shit...

RIV: "...I think it's some kind of cobweb capitalism. When you go to Target their season is beach, gay for a month, coat, and spooky. That's just how it is. The shirts there aren't someone's baby or art piece, their sole purpose is to be bought. It's bad, there's a specific type of capitalism for everything someone likes. "

GNM: Is there any Halloween company you do like?

RIV: "I can't speak to their business practices but Spirit hasn't failed aesthetically I feel. They've wained at times, and the cheap stuff is cheap, but the stuff they care about, the animatronics, the new costumes, props, home decor, always hit. Of course, when you're commissioning the manufacturing of full animatronics I guess you would want to have a certain level of quality, they are expensive because you can't make them cheap.

GNM: So is Esocrypt Horrorland going to become a thing?

RIV: "Eh, If anything it will be the name of the line of shirts. Horrorland is just as far as I know, not trademarked. I think I got it from a Goosebumps spinoff series."