100 Pages of Horror – Hung, Drawn and Executed: The Horror Art of Graham Humphreys

Although you may not instantly know the name Graham Humphreys you will instinctively know the art of the hugely talented horror artist. Seen on sensational posters, inventive publicity and horror film festival adverts around the globe his distinctive style is a familiar and eye catching as the films he has designed for.

Published by the wonderful Korero Press Hung, Drawn and Executed: The Horror Art of Graham Humphreys is a gorgeous art book that over its 150 plus pages brings together the terrific British artists work from book covers, DVD, Blu-rays, movie posters and more.

The book fittingly begins with a foreword by Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker and the international bestselling co-author of Dracula: The Un-Dead (2009), the official Stoker family-endorsed sequel to Dracula, who talks about the tradition of painted images promoting horror. Stoker heralds Humphreys work as “both relevant and beautiful” and the wonderful vivid and violent reproductions in the book prove this beyond doubt.

Before we get on to the main event as it were there is an introduction by Humphreys himself who talks about the previous published collection of his work Drawing Blood: 30 Years of Horror Art. Running through key points in his history he starts with the career defining commission for Palace Pictures to create the UK poster for Sam Raimi’s 1981 masterpiece The Evil Dead that led on to him creating the poster for A Nightmare On Elm Street and the cementing of his future in genre work.

A self confirmed genre fan Humphreys says he hoped he could “identify the elements that might appeal to horror fans” and his style was born from a combination of the films, posters and horror literature that captivated him as a child as well as the punk rock music that he was the soundtrack to his formative years.

Going into detail on how he produces his pieces he also runs through his many influences that are as disparate and diverse as you would expect. The introduction ends with a fascinating step-by-step breakdown of how he painted the cover for the 2019 Boris Karloff Compendium that expertly shows over 28 panels his painstaking process from initial sketches to the fantastic finished product.

Before the bountiful book lays out Humphreys designs in full there is a final foreword by horror royalty Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price who talks about her father and his love of art. Saying that Humphreys “superb painted images and illustrations are infused with his lifelong passion for the horror genre” she says as a daughter of a horror icon she is grateful to him for carrying on her fathers legacy to new generations of fans through his work.

Although Hung, Drawn and Executed does include some of the work in Drawing Blood most of it details Humphreys work from 2015 onwards, opening with his book covers many of which are specialist editions including 2017’s Lost on the Shadows: The Story of the Lost Boys, Undead Uprising: Haiti Horror and the Zombie Complex by John Cussans and A Celebration of Vincent Price the 2019 book about the classic horror actor.

One of the biggest sections of the book the many Blu-ray and DVD’s that Humphreys has work on form the next chapter and it is here many readers may find the most recognisable images from the awesome Arrow Video art work he has made.

Running through his covers for Attack of the Adult Babies, The City of the Dead, The Man of a Thousand Faces, El Topo, Dr Giggles, Horror Express, Phantasm 1 to 3, The Count Yorga Collection, Cujo, Spider Baby and so many more the quantity and quality of Graham Humphreys art is stunning with each design as deftly different as it is clearly stamped with his distinct style.

Underneath all of the amazing reproductions throughout Hung, Drawn and Executed Humphreys offers insights and commentary on the product and process as well as the how and why he came to create each image.

As Film Posters made his name it is no wonder they occupy a meaty section of this manuscript. Humphreys interestingly starts the section by saying “Despite the technology that thrusts weird, artificially enhanced skin retouching and Photoshop-perfect images onto mainstream film promotion, there’s a healthy interest in crafted posters that don’t require literal interpretations to deliver their message.”

As a person who far prefers the visual flair and abstract art work that Humphreys describes and excels in over the dull and insipid badly made celebrity filled fair usually trotted out across bus stops and billboards these pages are a treat, covered in highly creative work including the 80’s inspired Hallows Eve, giallo infused Fantasma (Bloody Ballet), Sci-Horror The Void, Brit shocker Inbred and the film adaptation of Ghost Stories.

All this takes us up to the 100 page point however there is plenty more in Hung, Drawn and Executed to discover including a selection of paintings used for audio productions, licensed collectables and bespoke items as well as Humphreys posters for festivals including Sheffield Horrorcon UK, two of Fabio Frizzi’s tours, Weekend of the Dead and some of his work for Frightfest which he has been creating art work for over 13 years.

With private commissions and record covers making up the rest of the books contents the brilliant book cements how large Graham Humphreys’ career as a poster artist looms over horror cinema with over forty years of experience.

Including previously unseen work alongside more well known pieces Hung, Drawn and Executed is packed with paintings, drawings and colour studies making it the art book every horror lover and horror artist alike should own.

Get your copy of Graham Humphreys excellent and and insightful Hung, Drawn and Executed right Here on the Korero Press website and read more book reviews from our 100 Pages of Horror click HERE.