Time To Draw: 20 Scary Drawings That Gave Me Goosebumps

Horror has always enthralled me, even since I was a kid. I find the macabre to be thrilling, whether in scary stories or movies. Naturally, as an amateur artist, this interest seeps into my drawing. I remember sketching my first monster and feeling super excited at how it turned out. I’ve discovered throughout the years that making creepy drawings is a way to let my creativity flow while also practicing my art skills. If you’re in the mood for some spooky art and are in need of inspo before you start sketching, you’re in the right place. I’ve put together a compilation of scary drawings that gave me goosebumps. Any horror enthusiast wishing to add a hint of darkness to their artwork will find these ideas perfect. So, let’s dive in.

Grab your pencil and prepare for chills!

Scary Drawings for Horror Enthusiasts

As a lifetime horror fan, I’ve always been fascinated to the dark and scary aspects of art. From H.R. Giger’s gothic masterpieces to Junji Ito’s unnerving designs, the field of horror art is brimming with tremendous talent that continues to inspire and scare me. Today, artists such as Stephen Gammell and Trevor Henderson are pushing the limit, creating artwork that can easily haunt our nightmares. If you, like me, find pleasure in the macabre, you’re in for a treat. Here are some incredible scary drawings to help you unleash your imagination and bring your darkest fantasies to reality, from legends like Medusa to ghosts. Whether you enjoy classic horror or modern horror, these prompts will inspire you to create wonderfully scary art.

Let the haunting begin

Maniacal grin

This drawing depicts a monstrous individual with an exaggerated manic grin and sunken, lifeless eyes. The graphic style is chaotic and rough, with black ink creating an unnerving, scrawled feel. The medium is pen on paper, which emphasizes the piece’s raw, frenzied intensity. This creepy face, with its gaping mouth and passionate gaze, appears to stare directly into your soul.

Face your fears with a grin that chills to the bone

Haunting spectator

In this gothic scenario, a ghostly figure with glowing red eyes watches over a sleeping woman holding a bouquet of flowers. The artwork was done using watercolor and ink, giving it a gentle yet frightening look. The intricate, fluid lines and subdued color palette add to the creepy atmosphere, making this a gripping image for fans of ghost stories and Victorian-inspired horror art.

A spectral guardian for your ghostly dreams

Pumpkin-head trickster

This absurd yet spooky image depicts a girl with a carved pumpkin head, a knife, and a trick-or-treat bag. The art style is a mix of frightening and charming, done in pencil with a grayscale palette. The precise coloring and textures bring this Halloween-inspired creature to life, making it beautiful yet eerie.

Halloween mischief with a pumpkin grin

Grotesque anatomy

This disturbing painting depicts a malformed, flesh-tearing monster with complex anatomical features. The style is realistic, with a strong emphasis on gore. It is a highly detailed and textured drawing. The pure white background contrasts with the bleeding, organic forms, creating an unsettlingly compelling image.

Anatomy of nightmares in gory detail

Arachnid abomination

This artwork features an unnerving creature with a split face and spider-like limbs. The artwork, done in fine black ink, uses precise linework and shading to highlight the creature’s hideous features. The rich features and organic shapes produce an unsettling drawing of an alien-like creature.

A creepy crawly straight from your darkest fears

Ethereal geisha

This frightening drawing depicts a skeletal ghost wearing a traditional geisha attire and clutching a parasol. The visual style combines traditional Japanese aesthetics with gothic horror. The technique that is used here is done in black ink with delicate cross-hatching and shading. The rich patterns and textures provide depth to the spooky, spectral figure.

Elegance meets eeriness in this ghostly geisha

Coral grabber

This strange creature mixes marine life with a terrifying monster. It has a gaping mouth full of razor fangs and a long, probing tongue. The vivid coral-like growths on its back create an unnerving contrast with its pale, leathery skin. The art style is detailed and semi-realistic, created digitally with brilliant colors and smooth shading.

From the depths, a nightmare comes to life

Drag me down

A disturbing image of a skeletal figure surrounded by several hands gripping its face and torso. It’s like they are trying to drag them down. The picture, done in oils, conveys a sense of misery and anguish with its dark, muted color palette and realistic texture. The smooth, blended strokes heighten the creepy mood. This results in a terrifying depiction of inner pain and horror.

Many hands make dark work of dragging you down

Melting sorrows

This frightening picture depicts a girl with a melting face, her features deformed and oozing. The art style is sketchy and emotive, employing charcoal and pencil to achieve a harsh, monochrome appearance. The image’s bizarre and unpleasant nature is emphasized by its rough lines and blurred edges.

Watch your sorrows melt away in eerie distortion

Morning switch

This is a bizarre image of a skeleton adjusting a switch, with sections of its skull visible. The art style is precise and strange, with stippling and line work in black ink producing a high-contrast, graphic appearance. This painting combines elements of normal life with macabre fantasy, creating a fascinating and thought-provoking work of art.

Switch on your day with a skeletal twist

Open your eyes

In this chaotic and unsettling artwork, three creatures with eyeless faces and huge, toothy grins bear an ominous message: “Open Your Eyes.” The art style is raw and frenzied, employing mixed media such as ink and watercolor to give a sense of frenzy and urgency. The vibrant colors and scrawled background heighten the eerie atmosphere.

A chilling reminder to always stay aware

Skeleton bloom

This detailed design depicts a skeleton with mushrooms growing out of its bones. It’s an artwork that combines elements of decay and fresh life. The graphic style is extremely detailed, with fine linework in black ink capturing the delicate textures of both the bones and the fungus. This piece delves into ideas of mortality and nature.

Life and death intertwine in a skeletal garden

All-seeing canine

This bizarre artwork depicts a monster dog with several eyeballs covering its head and body. Each one shines with a captivating pink hue. The vibrant colors and precise details are created give an eerie feeling to this otherworldly creature. The dog’s gaping mouth, sharp teeth, and spiked collar contribute to its terrifying image. The visual style combines surrealism and horror.

A canine beast with eyes that pierce the soul

Tears of the watcher

This unsettling artwork features a big, crying eye with hands reaching up to it, as if in reverence or desperation. The realistic design, which was made using digital painting techniques, uses subdued hues and intricate textures to convey a sense of sadness and fear. The tears running from the eyes provide a peculiar element to this picture, making it both scary and appealing.

The watcher weeps, and hands reach in despair

Multiple screams

This messy painting depicts numerous faces screaming in agony. The sketchy, monochrome approach employs charcoal and pencil to convey the scene’s raw passion and tragedy. The blending and smudge techniques add a sense of movement and distortion, heightening the overall impression of lunacy and sorrow.

Screams echo from every face in this twisted nightmare

Splitting reality

This eerie image depicts a woman’s face divided in two, with each half moving away from the other. The realistic approach employs soft, muted tones and fine shading to produce an unsettling image. The split face conjures notions of identity and inner strife, creating a thought-provoking piece. The intricate textures and careful blending provide depth and emphasis to the bizarre artwork.

Two faces, one soul, split by unseen forces

The Wolf and The Eye

In this bizarre image, a scary wolf stands beneath a massive, all-seeing eye in the sky, as a lamb grazes below. The high-contrast red and black color palette, along with intricate ink line work, creates a striking and terrifying image. The imagery of predator and victim under the watchful eye lends depth to the piece. The textured background and sharp edges contribute to the creepy feel of this painting.

A watchful eye sees the predator and the prey

Melting skull

This terrifying drawing depicts a woman’s face with a melting skull overlay, resulting in a hauntingly beautiful image. The intricate linework and shading, done in black ink, give the painting a high-contrast, graphic look. The juxtaposition of beauty and decay makes this piece an intriguing investigation of mortality and transformation.

Beauty and decay meld in a melting visage

Creepy clown

This unsettling painting depicts a frightening clown with wild hair and a huge, menacing grin. The art style is intricate and emotive, with blue pencil creating a monochromatic, ghostly appearance. The vacuous, soulless eyes and sharp fangs add to the piece’s unnerving aspect. The clown’s exaggerated features and ruffled collar make it an ideal horror subject.

This clown’s grin will haunt your dreams

Interesting offer

This frightening picture depicts a guy with hollow, black eye sockets holding a pair of eyes in his spread hands. The painting style is realistic with a strange twist, made with watercolor and ink. The vivid red background contrasts dramatically with the pale, almost ghostly figure, heightening the eerie feeling. The black tears running down the figure’s face heighten the frightening impression.

A haunting offer you can’t unsee

I hope these scary drawings have sent shivers down your spine, as well as sparked your creativity, like they did for me. Drawing such creepy concepts is a great way to get your creative juices flowing and to challenge your artistic skills. Whether you are just a beginner or you are a seasoned artist, I encourage you to dive deep and let your imagination run wild. There is something that is just uniquely satisfying about bringing out some of your darkest, deepest fears and putting them onto paper. Happy drawing, and I hope you can fill your sketchbook with all the delightfully chilling creations you can think of!

Keep creating, and stay spooky