Horror – Natural adventures

7895. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Zake has come along such a long way from his early column pieces under the M32 back in 2018 when I first came across his work. This year he has turned up the dial with a variety of really different character pieces that each tell a bit of a story.

In this piece, Zake has painted a cartoonish demonic character playing some mystical pipe. Behind him is a group of hooded characters, looking a little creepy to me, with lanterns held on sticks. Perhaps out protagonist is summoning them to do their evil deeds. Something a little different from Zaake.

7826. M32 roundabout J3 (783)

Tera, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

This wonderful piece by Tera was all that remained from a paint jam by the time I got to it. Even though the full extent of the piece is somewhat reduced, I felt it was worth posting in any case, because Tera is one of the most creative artists in this demonic/horror genre around.

The piece features a skeleton (of course) connected up to several pink and blue tubes and a visor with the word TERA emblazoned across the front – all in keeping with a robot/dystopian/horror theme, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but certainly is impactful. Could it be that Tera is taking on the mantle left behind by Laic217?

7445. St Werburghs tunnel (564)

Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2026

Wow, this is a superb on-message piece by Daz Cat painted to celebrate Tera’s birthday. As we know, Tera is rather fond of his scary horror pieces and so Daz Cat has leapt straight in there with a cat horror piece of his own.

Daz Cat has managed to capture a menacing look in this cat portrait piece, that has a tortured face. The cat creature appears to be emerging from a flower stem, and the two orange ‘hands’ are cat-like flower heads. This is a curious and imaginative piece by Daz Cat and a thoughtful contribution to the celebratory paint jam.

7360. St Werburghs tunnel (556)

Jenks, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025

Arguably, the most eye-catching piece from the Minto birthday paint jam was this extraordinary portrait by Jenks. The session coincided with Halloween, and this menacing horror piece certainly dined out on the spooky festival.

The technique used to generate the reflections in the mask is of the highest quality, incorporating loads of colour tones to create the effect. Furthermore, the distortions in the screaming girl figure and the scene around her create the illusion of a world we can’t see from this side of the mask.

It takes a great deal of skill and experience to produce a piece like this one, but the effort is worth it because of the impression it leaves behind. This is a wonderful piece from the visiting artist Jenks.

6507. Dean Lane skate park (775)

Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

Sled One has made a few appearances on Natural Adventures recently, but this Halloween piece, painted on 30 October, trumps the lot of them. It isn’t often that this whole wall is painted – lots of ladder-work, so when it is you can expect something pretty special.

The piece is painted on a jaunty angle, which is unsettling in itself. The backdrop is a gloomy street scene, with cars dimply lit under some street lights. The star of the piece is the scary pumpkin character, the unconventional shape of which adds to the sense of unease and edge. Shaped like a skull, the melting pumpkin face is dropping seeds like teeth falling out, and resembles the lanterns left out to rot after the Halloween festival itself. A wicked piece that doesn’t give in to the sentimental portrayal of a pumpkin, but turns it into an evil protagonist.

6162. Sparke Evans Park (99)

Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2024

If I were only allowed to keep my galleries of say ten street artists, Laic217 would be close to the top of the list. I feel like I have grown up (in terms of my interest in street/graffiti art) with him, and as he has improved and expanded his horizons, I have learned more and grown my expertise. We both have plenty of headroom, but our journeys have taken a parallel pathway, and that feels good.

This is a great piece on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park which reminds me a lot of the Hollywood horror film genre. I think it is the check shirt and baseball cap that do it along with the disfigured melting face, of course. This is what Laic217 does so well, and although the subject might not be to everyone’s taste, the technical skills must surely be admired. I loved stumbling across this one.

2560. M32 roundabout J3 (176)

A Halloween double bill from the fabulous Biers from a week or two back. I got lucky enough to catch Biers while he was still painting the piece on the right featuring a cartoon Jason Voorhees from ‘Friday the 13th’.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Biers gave no indication that he was going to paint a second character piece (is it from the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’?) but paint one he did to create this double set. He seems to be enjoying the letters OYEAH at the moment although he didn’t rule out writing Biers again in the future.

Biers did explain to me the colour choices in his letters and that they were very deliberately chosen from the colours used in a game or something. If I am honest he lost me a bit on the story. I knew I should have written it down at the time. my memory is like a sieve at the moment.

Anyhow this is a pleasurable Halloween romp and a fine pair from Biers. Hats off!

452. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (5)

Even if you haven’t seen the film series – ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street‘ you will almost certainly have seen representations or images of Freddy Krueger, the villain of the piece. If you haven’t, then here he is in all his nightmarish glory. This is a magnificent stencil piece by JPS (who else), that faithfully conveys the Krueger character.

JPS, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

I have written a lot about JPS and how much I admire his work, and it is when you get up close to pieces like this that you really appreciate his incredible skill. His love for the entertainment industry and the characters it creates provides him with plenty of material.

JPS seems to enjoy the horror, sci-fi and adventure genres as well as straying occasionally into cartoon characters. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…JPS is pretty much responsible for me writing about street art in the first place, so he is in my view, a bit of a hero, an inspiration.

Nightmare

Sitting bolt upright

in bed, too frightened to sleep;

shadows leave the room.

by Scooj

	paulh121 on 7910. St Werburghs tunnel…
	M. on 7909. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on Dorset bound
	paulh121 on 7909. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on 7908. Purdown (107)

	paulh121 on 7910. St Werburghs tunnel…
	M. on 7909. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on Dorset bound
	paulh121 on 7909. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on 7908. Purdown (107)

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