A Melting Pot of Mayhem

Beautiful Horrific Images: The Art of Basil Gogos

Basil Gogos (1929 – 2017) was born in Egypt to Greek parents. His family emigrated to America when he was 16. Not long after arriving in America; Gogos pursued a career in art, attending multiple art schools in New York City. In 1959 he won a Pocket Books competition to illustrate the cover for Pursuit, a paperback western novel.

This is the best resolution I could find on my travels of the internet.

After the Pursuit cover he never looked back. Gogos went on to paint illustrations for men’s adventure magazines as well as EerieCreepy, and other horror pulps. His best known work was for Famous Monsters of Filmland but I’m going to post some of his awesome Men’s Adventure magazine art first.

Basil Gogos’ work for Men’s Adventure Magazines

And a Sci-Fi Novel cover

Horror Themed Artwork

It was with the horror comics that Basil Gogos really came into his own. Using bold, striking colors as a background with the subject basking in several light sources.

Creepy Magazine - Basil Gogos

In Guillermo del Toro’s “Bleak House” he has some of Gogo’s paintings. I was fortunate enough to see them in person a few years ago at an art exhibit. Like this Hellboy:

Hellboy

Here’s a picture from the exhibition at LACMA. His work is honestly stunning.

This Island Earth mutant.

Since it’s the horror artwork he’s most famous for, I’m just going to post a ton of them. Starting with my personal favorite. Enjoy:

Lon Chaney Jr, The Wolfman
Bela Lugosi, Dracula
The Crimson Ghost
Boris Karloff, The Mummy
Boris Karloff, Frankenstein
Eerie Magazine cover Basil Gogos
Lon Chaney, London after Midnight
Lon Chaney The Phantom of the Opera
Karloff, Frankenstein
Peter Cushing
Ingrid Pitt in The House that Dripped Blood
Barnabas Collins
Herman Munster
Christopher Lee, Dracula
Boris Karloff
King Kong
Boris Karloff, The Mummy
Forrest Ackerman
The Phantom of the Opera
Vincent Price, Madhouse
Nosferatu
Elsa Lanchester, The Bride of Frankenstein
Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Linda Blair the exorcist - Basil Gogos
Linda Blair, The Exorcist
Creature From the Black Lagoon Basil gogos
Creature From the Black Lagoon
Ygor Basil Gogos
Ygor
Hunchback of Notre Dame - Quasimodo - Basil Gogos
Quasimodo