Paranormal Artist Profile: William Barnes

William captured the interconnectedness of fortean phenomena with this piece featuring a few of our favorite creepy creatures.

Featured artist William Barnes describes himself as “just a country kid with a unique set of interests.”

Lucky for us, those interests include the paranormal.

"I love the magic of it," he told us. "If any of this is real then magic is real, too. The experiences are so life-altering, it is utterly fascinating. And if something catches my attention it tends to show up in my art or writing."

Unfortunately for William, that interest hasn’t led to any experiences of his own.

“I have zero experiences, however—not even a ghost story. I usually have the opposite effect,” he said of his attempts to witness the paranormal. “Any time I go looking everything goes quiet.”

But that hasn’t deterred William from illustrating his favorite monsters in a signature pulp comic style, especially if they’re native to his home state of Missouri.

“I know he’s become mainstream, but I still love the Squatch,” he said. “Specifically MoMo, it’s creepy and it happened in my home state.”

We always appreciate an artist who conveys the bestial nature of Bigfoot, which William has done here beautifully.

With talent like this, we expect to see a lot more of William in the future—especially considering his personal work ethic.

“Just work,” he advised us. “Work when it’s uncomfortable, work when you don’t want to, just constantly plug away.”

For now, follow William on Instagram @ironwill34 and check out William at his shops on TeePublic and Etsy, and we’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on whatever exciting developments occur around the bend.

And of course make sure to take a look at his page in our art portal if you haven’t already.