#Creeptober Day 28 Sillouette

[vangold]

Estimating the size of the creature by comparison with the diameter of the large trees near which it passed -- the few giants of the forest which had escaped the fury of the land-slide -- I concluded it to be far larger than any ship of the line in existence. I say ship of the line, because the shape of the monster suggested the idea- the hull of one of our seventy-four might convey a very tolerable conception of the general outline. The mouth of the animal was situated at the extremity of a proboscis some sixty or seventy feet in length, and about as thick as the body of an ordinary elephant. Near the root of this trunk was an immense quantity of black shaggy hair- more than could have been supplied by the coats of a score of buffaloes; and projecting from this hair downwardly and laterally, sprang two gleaming tusks not unlike those of the wild boar, but of infinitely greater dimensions. Extending forward, parallel with the proboscis, and on each side of it, was a gigantic staff, thirty or forty feet in length, formed seemingly of pure crystal and in shape a perfect prism, -- it reflected in the most gorgeous manner the rays of the declining sun. The trunk was fashioned like a wedge with the apex to the earth. From it there were outspread two pairs of wings- each wing nearly one hundred yards in length -- one pair being placed above the other, and all thickly covered with metal scales; each scale apparently some ten or twelve feet in diameter. I observed that the upper and lower tiers of wings were connected by a strong chain. But the chief peculiarity of this horrible thing was the representation of a Death's Head, which covered nearly the whole surface of its breast, and which was as accurately traced in glaring white, upon the dark ground of the body, as if it had been there carefully designed by an artist.

The Sphinx - Nother one of my favorites actually, although it probably is barely known, except by diehard fans of Poe. Can recommend it tho. Rather short and fun to read :)

Also fyi, although we got a bit behind schedule here due to illness and other rl crap, I in fact did manage to finish up all Inktober Pictures in time. Stayed up until three yesterday when finishing the final one. However gonna keep to 1 art per day for the final few here to not make it too crowdy ;)