Get gruesome for your holiday cards…

Horrify Me is a professional photographic portrait service for those with a taste for the macabre.

The UK-based company photograph people as zombies, vampires, and demonic possession victims, and also conduct very dark, scary boudoir beauty shoots. They explain that some shoots are quite extreme with blood and gore, and have even taken photos of lovely couples biting chunks out of each other or attacking each other in acts of despicable violence with hammers and chainsaws.

What makes us stand out is the fact that we specialise in this type of photography and create images to a stunning high standard, some of which have been compared to Hollywood movies in terms of quality and authenticity. We do not shoot “Halloween” party pictures but completely authentic, frightening horror images. Our zombies are realistic and gross, and our vampires are seductive, scary and erotic – as they should be. And if your soul is possessed by demons then expect to be puking green vomit all over yourself in front of our camera!

Anyone can have one of our photo shoots (by appointment) although we do have age restrictions on some of the genres we shoot. So far every single person who has been in our dark, sinister photo studio has had an incredible time, and every person has truly loved the whole weird and wonderful experience. We are very proud of our 100% “hit rate” of satisfaction and work very hard to ensure we maintain it.

About the photographer

Rick Jones was born in 1970, a relentlessly creative soul who developed a very early passion for horror movies. This lifelong passion for the dark side of entertainment has never diminished. His 25 year career in creative industries (illustration, graphic design, digital imaging, model crafting, photography) has finally caught up with his love of horror and Horrify Me is the weird bastard child of this fusion of passion and profession. Rick creates most of the horrific makeups for the shoots, conducts the photography, and edits them in digital post production, crafting works of terrifying brilliance every time. Rick has a peculiar talent for creating dark, horrific photos, utterly transforming ordinary people into outstanding figures of genuine horror.

About the staff

Of course, Rick isn’t alone in the enterprise. Kaytie Smith is the business manager and takes care of the business end of Horrify Me, ensuring that the good name of the studio is spread far and wide, new contacts are established, and the overall running of things remains smooth. She’s also been dragged kicking and screaming in front of the camera, stripped off and covered in buckets of blood. Just another day at the office.

About the process

When clients arrive for their photo shoot, we conduct a very thorough horror make-over. The vampires are fitted with fangs, and the zombies are given a full head-to-toe grunge and gore treatment. We’re not shy about using blood – lots of it. We get through such a lot of blood that we’re constantly making new batches. The clients are then directed through the photo shoot, performing a variety of poses and with different lighting effects. We keep adding blood and gore as required until the clients are usually so messy and gruesome that they can barely be recognised. When the shoot is over, we then edit the photos and post the prints to the clients. The most rewarding aspect of this work is the reactions we get to the images – people absolutely love their photos!

Our Dark Boudoir offers a truly alternative beauty shoot and has proven to be amazingly popular. These shoots are amongst our most shocking as they blend erotic beauty with blood and gore, and have at times provoked some controversial reactions on social media. We don’t just do this to be controversial, as this truly is a stunning and creative alternative type of artistic photo shoot, but some of the models and clients we shoot do kind of enjoy stirring up a bit of controversy from time to time. And who can blame them?

We also recently started conducting portfolio shoots for scare actors and performers, offering a rather unique professional service to this talented sector. Our understanding of the genre, and how to capture stunning images in performance-led studio shoots, makes us an essential component to any scare actor’s portfolio.