Rae Mystic is a renowned queer photographer whose work has been featured in Spin Magazine, Alternative Press, Stereogum, and many more notable publications. “I love to mix the pretty with the grotesque,” Rae says, adding, “that’s my main creative passion.” Their career as a whole also reflects this dichotomy. Achieving breakthrough success as the photographer for ska artists like Skatune Network and We Are The Union presents a significant point of contrast with much of their other work. This desire to explore both the dark and the vividly colorful led them to the creation of their latest project, 31 DAYS.
31 DAYS is a magazine-style publication featuring 31 Halloween and horror-themed photoshoots. Though it’s being seen publicly for the first time, Rae Mystic has been working on 31 DAYS since 2018. In 2022, they decided it was finally time to turn the dream into reality, planned out the remaining photoshoots, and got to work.
What makes 31 DAYS unique is Rae Mystic’s aforementioned cute yet disgusting, hyper-colorful yet creepy approach to all things spooky. While many Halloween-inspired works rely on pale, ghostly tones, Rae runs in the opposite direction. “I wanted to portray the ideas and conceptions of how I envision these characters in my head,” Rae says. “For example, Regan from The Exorcist. I’ve always seen her with vibrant green & chartreuse, cartoony puke colors and aesthetic.”
Due to unprecedented demand, Rae Mystic made available ten final hand-numbered and signed copies of 31 DAYS via a FANGORIA-exclusive link. These limited few will mark the end of a chapter for this project, as there are no plans for a future re-release.
Though 31 DAYS itself will soon be out of print, Rae Mystic has decided to offer full-size prints of six selected photos from the collection. This medium wasn’t originally planned to be part of the project but, Rae says, “I have to expand what 31 DAYS is just to keep up.”
When making the decision as to which photos would get their own individual prints, Rae Mystic wanted to highlight not only the most compelling pictures, but also those that were particularly challenging. “The Pinhead-inspired set,” Rae said, “took a full eight hours of makeup and costume, and then we shot for about fifteen minutes. It was really funny to have that much setup time and then be done, but that’s all we needed. It was perfect right away.”
The final copies of 31 DAYS, as well as full-size prints of individual photographs, are available now. Get your exclusive prints right here.
