Cold As A Witch’s Swamp

Do you get the shivers when you hear the name Jenny Greenteeth? Do you avoid walking near the river at night for fear of cold, clammy hands reaching out to drag you under? If not, then perhaps you’re not well-versed in the dark tales of English folklore.

What about Nelly Longarms? Still nothing? She, too, is an otherworldly hag who dwells at the bottom of deep ponds or wells and, should anyone wander too close — especially children — she will reach out her long, sinewy arms and drag innocent passersby into the water and down into the murky depths, never to return.

These entities in English folklore are known as water witches — supernatural creatures who lurk in swamps and rivers and other bodies of water, preying on unsuspecting victims. Peg Powler is one too. The Grindylow is yet another.

Maybe you’re familiar with Meg Mucklebones. She’s the water witch that appears in the 1985 fantasy film Legend (starring Tom Cruise and Tim Curry). Meg Mucklebones is said to have been based on these water witches of English folklore. And all of these witches, from the bottoms of wells and banks of rivers, are the inspiration for this week’s Witchtober project, a swamp witch Halloween Mask.

Using foam and clay and paint, my goal was to create a classic green-skinned, fang-toothed water witch mask. And since my workshop, at this time of year, is kind of swampy and moist with humidity, I feel like I had a head start. If you’d like to see my process, and how my swamp witch turned out, you can scroll down the video down below. And if you’d like some tips on how to create one yourself, you can head over to the Long Lost Friends Studio Patreon where we have some helpful mask-making posts.

Whatever you do, just remember not to stray too close to the edge of the water at night.