A Darker Kind of Comfort: Building Haunted Worlds to Color

I’ve always loved the part of Halloween that’s quiet: the candle in the window, the manor at the top of the hill, the library where the clock ticks a little too loudly. That’s the feeling I chase with Soothing Savage, a darker kind of comfort.

I make intricate coloring books set in dark fantasy worlds: haunted hotels with grand staircases and ghostly guests, cursed castles wrapped in thorny roses, gothic cities lit by jack-o’-lanterns, a coven hidden in a moonlit courtyard.

Each book is a whole place you can wander through, page by page, about a hundred pages at a time. I also run a YouTube channel of dark fantasy ambience (rain on castle windows, crackling fires in stone libraries) for people who like to read, write or color to atmosphere.

How I make them. My designs are created by me with AI assistance. I start with the place and the mood I want: a manor gate at midnight with ravens circling, or tea in a hotel garden under a full moon. Then I guide and refine each scene through repeated prompts and selections in ChatGPT image generation until it feels like it belongs in that world.

A free haunted sampler for Halloween Love readers. To celebrate the season I put together All Hallows & Haunted Halls, a free sampler with one page from each of eight of my Halloween books:

• All Hallows Realm: a moonlit gothic city with a clock tower, a little train and jack-o’-lanterns along the railing
• Haunted Manor: a woman in a flowing gown at the wrought-iron gates, ravens circling a castle on the hill
• Haunted Hotel: midnight tea in the hotel garden beside a lantern-lit fountain
• Haunted Castle: a forgotten glass conservatory with a stone fountain and bare trees
• Cursed Castle: a claw-marked castle door wrapped in thorny roses
• Crimson Hollow: a candlelit gothic library with a gargoyle and roses
• Coven Kingdom: a hidden coven courtyard with a ritual circle, spellbooks and two ravens
• The Grim Reaper: a hooded figure in a gothic bedchamber, with ravens at the window

It’s an instant-download PDF, 8.5×11, with single-sided pages that suit colored pencils, fine-tip markers, and gel pens. Grab it here.

Light a candle, put on something rainy, and get lost in the halls for a while. If you color one, I’d love to see it. 🕯️

Sarina, Soothing Savage