Spooky, gooey, forbidden: Stefania Sbrighi’s illustrations ooze horror, but never jump scare you

There’s something of a revival of a Tim Jacobus-inspired, Goosebumps vibe in illustration right now. That spooky, goopy and surreal darkness that isn’t violent but it isn’t exactly child friendly either. Like Alyson Petruncio’s illustrations of childhood filled with Lynchian dread, the Zurich born and Bologna based artist Stefania Sbrighi is helping carry on that torch of horror inspired illustrations – and you guessed it, she’s also “obsessed with horror covers”.

Funnily enough, Stefania is a little allergic to the common tropes of horror. “I started reading horror – something I had always carefully avoided, especially because I’m hemophobic,” Stefania confesses. “When I see violent or bloody scenes, I can lose my vision and hearing and even vomit, all within a few minutes.” Perhaps this is why Stefania’s illustrations – meticulously detailed with Swiss Caran d’Ache Prismalo pencils – evoke horror without bloodshed, instead choosing to draw on the subtler semiotics of horror-themed narratives; shock and discovery, mad scientists and their alchemy, secrecy and conspiracy. In one particularly striking illustration, a child whispers into the ear of another, their faces lit enough to see revelation in the glassy, almost transparent blue of their eyes. “The illustration of the two children whispering a secret – even though I didn’t like it at all at first – has become one of my most powerful. I really see myself in that image,” says Stefania.

“My parents are both luthiers and raised me within the protection of beauty and perfection,” says Stefania. “Then reality presented itself – I discovered the fantastical and its looming eeriness, and now I feel the need to depict absolute fear – people confronted with cosmic horror.” Inspired by the deep nostalgia of childhood, Stefania is also aware of our formative years as a time of fear and trauma, which reverberates through her drawings of moments such as a forbidden kiss in a dark forest or the memory of seeing something awful on the television. “I’m fearful and obsessive, as well as insecure, so in the past, I tried to hide and avoid representing myself too much in my illustrations. I aimed to be as academic and correct as possible,” says Stefania. “But now, I’ve decided I don’t need to be ashamed anymore – there’s nothing wrong with wanting to tell your own story.”