How I Created a Horror Photography Series in the infamous Cottingley Woods

Details

Date:  April 2025

Location: Cottingley Woods, Bingley

Concept: A dark fantasy horror inspired by an old artwork I stumbled across online.

Team: Clinton Lofthouse, Marie-Jean Staxton, Martin Woodhead, Immy Alexandra

The Concept

Every so often, I’ll come across an artwork that just sticks in my head. I tend to save these images to a reference folder on my PC, which contains hundreds of old and outdated files that I keep telling myself I'll revisit for inspiration one day. Well, the stars and the moon must have aligned, because one day in March, I cracked open the dusty inspiration folder. This folder is full of weird and wonderful artworks, reference images, and memes that my adhd brain long forgot about.

Now, my creative process for thinking up new image concepts works in two ways. The first is, the idea will come to me through an experience, or a conversation, or maybe something around me will trigger a creative thought. This tends to happen in the shower, unless I'm too busy rubbing one off before the start of the day. Then, obviously, my brain is working hard on other imagery, haha. Or, two! I force ideas into my brain by scouring inspiration online. Sites like Pinterest work great for this, just pick an image and then go down the deep, dark, never-ending rabbit hole.

Anyway, I digress, once looking through this folder of forgotten treasures, I came upon (don't know why I'm now writing like a 1920s explorer) a dark art piece that really fascinated me. It was this artwork from Mike Whelan. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the crumb I had been looking for to trigger some inspiration. I had scenarios playing in my head already. Why was this dead body reanimating? What led them to this moment, and ultimately this unhappy ending? And that, my short-concentration spanned friends, is what good art should do: it should make you think, make you want to know more, it should fire up the imagination.

And that is where 'Sometime they come back' was born from. Not every idea you have will be original. As my mum used to say, there is nothing new under the sun. If you try to be unique every single time, you will procrastinate. Trust me, been there, done that. Just create, and keep creating, and eventually those seldom unique ideas will emerge. And until that point, find inspiration, take parts of concepts you like, and then add your own spin. Create something new from that inspiration. Artists have been doing that for hundreds of years. If it's good enough for Da Vinci, it is good enough for you.

So, I had the inspiration, and now the ideas were flooding in. A murderous husband, a shovel, a dead wife, and some creepy ass woods. It needed an atmosphere that only a real location could give, something wild, eerie, and cinematic. Cottingley Woods instantly came to mind. It’s a place full of folklore, ancient trees, and stories of strange goings on. It's actually where the famous story of the young Victorian girls and the fairies was located (absolutely true, Google it, shithead). Apparently, it was news around the world at the time. Exactly the type of place, ripe for a horror photography shoot.

The Setup

Shooting on location always adds a touch of chaos, uneven ground, unpredictable light, and the occasional passerby wondering what we’re up to. At one point, a couple walking their dog slowed right down, staring at us like they’d stumbled into a real-life murder (their walking speed seemed to triple as they kept their heads firmly planted down).

For lighting, I kept things clean and simple: one flash with a large octabox. I love working this way when I’m outdoors, it gives me that soft, cinematic light while still letting the location breathe. Although be careful if it's windy, as your light will do a Mary Poppins and fly the fuck out of there! The woods, though, provided the perfect backdrop, with deep greens and textured shadows wrapping around the subjects beautifully. Pockets of dark and light are great for atmosphere and also composition.

The Shoot

The team worked hard on this one. Marie-Jean Staxton and Martin Woodhead completely embraced the characters we’d discussed. I've roped Martin into many of my ideas before, so he's used to the chaos. But, this was Marie's first time shooting with me (she's a talented commercial model), and I believe her first horror shoot. On-location shoots can be testing. It's tiring, it's usually either too cold or too warm, and there are thousands of ways a shoot can go wrong. Both models handled it like pros, even whilst being covered in dirt, leaves, and the occasional bug.

Immy Alexandra created the base of the look with her usual magic. Her makeup work added depth and character without overpowering the natural mood of the shoot. The tones she used really connected with the earthy palette of the woods and created an excellent foundation for me to enhance in Photoshop.

We started shooting towards the end of the morning, and had everything set up and shot in around 3 hours. I would say this was mainly due to my location scouting a few weeks earlier and making notes of where I wanted to set up. NEVER. Do a location shoot without visiting the potential location at least once. Half the battle is choosing the right locations, and that can take time. You need to think about safety, light, and many other factors. Scout well enough beforehand, and your shoot on the day will be so much easier!

Studio shoots are fun, but there's something special about shooting on location. Especially in nature. The sound of the trees rustling, the feel of the pine cones crunching under your feet as you walk. Catching those elusive light rays as they flitter through the trees. The laughter and camaraderie as you and your small ragtag group of friends murder each other inside one of the UK's most infamous woodlands.

Didn't see any pissing fairies though.......gutted!

Final Images

Post Production

A couple of days later (I never start editing straight away, I let the images take some time to breathe (yes, I know how pompous this sounds, haha). I took the images into Photoshop for post-production. Some frames only needed minor retouching, a few light adjustments, colour grading, and cleaning up of small distractions.

Others, though, needed more drastic compositing or photomanipulation. I brought in composited elements, subtle textures, atmosphere, and light overlays to heighten the mood and tie it closer to that original idea in my head. This is the part when someone shouts from the back. 'This isn't photography, it's art!'. Yeah, dipshit, photography is an art!

I didn’t want to lose the authenticity of shooting on location, but those extra touches and parts helped create a dreamlike, otherworldly quality that felt right for the concept. Do what you need to do to get the vision in your head, out, and into reality. By whatever means necessary.

Let me know your thoughts/ What kind of horror photography artworks would you like to see me create??

Credits

Creative Director, Photography and Post-production: Clinton C Lofthouse

Models: Marie-Jean Staxton, Martin Woodhead

Makeup Artist: Immy Alexandra

Location: Cottingley Woods, Bingley

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Thanks for reading,Stay creepy!