There’s a chill in the air – and not just because I left the kitchen window open.
It’s Hallowe’en season! All Hallows’ Eve! Samhain! Commercialized creepiness! Whatever you call it, October is the only month of the year you’re free to revel in the revolting, marvel at the macabre, and embrace the eerie without judgmental folks deeming you a bit weird.
So here’s my (trick or) treat for you: a wicked collection of Halloween wallpapers with which to bewitch your Ubuntu setup (or non-Ubuntu setup; you can use these images anywhere, they don’t bite – I think).
Where’d I dig these atmospheric images up from? Unsplash.com, a creative crypt of high-quality imagery that is (mostly) free to download, use, and in some cases, redistribute.
Should you like an image below do download it from Unsplash. Don’t use the screenshots that are embedded (unless you seek horrific quality, of course). Each image is linked so you can download an original, high-resolution copy by clicking on it.
HD Halloween Wallpapers
Jack’o-lanterns are a spine-chilling staple of this season, as the hordes of art featuring them attests. This particular pumpkin image from Lucia Foster possessed my attention due to the sinister face staring out of a dark abyss and directly into my soul…
Isolated, dimpsy, winter, fog – a creepy combo sure to evoke an unsettling and uneasy feeling in anyway. I know I can’t look at the image below for long as I can hear it telling me to “Turn and run and don’t look back” — a chilling warning that’s impossible to ignore…
Spiders and cobwebs are to Halloween what bells and mistletoe are to Christmas, making arachnids an absolute must ‘av for this list. The silhouette shot below attracted me due to the colours. They’re like the hues used in the default Ubuntu wallpapers ~2012.
Skulls are the ULTIMATE symbol of death. In a clinical setting a lone skull is but a potent reminder of our own transience. But here, disturbed in the dirt, a lone skull feels more like a portent of terror! What long-dead malevolence has been unearthed here? I dread to think 💀 !
Classic chiller imagery: indistinct shape pressing itself against foggy glass. You don’t need to see this thing move to feel unnerved. Even static there’s an unsettling sense of the unknown about it; an ambiguity that our minds will inevitably fill in with notions of blood-curdling terror.
Crows feature heavily in folklore, superstitions, and the supernatural. Their dark and mysterious appearance, along with their fondness for loitering in desolate dwellings of the long-dead mean they’re an integral part of the Halloween season. Pumpkins, skulls, crows – all you need, really.
This blood-red hellscape of a picture features a stack of skulls, some still screaming in sheer terror. Just what you want to see after logging in, right? What awful fate befell them? Freaked if I know – but there’s sure to be some serious spectral unrest associated with these poor soul’s souls…
A scenic costal vista puncture day the the hand of someone in the midst of drowning, or is the hand of someone already drowned re-emerging from the depths looking to seek revenge…? I’d rather not think about it, tbh!
To finish, I wanted to offer something more colourful. Y’know, for those not willing to totally embrace the dark side of the season. And what better than a pair of chatty skeletons having a good ol’ gossip about their post-temporal escapades!
— Sidenote: I like to think they’re listening to this banger from Driveways (a band, not the thing outside the front of your house):
Spooky Vibes for Ubuntu Desktop
You’ve just seen an haunting array of Halloween-themed wallpapers you can use to evoke some spooky vibes on the Ubuntu desktop. From indistinct entities to sinister skulls, these chilling backdrops will get you in to the Hallowe’en spirit — if the spooks don’t do it first!
Do you have a favourite? Is there a specific image you dig up every October to get a frightful fix from? Let me know be leaving a comment down in the shallow grave carved out below…