Butcher BILLY

Love is a powerful emotion, and you could even say that there’s something terrifying about it. That notion is at the heart of Brazilian illustrator Butcher Billy’s self-initiated project, Stephen King’s Stranger Love Songs. Across a series of proposed book covers, the artist marries the jacket style of the author’s bestselling horror books from the 1980s, with love song lyrics from the same era. Striking, retro typography shouts out the words to songs like Every Breath You Take, Careless Whisper and Lady in Red, and, coupled with pulpy, horror-style illustrations the effect is captivating, slightly scary, and completely plausible. Mixing in a large spoonful of black humour, Butcher Billy subverts a whole range of cheesy pop anthems, while at the same time paying homage to the master of horror, Stephen King. Like the music he references, the original cover designs captured the imagination of an entire generation.