HALLOWEEN HAUNTS: Homemade Cemetery Oracle Cards
By Heddy Johannesen
Greetings darklings:
Today’s post is about my homemade cemetery oracle cards. I volunteered for the Horror Writers Association by taking photos in cemeteries in Halifax where I live. I sent the photos to the newsletter staff for the Horror Writers Association and they placed the photos in their monthly newsletter. Over time, I collected many photos of cemeteries.
Recently, I got the idea that since I now have an impressive collection of photos that I should make my own oracle deck. The deck is something I have always wanted to accomplish, but I had no idea how. I had decided that the images on the cards may help me with my writing and perhaps aid other horror authors in scribing their own horrific tales.
I had never created an oracle deck before. I sat down and free wrote a few ideas. I put that piece of paper away that contained my scribbles and notes. I found it a while later and decided I would try it. I found a website online that would make the deck of cards for me for a reasonable price, makeplayingcards.com.
I uploaded the photos onto their website. At this phase of creation, I discovered what is involved in the creation of an oracle deck. I love the images of the photos. They are eerie, a bit sinister, and haunting. The images include headstones, white birch trees in winter, crows perched on treetops or headstones, snow frosted trees, tree branches woven like spiderwebs, cemeteries in fall and winter, my realistic looking skull, misty cemeteries, a bird’s nest, a cauldron of burning embers, and eerie trees. I love each and every image. There are 54 cards in total.
The cards are 2.75″×4.75″ (70×120mm) and made of a standard smooth card stock with a glossy finish. I created the image of an actual crow I saw in the cemetery as the image on the backs of the cards. I tried my best to center the crow in the image. The cards are in full color which enhances their spookiness. The make playing cards website is extremely helpful when designing cards and is very straightforward. I fell in love with my oracle deck and I could not wait to receive it in the mail.
I own several other oracle and tarot decks that I collected over the years, but nothing compares to my own deck. Every time I look at my cards, I am hit with a sense of nostalgia and wonder. When I lived in my old apartment, I lived very close to Mount Olivetti cemetery that holds the graves of the Titanic victims and a crow’s nest rests in a lofty perch of the tall trees. I like that, the contrast of birth in a place that many people associate with death. I often still visit there even though I moved away. Sometimes I help curious people find the Titanic section. One time, I was writing in my journal. I left to buy a coffee and returned to my spot. All this time, a small brown oak leaf kept being blown in the wind to me. I decided that it was a gift from the spirits. I took the leaf home and placed it in my journal. I still have the leaf.
The deck came with a small velvet bag to store the cards in and a tin. The beautiful and eerie oracle cards were intended to aid with creative writing. I am sure the cards will help. I hope that tarot or oracle cards can help other horror authors as well. The images could spark a story idea or two, perhaps a poem, a play, or a novel. All the images are clear and in color, waiting to help bring a story to life.
The act of creation is personal. The process can mean many different things to many people. For me, it means rifling through the deck, one card at a time, or strolling through a cemetery or receiving an oak leaf as a gift. Creation has no boundaries. Sometimes horror authors might get stressed out while writing a novel or a screenplay. It is important to take the time to remember the creative process, the joy and messiness of early drafts, not the prize, reward or gratification of being a New York Times bestselling author with a million ratings and rave reviews. Pause to think of what helped you achieve placing a story in an anthology or attending a writing convention. A few of my deeply favourite cards are the ones with the images of a tall tree in a cemetery, its branches a dark color against a cold cool blue sky or a gnarled tree towering over aged headstones. Simple yet haunting.
The oracle cards can be interpreted many ways. They are designed to make you think, wonder or dream. Some questions that could come to mind are:
- What happened here?
- Who was here before?
- What is hiding outside the frame?
- What does the image make you feel?
- Is the haunting real—or imagined?
- What would happen if you stepped through the card?
My oracle deck is not the standard oracle deck, but it does not have to be. It just has to mean something to me. It just has to inspire me and possibly others, as well. Every card is unique and has meaning. Horror means different things to people too. Some people like slasher movies and other people prefer werewolves or folklore.
The most recurring theme or image in the deck is trees. Trees are awesome. They provide shade, shelter, oxygen, even lumber. They are also creepy in the wintertime, or at least, to me, they are. In the winter, the tree branches are bare and appear very differently than in a season like summer, for example. Headstones are another recurring image. Headstones in a black and white image can be a powerful image just as much as in full color, tipped over, cast in shadow, decaying. Seasons play an important part here too. The cards depict the fall and winter seasons too, since I associate fall and winter with cemeteries. The spirit energy is strongest then. Cemeteries in the winter are bleak, stark and more striking and beautiful.
Even Stephen King has been known to own and use a tarot deck to help him with his writing. If it works for you, great. It does not need to be a complicated process. Perhaps the image sparks an idea or the meaning of the card feels very significant and relative to you at the time you read the card. Do what works for you. You can draw a single card for a reading or if you are familiar with tarot or oracle cards, then do a spread of cards and see if that helps you figure out a problem with plot, setting or worldbuilding or characters. The point of the cards is to spark inspiration.
It proved very beneficial that I volunteered for the Horror Writers Association by taking those cemetery photos. I was then able to create a cool oracle deck. I am eager to discover where my creative path takes me next in the future.
Heddy Johannesen
Conjuror of Gothic Horrors and cosmic dread from the ghostly shores of Halifax.
Upcoming Releases:
The Cult of the Spider People – 2nd edition October 5, 2026
The Mourning Tide – October 2026.
EXCERPT:
Arachnall is a deadly and darkly magical world.
Welcome to the world of The Cult of the Spider People.
Piper and Cory find themselves drawn into Arachnall, a terrifying realm inhabited by the Arachnas—strange, deadly spider creatures that are far more horrifying than anything they have ever encountered. What begins as a terrifying journey becomes a fight for survival.
And sometimes, survival means trying not to look up.
Here is an excerpt from The Cult of the Spider People:
“Something struggled in a cocoon above their heads. She wanted to run from the cavern but her limbs were leaden. The creatures beat the cocoon with their large, powerful legs. Piper’s heart lurched. Terrified screams rang out from inside the cocoons. She stepped forward but Cory restrained her. He pointed above them to where a cocoon swayed dangerously. She hoped the creatures would miss them. A pitch-black creature appeared above, suspended from a glossy strand of silk. They exchanged fearful glances, frozen in place. Piper held her breath, sure the creature would hear the hammering of her heart. The monstrous limbs beat the cocoons. Its prisoner howled in terror. The movement rippled through the webbing and the cocoons rocked back and forth. Another cry rang out in the air.”
But the creatures of Arachnall are not the greatest danger.
Arachnall is ruled by Roth, the Spider King—a creature consumed by greed, bloodlust, and a desire to possess Piper as his new queen. He has imprisoned Aranya, the Spider Queen, in her own deadly lair, where she refuses to give Roth what he wants most: her pure blood and venom.
Piper, however, has plans of her own.
No one emerges from Arachnall alive.
If you enjoy dark fantasy, creatures that crawl out of nightmares, and horror that makes you wonder what could possibly be waiting in the darkness, explore Arachnall.
Just remember: once you enter the portal, there may be no way back.
Where to Find The Cult of the Spider People
The Cult of the Spider People is being republished by Dreamweaver Press, an imprint of Twisted Dreams Press, in October 2026. The new edition will be available through Amazon and other booksellers as it is released.
Follow my blog, The Paranormal Quill, for publication news, updates, and more dark and gothic delights. https://theparanormalquill.blog/
Until then, keep your eyes on the shadows—and whatever you do, don’t look up.
Heddy Johannesen is a paranormal enthusiast and long time student of the writing craft. As the Conjuror of Gothic Horror, she writes about ghosts, monsters, witches, and outsiders, exploring the shadows where fear, mystery, and the supernatural collide.
Heddy has been writing seriously since 2006 and has studied the craft through courses, workshops, and mentorships. Her published work includes horror fiction, short stories, poetry, and paranormal nonfiction.
She has always been drawn to the shadows, where the monsters live and their stories hunger to be told. For Heddy, horror is more than a way to frighten readers. It is a way to explore fear, grief, courage, hope, and the mysteries that exist just beyond what we can see.
Halloween Haunts