Twisted Kids
Jumping jack o'lanterns, these kids are literally nightmares.
Chris Wild
1960
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
New Zealand photographer George Silk (1916–2004) captured these eerie images for the Halloween 1960 edition of LIFE Magazine. The models were children of his family and friends.
Credit:
Open the door and see for yourself<br> What might await you on Halloween - LIFE MAGAZINE, HALLOWEEN 1960
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Silk used a specially modified photo-finish camera to create the images. He had relied on the tool earlier in the year to capture athletes at the Olympic trials (below).
American track athletes take a hurdle at the Olympic trials.
Credit: George Silk/Life Magazine/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Silk had created a ''strip" camera — he exposed the camera's film as it rolled past a hole. The camera was portable, unlike other photo-finish cameras, and the rolling film mechanism was powered by the motor from a record player.
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
I was thrilled when the prints showed strength, speed, design — originality. - George Silk
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Only a trickster you say, wrapped up in a shroud<br>Or caught by a camera with a crooked lens - LIFE MAGAZINE, HALLOWEEN 1960
Credit: George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Twisted Kids
Chris Wild
1960