The Satanic Flea Market

I first found out about Jason Atomic at Billy Chainsaw’s Subterranean event earlier this year when his underground movie about black acid named ‘Satanic Mojo 1972 AD,’ almost put me under some strange regressive spell. It’s there I learned about his Satanic Mojo comic and alternative-life status with his long term-partner and political activist Manko.

Having seen Jason at various goth-horror events I was enticed by his Satanic Flea market this week. Also known as the Samhain Dark Arts Fayre. I rallied a few friends together and made my way to what felt like a satanic mass. There, the dizzying sounds of Taka and Ays (Die Kur) echoed through Club Kolis, home to the Reptile Club and, according to Film and Theatre Producer Marcus Campbell Sinclair ‘Is definitely the best Goth evening (once a month) in London!’ As the afternoon morass began to unfold, we found ourselves wandering deeper into the dwelling, welcomed by the spectre of macabre arts.

“The whole thing spun off by the Satanic Mojo comics and I started that because my name is Jason Atomic and Satanic Mojo is an anagram of my name,” Jason continues “It’s got too big, we started as a joke, I done an installation about the Satanic Panic and about how heavy metal and Dungeons and Dragons fans were getting told that they were evil. I thought this was really stupid as I was one of these kids, so when I did the Satanic Mojo show for the first time, I did an art installation about Satanic Panic and created a teenage heavy metal fan bedroom. At the end of the show however, my dad said ‘You’re not putting that shit back in my garage,’ and so I thought maybe I could have a flea market. It’s become a cultural hub and is growing the community with tattooists, heavy metal fans, comic geeks, occultists and Satanists. We’ve formed a common ground.’

The first stall I drifted past was Estelle Riviere’s colourful stall. Estelle is known for making strange masks and other voodoo- psych-punk-goth inspired attire.

Just behind her a bored fox sat amongst the taxidermy stand and as I marvelled at the skulls and dentures (from a film props point of view), my friend Jon said ‘I don’t think those are props, they’re actually real.’

I chuckled, actually then realising, oh yes they are! Definitely makes you gaze upon such ornaments in a different perspective.

Actually, I can’t talk, I have my grans old dentures (well she has new ones now) somewhere in the house and thought they’d be useful one day in one of my films, preferably in a fun stop motion animation, or something to that effect.

Close by, a table appeared, illuminated by weird-science lab tentacle-inspired paraphernalia made by Bat Fastard. My favourite was named ‘Fragment of Tentacle’ from un-named ‘Old God.’ When I asked how long it took to create some of the pieces, Bat Fastard replied roughly 12 hours on and off.

Soon I was drawn to a book titled ‘Boys in Bondage’ by illustrator and artist Aiden DG Moore who combines both conceptual digital and graphic artwork. His work is striking because although it appears to be quite minimalist, the simplicity has complex social and satirical themes. It was here I bought a card with an illustration detailing the arch of a woman’s spine, her hair wild and causing a blackened abyss accompanied by snakes slithering amongst her blusterous tresses, as she crept deeper into a void.

Furry Cyclopean monsters made by ‘Hand Made Macabre’ visual artist Andrea Voisey was another curiosity, with needle felted creatures blissfully gazing up at passing customers. When I asked Andrea about the felting process, she explained that it takes many hours to complete the creatures, but each is an original design.

The thought of felting for hours made my hands and fingers ache just thinking about the intricate process involved. Andrea chuckled and then showed me her wrist commenting that she finds it difficult to find loose sleeved-tops to fit around her bulging wrist muscle.

I was happy to see David Flint and Eva Carlo at The Reprobate selling all manner of books and arts works germane to the occult, paranormal and alternative multiverse. There I found the promotional flyer of the up and coming Reprobate Issue ‘Satan Superstar’ with an image of my friend and Make-Up Artist Sammm Agnew from a shoot we devised together with photographer Ilya Falchevsky aka Skin Pistol. I’m very excited about these images since we worked together at the last minute to create some very dark and provocative visions.

The company at the fayre is friendly, it’s actually quite the opposite to what you’d expect from the advertised title of the fayre, I wanted to know more about Jason’s ethics, where were the hard-core skinhead Satanists?! Jason shared his thoughts on this controversy

‘The proper sickos that go around killing cats and fucking babies are Catholics. The Lord’s Prayer backwards, that’s Catholics and not real Satanists and is an invented biocult that was bad enough to start with. If you look at the bible the only thing Satan or Lucifer did was think for themselves. It’s a rebellion and if you don’t follow the programme, it’s a sin.’

‘This is why we’ve put the name Satanic on everything as it keeps out the idiots and the cool people know that there’s nothing to be scared of. Our events aren’t heavy, we have creative light hearted individuals and although we like the dark imagery, we’re not really dark people,’ Jason explains

When you visit the Samhain Dark Arts Fayre it almost feels like a walk through a gallery, you take your time, have a drink, network with others, see some familiar faces and enjoy theatrical musings and imaginations of some incredibly talented individuals.

The next event is on the 10th December, perhaps I’ll try and get a spot there doing my tarot readings if I’m…lucky!

You can find more information on the next fayre here.

Thanks for such an insightful and enjoyable Sunday Jason Atomic.