I first discovered Fiendies through Midsummer Scream. Nicole and Kyle, the creative duo behind Fiendies are responsible for the summer Halloween convention’s iconic artwork and black cat, bat, jack o’lantern and ghost characters I have come to love so much. (Seriously, I made the black cat my lock screen on my phone and I grabbed a pattern with all the characters from the Midsummer Scream website to be my phone’s wallpaper.) The two are also responsible for some of the most incredible looking occult goods and spirit boards I have seen in recent years. Beyond the Halloween convention circuit their products have been carried locally at shops like The Mystic Museum and as far east as October PVD in Providence, Rhode Island, but sadly, earlier this week, Nicole took to Instagram to announce
Citing an obsessive commitment to their business, the health hazards of working daily with the spirit board materials, and the ongoing struggle of keeping their creative properties their own, the two made the decision to end the project they had dedicated the last four years
“What started as an art school project has grown into something we couldn’t image,” Nicole wrote at the beginning of the five-page “Goodbye” announcement that then thanked fans and customers for their continued support over the years.
“We are both obsessive people and we let running a business consume us to the point that we were no longer taking care of ourselves.” Nicole later shared that despite proper safety precautions, the continued exposure to the materials used when making their popular spirit boards caused Kyle to have a health scare.
“As the business grew we just worked harder – we were not prepared to turn into a full blow spirit board manufacturer which is ultimately what happened.”
In the end, it all became simply too much for the couple to maintain, which is why the two are calling it quits. But on a positive note, this is not the last creative venture we will see from the two. The Instagram farewell ended on a high note with Nicole adding, “Creating & entrepreneurship are still our main passions – so when we are ready we will post on here again once our new projects have started to take form and we hope that some of you will continue to join us on our next adventures!”
I was fortunate enough to pick up a few Fiendies pieces at various events over the years, but if you never had the chance or were simply unaware they even existed there is a bit of a silver lining to all of this.
To see some of the amazing work
