La Rinconada de Los Gatos — Vnderworld

"The Corner of the Cats". A reference to the Mexican land grant in 1840 that makes up present day Santa Clara County California. I grew up in the hills of Los Gatos, California. The valley side opposite the mountain of Santa Cruz. Prior to the major tech boom in Silicon Valley, much of the area was a time warp of Victorian houses and the sound of mountain lions and bobcats crying in the night. I lived on the San Andreas fault line in those hills, and the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 destroyed a lot of those Victorian homes. This piece is a nostalgic tribute to that sleepy town during the 1990s, that came to life on Halloween and my very first Halloween memory in that town. We lived near a large abandoned Victorian mansion. Painted a deep dark purple, faded to a dull black. I called it the Witch House as a young boy. That Halloween would be my first and subsequent last Halloween for a few years. The surrounding homes were decorated to the nines. Hidden jump-scare scarecrows, coffins with vampires crawling with massive boa constrictor snakes. An old Cadillac Deville ratrod driven by a Mummy cruisin down the street with its mummy wrap blowing in the wind. Cackling witches and talking Jack-O-Lanterns. This piece is a snapshot of my inner-child's photographic memory. A time warp to a place that no longer exists, and the hidden horrors that lurk in the cat's corner.

AFTER DARK