The best typeface for Halloween
There is no single typeface best for Halloween, as people have different tastes, typefaces are not necessarily perceived or processed the same way by everyone else, and Halloween is not associated with any particular typeface.
But we can have a look at some typefaces that are perfectly suitable for Halloween.
A typeface that plays tricks
What all Halloween typefaces have in common is that they evoke associations of scariness, creepiness, ghoulishness, or something phantom.
Speaking of which, PhantomFoundry has a pretty amazing typeface, which is quite a treat. It’s called Trickster, by Jean-Baptiste Morizot. It’s free, it’s Halloween-ish, and it features some letterforms you will almost certainly never have seen before!
We will have a look at a few letters up close in a moment. But first, behold Trickster in its default form:
If you feel that is not sinister enough, you can activate alternate letters with dripping effects:
In the image below, you can see the basic Trickster character set in the first row, alternate characters in the second row (k, s), and characters with dripping effects in the third row (r, c, k, e).
Trickster is a “blend of Merovingian writing, blackletter influences and contemporary shapes” as Jean-Baptiste puts it. A lot of the letterforms are truly refreshing. It’s even in small details, such as how the bottom curve of ‘s’ thickens as it loops back on its spine, or the line extending from the tittle in ‘i‘.
But what truly impresses me more than anything in this typeface is that awesome alternate double ‘s’ character! And it, also, comes with a dripping effect.
But that is far from all. Below, you can see the standard ‘f’ (which already looks pretty non-standard and refreshing), a more ethereal looking ‘f’, and an ‘f’ that looks properly spectral, like a Jinn coming out of a bottle.
If you love typography, there is a lot to explore in Trickster, and lots of treats to be found.
If you want to see more from Trickster, I recommend reading this article detailing the design process: Trickster, a postmortem
Perfect Halloween typeface?
Yet I don’t think Trickster is the perfect Halloween typeface necessarily. Oh it works wonderfully if you want to go for a sort of sinister style with some playfulness, which is arguably exactly in the spirit of Halloween.
However, there are three aspects that make it less suitable in my mind:
- Deviating style: It’s a blackletter typeface, which isn’t traditionally seen at Halloween. Indeed you might see a blackletter typeface here and there, but even though Trickster is playful for a blackletter typeface, it lacks a sort of whimsical style that we tend to see more of at Halloween.
- Questionable readability: Part of what makes typefaces easy to read is your familiarity with them. The lack of exposure to blackletter typefaces means that they are no longer optimal for us to read. Trickster is relatively comfortable to read for a blackletter typeface, but we can do better. Think of the children!
- Lacks friendliness: Speaking of which, I would argue Trickster looks a bit too dark and serious. Indeed Halloween is all about those little frights, but the perfect Halloween typeface is probably easier to stomach for children.
Within the context of Halloween for adults, however, Trickster has a lot to offer!
Spooky typeface
Which brings me to a typeface I think has it all. You have actually seen it already, at the top of this post, introduced by ghosts. (Boo!)
Remember I said something about ghoulishness? Here is a typeface called Macabre, by Dave Coleman.
As you can see, Macabre is very playful, as well as being in the spirit of Halloween. In fact, it’s seemingly trembling in fear. Despite the fright, the letterforms are playful in a way I think children could appreciate, more so than they could appreciate Trickster (despite its appropriate name).
Unfortunately, Macabre is not a finished typeface but a work in progress that is no longer actively worked on. However, it does feature a basic set of characters (including a T_h ligature!) which is enough for all your basic Halloween needs, like typing a ransom letter to demand a truckload of candy.
And because the typeface is not yet finished, you can get it for only $12 at Future Fonts.* If the typeface will get purchased enough, Dave may just decide to finish the typeface. I would love to see more weights!
* Future Fonts is a type foundry that sells typefaces in progress, so you can support type designers early on by purchasing the typeface in its early stage, and get all future updates for free.
