ADVERTISEMENT

Fran Krause is a comic writer, illustrator, animator, and educator based in California, who teaches animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Fran needs no introduction to those familiar with the weird and wonderful world of animation, as he worked for various projects on television and a bunch of popular comic series, like James Kochalka’s s**********s.

But today Fran is best known for his “Deep Dark Fears” project where he puts a creepy, captivating, and insanely funny spin on things people fear the most. Fran gets sent fear submissions from strangers on the internet that he then turns into colorful comics, putting our irrational anxieties into a whole new spotlight.

In 2015, his first book “Deep Dark Fears” became a New York Times bestseller for hardcover graphic novels, followed by a second volume “The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection” in 2017. So welcome to the internet’s beloved corner of idiosyncratic fears that capture imagination and release the silent demons inside, some of whom are funnier than we tend to think.

More info: DeepDarkFears.com | Twitter | Instagram | FranKrause.tumblr.com

Discover more in This Artist Illustrates People's Deep Dark Fears And Some Of Them Are Unsettling (30 Pics)

Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.

#1

Illustration depicting deep dark fears with unsettling scenes of a broken light and a mysterious painting turning out to be a window.

deepdarkfears Report

RELATED:
    #2

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears about religion and childhood, emphasizing unsettling personal anxieties through expressive art.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #3

    Illustration depicting a deep dark fear of subway safety with a person avoiding falling onto the tracks.

    deepdarkfears Report

    To find out more about the weird and wonderful world of “Deep Dark Fears,” Bored Panda reached out to the artist behind it, Fran Krause. Fran’s captivating illustrations became an instant hit both online, and in the illustration industry. His first book, “Deep Dark Fears,” premiered as a New York Times bestseller six years ago and his fan base has been constantly growing ever since.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #4

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears about a terminally ill parent and the fear of losing them soon.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #6

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears with a person worried about being an extra in other people's dreams after death.

    deepdarkfears Report

    Part of its popularity probably has to do with the fact that “Deep Dark Fears” genuinely touches people in a way that not much art does these days. Fran said that while working on his comics, he noticed that everyone seems to have fears, which is what makes his work so relatable. “Even people who look totally normal are actually afraid that there are goblins in their attic, or that their food has been secretly poisoned by assassins!”

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #7

    Illustration showing a deep dark fear of something under the bed holding a person's hand during sleep.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #8

    Watercolor illustration depicting deep dark fears of life being an illusion, a dream, and waking as an imaginative dog.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #9

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears about a ghost haunting a childhood home after a parent's death.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Fran also said that “it would be very strange to be alone in your fear. If you've had a strange fear, it's almost impossible to be alone in that fear.” So he guessed that “there are probably millions of people who are afraid that a snake has found its way into their toilet.”

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #10

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears as a person reads in bed, highlighting fear of aging and time passing.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #11

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears of waking up and slowly opening eyes to hidden threats in a room.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #12

    Illustration capturing deep dark fears of intense migraines, showing a person wishing to remove and cradle their head to ease pain.

    deepdarkfears Report

    When asked how “Deep Dark Fears” evolved with time, Fran said that he still draws them the same way, “in my sketchbook with a little watercolor kit. I've tried not to repeat myself, so the subject matter wanders around as I look for new subjects.”

    He also noticed that the earlier illustrations “were gory, and then they were spooky,” and added: “I've been doing a bunch lately on childhood fears.”

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #13

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears with a hallway lamp on, watching for killers, spiders, and eerie figures at the door.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #14

    Watercolor comic illustrating deep dark fears of a museum worker cleaning and worrying about prints inside glass displays.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #15

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears of hearing voices and worrying life is a dream while in a coma.

    deepdarkfears Report

    People send their fear submissions to Fran and he receives quite a lot of them, anywhere from one hundred to five hundred, and if it gets onto a big website, he might get a thousand. In that sense, the artist goes through every single book on human fears on a weekly basis.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “I think, if I'm reading someone's fear, and an image pops into my head, I'm more likely to draw it as a comic. I'm looking for things that have a text and a drawn component,” he said. “I like how the text can support the image, or it can do something totally different. I like playing with how they both interact,” Fran concluded.

    #16

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears of accidents, coma, blindness, and medical uncertainty in a four-panel comic style.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #17

    Illustration showing deep dark fears with a person walking alone at night on empty streets feeling peaceful.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #18

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears about eyelashes in the eye and the unsettling feeling of blinking.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #19

    Illustration showing deep dark fears about escalators and a mall cop trapped inside forever.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #20

    Watercolor illustration depicting deep dark fears about friendship, support, and hidden truths during childhood.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #21

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears where a person fears being dead after someone doesn't respond to their hello.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #22

    Illustration depicting people's deep dark fears about death, hallucinations, and dying alone in unsettling comic panels.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #23

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears of slipping on icy Brooklyn streets and getting hurt on an iron fence.

    deepdarkfears Report

    #24

    Illustration of a recurring nightmare showing deep dark fears with teeth crumbling in unsettling artwork.

    deepdarkfears Report

    Dave Nalesnik
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Best Nightmare Hack - Dreamers HATE This One!

    #25

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears with a ghostly creature hiding in a dense, shadowy forest.

    deepdarkfears Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #26

    Illustration showing a person’s deep dark fear of forgetting how to drive while behind the wheel.

    deepdarkfears Report

    Dave Nalesnik
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandpa did, not screaming and praying like the passengers in his car.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #27

    Illustration depicting deep dark fears about biting through fingers and carrots, with unsettling imagery of feeding horses.

    deepdarkfears Report