Ghosts and Spirits

The archive reviewer followed Lisa Hunt's Ghosts and Spirits from day one and calls it another slam dunk, listing the catalog behind that confidence: Fairy Tale, Fantastical Creatures, Animals Divine, Shapeshifter, Celtic Dragon. Hunt is among the most consistent deck artists working, and this seventy-nine card excursion into the paranormal, spirits, hauntings, the ethereal borderlands, gives her flowing, metamorphic style its most natural subject yet; her figures always did seem half-materialized. Ghost decks risk either horror or kitsch, and Hunt's register avoids both: her spirits are presences rather than jump-scares, rendered with the sympathy of someone who finds the otherworld interesting rather than frightening. The extra card past seventy-eight is characteristic Hunt generosity. It suits Hunt's considerable following, paranormal-inclined readers who want atmosphere without gore, October rotations alongside the All Hallow's, and collectors of her run. Skeptics of the subject can still admire the technique, which is its own kind of haunting.