Those six ghostly swirling spikes were once a pair of shoes, until they met Photoshop™'s Liquify function.
They languished on my hard drive for a few months, waiting for some inspiration on my part to make them a part of something. I thought the "horror" aspect of them was pretty much a no-brainer, but what specific direction/feel to take was eluding me... My apologies to any true Lovecraft fanatics.