I’ve been intrigued by the “Alphabet of Death” ever since I first discovered it in a history of Typography book. The typeface was composed by Hans Holbein the Younger between 1523 and 1525 and is the companion to his “The Dance of Death” created in the same period. Holbein was working out some issues obviously, amongst them plague — with which we can ALL identify, and the Reformation, which was taking root all around him. The artist was working in Basle at this time. Holbein's sympathies towards the Reformations' aims and ideas are evident in the illustrations.

The spooky initial caps are lessons on the brevity of life and the weakness of the flesh.

I think they are a perfect typographic meditation for Halloween, the spookiest of days!

The “BOO” letters:

B Two death-figures, a dog, and the pope.

O Death leading a terrified monk.

Q (modified to be a second O) Death is disguised as a monk with a nun following quietly along — in contrast to the monk.

Read more about this Holbein masterpiece.