Like so many artists today, Pullin was raised
on a hearty diet of movies and television.
However, unlike other kids watching Saturday
morning cartoons, Pullin absorbed as much
horror as he could.
It all began with The Hilarious House of
Frightenstein, a Canadian sketch comedy
show from the 70s starring Billy Van and
the king of low-budget horror films–Vincent
Price. Sure it was made for kids, but with
characters like Dracula, The Wolfman, and
Grizelda the Ghastly Gourmet, things often
got more than weird.
“That was my gateway drug to horror,”
admitted Pullin. “It was so psychedelic and
weird that I was mesmerized by it. It wasn’t
scary at all, but it was spooky and very funny.
It introduced me to Vincent Price and all of the
monsters all at once.”
Growing up, Pullin was always drawing,
gravitating towards monsters and villains,
while feeding off the horror novels of Stephen
King. Naturally, he went to art school in
London, Ontario, and then studied graphic
design and advertising in Kitchener, Ontario.
In 1998, Pullin moved to Toronto and
worked in a commercial design firm, where he
developed labels and packaging for big name
brands and worked with some of the best art
directors in the commercial design industry.
However, his love for horror was never
far from sight. That same year, Montreal's
legendar y Fantasia International Film
Festival had come to the Bloor Cinema
(now The Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema).
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