This week, Deke continues his Halloween tradition by bringing you yet another creepy October-appropriate (and free) Deke’s Technique: ghastly, dripping, oozing letters, suitable for your Halloween headlines.

We begin with this unsuspecting text in Photoshop, minding its own business (except for the foreshadowed message of its actual content) and eventually turn it into festering, glowing, slimy, possibly radioactive…(how many more words for ooze can I think of before I mention snot?)

Here’s the starting point. Your standard un-scary word written in Photoshop with your ordinary Impact font:

After converting the text to shapes, Deke stretches the letters out for maximum horrific impact and mild unreadability. The easiest way to give the letters their frightful jaggedness is to make a quick trip to Illustrator where the Roughen effect makes quick work of the edges.

After adding some eerie layer styles and a creepy background, Deke uses the new improved Liquify filter in Photoshop CC to create the drips and oozing that are required for classic Halloween text. Note that despite the lovely flexibility of the current Liquefy filter, this is a long, manual process.

Members of lynda.com get a horror double-feature this week, with an exclusive movie in which Deke takes the type above and adds yet more ooze to create this effect:

Of course, if you’re not a member and would like to check it out, you can get a free week’s trial by going to lynda.com/deke. Tricks and treats from Deke’s Techniques this week! May all your horrors be the Photoshop kind, my slimy dekeInstines!