It’s been another busy few weeks behind the scenes at Dreaded Designs, so I thought it was time for another little update.

The huge blog overhaul is still going strong, and I’m finally starting to see the finish line. When I started this project, there were around 90 posts that needed updating. Now I’m down to around 22, which honestly feels pretty surreal.

It’s taken a lot longer than I expected. Rewriting tutorials, creating new images, improving SEO, converting everything to WebP, and generally polishing the site has been a massive job, but it’s starting to pay off.

I’m already seeing improvements in the website’s speed, and it’s been really encouraging to notice more new visitors finding the blog. Every updated post feels like another step towards building the horror art website I’ve always wanted.

More than anything, though, this project has taught me patience. There have definitely been moments where the amount of work felt overwhelming, but I’ve realised something along the way…

I’m simply not prepared to give up on this blog.

No matter how long it takes or how many challenges appear along the way, I’ll keep moving forward one post at a time.

While I’ve been spending countless hours improving the blog, something else has quietly become a huge source of inspiration… and it definitely wasn’t something I expected.

I Ordered 10… and Somehow Ended Up With 37

A few weeks ago, I decided to buy some Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

The plan seemed simple enough.
I ordered 10.
Instead… I somehow ended up with 37!

As it turned out, 25 of them were babies, which definitely wasn’t something I’d planned for. My little group of hissers suddenly became a proper colony overnight.

The original enclosure I prepared before I realised just how many roaches were actually arriving.

Watching them settle in has been fascinating. They’re far more entertaining than I ever expected, and I’ve spent hours simply watching them climb around, explore, and interact with each other.

Of course, having nearly four times as many roaches as expected also created a bit of a problem.

The original vivarium worked well at first, but once all 37 roaches moved in – especially the adult males – things became a little chaotic. There was a lot of hissing, plenty of territorial behaviour, and the males seemed to spend half their time arguing over the best hiding spots. Most of the colony stayed hidden away, so I hardly ever saw many of them.

So I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade them into a much bigger vivarium.

Honestly, the difference was almost immediate.

They’re much more active now, spend far more time out exploring, and the constant squabbling has settled down considerably. There’s still the occasional disagreement – Bruno wouldn’t be Bruno otherwise – but overall, the whole colony seems much happier.

I also introduced yellow zebra woodlice, dwarf white woodlice, and springtails as the clean-up crew, and they’ve settled in brilliantly too.

They’re Full of Personality

One thing I never expected was just how different their personalities would be.
The more time I spend watching them, the easier it becomes to tell them apart.

Bruno is still convinced he owns the place.

Snoop just wanders around without a care in the world.
The two giant females somehow manage to disappear every time I want to show someone how enormous they are.

And the babies… well, there always seems to be another tiny one appearing from somewhere.

It’s been surprisingly relaxing just sitting and watching them. I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy keeping them anywhere near as much as I do.

Unexpected Inspiration

The biggest surprise of all is how much they’ve started inspiring my artwork.

The more I watch them, the more ideas I get for future horror creatures, insect anatomy studies, textures, and, of course, future insect drawing tutorials.

Watching them up close has made me appreciate just how incredible insects really are. Their armour-like bodies, tiny details, strange behaviours, and even the way they move are fascinating to study, and I can already tell they’re going to become a huge source of inspiration for future projects.

Strangely, these little critters have become part of the journey too.

While I’m finishing the last 22 posts of the blog overhaul, they’re already inspiring ideas for everything that comes afterwards.

That makes reaching the finish line feel even more exciting.

There are still a few tutorials left to update, but for the first time in a long while, I can finally see what’s waiting on the other side… and I can’t wait to start creating brand new horror art tutorials again.