Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Lawrence.
Hi Bryan, how did you start your company, Creepy Candles?
Ever since I can remember, I have always loved movies. After watching Indiana Jones for the millionth time and seeing that scene where the nazis faces melt, I thought of an idea of having a candle that bleeds as it melts. I never made a candle before but I wanted to see if it was possible so I learned on my own and created our first candle, the bleeding hand. Each finger has a wick and when you melt it, blood comes oozing out. After making my very first-hand candle, it sold the very next day. From then on, I was selling so many candles that I started my own company, Creepy Candles, and made an Etsy account. We began creating more varieties of products like our human spine candle and the coffin skeleton candle which is a coffin shaped candle that reveals a metal skeleton inside as the wax melts. That is when I started selling wholesale to retailers such as Halloween Town, The Museum Of Death, Inked Magazine, and Strange & Unusual. After that, Sony contacted me to make a zombie candle that bleeds and smells similar to Twinkie’s for the Zombieland 2 promo packages. It’s been a lot of fun so far and because of all the Halloween/horror fans, I get to stay busy all year long!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’d say the biggest struggle was in the beginning when I was learning how to make the bleeding hand candle. To make a mold of a hand is pretty complicated for a brand new beginner mold maker that didn’t know the first thing about making molds. Also perfecting the candle-making process for it wasn’t easy and it took me about three years to be completely happy with it. Other than that, the challenge has been juggling a full-time job and staying on top of orders especially during the Halloween season.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Creepy Candles is a Halloween/horror candle company that specializes in making some of the most unique candles in stores and on the web. We are known for our candles such as a realistic hand candle that bleeds, a black coffin candle that reveals a metal skeleton as it melts, a zombie head candle that bleeds, and our human spine candles. What sets us apart from other candles is the surprise aspect of “what’s going to happen when I melt this?” type of situation. Most of our candles are interactive which definitely makes us stand out. What I’m especially most proud of is being a part of the Halloween community. The horror lovers that I meet are all so friendly and the retail community is so close, it’s almost like a family. Everyone supports each other and I’m really proud to be a part of that. If you are looking to purchase Creepy Candles, please visit CreepyCandles.Etsy.com or email us at [email protected] for any inquiries/wholesale information.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I would love to have Creepy Candles branch out to major retailers such as Hot Topic, Spencer’s Gifts, Urban Outfitters, BoxLunch, and Spirit Halloween. As far as the most current plans, I am looking to expand & get my candles to every oddities, gothic, horror, Halloween, bizarre store I can find. It would be a dream come true to make Creepy Candles my full-time job and get to the point where I can just solely focus on my company.
Contact Info:
- Website: CreepyCandles.Etsy.com
