BRISTOL ALTERNATIVE MARKET - FINDING THE ONES WHO BUILD

We didn’t bring a stall. Just showed up to see what was being built — and what wasn’t. The church was full — rows of tables, bits of conversation, a friendly atmosphere over both floors. Some stalls had queues. Some had mates keeping them company. A mix of nervous first-timers and seasoned regulars. Not everything felt authentic — a few were knocking out mass-produced Halloween decs. But some had put real work into what they brought. Made from scratch, backed by their name. They were the people we turned up to find.

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Carved Inks by Jack Fairhead

Jack’s a printmaker working in lino. His stuff’s black-and-white, full of clean contrast and bold imagery. No noise. No trend-chasing. Just carved, printed, framed.

My favourite piece was one called The Oracle [bottom right in the photo above]. Clean lines, held tension and didn’t need to scream.

The ones below give you the feel. Dark without drama. Balanced. Tattoo-adjacent but not riding the trend. Right up Haunt's street.

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Of Frost and Flames Ceramics

Made by Ruby, start to finish. She doesn’t decorate blanks — she throws the clay herself, paints every piece, fires it, finishes it.

The work’s fantasy-based — suns, moons, elven figures. Hand-built. Textured. Slightly imperfect in a good way.

You don’t always see that level of independent ceramics at these markets.

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Amber Starrs’ Oddities

This was Amber’s first stall — and you wouldn’t have known it. The setup had presence. Plush creatures, trippy prints, little oddities everywhere. No blank space on the table.

What stood out most were the painted skulls. They caught our eye instantly. The contrast of death, vibrant colour and floral patterns gave instant day of the dead/sugar skull vibes.

There’s a whole corner of the scene for oddities and curiosities, and Amber’s clearly carving her own version of it — one piece at a time.

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A few people were shifting mass-produced filler.
But some — like Jack, Ruby & Amber — were crafting. Start to finish. The kind of stuff that makes you want to go home and make better things yourself.

Might not have been our scene from top to bottom — but there was enough heart in the room to make it worth the visit.

The best stalls didn’t need to shout. You could feel the work in them.

And we’ll always show up for that.

Got a stall worth shouting about? Get in touch.

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More from the Haunt Locker

• Paint Fest: Help Bristol’s Homeless
• Finding Beauty in the Bones: The Vulture’s Cousin
• Our First Shoot – Behind the Scenes

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