A 'deep' dark deck?..

Zephyros

I don't know if the Baphomet is creepy simply for the sake of it, that's just Giger's style. He's the artist that designed the aliens in the Alien franchise. The problem I do have with it is that its images aren't, as far as I know, Tarot specific, but collated from his many works. In any case, I think it gorgeous, but out of my price range.

A dark deck I do have is the Azathoth, an RWS clone completely redrawn inspired by the works of Lovecraft. Although I haven't read any Lovecraft, the deck itself is very beautiful. It is disturbing at times, and humorous at others.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/book-of-azathoth/
 

dancing_moon

It's gorgeous. Thanks for mentioning it!
 

Dark Victory '39

abyssal

The abyssal tarot is surreal underwater photography by Shelly corbett. Ok, yeah, it's pricy. It was my first deck, and I wasn't really looking for tarot, didn't know anything about it really, I just fell in love w/ this woman's work. However, once in my hands i was determined to learn. Wallah, a passion was born. The deck is quite erotic and has a lot of nudity; however, i believe it's still for sale and you can see all the cards on her sight before you buy. Just google 'abyssal' plus her name; also i remember diane wilkes gave a nice review of it on tarot passages.

Hope this helps,

Emily
 

rota

How about the Ironwing Tarot?
 

nisaba

There's nothing shallow about this one, and it is as dark as all get-out, even though it is not on the list of approved dark decks for the dark deck exchange circle.
 

Le Fanu

oh wow AJ. I had no idea about that Daemon Tarot. It looks fantastic. Right up my street.

I have what I think of as "neutrally dark" decks, as in decks that are dark in an unforced way. There are very few of them.

I honestly think that the spookiest, unaffectedly dark tarot deck is the Etteilla Grand Jeu de l'Oracle des Dames, published by LoS as the Book of Thoth Tarot. It is the basis for Deck of the Bastard (which I also love) but, whilst dark, the DOB has that mixture of RWS which makes the deck that bit more accessible. Hence the success. But the original feels like it is full of mystery and riddles and depth.

For me, this is the definitive sombre, sinister deck without having to go for fangs and dripping blood and the like.And if you want depth, Etteilla's system will keep you busy. Why oh why did the RWS drop the presence of a card called Chaos? Isn't that just the most wonderful card to have in a deck?
 

nisaba

I have what I think of as "neutrally dark" decks, as in decks that are dark in an unforced way.

How is your relationship with Wormwierd these days?
 

Penthasilia

I find the Maroon tarot hauntingly beautiful! I would consider this a "dark" deck with depth.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/maroon/

I agree with most here- the themed "dark" decks with vampires and such tend not to work well for me. The Bohemian Gothic, the original "dark" deck, just strikes me as campy, not necessarily dark, and I just couldn't get into it. In reality, my much loved Tarot of Prague seems more dark to me than the BoGo.

The only other I look forward to that seems to have darkness and depth would be the Dark Goddess tarot coming out this month.

http://www.darkgoddesstarot.com/dark-goddess.htm