Sky Horror Book Cover Design (Evoking horror, sad, and scary)

Visuals: A haunting, dilapidated mansion set against a dark foggy forest backdrop dominates the cover. The mansion's windows are faintly glowing with a sickly yellow light, suggesting unknown horrors within. The sky above the forest is jagged and stormy, with silhouettes of leafless branches clawing toward it. At the center bottom, a half-buried broken doll lies amidst muddy soil, its cracked porcelain face twisted in anguish and partially obscured by shadows.

Typography: The title "Awakening" is in a distressed serif font with a cracked and worn texture, evoking decay and unease. The font is large, centered, and glowing faintly in white to contrast the dark background. The author's name, "Jef Carao," is in a clean sans-serif font, smaller in size, placed at the bottom in a muted white color.

Layout: The horrifying elements—mansion, forest, and doll—are centralized and layered to guide the eye. The title rests near the top third of the composition, but slightly off-center to look unsettled. The yellow glow from the windows faintly illuminates parts of the text. The author’s name appears in the lower right corner, ensuring it doesn’t detract from the eerie imagery.

Explanation: The visual composition was chosen to evoke fear and sadness, blending typical horror motifs (a mansion and creepy forest) with subtle sorrow through the broken doll element. This combination visually represents the book's emotional trajectory and genre. The typography design adds depth to the sad and scary theme, particularly with the deteriorating texture of the title font that mirrors the broken settings and shattered characters of the story. Semi-gloss paper stock was selected to add dimension and texture, emphasizing both horror and emotional weight, while maintaining a professional finish. Together, these elements ensure the cover is memorable, visually striking, and genre-appropriate.