How PoolTown Got Its Monsters: The Origin of DeadRail's Art

A pool ball already has a number, a color, and a job. Giving it a personality was only going to make things worse. That's where PoolTown started.

Fifteen balls. Plenty of character problems.

The idea was to personify all 15 pool balls: turn the rack into a cast instead of another tidy diagram. A ball could become a monster, a pinup, a machine, or the sort of local character you would rather keep on your side of the table.

11 Ball Devil Pinup 2026 and Five Is Alive 2026 take that idea in very different directions. Same game. Different residents.

The Ghost Ball was already there

Pool players know the ghost ball as an aiming concept. Imagine a cue ball at the contact position behind the object ball; its center gives you an aiming reference. An invisible ball doing unpaid work for the real one.

DeadRail gave the Ghost Ball a face. Once an imaginary ball becomes a character, it needs somewhere to haunt. PoolTown was available.

Drawn between racks

The art began as sketches at pool tournaments. Waiting around is part of tournament pool. So is carrying the last rack around in your head. Drawing gave that time somewhere to go.

The characters grew out of the game and the rooms around it, with the rough humor and creature energy of lowbrow and skate art. Melting 8 Ball 2026 wears that attitude on its face. Beware of Monsters gives the neighborhood its warning sign.

Shirts are the current canvas

DeadRail is alternative art. Pool is the current language. Shirts are the current canvas. The point is to give the oddballs somewhere to live, then let them out of the sketchbook.

PoolTown doesn't need another perfectly behaved resident. It has a waiting list for those.

Meet the residents in the DeadRail catalog. Use code JOINCULT for 10% off your first order. One use per customer. Welcome to the neighborhood.