The serpents are emblazoned with death, destruction, murder, mischief, madness, brutality, robbery, and blasphemy. From The Working Man's Friend and Family Instructor (1833).  The caption reads: "Will you take a glass?"

An illustration from The Man Who Was Dead by Arthur Williams Marchmont (1907).  The caption reads: "It was as though I were gazing on myself, dead!"

John Leech sketched this for a tale about a clown who had to crack jokes in a circus while his wife was in her dying agonies after fatally missing her footing on a leap from a standing position on horseback; the rip in the hoop is meant to suggest the initial letter I of the story.  From Cornhill magazine, 1864.

An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from an 1853 issue of Punch magazine.

An illustration from a 1911 issue of Life magazine.

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Life magazine.

"I looked in":  an illustration from a 1905 issue of The Windsor magazine.

An illustration from a 1904 issue of The Windsor magazine.  The caption reads: "Always that white baby hand called upwards through the earth."

We stumbled upon this bookplate in an old* magazine volume from the Harvard College Library.  Any writer who has been under a deadline might relate to the symbolism.
*1855

An illustration from a 1919 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "'Very well—go!'  The cadaverous personage stood erect and pointed to the door.  'Go—but the demon will tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Come with me.'"

An illustration from a 1907 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "The two of them looked at each other with much interest."

An illustration from an 1872 issue of Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours magazine.

An illustration from an 1879 issue of Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours magazine.

Back in 18th century London, an ad in the Old Bailey periodical promised a spectacular show for "lovers of curiosities" by the "Moving Skeleton."  "According to the elaborate illustrated notice, the skeleton turned an hourglass, jabbed a dart and groaned '3 times most surprisingly' to alarm the viewers, concluding its performance by smoking a pipe.  An advisory notice was included: the show was too frightening to be seen by 'Persons with Child, Children, or others, whose Courage cannot be depended on.'" —Matthew Seccombe, Harvard Law De Jure newsletter.