It's been quite some time since I've really gotten into Ween, which breaks my heart because at one time, and in some perpetually occluded way, they are and were one of my favorite bands ever. 

It started with Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween)'s Freeman album and hearing his side of the rift that had torn the band apart a few years prior. I wouldn't say I ever took Gene's side over anyone else's, but there was just something so disturbing about hearing the behind-the-scenes shit on this band known for reveling in intoxication that broke something in me. I wouldn't say anyone was at fault but Freeman himself - we all take responsibility for our choices - but it just left me cold. Then, when the band eventually reunited, I don't know, it just felt like the old, 'Ya can't go home again' rang true. 

Yesterday, a message from Mr. Brown about the new three-disc anniversary edition of 12 Gold Country Greats set something in motion, and I started listening to Ween and found I couldn't stop. I feel like I reconnected, but what's more, I realized something important.

Ween takes me to a place - a state of mind that I believe I share with my two best friends in the world - Mr. Brown and Sonny Vee. We all live in different places and can't see one another nearly as much as we would like (I could definitely make more of an effort), and so listening to Ween makes me reflect on missing our friendship in the day-to-day, as something I could experience in the flesh, and that leaves me sad. So, while I may be over whatever bullshit I had due to Ween's breakup (finally), I don't think it's likely I'll be doing more than what I did yesterday - the occasional freefall back into a state of mind that just doesn't gel with the world of 2026. Or, at least for the moment it doesn't.

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NCBD:

Another light week, thankfully...

Glad to have Jeff Lemire's Minor Arcana back. Love this book, and I've been in the mood for Seaside Horror, even if this book is really more Horror adjacent. 

Unless something huge happens - and I mean HUGE - this is probably the last regular issue of MASK I'm picking up. I just don't really care about this end of the EU. I know at some point I'll at least partially regret this decision; these titles are all so tied together, after all, that we've seen Scrap Iron working for Miles Mayhem and Matt Trakker build his vehicles from Cybertronian technology. So logic dictates that 'crossing of the streams' will continue. That said, I did not have any MASK toys as a kid; I never saw the cartoon (that I remember) or read the comics. So I think I can let this one go.

Event Horizon: Inferno is the Event Horizon story I've wanted for thirty years. Destined to be in my top of the year. 

With all the crossover stuff happening around this book, I am very happy that Fraction and Jimenez appear to be keeping that from infecting the regular book. Because I really dig everything happening in this one. Issue 5 is still probably my favorite comic so far this year. So I'm invested. I just don't care about Commissioner Vandal Savage, Mayor Poison Ivy and the whole police angle. It feels too beholden to what Marvel just did in Daredevil: Born Again. I know this always happens with the big two: they share concepts like this. It's fine. I haven't minded what we've gotten of this so far in the book, and actually quite liked the idea of the police hunting the Bat-Family. Now that this plot point is turning into a full-on "Event," I just want it to stay the hell out of the book so it can focus on other things.

Like Minotaur, who my cohost Mike Shin pointed out is almost definitely an AI crime boss. Now that's not something I've seen anywhere else. You?

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Watch:

Monday night, K and I hit the Regal Mystery Movie: Horror Edition and were thrilled with an early screening of Eli Roth's Ice Cream Man.

This movie is f*cking bonkers!

Weapons meets Terrifier is my elevator pitch. Weapons, because there are children running around constantly causing mayhem; Terrifier because their mayhem consists of brutally murdering every adult they encounter in some of the most graphic ways I've seen on a big screen since Terrifier 3. This is not for everyone - I can't tell you how many people walked out of the theatre Monday night - but if you have a sick sense of humor like I guess K and I do, I think this will really make for a fabulous night at the theatre!

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Christmas, Bloody Christmas

Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi

The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop OST

Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats

Ween - Featuring the Shit Creek Boys: Live in Toronto Canada

Ween - Live at Stubbs (Disc 2)

The Black Keys - Magic Potion

Alice in Chains - Sap

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley

Gatta Merta - Black Hall (single)

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Four of Pentacles

• King of Swords

• XVI: The Tower

Soundgarden - Holy Water

The penultimate track on Soundgarden's 1991 masterpiece, Badmotorfinger, "Holy Water" always ushers in a bittersweet feeling for me. I love the track, but it signals the outro of the record, with "New Damage" following to wrap up what has been one of the most satisfying listens in my lifetime.

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Watch:

Penny Lane is Dead has been on my radar via word-of-mouth from my friend and Horror Vision cohost Anthony (That's King Butcher if you're on the IG), and without knowing anything specific, I've been wondering when it will reach us (and if it will receive a theatrical release). Here's the trailer that just dropped:

 

Honestly, I shut this trailer down by the time the Shudder logo popped up. I don't need to see anything beyond those initial, frenzied flashings - I'm in.

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Playlist:

The Caretaker - Theoretically pure anterograde amnesia

Uniform & The Body - Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back Again

Drain - ... Is Your Friend

Judas Priest - Greatest Hits

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer

Ministry - The Last Sucker

Ween - Bring Out the Foos: Live 1996

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

Revocation - New Gods, New Masters

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Three of Swords

• Nine of Wands

• Nine of Swords

Pain and closure. 

Julian Winding - Dolce Mio (Her Private Hell OST)

The final track on the soundtrack for Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell. Most of the score is written and performed by Pino Donaggio, but there are several tracks by Julian Winding, and each one is fantastic. This particular one closes out the album.

Someone release this on vinyl!!!

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Watch:

Nicolas Winding Refn's 28-minute Giallo-infused short film A Touch of Crude, funded by Prada, is more than just a showcase for their fashion line. 

 I only just learned of this via the most recent issue of Fangoria magazine, where Isaac Feldberg’s Monster Invasion column focuses on Her Private Hell. Even after initially reading this a few weeks ago upon receipt, it wasn't until digging back into the issue yesterday morning as I prepped the next episode of The Horror Vision that I realized this might be something I could watch online. Sure enough - see above. 

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Read:

I'm about two hundred and something pages into The Dark Tower Book Five: Wolves of the Calla and, remembering that this is one of the books in the series I've only ever read once, back when it was first published on November 4, 2003, I'm shocked at how perfect this book picks up the transition from Wizard and Glass. 

I mean, it feels like King wrote this in one continuous stream, despite the fact that, between books on June 19, 1999, King was hit and almost killed by a car and went through an arduous recovery. In spite of all that, the story is completely intact, and it feels like no time off occurred between books.

I guess that's Ka for ya.

Reading this one now, it strikes me how deftly King manages to continue the overall story of Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy on the path of the beam and integrate a pretty thrilling classic Western story at the same time. We spend roughly two hundred pages picking up after the events of Wizard and Glass, continuing the "Path" story, introducing Todash - which I adore - and then segue into the "Defend the town from the reavers" trope that so many classic Westerns employ, only here, executed in King's unique vision. I'm curious if by the end of this one it will outrank Wizard as "the best of the series," and if so, if that trend will continue on through the final two books of the series.

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Playlist:

Her Private Hell - Pino Dinoggio

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

Nia Archives - Emotional Junglist

The Caretaker - Theoretically pure anterograde amnesia

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Melvins - Tarantula Heart

Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me

Ministry - The Last Sucker

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• King of Wands

• Five of Swords

• Two of Wands

Inspiration comes from the inner turmoil of stepping outside your comfort zone. Back to the fortune cookie-esque reading, but it's timely.

Holy Fawn - Drag Me Into the Woods

I knew nothing about Holy Fawn before last week when I stumbled across them on Apple Music. Listening to their 2018 album Death Spells, I was pretty blown away. The band's Wikipedia page lists them as Black Gaze, which I won't exactly contest, but there is a lot more than that going on here. This entire record is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to digging into their follow-up, 2022's Dimensional Bleed. 

Fantastic album names that completely fit their sound, too. 

Check out Holy Fawn's Bandcamp HERE.

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NCBD:

Shortest haul in a while. Enjoy, wallet - you've earned this!

Loving this series, thus far. Not sure how long a trip we're in for on Red Roots - the solicitations on League of Comic Book Geeks stop next month with #5. Hope that's just a "seasonal hiatus."

DeMatteis back to do a What If...? Based on the greatest Spider-Man story ever written? And it's a one-shot? Sign me up!

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Watch:

I haven't seen I Sell the Dead since it first hit DVD, back in 2008/2009. Probably watched on a through-the-mail DVD rental from Netflix. So I was super excited when I saw Vinegar Syndrome (or one of their partner labels) had it.

 

My copy arrived yesterday, so by the time you read this, I've already revisited this one. In a weird coincidence, Writer/Director Glen McQuaid had just ended up on my radar again via one of the more recent issues of Fangoria, where they did a piece about his new film, The Restoration of Grayson Manor, which is making the festival rounds now.

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Playlist:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST

Ministry - Animositsomina

Ministry - Amerikkant

Spotlights - Love & Decay

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz

Carlos Rafael Rivera - The Will Kill You OST

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ten of Cups

• VII: The Chariot

• XIX: The Sun

Only thing I'm interested in knowing right now is if I'll end up in the ER again - the stone I thought passed apparently did not, because yesterday was ROUGH. The cards don't really work that way, but I'll take these three as a nod to happiness, determination and success as a nod that I will be able to weather the storm on my own.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats Cover Ozzy!!!

Man, if there was one song in Ozzy's solo discography you had asked me would be perfect for Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats to cover, it would be this one. So cool...

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Watch:

Thursday night, I attempted to see Nicolas Winding Refn's new film, Her Private Hell. A large, discarded wheel in the middle of the left-hand lane on I-24 took care of that; I saw it too late and ended up blowing both driver's side tires, having to pull some pretty scary driving to make it to the safety of a Waffle House parking lot on Dickerson Pike (like less than 10 miles from the fucking theatre, no less) and waiting for Triple A. The entire ordeal took about three hours, and luckily, despite driving on the tires for probably five miles, nothing on the car was damaged except the rubber, which was still under warranty. Telling you - want a good tire? Yokohamas are well worth the $$$.

Anyway, Saturday I did my reattempt and successfully spent two hours of my afternoon staring at one of the most beautiful motion pictures I've seen in some time. 

Easily my favorite film so far this year. Unlike anything else, but hot damn does this one drive home just what an acolyte of David Lynch NWR is. Too Old To Die Young clearly followed Lynch's template with Twin Peaks: The Return, namely making an almost twenty-hour film and then breaking it up into "episodes" to meet distribution demands. And Her Private Hell definitely has Mulholland Drive/Inland Empire DNA, but it takes it to that beautifully specific NWR space - neon-drenched darkness and impossibly lush sets with perfect symmetry. This film even injects a Science Fiction angle that, delivered in NWR fashion, reminded me of Blade Runner 2049 on two tabs of Ecstasy.

Also, I've never been a huge fan of Pino Donaggio's scores. I dig what he did for Don't Look Now, Tourist Trap and The Howling, but a lot of his other work - especially on those early De Palma films - just don't work for me. He scored this, though, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Sounds like 1940's Hollywood.

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Read:

One final book before I jump back into my re-read of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Bryan Smith's The Unseen is fantastic!

Here's the solicitation blurb from Goodreads: 

"For Allison Cook, the weekend trip to a horror convention in Virginia is a fun break from work and humdrum reality. Then she meets a guy who shows her a movie that shouldn’t exist, one that upends everything she thinks she knows about reality itself. The movie on the old VHS tape is an unseen and unknown installment of a legendary slasher franchise she’s loved since the dark days of her unhappy adolescence. As soon as she sees it, she knows the movie is the real deal, not a fake or a fan film. She can only come to one impossible conclusion--the movie is from some other alternate reality. It is not of this world. And she knows one other thing. She must have it. At all costs. And by any means necessary. But unknown to Allison, possession of the tape comes at a higher price than she ever could have imagined."

I read this one in a night. I started it at 11:00 PM, read for a while, fell asleep, then woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it and just tore back into it until I finished. Can't say that about many books; only others that come to mind are older Palahniuk, circa Lullaby, Choke and Diary.

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Carlos Rafael Rivera - The Will Kill You OST

Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Ministry - Burned Out (single)

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Fen - Epoch

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Cliff Martinez - Only God Forgives OST

Pino Donaggio - Her Private Hell OST

Ministry - The Last Sucker

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ace of Swords

• 03: The Empress

• Two of Wands

Nurture that insight and maybe run it by a third party of their opinion. 

RIP Jennier Finch

 

RIP. I don't give these ladies nearly the spin time they deserve. I'll never forget the first time I heard "Shit List"-a friend's car one afternoon, senior year. Everything about it blew me away. Everything about these ladies always blew me away, from their good nature at being referred to as "the wives of Metallica" back in the 90s while on tour, to their heavy fucking riffs and take-no-shit attitude. 

Finch's bass really made L7's sound. That low end, and how she positioned it so perfectly between Donita Sparks' and Suzi Gardner's guitars and Demetra Plakas' drums, just made them stand out. You can make sonic comparisons to Mudhoney and Melvins, but that's more era than anything else. 

I went back to their second record for this post because Jennifer takes lead vox, it kicks, and I love the good-natured (?) shade she throws at some of their, uh, contemporaries. Hahaha.

 

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Watch:

Ti West's next film is a version of A Christmas Carol? Really? Well, I'm there. And look - Johnny Depp!

I'd love Depp to make a comeback, and can think of no better Director for him to do it with than West. I'll definitely have my arse in a seat for Ebenezer come November 11th. This will also fit in nicely with the newfound proclivity I've exhibited the last few years for British Ghost Stories around Yule.

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Read:

After finishing Wizard and Glass last weekend, I took a short detour from the Dark Tower books to read some Giallo! First up, P.J. Thorndyke's Five Kisses From A Blasphemous Nun - best. Title. EVER!!!

This novel NAILS Giallo! A fantastic mystery that revolves around a series of grisly murders, a possibly reincarnated or possession-happy nun accused of heresy, and the Italian Fotoromanzi business. I really dug this one for its attention to detail, which in turn made it a breezy read (2 days) and completely immersive. 

Next, after reading David Sodergren's Death Spell last year, I'd been wanting to pick up another of his books, and Dead Girl Blues fit perfectly with the theme, although the author admits that while the novel began as a Giallo, it morphed as he wrote. Sodergren ends up coining the term Slasher Noir for it, and I think that's perfect. 

This one is mesmerizing in its violence and depravity. Again, two days to blow through it (both work days). Not for the squeamish, but worth the work. I'm shifting back to the Dark Tower books soon, but there's definitely more Sodergren in my future!

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Playlist:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Night Creeper

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight (pre-release singles)

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

Crystal Spiders - Metanoia

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Obsession - Methods of Madness

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

L7 - Smell the Magic

L7 - Bricks Are Heavy

L7 - Scatter the Rats

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Pat Benatar - Little Too Late (single)

Journey - I'll Be Alright Without You (single)

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Knight of Wands

• Nine of Cups

• Queen of Wands

Ambition, wishful thinking and creativity. Hmm...

Ozzy Osbourne!

One year ago today.

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NCBD:

My comics pull for Wednesday,, 7/22/26:

Despite not caring for the "Quintesson War" storyline very much, I'm liking where everyone landed in the fallout from those events. I think Darak and Solila off the Great Ring and in cahoots with Pythona.

My final issue! All the way to 300 with these guys. Hats off - still the best reboot of anything I've ever experienced. 

I finally caught up on this earlier in the month and spoke about it HERE. As I ready myself for this final issue, I'll just say this is also a contender for best of the year. So nice to travel back to the Vertigo 80s with ol' tall, green and swampy.

The penultimate issue before whatever #50 is going to do to change the series. Loving these "young Erika" stories, but ready to get back to the here and now.

The final of Chris Condon and Jacob Philips' first Ezra Cain mystery. Hoping there will be more down the road, although these will undoubtedly read better as trades, so I may refrain from buying any more of this particular series monthly.

 

I dug the atmosphere and overall storyline for Brutal Dark, and I've said it before and will continue to preach - we need more stories to remind the world that nazis and nationalism are bad. Especially now, when there's a growing number of people in our culture afraid to talk about the unpleasantness of the past. 

Another that will easily ride out the year in my top five. 

The finale of this wonderful aquatic horror mini-series! Oni still going strong.

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Watch:

I'll admit I watched this trailer not expecting to care one way or the other about this flick. It feels a bit like that strain of Horror that includes titles like Afaid and Megan 2.0. That said, there's a jump scare here, though, that made me laugh out loud. In a good way!

Also, what I did not notice at first - this is directed by Rob Savage, and I quite enjoyed both Host and The Boogeyman, so I'm in.

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Playlist:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight (pre-release singles)

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Nell' ora blu

Melvins - (A) Senile Animal

Carlos Rafael Rivera - The Will Kill You OST

Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi

Pilot Priest & Electric Youth - Come True OST

Zombie - Shape Shift

Boris/Merzbow - 2R0I2P0

Mastodon - Marrow Deep (pre-release singles)

Spotlights - Alchemy for the Dead

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Seven of Swords

• Knight of Pentacles

• XIII: Death

Big change brought about by successful ambition. No idea where to apply that in my life, unless it's telling me my ambitious trek to abstain from beer until at the very earliest November 5th to help my liver recover will pay off. And by pay off, I mean grant me the rest of my lifetime happily drinking pints (maybe not every night anymore, though...).