New Trailer for Shudder's Creepshow!

This Thursday! Can't wait.

**

The Writing Process:

Lots of intense bursts of inspiration for Shadow Play Book Two: The Absence of Light. I have a general outline, sort of, but there's so much ground to cover and a lot of jumping around in the timeline, which currently runs from about 1576 to 2019, with one chapter most likely occurring in early pre-history. This is easily the most ambitious story architecture I've ever attempted, but it feels strong and alive in a way that is increasingly energizing. Which is great, because lately, I've had a lot of ups and downs with all the short stories I've been working on over the last year, and the first book of Ciazarn is largely written, but I can't quit nail the tone, so I'm easing away for the time being on that one. Frustrations are amplified by the fact that most of these issues would probably work themselves out if I could just get back on a consistent writing schedule. Hoping that happens this week.

**

Super excited to announce I'll be doing a bit of a collaboration with my good friend Mr. Brown. I've never really been an X-Files fan; I don't have anything against it, but I also have never really gotten into it beyond a dalliance with the 'mythology' episodes way back in the day, which dried up as it became apparent the story wasn't really mapped out to conclude in any satisfying way. Or maybe I'm wrong - I liked some of what I saw, but could never commit to a regular watch-schedule with it, despite being sexually obsessed by Gillian Anderson in my late teens/early twenties.

But I digress...

Brown asked me recently if I'd be into the idea of him curating a playlist of stand alone X-Files episodes, the idea being I would watch them and write a little something about them as I go. I love this idea, as I trust Brown's taste implicitly, and have always wanted someone to show me just what the hell everyone loved about this show in the 90s. This is the perfect time for such a project as well; 31 Days of Horror begins next week, and I figure on days with little watch time, I could pepper in some X-Files. I have the list and can't wait to start!

**

Recent Playlist:

Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth
Carpenter Brut - Trilogy
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
The Ocean - Heliocentric
Drab Majesty - Careless
Various - A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night OST
Boy Harsher - Careful
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe
Monolord - No Comfort
Joseph Loduca - Evil Dead 2 OST
John Carpenter - Prince of Darkness OST

**

Card of the day:

Turning. Changing. Cycles. You can see on the diagram below that Atu X: Fortune manifests as the path between Mercy and Victory. Not sure how to read that in my own current context, but while digging around online for the image below, I came across something I'd never really noticed about Fortune - The Wheel or The Wheel of Fortune in other decks. It moves counter clockwise. Macro-definitions aside, I'm looking at this today as a nod to move forward in reverse-engineering something that has been giving me a bit of trouble.

2018: November 1st

A Real Indication, video directed by David Lynch.

For those of you who are long-time David Lynch fans like myself, this is track is an oldie. However, Thought Gang's A Real Indication - which is featured in the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - is receiving a breath of new life, as Lynch, Badalamenti (that's him doing vocals on this track, by the way) and Sacred Bones Records are making available Thought Gang's Thought Gang album for the first time. This is actually older news - I pre-ordered a "Monkey Fur" vinyl copy about a month ago and just received word it has shipped! You can grab a copy HERE, if you're so inclined, although I believe the Monkey Fur edition has sold out.

31 Days of Horror concluded last night with a whimper instead of the BANG! I had planned. Previously, I had arranged for today off and planned to stay up late and pack in at least three movies.

That... was ambitious.

I came home from writing last night close to 7:00 PM, sat outside with my devil mask on while K handed out candy to trick r' treaters, and read some comics. In ~40 minutes we had more candy goblins than I had in the entire 12 years I lived in San Pedro. It was awesome. Our entire neighborhood was crawling with costumed families, and seeing it brought me great joy. After we ran out of candy, K and I went inside to begin the night's viewings. Instead of leading with Lucky McKee's May - one of my all-time favorites movies period, let alone Halloween-related films - we couldn't pass up the chance to follow Tuesday night's viewing of Tod Browning's Dracula from 1931 with Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece, Bram Stoker's Dracula. As you can imagine, the two films pair quite nicely. After that, however, I was out. 4:00 AM wake-ups add up sometimes, and the sad fact is I can no longer fight through my tiredness like I used to when I was younger.

Ugh. Despite all the mental and emotional advantages that accompany ripening as a human being, sometimes age just plain sucks Charlie Brown.

Final 31 Days of Horror Totals:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
10/27) Suspiria (2018)
10/28) Suspiria (1977)

10/29) Beetlejuice/Pyewacket

10/30) Trick r' Treat/Dracula (1931)
10/31) Bram Stoker's Dracula

Let's talk NCBD. I hadn't been to the shop in three weeks, so all the tantalizing stuff I've written about for the last few Wednesdays was waiting for me in my pull. I won't reiterate on those, however, let's talk about what Mike put aside for me that I was originally intending to pass on:

The original Lucifer series that spun out of Neil Gaiman's Sandman was written by Peter Carey and drawn by Peter Gross. It ran 75 issues and told one EPIC story. I can't recommend this one enough folks, and I myself am due for a re-read, as I haven't read it since its monthly run. I've had real reservations about going back for another story with this character, especially since the television show came up and basically re-did Castle, but with Lucifer helping the LAPD solve crimes instead of the writer. I've since heard and fully believe the show is good for what it is, however I'm protective of series as amazing as the original Lucifer is, so I'm not interested in the show. Buying this new comic was nothing short of a leap of faith for me. After reading it though, you better believe, I have faith.

This was one of those first issues that drops you in and doesn't concern itself with giving you the lay of the land. NOT a complaint, as I love that when done well. And I really think this book is going to be done well. After all the seemingly disparate story threads introduced in Lucifer #1, I am damned intrigued at where this book is going, so much so I can scarcely believe it.

Also, having Kelley Jones do the variant cover was an A++ for me.

Playlist from yesterday:

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
Ritual Howls - Into the Water
Various - Halloween Playlist
The Final Cut - Consumed
Specimen - Azoic
Jóhann Jóhannson - Mandy OST

Card of the day:

Perfect, considering I spent a large part of two days this past week dressed like him, and LOVED the new Lucifer series. Here's what it says in the Grimoire:

"Materialism over spiritualism."

Short and to the point, eh? Looks like I need to flesh that entry out. In the meantime, I'll regard this pull as a warning to not run up my cc this month the way I did last month. October is always an expensive time of the year for me because it is my favorite time of the year.

2018: October 30th

From the album Post Everything (great title) and featured in the movie Pyewacket, which I watched last night and absolutely loved. In a way I saw Pyewacket as an updated version of George A. Romero's Season of the Witch, kind of a cautionary tale about messing around with Black Magick. I loved everything about this film, from the camera work, which was diverse and pragmatic in its approach, i.e. if the filmmakers needed to create tension or up the tempo for the viewer, they did so with hand-camera work - never gratuitous - or odd angles. They used the score well, partially by playing with volume to accent moments of tension release or revelation, and they kept their locations tight but aesthetically aligned with what they were trying to do, as in the use of Autumnal colors and rustic buildings. Also, director Adam McDonald certainly knows how to play on the strained relationships of Mothers and their adolescent daughters. Nicole Munoz and Laurie Holden (who some of you will remember from The Walking Dead as Andrea) kill it in their roles, Munoz especially.



I also finished watching Beetlejuice last night. Man, I miss liking Tim Burton's stuff. Unlike his later stuff, Beetlejuice is pure imagination unconfined by the caricature the auteur has made for himself, which really just acts as a prison.


Thanks to my good friend Jonathan Grimm Art for the recommendation!

31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
10/27) Suspiria (2018)
10/28) Suspiria (1977)

10/29) Beetlejuice/Pyewacket

Playlist from 10/29:

Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland

John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Miranda Sex Garden - Suspiria

Exhalants - Eponymous

Trust Obey - Hands of Ash

Trust Obey - The Tides of Sin - EP

No card today. I keep forgetting my decks at home in the morning.

Well, that's almost it, as tomorrow is Halloween! Rejoice, oh you children of the night! The walls grow thin.

2018: October 29th

Whoah. I had ear-marked this Perturbator collaboration with LA-based Health sometime a week or so ago and then promptly forgot about it. Listening to it last night while writing, it made a strong impression. Which led to me checking out Health's 2015 album Death Magic (great title). Fantastic stuff. Reminiscent of Crystal Castles at times, very melodic and killer electronics.

31 Days of Horror rounded the final lap last night with attempts to watch two other movies as well. The first was Beetlejuice, which I rented from Amazon and which dropped out and sent me back to the start twice before I gave up. The second was Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi, but by then it was pass out time, so I only made it 2/3 of the way through. Ugh.

31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
10/27) Suspiria (2018)
10/28) Suspiria (1977)

Playlist from 10/28:

Various Artists - Halloween playlist
Skeletal Family - Singles Plus One
Health/Perturbator - Body/Prison
Health - Death Magic
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula

No card today.

2018: October 27th

New Finn Andrews track! I love everything about this man's music. In the past two years, I've gone to so many concerts, that I've made a little oath to lay off in 2019, in an attempt to start saving some of the money I spend at shows. The two exceptions to this are The Veils, who I've only been into since David Lynch introduced them to me on Twin Peaks, and Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. Well, I procured Uncle Acid tickets this past Wednesday, so that only leaves The Veils. Would Finn Andrews solo suffice? Of course.

31 Days of Horror was supposed to continue last night with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, however between decorating for Halloween and baking Zombie cookies, K and I didn't think a 2+ hour film was realistic, so we went with John Carpenter's The Fog, a film I love but hadn't watched since Mr. Brown and I viewed it back in, oh, probably 2003. Jesus, time flies.



Tonight's film is already set in stone - Suspiria, at the Arclight in Hollywood. Excited does not even begin to describe my mindset. I believe this film will not be a remake at all, but a totally new and different film that will sit alongside the original as another fantastic piece of horror cinema.

31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog

On a bit of a paperback kick right now, and finding that August Derleth's Cthulhu cycle stuff is not nearly as bad as I remembered it being (I say I remembered them being bad, but regardless I've always loved what I've read, just wondered about going back to it, which has been rewarding thus far).

Playlist from 10/26:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Digipak)
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
The Knife - Silent Shout
Fantômas - Director's Cut
Jóhann Jóhannson - Mandy OST

Card of the day:

From the Grimoire, "Culmination." Good, lots of spinning plates and I believe I just implemented something to streamline their results. Ten is also Malkuth, the world, and I guess, in a way, I'm announcing myself to the world today.

2018: October 26th

Taken from the album I'm mainlining this morning thanks to my good friend Sonny's edition of The Joup Friday Album. I found Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes late - like 8 or 9 years ago - and I was FLOORED I had never heard them before. This was the first song I heard, and it's probably still my favorite.

I've kind of fallen off the Protomartyr hysteria that 2014's Under Color of Official Right stirred in me. In fact, while I liked 2015's The Agent Intellect, 2017's Relatives in the Desert left zero impression on me. Granted, I only gave it one listen, so I'll go back to it eventually, but in the year or so since that album's release I've kind of ignored the band. Yesterday I received a message through Band in Town (best app) alerting me to the fact that Protomartyr and Preoccupations are releasing a split 7" in November, with Protomartyr covering Preoccupations' Forbidden, and Preoccupations covering Pontiac 87, one of my favorite tracks from The Agent Intellect. I'm pretty psyched.

You can pre-order the split HERE; below are the original tracks.





And the Protomartyr version they released on their youtube channel:



Last night K and I watched Ghost Stories. Pretty solid flick, and scary as hell at points. Like, legitimately scary. Not jump scares, but real, sustained fear-inducing tension. Loved that; didn't love the ending. But maybe you will. Worth a watch and it just popped up on HULU.



31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories

Playlist from 10/25:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls
Grinderman - Grinderman 2
Windhand - Eternal Return
The Knife - Silent Shout

No card today. Happy Halloween weekend everybody!!!

2018: October 25th

I've read this video is awesome, however until the entire album is released, I'm playing it safe and not indulging in the any new songs from The Ocean Collective in five years (they had a split E.P. with Mono in 2015).

Last night's movie - Halloween III: Season of the Witch. SO good. Tom Atkins for president.



31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners
10/23) Jacob's Ladder

10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Playlist from 10/24:

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Vol. 1

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - B-Sides and Rarities Vol. III

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST

Card of the day:

This one again, eh? Lately, when I do these readings I'm rushed, so I never really dig into the meanings. Emotionally honed intelligence? Twice in three days? To get a court card like this twice in such close proximity obviously indicates something largely than happenstance, larger than the normal nuts and bolts of things. Contemplating it now I believe it may be recommending I kickstart something I keep telling myself I'm going to and don't, namely meditating. I've been very splintered, distracted to the point of anxiety. I know I can get ahold on this if I meditate, so I believe I'll begin today. 

2018: October 23rd

From the B-Sides and Rarities Box set released back in the early 00s. Such a strange track; Cave definitely has a sense of humor - anyone that doesn't agree needs to absorb the entire And No More Shall We Part record - but rarely does it come off like this... not even sure how to describe it, other than it's awesome!

My friend Kristen Renee Gorlitz is the upcoming Drinking w/ Comics guest on Friday, November 9th at 9:00 PM. She also just launched a Kickstarter for the continuation of her comic The Empties. Best freakin' tagline EVER, "There are many ways to ruin a relationship. Turning into a zombie is one of them..."

Brilliant! Check out the trailer below and support her Kickstarter HERE



31 Days of Horror is quickly coming to the final stretch and I still have a handful of 'must-watch' movies left. Last night crossed off a big one. Regardless of a setting that, while being visually stunning, feels more ridiculous every time I watch it, Flatliners will always be one of my favorite movies, especially around this time of year. I love EVERYTHING about this one. And watching this last night means we have to watch Jacob's Ladder tonight, which although not standard Halloween fare, compliments Flatliners as part of a late 80s/early 90s sub genre that really only exists in my mind. Angel Heart and Serpent and the Rainbow would also fall into this same category.



31 Days of Horror

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

10/22) Flatliners

Playlist from 10/22:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Rarities and B-Sides Vol. 1

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Good Son

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In

New Order - Power, Corruption, and Lies

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic

Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog

Killing Joke - Nighttime

Card of the day:

Emotion honed by intellect. This perfectly describes last night. Perfectly! For today, I'm looking at applying that same intellect to the emotional deluge I've felt of late in editing the first two parts of the novel for continuity, which is really difficult at the moment. 

2018: October 22nd

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds tore it up last night. The set list contained much of the standard tunes they're performing in the current incarnation, with one nice surprise of the non-album Shoot Me Down, one of my favorites from the B-Sides and Rarities Box Set released back in the early 00s. My favorite of the evening was probably From Her to Eternity. Love this new, extra cacophonous version.



Absolutely fantastic to see Warren Ellis play the flute on it live. And props to the guy in the audience wearing a perfectly fitted suit and dancing his ass off all night. Almost as much fun to watch as Old Nick.

Cigarettes After Sex opened the night, and while I'd had a bit of trouble getting into their music on the headphones at work - not the time or place when you need a tempo - I LOVED them live and intend on gorging on their music in the following nights.



Oh, and it turns out The Forum, while I still would 99 times out of a hundred skip stadium shows, really does a tip-top job with efficiency. I'd been carrying some anxiety about going to this, with the logistics of parking, seating, etc, but everything was easy peasy. The seats were fairly small and uncomfortable, but everything else was 1-2-3.

31 Days of Horror continued with Dante Tomaselli's Satan's Playground. I've been wondering for a while whatever happened to Tomaselli, who released three avant grade horror films back in the late 90s/early00s and then kind of disappeared after 2012's Torture Chamber, which I never bothered with based on the name and that era's predilection for torture porn flicks. But Desecration (which I've only seen clips of), Horror, and Satan's Playground, while having no chance of winning any acting awards, are enjoyable, unique little gems. Turns out, Tomaselli is currently working on a remake of Alice, Sweet Alice, the original having been directed by his cousin, Alfred Sole. Here's the trailer for Desecration, which is nuts:



10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
10/21) Satan's Playground

Playlist from yesterday was virtually non-existent, aside from Mr. Cave and the Bad Seeds live:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Good Son

No card today.

2018: October 21st

31 Days of Horror continued last night with yet another viewing of Panos Cosmatos's Mandy. Also, finished Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House. Pretty damn tight. Being that this is a series, and they do kind of set it up for another season, I'll be curious to see where it goes.


10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds tonight. Can't wait! I've seen Cave solo and with Grinderman, never with the Bad Seeds. Not happy it's at The Forum, but we do what we must.

Saw the trailer for The Invitation director Karyn Kusama's new film, Destroyer. Looks fantastic, and Nicole Kidman looks as though she puts in the performance of her life.



Playlist from 10/20:

Windhand - Eternal Return
Black Sabbath - Volume 4
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Second Still - Eponymous
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Card of the day:

Still one of my favorite cards. From the Grimoire, "Create within yourself a Universe."

2018: October 20th

A little something from the Trust Obey soundtrack to James O'Barr's graphic novel The Crow. This entire album is fantastic beyond words.

David Gordon Green's Halloween is pretty great. My post-viewing reaction, as well as the reactions of two of my cohosts on The Horror Vision podcast, can be heard on Apple Podcasts or our website. WARNING: This eleven minute mini-episode is FILLED with spoilers so beware.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

10/19) Halloween

Playlist from 10/19:
Tones on Tail - Everything
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Not Waving - Good Luck
Beak> - L.A. Playback
Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers, and Queers
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

Card of the day:

A problem solved. Hoping this pertains to my writing work today, which is all about reading and editing and thus, is rife with problems, chief among them, DISTRACTION.

2018: October 19th

Getting into the heart of the season, so I broke out the Tones on Tail yesterday. One of my favorite musical purchases ever, Tones on Tail's Everything. The second disc is probably one of my 'desert island' picks.

In preparation for seeing the new Halloween tonight, K and I did the original film last night. This one will never not hold up. A perfect movie, horror or otherwise.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween

Playlist from yesterday:

Tones on Tail - Everything
Ghost - Infestissumam
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats  - Wasteland
Steve Moore - Mayhem OST
The Veils - Total Depravity

Card of the day:

Journey into the blackest depths of my soul? Doubting that. However, I definitely need to get a look down in subconscious and do some weed pulling. Lots of distraction of late on the writing front.

2018: October 18th

It's an old school Ministry kind of day.

31 Days of Horror continued last night with Ghoulies, and it was AWESOME! Here's the trailer:



I hadn't seen this one since I was a kid and it first came out on cable. I didn't have cable, but the kid down the street did, and this was one of the movies I got to see at his house that I never would have been able to see at home. This was K's pick and I offer her much kudos for it; the only thing I remembered from that long ago viewing was walking around seeing it saying, "Hey dude, don't Bogart that joint!" even though at the time, I had no idea what a joint was.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies

Playlist from 10/17:

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Explode Into Colors - Quilts EP
Sunn O))) - Kanon
Steve Moore - Mayhem OST
The Veils - Total Depravity
Cocksure - Be Rich

No card today.

2018: October 17th - New Uncle Acid!

Man, feels like I just checked on the new Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats album a week or two ago and there was no pre-order up, then yesterday I realized Wasteland has indeed officially dropped. Of course ALL the nifty colored vinyl is gone over at Rise Above Records, so for now I'm just listening on Apple. Great record, and as you can hear above MAN! What an opening track!

31 Days of Horror continued last night with Candyman! Only the second time I'd seen this flick, it's a great example of a 90s horror flick that doesn't seem as dated as, say, Species.  Leave that to Bernard Rose's direction, Clive Barker's oversight, and poverty anachronistic staying power. That's the world folks.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman

NCBD today and it's a great day because Gideon Falls returns!!!

Playlist from 10/16:

Second Still -
Windhand - Eternal Return
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland

No card today.

2018: October 16th: Some Music from the New Halloween

Pretty excited for Halloween on Friday. For a series I never wanted more from (because the first two, taken together are perfect), this forthcoming sequel feels right. It won't be until I see it if that feeling proves correct, and I'm still not sure why two had to be negated, but either way, if there has to be a new Halloween movie, which of course there does because, you know, that's Hollywood, then this is the one I would have held out for. Now someone PLEASE really blow our minds and follow this with a sequel to Halloween III: Season of the Witch!!! File that under the 'never gunna happen' header.

You can order the new score, composed by the man himself, along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies, on Sacred Bones Records HERE.

31 Days of Horror continued last week with my first ever viewing of Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. Loved it! I guess I'm kinda pushing the boundaries out of horror a bit here, although I'd maintain this film fits, if for no other reason than it's a re-imagining of the horror classic Phantom of the Opera. But yeah, should bring it back in, so tonight I'll be going Horror with a capital 'H.'

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise

Playlist from 10/15:

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Astronoid - Air
High on Fire - Electric Messiah
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Sunn O))) - The Grimm Robe Demos
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network OST
Them Are Us Too - Amends

Card of the day:

This worries me a skosh, but more as a warning or reflection of my current mood toward the book I'm working on than anything else. To me, the Knight of Disks is a card that always looks like a man who has arrived too late; the crop isn't quite up to par and something is barring him from continuing on his journey to the heart of the field to ascertain why. That felt a bit like writing yesterday - overwhelmed by the sprawl of the story. It's a good sprawl - I've cut it down considerably, trimmed the fat, that's what this re-organization of a book that took five years to write in the first place is all about. But yesterday, probably simply because I had three consecutive days off from working on it, I felt like it was beyond me to continue. That's nonsense of course, and when I draw two more cards for clarification I get Aeon and Swiftness, so that tells me I have to write everyday this week, rebuild momentum, and things will lock back into place.

2018: October 15th

Alien Sex Fiend - Not your father's Death Rock band. Well, then again, I suppose this very much could have been your father's Death Rock band. Never mind. Among the weirdest things I've ever heard.

31 Day of Horror continued yesterday, but I've already told you about The Apostle. Afterward, K and I plowed through the first five episodes of the Netflix/Mike Flanagan epic The Haunting of Hill House. I was a bit uncertain at first, but quickly came around. It has Flanagan's time weaving technique, the one that makes Occulus so unique. I dig it, probably not as much as I'd hoped I would, but for watching five episodes in a binge -something I haven't had the time to do in forever - it was good.

We wanted to make it through the first five because an article popped up last week HERE on Bloody Disgusting where Flanagan suggests people watch the first five, then go back and watch them again before continuing on to episodes 6-10. This is based on a revelation in ep. 5 that changes the way you will see things in the first half if you watch them again with that in mind. I don't feel this is necessary at all. Maybe some people will; I'm not usually the guy who figures out the twist ahead of time - I don't ever want to be - but I had this one in mind from about episode 3 or 4, so a re-watch wouldn't do anything for me. Now we just have to find the time to do the rest and a movie a day until the end of the month. It literally required me taking a mental health day from my weekend to do this much of the show - no grocery shopping, I skipped the HWA meeting, didn't even write. I needed it though, and so did K. 'Adulting' feels extra hard of late. Boo-hoo, right? Well, it's all relative.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle

Playlist from yesterday? There wasn't one. All visual content.

Card of the day:

Do I have some rationalizing to do? I do; skipping life for a day to watch TV makes me feel a bit weird, especially the HWA meeting and writing, so I've been rationalizing it since. As my good friend Missi said in a text yesterday, "Sometimes u need a break. It's not a crime."

Words of wisdom Lloyd. Words. Of. Wisdom.

Thanks Missi!

2018: October 13th

The closing track from Windhand's Eternal Return, my current musical obsession.

Zeal and Ardor tonight at the Roxy! Can't wait. Normally I'd show up a bit later and hang at the bar, but K wants to get there early, grab a spot by the stage and hang there all night, so it'll be front-and-center for one of her favorite bands. We saw them last year at the High Hat and hot damn! what an awesome show. Not a huge fan of The Roxy, but I'm happy as hell to see them growing into bigger venues.

31 Days of Horror continued with George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, primarily because I ordered the bare bones, director's cut Blu Ray for Land of the Dead - a movie a saw opening night in '05 and did not like very much. In spite of this, I've decided it's time for reassessment, and my friend Anthony swears the Theatrical was unlikeable because of studio edits which the director's cut corrects. We shall see...

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Playlist from 10/12:

The Final Cut - Consumed
In Solitude - Sister
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Steve Moore - The Mind's Eye OST
Windhand - Eternal Return
Zeal and Ardor - Devil is Fine

Card of the day:

Probably because the prospects of doing any real writing this weekend are slim. Boo social activity!

2018: October 12th

Here's a track off one of my seasonal go-to's this time of year, The Final Cut's 1992 Consumed, which also happens to be my pick for today's edition of The Joup Friday Album, which you can read over HERE on Joup.co.

Continued 31 Days of Horror last night with Killer Klowns form Outer Space. Man, John Vernon is the shit, isn't he?

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Tonight? I'm thinking either George A. Romero's Day of the Dead or Dario Argento's Phenomenon. But we'll see.

I didn't talk about NCBD yet this week, primarily because I've been too busy to stop in and pick up the one thing that came out on my pull. But oh what a 'one thing' it is:

This original Hardcover Graphic Novel from the creators of recent favorites of mine Fatale, The Fade Out, and Kill Or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies ties into the Criminal Universe in a small way via that series' first arc, Coward. Interestingly enough, I just read Coward for the first time a few days ago. I couldn't have timed that better if I'd tried! Criminal is the only Brubaker/Phillips series I've yet to engage with, and this little serendipitous jaunt should catapult me further into it nicely. Thanks to my good friend Joe.Baxter for lending me his trades and getting me started!

Playlist from yesterday:

Monolord - Rust
The Black Queen - Infinite Games
In Solitude - Sister
Blut Aus Nord - Memorial Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars

No, that damn second part of the novel still isn't finished, but I did come up with the plot point I believe it has always been missing. The somewhat clunky elements that haunted a certain character's motivations have now been replaced with what I can joyously say is a new, elegant arc that puts everyone where I need them to be for the plot to resolve in part three. I spent a good deal of time yesterday re-writing chapters in part one in order to massage this element in and it sent me skyrocketing into the second half with renewed vigor. So here's to that!

Card of the day:

Mind distracted at times you say? Why yes! All that writing time yesterday was hard-earned in between being distracted by this and this and this.

Bastards!

2018: October 11th

Finally. Last night showed K Mike Mendez's The Convent for the first time. Probably about the twentieth viewing for me since I first discovered it circa 2001. Still in my top five favorite movies ever; every moment is joy to me. Especially Frijole and the Lords of Darkness. Brilliant, and easily the best horror-comedy ever. Coincidentally it's playing in theaters this evening as the second in a double feature with Sweet Sixteen as part of Bloody Disgusting's RetroNightmares. I'm not going, and I'm sad.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent

Playlist from yesterday:

Windhand - Eternal Return
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Blut Aus Nord - Memorial Vetusta II - Dialogue With the Stars

No card today either.

2018: October 10th

Thought I'd start today off with another under-appreciated Type O track. I know, I know... wrong holiday. Still, it fits the season.

The first episode of The Horror Vision is now available on Apple Podcasts HERE. Also available on The Horror Vision website HERE. The audio is good but not great; tweaks coming for the next episode, which we recorded last night and will land next week. #2 is a discussion of our Halloween go-to watches, from the standards to the more individualized, left-of-center picks we watch every year.

31 Days of Horror continued yesterday. Since I was out doing the podcast last night, K and I opted to continue to push back Mike Mendez's The Convent back, and instead I treated myself to an afternoon viewing of Ti West's first feature film, The Roost. LOVE this one, and it'd been a while. Holds up and then some. K watched The Haunting of Molly Hartley, liked it but said it kinda resembled a Lifetime movie if they did horror.

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost

Playlist from 10/09:

High On Fire - Electric Messiah
Nothing - Guilty Of Everything
The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep
Type O Negative - October Rust
Type O Negative - Dead Again

No card today.