As is my custom, here's Opeth's Dirge for November to initiate our Day of the Dead.
I'm not quite sure how Opeth became my official band of the month November, but it happened. I'll be digging into the band's back catalogue all month, and Blackwater Park is always where I start that particular journey.
I see this as denoting a return on the investments of my time/energy on various projects.
31 Days of Halloween:
10/1 - Trick 'r Treat10/2 - Barbarian10/3 - Hellraiser ('84)10/4 - Phenomena10/5 - Hellraiser (2022)10/6 - The Dark Backward10/7 - Sick/The Beyond10/8 - Werewolf By Night10/9 - Something in the Dirt10/10 - Let the Right One In Episode 1/Lux Aeterna10/11 - My Best Friend's Exorcism/Grimcutty10/12 - Smile10/13 - Monstrous/VHS (Amateur Night segment)10/14 - Halloween Kills10/15 - Halloween Ends/Ed Wood/Plan 9 From Outer Space10/16 - Spider Baby/101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments/Night's End/Behemoth10/17 - Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon10/18 - Random Acts of Violence/Two Witches/Let the Right One In Episode 210/19 - Footprints on the Moon/976-EVIL10/20 - Alison's Birthday/Tone Deaf10/21 - Elviria's Haunted Hills/Popcorn10/22 - Resolution10/23 - The Endless10/24 - VHS 9910/25 - Tigers Are Not Afraid10/26 - Bliss10/27 - Deadstream/Host10/28 - The Convent10/29 - Lot 36 (GDT's CoC ep. 1)/George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead 3D/Return of the Living Dead10/30 - Lords of Salem10/31 - 31/Treehouse of Horror XXXIII/Hocus Pocus/Night of the Living Dead (68)
10/1 - Trick 'r Treat
10/2 - Barbarian
10/3 - Hellraiser ('84)
10/4 - Phenomena
10/5 - Hellraiser (2022)
10/6 - The Dark Backward
10/7 - Sick/The Beyond
10/8 - Werewolf By Night
10/9 - Something in the Dirt
10/10 - Let the Right One In Episode 1/Lux Aeterna
10/11 - My Best Friend's Exorcism/Grimcutty
10/12 - Smile
10/13 - Monstrous/VHS (Amateur Night segment)
10/14 - Halloween Kills
10/15 - Halloween Ends/Ed Wood/Plan 9 From Outer Space
10/16 - Spider Baby/101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments/Night's End/Behemoth
10/17 - Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18 - Random Acts of Violence/Two Witches/Let the Right One In Episode 2
10/19 - Footprints on the Moon/976-EVIL
10/20 - Alison's Birthday/Tone Deaf
10/21 - Elviria's Haunted Hills/Popcorn
10/22 - Resolution
10/23 - The Endless
10/24 - VHS 99
10/25 - Tigers Are Not Afraid
10/26 - Bliss
10/27 - Deadstream/Host
10/28 - The Convent
10/29 - Lot 36 (GDT's CoC ep. 1)/George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead 3D/Return of the Living Dead
That's a wrap on yet another 31 Days of Halloween. Of course, my love of Horror movies doesn't stop there - I'm actually taking K to see Smile this evening - but there's a TON of non-Horror I need to get to, and November/December is typically the time of year when I get psyched for the, ahem, 'Prestige' pictures the studios release, and that carries over into my daily life as well.
Read:
Still inspired by seeing Lucio Fulci's The Beyond: The Composer's Cut at Beyondfest last month, I returned home from Los Angeles and began re-reading Eibon Press's outstanding The Beyond series, where Stephen Romano and Pat Carbajal adapt and explore Lucio Fulci's masterpiece:
I've been wanting to do this re-read for some time, as it will dovetail nicely with me finally ordering a copy of the recently released Escape From The Beyond #1.
I very much dig Romano's extrapolation of the over-story Fulci thinly draped across his three "Gates of Hell" films, and can't wait to see where he takes the sequel, now firmly new territory. The previous books from Eibon - The Beyond, The Gates of Hell, and House By the Cemetery - are all adaptations with flourishes that hint at being further advanced in this new series.
Whether by intention or after sight, Fulci built an extremely ripe mythos with these three films, and it's awesome to see so talented a creator as Romano - who clearly loves the material - do what the master himself never got the chance to do.
Bring it all together.
There will, of course, be those who say the ending of The Beyond is perfect and shouldn't be messed with. To that, I'd say I agree with the first half; if someone were to remake or plan a film sequel, I'd be a lot more trepidacious. Swapping mediums gives Romano and now artist Jeff Zurnow an unlimited bag of visual tricks, so let's see what they do with it. If you don't end up liking it, these books need not affect the film at all. But imagine the possibilities; we've all wondered what happens after John and Liza end up in Schweik's painting...
Playlist:
Various -Shawn's Halloween Playlist
Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather
John Carpenter - Lost Themes
John Carpenter - Lost Themes II
John Carpenter - Lost Themes III: Alive After Death
Card:
Being that November 1st is, in some manner of speaking, the beginning of my new year, I wanted to make this pull pretty comprehensive. To that end, I began with the Raven Tarot:
Next, to move beyond the general scope, I wanted to pull a spread using Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, (which you can buy HERE.)
Ace of Cups and Swords both imply breakthroughs, with the addition of the Eight of Cups telling the breakthroughs may come in the form of recognizing my errors and thus, correcting them. Again, this all seems to point to my current project.
