2019: August 20th Scott Cooper's Antlers

Based on a story by Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca and produced by Guillermo del Toro, this looks fantastic! I know a lot of hype out there right now in upcoming horror flicks is for The Lodge, but that one doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me, simply because, as well-made as Goodnight Mommy was, I severely disliked it in a manner that makes me think Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz's horror aesthetic is diametrically opposed to my own. Not a judgement, just means while I can appreciate their craft as creators, I'm not a fan. But who knows, maybe The Lodge will change that. Regardless, this teaser and the names on the banner push this one up there with Joe Begos' Bliss and Chelsea Stardust's Satanic Panic as among my most anticipated horror flicks of the year.

Oh yeah, and of course there's The Lighthouse, but that bloody well goes without saying. With a schedule announcement imminent any day now, looks like I may have to take some PTO for Beyondfest this year.

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I've put a pin in Damien Echol's High Magick for a bit because I'm actually following his suggestions as I re-map my daily world to accommodate Magickal Practice. I will be spending a few months creating and adhering to some of the breathing practices he outlines in Section Three of the book. This is something I've always been bad at, and I think, the reason my results have been spotty in the past. This time, I can tell you that keeping a regular practice of Four-Fold Breathing has filled my last three weeks with sometimes scary reserves of energy. It feels good.

Speaking of reading, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I arrested my first read of Laird Barron's second Isaiah Coleridge novel, Black Mountain, to re-read last year's Blood Standard. For a book I first read barely a year ago, this is already my favorite read of the year. For the second year in a row. I can't wait to dig into that second volume, probably by week's end!

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I spent the last few days in Joshua Tree. First trek out there in four, almost five years. It feels good to stand and sweat in the desert, as it catalyzes a very cosmic perspective.

We stayed at the Joshua Tree Inn, of course, in the fabled Donovan Suite, no less. It goes without saying then that I christened the room with this classic track, first put on my radar by George A. Romero's criminally underrated Season of the Witch:



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On podcast news, my co-host Anthony Guerra and I released a brief review episode for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. Spoiler-free. Check it out, we might save you some $$$:

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play

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Playlist from the last few days was largely curated by my cousin Charles, who drive K and I out to JT, so some of the specifics of what we listened to is lost. I'll do my best:

Donovan - Season of the Witch (Single)
Calexico - Even Sure Things Fall Through
Kevin Morby - Oh My God
William Tyler - Modern Country
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Al B. Sure! - Nite and Day (Single)
Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
Chris Connelly - Night of Your Life
Hamilton Leithauser - Black Hours
Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Jaye Jayle - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
John Carpenter - Big Trouble in Little China OST

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No card today.

2019: May 9th - HBO's Watchmen Gets a Trailer!

Not what I expected. Very interested in this.

I totally missed that Laird Barron's new novel, Black Mountain, came out this past Tuesday. I cannot wait to read this. As the second in his new, hopefully ongoing, Isaiah Colerige series, this promises to be another fantastic read, just like last year's Blood Standard.

Mr. Barron's website is HERE, and you can buy the book from a local brick-n-mortar bookstore if you're lucky enough to still have one, or order it HERE.


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Playlist from 5/08:

Various Artists - Singles OST
Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch - Twin Peaks: FWWM OST
Bad Luck - Four
Atrium Carceri  - Cellblock
Ghost - Prequelle
Ghost - Infestissumam
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
Opeth - Blackwater Park

**

No card today.

2018: June 13th - More New Deafheaven

After having our new bed delivered and waiting all night to sleep on something my feet don't hang off the end of, I knocked out for a paltry 3 hours and 57 minutes, only to lay awake until finally calling a fail and getting up for the day at just before 2:00 AM.

Sucks, right?

Well, I've been rewarded by a nice morning writing, some strong coffee (much more of that to come today) and... new Deafheaven!



I haven't listened to this one yet - the album is out in just 1 month on Anti- so I'm debating on whether or not to save Canary Yellow for within the context of the entirety of the new album, Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. Gonna be really hard to wait, though...

New issue of Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka's A Walk Through Hell today:

Finally finished Ash Vs. Evil Dead season 2 yesterday (I know, I know. What took me so long? I bought the fucker on Blu Ray the day it came out last year, watched a few episodes and then I don't know what happened. Anyway, started a rewatch last week, loved every second of it).

I'm plowing through Laird Barron's first Crime Novel, Blood Standard. I love all of this man's work - he's become my favorite working author. And Blood Standard is no exception - it is a fantastic romp through the fringes of the detective genre. Mr. Barron has all the nuts and bolts of what's expected down, so it's not that he's reinventing the wheel. But he maneuvers the tropes in a way that lays a solid claim to them. I'm not the most versed in the genre - my friend Joe knows a hell of a lot more than I do, but in our conversations, and in being a fairly wide-read person in other regards, I know the Ps and Qs of the detective story. Mr. Barron gobbles them up and spits them back out in such a surefire, staccato fashion that the book is an absolute joy to read, especially with such an interesting setting (Upstate NY by-way-of Alaska) and such a joyously violent protagonist (Isaiah Coleridge), who while a man well-versed in destructive forces, generally avoids them by being an unbelievably well-rounded and, thus real character. When Isaiah does snap though, wow.

Playlist from 6/12/18:

Sys Exe - Downride
Lebanon Hanover - Let Them Be Alien
Chris Connelly - The Tide Stripped Bare
Junior Jr. - Obligatory Demo
Rammstein - Herzeleid
Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Zombi - Shape Shift

Card for the day:

The completion of potential. The last card in the deck, so to speak, so a form of completion. Also, it'd be nice if the same literal interpretation that happened with Luxury yesterday happened with this one today.