RIP Richard Lloyd

One of the most undersung guitarists ever.

 

---

---

---

NCBD:

Interesting mix of titles this week. Let's go:

New Horror one-shot from Garth Ennis and John McCrea? SOLD! I feel like there's a kind of "bugs-in-the-mouth" Horror trope or maybe even sub genre out there, and it grosses me right the f*ck out. As it should be!

Ah! So now Megatron is in the tank form. Mike and I predicted (and hoped) it was way too early to turn him into Galvatron, so this explains everything. Proceed with blowing our minds yet again, Mr. Kirkman. You are oh so good at it!

Our year-end dose of Horror masquerading as Sword and Sandal pulp. Love The Savage Sword of Conan for so many reason - the black & white being chief among them - and it's become an institution in my life. Not every book I like does. 

The cover says it all. 

I feel like this book went bi-monthly at some point. I'm not sure, I just want more. Loving this because, I have ZERO idea where it's going. Can't ask for anything more than that.

---

---

---

Listen:

Last post, I wrote about Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid's podcast Tales From Beyond the Pale. That wasn't the only Horror podcast I listened to on my recent trip to Dayton. We also dove into the first three episodes of Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill and Ethan Hawke's Midnight Radio. 

 

This one is spectacular, folks. Hawke plays a late night talk show host on a show about the strange and unexplainable in our world. Think Art Bell and Coast to Coast. Except darker. 

There's a "topic of the week" approach inherent in the episode titles - The Phantom Cosmonauts; Night Tripping; Operation Wandering Soul - but all of this is slowly laying the groundwork for a fascinating over-arching plot. What that is yet, I can't quite guess. I see it coming in with some ideas and events that serve as through-lines to the episodes, but we're not there yet. Regardless, K and I are both chomping at the bit for the next episode, which I believe drops Thursday. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

Van Halen - 1984

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Television - Marquee Moon

Soundgarden - SOMMS

Shellac - To All Trains

Opeth - Still Life

NΩX - T.S./Testimonium XII - Somniatoris Damnati (single)

Deafheaven - At Work In The Fields Of The Bomb EP

Steve Moore - Jimmy and Stiggs OST

Steve Moore - Christmas Bloody Christmas OST

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - From Her to Eternity

Young Widows - Settle Down City

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Good Son

Jacszek - KWIATY

Burial - Untrue

---

---

---

Card:

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

• Eight of Swords

• Nine of Wands

• Three of Swords

Only perseverance will pull me through. It's been a rough year, and hopefully some of that ends after I have surgery next week and they get this goddamn kidney stone out of me. 

Sinister - Maybe the Best Horror Sound Design Ever

I finally watched 2012's Sinister last night. I missed it at the theatre last October and had been waiting to see it ever since. I'd heard a lot of good things about it from people whose opinions I trust and I am ALWAYS looking for genuinely scary horror movies so I had a pretty mean case of anticipation/expectation, which can be a dangerous way to go into a flick for the first time.

So what's the verdict? Well, the movie blew me away. There were a few little issues with the supporting cast*, but nothing that can't be overlooked based on how adamantly it was committed to be HORROR. The ending was awesome. But what was even more awesome was the sound design. Holy cow, this is probably the best sound design in a horror flick I've ever heard. I mean, granted it has an edge with modern technology over flicks like Halloween and The Exorcist, so we need to adjust for that, but seriously, it was fantastic. After watching the film I went immediately to purchase the score online and found this great blog The End of Summer that posted some of the tracks left off that album.

...........................

* Primarily the wife, played by Juliet Rylance. I donn't think it's Ms. Rylance's fault but her chaaracter was really nothign more than a plot device, acting the way the story needed her to act by constantly riding Ethan Hawke's Ellison and throwing down ultimatums to amp his character's arc's timeline up. Still, totally overlooking that based on EVERYTHING else about the film. Also, as long as I'm crituqing the 'bad' about the supporting cast I should give props to the fantastic. James Ransone - who plays Deputy "so and so" is absolutely fantastic as a cop who, against his sheriff's decree, wants to act as Ellison's inside information man just to get a thank you in the next book. I expect we'll see more good stuff from Mr. Ransone, he was just that good.