You know, I was beginning to think I did not like this new album from Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. The production this time really stripped away some of the charming grime that gives the band their sound. I deleted it from my Apple Music and abstained for a week or so, and when I came back yesterday, I found I really liked it. This song especially. With these kind of low-key 80s synths that start the song and then haunt the mix's background, I don't think I've heard anything like that before.

31 Days of Halloween:

I conceived the idea of beginning this Halloween season with George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead - the greatest zombie movie in the history of zombie movies, in my opinion, months ago.

This is one of those seminal films for people my age. I'd like to think Romero's work - especially on Night-Dawn-Day - transcends my age, but regardless of that, it really is difficult to think of a more astute social commentary with high level practical FX and cinematic swagger. I love everything about this film, from Ken Foree, to Fly Boy to the Hare Krishna Zombie.

And so, let the list begin!!!

1) George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

Playlist:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk)

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies - Cathedral

Metallica - ... And Justice For All

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight

Dance with the Dead - Malombra

Blood Mother - Eponymous

Godflesh - Decay

Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

Card:

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

• Seven of Wands

• Queen of Pentacles

• Eight of Cups

A postive result indeed yesterday at the GI doctor, where I finally found someone willing to talk about fatty liver with me. Despite imaging showing mild/early signs of fatty liver in July (prompted by blood in my urine that turned out to be the herald of this dreadful kidney stone that still has not passed), the doctor brought up the point that all my labs done in March for my annual showed normal liver function. So yes, positive result, especially when you add in the almost three months (four by the time I'm finished) of no alcohol I've adhered to since. Now, Queen of Pentacles denotes stability, but the Eight of Cups reminds me not to rest on my laurels, i.e. I need to shake the inner voice telling me I should just have a beer now if everything is so normal.

Give it time.

'Nuff said.

Watch:

Mourning the loss of Sam Neil, and while there are a ton of genre flicks my mind goes to on reflex, I thought I'd post a trailer from a somewhat recent favorite of his I discovered thanks to Mr. Brown.

Taika Waititi doesn't always blow me away, but this one definitely does.

Read:

I finally caught up on Chris Condon, Andrew Ehrich and Charlie Adlard's Of the Earth. Man, this is easily sitting in my top five comics of 2026.

This is sweet Charlie Adlard widescreen comics, and the story by Ehrich and Condon is fantastic. There's a great interview on Fangoria HERE, and we review the first issue on Drinking with Comics HERE. Suffice it to say, major The Thing and Blood Simple vibes, and if you're as big a fan of both of those films as I am and you wonder what the intersection where they meet looks and feels like, look no further.

There's some fantastic prose in each book, as well. Excerpts from a book that gives more context to the Wildcatter myth. This is a monster book, folks, and it is extremely effective thus far.

Playlist:

Judas Priest - Stained Class

Savages - Silence Yourself

Savages - Paranoid/Prayer (single)

C.na - Eclipse Mechanism (Instrumental) (single)

Anthrax - State of Euphoria

Squarepusher & Z-MACHINES - Music for Robots EP

Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Chappell Roan - Good Luck Babe (single)

Devil Master - You Worms' Vein Dilusions (single)

Devil Master - Ecstasies of a Never Ending Night

Lard - The Last Temptation of Reid

Thou - Summit

John Cale - Fear

Card:

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

• Page of Swords

• Nine of Cups

• Nine of Swords

The card that's really sticking out here is the Nine of Swords, known as "Cruelty" in the Thoth deck. I ended up in the ER yesterday morning with what I was told by the attending physician is the worst pain known to humanity, male or female. I didn't know what it was when I went in, but goddamn, was I in bad shape. I do not exaggerate when I tell you I did not possess control of my body for a good three hours. I surrendered that control to the pain. It had me do things I could only observe as if from outside, through a misery-frosted window. I have a fairly high pain threshold, and I tend to handle my pain with obstinate stoicism, but not yesterday. No. A kidney stone brought me down. I was screaming, growling, puking, writhing like a man possessed. In fact, I would not be the least bit surprised to learn that in the Middle Ages, people confused kidney stone symptoms with demonic possession.

Again, not embellishing here at all.

The Page of Swords and Nine of Cups indicate that all this torment wasn't for naught. I believe I'll have some major insights in the coming days as I continue to convalesce (I haven't passed it yet, but as of writing this at 8:35 PM Thursday night, I have not been in pain since the early afternoon).

Shawn C. Baker

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Friday, October 2, 2026