Holy smokes! New Kill or Be Killed dropped last week and I had no idea! I've still yet to break into Greg's solo record Child Soldier, which dropped a few weeks ago, but I think as soon as All Hallows passes and November settles in, I'll start really digging into this stuff.
New KoBK Reluctant Hero is out November 20th on Nuclear Blast, pre-order HERE.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) Tales of Halloween: Sweet Tooth/The Wolf Man (1941)
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: "Port Fourchon, Louisiana"/Tales of Halloween: "The Night Billy Raised Hell" & "Trick"
3) Mulholland Drive/Creepshow (1982): "The Crate"
4) Waxwork
5) Synchronic/Bad Hair
6) Dolls
7) Lovecraft Country Ep. 8/Tales of Halloween: "The Weak and the Wicked" & "The Grim Grinning Ghost"
8) 976-Evil
9) Repo! The Genetic Opera
10) Firestarter/George A. Romero's Bruiser
11) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 1 & 2/Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
12) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 3, 4, and 5/House of 1000 Corpses
13) Masque of the Red Death/Creepshow (2019) Episode 7/Creepshow (1982)
14) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 6 and 7
15) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 8 and 9/Roseanne (88) season 2 and 3 Halloween Episodes
16) The Mortuary Collection/Roseanne (88) season 4 Halloween Episode
17) Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
18) Lovecraft Country episode 9/The Haunting/Roseanne (88) season 5 Halloween Episode
19) Lovecraft Country episode 10/Tales From the Crypt season 1 ep. 5 "Lover Come Hack to Me"
20) George A. Romero's Season of the Witch
NCBD
Some great stuff this week.
This book really has been fantastic. Such an interesting, original take on the Zombie genre, and a large part of the story really plays more with mashing that up with a kind of neo-noir crime story. Very cool.
Bebop and Rocksteady? Can't wait to see these two make their return to the book.
The penultimate issue of Gideon Falls! I'll be sorry to see this one go, but I can't wait to see what Andrea Sorrentino does next!
Playlist:
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Joy Division - Still
PLaNETS - The Dark Woods
John Carpenter - Lost Themes
Also, new installment of Bret Easton Ellis' new, serialized novel/memoir dropped this week. SO GOOD. Sign up for his Patreon HERE to get in on this.
Card:
I feel like this week is all about fortitude, so this card makes perfect sense. Between being short at work, my back acting a bit weird again, starting in on writing again, and being on call, my hands are full and two days into the work week, I'm already feeling as though I'm running on empty. That said, I always manage to rise to the occasion.
An absolute stunner! This new All The Witches video released yesterday does that rare thing, it takes a strong emotional song and marries equally strong emotional imagery to it. These guys are truly a level above.
"Rats in Ruin" is taken from the album Nothing is Ideal, which is available for purchase HERE.
31 Days of Halloween:
Thursday Shudder dropped the new film The Mortuary Collection by Ryan Spindell. I wasn't expecting this one to be what it was at all. The Mortuary Collection is very much cut from the same cloth as Trick r' Treat, with a healthy dose of classic Spielberg. The music is swelling, majestic, and sometimes hammy, but only in the right places. Same with the story and acting, all around a knock out. If you're a Tim Burton fan, a Michael Dougherty fan, or a Neil Gaiman fan, this is for you:
1) Tales of Halloween: Sweet Tooth/The Wolf Man (1941)
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: Port Fourchon, Louisiana/Tales of Halloween: The Night Billy Raised Hell/Tales of Halloween: Trick
3) Mulholland Drive/Creepshow (1982): The Crate
4) Waxwork
5) Synchronic/Bad Hair
6) Dolls
7) Lovecraft Country Ep. 8/Tales of Halloween: The Weak and the Wicken/Tales of Halloween: The Grim Grinning Ghost
8) 976-Evil
9) Repo! The Genetic Opera
10) Firestarter/George A. Romero's Bruiser
11) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 1 & 2/Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
12) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 3, 4, and 5/House of 1000 Corpses
13) Masque of the Red Death/Creepshow (2019) Episode 7/Creepshow (1982)
14) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 6 and 7
15) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 8 and 9/Roseanne (88) season 2 and 3 Halloween Episodes
16) The Mortuary Collection/Roseanne (88) season 4 Halloween Episode
Also, yes, I am most definitely aware Roseanne is not a Horror film, however, their classic Halloween episodes from my youth fit perfectly into my 31 Days of Halloween, another reason I'm glad I modified the name and nature of this annual section. That season two Halloween special - the first the show did - is still a damn knock out, and I had not seen in since it aired in syndication way back in those original few years of the original show.
Playlist:
Type O Negative - October Rust
Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets
The Misfits - Static Age
The Misfits - Earth A.D.
Mastodon - Medium Rarities
Card:
Reminding me to take care of the trademark proceedings I began recently for The Horror Vision after finding out someone else started a podcast of the same name a year after we did.
Wake of a Nation EP out October 23rd, pre-order HERE.
31 Days of Halloween:
Last night's viewing was an unexpected one: Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera. It'd been probably six years since I saw this one last - I remember because that was a communal viewing in a cemetery with a shadow Cast! At any rate, I had to dig my DVD out of storage, but it was well worth it. I love this flick so much, especially Anthony Stewart Head's character. Here's one of my favorite scenes:
1) Tales of Halloween: Sweet Tooth/The Wolf Man (1941)
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: Port Fourchon, Louisiana/Tales of Halloween: The Night Billy Raised Hell/Tales of Halloween: Trick
3) Mulholland Drive/Creepshow (1982): The Crate
4) Waxwork
5) Synchronic/Bad Hair
6) Dolls
7) Lovecraft Country Ep. 8/Tales of Halloween: The Weak and the Wicken/Tales of Halloween: The Grim Grinning Ghost
8) 976-Evil
9) Repo! The Genetic Opera
Oh! And I did attempt to watch 976-Evil II, but within 30 minutes deemed it unwatchable. I do not believe this is Mr. Wynorski's fault; quite the contrary. Within the film there is an evident barren feeling due to what I would imagine is a limited budget and a complete misuse of the funds they did have. The sets are often barren, as with the hotel room George "Buck" Flower's Turrell finds himself in after being taken into protective custody by the police. I don't know if I'm simply still adjusting to having a 4K television and how it highlights shortcomings in older productions, but the sparse contributions by the Art Department, and the ridiculous explosions (a toilet? Really? You spent production money on an exploding potty?), combined with the limited lighting, made me feel as though I was watching this one through the view screen on a camcorder.
Also, the gratuitous Spike-with-Machine-Gun scene was just lame.
Read:
After I finished re-reading Clive Barker's iconic The Hellbound Heart, I picked up the Kindle edition of The Toll, a novella written by Mark Miller, who works with Mr. Barker at his production company, Seraphim.
From the author: "Hellraiser: The Toll is a novella that bridges the events of The Hellbound Heart and The Scarlet Gospels. We thought it would be fun to see what kinds of hell Pinhead had been raising before we saw him in The Gospels. In Clive's novel, there's mention of a lot of mayhem Pinhead has been getting into in preparation for his hostile takeover of Hell. So there was lots of room to dive into what exactly that mayhem might look like. And in that conversation between Clive and me, it seemed to make sense that he'd visit Kirsty and that he'd also want her to be a witness for him, since their fates are tied together.
"It's a short book, but Kirsty goes through a lot along the way. And we also get to see who she's become since her time with the legendary hell priest. I'd written for the comic, which was an incredible experience. And having worked so closely on Gospels, and also with Clive all these years, when he gave me his blessing to take them into the world of prose, I hit the ground running and never looked back. A lot like Kirsty in the story. But you'll have to read it to find out exactly what that means."
I liked The Toll, but I didn't love it. It's cool to see a literary sequel to the Hellraiser film, as opposed to a sequel to The Hellbound Heart. There are definite differences between the two, primarily that in Hellbound, Kirsty is not the daughter of Julia's husband, and he is not named Larry. Instead, Julia's bough is Rory, and Kirsty is merely a friend. Barker's original novella is, of course, well worthy of its iconic status, however, being that he wrote and directed the film, the book has always seemed to me a first pass at what he eventually perfected on camera.
How often does that happen, eh?
At any rate, I liked catching up with Kirsty, and I loved the story's utilization of the defunct Devil's Island prison as a gateway to The Wastes. That said, the story seemed a bit rushed and under realized, and I could have done with a more fleshed out Pinhead (pun intended), not the mostly perfunctory one we receive instead.
Either way, Barker's The Scarlet Gospels looms on my horizon. First though, I once again find myself in the mood for a Halloween-timed re-read of Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park.
Playlist:
We're in full Autumnal musical territory now:
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
Joy Division - Still
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
The Final Cut - Consumed
Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1
Naked Raygun - Raygun... Naked Raygun
Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park
Card:
The watery aspect of fire, or the ability (and experience) to know when to temper intellect with emotion. Also, clear insights and the fresh perspective of adopting the perspective of another and cutting your own head off long enough to truly experience that other perspective.
I'd never head of Night Club before when this track from their forthcoming album Die Die Lullaby showed up in my youtube feed. The aesthetic is obviously in my wheel house, so it caught my eye. After watching the video, I can say I dig the visuals but am unconvinced by the music. Still, might not be my thing exactly, but I was intrigued enough to google them, where I found Night Club did the music for a show I have never seen but K has been wanting to show me since we met, Moonbeam City. This put the band in my, "need to know more" category. In the meantime, if you're so inclined, pre-orders for the new album can be had HERE.
Love the close-up of the zombie hand clap, and the appropriation of the Brady Bunch squares.
31 Days of Horror:
Saturday night, K and I hit the Beyondfest David Lynch triple feature at the Mission Tiki Drive-in Movie Theatre. Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Lost Highway, however, we only stayed for the first two, the second of which ended about 12:30 AM and precipitated us returning to our hotel - a freakish experience in COVID times, let me tell you - in time to catch the Hal Holbrook-starring segment "The Crate", from 1982's Creepshow on some cable network's month of Halloween flix.
1) The Wolf Man
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: Port Fourchon, Louisiana
3) Mulholland Drive/Creepshow (1982): The Crate
4) Waxwork
Playlist:
X - Los Angeles
Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1
Misfits - Collection II
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Styx - Pieces of Eight
The Runaways - Queens of Noise
Kevin Ayers - The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories
Rupert Lally - Where the Dark Speaks
Card:
This could be a reference to the weird cycle I find myself in with writing at the moment - a cycle preventing me from doing much of it - or to the film I'm headed out to see tonight at Beyondfest's Mission Tiki Drive-In screening of Benson and Moorhead's Synchronic, which I'm thinking is a continuation of the world they began in Resolution and The Endless, and involved loops, reiterations, and cosmic comeuppance. Maybe it's both.
I think calling Rupert Lally's Where the Dark Speaks a 'Stephen King' tribute is both accurate and an understatement. In the notes for this record (which you can read in full HERE), Lally beautifully states, "Stephen King's books took me to places so vivid it seemed like I'd actually been there," and when you listen to the tracks on this record, the depths of Lally's travels into the Kingverse show. However, the record also completely stands on its own as a beautiful little slice of atmosphericic Heaven, perfect for October and the Halloween run-up.
But back to the King...
All the songs on Where the Dark Speaks are named after places from King novels - whether it's the Marsten House from Salem's Lot, the Overlook Hotel from The Shining, or, from a more recent novel, The Institute, from King's 2019 novel of the same name, these tracks submerge you in Lally's imagination's interpretation of King's work, and it's glorious!
Finally, look at that cover art, by Eric Adrian Lee - wow! Check out his website, too, for more glorious retro and wholly original visual landscapes.
New Meg Myers? Yes! Wow, Ms. Myers music just keeps getting more lush and interesting. This is obviously very produced, almost to the point that it sounds like a pop queen's record, except her song writing continues along a track that puts her as a natural heir to the lineage that Kate Bush began and Tori Amos continued. Image that: a pop Kate Bush. Actually, as luck would have it, we don't have to imagine it, because here it is.
Pre-order the new album out November 11th on Sumerian Records HERE.
News:
Being that I run a small business, really a micro business at this point, I'll always use this space to promote what The Horror Vision/THV Press is up to. Most recently, I've branched out into THV as a boutique record label. That's right. There is some new music on the horizon, but first up, I've finally taken steps to get the albums I did with Darkness Brings the Cold onto streaming platforms. First up, Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1 is now on all streaming platforms. Here's a link to Apple Musicand I've updated the widgets on the right hand side of this page with a Spotify widget.
Watch:
Thursday night was a HUGE event viewing night for K and I. We started with the Raised By Wolves Season One Finale. This is now one of my favorite shows going, as it is absolutely unlike anything I have ever seen before. Also, I once again have a teeny tiny sneaking suspicion this may end up tying into the Prometheus/Alien Universe. It doesn't matter if it does or not - hell, at this point, I'd overall probably rather it didn't. But either way, I love this show. Here's the opening credit sequence, with music by Ben Frost, who I am thrilled to see moving on from scoring Netflix's Dark to something as high profile as this.
After Raised By Wolves, we changed it up and did the South Park Pandemic Special. South Park is often hit or miss with me, and I'm not a die hard. Season 19 - the introduction of PC Principal was one of the most genius satires I've ever seen, and this special is right up near it. Maybe I just really needed to laugh, but there was one scene that I honestly believe made me laugh harder than I have ever laughed before. It felt GOOD.
Here's the opening musical number, I Love You Social Distancing, which I guess could kind of be a theme song for this blog:
31 Days of Halloween:
Also over the last two nights, we started our 31 Days of Halloween ritual, month-long viewing. This year, I thought I'd work in as many short films as I could, and as such, it occurred to me to finally take care of a little unfinished business.
I've watched The October Society's Tales of Halloween several times now and never taken to it, and just seems completely insane to me because I love pretty much every director who had a hand in making this anthology. So to kick the first two nights off this year, we began taking one or two shorts a night, as kind of a throwback to old school theater experiences, where cartoons or serialized pulp adventures would precede the feature. First up then was David Parker's Sweet Tooth on Thursday, with Adam Gierasch's Trick and my favorite thus far, Darren Lynn Bousman's The Night Billy Raised Hell.
Moving on to features, we capped Thursday with George Waggner's original, 1941 The Wolf Man. A perfect film to kick off this year's October viewing, especially with a full moon that night (and another coming on the 31st; oh 2020, what sights you have to show us).
Friday was a half day from work, and I continued the 31 Days with an afternoon viewing of Stuart Gordon's From Beyond. I had no idea this was coming to Shudder, so the moment I saw it in the Just Added section, I hit play. This one is even better than I remembered it - first and only viewing was quite some time ago - like maybe 20 years. From Beyond is a practical FX extravaganza, and Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree, and Ted Sorel act their asses off!
Next, HULU premiered their new series Monsterland on Friday. I know I've talked about this in these pages ad nauseam, but now that it's here, I'm overjoyed. Monsterland is, of course, an adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud's first collection of short stories, North American Lake Monsters. I've been waiting for this one since I got to meet Babak Anvari, the Director of Annapurna Pictures' first adaptation of Mr. Ballingrud's novella The Visible Filth, 2019's Wounds, at Scream Fest last year.During my brief discourse with Mr. Anvari - super nice chap, btw - we geeked out over Ballingrud's writing and he excitedly mentioned this series was en route.
The first episode, Port Fourchon, Louisiana, adapts the first story in the book, You Go Where it Takes You. I really think Bloody Disgusting/Fangoria writer Megan Navarro drove the proverbial nail in the palm when she wrote of the show, "... cuts straight to the heart of the human condition and at its ugliest and most hopeless. It's not the monsters that provide the horror here, but humanity." (Full article HERE). This is definitely a downbeat, philosophically reflection on humanity and the corners we like to paint ourselves into.
Let's start the count:
1) The Wolf Man
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: Port Fourchon, Louisiana
Playlist:
Deftones - Ohms
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Sepultura - Quadra
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (digipak)
The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1
Also, I spent a lot of time updating my All Hallows Playlist and adding it to Spotify. Here's a link:
Being that I'm more of a Frank Black/Black Francis fan than a Pixies fan - though that wasn't always the case and really, I love both so it's kind of splitting hairs - their ongoing reunion has been bittersweet to me. Bitter, because I would love to hear another Black Francis/Grand Duchy/Frank Black (with or without The Catholics), but instead most of the previous decade has been a continuous run of new Pixies material. Which is also great, although I've received each album in different degrees of infatuation. The first one back, Indie Cindy, is a perfect return. I love it absolutely. Head Carrier and Beneath the Eyrie have required a bit more of a loving curve, but thanks to Mr. Brown, I dig both - although I haven't had enough of a Pixies binge in a while to really get to know either album like I do the others. Now we have a new 12" and the first 'single' I absolutely LOVE. So bring it on guys (and gal), I'm ready for whatever you have coming.
But I'd still love to get a new album from Mr. Black sometime soon.
Read:
I finally made it around to reading The Autumnal #1 from Vault Comics. Written by Daniel Kraus, with art by Chris Shehan, this is another one of those books, like The Plot and Black Stars Above, that has helped define Vault as the destination for Indie Horror Comics.
Now, those are non-consecutive pages. I just wanted to give you a feel for the art and the characters, both of which I absolutely love so far. Kat Somerville and her daughter Sybil remind me a lot of people that would know the family from The Devil's Candy, another family set I adore. Maybe it's because I've chosen not to reproduce that I love seeing stoner families who love one another and set a good example.
Playlist:
Deftones - Ohms
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Mastodon - Medium Rarities
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
The Blues Brothers - Briefcase Full of Blues
Black Pumas - Eponymous
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
Bob Mould - Blue Hearts
Alice in Chains - Sap
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Concrete Blonde - Eponymous
OGRE Sound - A Field Recordist's Guide to Summoning Lesser Demons
Portishead - Third
The Devils Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Pixies - Hear Me Out (single)
Card:
Spontaneity and Enthusiasm. Two attributes to contemplate this week as I shift into the second Act of the second Shadow Play book.
Fuck yes! I'm loving these new songs. These plus "Baphomet", whick K and I heard the band premiere live at the Roxy two years ago now, are going to make for a great new set of tunes.
Watch:
I'll be driving out to Montclair this evening for the Premier of Brandon Cronenberg's new film Possessor, and in celebration of that, last night I rewatched his first film AntiViral.
There is no other film out there like this film. It's a fucking masterpiece, and so much closer to reality than I can believe. However, I remember thinking the same thing when I watched it eight years ago, and since we haven't progressed into this future anymore in that time, I'd have to say Antiviral feels almost like an alternate timeline Earth, albeit one that really brushes up against ours.
Playlist:
The Veils - Total Depravity
The Thirsty Crows - Hangman's Noose
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - The Valley (pre-release single)
Zeal and Ardor - Tuskegee (pre-release single)
Ozzy Osbourne - The Blizzard of Ozz
Also, I don't want to sound like I'm kneeling before the algorithm, but this week's Apple Music "Favorites Mix" based on my listening turned out pretty sweet. I spent a good deal of time the last two days with Audible's Sandman adaptation - yes, I'm going through it very slowly to make it last, however, once I hit The Doll's House - my favorite Sandman story and one of my favorite stories ever regardless - I've been unable to get it out of my head.
here's that mix:
Card:
A nice inclination for my first night out in the world since this entire 2020 fiasco began. I can't pretend I haven't become a little agoraphobic again, and driving 54 miles out to spend an evening in a drive-in theature, while inherently awesome sounded, fills me with a small modicum of dread. Here's to holding this card's image in my head all day and using it to sooth any 'rough patches.'
I had no idea we were getting a new Sepultura album this year! Of course, that's probably because for the most part, the band's been off my radar since, well, since 1993's MASTERPIECE Chaos A.D. While I never took a side in the schism between Max Cavalera and the rest of the band because I didn't follow it that closely, Sepultura lost me with Roots, which has some amazing tracks on it - even korn-boy couldn't sully that track with Patton it - but overall felt like a sinking ship. NOTE: Many people have told me to give Roots another chance, and I suppose now's as good a time as any, what with this new track completely blowing my mind. The new album, Quadra, is available now from Nuclear Blast Records.
Read:
Dipping back into The Hellbound Heart, and I'm completely smitten with it. My love of Barker is stronger this year than it's been in a while, and revisiting this one on the heel of rewatching the first three movies several times over the few years, I find myself very interested in his adaptation process.
Look at Barker's original cover art; this should have never been changed. I'm currently reading this one on Kindle, but I'll have to keep an eye out for a copy of the original.
Playlist:
Angel Witch - '82 Revisited
Dance With the Dead - Near Dark
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (digipak)
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine - White People and the Damage Done
Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power
Isaac Hayes - The Isaac Hayes Movement
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Sepultura - Quadra
Gloom Balloon - All My Feelings for You (single)
John Carpenter - Skeleton/Unclean Spirit (single)
Blueneck - Repetitions Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours
Uniform - Shame
Card:
Different deck, same card as my last draw. I suppose this underlines my explanation from the nineteenth, however, today was a fairly productive day, as I clocked several hours of solid writing time on Shadow Play, Book Two. This is what I always have to remind myself when I start something this big - the Flow will only come if you wait through the off times. Day one might suck; day two might suck; day three might suck, but it won't suck as bad. Then, before you know it, the polarity reverses and the Work gets better and easier, more rewarding. But you have to hammer through the Strife.
One week until the new Deftones Ohms drops! This video premiered last night - I'm putting it here for posterity's sake, and to pass along my excitement at having a new Deftones record on the immediate horizon, however, I won't be watching or listening to the track until I have sat and absorbed the full album. I'm planning on doing a full release event next week, which sounds bigger than it will be. Just me, a bowl of green, and the new record for at least one full spin, my attention undivided. Can't wait!
Watch:
I can hardly believe it's already time for me to re-subscribe to Disney+ for the new season of The Mandalorian. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Playlist:
Cibo Matto - Stereotype A
Cibo Matto - Viva! La Woman
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Zola Jesus - The Spoils
Zola Jesus - Stridulum
Ghost - Meliora
Ghost - Prequelle
Repugnant - Epitome of Darkness
Mastodon - Medium Rarities
Mastodon - Leviathan
X - Under the Big Black Sun
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Angelo Badalamenti/Various - Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series OST
Card:
Self-control and balance, two things I'm sorely lacking at the moment. Things keep coming apart, and my attention span has been f*&ked! I'm going to try and remedy that this weekend. There's so much not getting done!
Another track from the upcoming eight album by The Ocean. Love this video, and love the song. The Ocean is still one of the bands that carry the metal through the 00s for me, and one that still feels as though they are reaching to continually change the landscape of the genre.
The new album, Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic I Cenozoic is out on September 25. Pre-order HERE.
NCBD
Not a lot of books this week, but one, in particular, I've been waiting for his Dead Day #3.
I know I've talked a lot about this one lately, but it's worth the hype. I am also aware that for someone who has, consistently for the last nearly two decades, endlessly recited a speech that contains, "Zombies are a dead scene, man," and, "First three Romeros and a couple others are all that matters," I've been logging a lot of excitement for quite a few new zombie books/movies/comics. Well, I guess there's more on heaven and earth than dreamt of in my philosophy, at least when it comes to zombies.
Playlist
Slipknot - Subliminal Verses
Kendrick Lamar - Damn.
The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Paleozoic
Code Orange - Underneath
Electric Wizard - Let Us Prey
Turquoise Moon - The Sunset City
Card
Healing and compassion, two things I'm currently working on.
Wow. This just blew me right the F&*K away. This year's Underneath is already on the shortlist to be on my top ten albums of 2020, this perfect cover of Alice in Chains' immortal 'Down in a Hole' may just put the newly released Under the Skin live album on that list, as well.
This is one of those songs I can't hear without a slew of emotions, thoughts, and sensations from high school coming flooding back. That kind of emotion juxtaposition usually doesn't translate to covers. That is definitely not the case with this one.
Read:
Two stories from finishing Nathan Ballingrud's debut short story collection, North American Lake Monsters, I jumped into Stephen Graham Jones' Night of the Mannequins. I read the thing in a few hours and absolutely loved it. Funny, freaky, weird, hilarious, spooky, confounding. All of the above. This is a slasher novel that is not anywhere close to being what you would ever expect from a slasher story. Highest possible recommendation, especially since you can probably knock it out in a day. Perfect summer reading.
Night of the Mannequins is $3.99 on Kindle right now, and worth every goddamn penny!
Next, as I savor these last few stories in Lake Monsters, I'm probably going to start a long-overdue re-read of Clive Barker's iconic The Hellbound Heart.
Playlist:
Doves - The Universal Want
Earth - Primitive and Deadly
X - Los Angeles
Steely Dan - Aja
Mudhoney - March to Fuzz
Electric Wizard - Black Masses
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
CARD:
Getting back up on my writing legs after a fairly successful weekend that proved my new outline method will make writing these next two Shadow Play books considerably easier than the first.
I missed the pre-order on the vinyl for Atonement and now I'm kicking myself. Regardless, the entire album is fantastic, and I can't recommend a band more at this stage in their career. Support Exhalants HERE.
My good friend Grez reminded me that the new Doves album dropped yesterday, a fact I had completely forgotten. When I crawled out of bed this morning and sat down to write this post, I threw on my headphones and dug in. So far, fantastic album, but of course those who know Doves would expect no less. Here's one of my favorite tracks, so far, although it was difficult to choose.
READ:
I finally got around to working through the stack of comics I picked up from both The Comic Bug and Atomic Basement two weeks ago. On that pile was the second issue of Ryan Parrott and Evgeniy Bornyakov's Dead Day, published by Aftershock Comics.
In prepping to read issue two, I went back and re-read issue one, realizing I'd completely forgotten how awesome this book is! Basic set up is every year for the last four years, dead people - not all dead people, no one knows who or why exactly - return from the grave and visit the loved ones they left behind. Well, as the story is showing us, some also visit those who wronged them.
There felt like a considerable gap between issues 1 and 2, so here's to hoping that won't be the case with issue 3, which is currently scheduled for this coming week, 9/16.
Playlist:
Contours - 20th Century Masters
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Melvins - Houdini
Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
Fen - Dustwalker
Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Kensonlovers - Keep Rolling (single)
Jaye Jayle - Prisyn
Exhalants - Atonement
Code Orange - Down in a Hole (single)
Code Orange - Underneath
X - Los Angeles
Card:
I wanted to do a full spread this morning, as it has been quite some time since I'd done one of these.
Starting with 0 The Fool, this spread lays out a slightly tumultuous path that includes overthrowing current paradigms and fighting through self-doubt toward a new idea that will help define the subject.
New music from All Them Witches on this wonderful first day of a three-day weekend. New album Nothing As The Ideal dropped yesterday, order it HERE.
Watch:
Originally, I had no intention of watching the new Ridley Scott produced Raised By Wolves.
After Mr. Scott decided Michael Fassbender's android character David
was now the focal point of the Alien franchise - a decision that would
not have bothered me had Scott not bizarrely used it as a reason to kill ALL the Engineers off camera* - the trailer for Raised By Wolves
looked like he was now doubling down on his android fascination,
deciding to make something new and wholly apart from Alien that only
focused on those white-goo filled humanoids.
I mean, David, Bishop, Ash - the androids are all great characters, filled with weird amoral dilemmas, but they're not that cool, right? I mean, cooler than the Engineers, the god-like creators of the Xenomorph and, um, EARTH? No.
However, then I began to
think, what if Raised By Wolves does end of tying in? I've always
regretted the fact that the marketing for Prometheus gave away the
connection to Alien before the movie even opened. I mean, imagine having gone to see this new Ridley Scott Sci Fi movie in the theatre, getting to the
end, and seeing it suddenly connect as a surprise? It would have been
one of the best theatrical experiences ever! Robbed of that, what if Mr.
Scott had a new opportunity to do the same thing and took it, only this
time as a top tier HBO series?
Well, after watching the first two of the three episodes that dropped this week, I'm pretty sure Wolves will not tie in to Alien. However, it's pretty damn good. Also, it's not a Scott creation. This is the brainchild of Aaron Guzikowski, who also wrote one of my favorite films of the previous decade, the Denise Villeneuve-directed Prisoners. Keeping that in mind, after two episodes, I'm all in.
Playlist:
Zeal and Ardor - I Can't Breath (pre-release single)
Zeal and Ardor - Vigil (pre-release single)
The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Nirvana - Nevermind
Card:
Whenever I draw the Ace of Disks now, I draw a clarifying card, because somehow, this one has becomes slightly bent, which physically increases the chance that it is the card I will cut the deck at. I don't want to completely disregard it; also, my preference previous to beginning these daily pulls was always to do at least a three-card spread, however, as the meme goes, ain't nobody got time for that.
Four of Wands, Completion. Two solid cards, one vested in Material or Earthly matters, one in aspects of Will. What do they tell me when taken together?
As is my wont, I interpret pretty much everything in these daily draws as relating to my work as a writer. If I ever need anything outside of that, I draw separately and don't mention it here. Keeping this in mind, I believe my plan for the day should be to finish my most recent query letter on Murder Virus before I dip back into Shadow Play, and send it out. I've stalled on everything of late, mostly because I've slipped or herniated a disc in my back and am more or less in continuous pain, which has affected my mood, which in turn has made me quite lethargic. Need to get over that.
Not sure anything could have made me happier than finding out that Mike Doughty has a new project named Ghost of Vroom. Doughty's solo career is great, but I've kind of always had trouble getting past the dissolution of Soul Coughing, a band I would count as one of the most influential bands of my young adult era. Being that Ghost of Vroom feels more like it's in that particular wheelhouse, I bonded with Rona Pollona pretty much immediately. Also, what a great concept for a music video!
The EP, Ghost of Vroom 2, drops on mod y vi records this month, and was produced by Mario Caldato, Jr., better known as former Beastie Boys DJ/Producer Mario C.!
Finally got to watch Frank Sabatella's The Shed. I really dug this one. It seemed like a love letter to Fright Night, without directly taking anything from it. Can't wait to see what Mr. Sabatella does next!
I just posted the trailer for this one a few days back, so instead, here's an awesome poster! The Shed is steaming on Shudder right now, go check it out!
Have to say, recently, there's been more than a few stories - movies, comics, books - that have made serious inroads in updating the zombie mythos, which is exactly what The Shed does for vampires, simply by going full-in on the classic Vamp lore. Nothing new here, except a new approach to handling the old bloodsucker tropes. Maybe others will follow suit?
Playlist:
Anioma - Necropolis
Faith No More - Angel Dust
The Clash - Combat Rock
Ghost of Vroom - Rona Pollona (pre-release single)
Another song from the forthcoming first solo album from former Dillinger Escape Plan/current Black Queen frontman Greg Puciato. Child Soldier: Creator of God is out October 23rd, you can pre-order it HERE.
Watch:
Saturday night, K and I checked off a box and watched Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland. Man, I remembered this one being way better than it is. While it's hard to fault any slasher that uses a garbage truck for its first kill, Teenage Wasteland is mildly entertaining, but essentially little more than a perfunctory set-up to deliver a series of mostly uninspired kills.
Yeah, it kinda all goes downhill after the garbage truck.
Friday, we did John Wick 3, and I continue to be amazed at how much I like these movies. The location scouting is unbelievable, and everything in the series, from the costumes, to the lighting, to the choreography, only helps establish a very unique and opulent atmosphere for unparralleled levels of violence to unfold within. Hell, not even Halle Berry - who is almost always a "No" for me, did a fairly good job.
Playlist:
X - Los Angeles
The Clash - London Calling
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
The Babies - Eponymous
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
Boy Harsher - Careful
Brand New - God and the Devil are Raging Inside Me
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
X - Wild Gift
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Ainoma - Manhunter
Ainoma - Necropolis
Card:
Referencing the importance of maintaining a clear head, especially when confronted with or analyzing former setbacks. This is a huge nod toward my thought process this morning in the car, where I kind of went over a previous project I'd let wane due to a reluctance on my part to bond with what I and a collaborator had come up with for an entry point to the story. Tossing that key point aside, respectfully, I think I have a much better idea. I just need to be careful how I explain that to the collaborator.
Yes please! Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou have a collaborative album coming from Sacred Bones, dropping on - how perfect - October 30th. You can pre-order May Our Chambers Be FullHERE.
**
NCBD today. It's been a few weeks since I've been in to collect my books, so I'm really going to try and make it in today.
First up is the second issue of Aftershock's Dead Day. It's been a minute since issue #1, so I'll no doubt re-read that first. As I'm sure I've said here a thousand times, I'm generally pretty exhausted with the Zombie genre, however, every once in a while something new comes along that gives it a fresh spin. This book appears to be doing just that.
Gideon Falls #24 - speaking of re-reading older issues, I really need to find the time to go back and start Gideon Falls over from the beginning. I'm keeping up with the story month to month just fine, however, I'd really like to experience everything thus far in a tight burst; this book is so freakin' out there, I really want to let its odd narrative wash over me and see what more I get out of it.
The second issue of Simon Furman and Guido Guidi's newest chapter in the Transformers original comic Universe that started in the 80s at Marvel hit the stands today, and already has me panting - look at that cover! Shockwave vs. Grimlock? I don't geek out over much that holds this beloved brand's name anymore, but these guys are definitely my window into that world.
Holy cow! Dorthia from Windhand has a new band with Gina Gleason from Baroness? Count me in!
**
I was pleasantly surprised by not one but two movies yesterday. First up, We Summon the Darkness, which I'd originally blogged about my plans to rent a few months back when it first premiered on VOD. That never ended up happening, and the flick fell off my radar until Jonathan Grimm alerted me to the fact that it hit Netflix recently.
This flick is 100% worth your time. I loved it; yes I saw a big WTF moment coming a mile away, but I think the filmmakers knew most folks would and added an extra little twist that I did not. Plus, who cares about twists when the characters, setting, mood, and overall layout of the film is this fun. We Summon the Darkness is a really good time that doesn't take itself too serious and knows how to get down and dirty in the mud and blood with Satan!
Next up, Host on Shudder. This is a 56 minute flick that was filmed during COVID shelter-in-place on Zoom.
Yes, that's right. On Zoom. I know what you're thinking; stop thinking it. This one's scary as hell and quite a good time.
Granted, I watched Host in my ideal setting: alone, stoned, with all the lights off and totally focused on the film. It's 56 minute runtime helped in that, because these days an uninterrupted movie is almost an impossibility.
**
Playlist:
Santogold - Eponymous
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
JK Flesh - Depersonalization
X- Under the Big Black Sun
X - Los Angeles
Dead Swords - Enders
Iress - Prey
Iress - Flaw (pre-release singles)
Card:
Back to the Raven Deck for this morning's Pull:
Old rules reassessed and rewritten? Or get off your lazy ass? I did a fair amount of work getting back into the sequels for Shadow Play over this past weekend. Not a lot of writing; mostly digging in and re-reading the bible for the series, plus the copious amount of notes I have on it. Feels good. That said, the Tower pops up to remind me that although I told myself I would send a query letter a day, it's been at least three days since I actually have, so I need to get back on that ASAP.
