Showing posts with label The Dark Tower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Dark Tower. Show all posts

Friday, April 17, 2026

Tom Waits & Massive Attack! 'Nuff Said!!


Tom Waits and Massive Attack??? Holy Christos - this is... wow. Just wow. 

No idea if this is harbinger to a full collaborative album. Most likely, Waits is on one track from the previously hinted at new Massive Attack album. Either way, listening to this on headphones while I type, this feels like balm for my soul.

You can read more about this single HERE.



Watch:

I finally had the chance to sit down and watch Steven Kostanski's reimagining of Roger Corman's Deathstalker. Not to dismiss a Corman flick from the 80s, but Kostanski's film renders the original irrelevant - especially with how goddamn hung up it is on SA.


The FX here are, as one would expect, top-notch. There are images in this film that unearthed shit from my imagination that must go back to early childhood. In particular, the red "licorice" armor guys. Coppola's Dracula in his wolf armor tickled this same nerve, too, but the feeling I get from Kostanski's work is vestigial. Add to this the surreal touches and odd humor he instills in everything, and we have us a winner.




Read:

About a third of the way through Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three, and it's even better than I remember it being.


"...but it was too late - they were tumbling backward thorugh that doorway, and the droning hum of New York City at night, so familiar and constant you never even heard it unless it wasn;t there anymore, was replaced by the grinding sound of the waves and the grating, questioning voices of dimly seen horrors crawling to and fro on the beach."

In my original discovery of these books, I think the "real world" of the titular three's world (our world) felt like a left turn when I read this, and of course, the year I read this, Wastelands came out, and that book has remained my favorite of the DT books since. Reading book two again now, I'm floored by how this hits the ground running. The whole beach/lobstrosity sequence ("Dad-a-chack? Did-a-chick? Drum-a-chum?") has stayed with me since that first read, and it's every bit as effective now, but the Eddie Dean on the airplane stuff is pure page-turning goodness. I can't wait to get deeper into this one, and the series in general. This is the reread I've been planning for years, and I'm jazzed about doing it now. 




Playlist:

Zombi - Shape Shift
Steve Moore - VFW OST
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Atticus Derrickson - Black Phone 2 OST
Plague Bringer - As the Ghosts Collect, the Corpses Rest
Corrosion of Conformity - Good God/Baad Man
Steeve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
sunn O))) - Loser
Blackbraid - Celestial Womb EP
Massive Attack & Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground (single)
Nine Inch Noize




Card:

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


• Nine of Swords
• XI: Justice (Lust in Thoth)
• Eight of Wands

Nine of Swords = deception. Eleven here is Justice, a primordial urge we lust for in 2026, fighting against the tyrannical mega corporations that define our increasingly suffocating existence. But wait - there's a way out. But it's a formidable act of Will, and not easily achieved from within the belly of this giant, dying machine called society that's bleeding out and drowning us in its blood. 

Monday, April 6, 2026

Beyond Chicago!!!


I am LOVING this new sunn O))) record! Something about the big, thick sonic slabs that these guys' music on vinyl produces as it leaks like scorched engine oil from my speakers and spreads out over everything around it! I had to leave my record player behind for a few days to drive up to Chicago, but that's not killing the absolute joy this release has left me with.




Watch:


What a F*cking Weekend!

Beyondfest's Beyond Chicago turned out to be a blast from start to finish! Here's what I saw and what I thought:

Friday, 4/03:


I knew nothing about Writer Derek Kolstad's Normal going in other than Bob Odenkirk was in it. I can vouch for the trailer above - it does not ruin any of the surprises. Still better to avoid trailers, but I post them here for posterity anyway, so if you need a little bit of a whetting, this should do it. Especially when I confirm that this flick is every bit as action-packed, clever and funny as it looks. I'm a moderate fan of both Kolstad's John Wick flicks and his other Odenkirk-collaborations Nobody, but this? This I fucking LOVE! 

Saturday, 4/04:  


Not sure I am qualified to make this statement, because I'm definitely not the most versed person in the history of Martial Arts flicks, but still, I feel okay speculating that Kenji Tanigaki's The Furious might have the most ambitious fight choreography ever filmed. This flick is a FIREBALL; The Furious sets up quick and then takes off and never gives the audience a breath. No exhales, just a straight line of amazingly choreographed (and oddly mostly non-lethal) violence for most of the movie's runtime. 

Absolutely GLORIOUS!!!

Sunday, 4/05: 


A double feature of David Kittredge's new documentary, Boorman and the Devil, and the film it discusses, the oft-maligned Exorcist II: The Heretic. 


I'd never seen The Heretic before. I'd always heard it was "awful," but honestly, that wouldn't stop me. Really, this one has always kind of been in short supply, and also, as one of the few films that actually scares me, I just never thought The Exorcist needed a sequel. Combine that with my vitriol for part 3, and I've spent my life avoiding this one. But how, oh how dear reader, could I pass up seeing this on Easter Sunday? 

Seeing Kittredge's documentary gave me so much context for finally seeing The Exorcist II; not just how Sir John Boorman ended up directing it, or why the studio went in such a unique direction with the sequel to one of the most successful films ever up to that point, but also, Boorman's often ignored place in "New Hollywood" and how this film fit into that era. 

Excellent documentary that I would recommend to everyone, regardless of how you feel about the sequel. And I can say that because I did not love The Heretic. Again, Kittredge's film gave me the context to appreciate a lot about Boorman's film, but my major hang-up was Richard Burton, and he was a major hang-up. I won't be disrespectful, but I can tell you that, as much as I loathe George C. Scott's performance in part 3, I dislike Burton's more

Didn't think that would be possible.

As a whole, however, I'll take The Heretic any day over Legion. Any day. With The Exorcist II, John Boorman created a truly unique film, and I respect the hell out of his vision, even if the end result doesn't turn out to be super palatable. 




Read:

I finished Stephen King's original The Gunslinger in just three days. An unbelievably wonderful experience, re-reading this for the first time in over twenty years, opening the exact copy I acquired circa 1990, the large grain of the paper it's printed on in and of itself a beautiful, evocative memory.


Before moving on to The Drawing of the Three, I realized that I have had Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King's Magnum Opus on my shelf since it was published in the early 00s, and I've never read it!


So, after finishing The Gunslinger, I opened Vincent's book for the first time with the idea that after every one of King's installments in the Dark Tower series, I would read the corresponding chapter in Vincent's book.




Playlist:

Bakermat - The Ringmaster
Mascara - Going Postal
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy
Jozef Van Wissem - Praise Shall Sound From Shore to Sea
Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Idles - Crawler
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Boston - Eponymous
Dead Maus - Random Album Title
Firewater - Gett Off the Cross... We Need The Wood For The Fire
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Cop Shoot Cop - Release
Corrosion of Conformity - Good God/Baad Man
Flying Lotus - Yasuke
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles




Card:

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


• 8 of Discs - Prudence
• XVIII: The Moon
• 2 of Disks - Change

Lots of Earthly concerns and the neurosis they conceal. Diligence, balance and a keen eye so as not to be caught unaware by my own shortcomings. Already sussed this out a few days back, so I'll take this spread as confirmation.

Monday, March 30, 2026

Cleopatra's Comet


I was unfamiliar with Nova Twins until I saw Kirill Sokolov's They Will Kill You last Thursday and then again yesterday afternoon. This song is in that movie, and just like Sokolov's film, the track makes an impression. 




Watch:

Rewatched Night of the Comet the other night. Here's one of the original tv spots from 1984:
 
I didn't see this film until somewhere around 2009 or 2010. In fact, I didn't remember ever even hearing of it before then. It's not my favorite of these kind of flicks from the 80s, but it's nostalgic and pretty fun, so while it's not a film I will revisit often, I did add it to the collection just to have it in the library.




Read:

It has begun! Yesterday I read the first section in the 1990 edition of Stephen King's The Gunslinger, which I've had since '91. I LOVE this series, this book and this edition. The paintings by Michael Whelon are, like most of his paintings, phenomenal.


I don't think I've read this particular King novel since before the fifth Dark Tower book, The Wolves of Calla, came out in 2003. Twenty-three years!!! Up until this point, I made it a habit to reread every book in the series as new ones came out, and after 1997's Wizard and the Glass, there was the interminable gap during which time King convalesced after being hit by a van in 1999. I remember those days - scary times, fearing for both King's life and the idea that we might never get more Dark Tower books. After his recovery and eventual return to the series, the final three came fairly quickly, with Wolves in 2003, Song of Susannah hitting shelves in June 2004, and The Dark Tower following hot on its heels in September 2004. So this reread is a big deal for me, something I've wanted to do for years.  




Playlist:

Windhand - Epoymous
Witchfinder - Hazy Rites
MadLove - White With Foam
High on Fire - Electric Messiah
sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks
Daydream Twins - Solstice For Embodiment
The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses
Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow
Crystal Castles - II
Jozef Can Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil
Dead Man's Bones - Eponymous
sunn O))) - Metta, Benevolence BBC6 Live: On the Invitatin of Mary Anne Hobbs
Slow Crush - Thirst
Nova Twins - Supernova
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast




Card:

I'm tired, so I'm setting aside Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot (which you can buy HERE) and pulling a single card from the Thoth deck.


Turning the intangible into a consumable form. I guess that's pretty much what I do as a writer, and I've had four good days of writing in a row. Also though, I've been on a mission to write down my dreams for the last two weeks, so there's another example. 

Monday, February 9, 2026

You Absolutely Know More Than I Know


From John Cale's 1974 masterpiece Fear. Cale's delivery in this song is haunting - it's both sarcastic and filled with a tired sense of surrender. Feels appropriate when looking at world leadership from a private citizen's perspective.




Read:

Somewhere around 2008 I read Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman. I loved about half of that book and didn't care for the other half. No way of knowing if it was the King half I loved, but I'm guessing that, although you probably can't separate a collaboration like this into two completely self-contained 'halves,' that's probably close. Because of this, I never got around to cracking open the copy of 2011's sequel, Black House, and I just kind of forgot about these books. I love King, but I'm nowhere near what I'd call a completist with the man's work. Not because I wouldn't like to be, just because I don't have that much time in my life for his insanely prolific output!

Fast forward to last year, when I picked up a hardcover copy of The Talisman at a thrift store with the intention of sitting down for a re-read. It's not the original cover, but the 2001 edition:


Fast forward to earlier this year, and an article went around the internet where King talked about how the current book he was working on - a third and final book in the Talisman series - might be his last. Then, a few days ago, the press announcement hit for Other Worlds Than These - that third and final Talisman novel. You can read more about that over on the delightful Stephen King fan site Lilja's Library HERE. One thing King talks about here, is how this also ties up the Dark Tower's Mid-World, which King says, "...was always the Territories by another name."


Holy f*ck am I excited!!!

Apparently, although Straub passed away in 2022, the core idea of this one comes from him, and it's certainly nice to see his name on the third and final chapter. That's Stephen King, though. All around great human being. 

Also, the title for the new book comes directly from the very first Dark Tower novel, when Jake Chambers falls to his death and tells Roland, "Go then, there are other worlds than these." 


In some ways, this is one of the most influential and magical literary quotes that I've ever encountered in my life. I read The Gunslinger for the first time way back in early High School, when I found the trade paperback edition with Michael Whelan's gorgeous art in it at the school library. This was early enough in the series that I was able to go to my local public library and find Book Two: The Drawing of the Three (also with Whelan's art) and then wait with bated breath for the third book to come out about a year later. I've toyed with the idea of rereading the Dark Tower books for some time, as while I reread 1 and 2 when 3 came out and then reread 1, 2 and 3 when 4 came out, that cycle of rereading stopped when 5 came out, and I did 1, 2, 3 and 4 in preparation. Of course, due to the years-long hiatus King needfully took on the series after being struck by a car (those were dark years where many of us feared we would never get an end to the series), so 5, 6, and 7 I've only read once, as they came out. Will I have time to do that before I read Other Worlds Than These? Well... maybe. Scheduled for release on October 6, it's not out of the question. First, I'll start with The Talisman and Black House. 

This pushes a bunch of planned reading for the year back, but that's fine. This feels BIG, and I want to be in on it for the full ride, even if just to properly celebrate King and Straub's legacy.




NCBD Addendum:

I'm sure anyone who keeps up with this page could have guessed this would happen, but I finally broke down and picked up Absolute Batman. In a true old-school maneuver, I grabbed the just-released Absolute Batman Volume 2: Abomination, choosing to jump in without the first arc's setup, much like buying comics off the stand in the 80s, before the proliferation of the write-for-the-trade paradigm. After reading this, I can say is, okay. Now I get it.


It's all about the BIG picture with this book, which is a plus for a Batman book. Nothing against the story of the week feel of the current Fraction and Jimenez run at all - that feels refreshing, too. But in my eyes, Snyder's Absolute Batman's strength seems to be building toward one big story and it has a lot of interesting elements to the setup that make me rabidly curious. 

- Pennyworth's constant references to "The War."
- Ark M as a blacksite just off the coast of Gotham, the surface-level construction hiding something dark and massive underneath. Also, the fact that this Ark M is literally "Ark: M," which I take to mean number thirteen in a proliferation of similar sites around the globe. 
- Genetically engineered snow dropped on the population to ready them for something nefarious
- Doctor Arkham turning men into monsters for purposes as yet unknown.

And of course, all that ties directly into that 16th issue that introduced this Universe's version of Joker - an ageless Billionaire with a butler, a cave beneath his mansion, and a stranglehold on the globe via economic, military and political posturing achieved over his inhumanly long life.

So yeah, reminder to self that sometimes the hype is earned. So that's two Absolute books I've converted to following in trade over the last month. Absolute WW is still the better book, but this one's intriguing as all get out, and combined they have me wondering if, despite my longstanding loathing of Superman as a character, I should check that one out as well. 

... And that 100% dovetails with something that happened to me/occurred to me shortly after typing the above paragraphs. Something I'll talk more about in Wednesday's post.




Playlist:

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow
Mountain Realm - Tribal Alliance
Darkswoon - Thread (single)
The Chameleons - Strange Times
Plague Bringer - As the Ghosts Collect, the Corpses Rest
(Lone) Wolf & Cub - May You Only See Sky
Canadia Rifle - Peaceful Death
Drain - ... Is Your Friend
Exhalants - Eponymous
Slow Crush - Thirst
Various - 85 Seconds Playlist
sunn O))) - Metta, Benelvolence BBC6 LIVE: At the Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs
David Lynch & Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Tamaryn - The Waves
Boy Harsher - Careful
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Tool - Ænima 
Mastodon - Blood Mountain
Swann Danger - Deep North
Au Pairs - Sense and Sensuality




Card:

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


• XVII: The Star
• XX: The Aeon
• XXI The Universe

All Major Arcana - rare for me - means BIG ideas, BIG picture, BIG everything. There are a few interesting connections I can make here, but I'm actually going to wait until Wednesday. Aaaaannnnd... I'll retake and light this picture better.


Tuesday, December 8, 2020

New New Order

 

New Order dropped an EP last Friday. Here's the first 'single.' Awesome tune, not at all where my head is at right now, but I have a feeling this will come in handy in a few days or so.




Watch:

 

My Co-Host on The Horror Vision Chris Saunders and I have decided to try and do a week-by-week podcast exploration of CBS' The Stand series starting on December 17th. I'm a King fan for sure, but I've never been a rabid one, and I've never undertaken the commitment to read The Stand. Usually, in undertaking a project like this, I'd set aside what I'm reading and try and 'bang it out' before the launch of the show, however, there's just no way. The original cut of the novel is 823 pages, but the expanded is lost 1500. Add to that the fact that I started 2020 reading a very long novel about a pandemic (Chuck Wendig's Wanderers, which despite it's eerie parallels to our reality while I read it - or perhaps because of it - still occupies my mind on an almost daily basis and lingers with a strong A+ rating in my book) and, well, for obvious reasons don't want to finish it out doing the same. So I'm doing the audiobook. Which, at ten chapters in, frankly isn't great.

Still, having read the Dark Tower books since shortly after The Drawing of the Three, I've wanted to read The Stand since early High School. In the Dark Tower books, Roland and his compatriots travel across worlds and, at one point, end up in the world of The Stand, a world decimated by a flu-like virus called Captain Tripps. Weird timing for the show to be coming out, but I'm excited to cover it, as it's been a while since I've done something like this, and it's not so often I get to work with Chris these days. So win win.
 


The Horror Vision:

The New episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast went up yesterday. We talk about the Barbara Crampton-produced Castle Freak remake, which I LOVED, along with Freaky, Max Brooks's Devolution, and a bunch of the Mario Bava that just landed on Shudder recently. And as usual, that's really only the tip of the iceberg. Also, I'm doing anything with the video side of this show yet, but I've started posting the episodes on youtube as of late.





Playlist:

Behemoth - The Satanist
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Selim Lemouchi and His Enemies - Earth Air Spirit Water Fire
James Last - Christmas Dancing
Bing Crosby - Merry Christmas
Orville Peck - Pony
The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop OST
Daniel Pemberton - Motherless Brooklyn OST
Jehnny Beth - To Love is to Live
Opeth - Deliverance
Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny
New Order - Be a Rebel
Barry Adamson - As Above So Below
David Bowie - Black Star
 



Card:

Ah, the wonderful Knight of Disks, the Fire in the Element of Earth.

Interpreted here as a pragmatic focus on and progression with ongoing projects. Industrious perseverance. Bread winner and objective provider.