Seven Days of The Reverend Horton Heat - Day 4: Bales of Cocaine

From 1993's masterpiece, and the start of the three-album trifecta that would endear the Rev to me for life. The Full Customs Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat was produced by Gibby Haynes, and I'm not sure you need to know anything more to understand this record. As with Liquor in the Front and It's Martini Time, I love every song on this record. This might be my favorite, though. 

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Watch:

Aaron, one of my fellow panelists from The Dread Broadcast, recently posted an interview with Hokum Director Damian McCarthy on his A&B Horror Movies show.

This is a fantastic peek behind the veil with one of my favorite modern Directors. Aaron always does great interviews, but this is one of the best. 

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Play:

I picked up Tormented Souls for Switch a few nights ago when I saw it on sale for $4.99. I don't remember how this one ended up on my wishlist, but looking at it now, holy cow. Check out the trailer:

Between the haunting piano and the mishapen, masked antagonist, I'm picking up major Fulci vibes! I'm planning to start playing tonight. 

I've recently become obsessed with recapturing the magic of Friday nights from just the last few years. It's funny how quickly feelings for a time and place slip away and recede into an "era." Specifically, I'm still reeling a bit with the echoes of Shudder canceling The Last Drive-In. Some of my favorite Friday nights since moving to TN have consisted of getting off work, writing, picking up burritos and heading home to drink beer and watch Joe Bob and Darcy. Once that final movie ends, if I'm able, I retreat upstairs and fire up a game. That's the intention this evening, when I'll pick something from AMC +'s TLDI catalog, watch and then fire up Tormented Souls for the first time.

Sounds like a killer Friday night to me. Hmm... maybe I'll even do House By The Cemetery (if it's still on there).

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Playlist:

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Ian Lynch - All You Need Is Death OST

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

John Harrison - Day of the Dead OST

Jozef Van Wissem and Sqürl - Only Lovers Left Alive OST

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

Algiers - The Underside of Power

Darren Smith & Terrance Zhunich - Repo! The Genetic Opera OST

Flying Lotus - Yasuke

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Card:

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

• Ace of Swords

• 16: The Tower

• Ten of Wands

A breakthrough of intellect leads to an overturned habit. This, in turn, leads to an abundance of new focus.

Holy shit could I use this right now. 

New Music From Mastodon!!!

I don't know how I feel about post-Hinds Mastodon, but I'm willing to give it a chance. If this single is any indication, though Hinds will be missed, the band is a survivor.

No word on a new album, but they have a big tour with Deafheaven, so something is coming.

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Check this out! Someone has been creating new episodes of the original Transformers cartoon series I grew up with, in an attempt to show Hasbro there is interest in bringing it back. The best part? I looks exactly like the old series and picks up where that final "Head Masters" mini-series left off!

I can't really wrap my head around how this is possible. Are they actually drawing and animating this stuff? Is this AI? The only discrepancies I notice are some of the voices, but even most of those are pretty damn close. 

You can dig in on the Fanatic Film Channel HERE.

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Plastic:

While randomly scrolling through IG last Friday, I discovered that my prayers had been answered. No, he's still alive and in office - I mean the other prayers. Yep - Mattel has finally released an updated MOTU Slime Pit!

Now it's called the Fright Pit - not exactly sure why - but I don't care. I've seen a side-by-side comparison to the original and this is bigger AND has green LED lights! I can't wait to put this thing next to my OG Slime Pit. This is truly my favorite toy ever and something so deeply ingrained in my pscyhe that, well, it's a little weird. 

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Playlist:

Revocation - Netherheaven

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Mastodon - Your Ghost Again (single)

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

Metallica - Kill 'Em All

Boards of Canada - Campfire Headphase

Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

The Sword - Age of Winters

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Blood Mother - Eponymous (pre-release singles)

Mastodon - Your Ghost Again (single)

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

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Card:

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

• Ace of Cups

• 13: Death

• Five of Pentacles

Emotional breakthroughs bring change, but to fully give over to a change, you have to become unto a chrysalis. Everything must feed that change. 

Holy shit. This is literally an affirmation of something I've been struggling with in Shadow Play Book Two. Something I solved earlier tonight. 

When All Reason Departs, We're Left with an Onslaught

I was stopped cold when I realized the robotic vocal samples in this are direct quotations from Aleister Crowley's Magick: Liber ABA. 

There's a wonderfully dark throughline of spirituality gone awry on this record, and while I feel like I've only just started to scratch the surface, it's proving to have quite a hold on me. I listened to Inferno multiple times in a row yesterday, and each go 'round felt different.

 

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NCBD:

A light week and a welcome respite after last week's financial apocalypse at the store. I never got around to posting a "NCBD Addendum," but let's just say my wallet got hit upside the head. 

Is this new Event Horizon series bi-monthly? I had forgotten all about it. 

Finally caught up on issue 2 last weekend, so I'm primed for a new chapter in Andry, Daniel and House's Seaside Horror tale, Estuary!

DC is relaunching Deadman under the penmanship of Ice Cream Man's W. Maxwell Prince. I have the complete Kelley Jones Deadman on my shelf because it's Kelley Jones, so I'm not necessarily attached to the character. Still, I'm curious.

Love the cover, love the book. Fraction and Jimenez are tearing shit up in their Batman book, and I'm here for it.

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Watch:

I caught the trailer for Adam Wingard's new film, Onslaught, this past Saturday ahead of Backrooms. Looking forward to this one:

Serious (and obvious) Terminator vibes, and I'm okay with that. Wingard is a curious Director; I'm a huge fan of some of his work, other stuff... not so much. This looks like it will be a blast, and I'm not expecting anything other than unmitigated violence.

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Playlist:

Adam Egypt Mortimer - The Obelisk

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Ian Lynch - All You Need is Death OST

High on Fire - Death is this Communion

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Revocation - New Gods, New Masters

Revocation - Netherheaven

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Card:

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

• Six of Wands

• 06: The Lovers

• Nine of Pentacles

Victory comes from a connection, collaboration, but not at the cost of independence. 

The World Becomes Flesh Here in the Backrooms

Friday, Inferno, the first Boards of Canada album in 13 years, came out. I drove to the theatre to see Repo! The Genetic Opera listening to it.

Saturday, I woke up and had a 1:30 PM screening of Kane Parson's Backrooms. I drove to the theatre listening to something else, planning to make my next engagement with Inferno more than just a thirteen-minute dalliance within which I could not fully grasp the entire eighteen-track sequence. Since first being introduced to The Backrooms by good friends circa January 2024, I'd struggled to pinpoint what, exactly, the show reminded me of. While rewatching it last weekend, I realized The Backrooms reminds me of a visual translation of Boards of Canada's music. There's the glitchy, fuzzy, analog technology represented in both, as well as that haunting liminal space, of transition, of between.

When my screening of Backrooms ended, I was shocked to hear "The World Becomes Flesh" from Inferno as the score for the film's end-credit crawl. Not only did that cement my anecdotal theory that Parson (née Pixels) was influenced by BoC's music, but the group held the release date of their first album in thirteen years to coincide with the release of the film.

Wow. Analog ghost worlds, baby. Analog ghost worlds...

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Watch:

Most everything I have to say about this is above. Well, except of course that I really dug the adaptation to the big screen.

Previous YouTuber-to-Director endeavors like Iron Lung and Skinamarink made me a bit nervous, but holy cow, Parsons delivered something that the others, in my opinion, did not.

He turned what is essentially a tone-piece into a cinematic motion picture. One of the best examples of what I'm talking about is character development. I think this was what I was most worried about, but he nailed it. Clarke and Mary are both fantastic characters, and it made Backrooms a much better film than I think anyone expected. This is an unparalleled success, and I can't wait to see where Parsons goes from here. 

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Playlist:

Boy Harsher - Careful

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Silent -Modern Hate

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP

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Card:

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

• King of Pentacles

• Ace of Swords

• Three of Wands

Earthly matters may dictate much of my life and keep my brain running in the circles of coping with the world, but it only takes a moment of perfect mental clarity (read: vacuity) to kickstart a new adventure free from the confines of the daily 'grind.'

Lost Music from The Cramps!!!

From the upcoming historical anomaly Gravest Gravy, out on Midhaven Records. Pre-order HERE.

This is fascinating for multiple reasons. First, apparently, Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye worked on this, "tape restoration, editing, mixing, mastering and lacquer cutting duties (in partnership with Inner Ear Studios and Infrasonic Sound).

Here's part of the solicitation blurb from Midhaven's website:

“In October 1977, the Cramps ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer and Cramps translator extraordinaire, Alex Chilton. The band had planned on recording their song ‘TV Set,’ as an A side, along with another track or tracks. Mr. Chilton told them the way he liked to work was to have a band record a lot of songs and from that they would pick the best of the bunch.[...] “What happened to the rest of the tracks from those auspicious days in October 1977? In 2026, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, rappelled down, deep into the vast, sunless vault of the Cramps tape collection, and resurfaced hours later, disoriented and out of breath, but overjoyed with what he’d returned to topside with: six ¼” reels of tracks, mixed by Lux [Interior] and [Poison] Ivy..."

Wow. Just wow. I can't wait to get my hands on this one. Talk about a chunk of history.

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Heading to see this in theatres tonight and I could not be more excited!

I don't remember when I first saw Darren Lynn Bousman's 2008 Repo! The Genetic Opera. Sometime around when it first hit video. I bought it pretty much instantly, and have watched it countless times since, although not for more than a couple years now. Last viewing was probably in a cemetery in Long Beach with a shadow cast a la Rocky Horror. It was awesome, but now it's time to see it in a theatre on the big screen for the first time!

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Playlist:

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

Boy Harsher - Careful

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone OST

Burzum - Filosofem

Dark Providence Episode 1

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Card:

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

• Page of Pentacles

• Six of Cups

• The Hanged Man

Seven Days of The Reverend Horton Heat - Day 1: Is It Just Me?

Man, I pulled out a handful of old Reverend Horton Heat records the other day, and I was shocked at how something I love so much could have fallen so far out of my everyday world. It's Martini Time, Liquor in the Front, and Full Custom Gospel Sounds were a large part of my world back in the late 90s, and revisiting them made me realize I have to bring them back into my life on a regular basis. 

To start, I think I'm kicking off Seven Days of The Rev here on this page. First up: A Sabbath-inspired dirge from the 1996 masterpiece, It's Martini Time. Fuck - I was 20 when this came out. THIRTY YEARS AGO.

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NCBD:

Ying and yang on full display here lately. Not too long ago, I voiced forlorn sentiments about everything I read being IPs from my childhood, repackaged for adults. Nothing against that stuff, 'cuz, ya know, I love it, but I missed having a Preacher, The Walking Dead, Transmetropolitan, Vertigo series, etc. 

Now look at this.

As I mentioned last month, the first issue of a book taking the moniker Pretty Hate Machine has a lot to prove. I'm not sure we got quite that far, but the setup in issue one has me back for more. We reviewed this on Drinking with Comics HERE.

Now, the first issue of Red Roots? Best comic I've read all year, so I am definitely in on this one. Mike Shin and I reviewed this on Drinking with Comics HERE.

I still have to read the first issue of the 'long lost' Veitch/Mandrake Swamp Thing story from the 80s. I bought it, but somehow... misplaced it? Perfect excuse to read both of these back to back this weekend.

The "Quintesson War" ends, and we'll see if it's with a whimper or a bang. We talked about on DwC HERE, our disappointments juxtaposed with expectations.

 

A Condon/Phillips Noir - what more can you ask for?

One Energon Universe title and the rest, well, while I'm not ready to put any of these on par with Preacher or Walking Dead, you get the point. All nonexistent IPs prior to these books. Joy rainth down upon mine life like money from a One Wish Willow.

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Watch:

I rewatched Ben Wheatley's Kill List last night. One of my favorite films. Period. I love the characters in this film SO much. It's not just because I'm a huge Michael Smiley fan - Gal, Shel and Jay all really connect for me. They're the vital heart at the center of a vile black malestrom.

I enjoy listening to Mr. Wheatley talk about his films almost as much as I enjoy watching them. Case in point.

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Playlist:

The Sword - Age of Winters

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

The Ocean - Anthropocentric

The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Atrium Carceri - Kapnobatai

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Cure - Pornography

NIN - With Teeth

How To Destroy Angels - Eponymous EP

High on Fire - Cometh The Storm

Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March

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Card:

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

• 14: Temperance

• Page of Cups

• Five of Cups

Normally I'd try and go a little more in-depth on my pull, but it's way late and I'm tired. Art and Emotion. That's all I've got at the moment (but it's probably the two fundamental building blocks of "me," so that works). 

Taratoa Stappard's Mārama.

 

Napalm Death covering Slab. With backup singers! This shit is nuts. A big, thick slab of sonic knuckle in your face to kick off Wednesday. From 2022's Reesentment is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes). I don't know how it's taken me until age 50 to get into Napalm Death, but it happened.

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NCBD:

A couple of "Maybes" I'm including today for various reasons. I'll explain as I go. Big week if I bring all this home.

So, apparently, I'd been buying this off the shelf, neglecting to sub, so I never ended up with issue 3. I dig it, but the books are starting to add up, so I'm tempted to let Thundarr go. We'll see. 

The end of the series. I can't say I've completely followed everything that's happened in Liam Sharpe's Spawn: The Dark Ages, but it's been profound to say the least. The homage to Wrightson's Frankenstein really helped win me over, but really, this man just makes beautiful, challenging art. Who would have ever thought you'd find that in a Spawn book? 

Condon and Adlard? Take my money.

Misommar meets Green Room? Really? That sounds insane. Add to it that Tynion is writing it and I'm in. 

Okay, I've seen this "Dire Wraith" technology or whatever it is (The Hallucinatory green stuff on the cover there) in the solicitations for some of the recent figures - all passes for me - and I'm curious to see how this goes down in the pages of GIJOE. I'm also loving the idea that Crystal Ball will be yet another independent faction in this total melee of factions. That's this book's strong point. It's not just Joe and Cobra. It's at least half a dozen agendas if not more by now (Arashikage, Dreadnoks, Raptor, Blud, etc). 

One of the funest books of the year, and one that has such a 'Summer vibe." Why? I don't know - maybe because when I was a kid in the 80s, summer sometimes meant hanging out at an arcade with friends, playing Double Dragon, and if there's one major pop culture entry in Death Fight Forever's DNA, it's Double Dragon. Jeez - just saying Double Dragon brings on a super strong nostalgia. No wonder I love this book. Which, incidentally, is SO much more insane than DD could ever hope to be. 

Writer Pornsak Pichetshote's graphic novel Infidel from a few years back was one of the genuinely frightening comics I'd read in years, so to see his name attached to the Absolute Green Arrow series being described as "A Horror book" really piqued my interest. 

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Read:

Last night I drove up to the Belcourt in Nashville to see Taratoa Stappard's Mārama.

I knew zero about this going in. Mārama takes place in 1859, North Yorkshire, where Mārama has traveled from her native New Zealand, the home of her Maori ancestors, to meet a man who claims to know her origins. Mārama is an orphan who never knew her parents, so the pull is strong. 

I have seen this described online as a Maori Gothic Horror, and that pretty much hits the nail on the head. This is a gorgeous film, but it is also infuriating. Colonialism is ripe for remembering, with so many in our modern age eager to either celebrate the worst history has to offer or ignore it. Ariāna Osborne is magical and intense as the lead; her unshakeable identity and fury are a balm for her would-be oppressors. 

Definitely support this on the big screen if you can - the costumes, sets and camera will work pay off dividends if you do. 

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Playlist:

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone 2 OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
King Woman - Celestial Blues

The Sword - Age of Winters

The Doors - L.A. Woman

The Bangles - All Over the Place

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven 

Palesketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed

Jesu - Lifeline EP

Jesu - Silver EP

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Blackbraid - Celestial Womb EP

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Burial - Untrue

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Card:

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

• 20: Judgment

• Nine of Cups

• 17: The Star

Renewal and fulfillment. I feel this after last. Genuinely - driving up to Nashville later at night is a pleasant drive, and sitting in a theatre I love watching a film I knew nothing about really helped put me back in my preferred perspective. Top that off with a short but powerful writing session beforehand, and yes, today I feel renewed.

Mascara - Going Postal

I think I first discovered Mascara via The Cinematic Void podcast, where, if I remember correctly, Nick Vance - whose band Double Life I adore - mentioned them in a year-end episode a few years back (maybe more than a few at this point). Anyway, I ended up with their 2025 album Going Postal on my phone, but couldn't remember how it got there. I gave a perfunctory listen a week or three back, but yesterday, holy shit. These guys HIT me. I blew through the album and a handful more of their releases (see below). All of them are fantastic. 

Mascara's Bandcamp is HERE, so head on over and give 'em a listen. Great independent band that deserves as much support as we can rally.

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Watch:

Tim Plester and Rob Curry's new documentary, The Archivist. I'm not entirely sure what this has to do with Weird Walk zine, but I came to the trailer via their YouTube channel, and I generally pay attention to everything they do. This is no exception.

Here's the solicitation blurb from the YouTube post:

"Following in a noble lineage of Great British nonconformists, David ‘Doc’ Rowe has spent the last 60 years tirelessly documenting the rich tapestry of mysterious folk customs that continue to thrive in forgotten corners of this Island Nation. THE ARCHIVIST follows this indefatigable man through the wheel of a year like no other; capturing not only his efforts to get back on the road despite health issues and Covid lockdowns, but also his crusade to find a permanent home for his one-of-a-kind collection."

This is making its world premiere at a film fest in Sheffield at the end of June, so not sure when we'll see it stateside, but I'll be watching for it from here out.

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Read:

Back into my Stephen King reread this weekend with my favorite of the Dark Tower novels, Book Three: The Wastelands.

I'm not very far yet, but I'm both shocked and not shocked at how well I remember this one. Not shocked, because I carry quite a bit of it in the daily ether that comprises my 'surface' mind. You know, those books, songs, movies, comics, whatever that are so much a part of you, that made such an indelible impression upon first contact that bits float up apropos of nothing at any given time on any given day. That's this book. Shocked, because even though I've read this three times prior (Once when it came out, once during a reread before Book IV came out, and once before embarking on the full series reread I did when the final three books began to release), I still always blanket assume my memory is not as good as I think it is (for many things, it is not). But no, I fell right in the opening scene with Mir, the 18-story guardian of the woods, like I was rereading yesterday's material.

This very much excites me, because with this proof of memory, I'm eager for certain other key scenes in the book, especially Jake in the 'haunted' house. 

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Playlist:

Anthrax - Worship Music

Anthrax - For All Kings

Anthrax - We've Come for You All

Rock Burwell - Obsession OST

Abby Sage - Smoke Break (single)

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Mascara - Hla-11Tf 

Mascara - Cameo Blue Estate EP

Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Abby Sage - The Rot

AC/DC - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

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Card:

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

• Ten of Wands

• Five of Cups

• Seven of Swords

Wasting time mulling over disappointing results is of no use. Take the negative and turn it into a positive. Or, to quote Alfred, "Why do we fall down Master Bruce? To pick ourselves back up."

Obsessed with New Music From Anthrax!!!

I knew this was coming today, but I had no idea how great it would be! These guys really just don't slow down. I love the track, which is the lead single from their forthcoming first record in over a decade, Cursum Perficio, due out September 18th. No pre-order yet, but it's coming.

I love the track, especially the production. First listen was on headphones and I recommend it - you can really hear all the instruments and voices in their own space, but expertly mixed. And Frank Bello's bass - man! Sounds so good.

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Watch:

I knew nothing about Curry Barker or his feature film debut, Obsession, going in. All I'd seen was this trailer and an announcement that A24 had tapped him to helm their upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

Obsession is a deeply unnerving film. There's definite DNA here from the first Smile film - of which I am definitely a fan - but Barker has a knack for thwarting expectations and really doing something different with some of the tropes you'll think you recognize, but won't. Also, I am a huge fan of sustained tension, and once this film kicks into the tense stuff, it never relents. There aren't many exhales, and there are times when, by manipulating those aforementioned tropes in different and unexpected ways - like say someone standing in a dark corner watching someone else - Barker creates these delirious ripples in the anxiety, to a greatly disorienting effect. 

I walked out of the theatre feeling like I needed to smoke a cigarette (I don't smoke) or take a shower in order to put something between myself and what I'd just endured. That's something special.

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Read:

After the first episode of The Terror: Devil in Silver last week - which we are reviewing weekly on The Horror Vision, first episode HERE - I picked up the source material and blew through it in just a few days. 

Victor Lavelle's The Devil in Silver is an absolute masterpiece; as much an exploration and reflection on humanity, mental health and the failing system we have in this country for Mental Health. It touched me in ways I'm not sure anything has ever. Also, there's a helluva monster involved, but it is kind of secondary to the mental health themes, which Lavelle really shows insight into. He builds extremely strong characters, and I was hooked; I couldn't put it down. I found myself reading while lying around on the couch with the TV on at night, or until I was falling asleep face-first in my iPad. This one derailed me from my Dark Tower for a few extra days after finishing, as it's still echoing in my head. Great feeling. 

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Playlist:

Napalm Death - Resentment is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Blood Mother - Night Fires (single)

Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain

Emilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

Iron Maiden - Killers

Mascara - Going Postal

Mascara - Hla-11Tf single

Mascara - Cameo Blue Estate EP

Mascara - Eponymous EP

Flower Language - Thrown Into Air

Electric Wizard - Super Coven

Helmet - Aftertaste

Boy Harsher - Careful

Double Life - Indifferent Stars EP

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Card:

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

• Page of Wands

• Four of Swords

• Four of Wands

Will and Intellect. A strong power base or foundation for creating something lasting. A spark from which something sustaining can be created.

Seems like a writing pull, but I'm having trouble matching it up with... oh. Actually. No. I'm not. Can't talk about it yet, but this is a good reminder about a project I'm working on.

Napalm Death is Caught in a Dream

 

Big decision to make today. Am I going to jump work 30 minutes early and drive up to Eastside Bowl in Nashville to see Deadguy and Napalm Death at my favorite local venue? I'll report back tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a track from the latter's 1987 album Scum. 

I'll admit I'm fairly new to Napalm Death fandom. Not that I've ever had anything against them, but my exposure over the years has been minimal at best, and it wasn't until their recent collaboration with Melvins became available from Ipecac earlier this year that I became intrigued at what I'd missed. So far, while the albums I was faintly aware of and slightly exposed to back in the day - 1990's Harmony Corruption and 1987's Scum - are about what I've always thought they were and albums I would not have 'got' back in the day but fair much better now that I've grown into a bit over the years and absorbed influences and offshoots Crass and Godflesh, some of their newer stuff really strikes a chord with me. In particular, 2022's Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes) has made quite the impression on me in only a handful of listens. 

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NCBD:

Super excited for today's pull. Let's get into it:

The cover says it all: Shockwave is back! Hell yes! Can't wait to see what's been happening on Cybertron since Alita One took over as Prime, leaving Optimus de-primed a few issues back. Kirkman is killing it in this series!

One more issue of Simon Birks and Willi Roberts' adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep, and so far, for a story that's received a fair amount of attention in the last few years, this is probably my favorite interpretation. Birks keeps it true to the story but also streamlines things, and Roberts' art is fantastic. Especially his knack for showing us the evil intentions of some of the characters. 

 

With the giant, magic Kaiju running around at the end of last issue, this one can't get into my peepers soon enough. Gene Luen Yang, Fero Peniche and Freddie E. Williams II have really found a way to keep this book evolving, not easy to do after Jason Aaron's run and all its reamapping of the cast. 

Creeping closer and closer to issue 50 and I'm pretty sure some pretty major events for SIKTC. 

From the solicitation blurb on League of Comic Geeks:

"THE SECRET OF SNAKE-EYES REVEALED? As Dawn infiltrates the Terror Drome, she learns a shocking secret about Snake-Eyes from their time in Springfield...one that could doom their future!"

Wait, what now? Holy cow, I didn't realize something like this was even on the horizon! Also, look at that cover art! Wow!

I'll confess, the Dawn Moreno character has never really intrigued me, but this? Based on the fact that the current Snake Eyes is a clone of the original (who died at some point when I was not reading this series), I'd say this could be a pretty huge development. Can't wait to find out more!

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Watch:

K and I saw Mortal Kombat 2 last night, and I am here to tell you this flick is SUPER fun!

I have zero history with Mortal Kombat. Obviously, I was aware of it when it came out, but I don't think I ever played it, and the first movie I saw was 2021's, which I enjoyed as a pretty fun popcorn flick. This sequel ups the ante by adding Karl Urban - always a plus in my book - and really getting into the lore of the games. Again, I knew nothing of this, and it wasn't really until I heard our recent episode of The Horror Vision that my cohosts Anthony and Missi did on the flick (HERE) that I understood how much story has been built into this.

I will say the fighting choreography is good, but everything feels like slow motion since I saw The Furious last month at Beyond Chicago. So, no offense to MK2, but it still just can't hold a candle to Kenji Tanigaki's film, which I cannot wait to see again in wide release on June 25th!

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Playlist:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven 

The Monks - Black Monk Time

Steeve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Drug Church - Prude

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Double Life - Indifferent Stars EP

Napalm Death - Scum

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March

Low Cut Connie - Tough Cookies: The Best of the Quarantine Broadcasts

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Card:

My first pull with Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ten of Wands

• IV: The Emperor

• Nine of Wands

It takes strength to overcome the rules that thwart our growth.

A lot of what I'm interpreting as work pulls lately. 

The Cramps - Surfin' Dead Live!!!

Howzabout one of my favorite tracks by The Cramps to kick off Monday? I'm off Thursday and Friday this week, and you can betcher arse I'm going to be listening to more of these guys! Originally published on - get this - their Gravest Hits album, which came out before their debut full-length, Songs the Lord Taught Us. Think of it the same way Joy Division's Substance Collection is a collection of early singles that predate the recording of their two studio albums. Either way, Surfin' Dead blew up when it was included on the soundtrack for Dan O'Bannon's 1987 Return of the Living Dead. This particular version is from the Smell of Female live album.

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31 Days of Halloween:

I hate that we're not even a week out from the end of October! I'll be cruising directly into Noirvember again this year, and plan to try Dreamcember after that, but 31 Days of Horror is my favorite. 

I must say, for a film I did not care much for upon first seeing, Rob Zombie's Argento-esque Lords of Salem has become a favorite of mine. This film is so insanely blasphemous that it sometimes feels dangerous. Now that's a feat of no small measure. 

Mr. Zombie really created something special with this one. I like most of his films to varying degrees, but there's usually something I roll my eyes at in each one. Not here. This is dead serious in the way it handles its subject matter. That attitude, combined with the stunning setting, cinematography, and John 5's score, really make this a must-watch every year. Hard to believe I lived so long without it.

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1) Incident On and Off a Mountain Road///The Funhouse (theatrical viewing)

2) Tales From the Crypt Ssn 1 Ep 4, "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone"///Cabin in the Woods

3) Satanic Hispanics

4) Creature From the Black Lagoon 3D///Lucky McKee's May

5) The Strangers

6) [REC]

7) The Autopsy - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities///[REC]2

8) Where the Devil Roams

9) The Roost

10) Good Boy///The Viewing - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities

11) Blood Moon (aka Wolf Girl)///All Hallows' Eve (The Last Drive-In Helloween)

12) The Shining///The Simpsons Ssn 6 Treehouse of Horror V

13) Stream (2024)

14) Creepshow (1982; theatrical viewing)

15) They Live in the Grey///John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (theatrical viewing)

16) Black Phone 2

17) Scream 2///Mayhem (The Last Drive-In Blu-ray

18) The Exorcist

19) The Wolf of Snow Hollow///The Taking of Deborah Logan

20) Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (theatrical screening)///Cellar Dweller

21) The Black Phone///"Dream Kill" (segment in V/H/S85

22) The Transfiguration///Black Phone 2

23) Shelby Oaks

24) Clown in a Cornfield/// Jack-O (The Last Drive-In Splatterween double feature)

25) Ken Russell's Gothic/// Inferno/// Lords of Salem

26) Night of the Living Dead 1990/// Night of the Demons

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Read:

Persistence paid off this week. Previously, I'd cursed Netflix for a seemingly small theatrical opening for Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein. I'd just about given up hope of seeing such a clearly cinematic film on the big screen when, lo and behold, our local arthouse theatre, The Belcourt, added screenings to their website. I procured passes for this coming Thursday, and in the interest of freshening up my recall on Mary Shelley's original novel, I began an impromptu re-read. 

Some readers may recall from previous posts I did a few years back that I have in my possession the hardback edition illustrated by Bernie Wrightson. This one is on display with several other key pieces of Frankenstein memorabilia, so I tend to eye it every day and briefly flirt with the idea of revisiting it. Now is the perfect time.

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Playlist:

Type O Negative - World Coming Down

Lebanon Hanover - Let Them Be Alien

Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside

Perturbator - Age of Aquarius

The Cure - Pornography

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Beastmilk - Climax

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk edition)

Various - Return of the Living Dead OST

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Card:

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

And Grimm's Kickstarter for The Eldritch Lace Tarot deck is live for just a handful more hours! You can go check it out and support it HERE.

• XII: Hanged Man

• Five of Pentacles

• Page of Swords

Decisions will need to be made that might result in a conflict over money. Stay firm and prepare to be combative. Hold your ground and you will persevere.

Perfect timing. Waging a bit of a war with payroll at the moment. 

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - These Remains

From their self-titled, 1988 debut full-length album. This always sets the Halloween mood for me. 

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31 Days of Halloween:

1) Incident On and Off a Mountain Road///The Funhouse (theatrical viewing)

2) Tales From the Crypt Ssn 1 Ep 4, "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone"///Cabin in the Woods

3) Satanic Hispanics

4) Creature From the Black Lagoon 3D///Lucky McKee's May

5) The Strangers

6) [REC]

7) The Autopsy - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities///[REC]2

8) Where the Devil Roams

9) The Roost

10) Good Boy///The Viewing - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities

11) Blood Moon (aka Wolf Girl)///All Hallows' Eve (The Last Drive-In Helloween)

12) The Shining///The Simpsons Ssn 6 Treehouse of Horror V

13) Stream (2024)

14) Creepshow (1982; theatrical viewing)

15) They Live in the Grey///John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (theatrical viewing)

16) Black Phone 2

17) Scream 2///Mayhem (The Last Drive-In Blu-ray

18) The Exorcist

19) The Wolf of Snow Hollow///The Taking of Deborah Logan

20) Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (theatrical screening)///Cellar Dweller

21) The Black Phone///"Dream Kill" (segment in V/H/S85

22) The Transfiguration///Black Phone 2

23) Shelby Oaks

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Playlist:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk edition)

Pilot Priest & Electric Youth - Come True OST

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

Bauhaus - Gotham (Disk 1)

Ain Soph - Rituals

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits

Miranda Sex Garden - Iris

Type O Negative - World Coming Down

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Card:

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

And Grimm's Kickstarter for The Eldritch Lace Tarot deck is now live! You can go check it out and support it HERE.

• Two of Cups

• VIII: Strength

• Seven of Wands

I've been thinking about Type O Negative and Peter Steele all day, and that came out in the cards. But what does that mean? What nuance does that add to the Pull? I think it says it right there on VIII - Strength. Peter was strong, or at least, he seemed strong. At the end? Maybe not so much. How does that factor into the rest of the sentiment expressed across these three Jungian Archetypal images?

Connections based on courage. Unified front; stand your ground and you will receive assistance, not necessarily from an outer source, but rather, an inner one.

Total work reference. I'm feeling burned out and emotionally spent from, well, living inside a corporate organism. I need to stand up for myself more. 

New Music from Blut Aus Nord!!!

 

The second track released from the upcoming album Ethereal Horizons, out November 28th on Debemur Morti Records. Pre-order HERE.

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31 Days of Halloween:

I was 100% unfamiliar with John Buechler's 1987 film Cellar Dweller before two nights ago. I'd heard of it, but knew nothing about it. After stumbling across it on Prime the other night, I'd have to say this fits right in there with 976-Evil and The Dead Pit as a lost 80s classic Video Store Horror gem!

Not a 'great' flick by any stretch, but FUN! I've grown to recognize seeing Buechler's name attached to a film as an exciting thing, and this only reinforces that assessment. 

...

1) Incident On and Off a Mountain Road///The Funhouse (theatrical viewing)

2) Tales From the Crypt Ssn 1 Ep 4, "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone"///Cabin in the Woods

3) Satanic Hispanics

4) Creature From the Black Lagoon 3D///Lucky McKee's May

5) The Strangers

6) [REC]

7) The Autopsy - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities///[REC]2

8) Where the Devil Roams

9) The Roost

10) Good Boy///The Viewing - GDT Cabinet of Curiosities

11) Blood Moon (aka Wolf Girl)///All Hallows' Eve (The Last Drive-In Helloween)

12) The Shining///The Simpsons Ssn 6 Treehouse of Horror V

13) Stream (2024)

14) Creepshow (1982; theatrical viewing)

15) They Live in the Grey///John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (theatrical viewing)

16) The Black Phone 2

17) Scream 2///Mayhem (The Last Drive-In Blu-ray

18) The Exorcist

19) The Wolf of Snow Hollow///The Taking of Deborah Logan

20) Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (theatrical screening)///Cellar Dweller

21) The Black Phone///"Dream Kill" (segment in V/H/S85

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NCBD:

Just four titles this week (I think), so let's talk about the big one first.

Jason Aaron's run is already over? Weird - I don't feel like this book really did what I thought it would do. That's not good or bad, just... I don't even know. Maybe it's the bi-monthly thing that has me feeling so removed from it. Certainly there appear to have been some big changes on the surface, and I did really enjoy the way Aaron took the brothers apart and reintroduced them as a team that is more dysfunctional than we've ever seen before. We'll see how this transitions to the new creative team starting with issue 13.

After finally catching up and reading the first four issues of Chris Condone and Jeffrey Alan Love's News From the Fall Out recently, I have to say, this is the first book I've contemplated dumping before it finishes in quite some time, There was one whole issue spent with people arguing in a diner. I mean, if felt like that "Put on the glasses" scene in They Live, and while I love that film and that scene is hysterically iconic, it's best left not repeating it, because it still tests my patience when Carpenter did it! I don't know - I'm feeling like there's not enough of the story here to go a full six issues so things got stretched out in a way that really killed the momentum, but we'll see. I'm sticking it out until it wraps with issue six. Condone has never disappointed me before, so I owe the man the benefit of the doubt. 

At a glance, this cover gives me all kinds of Uncanny Valley weirdness. 

I've had this book on my mind after watching the 2024 film Stream recently, which was enjoyable, but didn't quite have the scope Walsh and Tynion present in Exquisite Corpses. 

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Playlist:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk edition)

John Harrison - Day of the Dead OST

Testament - Para Bellum

Misfits - Earth A.D. 

Saigon Blue Rain - Oko

Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Remnants of a Deeper Purity

Various - Lords of Salem OST

Count Gorgann - Corpse Eater: Satanic Misery Live for the Dead

77s - All Fall Down

Pilot Priest and Electric Youth - Come True OST

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Card:

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

And Grimm's Kickstarter for The Eldritch Lace Tarot deck is now live! You can go check it out and support it HERE.

• Six of Cups

• Queen of Pentacles

• Nine of Cups

The ache of memory can cloud the mind, emotion overwhelming the faculties that make the day-to-day decisions. This is how I feel I live sometimes. Is this a good thing? It can be, but here's an instance where I'll actually use the specific image on Grimm's card to help understand what the cards are saying: intoxication. I'm overflowing with emotional bias and it probably is responsible for regularly made bad decisions. Not like, hookers and blow bad decision, but like, I don't need to buy everything that looks like it will make me happy.