Happy Halloween!!!

Like Clockwork, here's the greatest Halloween song ever recorded!

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31 Days of Halloween:

GDT's Frankenstein is not what I expected at all, but it's definitely 100% Del Toro's vision of a classic. Kind of splits the difference between Mary Shelley’s novel, which I am currently rereading and have adored forever, and James Whale’s film, which I was obsessed with as a child. 

Gorgeous beyond words, with performances that are out of this world, if you can see this on the big screen, that's where and how it was made to be viewed.

...

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

27) Final Destination 3/// Jimmy & Stiggs

28) Trick r' Treat

29) Crimson Peak

30) GDT's Frankenstein/// Arsenic and Old Lace/// Satan's Playground/// Rob Zombie's 31

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Playlist:

Steeve Moore - Jimmy and Stiggs OST

Ritual Howls - Ruin

Ritual Howls - Their Body E.P.

Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor

Bauhaus - Burning from the Inside

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out

Secret Chiefs 2 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi

Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer.

White Zombie - La Sexorcist: Devil Music, Vol. 1

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

Saigon Blue Rain - Oko

Skinny Puppy - Last Rights

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Card:

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

• X: Wheel of Fortune

• Four of Wands

• XII: The Hanged Man

Stable Will creates a power base from which the luxury of assessing change can be anticipated and pursued.

The Average Reviews - Pyewacket

I had a blast hanging out with Tim and Johnathan on The Average Reviews, discussing Adam MacDonald's modern Folk-Horror film Pyewacket, of which I am quite the fan. Check it out!

Tim and Johnathan have been doing 13 Nights of Halloween, posting a review episode every day leading up to Sam Hain. They've covered some awesome films and had a great cross-section of guests from the Horror Community on, so head over to their channel and give them a sub and some of your time. These two always inspire great conversations. 

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Bauhaus - King Volcano

A little Bauhaus as we close in on the most sacred day of the year. I once had a dream about this song that made me question everything I thought I knew about my own mind. Pure Magick, this one. From Burning from the Inside, their 1983 "final" album (until 2008's Go Away White, that is) and the first Bauhaus record to cross this human's path. Made me an instant fan. 

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31 Days of Halloween:

Ken Russell's Gothic, a film that, although my recent rewatch taught me it doesn't quite hold up to the impression it made on me when I was younger, is still far and away a wild ride. 

I have Frankenstein on the brain, and this really hit the spot, even if it is kind of more Ken Russell than it is Horror or Historical. That's fine with me, though, as I'd imagine a night spent drinking laudanum in a castle with Lord Byron would definitely make me feel as though I were in one of Russell's films. 

..

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

27) Final Destination 3/// Jimmy & Stiggs

28) Trick r' Treat

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NCBD:

I never made it out to Rick's Comic City Clarksville last week for my pull, so I'm doing double duty today. Here's this week's books:

Like Imperial below, I'm not really sure this series has lived up to what it could have been, but it's been fun. Ten bucks says Noran Rad isn't actually going to die, that this is just the launching of a new female character a la She Hulk, who Marvel can play around with alongside the original surfer. 

I have no idea if I'll actually get a shot at picking this up—it wasn't in my shop's Shopify—but I'll try. Been meaning to watch the original Ghoulies all month, as it's one of K's favorites, but we just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe bringing this home will help make up for that. 

Imperial started a lot better than it's developed, but I'm still hoping to see some crazy cosmic WTF Marvel sh*t this month in the finale. 

Easily my most anticipated book each month at this point, I'm dying to see what is actually going on in this book. Zander Cannon has laid the groundwork for an epic, and based on what we've seen so far—the way everything has been plotted and slowly unraveled—Sleep is a Horror Mystery of a most singular nature. 

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Playlist:

Various - Return of the Living Dead OST

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Various - Rocktober Blood OST

The Cramps - Flamejob

Ritual Howls - Ruin

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife

Trust Obey - Fear And Bullets

The Body - I Shall Die Here

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Bauhaus - Mask

Eerie Von - Bad Dream No. 13

Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside

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Card:

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

• Three of Swords

• XX: Judgement

• VIII: Strength

Conflict and a reckoning will require strength, but that strength will also increase. 

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.

...

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. 

New Music From Odonis Odonis!!!

From the upcoming self-titled album, due out November 14th on Royal Mountain Records. Pre-order HERE.

Honestly, a lot of what these guys have done since 2016's Post Plague hasn't really stood the test of time with me. Post Plague is just so good that it generated some serious fan inertia. This, however. Wow. I love both tracks the band has released from this forthcoming album, and can't wait to hear the entire thing.

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31 Days of Halloween:

 

I received my copy of Joe Bob Briggs' The Last Drive-In Blu-ray this weekend, and quickly set about watching the first of the two features included. I'd seen Joe Lynch's Mayhem once before - when Joe Bob did it during season one of the show - and rewatching it, I loved it even more. I need to procure a copy of the Steve Moore score, too. 

.....

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

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Read:

Inspired by the seasonal shift in the weather and my corresponding temperament, last Wednesday night I fired up Type O Negative's October Rust and dug Joseph Michael Linsner's Dawn: Lucifer's Halo from my short boxes. 

Originally published in 1997 as a six-issue monthly mini-series through Sirius, at first glance at this book on the shelves, I wrongly assumed this was another in the late 90s spate of T&A books that flooded the shelves of comic book shops. Then, a few months into the run, while hanging out at a friend's house, I saw the series sitting on his coffee table and picked up one of the issues and began to flip through the pages. 

I was floored. 

I sat there and read the first two issues, then drove to the comic shop later that week and grabbed what they had on the shelf. To this day I'm still missing issue #1, but I bought everything Linsner did under the Dawn character after that: Three Tiers, the NY book in '01, Return of the Goddess, etc.  

Dawn is a singular concept. Utilizing religious themes, flourishes of High Fantasy, Horror, and eroticism, this book is visually stunning and intellectually fascinating. There's a tenderness to the romantic elements of the story that really makes me feel for the characters, particularly Darrian Ashoka, who is hopelessly in love with a Goddess and awash in a reality that suddenly includes Angels and Demons of a most violent sort. There's brutality to the violence, and a grandeur to the philosophical elements that really posit Linsner's writing as the product of deep thought and intense introspection, not just directed inward, but outward toward the goal of understanding our rich and tempestuous existence.

And then there's the Art. Nothing I could post here does it justice. Yes, a large part of the art is Dawn herself, but beyond that, JML really breathes life into the Metaphysical realms with a unique and lavish style unlike anything else out there. 

Time to track down that first issue on eBay. 

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Playlist:

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

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery

My Live with the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself

Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth

Miranda Sex Garden - Suspiria

Netherlands - Vapors

Asaf Avidan - Live at the Acropolis

Noga Erez - RADAR Reworked 

Slayer - Live Undead/Haunting the Chapel

John Brennan and the Bigfeet - The Last Drive-In w/ Joe Bob Briggs OST Vol. 1

Various - Return of the Living Dead OST

The Damned - Night of 1000 Vampires

Goblin - Suspiria 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.

• Page of Cups

• X: Wheel of Fortune

• XXI: The World

Intuit change and stay ahead of it. That's the only way to survive the world as we know it today.

Again, I know that's pretty generic, but I'm running on fumes at the moment, so I'll be leaving the cards out on my desk to ponder in the morning.