A Dirge for November

Because although I live in Los Angeles and really have no business calling this 'winter', I wanted to start the dying time off with a dirge.

**

31 Days of Horror Final:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party
10/27: AHS 1984 Ep. 6/Arsenic and Old Lace/The Fair Haired Child (Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 9)
10/28: May
10/29: The Exorcist (Theatrical Cut)
10/30: Nightmare Cinema
10/31: Night of the Living Dead

I tried to watch Bob Clark's Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, as well, but failed. For anyone interested, my favorite zombie films are as follows:

Dawn of the Dead (original)
Night of the Living Dead
Day of the Dead
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later
To Kako (Evil)

**

Playlist from 10/31/19:

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
Type O Negative - October Rust
Halloween Playlist
Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings
Mayhem - Daemon
Type O Negative - World Coming Down
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch OST
Joseph Loduca - Evil Dead 2 OST

**

Card of the day:

Hmm... money direction, for sure. Maybe I'll hold off two weeks on the small investment I'm primed to make.

Happy Halloween 2019!!!

Yes, I post this song every year. I will continue to do so for the rest of my time on Earth. Nothing sets the Autumnal mood for me like this song, and this album (digipak version). My, how I miss Peter Steele and the boys.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party
10/27: AHS 1984 Ep. 6/Arsenic and Old Lace/The Fair Haired Child (Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 9)
10/28: May
10/29: The Exorcist (Theatrical Cut)
10/30: Nightmare Cinema

I felt considerably saddened two nights ago when, for the second time in the last ten years, I watched William Friedkin's The Exorcist and felt nothing in the way of the fear that the film used to evoke in me. If you chart my experiences with Friedkin's masterpiece, there was my awareness of it as a kid; I'm certain I saw parts of it as a child, but I don't think I saw the entire film until somewhere in the early to mid-90s. I don't really remember that viewing, other than as an introduction. My critical faculties for film, in general, were burgeoning at the time, but still largely unsophisticated. Then, in the early 00s, I watched it with a friend, stoned out of my mind in a darkened room, and felt a very real fear that bordered on dread. This feeling stayed with me for at least a day afterward and inspired my oft-repeated axiom, "I don't believe in the Devil, except for three days after I watch The Exorcist."

This used to be exactly true.

I watched the film again in 2004 with the same friend and a few other fellows, all stoned, lights out, in the living room of the house some friends and I used to rent in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. I remember that viewing best because I was so freaked out during it I didn't want to get up and go to the restroom, which was about three feet beyond the television.

Fast forward to somewhere around 2009-2010. Living in Los Angeles now, I invited a few friends over to watch the Director's Cut of The Exorcist, the version I had never seen that contained the freaky and much-hyped Spider-walk sequence. After having talked it up for quite some time to everyone present, this was the first viewing where the film really did not affect me almost at all, certainly not the way it had in the past. That brooding, sustained fear is what I look for in 'scary movies.' I chalked this up to the Director's Cut potentially having different pacing.

After my viewing of the Theatrical Cut again two nights ago, I now find that it's not the film, it's me.

Most Horror films use jump scares, because they're fun and easy. Some use gore or disturbing premises and images to achieve their desired effect. FEW can create the air of menace I'm talking about here. The Exorcist - which although it appears no longer affects me I still consider the scariest movie ever made - definitely does it the best. The original Blair Witch Project also does this and has the advantage of real human fear being captured on film in places (no, I am not suggesting the marketing that the film was real is true. But BWP was partially shot with the three actors operating under false pretenses, and long before the hype of that film began, I read an article that talked about how the directors followed the actors through the woods for several days, employing a magnet to disrupt their compass and actually preying on them by making the strange noises in the middle of the night and, at one point, actually running up and attacking the tent while the actors were inside freaking out). More recently, during its original theatrical run, I was surprised to find James Wan's Insidious had some genuinely scary scenes - the baby monitor and the ghost that walks through the wall, in particular. In fact, several of Wan's franchise films have great moments of sustained fear - think of the two sisters reacting to the dark corner or the handclaps in The Conjuring - but the films usually also take a misstep along the way that neutralizes the overall effect. This year, as part of 31 Days of Horror, I was pleasantly surprised to find Hell House, LLC has some very real fear-inducing moments, and nary a misstep afterward. But off the top of my head, that's all I can think of (always looking for suggestions). They say familiarity breeds contempt, but I've never agreed with that. However, perhaps at this point, I've had the maximum number of viewings one can have with a legitimately fear-producing film before it loses its power. Not to mention, if you add all the lampooning of key scenes from The Exorcist in comedy sketches and pop culture, I'm afraid I may lay this one to rest.

**

Playlist from the last few days:

Type O Negative - Dead Again
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
The Obsessed - Lunar Womb
Boy Harsher - Careful
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Deth Crux - Pears of Anguish  EP
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Ministry - Psalm 69
Black Pumas - Eponymous
The Dead Milkmen - The King in Yellow
The Misfits - American Psycho

Card of the Day:

Is this banging my head against the wall or the edict I should move beyond my frustrations and continue to work toward my goal? Number two, always. 

Goblin - Tenebrae

What better way to build up to Halloween than some Goblin, from the 2013 Tour E.P.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party
10/27: AHS 1984 Ep. 6/Arsenic and Old Lace/The Fair Haired Child (Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 9)
10/28: May


**

Playlist from 10/28:

Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets
Type O Negative - October Rust
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
Fields of the Nephilim -
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Dead Milkmen - The King in Yellow
Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave - Phantasm OST
Goblin - 2013 Tour E.P.
Nachtmystium - As Made 7"
Claudio Simonetti - Phenomena OST

**

No card today.

Sunn O))) Pyroclasts

The description of this album is one of the more intriguing musical ideas I've seen expressed by any band in recent memory. This is kind of what I wish Tool had to say about Fear Inoculum; a band's Intent with a given piece of music can completely alter the way I look it/listen to it. I used to think Tool thought this deeply about their music. I am no longer sure of that, in regard to Maynard and the boys. Sunn O))), however, continue to express the hell out of me.

Also, recorded by Steve Albini. Always a damn good thing.

You can pre-order Pyroclasts at Southern Lord Records HERE.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party
10/27: AHS 1984 Ep. 6/Arsenic and Old Lace/(The Fair Haired Child Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 9)

**

Playlist from 10/27:

Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets

**

Card of the day:

I needed this, which seems to be a running theme with my Pulls of late. A direct reference to a short I've been picking at for almost a year; I finished it, realized the story had gotten away from what I intended (in a bad way), and have periodically gone back and re-worked it over and over. I nearly finished it last night, and when later mentioned the new direction to K, who expressed bewilderment that I had removed some of her favorite elements. In thinking about it, I realize the story was all but finished last year, my real problem was with the ending, which I should be able to synthesize if I go back and master all of the ingredients along the way.

This is One Awesome F#&king Evil Dead Fan Film!

Praise be to the might Bloody Disgusting for plastering this one on their front page, right where it belongs! Not sure what to even say. Talk about inspiring. Courtlan Gourdan did this in 72 hours for $200? It might be time to finally think seriously about making the Short Film I've had planned for a few years now.

**

On Friday, October 18th, I had the members of The Horror Vision Podcast over to record an episode that started out with a planned viewing/reaction to Babak Anvari's Wounds. However, things slipped from my grasp - the battery meter on our Recording Device read a solid three out of four lines for not one but two pairs of batteries, only to die unexpectedly. The delay pushed back the viewing until we missed our spot to have everyone present participate, and realistically we were down my Left Hand Man Anthony, so the night just ran into random horror film conversations. Which was definitely cool in its own right, hence why I took the time to stitch together a mostly coherent episode and put it online. In listening back to it, there's one rough edit where two different conversations unexpectedly bleed into one another, and you can absolutely hear my up-at-four-AM ass lose steam somewhere near the middle of the episode, but overall, pretty solid discussion. Check it out, and we should have another new one up sometime real soon.

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party

**

Playlist for 10/26:

Tones on Tail - Everything
Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping Alone
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir - Like a Ship (Without a Sail)
Underworld - Beaucoup Fish
Zombi - Shape Shift
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Ghost - Infestissumam
The Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

**

Card of the day:

Interesting. I've been warring with myself for the last twelve hours or so, over an awkward social situation that blasted my night in splinters last night. Well, a series of them really, culminating with an almost telekinetic manifestation of the anxiety I've been carrying with me for a few days. Lots of stress right now, at work and in life. This Pull is a nice indication I should let it go.

The Art of Sleeping Alone at The Lighthouse

Recently picked this up from Burning Witches Records, which is distributed via Mondo/Death Waltz. Super cool electro album. With all the metal I've been listening to lately, I needed a new album like this.

**

K and I saw The Lighthouse yesterday. Hmm. A lot to unpack. I'll link to my Letterbxd review HERE, and go on to say I've heard quite a few movies described as "a descent into madness" before, but this might be the most descending of any of those. Beautifully filmed. I mean beautifully. Looks like a movie from the 30s, even right down to the aspect ratio. If you're interested, see it in the theatre. Just for the shots of the waves breaking against the rocks.

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween

**

This past Wednesday I did another signing/release party for Shadow Play Book One: Kim and Jessie at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach, and it went very well! I sold almost every copy of both Kim and Jessie and my first book, A Collection of Desires: 7 Tales of Modern Horror. I also moved quite a few Kindle copies of the new book, which was by design; trying to hit the new and noteworthy chart. Special thanks to Mike, Jun, Ben, Gerald, Luis, and all those awesome Comic Bug people, not to mention everyone that came out to support me.

Thanks to K for the picture!

**

Playlist from the last few days:

John Carpenter/Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch OST
Tones on Tail - Everything
Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping Alone
Ulver - Teachings in Silence
Ritual Howls - Their Body EP
Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor
The Veils - Total Depravity
Sleep - The Sciences
The Sword - Age of Winters
Ministry - Filth Pig
1000 Homo DJs - Hey Asshole
Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
The Nukes - Why Things Burn
Bauhaus - The Skys Gone Out

**

Card of the day:

Both a reminder to listen to Sisters of Mercy today, and, despite having work today and the best Halloween party of the year tonight, a reminder to indulge a little of my creative energy today.

A Tale of Two Lions

I finally made it around to really listening to the new Jenny Hval album, The Practice of Love. Wow. The opening track, Lions, put me through a range of reactions, but I came out loving it. I feel like Ms. Hval is involved in a less ostentatious reclaiming of some of the forgotten musical detritus of 80s and 90s Pop, recontextualizing formerly garrish beats and tones in new ways, kind of like what the Hypongogic Pop sound was doing ten years ago, but smoother.

The opening track, which I've posted above, immediately made me think of Tones on Tail, as they're perpetually on my mind this time of year and I haven't listened to them nearly enough yet. Here's a live version of their song Lions; I'm always amazed when I find shit like this on youtube and see it has under one hundred views.



You can order the Jenny Hval from Sacred Bones Records HERE, and if you're unacquainted with Tones on Tail (the first and, in my opinion, best of the bands that three-fourths of Bauhaus created after splitting with Peter Murphy), find the aptly titled Everything double disc. It is fantastic.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2

Despite what I'd heard over the last few years since its release, K and I followed a viewing of Sinister with the sequel, and I loved it. Definitely not as good as the original, Sinister 2 is still pretty freaking solid. Also, one of my takeaways from the original was how James Ransone's Deputy So-and-So is one of the best-supporting characters in a horror flick in years, so I loved that the sequel stayed with him and what happened to him as a result of the first movie's outcome.

**

Playlist from 10/20:

Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Ulver - Teachings in Silence

**

Card of the day:

After the creative, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend, K and I tried to take a few moments to be mindful that we have good lives. If that's not wealth, I don't know what is.

Allegaeon

Anthony from The Horror Vision tipped me off to Allegaeon's music last week, and although I'd dabbled with it a bit over the last few days - enough to be absolutely staggered by their musicianship - Wednesday while playing them for a friend was the first time I realized how much these guys remind me of, A) Revocation, and B) Rust in Peace-era Megadeth. So far, I've only listened to this year's Apoptosis, but I definitely intend on working my way back through their discography. The music is insanely technical, while never feeling overly showy or contrived.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5

**

Playlist from the last few days:

Ritual Howls - Their Body
Crystal Castles - II
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
Barry Adamson - As Above So Below
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Numenorean - Adore
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch OST
Nocturnal Projections - Complete Studio Recordings
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
Twin Tribes - Shadows
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Death Crux - Mutant Flesh
Allegaeon - Apoptosis

**

Card of the day:

Interesting pull, as yesterday's writing session revealed to me the fact that at least one set of characters has a brand new journey to complete before the end of the book. 

Fields of the Nephilim - Moonchild

A little Carl McCoy and crew to usher us into the weekend. Here in LA, a brief flirtation with Autumn-like weather two weeks ago proved a total tease, and we've been back to 80+ degree days, with slightly chilly nights. The smell of the fires that raged over the last week has added a slight tinge of Halloween atmosphere to the air, as the brain can easily mistake the odor for that of burning leaves. For the most part, though, we are on our own to create and sustain a proper Autumnal environment for the season. Hence my leaning heavily on all the "October" music in my collection.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

**
I received my copy of Death Waltz Records/Mondo's Vinyl Halloween III: Season of the Witch score. Fantastic packaging. I wish they'd put equal care into their Prince of Darkness vinyl from a few months ago, but I'll take what I can get.

**

Playlist from 10/17:

Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch OST
Ritual Howls - Their Body

Card of the day:

Time to change my routine a bit to promote fresh growth. I've felt a touch stagnant in the actual act of writing lately. Part of it is the scope of outlining the second and third Shadow Play books in depth is creating massive change in the story. This is a really good thing, as I feel these books are really coming alive. But the execution of concept is feeling a bit daunting at the moment, and the feeling is paralyzing me. I spent a good deal of time surrendering to an urge to clean and re-arrange the apartment yesterday in the middle of what was supposed to be a day off's writing session. I have no illusions here - I know this was an exercise of psychological displacement, i.e. I'm having trouble plotting one of the character groups' arcs, so I put writing aside and clean because it's something I can accomplish. This tomfoolery is dangerous if it gets out of control, so I need to figure out a way to sidestep this mania. I'm open to suggestions.

Babak Anvari's Adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud's Wounds @Screamfest!!!

Two films. Babak Anvari has made two feature-length films, and after seeing his second, Wounds, earlier this evening at the penultimate night of Screamfest 2019, I am floored by how exquisite a filmmaker he has become in so short a period of time.

I first read Nathan Ballingrud's The Visible Filth back in late 2015. I've read it at least three more times since. It is one of my favorite pieces of prose and was a very large inspiration in my completing my first book of short stories, A Collection of Desires. To say it is a very important work of fiction to me is an understatement. That means I went into viewing Wounds with extremely high expectations. The film met every one of those expectations. It lands on Hulu this Friday. Watch it. Then, go read The Visible Filth, which is now available in a collection of six stories, conveniently titled Wounds. (you can order signed copies from Malaprop's Bookstore in NC HERE or Amazon HERE)

Thanks to Screamfest for bringing this to the big screen, if only fleetingly; in a perfect world it would receive a much wider release. Also thanks to Screamfest, Tuesday night I saw the Soska Sisters' remake of David Cronenberg's 1977 film Rabid. This is another film I'd anticipated for a long time, and it did not disappoint. My quick-take review on Rabid is up as a short episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast, available in the usual places:

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play

There will be a Wounds review up tomorrow as well.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds

**

Playlist from the last few days:

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out
Talking Heads - Sand in the Vaseline (Disc One)
Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Ritual Howls - My Friends Bury Their Souls for the Devil to Find
Ritual Howls - Their Bodies
Flipper - Album - Generic Flipper
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

**

No card today, mainly because it's 2:29 AM and I am exhausted beyond reprieve. 

Bauhaus - Antonin Artaud

A little Bauhaus to start our day. LOVE this track, and Burning From the Inside will always hold a special place in my Bauhaus heart because it was the first of their albums I ever heard.

**

AHS 1984 is shaping up to be one fucking fantastic ride! We're not even halfway through the season and I'm left wondering just where the hell this is going. A lot like Roanoke, I feel like the story/setting/characters established in the first part of the season is soon going to shift into a totally different direction.



**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass

**

Playlist from 10/13:

Windhand - Eternal Return

Allegaeon - Apoptosis

White Lung - Eponymous

Zombi - Shape Shift

**

Card of the day:

Another reminder as I struggle to shift things around in my outline for Books Two and Three of Shadow Play: remember the grid!

New Swans Track!

New Swans! From the album Leaving Meaning, out October 25th; support a truly independent artist and pre-order a signed copy of the new album directly from Gira's Young God Records HERE.

Being that Swans founder/brainchild Michael Gira stated upon its release that 2016's The Glowing Man would be the final Swans album from my personal favorite incarnation of what is one of the longest-running, consistently changing bands ever, I am extremely curious to hear where this new album leads.

**

Friday night K and I saw Joker. I was on the fence with this one, but now that I've seen it there's no reason to even review my reservations. Joker is easily going to be in my top ten films of the year. Easily. If you have superhero/comic book franchise fatigue like I do, take it from me: don't let that keep you from seeing this one in the theaters. Nothing remotely 'comic book' about this film. The hype is real - annoying - but real. I'm the trailer below, but my advice is to not even watch that, just go see it. Wow. Phoenix is absolutely amazing. Makes me want to re-watch PTA's The Master, which I'll probably do in early November.

Oh, and I absolutely loved the juxtaposition/influence on Joker from Scorcese's King of Comedy, which I just watched again recently.



**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31
10/02: Lords of Chaos
10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1
10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3
10/05: Bliss/VFW
10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog
10/07: Halloween 2018
10/08: Hell House, LLC
10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)
10/10: Creepshow Episode 3
10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)
10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

**

Playlist from the last few days:

Deftones - Koi No Yokan
1919 - The Complete Collection
Dr. John - Gris Gris
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
The Nukes - Why Things Burn
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# (Infinity)
Various - Joker Soundtrack (Playlist)
Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out
Ritual Howls - Their Body
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Turn Pale - Kill the Lights

**

Card of the day:

Direct reference to an under-developed aspect of my outline for Shadow Play Book Two. Duly noted.

1919 - The Scream

Chalk this one up to another group I'd never even heard of from that beloved Post Punk era of the early 80s. Fantastic stuff.

**
The first issue of Batman's Grave, that Warren Ellis/Steve Hitch twelve-month series came out this week, and I'm doing everything I can to not go into The Comic Bug and buy it. My mantra? Wait for the trade. Wait for the trade. Ellis always reads better in trade. Always.

I know, I know. We've seen this shot a million times by a million artists. What's special about this one? The artist is working with Warren Ellis, that's what.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31
10/02: Lords of Chaos
10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1
10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3
10/05: Bliss/VFW
10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog
10/07: Halloween 2018
10/08: Hell House, LLC
10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)
10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

I didn't have it in me yesterday to watch more than the new episode of Creepshow before I passed out for the night.

**

Playlist for 10/10:

Sam Hain - November Coming Fire
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - In Summer EP
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack (single)
Deftones - White Pony
Doomriders - Black Thunder
Pigface - A New High in Low (Low Disc)
Opeth - Deliverance
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Deth Crux - Pears of Anguish EP
1919 - The Complete Collection
Ain Soph - Rituals
Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside

**

Card of the day:

Very good to see the Four of Wands today, which I'm taking as a direct nod to the fact that if I keep at it, I'll finish the first pass on the outline of Book Two this weekend. There's bound to still be some tweaking needed afterward, but as long as I have all the points on the grid, I'll be able to use it as a map to start actually writing the prose. This is the first time I've ever outlined anything this heavily, but what a difference it has already made.

Doomriders - The Chase

The Playlist for Joe Begos' new film Bliss has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving! I've spent the last twenty-four alternating between Deth Crux's Mutant Flesh album and Doomriders' Black Thunder. Both these records are start-to-finish fantastic, and I haven't even had time to dig into some of the other bands with killer tracks on it. Here's the embedded full playlist - if you dig it, follow some of these folks on BandinTown, Spotify, Bandcamp or Apple Music.



**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31
10/02: Lords of Chaos
10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1
10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3
10/05: Bliss/VFW
10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog
10/07: Halloween 2018
10/08: Hell House, LLC
10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

Wow. When Masters of Horror aired back in the mid-'00s, I cursed not having cable. I looked forward to the inevitable DVD releases with a sort of frantic fan devotion. I mean, here was a series that assembled most of the greatest living horror auteurs, new and old, in one place. How could that be bad?

When all was said and done, I enjoyed the few I saw (Carpenter's Cigarette Burns, Coscarelli's Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, and Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft adaptation Dreams in the Witch House) but somehow never got around to the rest.

It's as if I knew.

Last year, I went back to the series for the first time in forever, primarily because at ~an hour each, MOH provides a great way to check a box for 31 Days of Horror on a work night. Yesterday, with a late start and an early wake-up time, I sought the series out again, opting to buy the first season digitally on Prime. Once acquired, K and I settled in for one of the episodes I had always anticipated but never got around to: Tobe Hooper's Dance of the Dead.

Dance is an adaptation of an old Richard Matheson short story of the same name that I first read in the early 90s; in fact, Matheson wrote the teleplay to adapt the story for Hooper, so everyone involved with this film is in my 'good book.' That makes it even stranger that I absolutely hated the finished product.

I didn't hate the way the story was adapted. No, what I disliked, and what I now wonder might hold true for more of the MOH series - and maybe even a lot of Mid-'00s, big-name Horror in general - is the aesthetic. I can't speak to that broader picture yet, but let's take a look at Dance of the Dead as a possible microcosm of the overall macrocosm of 2000s Horror.

Dance of the Dead suffers from an extremely dated adherence to mid-'00s culture: the guys in DOD all look like Bros, the attitude of everyone seems an extrapolation and acknowledgment of 'extreme' culture - something horror was DEFINITELY guilty of trafficking in; remember the Dimension: Extreme imprint? - and their messy hair, mountain dew attire, piercings, tattoos, etc. really just look embarrassing for the costume designer and producers. After a similar cultural rift, a lot of us look back on this same broad-stroke cluelessness on 80s youth culture as endearing (bandanas, shoulder-hoisted ghetto blasters, switchblades, etc), so maybe that will happen with the 2000s as well.

Though I doubt it. The schism is a little hard to explain, but if you were socially cognizant during the 00s, you'll know what I mean.

Along with the above, DoD sports an overly enthusiastic reliance on digital effects and awkward, heavily effected camera work that manifests as constant shaking-and-trailing of the picture frame, superimposed imagery, and a general frenetic editing pace that directly detracts from the film's visual exposition, in my opinion. During this period, I remember having a theory that everyone in Hollywood thought the entirety of youth culture suffered from ADD.

Finally, this befuddlement of youthful values and mores leads to a palpable and frankly ugly mean streak, especially when looking back from higher ground. Horror is horror, but in my experience, 'mean' generally doesn't hold up in the light of hindsight.

I fully intend to watch more of the first season of Masters of Horror, so I can only hope some of the other films contained therein prove me wrong.

**

Playlist from 10/09:

Tones of Tail - Everything
Various - Bliss Soundtrack Playlist
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Doomriders - Black Thunder
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Twin Tribes - Shadows
Ritual Howls - Into the Water

**

No card today.

Playlist to Joe Begos' Bliss

From the soundtrack to Joe Begos' Bliss, a film that I absolutely had a blast with on the big screen at the Egyptian last Saturday night. Producer/Editor/Actor Josh Ethier posted a link to the Spotify playlist, and various tracks from that will probably be popping up here for the next few days because it is loaded with great stuff that really fleshed out the aesthetic of the film and helps re-live it.

**

31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31
10/02: Lords of Chaos
10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1
10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3
10/05: Bliss/VFW
10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog
10/07: Halloween 2018
10/08: Hell House, LLC

Hell House, LLC was a very nice surprise. I really dug this one; while K liked it but feels most found footage movies feel like re-treads because the original Blair Witch did it already and did it better. I agree to a point, but there's something about the MO of a found footage flick that seems to lend itself to making genuinely scary moments - when handled correctly. Hell House, LLC has a couple of deep, sustained moments of, "What the fuck, ah!" horror, my favorite of which became hard to watch as one of the characters, when faced with inexplicable entities directly in front of their face, chose to pull the covers over their heads and, I guess, hope for it to go away.

I would post the trailer, but it really doesn't do it justice. My advice? If you're interested, turn off all the lights in your home and watch in the dark.

**

Playlist from 10/08:

Type  Negative - Life is Killing Me
Various - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST
Perturbator - New Model
Dr. John - Gris Gris
How to Destroy Angels - Welcome to Oblivion
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
John Carpenter - Lost Theme II
John Carpenter - Prince of Darkness OST

**

Card of the day:

Change is a'coming. Isn't that always the case? I'm reading this more as the thirteen and reference to Thanatos Energy, Death Energy, which is to say transformative energy.