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.