Friday, October 14, 2022

Let the Right One In

 
How about a little Fields of the Nephilim to start this fine Autumn day, eh? I'm telling you, the leaves are crispy and colorful, the air is cool with hints of smoke and rain, and my brain is full-on October. Oh, how I have missed this!!!




31 Days of Halloween:

First, I totally forgot that I watched the first episode of Showtime's new Let the Right One In series earlier in the week, so I've added that below. I was one of those weird moments where I was talking to someone about it the night before, my phone obviously overheard me say I was considering re-subscribing to Showtime to watch it, and the next day I had an email from Showtime offering $3.99 a month for the next three months. 

Sold.

 
I REALLY liked the first episode. Great setup for an ongoing series based on this. Reminds me that I never read the novel, and should do that at some point. The author, John Ajvide Lindqvist, also wrote Handling the Dead, which I read a few years back and really dug. 

10/1 - Trick 'r Treat
10/2 - Barbarian
10/3 - Hellraiser ('84)
10/4 - Phenomena
10/5 - Hellraiser (2022)
10/6 - The Dark Backward
10/7 - Sick/The Beyond
10/8 - Werewolf By Night
10/9 - Something in the Dirt
10/10 - Let the Right One in Episode 1/Lux Aeterna
10/11 - My Best Friend's Exorcism/Grimcutty
10/12 - Smile
10/13 - Monstrous/VHS (Amateur Night segment)

While scrolling around Showtime, I noticed Chris Sivertson's Monstrous is on the platform; this is a flick I'd been meaning to see for some time, but which completely dropped off my radar shortly after I posted the trailer back in April. Ends up, Monstrous is a very well-made and gorgeous movie that I didn't quite take to, despite everything on screen looking and feeling great. This may have been due to some stomach issues I've been having forcing us to pause the film several times, creating gaps in the experience. Whatever the case, if you have Showtime, it's worth checking out.




Read:

Almost every year I read two Graphic Novels in October, Rick Spears and Rob G's Teenagers from Mars and James O'Barr's original The Crow. This year, however, since I still haven't acquired bookshelves, A LOT of my books are still packed. I plan on rifling through everything to find these, but in the meantime, the hankering came over me the other night and I realized I would now add a third because it totally fits this time of year for me, and because it was right in front of me:


Originally reading Kraven's Last Hunt as it was published across all three Spidey titles at the time (Amazing, Spectacular and Web) in October of 1987 (I was eleven), I think this is the series that defined my love for Spider-Man. I'll always prefer the Black Costume. Not the symbiote, the black costume. I'll also always consider this a Horror story. It's damn terrifying, maybe not in the I'm afraid to fall asleep way (but what fiction is as an adult?), but in the "Jesus, that's really terrifying" way. You identify so many events in this story as dark A.F. and the ending... wow.  Anyway, I am thoroughly enjoying my re-read, for which I am using the Hard Cover I bought about a decade ago, leaving my original floppies safe in their bags and boards.




Playlist:

Rein - Reincarnated
Rein - Freedom EP
Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets (1994  Edition)
Jammes Luckett - May OST
Jim Williams - Possessor OST
Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets (1998 Edition)
Burzum - Filosofem




Card:

Middle-of-the-Night pull last night with my mini-Thoth:


A new idea will require extra fortitude to pull-off, but if followed through, can change things completely. I love when every spread I pull seems to hone in on a project I'm working on.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Smile

 

I completely forgot about the fact that a new album from The Mars Volta dropped back in... early August? Really? Holy smokes am I behind. Having only heard the one other single I posted sometime back in late June/early July, I have no context for the album, however, this particular song as a single? Not a criticism, but definitely a head-scratcher. I can only imagine the impetus for this may well have been the images for the video. Either way, I'll be making the full plunge into the entire album later today. 

You can order the new, self-titled album from the band directly HERE.




Watch:

I headed out to the local Regal Cinema last night to cross another recently released Horror film off my list. To my complete and utter surprise, Smile is absolutely fantastic. 


No disrespect to first-time Feature director Parker Finn, who totally knocked this out of the park. My misgivings with the film had to do with the trailer - I just thought it looked like something this totally is not (which is why I'm only using a poster here)!  

Smile is creepy, atmospheric, and, at times, genuinely frightening. Sosie Bacon's frenetic terror at seeing something no one else can makes Elizabeth Moss's in the 2019 Invisible Man look almost calming. We basically watch anxiety and fear eat a woman alive for an hour and a half, and it's glorious for all its moments of, literally, sheer terror. HIGHLY recommended in a theatre, as the score and sound design are top-notch.




31 Days of Halloween:

10/1 - Trick 'r Treat
10/2 - Barbarian
10/3 - Hellraiser ('84)
10/4 - Phenomena
10/5 - Hellraiser (2022)
10/6 - The Dark Backward
10/7 - Sick/The Beyond
10/8 - Werewolf By Night
10/9 - Something in the Dirt
10/10 - Lux Aeterna
10/11 - My Best Friend's Exorcism/Grimcutty
10/12 - Smile

I'm not being completely accurate with the days while I was in LA - there wasn't time every day to watch movies, so on other days when we top-loaded extra flicks, I've taken generous liberties and spread them around to fill in the gaps. From here out, however, it's day by day!




Playlist:

Ritual Veil - Wolf in the Night EP
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Final Light - Eponymous
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
Sylvaine - Nova
Miranda Sex Garden - Suspiria
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses 




Card:

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


Staying grounded can lead to healthy returns, both emotionally and economically.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

My First Autumn in Sixteen Years!!!


Now that I'm home and can partake properly, let's start things off in October with some Type O! This is the first time I'm experiencing Autumn since I moved from Chicago back in May of 2006, so I am EXCITED!!! Also, this is K's first Autumn ever, so it's even more of a thrill seeing the adorable wonderment that overtakes her as she watches the trees change, sits outside as a Thunderstorm rolls in, or sniffs the smell of the Dying Time that hangs in the wonderful Tennessee air.




31 Days of Halloween:

1) Trick 'r Treat
2) Barbarian
3) Hellraiser ('84)
4) Phenomena
5) Sick
6) The Beyond
7) Hellraiser (2022)
8) Werewolf By Night
9) Something in the Dirt
10) Lux Aeterna
11) Grimcutty




NCBD:

Pretty mellow pull this week, which is good, because I have books stacked up in my box at Rick's Comic City from the past two while I was away in LaLaLand. Here's what's on the menu for today:






I'm pretty behind on my reading, so I won't get to some of these for a while, especially if this catch-up pace at work persists (took my post-travel day off on Tuesday, as I worked until 4:30 PM Monday, then ubered to LAX and didn't land at BNA until around 1:20 AM. Collecting my bag and ubering home to Clarksville put my much-anticipated arrival at around 2:30 AM. So I was TIRED). 




Playlist:

Sylvaine - Nova
Zeal and Ardor - Eponymous
The Flamingos - Best of Playlist
The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Northern Boys - Party Time (single)
Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right To Children
Stereolab - Pulse of the Early Brain (Switched On Vol. 5)
Cold Cave - Full Cold Moon
Rein - Reincarnated
Zombie - 2020




Card:

I've been dying to get back to my Bound Tarot deck from Jonathan Grimm, especially since Grimm currently has a Kickstarter going for a full-on Art of the Bound Tarot Hardcover Book! You can check out and support the Kickstarter HERE

Today's spread:


So, delicate machinations will require a sacrifice to reveal hidden information? Also, and I almost never read the cards this way, but if you add 12+02+18 you get 32, or the day after 31 Days of Halloween, so perhaps I should set my sights on that as the day to release the free Kindle exclusive, which I originally hoped would land in October. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Waste

 

Seeing Zeal and Ardor tonight with some friends at the Echoplex!!!
 


NCBD:

Still going to be another week before I return to Tennessee and grab my books, but here's this week's pull:



New book written by Stephen Grahman Jones! 


I've actually really missed this book in its brief furlough. Can't wait to see what madness Cotes gets Bruce and his big, green spaceship into this time.



Another new book I know very little about.




Kinda hell waiting to buy my books, especially when I intend on stopping by The Comic Bug at some point, and Mike from Atomic Basement is doing a Pop-up shop in Long Beach.




Playlist:

David Bowie - Earthling
Anthrax - Worship Music
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
Anthrax - Persistence of Time
Drum - Gold Class
The Ocean - Heliocentric
NIN - The Slip
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Night Riders on the Deadstream

 

I've been leaning heavily into talking and posting about Rein, the first band I caught at Coldwaves 2022 Night One, opening for The Revolting Cocks Corpse, so I wanted to get in at least one about the other, penultimate band that night.

I know nothing about Stromkern going in, but man did they make an impression Excellent stage presence, and the drummer absolutely slams in a kind of Martin Atkins way, Andrew Saga switches back and forth between keys and guitars with ease, sometimes playing both to fantastic effect, all while vocalist/mastermind James "Ned" Kirby uses the entire stage as he blasts through his almost hip-hop-like approach to vocals. 




Watch:

One of the flicks I'm bummed I won't be able to make at this year's Beyondfest is Joseph and Vanessa Winter's Deadstream.


 I've been hearing a lot about this in the Horror Community, and after seeing the trailer on the big screen last week, prior to both Trick 'r Treat and Dark Glasses, the film looks like it would be a ton of fun in a crowded, like-minded theatre. Alas, I can only manage so many shows while I'm in, and this one fell outside the logistics for my second week in LaLaLand. That said, Deadstream hits Shudder on the 6th, so that means I might be able to sneak in a home viewing while staying with my friends, who are both huge Horror fans.




Playlist:

Pixies - Doggeral
Rein - Reincarnated
The Afghan Whigs - In Spades
The Flamingos - Best of Playlist
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (single)
Dead Milkmen - Beelzebubba
Revco - Linger Fickin' Good
Forhist - Eponymous
Anthrax - Worship Music
Antrax - Persistance of Time




Card:


I usually read this as a sacrifice, however, this morning I'm inclined to read it as a suggestion to change my perspective to gain new insight. 

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Trick 'R Treat Reincarnated

Another track from Rein, because I've been listening to the record a lot and really dig this song. Rein's official site is HERE and the Bandcamp is HERE.




Watch:

Dario Argento's Dark Glasses last night at the Aero in Santa Monica was great, and we had the distinct pleasure of James Branscome introducing the flick for Beyondfest 2022. Nice to put a face to the voice of one of my favorite podcasts, James co-hosts Cinematic Void along with Nick Vance, and if you're a Horror or Exploitation buff, you need this one in your life.

As for the film, Dark Glasses is by no means a top-tier flick from the iconic Italian Director, but it's a return to his Giallo obsession and as much, a lot of fun. Don't necessarily expect things to make a lot of sense, but if you're an Argento fan, you probably already know that. The water snakes scene was laugh-out-loud riotous, and probably my favorite moment.

Tonight's movie is 2007's Trick 'R Treat, with Director Michael Dougherty in attendance for a Q&A.


If you haven't seen Trick 'R Treat, you have done yourself quite the disservice.




Playlist:


Front 242 - Geography 
Dio - The Last in Line 
Tiamat - Clouds
Slipknot - The End, So Far
The Misfits - Static Age
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Rein - Reincarnated
 


Card:


A reminder to reach beyond the attainable and try for something more.

Friday, September 30, 2022

Rein - Puppetmaster

Rein was the first act we caught at Cold Waves 2022 last weekend. Amazing set - to get up on stage and perform without the solidarity of a band, or even a single other musician, always impresses me. Doubly so for Rein, who really just exudes naturally compelling confidence in the world her music and video accompaniment creates, kind of a Cyberpunk Punk Dark Wave. This is one of my current favorite tracks on 2020's Reincarnated record. The percussive synths that slip in at about the one-minute mark, and then continue to percolate throughout the song really get my imagination flowing, much like the closing synth "fireworks" on NIN's Terrible Lie, one of the first tracks that made me experience what I now realize is synesthesia. 

Rein's official site is HERE and the Bandcamp is HERE.




Watch:

Netflix dropped a new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, the anthology series coming on October 25th. I'm not sure if I'm going to watch this trailer or not, but as always, I post this here to spread the word and so I have it in posterity:

 

I cannot wait to watch the Panos Cosmatos episode. 
 


Read:

One of the first posts I saw on social media this morning belonged to Nathan Ballingrud, author of The Visible Filth, aka Wounds. The post announced the UK version of the book, to be published by Titan Books in March 2023, with this gorgeous cover by Vince Haig. 


I had NO idea this was coming, so imagine the joy I felt seeing this first thing on my first day off while working in LaLaLand.  The US edition -  coming three days before my birthday next year - is no slouch either:


On this side of the pond, The Strange comes to us courtesy of Saga Press. This is Mr. Ballingrud's first novel. That seems insane to me, but I would imagine that is because he is so adept at building worlds in short-story form, that everything I've read by him resonates with the same sacred gravity that novels do. 




Playlist:

Revco - Beers, Steers and Queers
The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?
Preoccupations - Arrangements
Misfits - Static Age
The Cramps - Stay Sick!
Rein - Reincarnated
Alice in Chains - Dirt




Card:


Strength and courage fortify for an upcoming breakthrough that may change things.