With special guest all the way from the Philippines, Karen Kunawicz! We talk Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple and Chris Fucking Burnham's new book Die! Die! Die! and opinions are divided - I LOVED the first issue of this unannounced series, Chris and Karen... not so much. Other topics of discussion include but are not limited to Imaginary Fiends, which has some fantastic creature designs (see below), Her Infernal Descent and Holly Interlandi and Sally Cantirino's Last Song.
I just realized Tennis System has a new E.P. out the other day, and not long after Keller messaged me to ask if I was down to see them at a Part Time Punks show at the Echoplex next Sunday.
My response? Fuck. Yes.
Per my previous blog, we watched Triangle on Friday night. Fantastic film. I was a little worried that the thumbnail image on Shudder - which was the widespread poster image for the film - had ruined the twist of the film for me (I was so concerned about this that I doctored the thumbnail I posted here the other day, so as not to ruin it for anyone else), but the good news is that particular twist is inevitable right from the start and not at all the point of the film. So definitely worth a watch.
Oh! And speaking of Shudder, one more reason to love these folks - they surprised me with a free 30 days! How great is that? So, let's check the boxes on why Shudder is awesome (and, btw, not an affiliate):
1) They Sponsor Beyond Fest every year.
2) Great selection that grows every week
3) Hosting the Joe Bob Briggs Last Drive-in and leaving it up in perpetuity
4) Their live-streaming Shudder.TV channels are awesome and remind me of how I discovered horror back in the day (John Carpenter on WGN channel 9's nightly movie).
Playlist from Friday, 7/20
Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked for Death
Daughters - Satan in Wait (Pre-release single)
Beak> - L.A. Playback
Lake Trout - Another One Lost
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
Converge - The Dusk in Us
Emma Ruth Rundle - Fever Dreams (Pre-release single)
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Uniform - The Walk (Pre-release single)
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Johnny Marr - Call the Comet
I spent about twelve hours yesterday editing, uploading and post the new episode of DwC. Possibly the fastest turn-around I've done on my own, but it cost me my Saturday. I mean, I didn't do anything else, as reflected by my playlist, which was what we listened to while we made and ate dinner.
Playlist from Saturday, 7/22:
Footloose - OST
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
I watched Slither last night for the first time since my initial viewing, many years ago. Great little horror flick. Between that and Super - which I loved - I'm pretty sure James Gunn will have no trouble re-acclimating to making movies again. I'm sorry for the loss of such a huge contract and opportunity at the hands of adolescent-like immaturity, and I'm even more sorry for those MCU fans that will be subjected to GoG without Gunn at the helm, but I'm excited Mr. Gunn will once again be making movies that I will actually see.
Card of the day:
From the Grimoire: "All troubles and disruptions have been necessary to grow. That growth is a Victory, as not everyone makes it out of the strife and chaos of the fives."
The story I've been working on, "Please Believe Me" is so far outside of what I've done before, as far as character and overall tone, that my writing sessions have been strife and chaos. It can't be underreported, the feeling of sitting down during my daily ritual space for writing and coming away two or three hours later with nothing useable, or merely sketches of the tone and ideas that I want. Please Believe Me is meant to be a contemplation of Dread, which is far and away a different tone and emotion than horror, and finding the parameters of that tone inside of how I would normally write, how I would move a character or set a scene to progress, it's just not easy.
I was completely unfamiliar with Daughters before finding this in my youtube feed (which I have gone to GREAT lengths to heavily curate, as a lot of what youtube recommends is complete and total shite). I dig this; there is an obvious Jesus Lizard comparison right off the bat, but also, Thrall, and the tension makes me think of a great, sick, dying beast. Possibly a beached whale.
How's that for your bagel and cream cheese Friday, eh?
Planning on writing and watching this tonight, as it was just added to Shudder:
I completely forgot how much I love this record! Lake Trout is 100% worth your time, especially this record, Another One Lost.
No Drinking, Fighting, F*&king, and Crying today. Taking a break before the last two editions emerge.
Playlist from 7/18:
Lake Trout - Another One Lost
Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked for Death
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
King Woman - Doubt E.P.
Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy
Boy Harsher - Country Girl E.P.
Card for the day:
I'm no astrologer, in fact I haven't really ever even read about astrology. However, because I've had such a rocky week, and because a lot of people I know are also having trouble sleeping, staying in good mental balance, and just feeling fucking normal, a friend of mine mentioned planets in retrograde being a common cause of disruption. Interesting then, that I pull the 5 of Swords - a card I'm not all that familiar with except as the classic "5" disruption of the Truce initiated in the "4" cards and a child of Geburah. From corax.com:
"The deep crisis the Swords are going through in here also result in the influence of Venus, the planet of emotion, harmony and sensitivity."
So the airy logic of the Sword is undermined by sensitivity and emotion. In myself, where logic is a goal but often undermined by a more off-the-cuff emotional leaning, that's like bulls butting heads.
Kind of an obsession right now. I had never heard of Emma Ruth Rundle until a friend sent me a writing playlist that had this song on it. After a few iterations, this one stuck out. It has a particularly '2 A.M.' sound to me, a tone I've talked about on here at various points in the past. Might be what I need to finish my novel 2:00 AM Corridors, or at least complete the outline. Regardless of how Ms. Rundle's music fuels my creativity, you can find her full albums - including Marked for Death - on Apple Music, and I was excited to see she has a new record in pre-order mode HERE.
Playlist for yesterday:
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Write Dark Things Playlist
Card of the day:
Oppression? In this heat? Yup. That is the word. My sleep is bad, my stomach is bad, my head is heavy. Oppression is the exact word.
Junior Jr. just released the video for Guns A Blazin'! With the final issue of my DwC co-host Mike Wellman and his debonair artist extraordinaire counter part Rafael Navarro's cross-time comic epic close at hand, I can't think of a better song to start my dreary Tuesday morning with.
Playlist from Yesterday:
John Carpenter - Lost Themes
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Card of the day:
Significance of the primary subject of this card - Knight on Horse, flying into the fray. Going toward your goal with no distraction. Funny then, that this morning I feel so distracted. Leave it to the cards to call me out on it.
I know I just posted the full album stream that Deafheaven's record label Anti- put up last Friday, however, I'm still ingesting the album and while it is chock full of wonderful surprises, this song hit me the hardest. Gorgeous. And look, there's Chelsea Wolfe, who I appear to be inadvertently stalking here on my blog.
Playlist from yesterday:
John Carpenter's Lost Themes II
Yep. That's it. One album. We spent the day cleaning and organizing our garage, which has enough storage to essentially be a storage unit, so there wasn't a lot of time for music. Ended the night by viewing my new Scream Factory Blu Ray of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, my favorite Carpenter film (not his best film, but my favorite). I had a hard time deciding on the collector's edition or the steelbook, as the latter comes with an awesome lithograph. I went with this one because it is my all-time favorite cover art for a dvd/br, artist Justin Osbourne:
If anyone knows where I can get a poster of this, please let me know. I've looked online but found nothing and apparently this edition was originally released with one.
No card today, but let's do the Prince of Darkness trailer to round things out:
