2018: October 3rd

Love this song! I love all tracks by Type O, especially from this album, but this is one of the standouts. Also a great example of why they were so great: interesting, non-traditional song structure,  those group vocal accents that give everything a lush sense of good-natured hostility, fantastic two-person vocal melodies, and a sense of bloody humor for Christ's sake, just to name a few elements on display here that I love. No October would be complete without Type O Negative.

I decided to do the 31 Days of Horror movie thing. Not really a challenge, but a commitment for sure. Last night we opened Shudder only to find they'd added a bunch of Hitchcock! Super cool. First up from these was Rope, the adaptation of the play, starring Farley Granger, John Dall, and of course, the inimitable James Stewart. It had been quite some time since I'd watched this one, and while I remembered the big picture, a lot of the nuance - which is where all the fun lies - played for me like a first viewing.

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope

What will tonight's movie be? Not sure yet. I set a few DVDs out though, fodder for the coming evenings:

And there's a hell of a lot more than that. October is just getting started!


Playlist from October 2nd:

Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Fields of Nephilim - Dawnrazor
Zombi - Spirit Animal
Zombi - Shape Shift
Sleep - The Science
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST

Card of the day:

Seeking completion and fulfillment: And I continue to work on finishing my book!

2018: October 2nd

Hallelujah, it's October! Yeah, I know yesterday was the first, but it took me a day to realize we've finally arrived. The year is on its way out starting now, the seasons will change (well, not really for those of us who live in LaLaLand), and everything just gets better. Darker. Cooler. What you can expect to hear a lot of on this page in the coming 30 days?

Type O Negative
Bauhaus
Miranda Sex Garden
Fields of Nephilim
Trust Obey
The Final Cut
Ain Soph
More Sisters of Mercy and I'm certain I'm forgetting some major stuff. But I like surprises, so that's good!

I watched The Summer of 84 yesterday, the new film by the directors of the much talked about Turbo Kid, which I still need to see. 84 was derivative as all hell - think heavy Stranger Things vibe mixed with The Burbs - but it was a really fun, well-made flick that scratched my 80s nostalgia itch (which I'm thinking might disappear at some point if there's too much of this kind of thing). And I LOVED the ending. Recommended if you're not looking for something new but something engaging and fun:



NCBD tomorrow and it's a big one:

A Walk Through Hell -  The only book I currently think about all month long between issues!

Batman/The Maxx Arkham Dreams - my most eagerly anticipated book in ages!

 Die! Die! Die! #3 will be the determining issue as to whether or not I continue to read this one.

Super psyched for my friend DJ Kirkbride's new book, Errand Boys!

No, that's not a Walking Dead one-off featuring Princess, that's the Bill Sienkiewicz alternate cover!

Playlist from Monday, October 1st:

Pale Sketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed
Nothing - Guilty of Everything
Nothing - Dance on the Blacktop
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Behind the Music
The Ocean - Anthropocentric
The Ocean - Fluxion
Perturbator - Terror 404

Card of the day:

The Will to drive, to conquer, to complete. That's what I'm channeling today, as I'll hit my writing time hard, nearing the end of the layout of the chapters for my newest project, the final re-vamp of my now 6 years in the making novel ShadowPlay Book One: Kim & Jessie.

2018: October 1st

Justin K. Broadrick + Nothing + Prurient? Wow. I didn't know this existed until five minutes ago. What an awesome collaboration! And Somersault, off Nothing's 2014 record Guilty of Everything, is one of my favorite tracks by the band. This really blows it up to a massive size.

The website for the new podcast I've undertaken, TheHorrorVision.com had a bit of a delay, but should be up by mid-week, along with the first episode.


Playlist from Sunday, 9/30:
Etta James - The Second Time Around
Chuck Berry - Berry on Top
The Fixx - Reach the Beach
Yob - Ablaze (Single track)
White Lung - Eponymous
Chris Connelly - Artificial Madness
Sunn O))) - Kanon
Zombi - Shape Shift

Card of the day:

This again. Loud and clear. Yesterday's writing was the first in a few days, and it was pretty disappointing. Basically interpreting a second day of the five of Cups as another day of breaking rocks, which means Wednesday should be good.

2018: September 30th

One of the trailers that has been recurring at Beyondfest. Looks great. Free Screening at the Egyptian later this week, but it's a school day and a late show. Debating...

I can never fit enough Beyondfest in. I cherish everything I do get to attend, but I'm always left wanting more. Last night was brilliant: a pristine 35mm print of Dead Ringers, followed by Mick Garris interviewing Cronenberg and composer Howard Shore. The interview was recorded for later airing on Garris's podcast Post Mortem. The conversation covered everything - from Dead Ringers to The Fly, to Shore's work on Silence of the Lambs and Peter Jackson's Tolkien adaptations, to Cronenberg's role in Clive Barker's Nightbreed to his early short films Stereo and Crimes of the Future.

And everything in between.

What can top that? Well, there's a few more showings this year I may try and attend, Boat being one of them. Some of the others:







And one Cronenberg double feature remaining:





Playlist from yesterday was non-existent.

Card of the day:

2018: September 29th - Hold The Dark

Hold the Dark is exceptional; in my mind this is Saulnier's first masterpiece. Nothing against his other films, but this is just... a level beyond. I've written the inaugural installment of my new column on Joup, The Horror Vision, about the film. Read it HERE.

But wait, The Horror Vision is not only a column on Joup. In fact, the column is just a tributary to a much greater endeavor! In just one day (if all goes well with backend website design) my friends Ray, Anthony, Chris and I will be unveiling the newest podcast in the DwC catalogue: The Horror Vision. Here's a promo clip we threw together:



That beautiful logo is courtesy of Chris Saunders and the theme music is by me!

Tonight! More Beyondfest 2018 as K and I head into Hollywood to see Dead Ringers on the big screen, with director David Cronenberg in attendance to discuss the film. Can. Not. Wait.

Playlist from Friday, 9/28:

Mayhem - Deathcrush EP
Broadcast - Tender Buttons
The Ocean - Anthropocentric
Waveshaper - Station Nova
Mad Love - White With Foam

Card of the day:

From the Grimoire: "If we struggle against the seasons, the ebb and flow of life, we will fall. However, when you turn (Change) with that flow, you will reach a stationary peace from which your actions can harmonize with the power of Life's turning wheel."

How does that apply to me today? That's kind of the greatness of the card, isn't it? A broad stroke reminder to 'roll with the punches.' I'll be keeping that under advisement.

2018: September 28th - More New Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats

Really can't wait for this record.

Jonas Åkerlund's Lords of Chaos is excellent. The film goes out of its way to humanize Euronymous, played by Rory Caulkin, and conversely sets Varg up to look pretty much like a bit of a wallflower. The cinematography is gorgeous - especially the church burning scenes - and the murder scenes are brutal. Definitely recommended for fans of the genre - which I'm on the fence with as far as the old, second wave stuff - or anyone fascinated by sociological oddities.

Being that it's Beyondfest time, I've been reflecting on some of the other films I've seen there over the last few years. At the same time, while catching up on the always brilliant Shock Waves podcast, Episode 112 has Gigi Guerrero as a guest. I didn't realize who she was until the hosts brought up her short film El Gigante, which I saw a few years ago at Beyondfest and LOVED, kind of a Luchadore-meets-Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre hybrid. Here's the trailer:



Ms. Guerrero's production company El Luchagore's website is chock full of awesome content, and she says they are still in the early stages of making a full length out of the short. Also, there's a comic!

Playlist from 9/27:

Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer
Chris Connelly - The Tide Stripped Bare
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - Le Mani Destre Recise degli ultimi Uomini

Card of the day:

With this many recurrences of late, it's face value time: what am I being foolish about?

2018: September 27th

File that one in the #currentlyspinning category; I have it up loud in my office and people who walk by look a little creeped out. Good. It's almost October - the perfect chance to be creeped out!

Super excited to be going to see Jonas Åkerlund's new film Lords of Chaos on the big screen tonight at my favorite theatre ever, The Egyptian in Hollywood (There's no trailer - not sure why, but I find that kind of cool). Having just read the book a few months ago, this is perfect timing!

This is the first of several Beyondfest screenings I'll be attending this year, so that only adds to my fervor. I love Beyondfest. So much so, I used it in one of my stories. Sort of. If anyone out there has read A Collection of Desires: 7 Tales of Modern Horror, the first story in the book - Scare Me - is set partially at the Egyptian, and the screening Apple and Lucas are attending is in many ways based on my first experience at Beyondfest - three years ago now if my math is correct - where my friend Missi and I saw an amazing double feature of Evil Dead 35mm and Evil Dead 2, with an interview set in between where Edgar Wright interviewed Bruce Campbell and surprise guest Sam Raimi. Before the show, representatives from Shudder worked the crowd, trying to get people to sign up for the just-launched horror streaming service. I used all that - tweaked it for my nefarious tale of course -  as well as much of the surrounding Hollywood neighborhood - one of my stomping grounds for years now - as a setting for the story. It's one that I am very proud of.

Playlist from yesterday:

Bauhaus - In the Flat Field

Perturbator - New Model

Perturbator - Terror 404

Waveshaper - Station Nova

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Sunn O))) - 

Brand New - Daisy

Waxwork Records - House of Waxwork Issue #1 OST

Zombi - Shape Shift

Card of the day:

Reading about this card again after not seeing it in a while, I feel this is a harbinger for me. I've been physically hurting for a while, with various issues resurfacing just in time to slow me down. The yoga isn't doing a hell of a lot, but it's doing something. However, while none of my setbacks are serious enough to cause alarm, they do add up to an exhausting daily toll. The Empress seems to suggest I need to nurture myself a bit more, and in a period of withdrawal I should be able to reclaim my health.