Another new Zeal and Ardor track dropped last week. From the forth-coming, self-titled new album out February 11, 2022, I've successfully avoided listening to this one so far. Too many singles off an upcoming album can be like watching an extra-long movie trailer that tells you too much. I don't like hearing the songs without the context of the larger work of which they are a part. That said, I'm about to break down and jam this one, because, well, because Zeal and Ardor, you know?
Pre-order the album from the band's store HERE.
NCBD:
UPDATE: I originally posted the books hitting shelves on 10/27 here for 10/20. This is the corrected list.
Last month, I grabbed the first issue of this series on a lark. Really dug it, and I couldn't pass up this cover on issue 2!
Super into where this book is going again after issue 121. How can they sustain such a fantastic title for this long? I guess with the momentum of nearly four decades behind the characters, it makes sense. Or does it? No other book lasts this long and is good the entire way through. Maybe Claremont's Uncanny X-Men or Peter David's Incredible Hulk. This iteration of the Turtles began in 2012, so that's nearly ten years! Wow.
And lastly, the new Brubaker Phillips Reckless GN! Rejoice! These have become among my favorite things in life.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
8) Antlers
9) No One Gets Out Alive
10) A Nightmare on Elm Street '84
11) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010
12) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
13) Satan Hates You
14) Night of the Demons
15) Lamb
16) The Company of Wolves
17) There's Someone in the House
18) A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
19) Titane
20) A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Playlist:
The Final Cut - Consumed
Dennis Michael Tenney - The Beast Inside (single)
Various - Apple 80s Hard Rock Essentials
Skid Row - Eponymous
Slayer - Decade of Aggression
Pretty Maids - Red, Hot and Heavy (terrible album title)
My friend Dave recently hit me up with a link to his group Spizm's new track, B4uDie. Wow. Dave's a pretty incredible drummer - weird that I know two guys named Dave in Chicago that are both incredibly talented on the skins - and a lot of what I've heard him do before was instrumental, often a super unique fusion of jazz and jungle. Those styles are present on this new track, but Dave has taken to adding vocals and they just blew me right the fuck away. Check out Spizm's Bandcamp HERE, and if you ever get the chance to see them live, take it. Just the way Dave plays the hi-hat is enough to make me gawk in wonder.
Watch:
I have tickets to see Julia Ducournau's Titane tonight at a theatre near my work. Wheew - thought I'd missed this one. Can't wait. I know I've posted this trailer here a few times, however, I'm posting it again. I get such a strong Cronenberg Crash vibe from this, but amped up, like Crash on Methamphetamine. Really looking forward to this one.
Also, anyone interested in hearing what I thought of Lamb, hold tight. Ray and I are hooking back up with Seattle University Professor of Film Studies John Trafton to do an episode that discusses both of these this coming Wednesday, so it'll be available to stream the following Tuesday.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
8) Antlers
9) No One Gets Out Alive
10) A Nightmare on Elm Street '84
11) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010
12) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
13) Satan Hates You
14) Night of the Demons
15) Lamb
16) The Company of Wolves
17) There's Someone in the House
18) A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Playlist:
White Zombie - La Sexorcisto
White Zombie - Astro Creep 2000
The Soft Moon - Criminal
Electric Youth and Pilot Priest - Come True OST
Waxwork Records - House of Waxwork Issue #1
Vreid - Wild North West
Card:
Slowly starting to work out a new system for writing, as I've been out of the loop and pretty non-productive since my trip.
I rewatched Kevin Tenney's 1988 classic Night of the Demons the other night, and ever since, Dennis Michael Tenney's closing credits anthem "The Beast Inside" has been stuck in my head. What was it about late 80s Horror flicks practically requiring a rock anthem? Did it begin the year before with Dokken's Dream Warriors, from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors? Probably. I'd be curious to make or find a list of other flicks from this era that adhere to that trope. I'll bet there are many.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
8) Antlers
9) No One Gets Out Alive
10) A Nightmare on Elm Street 84*
11) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010
12) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
13) Satan Hates You
14) Night of the Demons
15) Lamb
16) The Company of Wolves
* Followed by The Movies That Made Us: Nightmare on Elm Street; not a Horror flick, but worth noting
Read:
I've been pretty behind on my reading of late, partially because I've struggled with books I haven't really liked. Here's a breakdown of what I read and liked and what I've decided to give up on.
I was not expecting to dig this as much as I did. Not since Grant Morrison's 3 years on New X-Men has anyone made the X-Books relevant to me again. Hickman's approach is a genius way of rebooting a major franchise without actually rebooting it, i.e. this new version doesn't eschew the long and varied history of the X-Men, but instead, strikes a vein of gold at that classic continuity's heart that we never knew was there but works perfectly to re-create these characters.
The first past of this two-part (oh why aren't there more?!?) Sandman/Locke and Key crossover came out back in March or April, so I almost missed this second part. I went back and re-read the whole thing in a sitting and was completely blown away. Can we get an ongoing Sandman title written by Joe Hill and illustrated/colored by Gabriel Rodriguez and Jay Fotos? Please? Preferably one that goes back to the days of Morpheus, although, with that line-up, I'd read a Brute and Glob book.
I didn't get a chance to grab these variants, however, I had to post them here just to share their beauty.
Now, onto a HUGE disappointment. Granted, when we're talking Clive Barker, I have to wonder if it's my own baggage that I'm bringing to the table that is preventing me from connecting with this one, however, The Scarlett Gospels just feels... like Barker paid someone else to write this in an approximation of his tone that gets the Horror and Gross shit, but totally misses the nuance.
Lastly, I don't know John Palisano very well, but I consider him one of my favorite people I met while hanging out with the L.A. chapter of the Horror Writer's Association, and his latest novella Glass House proved an interesting experience.
This is, I think, a deeply personal piece of experimental fiction that, through its first-person narrative, really digs into the uncertainty of modern life lived in L.A. I can't say everything about this book worked for me, however, it's a damn interesting trip, with some lovely prose throughout.
Playlist:
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife
Thanks to my good friend Jacob for turning me onto Unto Others, even though he did so with a degree of hesitation. And I totally understand that. There's something about this band - and from what I've heard especially this new album - that while I like it, leaves a question of authenticity lingering behind it. Maybe that will dissipate, maybe not. It reminds me a lot of Fear Factory, whose records never quite made the impression on me that a live performance at the beginning of their career did (opening support for Sepultura's Chaos A.D. tour). Either way, for the moment, while I'm getting to know Unto Others, I'm digging it, and especially their new album Strength, which was released a few weeks ago on Roadrunner Records and can be purchased HERE.
Watch:
Hoping to catch this one at some point this weekend:
I've begun to get a bit suspicious of A24, and I'm not really sure that's fair. It started with Saint Maud's original trailer, which felt as though it was screaming the proclamation, "THIS IS THE NEXT HEREDITARY!!!" Because of that, I skipped seeing it at the 2020 Drive-in edition of Beyondfest, only to watch it earlier this year when it hit streaming and, turns out, I really liked it. So I don't know what my problem is. Hopefully, Lamb will prove me 100% wrong.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
8) Antlers
9) No One Gets Out Alive
10) Nightmare on Elm Street 84*
11) Nightmare on Elm Street 2010
12) Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
13) Satan Hates You
14) Night of the Demons
* Followed by The Movies That Made Us: Nightmare on Elm Street; not a Horror flick, but worth noting
Playlist:
Type O Negative - October Rust
Unto Others - Mana
Unto Others - Strength
Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Card:
A quiet moment of union amidst an ever-expanding storm of chaos.
New music from Emma Ruth Rundle, off the fourth-coming album Engine of Hell. Pre-order HERE.
31 Days of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
8) Antlers
9) No One Gets Out Alive
10) Nightmare on Elm Street 84*
11) Nightmare on Elm Street 2010
* Followed by The Movies That Made Us: Nightmare on Elm Street; not a Horror flick, but worth noting
Playlist:
The Ritual Howls - Into the Water
Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers + Queers
Trouble - Snake Eyes (single)
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Ghost - Prequelle
Dr. John - Remedies
King Woman - Celestial Blues
Steve Morse - VFW OST
Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Type O Negative - World Coming Down
Type O Negative - October Rust
Specimen - Azoic
The Final Cut - Consumed
The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
The Wake (US) - Nine Ways
Anthrax - Spreading The Disease
Unto Others - Mana
Card:
Always a welcome image, although I really have no idea how to interpret this at the moment. Things have been slow AF since I returned from Nashville/Chicago. As I write this, it's the first time I've been able to sit down and work on writing. The day job has been difficult, to say the least, and it's draining my creative juices on a pretty much continuous fashion. Ad to that almost a week straight of Beyonfest - NOT complaining - and I just haven't had time to set anything up for success.
Some more Type O is appropriate for this Autumn-ish LaLaLand weather we've had since K and I returned from Chicago.
NCBD:
This book gets crazier with each freakin' issue. Ghost-powered military weapons, weapons of destruction made from haunted houses, spectral Monopoly dogs. WTF
Kang. 'Nuff said.
I almost skipped the first issue of Maze Book. Then, after subscribing to Jeff Lemire's substack newsletter and getting a "process" entry that detailed how he came up with and executed the look of the book, I ran back out and picked it up. Turns out, I loved that first issue, so I am in!
The penultimate chapter of this cool little throw-back Spidey title. I loved seeing the Puffball Collective in this story, and the last issue sent me running to dig out my copy of Incredible Hulk #377. How cool is that?
The end of this War of the Bounty Hunters series. Pretty cool, but I'll not be continuing on with any more Star Wars books for now.
After reading House of X/Powers of X on the plane last week, I am SO into this new, Jonathan Hickman-revamped X continuity. I won't be picking up most of the ongoing titles, so this is the book for me.
Watch:
Monday night was closing night for Beyondfest 2021, and they went out big with the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro and Scott Cooper's long-awaited nightmare Antlers.
A couple of years ago, Mr. Brown turned me onto Gris-Gris, one of the darker Dr. John albums, and it's become a staple of my annual Halloween listening. Check out the album closer, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" creates a creepy A.F. atmosphere.
Watch:
Last night was my second night at Santa Monica's Aero Theatre for Beyondfest 2021, where we saw Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill's new film The Black Phone.
Based on a Joe Hill short story from his debut anthology 20th Century Ghosts, Derrickson and Cargill's adaptation is fantastic. It lengths the fairly concise short story without weakening it. In fact, the flick is so strong that, re-reading the story this morning, I'd have to say it's the perfect kind of adaptation that takes nothing away from the story, but stands strong on its own.
In typical Beyondfest fashion, after the credits rolled and the lights came up, we were treated to an hour+ discussion where Mike Flanagan came out and spoke to Cargill and Derrickson about their creative approached to the film, what Joe Hill and his family thought of the adaptation of his story, ("Joe called us and said, ""Yeah, dad liked it.""), and all kinds of other great stuff.
31 Films of Halloween:
1) VHS 94 (don't waste your time)
2) The Mutilator
3) Demons
4) Vortex
5) Possession
6) The Black Phone
7) Slumber Party Massacre
Playlist:
Mastodon - Teardrinker (pre-release single)
Sam Hain - November Coming Fire
The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold with the High Confessions
16 - Dream Squasher
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife
John Carpenter - Lost Themes III: Alive After Death
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Card:
The cards are re-iterating what they told me yesterday because the event in question is later today. Just keep telling myself, "One and done. One and done."
