Lux Interior (aka Erick Lee Purkhiser) was born on October 21st. I think we need a holiday for that. Dia del Lux. It’s fitting that he was born in the middle of the Halloween season. I recently was at a shindig where ‘Songs The Lord Taught Us’ was put on from start to finish. A chance rose to speak with an older gentlemen there (not too old) who had the chance to catch The Cramps with their original line-up when they were primarily a NYC band.
I’ve written on how I came into the Cramps late, another bad example of discovering a great group through the Obituary pages.
The Cramps, “Garbage Man”
There aren’t many songs by the Cramps that help out with feeling low, save for perhaps ‘I Was a Teenage Werewolf.’ Ivy’s guitar picking on that song, and just that haunting theme to it make it good for when you feel like crap and the world is wet and cold.
Here are some Cramps Videos. Just for the hell of it.
The Cramps, “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”
The Cramps, “The Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon”
Since Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker have already gone ghost hunting, it would make perfect sense for their next Halloween-related experiment to focus on the grand tradition of carving Jack O’Lanterns. Thankfully, we can see it all thanks to the official themuppetlabs Youtube channel:
Speaking of the Swedish Chef, I’d like to take the opportunity to share an unofficial Muppet mash-up from SWARTOVISION, which features my favorite Korpiklaani tune (“Wooden Pints”):
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but don’t forget to visit ToughPigs for their annual Muppets Halloween Parade. Last year’s was a hoot and I’m sure 2012 will offer even more amazing (and awful) costumes, along with plenty of snarky commentary.
Saying The Misfits didn’t invent horror punk is like saying The Beatles* didn’t invent rock and roll. It’s a factual statement, one that elicits a “no, duh” from the crowd but still, when you think of horror punk – POW! The Misfits.
*or, fuck. I don’t know. Whoever.
In fact, Punk and Horror have go hand in hand like whoever sang “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” Here are a few examples to interject into your playlist this Halloween season.
The Ramones, “Chainsaw”
On the first Ramones album, you have this song about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As best said by Ari Lehman during his interview with Dr. Gangrene, there was a time when being into horror wasn’t a socially acceptable thing. It still might not be, but it’s gotten better for the freaks and geeks in this world. There was a time where being an outsider meant horror movies, punk rock and possibly sniffing glue.
I always liked this song, mainly because the sound of the first Ramones record was so primitive. It wasn’t expertly mastered but I think this might have been what the mind of a kid growing up in that time might sound like. Or something. It’s a fun song and it’s about Leatherface. What’s not to love?
The Freeze, “So Long Ago”
Most noted for being on the THIS IS BOSTON, NOT L.A. comp, The Freeze are an underrated band from Boston’s hardcore days. Lead singer Cliff Hanger’s voice is a distinctive whine much like a chainsaw that cuts through the distortion of the guitars. With biting lyrics and a really great music arrangement, The Freeze put out some great records. Pick up the Land of the Lost/Rabid Reaction CD release that collects the two vinyl releases. You’ll find ths song, which was the very first song on 6’+. Instead of having a song from The Misfits or Nekromantix, I kind of wanted to have something off the beaten path, just to establish the small niche that the podcast would occupy.
SNFU, “Bodies in the Wall”
One of my favorite bands is SNFU. I got into punk later in my life. When I should have had a skateboard and a copy of ‘If You Swear, You’ll Catch No Fish,’ I was listening to Frank Zappa and not much else. Such is life. I remember seeing this abbreviation while searching the used CD store in my hometown but never buying until I moved away. SNFU is a band I probably won’t ever see live, which is a shame since the documentary about them said they had one of the greatest live performances around. Canada produced a lot of great punk bands and SNFU is no exception. The never had a certain bent to their songs, which allowed them to sing about everything. On their first album, ‘And No One Wanted To Play,’ you can find this song about a haunted house.
SNFU, “Where’s My Legs”
You can also add “Beautiful, Unlike You and I,” “Visiting The Bad Again,” “Lovely Little Frankenstein,” “Gravedigger,” “The Devil’s Voice,” “The X-Creep” “The Electric Chair” and others to your playlist. This song involves mad science, murder and zombies. I think it’s perfect.
There are other songs from non-horror artists that I can’t think of. If you know them, leave a comment.
Sometime last week, I wrote a diatribe about Spirit Halloween. There are many reasons for me to hate Spirit Halloween, the second of the most grievous offenses being the overpriced line of stupid, racist, and sexist costumes. The hate-fueled rant included a lot of obscenities, since the title ‘Fuck You, Spirit Halloween’ set the tone. I tried to outdo myself with a different way I could say ‘fuck you,’ which ultimately degraded into such rabid foaming, like wishing death via prostate cancer upon any guy who bought the ‘Fireman With Big Hose’ costume.
The post got scrapped. When I start wishing death and doom on hypothetical strangers, it’s clear I’m running on anger and not thought.
A few days ago, Io9.com posted a gallery of some of the worst geek-related costumes. ‘Sluttiest and Weirdest Store-Bought Halloween Costumes for 2012’ dealt strictly with nerd/geek culture, avoiding the racist and stupid costumes, adhering to the site’s theme. After seeing the post, I thought that it would be redundant to try and rework the original post to a more coherent, sensible one.
Still, some of the problems bother me. It’s 2012 and there shouldn’t be a need to point out how dressing in a Mexican Style Men’s Costume is degrading to not just another country’s culture, but to you as a person. It says you not only think dressing up as a racist caricature is funny, that you had forty bucks to blow on it. Way to go, asshole.
Had the post gone live, a follow up post would have gone up the next day about the women’s clothing. Kind of a two parter deal. Women’s costumes at Spirit are, as one expect from the first word in that Io9 article, “slutty.”
I hate the term “slutty.” It seems rather puritanical. I also hate how that article’s ‘slutty’ costumes are all female. That’s partially due to Spirit Halloween marketing them – there isn’t a “sexy costume” category for men when you go to the website. It’s also due to the nature of our society. A man can wear a costume where he has a large firehose come out of his pants and it’s classified as ‘funny.’ A woman’s counterpart costume has the female firefighter in a black mini-dress that “comes with a fire extinguisher that’s actually a beverage dispenser – you decide what the beverage will be and how much to serve!”
But I hate the term ‘slutty’ as it seems to enforce someone’s perception of sex and what’s ‘acceptable.’ It’s a shitty term to use. Yes, these costumes are hyperseualized, but in the same way that dressing up like Jason Voorhees, Patrick Bateman or Freddy Krueger is hyperviolent. Sex and violence are different things, of course, but the idea of Halloween is to live a little exaggerated. It’s scary. But sex is always a part of horror. My problem isn’t with being sexual or taking advantage of the night’s lax dress code to wear something you normally wouldn’t. I hate on how these corporations seem to reduce women to just the sexual aspect of horror. That might be a problem with Horror itself but Spirit Halloween isn’t helping.
I also got to hate on the gendered idea that women aren’t funny. It seems the ‘Funny’ label is bandied about the male costumes that are offensive or witty (as witty as one can be.) The ‘funny’ women costumes are no different than the ‘sexy.’
This is one of the reasons I don’t like Halloween, at least in the public eye. Spirit Halloween and similar companies who mass produce costumes reduce everyone into categories based off of exaggerated gender roles and stereotypes. It’s demeaning to think that ethnicities are made into costumes and women are diminished to simple aspects of their sexuality. There is a way to change it – don’t buy the costumes. Write letters expressing your disapproval. And basically say ‘Fuck You, Spirit Halloween.’ Make Halloween your own. Don’t let mass-marketed definitions of this holiday be imposed upon you. Halloween Is Whatever You Make It To Be.
Masks and Halloween go together like peanut butter and chocolate. You can theoretically make do with a costume that uses make-up or otherwise doesn’t cover your face, but we all know deep down that masks are more fun. To help spread the Halloween cheer, I’ve compiled the following list of resources for free printable masks:
I personally recommend gluing the printed mask to poster board or light cardboard (like a panel from an empty cereal box) and letting it dry prior to cutting it out. That way, the mask will be much sturdier after you cut it out.
But wait, there’s more! In addition to this vintage article on making a paper pumpkin mask,Platypus Comix has uploaded an old twopartCricket article on making masks out of shoeboxes. I think we can all agree that it’s an interesting change of pace from the usual “mask made from a paper shopping bag” routine.
Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting or downloading from any links on those sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). Attempt at your own risk.
This makes complete sense. Because when I hear “Peter Benchley’s classic tale of underwater terror”, I immediately think “monster trucks.” Don’t you?
I’ll admit it: I was originally going to make fun of Eric S. Brown’s Bigfoot War series, which starts off with gory Bigfoot attacks and later adds zombies (including zombie Bigfoots) and people in high-tech battle armor to the mix. It would have been so easy. I’d just point out his The War of the Worlds zombie mashup and link to my “I’m Officially Sick of Zombies!” article and leave it at that. But you know what? I read all of the preview pages and I was genuinely entertained by (and enjoyed) what I saw. It’s like eating a giant plate of mozzarella sticks; you know you shouldn’t do it, but all the cheesy goodness is just too good to resist.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“A Halloween show! One of many this year. This show was late but after you listen to it, you’ll see why. I have some unexpected technical difficulties. Thankfully, we also have music by The Mission Creeps, Hellfire Revival, Terravoltz and more. Plus, Dr. Gangrene speaks with JACKSON PHIBES of Forbidden Dimension and Monstermatt Patterson ding-dong-ditches us with THE MONSTERMATT MINUTE.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
Longtime readers may recall that, in our last installment, I noted how the phrase “It was a dark and stormy night” was coined by the author of The Haunters and the Haunted.The phrase has turned up in countless horror stories, like “The Monkey’s Paw,” and I have decided to pay tribute to that fact by offering a collection of stories that are well-suited for reading on such a night.
Naturally, such a theme wouldn’t be complete without some stories influenced by the masters of the horror genre. Greg Chapman’s short story collection Midnight Theatre features a Poe-inspired tale called “Patrick Oswald Edwards” while Mike Minnis’ “The Girl Who Walked in Circles” is very Lovecraftian. Also, both “The Mysterious Card” and “The Mysterious Card Unveiled” by Cleveland Moffett are highly influenced by Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow.
The Amazon preview for Hell Comes to Hollywood features Laura Brennan’s unique take on a ghost story called “Message in a Bottle.”
Similarly, the Google Books preview of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Volume 7 yields gems like Charles de Lint’s “Dead Man’s Shoes” and “The Lodger” by Fred Chappell.
Those seeking a (comparatively) more traditional lodger story should seek out “The Basket” by Herbert J. Mangham.
The internet can be a terrifying place, as demonstrated by Dwight McPherson’s “The Deathly Tweet” and the NSFW tale “Links” by Kurt Newton.
Ralph Adams Cram offers up a spine-chilling tale of what happens to two friends when they travel through “The Dead Valley.”
I’m sure many of you reading this have fond memories of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz. Now you can relive them by reading the following selections from said book: “Wait Till Martin Comes” and “The Attic.”
“The Noseeums” by Jeremy Russell offers an interesting (and creepy) explanation for why ghosts are almost always seen in buildings.
Remember Strange Jason’s review of Arcane magazine? Well, the same publisher is offering all five issues of Arkham Tales for free!
Ambrose Bierce is famous for his tales of the supernatural and the fantastic, and “The Moonlit Road” easily demonstrates why this is the case.
Robert Anton Wilson once said that his “Schrödinger’s Cat trilogy” was not a “Shaggy shoggoth story.” Besides being an amusing play on the traditional “shaggy dog story,” I think the term is perfect for describing “The Seven Geases” by Clark Aston Smith and “The Descent into the Abyss” by Lin Carter.
Last but not least, Jeremy C. Shipp has a huge assortment of free horror stories available on his website.
A Handful of Dirt usually asks a person five questions they wouldn’t normally expect or receive in any other credible interview.
But since it’s Halloween, we’re offering a FUN SIZE version where we ask one Halloween question from the Serendipiter Bag o’InquiryTM.
Six years ago, the world was introduced to The Zombeatles by Rob Zombie picking their video for ‘A Hard Day’s Night Of The Living Dead.’ Three years later, they released ‘Meat The Zombeatles.’ And here we are three years later and the Zombeatles Have Risen Again.
This time, the Zombeatles have reached out the undead horde as well as their fans to help fund their second release. The Fab Gore – Jaw, Pall, Gorge and Dingo – have established a Kickstarter Campaign to raise the funds needed to record and release their sophmore album. We’ve reached out to each member and this time around, we speak with GORGE. At the end, you’ll find the video on their Kickstarter campaign page that will let you know what you can do to help out the Zombeatles.
Because, all you need is brains.
What would you pick for the official anthem of Halloween 2012?
A Handful of Dirt usually asks a person five questions they wouldn’t normally expect or receive in any other credible interview.
But since it’s Halloween, we’re offering a FUN SIZE version where we ask one Halloween question from the Serendipiter Bag o’InquiryTM.
Gris Grimly, the Mad Creator, is busy at work. Recently, he has been working with Dreamworks, designing the villain for the upcomign Madagascar spinoff starring the penguins. He is known for his art and wicked sense of humor. When not publishing his own books, he has illustrated those by such authors as Neil Gaiman, Laura Leuck, Joan Aiken.
Grimly is also an accomplished filmmaker, directing both the opening to Elvira’s Movie Macabre as well as the independent horror feature, CANNIBAL FLESH RIOT.
If you could design this year’s hit costume that everyone dresses up in, what would it be?
I would create a costume for my Grimm Fiend character. But it would be like the vintage Ben Cooper style with plastic apron and vacuform mask in a cardboard box. I’ve also wanted to release a club hat that would be similar to the old Micky Mouse club hats except it would have devil horns on it. All part of the Grimm Fiend line.
After watching those walkthrough videos I posted a few days ago, you’re probably itching to visit a haunted house/trail/hayride/etc. in your area. But how do you know if there are any in your area, let alone if they’re worth the time and money to go there? Although we here at Gravedigger’s Local 16 have both reviewed several hauntedattractions and shared a few haunted attraction review sites in the past, we were only scratching the surface. After spending untold hours on Google, I have compiled an enormous list of websites that blow us out of the water in that regard.
Please keep in mind that not all of the following websites are solely devoted to haunted attraction reviews and many are regional in focus. In fact, a few focus exclusively on haunted attractions in Canada and the UK:
As much fun as they are, your average Halloween party tends to follow the exact same routine. You watch some horror movies, wear costumes and eat a lot of candy and Halloween-themed foods. There might be some games and the telling of ghost stories, or perhaps even a trip through a homemade haunted house in the basement or garage. Now if you really want to set your next Halloween gathering apart from the rest, you should invest some time and effort into learning some season-appropriate magic tricks. The results will be well worth it. I personally recommend practicing in front of a mirror. Just be warned that the following links contain spoilers for several great magic tricks, so those who prefer to watch rather than perform should probably read another article.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Magic Tricks by Tom Ogden has a wonderfully creepy mentalism routine called “Living or Dead?” that is both easy to learn and incredibly effective. That said, you should be completely sure there have been no recent deaths in your guests’ families before attempting this one.
Norm Barnhart’s Amazing Magic Tricks offers a different take on communicating with spirits called “Message From A Ghost.”
I was listening to spooky music long before I started up 6ftplus, the podcast of spooky music and more. Specifically, I tried going an entire October in 2006 with listening to nothing but horror-themed music. It didn’t work; I had to get some non-horror music into my system after three weeks because my tolerance was that low. Nowadays, you’d be hard pressed to catch me at a time where I DON’T have some horror-music on my person.
Even after a good six years of trying, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in horror music; so imagine how I was when I started out. I had no clue what to listen to beyond the Misfits, a few Psychobilly bands I knew and the collection of Necro-Tone Records I picked up from a prior year’s Drop Dead festival.
Despite all the illegal blogger accounts held by South Americans and the now defunct ScarStuff blog, I never came across a copy of the New Wave Halloween compilation. There’s good reason for that.
This is the worst Halloween comp out there.
It’s not bad because of the music. In fact, this collection features some really good bands. But the song selections show that whoever put this JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH release had no idea what they were doing. It’s a slipshod release that doesn’t deserve your time. If anyone gives you this as a sincere present, you’re expected to not talk to them for a good sixty days, until the stench is cleansed from your friendship.
First off, for a NEW WAVE Halloween comp, all but one or two of the bands on this release are NOT New Wave. Dave Edmund’s inclusion might be the only justification for the label and the Comateens covering the Munster’s theme but look. You have punk, you have goth, you have whatever the hell Mudhoney is, you have alternative rock. These are not New Wave. Maybe if you want to lump Oingo Boingo in there but c’mon. Have you seen ‘Forbidden Zone.’ Go watch that and tell me that Oingo Boingo is New Wave.You won’t because you’re smart.
This album came out in 1998 so it wasn’t like some Eighties exec was trying to capitalize on something hot. I’m not even a fan of New Wave and I feel cheated at this comp.
But let’s get into the music. You have a Roxy Erickson song, Dave Edmund’s rocking song about The Creature, “Pet Cemetery” by The Ramones and “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo and the aforementioned Comateens cover of the Munster’s theme which is passable. Dream Syndicate are on this album because why not? The rest of this album doesn’t need to be and here’s why.
Rocky Horror Picture Show, “The Time Warp”
First off, the creators of the disc make an instant faux pax. Don’t start any compilation with “The Time Warp.” It’s a bit of a risk to INCLUDE it but to start off? Even ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ built up to this bit of whimsical nonsense. It’s not the song to start the party, but one that’s played about half-way through the night when everyone’s a bit more susceptible to dropping their inhibitions. It’s a song that gets everyone excited because of the ludicrous steps and everyone joking about the “pelvic thrust” that really does drive them insane.
But at its core, this isn’t a Halloween song but a song that only gets played at Halloween. This is because there’s no real context to be busting out ‘The Time Warp’ any other time at the year. It doesn’t really go with Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s Day or Christmas, unless you happen to be a fan of RHPS—or one of those people who are really into Rocky Horror. You know who you are. Hello there!
Really, it’s not a Halloween song. It’s a song that just fits into the straight, non-horror world best around Halloween.
The B52’s, “Devil In My Car”
I understand why anyone would want the B52’s on their album. The B52s are a fun band who defy genre and always seem to be perfect for a party atmosphere. Can you imagine how awesome your Office party would be if the B52s were there? If I can book the B52s at my Funeral, I will decay knowing that I went out on the best possible way.
But, really. Let’s try to imagine the decision making process for including this song on the comp: “The song has the word ‘Devil’ in the title. Include it.”
I first heard this song when Matt included this in his Halloween playlist back over at X-E, which I can’t fault him but let’s call it what it is – this song has nothing to do with Halloween. It’s catchy, enjoyable and demonstrates how wonderful and weird this band is, was and forever will be.
I think whoever greenlighted this song’s inclusion never really listened to the B52s because they’d realize that they don’t belong in ANY genre. ‘Rock Lobster’ is one of rock’s most bizarre songs and its creation and subsequent AIRPLAY is a miracle in itself. The fact that most people might associate ‘Love Shack’ with this band is a crime because Akua knows these guys are much, much weirder than that. Including them here on this comp seems to do them a disservice. It’s almost insulting.
Dead Kennedys, “Halloween”
Here, for your pleasure, is a faithful recreation of the thought process for including this song. “The song has ‘Halloween’ for the title. Include it.’
In fact, apply that to this song and ALL THE OTHER songs titled “Halloween” on this comp. There are six of them. Two of them are appropriate (the well known releases by Siouxsie & The Banshees and the Misfits) The others? Not so much.
Including Deady Kennedys’ “Halloween” in this comp is akin to making sure “A Modest Proposal” by Johnathan Swift gets included in a cookbook. On the surface, it seems TOTALLY A SMART IDEA but when you get into the meat of it, you find that neither work’s intention is what it seems.
Dead Kennedys were a politically conscious hardcore punk band out of the Bay Area back in eighties, around the time of The Germs, Black Flag and more. They’re not a party band. Lead singer Jello Biafra once said he wanted to bring the horror show of Alice Cooper but with the truth of the socio-political landscape of the time into music. Still, with lyrics like this, the song is a downer:
“You’re still hiding in a mask You take your fun seriously No, don’t blow this year’s chance Tomorrow your mold goes back on”
Dead Kennedy’s “Halloween” is about the hypocrisy of the idea you are only allowed to be yourself one time a year. It’s about being who you want to be. Do you feel you are your most when dressed as a clown? Then dress like a clown everyday. This theory has led to Juggalos, Bronies, most of Japan’s pop culture and modern American politics.
Sonic Youth, Mudhoney “Halloween”
Sonic Youth wrote a creepy song that is titled Halloween. It’s not about Halloween. It’s creepy. It’s weird. It’s Sonic Youth. It’s more about sex and killing than about Halloween. It’s less about Halloween as an idea and more of it as an ambient state of mind.
So how does Mudhoney end up making a version of the song? Seems Mudhoney sent a demo to Sonic Youth, who suggested that the bands cover each other for a split/single. Sonic Youth covered Mudhoney’s “Touch Me, I’m Sick” and Mudhoney covered “Halloween.” Both version of Sonic Youth’s ‘halloween’ are on the New Wave Halloween comp. They’re after each other.
That’s unacceptable. It’s complete laziness to include both of these songs on this collection. There is no creativity in this sloth is at the core of what offends me about New Wave Halloween. I like the Sonic Youth version of the song (I really don’t like Mudhoney, can’t get into them) but including the same song (albeit by different bands) right after each other? Are you trying to entertain anyone with this album?
It doesn’t matter if you have bad taste. It doesn’t matter if you are misguided. It’s when you’re lazy about EITHER which irks me most.
Ministry, “Everyday is Halloween”
Whoever includes this on any pro-Halloween comp is—well, I want to think they’re idiots but it might just be that’s the point?
The song SOUNDS creepy, which was probably the intention. But the lyrics indicate otherwise.
Remember back how Dead Kennedys scolded you for not “celebrating Halloween” everyday? They weren’t telling you to actually carve Pumpkins, trick or treat and watch “The Littlest Witch” for twelve hours. They were saying for you to live your life the way you want, bucking social norms. That is what “Everyday is Halloween” is about.
Back before he required triple-bypass surgery to repair the damage of doing the equivalent of Pablo Escovar’s weight in drugs, Ministry’s Al Jorgenson was kind of a whiney electro-goth whose anthem “Everyday Is Halloween” would be soon misunderstood by the masses it was making fun of.
The idea behind the song was that goths, often posed the question “why are you dressed like it’s Halloween?” would relate to the concept that their clothing, their lifestyle, their attitudes are often misunderstood by people who would just glance over their surface and make the dumbass assumption that they just really, really like Halloween. This is more about accepting who you are than actually celebrating October 31st 24/7/365.
So whenever someone includes this song on a Halloween playlist, it’s not less a “Halloween is so awesome, let’s have it everyday!” rally cry but more of an ironic playing of a song that says “fuck those who think we celebrate halloween everyday. Let them think that. We like creepy shit and they can go fuck off.”
So. In total review: Don’t buy this. This is a collection of GOOD SONGS but the piss poor effort behind its creation doesn’t deserve your time or effort. And used copies are going anywhere from 5 to 25 bucks on Amazon. That’s frightening. Get the songs on their own but don’t reward bad behavior.
While assembling last year’s collection of free spooky printable labels for various poisons and potions, it seems that I missed a few links. Okay, scratch that. I missed a LOT of other free printable labels suitable for Halloween. To correct this mistake, I have assembled the following collection of links (and the above image):
Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting or downloading from any links on those sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). Attempt at your own risk.
A Handful of Dirt usually asks a person five questions they wouldn’t normally expect or receive in any other credible interview.
But since it’s Halloween, we’re offering a FUN SIZE version where we ask one Halloween question from the Serendipiter Bag o’InquiryTM.
Shadow Windhawk is the the lead guitarist & back up vocalist for the long-running Salt Lake City based Horror Punk band, DieMonsterDie. The band is currently hard at work on their 8th studio full-length album, which is called: “October 21st, 1976”. The album was successfully funded on a $6,000 goal on Kickstarter over the summer this year.
In addition, Windhawk is the lead actor at Castle of Chaos Haunted House in SLC, Utah, where he also works as makeup fx artist and acting coach.
“I have been working in haunted houses for the last five years of my life. At Castle of Chaos I am known for putting on a unique and extremely intense interactive line show while customers wait to enter the attraction, which is not to be found anywhere else in Utah and is considered unusual in haunts across the US.
It is called “Hands on Horror”. With Hands on Horror, our customers sign a release waiver which states that we are legally allowed to touch them, in order to enhance the intensity of the show and give them better scares. This is something I have honed and sharpened my skills in for the last two years and I am very proud of it. I have been at the front leading Hands on Horror since it was introduced at the haunt back in 2010 and it has since become one of our most well loved and effective methods of entertainment for our customers.” –Shadow Windhawk
If you could implement a new Halloween tradition, what would it be?
If I could implement a new Halloween tradition…hmm. That’s a tough one. One thing that people are trying to make a “safer tradition” out here in the armpit of hell, Utah is something called “Trunk or Treating” where kids parents all park in a mall parking lot and kids go “trick or treating” and collect pre-checked candy out of the trunks of cars. This is blasphemous and wrong on so many levels. I suppose if I had the power to implement a new tradition I would instead use said power to re-affirm an old and important tradition.
When you trick or treat, you do it in real neighborhoods with real people and real jack o’ lanterns. You do it on the wet streets with real dead leaves falling around you and the moon shining bright through dark clouds overhead. You never trick or treat in a sterile, stifling indoor shopping complex or out of the trunks of your parent’s cars in some god forsaken parking lot wasteland with no trees or houses. There is this bizarre and disturbing need that has arisen in America that people need to constantly give up freedoms and sacrifice time for enjoyment and fun in the sake of ‘security’…instead of having simple activities like trick or treating, where the dark of night adds to the mystery of the costumes and makes Halloween special.
People in this country are too paranoid from the mainstream media feeding their brains. Everything that used to make American life grand is ‘too dangerous’ these days. It used to be parents felt comfortable letting their kids discover the great things in life like Halloween independently. But in today’s America, Halloween is dying. I can feel it changing…those old traditions are departing and it is depressing for a die-hard like me to watch.
Personally I just try as much as possible to fully embody all the old traditions of Samhain through my craft and carry the torch of old school Halloween fun with me everywhere I go. It’s all I can do in the face of a fearful and changing society. So, I’d rather implement old traditions rather than any new ones. Why fix or add to something that is already perfect, you know?
