Oct 19 2011

Music to Haunt By: Darkmood

Darkmood
Official Site
Notic Reign Records 2009

Boo!

As I noted earlier, most albums covered in “Music to Haunt By” have a timeless feel to them. However, a select few have a more modern feel for them. So if you belong to the school of thought that a haunted attraction or Halloween display should make visitors feel like they’re in a horror movie, you might be interested in Darkmood’s debut album Halloween Descends, especially if you’re a fan of John Carpenter’s music.

The album gets its name from its first track, “Halloween Descends,” which features a pounding intro and plenty of screams. While very Carpenteresque, don’t expect it to sound like Carpenter’s famous theme for Halloween. “They” has a very orchestratic opening which gives way to an industrial feel and has very eerie touches towards the end. It’s perfect for a haunted factory, industrial maze, etc. The chanting-like opening of “Twilight” leads to some whispered vocals about blood drinking and screams, while lots of light (but creepy) touches aplenty. “October March” has light opening that’s almost like music box and later takes symphonic tone, which is soon followed by an industrial feel. The sound of feedback is put to good use here as well. The simulated musical creaking of an opening door starts off “Night Falls” and is followed by the sounds of wind, pounding, and heavy music (with touches of feedback). There’s a definite sense of darkness and evil approaching. “Stalker” effectively combines a heartbeat-like tone, footsteps and spooky touches. The scream at the end is a great touch. Clocking in at just under a minute, it’s not suitable for looping (unlike the majority of the tracks on this album). However, activating it (perhaps via motion sensor) when someone enters a dark hallway would be an excellent use of it. Thanks to the ticking and chiming effects associated with clocks in “A Cold Chill,” it’s perfect for use with a 13 hour clock or clock-themed room. “It Creeps” has a dark and foreboding (yet energetic) feel, along with a catchy beat as well. As it provides a sense of being followed, this could work in a dark hallway or possibly even in a haunted forest scene. “Whispers Of Evil” eschews from using music in favor of utilizing numerous whispers in an odd language (with the occasional bit of coherency). While it could definitely work in a dark maze or hallway, there are numerous other uses for this. Hearing this coming from a dark corner in a room would be unnerving, as would hearing it playing behind a closed door (especially if the track stopped once the door was opened). I once heard of a voodoo museum in New Orleans that pumped in the sound of a beating heart through the air system. Although the recording was playing loudly in the basement, it’s getting carried through the vents dampened it to the point patrons would hear the soft sound of a heartbeat if they stood near a vent. Doing something similar with this track would be incredibly scary. “Eerie” definitely lives up to its name. It’s the best John Carpenter song he never wrote. Words can’t do this one justice.

“Zombies Rise” uses medium pounding beats, echoing background music and eerie wordless vocals to set the mood. If you want to make people feel like they’re trapped in an 80’s zombie movie, you need this track. Imagine an organ that plays ghostly, moan-like music. That’s a major part of “Dance Of The Dead.” It sounds unusual at first, but it grows on you. As you may have guessed, this would work well in a haunted organist scene. “Black Skies” has an eerie, slow build for its opening. A sound like a creaking door (but distinctly isn’t) is a constant factor here. “Thunderstorm” combines wind and synth work plus touches of thunder. It does a great job of capturing both the power of a storm and the sense of unease it brings out in many. The storm effects take over completely at one point. When you think about it, a thunderstorm goes well with just about any spooky scene. “Hellbilly” has no music and instead lets the soft sound of an evil hillbilly take center stage. He tells gagged victim to sit down and describes what tortures he’s gonna inflict on victim’s girlfriend. The sounds of power tool and screaming follow. This could work in a redneck-themed haunt by playing it behind a door that can’t be opened or if you do an old school “touch ‘n feel” haunt with a redneck theme. A person dressed as a sinister hillbilly could blindfold people and lead them into a dimly-lit room with this playing and explain that the sounds they hearing are a family member “entertaining” some other guests as they have visitors poke and prod at the remains of their victims. Steady synth work pounds in “Ghost Ship,” while we also hear the creaking of a haunted vessel. Are those moans in the background or just music? You decide. Given the outrageous prices that people on Amazon are charging for the soundtrack for The Fog, you should opt for using this if you want to do a scene based on that film. In “Outro,” a symphonic violin and spooky background sounds mournfully play us out. But that is not the end of the album. “Harvest Moon” is the first of three bonus tracks and features tribal-style drumming and the sort of background effects Darkmood is known for. The addition of a plinking piano makes for a seemingly unlikely mix, but it works! “A Sense Of Fear” sounds as if it’s played by someone who is nervous and constantly checks over shoulders. The darker synth work seems to represent what the player is afraid of. A heartbeat effect put to good use towards the ending. It’s perfect for a dark hall or any other scene where you want to create nervousness. The soft, eerie opening of “Dark Night” is soon dominated to creepy and foreboding synth work. The drums and cymbals are an interesting touch as well.

Darkmood is the brainchild of Steve Montgomery, who is also behind SDM and Notic Reign Records. SDM recently released their third album, The Flame, which has two tracks that might interest fans of spooky music: “Zombie-otic” and “The Crow.” SDM’s second album, This Present Storm, also featured a track called “Halloween” while Notic Reign released an album called Dominion Of Illumination which features several songs with titles that suggest dark things. As of this writing, Mr. Montgomery is currently ironing out some issues that have made most Notic Reign titles temporarily unavailable on Amazon and iTunes, but you can thankfully still buy Darkmood .mp3s at Bandcamp.com. If you want to do things a little differently at your home haunt or Halloween display, definitely pick up Halloween Descends, you won’t regret it!

UPDATE: The once out of print CD edition of this available is now available on Amazon! Due to CreateSpace’s limits on CD-R track numbers, “Whispers of Evil” and “Hellbilly” had to be removed. Thankfully those tracks can still be obtained online.

Special thanks to Notic Reign Records for the review copy!

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 any links on the above sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). This also applies to the suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 18 2011

Music to Haunt By: Alex Otterlei

Alex Otterlei
Official Site
A.O. Music 2006 (Original release date: 1994)

Those of you who read last year’s “Music to Haunt By” should remember my foray into using gaming music for haunting purposes. What you might not know is that one of the genre’s pioneers is award-winning composer Alex Otterlei, who first started recording Arthur in 1989, which was intended for use while playing RPGs and/or tabletop wargames. What set his music apart from previous attempts at gaming music was that his material was not based around any particular gaming system, which let it be used by a wide variety of gamers. After its release in 1990, he followed it up with Battlethemes. The 90’s also saw the release of his first horror gaming album, Dark Themes From Beyond Volume 1: Where Evil Lurks. After its reissuing 10 years later, Mr. Otterlei prepared a special edition of the album in 2006.

Said special edition consists of a CD contained within a hardback book via a “soft hub.” Said book features a short story written by Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of famed author Terry Pratchett) to expand upon the storyline briefly detailed on the back of the album’s original release. Although it’s her first short story, it’s perfect in every way. In it, we meet the Jeffersons, whose new home happens to be alive. The “characterization” (if it can truly be called that) for the house is very interesting, as is the behavior of its creator. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Let’s just say that things take a turn for the worse when the new owners’ mucking about upsets the house. Each of the book’s 48 pages has a background illustration of sorts. For example, the chipped plaster effect is so realistic, I was shocked to run my fingers over it and not feel anything. The occasional splatters of blood are a nice touch as well. That said, there are a few points where the illustrated backing makes parts of the story hard to read.

As for the CD, things start off with “The House,” which uses its music to convey both age and grandeur, with a hint of something else. The orchestral sections seem to tie into the parties mentioned in the short story and violins help represent something unnatural. The groaning doors and slam at the end are a great touch. “Arrival of the Jeffersons” is a short track consisting of happy, peppy music. One can easily picture frolicking children and the horn gives it an “old west”-like feel. The pounding piano and violins of “Entering the House” create an eerie feeling. There’s definitely a sense of lurking thanks to the muted horns, which tones down as the family excitedly explores. “Evening Scent” features soft, calm music consisting of elegant string work. That said, the tolling bells at end add a touch of creepiness to an otherwise happy track. “Strange Occurrence” features distorted opening instrumentation and tense music with pounding noise layered under. “Investigation” is calmer, but still has a sense of unease and snooping. In fact, the snooping notes seem almost comical at first, but gets calmer and serious as time passes. Faint moaning tones kick in as the family makes unpleasant discoveries. The soft, spooky notes of “The Basement” steadily grow, as if you’re going deeper and deeper into the basement. There’s also a sense of menace there as well. In other words, it’s perfect for any haunted basement setup, be it a scene or the entire haunt.

“Nausea” provides an appropriate sense of unease and not feeling well. Think of the musical equivalent of a pendulum and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the track’s tone for much of the running time. The fluting introduction of “Night Time” conveys falling (I assume it’s the sun) and then switches to a lower, softer feel. As always with the night, there is a touch of unease. There are also some mystical chimes and notes that seem like a moaning, breathing noise. Naturally, this makes the track well suited for use with a “living wall” display. “Morning Scent” combines tolling church bells, horns and a violin for a happy feel. Things get spooky again with “Manifestation of Evil,” which uses stab-like musical tones and pounding notes to create a sense of evil. One section gives the feel of rushing or running, which flows perfectly into the next track. It also allows one to use this in a hallway chase scene, especially one featuring a slasher character. “The Sealed Door” has a more restrained and leisurely sense of menace to it. I like the background groaning and occasional heartbeat-like backing. Things kick up towards end thanks to the muffled moaning and roar. It could work with a sealed or breathing door scene, or even a “monster in a box” prop. “Evil Unbound” is somewhat lighter, but still unnerving. It makes me think of little things running all over, so it could work well in a insect or spider-filled room (especially if a corpse is in there as well). It eventually stops the “running” part, but keeps up the scares thanks to its eerie moaning tones. The elegance and unease of “The Torn Dress” vaguely reminds me of Danny Elfman’s somber work in Batman at times. The album ends with “The House Errupts” (sic), which is full of pounding piano notes, scary strings and moaning. It’s a great ending to a great album.

Due to the lighter interludes, I imagine that most people using this will only play certain tracks rather than play the entire album as a loop. As I noted earlier, this is not a fault with the CD as it was intended as a standalone album rather than a typical Halloween “spooky sounds” CD. Some of the lighter tracks, like “Investigation,” would work well with a role-playing game, something that has not gone unnoticed by the gaming community. In fact, many Call of Cthulhu players consider it to be a must-have for gaming sessions, as you can see by visiting practically any forum devoted to H.P. Lovecraft or Call of Cthulhu. Interestingly enough, I was chatting with Mr. Otterlei and learned how the album was not intended to be Lovecraftian (despite what some claim)! That said, he also feels that it’s up to the listener to determine the exact nature of the presence in the house, so there really isn’t any right or wrong interpretation.

Although there hasn’t been a second release in the “Dark Themes from Beyond” series, this was far from the only horror album by Mr. Otterlei. He released a soundtrack for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu campaign Horror on the Orient Express and is planning on releasing a mini album this Halloween called Horror Tryptich. Said album will be a download-only release on CD Baby and features three spooky tracks that were originally intended for use on the first “Dark Themes from Beyond.” However, Mr. Otterlei was so inspired by the fourth track, “The House,” that he decided to devote an entire album to that concept. There’s also talk of buyers receiving a free extra track as well!

It should also be noted that Alex Otterlei’s musical output is not limited to RPG soundtracks. He’s released standalone albums like New Beginnings, along with creating scores for films, video games and plays.

Special thanks to Alex Otterlei for the use of the 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 any links on the above sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). This also applies to the suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 17 2011

Dead (and Loving it)

Or some of you are, at least. With the Walking Dead pulling in 11 million viewers last night, it might signal that zombies still have some life in them.

Ugh. What am I going to do with you, America? Look, I get it. AMC has a decent drama that deals with survivors trying to make it in a post-apocalyptic world. There’s tension, there’s angst, there’s interpersonal politics. And, because it was financed by AMC, it didn’t have the bullshit producers of Fox or NBC screwing things up so it looks good and is good.

But, c’mon. Dude, when Cookie Monster is making fun of Zombies, it’s time to let it go.

 

Though, most people might have turned in to see if the whole series has turned to shit due to the showrunner Frank Darabont got fired. Plus, the writing cast got wrecked and it was rumored that things would turn into a Outler-Limits/Dr. Who type scenario where specific non-contracted writers would pen scripts. Episodes of The Walking Dead by Neil Gaiman, Neil Blomkamp and Neil Young.
So, y’know what? It’s Halloween, America. Enjoy your Zombies. I’m done with them but you can take them until there’s no more.

 

Oct 17 2011

Music to Haunt By: Prelude to a Nightmare

Prelude to a Nightmare
Official Site
Carpe Noctem, Prelude to a Nightmare Records 2010

Books take you places...dark places...

One of the joys of Twitter is connecting with new people. One of my Twitter friends includes Prelude to a Nightmare, who I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I did not realize he did music until quite recently. Hey, our Twitter feed is very busy and it’s easy to miss stuff. After seeing a Tweet discussing his upcoming music, I looked him up on Amazon to see if any of his work fit in with the planned themes for this year’s “season” of the Gravedigger’s Local 16 music podcast. I quickly realized that he specialized in the very sort of album “Music to Haunt By” is devoted to and knew I had to get my hands on it.

The debut album Carpe Noctum takes its name from a fictitious book of evil mentioned in the liner notes. Things start off with the self-titled “Prelude To A Nightmare,” which features a mix of female chanting, soft wind effects and a combination of music and string work. It’s spooky and sweeping in tone and also has a “cinematic” feel to it. An opening door and footsteps usher in “Time Forgotten,” whose soft music gradually increases in volume. A harpsichord provides a feeling of antiquity, while the organ provides the horror aspect. Both are gradually replaced with more footsteps. I can easily see this being used for when visitors enter a scene, perhaps something that has a medieval theme. “The Terror Within” has a big opening, with tolling bells and a very spooky musical stinger. What seem to be muffled voices and soft, mysterious music yield to industrial music. Chanting appears later on, along with more bells in the distance. This would work well in haunted club, factory or boiler room scene and its length makes it very suitable for looping. “Playful Spirits” is shorter, but still loopable. As you can imagine, this is perfect for a “haunted nursery”-type scene and features plenty of music box sounds and spooky effects, like a child whispering, layered over soft music. The strong piano opening of “Phantoms In The Attic” leads to violins and wordless female vocals, which make it perfect for looped use in a haunted attic scene or any other spooky setting. There’s also some music box-like chiming, which could make it useful in a haunted nursery or circus scene in a pinch.

“Hallowed Grounds” features a slow, soft build of music and extra soft chanting. The tolling bells and violin work are a great match, and the bats squeaking at points are a great touch. Its solemn, scary feel make it perfect for a graveyard or crypt scene. Soft piano work starts off “Full Moon” as bells toll in the distance. In addition to some ethereal female vocals, there’s a cool musical stinger that brings in a nervous tone to the piano. The percussion offers an almost jaunty tone that the bells take us out of it all…temporarily. There’s also a kind of tribal feel in the second go round. Screaming in the distance opens “The Tormented.” The very soft music is dominated by sound effects like distant voices and dripping, which give this track a very scary tone. As you can guess, this is perfect for use in a dungeon or torture chamber scene. “Eternal Darkness” starts with the rising of soft violins, along with pounding percussion and wordless female vocals. There are some nice variations on tolling bells and our old friend the stinger reappears at one point. “Deepest Despair” definitely lives up to its name, especially thanks to the opening piano work. Spooky effects and an industrial feel come later, as does some great organ work. While many tracks off the other albums in this series have a timeless feel to them, this track sounds like something from a modern day horror movie.

“Death’s Lament” features a mix of soft mournful piano work and wordless female vocals that make for an effective combination. If your graveyard setup features an “Angel of Grief,” this would work perfectly with it. I suggest playing it at such a volume that you can’t hear it until you get near the weeping angel. While its length makes its well suited for looping (like all the tracks on this album), there is another way to use it: set up a motion sensor connected to an audio player so that the track plays once someone gets close to it. Along with the spooky wind and bells, “Midnight Requiem” has an industrial feel in which stingers abound. There’s also some gong work, which works surprisingly well with the feel. “Final Breath” has a soft, speedy/frantic feel to its opening, while much of the rest has an industrial feel. There’s also an interesting section involving a mournful piano and chanting. As you may have guessed, this would work great in a haunted club, factory or boiler room scene. There’s also a bonus track called “Subterranean Terror” which is an amazing soundscape featuring effects like whistling wind, whispers, squeaking rats and dripping. It’s perfect for a haunted cave scene or dark maze!

Although it’s all for that particular album, it’s far from the end of Prelude to a Nightmare. There’s a short single from the album Dark Ride and an atmosphere album called Gothic Nightmares now available on iTunes and the album Unreal will be released this spring. During the spring, the man behind the music will be attending the Midwest Haunters Convention and Hauntcon, in addition to lecturing at the Canadian Haunted Attraction Conference in April 2012. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also formed Scare Tactic Productions!

UPDATE: The track “Subterranean Terror” has been removed from the reissued digital download version of this album. Why? Because it was expanded and moved over to the release Gothic Nightmares from the “Sinister Sounds” spin-off line!

Special thanks to Prelude to a Nightmare for the review copy!

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 any links on the above sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). This also applies to the suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 16 2011

Music to Haunt By: The Return

It’s that time of year again; The “Music to Haunt By” review series has returned. For those new to the site, I’ll explain: “Music to Haunt By” is the collective banner under which I review spooky ambiance CDs. Traditionally, I focus on albums featuring spooky music, but you can often find tracks featuring sound effects on said albums as well. In fact, this year I’ll even be covering an album that has more sound effects than music! Don’t be surprised if I do “Music to Haunt By and Sounds to Scare By” next year. In addition to reviewing the overall quality of an album, I also provide suggestions on how individual tracks can be used for certain scenes and which albums are suitable for playing as a loop for those who wish to play music for trick-or-treaters. I should note how these suggestions are based on my particular opinions regarding haunted houses and Halloween decor and your mileage may vary. After all, my way certainly isn’t the only way to do things. Oh, and some of the albums covered here were not originally intended to be used to provide Halloween ambiance, so the artist’s vision takes precedence over any unintended purposes dreamed up by myself (or other haunters).

Here are the entries from my first “Music to Haunt By” review series:

Music to Haunt By: An Introduction
Music to Haunt By: Midnight Syndicate
Music to Haunt By: Nox Arcana
Music to Haunt By: Buzz Works
Music to Haunt By: Dronolan’s Tower
Music to Haunt By: Hollywood Haunts
Music to Haunt By: Michael Hedstrom
Music to Haunt By: House of Nightmares

You can hear selections from past (and future) articles in the series in the latest episode of our podcast. Although not official entries in the “Music to Haunt By” series, the albums mentioned in my Freaky Tiki Surf-ari reviews for Witches In Bikinis and Chaino (somewhat NSFW cover art) have some music that can be used for haunted houses and Halloween displays. Witches In Bikinis’ self-titled debut album features a creepy instrumental track called “Cave Fire” that’s suitable for just about any theme or setup. For those looking for a mix of silly and spooky will enjoy “Witches Theme” from the album A Scary Kind of Love. Between those two song and the introduction for the song “All Hallows Eve,” the Witches In Bikinis could give any of the above bands a serious run for their money if they ever decided to do a spooky atmosphere album. As for Chaino, just about any track from Eye of the Spectre would fit in a haunted trophy room, jungle or shrunken head scene.

If the tips given in the first installment of “Music to Haunt By” aren’t enough for you, both HauntAudio.com and the Google Books preview for Lesley Pratt Bannatyne’s A Halloween How-To have plenty of tips and tricks for using sounds (and music) in haunt displays.

For those of you who’ve read all of the previous installments, I have an extra special treat to make reading this worthwhile: more free downloads! In the tradition of the free sci-fi soundscape download I shared last year, here is James Kibbie’s rendition of the classic “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” which is suitable for just about any haunt (especially one with a phantom organist). Musopen.org’s rendition of “Night on Bald Mountain” is also available for free! As long as they’re being used noncommercially, such as in a Halloween display or home haunt, you can use them for free. Those seeking to use them in a commercial setting will most likely have to work out a licensing agreement, although that might not be the case with the Musopen track.

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 given here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 16 2011

Sunday Reading: THE HELMET OF HORROR by Victor Pelevin

Inadvertently, I expanded my horizons when I bought a copy of Victor Pelevin’s The Helmet of Horror, which was due to a few superficial flaws in the consumer culture embedded in both myself and the used bookstore where I purchased the copy.

First off, I probably wouldn’t have bought it, or found it at all, if the bookstore hadn’t combined its horror with its science fiction, creating one large section for the ugly mutants that read “those kinds of books” can shuffle with heads bowed and eyes diverted from looking at any other ugly mutants while the rest of the shoppers pick from “real” literature. Granted, this was a store that had a table ‘curated’ by Chuck “Pencilneck” Klosterman where the store’s supply of Max Brooks’s World War Z was situated (and still going for fifteen bucks a pop. Really? In 2011? C’mon.)

If there wasn’t a horror nerd at the helm, I wouldn’t be sifting through all the TOR paperbacks and Dean Koontz, trying to find something that was horror-based but didn’t involve vampires and/or zombies. Despite its horrific elements, The Helmet of Horror isn’t a straight up horror novel. It’s not a straight up anything type of novel.

On the service, specifically the back cover, it is a “radical reinvention” of the myth involving Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur. Inside, it’s a bizarre philosophically driven tale that resembles the ‘Cube’ movies more than a Greek myth. Eight characters are connected to one thread (an internet forum thread) and they are only connected via the ‘internet.’
I enjoy myths and monsters, so I purchased the book. I flipped through the pages and saw that it was structured strictly in ‘dialogue’ or the interaction between each user on the thread. It wasn’t a chat log, mainly because there was no timestamp. The concept of time is a construct solely that of the reader’s mind, which is something that Pelevin enjoys in his literature. He isn’t prone to interviews so what little he has said about his writing style has been translated into “the reader who infuses the text with meaning.”

Translate is the key word here, since it wasn’t until half-way into the book that I discovered that Victor Pelevin is Russian and that this novel was translated by Andrew Blomfield. Which, I could easily chalk up as the reason why I was overwhelmed by the philosophical lasagna that gets served up half-way through the book’s discourse, but in truth, the idea here is that there is clearly a lot of intricate thoughts presented.

This is a book that doesn’t rely heavily on plot, instead focusing on character interaction to drive the story. The dreams by the user Ariadne involving the creature known as Asterisk are the cohesive story-line (a ‘thread,’ if you will) while the interactions of others (the lovers Romeo-y-Cohiba and IsoldA, the drunk Sartrik, the sarcastic Organizm(-: and wise Monstrodomus) allows the reader to create the world that they inhabit.

It’s a bizarre book that requires a couple of reviews to get down completely. I haven’t gotten it down completely. The section that describes the parts of the Helmet of Horror, something too small for anyone to actually wear so to put it on means to BE the Helmet of Horror, is complicated and includes a bit of absurdist flair. The ending is also a bit confusing and requires a deeper analysis. If you start this book, you will breeze through 3/4ths of it with that extra quarter holding you up as you try to understand what happened.

It’s enjoyable. There wasn’t a point where I wanted to put the book down. The interactions are enjoyable to read and Pelevin has done a lot of research when it comes to the history of labyrinths and how they relate to each character in this story. It’s not a strictly horror tale but if you like your science fiction coupled with religious imagery and monsters, it’s definitely worth a read.

Plus, it’s good to reach out and read different works from different countries. I don’t know Russian from Greek but thankfully, Pelevin has his work translated to English. It also had me look up The Master and the Margarita. Make your Sunday Reading an international one.

 

Oct 15 2011

ORANGEgeddon / PUMPocalypse

Maybe you’ve seen this in your part of the world, but there are reports of a pumpkin shortage here in the US. After a summer with heavy rains and turbulent winter, the crops have been either rotted out by disease or washed away by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

Depending where you go, you might see your prices increase. Last year, I got two medium sized pumpkins for about ten bucks. They were going for about five dollars a piece at a Stop and Shop (New England represent, punk.) They weren’t really too big, nothing that I would think for a large piece of work. But for five bucks, they were big enough for what designed I wanted.

These pumpkins were outside an organic grocer, so I assume they are organic themselves. Ergo, ten bucks a pop. They were about a reasonable size. If I were to buy one pumpkin this year (likely) then I can see myself paying that much. Not to mention I currently live in a city. I don’t know where the nearest farm would be, and how many subway transfers t’ll take for me to get there.

 

Considering how warm it has been, it probably has been hard to keep a pumpkin. With your http://www.ZombiePumpkins.com membership, you get access to their forums and all the tips on how to keep a pumpkin from rotting. Using petroleum jelly on the inside (or outside?) will keep the pattern, though check zombiepumpkins for all the info.

I’ve noticed a Key Foods here offering pumpkins for about five bucks a pop and some really decent sizes are available. I wouldn’t buy a pumpkin for another five days. Really, my preference when it comes to carving is about around the 28th, so maybe next Friday, I’ll have another photo essay up. I might take another design from the Zombie Pumpkins site. If you have any suggestions as what I should pick, I’d be happy to hear them.

My cat Jack won’t be with me this year, as he passed away this prior March. He was an old cat with a variety of health issues. I miss him a lot but I was lucky to have as many years with him as I did. Thankfully, I have the Mascot for Halloween 2011, TALLULAH, here to help me out.

Oct 15 2011

Free Halloween Coloring Sheets

This is far too awesome to joke about.

Whether you’re a parent, babysitter or teacher in need of some seasonal distractions for the little ones, you’ve come to the right place. Coloring sheets are a quick and easy way to keep children occupied so you can get some much needed peace and quiet. All you have to do is visit the following links and print ’til your heart’s content:

The Google Books preview for Brenda Kaufmann’s Fall Math Activities: Standards-based Skill-builders With Season Themes has a coloring page filled with monsters and other Halloween symbols.

The official websites for both Hershey’s and Ben & Jerry’s have both coloring pages and other fun Halloween activities for kids.

Fans of Dora the Explorer will enjoy this Halloween-themed Dora coloring page.

Disney’s Go.com has a “Monster Lab” coloring page in their “Family Fun” section.

Kaboose.com has a special “Trick or Treat” Halloween coloring page.

Do you like the image at the top of this page? It’s from RavensBlight.com’s coloring page section. Speaking of which, the site also has some more advanced projects for those who are too old for coloring, such as an awesome skeleton and papercraft skull.

Special thanks to Ray O’Bannon for the use of the 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. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 14 2011

Halloween on the Cheap

Paranormal Activity 3 opens next Friday. Are you excited? I’m not.

Why? Because I’m tired of derivative content. I’m tired of the news about the multiple Frankenstein movies in production. I’m sick of commercials for Grimm and the subway signs for Once Upon A Time (which is the inspiration for yesterday’s post, since I’m one red sharpie away from introducing the world to my concept, Once Upon A Fuck You. As of writing that sentence, I’ve received five offers, two of which were from NBC, and as we know, Ryan Gosling has been rumored to playing the lead.)

I’m tired of how chickenshit movie studios are from taking risks that they have to mine every book, board game, television show and plastic toy for an idea because if there’s a preexisting fanbase, there’s at least a guaranteed return on the investment.

Popular culture is killing my Halloween Spirit. I feel like three monsters will appear to me tonight in a dream. Leatherface, Jason and Freddy (haw, haw) will show me the error of my ways. Which, we’re half-way through the month and I am not loathing Halloween.

This is why I value independent cinema. The bad independent monster movie will always trump the mediocre remake in my opinion. Look, I’m not strange. It’s in my name and yeah, I’m kind of a weirdo but there’s at least hundreds if not thousands (possible millions, but lord. What a thought.) like me who are willing to cut you some slack. Make a movie but some things have fucked up, out of your control and it’s not that A+ effort? You know what? You took a risk and you did it. Gold star.

So instead of seeing Paranormal Activity 3 in a week, rent a damn video or stream from Netflix or download it. I don’t care. Just get out of this funk of junk food they’re feeding and get back into the creepy spirit. lord knows I need to.

Also, listen to our podcast and let us know what you think. Leave a review on iTunes, will ya? It’ll help spread the word.

Oct 14 2011

The People Behind VHS Cover Art

The last time I discussed VHS cover art, I had wanted to include a video featuring artwork by a British artist. As I was unable to remember his name, I was unable to find, let alone include, it. Thankfully, diligent searching has paid off and I finally remembered his name: Graham Humphreys. British readers will no doubt remember Mr. Humphreys’ work and how it got caught up in the infamous “Video Nasties” controversy. As for the video, it’s a labor of love put together by one paintnothing:

After the excitement from rediscovering the video faded, I got to thinking about the identities of other artists whose works graced the shelves of countless video stores in the good old days. Who were they? Thankfully, Google was able to shed some light on the matter. This interview was of great help, as was this interview with Corey Wolfe.

But let’s not forget movie poster artwork, the ancestor of home video cover art. Both old cover art and posters are loved by horror fans and have mostly lapsed into Photoshopped images of actors and actresses in the film instead of using artwork, thanks to things like contracts and the perception that the general public prefers pictures to drawn images. One of the best known poster artists is Drew Struzen, who went from doing posters for b-movies to creating the iconic artwork for many classic films of the 80’s. Wikipedia has both a fascinating article on film posters and an entire category devoted to movie poster artists, with Reynold Brown standing out as one of my favorites. Another favorite of mine, Neal Adams, sadly didn’t make the list but is still worthy of note. This section of his website details all of his work on posters and newspaper ads and includes films like Grizzly and Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors.

Finally, Google Books offers these previews of some Heritage Signature Vintage Movie Poster auction guides will provide tons of poster art and lobby cards from varios horror and sci-fi films from days gone by. Enjoy!

Oct 14 2011

6′+ Episode 15 is Up!

To quote the description given at the new listing:

“We continue to celebrate Halloween here on 6′+ with another round of Halloween music. This time, we get into the attitude and atmosphere of this time of year with a collection of ambient soundscapes.

With music to make your skin crawl and bones jump out of your body, we feature music from Midnight Syndicate, Nox Arcana, Buzz Works, Michael Hedstrom, Ray O’Bannon and more.”

You can find all episodes of 6’+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Oct 13 2011

Jason is grouchy

No internet. No update from me. Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you don’t, fuck you.

edit: Got internet. Still grouchy.

Oct 13 2011

Great Classic Horror

3 CDs, 6 tales and too many chills to count!

While I have reviewed many audio dramas from AudioGo in the past, this is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a audiobook. Sure, I’ve reviewed audio drama/audiobook hybrids before, but this is new territory for me. And you know what? I liked it. I still prefer audio dramas, but this was a fun change of pace.

Back when this collection of 6 unabridged stories was originally issued as an audio cassette release, it was a Tangled Web Audio release called Hauntings: A Classic Collection. Later it was released by BBC Audio under the name Great Classic Hauntings. In keeping with the change, a new (but brief) introduction was recorded to reflect the title. However, the narrator for that segment is not the same as the narrator for the stories themselves, Geraint Wyn Davies. Readers of this site might remember him from Forever Knight or Cube 2: Hypercube. Davies is an excellent narrator, whose voice is serious and offers an almost factual tone to the various tales of terror. He also acts appropriately excited at times and his “lapsing” into his accent is a great touch when he portrays certain characters. Although he adopts a distinctive voice for each character, the effect is nothing like an audio drama. Davies also wisely avoids using a falsetto when portraying female characters, as such an unintentionally comedic effect would clash with the theme of the collection. Without any backing music, his voice is given the stage it needs to completely entrance the listener, which helps with the illusion that someone is really reading a story to you.

Speaking of stories, Great Classic Horror features “A Watcher by the Dead” by Ambrose Bierce, “Dickon the Devil” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, “The Adventure of the German Student” by Washington Irving, “The Body Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Open Window” by Saki. “A Watcher by the Dead” shows why betting a man to sleep in a room with a corpse in it is never a good idea, while “Dickon the Devil” is an interesting look at how both the living and the dead can haunt a house. “The Adventure of the German Student” details what happens when a visiting student meets a strange woman during the French Revolution and also seems to be the great granddaddy of a classic ghost story involving a ribbon. “The Body Snatcher” (mistakenly referred to as “The Body Snatchers” by Davies) deals with two men who handle bodies for dissection for a medical school and what happens when the body of someone who was perfectly healthy earlier in the day arrives and “The Fall of the House of Usher” needs no explanation. What I will say is that it’s technically two Poe works in one, as he included his spooky poem “The Haunted Palace” in the body of the text and that it’s easy to see how this story influenced the writing of H.P. Lovecraft. Finally, “The Open Window” is a very interesting tale where a young girl’s explanation for the titular open window in a room has an unexpected consequence. It should also be noted that “Saki” is actually a pseudonym for author Hector Hugh Munro and how many online product listings mistakenly refer to it as “The Open Watcher.”

AudioGo has chosen a fine selection of stories from classic horror authors and interestingly opts not to go with some of the more famous stories by certain authors. For example, Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” could have easily fit into this collection, but the use of his more obscure ghost story made for a much more exciting and mysterious time. Speaking of which, the complete running time is 2 hours and 40 minutes, with two stories being contained on each of the 3 discs (which are enclosed in a 3 panel cardboard slipcase held in a cardboard box). Not only is this collection a great way to entertain one’s self on long trips, but it also offers some interesting potential for your next Halloween party. Telling ghost stories is a time-honored tradition at such events, so why not play material from Great Classic Horror to enthrall your guests? I recommend going a step further and creating a “storyteller” figure to add to the effect. You can use tutorials like these two to show how to give your storyteller a moving mouth that is synchronized with the audio or you can opt for a dummy using an “Invisible Ghoul” mask if you don’t want to bother with electronics. That said, including glowing eyes such as the ones from this variant of the “Invisible Ghoul” concept would make a great touch.

Special thanks to AudioGo LTD for the review copy!

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 any links on the above sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). This also applies to the suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 12 2011

Strange Trip: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

When I first saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I thought it was perfect. It wasn’t perfect in the sense that it was flawless. It was a perfect assembly that worked in thanks to, if not in spire, of its flaws, in its film’s deterioration, the amateur acting and the effects. It didn’t scare me, but it creeped me out.

When the film ended, I thought it was genius. Cutting to black, after Marilyn Burns’ Sally, drenched in blood and hysteria, as she screams and laughs in the back of a flatbed truck driving away from the pursuing Leatherface, leaving the monster to swing the growling saw screaming as it whirled about was amazing. There was no resolution, no solution, just the reality that Leatherface and his clan remained out there. It was a great horror film. It might have been the best.

That final scene remains one of my favorites, though in a recent viewing I caught sight of Leatherface pirouetted, diminishing the idea that the scene was pure rage that the saw was denied a victim but almost a graceful dance. In that first viewing, I saw the creature as more beast than human and that brief spin seems a bit staged, breaking the illusion. Still, killer end to the movie.

I’ve avoided the sequels because I didn’t think the first movie needed any. Everything that might come after that 1974 movie would have been superfluous. But, people got to get paid, I suppose. And the horror genre is never quite comfortable with leaving well enough alone.

So. Twelve years later, a sequel was made.

Immediately, one of the endearing qualities of the first movie is absent. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 looks good, whereas the cruddy, home-movie version of the first movie lent a dirty reality and a visual aesthetic. We’re knee-deep into 1980’s horror filmmaking here, where all the lighting is the same (much like how all movies have a similar texture-lighting these days.)

Right away, it’s clear that this will be a different movie from the original. Instead of a grainy documentary, this movie is a clear film production (which showcases the difference of shooting on film compared to video/digital.) While it doesn’t hold the grindhouse grit of the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the movie is visually entertaining in its own right.

Though the scrolling narration at the start of the film is, on its face value, an attempt to pass off what will see as real, the illusion isn’t held up.

Continue reading

Oct 12 2011

Ghost of Horror Trivia

Anyone who has ever seen Hammer’s When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth has probably wondered by why they stuck in two photographically-enlarged lizards dressed up like dinosaurs in the middle of a film filled with Jim Danforth’s masterful stop-motion animation work. Danforth had actually planned on including two dueling stop-motion allosauruses, but the idea was vetoed by a producer who thought the model dinosaurs resembled gay men in high heels! Short on time and money, the lizard footage was spliced in and the rest is history.

Popular Ultraman foe Baltan is actually a reworking of the “Cicada Man” costume from the series Ultra Q.

It’s pretty well-known in horror fandom that many of the original monster scenes from the Danish film Journey to the Seventh Planet were edited out and replaced for its American release. What you may not know is that Jim Danforth’s original replacement monster design was rejected for looking like a teddy bear!

Musician Joey Ramone once posed with a statue of the original Kamen Rider. No, really.

In what may or may not have been a publicity stunt, Boris Karloff took out insurance against potential premature aging that might be caused by horror make-up in 1931!

The script for The 7th Voyage of Sindad was written around Ray Harryhausen’s concept art for monsters he wanted to animate.

One of the plans for the currently unfilmed Rambo V was to do an adaptation of James Byron Huggins’ novel Hunter, which would feature Rambo battling a genetically engineered monster!

According to the Tales from the Darkside: The Movie commentary track, Tom Savini feels that the film is the “real” Creepshow 3.

The film The Adventures of Galgameth is an uncredited remake of Pulgasari. Given that it was co-written by the same man who directed Pulgasari, Shin Sang-ok (under the name “Simon Sheen”), it seems reasonable to assume it was his way of getting revenge on Kim Jong-il for having him kidnapped and forced to make movies for the dictator.

Vincent Price requested that a line about his vampire character in The Monster Club having retractable fangs be added in after discovering that he couldn’t speak while wearing them.

The Slime People originally had scenes which showed that the titular Slime People were aided by giant voles. However, the scenes were removed from the film due to the laughable quality of the vole costumes.

Since Universal had wanted to reuse the giant props and sets from The Incredible Shrinking Man, Richard Matheson wrote a script for a sequel featuring the Incredible Shrinking Man’s wife shrinking.

For more trivia, check out:

Horror Trivia
The Return of Horror Trivia
Son of Horror Trivia

Oct 11 2011

Haunted George, BONE HAULER

I have trouble writing about Haunted George. I’ve been meaning to write about him for a while; years, even. I’ve started writing about him at least five times at different intervals over the past twenty-four months. It’s been hard to put the my experience to words; seeing “this is the scariest sounding record I’ve ever heard” doesn’t fully capture the afternoon I put Bone Hauler in and unknowingly went about cleaning my apartment. I had bought Bone Hauler off of John from the Crimson Ghosts. The CD came with a warning, but the sound of the music coming over the PA made it hard to really hear what John was saying. It came highly recommended but what it was, I didn’t know.

The sounds coming out the speaker when “Graves in the Desert” started were shocking. I hadn’t heard any of the one man bands whose recent revival back then was in full swing. Nor was I terribly familiar with the return to lo-fi recording that some were picking up on. Combining them both but adding his own sinister slant on the proceedings, Haunted George sound is that coming from a broken transistor radio recovered from an abandoned construction site, its grey plastic chipped and dusty, masking-tape holding the D-cell batteries in place. The sound of Bone Hauler isn’t clear. It’s pock-marked and ugly. It’s the sound of the desert, deadly to some, beautiful to others.

It seems wrong to call Haunted George the alter-ego of Steven Pallow, former member of the Beguiled and the Necessary Evils. Maybe the character is a conjured spirit that posses the body when needed. It’s creepier to think of it that way.

Compared to his later releases, Bone Hauler is simplistic in its song structure. It’s very much desert punk, with songs like “Depraved,” “Howlin’,” “What Kinda Tracks Are Those” being what the Ramones would be if instead of four boys from Queens, they were just one guy from Tempe, Arizona with a bad case of murderous dementia. Speaking of which, there’s plenty of death and evil on this album, with such dark gems as “Graves In The Desert” and “She Told Me Her Name Was Lisa.”

This is really one of the best albums you can pick up. How appropriate it is for Halloween is up to you – the music is scary in both atmosphere and in content, but Haunted George captures the attitude of the desert. If you’re celebrating in New England (p.s. Kilslug plays at Cinema Salem with a showing of Die! You Zombie Bastards on the 29th) then the sound of Haunted George might not work for you. Actually, no. It will. This music is evil.

 

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