Friday, October 31, 2008 Halloween Treats: CountG's Party Mix

It was a gorgeous night tonight, perfect weather for trick-or-treating. Nothing sucks more than having to ruin the flow of your meticulously-prepared costume with an overcoat.

I biked around for a while through Oak Park. Some streets were closed off for block parties. On other streets were tables full of refreshments staffed by friendly neighbors. And hordes of costumed children were everywhere; running, laughing, screaming, but almost always under the watchful eyes of adults (who were themselves usually costumed). I love this town. Wish I could afford to live here.

On the way home I stopped off at Horrorbles. It seemed to be the right night for it. I picked up Doctor Mordrid on DVD and a copy of a magazine called Cinema Retro. The lady working the counter was very nice and helpful. She let me know that the legendary Tura Satana would be there later that night to sign posters and other souvenirs. Pretty cool, but not really my thing.

Still, I wanted to do something tonight. The beautiful weather, the Halloween vibe - it was calling to me. But I don't have a goddamned thing to do. Either I have lame friends or I'm lame or - look, there's very clearly lameness involved here.

So I'm making my own fun. I've got the final two episodes of Dead Set downloaded and ready to watch on my magic DVD player, a sixer of what the Brits call "alcohopops" and we call "sissy girl drinks", and some tunes. I can't share the booze and you can grab Dead Set the same place I did, but I can spread the musical lovin' around.

Altered Images - Dead Pop Stars
Bauhaus - Stigmata Martyr
Book of Love - Tubular Bells
Depeche Mode - Waiting for the Night [remix]
Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Feisty Stevens - The Zombies Are Inside Out
Fred Schneider - Monster
Groovie Ghoulies - Haunted Mansion
Martinibomb & the Coconut Monkeyrocket - MunsterBeat!
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - ...And This Is What the Devil Does!
Pilchard - Jack the Monkey
St. John, Paul - Flying Saucers have Landed
The Cramps - Surfin' Dead
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
The Dream Syndicate - Halloween
The Fleshtones - I Was a Teenage Zombie
The Jazz Butcher - Zombie Love
The Rezillos - Flying Saucer Attack
The Specials - Ghost Town [remix]
Zombina & the Skeletones - Can't Break a Dead Girl's Heart

It's heavy on New Wave because that's how CountG rolls. I've left out some of the more obvious stuff (like that Ministry song) because you probably already have that stuff, and I've made no attempt to organize a structured playlist 'cuz I couldn't be bothered.

The Paul St. John song is a trippy bit of early '70s glam pulled from the compilation, Glitter From the Litter Bin.

"Munsterbeat!" was a gift to the world from Oddio Overplay a few years back.

Fiesty Stevens is actually Kevan Gilbert, who's created a fantastic mash-up of Feist's "Inside Out" and Sufjan Stevens' "They Are Night Zombies!!"

Pilchard's "Jack the Monkey" is another mash-up and probably my favorite track on the list. It comes from last year's Bride of Monster Mash-Up (the site seems to be down currently), and the same team have also done Son of Monster Mash-Up and Mashing Pumpkins. While there's other good songs on these compilations, "Jack the Monkey" kicks all their asses and takes their trick-or-treat bags. Hey, it's even on that YouTube thingy the kids are all talkin' about:

To download CountG's Party Mix, simply click on the link below and blah blah blah.

How come there's no wimmin at this party?

Halloween Treats: H.P. Lovecraft

I had just spent the better part of an hour preparing a post offering up the 2006 BBC Radio documentary, Weird Tales: The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as the earliest media adaptation of Lovecraft's work, a 1945 episode of Suspense featuring Ronald Coleman in "The Dunwich Horror". And then I learned that this guy has already put up both of those items and a lot more besides.

So the hell with it. Instead, I will offer the only thing that other blogger hasn't yet, a picture of HPL run through ImageShack's rather bizarre "glittery" option.


Hey, Tiger Beat! I think I've found your next cover crush!

Halloween Treats: The Warren Companion

Warren Publishing holds a special place in the hearts of a generation of horror fans. Not only was their Famous Monsters of Filmland the only magazine of its kind available for years, but they published horror comics that were actually scary!

(I still remember one of their magazines, purchased coverless in a plastic bag for half-price, that disturbed me so badly as a child that it was the only comic my mom ever threw out. I offered no resistance to her decision whatsoever.)

Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Blazing Combat, 1984 - Warren established a legendary black-and-white magazine line that was unbeholden to the Comics Code Authority. They not only paved the way for more graphic depictions of horror in comics, but more mature storytelling in general. Warren's comics were aimed an older reader and not the typical ten-year-old targeted by Marvel and DC at the time. As a result, creators like Don McGregor, Richard Corben, Steve Englehart, Gene Colan, and many other were allowed a freedom of expression that was almost unheard of in mainstream comics, and often resulted in some of the best work of their careers.

The Warren Companion is a comprehensive overview of the publisher from beginning to end. Dozens of writers, artists, and editors were interviewed for the project, including the publisher's founder, Jim Warren. The book is lavishly illustrated with rare photos, excerpts from classic stories, and unpublished artwork. There's also an exhaustive checklist, including detailed creator info, that covers just about everything put out by the publisher. (Famous Monsters gets a somewhat short shrift, however, as the authors' focus is on comic books.)

Sadly out-of-print, The Warren Companion typically commands prices over $100 when copies come up for sale. But you can download the book free in cbr format as part of today's Halloween treats. You'll need to download all three parts and use WinRar or a similar program to unpack the file, and a comic reader program such as CDisplay to read the book.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Splish Splash

From the October 30th, 2008 edition of the Boston Globe

Coastal Maine tide change a mystery

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine—Meteorologists are baffled by rapid tidal changes along the Maine coast, which damaged some boats and piers.

Witnesses say low tide turned and became high within a matter of minutes on Tuesday afternoon. The changes occurred six or seven times. The National Weather Service says reports from several locations indicated that water levels fell and rose from 4 feet to as much as 12 feet during the event.

In a public information statement, the weather service says the cause "remains a mystery and may never be known."

It said significant rapid rises and falls in tide levels were observed around 3 p.m. in Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Bristol. The statement said rapid surges can be caused by the underwater movement of land, most often due to an earthquake, or due to slumping of sediments along a steep canyon or shelf, but no earthquakes were reported in the area Tuesday.

A similar event occurred on Jan. 9, 1926, in Bass Harbor, the statement said.

I think we all know what's causing this:

Season's Greetings!

Ah, crap. Wrong graphics. Hold on.





There we go! Have fun tonight, kiddies!

Thursday, October 30, 2008 Halloween Countdown: Night of the Living Dead

Not much to say about this one that hasn't already been said. Today's treat is that horror classic, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

The movie should show up in a player just below this paragraph. Click on the little diamond shape to go full-screen. To download this movie directly, you can visit it's page at the Internet Archive.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Halloween Countdown: Zombies!!

Inspired by Dead Set, I've decided to give today's countdown a zombie theme. First up is one of the best radio horror plays I've ever encountered.

On Halloween night, an easy-listening radio program is interrupted by news bulletins, first on a rash of UFO sightings on the outskirts of town, later on a wave of violence sweeping through the same area. As the situation escalates, the station's news department takes over the broadcast, and reporters file updates live as they happen at various pressure points throughout the city... right up to the bitter end.

Obviously from the description, The Peoria Plague is an update on Orson Welles' infamous version of The War of the Worlds. However, this radio drama is also one of the first productions to be inspired by George Romero's ground-breaking classic, Night of the Living Dead, released just a few years prior to this broadcast. The result is a very chilling, surprisingly graphic horror tale that still holds up today. Well, except for the music selection on Kaleidoscope, of course!

I think I discovered The Peoria Plague via an old-time radio discussion list on Yahoo Groups, way back in the day. Not much is known about the program, not even it's real name ("The Peoria Plague" being the moniker stuck on it by fans). As far as anyone knows, it was produced by Peoria, Illinois radio station WUHN-AM around 1972. No cast or crew information is available, though given the nature of the program it's a good bet that the on-air personalities were playing themselves.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a source to provide a streaming mp3 of the show. However, it's honestly worth a download. Be warned that the sound quality isn't the best - this is a nth-generation copy of a program that was broadcast only once over AM radio - but it's definitely listenable, perfect for a long drive late on Halloween night with a somewhat gullible cousin. Hi, Mikey!

Click on the link below to be taken to the RapidShare download page for this obscure gem.

The Peoria Plague

..........

Also on offer is the original soundtrack to another zombie classic, the original Dawn of the Dead (or Zombi as it was known in Italy). This is the original score created by Italian prog-rockers, Goblin, a favorite collaborator of Dawn producer Dario Argento. Goblin's score was used in Argento's European cut of the film, but Romero replaced much of it with stock music cues (including the beloved Gonk) for his US edit. However, the opening track, "L'alba dei morti viventi", is sure to send a chill down the spine of any Dawn fan.

I grabbed this months back, but I can't remember if I torrented it or pilfered it from another blog. My sincere apologies to the original poster if the latter is the case, and I will update this entry with the proper credit if I remember who you are.

Again, click on the link to be whisked through the intertubes to RapidShare's RIAA-enraging download page.

Zombi - The Original Soundtrack by Goblin