Gravediggers Local 16

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If you only follow us on Tumblr...

then you’re missing out!  Site woes have kept a lot of new content from being posted, so you should head over to https://wwwgravediggerslocal.com to catch up. 

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Steve Wang

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Self-taught artist and sculptor Steve Wang was born in 1966, but moved with his family from Taiwan to the United States in 1975. Thanks to exposure to Halloween (which was largely unknown in Taiwan at the time), he quickly became enamored with both collecting and making masks. Factor in a love of tokusatsu shows like Ultraman and Kamen Rider and it should come as no surprise he later decided to try his hand at making his own movies. The first of these amateur efforts was his 1984 Super 8mm short Kung Fu Rascals: Monster Beach Party, which he later made a feature length sequel of sorts to in the 90’s. Given the incomplete nature of his professional credits in online sources, it’s hard to say what film was Wang’s first. His first job for a major motion picture appears to have been working as a painter and effects technician for the 1986 Invaders from Mars remake. This led to his working on many other films in the late 80’s, including The Monster Squad, Deepstar Six and Evil Dead II. His most famous work from that period can be seen in Predator. Many people don’t know how the film started off with a completely different look for the titular creature ,which had to be abandoned due to it not looking good as a costume. Stan Winston’s team, which included Steve Wang, was tasked with creating the iconic look which fans know and love today. In addition to his design work, Wang also sculpted various elements of the costume and was responsible for the costume’s paint scheme. Winston said the paint job was the most important part of the costume and Wang was given the assignment after he won first place in the monster suit category for Screaming Mad George’s second annual costume contest in 1987. Considering how the judges included special effects legends like Dick Smith and Rick Baker, this says a lot about Steve Wang’s talents. Naturally, this was only one of the many awards he would collect over the years.

The 90’s were also a busy time for Mr. Wang. 1991 saw him co-directing and providing effects for the 1991 live action manga adaptation The Guyver. This in turn led to him being approached to work on both the Japanese/American co-production Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (which is known as Ultraman Powered in Japan) and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. But he quickly parted ways on both projects when it became clear his proposed changes would not be accepted by those in charge. Ironically, he wound up working as a painter on the infamous 1998 American Godzilla movie which used a radically altered creature design than the more traditional one he created when the project was going to be directed by Jan de Bont. Wang returned for Guyver 2: Dark Hero, this time being the only one in the director’s chair and having more say over the film’s story in addition to his editing, producing and working on creature effects for the film. Speaking of directing, he also directed the cult martial arts classic Drive and an episode of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy during this time.

The next two decades saw him lending his talents to films like Reign of Fire, Hellboy, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and Underworld: Evolution (among many others). But he wasn’t only limited to work on feature films. In 2002 he offered a line of “Biomorph” masks directly to the public and wrote for (in addition to directing and producing) the television series Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight from 2008 to 2010. He co-founded Alliance Studio with Eddie Yang and said studio has often made statues for Blizzard Entertainment over the years. Alliance Studio was also involved in the making of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, so you had better believe Steve Wang had a hand in the “Knightmare” creature seen in the film. Wang has also been known to appear in educational videos for the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, as seen on said school’s official YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGKe4PHDyvU

He’s also lectured at the Cinema Makeup School and, as the following video from Radd Titan shows, he often appears on the convention circuit as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1mtv6B9-5U

Given his numerous talents, I’m sure it won’t be too long before he gets involved in another project. Until then, we can visit his official Instagram account and read up on his past works. I had to skip over a ton of things in order to keep this article from getting to long, such as his acting roles, so clicking on that last link is highly recommended. Sadly the Internet Movie Database entry for him is far from complete. For example, it currently fails to note how he designed the monster in Dragon Blue and I would love to get some definitive verification he was actually involved in Jushin Thunder Liger: Fist of Thunder. One gets the feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Bibliography:

Interview with Artist and Creature Creator, Steve Wang – ArtsBeatLA Off Hollywood – Steve Wang – VICE Steve Wang – SPFX Character Creator & Master Monster Maker | Stan Winston School An Interview with Steve Wang – AFN.org Steve Wang – Creature Creator – About | Facebook Original Predator Design – Jean-Claude Van Damme As A Giant Fly? First Person Monster Blog: Part 45: The Saga of THE PREDATOR, Part 1 GODZILLA Unmade: The History of Jan De Bont’s Unproduced TriStar Film – Part 1 of 4 Steve Wang – Wikipedia KC Interview with Steve Wang – KamenConnection Biography – Alliance Studio

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Free Zombie Music V

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It’s Zombie Awareness Month and I have 13 freshly dug tracks for you. There’s a little something for everyone, all arranged in no particular order. There’s also a lot of zombie-related love songs this time around, so be prepared for stuff even mushier than brains. Be sure to click on the link on the left for the free download and the one on the right for the artist’s official website:

1. “War of the Zombies” – Creepersin 2. “Zombie of Love” – Family Ghosts 3. “Zombie Girl” – The Feejee Mermaids 4. “Zombie for Your Love” – The Hungry Onions 5. “Zombies on my back” – The Wild Zombies 6. “zombie heart (acoustic demo)” – Cynthia Lin 7. “Zombie” – Crude Caress 8. “Little Zombie” – Izzy Von Scarecrow 9. “Prix Zombie” – Horror Deluxe 10. “Zombie Prom” – Ghoul Patrol 11. “Go Go Zombie” – Under A Nightmare 12. “Drinking Trioxin” – Under A Nightmare 13. “Zombie Boogie” – Mad Tea

As always, Ray O’Bannon is offering free printable CD sleeves and tons of other zombie goodies for you to enjoy. If you burn this compilation to a disc, I highly recommend using one of his sleeves to store it in. You can even print out the image illustrating this article and glue it onto the sleeve if you want to!

Special thanks to the CDC for offering the open source image (and to Bob Hobbs for creating it)!

As always, Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of downloading from any links given here. Attempt at your own discretion. We make no guarantees about the future availability of the tracks listed above, so get them while you can. Blah blah blah…

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The Mission Creeps, FRIGHT NIGHT CREEP OUT

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The Mission Creeps Official Site Fright Night Creep Out, Refractory Records 2016

It’s been quite a wait since the Mission Creeps released Midnight Blood back in 2013. Thankfully Fright Night Creep Out is finally here! Has the band lost something over their lengthy break or have they only gotten better with age? Let’s find out!

The title track “Fright Night Creep Out” really puts the “surf” in “surf punk.” James Arr croons and howls (literally) throughout the track and there’s also a fantastic guitar solo. One listen and I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. The surf is also strong in “Party by the Lake,” where bassist Miss Frankie Stein really shows off her skills. I’m still struggling over choosing between this and the first track as my favorite song of the album! Theremin work and maracas which sound like rattlesnakes usher us into “Doing Time in Ol’ Tucson.” The vocals have a definite Johnny Cash influence which goes nicely with the brooding guitar work and steady percussion. In contrast to the lyrics about outlaws and jail, it really piles on the electronic effects towards the end. It’s not a complaint, mind you. Just an observation. The guitars of “Not as Wicked as You” grab your attention right from the start. Don’t expect them to let go or you’ll be sorely disappointed. But that’s the only possible disappointment you could ever have while listening to this. The eerie echoes and the sound of chittering bats are a great touch. Turn up your stereo and turn down the lights for this one!

Is it love or something else entirely? That’s the question posed by “Hexed (Some Form of Witchcraft),” whose lyrics tell of a woman’s bewitching effect on the singer. There’s a distinct 60’s feel to this one. Speaking of which, the Mission Creeps’ take on the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” is both heavy on the maracas and sure to please fans of the original while adding enough new twists to keep things fresh. I can’t be the only one out there who gets flashbacks to Stir of Echoes whenever they hear this. “Killer Gnome” is as catchy as hell, right from it’s heavy fuzz introduction. I also love the creepy laughter at the end. You’ll be singing along and bobbing your head to the guitars as you listen. Trust me. “Wasted” is fairly fast ‘n furious, drawing the listener in right from the first note. Even when it slows down for the home stretch, the mesmerizing guitar work will keep you hooked. It must be experienced in order to be truly appreciated.

Fright Night Creep Out shows the Mission Creeps have still got it and I doubt they’ll ever lose it. Unlike a lot of artwork associated with horror movies, the album’s cover art accurately depicts the frantic and frightful rock feel of this release. So hurry up and grab a copy now!

Special thanks to The Mission Creeps for the review copy!

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Monster Mania: Music From The Classic Godzilla Films (1954-1995)

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Randy Miller Official Site Monster Mania: Music From The Classic Godzilla Films (1954-1995), Varѐse Sarabande 1998

Up until 1998, American Godzilla fans who wanted to listen to the uninterrupted music from the films they love had very few options. Unless you were able to import albums directly from Japan, the selection was limited to Neil Norman & His Cosmic Orchestra’s decidedly bouncy covers of “Monster Zero March” and the classic Godzilla theme from the Greatest Science Fiction Hits series. One of the few good things about Tristar’s so-called Godzilla movie was the wave of products associated with the Japanese films which flooded the stores to cash in on the hype. One such release was Varѐse Sarabande’s Monster Mania: Music From The Classic Godzilla Films (1954-1995). It was originally promoted under the same “Godzilla Classic Themes From The Classic Films” and some CDs bearing that title seem to have been released, but apparently Toho made them change the name for some reason. But that isn’t the important part. You’re reading this to see how the new recordings compare to the original versions used in the movies!

The drum footfalls of “Godzilla-King Of The Monsters (Main Title)” are not quite the same as you hear in the film, but the power of the composition is still there. It’s highly enjoyable despite such small differences. The rousing and militaristic “Destroy All Monsters (March)” clearly shows off its musical influence from Akira Ifukube’s previous work. Not that it makes the music any less great. As you have probably guessed from the title, “Godzilla Vs. Mothra Suite (Main Title, The Letter, Song Of Mothra, Mothra March)” is a combination of several compositions in a single track. The main title portion devotes equal attention to Godzilla and Mothra. The musical sense of power represents Godzilla and the light fluttering notes are obviously supposed to represent Mothra. The soft piano work wonderfully compliments the sadness of “The Letter” portion of the track and despite it being an instrumental, I can practically hear the lyrics of the Mothra song. The chimes were also a nice touch. The last portion is a Ifukube military march with touch of his classic Godzilla theme. Taking a break from Ifukube, we move on to Reijiro Koroku’s “Godzilla 1984 (Main Title).” The opening cymbal crash and moody, low notes help the track’s overall melding of bombast and suspense. The drumrolls are a great touch as well. I also enjoyed the piano work of the pleasant “Godzilla 1984 (Love Theme).” As the original Japanese soundtrack for King Kong vs. Godzilla didn’t get released in America until 2006, the inclusion of “King Kong Vs. Godzilla (Godzilla Revived/King Kong Transport Operation)” was a real treat for G-fans back in 1998. As expected, they opted for the heavy material rather than the Lyman-esque jazz tracks. The second half of the track is one of my personal favorites. It has such a busy feel and splendid use of percussion and horns. The way Takayuki Hattori’s “Godzilla Vs. Space Godzilla (Main Title)” makes use of drums reminds me of something from the James Bond franchise. While we’re on the subject of that particular film, “Godzilla Vs. Space Godzilla (Love Theme)” offers the listener a quieter moment. I only wish it had been spaced out further from the other love theme on the album.

Masaru Sato’s “Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster (The Departure From Retch Island)” brings us both the feel of south seas adventure and confusion for those who had seen the island’s name translated as either “Letchi” or “Retchi” over the years. Although it’s not quite the same as original, anyone who has seen the film could easily identify what movie it was from just by listening to it. Akira Ifukube returns with a vengeance for his final Godzilla outing with “Godzilla Vs. Destroyer (Main Title/Destroy Hong Kong)” and includes his trademark use of steady drums implying heavy footfalls while “Godzilla Vs. Destroyer (Requiem)” is appropriately soft and mournful. “Son Of Godzilla (Godzilla & Minilla)” is pretty darn close what’s heard in the actual film. It’s goofy and light, with just touch of menace that leads so nicely into the guiro-filled “Son Of Godzilla (Kamakilas).” Since I have already expressed my affection for the original, I’ll just say this is different enough to be distracting. Koichi Sugiyama’s “Godzilla Vs. Biollante (Main Title)” is both heavily inspired by Jaws and calls back to the opening theme for The Return of Godzilla. The soft and beautiful feel of “Godzilla Vs. Biollante (Biollante)” is presumably a reference to Biollante’s rose form. “Godzilla Vs. Biollante (Super X-2)” owes a LOT to John Williams’ Superman theme. The evocative piano and drums of “Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (Opening & Attack On The City)” are coupled with bassoon work to create some perfect Ifukube moodiness and “Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (Terasawa & Emmy/Goodbye, My Home Town)” offers plenty of sadness thanks to its expert use of flute and string work. The rousing “Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (Main Title)” has plenty of callbacks to classic Godzilla material. Speaking of which, aspects of “Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (G Force March)” should remind listeners of what they heard earlier in the album. Listening to “Godzilla (Requiem)” makes me appreciate “Godzilla Vs. Destroyer (Requiem)” so much more. Its occasional usage of chimes are a touch I had completely forgotten about. The drums and cymbals of “Godzilla-King Of The Monsters (Reprise)” come back for one more glorious time. After a lengthy wait, we get what seems to be another reprise…until the electric guitars kick in for a secret track! It’s a cover of Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla” by Black. Its use of metal-style vocals is an interesting touch and it makes for a fun way to close things out.

Conductor Randy Miller and his orchestra have done a marvelous job covering a range of material that (more often then not) goes toe to toe with the originals. It’s all to easy to get lost in the overall spectacle when trying to focus on the music while watching the movies and listening to them like this allowed me to fully appreciate the music for what it was. I recall some reviewers complaining of being able to hear the musicians breathing but I’ve never noticed it. Although many soundtracks from Godzilla films have since been released in America, there are still plenty of reasons to track down a copy of this. Tracks 3, 5, 8, 9, 12-16 and 18 still have yet to be released in their original form in America and this album is the only way to experience what things might have been like if Akira Ifukube had recorded his work in stereo. Considering how Toho made an ultimately failed attempt to rework some original monaural recordings into stereo for the Shin Godzilla soundtrack, it looks like this album will remain the only way to do so for quite some time. It’s also an interesting time capsule of sorts. Note only are some of the translations “off,” but this came out at a time before Toho really put its foot down about the 1984 Godzilla being referred to as The Return of Godzilla and before the name Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was settled on. But in the case of the latter, the album does have the benefit of the film having not having been released in the States at the time. But I can’t complain too much seeing as how I opted to use Amazon’s version of the track names, which combine the title of the film with the title of the tracks themselves, rather than just use the track names from the back of the CD case. The liner notes offer a nice look at the history of the Godzilla franchise and the various musical influences and techniques present in the selected tracks. If you pay close attention to the album credits, you’ll even spot a credit to the band Black regarding their hidden contribution! It’s currently out of print but you can find it at a reasonable price if you look around. Hopefully Varѐse Sarabande will reissue it now that Legendary has boosted American interest in the Big G.

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Required Reading: Black History Month Edition

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Remember when I took a look at Dark Dreams: A Collection of Horror and Suspense by Black Writers back in 2010? Well, it turns out there have been several sequels! The other installments in the series are: Whispers in the Night, The Ancestors and Voices From The Other Side. All of which are well worth a look (both the previews I linked to and the full versions).

Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present by Robin R. Means Coleman is a fascinating and highly informative read. If you skipped out on looking through the sources cited in last year’s examination of the Blacula films, now’s your chance to make up for that mistake! The only down side is how it appears to be the only book devoted entirely to the subject on Google Books (as of this writing).

But books are not the only thing you can read for information on the above subject. The blog Graveyard Shift Sisters is devoted to looking at the role of women of color in all aspects of the horror genre. They also have a wonderful podcast which comes highly recommended.

Browsing through the Wikipedia article “Racism in horror films” while gathering notes for a future post led me to find interesting articles like “Will It Get Better For Black People In the Horror Genre?” and “Fact Check: Do Black Characters Always Die First in Horror Movies?” (among numerous others). There’s so much to learn, so you should start reading now!

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Splendorman

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It’s Women In Horror Recognition Month and I have the perfect video to celebrate! It’s a hilarious Slender Man parody (more specifically, the Slender Man mythos set up in the Marble Hornets web series) which you can watch thanks to Neil Cicierega:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MXYC_jX2Wc

So why is a video about Splendorman that was uploaded by a man perfect for Women In Horror Month? Let’s look at the credits. The film was written and edited by Julie Becker, who also played the titular character and pulled off some sweet moves while wearing stilts. The other two women in the short are Amanda Czerminski and Emmy Cicierega. Yes, that’s the same Emmy Cicierega who worked on Gravity Falls and, yes she did the animated effects in this! You will also see another important aspect of this upload if you look at the comments and related videos: the creepypasta community has adopted Splendorman as a semi-canonical member of the Slender Man family and Splendy has appeared in numerous fan works as a result! Not bad for a character created for a one-off parody.

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Jiangshi Comedy

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The English translation for “jiangshi” seems to be pretty flexible. I have seen them referred to as vampires, ghouls, ghosts and even zombies in various English language resources. One such example of the “zombie” usage comes to us from this hilarious prank video by TMD Shanghai:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tne0nlYJHU

Unlike many prank videos using the modern depiction of zombies, most of the response from the people being pranked seems to be genuine surprise followed by laughing and pretending to be afraid rather than genuine fear. I suspect this has to do with jiangshi usually appearing in comedy movies like Mr. Vampire rather than serious horror fare. Once the shock wears off of seeing a “jiangshi,” most people decide to play along and try to act like the people in films featuring such beings. It’s an interesting and refreshing change of pace from the usual reactions in horror prank videos and it’s pretty cool to have everyone be in on the joke for once.

Sun Nien Fai Lok! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year!

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What Gives?

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Toho has been paying money out of their own pocket for English language dubs of Godzilla movies for ages and American distributors rarely create their own Godzilla dubs these days. So why hasn’t Toho edited together and dubbed the Godzilla-related episodes of the television series Zone Fighter into movies they can license overseas? It’s been decades since the series was released and it’s clear nobody is going to license and dub the series for them. Toho has the money and stock footage necessary to turn selected episodes into a small catalog of films, so why haven’t they done it? Given how easily news of movies featuring previously unseen (in America) Godzilla footage will be twisted into “lost Godzilla movies,” the potential for big publicity could lead to bigger profits. I simply cannot comprehend why they haven’t done this already.

I’m surprised Svengoolie hasn’t been one of the hosts for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. They have already used hosts like Elvira and the Crypt Keeper in the past and Sven primarily shows films from the Universal library. One would think they’d be eager to capitalize on both the connection and popularity of Svengoolie.

Given its potential as an untapped comedy goldmine, it’s amazing how the Monster in My Pocket: Monster Rock cassette hasn’t become an internet sensation. I can barely find anything about it online. What makes this even more unusual is how I distinctly remember one of the tracks having lyrics to the effect of “I have a monster in my pocket and I really like to rock it!” How has the internet not taken that and run with it?

The days of 1-900 numbers are pretty much over, so why haven’t the owners of the various defunct scary stories hotlines tried dumping the contents of the master tapes onto the various streaming and digital download services? I know some fan put 45 minute long compilation of material from the Freddy Krueger 1-900 number, so it’s not like there’s too little material to work with.

How on Earth did Mattel beat out Kenner’s successor Hasbro in getting the new Ghostbusters license? There are so many toys from the old The Real Ghostbusters toy line they could have reused the molds for. Just put them into packages with images referencing the 2016 movie and you’re golden!

Various independent comic book companies have published comics which show new stories from horror franchises. Will anyone take the plunge and do something similar with the Waxwork films? Seeing how the people who visited the titular establishment and were killed off prior to the events of the first movie could be fun. The unseen adventures of Mark Loftmore which were so casually mentioned in Waxwork II: Lost in Time could also be a rich source of material.

Why hasn’t there been a definitive book about operating a haunted hayride? Find resources on setting up and running haunted houses and haunted trails can be easily found, but haunted hayrides have been unfairly left out in the cold. The only thing that comes even remotely close is Haunted Farms of America. There are plenty of haunted hayrides which have long since closed down. I can understand someone who currently owns a haunted hayride wouldn’t take on such a project in the fear of creating more competition, but what about the people who have closed down their hayrides years ago. You would think at least one of them former owners would release a book on the matter to make some easy money.

Both Doctor Who and all things Lovecraft are wildly popular. This is true in terms of audio dramas as well, with Big Finish even having a line called Doctor Who: The Lost Stories devoted to dramatizing unused scripts from the program. One such script was for “Avatar,” which was heavily influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. But despite the potential from getting extra money from Lovecraft fanatics (and potentially getting them hooked on Doctor Who in the process), that particular script remains unadapted!

It boggles my mind how a role-playing game company created an adventure module based around a non-fantasy Midnight Syndicate album and yet nobody has done the same for Nox Arcana’s Blood of the Dragon.

How has all this time passed without any studio snapping up the rights to the Super Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs line of books? I think they would be the basis for a great series of horror anthology movies. I remember one tale about two children communicating with a restless spirit whose corpse is buried under a house which was particularly chilling. At least they would be paying for the name recognition and the rights to use original stories, unlike the proposed Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie where the company is paying to use the name for a film adapting folk tales and urban legends they could have basically done on their own without paying extra. Seeing as how Brilliance Audio made audio versions of the old Goosebumps wannabe Strange Matter back in 2008, I’m sure there would be an audience for an adaptation of this lesser known 90’s series as well.

Halloween music sharing blogs are very popular despite their tendency to get shut down due to copyright issues. But even then the owner of the blog usually tries to switch hosting services in order to keep things going. So why not switch over to Halloween music that’s available under a Creative Commons license? They could host stuff for free over at the Internet Archive (assuming the albums aren’t there already) without any worry. Fear of getting the blog shut down due to accidental use of Creative Commons material which utilizes copyrighted works can’t be an issue, as people who run such blogs already don’t seem to care about copyrights. That said, I personally do think it would be better if they stuck with Creative Commons material that is completely original in order to avoid the issue altogether.

Most discussions of Robot Monster claim it was shot in 4 days and note how the titular character is realized through the use a gorilla costume with a domed helmet because it was less expensive than renting or building a robot costume. It has been documented George Barrows supplied his own gorilla costume and acted in the film for $40 per day. This works out to a grand total of $160. I seriously doubt it would have cost more than $160 to scrounge up some cardboard boxes and silver paint to create a more traditional robot costume. Where they really that blind to the matter?

Is it just me or has the Halloween and haunted attraction community all but ignored the possibilities offered by the “Airwalker” balloons? They seem fairly easy to dress up given how they have to be assembled and some of them are positioned in the classic crouch already! Their seeming to move based on air currents will leave people guessing whether or not they are looking at a lifeless dummy or not. One can only imagine the possibilities if they were already available looking like frightening monsters.

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The Autopsies, 'A Memoir From The Morgue'

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The Autopsies A Memoir From The Morgue Killyjoy Records 2016 — CLICK HERE TO BUY

A Side – “Autopsy” / “Rumble” B Side – “Roswell”

Psychobilly has always been best when it is served with a beer and a healthy dose of fun. There’s plenty of fun on A Memoir From The Morgue, the 7” release from THE AUTOPSIES. Another gem from Killjoy Records, this is a three song happy hour that’s two parts formaldehyde, one part radioactive material from Area 51, topped with a lemon and served with a smile.

Hailing from Los Angeles, this three-piece is a highly efficient machine, one that doesn’t waste any bit of their sound. Edgar’s drumming and Jonny’s bass create the deep heartbeat that’s perfect for guitarists Brandon’s six-strings, which sound like they’re sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel. The instrumental “Rumble” gives every member a moment to shine and the song itself is a tasty chaser after the mortuary love-song, “Autopsy.” Here’s hoping they include more instros in their next releases.

The B-Side the soundtrack to an unplanned detour through some restricted New Mexico desert, perhaps on the way to a gig in Las Vegas or back home to LA. “Roswell” is a fast-paced trip, like the best monster movies from a 1950’s drive-in. Brandon’s vocals vary from guttural howl to velvet crooner, and while every psychobilly frontman needs the former in his back pocket, the songs really come to life when he switches to the latter.

Ultimately, A Memoir From The Morgue is a fun success. It introduces the band, hints at the exciting potential of what’s to come and leaves you wanting more. Any psycho, horror punk or demented weirdo will want to get a copy for their own home dissection. Definitely recommended. Get your copy soon, as they’re only around for a limited time only.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmgHYSnf2aA

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TGIF13 VII: Jason Burgers

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Remember the “2 for 1 Burger Sale” scene from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday with those hockey mask hamburger patties? I tried making one on two separate occasions and my patties always broke apart when I tried flipping them over! Maybe this was why the movie only showed them prior to their being cooked? To find out, I searched to see how others fared in making their own Jason Voorhees burgers.

ThisMayOrMayNotBeSatire made a veggie burger with the cheese and toppings forming the iconic mask:

Similarly, Nightmare Nerd tried another method of making a cheese mask on a bison burger:

But only MovieNerdSports tried to make a mask-shaped hamburger patty like they did in the movie:

He doesn’t show the finished product, but claims it doesn’t look as good once you cook it. This claim is backed by the cooking footage, so I’m not going to automatically assume his patty broke like mine did. Hopefully he’ll try again in the future so this can be determined once and for all.

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Hanukkah Horror

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I was originally going to discuss the slasher movie Hanukkah today, but there’s a problem. Its official Facebook page has been inactive for awhile and the teaser trailer is sadly no longer available online. It’s a shame, since there was a lot of interest in the project and its “Get Torahfied” tagline was hilarious. But all is not lost. Zachary Bellin put together his own (faux) trailer for a Hanukkah slasher film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzHyraCLP4A

Yes, this was inspired by the Saturday Night Live character “Hanukkah Harry.”

Happy Chanukkah!

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The Pumpkin Dance: Christmas Edition

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First I shared the original “Pumpkin Dance” video. Then I jumped ahead and shared the Valentine’s Day-themed sequel. Which is funny, since that particular video was actually the last of the trilogy. So let’s look at the Christmas-themed first sequel as uploaded by KXVO 10:00 News:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZrq0YHt3zM

Here’s hoping we’ll be seeing more installments in this series in the future.

Merry Christmas!

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Christma(dnes)s VII

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It may have taken me longer than usual to assemble this year’s selection of frightfully festive fun, but I think the sheer volume of material I dug up was worth it. After all, why should I just focus on the Phantasm ornament or the “Krampus in the Corner” when there’s so much more out there? I’m really excited about this this first one. Remember the restored Santa Claus Conquers The Martians pressbook article from a few years back? Well, the full Santa Claus Conquers The Martians pressbook is now online and has oddities like a coloring sheet and guidelines for the “Martian Santa Soda!”

If you crave recipes for creepy Christmas fare, fear not! Home For Halloween has recipes for “Halloween Hot Cocoa,” “Night Owl’s Favorite Gingerbread” and “Bloody Winter Fudge.” I also found recipes for “Grinch Kabobs,” Krampus-approved “Coal Cookies” and the amazing “Jack Skellington Cheese Ball.” Speaking of food, remember Haunted Hotsauce? Now they’re called “Halloween Hotsauce” and have some “Krampus Hot Sauce” that’s perfect for kicking up savory holiday meals.

But that’s not the only thing I can vaguely connect to that particular pressbook! How about some free music? There’s “Robotic Christmas Tree” by the Amoeba People, “Christmas in Space” by Loop Line and “Is it Christmas on Venus?” by the Blue Giant Zeta Puppies.

Sam Haynes added some new tracks to The Gift of Christmas Fear and he’s not the only musician offering full albums of spooky and disturbing holiday hits! The Havana Snowbirds have A Very Creepy Christmas, Pumpkin Buzzard is offering Happy Holidays and Insect Posse takes us Home For The Holidays. Although you can download Venus de Vilo’s “Santa’s Slay,” “Mistletoetag” and “The Nightmare Before Christmassacre” for free on SoundCloud, buying them as an album on Bandcamp will let you snag some other ghastly gifts.

While we’re on the subject of downloading individual tracks: YYAAMM has “Grüße an Krampus!!” (it means “Greetings to Krampus!!”), Kieran Strange wishes us a “Merry Undead Christmas,” Vagabondage is having a “Zombie Xmas,” which is not to be confused with David Watson’s “Zombie Christmas,” Mike Pritchard is annoyed how “Christmas Threw Up on Halloween,” Kevin Schatz pleads “Santa Save Halloween,” and Spiral pays tribute to a specific kind of greeting card called “KrampusKarten.” Similarly, Angellis Taliuu offers “We Wish You A Zombie Christmas,” Cthulhu Martini tells the tale of “Silent Night Deadly Night,” Tom Smith lightens the mood with “A Pirate Christmas,” World of Fright notes how “It’s Bloody Christmas,” Silver Louzy pits “Xmas Vs. Halloween,” the Dollyrots belt out “I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus” while Josef Nadek is sharing both “H.P. Lovecraft’s Yule Horror” and “A Yule-rite, older than man and fated to survive him.”

But what about those who desire some spoken word material? Will Hessler’s hilariously profane “Christmas Begins At Target 8​:​30 Halloween Night” might be more satisfying than music. The Wicked Library has several Christmas specials featuring tales of terror available for download. If you prefer streaming stories, Mike Arnzen’s short “Little Stocking Stuffers” is contrasted nicely by Astro Al’s lengthy “Merry Black Mass” and “A Victorian Christmas Ghost Story.”

Since reading ghost stories is a Christmas tradition in England, you can curl up with William Meikle’s “The Yule Log,” followed by E. F. Benson’s “Between the Lights” “The Other Bed” also has a mild Christmas connection.

While we’re on Google Books, let’s look at the lyrics to “Pumpkin Bells,” learn how to make crêpe paper moss that’s perfect for a fake swamp or Christmas party (seriously) and behold the insanity of “Nutcracker Kills The Squirrel.”

Now comes the time for my annual trip to Amazon. While there I came across a horror-centric audio version of A Christmas Carol and a Christmas sound effects album which blatantly reuses altered tracks from a scary sounds album. You can listen for yourself if you don’t believe me! There’s also books like Santa’s Claws, Happy Halloween, Li’L Santa, The Fright Before Christmas, The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year, Haunted Christmas: Yuletide Ghosts and Other Spooky Holiday Happenings and The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. The amount of Krampus merchandise has exploded over the last few years. There’s masks, leggings, figurines, candy canes, drinking glasses and even a Krampus tree topper!

Don’t forget to support small businesses! Monolith Graphics has some beautiful new Christmas cards and Dead Rose Symphony has a new release called Christmas Mourning. Moving on to the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s online store, we have a Cthulhu tree topper, Cthulhu ornament, a holiday gift bag, Christmas audio drama and various combo deals featuring other cool Christmas stuff.

Speaking of Lovecraft, why trim a tree when you can decorate a giant tentacle? You can even use some papercraft shrunken heads as ornaments. Don’t fret about making Christmas too scary for Santa, as that right jolly old elf has a section of his blog devoted to Halloween!

Our last leg of this year’s journey takes us to the Island of Misfit Links. Platypus Comix tells the tale of a Halloween special which was accidentally shown as a Christmas special, Flying Frog Productions has a free downloadable Krampus card for use with the board game A Touch of Evil and MechaGodzilla Jr. spends Christmas on Monster Island. Finally comes both the naughty and nice episodes of our podcast’s 2015 holiday celebration. Enjoy!

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A Fangsgiving Comic

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The above comic by Elmer Andrews Bushnell originally appeared with the caption “The Spirits of Halloween Are Abroad” when it was published in the Cincinnati Times-Star and Cartoons Magazine. Sadly, the text looked too awful to use when I tried posting a direct scan of it.

Although Cartoons Magazine included it in their “Golden October” section, I think the use of “abroad” implies the action of the comic is happening in a different month. It’s hard to say, given how Halloween traditions and November were often mixed together in those days. I hope to have an article ready this time next year which looks at the reasons for this. But until then…

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Howie's Haunted Halloween Nightmare

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Remember that cartoon from a few years back that parts of the internet were raving about? The one with animation which payed homage to the style popularized in the 30’s? No, not Over the Garden Wall. The title of this article should have been a dead giveaway to what I’m talking about. All kidding aside, I completely missed out on showing you all Howie’s Haunted Halloween Nightmare and it’s high time I made things right. So here it is, direct from Ethan Black:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UiFfKP3z_s

Mr. Black created this as part of a school project and took him eight months to complete! But he didn’t just copy the animation style of classic cartoons and call it a day. The setup, gags and ending will please any animation aficionado familiar with the cartoons of the period. It even went the extra mile of being based around a (then) popular song. In this case, it’s “Bogey Wail” by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra.

Happy Halloween!

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It Came From Wikipedia IX

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Blood Bath has the most convoluted production history I have ever seen.

I had no idea “twilight zone” is an actual scientific term. If you think that’s interesting, wait until you see the sheer amount of authorized fiction associated with Twilight Zone and the 1994 TV movie Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics.

Speaking of American horror television series, the movie House of Dark Shadows was originally going to be a feature length edit of several episodes from the series with some new footage thrown in for good measure!

A movie called Zadar! Cow From Hell actually exists. Need I say more?

This is probably going to be old news to some of you, but it’s worth repeating: There’s a movie pitting the ghost from The Ring against the spirit from The Grudge. Oh, and it also turns out Spike Lee did a remake of Ganja & Hess.

How have I gone so long without paying tribute to the legendary “Grave Digger” monster truck?

After you’re done reading up on all the video games based on Jaws, you can learn all about the Jaws board game.

There is a Wikipedia entry for the classic ThrillerVideo line of VHS releases. Awesome!

The story behind the creation of Varan the Unbelievable is truly fascinating. If you ever wondered by Varan is referred to as “Obaki” in it, you have to real this! Speaking of daikaiju, “Snapper” from Transformers: Beast Wars has a Gamera connection!

Wikipedia has lots of lists to browse through. In addition to the list of horror films, there’s also a category devoted to American horror films, a list of horror films by year, a list of films considered the worst and all the movies made by Full Moon.