VISIONS - "Traces"

Following 2018’s highly acclaimed collaboration album with Russia’s PHURPA, Frederic Arbour presents a new full length album under his VISIONS moniker. We are now presented with more grounded and melody based pieces that on his previous releases, which were more out worldly and exploring sonic expanse. Using a stripped back approach and forging new sonic territories, “Temples” also serves as an hymn to lost civilisations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors. As societies fall, most of their temples and shrines seem to remain, perhaps, as a reflection of the materiality of spirit.

A quick hit of some really great, atmospheric dark ambient from VISIONS, then it's back out to the garage for me tonight...

Spinatures From Waxwork Records

I have been collecting cool horror film soundtracks on vinyl from Waxwork Records for quite a few years now, but I'm really excited for their newest release, Spinatures!

And what is a Spinature, you ask? A sweet new toy that actually sits and rotates (or spins, I guess?) on top of your record turntable! And guess what the first figure released was!?

You know I'm a sucker for anything Frankenstein, so this was a complete no brainer!! Or maybe  an abnormal brainer? Eh, sometimes the jokes just write themselves...

Will I pop him on my turntable and watch him spin? I haven't decided yet, but nonetheless it's one sweet collectible! 

And Waxwork just upped their game with the brand new release, The Bride of Frankenstein! (It goes well with their newest vinyl release, the absolutely stunning looking soundtrack to the same film! How could I not order both!?)

The Spinatures line is definitely going to be emptying my wallet in the near future, especially with the sneak peaks of future releases on the page. It looks like Michael Myers, Norman Bates, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, and the 3 masked trick-or-treaters from Halloween III. Sold!!

Jeff Greinke - "The Moor"

I make no secret of my love of the dark ambient music genre. It sets such a great uneasy mood, and I have always thought that it works really well in haunt settings. With no recognizable patterns or vocals, the audio sits nicely in the background, supporting and heightening the tension of the haunt setting, never becoming a distracting focus.

For years I have been using various dark ambient tracks in my yard haunt, and in the last 3 or 4 I have settled on what I have found to be a perfect track. A wonderful, dark balance of creepiness and eerie foreboding. I absolutely love this track and every time I play it, it instantly takes me into the middle of my yard haunt display...

Enjoy the unofficial haunt soundtrack of Highbury Cemetery, artist Jeff Greinke's 1992 dark ambient masterpiece, The Moor.

The Haunter's Hands...

No Cemetery Sundays post today. I took a wrong turn on this morning's bike ride and completely missed the cemetery I wanted to stop at. And then it started raining. So I decided to spend the rest of the day in the garage, working on the last of my projects for this year's haunt display.

When I finally took a break for dinner tonight, I looked down at my hands. Good grief, they look like a coal miner's hands...

Bandaids, black paint, blisters, cuts, callouses and filth. Achy and swollen to the point that my fingers look more like gross little sausages. 

Time to pop a couple of aspirin and call it a night. I have less than 2 weeks to get it all done and I still have so much left to do...

VANIK - VANIK III Album Release Show

I have a full day of prop building planned in the garage, so no longwinded posts today! Instead, how about some straight up Cleveland horror metal to power you through your day, too?

VANIK just released their third record, III, and on October 2nd they streamed a live record release show direct from the studio. Featuring Vanik from the band Midnight on guitar and Ed from the band Ringworm on bass, this band is no joke.

Watch this killer set and then go pick up VANIK's newest release here. Enjoy!

"Scary Sounds of Halloween" Cassette

Warning: This Tape May Scare The Heck Out Of You!

Haunt your house with this cassette featuring clinks, clanks, rattling chains, howling witches, screaming victims, and more!

Chances are, you may have come across this cassette cover before, with its instantly recognizable kitty cat illustration on the cover. I have wanted to add this one to my collection for a while now, and I finally made it happen not long ago.

If there was a wheelhouse of classic 80s and 90s novelty "spooky sounds" cassette releases, this one would land somewhere right near the middle. It has all of those nostalgic, spooky sounds: howling winds, weird cat howls, screams and laughs, wolves, and in the case of this particular cassette, an overabundance of demonic growls and laughter.

It's your basic collection of sounds in a continuous 15 minute track. But flip to the second side and things get a bit more...spooky. Many of the sounds are repeated, but it adds a little spice with a fantastic organ arrangement, the echoed cries of a child, bats, heavy breathing, a cat, more demons, and if I'm hearing it correctly, the "hee-haw" of a donkey. Huh? (Listen at about the 3:45 mark and see for yourself. I say it's a donkey!).

Overall, this one really nails that Halloween nostalgia vibe with all the classic sounds. It has a high production quality and it's a ton of fun to just kick back and listen to. Another highly rated Freebie Friday classic. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD "SCARY SOUNDS OF HALLOWEEN" HERE.