The Brew Kettle - Pumpkin Drop Lager

Every October, I like to pick up a few six packs of whatever seasonal pumpkin beer is on the local grocer's shelves, bring them home and sample them, and then write a detailed review, based on my highly scientific Drunken Jackos Rating Scale. Pumpkin beers have long been a fun piece of the Halloween season and make for a perfect little treat for those long nights toiling away in the garage.

First up this season is The Brew Kettle's Pumpkin Drop Lager. Now The Brew Kettle is a small, local brewery out of Strongsville, Ohio and there's a good chance you won't be able to find it outside of Northeast Ohio. But that fantastic can art immediately drew my attention and immediately went into my cart, headed straight for the Drunken Jackos rating system. So here we go!

Upon opening the 16 oz. can, I was first greeted with a nice, subtle, sweet cinnamon pumpkin note. And the beer poured a light amber color with a tall, fizzy head.

Before the first sip, I noticed the sweetness of the pumpkin scent had settled, leaving a more earthy scent. And the sip itself was light and crisp, typical of lagers, leaving a slight, dry aftertaste.

Overall, I actually felt the flavor was a little thin. With neither a predominantly sweet pumpkin pie nor dry, earthy, organic nut profile, the beer still had a nice balance and was very drinkable throughout. This beer will definitely go into the cooler on Halloween night.

And so with the cool can graphics together with the typical lager drinkability, The Brew Kettle's Pumpkin Drop Lager gets a 3 out of 5 Drunken Jackos. Just an easy drinking beer for someone not looking to go too far on either end of the pumpkin beer flavor range.

Halloween Scene - "Super Spooky Sounds Of Halloween"

31 minutes of hair-raising, shivering, quivering, creepy, thrills & chills to make your blood run cold!

There's nothing I love more about the Halloween season than those old "spooky sounds" records, tapes, and CDs. An audio flashback to dressing up in your plastic costume and racing from house to house, filling up a pillowcase full of candy (if you were fast like me). And stopping for an extra second at those houses that were decorated with eerie lights, tombstones, spooky monsters and creepy sounds. The distilled, pure nostalgia of the season.

And Halloween Scene again nails that nostalgic feel with their latest release, Super Spooky Sounds Of Halloween. A modern interpretation of those old school classics, it's a perfect homage to the soundscapes that made the originals so great.

The limited edition cassette release was another no-brainer to add to my collection and is still available on the Lamp & Dagger Bandcamp page.

Enjoy!

 

"Reaper" Print by Dr. Wolfenbergen

As I get older, I have become a big supporter of independent artists, especially during the Halloween season. I truly appreciate zines, clothes, posters and anything else handmade or done in a truly DIY (do it yourself) manner. To me, it just feels more authentic and personal, and it's usually of higher quality as opposed to a mass-produced and cheaply made pieces pulled from a shelf.

Case in point is this incredibly awesome silkscreened poster print from Dr. Wolfenbergen. I have been following the Dr's Instagram page for a few years now and I absolutely love his bold, blocky and textured, vintage creepy lo-fi Halloween and monster illustrations.

I recently saw this new "Reaper" poster produced by Valhalla Studios and I immediately put my order in! Classic hooded grim reaper (my favorite!) exploding from the page with boney, skeletal hands in his signature offset textured style. Sheer perfection.

And did I mention it GLOWS IN THE DARK!?

Support our independent Halloween artists and grab your own copy at Valhalla Studios!

 

Controlled Death - "Demonic Trip Through Hell"

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my discovery of Japanese industrial noise/black ambient artist, Controlled Death, and his incredible split release with Black Mountain Transmitter that was released by Deathbed Tapes (the cassette that came in a clamshell VHS case and a silkscreened BARF BAG!)

Today, I wanted to highlight another really great release of his. Demonic Trip Through Hell is another wonderfully grading and droning industrial soundscape, with two tracks of oozing, ear-piercing distortion and lo-fi reverb.

In other words, REALLY great background audio for a haunt display!! (Is it odd that I find this so soothing?)

And, in what really draws me to Deathbed Tapes, the limited edition cassette also comes in an also-limited-edition VHS release. Break out the old VCR!! It consists of the two tracks from the cassette, backed by a constant background of black-and-white decay featuring skulls and vibrating patterns. A perfect visual accompaniment to the audio. Total noise and harshness.

Enjoy!

 

Dave Quiggle's "10 Years Of Drawlloween" Book

I just came across this cool new book from Southern California artist, Dave Quiggle. 10 Years Of Drawlloween covers Quiggle's uniquely stylized Halloween illustrations for the annual Drawlloween project - that is, 31 drawings in 31 days throughout October.

Alongside his collection of illustrations, the book also contains his sketches, unused drawings, and tattoo flash. 336 pages of glorious Halloween art and inspiration that is sure to look just right in your Halloween collection, as well as mine!

Grab a copy of 10 Years Of Drawlloween here, and visit Quiggle's site to pick up more of his killer work.

 

"Sounds From A Night Of Terror" CD

It's the first Friday of October, and that can mean only one thing...

The return of Freebie Fridays!

Every Friday in October, I dig up one of the vintage novelty Halloween soundtrack cassettes, CDs, and vinyl records from my ever-growing collection and share it with all of my fellow classic "spooky sounds" junkies.

I've been doing this for quite a few years now, and I still absolutely love doing it. It's a great way to share the love during the Halloween season, and a great way to (re)discover some really neat-and-or-hilarious old novelty soundtracks from Halloweens long past.

So let's get down to business!!

Up first, we have the Sounds From A Night Of Terror CD from what I can only assume is the mid 90s/early 2000s. No date to be found anywhere on this release, but it just has that 90s feel to it.

What initially drew me to this release was the cover art. Glorious, illustrated comic-style art of an undead hand rising from the grave made it an instant purchase for me. Again, no credit to an artist anywhere, but one can only assume it was ripped off from somewhere else.

I was also pleasantly surprised when I popped the CD in. High production sound quality on this one, and it's an hour of continuous audio in one single track. It's a sampling of different, standard "Halloween sounds" themes, some almost sounding cinematic in composition, all linked together by a continuous, laughing voice laden with downtuning and reverb. Used a little too much for my liking and far too repetitive, it luckily doesn't overwhelm the overall release.

For another cheap, blind purchase, this one is a pretty great, campy Halloween release. And a perfect release to start off this Halloween season! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD "SOUNDS FROM A NIGHT OF TERROR" HERE.