Walpurgisnacht (Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series No. 5)


Walpurgisnacht. Witches Night.

Tonight, we revel around bonfires and fly to the Brocken mountaintop by broomstick. Engage in unholy pagan ritual as we celebrate the spring equinox...




Closer to home, we revel in this day as the midpoint to the high holiday of All Hallow's Eve.

In honor of this special day, I have created another collage design for the Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series. A quick, free form piece to celebrate the countdown to the big night. Halloween. It inches ever so closer...

  

Svartsinn - "Mind Dust"


More wonderfully eerie dark ambient audio from Norwegian artist Svartsinn. This track really kicks in at the 2:45 mark, and I would love to incorporate this segment into my haunt...




Eleven Fifty Five.


Time for one more story... The 21st of April, 100 years ago at the waters around Spivey Point.




(Thanks to Pumpkinrot for the reminder.)


Night of the Living Dead at Cinema Wasteland


This past weekend I had the chance to go check out the biannual Cinema Wasteland horror convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The highlight of this show was the 50th anniversary of the George Romero zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead. I scored a few odds and ends from the multitude of vendors, but I made sure to add these two particular pieces to my collection. I'm sure they both thought I was some total weirdo, but a huge thanks to Judith O'Dea and Kyra Schon for the personalization!




They're coming to get you, Barbara...

Fifty years later, and they were both going strong! Here's to fifty more, ladies!

The next Cinema Wasteland convention is scheduled for September 29 - October 1. I can't wait to see what they have on tap for the fall show. See everyone there!

 

Norma Tanega - "You're Dead"


A great little Norma Tanega folk song recorded in 1966. This was featured in the 2014 vampire comedy,  What We Do In The Shadows...




Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series No. 4


The creativity continues to flow and I was able to whip up another collage image for my continuing Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series. This time around, I threw on my new copy of The Thing soundtrack from Waxwork Records and let the sounds influence the spontaneous image assemblage below.

This series continues to be a simple exercise in free form creativity. It has no specific intent other than to serve as a fun outlet to keep my haunt-related ideas sharp as I head into this year's Halloween planning phase.



Feel free to check out the first three images in the series here, here and here.

 

Waxwork Records - "The Thing" Deluxe Vinyl Soundtrack


I've been collecting vinyl records for 25-plus years now, but the record that showed up at my door today may be the new greatest piece in my ever-expanding collection. I have been an avid collector of Waxwork Records' horror and sci-fi soundtrack releases since their start, back in 2013. Beautifully illustrated covers created by well-known artists, stunningly gorgeous colored vinyl combinations and well-researched and thorough liner notes by directors and composers have become a hallmark of the Waxwork name, and their latest release is undoubtedly their best yet.

John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi horror masterpiece, The Thing, is widely regarded as some of his best work. Carpenter, who is well-known for scoring his own films, actually stepped away from writing the soundtrack for this film, and instead turned it over to legendary Italian soundtrack composer, Ennio Morricone. Morricone's cold, minimalist composition sets the perfect tone to accentuate the theme of stark isolation in the film.

Continuing with that cold, stark theme, Waxwork's "Trapped In The Ice" Deluxe Edition is somewhat of a masterpiece in its own right. The entire package comes housed in a glossy, die-cut outer case with only a stark logo of the film's title.



The outer case then "cracks" apart to reveal the contents inside: a gatefold sleeve, beautifully illustrated by Justin Erickson of Phantom City Creative, a fold-out poster and a matching booklet, complete with a full interview with director John Carpenter.




And if the outer die-cut shell, gatefold sleeve, booklet and fold-out poster weren't enough, the blue and white haze "ice" vinyl may be the best part of this incredible package. A beautiful swirl pattern that almost reflects the outline of Antarctica itself on the cover.



Top to bottom, this is easily one of the best releases to come out of Waxwork (and that really is saying something!). The amount of work that went into this release is staggering and the end product takes its rightful place at the top of my collection.

And unfortunately, with the hype that surrounded this release, the Deluxe version sold out immediately. But you can still find this (as well as the standard white vinyl "snow" edition) on eBay or Discogs, albeit at a premium price. But save your pennies, because this really is a piece that needs to be in your collection!




Satan's Hallow - "Hot Passion"


Holy hell, does this song kick some ass! I just came across the retro 80s metal sounds of Chicago's Satan's Hallow. I can't believe this song was just recorded! It sounds like it's straight out of a cult classic 80s metal horror movie. So good! PLAY IT LOUD!!




Lull - "Lost Sanctum"


Another Sunday afternoon working on some more "Halloween stuff," and listening to some classic dark ambient tracks from Lull. Lost Sanctum appeared on the 1994 release, "Cold Summer." Perfect for a haunt soundtrack...