Month: December 2012

Audio

Scream!

TRACK #8:

Scream! by The Misfits

“Blasphemy!”

Yeah, I might just say that too, cause I know what you’re thinkin’, “Newfits? For real? You haven’t even posted any actual Misfits songs yet, and you’re coming with some Newfits bullshit?”

All I can say to that is, I like the actual Misfits more, so they’re buried deeper in the playlist, for when everyone’s good and sauced up and the stragglers have had time to settle in. And don’t worry, there’s no shortage of classic Misfits tracks on Halloween Shindig.

Say what you want about this secondary incarnation of The Misfits, they had some good tunes. Tunes that are kind of hard for a Halloween playlist to straight up ignore. Tunes like today’s track for instance, entitled Scream!

Despite its (perhaps) misleading name, the song is actually an ode to William Castle’s wonderful 1959 classic The Tingler, about a terrible creature living inside all of you, which feeds on fear, and grows up your spine and into your brain! A creature that can only be stopped by the sound of screaming!

It’s a great premise, and it makes for one hell of a bizarre and imaginative film. Castle, master of the in-theater gimmick, made it even more fun by rigging some of the seats with vibrators to give certain audience members a special jolt at the right moment. 3D? Fuck all that shit, this is Percepto!

The lead-in for this is none other than Williams Castle’s own introduction to the film. Oh, and that’s Bart screaming at the end from Treehouse of Horror IV’s “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” segment. Enjoy!

 

 

Audio

Motel Hell

TRACK #7:

Motel Hell by Blitzkid

At #7 comes a band with plenty of representation on the Shindig; perennial monster-rockers Blitzkid.

When every album’s track listing reads like a “Gory Horror Movies from the 80’s” category on Netflix, your band is kind of hard to ignore if making a Halloween playlist.

First cut from these guys? Motel Hell, which details the goings-ons of Farmer Vincent (the wonderful Rory Calhoun) as he minces up out-of-town lodgers at his Motel Hello (its neon sign, of course, has a blown out O.)

He stores and cultivates these lodgers in a garden out back, like some kind of nightmarish cabbage patch, then uses their bodies to make assorted meat products for the locals, whom all love Farmer Vincent’s treats.

Motel Hell is a great piece of early 80’s horror that’s funny, sometimes startling and always a blast to watch. Any movie where a dude wearing a pig’s head gets into a chainsaw fight with another dude that also has a chainsaw is some must-see shit. In fact, if you haven’t seen Motel Hell, you should,…right now.

 

Monster Talk: Shock Monster

So what the hell is a Shock Monster anyway? Here’s a little back story on this fiend:

The Shock Monster was an old Topstone mask that was advertised in the rag Famous Monsters of Filmland. Essentially a generic zombie mask, it was supposedly named as such to cash in on the then popularity of Shock! Theater.

He was notorious for looking totally badass in the magazine,

and looking totally less badass when he arrived at your door.

Now, while this mask is pretty awesome and horrifying in its own right, I could imagine being pretty disappointed if I was expecting something akin to the former, particularly if I was a 10 year old and I’d been waiting for this thing for a few weeks.

Over the years many people have re-sculpted the Shock Monster to better capture the essence of its original ad, or to put their own spin on it. One of my favorite incarnation of Shock was created by a buddy of mine named Adam Dougherty. Recently, he displayed it at 2012’s Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank, CA. It’s 7 and a 1/2 feet tall, totally badass, and not at all disappointing.

Audio

Shockmonster Stomp

Track #6:

Shockmonster Stomp by The Ghastly Ones

Since we’re already stomping, let’s stomp some more with a little help from The Ghastly Ones, a monster surf outfit from Van Nuys, California.

I love surf music, but on the whole it doesn’t lend itself terribly well to Halloween, unless you’re talking about The Ghastly Ones that is; oozing as they are with model kit and Shock! Theater imagery. Their drummer, Norman Cabrera, is even a special FX artist, and they were originally released on Rob Zombie’s Zombie-A-Go-Go label. Now that’s all pretty Halloween if you ask me.

And if that’s not enough, this track in particular amps up the Halloweeniness a couple notches with its harpsichord and theremin sounds; all the spookiness to take our Shindig in decidedly ghastly direction. Keep stompin’!

 

Audio

The Sinister Stomp

TRACK #5:

The Sinister Stomp by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers

Alright, so we got a theme, a bumper, a genuine Halloween song, and a track from a horror movie; sounds to me like it’s time for a good ole fashion monster song.

While The Monster Mash is probably the likely choice, we’ve got some time before cracking that chestnut. However, Bobby “Boris” Pickett and his Crypt Kickers are gonna get some early respect here just the same. From The Original Monster Mash album (a fun Holiday album all around. Hell, there’s even a Christmas song on that fucker for christ’s sake,) comes The Sinister Stomp.

I’m not exactly sure what the hell Yanush is suppose to be (a zombie, a ghoul?) but he’s definitely the focal point of this song, having tripped Boris one night in a graveyard causing him to invent the titular dance, which I believe just involves Boris repeatedly stomping his heal into this thing’s back. An act which somehow manages to keeps him alive, yet also makes him a more efficient employee apparently. Oh, and run.

Yeah, the logic isn’t the easiest to follow, but it’s pretty damn Halloweeny all the same, featuring the usual ghouls from Igor to Frankie, plus it’s got a catchy Runaround Sue style beat, which I enjoy a great deal.

So, c’mon, do The Sinister Stomp. It’s good for the soul.