Monday, October 29, 2012

Music Mondays: Dead Man's Party Edition



Happy (Early) Halloween.

Were I having a party, these would be on the playlist.


1. Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
2. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
3. This is Halloween - Citizens of Halloween Town (Nightmare Before Christmas)
4. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
5. Transformers dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller....




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5. 




Sunday, October 28, 2012

Confessional: Dollies Dearest

As a kid, I tried to treat my dolls and stuffed animals with the greatest care.
Just in case they came to life.
(I didn't want them mad at me for mistreatment.)




Monday, October 22, 2012

Music Mondays: My Horror Movie Soundtrack




The spirit of October has possessed me.

I've turned the bar that surrounds my kitchen into a representation of the harvest and the dying of the year: woven black place mats, topped with a horn of plenty spilling brightly colored vegetables and a wicker vase of (fake, otherwise the cats would eat them) autumn leaves in brilliant bursts of yellow and red. Interspersed between the fall foliage are various types of skulls - goblets, candle holders - and napkins bearing the cameo style silhouette of woman with bleeding fang marks on her neck.

This week, I'm anticipating my annual viewing of The Crow, along with a few other horror movies (maybe Mirrors, Stir of Echoes and The Hills Have Eyes).

"Apocalyptic City" by Funshine21
And I've been thinking, if I were in a horror movie (or making a horror movie), what background music would I want?

In recent years, I've become very attached to the post-apocalyptic horror tale, a la The Stand or 28 Days Later. A world where the human population has taken a powerful hit, leaving most of the world empty and desolate.

A wasteland of silent cars and abandoned buildings. A world filled with the saccharine sweet scent of unmentionable things going to rot. A world that's so very quiet and so empty, you can't resist the urge to look over your shoulder to make sure you're truly alone. (Because we all know when things are too quiet, trouble is brewing.)

So here are selections from my horror movie soundtrack. What would yours be?


1. End of the World - Cold
2. In the Still of the Night - The Five Satins
3. Scavenger - Emilie Autumn
4. Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
5. Comfortably Numb - Collide



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5.








Sunday, October 21, 2012

Little Girl, Big Dreams

Now, for something new. It's Sunday. Why not have a confessional?


When I was a little girl, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. ...I still do.





Monday, October 15, 2012

Music Mondays: Horror Theme Edition



Last week's selection contained non-creepy songs that turn creepy in the right context.

This week, I'm onto horror movie themes. Songs that are creepy, no matter the context... I'm hoping they might give me a little creative boost as I meander through what's left of October and (hopefully) prep for NaNoWriMo. (Is anyone else throwing sanity to the wind this year and participating?)


And what are your favorite horror movie themes?


1. Boedicea - Enya (Theme from Sleepwalkers)
2. Halloween Theme
3. Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
4. Nightmare - Tuesday Knight (Nightmare on Elm Street 4)
5. Nightmare on Elm Street theme





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5.


Monday, October 8, 2012

Music Mondays: Sinister Music Edition



The house is old and looks decades abandoned. In what was once the living room, the husk of a cigarette sits on the scalloped edge of an ashtray, guarded by two coffee cups. Were it not for the long dried coffee stains in the bottom of the mugs, it would seem the drinkers had just stepped into the next room. 

And perhaps they have... From upstairs, there's a hiss of static as a radio clicks on, followed by the lamenting cry of a violin. I say I'll go through fire...And I'll go through fire....As he wants it, so it will be...

There's something spectacularly creepy about music from decades past, specifically the 50s/early 60s. Well, when used in the right context. By itself, much of it is pretty sweet and upbeat but tack the songs onto a horror movie or post apocalyptic video game and they take on a much more sinister air.


I'm kicking off October (though I'm a week late posting about it) with some of my favorite creepy tracks encountered in movies and video games.

What are some of your favorite "not creepy until used in the right context" songs?




1. Jeepers Creepers - Martha Tilton
2. Crazy He Calls Me - Billie Holiday
3. Theme from A Summer Place
4. I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire - Inkspots
5. Sleepwalk - Santo & Jonny





1.
(This is Martha Tilton, not Billie Holiday.)



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5.





Thursday, October 4, 2012

In Recognition of the Season

Around these parts, the shifting of summer into fall is heralded by a changing wind, the smell of woodsmoke, the goldenrod slant of sunshine through trees that are just starting to lose their leaves.

But for me, there's one particular, quite obvious, sign that the autumn season is at hand.

My TPMS light comes on for the first time in a year.


The tires say: "We caught a chill."


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