Christopher Lee's Heavy Metal Christmas

Oh dear! This one seemed to pass me by until I was researching names to put on my 2013 Death List. And what a bad omen too.

Before Peter Cushing died an attrocious anti-drug rap record he did the vocals for called 'No White Lines' was released, and now whith a voice more suited to opera, Mr Lee releases heavy metal versions of two carols. I did contemplate whether to buy the mp3 files off of amazon... but when I heard the samples, sanity was restored and my credit card stayed in my wallet.

As a fan of Christopher Lee's work, all I can say is... why???

Friday 28th December 2012

Seasons Greetings

Well I can't claim to have sourced this image myself as it was on a Christmas card I received... but anyway, Merry Christmas.

Tuesday 18th December 2012

The season of goodwill to all... except kids who get a visit from The Krampus!

Well it's Christmas time again and to get me into the spirit I watched the excellent Dutch horror movie 'Sint' which is not surprisingly about Saint Nicholas and the Black Peters who kidnap naughty kids to take them back to Spain to be sold in slavery... oh if only reality mirrored the movies!

Anyway on a similar vein, here's some Krampus images to really give you some Christmas good cheer!

Monday 17th December 2012

Pumpkin Pie candle

It's getting quiet this time of year for Halloween or pumpkin produce and it'll soon be that time of year where we have to be pleasant to those we can't stand.

Anyway TKMaxx had another scented candle which smells nice when you take the lid off but doesn't really do much when you light it! I think I'll stick with the Yankee Candle company candles in future.

Friday 14th December 2012

Pumpkin in a can!

Now I know this will not be unusual in other countries, but it's the first time I've seen it in the UK. And bizarrely it was for sale in TK Maxx that usually sells discounted clothes, and some homeware. Obviously left over from their lack of Halloween decorations this year!

Sunday 25th November 2012

Hammer Horror fridge magents

Well after putting my Snoopy Halloween fridge magnets up a couple of days ago I thought I'd better put my other horror fridge magnets up on here. A few years back I bought these fridge magnets in the old Forbidden Planet shop in New Oxford Street in London. Ironically there was also a Captain Clegg fridge magnet and I hadn't at the time a clue what the film was and so didn't buy it despite it being only 50p and there being lots of them!

Sadly I now know that Captain Clegg was the alternate title for Nightcreatures that was Hammer's version of the Dr Syn film. And living in the district of Shepway in which lies Dymchurch - Dr. Syn's parish - and having been to the Day of Syn celebrations over the past twenty years, I'm somewhat kicking myself now.

Sunday 18th November 2012

St Martins Graveyard in 3D

Well I'm quite pleased with my first attempt at an anaglyph 3D image that I created this morning. So get out your red/cyan 3D glasses, and apologies if the image takes a while to load up.

Saturday 17th November 2012

More pumpkin pasta

I noticed that UK supermarket Sainsburys is currently stocking pumpkin & sage filled pasta so I thought I'd try them out... Ok but still not a patch on Waitrose pumpkin & sage pasta or the plain pumpkin pasta that Tesco used to sell in their Finest range.

Friday 16th November 2012

Snoopy Fridge Magnets

Thought I'd pop this little picture up today. Got given these this year and they're now adorning my fridge. As a fan of reading the Peanuts cartoon as a child in the 1980s & 1990s I lways looked forward to reading the Halloween strips and even have a few that I had cut out and saved from all those years ago.

Thursday 15th November 2012

Candy Corn candles

I visited the outlet centre in Ashford, Kent this week as I needed to get some new shoes. I must admit I try not to visit the town of Ashford wherever possible as it is a soulless place. It has expanded at such a rate that it has lost so much of it's heritage and become just a vast conurbation of Lego houses for insular unsociable commuters, leaving the old town to become the hunting ground for packs of chavs and hoodies. A visit to the place now leaves me feeling I need a total exfoliating scrub to remove the taint of the place and ruing the fact that I left my Haz-mat suit at home! Anyway I digress...

In the Outlet Centre, tucked out of the way near the horrendous food hall touting the usual unhealthy processed gloop, is a tiny Yankee Candle Company shop. Their candle can be expensive but the scents are usually fare superior to most of their rivals and at the outlet centre they ten to be reduced in price by about a third.

On a 'Sale' shelf were the last two remnants from Halloween, and as I'd completely forgotten to visit this place in October, my face lit up to see a small glass stoppered jar next to a larger version sporting Candy Corn labels!

The small jar just had a printed label, but the label on the larger jar shown below had a label that was a lenticular hologram! And the scent isn't bad either! Strong and unmistakeably candy corn. Possibly the best Halloween decoration purchase this year.

Wednesday 14th November 2012

Ghostly Spectropia

Whilst visiting Whitstable a few years back I picked up this reproduction booklet on Spectropia.

Spectropia works through the persistance of an image on the eye's retina after you've stopped looking at it. Mmmm let's perhaps add this to the reams of explanations to explain away those crazy people who claim to have caught a glimpse of a 'ghost' out of the corner of their eye... an event they they can neither replicate or offer any scientific explanation or proof for! As you can see I'm a sceptic!

Anyway, the idea is, in good light, you stare at a spot on the image for about 30 seconds or longer without blinking and then stare at a white wall or ceiling. Gradually the image you've been staring at in the book will appear in ghostly form on the wall or ceiling before fading away into nothingness.

I've scanned in the cover of the book if anyone wants to try to track it down and also one image which you can expand on your screen and have a go with. I would focus on the nose of the skeleton for best effect.

Saturday 10th November 2012

Escher vs Phantasm

Being a fan of both the artist M.C. Escher and the horror movie franchise Phantasm with Angus Scrimm's character 'The Tall Man' - how cool is this!!!

Friday 9th November 2012

Folkestone Zombie Walk 2012

Yesterday at 3.30pm to the sound of a bell tolling and cries of "Bring Out Your Undead!" corpses rose from Folkestone's Leas and shambled towards its graveyard before terrorising shoppers in Sandgate Road and subjecting them to a terrifying rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller dance!

There were even rumours of Zombie friendly pubs and themed parties across town, and for those hardy enough to brave the cold (and let's face it, the undead can't feel cold anymore!) there was and outdoor free screening of 'Shaun Of The Dead.'

I couldn't put all the pictures on here but here are some of the highlights...

Sunday 4th November 2012

Poe For Moderns

I was wandering round Spitalfields Market in London yesterday killing some time before a load of work got emailed to me, and the market was taken over mainly by stall selling vinyl & CDs.

Whilst trawling through boxes of CD promos in search of a bargain, I found the following. I had no idea what it was, but for £2 it was worth a punt.

Upon returning home I did a bit of research and found it to be a 1960 lp recently reissued with lots of Halloween themed bonus tracks. Result!

The full tracklisting is below, as is the review...

Song Title & Artist
  1. The Murders in the Rue Morgue - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  2. Annabel Lee - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  3. The Gold Bug - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  4. A Descent Into the Maelström - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  5. The Bells - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  6. The Fall of the House of Usher - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  7. The Pit and the Pendulum -Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  8. Ulalume - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
  9. The Black Cat - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
10. The Raven - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
11. Quoth the Raven - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
12. The Tell-Tale Heart - Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
13. Bo Meets the Monster - Bo Diddley
14. At the House of Frankenstein - Big Bob Kornegay
15. Don't Meet Mr Frankenstein - Carlos Casal Jr
16. Dinner With Dracula - John Zacherle
17. Witchcraft - The Spiders
18. The Rockin' Ghost - Archie Bleyer
19. The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor - Joe South
20. The Shriek of Agony - Bob McFadden & Dor
21. The Shadow Knows - The Coasters
22. Zombi - The Monotones
23. Do the Zombie - The Symbols
24. Igor's Party - Tony and The Monstrosities
25. The Creep - Bob Luman And The Shadows
26. Graveyard - Leroy Bowman & The Arrows
27. Frog in the Fog - The Zircons
28. Hoo Doo - Al Reed And The Blue Notes
29. Rockin' In the Graveyard - Jackie Morningstar
30. The Fang - Nervous Norvous

Halloween beatnik jazz and sordid spooky songs. Just in time for Halloween, Fingertips offer up yet another forgotten masterpiece with a scary 30 track collection that brings together the complete classic vinyl rarity 'Poe For Moderns' by Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra, along with the best of the late '50s and early '60s music inspired by the burgeoning horror movie genre. Buddy Morrow And His Orchestra took the opportunity to roll out a whole album's worth of haunted melodies using the stories of Edgar Allan Poe as their inspiration under the suitably beat title 'Poe For Moderns', in which they also tried to appeal to the beat generation as well as horror fans. 'Poe for Moderns' mixes spoken word and spooky jazz fronted by a cooler-than-thou beatnik-styled English lecturer intoning the tales alongside creeped out harmonies from The Skip-Jacks. Alongside this horror genre classic are 18 classic exploitation 45s mainly culled from the classic horror year of 1958 when The Blob and I Married A Monster From Outer Space were staples at the drive-in. With classic performances by TV horror show hosts John Zacherle and Bob McFadden, tales of purple people eaters from both Joe South and the legendary Bo Diddley and a good smattering of Frankenstein and Dracula novelty hits, it's wall-to-wall gore with a fine sense of humour. The collection is an eerie kaleidoscope of doo wop weirdness, rollicking rockabilly with much maniacal laughter, plus oddball visions from the likes of Nervous Norvous and downright strange stories from a host of vintage crooners. Remastered from the original sound sources, the packaging includes copious sleevenotes by MOJO magazine's Dave Henderson.

Saturday 3rd November 2012

Now then, now then... it's a scary pumpkin!

I hasten to add this isn't something I created but an image I got emailed. If you are in England this will be topical... and very wrong!

Friday 2nd November 2012

Halloween Night

Well I met up with a friend, Lynda, yesterday afternoon after spending the entire morning making jars of spicy pumpkin chutney. After collecting her partner Steve from Canterbury when he finished work we all headed off to the Romney Marsh in my car for a drink in a couple of the local pubs.

The 'Botolphs Bridge' at West Hythe was pleasant and welcoming and had made an effort for Halloween - carved Jack-o-lanterns on the bar, cauldrons of ghost shaped crisps also on the bar, plenty of hanging decorations and bunting, and a severed hand pinned to the front door.

The 'Shepherd & Crook' at Burmarsh, I had never visited before. I think about 20 years ago I was going to visit it with some friends but for some reason or another - possibly sickness - couldn't. So I was quite keen to tick this Marsh pub off my list! Like the 'Botolph's Bridge' this was also busy with local trade, however it had made no effort with any Halloween decorations apart from a bowl of sweets for children at the end of the bar. The locals look at bit different this far into the Marsh and the pub certainly had a feel about it akin to the 'Slaughtered Lamb' in 'An American Werewolf In London.' Interesting, nailed to one of the walls was a signed photo of Enoch Powell!

Anyway, after a couple of pleasant drinks we took the car to a remote spot where the almost full moon illuminated the miles of flat sheep fields and dykes surrounding us, and while the winds whipped up around the car we read our ghost stories that we'd been working on.

Lynda's story, 'The Drawer' was a tale in the manner of Shirley Jackson, although adjectivally more akin to  H.P. Lovecraft. It told of a woman's return to her late grandmother's house where as a child she had been terrified by a piece of furniture whose top drawer would never shut and a mirror in which she had caught a glimpse of something terrifying. The story was more a psychological tale of the scars left on her by the experience and the lack of relationship she had had with her grandmother. Atrributing the latter to the crumbling Victorian house and the incident with the haunted dresser, she has left home and now surrounded herself with modern furnishings in a modern house that has simply continued the sterility in her life and perpetuated her failings in relationships. The return to the house after her grandmother's death and confrontation with the dresser and its occupant ultimately allows for some form of closure.

I make no bones about my tale being influenced by M.R. James - the scholarly and ecclesiastical setting and the inclusion of the discovery of an object which should have been left well alone! The tale concerns a church curate's plans to extend a small church with a new aisle to cater for the village's growing population, but in funding this venture he sells off some of the church's medieval silver which invokes retribution from a supernatural animalistic entity which for 400 years has been protecting the church from theft and desecration. Historically it is known that sometimes a guard dog would be buried alive under a foundation stone of a building such as a church to afford the building such protection. The church on which my story was based has an unusual canine carving on a monument in the church and it is the only monument that has survived the Puritans' desecration of the church in the 17th century. It is somewhat doubtful however that the dog on this effigy would have the temperament to be such a Hell Hound!

Thursday 1st November 2012

Doctor Who Series 7 on DVD

Well this week sees the release of the first 5 episodes of Doctor Who Series 7 on DVD in the UK. Special features include the preludes to 'Asylum of the Daleks' & 'A Town Called Mercy' as well as the 5 mini episode season prequel 'Pond Life.' But if you're a Dr Who you'll already know all that. Anyway when 'Asylum of the Daleks was first aired the 'Radio Times' put out a 'Dalek Bingo' card to see if viewers could tick off all the different types of Dalek seen throughout the episode. So if anyone missed getting the card and want to give it a go now the DVD has been released... here it is...

Wednesday 31st October 2012

The day after the party... & pumpkin carving results!

Well, the house is a little tidier! No breakages or spillages, just a fake plastic turd left in the kitchen sink!

Last night seemed to go well judging by the fact that the food all went. Alison won the pumpkin carving competition yet again! And the party was attended by 2 Borg, 2 skeletons, a vampire, pumpkinhead, 3 witches, Uncle Fester & Herbert West.

I also did an unlucky dip where everyone had to uncover cups under which were Candy Corn or if unlucky crickets, grasshoppers or worms!

There were also some cocktails brought along... one inspired by 'Night of the Demons 3' and the other a variant on a martini!

A few quick pictures below for those who attended...

... and those who are looking for pumpkin carving designs.

Sunday 28th October 2012

The day before the party...

Well tomorrow see's my 21st annual Halloween Party... and I already have pictures to upload on here of things we'll be eating and possible pumpkin designs for my entry in the carving contest... but I won't spoil the surprise!

Instead, I found these pictures from way back in 1994 when I was a member of Folkestone Rotaract Club and we went to support Bexley Rotaract Club who were holding a Rocky Horror themed disco to raise money for some charity. Anyway, the then newest member of the Folkestone club certainly went all out on his fancy dress costume!

Andy Renfrew, wherever you are now, I hope this doesn't embarrass you too much!!!

Friday 26th October 2012

Folkestone Zombie Walk 2012

It was obviously such a success last year that it's got a second outing - Saturday November 2012. I should be there and posting photos the day after. Until then this write up appeared in the local newspaper last week.

25th October 2012