Channel 13 by Psychocharger
I grew up watching Chiller Theater and later such camp classics as Doctor Morgus so I have always had a soft spot for the recaptured weekend horror aesthetic of bands like Psychocharger. Their song Channel 13 from their album Curse of the Psycho is basically auditory nostalgia that makes me pine for a time when my greatest fear was monsters in my imagination.
The Music of Herbert West
This track by Electrolimes is a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft’s hapless hi-tech necromancer Herbert West. It strikes the right chord between pulpy sci-fi and the cosmic awe and wonder that many of us feel with Lovecraft’s work, but the essential horror of West and his doomed unholy experiments is missing in my opinion.
Still an interesting (if overlong) piece:
More from the artist’s YouTube page.
Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined as Steampunk Pulp Hero
The New Holmes and Watson
We’re back from yet another unplanned hiatus and full to brimming with posts of those unusual and hopefully delightful little corners of the world archived on the web.
Surprisingly delightful was this trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes movie scheduled to come out in December. Holmes is played by Robert Downey Jr and the whole affair is presided over by Guy Ritchie so I was dubious, but the trailer has an interesting pulp hero take on the character that looks to be what The League of Extraordinary Gentleman should have been but wasn’t. Purist will probably hate it, but I’m excited and the increasingly popular neo-Victorian/Steampunk sub-culture will surely find a place for it in their cannon:
The plot revolves around an evil Industrialist (aren’t they all) who controls a cult who claim to possess supernatural powers and are linked to a series of murders. Perfect Christmas fare for the family!
Dracula Blood by Zombina and the Skeletones
As I get older, rockabilly, and its off-shoots like Gothabilly, Psychobilly and Horror Punk, appeal more and more to me than the Doom metal of my youth. One of my favorite songs in this vein is Dracula Blood by Zombina and the Skeletones from their album Out of the Crypt and Into Your Heart.
Why do I like it? Who knows. Probably the same reason I could tolerate kitschy theme restaurants like Joe’s Crab Shack once I hit 35. But I find this video delightful so enjoy:
Elder Sign
A reader sent me this hilarious spoof of those insufferable drug commercials that infest the airwaves which has a Lovecraftian twist. The production values are surprisingly good and the writing is better than anything on television these days. Enjoy:
Conviction
Fewdio has done it again with this deceptively simple horror short wherein a young college co-ed sanctimoniously lectures an unseen friend on the telephone on the foolishness of faith and the meaninglessness universe unaware that her nihilism is about to be put to the ultimate test. As a metaphor for Lovecraft and his personal philosophy the movie captures the horror of a random cosmos in which humanity is a pretentious and insignificant beast preyed upon by entities devoid of morality.
As a comment on the faddish humanism that permeates higher education the piece works even better, exposing post-modern intellectualism for the egotistical conceit that it is. Enjoy: