Two weeks back from yesterday, I went to urgent care to get some antibiotics for a tooth infection. Part of the process involved having my vitals taken, which resulted in being told that my heartrate and blood pressure were at IMMEDIATE HEALTH RISK levels. They wanted to call an ambulance then and there, but I […]

A decaying relic, kept in a mockery of life by foul alchemy and a perpetual state of rage born of ancient esoteric grudges? Oh, he’ll do just fine in these parts. Recommended listening: More regional ghosts.

It’s not as if things could get any worse out there, so why not? Recommended listening:

Vampires and werewolves may be frightful, but they lack the gnawing existential elan of the terrors of parenthood. Besides all the anxieties about perils which might afflict your offspring, there are more subtle chills — namely the recurring fits of angst over whether the example you’ve tried to set or lessons you’ve tried to impart […]

The unconvincing gorilla suit was a staple of stage and screen dating back to at least the late 19th Century. Need an exotic menace for an old dark house? Someone to send a slapstick ensemble into a state of comedic terror? A zany bit of zest for a struggling sitcom? Just throw someone with the […]

“The Nice Price” was a late 1970s branding initiative by CBS Records, where perennial backcatalog faves got badged and repriced as midbudget offerings. Nearly all of my old Clash tapes and CDs sported the sticker when I bought them. The copy of Combat Rock that Maura scored for me somewhere still has its one on […]

This is the season when dead things spring back to a horrid semblance of life, right? Recommended listening: The heavy, heavy monster sound.

…and so we reach the final movement of this year’s danse macabre. It was a bit skeletal as far as content went, but my real purpose was to see if I still had it in me to stick to a daily schedule, even if only for a month. I apparently do, though I have no […]

Though the role was silent and didn’t offer much in the way of facial expression, Christopher Lee’s turn as the bandage-clad revenant in Hammer’s The Mummy is an all-time favorite of mine. Lee’s lean but towering frame combined with skilled physical acting to perfectly portray the shambling menace of an undead powerhouse. And those eyes! […]

GIANT SPIDERS! They like to interfere with road crews for kicks! GIANT SPIDERS! They like to picnic in the grass! GIANT SPIDERS! Always looking for a good deal on a firm but comfortable queen-size mattress! GIANT SPIDERS! They greatly overestimate their abilities as pick-up artists! GIANT SPIDERS! Sometimes they are powered by a rear-mounted 1600 […]