Monday, April 19, 2010

I Can't Believe I Died Last Night

I woke up Thursday morning in Tucson, Arizona, to a text message that I hoped I would never read. One of my musical heroes was dead. His name was Peter Steele. His band was Type O Negative.



I remember being 14 years old and my older brother coming home one night and asking me if I'd ever heard of Type O Negative. I told him that I had not, and he proceeded to show me a song titled "Black No. 1." After that I was hooked.

I don't know why I related to the music that Peter Steele was making. It was the slowest, darkest, and strangest music I'd ever heard up to that point in my life. It was also hilarious, heavy, and full of hooks that I couldn't get out of my head for days.

I cut an ad out of "Guitar World Magazine" for the band's 2nd full-length album "Bloody Kisses" and inserted it into the cover of my 8th-grade notebook to show everyone in my small corner of the world that I was into them. Yes, I was going through a phase of listening to goth and metal bands, and, yes, everyone thought I was the weirdest kid in school, but I didn't care one bit. I was in love with this new sound.

I used to blast the album "October Rust" from my bedroom stereo every morning before school. My parents must've thought I was insane for listening to songs like "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" and "Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity," but I couldn't get enough.

I only got to experience the band live one time at Ozzfest '97. It was an amazing experience seeing Type O play outside at 5:00 pm. Pete Steele was taking swigs from a bottle of red wine the entire time even though the temperature was above 100 degrees. What a hoss!

For the past month or so I've been pretty open about my love affair with the music of Type O Negative. I will always love and be inspired by the music that they made over the past 15 years.

Thank you, Peter Steele. Rest In Peace.




Sunday, April 4, 2010

Waiting Patiently For This

I've been excited about the re-make of "A Nightmare On Elm Street" for over a year now. The original series was my favorite when I was younger. Samuel Bayer, the man responsible for the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video directed this. It all makes sense if you think about it.

Here are a couple of trailers for the re-make. Check 'em out! The movie will be out April 30th!





Kurt Cobain=Grunge version of Freddy Kruger? You decide.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Old Friends

Here are some of my favorite "spooky" videos from when I was in high school. :)







Friday, April 2, 2010

Pumpkinhead

We've all been there. Just hanging out doing our thing when some drunk "out of towners" show up to ride their dirt bikes illegally on our property. Eventually, something goes horribly wrong and someone gets hurt. In this case there's only one solution:totally evil revenge.

That's pretty much the premise of one of my favorite horror movies of all time.



Pumpkinhead(1988) was the directorial debut of Mr. Stan Winston. You might've heard of him before seeing as how he was the "go-to" special effects man of Hollywood for the past 30 years or so. Seriously, though. Stan Winston was behind everything from the Terminator series to Edward Scissorhands. He died last June, but his influence on film will forever be remembered.

Of all the neat toys and tricks that Winston came up with, Pumpkinhead is, in my opinion, the best!

During a time in horror film history that was dominated by Slasher killers, Pumpkinhead was refreshingly different. This was a monster in every sense of the word based on local Appalachian folklore and used as a tool to exact revenge on wrongdoers.

I remember seeing the poster for this at my local video store in Rotan, Tx and getting super creeped out. I walked out of said video store with a vhs copy stuffed in my backpack.

I remember watching it alone in the dark while my brother was out with friends. This was usually the way I spent Saturday nights. This was also my introduction to Lance Henriksen of "Near Dark" and "Millennium" fame. He plays the part of a country store manager named Ed Harley. Harley's son Billy is struck down accidentally by an idiot fratboy on a dirt bike. This, of course, pisses ol' Ed off enough to make him consult the help of a local witch. She tells Ed to go dig up a rotten corpse in the pumpkin patch located on her property. She then uses a combination of blood from Ed and his dead son to revive Pumpkinhead and send him on his vengeful way.



What happens next is a total bloodbath that shouldn't be ruined in my silly little blog.

If you like monsters, witches, fog, and seeing people get what's coming to them, then Pumpkinhead won't disappoint. I say check it out.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Stick To The Roads...

My name is Daniel Markham. I'm 29 years old, and I'm obsessed with horror films. I've been wanting to do a blog for a while now about all things horror. This is my chance to totally geek out on the subject. My goal is to share my knowledge and opinion about the genre with you as well as I can. Hopefully you'll enjoy what I have to say.

Please read with the lights off!