Worship.

Hey, everyone, sorry for being absent lately.

So much life has been happening and I have a lot of things to do, and I've really missed the old place, and all of you.

I hope to get back to a little more regular posting soon but I did wish to pass along this incredible image, so perfect for all of us here...

I cannot find an artist's name nor the background of this piece, so if anyone can help me find that information I'd be eternally grateful -- not only to credit the source but to be able to contact the artist and pick his or her mind about this remarkable work!

UPDATE 6/17: Loyal S&Per 'Anonymous' (there are many of them!) informs me that this is the work of one Radojavor on DeviantART. The piece is called Pumpkins (of course!) and can be seen at Radojavor's DeviantART page along with his other incredible work. This one was done in Photoshop on a Wacomm tablet. Radojavor, you absolutely KILL it when it comes to Autumn scenery. Every one of our patrons needs to go see his stuff now!

But the instant I saw it I knew I had to procure a print to adorn the walls of the S&P.

Just look at it fertheluva All Hallow's! A magnificent piece.

It's us, isn't it? A symbolical adoration of the fiery spirit at the core of our Hallowe'en Lovin' lifestyle, right?

We kneel, bow, praise and delight in the Great Pumpkin, the Giant Scarecrow, the grinning, glowing, gigantic jack o'lantern at the very heart of our collective worship of Hallowe'en... because all of it is what we create and celebrate and carry on for ourselves, our families and friends, our children and grandchildren.

Here's to Radojavor's work of obvious love and talent, and to the true fire of we Autumn People, and to doing all we can to keep it alive for generations to come.

Here's to our Hallowe'en spirit.



DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts...

... they will definitely follow you home -- and anywhere else you go!

Okay, a little closer...

Awesome.

Yes, S&Pers, your humble pubkeep has some grim-grinnin' to go with his rollin' and ridin'.

Today I got my ol' Jeep repaired, inspected, tagged and cleaned (well, I did all the cleaning!) after some months of delays.

Now, I really and truly despise the run-around of making a car legal so this time I made sure to tag it for two years -- and when I put the new tag on the plate:

... this image popped into my head:

... which is of course a prime detail of this iconic piece:

... and I then suddenly remembered that some years ago I had purchased some very ghoul auto decals for just such an occasion.

Aren't these nice?

There are a few more, but you get the idea.

So I took the smallest set (for now -- the Jeep needs a real paint job!) of Hitchhiking Ghosts and voila'!

 

We can thank the MO Dept of Revenue and that Green 13 (and Mssrs Davis & Coates et al) for the inspiration.

And I thank the person who made/sold these, who apparently wishes to keep a low profile. No problem.

And a big S&P welcome to all the cool members of MiceChat dot com (it's the happiest place in cyberspace, you know) for stopping by to view my Hitchhiking Jeep. Like the stickers, I hope you can stick around for more silliness!

DECALSHREKPOP!

Old tube invasion.

Greetings, S&P-brains!

I hope you're all comfy and ready for a fun summer!

Here at the S&P we're gearing up for a few eventful months of hot, humid days and nights in the October Country, but it's worth it -- for all my aching and yearning for Fall, there is much to be said for Summer.

As I mentioned in my last update, I knew I'd heard some humming and crackling coming from the ol' Hallowe'enith radio console over in the corner, and sure enough, there are a few new old recordings to enjoy... shall we say, ghosts of radio days long gone...?

First, this spooky old radio console must have a direct link in the ether to important dates and historic events -- an appropriately historic broadcast from some 67 years ago this very day.

I am sure I needn't educate anyone over the age of 12 about the significance of June 6, 1944.

 Wanna be really impressed? Click and enlarge -- and start counting ships, trucks, tanks...

From an NBC broadcast early that morning, Robert St. John informs us of the momentous Invasion of Normandy by Allied forces... and then President Franklin D. Roosevelt leads the nation in a prayer heard on every station, on every radio, shortly after the invasion had been reported.

We will never forget the bravery, sacrifice and terrifying glory of that day. Thank you to all who took part -- the 7,000 planes and 12,000 seagoing vessels bringing nearly 160,000 troops to Normandy. The world forever thanks you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still we are a Hallowe'en pub after all, and for some crazy reason the Hallowe'enith radio selected another kind of invasion program to fill our ears, minds, hearts and darkened souls.

Oh, not the old radio invasion program you're thinking it is. That would have been too easy for the ol' console, I think.

No, this is a rather surprisingly disturbing little tale about a very unique kind of Summer invasion, penned by Ray Bradbury in the late '40s and adapted to radio for the wildly popular Escape series in 1953. Hosted by the famous voice of William Conrad, Zero Hour chronicles a healthy, happy middle American town full of Summertime children gathering materials for a very odd new game they call 'invasion', and how one mother begins to think it a little too odd, especially when she hears it's happening on other streets... in other towns...

It's a decidedly different sort of invasion tale I believe you will all thoroughly enjoy, even as the final seconds linger in your mind for a good long while.

So... from D-Day to Zero Hour.

Sounds pretty violent and bleak.

One most certainly was. The other certainly makes you think.

And that can't be a bad thing.

Enjoy!

D-DAY-SP!

June Gloom.

Welcome back to the S&P after the holiday weekend.

I sure hope you all had a fine few days and took time to remember those who have left us after giving so much. It's good to do that as often as we can.

It's also good to note the passing of time, to pause and recognize as seasons change that we too will follow those we've loved to the Great Unknown (P.S. It's one of the reasons there is such a thing as Hallowe'en!).

But hopefully, we won't follow right away. Not for now.

For now, we begin the yearly move toward hot days, sultry nights, parties, sleepovers, campouts and cookouts and all the other -outs that come with having the right weather to be out.

Oh it's not official yet, but the unofficial start is always after Memorial Day.

For all intents and purposes, it is SUMMER.

As ever, the Skull & Pumpkin welcomes a new month with a few new tunes in the jukebox, and you'll notice right away that even if we're still weeks from the Solstice, the S&P feels pretty confident that we can start celebrating Summer now.

First new tune is the wistful A Summer Song, a 1964 Billboard hit for the charming Brit duo Chad & Jeremy. I've always loved the strings in this song, the flute-like tone of their combined voices, and the simplicity of the piece. A '60s classic, and perfect for June.

Next up, a great, breezy June sort of number from an album that has been featured here before -- from the 1955 motion picture soundtrack of Pete Kelly's Blues comes Breezin' Along With The Breeze. Warm swing from a great band, featuring an intro by Jack Webb (who essayed the titular Kelly). The 'Matty' to whom he refers is the great swing clarinetist Matty Matlock, a member of the Pete Kelly Big 7 band, headed by my late father, Dick Cathcart on trumpet.

That's not my dad, it's Jack Webb miming to my dad's recordings. To the right,

Lee Marvin exacts the same favor from Matty Matlock.

And as long as we're talking about breezes, heat, and Summer lazing, why not perk things up with a bit of acoustic swing from a great little duo from the Ozarks? 

From their 1993 album Tea & Honey comes Don (Matt) & Scott (Thompson) working up Matt's fun composition Sittin' In The Shade. A neat little tune, evoking simple Summer pleasures and reminding us of the life to be enjoyed beyond your A/C and your television when the sun is high and hot. That ol' porch was built for a reason, as our elders well knew.

Then, I felt a change of pace might be needed. Or even if it isn't needed, I just love this song.

Memories of the sea, of past friendships and lost longings and the utter clarity of cleansing one's soul come to mind in the beautiful and haunting Life & Soul, one of the finer cuts from The Sundays' 1992 album Blind. Harriet Wheeler's unique vocal talents, lent a heart-warming charm by her Londoner accent. A real put-on-the-headphones-and-close-your-eyes tune.

Here... dive below... 

Of course, I don't wish to end on such a mellow note.

I love the deep, dark stuff (we are a Hallowe'en pub!) but we have to have some fun, and it has to be about monsters, and it has to be about the summery sea we've been contemplating... OH!

The Monster Surfer is a goofy, catchy and addicting little piece of mid-20th-Century American Monsterkid love, recorded in 1964 by Frank N. Stein & The Abominable Surfmen (how's that for a name!?).

I have no picture for this one (other than the above album cover), because listening to it again, I am a little dumbfounded regarding this Monster Surfer's appearance. I mean, he speaks like Lugosi's Dracula, but talks about his fur and electrodes, so there's some werewolf and Frankenstein Monster mixed in? Plus he has acne? Man, they were really trying to cover the bases and get in good with the teen crowd. Funny stuff, worth more than one listen, especially as the Monster and the gang begin laughing near the end of the tune.

Summer, you are welcome, even if you haven't completely arrived just yet. 

Summer is warm, cleansing, working, thinking time. 

And for most of us Autumn People, it means it's time to really start making Hallowe'en.

Happy June, gloomy or otherwise! Enjoy the music, everyone.

Hey! - is that the Hallowe'enith radio beginning to buzz and crackle over there?...

DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

In Memoriam.

Just want to remember why we remember.

Enjoy your holiday, because you can.

One Hundred Fears.

Vincent Leonard Price

May 27, 1911 -- October 25, 1993

When I was a kid, my three favorite movies were King Kong (1933), The Wolfman (1940), and The Fly (1958). 

Which of those three sat atop the rest changed all the time, but it was always one of those three.
 

And whenever The Fly was king, it was always, always because of one man.

He would have been 100 years old today. 

I can't imagine he really wanted to get that old, though Lord knows if he had, he'd be partying it up with the best of 'em all night long.

The man knew how to live, and knew how to scare, and knew how to laugh, and knew how to have a wonderful life.

Today is a great day to watch a Vincent Price movie.

Need ideas?:

          1. Service de Luxe (1938)
          2. Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The (1939)
          3. Tower of London (1939)
          4. Invisible Man Returns, The (1940)
          5. Hudson's Bay (1940)
          6. House of the Seven Gables, The (1940)
          7. Green Hell (1940)
          8. Brigham Young - Frontiersman (1940)
          9. Song of Bernadette, The (1943)
        10. Wilson (1944)
        11. Moss Rose (1944)
        12. Eve of St. Mark, The (1944)
        13. Laura (1944)
        14. Keys of the Kingdom, The (1944)
        15. Royal Scandal, A (1945)
        16. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
        17. Shock (1946)
        18. Dragonwyck (1946)
        19. Long Night, The (1947)
        20. Web, The (1947)
        21. Up in Central Park (1948)
        22. Rogues' Regiment (1948)
        23. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
        24. Three Musketeers, The (1948)
        25. Bagdad (1949)
        26. Bribe, The (1949)
        27. Champagne for Caesar (1950)
        28. Baron of Arizona, The (1950)
        29. Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
        30. Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951)
        31. His Kind of Woman (1951)
        32. Pictura (1952)
        33. Las Vegas Story, The (1952)
        34. House of Wax (1953)
        35. Mad Magician, The (1954)
        36. Casanova's Big Night (1954)
        37. Dangerous Mission (1954)
        38. Story of Colonel Drake, The (1955)
        39. Son of Sinbad (1955)
        40. Vagabond King, The (1956)
        41. Serenade (1956)
        42. While the City Sleeps (1956)
        43. Ten Commandments, The (1956)
        44. Story of Mankind, The (1957)
        45. House on Haunted Hill (1958)
        46. Fly, The (1958)
        47. Tingler, The (1959)
        48. Big Circus, The (1959)
        49. Bat, The (1959)
        50. Return of the Fly, The (1959)
        51. Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
        52. Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
        53. Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961)
        54. Naked Terror (1961)
        55. Black Buccaneer, The (1961)
        56. Master of the World (1961)
        57. Tower of London (1962)
        58. Tales of Terror (1962)
        59. Convicts Four (1962)
        60. Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962)
        61. Twice-Told Tales (1963)
        62. Tabu, I (1963)
        63. Raven, The (1963)
        64. Haunted Palace, The (1963)
        65. Comedy of Terrors, The (1963)
        66. Chagall (1963)
        67. Beach Party (1963)
        68. Diary of a Madman (1963)
        69. Last Man on Earth, The (1964)
        70. Masque of the Red Death, The (1964)
        71. War Gods of the Deep (1965)
        72. Tomb of Ligeia, The (1965)
        73. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
        74. Dr. Goldfoot and the 'S' Bombs (1966)
        75. Jackals, The (1967)
        76. House of 1,000 Dolls (1967)
        77. Spirits of the Dead (1968)
        78. Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (1968)
        79. Scream and Scream Again (1969)
        80. Oblong Box, The (1969)
        81. More Dead Than Alive (1969)
        82. Trouble with Girls, The (1969)
        83. Cry of the Banshee (1970)
        84. Abominable Dr. Phibes, The (1971)
        85. Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
        86. Theatre of Blood (1973)
        87. Madhouse (1974)
        88. It's Not the Size That Counts (1974)
        89. Devil's Triangle, The (1974)
        90. Journey Into Fear (1975)
        91. Butterfly Ball, The (1976)
        92. Strange Case of Alice Cooper, The (1978)
        93. Days of Fury (1978)
        94. Scavenger Hunt (1979)
        95. Once Upon a Midnight Scary (1979)
        96. Monster Club, The (1980)
        97. Vincent (1982)
        98. Thriller (1983)
        99. House of the Long Shadows (1983)
      100.  Pogo for President: 'I Go Pogo' (1984)
      101. Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)
      102. Offspring, The (1986)
      103. Great Mouse Detective, The (1986)
      104. Whales of August, The (1987)
      105. Dead Heat (1988)
      106. Backtrack (1989)
      107. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Now, I already spent quite the time and energy celebrating his centennial with a li'l Raven I made. I'm sure you've read all about it.

But I just wanted to mark the day and make the point.

You will never be forgotten, Vinnie...

Happy Vincentennial!

 BLOODBREATH!

You are... my lucky... star...

Welcome, guests and loyal S&Pers!

Today we're raising a glass and getting the projector fired up.

Today is, at least to your humble pubkeep, an important date in horror history, and in Hallowe'en costuming and effects history as well.

See, today is the 32nd birthday of the Alien... and of Ripley.

On this date in 1979 was introduced to the world one of the greatest horror films of all time.

Yes, I wrote 'horror' and I mean horror. For all of its sci-fi trappings, Alien is as simple and effective an 'old, dark house with a bad thing in it' horror tale as you will find. It is Jaws in space; it is Night of the Living Dead only with one single bad-a** ghoul; it is Hallowe'en with an alien Michael Myers (and a similarly willing-to-fight-for-her-life 'final girl'); it is science fiction only in the way Star Wars, a cowboy western serial, is science fiction -- the scenery might be Asimov but the atmosphere is pure Lovecraft...

So today is the 32nd anniversary of some very important creations -- the alien, the facehugger, the chestburster, and my personal 30+ year crush, the incredibly tall, lanky, strong, sweaty, swearing-like-a-trucker Ripley -- do you remember the first time you ever laid eyes on these now iconic images?

The S&P is running this all day.

We raise a glass and give a heartfelt thank you to Giger, Shusett, O'Bannon, Scott... and of course, Sigourney Weaver.

My God are you kidding me?

You gave us a hero we didn't expect, and didn't even know we needed.

So Elphaba-like.

You were the first woman to make me realize it didn't matter that the hero was a woman, and then that it mattered a whole hell of a lot that you were.

Happy 32nd to the Alien, and to Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo.

-- SIGNING OFF --