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Archive for the ‘Canadian Content’ Category

Clark Ashton Smith-“The Treader of the Dust” (published 1935) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Canadian Content, Clark Ashton Smith, Death, H.P. Lovecraft, Hingston & Olsen, Jimi Hendrix, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, Supernatural, The Beatles, The Ghost Box, Yuck! on October 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Birds” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

“Some people keep birds as pets in their home.  Not you.”

This is a groovy song with some cool pauses with staccato drums and a heavy riff.  The song is littered with lots of samples of “They attack!” a sample that has been used regularly since in various shows.

Mike’s got a nasty fuzzy sounding bass while Page plays the organ rhythm.  At the end Trey and Mike play each other a solo off (complete with bombastic drums from Fish).

The set’s penultimate song, “The Birds,” showed off what Phish meant in the Playbill when they called Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House one of the heaviest albums of all-time. They feasted on a groove that recalled the best of Traffic, Black Sabbath and Abbey Road era Beatles. All the while, a spoken word sample of “They Attack!!” was worked into the sound. It was on “The Birds” that Mike Gordon shined most as he connected with McConnell and Fish on a dark and dirty progression that Trey shredded over. The song continued with Gordon and Anastasio facing off against each other and dueling it out for a few glorious moments as Page hit his keys for more “They Attack!!” samples. Eventually, [they] hooked up on an intense progression they worked over with Anastasio unleashing a wave of riffs that would’ve made Jimi Hendrix proud.

The ending is some pounding staccato chords with samples of “They Attack!”  It’s a very strong ending.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “The Treader of the Dust”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

This story opens with a quote from The Testaments of Carnamagos.

John Sebastian had had a debate and argument with himself.  He was typically a recluse but he was so upset, he had left his house for three days–an unheard of absence. (more…)

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Arthur Machen–“Opening the Door” (published 1931) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Alternate Reality, Canadian Content, Death, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Huh?, Newspapers, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Racism, Short Story, Supernatural, Surreal, The Ghost Box, Void, W.F. Harvey on October 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Chinese Water Torture” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

“The Chinese Water Torture” was scored with an upbeat groove that almost seemed like a mix of “Cars Trucks Buses” and “Axel F.” There was a familiarity to all the progessions Phish debuted in the Haunted House, but this was Phish drawing on their influences and own music to create something completely new and original. “The Chinese Water Torture” also contained a potent jam filled with bombastic leads from Trey.

There’s a cool key board melody while Trey is doing so solo bends.   And then he starts taking off on his solos.  There’s a wailing solo by the end with some great drums from Fish.  I like that the drop from the record is sampled throughout.

And I guess we’ll just leave out that this is all pretty racist.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “Opening the Door”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

I’m intrigued that older stories seemed to want a kind of narrative device to tell stories like this.  Whether it was the radio station in “The Night Wire” or the way “The Clock” was told in response to another person’s story, there’s seems to be a need to frame these stories. (more…)

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Dennis Etchison–“The Late Shift” (published 1980) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Dennis Etchison, Drinking, Genesis, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Hospitals, Huh?, Native Americans, Patton Oswalt, Regrets, Short Story, The Beatles, The Doors, The Ghost Box, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Yuck!, Zombies on October 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Unsafe Bridge” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

“The Unsafe Bridge” was Phish’s version of a Spaghetti Western soundtrack with elements of Genesis and The Beatles worked in. While the band played these songs, lasers and other effects not usually seen at a Phish show were added to the insane spectacle.

This song definitely a spaghetti western vibe from Mike and some appropriate piano from Page.  Trey plays some simple guitar melodies.  And then a pretty solo.

This piece is nicely catchy but also really short at only 3 minutes.  I could have listened to this one for longer.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “The Late Shift”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

This story started in an amusing way–kids returning from a 2 AM screening of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre stop at a convenience store to but some alcohol.  It’s Macklin and his friend Whitey (who is Native American–real name is White Feather).  At the store, the clerk is acting really weird, just repeating “Please, thank you, sorry” and seeming to be really out of it.

They recognize him as Juano, a guy they know from another store, but he seems to have really hit the skids as they say. (more…)

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Chelsea Quinn Yarbro–“Savory, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” (published 1984) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Revenge, Romance, Short Story, The Ghost Box, W.F. Harvey, Witches on October 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“Shipwreck” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

The story behind “Shipwreck” is that you are on a holiday cruise when you encounter a dense fog.

“Shipwreck” was similar to other songs performed during the set as it started with a spoken word soundtrack from the original album as the zombiefied actors danced around stage and led into original music. This time around, the quartet unveiled a dreamy progression.

The song is slow and trippy, like a slow sea journey.  And then the samples come in: “Are you too near the shore?” (played forwards and backwards).  Then repeats of “jagged rocks jagged rocks.”

Phish followed the spoken word section with a gorgeous piece of ambient music that was reminiscent of studio jams of the late ’90s.

There’s a kind of threatening low keyboard note while Trey was playing feedback noises.  Then page started a series of fast keyboard trills with many sound effects.

[READ: October 21, 2017] “Savory, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

I though that this story took a really long time to get where it was going, but once it got there it was really interesting. (more…)

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Al Sarrantonio–“Pumpkin Head” (published 1982) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Al Sarrantonio, Canadian Content, Cats, Death, Fears, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Set at School, Short Story, The Ghost Box, Yuck! on October 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“Your Pet Cat” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

“Your Pet Cat” was a funk workout with a “Tube”-like beat from Fish and staccato synth stabs from McConnell as the sounds of cats shrieking poured out over the PA.

The announcer says, “From the time of the ancient Egyptians until today, many people have been cat fanciers.”

With a screeching cat sound and a repeating keyboard motif Trey plays five chords in rapid succession with a little air to breathe.  There’s a funky bass from Mike and some grooving from Page.

The song came to a climax when Trey played some wild solos and adding some cat-like noises of his own to the mix.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “Pumpkin Head”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

I really enjoyed this story although there were so many elements that just seemed so wrong (in 1982!). (more…)

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George R.R. Martin–“The Pear-Shaped Man” (published 1987) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Artists, Canadian Content, Cheez Doodles, Death, Fears, George R.R. Martin, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Linda Ronstadt, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, The Ghost Box, W.F. Harvey, Yuck! on October 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“Timber” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

This song is not to be confused with “Timber Ho!” the wonderful cover of the Josh White and Sam Gary song.  That one is also known as “Timber (Jerry)” and “Timber (Jerry the Mule).”   This new song is a chilling thrilling track in which “you are an expert woodsman.”  You climb up the branches of a tree and you begin to saw

“Timber” was another guitar-heavy rocker.  It uses the back-and-forth of the saw to set the beat before stating a five note guitar/bass riff with echoes attached on the piano.   The shriek of the plummeting woodsman is added from time to time for dramatic effect.  There’s some good soloing from everybody here, especially when Page and Trey trade off on leads.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “The Pear-Shaped Man”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

I have not read anything by George R.R. Martin (surprisingly).  So I don’t know how this fits into his general oeuvre.

I actually thought it might be a recent story (I don’t know why I though that).  But there were two things that made it feel dated.  It had a casual sexism that made me bristle.  Nothing too over the top, but just a mild amount that I was surprised by (and which I don’t think I see too much recently) and the guy plays the “new Linda Ronstadt album” (that dated it even more to me).

So this story is long (unsurprisingly). The plot is actually quite simple and easy to encapsulate in a shorter story  But Martin does wonders with ambiance and tension. (more…)

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Adam Corbin Fusco–“N072-JK1” (published 2003) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Adam Corbin Fusco, Canadian Content, Death, Fears, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Huh?, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, The Ghost Box, Threats, Violence, Yuck! on October 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Dogs” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

A little over ten minutes into the set, after the explosion, the walls of the Haunted House were exposed to show the band dressed in white tuxedos with zombie makeup.

Phish’s contribution to “The Dogs” was a catchy arena rock progression.  This song opens with the narration that as a child you were frightened by a huge snarling dog.  And as the dogs start barking, the band starts rocking.  It’s a big riff jam with some funky bass moments and rollicking piano.

But this is  rocking guitar song with raw chords that really move along and a great solo from Trey.

It ends with the squeaky door closing and a scream.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “N0072-JK1”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

This was the least satisfying story in the collection.  I read it twice and I still don’t really “get it.” (more…)

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Richard Matheson-“Born of Man and Woman” (published 1950) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Freaks, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, The Ghost Box, Violence, W.F. Harvey, Yuck! on October 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Very Long Fuse” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

That same creaking door leads to a more upbeat major-key section on “The Very Long Fuse.”  I love that on the original, the whole track is just the sound of the fuse going off.

For their version, it’s primarily a synth jam.  It’s a rather upbeat jam with a kind of staccato guitar riff and a groovy melody.

You can see a fuse lit and crackling across the front of the building.

Midway through the “narrator” says it’s almost gone out and she’ll blow it to life.  The end says “You though there was going to be a huge explosion, didn’t you.”  And then there is one (although it’s pretty quiet).

Then the top half of  walls crash down and the band is suddenly visible.  That’s a pretty cool live moment.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “Born of Man and Woman

Just in time for Halloween. from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order.

This story was quite a change from the other two. (more…)

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H.F. Arnold–“The Night Wire” (published 1926) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Fog, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, The Ghost Box on October 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“The Haunted House” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

After playing the spoken narration from the record, “You are a bold and courageous person afraid of nothing…” the band plays a fast thumping melody as the song builds in intensity.  It’s a bit dark and eerie with staccato piano and a slow, menacing riff.  It feels very zombie-like (on stage zombies came out from behind the gravestones).

There’s a slow menacing solo played over the top of the (over the top) screams and moans from the record.  It ends with a gong.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “The Night Wire”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order

This story seems like it may have been the template for many stories that followed.  Which means to a reader nearly 100 years later it’s not that suspenseful or spurring.  But at the time it was probably pretty awesome. (more…)

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W.F. Harvey–“The Clock” (published 1928) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Short Story, The Ghost Box, Threats, W.F. Harvey on October 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“Intro” (MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday 10, 31, 2014).

In honor of Halloween, these Ghost Box stories will be attached to a recent Phish Halloween show [with quoted material from various reviews]. 

Known for dawning musical costumes to celebrate [Halloween], Phish broke with tradition last year to offer a set of original music.  The Phish Bill read that Phish’s musical costume would be a 1964 Disney album of sound effects – Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.  But it wasn’t a cover set. Phish played original music set amongst an incredibly psychedelic, theatrical graveyard stage accentuated by zombie dancers and a ghoulish MC.  At the start of the set, the stage was cleared before a graveyard came to the foreground.  Smoke filled the air, zombie dancers appeared, and music filled the venue. A haunted house was brought to the front of the stage, which eventually exploded, and all four-band members appeared, dressed in white like zombies. 

When the lights went down for the second set, attendees witnessed a crazy scene on a stage set up to look like a graveyard. During the intro, a Haunted House was pushed out by stage hands as dancers dressed in ghoulish attire paraded around. It soon became clear the band was setup within the Haunted House and just like the famed Storage Jam from the group’s Super Ball Festival, the crowd couldn’t actually witness Phish performing.

Opening with a few spooky synth notes, a guitar and drum melody rises out of the waves.  It is spookyish, but feels more comically spooky–just like the Disney record..

After nearly a minute Trey begins his solo which feels less spooky and more like an introduction to some thing epic.  This intro piece lasts about two minutes before an exaggerated squeaking door sound and the narration for the second song began.

[READ: October 16, 2017] “The Clock”

Just in time for Halloween, from the people who brought me The Short Story Advent Calendar comes The Ghost Box.

This is a nifty little box (with a magnetic opening) that contains 11 stories for Halloween.  It is lovingly described thusly:

A collection of chilly, spooky, hair-raising-y stories to get you in that Hallowe’en spirit, edited and introduced by comedian and horror aficionado Patton Oswalt.

There is no explicit “order” to these books; however, on the inside cover, one “window” of the 11 boxes is “folded.”  I am taking that as a suggested order

This was a good story to start with.  Not super scary, but nicely creepy. (more…)

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