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Archive for the ‘Short Story’ Category

Laird Hunt–“The Face” [The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar #1] (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Bouquet of Veal, Canadian Content, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, El Vez, Fear, Humpers, Laird Hunt, Mystery, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Pansy Division, Public Image Ltd, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Short Story, Sloppy Seconds, Stiff Little Fingers, The Celibate Rifles, The Damned, The Dickies, The Greedies, The Ramones, The Ravers, The Short Story Advent Calendar, TVTV$ on December 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PUNK ROCK XMAS (1995).

Long before it was cool to make “punk” things for mass consumption, Rhino released this Christmas album.  I bought it because I was pretty tired of Christmas songs back in 1995 and this was a pretty good antidote.

Listening to it twenty years after it came out, I was surprised to hear how many songs would fit pretty nicely in a contemporary rocking playlist.  Although in the true spirit of punk, there are a number of songs that wouldn’t fit at all, either because of the very anti-Christmas sentiment or the bad language.  I have labelled those [NSFC] Not Safe for Christmas.

THE RAVERS-(It’s Gonna Be A) Punk Rock Christmas
This song is actually quite fun.  Santas’s gonna be a Sex Pistol for a Day and Farrah Fawcett is going to change her hair.
THE DICKIES-Silent Night
This is a fairly faithful rendition of the song, just done as a surf punk song with the nasal vocal delivery of The Dickies.  I’ve know this song for decades and have rocked out to it on many a non holiday eve.
SLOPPY SECONDS-Hooray For Santa Claus Theme From ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians’
This is a rocking cover of the hilarious song from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  I can’t even imagine how they know it as I only know the movie from MST3K.
FEAR-Fuck Christmas [NSFC]
This song starts off like a slow ponderous song and then it ends abruptly with a hardcore chant of the title.
THE GREEDIES-A Merry Christmas
This is a fairly straight punkish blend of Christmas songs, puts some pep in your ho ho ho.
THE DAMNED-There Ain’t No Sanity Claus
This song is just great, Christmas themes or no.  In fact I don’t even know what the rest of the words are and it could easily NOT be a Christmas song–except for Santa Ho Ho Hoing at the end.
PANSY DIVISION-Homo Christmas [NSFC]
Kudos to Rhino for adding this aggressively queer song to the mix.  But it is quite explicit.  Also, I never noticed before but the opening chords could easily have the harmonica solo form Blues Traveler’s big hit fit in there very nicely (and wouldn’t that be a hoot).
BOUQUET OF VEAL-It’s Christmas [NSFC]
This is a mildly inappropriate song about sex and drugs but it’s catchy and short.  You could probably slip it in without people noticing.  (That’s what she said).
THE CELIBATE RIFLES-Merry Xmas Blues
The Celibate Rifles were an Australian punk band.  I don’t really know them at all.  The verses of the song are fast and hard to understand but they’re darkly comic and the chorus is just a punk version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”  The end is a fairly straight blues riff.  A fun addition to a party.
RAMONES-Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)
This song is pretty widely accepted as a classic Christmas song now.  Listening to it amid these other punk songs, it made me realize just how far the Ramones drifted away from their punk sound and into a more metal feel.
METAL MIKE, ALISON AND JULIA-Deck The Halls
This is a pretty goofy, sloppy, slurry version of the song.  There’s mention of a helicopter.  It’s a minute of fun.
EL VEZ-Feliz Navinada
This is one of my favorite Christmas songs.  A wildly buzzy guitar, fast chanting of Feliz Navidad and some serious Public Image Limited love thrown in.
HUMPERS-Run, Run Rudolph [NSFC]
This would be a pretty straight punk version of this Christmas song, fun for all, except for the “Check this shit out” comment before the solo.
TVTV$-Daddy Drank Our Xmas Money [NSFC]
This is a sad (funny) drunken tale of a drunk dad spending all of the Christmas money.  It starts out with a slow intro and then a fast punk conclusion.
THE FROGS-Here Comes Santa’s Pussy [NSFC]
 This is a slow creepy song that feels like it’s meant to be really naughty, but it’s just kind of dumb.
MOJO NIXON-Christmas Christmas [NSFC]
I just don’t really like Mojo Nixon (my store could use some fixin’).  I do, however, enjoy the idea that the chorus is done in the style of “Louie Louie.”  But the verses are a bit beyond the pale.
D.I.-Mr. Grinch [NSFC]
The song starts with the melody form the song “Black Sabbath,” but it soon becomes a more standard punk version of the song.  The biggest problem with the song is that it’s nearly 4 minutes long.  People will clamor for the original, which is more fun anyway.
STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-White Christmas
This is a sloppy but faithfully punk version of the song for the first verse.  The second time around is blistering sloppy noise punk.

[READ: December 12, 2017] “The Face”

Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.

Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.

If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.

(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)

This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection

This story is told in an interesting way.  It begins with a boy raking leaves in an old couple’s front yard. He’s making money and having some fun (he leaps in the pile and wrestles with the bags once they are full).  Then he sets the pile on fire.

While he’s watching it burn, the homeowner, an 80 year old man comes over to talk to him.  Mr Aurelius asks if was true that the boy had been to Hong Kong.  He had and he told the man some things he saw there (most of what he saw was ferries and dead animals). (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories (2017)

Posted in Bees, Bucks Free Press, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Gnomes, Magic, Phish, Short Books, Short Story, Technology, Terry Pratchett, The Allman Brothers Band, The Mighty Diamonds, Threats, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Wizards on November 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Phish Downloads 5.8.93 UNH Fieldhouse, Durham, NH (2007).

This concert was recorded on my birthday.  Although I wasn’t there (and wasn’t even really a fan at the time).  This is the last show of the tour, so they thank the crew and have a lot of fun with that.  This is a great 3 CD set because there’s a lot of strong bonus material at the end of disc 3.

The set opens with a rocking “Chalk Dust Torture” and segues into a really tight “GuelahPapyrus”—I love how they can start and stop in total synch.  There’s great harmonies on “Rift” and a perfect tempo-change into “Mound.”

Then comes a jamming 12 minute “Stash” with a lot of bass sections.  It segues into the delightfully bizarre “Kung” and then returns to “Stash” for another minute before switching to “Glide.”  “Glide” has more great harmonies with a very long pause (over a minute of silence, which gets the crowd excited) before ending the song. It’s followed by a great version of “My Friend, My Friend” that segues into a 13 minute Reba.”  Trey thanks the crew and everyone for the tour after which they play a very jazzy “Satin Doll.”

The first set ends with a blistering “Cavern.”

Set Two opens with a minute of “David Bowie” before Page turns it into a cover of The Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” (including a Simpsons’ “D’oh”).  “David Bowie” returns with a 10 minute jam–no solos, just the band rocking–before mellowing out into a reggae version of “Have Mercy” by The Mighty Diamonds.   That two-minute slow down is followed by a scorching soloing conclusion to “David Bowie.”

They take a kind of break with “The Horse,” an acoustic guitar piece for Trey (It’s very pretty and one of the few times I’ve heard him play acoustic).  It turns into a great “Silent in the Morning.”  There’s a nearly 10 minute “It’s Ice” in which each player really stands out—Mike’s bass, Fish’s drums, Page’s keys—everyone is highlighted in this quirky staccato version which segues perfectly into a 16 minute “Squirming Coil.”

There’s a great jam in this song with a lengthy piano solo.  The ending is wildly erratic and weird (and I suppose is technically a “Big Ball Jam”) as they continue to jam for a few extra minutes before launching into “Mike’s Song.”  Like “Bowie,” “Mike’s Song” is broken up to include a bluesy cover of “Crossroads” with lots of piano soloing.  It segues back into the end of “Mike’s Song” which doesn’t really sound like an end to the song.  But it’s followed by a pretty “I am Hydrogen” which launches into a great, funky bass roaring “Weekapaug Groove.”

Towards the end of “Groove,” Page stars playing “Amazing Grace and as it softens up, the band sings a quiet a capaella version of the song.  And then the launches into a jamming version to end the set.

The encore is a loose “AC/DC Bag” for a nice end to the tour.

The Bonus songs include “Shaggy Dog” from the 5/8/93 soundcheck. It’s just guitar and voices with good harmonies.

“Tweezer” and “Tela” come from 5/6/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY.  “Tweezer” is totally rocking and 19 minutes long.  There’s a bass-filled jam in the start and it gets dark and a little crazy in the middle.  It slows way down to just one drum and one bass note and then segues nicely into a very pretty “Tela.”

The final bonus track is a crazy 32 minute “You Enjoy Myself” from 5/5/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY.   It features special guests Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit as well as the Dude of Life.  There’s a funky middle section of 3 to 5 note motifs repeated.  There’s a lengthy bass solo—just Mike.  It segues into a series of descending riffs until more percussion comes in and someone (Dude?) is talking (incomprehensibly) into the microphone.  Then comes bongos and horns.  I believe there’s even a vacuum solo.  The end of the song has a jazzy scat sing along with the guitar and some rally heavy drums at the end.

On many of the discs, the bonus material is sort of interesting to have but on this one, the “Twezer,” “Tela” and YEM” are outstanding in and of themselves.

Here’s a longer essay about this show by Kevin Shapiro.

[READ: May 8, 2017] The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories

It’s always weird to read posthumous stories, especially if you’ve been a fan of the author for years.  But like the previous collection Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this book collects stories from when Terry was a young lad (between 1966 and 1973) in the Children’s Circle of the Bucks Free Press. He says that they are as they were except that he tinkered here and there with a few details and added a few lines or notes, “just because I can.”

There are 13 stories in the book, and they explore variations on Pratchett’s themes like that the unfamiliar is not the enemy (necessarily) and that people can and often will be surprised by how others react to things.  He also has  a story idea that would blossom into the Carpet People stories later on.

“The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner” (1970)
This begins with a great premise: “Uncle Ron Swimble, the magician, enjoyed performing at parties. He did lots of simple tricks and the kids enjoyed him.  But when he went to his most recent party, things went awry.  But in a way that the kids loved: when his hat fell off, three rabbits jumped out.  And when he bent over a flock of pigeons flew out from under his coat.  The kids were delighted.  But Ron was the most surprised because he had no rabbits or birds in his act.  Every time he moved his hands something vanished or appeared.  It was crazy.  Then they figured out that Uncle Ron had knocked over Mrs Riley’s vacuum cleaner.  And as all the kids knew (but the adults didn’t seem to ) Mrs Riley was a witch.  The resolution to this story was really delightful. (more…)

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Half-Minute Horrors (2009) [edited by Susan Rice]

Posted in Aaron Renier, Abi Slone, Adam Rex, Adele Griffin, Adventure, Advice, Alice Kuipers, Alison McGhee, Aliza Kellerman, Allan Stratton, Angela Johnson, Art, Arthur Slade, Avi, Ayelet Waldman, Babies, Babysitters, Barry Yourgrau, Birds, Brad Meltzer, Brett Helquist, Brian Selznick, Carol Gorman, Carson Ellis, Cats, Children's Books, Chris Raschka, Dan Gutman, Daniel Ehrenhaft, David Rich, David Stahler Jr., Dean Lorey , Death, Demons, Disneyland, Dogs, Dolls, Erin Hunter, Faye Kellerman, Fears, Francine Prose, Frank Viva, Gail Carson Levine, Gloria Whelan, Gregory Maguire, Halloween, Holly Black, Horror, Jack Gantos, James Patterson, Jenny Nimmo, Jerry Spinelli, John Congleton, Jon Klassen, Jon Scieszka, Jonathan Lethem, Joseph Delaney , Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Applegate, Kenneth Oppel, Lane Smith, Lauren Myracle, Lemony Snicket, Lesley Livingston, Libba Bray, Lisa Brown, M.E. Kerr, M.T. Anderson, Margaret Atwood, Mariko Tamaki, Mark Crilley, Melissa Marr, Michael Connelly, Michèle Perry, Monsters, Mustaches, Nadia Aguiar , Neil Gaiman, Nightmares, Outer Space, Pantoum, Phish, Poetry, Pseudonymous Bosch, R.L. Stine, Revenge, Richard Sala, Sarah L. Thompson, Sarah Weeks, Short Story, Sienna Mercer, Sleep, Sonya Sones, Spiders, Stacy Godenir, Stephen Marche, Threats, Tom Genrich, Tui T. Sutherland, Vladimir Radumsky, Walt Disney World, Yuck!, Yvonne Prinz on October 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CHILLING THRILLING SOUNDS OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE (1964).

The cover during Phish’s 2014 concert was of this album.

Apparently many people grew up with this record.  I personally didn’t know it, but if you read the comments (don’t read the comments!) on any YouTube clip of the album you will see how popular it is.

Wikipedia describes it as  intended for “older children, teenagers, and adults” released by Disneyland Records (now known as Walt Disney Records). The album was mainly composed of sound effects that had been collected by the sound effects department of Walt Disney Studios. The album was released in several different forms. The album was first released in 1964 in a white sleeve, with a second release in 1973 with an orange sleeve. In both versions, the first side contained 10 stories narrated by Laura Olsher, complete with sound effects. The second side contained 10 sound effects meant for others to create their own stories.

Despite the title, most of the cuts had nothing to do with haunted houses or witches or ghostly spirits. Featured were such situations as an ocean liner hitting rocks, an idiotic lumberjack, a man crossing an unsafe bridge, someone lighting a stick of dynamite and a spaceship landing on Mars. Also, there are tracks with several examples of cats, dogs and birds (similar to “The Birds”) becoming enraged for some reason, as well as a skit about Chinese water torture. In addition, some of the screams were taken directly from the scene where Miss Havisham catches fire in the 1946 David Lean film Great Expectations.

The full track listing is

  • “The Haunted House” 3:00
  • “The Very Long Fuse” 1:28
  • “The Dogs” 1:13
  • “Timber” 1:45
  • “Your Pet Cat” 0:49
  • “Shipwreck” 1:39
  • “The Unsafe Bridge” 1:21
  • “Chinese Water Torture” 2:02
  • “The Birds” 0:46
  • “The Martian Monsters” 1:41
  • “Screams and Groans” 0:57
  • “Thunder, Lightning and Rain” 2:01
  • “Cat Fight” 0:37
  • “Dogs” 0:48
  • “A Collection Of Creaks” 1:54
  • “Fuses and Explosions” 1:11
  • “A Collection Of Crashes” 0:45
  • “Birds” 0:33
  • “Drips and Splashes” 1:18
  • “Things In Space” 0:53

Nothing is especially scary–although maybe for a kid, as many adults claim to have been really frightened by it.  Everything is quite over the top, especially the screams and cat howls and dog snarling.  Even the stories are a little silly, although having them in the second person is pretty genius.

But things like “one night as you lie in your lonely room in your stone hut on the moors…”  (What?).  And the Martian one.  Just keeping with continuity: if “you,” meaning me, went on the trip, then I couldn’t hear the crunching as it ate me.  Or the silly voice saying “I wonder what that was.”

And the less said about the horribly racist Chinese Water Torture the better.  I mean, the opening is bad enough: “The ancient Chinese were a very clever race” but the end of the song is really awful.  But if we can look past that, the rest of the record has fun with sound effects and is generally pretty enjoyable.

During the John Congleton interview, he also talks about this album and says (at 40:28) “the speakers are 180 degrees out of phase to make it sound extremely stereophonic.”  He says now as an engineer it is totally painful to listen to.  Bob says it sounds like it comes from the back of your head.

[READ: October 15, 2017] Half-Minute Horrors.

The premise of this book (edited by Susan Rich) is simple: how scared can you get in 30 seconds?  To me, the answer is actually not very.  I guess for me fear builds over time.  It’s hard to get genuinely frightened over something that just suddenly happens (unless it is just trying to frighten you quickly, of course).

Having said that, I enjoyed this book a lot (look at the list of authors!).  I liked the arbitrary goal of writing a scary story in a paragraph or two (or more).  And some of them were really quite creepy.

I was originally going to point out which ones I felt were the most creepy, but there are so many stories, I kind of lost track.  So instead, here’s a rundown and a brief summary. (more…)

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Michael Reaves–“Shadetree” (published 1978) [The Ghost Box] (2017)

Posted in Babies, Canadian Content, Death, Ghosts, Halloween, Hingston & Olsen, Michael Reaves, Outer Space, Patton Oswalt, Phish, Regrets, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Supernatural, Surreal, The Ghost Box on October 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-“Martian Monster” (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. 

“Martian Monster” is the final song in the Phish Halloween set.  It’s a funky clavinet-fueled rocker and the longest track at 14 plus minutes.  Page is having a lot of fun on this song, both playing the riffs and sampling portions of the narration.

The song is meant to be a trip to Mars.  Because of the speed of your rocket, your trip is short.  It as described as

a filthy, original Phish groove mixed with spoken word quotes, sound effects and vocal warbles as actors performed zombie-fied dances in the space surrounding the haunted house. McConnell’s funky clavinet leads were at the forefront of the deliciously weird “Martian Monster.”

There are dozens of samples of “your trip is short.”  By the middle of the song, Trey starts reciting “your trip is short” which is getting manipulated crazily.  They are processed and robotic as we hear the Martian chewing and chewing (chewing you, obviously).

The song builds and builds and builds to a big blast off climax and then it returns to the funky keys and lots of “your trip is short.”

It’s a great ending to this surprising original set.

[READ: October 25, 2017] “Shadetree”

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.  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 “order” to these books, so I’m reading them in what I think was the order they were boxed (or at least the order I last put them back in the box).

This is the final book in the box and it’s a doozy.

There was a lot of this story that made me really angry and I’m trying to decide if it’s a misogynist story or just a powerful story where a woman is the victim (subtle distinction, I know).

The story is about a girl named Colly Sue and a boy named Shadetree.  They enjoyed listening to the stories that Shadetree’s great-uncle would tell.  They were spooky supernatural stories about ghosts, witches and haunts.  He had a dry whispery voice and it made the stories seem very real. Colly Sue was frightened but never stopped coming to hear.  Shadetree enjoyed spooking Colly Sue.  He would grab her during the story or claim that he was a spook or a haunt.  One day he told Colly Sue that he was a swapchild–a small haunt that was exchanged for a human being.  And Colly Sue didn’t doubt it.  Shadetree asserted, “I’d never hurt you, Colly Sue.” (more…)

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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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