Dec 29 2014

Horror Section/Eaten Back To Life, SPLIT IN TWO

Today, we are happy to share another entry from frequent contributor, Kraig Khaos. Kraig has a reoccurring feature on 6ftplus – Killer Kuts from Kraig Khaos – where he shares a song from a vinyl recording. Kraig has a new podcast called Uncommon Interests, where he discusses a wide range of pop culture ranging from the mainstream to deep underground. Being a vinyl enthusiast, Kraig has a post about one of the best releases of 2014.

 

sp201It’s rare that you ever get a split album or EP that has two bands that match up so well. But Eccentric Pop Records has done just that with their release of Horror Section and Eaten Back To Life: Split In Two LP.

Each band puts in 5 songs each of melodic, catchier-than-a-zombie-virus punk rock with a horror slant. Both bands may be similar in sound, but that’s not to say that they are both the same exact thing.

Horror Section brings in songs of broken hearts and broken trust with witty lyrics and hooks that will keep your toes tappin’ long after the songs have ended. Imagine an early Alkaline Trio (and I mean that in a GOOD way) with Screeching Weasel melodies that pay homage to early to mid-90’s pop-punk, and you’re on the right track.

Eaten Back To Life play a more guitar heavy form of horror punk. That doesn’t mean that they swerve into metal territory, because they don’t. But the guitar solo in “The Tall Man” may very well melt your face off. With gruff vocals and strong song structures, EBTL will have you singing along to their songs immediately.

On most split albums, there is usually a clear winner of which band is better. But “Split In Two” proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. Both bands give 100% and kick mutual ass. These aren’t just throw-away songs that didn’t fit on an album. These are genuinely great songs by two bands trying hard to put their best undead foot forward.

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Eccentric Pop Records knocks it out of the park with this release. Not only does this green vinyl come with a download code, you also get an awesome 11 card trading set. Each card has full color artwork based on a song from the record with the lyrics on the back. And since most songs are based on horror films, some of these images are gonna be familiar to you horror buffs. And you get ALL of this for only $12.

So go on over to Eccentricpop.com and order what is being called one of the best releases of 2014. You won’t be sorry. And while you’re at it, check out some of the Kepi Ghoulie/ Groovie Ghoulies stuff they are releasing now and in the near future. Including a Kepi Ghoulie vinyl subscription.

 

 

 

 

Dec 26 2014

6’+ Delay

Holiday traveling doesn’t leave us with much time for recording an episode for the week. We hope you understand this brief Christmas vacation and hope to have a new episode ready for New Year’s Eve. But keep your eye on Facebook as there might be some goodies there to help tide you over…

If you have any suggestions for artists/bands (or anything else you want more of on the show) for future episodes, please feel free to submit them to CONTACT at 6FTPLUS dot com.

You can find all previous episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes, Stitcher and Spreaker. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Dec 25 2014

Solstice Spirits

It’s no secret I am a huge fan of Nox Arcana’s Christmas albums. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard they released a festive new EP called Ebonshire, Volume 2 this month. To celebrate, here’s a special music video for a selection from the Winter’s Majesty album taken directly from the official Nox Arcana channel:

But that’s not all! Nox Arcana has uploaded every track from both volumes of Ebonshire onto their channel so fans can sample the music in full before purchasing! You can also learn more at their website’s special section devoted to these albums.

Merry Christmas!

Dec 22 2014

Making A Krampus Costume

The last time I discussed constructing a Krampus costume, I focused more on assembling something from store bought costume parts rather than making one from scratch. I wanted something that would be a relatively easy way for even those without the best costume or prop-making skills to make a Krampus suit. But I also realize there are lots of talented people out there who want something more for their take on the Krampus. Thankfully, the man behind the scary wreath tutorial I shared last year has a series of videos on the subject. As he recently added a new video devoted to sculpting a Krampus mask, I thought I would present the videos in the order of their original posting dates.

As you can see, he covers every single aspect of making a Krampus costume. But it wouldn’t surprise me if he adds more on the subject in the years to come…

Dec 19 2014

6’+ Episode 133 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“It’s time to Jingle the Bells and Deck the Halls as we celebrate the season with festive music from Five-Eaux, Thee Merry Widows, Los Straitjackets, The Gabba Ghouls, Sloppy Seconds and much more. Plus, a very special edition of THE MONSTERMATT MINUTE.”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes and Stitcher. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Dec 16 2014

Happy Chanukkill!

The sun is down and Chanukkah is here! Since I often celebrate Christmas here with collections of oddball links related to the holiday, it’s only fair for me to do the same with the Festival of Lights.

Let’s start things off with a book I’ve been meaning to cover here for ages: Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel. Not only is the protagonist loosely based on an actual historical figure, but you can find the script for the stage adaptation online as well! But I recommend tracking down a copy of the original book, both for the full story and for the wonderful illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman.

Although Gary Shapiro’s song “Bubbe’s Dybbuk Polka” is not available for free download, ReverbNation does let you stream it for free. The term “Dybbuk” might sound familiar if you saw The Possession and you can learn more about this evil spirit from Jewish mythology by reading the Wikipedia entry for “Dybbuk box.”

Teleport City has an amazing article about the legendary Golem up which blows away my old article on the subject.

Did you know there is a deli with a painting of a giant monster on it? The Temple Delicatessen in Cincinnati is famous for its mural of “Kosherilla” the giant gorilla. You can learn more about the it at Urban Walls and see more pictures here.

While we’re on the subject of Jewish events, Purim is often referred to as “Jewish Halloween” due to the tradition of dressing in costume and even werewolves can enjoy Bar Mitzvahs.

Happy Chanukkah!

Dec 12 2014

6’+ Episode 132 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“If the sight of green and red has you feeling green and seeing red, then you’re in luck – this episode features all the naughty-centric, anti-Holiday attitudes to help you through the end of the season. Monstermatt Patterson returns with the Monstermatt Minute, and we have music from Bad Whoremoans, Angry Snowmans, Deja Voodoo, KOBANES, The Haunted Buffalo and more!”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes and Stitcher. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Dec 10 2014

Martians Kidnap Kids and Santa In Levine’s Fun-Filled Color Film

The cast reacts to the news of people actually buying tickets to the film.

Filling a need for wholesome children’s films, Joseph E. Levine’s SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS, coming in Eastman Color Saturday to the Leathbridge Theatre, will be a welcome delight to many parents. This Embassy Pictures release will be presented under a special policy of Saturday and Sunday matinee performances only.

This unique science-fiction fantasy places Santa Claus in a futuristic setting and will intrigue and delight our modern-day space conscious youngsters.

Underneath it all lies the power of the Christmas Spirit and Santa Claus’s joviality. The children of Mars are so captivated by Santa Claus when they see him on television in a broadcast coming from the North Pole that their parents are determined to kidnap Santa to brightened their own children’s spirits.

Santa Claus is kidnapped in a space ship and is set up on Mars in a highly automated toy shop which will amuse young and old. How Santa returns to earth but leaves the spirit of Christmas at Mars is the content of the rest of the film.

The film’s story was conceived by Paul Jacobson, a former television executive, who has realized the need for children’s films in a contemporary context, and who has also produced SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS.

Featured in the cast are a host of professional Broadway and off-Broadway actors including many youngsters.

[This post is based around a prepared article included in the pressbook for Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Normally articles like this are unchanged (with the exception of adding a theater name) in order to mimic how this would have looked in an old newspaper, but this is a special case. Sample scans from an eBay auction for the Santa Claus Conquers The Martians pressbook did contain the article, but it required enlarging the image and playing with the contrast in order to get something barely readable. After much eye straining and comparing against results found in online newspaper archives, a legible version of the text was discovered. It was also discovered how many newspapers opted to leave off the title and some seemingly deleted random sentences from the article itself! After much research and reconstruction, this is believed to be the most accurate representation of the original article. Even a new promotional photograph had to be tracked down since the ones in the eBay images were presented in a way which made them unusable. You can now see the film’s pressbook at From Zombos’ Closet.]

Dec 08 2014

Yet More Christma(dnes)s

Digging graves beats shoveling snow any day!

Season’s Bleedings! Like Santa Claus, I’m reaching into my bag of goodies to find the best horrorday treats for you all. And you don’t even have to leave me any cookies!

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft should remember his wonderful Christmas poem “Christmastide,” which was surprisingly free of cosmic horrors and racism. What they might not realize is how they can read his other Christmas poem “Good Saint Nick” on Wikipedia! Not only that, but you can hear special readings of both poems at PoemHunter.com. Those seeking a Lovecraftian Yule celebration should also enjoy Propnomicon’s latest gift guide while others might prefer a Doctor Who gift guide.

Not only does Halloween Forum offer a spooky poem called “The Christmas Witch,” but it also has a tutorial for turning a motorized lawn reindeer into a fearsome wolf. Speaking of holiday hacks, Dave Lowe figured out a way to make a fake maple tree which oozes sap. I’m sure you could modify this to create a bleeding Christmas tree.

Sonia Harris’ free printable superhero snowflakes might seem out of place in this article at first glance. Until you realize how the one for the Punisher depicts skulls and knives. And let’s not forget Stolloween’s zombie snowflakes either!

Looking at Halloween New England’s gallery of spooky Christmas items inspired me to post My Ghoul Friday’s tutorial on making creepy ornaments, along with some papercraft coffins from RavensBlight which can be used to make ornaments.

Despite the name, Home For Halloween has lots of helpful instructions for festive decorations and snacks. Add a little holiday fear to your Christmas village with spooky trees or build prop versions of Jack Skellington and other characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas. You can also learn how to make freaky ornaments and candy cornaments. While you are there, you can also learn how to make “Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies,” “Winter White Red Velvet Fudge (aka Bloody Fudge),” “Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls,” “Night Owl’s Favorite Gingerbread,” “Jack Skellington’s Sandy Claws Cookies” and some spooktacular hot cocoa.

So it turns out there are The Nightmare Before Christmas versions of Monopoly, Operation, Jenga and two versions of Yahtzee. At least the branded decanter, door knocker, tealight and ornaments make some thematic sense.

Amazon has plenty of other horror ornaments, along with a zombie Santa shirt, suicidal snowmen wrapping paper,
and even…a bottle of Santa’s Flesh? There’s also plenty of frightfully festive books like O Little Town of Deathlehem: An Anthology of Holiday Horrors for Charity, Amityville Horror Christmas, Frosty Deadman and Monster Christmas.

If your reading habits are anything like mine, then those short previews on Amazon simply aren’t enough to satisfy your hunger. Wikisource has the surprisingly spooky “Christmas Eve” by Nikolai Gogol …in Russian. I imagine most of those reading this will have to settle for the English language synopsis. Thankfully there is another (and quite lengthy) Christmas tale available for free online: Santa and the Mars King by Lucrece Hudgins Beale. Don’t let the name fool you; this has nothing to do with Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Although said movie would have been greatly improved if it had Halloween witches show up like they do in the story. You can read the full story (along with the original teaser released prior to the story’s publication) thanks to the Google Newspaper Archive. I also discovered how some versions of the story included free coloring sheets! Here are the sheets for chapters 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 18. The archive’s direct linking capabilities leave a lot to be desired, so you might have to scroll around a little to find the coloring parts.

And now for everyone’s favorite part: the free music downloads! Sam Haynes has a limited time free album of creepy Christmas music while Head Injury Theater has another batch of audio oddities ready for you. Killbot Zero’s “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is a rockin’ tribute to the cult classic while the Consortium Of Genius want to take you on a “Winter Slay Ride.” Duover has “Krampus Nocturne” (along with many other tracks) available for free, Adam_Rock offers us “The Christmas Chainsaw Massacre” and MorteMcAdaver has a new take on an old classic entitled “We Three Priests of Azathoth.” Hans Maestro Music brings us “Jingle Bones” (in both regular and instrumental editions) while Jonathan Coulton’s “Christmas is Interesting” and “Chiron Beta Prime” are surprisingly catchy downbeat Christmas tunes. He also has the cheery “Podsafe Christmas Song” for those who insist on “normal” and “happy” Christmas music.

Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting any links on the above sites, downloading from them or constructing a project that’s detailed on them. This also applies to any suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.

Dec 05 2014

6’+ Episode 131 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“Kick off December with an excursion into the holiday spirit – and what exactly that means. With music from White Blacula, Blase Debris, Cult of the Psychic Fetus and more. Plus, Killer Kuts from Kraig Khaos and announcing the winner of the 6ftplus 2014 Holiday Scarepackage Contest.”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes and Stitcher. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Dec 02 2014

The Ponape Scriptures: My Edition

With all this discussion of tomecraft I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my own efforts. All of these pictures are from a small run of about a dozen copies of the “Ponape Scriptures” that I did around ten years ago. I thought I’d lost all the pictures I’d taken of them, but I discovered these shots on an old memory card a few months ago. That should help explain both their small size and poor quality.

One of my better cover treatments, featuring hand tooled sheet copper and flame-aged wood. The copper was patinated with a mixture of ammonia and salt water.

A closeup of the cover embossment. The copper was attached to the cover using brass brads.

An alternate cover embossment using un-aged copper. The Cthulhu sigil on the cover was one I came up with while trying to mimic some of the design elements of art from the South Pacific using the tribal-styled Tatooz font. Most of the artwork rearranged bits and pieces of that font to create the dozens of illustrations, such as they were, that I needed to fill the book.

This shot gives you a look at the the alternative binding I used for a few copies.

Interior pages, with a good shot of the Cthulhu sigil. As you can see, the pages had a very light aging treatment. That tendency to under-weather props is something I’ve had trouble with for years because of my fondness for neatness and cleanliness. It’s not quite at the level of suffering from OCD, but it’s definitely had a negative impact on my propmaking efforts.

I need to embrace the dirt. Heh.

One of the summoning circle designs.

I believe this was the Dagon sigil.

Another summoning circle.

I can’t even remember what this one was supposed to be.

With the distance of time I can see a lot of flaws in these, but I think that overall the Scriptures project was a decent effort. The biggest problem with it is that most of the illustrations are only mildly reworked and recombined symbols from the Tatooz font, something that I’d be loathe to do today. There’s a line between inspired and derivative that this project’s artwork definitely crossed.

The weathering treatment is also far too light. As I’ve done more prop artifacts over the last few months I’ve grudgingly begun moving towards adding more extreme distressing to items. I’ve even posted a sign saying “More Dirt! More Grime! More Wear!” above my workbench as a motivational tool. I know it sounds weird, but it takes a major effort for me to really dirty things up the way they should be. I know intellectually that they’ll look better that way, but my innate psychological aversion to dirt seems to apply even to fake filth.

This article originally appeared at Propnomicon.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting any links (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). Attempt at your own discretion.

Nov 28 2014

6’+ Episode 130 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“Some Fridays are more Black than others, so let us celebrate with music from Plan 9, Fifty Foot Combo, The Atomiks, Bad Beers and more. Monstermatt Patterson decides to brave the crowds but can the crowds brave The Monstermatt Minute?!”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes and Stitcher. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Nov 27 2014

Gamera vs. Godzilla

Although the Godzilla fan in me wants to give top billing to the king of the monsters, Gamera is the birthday kaiju and therefore gets the spotlight today. Fan speculation over who would win in a fight between the two giant monsters has been going on for decades and shows no sign of slowing down. Would Gamera’s ability to consume fire work against Godzilla’s atomic breath? If not, would Godzilla be able to injure Gamera if he withdrew into his shell? I also imagine this debate will continue for several decades before we see an official film tackling the matter. So the fans have gone ahead and made their own films on the matter, usually editing together clips from various Godzilla and Gamera films. One of my favorites is one by SolidLastSnake which exclusively uses footage from each monster’s Heisei films:

Fans preferring the Shōwa films should enjoy the following film from pta917:

Now I really wish Toho had actually shown the battle between Godzilla and Kamoebas in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S rather than showing the aftermath. A little creative editing could have made some great Gamera vs. Godzilla footage (not unlike the trick used to make the fight between Wolverine and the Hulk in the “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance” fan trailer).

Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy (Belated) Birthday Gamera!

Nov 21 2014

6’+ Episode 129 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“Join in a FRANKENSTEIN celebration, as we touch upon Mary Shelley’s original creation and the 1931 movie that made Boris Karloff a household name. With music from Hotrod Frankie, The Human Duplicators, diemonsterdie and more – plus, this episode may be green but Monstermatt Patterson is frozen solid blue in this edition of the Montermatt Minute!”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes and Stitcher. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Nov 14 2014

6′+ Episode 128 is Up!

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“Like a dense fog, we get lost in the lower frequencies that provides music from The Pits, Guantanamo Baywatch, Pine Box Boys, The VooDuo and more. Plus, it’s time to get lost in the weirdness of the Monstermatt Minute with Monstermatt Patterson.”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes, Stitcher and Spreaker. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Nov 12 2014

“Night of The Living Dead” Stars Home-Grown Talent

I bet this article wasn't too popular in certain parts of the US. Especially this image.

Two Pittsburgh-born performers who left home in search of show business careers, returned to Pittsburgh to make their motion picture debut debuts as stars of the Walter Reade Organization’s “The Night of The Living Dead” which opens soon at the Leathbridge Theatre.

Duane Jones left Pittsburgh first for college and then to study at New York’s famous Actors Studio. Judith O’Dea left in the other direction-for Hollywood-where she where pursued a career in television and the stage.

But casting directors have long memories and both stars were called back to Pittsburgh for their starring roles in the film which was produced by a local company, Image Ten, Inc.

“The Night of The Living Dead” stars Marilyn Eastman in addition to Mr. Jones and Miss O’Dea. It was directed by George A. Romero. It is released by Continental, the motion picture division of the Walter Reade Organization.

[This post is based around a prepared article included in the pressbook for Night of the Living Dead. With the exception of adding a theater name in order to mimic how this would have looked in an old newspaper, the article has been unchanged. Notice how the film’s title doesn’t match up with its onscreen title. Is it any wonder the Walter Reade Organization forgot to include a copyright notice when they changed the original “Night of the Flesh Eaters” title? You can find more vintage promotional material for the film here and see the pressbook at From Zombos’ Closet.]

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