Eileen Maksym's Blog, page 18
October 11, 2015
The Return of The Walking Dead!
Tonight is the premiere of season 6 of The Walking Dead. I love this show. I love how it’s gritty and realistic, how we come to care about the good guys and then watch them go bad, like watching a loved one turn into a walker, but in slow motion. Oh, and I totally ship Rick/Michonne. THIS MUST HAPPEN.
In honor of the return of the walkers, today’s song is a little different, and the video a lot disturbing. Some of you might be familiar with Cyriak. If you are not, and wish to be, go look him up on YouTube. I particularly recommend “Kitty City.” I warn you, though, his stuff is totally mind-bendy and will make you question reality. I personally am simultaneously attracted and repelled, but that’s just me. Your mileage may vary, and that mileage may blow your mind, in an unpleasant way, so beware.
This video is different from most of Cyriak’s stuff, mainly because while the music is his, the animation is by someone else, and doesn’t have the surreal mathematical imagery of your typical Cyriak work. It shows a zombie apocalypse. Of kittens. Adorable animated kittens. You’d think it’d be cute. And it is! Which makes the violence and gore (and there’s a LOT of violence and gore) all the more disturbing!
So, be warned, and enjoy!
October 10, 2015
I could throw you in the lake, or feed you poisoned birthday cake…
I love songs that are musically chipper while being lyrically dark. The eighties were full of them (consider Men At Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?”) but this one is more recent. Fans of Doctor Who will recognize it as the veritable soundtrack to John Simm’s Master, which is appropriate; the Master has a manically cheerful exterior over a depraved and evil interior. Just like an eighties song!
Without further ado, here’s The Scissor Sisters with “I Can’t Decide.”
[Warning: there’s some profanity in this song, so use discretion.]
October 9, 2015
Move your dead bones pt. 2
It’s Friday again, and so I offer this electronica dance mix of the classic “Spooky Scary Skeletons.” Move your dead bones!!!
October 8, 2015
Lend me your ear
Some songs are scary only to people who know them in a particular context. There are two types of people in this world: those who listen to Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle with You” and wonder what’s so scary about it, and those who are groaning right now at the title of this post.
Enjoy!
October 7, 2015
In Honor of the Return of American Horror Story!
American Horror Story: Hotel premieres tonight, and I’m excited! I love this show in particular, and horror-themed television in general. And when I’m watching a show that I love, the opening credits, complete with theme song, can really get my heart pumping in anticipation, and it’s all the more intense when the theme song itself is awesome. So in honor of the return of AHS, here are a few opening credits that give me the chills!
[Note: The American Horror Story: Hotel clip is intense and NSFW. Viewer discretion is advised.]
October 6, 2015
Call Off Your Ghost
One of the themes I explore in my book Haunted, and the reason for the title, is how all of us are haunted by our own ghosts. In one aspect of the story, that haunting is very literal, but there are several other hauntings going on: Steven is haunted by his feelings for Tara. Paul is haunted by his abilities and the effect they have on his life and relationships. And Tara, both literally and figuratively, is haunted by her past. And I think we can all relate to this. We all have our ghosts, the shadows that darken our thoughts and will not leave us alone, and yet when we reach for them our hands go right through the mist.
This is Dessa with “Call Off Your Ghost.” I wish I could say I haven’t been where she is, but I’d be lying.
October 5, 2015
Ashes to ashes, we all fall down
Dave Matthews’s music frequently meditates on the fleeting nature of life. My favorite is this song from his solo album, where our narrator is considering the lives bracketed by the dates chiseled onto tombstones. He both recognizes that he will one day join them in the ground and clings to the denial of mortality; he begs to not be taken all six feet down, so that he can still feel, still be alive. Of course, the gravedigger treats all the same, from the little boy who died on his bike to the grandpa who lived “forever” to 103.
I’ve chosen the live recording of this song, because Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds are acoustic heaven together.
October 4, 2015
When The Man Comes Around
There’s a reason why the phrase “be not afraid” is commonly spoken by angels in the Bible. Encounters with the divine are terrifying. Add onto that the bizarre and horrifying descriptions of the end times in Revelations, sung with husky conviction by Johnny Cash, and you’ve got “When the Man Comes Around.”
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, and I looked and behold, a pale horse, and the name which sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
October 3, 2015
Love Me Dead
Many of the songs I will be posting this month are about love. And it makes sense. First of all, it is my totally inexpert estimate that ninety-eight percent of all songs are about love, so it’s hard to avoid. Second, even at its best, love can be a terrifying thing. When you allow yourself to love someone, you are granting them the ability to truly hurt you. I’m a fan of the show Hannibal (moment of silence…) and one of the many, many things that they got right was precisely this. Hannibal Lecter was bulletproof until he loved Will Graham, and then it was Will, and only Will, who could ultimately be his downfall (a wink to my fellow Fannibals out there who get that reference).
So here is my first offering on the subject of that horrifying thing we call love, and it’s a fun one. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ludo with “Love Me Dead.”
October 2, 2015
It’s Friday, Let’s Keep Dancing!
I present to you the glory that is the Danny Elfman-led Oingo Boingo and their song “Dead Man’s Party.” I first encountered this song when I was living in Chicago and spending my Thursday evenings dancing the night away at the New Wave night at Neo, one hell of a bar that I believe was recently run out by their landlords.
A moment of silence.
Now screw silence, even death can’t stop us from partying down. Leave your body at the door!
