We bring you Wednesday on a Monday to welcome November with the beautiful "November".
Yeah... we're kinda confused on this first Monday in November, too. At least we think it's Monday. Anyhow... here's Wednesday!
"November" was the first single off "I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone", released through Orindal Records this past February. We hope you enjoyed this introduction to a new band!
The Ratboys is a Chicago-based indie band whose style has been described as "post-Country", but it just sounds like pop-rock to our ears. "I Go Out at Night" was the lead single off their third album, Printer's Devil, which was debuted earlier in 2020.
It's a neat song with pretty vocals and some very nice guitar work, and the video tells the story of some kids trick-or-treating according to a mysterious map on Halloween night. So, of course we had feature it today! (Like of this video turns to "love" because it's set up with fake movie credits to make it feel like one of the many classic horror movies that we've reviewed here.)
We hope you have as happy a Halloween as the characters in the video, and we hope this song helps set the mood!
I Go Out at Night (2020)
Starring: Julia Steiner, Dave Sagan, Sean Nuemann, and Marcus Nuccio
Directors: John TerEick & Jake Nokovic
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
... but June Havoc is still social distancing and self-quarantining due to Covid-19 and coronavirus fears, so there will be no partying for her. At least she won't feel lonely anymore, because she's gone a bit bonkers an the voices from the masks will keep her company!
The Old World Vultures is a four-member Canadian band that performs "post-rock" instrumental music. Their piece "Too Much Eye Makeup" is an interesting listen with a bizarre title... but the video for it is a creepy little ghost story that inhabits a space between an early 1960s B-movie, and a 1990s Japanese horror flick. It's just the sort of thing to get you in the Halloween Spirit, so check it out right now!
Too Much Eye Makeup (2010)
Starring: Edwin Conroy Jr. and Natasha Pedros
Director: Devin Hughes
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Richard Sala was a writer and artist whose work consistently had fun with and payed homage to pulp fiction; 1950s and 1960s pop culture; and horror films and thrillers from the dawn of the genre up through the present day. He worked mostly in comics, but he also illustrated children's books and did cartooning. He passed away on May 7, 2020, at the age of 65, leaving behind a legacy of unique artwork and highly entertaining graphic novels and short stories.
Sala's perhaps best known character was Peculia, a teenaged girl who had the bad luck of constantly running into monsters and maniacs everywhere she went, all while being stalked by a masked mystery man and his hirelings. Most of Sala's tales featuring her have been collected in "Peculia" and "Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires", which we recommend you read, because they're full of creepy fun.
In the meantime, here are some pen-and-ink drawings of Peculia with monsters and/or admirers in celebration of Halloween and in memory of Richard Sala.
Also, if they ever make a Peculia movie, they better use Lenka's "Trouble is a Friend of Mine" as the theme song.
A close second candidate for the perfect "Peculia" theme song is "All Night Long" from Peter Murphy... although it's more the story as seen from the point of view of our heroine's not-so-secret admirer, Obsuras.
(For samples of Sala's color work--including more portraits of Peculia--click here to visit our sister blog, Terror Titans. Depending how far into the future from when I type these words you are, there may even be a review or two of Sala's color books.)
"Ah, the Children of the Night. What sweet music they make."
[Dracula does the Batusi]
The Big Day is here--it's Halloween! We hope you enjoy the day of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins! Here's a certified classic song and video from Type O Negative--Black No. 1 (1993)--to get you in the mood!
Comics? On a Friday? Yes... it's the Halloween Season where everything is unpredictable and spooky and maybe even funny! (Click on the image for a larger version, more easily read version.)
To read many more comics from this creator, click here.
Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party (1933) Starring: Bonnie Poe (as the voice of Betty Boop)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
When a big bully crashes Betty Boop's Halloween party and threatens to ruin everyone's fun, the Spirits of Halloween come to the rescue.
"Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party" is a cute tribute to Halloween parties. It's well worth checking out for anyone who can use a little cheering because Halloween is being "cancelled" in most places this year. Even if you're lucky enough to have Halloween and are able to go to parties, you'll still enjoy the opportunity to live vicariously through Betty and her pals. (The way Betty and her odd friends work together to decorate for her party is lots of fun to watch.)
You'll also see that "fan service" is a time-honored tradition in cartoons that dates back to at least 1933.
After their weird fares skip out without paying for the ride, cabbies Tom & Jerry chase them into a creepy castle with even creepier inhabitants.
"Wot a Night" was the first of what would become a series of 26 cartoons of wildly varying quality, with this one being among the top four or five of them all. It's crammed full of random weirdness, surreal humor, transformations of characters, and inanimate objects coming to life, as well as featuring some catchy music. It's not the mini-musical that some of the installments that follow will be, but it's close.
Like so many of these short cartoons from the 1930s, I feel like too much talking about the content on my part will spoil your experience in watching it; "Wot a Night" is best experienced with as little foreknowledge of what's coming as possible.
I will say that my favorite elements of the inaugural Tom & Jerry adventure is the way is plays with gothic horror tropes, from the dark and stormy night to the creepy castle, and all the way through to the scientists conducting experiments that go against the laws of men, nature, and gods. That last bit gives rise to what is something else I love about this cartoon, even if it's a aspect that springs entirely from my own imagination: It provides an explanation for where all those singing and dancing skeletons in early Disney cartoons (like "Skeleton Dance") or early Fleischer Betty Boop (like "Minnie the Moocher") come from. Also, the only real complaint I can mount is the sound effects and the voice acting. It all feels overwrought and more jarring than anything else. I can't say for sure if I would have felt the same way if this had been the first "Tom & Jerry" cartoon I'd seen, or if I'm reacting to the fact that several of my favorites in the series are, aside from musical interludes and songs, virtual silent movies.
Regardless of my feeling of the sound design, this is a fun cartoon that will keep you entertained for its eight-minute running time. It's particularly great viewing if you're looking for a little something to jump-start your Halloween Spirit! You can even watch it right now, from the very post, by clicking below! (And if you feel inclined, you can leave a comment telling us about YOUR favorite part of "Wot a Night" and if you agree or disagree with this review.)
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