about "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave"

Dracula, dying alone, gasping, clawing at the skies, clawing at the cross behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Hammer released "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" in 1968. I saw it when I was a little kid. This ending made an impression.

something about "The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe"

I did not previously appreciate how much Poe wrote that was not macabre. A review of selections from this collection enlightened me. I particularly enjoyed "The Black Cat" and "The Man That Was Used Up." And there are a lot of poems in this edition, but I still haven't read a Poe poem better than "Annabel Lee."

Note: This was the Modern Library edition.

about imagining

I peek outside, then I am drawn through a French door onto the patio. My eyes pull left to the neighbor's house. Through its large bay window I find the eyes of an obese killer, more monster than man. He is a horrifying blob stationed at a breakfast table. He wears women's lingerie—a black teddy. He wants to take my life now.

I briefly lose sight of him as he rushes out the back of his house and exits his garage. But, then, he is all I can see. Because he gushes into my yard and is closing in at a paralyzing speed. The impulse to run takes me.

Roaring nearer, he warns me that he will now begin asking questions, and if I answer correctly, I can live a few seconds more. Here's how it will go. First he will sing, and I must finish the lyrics. So he begins singing "Hallelujah."

I scramble onto a trampoline in the yard, and he corners me there. He is singing, and I think, "She tied you to her kitchen chair, and she broke your throne, and she cut your hair." He is at the edge of the trampoline now. I jump left, he moves left; I jump right, he is there. He is unbelievably fast, and he is singing, and his voice grows incredibly loud. I am in the air, and his singing comes out now in two voices—a high, loud shriek and a low moan. He disappears under the trampoline as I begin coming down, and he is right under me. I try to will my body forward, a lunge unpropelled, an attempt made weak with terror. I wake, bolting upright in bed, hearing my own pitiful, last groan.

something about "The Hellbound Heart" by Clive Barker

Horror novella "The Hellbound Heart," published in 1986, was the basis for the 1987 film, "Hellraiser," which became something of a horror franchise. The novella, written by Clive Barker, opens with a devoted hedonist solving a puzzle box that introduces him to the Cenobites, a religious order dedicated to extreme sensual experiences. The Cenobites immediately own Frank, the filthy bastard, and doom him to an eternity of unfathomable pain and misery--which, I guess, gives them pleasure. That event sets up a silly story about how Frank's sister-in-law, who became infatuated with Frank upon marrying his brother, discovers and almost rescues Frank, so to speak, by murdering a couple of guys. The writing style, plot, and characters were ridiculous. This is a twisted story, really, but aside from coming across a few good phrases describing some intense sensations, I felt silly reading "The Hellbound Heart."

that this was the jack-o'-lantern

but this was the jack-o'-lantern

the lyrics to "Kill Yourself" by Today Is The Day

"Kill Yourself"
  -by Today Is The Day

I gotta leave this town before I die
I wanna burn it down just for spite
There's nothing here but pain and my soul

Why
Hold
Back
Kill yourself!

Take the blade
Do it clean
Do it fast
Let it bleed!

Why
Hold
Back
Kill yourself!

Take the blade
Do it clean
Do it fast
Let it bleed!

Like Christ
I rise above
I'm pissin' down all my love
I wanna be the one to end your life

A blind imbecile
The angel of life

Mister

"The Lost Boys"

 
You'll never grow old, Michael. And you'll never die.

"You and Me"

Notes:
I tell you, baby, you're just enough for me.

The Muppet Show with Alice Cooper

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

Part 3: