Psychedelic Horror Blog
April 30, 2010
Tonight is Beltain, the second of the great Celtic fire festivals. The first is Samhain (pronounced “Sowen”) we know it as Halloween. You’ll notice the two are exactly six months apart. Tomorrow is May Day. The Celts believed that on these two days, the veil that separates the living and the dead would be lifted and the dead could return.
Anton LaVey, the founder of The Church of Satan, chose this day as the day of the Great Sabbat. It’s the “holiest” day in the Satanic calandar.
“LaVey began presenting Friday night lectures on the occult to what he called a “Magic Circle” of associates who shared his interests. A member of this circle suggested that he had the basis for a new religion. On Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, he ritualistically shaved his head in the tradition of ancient executioners, declared the founding of the Church of Satan and proclaimed 1966 as “the year One”, Anno Satanas—the first year of the Age of Satan.” (Wikipedia)
This night was as scary and important to the ancient Celts as Samhain (Halloween). Watch the newspapers for the next couple of days to see if anything “Weird” happens, cult killings, graveyard vandalism, etc…
April 26, 2010
Bluegrass and Horror Art
I’m a huge Bluegrass fan. For those of you who don’t know, Bluegrass is a form of folk music. It has it’s roots in the European folk music of the last several centuries. Today, it’s widely recognized as American. No music comes out of nowhere. It’s all related.
In the early years, any instrument could be used to play folk music in the traditional jigs and reels of American dance. Lately, Bluegrass instruments have standardized into guitar, bass, violin (fiddle) banjo, dobro, and mandolin. The form of Bluegrass we adhere to today was standardized by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys in 1946. Earl Scruggs, a banjo master, invented the three-fingered picking style that reverberated throughout the world.
Also recognized is the four-part harmony singing that came out of the “Shaker” singing books of the period in the American South. Bill Monroe himself sang high tenor. Lester Flatt sang lead, Earl Scruggs sang baratone, and a variety of others sang whatever part they could.
Bluegrass is a huge part of my art. I’ve listened to it while drawing almost every picture. I started playing banjo myself when I was 21. Never the best, I switched to an octave mandola several years ago. Banjo is a super hard instrument to play.
What Makes A Horror Story Memorable?
Good question. Everybody would probably have a different opinion. For me it’s setting. My friend Ben Jones wrote a story about a city guy who goes on a camping/fishing trip to an abandoned estate (in the UK). The rotting old mansion is sitting on a hill overlooking the pond where he pitches his tent. The whole story has such a misty, cool, feel to it that he could really write about anything that happens there and it would be successful.
I was lucky enough to be able to do an illustration for the story. I’m going to ask him if he would put it up for my Horror Short Story Of The Week. I sure hope he wants to. I would love to have the story published here.
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