Don’t Look in the Basement was a violent, cheaply made exploitation horror film from 1973 akin to Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left. Inspired by director S.F. Brownrigg’s original film and the work of Edgar Allen Poe, the film is being remade under the title Death Ward 13 and is set to star the man with one of the greatest name in rock music history, ex-Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein!

Haunted Horror, Vol. 1
Hardcover | Kindle Edition
Written by Various
Art by Various
Cover Warren Kremer
IDW Publishing
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Cover Price: $24.99

The world of pre-code comics, especially in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, was a wild, wild west of uncontrolled concepts and outlandish stories, and nowhere was this more evident than in the mother-disapproved horror comics. These comics were filled with ghastly tales, gory art, and a never-ending parade of chilling hosts from countless small publishers. The Haunted Horror series from IDW reprints a selection of these stories pulled from comics with such irresistible names as Weird Terror, This Magazine is Haunted, Worlds of Fear, and Web of Evil. Volume 1 here specifically collects the first three issues of Haunted Horror.

For those that may not be familiar this era’s horror comics outside of EC Comics, this is a lovingly put together collection that really showcases the range of macabre unleashed on the masses at the time and that EC in no way held the corner on the market. Featuring ghouls, ghosts, monsters, murder, mysticism, and revenge, there’s a new horror lurking behind the turn of each page.

As long as there have been creepy and spooky stories, there has been the music accompanying it. From the days of folklore, to the modern horror or thriller movie, eerie music has always been closely connected to it. In fact, there are elements in the music industry that have since based their entire careers or images upon the scary tales, whether they’ve recorded for soundtracks or not.

This week, the podcast Social Blend has another of our Craniumelody music specials, this time looking at the theme of Halloween music. We made a selection of tunes that fit perfectly in the realm of disturbing, dark, and sinister story-telling.

Glenn Danzig has announced that he is in the studio and currently recording a covers album. Fans of Danzig will know this project is one the artist has been talking about for some time, and five songs have already been recorded for the album. While Danzig hasn’t released full details yet, it’s understood that among the song selections will be tributes to Black Sabbath and Elvis Presley.

While the Sabbath and Elvis selections, I believe, are somewhat “predictable” choices for Danzig (I imagine he’ll probably throw a song by The Doors in there somewhere too), I would like to think he will choose some tracks that might be a surprise for his fans. I could imagine him doing an interesting interpretation of Nick Cave‘s “Red Right Hand” or a classic rock song like “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals.

This is all just speculation on my part of course, but as a fan I’d like to see Danzig tackle some covers that are a little more unpredictable. Either way, it will be interesting to see what Glenn comes up with for this project. Maybe he could include a hidden track of him paying tribute to the “Glenn Danzig Shopping List” :)