Tuesday, April 14th marks the 11-year anniversary of the passing of one of rock’s most unique and charismatic frontmen. But, unless follow the metal or goth scenes, you might not even realize it. I’m speaking of the late, great Peter Steele: the mordant, towering, self-deprecating frontman of Type O Negative- one of heavy metal’s most ingenious and underrated bands. Emerging …
Read More »Morbid Innovator: How Grant Morrison Made a Place for the Macabre in Batman and Comic Book History
Undoubtedly, Bruce Wayne/Batman has undergone the most drastic change throughout his illustrious and brooding history of perhaps any other major comic book character. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for the March, 1939 issue of Detective Comics, Batman was all but destined for fame as a morose, gothic, morally-ambiguous figure- an image that wouldn’t be fully realized until the …
Read More »Too Much Horror Business! – The Impact of Horror on Rock Music
Since its inception as a veritable facet of culture, horror has left its macabre imprint on just about every conceivable art form, from painting to sculpture to literature to film. Even classical composers like J.S. Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Béla Bartók, and Richard Wagner used horror as a basis for their work: images of Hell and damnation, Armageddon, …
Read More »An Appreciation of Roger Spottiswoode’s Terror Train
“I Watched You Tonight…” If there’s one thing I know about horror film fanatics, it’s how we like to celebrate our holidays… with horror films. What’s a Friday the 13th without watching Jason eviscerate some horny camp counselors? Why let Halloween slip by without an annual screening of John Carpenter’s groundbreaking classic? And, whatever your relationship status, Valentine’s Day is …
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