Where Did October Go?

Hey Boo, longtime no spook!

I cannot believe that October is nearly over and Halloween is already upon us! I barely got to celebrate this year (see life update below - lots of huge changes!!), but I am super grateful for the little things I did do and very happy I got to experience an actual autumn this year. Read more about my recent adventures below...

Animated Halloween Video Featuring Sam Heimer's Artwork + Harley Poe's "Pagan Holiday"

I'm posting this a few days late, but this video by Nocturnaloner featuring Sam Heimer's artwork and "Pagan Holiday" music by Harley Poe is a perfect way to kick off October! If you're a long-time reader, you may recognize Nocturnaloner's name from past Halloween seasons (you can check out past videos I've featured here, here, and here!). He painstakingly animates all his videos and sets them to atmospheric music. I simply adore his magical videos that are imbued with the spooky spirit! See his latest creation below:

10 Things I'm Loving This February

Hello darlings! I hope you are having a spectacular February! Valentine's Day is behind us (did you see my goth love songs playlist, spooky love decor ideas, creepy cards, and ghoulish gift guide posts?) and hopefully you've all been celebrating Black History Month and Women in Horror Month! As for me, I've been watching a new horror documentary, listening to gloomy tunes, reading a thrilling book, eating delicious vegan sweets, and more. As I've been doing on a monthly basis with these "ten things" posts, I'm sharing with you 10 items I'm loving this month, which encourages me to be grateful for the little (and big) things while also passing along cool things for you to check out. See the 10 Things I'm Loving This February below:

Gothic Love Songs for Valentine's Day

This playlist of love songs for gothic romantics is the perfect dark antidote to all the saccharine pop or whatever else is popular nowadays. Some songs are sweet, others are sinister, some are classics while others are little-known, but they talk about love and loss in a way that the strange and unusual of us can relate to. There are also a few I threw in that reference Valentine's Day or Cupid rather than love directly. I'm constantly adding and revising this playlist on my Spotify account, but take a listen to this year's selections below:

10 Things I'm Loving This December

Despite how fast Christmas is bearing down on us, I have to say I am really enjoying this month. I am staying put over the holidays, so it hasn't been as crazy as it usually would be and I'm so happy I don't have to travel. It means I get to do one of my favorite things - hole up at home! I've been hunkering down, writing, watching tons of movies and TV, reading, and just enjoying the spirit of the holidays. This month, I've also seen some recent projects come to fruition, which I'm pretty proud of.

I'm so glad I've been able to finish the year out on a high note. And as I do every month on these "ten things" posts, I'll be sharing some of my favorite things I experienced this December. This month, this includes the 13 days of Creepmas, a festive new perfume, oodles of holiday movies, some dark folklore, vegan sugar cookies, and more!

See my 10 Things I'm Loving This December below:

Dark Christmas Music for Creepmas

I don't usually like Christmas music, or at least not the awful stuff they pump into stores, but sometimes I get the urge for a little Christmas cheer, and when that happens I turn to my Christmas music list that is filled with goth, alternative, instrumental, and atmospheric songs that remind me of Christmas and the winter season.

I've been updating this goth Christmas playlist the past few years, and wanted to share this updated Spotify playlist with you all so you can have some creepy Christmas fear, too! You can access the playlist below:

Celebrate "31 Days of Halloween" with Nancy Nightmare and the Wizard

Nancy Nightmare and the Wizard is a musical act influenced by Halloween, horror movies, and all things spooky! They recently contacted me to check out their music, and I pretty much instantly fell in love with their spooky songs and eerie aesthetic! Today I wanted to share the song that got me hooked on them, "31 Days of Halloween (A Halloween Carol)". Listen to what will surely become your next Halloween anthem that will be on repeat the rest of the month:

31 Spooky Songs to Listen to this Halloween

Making a Halloween music mix is one of my favorite things to do during the spooky season! Fun fact: I have two go-to Halloween mixes from 2007 and 2010 (on CD!) that I keep in my car at all times and pretty much listen to non-stop. Over the years, I've also added more Halloween-inspired songs to my list of macabre music to listen to whenever I need to get into the spooky spirit. These songs range in style from industrial to goth to synthwave to punk to metal to alternative and beyond - there is a little something for everyone whose musical tastes tend to stray to the dark side.

This year, I decided to combine all my favorite Halloween tunes as well as some new ones into a mix of 31 songs I love to listen to for Halloween! Check out my 2018 Halloween mix on Spotify below (and be sure to check out my Spotify profile for my other music mixes, including a vintage Halloween playlist!):

31 Witch Songs To Listen To On Walpurgisnacht

Happy Walpurgisnacht and Halfway to Halloween! I've already shared 20 Witch Films to Watch for Walpurgisnacht, as well as 20 More Witch Films and ways to celebrate Halfway to Halloween, but I also created a playlist that features 31 songs about witches, witchcraft, or just have a witchy vibe. I've been listening to this mix non-stop and wanted to share it with you so you have a soundtrack for Walpurgisnight, or Night of the Witches! It's filled with witchhouse, goth, metal, and more - just don't expect to find any witch "classics" on my playlist!

Listen to the Spotify playlist "Night of the Witches" below:

This Christmas Song Perfectly Captures My Spooky Mood This Time of Year

I found the spookiest, kookiest Christmas song that perfectly captures how I feel this time of year! "All I Want For Christmas Is Halloween" by the Happy Fangs (I even love the band name) expresses every Halloween fiend's fondest wish - that instead of Christmas we get another Halloween. The video itself features adorable lil' death minions and a Halloween makeover of Christmas decorations.

Just watch "All I Want for Christmas is Halloween" by Happy Fangs:

Summer Goth Playlist

We are now in the agonizing throes of summer. It always seems that as soon as July 1st hits the temperatures and humidity spike up and I'm left feeling hot and gross for months. I'm already longing for cooler days and nights! While temps won't cool down for many months (even our autumns here in SoCal are hot and searing), I stay cool with a collection of summer tunes. Even when I'm wearing all black on a scorching day (I will never not wear black), these songs make the torturous summer slightly more bearable.

Gothic Christmas Music Playlist

By this time every year, I'm usually sick of Christmas music, especially since I can't stomach most of it to begin with! Yet, I still have a yearning to listen to festive holiday music when decorating or baking, so I decided to make my own Christmas music playlist of songs of the season I can actually enjoy. Many of these are atmospheric gothic renditions, with a few alternative, punk, and orchestral tracks thrown in.

You can listen to my Spotify Gothic Creepmas playlist below:

Recap: Circle V - Vegan Music + Food Festival 2016

Circle V at the Fonda Theater

The first Circle V was held this past October 23rd, 2016, and was the first ever vegan food and music festival held in Los Angeles! All proceeds benefited Mercy for Animals, an amazing non-profit organization that is dedicated to preventing cruelty to farmed animals and advocates for compassionate food choices and policies, As soon as Circle V was announced months ago I knew I MUST go!

The daytime portion of the event featured vegan food from top vegan restaurants, vendors selling compassionate, cruelty-free makeup, apparel, and accessories as well as talks from famous vegans making a real difference in the animal rights movement. The nighttime portion was a concert featuring musical acts Cold Cave, Blaqk Audio, and Moby (all who happen to be vegan)!

Spooky Sounds: Justin Rekt's "The Monster" EP

Full disclosure: I am very well acquainted with the musician Justin Rekt, as he happens to be Mister Spooky himself! That means I can appreciate all the hard work and long hours that went into creating this album, but even I am blown away by how incredible the songs on "The Monster" sound!

The EP includes four songs of spooky synth sounds and eerie electronics, with catchy hooks that get stuck in your head. The songs have a synthwave/retrowavefeel with a little extra edge and bite. And even after listening to them many, many times, I still find them fresh and can listen to them again and again! And they are so versatile - I can listen to them to relax or to get pumped!

It was written and produced by Justin Rekt, with additional production, mixing and mastering by Tony Kim of Dance With the Dead, and cover artwork by Daniel Bradford.

Enough gushing, though, I hope you'll give "The Monster" a listen and consider purchasing it to support indie artists!

You can find more info on Justin Rekt and his music by checking out his Bandcamp, Instagram, and Twitter!

The Cure's Songs Transformed into Horror Comic-Inspired Artwork

Last week I tweeted about Butcher Billy's fantastic set of artwork featuring Robert Smith of The Cure re-imagined as a comic book style horror villain, complete with bold, colorful fonts filled with ominous Cure lyrics, and I have continued to swoon over these designs and wanted to share them here as well.

As a big Cure fan, these playfully dark designs make me squeal for joy! The artist describes his series, officially titled "Tales From The Smith Comic Book Series", as: "Kisses and scares. Hearts and skulls. Giggles and graves. Romance in the shadows. This frightening series of strange tales is a homage to the goth legend who truly taught us love and darkness."

How absolutely perfect is that? Check out some of my favorites from the series below, and be sure to visit Butcher Billy's original post.

Monsters' Holiday by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

The monsters plan a heist of Santa's sleigh, but Santa surprises the monsters with some appropriate gifts...listen to this lost holiday classic by Bobby "Boris" Picket below!

Available on Amazon!

Creepmas Carols from Gothic Maestro Aurelio Voltaire

Aurelio Voltaire is a goth cabaret artist, filmmaker, author, and all-around Renaissance man. He is witty and charming, his songs are dark and catchy, and he is one handsome gentleman! I have been a fan of his work for quite some time now, but I never realized he had several funny, creepy Christmas carols, stories, and even a Halloween/Christmas cross-over book!

I've posted a few of these delightful ditties below:

Midnight Syndicate's Gothic Christmas Songs

Midnight Syndicate recently released their first-ever Christmas album, entitled Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering, and it is full of dark twists on classic Christmas tunes, plus some ethereal new material for the winter season. The album description sets the stage for the sinister soundscape:

"As fierce winter winds cut across the frozen landscape, a welcoming golden glow beckons from the windows of a venerable country mansion. Decorated in the festive trappings of Yule, its stately walls seem to offer a much-needed respite for the weary traveler. But the holiday spirits are restless and eager for company this night, as the haunting strains of melodies old and new call forth from the shadows." 

Holiday Gift Guide 2015: Goth Gifts for the Darkly Inclined

This gift guide came about for rather selfish reasons, I must admit - all these goodies are items I would LOVE as gifts for myself this season. I am lusting over beautiful baubles, witchy subscription boxes, beautifully bound books, an array of cruelty-free, dramatic makeup, glittering jewels, scintillating scents, recluse-themed clothing, eerie accessories, and music!

Take a peek below to see what's on my wish list and get some ideas for what to ask for/buy for yourself this year!

John Carpenter Performs Horror Movie Scores and More Over Halloween 2016

Beautiful poster featuring artwork by Camille Rose Garcia

Who wants to join me in England next Halloween to see John Carpenter perform his music from horror movies like Halloween, Christine, and They Live, plus his Lost Themes LP as well as his brand new music?! And by join me, I mean who wants to buy me a plane ticket???

I'm imagining walking down damp, foggy cobblestone streets while Carpenter's synth-heavy music ominously pulses over the scene, while neon lights briefly highlight the shadows and shapes lurking in the dark. Doesn't that sound just perfect?!

While I'm off daydreaming, why don't you read the official event description via All Tomorrow's Parties: