Hmm...maybe I can get excited about Christmas this year...
Cinefamily, (who went from #1 on my love LA list and fell from grace to the untouchable list for various customer service related reasons - so it pains me to throw them business but, I'm making an exception), is offering a free screening of Rare Exports:
It’s almost impossible to shake the old-timey Norman Rockwell-esque image of a jolly, roly-poly man with white hair in a big red suit, whenever the name of “Santa Claus” is invoked -- but Rare Exports, the brand-new Finnish fantasy film based upon the popular short of the same name, shows you that the secret history of Father Christmas is far darker, far creepier and waaaaaay cooler. It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and a mysterious "archeological" dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. When all the local children begin disappearing, a young boy, his father and their reindeer hunter friends capture the mythological being -- but Santa's elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. A wild, nightmarish cross between The Goonies, Gremlins and Let The Right One In, Rare Exports is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing!
To attend one must RSVP. One RSVP per person. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Your RSVP does not guarantee you a seat. You will receive a confirmation email about your RSVP 24-48 hours before showtime. Early arrival is highly recommended. Doors will open 30 minutes before showtime. No one will be admitted after the film has begun.
http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/events.html#rareexports
Oddities
The Discovery Channel has a new show, Oddities, centering on New York shop, Obscura - which seems almost like a sister store to Los Angeles' Necromance on Melrose. The pilot episode features a decomposed cat, an enormous gall stone, a coffin and a two headed calf, yet they almost serve as a supporting cast to the customers - none of them more fascinating then Edgar - who is not to be missed.
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/oddities-is-that-a-straightjacket.html
Many thanks to Morbid Anatomy for featuring Obscura and Oddities.
Photo from the Obscura blog - http://www.ObscuraAntiques.Blogspot.com/
And The Winner Is.....
WENDY!
Congratulations to Wendy, who will soon be the owner of the new documentary, The Haunted Boy - which examines the case The Exorcist was based on.
American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural
I enjoyed this episode of the Backstory:The American History Guys I thought I'd share.
Halloween – despite its solemn Celtic roots – has become a safe way for Americans to transgress social norms and toy with the idea of ghosts in a family-friendly fashion. But for some, spirits from another plane have always been a very real part of life on this plane.
http://backstoryradio.org/2010/10/american-spirit-a-history-of-the-supernatural/
You get to hear a partial story about the Fox sisters, but you can listen to the entire story on one of my favorite podcasts, The Memory Palace, right here:
http://thememorypalace.us/2010/03/episode-27-the-sisters-fox/
Museum Of Mystery
The Museum of Mystery is a collection of odd items that Pat Wheelock, (an electronics engineer that has always been interested in the paranormal. Pat founded Beyond Investigation Magazine to investigate claims of paranormal activity and to publish those investigations and associated research). Pat has displayed the collection at various venues over the years.
Life casts of horror film's most notable actors, haunted portraits, fortune teller machines, a reportedly haunted doll, a Bigfoot footprint casting from the Patterson film, Harry Houdini’s death certificate, macabre medical devices including a shock therapy device, the historic live radio broadcast of the JFK assassination, death certificates of Titanic survivors, and letters sent to Scotland Yard by Jack the Ripper are just the few of the displayed items.
I conducted an EVP session with the doll alas, as the placard states - she doesn't like to talk to paranormal investigators
Murder Ballads
Not many are familiar with the genre of murder ballads. Musical tabloids of the day recounting true crime stories of serial killers, horrific butcherings and of course...the supernatural.
He stabbed her in her heart till her heart's blood did flow
Down into the grave pretty Polly did go
They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
Then something went horribly askew.
Now killing is their only source of joy...
Of course, here at Blackwood, we have to give a nod to Shirley Jackson's character James Harris - The Daemon Lover - inspired by the Scottish poem -who is referenced in The House Carpenter.
There are many great covers of this song - Bob Dylan, Pentangle, Judy Collins and my favorite, Nickel Creek - also, this guy (whose name is unknown to me).
Tonight, at the Echoplex, the dark side of folk music is celebrated.
October 26, 2010, 8:00pm, $8
Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 413-8200
Greetings
Greetings, dear guests of our favorite pagan house goddess. Welcome to Blackwood. Since we are meeting for the first time, an introduction is certainly in order...
We used to live in a duplex when I was little. My mother's parents lived on one side of the structure and my father on the other side. My bedroom was in the middle of the two houses. While my father was out at work, which was every weekday twelve to eighteen hours a day, my grandparents were my primary caretakers. So, at bedtime if my father was still at work, I would be put to bed at the proper time by my grandmother.
On this particular night I had been put to bed and my father, just arriving home from work, came in to see me and tell me goodnight. I remember his silhouette moving across the room in the dark, around the bed and kissing me whilst reaching over to turn on the light. Turning on the light was a mistake.
As the light from my little lamp flooded the room and my eyes adjusted, I saw my father standing over me, covered , from head to foot, in blood.
I was told I screamed and cried. I don't remember that, (I was slightly more than a toddler and my family is amazed I can remember anything at all), but I do remember the feeling of fear. It took him a few moments to understand my reaction as he had forgotten all about his appearance.
My father had just come home from filming the famous pig blood scene in the movie Carrie .
As a child, and even now as an adult I have grown up among the most amusing images. Some tangible, some pictorial. There is a series of photographs, (my father has a couple of them and I know some of the others appeared in magazines), of my father and Sissy Spacek, covered in blood, arms around one another, big smiles, looking as though they are posing for their prom picture.
I am told that the following day, I begged to be taken to the set. So began the macabre fancies of a little girl, now grown, living in LA. Today, I hunt down evidence of things paranormal, and long for a place where its always Halloween.
Feel free to roam about as you like or you can select something from the list to your right, The Best Of Blackwood.
I also have a treat to offer. For those of you who leave a comment on this post before the day of Halloween, I will draw a name on the 31st. The winner will get a copy of the new documentary, The Haunted Boy. You can see the trailer below.
Happy Halloween!
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