Hewn from the molten plasticks of hell flame it has come. The dread mark that speaks of pain, of pestilence and of putridity. Long hath man (and woman) sought the avoidance of its vile company…its terrible curse! Those who bear it shall know no happiness. Comfort and joy - distant memories shall these things be! Abandon all hope thou who pinneth it to thy jacket, manbag or handbag.
*Cough* …by that I mean, of course, that the Dreadful Thoughts badges have arrived. Hoorah! There may be some slight spiritual/occult peril involved in their ownership but fuck it - they just look so damn cool.
Those of you who've contributed to the "DT Story Club" discussions thus far - one each of these shall you have. Just email me your addresses (sign a short legal document in your own blood) and this must-have fashion item will be winging its way to you before you can say, "Oh God! What have I done?!"
In other "Club" news - Niall Munnelly, Lord of the Mixtapes, has set up a little Dreadful Thoughts Muxtape page for us. There are slots to upload 12 songs in all, with Niall having started the ball rolling by choosing the first track (taken from Krzysztof Komeda's Rosemary's Baby soundtrack). What I'd like DT "members" to do is to upload a suitably spooky track of their choice to the page in question. When the 12 slots are filled we should have a delightful "tape" to listen to while we join in the discussions, read the tales, or (indeed) write our own.
I'll send out a few emails with the Muxtape log-in details. If I miss anyone (or if anyone who hasn't yet joined in the discussions would like to contribute) just drop me a line and let me know.
Fresh blood is always very, very welcome…I'm serious. Don't be shy.






Not a member — but you have to get Goblin’s “Suspiria” in there. Also, Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind’s main title from “The Shining” — truly terrifying music, brr…
feck it, gimme a login to that muxtape and I’ll sort yis out ;)
The _Shining_’s soundtrack is first-rate fright. Carlos/Elkind and Kubrick really outdid themselves in track production and selection, respectively. But you really can’t go wrong with Penderecki.
Justin, Suspira! Excellent choice. Hadn’t (foolishly enough) thought of Goblin myself.
RE: “Not a member” - you are now!
The word “club” is not meant to indicate something exclusive at all. Dreadful Thoughts is open to one and all. Anyone who likes (or can bring) the fear is more than welcome. Join us for the next discussion why don’t ya?
I’ll fire the muxtape details on to you now.
Just added my choice from Philip Glass’s fabulous Candyman score. And then there were two.
Fustar,
I’m reminded of a joke. Bear with me:
Knock knock.
hmm, thanks for the invite — I may just do that for the next one!
Enjoy the tunes, anyway! the “collaborative muxtape” concept is also a very interesting one…
Niall, Who’s there?
Justin, We wait, with baited and terrified breath, to see what you come up with.
Fustar, continuing the joke,
“Knock knock”
Niall, continuing to set myself up for a lame punchline…
“Who’s there??”
…and Fustar,
Knock knock!
Haha, who put the Cannibal Holocaust theme up there? Deadly.
I don’t know Horslips well, but if this song is representative, then I must hear more. I was afraid they’d be, like, the Irish Steeleye Span.
Niall…my patience wears thin, mortal!
WHO’S FUCKING THERE???
‘Twas I. It’s a good ‘un.
As for Horslips, they’re of the mixed bad variety. Some great stuff, some cheesy stuff.
Fústar,
Philip Glass!
Philip Glass, who?
No, just Philip Glass. Three knock-knocks and it’s Philip Glass. That’s the joke.
Sorry.
You should be!
Verily I say unto thee, the Horslips track made me realise that our Muxtape was missing some hero-worship, with a healthy dollop of sublimated homoeroticism. Rectifying this, I have uploaded the utterly incongruous folk-song, “Riding Free”, from Don Sharp’s workmanlike Psychomania. The rest of the soundtrack is mostly wah-drenched light acid rock by session/library guys “Frog”, and, like the movie {starring that sturdy slab of British beef, Nicky Henson}, it kicks ass.
Psychomania! Lucifer’s beard, there’s a blast from a past I had forgotten (though I think I only ever saw about 45 minutes of it late one night long ago).
No memory of “riding free”. It’s incongru-tastic alright! Nice one.
Just gave it a re-listen.
“…and the holy sound of revving fills the sky”
Sweet Jesus!
I like the apparent allusion to Dr. Strangelove, riding that big machine just like a bo-omb.
[…] has brought us the Filthy badge - awarded to the dirtiest (naughty not muddy) post of the week. And Dr. Fústar-stein has created the Dreadful Thoughts badges (or are they spirits cleverly made to look like badges in a bid to get close your […]
That joke hurt my head.
I’ve been wracking my brain to find a track for the muxtape. So far all I’ve managed to come up with is Frank Zappa’s Central Scrutinizer…
David, Upload whatever you think is suitable. The choice is yours. The slots are filling fast so you’ll need to increase the ferocity of your brain-wracking!
If I could record the sound of the ice-cream van that frequents my estate, I’d add that to the tape. Freaks me out every time.
I used to (years ago) regularly hear the distant, melancholy strains of an ice-cream van from the bedroom I shared with my brother.
The main reason it was melancholy was that it only ever seemed to do its rounds in the middle of the night!
I never did get to see/find it. Probably for the best.
Got my badge, it’s wikkid!
Edit, and O!, God, what! have! I! Done?
Just testing the new edit function. Thanks, Jess!
Yes. It’s both wicked (in the traditional sense) and wikkid (in the ’street’ sense). The former aspect is the one you have to watch out for…
Glad you’re enjoying the editing. Edit away, like a mad editing fool.
I put up Yulunga from Dead Can Dance onto the mixed tape- not on a soundtrack but has a lovely dark feel to it that I find just a tad unsettling.
I got my badge too! It’s very cool, thanks so much.
Love the new editing tools too, well done guys.
Excellent choice, Tenacious.
Does it have to be a song? I think “The History of Hell House” from the soundtrack of the original (not the remake) “The Haunting” would be a definite addition…
Tenacious, Lovely stuff. We’re nearly there.
Embarr, Once you pin it on, it’ll never, ever, come off. Or maybe it will…
navrag, The vast majority of the tracks are “not-songs”! So add away.
Yayy.. filled the 12th spot…
navrag, nice choice - though due to a few deletions there is still one space left. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
12 tracks now present and correct. We’ll get another mixtape going soon but this should provide ample chills & entertainment in the meantime.
Whoever put up the ROTLD main title, I salute you.
Do ya wanna parrr-tayyy?!
Watch your tongue, boy, if you like this job!
“Like this job?!”
ROTLD is probably the first obviously “meta” horror film I saw, beating Popcorn to the punch by a good few years. The sequel really kicked the reference-heavy stuff up a notch, repeating jokes and situations with the same actors, with the characters even lamenting a sense of fatal deja vu. It’s terrific viewing for the budding poststructuralist. O’Bannon really had a good run in the 70s and 80s.
I’d have used the 45 Grave song if started as it does in the film {Do ya wanna…}. The actual track doesn’t have anything near the impact as the version edited for the screen.