Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

Not all of these are season specific. Some just allude to the creepiness that surrounds the holiday. I tried to stay away from Misfits songs and the other obvious choices, but Danzig creeps in with Samhain, and I could not resist giving credit to some of the other obvious suspects. I attempted to choose songs that were lesser known by some acts, but those like Eddie Noack's "Psycho" and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Murder in the Graveyard" are iconic. The mix is slightly schizophrenic; like the holiday it jumps in mood and sound. Old school country intermixes with rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, and pop punk. Horrific scenes intersperse with fun. It's a carnival ride with slight time for pause. 1. Screaming Lord Sutch -- "Murder in the Graveyard" -- One of my all time favorite tunes from the Lord. You really can't go wrong with any of the low budget collections that collect his "hits." A perfect basher for any and all Halloween pa...

One of the most obnoxious things I have ever done was on Halloween, perhaps in 1995 or 1996. I was sixteen or seventeen years old. Dressed in cheap store-bought monster masks, wearing old jeans and sneakers, my friend Bill and I prowled the streets of my hometown. We terrorized churches, children, and old ladies. We were equal opportunity in those days, relying on our innate sense of indecency. We creepy-crawled that town. Like that scene in Pink Flamingos , when the furniture ejects people because of the sheer badness of  Divine and her twisted family, we meant to be as evil as possible. We ignored the comments that we were too old to be trick or treating. It did not matter that both of us were over six feet tall and Bill weighed over two hundred pounds. We just wanted more candy. We weren't going to take no lip. Forget about the razor blades in the candy, bub. I don't want any more sweet tarts. The mission was fraught with peril. Weirdness abounded at every corner. We gri...

Those who have spent any time around me know that I have never been a fan of Progressive rock. At first mention of genre stalwarts like Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and King Crimson, I clam up, only to have apoplectic fits of rage later at home while jamming out to the Dead Boys. And don't even get me started on Rush -- I could write an entire blog post on their fan base alone. Yet when it comes to horror movie soundtracks, I rave endlessly about the merits of bands like Goblin who epitomize the genre in every way, except for the fact that they made the music (mostly) for the best Dario Argento films, including Suspiria and Deep Red . Their intelligent and intricate, yet propulsive, themes make these great films even better. In fact, those who question Argento's ability as a director must admit that his choice of music is integral to the horror and suspense he creates. Goblin is a huge part of that. Their pieces move the films along by providing tension and drama at oppo...