macabre

Dahmer
$16.98
Macabre have made such a unique and "epic" Dahmer-album by their tongue-in-cheek factor alone. A straightforward death metal band could linger on the details and atrocities of Dahmer, but Macabre paint a portrait that is both vicious, true and funny. It's full of rocking melody-gems, renditions of the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory oompah loompah-theme as well as When Johnny Comes Marching Home - all providing the most unique account of the Wisconsin "gay killer" there ever was. Some of the tracks are pretty enjoyable in their own right though, and there's a darker and more brutal side to the music as well, but it keeps an overall heartily tone despite the subject matter.

Unfortunately it doesn't feel like the production of an "A-list"-album, and the sound quality is a bit dodgy at times, especially the bass "hissing" rather than humming. I'd still recommend it for anyone with a dark sense of humor or an interest in Dahmer though, it's just one of the quirkiest concept albums out there.

Murder Metal
$9.99
This album is perfect for first time Macabre listeners... With the best production quality thus far and some of their most catchy songs to date! "Fatal Foot Fetish" stands out as the most energetic track on the album while songs like "Acid Bath Vampire" and "Hillside Stranglers" are reminiscent of classic Macabre from the Grim Reality / Sinister Slaughter days. This album is packed with Macabre's brilliant black humor hearing a song like "Jack The Ripper" sung in a fake british accent will turn off metal fans who take themselves too seriously... But that's what seperates this band from everyone else. Not a bad song on the entire album!

Grim Reality
$12.49
This is the first-ever Macabre release, originally issued in 1987. This 6-song EP instantly gave the Chicago trio notoriety, with it's mixture of thrash/speed, early death metal, manic vocal hysteria and serial killer-focused lyrical themes and artwork. This classic is now reissued featuring a new remix by Neil Kernon, plus the original '80s version, remastered.

Stephen King's Danse Macabre
$7.99
This book, written using the author's notes from a college course he taught, explores the techniques that horror writers, filmmakers, and television producers use to scare us, entertain us, and keep us coming back for more. Along the way, King explores the horror genre from the 1950's through the 1980's and traces several key influences on his development as a horror fan, then author.

The author finds the roots of modern horror in three "tarot cards" or character archetypes, each represented by a key literary work. Our expectations about "The Vampire" were formed by Bram Stoker's Dracula; we see the essence of "The Werewolf" in the protagonist of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; and experience "The Thing Without a Name" as recurring versions of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein. He traces the influence of these themes in written fiction, radio, movies, television and in popular culture.

Most interesting is King's three-level taxonomy of fear reactions. The most refined is "terror" as the suspenseful anticipation of fright which can be induced by a skilful writer with the monsters off-stage. He believes that finely-tuned terror is best achieved through books and radio because they require more active engagement by their audiences. "Horror" is secondary, as we recoil from the hidden monster as it is revealed. "Revulsion" is the lowest, most visceral reaction triggered when we are "grossed out" by slime, gore and vomit. King admits that as an author he makes unrestrained use of all three.

This book is recommended for horror fans, Stephen King fans, and all those who work to improve their writing. Readers can learn more about the author's writing style and process in his subsequent nonfiction works On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Crafts of Writing.