There’s no time like the present to indulge in the stories of the heroic, mythical, and magical past. Streaming services from Amazon and HBO launched brand new fantasy shows, The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon respectively. Young adult fantasy continues to be a lucrative market and indie fantasy comics books are being realized via the power of crowdfunding.
Vanguard literary magazine Weird Tales pioneered pulp, cosmic horror, and sword and sorcery stories. Their upcoming issue, #366, is devoted to tales of heroic fantasy with new stories, poems, and essays contributing to the contemporary fantasy canon. A few contributors to this sword and sorcery special issue have graciously shared tidbits of their poems and stories along with their relationship with the genre.
Brian W. Matthews
Story Title
“Temm the Riven”
Story Synopsis
A knight is tasked by his king to save the realm, but to do so, he must return to his childhood home and confront the evil of his past.
Primary goal to accomplish with your story?
I wanted to create an effective blend of fantasy and horror. Clive Barker does it so well, but he blends horror with urban fantasy. I wanted to take a stab at injecting horror into an epic fantasy setting.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like R.E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
I’m more of an epic fantasy person. Nothing against heroic fantasy. I just never had much exposure to [Robert E.] Howard.
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
I grew up reading Tolkein and Donaldson and Zelazny and was taken by their characters and how the setting forged who they were into who they became. This is particularly true of Stephen R. Donaldson. He makes his characters quite human, injects common sense and self-preservation into them, and then puts them through the grinder of the fantasy setting to see what kind of person/hero they can become.
It recounts the life/career of a storyteller, and as a Celt a Seanache was an important part of the Celtic culture and means a lot to me.
Primary goal to accomplish with your poem?
I think all cultures, especially warrior cultures, the propaganda of narrative and drive much of their agendas. This is a tale of someone embracing that warrior ethic.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like Robert E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
Absolutely the R.E.H. type of tale. My own approach to poetry is very much in the shadows of Howard’s poetry. I much prefer the “in the streets” fantasy as opposed to the ‘from the place window’ type of story that has a grand, expansive view.
My own fantasy series of Altiva stories, which often contain poetry as part of the narrative, are very “down to earth.”
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
Clearly Howard is prime, but so are the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Nancy Hansen, and even the Lin Carter books. All very much in the same “in the trenches” feel, though Ms. Hansen’s stories have a very wide world view they never feel ‘effete’ or fantastic—they stay grounded. And, Moorcock is the perfect mix of a grand vision but a very personal, human story telling. The characters never feel like analogs, they feel like real people.
It’s a classic hero’s journey with really nasty monsters.
How about: It’s a twist on the classic hero’s journey in a fresh fantasy milieu, with some really nasty monsters…
Primary goal to accomplish with your story?
Dana: We pretty much wanted to write a story that was original, but stayed true to the elements that make sword and sorcery so much fun to read. I was dying to return to the fantasy world I’d created a few years ago for another short story. It had strong characters, both male and female, with a really unique setting and all the makings of a truly great series. Dave and I couldn’t wait to build on the promise of the original story.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like Robert E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
Dave: I admire the beauties of high fantasy, but if pressed, I have to confess I prefer to play in the rough-and-tumble gutters and back alleys of low fantasy.
Dana: I definitely prefer heroic fantasy, and more specifically, the darker entries in the genre. I love a good mix of fantasy, swashbuckling, and horror.
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
Dave: Both REH and Tolkien, but also Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné series, Jack Vance’s Dying Earth stories, Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, and so many others (RBT, Holdstock, Tanith Lee, Burroughs’ Warlord of Mars…). I especially love the blend of the outré and the strangely familiar in all these series.
Dana: While I love the works of Robert E. Howard, the king of dark S&S for me is Karl Edward Wagner and his Kanenovels and stories. I don’t think there’s a better anti-hero out there. I’ve reread them at least a half dozen times, my old Wagner paperbacks are very well-loved! I am also a huge fan of Jonathan Maberry’s epic S&S novel Kagen the Damned.
Sincere thanks and gratitude for all who partook in this collection of short form interviews to talk about their sword and sorcery texts. If you’re interested in reading these stories and poems when they are published, make sure to pre-order issue #366 of Weird Tales. The product page for this issue can be found here.
There’s something about lifestyle books from the late 60s to the early 80s that capture a distinct era through a bronzed lens. Images of homes, fashion, cuisines, and cocktails during this timeframe are forever immortalized in books tucked away in grandma’s curio cabinet or readily found dirt cheap on the shelves of used book stores and Goodwills.
The Bacardi Party Book is such an advertisement/pamphlet/cocktail booklet from this period. Published by Bacardi in 1973, the booklet contains twenty-nine recipes, from daiquiris to punches, from cocktails to entrees, that all feature Bacardi brand rums front and center: Bacardi Light, Bacardi Dry, Bacardi 151 (RIP dear 151), and Bacardi Añejo.
Down to party.
There is a variety of Bacardi-centric tiki drinks in the brochure: Bacardi Planter’s Punch, Bacardi Navy Grog, Bacardi Scorpion, and so on. The mai tai is perhaps the most iconic cocktail in the tiki pantheon, so this write up will focus on that specific recipe.
The Bacardi Mai-Tai calls for:
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz orgeat
.5 oz simple sugar syrup
.5 oz orange Curaçao
1 jigger of Bacardi Light
.5 jigger of Bacardi 151 or 1 jigger of Bacardi Dark or Añejo rum
Put into a glass half filled with ice. Stir once or twice and garnish.
Per the accompanying photo for the recipe, the end result should look like this:
Ngl, that looks pretty good!
Looking at the specs of the Bacardi Mai-Tai, the recipe is pretty much the original 1944 Trader Vic’s mai tai save that the rums are from Bacardi and are Puerto Rican instead of Jamaican and there is some differing ratios.
Brand new, unopened bottles just for this article!
Bacardi 151 was discontinued back in 2016 making the 151 iteration of the Bacardi Mai-Tai impossible to reproduce unless one has saved a bottle all this time. Don Q 151 would make an excellent replacement for a Puerto Rican 151 overproof rum. However, the Bacardi Mai-Tai offers an alternative recipe using Bacardi Añejo which is easily procurable. For the Bacardi Light, Bacardi Superior is the successor rum, which is also easy to obtain. Pierre Ferrand is a workhorse orange liqueur for mai tais so it will be a perfect choice for the orange Curaçao.
Ice, ice, baby.
Step one was is to fill a rocks glass half full of ice. As will be shown later, much more ice will definitely be needed.
Lime.
Next .05 oz of freshly squeezed lime juice is added.
Then .05 oz of orgeat. In this instance, Liber & Co., but any personal favourite or homemade will do.
Syrup. Notice the layers.
This is followed by .05 oz of simple syrup. Pictured here is rich Demerara simple syrup (2 to 1 ratio).
Orange liqueur.
.05 oz of Pierre Ferrand is added next.
Bacardi Superior.
Then 1 jigger of Bacardi Superior. Comparing the Bacardi Mai-Tai recipe to the Trader Vic’s original, 1 jigger is going to be 1 oz.
Bacardi Anejo / Bacardi 4. Layer of syrups at the bottom.
And finally 1 oz (1 jigger) of Bacardi 4.
There is probably not enough ice for the drink at this point, so definitely add more. Where the Bacardi Mai-Tai differs from the original Trader Vic’s mai tai (or any cocktail that uses citrus juice) is that it is built in the glass and stirred rather than put into a shaker, shook, and then poured. However, directions are directions, so the final step is the stir the Bacardi Mai-Tai – a gentle stir once or twice at that – and garnish.
I was out of mint so I instead used a spritz of mint that came in my Curiada/How to Drink Mai Tai box.
The end result is not bad, but it really needed to be shook. A once or twice stir of these ingredients is not enough to aerate the drink or homogenize it. It’s practically still a layered drink at this point, so the first sip is all Bacardi 4 and not much else. However, putting the drink into a shaker, giving it a quick shake, and dumping the cocktail back while adding some additional ice fixes this issue. Basically, skip building this mai tai in the glass and do it in a shaker.
Aside from the stirred/shaken snafu, the Bacardi Mai-Tai is pretty spot on! It lacks a bit of the funk that mai tais that use Jamaican rums (such as Smith and Cross) have. It is on the sweeter end of the spectrum by having a total of one ounce of syrups, but it still tastes pretty damn good! The neat thing about this mai tai is how easily obtainable the ingredients are. Unless one lives near a BevMo, Total Wine, or a really well stocked alcohol store, some brands of rum and other spirits can be hard to procure unless one shops online. Most Bacardis, on the other hand, are readily available at grocery and liquor stores, and at a much generous price point. For tiki neophytes who are just starting their bar, the Bacardi Mai-Tai is a great stepping stone without breaking the bank. Overall, this libation is a surprising success from the disco dark ages of cocktail culture.
Michele and I will be on two panels over the course of the event:
Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films Saturday, Sept. 3rd 10:00 am – 11:00 am Fiesta Ballroom 2
Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets Monday, Sept. 5th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Fiesta Ballroom 1
We hope to see yall there!
Scholars from the Edge of Time
Michele and I are prepping for the Pre-Code Horror Panel at CoKoCon so we are mad dash revisiting some pre-1934 films. One of them was King Kong. For our Scholars from the Edge of Time appearance this month we focused our episode on that. That episode is on YouTube and can be watched here.
For September we will be discussing Son of Samson on the show.
When released in 1974, the erotic French film Emmanuelle became a worldwide sensation that topped box offices and garnered controversy. The movie would catapult its starlet, Sylvia Kristel, into the limelight, but at the same time it would overshadow her. Kristel became synonymous with the Emmanuelle character whose specter she could never escape despite efforts appearing in a variety of other films ranging from auteur-made art house movies to lifeless commercial fare. During her lifetime, few critics and scholars took Kristel seriously as an actress. Jeremy Richey’s book, Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol (SK:FETC) aims to rectify this oversight and help usher in a reassessment and a rediscovery of Kristel and her body of work.
Published in 2022 by Cult Epics after a successful crowdfunding campaign, SK:FETC focuses on Kristel’s career from 1973 to 1981, her beginnings to when she was at her height of popularity. The book is divided into seven sections covering twenty-three movies, with the final section devoted to unrealized projects. Richey sticks to a disciplined structure when discussing each film: background contextualization, production and musings, and performance assessment with contemporary reception. This structure makes SK:FETC easy to navigate, search, and enjoy.
Standard cover.
Starting each film’s chapter is a background to how the movie came to being, diving into literary sources, filmmaker and crew backgrounds, and even general societal hegemony. For example, before discussing Kristel’s first film, Frank and Eva, time is spent describing the general landscape of Dutch cinema of the era so readers will have the contextualization that Kristel’s movies operated in. Regarding filmmakers and the crew, SK:FETC takes an interconnected approach by highlighting who was in Kristel’s orbit and describing how they contributed to the film and her career.
Next, Richey focuses on the film’s production while adding his own musings, such as what scenes and sequences stand out, or detailing difficulties Kristel dealt with, such as egotistical directors and actors (see the entry on The Concorde … Airport ’79). There are some insightful observations within these film entries, such as when Richey points out that Naked Over the Fence captures a specific snapshot of early 70s Netherlands analog pinball arcades and the burgeoning European martial arts culture.
Finally, each chapter concludes with an assessment of the film and performances. For Richey, Kristel is the gold standard for performance and other players are held to this bar. Richey does counterbalance this inherent favoritism by including a plethora of quotations from contemporary film critics from all over the globe, both positive and negative reception. In addition to film critical quotations, Richey incorporates a great deal of other citations as well: texts from scholars such as femist academic Camille Paglia and cult film scholar Marcus Stiglegger; excerpts from Kristel’s autobiography, and interviews from cast and crew, some of them rare (such as the interview with Laura Gemser about Emmanuelle 2) and others conducted by Richey exclusively for SK:FETC.
If there is a fault with SK:FETC, it is a built in one that mirrors Kristel’s career. In her attempt to shake the Emmanuelle image, Kristel began appearing in films that would hinder rather than advance her career. These films are otherwise unremarkable, giving Richey less to work with in his writings. The chapters become shorter and contain less insight when compared to the first 2/3s of SK:FETC.
Example of interior with lobby card images.
Clocking in at over 330 pages, SK:FETC is a tome of insight, observations, and rare material about Kristel and her career. Care was not only put into the text but into the physical book proper as SK:FETC is a luxurious hardcover release. Aside from the standard edition of the book, there are versions with a collector’s box and others with dust jackets autographed by Richey. The book is presented in full colour and filled with numerous photographs and promotional materials, such as lobby cards and posters. Such inclusions greatly add to the reading experience while acting as a visual catalogue to Kristel’s career. The end product is a gorgeous edition matching – even surpassing – comparable efforts by similar publishers such as FAB Press or PulseVideo.
SK:FETC accomplishes its goal in reassessing Kristel and her films. The book acts as an authority on Kristel’s early career, and provides much needed contextualization along with performance observations and incorporation of a variety of rare, unique, and otherwise inaccessible sources. Kristel is portrayed in a positive and interesting light. Emmanuelle still remains the film Kristel is the most synonymous with, but SK:FETC demonstrates that there is much more to the legendary Dutch actress.
Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol book can be purchased at the following venues:
We are running a little off kilter this month for podcasting (getting prepped for CoKoCon, other projects popping up). We are a week late, but our monthly episode is now online!
In the newest episode, Michele and I discuss two short stories from Douglas Wynne’s new collection, Something in the Water and Other Stories: “The Enigma Code” and “Tracking the Black Book.”
The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or through your podcast app of preference.
General Neo-Peplum News
Recent Acquisitions
This past week has been great for loot being delivered.
First, issue #2 of Band of Warriors, which was Kickstarted earlier this year, arrived. It came with a poster signed by Samuel George London, a copy of the issue proper, and a bookmark.
An ICYMI, I interviewed London twice about his Band of Warriors comic. Those interviews can be found here and here.
Next my preorder of the new Kino release of Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World arrived. It contains a reversible wraparound, so pictured here is the sleeve and the alternative cover art.
Finally, a copy of 1313: Hercules Unbound! also arrived. This is a David Decoteau film, and his modus operandi is young shirtless guys in their undies walking around (see Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper). I’m intrigued by his dabble in neo-peplum fare – we will see how campy it might get (Meet the Spartans campy?).
Review Republished: Awen’s The Hollow in the Stone
Last week I re-published another older piece of mine, a look at the album The Hollow in the Stone by Texas neofolk outfit Awen.
I originally published this on my neofolk blog back in 2020. It’s new home can be found here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Weird Tales #366 Cover Reveal
Issue #366 of the resurrected Weird Tales magazine will be devoted to all things sword and sorcery. The Weird Tales Facebook page revealed the cover art by Bob Eggleton:
The list of authors on the front looks epic. Keep an eye out at the Weird Tales official website when the issue becomes available to pre-order.
Gladiator 2 News
Article over at MSN/MovieWeb has a write up on all things known so far about Gladiator 2.
New Warkings Music Video
Austrian neo-peplum power metal outfit Warkings has a brand new music video online.
The song is called “Monsters” and has a guest appearance from Morgana le Fay. The video can be watched on YouTube or in the embedded player above. The song will be appearing on Warking’s next album, Morgana, slated to be released November 11th.
Released late in 2019, The Hollow in the Stone is American neofolk outfit Awen’s third and newest studio album since their 2014 release, Grim King of the Ghosts. Released right on the eve of Awen’s fifteenth year in operation, The Hollow in the Stone is the band’s most refined, polished, and ambitious album to date. The album is mixture of distinct, yet associated styles – neofolk, post-industrial, narrative spoken word – arranged on the release in a seamless, cohesive fashion. This balance of styles has not gone unnoticed by fans of the band, with Erin Powell, figurehead of Awen, stating “stylistically we have maintained a combination of folk and industrial elements for the last several albums, whereas some projects seem to just focus on an all acoustic instrument sound. I’ve had feedback from people over the years that they appreciate this mixture of sounds from us.”
The Hollow in the Stone contains thirteen tracks, two of them being intro/outros, with the rest being original compositions, with only “I am Stretched on your Grave” being a traditional song, rearranged by Katrin X. Guest appearances are a trademark of Awen, with long time alumnus b9 InViD of Et Nihil appearing once again, along with a first time appearance of Jerome Reuter from ROME. “Perversity of Joy,” “Brigid the Dark, Brigid the Light,” “Hawthorn Rod,” “The Death Of Reynard,” and “The Hollow In The Stone” constitute the album’s neofolk offerings. “Englyn for Blodeuwedd,” “In the Heart of the Corpseknot” and “The Sickle and the Setting Sun” are the industrial/martial-industrial tracks on the album while “I am Stretched on your Grave” adds an ethereal sound to the mix.
The neofolk tracks are exceptionally well executed, with Powell displaying a fondness for “Hawthorn Rod” that he feels shows all facets of Awen coming into play. The song is an excellent duet between Powell and Katrin X, with catchy and seductive guitars that lures a listener in. “Brigid the Dark, Brigid the Light,” which is about the Irish goddess Brigid, captures the same romantic neofolk elements.
Awen live, 2019. Photo by Karl Hendrik
“Morrigan” is an unexpected surprise on The Hollow in the Stone and a tremendous delight. A departure from traditional Awen songs of the past, “Morrigan” is a spoken word track. Awen has come close to flirting with the genre on prior releases in songs such as “Sacrifice” from The Bells Before Dawn, which is more akin to an NSK speech or a Praise the Fallen-era VNV Nation track, and “Dream of an Omen,” which also contains bits of the spoken word formula, yet still feels more like a song than a narration. Instead, “Morrigan” is a narrative, third person perspective, dark fiction, spoken word short story. In the tale, an unnamed protagonist travels though a dark forest with a sinister steed and happens upon the mysterious titular Morrigan at a stream. It is an encounter that will not bode well for the protagonist. “Morrigan” demonstrates that Powell is a master orator, and Awen should consider releasing more songs, or even a one-off album, of narrated stories. As Cadabra Records has shown with their luxurious vinyl releases of readings of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Thomas Ligotti, there is a niche market for dark spoken word albums set to ambient/industrial soundscapes. Awen, who have repurposed poetic works before (as “Empire, Night & the Breaker” from The Bells Before Dawn which uses the poetry of Breaker Morant) is the perfect outfit to release even more tracks in this vein.
For fans of ROME who are not familiar with Awen, but are interested in checking out the album due to Reuter’s appearance on the track “The Death Of Reynard” (or perhaps due to Awen’s appearance on ROME’s Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro), are in for a treat as Reuter’s distinctive, hypnotic voice is put to excellent use on the neofolkish song. The song showcases a great mixture of both ROME and Awen.
Excluding the outro “Cyfraith Dyn,” The Hollow in the Stone ends with “The Sickle and the Setting Sun,” and what a way to end. The song is an excellent representation of Awen’s aggressive-side of their music catalog, and if this were the 90s-2000s, “The Sickle and the Setting Sun” would be the album’s first MCD single, complete with remixes and multimedia tracks. The song is an apocalyptic-pop, bombastic tune. Powell’s voice booms over thunderous drums while Katrin X’s vocals seethe the song’s title in a call-and-response fashion. The opening lyrics “the symbol of the setting sun / cruel crescent that severs grain and chaff as one / the punishing steel / once cut, it’s done! / the sickle and the setting sun” sets the stage for the subject matter of the song, drawing imagery from neofolk tropes, and yet uniquely applying to Awen, creating an anthem of sorts for the band. The sickle has been an iconic implement used by the band, especially during live performances with Katrin X brandishing them, drawing parallels to, say, how Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle did during the May Day celebrations in The Wicker Man. Powell further elaborates on the meaning of the sickle to Awen:
“Katrin does use a pair of antique sickles with a contact mic on them in studio recordings and live performances. It is an interesting symbol to me. Agricultural, but also urban and modern in the context of 20th century political iconography. We read that the ancient druids used a golden sickle to cut mistletoe in their rituals. The shape of the blade is a crescent moon, which has many interesting connotations throughout the ages and different cultures. The severing blade, life from death.”
Awen live, 2019. Photo by Karl Hendrik
The album concludes with “Cyfraith Dyn: which echoes the sound of the album’s intro track, “Cyfraith Natur.” Both tracks act as opulent bookends to the album.
Though it has been five years between the release of Awen’s second album, Grim King of the Ghosts, and The Hollow in the Stone, those years were not idle ones for the band. The time period saw numerous live, split releases (such as 2016’s European Crusade 2015 with Et Nihil and 2017’s Abyssus Abyssum Invocat [Defiance in Dallas] with Boyd Rice) and a handful of tours and live appearances. Awen’s accumulation of prestige over the years is evident in the band’s new home on the legendary Trisol label, making them bedfellows with renown acts such as, ROME, Clan of Xymox, L’Âme Immortelle, and Project Pitchfork. Per Powell, the move to Trisol came about during their concert in Frankurt in 2017:
“Alex, the label owner of Trisol, was at our concert in Germany when we played with Boyd and played as Awen as well as Fire + Ice for Ian Read. Jerome Reuter was also there, and I invited him backstage to meet everyone and gave him his first Neofolk Bullwhip! He later recommended us to Alex, who was already impressed by our performance. We decided to make the move from OEC to Trisol then.”
The end result of Awen’s signing to Trisol is the release of a beautiful and ornate vinyl edition of The Hollow in the Stone. Matching the artistic acumen demonstrated in the music proper, the physical release of the album is equally lavish. Limited to 500 units, The Hollow in the Stone is pressed on transparent vinyl, with lyrics to all the songs printed on the inner sleeve, all housed in a sleeve with unsettling (in a Giger sort of way) artwork, adopted from photos taken by Powell. Those without a vinyl player are taken into consideration as a CD with all the tracks comes packaged with the album. All in all, a luxurious release, both in regard to the packaging, but also to the music within.
Awen live, 2019. Photo by Karl Hendrik
Post The Hollow in the Stone, the future looks as bright as the setting sun for Awen, with plans of a new albums already in the works. Powell tantalizes:
“We are working on a new album currently and have the foundations for ten songs so far. This record does not have a title yet. Expect several acoustic songs, but also an array of industrial percussion including oil drums and scrap metal. I have a concept in mind for the album, with a rambling piece of guitar music that runs like a river in between all of the other separate songs, like a subplot in a story. I think this element will only be heard on the vinyl edition, and the CD version should feature the tracks without it…making a different listening experience between the formats.”
The Hollow in the Stone Track List:
Side A
Cyfraith Natur
Perversity Of Joy
Brigid The Dark, Brigid The Light
Englyn For Blodeuwedd
Hawthorn Rod
In The Heart Of The Corpseknot
Side B
Morrigan
The Death Of Reynard
The Hollow In The Stone
Ravenna
I Am Stretched On Your Grave
The Sickle and the Setting Sun
Cyfraith Dyn
All photos provided courtesy of Erin Powell. Sincere gratitude for the quotations as well. Awen can be found at:
Issue 16 of the tiki magazine Exotica Moderne has been published!
Cover art by James Owens.
This issue contains my review of the forthcoming coming bizarro novel Dead Monkey Rum by Robert Guffy. This issue can be ordered at its product page at the House of Tabu website.
Republishing Zeena Schreck Interview/Review
I am working on consolidating my writing I’ve done for other websites and my old neofolk blog into one location. This also gives me an opportunity to edit or remove content as well.
The first article I’ve brought over is from 2020 and it is my interview with Zeena Schreck about her debut EP, Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau, that also has a review as well.
Back in June (on my birthday!) I did a recap of all the projects I’m juggling. Almost all those projects got completed/released, so it’s time to show what I am working on currently:
CoKoCon Prep – CoKoCon will be over Labour Day Weekend. Michele and I were asked to be on a panel about pre-code horror films. That means through August we are going to [re]watch some classic films to get some refreshers. We are also going to double stack and use one of the films we watch as a topic for this month’s Scholars From the Edge of Time episode.
H. P. Lovecast – New episode will drop this upcoming weekend and an interview episode at the end of the month. Our August focus is on Douglas Wynne’s new collection, Something in the Water and Other Stories.
Acylum/Vikings Sampling Essay – Still working on this presentation to turn it into journal format.
Exotica Moderne – My next submission for the tiki magazine will be a write up on the video game Call of the Sea. Michele and I will also use this as a subject for a future H. P. Lovecast episode.
Writing Consolidation – I’ll be moving my Awen interview/review over to this website this Wednesday.
Sylvia Kristel Book Review – This will be the next book review I’ll published here. I’m 2/3s done reading it, I’ve been reading a chapter a night.
General Neo-Peplum News
Those About to Die Series
Roland Emmerich is working on a series for the Peacock streaming service called Those About To Die, which is about gladiators. Deadline has a full article about it.
Recent Acquisitions
Went to Zia’s over the weekend which is always a fun get away that also turns up interesting treasures. My haul on music and movies was really light this time, despite being prepared with an actual list!
Aside from plucking up an MCD single (remember those?) of [:SITD;]’s Laughingstock (side note: check out my write up of the music projects that sample the original Candyman movie, which [:SITD;} is one of), I found a vinyl release of the original Hercules soundtrack and a budget DVD of Demetrius and the Gladiators (I believe Twilight Time put out a nice edition a while back, but it is way OOP).
During the summer of 2015, the skull of German silent film director F. W. Murnau was stolen from his tomb.1 Remnants of wax from lit candles present at the scene spurred the hypothesis that occult work was afoot while the macabre nature of Murnau’s stolen skull drew parallels to his legendary horror output, in particular his influential expressionist film, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).
Shortly thereafter, inspired by the event, multimedia artist Zeena Schreck announced a “sequel to Radio Werewolf’s mystical, musical piece Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera” that would be appropriately titled Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau.2 Five years later, Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau (BMTHOFWM) was released in March of 2020.
Cover art for Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau
BMTHOFWM marks the first studio release proper of Zeena performing music solo. Prior to this EP, Zeena had been a part of many musical collaborations and projects, such as Radio Werewolf, and had released some of her live ritual performances, such as her appearance at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, on compilations and YouTube. Per Zeena in regard to releasing a concept album instead of an album of her ritual performances:
“I definitely have future recording plans which will be in the areas of dark ambient and ritual music. [T]his first solo release was experimental in the sense I’d never done such a precise theme as concept album like this before. I like working within specific parameters though. Even in past recordings, when it might not seem obvious, I’ve almost always had in mind a particular framework within which to create the music. But this album was much more of a specific theme than I would normally do.”3
BMTHOFWM certainly has a thematic laser focus, concentrating on Murnau and some of his films, while capturing a certain silent film aesthetic, though paradoxically, with sound. Zeena pulls this feat off – a silent film with no images but instead with sounds – by incorporating elements of field recordings, minimalist-industrial, exotica, spoken words, and incantations, in conjunction with the brilliant German expressionist/Caligari style artwork that emblazons the release’s cover art that evokes some of the classic horror posters of the era.
Though Murnau is the subject of the EP, the filmmaker did not have a strong influence on Zeena at the beginning of the project:
“[Murnau was] not a huge influence. It was only his films Nosferatu and Faust that I had known and really liked since childhood, when they’d play on late night TV. I knew he’d worked with the occultist artist/architect Albin Grau on the sets for Nosferatu but working with an occultist doesn’t automatically make you one. There is also the tie-in of my last name being the same as the actor who played Count Orlok, Max Schreck, in Murnau’s most famous film Nosferatu. I’d also remembered the scandalous rumors about his untimely death that my godfather Kenneth Anger wrote of in Hollywood Babylon, rumors which, by the way, I’ve since learned weren’t true. But aside from these things, I hadn’t much knowledge of his life prior to embarking on this project. I know far more about him now.
Originally, I’d planned that this [release] was only going to be a single; not more than a two-track novelty piece inspired by a quirky event. But then, as I began researching more about Murnau and put flesh on the bones of this project, certain metaphysical portals started opening up. More material for more tracks developed than could be narrowed down to just a single. Yet I didn’t want this to be a full album either. So, the logical middle ground was to make it an EP.”4
Through the process of researching Murnau, Zeena also visited the director’s home and his grave, gathering field recordings that would be incorporated into the compositions of BMTHOFWM:
“[I] intermingled various sounds from both locations in just about every track except the opening one, ‘Letter to Mother.’ Some of those field recordings were used in a straightforward manner, such as a fox barking, birds singing, the sound of some machinery or a metal gate clanging. Those can be detected fairly clearly enough. But other sounds used, I distorted in the editing to achieve certain auditory effects.
When I visited Murnau’s grave, for the photo shoot to the CD, I was focused on getting the photos but hadn’t intended on capturing field recordings at the same time. I’d already compiled field recordings taken at the former Murnau house in Berlin, which coincidentally happens to be right in my neighborhood. In addition to that, I’d painstakingly searched for specific samples corresponding to the exact years of Murnau’s creative life and his death, such as the sound of the precise year and make of the car he was in when it crashed, leading to his death. Or a snippet of a song that would’ve been popular at parties in Hollywood that he may have attended. Things like that.
Back album art of BMTHOFWM. Photo of Zeena at F. W. Murnau’s grave by Lance Anderson
So, getting back to the cemetery field recordings: It was only by fluke, while taking photos at Murnau’s grave, that my camera accidentally engaged the video record. It wasn’t until later that day, when downloading my data from the day’s shoot, I realized I’d inadvertently gotten some unexpected and pretty interesting sounds while at the grave. Luckily, there was still time to mix those in before the final edit and mastering. For some unknown reason, I’ve always had strange energy clashes with electronic devices; something’s always malfunctioning with them in my case. I’ve come to expect these ‘accidental’ recordings of environment sounds, with both my audio recorder and my cameras video setting. Whenever it happens, I always discover something interesting, humorous or just uncanny and bizarre that gets added to my sound library. This reveals how much is occurring all the time that we humans normally filter out but which, when cut out of the normal flow of everyday life, can be wonderful auditory meditations. I’m sure that those unexpected sounds at the cemetery made a difference in enhancing an underlying eerie quality to the whole thing.”5
Zeena’s field recordings directly tie into her concept of “sonic necromancy.” These field recordings she gathered communicate an additional essence of Murnau that would not have been present otherwise:
“Sound art differs from conventionally composed music in that soundscapes are generally thought to be like paintings done with sound rather than matter. They may or may not necessarily tell a story. In this case, however, there is story. Between many years of magical ritual practices, as well as early-life theater and film training, which includes techniques in character development, sense memory and improvisation, a fusion of disciplined training in all these areas creates conducive conditions for summoning of the dead. While my magical training and ritual experience is probably more generally acknowledged than my theater training, I mention the latter only in relation to this music project because I’m playing various characters or roles throughout. Whether we are hearing Murnau’s own thoughts in the opening and closing tracks, or the female Angel of Death who’s come to usher Murnau away from this worldly experience, or the ‘bardo beings’ who inhabit the intermediate state between the end of one life and the beginning of the next. All of those voices are different characters revealing different levels of metaphysical existence and understanding.”6
If BMTHOFWM sounds like a multifaceted release, it is because it certainly is. Though the EP only contains six tracks and clocks in at roughly eighteen minutes, it is compact in its sound design, atmosphere, and ambitious scope.
The first track of the EP, “Letter to Mother,” has Zeena reciting a letter Murnau wrote to his mother against a background of crashing waves. In this track, Zeena channels her aforementioned acting chops, mimicking a deeper voice that would be Muranu. It is a somber recital that sets a melancholy mood that permeates the release.
Track two, “Ill Omens,” runs with this melancholy with a peppering of something menacing or foreboding. It is a track that is minimal on sound, but high on atmosphere. Closing one’s eyes, one can picture an old film with a scene of tiptoeing through a cave or a dimly lit forest, illuminated day-for-night style, while a Harryhausen-esque monster waiting to emerge from the shadows.
The third track, “A Drive up the Coast,” chronicles the last moments of Murnau as he died in an auto accident while traversing the Pacific Coast Highway near Santa Barbara in 1931. The track begins jovial, with organ music composed by Zeena that evokes a funfair or a period appropriate party in the background. Sounds of an open car window woosh by before (spoiler alert!) the sounds of accelerations, followed by a scream, tires screeching, and a crash.
Track four, “Tabu,” is a reference to Murnau’s final film, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) that was released shortly after his death. An early tiki film, the story depicts two lovers, Reri and Matahi, as they try to escape Reri’s fate of being made into a sacred maiden for their island’s deities. The first half of the song is the most industrial-sounding music on the EP, with some minimalist piston-percussions. The last half of the song switches gears to the exotica genre, with primitive drumming and shakers, that channels the likes of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. Over the music, Zeena, reaching into her experience of performing incantations, recites the same decree that was uttered in Tabu that denoted Reri as forbidden, and not to be touched by any man.
“The Phantom Bridge” is the EP’s fifth track and this one digs right into the vampiric roots Murnau is best known for. A spoken word track, Zeena recites some of the inter titles from Murnau’s Nosferatu which in turn were taken from Stoker’s Dracula. The music in this track is, as the title suggests, ghostly, with spirituals wisps, shackling noises, tiny bells and chimes.
The EP’s final track, “Endlich Daheim,” is perhaps the most ambitious track on the album, that not only underscores Murnau’s career, but demonstrates Zeena at her most artistic. Prior songs on the EP has Zeena reciting texts from other sources while “Endlich Daheim” contains both original organ music and lyrics by Zeena, sung in a haunting and beautiful style. A sound of a 1920s projector starting up beings the track with the music proper evoking the feelings of being at a funeral – Murnau’s funeral – with Zeena’s poetry acting as a eulogy.
Zeena at F. W. Murnau’s grave by Lance Anderson.
The end result is that BMTHOFWM is a superb solo debut for Zeena and an excellent experimental release all around. Atmospheric, haunting, and magical, but also cinematic and fully versed in filmic pop culture that it celebrates. Born from a macabre act of stealing the skull of Murnau, the EP easily could’ve embraced grotesquery or morbidness, but instead the CD comes off as sincere. Aside from these observations, Zeena herself had her own goals for the release:
“Well, after a few years of unexpected obstacles, as well as unexpected serendipitous occurrences which led to creating much more material for this than I’d originally planned, I guess the main thing I wanted to accomplish was getting it completed at all! Jokes aside, the fact is, there’s still someone out there who has taken and kept the skull from Murnau’s grave. This is at the heart of the project. I wanted to pull all of the unusual elements surrounding this case together into one cohesive creative expression. The music in this project is created to facilitate opening the mind to all possible questions surrounding that event, and even to, on a transcendental and metaphysical level, provide even bigger answers.”7
Five years after the act, the mystery of who absconded with Murnau’s skull remains unsolved. Of course, thoughts have drifted to Schreck as a possible culprit, which she both playfully and adamantly dismisses: “[S]ince many have already jokingly asked me – let’s nip this in the bud right here – NO, it wasn’t me!”8
Artistic composition of Zeena.
Sincere thanks for Zeena Schreck for allowing me to interview her for this writeup and providing the images. All images used in this article are copyrighted by Zeena Schreck and used with permission. More information about Zeena and her projects can be found at the following websites and social medias:
Nigel M Smith, “Nosferatu director’s head stolen from grave in Germany,” The Guardian, last modified July 14, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/14/nosferatu-director-head-stolen-germany-grave-fw-murnau.
“Coming Soon From Zeena Schreck: Bring Me The Head of F.W. Murnau,” Heathen Harvest, last modified July 21, 2015, https://heathenharvest.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/coming-soon-from-zeena-schreck-bring-me-the-head-of-f-w-murnau/.
Zeena Schreck, email message to author, June 16, 2020.
Schreck, Zeena. Bring me the Head of F. W. Murnau. KCH KCHCD01. 2020. CD.
Smith, Nigel M. “Nosferatu director’s head stolen from grave in Germany.” The Guardian. Last modified July 14, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/14/nosferatu-director-head-stolen-germany-grave-fw-murnau.
Jennifer Croll has done some unique and inventive takes on cocktails and cocktail culture, with Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women in 2018 and her recently published this past spring, Dressed to Swill: Runway-Ready Cocktails Inspired by Fashion Icons.
Personal copy of Art Boozel
Art Boozel is Croll’s book from 2021, and it’s fantastic. I’ve done a few cocktails from the book and enjoyed them so I though I’d do a book review. The write up can be read here.
New Episode of H. P. Lovecast
August has just ended so that means a new Transmissions episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
For August we focused on the recently published horror anthology, Even in the Grave. For our normal episode we discussed Trevor Firetog’s “What’s Your Secret?” and Steven Van Patten’s “Blind Spot.” That episode can be found at our Buzzsprout website.
HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 14 – Carol Gyzander, Trevor Firetog, and Steven Van Patten –
H. P. Lovecast Podcast
We conclude the month by not only interviewing Firetog and Van Patten about their stories, but also returning guest Carol Gyzander who co-edited the book. This episode can also be found at our Buzzsprout website, at the embedded player above, or streamed via your podcast app of preference.
CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances
Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 over Labour Day weekend.
CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. More info on the con can be found at CoKoCon website, along with ticket and guest news.
Michele and I will be appearing on three panels over the course of the con. The schedule is below, but I also have the information on my Conference Appearances page:
Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films Saturday, Sept. 3rd 10:00 am – 11:00 am Fiesta Ballroom 2
Your Mom is Lovecraftian: Why Cosmic Horror is So Hard to Get Right Sunday, Sept.4th 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm Coronado room
Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets Monday, Sept. 5th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Fiesta Ballroom 1
Scholars from the Edge of Time
New episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is now online! This one is on YouTube, so you get to see my acting like a doof. In this episode I talk about the sword and sorcery film, DragonHeart, but also bring up Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Troma films.
