LC's corner of dark inspirations.

Bramblethorn said:

Saw them in concert once. Great night.

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Saw them back in the early nineties, fantastic show.

The only down side to this vid is it led to Joey which killed me back when it first came out because of several people close to me battling addiction. Damn thing brought it all back for a couple minutes....

Its really easier to just be dark and moody dammit.

Maria Brink manages to make a Phil Collins song dark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azeh1ZbxWwI

I must disagree. She doesn't really bring the Darkness, just slurring through the song. It started out dark enough when Phil sang it.
Maybe we need Disturbed to cover it instead.

Axelotto said:

I must disagree. She doesn't really bring the Darkness, just slurring through the song. It started out dark enough when Phil sang it.
Maybe we need Disturbed to cover it instead.

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It was a combination of her voice and the music. Collins couldn't buy dark with all the money he made singing catchy pop songs. Just wasn't his thing, it reminded me of against all odds. The song to me was more depressing than dark when he sang it, her voice has an edge and controlled strength his doesn't.

Disturbed nailed Sounds of Silence, be curious to see them do a song like this to see if they just found the right song or could do it to anything.

I'll give you the desperate for Phil instead of real darkness. I have to admit I 'like his divorce/breakup period angry songs better than the pop stuff.

But I'm just not feeling the edge in her, though she's trying harder in the second half. But its also her drummer... I mean, I want angry, "beat the drums with his hands' Phil Collins, or somebody with at least that level of crushing power to be the one pounding on the drums.

Axelotto said:

I'll give you the desperate for Phil instead of real darkness. I have to admit I 'like his divorce/breakup period angry songs better than the pop stuff.

But I'm just not feeling the edge in her, though she's trying harder in the second half. But its also her drummer... I mean, I want angry, "beat the drums with his hands' Phil Collins, or somebody with at least that level of crushing power to be the one pounding on the drums.

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Got a point on the drums, I was focused more on her vocals.

She's at her best when she's angry and screaming....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GurkREc-q4I

lovecraft68 said:

Got a point on the drums, I was focused more on her vocals.

She's at her best when she's angry and screaming....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GurkREc-q4I

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Speaking of angry women singers...

Diamanda Galás & John Paul Jones, "Do You Take This Man?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQPLWbIhpw

"I'm very disappointed in you... and I don't handle disappointment well."

Or "This Is The Law Of The Plague" - it's something of an acquired taste, about 3:00 and 6:00 she sounds downright possessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEKuX8arORc

Bramblethorn said:

Speaking of angry women singers...

Diamanda Galás & John Paul Jones, "Do You Take This Man?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQPLWbIhpw

"I'm very disappointed in you... and I don't handle disappointment well."

Or "This Is The Law Of The Plague" - it's something of an acquired taste, about 3:00 and 6:00 she sounds downright possessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEKuX8arORc

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Well Law of the PLague just got the endorsement of my wife asking me what the hell is that and then saying she couldn't listen to anything that fucked up if someone paid her.

I listened to it again in the dark with my eyes closed.....wow.

Definitely getting a "No ACQ" light for Diamanda. Made me want to mash her up with Pharell singing "Happy."

Axelotto said:

Definitely getting a "No ACQ" light for Diamanda. Made me want to mash her up with Pharell singing "Happy."

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There's a you tube channel-drawing the blank on the name of course-that does song mash ups. One in particular I remember is Joan Jett's I love Rock and roll with Insane in the membrane and Jump around(okay let's face it those two songs are pretty much the same song) they come out really well

But I can't see anything being matched with this. I bookmarked her for tomorrow when my wife is going to Boston to see family for the day and I'll be alone and listen to her for a few hours while writing my latest horror novel

Should be inspiring.

lovecraft68 said:

There's a you tube channel-drawing the blank on the name of course-that does song mash ups. One in particular I remember is Joan Jett's I love Rock and roll with Insane in the membrane and Jump around(okay let's face it those two songs are pretty much the same song) they come out really well

But I can't see anything being matched with this. I bookmarked her for tomorrow when my wife is going to Boston to see family for the day and I'll be alone and listen to her for a few hours while writing my latest horror novel

Should be inspiring.

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I liked her description: "My voice was given to me as an instrument of inspiration for my friends, and a tool of torture and destruction to my enemies."

I'm about halfway through a BDSM murder series based on the combination of these two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YMU0WeBwU

MistressCassy said:

I'm about halfway through a BDSM murder series based on the combination of these two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YMU0WeBwU

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I admit, I'm intrigued. Is the story for here or for sale? Either way, I'd like to know when its done.

Another dark Johnny Cash song

God's Going to Cut You Down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJlN9jdQFSc

lovecraft68 said:

I admit, I'm intrigued. Is the story for here or for sale? Either way, I'd like to know when its done.

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Thanks very much, I will let you know when it's finished. I haven't quite managed to make the leap to Amazon (shit scared of doing it if I'm completely honest) but I'm seriously considering this series being my first.

If anyone here is on twitter and interested I'm doing my 365 days of darkness. I started yesterday(On Easter of course). A tweet each morning representing something horror related. Books, comics, movies, music.

I don't think I'm allowed to post a social media link here, but its @llcraftbooks on twitter.

Axelotto said:

But I'm just not feeling the edge in her, though she's trying harder in the second half. But its also her drummer... I mean, I want angry, "beat the drums with his hands' Phil Collins, or somebody with at least that level of crushing power to be the one pounding on the drums.

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Interesting thing about this...I was honestly confused. When the drums and vocals kick in when they are supposed to, I got goosebumps listening. I was also patient and entranced with the performance (like slow sex or a massage).

However, I bought the physical CD and ripped it to my laptop, using a nice set of Aviator headphones.

I'm using the same laptop with headphones, and listening to that YouTube upload, and it doesn't have the same impact as the album version I bought. It's the same recording, but it is ...I dunno, there's an under-layer of sound that's missing. I can't hear it. Not sure what difference listening to the CD file makes; I wouldn't have expected it.

It was also just as good live. Slow burn, haunting, good build. *shrug* But yeah, the YouTube one is different, and the video low-energy with no change when the song changes. A pity.

But I can offer a song in exchange. Not sure if it counts toward "Dark Inspirations," but war has always been a pretty dark subject.

I liked the Cranberries in the 90s. Dolores O'Riordan has a distinctive voice. She was going to reprise her best-known song, "Zombie" with a band called the "Bad Wolves" (never heard of them until this) this year, but she passed away before they could do it.

They recorded it anyway, but in a performance tribute to her original music video in theirs, and released it anyway, donating the proceeds to her children.

If you like Disturbed (and I love their cover of "Sounds of Silence" and so does my mother! ), then the Bad Wolves aren't half bad, and they did a good job honoring Dolores.

I liked the updates to the song for 2018. It also plays really well LOUD.

Bad Wolves Cover of "Zombie"

Etaski said:

I'm using the same laptop with headphones, and listening to that YouTube upload, and it doesn't have the same impact as the album version I bought. It's the same recording, but it is ...I dunno, there's an under-layer of sound that's missing. I can't hear it. Not sure what difference listening to the CD file makes; I wouldn't have expected it.

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CD won't be compressed, the YouTube version will have all life compressed out of it. YouTube isn't musical, to my ears (the content might be inherently musical, it's the playback system is the problem).

Hold on, I just need to change the record. Ah, that's better, the next twenty minutes will be okay, in Eebs world...

Bramblethorn said:

It looks as if Guillermo del Toro has given up trying to get funding for that one, which is a crying shame. I'd love to see what he'd do with it.

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Yup. I’ve heard from quasi-dubious sources that it was R. Scott’s Prometheus lackluster performance that was the fatal blow to the Moutains of Madness project. Supposedly, the monsters and themes were too similar to the ignorant.

But at least we saw Elder Things in Hellboy II. I was the only person cheering in the theater when they made their cameo. Even Mrs. Oblimo was looking at me blankly.

lovecraft68 said:

erotic horror with a feminist edge

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It’s got to be tricky reconciling Lovecraft’s fiction with feminism. His imagery and motifs are almost inapposite. The guy really liked his vagina dentata hysteria, for example.

Speaking of which, if you want quirky dark horror mixed with suburban coming of age inanity, nothing beats Teeth

Oblimo said:

It’s got to be tricky reconciling Lovecraft’s fiction with feminism. His imagery and motifs are almost inapposite. The guy really liked his vagina dentata hysteria, for example.

Speaking of which, if you want quirky dark horror mixed with suburban coming of age inanity, nothing beats Teeth

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I pay homage to HPL with my lit handle, but my writing is nothing like his. He showed nothing-hinted at, suggested etc, but left to your imagination-and I'm as in your face as you can get.

The sex is hardcore, the violence is 80's style slasher film graphic, the language harsh and politically incorrect and the themes dark with broken characters. I had someone make a comment to me that my work made him think of what it would be like if Tarantino decided to write an erotic horror novel

I took that as a high compliment even though if I ever met Tarentino in person I'd spit in his face.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out after work today.

Oblimo said:

It’s got to be tricky reconciling Lovecraft’s fiction with feminism. His imagery and motifs are almost inapposite. The guy really liked his vagina dentata hysteria, for example.

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It's an interesting challenge. I don't need to enumerate all the things that make HPL problematic, but that also makes him a tempting subject for fix-fic. I took a crack at it in one of mine a few years back, and many others have given it a shot.

I like to interpret "The Shape of Water" in that light. Certain elements of the backstory make much more sense when you notice that it's set 34 years after the Feds raided Innsmouth...

I
m inspired by whatever comes along. Last night I had the worst night terrors in the history of Earth. They were beyond fright, almost to despair. I research civil wars, and most are depraved. I wanna write modern romance where Mary Sue connects with Hitler or maybe Hillary.

Bramblethorn said:

I like to interpret "The Shape of Water" in that light. Certain elements of the backstory make much more sense when you notice that it's set 34 years after the Feds raided Innsmouth...

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I don’t think anyone would accuse Sally Hawkins of having the Innsmouth Look.

Supposedly, the Cold War setting was added on late in the proposal, as del Toro was having problems selling it to studios as a purely sexual commentary, and could only get a studio to go along with it if he dressed it up in period sociopolitical commentary as well.

As if the animus beneath the waves / woman without a voice wasn’t commentary enough.

Oblimo said:

I don’t think anyone would accuse Sally Hawkins of having the Innsmouth Look.

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"This was to be my realm, too—I could not escape it. I would never die, but would live with those who had lived since before man ever walked the earth... For bringing the upper-earth men’s death I must do a penance, but that would not be heavy."

By the end of TSoI, Olmstead has come to accept his inner Deep One and he wants to make amends for exposing the Innsmouth colony. What better way to start than by publishing a narrative that contains enough truth to help orphaned Deep Ones discover their heritage, but also enough disinformation to mislead their enemies about what to look for?

Or, perhaps Deep Ones have their own racial differences and rivalries. Under that reading, Olmstead is a Strain B Deep One describing the characteristics that are unique to Strain A. Perhaps he's just throwing Strain A to the wolves as a way of protecting his closer kin, after his screwup at Innsmouth threatened to expose all of them; perhaps there was already hostility between the two, and he deliberately exposed Innsmouth in order to use the humans against his Deep One rivals?

Or, "Robert Olmstead" sought out a certain author from Providence to help write his story, somebody who already had a name for fantasy, so he could hide clues for the orphans under cover of fiction. That author embellished on Olmstead's description of Deep Ones, making them "less human" by adding traits that he considered symptomatic of genetic corruption. Like, uh, "bulging eyes" and "thick lips", nothing problematic here, move along *cough*.

(I had some headcanon along those lines long before I ever saw TSoW; I'd made a start on a modern-day story based on that foundation, but in the last couple of years some topics have been just too depressing to write about. Anyway, when I did see TSoW I happily shoehorned it into my personal canon