Dracula Must Die

The haunted house Halloween edition of the Beautiful was hosted by Lizzie Violet. She set a very high standard for costume which no one else quite reached. Winner of the costume prize, by audience applause, was Koom Kankesan with his Death By Consumerism – credit card embedded in the brain – look.

First feature John Oughton performed in a semi-see-through skull mask to keep with the darkness of the night. His work is sharply observed, tightly-crafted and sometime amusing. of Honest Ed’s: ‘the world turn to Ed to see just how cheap a man can be.’ ‘life is a sneeze that blesses itself.’ ‘movies show us how reality is edited into memory.’

When I saw that David Nickle was going to feature I was fanboy excited, have read & enjoyed his books. He did not disappoint with two eerie pieces – first one about a city literally haunted by the spirit of a hit-and-run victim; then ‘Dracula Must Die’ his kindergarten take on Buffy – as the kids take on the Dracula child in day care with them. Funny and tense.

Music feature  James Roy Daley turned out to be another horror writer/editor whom I’ve enjoyed over the past year but I didn’t realize he was also a singer/songwriter. His was Ricky Nelson possessed by the spirit of Eddie Munster. Sweet folk-rock love ballads with very, very dark turns: ‘I might be killing her/but I’m thinking of you.’ A great set. A great show and a chilling time was had by all.

Movie Night

we had been wandering the wilderness

with only popcorn and jumbo colas

to give us sustenance and strength

on day two of our trek through the multiplex

looking for an exit

that didn’t lead to yet another theatre experience

where we were nudged into seats

to be pummelled by loud

ceaseless

ultra high HD adverts

and promises of real good movies next week

the washrooms were at the end of crooked

unlit corridors

with doors that seems velcroed to the floor

while we were holding in

as best we could

the gut rumbling cheese food

used to soak the nachos and chilli

no toilet paper

only hand driers

gleaming white sink

and hands free taps

of luke warm water

all strawberry lemon scented

tv screens instead of mirrors over the sinks

with more trailers of better movies coming next week

someone moaning in a locked cubical

the corridor changed direction when we left

looking for the movie we had come to see

clutching our tickets we waved to ushers

who were busy on cell phones

by the end of day three we found the movie

we’d paid to see

only to discover it was no longer showing

and we couldn’t get a refund

but they did offer half price nachos and chilli

the next time we came to a movie

because there would be better movies next week

after an elevator  two escalators

we found ourselves back on the street

the sunset darkened

by the closing credits of our movie