Halloween Myspace Layouts
Always wanted to be a photographer of nature.
From 1989 thru 1996 I was the publisher and editor of the small press horror fiction magazine called GATHERING
DARKNESS . In 1997, Gathering Darkness
went online, where it still remains, showcasing hundreds of works of fiction, dark poetry and art.
I went on to create something that is very close to my heart; MONSTER
MAGS . Monster Mags is a website that celebrates the cover art of such horror magazines as Famous Monsters Of Filmland (Uncle Forry's era), Fangoria. And the horror comics from the late 60's and early 70's: Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Skywald's Nightmare; Scream; Psycho, Witches Tales, Tales From The Tomb, Horror Tales, Terror Tales, Tales Of Voodoo and Weird.
Churchy and Psycho Rick take a "munch" break!
Look who Churchy "DUG" up
The TRUE Computer Whiz
PSYCHO-PUSSY
I would like to have Alice Cooper meet my wife. She is one of his biggest fans that I have ever met. See she's going blind but before she completely looses her sight I would to have her see Alice in concert, and maybe met him in person. As for me...I would like to be able to have spent more time with my Dad and Grandpa. Would like to be able to spend more time with my sister Terri, my mom Barb, and of course my partner in crime the goose-stepping and cousin Phil. And be a real Grandpa to Keith and Reed. Plus reconnect with the old gang from Fairview Park; Karen, Mark, Rick E., Mike L., Mike Myers (no not the comic actor or a fictional movie boogeyman), Sue Ellen Kelly, Rick Bruce, Gary Graham, Kim Drake. I have no real regrets in the paths I have taken in life. I have a decent life with a good woman that really loves me.
I don't generally pigeon-hole my music tastes. Although my parents helped influence my early interest in listening to music, as I
can recalled there was almost always something spinning on the turntable or playing on the radio. Later in the 60's I got my first
transistor radio, music was portable. Pretty high tech for the time. Then Dad landed a job at Columbia Records in Terre Haute.
Less said here the better. Let's just said my interests and tastes in music expanded. Around that time is when FM Radio started
around my area. Another door opened. Family members (mainly my cousin Phil and Uncle Jack) and friends (Karen Myers
etc) started sharing the music they liked. I then discovered Circus Magazine. Or course being old enough to go to concerts in
Terre Haute. But I must confess the tribal-sharing of marihuana helped to expose me to lots of music. Of course one cannot
leave television out of the picture. Ed Sullivan (on Ed's show the performers played live) did as much for music as Dick Clark
(on American Bandstand the performers lip-synced) did. There were other imitators but Ed and Dick were the best. Or course,
MTV in the 1980's. Then the internet and file-sharing. Then Grunge was "discovered" just when I had nearly given up on music
all together. Alice In Chains stands out as the best of the lot for me. But Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine
and Nirvana are equally good. And Susi introduced me to Therapy? and Bad Religion, both bands have never made a bad or
mediocare album.
All in all, I like what I like. There are certain groups and performers that I have more affection for and
who's music is more appealing to my ears. Some of those are listed below.and are in no particular order. But as far as
performers that are major influences on my tastes, I think it's safe to say that they are; The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi
Hendrix, Black Sabbath, The Alice Cooper Group, Joe Cocker (for the blues), Genesis (Peter Gabriel era) and more recently
Warren Haynes, Gov't Mule and the Aussie band Electric Mary are really exciting.
When it comes to the music of the 1970's, I feel like Charlie Brown in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" when he says, 'Isn't
there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?'.
My questions is; 'Isn't there anyone out there that
remembers what the music of the 70's was really like?' I REMEMBER! I grew up in the late 60's and 1970's, and I'm here to
tell you brothers and sisters, it sure as hell was NOT Disco music. Disco didn't really appear on the scene until the the mid to
late 70's...and died a quick death...thanks the gods for that.
The REAL music (before it became a business thanks to
Frampton, Fleetwood Mac "Stevie Nicks era" and Boston) was original, new and exciting. Groups Like Black Sabbath, Alice
Cooper, Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, Montrose, Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush, Humble Pie, REO Speedwagon
(REO TWO still one of my favorite LPs) etc. Plus the Motown sounds of The Temptations, Four Tops, Sly Stone on and on.
Then there was Punk, rock and roll stripped down to the bone. Honest and in your face, not giving a fuck who they pissed off.
Even the Bubblegum music was decent.
It really ticks me off when people talk about the 70's music and mainly talk about
the self-indulgent era of Disco. That music died a deserving death, it was driven by white's on cocaine who thought they had
rhythm and could dance like the talented people on Soul Train. And those godawful polyester pants and shirts.
YEEECCCHHH!!
ALICE IN CHAINS
BLACK SABBATH
ALICE COOPER GROUP
GOV'T MULE
WARREN
HAYNES
PINK FLOYD
MUDDY WATERS
THERAPY? (my wife turned me on to them, great band, very
original)
GENESIS (with Peter Gabriel)
STEPPENWOLF
HOWLIN WOLF
ROBIN TROWER
JIMI
HENDRIX
THE DOORS
THE BEATLES
JOHN LENNON
THE ROLLING STONES
JANIS
JOPLIN
HUMBLE PIE
TEN YEARS AFTER
MEGADETH
AC/DC
KROKUS (these guys are very
underrated -- "Screaming In The Night" is a masterpiece)
MAD SEASON
TEMPLE OF THE
DOG
SOUNDGARDEN (until they made a bad selling LP and then broke-up)
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH &
YOUNG
JOHNNY CASH
WILLIE NELSON
TOM LEHRER
SPIKE JONES
GRAND FUNK
RAILROAD
MONTROSE (w/ Sammy Hagar)
AEROSMITH (in the 70s when they were on drugs)
OZZY
OSBOURNE
BAD RELIGION
MOTORHEAD
LOVE/HATE
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
ZZ
TOP And all of the hard rock, grunge and metal (now called Classic Rock) of the late 1960's and early to mid 1970's.
I dispise Hip-Hop, Rap, what passes as Pop these days. Also find U2 (probably shoulld say Bono) overrated, boring and
un-original. And Boston. They're music is too clean and crisp to be called Rock. I met the band in 1977, while working at
Columbia Records. They had a concert that night and visited the plant. Previously, I had spent months telling all of my friends
about these guys and playing their music. The band came to my press, I went to shake their bands, and got nothing but a bad
look and they stuck their noses in the air at me. What a lot of pompus assholes. So I say FUCK BOSTON!!!!!
My favorite Monster of all-time. Still love this film...and always will. A Masterpiece!
Horror! Anything horror -- big budget, small budget, no budget. I love Italian Horror. MOVIES: Dagon, Scarecrows (very underrated), Re-Animator, Night of the Living Dead (actually all four "Dead" movies), Without Warning, all Evil Dead Films (to be honest anything with Bruce Campbell), Alien, Aliens, From Beyond, Suspiria, Deep Red, Route 666, Dog Soldiers, Ginger Snaps (all three), Blade, Blade 2, Blade 3, Easy Rider (saw it five times in a row at the Palace in my hometwon of Clinton, Indiana), What Ever Happened To Baby Jane, Young Frankenstein, African Queen, basically anything with Humphrey Bogart or James Stewart. Anything Monty Python. Good comedies like Planes Trains & Automobiles, Groundhog Day, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Rat Race, etc.
Sammy Terry, the horror host of NIGHTMARE THEATER, Forrest J. Ackerman (editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland) have been a major influence in my life. I have never met a horror film that I absolutely hated, maybe didn't like but never hated. Well there was 13 Seconds and Nightmare Weekend.
And anything with Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood. All three are too cool for words.
I'm a big fan of The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy.
I love old films from the 1930's and 1940's and 1950's (even the silent films of the 1920's). The Classics / Vintage Horror films when Karloff was King. That was when film making was an art. Even the Z-Grade and PRC films had a bit of art to them. Just about anything come to think about of, which means that there are so damn many films I like that I could not name them all, and I'm constantly discovering new films. But mainly I'm a avid horror fan. And I'm an active member of www.imdb.com.
Dead Like Me, Doctor Who (all incarnations of the Doctor), Black Adder, Mr. Bean, Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Red Green, Monk, House, Psych, X-Files, Tales From The Darkside, Monsters, Addams Family, Munsters, Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Outer Limits, Nightmare Theater w/ Sammy Terry, Dirty Jobs, Simpsons, Greg The Bunny, Family Guy, Spongebob, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Odd Parents, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Roger Ramjet, old Warner Brothers Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies Cartoons (before PC).
Anything by Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, D.F. Lewis, Geoff Jackson, and all of Stephen King's earlier novels, novellas and short stories.
My Dad, the person who taught me how to be a man, a gentleman, a father, and to be who I am. And who was a closet horror and Monty Python fan. I miss you, Pop.
Miss Ya Dad
Dec. 18, 2002
And of course my wife, Susi (aka Telltale Heart). She's smart (a lot smarter than yours truly), beautiful, wonderful, fun to hang-out with, my best friend, my soulmate, partner in crime, enjoys my cooking, has great taste in music - movies - and hummm men (hint). A loving mother, grandma and wife. I've never been so loved by anyone as much as I am by Susi. She's just great to be around. And I've never been so happy! I adore you, Susi.
And my baby sister, Terri. This woman has gone through more than anyone should have to, and yet still manages to smile through it all. Instead of leaving Clinton like her older brother did, she stuck it out. And I'm glad that she did, she was there for our parents when they needed support when Dad was ill. And she's there for Mom after Dad passed away...and she's still there for Mom. She's a stronger person than I'll ever hope to be. I'm proud to call you my sister. I love you Terri Lynn.
and of course, Forrest J. Ackerman.