The Return of Voltaire

After arising this morning, I plopped down in front of my desk and took my first sips of coffee. As is often the case, I grabbed my phone and took my first look at Facebook. "Ah, a notification," I said to myself. Opening it, I saw that it was an event invitation from a friend. As I continued reading, a surge of excitement ran through me. Within a matter of seconds, my morning caffeine fix became totally unnecessary (although I continued drinking anyway). "Oh wow!" I exclaimed. "He's coming back already?"

A bit more investigation on my part revealed the truthfulness of the matter: Voltaire himself is returning to Fayetteville for another performance at George's Majestic Lounge
on March 22. All I can say is, he must have had a good time with us last summer because I wouldn't expect him to return so soon. Appearing with him will be Annabel Evil from Vampire Freaks in New York City.

Today, I feel like a kid awaiting Christmas. The difference is that instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in my head when I next drift off into dreamland, I'll be seeing
Doom Ponies. The good times just seem to keep rolling on!   

Saturday's Darkness Resurrected Dance Night

On the night of Saturday, February 15, the first Darkness Resurrected Dance Night of the new year kicked off at The Stolen Glass in downtown Fayetteville. The Valentine's Hangover Party, as it was so name, began an hour earlier than usual with the new 8:00 to 9:00 pm slot dedicated to a more traditional goth/dark-wave musical repertoire. As my personal reward for arriving early, I was treated to the sounds of bands such as Type O Negative, Clan of Xymox, London After Midnight and Celtic Frost; to name a few.

While I didn't try to count the number of attendees in any serious way, I suspect that last Saturday's affair brought in the largest number of attendees for any Darkness Resurrected night to date; encouraging news indeed for those of us hoping to see more of these events in the future.

Speaking for myself, I had a pretty good time. A little after my arrival some friends whom I hadn't seen since the Voltaire concert back in July startled me by sneaking up while I was nursing my first Guiness. It was good to see them and their appearance pretty much guaranteed that I would end up playing at least one game of pool before the night was through. I wasn't disappointed on that account even if my performance on the table was a bit below average even for me. Also, Saturday night was very productive in that I made some new acquaintances. Some of these were folks I'd seen before and had been wanting to meet and some were there for the first time. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing these folks at future events.  

The Deejays for the evening included DJ Durandal (of course), DJ Axis Stevens from Tulsa, Oklahoma, DJ Deathjest; also from Tulsa, and DJ Anthony Bale. As usual, I thought all four provided us with a good mix of danceable music. I took secret delight in hearing the haunting melodies of Dead Can Dance and the teasingly danceable rhythm of Lucretia My Reflection w hile concentrating on my pool game. One thing I always find neat about these gatherings is that in the days following the event, each deejay posts his or her playlist for that night. That's how I found out  the name  of the Celtic Dust song that I enjoyed so much that evening. It's called Drown in Ashes, and I've been enjoying the heck out of it now that I have access to it.

While the next Darkness Resurrected Dance Night will likely not be held until some time in May, I can't help but wonder what it may hold in store. You see, when I entered the venue and paid my modest cover charge, I received a ticket for free entrance to a so-called mystery event that is in the planning for some time in the future. Ah yes, an air of intrigue should be the perfect tool to keep us waiting in anticipation for our next gathering--or perhaps the next!

Many thanks to all the Deejays, those who worked the door, the venue staff and everyone who came and helped make the Valentine's Hangover Party a night to remember.

The above photo appears courtesy of Darkness Resurrected. 

 

Vampire's Day Soiree

The big day has finally arrived and once again, I find myself participating in the Vampire's Day Soiree, a special event sponsored by Holly, owner of the Blog Holly's Horrorland, a place where you can most definitely find a "collection of creepy curiosities." 

Since I don't have a valentine and since I'm not much for most celebrations created with the sole purpose of hooking people into spending money, Valentine's Day doesn't mean all that much to me. But the Vampire's Day Soiree? Oh yeah! The day not only serves as a marker for me indicating that the end of winter is approaching, but it serves as an alternative I can better relate to as I really enjoy vampire films, literature and programming; that is, provided that it's done well. What I consider well done might well serve as a topic for another post. For now, let's just say that I think there has been an over abundance of vampire material on TV--and it hasn't all been good. As a matter of fact, I just sent three episodes of True Blood back to Netflix without watching the last one. For the first few seasons I really enjoyed the series. I endured season 4 but as I got into season 5, I just couldn't take any more. As far as I'm concerned, they've run that program into the ground and I've lost interest. As I said, this is a topic for another day. 

What I'd like to do for this Vampire's Day Soiree is offer an excerpt from my own latest short story with a vampire theme entitled A Fall From Grace. Although this particular piece is complete in and of itself, I'm working on a sequel, which I've been struggling with a bit but hope to finish soon. Here then, s the excerpt:

An expression of wanton lust overtook her. She stroked his face sensually before beginning to slowly pace in front of him, only inches away. “I can sense the uncertainty in you,” she continued. “You fear me; yet, I sense your desire to surrender. I can smell it in your blood--and I love it!”
 

Unable to speak, his own level of desire growing by the second, Jessie could only moan in response.

She abruptly stopped in front of him and smiled seductively. Then, bringing her face to his chest, she began kissing and biting him passionately, working her way upward, ever upward, sending the man into his own private Heaven. When she reached the base of his neck she could no longer contain herself. Within seconds, she opened her mouth wide; biting him, penetrating his skin with two sharp fangs.

The predator moaned ecstatically as she greedily drank his life essence. In spite of her many kills over the years, no human’s blood had ever offered sweetness such as this. She could taste his innocence as well as the darkness he could never face. She reveled in the flavor of his fear as it meshed with an abject surrender to his fate.

 
As her victim slipped into unconsciousness and his body fell limp, the predator slowly eased him down to the floor before continuing to assuage her blood lust.   

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't direct you to Holly's Site. She is after all, the creator of the Vampire's Day Soiree, which in my mind is fast becoming a February tradition. I would link directly to her January 14 post about the soiree because that's where you can find all the participants. Still, in this case, it might just be better if I link to her main page. That way, you won't miss anything if she posts more for the celebration tonight or tomorrow. If not, just scroll down the page and you'll find her original soiree post below the one entitled Quoth the Raven. There are currently 18 links to the blogs of all participants. I hope that you'll visit them as well to see what vampire-related material they've for  celebration.  And many thanks to Holly for holding this Vampire's Day Soiree 2014! Here's the link to Holly's Horrorland.


And now, if you all don't mind, I'm off to watch The Awakening, a horror film never before seen by me.





 

Up and Coming: Darkness Resurrected-Valentine's Day Hangover

It has been a while since I've mentioned anything here about Fayetteville's Darkness Resurrected Dance Night. Considering that most of my readers are not local to me, I thought it best to feature it in a post after the affair was held for the first time, but then move on to other topics; this, in spite of my continued enthusiasm for the bi-monthly event and my hopes for its continued success. 

This week however, I do want to talk about it again; and I'd like to do so in the context of of what appears to be an unfolding phenomenon across the nation, the incremental disappearance of goth clubs and goth nights. 

Why this is happening is open to speculation, but my opinion is that both the scene and many involved with it are getting older. It seems that every so many years some new alternative, musical style or celebrity comes along that catches the fancy of the younger generation for awhile, thereby setting the interested on a new and perhaps unique path. New subcultures develop. Then, there's the fact that as people get older, they become more settled and have less need to frequent night clubs with all the excitement that thrives in them. Speaking only for myself, I'm generally quite contented to watch an episode of Dark Shadows and then read a few pages in The Lives of the Mayfair Witches or whatever before turning in for the night; especially during these cold winter months. It's also quite common to hear folks complaining about the newer music played at various Goth or alternative venues. Many, it would seem, prefer that the music remain truer to the style of original dark wave or goth rock. 

Whatever the reason for the growing rarity of Goth events, I feel that we in the Fayetteville area should consider ourselves fortunate that we have Darkness Resurrected Dance Nights. After all, this is an event that continues the traditions of the original goth scene and for many, it's a chance to get together with old friends and acquaintances. I know that DJ Durandal and his fellow Deejays and supporters work hard and sometimes travel many miles in order to make these happenings successful. Now that's dedication to a cause!

After a bit of online discussion with DJ Durandal, an announcement appeared on the Valentine's Day Hangover's Facebook page.
It seems that a full hour of the older music will be offered, starting at 8:00 pm. An hour of old-school goth earlier in the evening? How can I resist?
The main event takes begins at 9:00 pm and runs until 2:00 am at the Stolen Glass in downtown Fayetteville on Saturday February 15. Lots of folks showed up for the Halloween costume party back on November 1. Hopefully, it will be the same this time around.        

Coming Soon: Vampire's Day Soiree

Finally, it's February! For a while I was wondering if we'd ever make it through the month of January. Sometimes I could swear that the month has 60 days instead of 31 as they want us to believe; especially, when the cold has been as intense and prolonged as it was this year. January just seems to drag on forever.

At any rate, we're through the most miserable month of the year and I find myself eagerly looking forward to an annual event that takes place on February 14. No, I'm not referring to Valentine's Day. Instead, I'll be participating in a celebration called the Vampire's Day Soiree, which is sponsored by Holly from the popular blog, Holly's Horrorland. As the creator of this affair, Holly describes the happening this way: "A blogger event and an alternative to Valentine's Day. For those who prefer love at first bite."

So how does a person participate? First, you'll need to get signed up by following this link to Holly's Horrorland
and then following the instructions. When the special day arrives, you participate by posting something on your own blog about our these blood-thirsty creatures of the night and providing a link back to the Horrorland's main page. That's all there is to it.

Over the last couple of years in which I've participated, Holly has provided both a forum for discussion among fellow bloggers and an opportunity to discover new blogs and perhaps, make new friends. What she has up her sleeve this time around is anybody's guess, but I'm willing to be that whatever she does will make participation enjoyable and worthwhile.

As for me, I plan on posting an excerpt here from one of my recent short stories entitled A Fall From Grace. So mark February 14 on your calendar, participate if this interests you and then join Holly and the rest of us for this special celebration. We'll see you then.