Vintage Halloween Graphics

The past five weeks or so have been rough. Between sickness and the family and a break-in a week and a-half ago that cost me my computer and passport plus a few other things, it's been a bit harder than usual for me to slide into the Halloween spirit this year. Of course, I did make my annual pilgrimage to the Halloween store and that helped. Also, the fall foliage approaching its peak serves as a reminder as well. 

Still, I needed another boost, so I took a trip down memory lane and checked out some vintage Halloween photos. There's just something about the retro and vintage works that bring this special event home to me. Maybe, it's because these remind me of my childhood and I'd be willing to bet that some of these were vintage even back then. I hope these several photos invoke the spirit of Halloween for you all as well.

The top photo shows the wicked witch doing a little house cleaning. Did she scare her cat? Possibly, mine doesn't like brooms very much either.

Ghosts on Halloween indeed! It is said that this is the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. I just love the owl and cat sharing the tree together.

Hmm...There sure does seem to be a lot of concern about ghosts with these two.









A HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL!








To the best of my knowledge the above photos are all in the public domain.

Melancholy Music For Autumn: The Swan of Tuanela

Ah, October! This is the time of year when the days become noticeably short and gloomy, the air begins to take on a bit of a chill and the wind once again rustles the treetops on moon-filled nights, signaling to all that Halloween draws near. This is the season when the darker genres of music beckon to us compellingly; and why not? Melancholy music compliments the mood created by this season of death and decay perfectly. For me, doom metal, dark ambient and neoclassical dark-wave create the desired effect better than anything else I can think of. Still, there are some classical pieces that work quite nicely.

There is one such composition that I'd like to talk about in this blog post. It's a symphonic poem composed by the Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius, and it's called The Swan of Tuanela, which in turn, is part of a larger musical work known as the Lemminkäinen Suit or the Four Legends from the Kalevala. Needless to say, this musical work is steeped in a very compelling piece of Finnish mythology.

As the story goes, a young warrior and shaman named Lemminkäinen falls in love with one of the daughters of Louhi, a sorceress, shape shifter and Queen of the dark realm of Pohjola. Louhi tells the warrior that she will allow him to take her daughter's hand in marriage only if he brings back the dead body of the Swan of Tuonela, a supernatural creature that swims around Tuonela, the haunted island of the dead that is ruled by the dark god Tuoni.

Of course, lots can go wrong for Lemminkäinen because he goes forth on a most perilous journey indeed. My purpose for this post however, is to introduce my readers to the beautiful but melancholy music inspired by the myth rather than delve too deeply into the story itself. It is an interesting tale though, and you can read how everything turns out by following this link.

As for Sibelius' symphonic poem itself, the piece serves as a wonderful musical accompaniment to the mythology that inspired it, or it stands alone as suitable listening on a rainy, blustery October afternoon. It was written for a small orchestra consisting of cor anglais (an oboe type instrument), bass clarinet, various horns and brass instruments, oboe, harp and strings. The cor anglais serves as the voice of the swan.

I hope you'll give this melancholic music a listen. It's not too long and it may just make a gloomy autumn afternoon even more enjoyable.

           

Sedlec Ossuary: The Bone Church

Underneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, which is situated in the town of Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic, lies the Sedlec Ossuary. Otherwise known as The Bone Church, it is believed that Sedlic Ossuary contains the skeletal remains of between 40,000 and 70,000 people. What makes this particular ossuary unique is the fact that it takes the form of a  Roman Catholic chapel; one elaborately decorated with the bones of the deceased. Understandably, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Czech Republic drawing an estimated 200,000 visitors per year.

The ossuary's beginning goes back to the year 1278, when King Otakar of Bohemia sent Henry, Abbot of Cedlec's Cistercian Monastery, to the Holy Land. The abbot returned with a jar full of soil he had collected from Golgotha, the alleged site of Jesus' crucifixion. Once Henry sprinkled the jar's contents in the abbey cemetery, that graveyard became one of the most popular burial grounds in Central Europe.

The Black Death arrived on the continent during the 14h century, extinguishing the lives of between 75 to 200 million people. The early15 century saw the beginning of the Hussite Wars, which also claimed many
thousands of lives. Needless to say, many thousands of people were buried in the abbey cemetery as a result of these two occurrences; and due to the dire need for more burial space, the graveyard had to be enlarged.

Around the beginning of the 15th century a Gothic-styled church was constructed in the middle of the cemetery. The church contained a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel intended to serve as an ossuary for all of the skeletal remains unearthed during construction. Older graves were also unearthed in order to make way for newer burials. The bones of these deceased were also stored in the chapel ossuary.

In 1870 the aristocratic Schwarzenberg family commissioned a wood carver named Frantisek Rindt to arrange the chapel's contents into some type of logical order. Mr. Rindt proceeded to decorate and create furnishings to the entire chapel with the human remains he was charged with, thereby making the Sedlec Ossuary one of the world's great macabre spectacles.

        

   












This spectacular chandelier (above), which hovers over the chapel, is said to consist of every bone in the human body.

Have you seen a cross made from leg bones and human skulls before?

Four corners of the chapel consist of huge piles of human skulls. Is it any wonder that a friendly group of goths would visit a place such as this?

And that dear reader, is the story of The Bone Church.

All photos appear courtesy of Mira Miramariann
and Morten Marius Hansen.

What's Happening to the Goth Scene?

During the last two or three days of July, unsubstantiated rumors began making their way through social media stating that Alt-Fest, a U.K.-based event billed as a new-metal festival, had been cancelled. On August 1, event organizers release an official statement,
which verified the veracity of the rumors. The concept of this event, which had been considered unique by many, had been cancelled.
Had Alt-Fest occurred, it would have been much more than simply a metal event as plans called for four musical stages. The main stage would have featured performances by Marilyn Manson, Fields of the Nephilim and The Cult, to name a few. The other three stages had each been devoted to providing musical performances exclusively in the electronica, metal and goth genres.

In their official statement the event organizers pointed out that cancellation was necessary because they hadn't sold nearly enough tickets to cover band and other expenses. This admission seems to have set off a lively debate on social media as to whether or not Alt-Fest's demise reflects a slow demise of goth culture as a whole. The Vampire Freaks social site released its own Ode to the Organizers,
which concludes by speculating on the possibility that our culture and scene are slowly fading away. Others of course, argue that Alt-Fest was simply a first attempt by its organizers who sadly, were likely inexperienced and found themselves in over their heads. And let's not forget that there are still some highly successful festivals, such as Whitby, which occurs twice a year, and Wave Gotik Treffen. Then again, Prague Gothic Treffen, is set to take place at the end of this month in the Czech Republic. So, the scene is certainly not dead.

Still, Alt-Fest's demise and the ensuing discussions have me thinking about how the scene is faring, not only throughout the United States, but locally and regionally. In my last post, which I entitled The Demise of a Venue,
I mentioned that The Stolen Glass, that very accessible and likely, reasonably priced venue at which we had been holding our Darkness Resurrected Dance Nights, had closed its doors. Further, the Ravenwood Gothic Community had been planning to hold its annual reunion there as well. At the time, I considered the club's closing a bad omen indeed.

At about the same time, I noticed an event promoter in the Tulsa area bemoaning the sometimes low turnout for his events. He moved his affair to Oklahoma City and apparently, enjoyed a successful first night. The question is, will attendance remain high for the next event, and the one after that? Only time will tell.

There's a theory that keeps popping up and it's based upon the belief that musical preferences are slowly driving scene members apart. The argument goes like this: The more traditional folks, who tend to be older, prefer the music that the scene was originally based upon. They want to hear bands like The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy or even newer dark-wave/industrial groups. Younger people, on the other hand, tend to enjoy electronica more. My observation is that at times, various event organizers seem at a loss to bridge this gap. Quite frankly, I think Darkness Resurrected handled things well by playing the more traditional material during the first hour before focusing more on electronic music later on. I'm not sure if that's the answer for everybody, but it might be worth a try.

All things considered, it's hard to tell what might be happening with our sub culture. I know that nothing can remain the same and yet continue being vibrant. Things have to change somewhat; stagnation isn't good; and that most definitely applies to music. Yet, I also realize that things can change to the point that a sub culture is no longer recognizable. In places such as Germany, the United Kingdom and yes, even the Czech Republic, Goth is still doing well. But I am concerned about things here in the States and particularly, here in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

While working on this post I took a break for a minute and jumped over to Facebook, where I found a new post by Darkness Resurrected. Due to the closing of The Stolen Glass and other reasons, Darkness Resurrected Dance Night is being relocated to Little Rock for the next two or three years.While I totally understand the reasons behind the decision and I wish the event organizer every success with his endeavors, I have to admit that I've been overtaken by a cloud of sadness. Little Rock is about 175 miles from where I live and I seriously doubt that I'll be able to make it down there very often, if at all. At the moment, I'm taking solace in the fact that at least the metal scene is thriving up here. Still, metal may be my music of choice and a lot of neat people attend metal events, but it's not the same as going to a goth event.  I'll most definitely miss attending the latter as well as seeing the new friends I'd made.

As for omens, I think really do portend the future sometimes.
 
Photo source: Gothic Pictures Gallery
Artist unknown