Tuneful Tuesday: Yes, I am the Devil

They're the greatest singing puppets on YouTube and they're making their Terror Titans debut with a seasonally appropriate tune!

Tuneful Tuesday with the Melodicka Brothers

The annual Halloween celebration here at Terror Titans got brought to a screeching halt by the horror show that is real life. So, instead we're going to be sharing some of the stuff we had INTENDED to post during the second half of October in 2024 on a sporadic basis throughout the coming year... starting now!

We're starting things with a surpringly good cover by the Melodika Brothers. It's not surprising that they once again have delivered something clever and well-conceived... no, what's surprising is how effective Ricky Martin's famous party anthem "Living La Vida Loca" translates into the horror genre! I mean, it's been there the whole time, but I've just never noticed!

And the video--which tells the tale of a ghost hunt--is excellent!

Tuneful Tuesday: It's Just Another Day with Oingo Boingo

Oingo Boingo was another favorite band of my youth, with "Just Another Day" ranking among my most beloved song by them. Not only is it a cool and creepy song, but it inspired a number of my favorite creations for my personal roleplaying game campaigns.

If you are unfamiliar with the song, check it out. If you are familiar with the song, check it out again. It's bound to make you feel the Spirit of Halloween lurking in the closest shadow!

Tuneful Tuesday with Duran Duran: Night Boat

I love music videos from the 1980s and early 1990s, because so many of them were mini-movies. The video for "Night Boat" in one such item. Plus, it's all mysterious and spooky, with young men wait for the arrival of a woman none of them have seen before on an isolated boat dock.

It's a great little nugget to help spur the Halloween Spirit in your vicinity.

Night Boat (1983)

Starring: Duran Duran

Director: Russell Mulcahy

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Tuneful Tuesday: Lyric Noel

On Friday, October 4, 2024, Lyric Noel released "All Hallows Eve Volume 1", a Halloween-themed EP, on pretty much any streaming platform you care to mention (like here at Amazon Music). If you like hard rock, I think you'll like it... and I think everyone will love Noel's powerful voice and will be impressed by her range. 

Check out the music video for "Cry Little Sister" below to get a taste of the EP (and Noel in general) has to offer. She and her band are so talented that I even liked the growly "death metal" parts of the song. And I usually HATE such Cookie Monster homages almost anywhere they are found. (Until this point, only Psychostick had done "growly" without causing me to snarl.)

Tuneful Tuesday: Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo

One of the greatest mysteries in the history of music is why "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo never became popular enough to make it to Top 100 Charts in the United States. It's one of my favorite songs, bar none, and it's also one of the best tunes by that legendary Danny Elfman-led band.

 

"Dead Man's Party" is also a perfect bit of music to get you in a Halloweenish mood, so it's an ideal tune to restore life to Terror Titans for this year's 31 Nights of Halloween extravaganza!

Do you love this song as much as I do? Do you NOT like it at all? Let me know with a comment below!

Tuneful Tuesday with Lily Allen

31 Nights of Halloween: Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th (2023)
Starring: Amanda Worley, Sidney Gates, and 
Director: Alex Magana
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

It's not the greatest short film in the world, no. It's just a tribute.

In this two minute short, Alex Magana gives us a taste of the Friday the 13th slasher series, as well as a sampling of his own style... and some of the grisly humor that is often present in his films. I was having a hard time deciding how to observe a Friday the 13th during the 31 Nights of Halloween... and then this premiered on the ACM Official YouTube Channel!

It's just two minutes long, but you'll still get several great moments. Amanda Worley has the best of these, but almost everything here is perfectly timed. Check it out!

It makes sense that a filmmaker who's become something of a fixture during the 31 Nights of Halloween should be the one to provide the perfect tidbit, at just the right time! (Although I am starting to wonder how that parking garage stays open, what with the number of unsolved disappearances and brutal murders that happen there. It has to be the most dangerous place in the Maganaverse...)

And speaking of "Tribute"... after you watch the great Friday the 13th tribute, rock out to the song that the opening lines for this review are a tribute to.

Tuneful Tuesday with Voltaire

Here's a fun animated video to a song by the guy who someone should hire to write the theme of Halloween. I hope you enjoy! (And make sure to stay for the twist ending!)

The Night (2016)
Song Performed by: Voltaire
Director: Daria Cohen
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Tuneful Tuesday with Valentino Khan

What if Junji Ito (the guy behind these works, some of which inspired these films) created a music video? Well, it would probably be something like this:

The perfect song for this Tuneful Tuesday

 

We're bringing in the Day of the Dead (and an early start to the Holiday Season) with style... thanks for Lindsey Stirling and Friends!

Danses Macabre on Halloween!

The big day is here--Halloween 2022! We're going to be celebrating it with several posts both here at and our sister blog Shades of Gray. A running theme will be versions of the spooky classic "Danse Macabre", as we bring you thrilling interpretations of that great piece of music, along with exciting visuals.

If you just want to keep up with the music at Shades of Gray, click here. A post with a different version to of Danse Macabre will show up every few hours between now and when darkness falls across the land and Halloween begins in earnest!

Meanwhile, you'll also find tidbits of terror set on Halloween here, along with more versions of "Danse Macabre" sprinkled in every few hours. So join us here or at Shades of Gray whenever you need to recharge between preparing for party guests, or the waves of trick-or-treaters.

And so, here's the Tempus Quartet with an excellent rock-tinged version of "Danse Macabre" and a really cool performance video, featuring ballerina Elisa Montiel standing in for the dancing spirits.

Tuneful Tuesday: Experiment IV

Here's a classic video and song from the great Kate Bush seems perfect for the final Tuneful Tuesday of these 31 Nights of Halloween.

By the way, I chose that particular portrait of Kate Bush, as well as to not to say too much about the nature and the horrors coming in the video for "Experiment IV", because I didn't want to spoil the experienced for those younger people who have discovered Bush's work through its use in the "Stranger Things" television show this year, and who may not have come across this masterful video and song yet.

While I have known and loved this song for decades, I don't think I'd seen this music video before coming across it while preparing this year's post line-up. While the song inspired an idea for a dark and sinister tale--like so many of Kate Bush's songs, this one sketches out a story and prompts the listener to fill in the details with his or her imagination--it wasn't the tale that unfolds in this short film set to music.

Whether it's new to you, or a return to an old favorite, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And I thank you for visiting during this Halloween Season!

Experiment IV (1986)

Starring: Kate Bush, Richard Vernon, Hugh Laurie, Dawn French, Del Palmer, and Peter Vaughan

Director: Kate Bush

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Dance with the Dead on a Tuneful Tuesday

Every so often, I come across a short film or a music video where I will spoil the experience if I say too much about what unfolds in it. This is one of those. I recommend sitting back and enjoying the hard-rocking instrumental tune and the ride with a guy (played by Kirk Enochs) who has a need for speed and a car with a need for fuel!

Sledge (2021)
Starring: Kirk Enochs, Danielle Victoria, Galen Howard, and Anuradha Senevi
Director: Djay Brawner
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Dance with the Dead is a California-based duo who perform metal-tinged electronic music that's deeply rooted in darkness and horror. You can explore their catalogue here.

Tuneful Tuesday with Kate Bush

Today's Tuneful Tuesday is different than anything we usually present during the 31 Nights of Halloween, in that it's 40 minutes long and it's a musical. Yes, a musical.

The Line, the Cross, and the Curve (1993)

Starring: Kate Bush, Miranda Richardson, and Lindsey Kemp

Director: Kate Bush

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A multi-talented musician and performer (Bush) is going through a crisis of confidence when a supernatural creature (Richardson) tricks her into putting on a pair of cursed pointe shoes. She must travel through alien dimensions and confront demons to remove the curse before she is compelled to dance herself to death. 

"The Line, the Cross, and the Curve" is the rarest of films: It's a musical that is also succeeds brilliantly at being a dark fantasy film. Given that Kate Bush is not only a highly skilled dancer, musician and vocalist, but also has a talent telling stories infused with ethereal spookiness and outright horror, she could well have been the only creator in the 1990s who could have pulled this off. Or the only creator, ever.

Partly inspired by a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and a movie from the 1940s (both titled "The Red Shoes"), this film is built around songs from Bush's album "The Red Shoes". It was made as the music video was reaching its creative pinnacle as a format, and it deserves to be ranked among the very best of those efforts. (The film did win some awards Back in the Day, and it was also broken up into pieces to serve as videos for the songs featured.)

"The Line, the Cross, and the Curve" is beautifully shot and brimming with great music. It may be a bigger time commitment than items we generally offer for your entertainment during the Halloween Season, but we think you'll find this a very enjoyable.

Tuneful Tuesday with Violet & the Melodicka Bros

The Melodicka Bros. and Violet Orlandi return again for this year's 31 Nights of Halloween with cover tunes and videos that turn pop classics into horror film tributes! 

 

First up, we have "Stayin' Alive" serving as the backdrop for a zombie saga on the scale of "Dawn of the Dead" or "Night of the Living Dead"!

Stayin' Alive (2021)

Starring: Dave Melodicka, Joe Melodicka, and Violet Orlandi

Director: Fillipo Borsini and the Melodicka Bros.

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

It's the Day of the Dead...

November dawns, and the 31 Nights of Halloween have come and gone. Terror Titans now enters its semi-dormant state until next October. There will be at least one or two posts here each month between now and then, so please swing by every so often.

But before we go, here's one final cheerfully spooky song! Until we meet again!

Extra Tuneful Tuesday with the Melodicka Bros and Violet Orlandi

The very talented singer Violet Orlandi teamed up with the very creative Melodicka Bros. for a spectacular cover of one of the spookiest pop songs ever written. The video that they made to go with it is even spookier, and it's perfect for this last tuneful Tuesday of these 31 Nights of Halloween.

Tuneful Tuesday with Imperial Age

Here's a cover of "Demons are a Girl's Best Friend", the original version of which we presented earlier during this year's 31 Nights of Halloween. It's a version that's just as good as the original, completely fresh, and accompanied by an excellent video.

Extra Tuneful Tuesday with Butcher Babies

California-based heavy metal band Butcher Babies is back on another Tuneful Tuesday during the 31 Nights of Halloween! We're not sure what's going on in the video, but it's spooky and the song is great, so we hope you enjoy both!