Masquerading Werewolves: Du Riechst So Gut

Werewolves are a common staple in horror stories and choice in Halloween costumes, and for good reason: they're a classic. Between the mythology and romanticism, they've been engrained in Western culture well since the Middle Ages. And when a storyteller can put their own original spin on the tale that catches our interest, as we're sure it does with yours. So with that in mind we're sharing this music video, "Du Riechst So Gut" by industrial, Berlin metal band Rammstein. Even if you aren't versed in the German language, or necessarily a fan of the musical genre, horror fans can at least appreciate the narrative that is visually told, if nothing else. And given that there is a masquerade party held in this music video, it seemed rather appropriate in light of the season when costumes are customary.

Friday, Friday

If we weren't dragging our feet metaphorically, we would surely be worn down to the kneecaps by now. Our Darkley Niche watchers are few, but regardless we appreciate the fact that we even have watchers, so our apologies for the lack of posts. We'll try to keep up on a more regular basis, perhaps on the weekends. And taking a page out of Rhonny Reaper's book, perhaps it's time we share the load a little by bringing our friend and Darkley comic co-conspirator, Don, into the Niche. After all, he's just as much a part of this concept as myself, so it only seems right and likely overdue. But we'll come back to that at a later time, after I've had an opportunity to show Don how to operate around Blogger.

Among the problems with neglecting posts, one such includes missing holidays and horror-related dates. Case in point: Friday the 13th. Well, while it isn't the thirteenth any more, it is the following Friday. So with that, here's an amusing, albeit brief, little video we were hoping that someone would have made and luckily did. Thank you, YouTube.

Also, say what you will about 'Freddy vs. Jason', Don and myself found that film to be an amusing love letter to both the franchises and certainly better than some of the sequels that preceded it. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'. Need we say more?

randomness: Under Bergets Rot

Found this rather entertaining animated music video by happenstance, yesterday. Finntroll, a Finnish metal band purportedly deriving its name from an old legend, combines characteristics found in death metal, folk metal, and an exclusively Finnish style of music called "humppa." Not that we're an expert on humppa, considering that we only learned of it last night, but its fast pace and folk instrumentals seem to pronounce this particular style, here.

If you're a fan of metal, as well as punk rock groups that incorporate folk music and instrumentals, like the Dropkick Murphys, we're sure that you'll also enjoy this. However, should this style of music not entertain, then the animation itself surely will. One part macabre, another part vaudeville, this is the kind of place that patrons of the weird would likely frequent. We certainly would. If there are any entrepenuers out there looking to begin a bar like this, let us know! The Darkley storytellers would love to gather at a watering hole like this one.

Scary Christmas and Happy Anniversary!

Firstly, for us here at the Darkley Niche, this December is a memorable month. It was one year ago around mid-December that we, pardoning the pun, made our own niche on the internet. Perhaps we haven't contributed as much as we would've liked: occasionally missing certain dates or events, wanting that we had written more movie reviews, et cetera. But we've been learning an exceptional amount, especially from the various blogs that we ourselves watch. That will all prove invaluable when the actual Darkley comic starts to roll towards further development and production. Maybe within the next few months, if things fall into place the way that we hope. Keep your fingers crossed.

Moving on, today is Christmas Eve, so with that in mind we want to wish all of our viewers a very scary Christmas. May Cthulhu Claus bring you tidings of madness and woe!

illustration by Scott Brundage

composed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
for their album 'A Very Scary Solstice'

And if you're in the spirit for some holiday horror films befitting of this yuletide time, be sure to head on over to the Niche's Seasonal Horror Calendar. We've even added Hanukkah to the calendar recently, due to talk of a black comedy, slasher movie in the works. So soon there should be something for horrifying Hebrew and ghoulish goyim alike.

randomness: Loituma Alice

Speaking of knife-wielding psychopaths, here's a funny little animation that parodies the viral video "Loituma Girl" featuring American McGee's Alice, instead. Fan of the game, by the way, and that especially holds true of our Darkley comic collaborator and good friend, Don. Macabre renditions of children's stories or characters, when done right, are always a plus in our book and McGee's Alice is exemplary. What makes "Loituma Alice" ironic is that it takes the darkly sinister adaptation of McGee and makes it child-friendly again. Well, sort of, but you get the point. No pun intended.

The playing card suits in the background was a clever change.

See also: Children r Skary's "The Mockingbird Song"

ZotB: Smurfs, zombies, and PC

He's coming to eat your braaaiiinnnsss... or at least Brainy Smurf.

Growing up, I wasn't among those children who watched 'The Smurfs' cartoon or read the original, Belgian comic 'Les Schtroumpfs' that it was based on. Still, I found this little analysis from the webcomic 'Menage a 3' (WARNING: contains adult content) rather interesting. Who would have guessed that the premise to Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968) and 'Les Schtroumpfs Noirs' (literally "The Black Smurfs") would be so similar? It sounds silly, but the parallels are rather uncanny. Read for yourself.


As one might imagine, this negative portrayal of a "black" Smurf caused some controversy, which was reason for Hanna-Barbera ("They're coming to get you, Barbera!" Sorry, bad joke.) Productions to opt for the color purple in the animated series, instead. Even the original comic, 'Les Schtroumpfs Noirs', wasn't translated into English for this very reason. Honestly, though, it seems like a rather weak argument. Political correctness sometimes is pushed to the point of pure ludicrousness, in this writer's personal opinion. Explain to me exactly what derogatory stereotype a hopping, biting Smurf perpetuates of the African community, I ask you? In all seriousness, tell me.

'Les Schtroumpfs Noirs' page with the first "infected" Smurf

If the black Smurfs from 'Les Schtroumpfs Noirs' can be seen as offensive, why hasn't the LGBT community gotten up in arms over the "politically correct" purple Smurfs from season one, episode sixteen? If one goes along the same skewed line of thinking that reasons why the black Smurfs were offensive, you could find a whole slew of imaginary insinuations. Examples: the gay association with the color purple (Remember the Tinky Winky controversy?), the spread of infection like an STD, hopping instead of the derogatory stereotype of skipping, and so on. Don't get angry, I'm simply playing devil's advocate to prove my point. It goes to show you that such hypersensitive interpretations are really unfounded and outright ridiculous.

horde of infected Smurfs descending on the Smurf village

an especially zombie-like Smurfette with arms raised forward

Before I asked who would have guessed 'The Smurfs' and 'Night of the Living Dead' could be so alike. But it would appear that the bigger question is, who would have guessed 'The Smurfs' could be deemed controversial? Goes to show you how backwards the world works, I guess.

Watch "The Purple Smurfs" episode, here.

memorial: Corey Haim (Dec 1971 - Mar 2010)

Corey Haim as Sam Emerson ('The Lost Boys')

There seems to be a sense of nostalgia with the eighties-born generation surrounding the passing of Corey Haim. Living a rather sheltered childhood, I find myself outside the loop and cannot express the same sentiment. However, I have seen Haim's performance later on when I was older in 'The Lost Boys' and after that in King's 'Silver Bullet'. Though I had no particular interest in his personal life, which is why I haven't watched 'The Two Coreys' television series. From what I can gather, Haim has struggled for years with substance abuse and seems to be partly the cause of his early death, dying at only age thirty-eight. Most can agree that it wasn't the best life choice, and that there is a degree of personal responsibility to account for, but addiction is one hell of a beast to leave behind. Even those that can move on know how easy it can be to backslide, the beast always never too far behind. To that extent, I can sympathize for Corey Haim. Addiction, added to the early pressures of childhood stardom, especially during the eighties, is a hard road. Hopefully Haim has found the rest that has eluded him.

Plants vs. Zombies

I've heard some talk around the horror blogosphere about this game and while I'm not a big gamer, I still enjoy them on occasion. Created by PopCap Games, you can download the demo and play for free. Let me just say this: I downloaded 'Plants vs. Zombies' after midnight tonight, played for over two hours straight, and was too excited that I couldn't keep from writing about it, just to share it with someone. It's that good. And keep in mind this is just the demo. As I mentioned before, you get well over two hours of game-play, which is pretty generous. Probably because the creators know exactly how addictive it is. I'm seriously tempted to shell out for the complete game, which is something that I rarely do. For twenty dollars, it's awfully tempting.

So what is the game about, you ask? Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. Known as a "tower defense" video game, you play as an unseen homeowner during a zombie invasion trying to defend your property. The objective is to keep the zombies from entering the house, else they eat your brains and it's game over. So the first line of defense is your front yard (and backyard, later on). The plants essentially are your army. Sounds silly, doesn't it? Yes, actually, it is. But it's done so brilliantly.

By collecting light from a combination of the sun, sunflowers, and a type of mushroom specifically during the night campaigns, players utilize this energy to earn enough points to grow different plants, ranging from offensive to defensive types. Peashooters (ranged attack with peas), wall-nuts (defensive barrier), cherry bombs (ranged, one-time explosive), potato mines (stationary, one-time explosive), and snow peas (same as peashooters, but with "slow" effect) are just several in your plant arsenal against the undead. Not to mention that the zombies are just as varied as the vegetation, so there is a modest amount of quick-time strategy involved. I won't list them, save for one example, which I can summarize in three words: Jackson "Thriller" zombies. To be fair, the game was released before Michael Jackson's passing, so try not to take offense fans.

While I haven't played the complete game, 'Plants vs. Zombies' seems like an absolute winner. If I do, I'll be sure to expand on this in a second game review. For now, I give it five out of five garden-variety zombies.

Halloween II - Dear Sister

After watching Rob Zombie's 'Halloween II' last Monday with Don, this came to mind. Enjoy this little video put together by yours truly. A film review will follow later on. (WARNING: spoiler alert)

IA! IA! Cthulhu Christmas

Christmas has come and gone, but not so long ago that the holiday is still green in our minds. Enjoy this selection of six Lovecraftian carols, all of which were composed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society on their album 'A Very Scary Solstice'.