It's one week until Halloween, so it's kind of the perfect time for this Schwartzblog mix to find its way out into the world. Doooooom is as you'd expect - a dark aural journey aided by the likes of The Sword, Sleep and Black Sabbath. It's a great way to get you in the mood for the final push to the sum for the month of October.

Halloween mix from @mixtapesradio

I don't know how this slipped past me last year but Lance had an incredibly solid Halloween mix, Glenn Danzig's Lament. It's filled with just the right kind of dark indie rock I like. Better late than never, right? Go get it or stream it on Spotify.

I'm planning on putting the finishing touches on my own Halloween mix this weekend but, in the meantime, please dive headlong into Jonathan Toubin's 2014 NY Night Train Haunted Hop Halloween Mix. The title is an absolute mouthful but the entire mix is comprised of songs and soundbites directly from 45's out of the 1950's and 60's. A truly vintage Halloween undertaking.

JAson said it best - October is usually known as the beginning of "Fall" or "Autumn" but it should be known as Shaboi season. The single album, Curse Walk, released back in 2009 continues to hold up as one of the finest pieces of Halloween themed goodness that exists. I stand by that. It's got everything and never wears itself out.

I'm slowly posting the full album over on Soundcloud but you can go hear it full on Bandcamp or Rdio or Spotify if you prefer.

Please enjoy and spread the word. I want everyone to think of October as "Shaboi season" as much as I do.

teamcoco

After the massive Halloween playlist yesterday I imagine you may be all video'ed out. Or maybe not. Enjoy these videos if you need the pick me up:

• Cults - High Road - Everyone enjoys a good music video but this one is particularly artful and engaging. Song is solid too.
• Cat-Piloted Decoy Chewbacca - it's a silly Conan skit but who doesn't love a giant Chewbacca costume?
• Maru and Hana - one of the original "cat celebrities" now has a buddy, Hana, and they get along amusingly.
• Late for Meeting - yea, remember the Everything short Going to the Store? Well, here's a sequel and it's actually every bit as good.
• I Spent Too Much Time On This - take a very awkward stock video and add some slightly poorly done effect, instant humor.

Have a great weekend!

Sit back and please enjoy this Halloween 2013 Playlist... filled with enjoyable gems to distract your day and get you in the proper mood.

• Rot - Facepaint stop motion - perfectly ghoulish.
• Le Cochon Danseur - either a dream come true or unsettling nightmare, you decide.
• Mystery Intro - illustrations and animations courtesy of Edward Gorey - definitely one of the masters of enjoyable deaths.
• You're Not Perfect - welcome to the creepzone.
• Mr. Pumpkin - Halloween - if you aren't sold on the gold pants, I don't know what could possibly sell you.
• Muertos - these are, obviously, more Day of the Dead than they are Halloween but it still feels appropriate.
• Count Drizzle - Chickn Wang - there are two other Count Drizzle videos but this new one is definitely his most ridiculous.
• Anything Can Happen on Halloween - endurance challenge! Tim Curry from "The Worst Witch" singing.. who knows what. 3 minutes can be a long time sometimes.
• Mickey Mouse in Ghoul Friend - if you didn't watch this the other day, do yourself a favor and watch it now.
• Pumpkin Rapper - the Power Rangers go up against their greatest foe. Please sit with this until the monster shows up as that is when it gets truly awful.
• Haunted Toaster - this is funny and then it gets hilarious. Absurdity at its most perfect.
• Gremlins 3 Warmup - Remember when Gremlins would break the third wall and let you know they knew you were watching a movie? Well, how about this proposed alternate fan sequence for a DVD release? Very impressive.
• Treehouse of Horror XXIV Couch Gag - if this years Treehouse of Horror didn't do it for you, you can always revisit a classic.
• Supercut: It's Just a Cat - the horror movie trope compiled all into one place. Love those cat howls!
• Paula Deen - Gastro Ghouls n' Fear Fritters - slowing down Paula Deen is a treat in itself but throw Oprah in the mix and it's a perfect nightmare recipe.
• Sensual Harassment - Creature Feature - phenomenal compilation of classic scary movie monsters and horror films presented as music video.
• The Wednesday Dance - because you always need more Halloween dance moves.
• Pumpkin Sexydance - Never, Ever, Forget. This is literally playing on loop in the office all day today. Best.

Don't forget to revisit this perfect Jookabox video and the perfectly creepy new Hotpipes video. Happy Halloween!

I provided my own Halloween mix and pointed you in the direction of plenty of additional mixes to fill your day today but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out this Disney Nightmare Mix from Aidan Moffat. The mix, 'Neverland Transmission', has plenty of moments of beauty but there's always an underlying creepiness to it, something foreboding lurking around... unsurprising given how much of the earlier Disney works felt that way too. If this doesn't creep you out sufficiently, just listen to this until it's embedded as the most powerful earworm you've encountered. Animated GIF courtesy of Alex Simpson.

It's Halloween! No matter what you see or experience tonight (or last weekend) will ever come close to the creepiness of these vintage Halloween costumes. I look at these every year and, without fail, I'm amazed at the feelings of terror and discomfort they invoke in me. I love the ingenuity and craftiness (or lack thereof) of the handmade costumes. If anyone is looking to start up a new scary movie franchise, let this be your jumping off point.

I'm pleased to announce that Hotpipes have released a brand new video for "Only the Young" off of their latest album, Dust. There are some pretty adult themes at play here and I'm confident in saying that if you work in a conservative work environment, you probably should skip this until you're in the safety of your own home. That being said, when the song really picks up two minutes in you get a dose of some Logan's Run-esque survival mixed with some Halloween appropriate imagery.

It's nice to see that the band is continuing to put out videos. I continue to love the album every time I listen to it and it's good to see more engaging art to go along with it.

Obviously I recommend you listen and enjoy my latest Halloween mix but there's plenty more where that came from out in the wild Internet world. Here are a few additional mixes I've encountered that will continue to make the spookiest of days even spookier.

• Black: Black, Black! Black& Black? - a dark hip hop mix from one of the best, Brian Gossett.
• Vintage Obscura Halloween Mix 2013 - you know those phenomenal Vintage Obscura mixes that emerge every year from the Summer Mix Series? Yea well, they keep going all year round and you get amazing gems like this Halloween mix. Further discussion on it can be found here.
• Aquarium Drunkard: Trick or Treat Volume 9 - seems as though Aquarium Drunkard and I started making these mixes around the same time, as it is their ninth volume as well. There's nothing but music from 1958-1977 in their tracklisting and that's a good thing.
• Ryan Ike Halloween Mix - a mish-mash of videogame music, original spooky film music and other miscellaneous microjams. Also, the writeups are hilarious.

That should be more than enough Halloween music to satisfy.. at least until next year.

I've been pretty slack in getting proper mixes out into the world this year but I'm happy to report that my latest Halloween mix, Potions & Brews for Countless Horrors, is available for download! I think it's a pretty healthy mix of legitimate creepiness and somewhat goofy goodness.

Potions & Brews for Countless Horrors
[ Stream It | Single MP3 | Single M4A | Individual MP3 ZIP ]

1. Evangelism
2. Upright T-Rex Music - Wataah DemBones
3. Goblin - Witch
4. Ultras S/C - 1417 Roberts Ave
5. The Dead Pirates - recorded by the devil
6. Penicillin Baby - Teen Wolf
7. scntfc - Lotus:Ribbon
8. Powerglove - Crypt
9. Count Drizzle - D.R.I.ZZ.L.E
10. Jookabox - Webbin'
11. Shaboi - Gozer's Boombox
12. Disasterpiece - The Outlaw
13. Vindictaphone - Unentertained
14. Audio Error
15. The Revival Hour - Hold Back
16. Forget Cassettes - Catie Age 30
17. Ral Partha Vogelbacher - Aeroflot
18. Makeup and Vanity Set - A Prologue
19. Fops - Ghoster
20. Ben Babbitt - Animal Bones (Exit)

Previous Halloween Mixes
Paralyzed with Fear (2012), Endless Hell (2011), My Descent Into Madness (2010), Dark Despair (Undead Trespass) (2009), Crepuscular (2008), Et Tu, Morte? (2007), Songs for Spooks (2006), Pure Terror (2005)

Halloween is right around the corner so next weeks playlist will probably come a bit early.. or maybe it'll be doubled up. Who knows what will happen! Regardless, here's this weeks distraction with a promise of plenty more on the way.

• Drink Up - nice bit of motion graphics here but the really important part is the music - composed by Upright T-Rex Music - aka Uncle Skeleton + Nahnee Bori. It's the perfect Halloween ear nugget (side note: Halloween Ear Nugget is a great, disgusting, costume idea).
• RetroReport: Burned By McDonalds - it's 12 minutes long and I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing but the Hot Coffee Lawsuit is a case worth educating yourself on. Most people think it was flippant and a prime example of our overly litiguous society but, in reality, it was an old woman who just wanted compensation for receiving 3rd Degree Burns from a cup of joe. It's like when you hear Al Gore being mocked for inventing the Internet - the media has you believe one thing but reality is something else entirely.
• Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name (Less Angry Version) - you must stick with this until after the solo, the choral obscenities are beyond perfect.
• "I Will Always Love You" Struggle - being a child is difficult. Why you would put this online is beyond me but it's good to see that youth still struggles.
• Sleeping Cat Accordion Dreams - how does this only have 114 views? Adorable.
• Hand Feeding a Friendly Platypus - can someone add a chippering sound to this little guy? It's the only thing keeping it from ultimate perfection.

More distractions here.. Oh, and I recommend that Arcade Fire preview because, well, why wouldn't you?

Have a great weekend!

This Cinema for the Sinister list of films from BlackBook is pretty great. They did a great job of straying from the typical Hollywood slashers and focused on a bit more of the obscure. Good for your list of To Watch This Halloween.

Another week, another weekend. It's barely noon and I've lost all focus already. I think that means I'm going to have a great weekend and I'm rather looking forward to it. Here's your distraction playlist so you can join me.

• The Paper Kites: Young - absolutely brilliant music video. 350+ people and 4000+ photos throughout. Really engaging piece of work.
• Home Video Commentaries - two brothers making fun of themselves at an early age. Stick with it for a solid minute, the observation at almost exactly 1:00 is really when it picks up.
• Pig with Sunglasses - need I say more?
• Count Drizzle - every year, a new Count Drizzle song drops around Halloween. This isn't the latest but it will familiarize you with the general aesthetic. Don't miss last years more elaborate affair - Country Crunk. I'm looking forward to the 2013 offering..
• Snow Dog - I saw this on the Deep Into Youtube forums and couldn't look away. It's awful but that's exactly what keeps you glued in.

Have a great weekend! Listen to some Shaboi and find a way to relieve yourself of the Internet.

Nick Brandt stumbled upon a lake in Tanzania that has a particular chemical makeup that petrifies certain creates due to its pH level. It's being touted as a Petrifying Lake - one that turns animals to stone upon touching it. That's a bit outlandish but the photos he composed of the petrified animals are incredibly creepy and strangely beautiful. Also, super fitting with Halloween just right around the corner.

It's that time of year again. Halloween decorations are going up, temperatures are dropping and I'm pleased to report that I'm pretty much constantly playing Curse Walk from Shaboi once again. The likes of Rapsylvania `88, Gozer's Boombox and Undead Headcheck will be played ad nauseam for the remainder of the month.

It's also on Spotify if you prefer that. Whatever it takes to soak in this season's best classic!

Ah, another week! Another compilation of distraction. You know how it goes:

• Horse Nibbles Cameraman's Ear - this probably wouldn't be that funny if it wasn't edited as well as it is. When you're done, go revisit this greatness.
• Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXIV Intro - maybe this is jumping the Halloween gun but it's an entertaining 3 minutes. Oh, and Guillermo del Toro directed the couch gag.
• Washington State Popcorn Guy - basically my new hero.
• Back to the Future / Knight Rider Mashup - I actually saw this last week but that theme song is mesmerizing. Can't stop listening.
• Principal's Office - truTV - yes, these kinds of shows are typically terrible but, occasionally, you get some performances that you simply can't deny the amusement. I wanted to hate it but I couldn't do it.
• Fingertips - I never thought this song could have a proper video that did it justice. This one does. Thanks Paul.
• Johnny T's NYC Tourist Tips - kind of thought this was going to be unbearable but, turns out, it was full of some proper chuckles.

Still in need of entertainment? Feeling unsatisfied? Sometimes I just youtube Crazy Russian and call it a day.

Oh, one last thing, if you haven't already. Go listen to this preview set with new goods from Uncle Skeleton, Codaphonic and Jasmin Kaset.

texasgirly1979