Halloween month continues with six more neglected American horror legends.
THE DEAD DANCE BY MOONLIGHT – Manetti the mad violinist terrorized the New England states in the late 1700s. His favorite instrument was made out of enchanted wood from the forests of the infamous White Mountains. When Manetti chose to he could play his violin in such a way as to bring the dead up from their graves and make them do his bidding. FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE
THE MARQUETTE MONSTER – This horrific monster was sighted by Jacques Marquette in the 1670s near what is now Alton, IL. Native Americans of the region called it the Piasa Bird and had been making artwork depicting the beast since around 1200 AD according to archaeological findings. The creature was supposedly the size of a horse with the torso of a cougar, huge wings like a bat and a human head sprouting deer antlers. FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE Continue reading
NUMBER THREE GETS TAKEN DOWN – The 6th seeded MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS welcomed the Number 3 team in the nation – the DOANE COLLEGE TIGERS. The Mustangs are still boiling from their undeserved drop in the rankings a few weeks ago and took their anger out on the Tigers in a SIXTY-NINE to SEVEN blowout. 
NUMBER EIGHT FALLS AT HOME – The Number 18 HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON traveled to take on the 8th ranked HENDERSON STATE REDDIES yesterday. To the shock of the entire country the Bison proceeded to dismember the Reddies on their own field, manhandling them to the tune of 35-3. 
DR CALIGARI (1989) – “The Cabaret of Dr Caligari” might make a more fitting title for Stephen Sayadian’s genre-bending Dr Caligari. Long before Dandy Dust there was this fun movie which was sort of a hybrid of Eraserhead and The Rocky Horror Picture Show with sprinklings of Liquid Sky and Repo Man. Nightmarish visuals and deranged sexuality abound. 
This movie, which is full of absurdly horrific imagery and horrifically absurd imagery is simultaneously a celebration of AND a parody of art films and silent movies – especially of the German Expressionist variety. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari kicked off that cinematic style in 1919 and we’re told that the title character of this 1989 product is the great granddaughter of THAT Dr Caligari. 
Gaston Leroux – the author of The Phantom of the Opera – wrote The Machine to Kill in NINETEEN TWENTY-FOUR. Many book sites list it as 1935, but that was just the year it was finally translated into English. It has also been published in English under the titles The Bloody Puppet and The Gory Puppet.
Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween!
Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues with this look at a variety of forgotten or neglected horror legends from American lore. 
THE CORPSE-SMITH OF CONNECTICUT – Also called the Cadaver Master and the Carrion Engineer this mad scientist of Eastern European descent was the cause of the many vanished graveyards from Connecticut’s past. The Corpse-Smith scandalized 1770s America with his brilliant but macabre uses for every single resource he could possibly harvest from the bodies of the recently deceased.
DOWN GOES NUMBER SIX – The 12th ranked BUTTE COLLEGE ROADRUNNERS, where Aaron Rodgers got his start, were on the road against the number 6 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO RAMS. The Roadrunners were looking for redemption after losing at home the week before and seized a 16-0 lead in the 1st Quarter. Butte College never looked back from there, spanking the Rams by a final score of FORTY-FOUR to SEVEN! 
NUMBER THREE GETS KNOCKED OFF – The unranked BLINN COLLEGE BUCCANEERS traveled to face the number 3 team in the nation – the TYLER COLLEGE APACHES. A 14-14 tie at Halftime became a 29-24 edge for the Buccaneers to end the 3rd Quarter. From there Blinn College toppled the Apaches by a final score of 50-35. 
THE MAGICIAN – During Halloween Season a few years back Balladeer’s Blog reviewed the 1926 silent movie adaptation of The Magician. This time around I’ll review the original Somerset Maugham novel from 1908. It’s no secret at this late date that the malevolent sorceror of the title, Oliver Haddo, was based on the real-life Aleister Crowley. In fact, Crowley would accuse Maugham of plagiarism when he reviewed The Magician under the name Oliver Haddo, his fictional counterpart.
