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September 23, 2008

The Book of Lists: Horror

A number of months back, I was honored to get a request to contribute to the new installment of the Book of Lists series, this time focusing on all things Horror--literature, films, art, TV, music, etcetera. Two of the editors, Amy Wallace and Scott Bradley, contacted me (they later came to my reading at LA's Book Soup--they're totally fantastic people). Of course I was eager to participate (as kids, my sister and I were OBSESSED with the original Book of Lists).

Fast-forward to this past week: the book has finally been released, and it's a total thrill to read, filled with lists from the likes of Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Eli Roth, Johnny Ramone, Poppy Z. Brite, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Ann Magnuson, Thomas Ligotti, and tons more horror writers and directors and such. Oh, and I'm happy with the list I did for the book, too: the "10 Creepiest Made-For-TV Movies."

Posted by scottheim at 02:58 AM | Comments (3)

September 19, 2008

Boys In Makeup (Part 2)

(A continuation of the posting below.)

(16) Placebo, "Come Home" (1996):

(17) Alice Cooper, "Only Women Bleed" (1975):

(18) Soft Cell, "What!" (1982):

(19) Bauhaus, "Mask" (1981):

(20) The Tubes, "White Punks On Dope" (1977):

(21) Hanoi Rocks, "Lightning Bar Blues" (1982):

(22) Classix Nouveaux, "Guilty" (1981):

(23) Gene Loves Jezebel, "Bruises" (1983):

(24) The Cure, "The Caterpillar" (1984):

(25) New York Dolls, "Jet Boy" (1973):

Posted by scottheim at 07:12 PM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2008

Boys In Makeup

(1) Adam & the Ants, "Prince Charming" (1981)

(2) Japan, "I Second That Emotion" (1980):

(3) David Bowie, "Boys Keep Swinging" (1979):

(4) Visage, "Mind of a Toy" (1981):

(5) Kiss, "I Was Made For Loving You" (1979):

(6) Depeche Mode, "Shake the Disease" (1985):

(7) Roxy Music, "Re-Make/Re-Model" (1972):

(8) Killing Joke, "A New Day" (1984):

(9) Clan of Xymox, "A Day" (1985):

(10) Split Enz, "Sweet Dreams" (1976):

(11) Dead Or Alive, "Brand New Lover" (1986):

(12) Arcadia, "The Promise" (1985):

(13) Queen, "Killer Queen" (1974):

(14) Sparks, "I Predict" (1982):

(15) Kraftwerk, "Die Roboter" (1978):

Posted by scottheim at 01:09 PM | Comments (3)

September 02, 2008

Toni Frissell... Bill Evans... This Ascension... Osvaldo Golijov... Amy MacKinnon

One of my all-time favorite photographs is the one above: Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida, 1947, taken by the late fashion photographer (and lookalike of "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale from the sublime Grey Gardens), Toni Frissell. [Quite a few years back, when I was getting my art history degree with an emphasis in photography, I almost wrote a final-project paper concerning the Frissell image and the equally stunning Barbara Morgan photo of Martha Graham (below)].

The Frissell photo has been used a few times before--in 1963, as the cover of the album Undercurrent by jazz pianist Bill Evans; in the late '80s, for Tears In Rain, the debut from the goth/darkwave band This Ascension; and, most recently, Oceana, by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov.

Now the image appears once again, colorized this time, on the front cover of the debut novel by an excellent writer, my friend, Amy MacKinnon. The novel is called TETHERED, and is published by Shaye Areheart Books/Random House. It's a tough book to describe in a quick blog entry, but I will say that it's part literary novel, part suspense, part police procedural. It's also spooky, gorgeous, and a total thrill to read. I'm proud and honored to call Amy a friend. (Also: Amy is one-fourth of a great group of writers who produce an online blog called The Writers' Group. I was lucky enough to get my photo taken with all four of them at this year's Muse & the Marketplace conference, which you can see in Writers' Group entry.) For more information about TETHERED, read the promotional copy for the book, which I've copied below the cover and photo of Amy:

"Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn't believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.... It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between the steadfast existence of loneliness and the perils of binding one's life to another."

Posted by scottheim at 10:57 PM | Comments (4)