Welcome to Milwaukee Record’s 66 Days of Halloween countdown! You can find Part I, which covers Days 0-22, HERE. You can find Part II, which covers Days 23-44, HERE.
DAY 61: MONSTER MASH (IN THE STYLE OF THE CURE)
I don’t usually go for these “in the style of” send-ups, but this one—from Joshua Woo—is pure gold. Enjoy! (The full version is set to premiere on YouTube on October 29.)
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DAY 60: HALLOWEEN CLEARANCE
I was strolling through TJ Maxx this beautiful Sunday afternoon, as is my custom. And whaddya know, the Halloween junk is already on clearance! Ugh!
(This was actually my second time in TJ Maxx this weekend. On Friday, on my way to a World Series watch party in the Third Ward, I realized I was underdressed for the cool evening ahead. So I stopped by TJ Maxx, bought a $15 box of Body Glove thermal underwear, changed in the 3rd St. Market Hall bathroom, and had a great night. GO BREWERS.)
And gee, you’ll never guess what’s populating the once-beautiful Halloween-festooned shelves. Sigh. Ho, ho, ho.
DAY 59: ANTHEMS FOR A SEVENTEEN YEAR-OLD GIRL
Another favorite on my “spooky season” playlist. I’m not familiar with the original version by Broken Social Scene, but I fell head over heels for this cover when I heard it in 2024’s I Saw The TV Glow. Ditto for the movie itself, which is one of those flicks that hit me so hard I haven’t been able to watch it again. Maybe someday!
DAY 58: FINAL TICK-OR-TREATING AT THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM
Sigh. As everyone in Milwaukee knows, the Milwaukee Public Museum will close on January 3, 2027. After that, the new Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin will take its place in spring. Which means my family and I just came back from our final trick-or-treating at the wonderfully retro and rambling and weird and wonderful and increasingly empty MPM. The new museum will have plenty of continuity with the old museum (the Milwaukee Revealed exhibit is being touted as the “spiritual successor” to the soon-to-be-extinct Streets of Old Milwaukee), but it won’t be the same. Like I said, sigh.
So here are a few photos of our final visit. MPM trick-or-treating is something we’ve been doing with our kid since she was, like, 3. I’m sure we’ll be back for a Christmas visit, but then, well, that’s it. SIGH.
DAY 57: AT MIDNIGHT I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL
It was a dark and foggy night in Milwaukee. The kind of night that gets under your skin and worms its way into your very soul. And as the clock struck 9, I knew what I had to do: walk over to the Downer Theatre and see my friend Cris 1.) play a free set with her Brazilian punk band Spidora, 2.) follow it up with a short slideshow presentation on Brazilian horror filmmaker José Mojica Marins (someone she worked with in the ’90s), and then 3.) screen Marins’ 1964 film At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul. I love nights like this.
If you haven’t seen At Midnight, it’s a hoot. Marins stars as a runty little undertaker named Coffin Joe, who, for some reason, has an absolute stranglehold on every man, woman, and child in his small town. Seriously, people cower in fear whenever they encounter this hateful little hat-wearing shit. A witch, some supernatural goings-on, and a pretty harrowing sexual assault scene follow. Did I say this movie is “a hoot”? Yes. And it is! Trust me!
DAY 56: GO BREWERS
Yeah, not really Halloween-related, but at least there’s a fire and a candle! GO BREWERS! LET’S WIN THIS THING IN FOUR!
DAY 55: PUMPKINS SECURED
Finally! Hopefully carving them this weekend!
DAY 54: BELMONT’S CURSE
I recently started Belmont’s Curse, a.k.a. the first brand new Castlevania game to be released in more than a decade. I LOVE it.
The professional online rage/engagement baiters will tell you this is THE WORST CASTLEVANIA EVER because, um, well, it just is. Maybe it’s because the art style is slightly different. Maybe it’s because the music is bad. Maybe it’s because it’s too much like Dead Cells. Or maybe because wOkE or something. I don’t give a shit. It’s fun as hell, it’s Castlevania as hell, and it’s a sequel of sorts to the Netflix Castlevania anime, which I liked a lot. Goodbye, free time!
DAY 53: POLTERGEIST BOOK
I watched Poltergeist on Day 49. Now, on Day 53, I’m cracking the spine on this nifty little Poltergeist book I picked up at Milwaukee bookstore Lion’s Tooth a while back. The book details the cultural criticisms found in the film (suburbs = BAD) and covers the controversy surrounding its true authorship (credited director Tobe Hooper or producer and rumored real director Steven Spielberg). I’m excited to get into it!
DAY 52: SHINING PARTY
Up until now, I’d probably give my Halloween season a C+. That’s entirely on me, of course; between work, radio appearances, television appearances, moderating a talk at my local bookstore, a full week of “Weird Al” Yankovic events, and THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES, I’ve struggled to properly immerse myself in the increasingly spooky season. I happens.
But that C+ definitely got a bump tonight, because I just came back from a viewing party of The Shining. It ruled! The party came complete with themed decorations (check out those typed pages!), themed drinks, and terrific company. Oh, and the exterior of the house was worth the price of admission (free) alone.
Thanks for having me, Chris and Tracy! You guys went ABOVE AND BEYOND! I still have “Solsbury Hill” in my head!
DAY 51: BREWERS WIN THE PENNANT
Forgive the non-Halloween tangent, but OH MY GOD THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 44 YEARS! AHHHHHHH!!!!!
DAY 50: CHURCH PUMPKINS HAVE ARRIVED
Actually, this is the second batch of pumpkins that has sprouted up outside my neighborhood church. I first spotted the sign for St. Mark’s annual “honor system” pumpkin sale way back on Day 33; somewhere between then and now, a whole shipment has come and gone. But whatever: the pumpkins are back! They’re super pricey and I could literally get a million of them for a nickel at the grocery store across the street, but I’m a sucker for tradition (and progressive churches).
DAY 49: POLTERGEIST
I watched the original Poltergeist last night. It was my first time properly sitting down with the movie in, I dunno, 20 years? If you haven’t seen it in a while, you should check it out!
Some things I forgot:
1. The movie is NOT subtle about its thoughts on the suburbs.
2. The movie is NOT subtle about its thoughts on television.
3. The movie is NOT subtle about its thoughts on Reagan-era yuppies.
4. Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) doesn’t show up until the very end. She’s more of a final boss than a main character. She still gets a KILLER monologue, though. I remember whispering “Now let’s go get your daughter” to myself when I picked up my newborn daughter from the hospital.
DAY 48: RED QUEAN / DAVID LYNCH
Hey Milwaukee! Looking for something to do on Halloween Eve? Then check out this show coming to Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on October 30! The headlining band, Red Quean, absolutely rules. Dressing like a character from the strange and beautiful David Lynch-verse rules, too.
DAY 47: NIGHT TRAP
Remember Night Trap? The infamous “interactive movie” was released for the Sega CD way back in 1992. Players controlled a series of security cameras set up in various rooms of a rambling old house. Flitting through the house (in glorious, grainy, full-motion video) were the mysterious family members who lived there, some scantily clad ladies spending the night, and some goofy-ass monsters hell-bent on killing the scantily clad ladies. It’s up to you, the player, to go from room to room, spot the monsters, and spring some goofy-ass traps before they take their next scantily clad victim.
Night Trap has a weird reputation. It was wildly controversial upon its release, drawing scorn from none other than the U.S. government. (Wisconsin senator Herb Kohl was one of the game’s most vocal critics.) It was kind of on the cutting edge of technology at the time, even though it wasn’t much of a “game.” And because it was shot in 1987 and shelved until ’92, it was inadvertently ahead of the curve of poking fun at cheesy ’80s horror movies. And yep, Dana Plato was in it. R.I.P.
Want to spare yourself Night Trap‘s “gameplay” and just watch the movie? Yes you do. Well, here it is! I love this dopey movie/game, and it always fills me with spooky season glee. The in-movie theme song at the 11:30 mark is a thing of beauty.
DAY 46: PETE AND SKULL
Meet Pete! He’s one half of the kitten duo that recently came to live with us and fill our lives with snuggles, purrs, and poop! (His brother’s name is Spin.) Here’s Pete standing in a pan! Next to a skull!
DAY 45: WATCHING X-FILES WITH NO LIGHTS ON
Welcome to Part III! Twenty-two days to go! I’m celebrating by staying in on a Friday night and heeding the sage advice of Barenaked Ladies: watching X-Files with no lights on! (It’s “Irresistible” from season 2. You know, the one with “death fetishist” Donnie Pfaster. And the one where Mulder wants to go to a Minnesota Vikings game!)
Happy weekend, everyone!
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