Hollywood Gothique

I first heard of The Rocketz when I saw them at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt last year. (You can check them out in the video I shot taht night; they appear at approximately 6:30.) As a rule, I don’t bother with the shows at the Haunt; I’m there for the Halloween mazes and rides. [...]

If you watched any of our Halloween Haunt videos, along with the soundtrack of screams and moans, you also heard original composed by me and performed by Gothique, including a song titled “Empty Hallways. (Excerpts appeared in videos for Knott’s Scary Farm’s Slaughterhouse and Club Blood mazes and Universal’s House of Horrors, and the whole [...]

Fright Gallery has been dormant since 2005, but on October 30, 2008 - which is to say, tonight - it reopens the cemetery gates for another mad musical parody. This year’s spoof is a Halloween horror version of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, titled “Dead of the Class.” After the three-year wait, we can only hope and pray that it [...]

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Halloween music was more or less synonymous with novelty records: “Dinner with Drac,” “Monster Mash,” etc. There were a few mainstream artists who dabbled in the field (both Jumpin’ Gene Vincent and B.B. King recorded songs titled “Haunted House”), but these songs - as much fun as they [...]

Earlier in the month we reviewed this year’s edition of Spooky House, the popular professional Halloween Haunt in Chatsworth. Set in a permanent location that actually resembles a haunted house, this attraction has not changed too much since last year, but they have added some nice touches (a “free-fall” elevator, a hearse through which customers must [...]

Looking for something besides novelty songs (”The Monster Mash”) or instrumental soundscapes (Midnight Syndicate) to haunt your Halloween party? Well, here’ a little good, old-fashioned rock and roll in the form of a concept album that journeys deep into the dark side of the human soul, combining rhythmic riffs with spooky lyrics - all wrapped [...]

Looking for nightmarish music to haunt your Halloween party? Or ambient textures to enhance your Halloween haunt? Well, look no further than Hallow’s Eve, Volume II: The Horror - in which the musical group In a World offers a series of instrumental soundscapes in the spirit of the Halloween season.

Here is a music video compiled of footage from the Ghost Train Halloween ride at Griffith Park’s Travel Town, set to my song “Empty Hallways. The lyrics do not really match, but he music seems to work. Perhaps, if time allows, I will go back later and write a song specifically for this video - the [...]

Bear McCreary, who scores the sci-fi series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, recently announced details for a live show at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood. The performance is scheduled for April 13.

McCreary previously performed live at the Mint in Los Angeles, back in 2006. He promises that the new show will be bigger and better:

This year’s show [...]

National Public Radio has posted a list (along with audio samples) of their “Top 5 Creepy Halloween Classicss.”
Obvious entries like Bach “Tocatta in D Minor,” Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” and Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King” are missing. Instead, the selections are:

Firebird Suite: Infernal Dance
Danse Macabre
Dance of Terror
Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Symphony Fantastique: Dream of [...]

Where would we be without all the gore-houd websites shrieking louder than Marion Crane taking a shower at the Bates Motel every time they think a few less drops of precious blood may be shed in order to secure a PG-13 rating? Well, we would be without confused editorializing like this:

Apparently, Tim Burton went blood-simple [...]

 
We try to focus on events in and around Hollywood (this is Hollywood Gothique, after all), but Orange County is close enough for most Los Angeles residents to make the drive if there’s something they really, really want to see. For those who have yet to see a live production of THE PHANTOM OF THE [...]

John Williams will be conducting selections of his scores for the HARRY POTER and STAR WARS this weekend.
There are two shows, on Friday, July 13, and Saturday, July 14. Both start at 8:30pm.
Personally, I’ve always felt the Williams is somewhat over-rated as a composer of films scores. Sure, he does great work, but sometimes I [...]