Okay okay okay…I know the Misfits are still around, and no matter what you think of the current incarnation of one of the most famous punk bands ever - I think we all have to agree: the glory days are over.

My personal favorite is the original Misfits with Danzig on vocals of course. I like Static Age and classify it among the very few “perfect” records I have ever heard. But I think the re-formed Misifts with Graves was also pretty damn awesome. And I love the intro to their video for American Psycho - it says “EC Comics” all over it. And maybe it even nods a little to Spinal Tap. So here it is…let’s all remember how awesome the Misfits were!

If you are fortunate enough to live in the Big Easy, then you know what time it is.  It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans.  That means parades, parties, and costumes!

Parades are cool.  Decorated floats ride in succession with marching bands and dancers in between.  The riders on the floats are wearing costumes that correlate to the theme of their float and the parade.  The riders’ costumes are quite elaborate: there are lots of sequins and masks.  And don’t forget the throws, which range from a variety of beads, toys, stuffed animals, dabloons, t-shirts, and even panties.  Everybody and anybody can enjoy a parade.

The parties are wild and unforgetable.  Many people who live on parade routes or near parade routes have parade parties, where people get together to enjoy the parade, food, King Cake, and just hanging out.  And then there are the Mardi Gras balls.   Each Krewe has their own ball, with King and Queen and Court.  The costumes are fit for true royalty.  The food is New Orleans delicious.  And the revelry continues on into the morning.  You don’t want to miss an authentic Mardi Gras party!

Costumes are a welcome part of Mardi Gras.  Parade goers can wear any kind of costume they choose: they may go along with the theme of the parade, they may opt for something more unique, or maybe just wear wild make-up, a wig, a mask, or something of that sort.  There really are no rules.  Of course, all float riders wear costumes.  Costumes are a tradition that really make Mardi Gras what it is.

Mardi Gras is a time to party and have fun.  There are so many enjoyable facets and people of any age can experience what Mardi Gras has to offer.

One of the most well-known horror/sci-fi rock bands that has ever existed played in New Orleans last month. I am talking about GWAR - the bloodiest, most gory spectacle you’ll probably see up close without actually getting killed. (Aside from being present at a childbirth).

On December 10, 2008 Gwar played at the House of Blues in New Orleans. I was there with my friends from work and it was a very awesome night indeed. Two awesome things that put this show apart from other shows I’ve seen:

• Free Miller Lite in the Foundation Room
• Good view of Gwar from the balcony. I had never been one of those privileged people before, and I gotta say - that’s the way to see a show.

But what about the actual performance by Gwar? Well, it was visually stunning and pretty damn funny as well. And a bit weird. And maybe a bit disturbing/frightening too, especially if the viewer was either a) under the age of 10 or b) a bushman from Papua New Guinea who had never seen anything “civilized” before. (Haha! Gwar isn’t supposed to be civilized though.)

So here’s what happened on stage at the Gwar show…

• A wrestling match between John McCain and one of the members of Gwar (was it Flattus Maximus? or Oderus Urungus? I forgot) in which McCain’s face got ripped off. Also, the flesh on his chest got kinda ripped off. And, he sprayed the audience with blood while he held some major veins and aimed the spray outward.
• A wrestling match between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and a Gwar member. It ended badly for both of them. Hillary was actually chopped into two pieces, and thrown back onto the stage…and this was after parts of her chest were cut off. Obama got off easy though - he was only decapitated and then he danced off stage.
• Some “songs” were played.
• Sleazy P. Martini shot a couple of audience members on-stage after asking the enthusiastic crowd, “Who wants to die tonight?”
• Various people’s heads were chopped off
• More wrestling/killing matches took place
• Lots of blood/green fluid was sprayed onto the crowd
• An actual blood/fluid cannon was rolled out and used to coat the audience with goo and gore

I have a few pics of Gwar as well. Excuse the quality - they were taken with a camera phone.

It was a very entertaining show - and if you’ve never seen Gwar live on stage, you’re missing most of the Gwar experience. The only other way to get an inkling of what happens at one of their shows is to see a DVD. I recommend Phallus in Wonderland if you just wanna see them in action and get a taste of their horror and humor…

If you wanna see some live footage and get the other best DVD of Gwar out there, get the Ultimate Video Gwarchive and you won’t be disappointed.

So watch them on DVD, but next time you see tickets on sale for Gwar in your town I recommend you go!!

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved certain things - and in some form or another, I continue to enjoy those same things. One such childhood pleasure I still enjoy is watching magicians. I remember watching the David Copperfield specials when I was little and I remember seeing other magic shows on TV and some kids’ magic shows in person as well. I even had a magic set when I was a boy, as well as an old book (Scarne’s Tricks, if I remember correctly).

I don’t do magic tricks any more, but I still enjoy watching magic shows. To this day, I am still a fan of (in my opinion) the best magic duo ever - Penn & Teller. They’re able to captivate kids as well as adults due to their illusions as well as their humor. (And lately, their opinion and commentary.)

Magicians like Penn and Teller aren’t “scary”, but they appeal to me and I think what they do belongs in (or at least near) the realm of horror and macabre. Their act is more humorous but it does indeed have an edge to it. However, classic illusionists such as Houdini used more images related to mysticism and near-occult in their acts and advertising.

Along with actual magic acts, there are some other things related to magic that I have only enjoyed as an adult. One such thing is a stupendous book by Michael Chabon called The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Again, it’s not exactly about magicians, but Houdini plays into the plot as well as comic books and the legendary Golem.

Another two things that simply rule are movies that came out in the past couple of years: The Illusionist
and The Prestige. Both are cool. (And The Prestige even features the awesome Nikola Tesla.)

I have loved all this kind of stuff since I was a kid. But it still holds appeal for me now, and I’m in my thirties! But I don’t care. There are some things that are cool, no matter what age you are. So tonight, I think I will watch an old Penn & Teller video.

When I first moved to New Orleans at the age of five, my parents thought it would be fun to bring me to see a few sites and see the city. One of the first places they took me was the Musee Conti Wax Museum, on Rue Conti in New Orleans. It’s the only wax museum New Orleans has, and I had never been to one before.

But that day, I was in for a surprise! The wax museum is full of “boring” historical characters modeled in wax…but there is also a haunted dungeon. I was terrified when I saw the entrance, and my parents begged me to enter. I refused and stood my ground.

A minute later, two elderly ladies came to the entrance of the dungeon and they apparently saw the commotion I was causing. One of the ladies said, “Would you like to come with me, young man?” and for some reason that even I don’t understand, I said, “Okay.” and took her hand. She and her friend led me through the haunted dungeon, and I wasn’t scared at all.

To this day, I remember the experience…and I still love to see monsters - whether in celluloid or wax form!

Very recently, I went to a place in New Orleans called The Howlin’ Wolf. The reason I went was to see (possibly) the greatest guitarist alive today. No, I’m not talking about Esteban. I’m not talking about the guy on Nick, Jr. with the trendy glasses. I am speaking of the guitarist known as Buckethead!

It was an awesome night. I was so excited, because for many years I’ve known about Buckethead - yet I’ve never seen him perform. When I was a teenager, I remember seeing Buckethead in my guitar magazines and thinking: “This guy is awesome.” But I never had the opportunity to hear what this guy could do (in person) until last week.

(I have to insert a sidenote regarding The Howlin’ Wolf, as well. The location used to be called The New Orleans Music Hall. Back in ‘93 and through my high school career I went to see shows there. In fact, the first music show I ever saw was Rollins Band at the Music Hall. I remember being fifteen, and standing with my friends by the side door before the show - when Henry Rollins came out. He was a kinda short guy I remember. He looked at us and I said “Hi”. He said “Hi”. Then he walked to his tour bus. We were very excited about that, because he was possibly the biggest “celebrity” in our minds, besides Jello Biafra. We idolized those guys, and played Black Flag songs and Descendents and Dead Kennedys songs in our garage band. What fun days!)

The Buckethead show opened with a really interesting performance by That One Guy, who is one guy who plays a home-made electronic kinda weird guitar/bass instrument. Look him up.

What I was waiting for was Buckethead, though. When he finally came out, he did NOT disappoint. He instantly began shredding on his white Les Paul, and began to systematically tear off our collective faces with his searing guitar riffs and awesomely captivating near-constant solos. I think he played every style of modern music - funk, speed metal, raw rock, death metal-style heavy riffs, and some mellow stuff like you might hear at the Hilton lobby lounge on a Tuesday evening. He played and played and played. The set seemed to go on for hours and I wanted it to continue!!

But Buckethead is a performance genius. I don’t say that just because he wears a creepy mask and a bucket. He also breakdances. Yes, he took a break from guitar-playing and busted some serious moves. He did the robot and some other cool freestyle dance moves and brought my mind back to thee eighties.

Then, the mysterious figure known as Buckethead (a.k.a. Brian Carroll) brought out the NUNCHUCKS. (Remember kids, nunchucks are dangerous.) Remember how freakin’ awesome nunchucks were when you were a kid?? Every boy should have a pair of his own nunchucks. I never got a pair of them, unfortunately. (Warning: nunchucks can bust you in the head as you swing them. We take no responsibilty here at Maskull’s for you knocking a knot on your cranium.) But Buckethead made me want a pair of nunchucks all over again as he expertly demonstrated how to use them.

THEN…(yes there’s more)…it was TOY GIVEAWAY TIME. Yes indeed, boys and girls. This guitar-god started handing out bags of toys to the audience. And a few audience members handed gift baskets to him! The love was spread all over the smoke-filled Howlin’ Wolf.

Then. It was time to play more kickass guitar.

Buckethead proceeded to fill our ears with more audible awesomeness. Weird things happened then. A masked figure (in an old man mask) danced on stage. Weird hippie dudes did their hippie dances in the audience. And I watched as Buckethead, the real Guitar Hero, amazed all of us with his playing.

It was almost better than meeting Henry Rollins.

So maybe the grand finale for the ghoulish season has just come and gone, but that does not mean Halloween is over until next year.

Now is the perfect time to SHOP for next year’s festivities since all things Halloween will be on sale. Costumes, accessories, decorations, and party supplies are all being marked down 30%- 80% everywhere.

Don’t miss all the great bargains to be had on Fall and Halloween stuff. Be a savvy shopper and get some great deals!

Here it is - finally! Our favorite holiday has arrived, and we can finally celebrate Halloween in all it’s spooky, eerie glory. So put on your Halloween mask or makeup, and enjoy this day when you get to creep and romp in the night in costume!

Whether you are a vampire or a gorilla, a witch or a princess, we hope you have a spectacular October 31 and you get lots of treats! Happy Halloween!

I like a good, scary Halloween costume. And it seems that a lot of people are going for “scary” when Halloween night comes around - but come on, sometimes I see people trying too hard. They’re trying to be WAY too scary.

Does a zombie mask really need to have bloody scabs, worms coming out, an axe in the top of the head, battery-operated glowing red eyes, AND does the mouth need to be wide open in an apparent scream?? That’s what I mean by “overdoing it”. And you all know what I’m talking about - you’ve seen masks like that.

So this Halloween I would like to advocate the use of less over-the-top masks. I want to encourage the use of subdued-yet-creepy masks. So here’s my list of recommendations…

Michael Myers
You can probably not top this as the most understated, subdued, non-in-your-face, yet outright scary mask ever made. I love it. Michael Myers is a classic, it will never get old, and whenever you wear this as your costume you are guaranteed to get comments from people.

Frankenstein
Ain’t nothing wrong with a well-made Frankenstein mask. I have one (the Universal Studios one) and I love it. It’s easy to make into a costume - a turtleneck and a sport coat, some black boots…and you’re good to go.

Eerie Old Man Mask

There are a lot of variations on the old man mask. I don’t have one particular favorite - you can go expensive or cheap on this one, but there are a lot of really cool options out there. And most of the time you can use this mask with just about any type of clothing - a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, an overcoat, a suit, a mechanic’s uniform…whatever. They all go with the mask.

I still personally have NOT decided what to be this Halloween, but it’s probably going to be an old man at this point. I’m thinking: old man mask, western shirt, jeans, boots, and a fake shotgun. Whatever I am, I plan on being scary!

One of the best things about Halloween is it’s appeal to a broad population. Anyone and everyone can enjoy Halloween.

Some people are really into the darker side of Halloween: the gory and the horrific. I remember a house on a corner in Fort Worth, Texas that went over-the-top every Halloween with the latest in decorations designed to SCARE. They had the fog machine going, the horror sounds playing, corpses hanging from tree branches- whatever was creepy and scary, they had it. The residents dressed up as well and the kids especially liked to have a part in scaring other neighborhood kids. No surprise that it was always a popular stop for other Halloween horror enthusiasts.

Other people focus instead on the fun and mischief that are associated with All Hollows Eve. For the natural trickster, or for the person just taking advantage of a time designated for mischief, there is no better time to plan a devious trick- all in good fun of course! Then there are costume parties to go to, the yearly Halloween scary movie or two to see, and perhaps even visiting a haunted house. Much of how we celebrate Halloween is just plain fun.

And there are those who like the seasonal and whimsical aspect more- the cooler weather, the caramel apples, pumpkins, and the light-hearted friendly witch or cherub-faced ghost. For these people, the plethora of fall festivities make the whole season. There are fall festivals, pumpkin patches to visit, hay rides, apple orchards, and the like. The lighter side of Halloween, with all its whimsy, appeals to plenty of people.

Halloween, and all it encompasses, has wide-spread appeal because it offers so much. And no matter what different people relish the most when it comes to Halloween, there is enough variety that everyone can enjoy this unique holiday.