The Manchester Morgue: The T-Shirt

I've wanted to get a shirt made for the site for a while now, just for the hell of it really, I thought it'd be kinda fun and make for an interesting post. So after some messing around with a design I placed an order at CafePress and the shirt has arrived, so I thought what better place to show it off than on the site that inspired the shirt.

Pictured above is the shirt in non-action mode, and here's a look at the shirt in action mode. That is, if you consider sitting down on some stairs "action". I was originally going to get a picture of myself wearing the shirt while doing something really cool, like kayaking, but my photographer bailed at the last minute so I had to take the picture myself. That, and I'm not entirely sure what kayaking is or how to do it.

And here's a closer look at the actual design, it's more detailed than it came out on the shirt, but I'm still happy with it. I would like to thank my Andreas Vollenweider tape for allowing itself to be unspooled and scanned for the purpose of this t-shirt being created.

Bernard Herrmann - Sisters

Here's Bernard Herrmann's music from the Brian De Palma film Sisters. I'm too tired to write my usual bunch of crap right now, so I will leave you with this little anecdote I found regarding the score: "To indicate the musical effects he wanted, Brian De Palma put together an edit of his film that was dubbed with music from the films of the composer he most wanted to hire, 'Bernard Herrmann' . While he was showing it to Herrmann, the composer stopped him with, "Young man, I cannot watch your film while I'm listening to Marnie (1964)."

1. Main Title (01:20)
2. The Dressing Room (01:13)
3. The Ferry; The Apartment; Breton (03:32)
4. The Scar; The Pills; Duo (02:49)
5. The Cake; The Car; The Candles (02:19)
6. Phillip's Murder; Window View (02:55)
7. Clean-up; Split-screen; The Search (02:49)
8. Plastic Bag; The Dress; Cake Box (02:15)
9. Apartment House; The Windows (02:30)
10. The Couch (01:05)
11. Siamese Twins (02:31)
12. The Solution; The Clinic; Hypnotic Trance (03:47)
13. The Dream; The Syringe (05:07)
14. Separation Nightmare; Breton's Murder; Dirge (04:56)
15. Aftermath; Finale (02:02)

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It's the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

I promised there would be music from a film about murderous produce on a rampage, so here it is, the soundtrack from John De Bello's epic exercise in over the top goofiness Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! I personally prefer the first sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (starring George Clooney!), but what the hell, this one is pretty fun too. Plus I don't think there are any soundtracks to any of the other Killer Tomatoes films. Although, if you're itching for some more KT music I do have the theme from Killer Tomatoes Eat France! on my Rollercoaster of Death compilation. And yes, all of the movies do have the exclamation point included in the titles, I'm not just doing that to be annoying.

This was a Best Buy exclusive CD that only came with the Special Collector's Edition DVD back when it was released back in 2003.

1. Main Theme from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (02:52)
2. The Mindmaker Song (02:00)
3. Tomato Stomp (01:46)
4. Puberty Love (00:46)
5. Love Theme (01:13)
6. End Theme (00:51)

"Hey, can somebody please pass the ketchup?"

And since it is only 6 tracks (one of them being the worst song ever made) I thought I'd throw in a little bonus. That little bonus, a rom of the NES game Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Not a thrilling game really, it basically uses the Mario Brothers 1 run to the right and jump on things formula, but I thought it'd be a fun bonus. I've also included a couple Emulators so you can play the game in case you didn't have one already. Those of you who have been with me since the beginning probably remember my post of several horror themed NES games (actually a year ago from last Monday). I've actually acquired several hundred more NES and SEGA Genesis roms on my computer since then, so if there's any interest in me posting a bunch more just leave a comment and let me know.

An Open Tomb...An Empty Coffin....

Here's a little something I whipped up at work last year. I created it from a picture of a drunk and moderately skanky girl someone had left behind in the photo station and turned her into some bizarre witch queen type character. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I kinda like it, so here it is.

David Newman - Little Monsters

This is David Newman's unreleased score from the terrifying children's adventure comedy Little Monsters. Sure, I saw it and loved it as a kid, but I rewatched it a few years ago and it creeped me out quite a bit. You've got Howie Mandel (who is creepy enough on his own) with blue skin, horns, fangs, a mohawk, and an earring made out of one of those Stephen King Library keychains, abducting young children by hiding underneath their beds and taking them to some weird anarchic otherworldly slums. As we all know, the underside of a child's bed is the second place, after their closet, that the child is certain a monster is lurking, waiting for just the right moment to devour them. And as kids we're always told never to talk to, or go with strangers, especially if they're monsters. This movie is basically telling kids to do the opposite of what their parents spend years telling them. There are, in fact, monsters under your bed, and it's okay to go with them if they invite you somewhere. It's kind of an evil movie, really. I know, I know, it's just a stupid fun kid's movie that I'm analyzing way too much. I'm sorry, I do that sometimes. It is rather creepy though. With that being said, that part where Maurice pisses in Fred Savage's tormentor's apple juice - Classic.

Before I go, am I the only one that thinks Little Monsters seems kind of like a cross between Monkeybone, Camp Nowhere and Basket Case III? I don't know, if I'm the only one, I'll shut up.

And what the hell am I stepping in, Doritos?

George A. Romero's Toe Tags #4-6

And here's the final 3 issues of George Romero's Toe Tags miniseries. Thanks to the original scanner of these issues. I know, I've said that on every single comic post I've put up, but I know the one time I forget the person who scanned them will see the post and be upset about it. Check back tomorrow, I should be back on track with an actual soundtrack or two for you all. Or, as people around these parts might be heard to say, y'all.

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George A. Romero's Toe Tags #1-3

The other day I mentioned posting George Romero scribed comic books, so here's the first 3 issues of Toe Tags, the 6 issue series written by George, that was put out by DC Comics. If you've ever wanted to see an elephant whoop ass on a bunch of grotesque zombies alongside a hot woman and some bionic zombie dude, here you go. I've only had a chance to read these three issues, so I don't know how it ends yet, but I think it's a pretty cool miniseries from what I've seen so far. I suggest any zombie or Romero fans check these out (I'm talking about George here, but Eddie Romero fans might get a kick out of them too). I'll put the other 3 issues up later on.

I recommend CDisplay for reading the comics, but if you don't want to install yet another program on your computer you can also use WinRAR to open them. As always thanks go out to the kind individual(s) who took the time to scan these issues (I'm assuming it was someone who goes by Resin, since that appears on a few of the issues). Whoever is responsible, we thank you.

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Novelty Cigarette Lighter of Doom : A Manchester Morgue Compilation

Since I'm back, I thought I'd start by unveiling the newest Manchester Morgue compilation, Novelty Cigarette Lighter of Doom! This is the sequel to Werewolf in Unnecessarily Short Gym Shorts, and it features the same basic theme; songs with titles named after horror or science fiction films. While these songs all feature horror movie themed titles, not all of the songs actually have anything to do with the movie they share a title with. It's just a fun compilation featuring bands I like, and hopefully all of you will find at least a few cool songs or bands that you are a fan of, or might soon become a fan of.

It was originally scheduled to be called "Bride of Werewolf in Unnecessarily Short Gym Shorts", but while it was hard finding a male werewolf in little ass-hugging gym shorts, it was impossible for me to find a female werewolf wearing shorts. I came up with the (admittedly kinda dumb, but hopefully "fun dumb" and not just regular stupid dumb) title when going through some old EC comics and found this cover to be pretty funny. I thought it looked more like the bad guy was attempting to light his enemy on fire with one of those lighters shaped like a gun, than shoot him with a real gun. While it maybe doesn't entirely work for the compilation theme (the last one at least had a horrific werewolf element with the cover) the cleavagey woman on the left looks pretty spooked, so we can just imagine there's a zombie on the other side of that gun-lighter wielding hand.

The tracks come from all sorts of different sources and have different bitrates, but there shouldn't be anything too awful sounding. Just some of the songs are not quite as loud as others. Damn you old Misfits! Wait, I should add one of these things --> ;) I hate using those to express my sarcasm, but the last thing I need is a bunch of members of The Misfits Army coming after me for my remark.

At The Gates - The Swarm
King Diamond - Halloween
Samhain - Halloween II
Sadist - Sometimes They Come Back
Angel Witch - Dr. Phibes
Deceased - Fright
Stormrider - Lucifer Rising
Roky Erickson & The Aliens - I Walked With a Zombie
Manucipal Waste - The Thing
The Misfits - Astro Zombies
The Graveyard Boulevard - Popcorn
Rigor Mortis - Wizard of Gore
Possesed - The Exorcist
Testament - Alone in the Dark
David Vanian & The Phantom Chords - Swamp Thing
The Agonist - Memento Mori
Omen - Prince Of Darkness
Quo Vadis - Zero Hour
Voltaire - Land of the Dead
Cianide - The Wrath of Daimajin

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Notes on a couple tracks:

Angel Witch - Dr. Phibes - I know, the movie is called The Abominable Dr. Phibes, but I really like this NWOBHM-ian instrumental so I wanted to include it. For the sake of this compilation, let's just pretend the song has the "Abominable" part in there.

The Agonist - Memento Mori - This is one of the "nothing to do with the movie it shares a title with" songs that I mentioned before. Hell, that movie itself isn't technically even called that, that's just the English title they used for it when it came out. I just heard this band and think they're pretty cool, so here's hoping I turn someone else onto them. The Agonist is a pretty new band from Quebec, and their singer is one of those female singers who do their fair share of screaming, like Angela from Arch Enemy or Candace from Walls of Jericho, but she actually sings between the screaming. I prefer her singing voice, but I let the screaming slide because she's hot, in a blue-haired kinda way.

I was bored, so I even whipped up a back cover for it:

I wasn't able to print the back out myself, but if anyone actually does and finds it to be off center or if the sides don't fit into the case properly, let me know and I can adjust it.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program

Okay, well luckily I was able to find somewhere to temporarily relocate to pretty quickly, resulting in a pretty half assed hiatus. Of course, I have to move again pretty soon, but I should be set for a little while, at least until I figure out what I plan on doing in the long run. So, thanks a lot to those of you who left a comment in the last post, helped me to stay positive throughout the whole thing. I’ve got some cool new stuff for you all to check out, a new ridiculously titled compilation, George Romero scribed comics, and eventually a look at my Manchester Morgue t-shirt design I came up with for the hell of it. Check back soon, I’ll get something up here shortly.

The Manchester Morgue will be back after this brief intermission...

Okay, so I'm here to apologize once again for the small amount of recent updates, I'm currently in the midst of a brief hiatus. Not sure how long it'll last, but don't worry, won't be more than a week or so. I don't want to bore you with the details, but I'm essentially being forcefully removed from my house. Things have been pretty awful so far this year where I live and the shit has finally hit the proverbial fan. So tomorrow I've gotta beat cheeks and move everything I own that is worth moving from point A (aka Stinktown) to a temporary holding area while I decide on a definitive point B in which to take my stuff. And myself. I don't even have time to find boxes or anything, so this whole ordeal is going to be one massive ass ache for me. But, fear not, I will return soon, maybe by Monday even, with new stuff for everyone to check out.

Dawn of the Dead in Comic Form

This is the 3-issue Dawn of the Dead series put out by IDW Publishing a few years back. I believe this series was put out to coincide with the release of the remake, even though it's based on George Romero's original film and not the remake. It was adapted for the 6 5/8 x 10 1/4" page by Steve Niles and the artwork is credited to Chee. I'm personally not a big fan of the artwork (aside from the awesome covers by Katherine S. Kolbert), as someone on Amazon.com stated, it kinda resembles the artwork found on those airplane safety pamphlets. But I'm sure you fellow fans of all things undead will still want to check these out.

I recommend CDisplay for reading the comics, but if you don't want to install yet another program on your computer you can also use WinRAR to open them. As always thanks go out to the kind individual(s) who took the time to scan these issues.

Scary, isn't it?

Stefano Mainetti - Talos The Mummy (Tales of the Mummy)

So, anyone out there enjoy listening to music from bad Mummy films? If so then I have Stefano Mainetti's music from the 1998 Jason Scott Lee film Talos The Mummy (or if you prefer, Tales of the Mummy) awaiting your download. The "bad" part above refers to the movie only, the music is rather good actually. The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who you might know as the director of the first two Highlander films. Russell hasn't really done much of note in the 20 years since he did Highlander in 1986, but he is doing the new Resident Evil movie, so maybe his luck will change. While I doubt the new RE will be great, it'll surely do good enough at the box office to be considered "of note".

According to a great and hilarious review of Talos by Nathan over at Cold Fusion one Christopher Lee makes a cameo appearance, so that's worth something at least. Of course, he's clearly visible on the soundtrack cover, I just wanted you to check out that review, which I found to be a very entertaining few minutes of reading material.

Here's the tracklist, followed, as always, by the link. Be sure to check out track 3 - Into the Cavern, it gets nice and spooky about 2 minutes into the track.

1. The Mummy (03:44)
2. Nabil (03:51)
3. Into the Cavern (03:39)
4. Stream of Black Mist (02:17)
5. The Search (05:54)
6. From Dusk Till Dawn (04:03)
7. The Seventh Floor Hallway (01:56)
8. Planetary Alignment (03:39)
9. Innervisions (02:53)
10. Back to Nefriama (04:11)
11. Detective Riley (01:54)
12. The Hunt (03:30)
13. Transformation (02:43)
14. An Ancient Curse (01:49)

He's waiting in purgatory for the day of his rebirth -- which happens to be this Thursday!

The Office Season 3: The Best Buy exclusive

My current favorite show (also one of my top 5 favorite shows of all time) The Office just had it's 3rd season released on DVD today. As with the last season Best Buy has put out a "Best Buy Exclusive" box set for this third season. Included in the exclusive set (which is on sale this week for $42.99, $32.99 for the regular version) is the 4-disc DVD set, plus a mini Dundie Award statue and a mini Dwight Shrute bobblehead (as seen on the show, only smaller). The bobblehead is actually very mini, about 3 inches high, but I think it's made of porcelain, so it's pretty high quality despite it's tiny stature. Just wanted to give any fellow Office fans a heads up to seek out this set because I think they're going to sell out very quickly. I was the 3rd person in the store and during the 20 seconds I spent grabbing my set, 4 other people snatched up a set as well. Get one soon, or you'll end up paying double for the set later on Amazon or eBay.

Here's a closer look at the collectible action figures. They're worth more than your car...