All Hallow’s Eve is when the followers of Samhain return to unleash their attention upon the world of the living. Taking to the streets, demanding humanity’s eternal soul, and malted milk balls. Adorned in regalia from the specter of Death itself to Jason Voorhees, to plump Baby Herman, all the way to Janet Jackson’s right breast. Once, in our culture, the observance of Halloween was more macabre than ribald. The holiday centered around the spooky-darkened castles, the undead rising from crypts, and countless horrors lurking within the chilly darknesses of October.
As a kid of the 1980s, Halloween meant the return of classic horror and monster movies to our local TV stations. I especially remember watching a man named Ervin Coppi on WSIU-TV, broadcasting from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. As the host, he would highlight golden-era horror movies—Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and a handful of forgotten classics, such as Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Day the Earth Stood Still, or Fiend Without a Face. Those movies, combined with the season, created an aesthetic that was the red gold of Fall and some nights the stillness of a grave.
Haunting the great pumpkin patch of rock ‘n’ roll this Halloween is The Phantom A.D. Plays Ghoulish Rock ‘N’ Roll, a follow-up album to 2021’s The Terrifying Return Of. Once upon a time, Kiddies, there may or may not have been a mortal man named Isaac Rother. Legends tell of a rock ‘n’ roller who received an ill-fated tarot card reading one sinister night. This simple act of divination went horribly wrong, ultimately leading to his death at the hands of monsters. He then reanimated and rose as The Phantom, wielding the power of permanent heebie-jeebies and rock ‘n’ roll at his command.
The Phantom A.D. Plays Ghoulish Rock ‘N’ Roll kicks off with “MK Ultra Rock,” a tune that chronicles everyone’s favorite mad science experiment. It is an enthralling, catchy song. The Phantom evokes a sonic spell that’s equal parts jaunty and earworm, with its refrain the main character requests the scientists to “gimme LSD and then see what I do.” Somewhere, the original participants, the poet Allen Ginsberg and author Ken Kesey, would posthumously titter and smile.
“I Go Where The Party Takes Me” is a dark infectious rocker with a chorus that digs deep. There is a Phantom on the loose and he is looking for a party. The song proves that even ghouls have to pre-game before they prowl the night for a good time.
“And it’s one bottle, two bottle, 3 bottle, 4…a puff of smoke and I am out the door…”
In an amazing surprise, The Phantom creates his own delivery of Britney Spears’ hit “One More Time.” The song is transformed from a homogenized bubble gum pop classic to a hard-driving ode to BDSM. If you are not a fan, you are now.
The final installment of the record is “Gloomy Sunday.” Originally a poem titled “Vége a Világnak” (The World Is Ending) and was at one time deemed the most depressing song ever. So much so that many European radio stations refused to play it. Also known as the “Hungarian Suicide Song.” In the early 1940’s jazz vocal legend Billie Holiday brought the song to a broader audience that spoke English. The perfect capper to the mayhem and madness The Phantom A.D. leads us on during this time among the shadows.
The Phantom A.D. Plays Ghoulish Rock ‘N’ Roll is the most important party favor for this year. Put a little treat in your trick if you are hep. The album is available on most streaming services, or you can order the album directly from The Phantom himself. He is nice enough to put it in a box, toss in a sticker, a pin, and then sets it in the mail. The Phantom A.D. Plays Ghoulish Rock ‘N’ Roll is an overall rocking tribute to the eerie and outrageous. To a place beyond conventional space and the intricacies of the temporal. That crossroads where rock meets roll.