Happy Halloween!

Since Halloween is both a day of having fun and remembering the dead, today we're revisiting the soundtrack to the zombie hoedown that kicked off this month, Return of the Living Dead, to honor a sadly departed contributor to that masterwork. Roky Erickson died in June of this year, leaving behind one of the finest catalogues of psychedelic/horror rock. We heard a couple songs from him last year, when he was still out and about performing shows. I'm kicking myself that I missed him in New Jersey on Halloween of last year, but some nice person posted a video of a whole show from that same tour here. Below, check out his contribution to Return of the Living Dead. It's a song called "Burn the Flames" and the video features a deleted segment from the scene that features Roky's song. It's well-suited for a voluntary cremation scene, but the song lyrics themselves are even creepier than the movie. A skeleton sitting at his organ, his candelabra burning hellishly hellish hell... Wherever Roky is now, I know his flame is still burning higher, higher, and higher.

Now that the somber part is over, don't forget the fun part! It's time to eat all the candy (yes all of it), to wear your monster clothing to work, and to crank the Halloween tunes loud enough to drown out your neighbor's complaints about the noise. And don't forget what Return of the Living Dead taught us--this isn't a costume, it's a way of life! Happy Halloween!