Midnight Syndicate - Monsters of Legend

Earlier this year Midnight Syndicate released a new album, Monsters of Legend, that we highly recommend adding to your music collection for Halloween! If you are not already familiar with Midnight Syndicate, they are what Trans-Siberean Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller is to Christmas.

The band consists of composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka and they are known for creating symphonic soundtracks to imaginary films that facilitate a transcendental and adventurous escape into the secret dimensions of the mind's eye. To many of their fans, they are Gothic music pioneers brewing a signature blend of orchestral horror music and movie-style sound effects. To others, they remain the first "haunted house band" that forever changed the Halloween music genre and became a staple of the October holiday season. Their critically-acclaimed works are reminiscent of sweeping, complex masterpieces by artists such as James Horner and Danny Elfman, and have been featured as a part of groundbreaking films, television shows, video games and at haunted attractions, amusement parks and live performances worldwide.


TRACKLISTING:

1. Return to Arcacia
2. Into the Valley of Shadows
3. A Watchful Gathering
4. Inn of the Weeping Sparrow
5. Unwanted Visitor
6. Requiem
7. Witching Hour
8. Unexpected Cargo
9. Black Woods
10. Twilight
11. Carriage Ride
12. Stone Guardians
13. Ancient Portal
14. Dark Tower
15. Building the Monster
16. Lord of the Realm
17. Forgotten Alcoves
18. A Terror Unleashed
19. Cloistered Cemetery
20. It Lives!
21. Beyond the Veil of Time

ALBUM DESCRIPTION
Universal Horror, Hammer Films, and horror classics from the silent era are the inspiration for this new release. Midnight Syndicate's signature blend of instrumental horror music and sounds make you feel like you are in one of those classic films - in a world where any one of the Monsters of Legend could be right around the corner....

Check out these other great titles by Midnight Syndicate:

Groovie Goolies!

To follow our previous post about the Rankin & Bass Halloween specials, "Mad Monster Party" & "Mad Mad Mad Monsters", I thought I would also promote this "Groovie Goolies" DVD, released earlier this summer. "Groovie Goolies" was a Saturday morning (mourning) cartoon in the 70's produced by Filmation, and a spin off of the popular series, "The Archie Show".

Similar to the Rankin & Bass specials, this show primarily featured classic monsters, such as Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster & The Wolfman. They all hang out together in Horrible Hall, getting into wacky scrapes and banging out sugary hits as a band, all with a comedy style resembling Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. It's a fun, wholesome series to add to your Halloween viewing. It will be nostalgic for adults who grew up watching it, but I'm sure the kids will get a kick out of it as well. If you've never seen the show, check out the intro!





Related Post:
Mad Monsters!

Mad Monsters!

Rankin & Bass are world famous for their heartwarming classic Christmas specials, but they also tried their hand at making 2 Halloween specials; "Mad Monster Party" (a similar stop motion style as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) & "Mad Mad Mad Monsters" (a traditional animated feature like Frosty The Snowman). Similar to the Christmas specials based on popular Children's songs, these specials seemed to be loosely based on the Halloween anthem, "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers, and feature many of the same characters.

Although these seemed to fade into obscurity after their initial release, "Mad Monster Party" has had a bit of a resurgence after its release on DVD and has since developed a cult following, whereas "Mad Mad Mad Monsters" saw its debut release on DVD earlier this year.

Despite its new-found popularity, there is not much in the way of merchandise as there is for Rudolph & Frosty. So, I was excited to run across 2 sets of figures made by Funko, Series 1 featuring Werewolf, Frankenstein, Zombie Bellhop & Dracula, and Series 2 featuring Francesca, Mr. Hyde, Skeleton Band & Yetch. Unfortunately there was a very small limited number of these sets made and they have since sold out. It's a bummer, but my hope is that more people will show interest and either these figures will be re-released or new figures will be available in the future. I thought they were worth sharing just the same!

~Mad Monster Party Figures Series 1~



~Mad Monster Party Figures Series 2~



I guess my biggest question is, where is the figure of Baron Von Frankenstein, i.e. Uncle Boris? The closest I could find was this cold cast resin statue that is also no longer available. Doesn't appear to be related to the set either, but pretty awesome!

~Mad Monster Party Uncle Boris Statue~


For anyone who is truly interested in purchasing a set, the good news is that there are a few Series 2 sets available on Amazon. Perhaps you'll have luck finding the rest on Ebay!