Halloween: Redux
Get in the Halloween spirit with these offerings…
There’s so much beginning-of-the-month housekeeping and other things I need to do here for you for October for The Vault - but I’ve been so darned busy I haven’t quite gotten there yet. However, it’s OCTOBER… and that means it’s HALLOWEEN now. 😂 I know not everyone shares in my enthusiasm for this particular holiday but, much like Christmas, I hold a fervent and unabashed love for this (and truly just about everything else that happens from now until the end of the year).
THUS, my writing to today is IMPORTANT 😂 because yesterday was October 4th. Was I hoping to get this post finished and sent to you yesterday? YES! and: what’s so special about October 4th, you ask? Well, it was the perfect day to start your FRANKENSTEIN journey! But today could work, too.
Should you start by listening to the intro through Letter Two today, and then continue to pace yourself at 1 segment per day for the rest of October, the final chapter will fall on HALLOWEEN!
If you have no idea what I’m talking about: back in 2020 I pursued an absolutely ridiculous undertaking which seemed totally reasonable to me at the time (it had also been something I’d been wanting to do for a good while), and created an 8-hour long Audio Book of one of my favorite novels, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Honestly, in my reverie it’s a crowning achievement of mine over the last few years, just because of the enormity of the project, the learning curve I’d completely ignored as an obstacle in taking it on, and then all the adversity I faced trying to finish it (the sound-pollution alone was enough to drive one mad: unexpected construction next-door, wild storms, etc; and then my recording rig died in the middle of the process). But finish it I did, and despite the setbacks and not studio-quality tools/equipment, when I listen to it now I am actually astounded at how well I pulled it all off. It’s not even a “humble”-brag… I’m truly amazed. It was an excellent opportunity for me to brush off my acting, get more acquainted with what I could do with my speaking voice, forced me to re-read a favorite classic, and it was a baptism-by-fire with getting more up to speed with my audio editing and engineering skills. The process alone was its own kind of masterpiece in retrospect, so this finished product is a true source of pride.
I re-shared it with you lot last Halloween here, but I wanted to make sure this day did not pass without a reminder in case you missed it any of the past years, or would like to revisit it.
(I’ve noticed folks starting at Chapter 1 and skipping Letters 1-4… don’t! They are a prologue(/epilogue?) which is part of the story/novel, and the ending will be more confusing if you skip them. The narrative of Frankenstein is sort of sandwiched Inception-style, where one person is telling the story of another person who then includes the story of another person in their story…)
As a VAULT Keyholder, you may listen to and/or download the entire Frankenstein audio book created and released to Patrons at Patreon in October 2020 via the supplemental Playlists page, via the playlist embedded above, or download an MP3 or WAV version directly to your device using the buttons.
Then there was last year…
I really hoped to follow up the 2020 offering with another for 2021 to set an annual precedent of a special literary Halloween gift delivered to Patrons/Keyholders. The intent for my sophomore attempt was to deliver Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, however with the maniacal breakneck pace of everything else I was trying to accomplish last year, all before leaving town to get married on October 31st, that dream had to be rain-checked. (A glimpse of what’s to come perhaps??)
So, as a surprise, I delivered a shorty collection of Edgar Allan Poe poems during the last few days of October, on 10/29, 10/30, and then 10/31.
I am currently working on this year’s gift and hope to get it delivering on-time for you. If you need a little nudge getting into the Halloween spirit, I’m here for you.
Hope you enjoy, and I’ll be back with a deeper update in the next few days.
Without you, I wouldn’t be able to pursue all these crazy ideas (nor have an excuse to, probably). These kinds of projects stoke the embers of other passions, hobbies, and loves outside of music which I think is really crucial to keeping the fire of creativity burning to put back into the music. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT… and enjoy!
rewards access:
