LOVECRAFT, a howling, blood-sucking collective

“A long, long time ago, it was a night of great power. When the days grew short, the spirits of the dead returned to their homes to warm themselves by the fire’s side. All across the land, huge bonfires were lit. Ohhh, there was a marvelous celebration. People danced, and they played games, and they dressed up in costumes, hoping to ward off the evil spirits — especially the boogeyman.” ~Mrs. Blankenship, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

We like to be frightened. Perhaps it’s the combination of innate bloodlust for the macabre and most basic human curiosity of the unknown. Crowds flocked to theaters nationwide upon the release of 1973’s The Exorcist, and many were left emotionally and psychologically shell-shocked. “I don’t like it. I want to go home,” one movie-goer said, very clearly rattled. Another confessed, “I just… found it really horrible and just had to come out. I couldn’t take it anymore.” “People are extremely depressed by this,” claimed a priest. William Peter Blatty’s excursion into madness redefined horror storytelling for an entire generation, and we have never been the same.

Popular music and television has frequently profited off that deeply-rooted fascination, too ⏤ from Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash” and  Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” (famously covered in 1993’s Hocus Pocus) to such major series as The Munsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Dark Shadows soap opera. Our love affair with horror swings as a pendulum, often ebbing in cycles and mirroring popular trends of cinema, including the blood-soaked slashers and creature features of the ’80s ⏤ DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “A Nightmare on My Street” firmly planted in the former, where Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” certainly exhumes the latter. Today, we are in the throes of a horror film rebirth; thanks to Jordan Peele, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, James Wan and Aris Aster, we are witnessing a renaissance of creative thinkers and inventors upending conventions and laying down new foundation.

It’s only reasonable to assume horror-pop would be thriving equally as much. Kim Petras is the obvious torchbearer here ⏤ her Turn Off the Light record frames skillfully written hooks around the cauldron of horror itself, making clear references to Wrong Turn, Saw, My Bloody Valentine, Texas Chainsaw Massacre,The Omen and Final Destination, among many more. In the larger independent music scene, there’s a revolution brewing behind dark swirling clouds perched just on the horizon. The pop sub-genre is bursting at the seams right now with artists, singers, songwriters and synth sorcerers digging their teeth into grisly tales of heartache, loss, redemption and sexual awakening. B-Sides &  Badlands favorites like JARA, Ellise, Shilow, Graveyard Guy and Clovet Mae, and others, are vital to keeping the pulse of horror-pop alive, and the world may not realize it just yet, but a new day is dawning.

Then, there’s LOVECRAFT, a self-described “sinister spawn of 7 Halloween-obsessed hit-making songwriters united to create a spooktacular soundtrack of original bops for the witching season,” as their Twitter bio proclaims. With a moniker honoring H.P. Lovecraft, often credited as a master of modern horror and bizarre fiction, their debut full-length is appropriately ghoulish and sucks the blood straight from the neck. This is Halloween Volume 1 (perhaps a nod to The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a thirst-quenching, coffin-bangin’ haunt that relentlessly sinks into dread, often wallowing in disturbia and suffocating you (see their absolutely astonishing and deadly retooling of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in a America”). “Skeleton Sam” is a dance-club skull-crusher, while “Voodoo” slinks into Nina Simone-approved blues, a melody that sears itself right at the brain stem.

“Take It to the Graveyard (Boo-Yeah!)” and “Candyman” carve out their own dirty funkadelic charm, forcing you to the edge of the world and back, but not without dancing until you literally die. “If You Ask Me To” is the blood draining from your lifeless corpse, a more visceral, vulnerable ballad that leaves an imposing impression, and other cuts like “First Blood” and “Spooky” rely on slow-burning mood to envelope every one of your senses, totally and forevermore. A version of the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long as You Love Me” is the most surprising treat of a whole lotta tricks and emerges as a tortured hymnal to fill the whole world’s cathedrals.

Upon initial release, the collective remained tightlipped on their identities and only moved in the shadows as Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode. “The project boasts plenty of haunting children’s choirs, strange 80’s phantasms, trap ghosts and swampy voodoo skeletons ready to soundtrack your next Halloween party, haunt excursion, horror movie screening and trick or treat mission,” reads an excerpt of their biography. LOVECRAFT also invented various fantastical characters to underscore a whole aesthetic and vibe and lifestyle, delightfully endearing and chilling. The seven-piece are: Peter Wade (Jennifer Lopez, Charli XCX) as Norman Crates; Evan Bogart (Beyoncé, Adam Lambert) as Lil Punkin; MNDR (Jake Miller, Carly Rae Jepsen) as Deepkutz; Sarah Barrios as Scary Ana Grande; Scott Hoffman as Ghost M’lone; Justin Gray (Avril Lavigne, Joss Stone) as Count Trackula; and Romell as DejaVudu.

Whether you only like to be scared once a year, or you’re like us and you’re always seeking out your next big thrill, LOVECRAFT hit the sweet spot between infectious radio-friendly hooks and ambiance-driven compositions. Either way, you’ll get your fill. Spin it. Bump it. Do whatever you like with it. (Oh, and go subscribe to Shudder…!).

This is Halloween Volume 1 is out everywhere now. Listen below.

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