Talk Horror The Mouth of Madness
A delicate key played, a soft guitar riff; the drums and bass kick in, and my dear friend Zack is transformed into Zackula Von Nasty, lead singer of The Big Bad. He’ll kick in with soft beginning lyrics of “Ecto103FM” before segueing into the horrorpunk anthem that all the cool kids know the lyrics to, “Shine the Signal.”
An hour before the show stars, I’m at a table in the bar with my partners in crime, and Zack walks in in full makeup; stark white face with hollowed cheeks, white contact lenses, blood EVERYWHERE; but the persona isn’t there. He’s Zack with Zackula’s face. He greets us all with a smooch on the cheek, and starts getting everything ready for the show, including getting a drink of his own.
An hour later my friends in The Big Bad are rockstars! Wolfman Jack is giving that keyboard hell, Wayne Cannibal is screaming lyrics at the crowd, Tyler Lolife is shredding the guitar, and Kyle Thirteen is beating those damn drums like they owe him money.
Spooky lyrics about religion, life, death, and everything in between fill the air. During “See You in the Shadows” (which Zack wrote about a friend of his who passed away), there’s some “Whoa” melody in the song that I am belting out. Zackula takes full advantage of this and brings the mic over, singing the lyrics as I “Whoa” the backups in tune.
“Prom Night 1957” kicks in and Wolfman Jack steps out from behind the keyboard and pulls the saxophone off its stand; shit just got REAL.
During “We Own This Town”, the audience screams lyrics at the band with such raw energy that it almost moves me to tears. Suddenly Zackula is standing in front of me and places the palm of his hand on my forehead like those pastors do. Without missing a beat I flop backwards.
I’ve just been touched by THE LORD.
