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Hello all! I've kind of messed up my blog posting schedule, but I had something in the works that I was waiting to post, and now I'm able to post about it! I'm excited to announce that I'll be reading some poems at Troupe429 in Norwalk, CT for the open stage at their Trail Mix Thursdays on Thursday, June 6! I'm also excited to be included in this because it's one of the kick-off events for the venue's Pride Month celebrations. There are going to be some other amazing and talented people performing, so don't miss out! And a huge thank you to Troupe429, as well as our hosts for the night, Sienna Rose and Robin Fierce! I'll be reading a few from Haunt (some of the less-spooky ones, of course), as well as some new poems. Whatever I can cram into my time limit! Come celebrate pride with us! Check out some of the other performers--they're tagged in one of my recent Instagram posts, here. And check out some more of Troupe429's events here! Extra info about them below.  Troupe429: LGBTQ Bar & Performance Space
3 Wall Street | Norwalk | CT | 06850 Open every day for Happy Hour at 6PM! Troupe429 is home to the most Smirnoff flavors in the world + N64 Mario Kart races + 29 disco balls! Hope to see you there! -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here.
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Another late Nothing Peak blog post! What's wrong with me? I had some other poetry-related efforts to attend to, but I'm back, and in anticipation of the IT: Chapter Two trailer dropping this week, I thought I'd share some of the other upcoming horror movies in 2019 that I'm most excited for.
Are you also looking forward to any of these upcoming films? Which ones, and why? Are there any that you're excited for that I didn't mention in this list? Let me know in the comments. I want to hear what you can't wait for! (note: all images in this blog post are from imdb.com)
Until next time! -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here. National Poetry Month is going strong, and I still see posts about it from certain friends/social media outlets. That's so exciting! It gets me excited to see folks out there talking about poetry. So for my next blog post this month, I thought I'd continue my Haunt fun facts, as I've gotten some more topics and questions to address!
So there you have it! More fun facts and discussions around my first book, Haunt. Available on Amazon! I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them. Don't hesitate to ask me more questions for me to answer in future blog posts! Enjoy the rest of National Poetry Month. And also enjoy the rest of Earth Week! Plus, we've got National Park Week starting tomorrow. You'll have to check in on my social media to learn more!
-Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here. I hope no one thought I wasn’t going to do something fun for National Poetry Month! For this month’s blog posts, I wanted to share some Haunt-related things, so here are some fun facts relating to my first book of poetry, which you should (shameless yet blunt self-promotion incoming) definitely check out if you haven’t already.
I hope you enjoyed these behind-the-scenes glances at the making of Haunt. And anyone who knows me knows I’ll talk about this book for hours! Do you have any more questions I should answer, or ideas I should discuss in the next Nothing Peak blog post for National Poetry Month? Let me know in the comments! -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here. Hi All, In honor of yesterday being World Poetry Day, I thought I'd share another one of my favorite poems from Haunt! Check it out below, as well as here, with another sample poem from the book. Thanks, as always, for supporting poets and poetry! It's so exciting when the internet is taken over with everyone sharing their love of poetry. Enjoy!   http://monstermania.net/ Hey all! Thanks for being patient with this blog entry--I attended Monster-Mania Con's 42nd show in Cherry Hill, NJ this past Saturday, and I wanted to share my experience with all you horror hounds and readers! Before I start, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my Haunt anniversary giveaway. I'm so grateful that so many of you entered! Just about all of the winners have been contacted and some have even received their copies of the book. I appreciate all the support, as always, and a huge thanks for making the first year of Haunt such a great one. I've attended Monster-Mania for a few years now; these shows (along with the always awesome Connecticut HorrorFest) allow horror fans (and, sometimes, wrestling fans?) to meet their favorite icons of the genre. I've met Kyra Schon, Ally Sheedy, Tony Todd, Sean Astin, John Carpenter, Robert Englund, and more. So many of these folks have inspired me to do what I do, and getting the chance to meet them puts the icing on the cake! So when I learned that Christina Ricci, one of my favorites growing up, was going to be attending this year, I HAD to go. And so I did, with my Casper blu-ray in tow. The people I met at Monster-Mania 42 were: Danielle Harris, Christina Ricci, James Jude Courtney, Dylan McDermott, and Will Sandin. More guests were in attendance that weekend, including Dolph Lundgren, Meatloaf, Jibrail Nantambu, Nick Castle, Sandy Johnson, Mickey Yablans, Tommy Flanagan, CJ Graham, Kane, Phil Fondacaro, and Jen and Sylvia Soska. The heavy-hitter? The 4 main leads of The Craft, Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, and Rachel True, came to this convention for their first time together since 1996! I would definitely have loved to meet all of them, if I'd had more time. But it's great to see that the fanbase of the film is still stronger than ever, even with the amount of Scream fans that I'm sure made up a lot of the crowd for Campbell. Starting from the beginning of the day, we'd checked out Ricci's line before anything else. She wasn't to arrive until 12, so her line wasn't crazy long yet. We decided to go to the main signing room and meet who we could until we headed back up to wait to meet her. Danielle Harris was first; I had her sign my blu-ray edition of Rob Zombie's Halloween, one of my favorites in the franchise. Harris was so sweet, and when she checked to see if she looked good in our picture together, I exclaimed, "Oh, we know you look good. We gotta make sure I do!" We shared a laugh. Next, we headed to Dylan McDermott's table, while the line was temporarily down to one person. Like Harris and Ricci, he seems to never age, and looks even better in person. Plus, he's a Connecticut native, so we chatted with him about that. I'd forgotten my American Horror Story: Murder House DVD, so I had him sign a headshot he had at his table. He was very nice, but I don't think I'd ever really expected him not to be. Christina Ricci's line had certainly increased by the time we went back up to her section. We waited about 2-3 hours for her, though, which was not nearly as bad as I'd anticipated. Robert Englund, who had been stationed in the same place at the convention a few years back, had a line that kept us waiting for nearly 6 hours. Call us crazy. Nope, that's it--no "but..." Just call us crazy, because that was crazy. Anyway, I noticed I was pretty much the only person to bring something Casper-related to have Ricci sign; even the woman at her table agreed. What can I say--I watched that movie a ton of times as a kid, along with the sequel, and maybe even Casper Meets Wendy a good amount of times. I told Ricci I loved her in Wes Craven's Cursed, by which she seemed taken aback. I don't blame her; it's not a great movie by any means. But I found it fun, and it was cool at the time to see her returning to campy horror. She was sweet and thanked me anyway. More after the jump--check out my gallery of photos from the event! We continued on, heading to the Halloween/Dolph Lundgren/Meatloaf room. Yep, you heard that right. Meatloaf's was one of the longest lines at the con, and although I found it questionable, I still would have gotten him to sign something Rocky Horror-related if I had the opportunity. But we were there for our Halloween peeps. James Jude Courtney was having a blast, as it was his first appearance at an event like this on the east coast. He told us what it'd felt like to put the Myers mask on for the first time, which was a great to hear about. I also met Will Sandin, who played Michael Myers at age 6 in the Carpenter classic. He told me a bit about his short time on set and was pleasant to talk to. His signature was added to my Halloween DVD, which you can see in the gallery above. I also list the other signatures on the insert.
Lastly, we hit the vendor tables to check out the cool merch. I bought a book by Brian Coscienski and Chris Pisano titled The Shattered Visage Lies, which looks like a great read. We shared information about our respective books, and they seemed excited about Haunt. I also geeked out at the Grey Matter Art table; I have two of their pieces in my room. Their art is always breathtaking. Next to them was a table with art by Chris Gofalo of Quiltface Studios. The moment I saw his The Witch piece, I knew I had to have it. I look forward to framing and hanging it! Overall, the show was a success for me. The day ran smoothly, and I met everyone I really wanted to meet. I look forward to next time! Thanks again, Monster-Mania, for doing such a great job! Was anyone else at Monster-Mania? Who did you get to meet? Tell me in the comments! - Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here.  Hi All! I wanted to dedicate this week's blog post to my social media Haunt giveaway that is currently live! You have until March 1 to enter. Head to my Facebook and Instagram and find the giveaway post (image below). On Facebook, share the post with the hashtag #NothingPeak to enter, and on Instagram, re-post with the same hashtag. Easy! 2 winners from Facebook and 3 from Instagram will be announced on March 2. Thanks for all of your support in making the first year of Haunt a great one! More writing is in the works. Stay tuned. In the meantime, enter the giveaway for a free book! Links to my social media can be found on my Contact page here on the Nothing Peak site. -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here.  Remember--you need to share/re-post the image on my social pages! Uploading it yourself and tagging me won't count. Good luck!  It’s been a few years since the first volume of John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloweenight, but with the third volume out now, I thought there’s no better time to review the series from the start than now. I was given the first two volumes as a gift a few years back, and I’m itching to write about these crazy stories. In short: they’re wild.
This collection of horror stories make up an anthology, with each tale written and illustrated by different artists, compiled by the legendary John Carpenter. I consider this, in a way, to be the Tales from the Crypt of graphic novels: each story is introduced and reacted to by “The Groundscreeper,” a crazy, old—you guessed it—groundskeeper for a cemetery. The storytelling is diverse across every tale, and each just as unique as the last. I think in this first go-round, none of the stories themselves necessarily “wowed” me. It was mostly the artistic styles that roped me in. One of my favorites, “At Sea,” presents a pseudo-cartoonish style, especially in the characters’ facial expressions. Only, this style fades into a dark, shadowed painting of the story. As a group of friends on a boat begin experiencing some strange occurrences and visuals in the night, they soon realize they might not be alone. Layering the writing itself, the art pulls you down into the dark and never lets up. I found that especially effective. Another notable story is “Notice to Quit,” following a man haunted by a demon driven to bring him to his death. While at times it feels somewhat goofy, this piece’s heavy tone resonates, magnified by the muted colors and “painted” appearance to the drawings. The protagonist’s skewed sense of self reminded me a bit of horror films of the early aughts, similar to characters from movies like Darkness Falls and Final Destination. The pieces that make up Tales for a Halloweenight pay homage to their horror predecessors, while also providing a fresh take on the genre. There are more than a fair share of horror-themed graphic novels out there, but with Carpenter’s involvement, this series has an extra opportunity for the accessibility that the genre could only benefit from. I’m so excited to delve deeper into this series, and to see what more gory, twisted madness these dark storytellers have in store. Have you read any of the volumes of this series? What are some of your favorite stories? Let’s discuss! -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here.  I happened upon the work of Ada Limón after browsing the shelves of the poetry section at a bookstore in Seattle, and I’m so thankful that I did. Turns out she’s kind of a big deal. And her poetry kicks so much ass. Her writing is rooted in reality and armored with a strong bark of metaphor. Yet there is vulnerability throughout, a clear and visible pain that radiates through almost every poem, hidden in the language she uses, yet displayed on her sleeve for all to see.
Probably the strongest theme in The Carrying is that of life and death. This 2018 release starts with a short poem about self-identity, almost like a stepping stone in the rollercoaster of life. Limón talks about Eve, taking in all the animals and giving them names. “I wonder if she ever wanted / them to speak back,” she writes, “looked into / their wide wonderful eyes and / whispered, Name me, name me.” The vulnerability and modesty that this poem brings to the table feels like a teaspoon at the mouth, to test out how hot the drink will be. There’s a lot to unpack in many of Limón’s pieces, insinuating layers of meaning and emotion. And there’s a lot to commend, for that: it’s clear that she is a talented poet, revealing so much through so few words, right off the bat. Later on, in poems like “The Real Reason,” reality and symbolism collide in harmonious and heartbreaking ways. The speaker discusses wanting a tattoo that means something special to her, and dictating that thought to her artist mother, not getting the response she had expected. “It wasn’t until later that / I knew it wasn’t so much the tattoo, but the marking, the idea / of scars. What you don’t know (and this is why this is not my story) / is that my mother is scarred from burns over a great deal of her body. / Most from an explosion that took her first child she was carrying…” If that doesn’t hit you right in the gut, I don’t know what will. There are several instances like this in The Carrying, instances that come out of left field, that you can’t expect to catch and hold on to like you might hope. There is grief in many of these poems. And there is sorrow. But Limón also wields strength, for example, “Wonder Woman” recounts a speaker’s need to stand and applaud a little girl in Wonder Woman garb. “… she bowed and posed like she knew I needed a myth— / a woman, by a river, indestructible.” She builds a foundation of female power that serves as the support for everything she needs to hold up in this collection of poems. It certainly leaves me wanting more, needing to delve deeper into her work and find her other published books. I am floored by Ada Limón, and I hope more readers are effected by her talent in the same or similar ways. Some other favorite poems of mine from The Carrying include: “Dead Stars,” “Prey,” “Notes on the Below,” “Killing Methods,” and “Full Gallop.” Are you a fan of Ada Limón’s? What other works of hers have you read? Is anyone going to check out her writing who haven’t already? I want to know. Let’s discuss! -Ryan Buy Haunt here. Preview my books here. Find me on social here. If you checked out my last blog entry, you’ll be well aware of my picks for the top 10 album releases of 2018. It was certainly hard for me to organize which albums would make the list and in what order, but from its March 9 release, I knew that Teenage Wrist’s debut, Chrome Neon Jesus, would stay at number 1 all year. And that decision remained; when it came time to finalize my list, that blue-tinted album cover found itself at the bottom of my blog post. This all might sound dramatic, but… All right, it is. Welcome to me. Anyway, I wanted to spend this blog taking a more in-depth look at Chrome Neon Jesus and why it resonates with me. I first heard about Teenage Wrist from the releases of their first two releases as a band, the singles Slide Away and Afterglow. I loved their sound from the start: alternative rock, with blends of shoegaze and a bit of a grunge-y sound. Even the band’s name made me think of the pot-stirrers of ‘90’s grunge culture into early the aughts post-grunge era. Teenage Wrist’s sound is simple and accessible, in a good way—they create some seriously catchy tunes. But for me, it’s vocalist’s Kamtin Mohager’s breathy, soothing voice that makes them stand out. Following the release of their first EP Dazed in 2015, the band put out another single, “Stoned, Alone,” that would become the first single from their upcoming debut. But the 2-year gap between that single and the album made me think they might have been a short-lived name, swallowed up (yes I just gave you a Teenage Wrist pun, and yes you must deal with it) by the unforgiving music industry. But eventually, new singles “Dweeb” and “Swallow” were unveiled, along with the title and cover art for their first full-length album, under their new label, Epitaph Records. Thanks, Epitaph! Maybe it’s the aesthetic of the band that draws me in part of the way; they’re moody, they’re blending genres that I love and can be rather picky with, if I’m being honest (I’m looking at you, emo. Sure, I call myself emo all the time, but I’m not going to call myself “post-grunge.” I don’t think that’s a thing), and they are an easy band to listen to. There’s no shtick, which I’m okay with sometimes. They found their sound with Chrome Neon Jesus and let the music mold how listeners perceive them. It’s ultimately darker than the songs on their EP, it’s heavier than the previous tracklist, and it is inspired by the band’s musical predecessors without making them look like a bunch of posers, in my opinion. Let’s take a look at some of the individual songs: one of my favorites is “Rollerblades.” The rhythm of the guitar hooked me in right away, and lyrics like “I never look around to see how far I’ve come” are reminiscent of youth, drawing upon the fact that we sometimes achieve so much, or get through certain hardships without really noticing. We get so lost in ourselves, stuck in routine that we forget to appreciate what we have. That’s how I read the line from the first verse, as well: “saved from going through the storm.” Yes, it’s clear that themes of love radiate throughout. But I think that’s part of it; people go through a lot in the name of love, and some people are blind to toxicity. In this song, you’ve made it, and you’re better for it. Another song I love on this record is “Black Flamingo.” If nothing else, this song brings up so many interesting images and ideas that make us draw our own conclusions. Now, usually that can come across as pretentious, especially in creative outlets such as poetry. Most of the time I look for concrete stories and situations, but that’s hard to do in music. In this song, certain images stand out to me, like “My neon black flamingo.” It makes me wonder, what in all heck is that? But the picture that comes to mind is clear, and it’s strange, but to me, it represents timelessness. The song concludes, in a way, that love is timeless, as well. A flamingo is natural, and has lived in history for many years. But altering the pink color we’re accustomed to introduces change, and bringing in the neon hands us futurism. So when Kamtin croons, “I’ve been hiding out in the chrome black hole in time,” things start to make a bit more sense. Because when he looks into this person’s eyes, he feels timeless, and ethereal, in a sense. Layer that with the ethereal, flowing sounds of this song, and many of the songs on this album, and we have ourselves a winner. Some of my other favorite songs are “Dweeb,” “Spit,” and “Waitress,” to name a few. Chrome Neon Jesus is a great collection of songs, none of which I skip through, which made a huge impact on my decision to make it my favorite album of 2018. Let’s hope we see a lot more of Teenage Wrist in the future, and let’s hope this sound stays with them along the ride! Luckily for me, they’ll be at the 8123 Festival hosted by The Maine (look at me both humble-bragging and dating myself) in Phoenix, so my desire to see them live will soon come true. Have you listened to Teenage Wrist’s music? If so, what do you think about it? Let’s discuss!  Teenage Wrist, "Chrome Neon Jesus" (2018). Epitaph Records |
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