Song Saturday: Rachel F. Williams' It's NOT Christmas

How's it going lurkers? Literally the day after Thanksgiving, some TV networks began airing Christmas specials. 

It sucks that most network programmers refuse to air any Christmas Horror films.

Today everything is "offensive" and The Sensitivity Police are always on cue for the easily "triggered." I believe most TV networks fear a backlash over airing Christmas Horror films.

Even though there are other religious groups celebrating their own traditions and holidays before Christmas, December is meant to be about happiness, family, and celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Throughout the year however, Christmas overshadows EVERY single holiday. This is all the more reason why I feel there should be MORE Horror movies and songs about Christmas.

I can only imagine the number of Santaphobics in existence. This is especially after watching Christmas Slashers from the 1980's.

There are at least several of them that exist. All those, who did not already know, I published a review about Retro Christmas Slashers, a few years ago.

The closest to a Christmas Horror film, that any network will probably choose to air is Gremlins. I don't know if Krampus aired on any of the premium channels yet.

It has been 3 years, since I last published a blog review about Christmas Horror films. If I have enough time out of my hectic schedule, I will try publishing another blog review about Christmas Horror films.

All this talk about Santaphobia, blog reviews, Christmas Slashers, and Christmas Horror Movies in general puts me in the mood for Christmas Horror Music. Like I always say, music used in a movie helps to set the tone for the movie.

It appears that Rachel F. Williams shares similar interests and views as my own. Rachel F. Williams is not only a Romance, Fantasy, and Horror author, but also a music composer.

The song, "It's NOT Christmas" can be found on her album, 17 Tormented Souls. To embrace the horrors of Christmas, here's Rachel F. Williams' "It's NOT Christmas" for today's Song Saturday.

Rachel F. Williams "It's NOT Christmas (Insane Epic Horror Rock Music)" 17 Tormented Souls (2016)

Revisiting The Gremlins Franchise & Mogwais In Chinese Folklores

How's it going lurkers? How did you enjoy your Thanksgiving? My Thanksgiving wasn't horrible. However, my mother and I DID manage to dodge a really nasty car accident, last Wednesday.

Hopefully, everyone's Thanksgiving Day went well with family and friends. 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we must prepare for Krampus Day, Saint Nicholas Day, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas Day.

I am sure that some of you will be celebrating this "festive" season with Christmas films whether they are the stereotypical Lonely Romance Comedies, or something creepy like Christmas Slashers. You may even want to go the Horror Comedy route with Gremlins, for example.

After all, Gremlins is technically a Christmas Horror Comedy film. The original movie is set during the time of Christmas. I published a blog years ago about the Gremlins audiobooks. In addition to my blog about the Gremlins audiobooks, I published another blog last June about the disturbing dream I had about killing Gremlins. Then, I briefly explained about mogwai in Chinese folklores.

So, to delve into more detail about these FUGLY monsters, the term "mo" derives from the Sanskrit "Mara," meaning "evil beings," which shares a cognate with the Persian "Magi" from which the English word "magic" derives. This is according to tribe.net.

Mara in BOTH Buddhism and Hinduism determines the fates of death and desire, that tether people to an unending cycle of reincarnation and suffering. He is the source of wickedness and purposely leads people to sin, misdeeds, and self-destruction. 

"Gui," on the other hand, does not necessarily mean "evil" or "demonic spirits." Gui simply means "deceased spirits" or "souls of the dead." 

In modern Chinese, gui has evolved into normally referring to the spirits/ghosts of unrelated family members seeking their revenge on mortals, who have caused them anguish, when they were still alive. 

It is common for mortals to rectify their sins by sacrificing money to gui by burning (usually fake) paper banknotes so that gui can have funds to use in their afterlife.

Also, Tribe.net states that the modern popular use of mogui as "demonic" and gui as "devils" are somewhat outcomes of Western influences.

Satan in The Book of Job is translated as "diabolos" in Greek and "mogui" in the Chinese Biblical texts. Therefore, Satan is "Mogui" in Chinese. 

Whenever you have the chance to re-watch Gremlins, you will have a slightly better understanding about mogwai in Chinese folklores.

As I briefly explained in my Killing Gremlins blog (which you can click on and read below), the water or rain to be more exact, is for reproduction during the mating seasons.

Mogwai in Gremlins are depicted as asexual creatures with the ability to morph into dangerous monsters. 

The scientists in Gremlins 2: The New Batch believed, that Gremlins are either mischievous and mean-spirited reptiles, or simply viruses.

You learn something new everyday!

Because Gremlins is a Christmas Horror Comedy movie and because today's blog is about mogwai in Chinese folklores, let's revisit the Gremlins audiobooks and my dream about killing them for another Throwback Thursday.

Who Remembers The Gremlins Audiobooks From Hardee's? (2013)

Have You Ever Killed Gremlins In Your Dreams? (2015)

Have You Ever Killed Gremlins In Your Dreams?

How's it going lurkers? The other day, I had this really odd dream. Considering the timing, it was a bit strange. 

Those, who have been subscribed to me for the last 2 years already know, that I published a blog about Gremlins and its audiobooks.

As I was saying, I had descended our basement stairs (I haven't visited our basement, since the last days of The Bush Administration). 

A shadow of strange-looking ears flopped around with highly pitched cackling. I peeped around the corner of our basement and noticed there were Gremlins. They turned our basement into a recreational lounge!

Staring with both eyes, I did a double-take, while asking myself, "What the hell? Am I hallucinating or something?!" 

This led to yours truly grabbing 1 of our many brooms. My family will tell you, that I am always killing bugs (mostly spiders) with a broom. 

LOTS of damage can be done with a thick piece of wood and twigs, when you put enough force into it.

After putting on my gym shoes and grabbing a broom, I ran downstairs yelling, "GET UP! GET YOUR UGLY ASS UP, RIGHT NOW!!!" There was 1 Gremlin lounging on his bean bag, while giving me a cocky look.

"Don't give me that look. You know what I said just now. Get up or I'll make you."  Because he wanted to be a defiant demon, I whacked him upside the head with my broom.

Out of nowhere, another Gremlin threw a knife at me from the side. He didn't stab me. However, he did graze the side of my face. 

"This is the part where you start running. That knife just costed you your life."  That smug, piece of shit Gremlin, that was lounging on his bean bag finally got up and wanted to fight me.

"Oh, now you wanna do somethin', huh?" I took the end of the broomstick and jabbed him in the eyes with it, as he squealed.

Next thing I knew, the knife throwing Gremlin jumped on my back. I bit his slimy hand so hard, that he bled profusely. 

Then, I crushed it and began using him as a shield for the other Gremlin, that wanted to fight me.

The pompous lounger ended up killing his jumping friend. When he killed the jumper by accident, I chased that lounger around the house, until I was finally able to break my broom in 1/2, stake him, and force the broom through his throat.

Finally, I woke up that afternoon (The daytime's my Vampire Sleeping Hours) and asked myself, "What the fuck was that all about?"  I soon remembered that it is June.

June 8, 2015, will officially be 31 years, since the release of the movie, Gremlins. 6 days later, I will be turning 33.

Talk about strange! I'll leave you with these interesting facts:

Mogwai is an ambiguous word. In Cantonese, it can mean "monster," "evil spirit," "devil," or "demon." 

According to what I recently learned on Wikipedia, Mogwais [魔怪] exist in Chinese folklores. 

Supposedly, they are harm-inflicting demons, that reproduce during the mating seasons.

A Mogwai's reproduction is normally triggered by rain. The rain is suppose to denote "rich and full times ahead." 

Mogwais can also personify ghosts of unrelated family members, that swear vengeance on mortals, who caused them anguish when they were still alive. 

Learning can sometimes be so very interesting. It's amazing what we learn.

So, have you ever killed Gremlins in your dreams? What are your thoughts about this?

Who Remembers The Gremlins Audiobooks From Hardee's?

This blog was originally published October 1, 2013. 

How's it going Blogsterians? I hope everybody doing well. Since it's October, I chose to share a throwback from nearly 30 years ago

If you existed in 1984 (I was only 2 years old), you may remember that Christmas Horror Comedy, Gremlins.

 

 

 

 

Gremlins Movie Trailer (1984)

It was 1 of the most controversial movies during 1984. Actually, 1984 in general was quite a controversial year regarding entertainment.

Democrat, Tipper GORE had a spazz attack about her precious 12-year-old daughter's music. Karenna was listening to Prince's "Darling Nikki" from his Purple Rain album.

Tipper was SO triggered that it led to her becoming the founder of Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) and having her "Tipper Stickers" (a.k.a. "Parental Advisory" labels) plastered, if not engraved into explicit album covers.

Also, the PG-13 rating was launched in 1984. Gremlins was highly controversial years ago because it originally had a PG rating.

Those of us, who watched the movie, already know it was a really violent for children in '84. There were many complaints about 1 of the gremlins being killed in the microwave. I can't remember his name. However, I remember that scene nearly 30 years later.

Gremlins Microwave Scene (1984)

If I were Billy's mother, I would've killed that gremlin in the microwave, too! Watching that as a PG-rated Horror Comedy was and STILL is terrifying. Their big, fugly eyes still give me goosebumps just staring at them.

Not only was there controversy over the violence in this PG-rated movie, but there were also complaints about Gremlins being racist against black people.

This was because gremlins ate fried chicken, wore snapback hats, breakdanced, and listened to Jazz and Blues in the bar. 

Am I the only person laughing at such ridiculous claims? 

Some people in 1984 read a little TOO much into Gremlins. Even though Gremlins triggered lots of controversy, it was still very popular in 1984. 

The movie was so popular, that it had its own merchandise. YouTube vlogger, Andre (a.k.a. "Black Nerd") had a vlog in 2012 showing his display of Gremlins merchandise from both movies.

I am very disappointed to say, that vlog was deleted. I don't know why Andre's vlog was deleted from YouTube. Regardless, it sucks that his video is gone. I thought his vlog was awesome. Meanwhile...

I remember having a plastic Gizmo figure, when I was a toddler. As my mother pushed me around in store buggies, I played with him. 

Decades ago, Hardee's sold a series of 5 audio tapes/45 record audiobooks, which were adaptations of the Gremlins movie.

I ONLY  had Part 3 of the 5 record audiobooks. Talk about nostalgia and showing my age. Because I mentioned the audiobooks and since someone actually uploaded them to YouTube, I thought I would share their audiobooks with you all.

Audiobook 1: Gremlins "The Gift Of The Mogwai" (1984) 

Audiobook 2: Gremlins "Gizmo And The Gremlins" (1984)

 

Audiobook 3: Gremlins "Escape From The Gremlins" (1984)

 

Audiobook 4: Gremlins "Gremlins Trapped" (1984)

Audiobook 5: Gremlins "The Last Gremlin" (1984)