When September was dead and buried, and the calendar finally read October 1 st, that was when LVCRFT – the fiendish collective of Halloween-obsessed maniac musicians – burst out of the grave and back onto your Spotify with The Sequel, the follow-up to their 2019 debut, This Is Halloween. This is no “Fun-Size” album. With fifteen tracks, The Sequel is – as LVCRFT member Norman Crates tells HollywoodLife – “harder, better, faster, stronger,” and also spookier.
For The Sequel, LVCRFT – DeepKuts, Lil’ Punkin, Norman Crates, DejaVudu, Ghost M’Lone, Count Trackula, and Scary Ana Grande – have thrown themselves a mad monster party and put some horror royalty on the guest list. Bruce Campbell – a horror movie icon, known best for his roles in the Evil Dead franchise, Maniac Cop, Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat, and Waxwork II – lends his trademark charm on “Exercise The Demons.” Also on The Sequel, John Kassir, who many monster kids will remember as the voice of The Cryptkeeper in the Tales From The Crypt television series, turns “Dead Heart Beat” into a screamin’ banger of a track.
Those are just two of the groovie ghoulies joining the crew on this outing. The Sequel also features Uffie (Uffie The Vampire Slayer), Bonnie McKee (Evil McQueen), ZZ Ward (ZZycho Ward), Morgan McMichaels (Morgan McMyKill Myers), Sarah Hudson (Olivia Demon Spawn), and Har Mar Superstar (Scar Mar Superscare). LVCRFT’s DeepKuts, Lil’ Punkin, and Norman Crates contacted HollywoodLife through the Ouija board for an EXCLUSIVE interview about their new album, what kind of horror movie 2020 would be, and what songs you should be blasting during this socially-distant and safe Halloween.
HollywoodLife: Horror sequels can build upon the original in new and interesting ways while sticking to the spirit of the first installment, or go completely in an unexpected direction. For your follow-up to This Is Halloween, did you discuss if you would make a Texas Chainsaw Massacre II or something completely bizarre, like a Halloween III: Season of the Witch?
Norman Crates: After crawling out of our coffins to begin conjuring our sequel, The Sequel, we definitely wanted to expand our sinister sound into a global spooktacular smash. I’d say LVCRFT The Sequel lands safely between Evil Dead II and A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy’s Revenge, harder, better, faster, stronger.
You work with Bruce “Ash Williams” Campbell on “Exercise The Demons.” Can you die (for the second time) happily now? How was it working with the Evil Dead icon?
Lil Punkin: We are truly barely alive from sheer excitement over our creepy collaboration with The Legendary Bruce Campbell. We had to dust off and dig into our Necronomicon just to find him and play him our spooky bop “Exercise The Demons.” He knew exactly how to bring this scary song over the top and drag it from hell all the way to our moist crypt and now through your speakers and into your zombie brain. Bruce Campbell embodies the true spooky spirit. He is such a treat (or trick?) to work with.
In fact, you have plenty of guest stars on The Sequel. How fun was it to work with the likes of Scar Mar Superscare, Morgan McMyKill Myers, and John “The Cryptkeeper” Kassir?
Lil Punkin: As true fans of horror and all things spooky, we Spooky Freaks generally end up finding each other in the dark corners of the underworld. Scar Mar Superscare (aka Har Mar Superstar), Morgan McMyKill Meyers (aka Morgan McMichaels), and The Iconic John Kassir from Tales From The Crypt are all truly spooky freaks, and each brought their own undeniable terror talents to The Sequel. Whether it was campy crooning, runway ranting, or just straight constantly cackling – it was the definition of a Halloween music freakfest!
Last time we spoke, you wanted to get Denzel Curry as a guest. Any luck on that front? Are there any more “Bucket List” guests?
Norman Crates: Absolutely! We can’t let you know our deeply buried crypt secrets yet, but there are more to come! Let’s just say, we plan on pulling out all of the spooky stops, one two, Freddy we’re coming for you…
I have to say, I was a bit disappointed that “Death Couldn’t Tear Us Apart” wasn’t a reworking of the Joy Division song. As Halloween aficionados, do you have a favorite ‘non-Halloween’ song that you would throw onto a Halloween playlist?
DeepKutz: This song was written by me, Scariana Grande, and Count Trakula, and I can say for sure that we were channeling the vibes of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in the studio that dark and stormy night. LVCRFT respects the pillars of great music, and much of the greats easily cross over into the spooky netherworld. We would definitely include Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” alongside other spooky masterpieces such as Kavinsky‘s “Nightcall” or Talking Heads‘ “Psycho Killer” as spooky truly infects all music. In fact, you should check out our 31 Songs Of Halloween Slaylist to hear all of our favorite spooky bops.
Or if you really wanna go deep, we made a “set it and forget it” shuffle slaylist for Oct 31st, which is exactly 24 hours of Halloween music:
If 2020 were a classic (or not-so-classic) horror movie, which one would it be?
DeepKutz: I wish this question wasn’t so easy to answer, but I’m pretty sure 2020 is one of zombie horror legend, George A Romero’s …of The Dead series. Probably the fourth installment (out of six) Land of the Dead. Watch it …. and you’ll catch our spooky drift.
You also wrote a winter holiday song in 2019. Any chance that we’ll hear more from LVCRFT this coming December?
Lil Punkin: Hmmmmm… all I can tell you is that for LVCRFT….Spooky Never Sleeps!
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LVCRFT’s The Sequel is out now.