Sublime eclectic mayhem. That’s been my playlist project and musical life, one that begins with The Muppet Movie soundtrack and later involves performing hymns, death metal, surf, and bluegrass. I’ve played in theaters, tents, and basements, for multi-stage festivals and squirrel rodeos. I’ve written and recorded music for The Drunken Odyssey. Sublime eclectic mayhem. A warning and a welcome for joyous noise, for those navigating what Beckett called “this bitch of an earth.”

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Childhood Is Full of Nosferatus

Some hum in the lights, 
VCR and alarm clock numbers 
hover at the end of the bed at 3am.

Red robes and red tempers
peeked at through fingers.

Ice fishing tents 
in lines near the highway.

You watch them pull fish 
from the ice 
and bite flesh not frozen,
pink meat roses.

You turnt bitch 
and put gloves on.

Wearing shorts at school 
cause they ain’t cold. 
Cold’s for sissies.
You know.

Sam runs them undies 
straight up the flagpole 
and they salute
such manly actions 
of hopeful white stuff woven.

In the summer,
you celebrate 
the town’s founding.

An odd high,  
eating pork sandwiches 
in the open air,
wearing an Evil Dead shirt 
and wondering how many
types of loneliness|
this summer would hold.

Ubi sunt? 
Ubi sunt? 
Where the elephant ears?

And boys call you tits 
and don’t want you to like 
their music.

The girls shrug.

Hugs are for the weak,
like breasts. 

The doctor said “bitchtits” 
like it was technical 
and “you’ll grow out of it”
or into them.

So bench press
or cinch a belt 
around your chest 
in order to feel normal, 
to need a bra 
to feel like a man.

Cousins in pickups with their boyfriends,
snapshots stuck in a book of 
country birds and suicides. 

The yolks make custards fall and
he wouldn’t stand up
to take a picture of her with the mascot.

One of the ways they dig 
into each other.

The pig flea birth sac 
only comes out
with a safety pin. 

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Childhood Is Full of Nosferatus

Listen on Tidal. Listen on Spotify.

1. “Oh My Papa (With Freddy Drew)” – Shooby Taylor, The Human Horn
2. “Evil Calling” – Ignitor
3. “Elephantry” – Curta’n Wall
4. “New Romeo Agent” – Tropical Fuck Storm
5. “Hold On” – Human Impact
6. “Oh My Papa” – Izumi Yukimura
7. “Come To See My Wife” – Tok Yathraa
8. “Mdbf” – Doortri
9. “How Many Times” – Raoul, Gianfranco Reverberi, Gian Piero Reverberi
10. “Brushstrokes” – Hainbach
11. “Oh My Papa” – The Bobettes
12. “The Magic Garden” – The 5th Dimension
13. “Banquet at the Castle” – Gianfranco Reverberi, Gian Piero Reverberi
14. “Oh My Pa-Pa” – Tito Puente
15. “Sweet Chin Music!” – Spaghetti Blacc
16. “Personal, Pt. 4” – Francesco Serra
17. “Old Beast” – Dawnrider
18. “I Feel Pretty” – Guus Jansen

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Stephen McClurg (Episode 473) composes and improvises in Serenity Dagger, The Abdomen, and other projects. Along with session work for mid-Alabama singer/songwriters, he frequently collaborates with musicians across the state adding bass, guitar, and synths to friends’ recordings. He currently writes reviews for Horror DNA and is the substitute low end wrangler for Mobile-based punk rock band Future Hate. You can find out more about his work here.