The Haunted Generation is also a regular column in the Fortean Times magazine, rounding up new releases and forthcoming events. From Issue 423, dated October 2022…

THE HAUNTED GENERATION

Bob Fischer rounds up the latest news from the parallel worlds of popular hauntology

“They’re like tragic sirens,” says Andy Sharp. “Covered in barnacles and very anthropomorphic…”

We’re discussing the brace of Second World War submarines stranded in the sands of Aberlady Bay on the East Lothian coastline. They’re part of the inspiration behind Sedna Chronicles, a new musical collaboration between Andy – also known as occultist wayfarer English Heretic – and gothic folkie Grey Malkin. The duo’s self-titled album was inspired by their travels around Scotland’s weirdy hotspots… including Gilmerton Cove with its ancient carvings, and Rosslyn Chapel, reputedly the final resting place of the Holy Grail.

“At the chapel, there’s a beautifully carved column, supposedly done by an apprentice mason,” continues Andy. “Legend suggests he was murdered by a fellow mason who was jealous… and we thought this would make a good film, in the tradition of The Name of the Rose”. The result is epic closing number ‘Theme From The Murdered Apprentice’. Elsewhere, spectral synths are accompanied by the mellifluous readings of Malkin, whose Scots brogue lends the album an affecting authenticity. Pay homage at englishheretic.bandcamp.com.

Similarly pulling on his walking boots is writer Justin Hopper, editor of a new anthology of work by Sussex rambler Victor Neuburg. For a man reputedly turned into a camel by Aleister Crowley, Neuberg had a delicious turn of phrase (“When man goes, the secret things come back, Old Pagan things…”) and the book – Obsolete Spells – is available from Strange Attractor press. It comes accompanied by Swift Wings, an exquisite mini-album recorded by Justin and folk musician Sharron Kraus. A follow-up to their stunning 2019 LP Chanctonbury Rings, this new records casts Neuburg’s nature poems adrift on a tide of moody synths and melancholy flute. Head to sharronkraus.bandcamp.com.

Setting up camp in the 1970s, meanwhile, is Andy Fosberry, whose new album Night Skies is an imagined soundtrack to Steven Spielberg’s abandoned sequel to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Based on the notorious 1955 Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter, in which a terrified Kentucky family claimed to have been terrorised by alien goblins, elements of the script were recycled for ET – The Extra Terrestrial. But Andy’s album echoes the darker inter-planetary incursions of Spielberg’s original storyline, with tracks like ‘Cattle Mutilations’ and ‘Faces at the Window’ capturing a sense of disquieting rural paranoia. It’s available from spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com. And, while you’re there, maybe check out Hawksmoor’s new album Head Coach, an evocative collection of synth instrumentals inspired by the Druidic street layout of Milton Keynes.

Frances Castle and Harold Turgis have been pavement-pounding, too. Frances, in her guise as The Hardy Tree, has released Common Grounds, a musical sojourn around the hidden past of her North London neighbourhood. “The shapes of ancient tram tracks creeping under the tarmac, an old gas street lamp in an alleyway…” It’s a sumptuous, autumnal collection, available from claypipemusic.co.uk. Harold’s wanderings are a little more abstract, but no less urban: his new album The Sentinels comprises “time-haunted meanderings on Martian communism and inter-dimensional high rises”. Retro synth tinkles, Brutalist beats and ambient swoops evoke a decidedly cosmic take on town planning. Visit haroldturgis.bandcamp.com.

And who remembers Beyond The Barrow? The classic children’s teatime drama, produced in 1971 by Hookland Associated Television? Seemingly destroyed after its original broadcast resulted in “garbled hypnotic chanting” and “involuntary ritualistic gestures” among its young audience, only Wesley Wakefield’s alarming folk soundtrack survives. Australian archivist Adam Spellicy has compiled this first-ever release, so finally we can enjoy the softly-strummed guitars of ‘Follow The Pylons, You Can’t Miss It’. Tentatively head to antipodeanwyrd.bandcamp.com, but – in cases of “hazardous somnabulism” – turn off the album and seek immediate medical attention.

Elsewhere, I can also recommend Vol 1: Human Geography. It’s an album of gentle, proggy experimentation by David Jaycock and Andrew Burge, and – in part – a performance of Jaycock’s 2018 album The Decline of the Mobile Library, recorded live at Anthony Burgess House in Manchester. It’s available from davidajaycock.bandcamp.com. And there’s also The Thetford Beast, a mini-album of wonderful John Carpenter-esque synth anthems by Chris “Concretism” Sharp, all inspired by sightings of this enigmatic Norfolk cryptid. Head down the A1075 to castlesinspace.bandcamp.com.

And amid all this metaphysical meandering, if anyone is considering actually leaving the house… maybe venture to Louth Town Hall on Friday 23rd September 2022? Here, corduroy-clad prankster Richard Daniels is hosting Chasing the Wolves of Weird, an “evening of supernatural exploration” centred around Low Scaraby – “the most mysterious village in Lincolnshire”. Richard is the twisted genius behind the gloriously daft Occultaria Of Albion zine (FT404:66-67) and this promises to be a splendidly entertaining journey into slightly muddled Forteana. Tickets are available from occultariaofalbion.com, or from the box office at the Temple Of Xubix. 

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