The House (2006)

An album of “spooky music,” written and recorded in the week before Halloween, using titles from HP Lovecraft stories. The idea for this project came from Matt Durand (of All Caps Castle).

1. Dreams in the Witch House
2. The Picture in the House | lyrics
3. The Strange High House in the Mist
4. The Silver Key | guitar is by Matt Durand | lyrics
5. The Street | lyrics
6. The Hound | lyrics

 

2. The Picture in the House

She could speak,
so he tied her up to the woodstove by the cellar door.
Starved her in the cold.
With her last words, she told him, “Man, I’ll hunt you down.”

And with her body gone, she never stops to rest,
and a glow appears above the top of the hill.
A hundred hands arise to move the earth aside.
You’ll hear her voice echo, ”Man, I’ll hunt you down.”

Now he’s swinging in the frame.
Now he’s swinging in the frame.

4. The Silver Key

It’s waiting outside your window,
waiting to come through your door.

You might remember the time.
You might remember the night we were away
and you hid from the shapless form that came in with a silver key.

That sound you’ve been hearing?
It turns night to morning.

5. The Street

Once I saw something I thought was a loose wind, a blown bag, but it was a skin. Stuck up in a tree next to a sagging bag. I lost hope that afternoon and began digging; each time, I started crying and my feet hit the street. I cried when I found the chest. It was brass and covered with steel spikes. I hoped no-one would hear. A shout and a shot from over the ridge! A shout and a shot! Once I saw something I thought was a loose wind, a blown bag, but it was a skin.

6. The Hound

This hound walks with all four feet underground,
slowly going down,
digging a long hole.

This hound only moves after the sun goes down,
digging a long hole.

This hound goes where the ground is brown,
without sight or sound,
blindly digging.

A hole grows where the hound goes, plowing lines.
A shallow trench.
A long arm, waving.