Journal staff weigh in on some of their favourite spooky sounds, frightful films and inspiration for where to wander this Hallows eve

1. Who are you
I am Spencer Burton, [backing vocalist and guitarist of Attack in Black.] Son of Timothy and Toni. Brother to Jillian, grandson to the stars and moon.

If you’re expecting gory fight scenes with blood squirting into the audience, you’ll be disappointed with Vagabond’s production of the William Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Nathanial Fried, the company’s lack of big-budget features doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing.

Hidden in Carruthers Hall, a showcase of fresh talent awaits. Vogt, the entirely student-run and produced studio series, presents a range from conventional comedy to complex abstraction.

1. Who are you
Ox (Personally, Mark Browning, the singer and guitar player.)

Mick Davis, the Newfoundland native and lead singer and guitarist of The Novaks, took time out of his busy schedule to talk with me on the phone on a blustery day.
The Novaks, however, haven’t always been known by their current alias.

With comparisons to the cult favourite The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity has a heck of a lot of credibility flying its way. After years of the worn-out Saw oeuvre, countless bland teen horror flicks and mediocre thrillers, scary movie lovers everywhere might finally have something that will make them sleep with the lights on again.

Joel Gibb calls Berlin, Germany his home, but he still considers his ever-changing super group a hometown band.
“I still feel like we’re a Canadian band,” The Hidden Cameras’ frontman said. “Toronto’s not going away.”

In a world where it sometimes feels like Disney pop stars reign supreme, it seems a miracle that a music festival like Tone Deaf has survived in Kingston. “We have no intention of stopping,” said Matt Rogalsky, co-curator of Tone Deaf and professor in the music department at Queen’s. “It’s a worthwhile exercise.

This year Tone Deaf 8 brings an experimental sound adventure to campus through the genius of experimental composer Alvin Lucier and some of his critically-acclaimed students.
Working with Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Queen’s University and the Agnes Etherington Arts Center, the festival will include lectures, performances and visual art.

John Mullane, the lead singer and guitarist for In-Flight Safety, is trying to enjoy the last seven hours of his day off in his home in Halifax, but an attempt to ignore the persistent beeping and buzzing of his Black Berry is unsuccessful.
“I tried to ignore this thing, but I can’t,” Mullane said with a laugh.

It’s far too easy to live in Kingston and remain blissfully unaware of everything the art and music scene has to offer. Lack of promotion or busy audience schedules could explain the lack of attendance, but some exciting and groundbreaking artists pass through Kingston showcasing events that are largely under-attended.

1. Who are you?
Diamond Rings.

Matt Miller, the man behind the band William Delray, can’t talk between the hours of nine and five.
“Nobody even knows I exist, so it’s good to have a day job in that case,” Miller said over the phone from his dwelling in downtown Toronto.

Out with the old, in with the new—so goes Cornwall, Ont. native Jesse Ferguson’s poetic approach.
“These days, there’s new poetry,” he told the Journal from his home in Fredericton, N.B. “People need to get out there and find out what’s been done since Tennyson and Wordsworth.”

Enveloped in chorus-like melody and echoing music, the sounds of Bruce Peninsula are engaging, alluring and thought-provoking.
Whether it is the blue-grass tinge of the song ‘Drinking All Day’ off their A Mountain Is A Mouth LP, or the harmonies that build to an alternative, gospel-infused chorus of ‘Shanty Town’, the members of Toronto-based Bruce Peninsula succeed at creating a unique, rustic sound harking back to the music of bygone eras.

There’s a pretty badass story that goes along with the naming of Vancouver-based hardcore quartet 3 Inches of Blood.
“One of our friends slammed his hand in a drawer,” guitarist Shane Clark told me, “he lost his finger and in the drawer there was three inches of blood.”