Haunting The Atom
@hauntingtheatom.bsky.social
The dark stuff: words, pictures, moving images and electronic sound + maker of music videos with '80s-style goth duo Deadlight Dance.
I post about horror/sci-fi, real-life weirdness, synth music and film scores.
🔗 https://linktr.ee/hauntingtheatom
I post about horror/sci-fi, real-life weirdness, synth music and film scores.
🔗 https://linktr.ee/hauntingtheatom
Pinned
Transmission 280356: A short synth homage to the Crystal Palace transmitter by Haunting The Atom
YouTube video by Haunting The Atom
www.youtube.com
I've posted a couple of times on social media about my love for the Crystal Palace transmitting station, and I'd been thinking for a while that I'd like to do a little... thing.
So I did and here it is – all 78 seconds of it. If there's demand I'll consider extending it to 90 seconds for a 12-inch.
So I did and here it is – all 78 seconds of it. If there's demand I'll consider extending it to 90 seconds for a 12-inch.
Now playing is an album that always hits the spot: Repeated Viewing & Timothy Fife Explore Paranormal Sounds Of The Synthesizer, a split LP from 2019 that pays homage to library records, and channels the other side* in a pleasingly retro-electronic manner.
* Meaning both 'beyond the veil' and BBC2.
* Meaning both 'beyond the veil' and BBC2.
November 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Now playing is an album that always hits the spot: Repeated Viewing & Timothy Fife Explore Paranormal Sounds Of The Synthesizer, a split LP from 2019 that pays homage to library records, and channels the other side* in a pleasingly retro-electronic manner.
* Meaning both 'beyond the veil' and BBC2.
* Meaning both 'beyond the veil' and BBC2.
Remembering that time during the Covid lockdown when I showed up at East Croydon station at 8am to find it deserted and the announcer issuing virus warnings. In my earphones was the title track from Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, and it soundtracked the haunting, sci-fi surreality of it all so well.
November 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Remembering that time during the Covid lockdown when I showed up at East Croydon station at 8am to find it deserted and the announcer issuing virus warnings. In my earphones was the title track from Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, and it soundtracked the haunting, sci-fi surreality of it all so well.
Finally saw Late Night With The Devil (it's currently streaming on C4). My verdict? It cheats with its styling - eg, multicam backstage conversations, and modern editing when the drama ramps up. But when the '70s US talk-show aesthetic is on point it's impressive, and despite niggles I enjoyed it.
November 4, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Finally saw Late Night With The Devil (it's currently streaming on C4). My verdict? It cheats with its styling - eg, multicam backstage conversations, and modern editing when the drama ramps up. But when the '70s US talk-show aesthetic is on point it's impressive, and despite niggles I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this new Guardian piece. I adored Poltergeist as a kid. It was one of my family's earliest VHS rentals, and a copy somehow found its way on to a blank tape (must have been a ghost), so I grew very familiar with it. For many years the US National Anthem was 'that music from Poltergeist'.
‘If I’d known the skeletons were real I’d have been even more disgusted’: how we made Poltergeist
‘Steven Spielberg lit up when I told him I couldn’t do the face-tearing scene. Those are his hands you see in the film. I could never have ripped my face off with the same joie de vivre’
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I enjoyed this new Guardian piece. I adored Poltergeist as a kid. It was one of my family's earliest VHS rentals, and a copy somehow found its way on to a blank tape (must have been a ghost), so I grew very familiar with it. For many years the US National Anthem was 'that music from Poltergeist'.
Erm, actually, I think you'll find...
Probably a Mail reader.
Probably a Mail reader.
November 2, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Erm, actually, I think you'll find...
Probably a Mail reader.
Probably a Mail reader.
Last night I rewatched Whistle And I'll Come To You. I've long been impressed by the way it captures the terror of seeing something darkly inexplicable. I'm still not sure what I'm looking at in *those* scenes, even in terms of how the effects were done, so they tickle my lizard brain beautifully.
November 1, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Last night I rewatched Whistle And I'll Come To You. I've long been impressed by the way it captures the terror of seeing something darkly inexplicable. I'm still not sure what I'm looking at in *those* scenes, even in terms of how the effects were done, so they tickle my lizard brain beautifully.
Here's me carving a pumpkin tonight: 26 minutes compressed into 1m 18s. Warning: contains blasphemy, gloop and middle-aged sounds.
Happy Halloween to all my followers, including the man with the horns who's staring at me right now through my living-room window (my living room is two floors up).
Happy Halloween to all my followers, including the man with the horns who's staring at me right now through my living-room window (my living room is two floors up).
October 31, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Here's me carving a pumpkin tonight: 26 minutes compressed into 1m 18s. Warning: contains blasphemy, gloop and middle-aged sounds.
Happy Halloween to all my followers, including the man with the horns who's staring at me right now through my living-room window (my living room is two floors up).
Happy Halloween to all my followers, including the man with the horns who's staring at me right now through my living-room window (my living room is two floors up).
Danny Robins leads a séance - well, a theatrical one - last night at the Royal Albert Hall. Fright Night was an entertaining mix of ghostly RAH-centric anecdotes, tongue-in-cheek supernatural fun, and orchestral music: film themes, original pieces and even some Black Sabbath. A spirited evening.
October 31, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Danny Robins leads a séance - well, a theatrical one - last night at the Royal Albert Hall. Fright Night was an entertaining mix of ghostly RAH-centric anecdotes, tongue-in-cheek supernatural fun, and orchestral music: film themes, original pieces and even some Black Sabbath. A spirited evening.
Here's me in 2009: a zombie extra in a report by Myleene Klass about London's FrightFest.
Two years before, I'd taken part in a zombie gathering: a FrightFest world-record attempt, for which 700 people showed up. This time there was about 20 of us, but it was fun. I still have the 'bloodied' shirt.
Two years before, I'd taken part in a zombie gathering: a FrightFest world-record attempt, for which 700 people showed up. This time there was about 20 of us, but it was fun. I still have the 'bloodied' shirt.
October 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Here's me in 2009: a zombie extra in a report by Myleene Klass about London's FrightFest.
Two years before, I'd taken part in a zombie gathering: a FrightFest world-record attempt, for which 700 people showed up. This time there was about 20 of us, but it was fun. I still have the 'bloodied' shirt.
Two years before, I'd taken part in a zombie gathering: a FrightFest world-record attempt, for which 700 people showed up. This time there was about 20 of us, but it was fun. I still have the 'bloodied' shirt.
Reposted by Haunting The Atom
A fine night at EartH in Hackney with Fabio Frizzi and his band playing his composer's cut of The Beyond, plus 20 minutes of other goodies.
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
October 30, 2025 at 10:44 AM
A fine night at EartH in Hackney with Fabio Frizzi and his band playing his composer's cut of The Beyond, plus 20 minutes of other goodies.
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
I like my Halloween viewing to be supernatural themed - phantoms and folklore rather than Texan chainsaws - though I have a 'pumpkin inclusion clause', meaning that non-supernatural films or TV shows set at Halloween get a pass. "Got any jack-o’-lanterns there, mate? Fine, in you go."
October 30, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I like my Halloween viewing to be supernatural themed - phantoms and folklore rather than Texan chainsaws - though I have a 'pumpkin inclusion clause', meaning that non-supernatural films or TV shows set at Halloween get a pass. "Got any jack-o’-lanterns there, mate? Fine, in you go."
A fine night at EartH in Hackney with Fabio Frizzi and his band playing his composer's cut of The Beyond, plus 20 minutes of other goodies.
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
October 30, 2025 at 10:44 AM
A fine night at EartH in Hackney with Fabio Frizzi and his band playing his composer's cut of The Beyond, plus 20 minutes of other goodies.
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
'Twas the fifth time I'd seen Mr Frizzi since 2013 - each time around the end of October, and twice on Halloween itself. It's always a pleasure. #OldTraditions
This landed today: the new 4K release of In The Mouth Of Madness, from Arrow Video. I don't believe that this splendid #JohnCarpenter film has had a physical release in the UK since the VHS days - till now I've made do with the US DVD from 2000 - so this is long overdue.
October 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
This landed today: the new 4K release of In The Mouth Of Madness, from Arrow Video. I don't believe that this splendid #JohnCarpenter film has had a physical release in the UK since the VHS days - till now I've made do with the US DVD from 2000 - so this is long overdue.
I finally bought my would-be jack-o'-lantern but, man, it was carnage in Tesco's pumpkin bins at 5pm. Pulp and seeds everywhere: an absolute juicebath. After a lengthy and horribly wet search I came across a lone survivor, which I escorted to safety in my basket.
October 28, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I finally bought my would-be jack-o'-lantern but, man, it was carnage in Tesco's pumpkin bins at 5pm. Pulp and seeds everywhere: an absolute juicebath. After a lengthy and horribly wet search I came across a lone survivor, which I escorted to safety in my basket.
Walking home from a gig last night I was stopped in my tracks by this object of beauty, in the window of a shop called Quirky Bits ("quality furniture bought and sold"). To get some scale look at the chair next to it - it's a big 'un! It's also the episode of Bagpuss I didn't know I needed till now.
October 25, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Walking home from a gig last night I was stopped in my tracks by this object of beauty, in the window of a shop called Quirky Bits ("quality furniture bought and sold"). To get some scale look at the chair next to it - it's a big 'un! It's also the episode of Bagpuss I didn't know I needed till now.
Some lovely Friday night electronica at the Rich Mix in Shoreditch (I love a venue that rhymes). Intense hypnotic soundscapes from opener @jo-johnson.bsky.social, and the soundtrack to our urban '80s future, from @warringtonruncorn.com. Plus a bonus dog, 'cos I know that social-media loves a dog.
October 25, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Some lovely Friday night electronica at the Rich Mix in Shoreditch (I love a venue that rhymes). Intense hypnotic soundscapes from opener @jo-johnson.bsky.social, and the soundtrack to our urban '80s future, from @warringtonruncorn.com. Plus a bonus dog, 'cos I know that social-media loves a dog.
A pic from the late '80s of me and a friend in The Pit: a mini canyon in the woods where my friends and I would hang out, sometimes late at night. I still don't know what The Pit's purpose was. It was human-made but there were no machines around; it wasn't a work in progress. It was just... The Pit.
October 24, 2025 at 12:31 PM
A pic from the late '80s of me and a friend in The Pit: a mini canyon in the woods where my friends and I would hang out, sometimes late at night. I still don't know what The Pit's purpose was. It was human-made but there were no machines around; it wasn't a work in progress. It was just... The Pit.
Reposted by Haunting The Atom
Dreamt I was watching my own severed head on a plate, talking. It felt normal until it didn't. I wondered how I was going to dispose of it, so I started slicing bits off. They looked like cheese.
Yesterday I was thinking about thinking, so I guess it's about that: me looking at my operating system.
Yesterday I was thinking about thinking, so I guess it's about that: me looking at my operating system.
October 23, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Dreamt I was watching my own severed head on a plate, talking. It felt normal until it didn't. I wondered how I was going to dispose of it, so I started slicing bits off. They looked like cheese.
Yesterday I was thinking about thinking, so I guess it's about that: me looking at my operating system.
Yesterday I was thinking about thinking, so I guess it's about that: me looking at my operating system.
Almost a year ago to the day I published this: a 14-minute film about an EVP adventure that I had in my local cemetery.
What began as a bit of field-recording fun soon started toying with my sceptical brain, so I turned detective to figure out what was going on...
What began as a bit of field-recording fun soon started toying with my sceptical brain, so I turned detective to figure out what was going on...
Is Anybody Here? Talking to the dead with Haunting The Atom (EVP / analogue weirdness)
YouTube video by Haunting The Atom
www.youtube.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Almost a year ago to the day I published this: a 14-minute film about an EVP adventure that I had in my local cemetery.
What began as a bit of field-recording fun soon started toying with my sceptical brain, so I turned detective to figure out what was going on...
What began as a bit of field-recording fun soon started toying with my sceptical brain, so I turned detective to figure out what was going on...
Yesterday I visited Dark Secrets at The Vaults, beneath Waterloo station, for a bit of the ol' Devil worship.
The exhibition houses a large collection of objects, covering the history of the macabre, and is nicely atmospheric. Lots to read too, though not much about where exhibits were sourced.
The exhibition houses a large collection of objects, covering the history of the macabre, and is nicely atmospheric. Lots to read too, though not much about where exhibits were sourced.
October 18, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Yesterday I visited Dark Secrets at The Vaults, beneath Waterloo station, for a bit of the ol' Devil worship.
The exhibition houses a large collection of objects, covering the history of the macabre, and is nicely atmospheric. Lots to read too, though not much about where exhibits were sourced.
The exhibition houses a large collection of objects, covering the history of the macabre, and is nicely atmospheric. Lots to read too, though not much about where exhibits were sourced.
Reposted by Haunting The Atom
I've made a new video with @deadlight-dance.bsky.social ("Wiltshire #goth boys with synths," as the badges say).
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Gloss (official video) - Deadlight Dance
YouTube video by Deadlight Dance
www.youtube.com
October 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM
I've made a new video with @deadlight-dance.bsky.social ("Wiltshire #goth boys with synths," as the badges say).
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
I've made a new video with @deadlight-dance.bsky.social ("Wiltshire #goth boys with synths," as the badges say).
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Gloss (official video) - Deadlight Dance
YouTube video by Deadlight Dance
www.youtube.com
October 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM
I've made a new video with @deadlight-dance.bsky.social ("Wiltshire #goth boys with synths," as the badges say).
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Say the chaps: "Gloss is our dig at the beauty industry and how it treats ageing" - to which I'll add the tag "a face-first trip through the mirror of gerontology that rocks mightily".
Reposted by Haunting The Atom
BBC Archive just uploaded The Lonely Shore (1962), a surreal 15-minute short that takes the form of a scientific report from an abandoned and desolate future Britain. Written by Jacquetta Hawkes, an actual archaeologist, and directed by Ken Russell, an actual madman.
1962: An Expedition to Post-Apocalyptic Britain | Monitor: The Lonely Shore | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
www.youtube.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:49 AM
BBC Archive just uploaded The Lonely Shore (1962), a surreal 15-minute short that takes the form of a scientific report from an abandoned and desolate future Britain. Written by Jacquetta Hawkes, an actual archaeologist, and directed by Ken Russell, an actual madman.
Last night I rewatched The Eclipse, an Irish ghost story from 2009 - my fourth viewing in 10 years. First time I saw it its jump scares sent me through the roof. But it's its subject that I find most haunting and which has me returning to it. Lovely piano/choral score too, by Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin.
October 14, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Last night I rewatched The Eclipse, an Irish ghost story from 2009 - my fourth viewing in 10 years. First time I saw it its jump scares sent me through the roof. But it's its subject that I find most haunting and which has me returning to it. Lovely piano/choral score too, by Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin.