Haunted Magazine #15 out now!

Issue #15 Haunted Magazine is out now! Haunted Magazine is a free digital magazine that can be downloaded at this link. This Jack the Ripper special issue also features an article about Ghostwatch and features a certain image that yours truly did on the same subject…  It’s worth mentioning that although the magazine is an online read the magazine has yielded to popular demand and opted to also make a limited edition printed run of 500 copies available (complete with unique numbered certificate of authenticity!) Follow this link to download the magazine or if you fancy a printed edition e-mail print@deadgoodpublishing.com





© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon’s Sponsored ‘Friday the 13th Movie Marathon'

Friday the 13th is almost upon us and it’s almost time for me to start my Friday the 13th Movie Marathon challenge! I will be watching all 12 of the Friday the 13th movies (working out at roughly around 18 hours and 31 minutes) back to back in one sitting for Children in Need!
Many of you out there have been incredibly generous in your sponsorships but I’m sure we can do better so click on the ‘donate’ button and nudge the total along! All proceeds go to Children in Need! You can even make a donation with your mobile Text JASO80 £1 to 70070!
Once you have made a donation please share and anchorage others to do the same! Every bit helps!
I will post updates on my progress throughout the day on Instagram! Thanks for your support!





UPDATE 2017: Find out how it went here Arfon’s Sponsored Friday the 13th Movie Marathon: CONCLUSION.

© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Screaming Lord Sutch's Coat

A little story. Back in 1987 I noticed that people had been putting coloured paper in their windows and cars, baffled and intrigued by this I stuck a neon green flyer that had been put through our letterbox the previous day in my bedroom window. I was 8 years of age, unaware of what a General Election was and had just (unwittingly) pledged my support for Plaid Cymru, simply because I liked the colour of their flyers… This was to be my first introduction into the word of politics. Fast forward to the 1992 General Election, Undeterred at still being too young to vote I became interested in politics (I was like that). Bruce Dickinson & Mr Bean’s Comic Relief cover of (I Want To Be) Elected was in the charts and thanks to countless hours of television, along with regular doses of the News and Spitting Image I was (much to my parent’s amusement) able to name most MP’s and their respected parties. I would gladly talk to anyone about politics and recall one such time when a friend’s mother making conversation humoured my 12-year-old self asking whom I would vote for. Having listed the pros and cons of voting for a Conservative or Labour government I concluded that I would vote for Screaming Lord Sutch of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party. Once again flashy colours had won me over…

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party was established in 1982 by the musician David “Screaming Lord” Sutch the 3rd Earl of Harrow, whom armed with his ‘bizarre’ policies became a familiar face come election time in the United Kingdom. As much an electoral tradition as campaign rosettes and empty promises he served as leader until he tragically took his own life in 1999 during which time he held the record for losing all 41 elections in which he had stood. Throughout all the times I took an interest in politics there was Lord Sutch either standing in the background or just to the side, filling the screen with colour in his trademark top hat, leopard skin coat, campaign badges, giant rosette and megaphone. When he died I would almost say that my interest in the electoral process and the build up to Polling Day died with him, as elections didn’t seem the same afterwards.
Had he still been with us, he would have celebrated his 75th Birthday today and so I use this poignant day to say that a little bit of Screaming Lord Sutch has been added to my collection of Wonderments and Atrocities!  What self-respecting museum doesn’t have a piece relating to an important political figure? So here we have an original Screaming Lord Sutch leopard skin coat! Lord Sutch wore this very coat when he first ran as a Monster Raving Loony party candidate at the 1983 Bermondsey By- Election and wore it at numerous Monster Raving Loony party campaign trails and ‘victory’ celebrations across the British Isles through to 1989.

Before being added to my little private museum the coat resided in Florida, United States with Sir Andrew - Lord of Shawcastle. A lifetime member of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, the Rock 'n' Roll Loony Party and honorary member of Der Deutsche Rock 'n' Roll Und Loony Partei. Sir Andrew not only Co-Founder of the US National Official Monster Raving Loony Party, but was also the US delegate to the Loonited Nations and former backing musician for Lord Sutch himself.

The coat not only provides its own provenance it also tells a story that can be pieced together from clues that have remained attached to the coat all this time.

A badge on the lapel of the jacket that not only has Lord Sutch’s name written on it but also Newcastle-under-Lyme. His Lordship was a candidate at the 1986 Newcastle-under-Lyme by-election on 17 July 1986 upon which the Official Monster Raving Loony party collected 277 votes.

A Liberal SDP Alliance sticker representing Max Payne declaring that “Max Payne Can Win” is from the Chesterfield by-election held on 1 March 1984. Max didn’t win but instead came second to Labour with 18,369 votes. The Loony Party received 178.

A sticker representing another Payne, advising us to “Vote for Cynthia Payne X” Kensington July 14th. This Cynthia Payne is in fact THE Cynthia Payne (1932- 2015) that made headlines during the 1970s and 1980s when it was revealed that she was a madam running a brothel in the south-western suburbs of London. The tabloids were awash of tales of her ‘special’ parities attended by elderly men dressed in lingerie paying with "Luncheon Vouchers". She was sentenced to eighteen months in Holloway prison in 1980 but only served four months. Her home was raided again for the second time in 1986, although she was acquitted that time she vowed to change Britain's sex laws by becoming an MP and (unsuccessfully) stood for Parliament as a candidate for the Payne and Pleasure Party in the Kensington by-election in July 1988. Lord Sutch and Cythia Payne were very close friends and both competed in the election Sutch received his lowest ever count of 61 votes falling behind the Payne and Pleasure Party who received 193.

Two other labels that read, “YUSU Entertainment Concert Official” YUSU stands for ‘York University  Students' Union’ a regular performer at student union events it would seem that Sutch had been booked for 'Goodricke Summer Ball’ (Goodricke college). He was also a candidate for the Richmond (Yorks) by-election held on the 23rd of February 1989 acquiring 167 votes (William Hague won, gaining 19,543 votes) but he was supporting a new leopard skin coat at this point!

So there you have it my piece of political memorabilia from the very early days of the Monster Raving Loony Party. As I previously mentioned work has begun on a creating a permanent exhibition devoted to Screaming Lord Sutch in my museum of Wonderment and Atrocities and I will post an update as soon as its completed. Normally I prefer to post images when the project is done, but this time I thought I would give you all a little sneaky peek at a time when friends and followers remember the life of the wonderfully unique man that brought colour to elections and led the raving loonies of this land.

Dedicated to “Screaming Lord” David Edward Sutch (1940 –1999)
My sincere thanks to Lord Toby Jug for the photographs.
© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Two Headed Thingies reviews Slaughterhouse Farm #1,2 and 3

The release of Helbound Media's Slaughterhouse Farm # 3 at this year's Cardiff Film and Comic Con was a great success! Ryan Davies over at Two Headed Thingies has written a rather nice review of all three issues- check it out! Viewer discretion some of his scans show images that I wouldn’t post on this site…

© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Jack the Ripper by Sir Joshua Francis & The Eccentrics feat. Lord Toby

Good evening! Just thought I would catch you all before you crawl out for your All Hallows' Eve festivities! I have just the thing to get you into the Halloween spirit! Sir Joshua Francis, Lord Toby Jug and The Eccentrics cover of the Screaming Lord Sutch classic "Jack the Ripper"!
Jack the Ripper by Sir Joshua Francis & The Eccentrics featuring Lord Toby Jug is available now, completely free on Soundcloud follow the link and check it out!
Oh, yours truly did the cover for their cover! Enjoy! And Happy Halloween!


Credits:
Written by Clarence Stacy, Charles Stacy, Walter Haggin and Joe Simmons
Produced by Sir Joshua Francis and Richard K Montgomery
Engineered and mixed by Adrian Biggs at Sham Studios
Vocals & Rhythm Guitars - Sir Joshua Francis
Bass - Lord Toby Jug
Horns, Drums, Guitar Solo and Backing Vocals - Richard K Montgomery
Lead Guitar - Steve Reynolds


Join the Eccentric Party of Great Britain Here
© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Believe it or Not: A Day and an Evening with Richard Wilson

1990 I switched on the small portable telly that I had in my bedroom, keeping the volume down to a bare minimum so, as not to let on that I was secretly watching television on a school night. I left it on BBC 1 as a new sitcom started. It stared the actor that played the doctor in Only When I Laugh playing the part of a man laid off from his job and his attempts at finding  new work and the madcap things that happened to him, I became an instant fan of the show. That actor was Richard Wilson and the programme was of course One Foot in the Grave. Throughout the 1990’s Victor Meldrew and his catchphrase (of which I shall attempt to refrain from using in this post) become a part of British culture and a constant fixture for me. I would constantly re-watch recorded episodes, quote favourite lines and even had the Adesso remix of the theme featuring Eric Idle and Richard Wilson that I would also play continuously! Of all my favourite 90’s sitcoms Red Dwarf, The Brittas Empire and Bottom, this show had an advantage, my parents liked it and so we would all sit down to watch it together downstairs, as a family. But after six series and nine specials latter, writer/creator David Renwick decided to call it a day and killed the character off. I never stopped watching the repeats and with each viewing my opinion of how much of a great actor/comedian Richard Wilson was would be strengthened. I love everything he has done, and remember being delighted when it was announced that he was to be in the new series of Doctor Who. So imagine my thrill at finally having the opportunity to meet the great man this year at the Autographica event in Heathrow and thank him in person for all his great work. As I expected he was a warm, friendly and very funny man and our meeting was the icing on a cake made up of the layers of the before mentioned memories, simpler times and evenings in with my family.
On the way home from the Autographica event I rambled on about how much I would love to see a One Foot in the Grave episode being recorded. Something along the lines of… How fortunate I had been to (eventually) attend a Red Dwarf recording back in 2011 but how sad it was that Rick Mayall’s untimely death in 2014 put an end to the prospect of ever seeing an episode of Bottom being recorded. How much I hoped that The Brittas Empire would return (at the time of writing this there were rumours!) coming back to One Foot in the Grave I underlined my brilliant idea… Seeing that it would never return as a series (with main character being dead and all) how brilliant would it be if Richard Wilson played Victor in a one-man show?

Chatting with Richard Wilson and
Daniel Evans, Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director.

One week later, it was announced that Richard Wilson would be playing Victor in a one-man show for one night only at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on the 23rd October! (If only there was a popular catchphrase that I could use to sum up my disbelief!).
So on the 23rd October; Mrs Jones and I attended ‘An Evening with Richard Wilson’ a special fundraising event organised to raise money for Sheffield Theatres (of which Richard Wilson is Associate Director). He stepped out to a packed house and performed ‘The Trial’ (one of my favourite One Foot in the Grave episodes!) A solo episode that sees Victor on call for jury service trapped at home on a wet day enduring boredom. Having seen this story countless times, seeing him performing dialogue I have committed to memory it was a wonderfully surreal experience. Hearing people all around you laughing at a Yucca plant in a toilet and Toupée in a loaf elevated the story for me. Mr Wilson was brilliant, we had a fantastic time. A Q&A about his career and his most famous character conducted by Artistic Director at Sheffield Theatres, Daniel Evans (who also appeared in the Doctor Who story  ‘The Christmas Invasion) followed after. The script used for the performance sold for £700 in a silent auction with all proceeds going towards the preservation of this wonderful theatre that prides itself on being as they rightly put it, a “thriving cultural landmark in the heart of the city”. The event managed to raise around £17000!
We rounded the evening off at the VIP after show drinks reception and once again had the opportunity to catch up with the great man and tell him how brilliant he is. We had never been to the Crucible Theatre before, perhaps better known as the home of  World Championship snooker. Both Mrs Jones and I were suitably impressed by this magnificent Grade II listed theatre. I can’t stress how much you should visit this place, they have a wide range of performances and pride themselves on making them available for everyone to enjoy. Check out this link and see what’s going on and show your support, we may very well see you there as we fully intend on returning.
So that was the time(s) I met Richard Wilson. To finally have the opportunity to meet him was amazing, but seeing him twice in one year? well I just don’t believe it…

My sincere thanks to everyone at the Crucible for arranging such an amazing evening and Claire Murray for the photos.

© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon’s Sponsored ‘Friday the 13th Movie Marathon'

Its almost Children in Need time again and this year pledge night falls on Friday the 13th of November so I have decided to watch all 12 of the Friday the 13th movies (working out at roughly around 18 hours and 31 minutes) in one sitting for charity!
I will post updates on my progress throughout the day on Instagram.  So how about sponsoring me? I want to raise as much as humanly possible for this charity, as every penny raised goes towards helping disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
I have a donate page on JustGiving a simple, fast and secure method. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity. You can even make a donation with your mobile Text JASO80 £1 to 70070!
Once you have made a donation please share and anchorage others to do the same! Every bit helps! Thanks for your support!

The Movies:
Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason X (2001)
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Friday the 13th (2009)



© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.