Haunting The Atom

@hauntingtheatom

Visual and auditory dark matter: words, images, video and electronic sound. Maker of music videos with gothic duo Deadlight Dance. I post about horror/sci-fi, real-life weirdness, synth music and film scores. No A.I.

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Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· 13d

Every time I pass this tree on my way to the shop, I think of Jurassic Park.

A thickish tree trunk with a couple of large roots resembling a T. rex's toes, which are pressing down into the grass verge upon which it stands.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· 20d

Today I walked through what is apparently the world's first reinforced concrete underpass. It runs under Norwood Junction station in south London, and according to the plaque above its entrance was opened on 31 July 1912. If I'd waited till next week I could have wished it a happy birthday.

An empty underpass, stretching for 31 metres. Its walls and ceiling are curved, in a semi-circular fashion, and painted white. Some graffiti can be seen but it's not overwhelming. Lights run the length of the tunnel's ceiling, with the gaps between them making intermittent shadows on the walls. At the end is daylight.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· 21d

Now playing ('cos it arrived today) and pleasing my ears: an audience recording of Tangerine Dream live in Brussels, 1976. Very sturdy CD sleeve - perhaps the sturdiest cardboard one I own, outside of box sets. Chunky and glossy, with inner sleeves for the discs. Not gonna fall apart any time soon.

Tangerine Dream: Live At Paul-Emile Janson Auditorium, Brussels, on CD, lit by my favourite lamp, which is casting on orangey glow over proceedings.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· 23d

After visiting the newly restored @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social in Crystal Palace Park on Saturday, I had a flick back through my photos of them from over the years. Here's an iguanodon in June 2018, June 2025, and July 2026. "All right there, Iggy. You know the pose, mate - let's do this!"

A collage of three photos showing a statue of what science in the mid 19th century thought an iguanodon looked like - ie, a large, lizard-like animal with a small horn on its nose. Famously, the horn turned out to be a thumb bone. In pics 1 and 3, its front-right leg is leaning on a tropical plant.

In pic 1, taken on 14 June 2018, the statue is light brown, with a white chest.

In pic 2, taken on 26 June 2025, it looks greyer. Behind the statue are some people wearing hi-vis jackets and hard hats. They appear to be in discussion. This was around the time that work began on the park's regeneration.

In pic 3, taken on 18 July 2026, the animal is green, with light 'grouting' between its scales. Lovely set of white teeth, too!

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· 24d

A headless Dante, overlooked by the Crystal Palace transmitter and a painterly sky, yesterday afternoon.

The sun pokes through long, streaky clouds that appear to rise from the statue's neck as it stands in front of the Italian terraces in Crystal Palace Park. In the distance, silhouetted against the blue sky, is the Crystal Palace transmitting station.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jul 12

Found these unscratched scratch cards in a cobwebbed corner of my King Kong collection. There's a potential £150,000 here but, nah, keep 'em intact, man - mint condition or bust! (Coin for illustrative purposes only. Twenty three years after the closing date, I really don't want to know...)

Two scratch-card sheets, each containing two cards. One sheet is smaller than the other but is otherwise the same. Each card has artwork showing Dracula (in his Christopher Lee guise) and a giant gorilla atop a building, holding a woman in his left hand.

The Dracula card says: "Get your teeth into £25,000 now!" The gorilla card says: "Win a monster £50,000 today." The silver scratch film on all four cards is intact.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jul 8

Saw a Cyberman trapped in a bin. #DoctorWho #FacesInThings

A bin for chewing gum and cigarette butts, on a pole by the side of a road in London, EC2. The head of a Cyberman, from Doctor Who, appears to be looking out the front of the bin. (In reality the 'head' is part of the design - ie, 'faces in things'.)

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jun 30

Nice waveform. You can tell that the producer has really pushed the boat out. (Pic: South Norwood Country Park, this morning - a lovely wander in cooler temps!)

Under a cloudy, grey sky, a lake reflects the trees on its far shore. The symmetry centres on the middle of the picture, creating the impression of an audio waveform. The effect is even greater if you squint your eyes .

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jun 21

A couple of snaps of @warringtonruncorn.com from yesterday's electronic all-dayer at Iklectik in Peckham. A cracking set - at one point, a chap behind me shouted "tune!", to which I wholeheartedly concur - and, as you can see, a great view too.

Gordon Chapman-Fox, performing as Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan, on stage at Iklectik. The stage is lit in shades of red as he operates some musical electronics, and a shaft of white light highlights his left eye.

Gordon Chapman-Fox on stage at Iklectik. A flash of mauve light illuminates the stage.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jun 21

A snapshot of @sulkrooms.bsky.social at yesterday's electronic all-dayer at Iklectik in Peckham. An intense and, I'm gonna say, shamanic* performance, it was one of my favourite sets of the day. * Dynamic and clearly from within. He broke on through, man.

Thomas Ragsdale, performing as Sulk Rooms, on stage at Iklectik in Peckham, south London. A guitar hangs around his neck while he operates some musical electronics. The stage is bathed in red light as his shadow hits the wall behind him.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jun 2

On the way home this evening, the weather turned thunderous. So I pointed my phone at the sky, hoping to get a decent frame of lightning at 120fps. I'm pretty happy with this. I've cropped space from the right, so the pic's square, but I've otherwise tweaked nothing. The black line is a tram cable.

Forked lightning above Sandilands tram stop in Croydon. The sky around the lightning has a pinkish hue, set against grey.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· May 13

There's an example here that matches: www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/... The owner writes that he's had the book since "I was a little boy", and that it was "signed by Malcolm Hulke during a visit to his home in the spring of 1978". Pic's a bit small but the sig looks the same to me. Nice find!

The title page from The Making Of Doctor Who book, signed by Malcolm Hulke and dedicated to Philip someone (I can't read the surname).

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Apr 29

A few snaps from last night's talk, 'The Fortean and Folklore Origins of Hookland', at The Bell, London E1 - written and presented by @hookland.bsky.social creator David Southwell. 'Twas a delightful deep-dive into the catalysts for, and influences on, this strange, enchanting, open-source world.

David Southwell reads from his essay 'The Fortean and Folklore Origins of Hookland', in front of a seated audience.

A PowerPoint slide projected on a screen at the front of the pub's function room, showing a photo of a church in a field. Text beside the picture reads: "St James the Less, Hadleigh. Banning children for necromancy since 1977."

David Southwell at the front of the room, giving his Hookland talk.

A wide-angle photo of the room as David gives his talk. Behind him is a slide saying: "Re-enchantment is resistance."

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Mar 30

Many years ago I visited Alderney and discovered that their postboxes are blue. I didn't clock it at the time but the one I photographed is Victorian - and is apparently the only VR box on the island. They also have yellow phone boxes. (Unexciting bins, though, you'll note.)

A blue postbox on Alderney, with a stone wall behind it and a litter bin to the right.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Mar 27

Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein at the Roundhouse? Don't mind if I do.

Advert for a live tour: 'Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein performing the music of Stranger Things, with light design by MFO'.

The dates run:

April
25 Prague, CZ – Prague Composers Summit

June
10 Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
15 Berlin, DE – Theater des Westens
17 Belfast, UK – Waterfront Hall
19 Birmingham, UK – Symphony Hall
21 London, UK – Roundhouse
26 Fiastra (MC), IT – Fiastrapalooza

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Feb 13

Here's my attempt to give the new Tangerine Dream album a celebratory entrance. Disc one has since crawled in what remains of my tinnitus-ravaged ears and worked its way into my cerebral region (aka 'the noggin'). Feels good.

50 Years Of Phaedra - At The Barbican by Tangerine Dream, on CD, standing on top of a CD player. A high-contrast, red/yellow glow from a lamp creeps over the top of the sleeve, casting a shadow on the surface below.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Feb 13

Does it still have a charging port? If so, you should be able to get an adapter for not too much money. Here's my lightning-to-3.55mm one. Cabled earphones make me feel 100 years old when I'm out and about, but I kinda like that. I'm sure I'd lose wireless ones quite quickly to a passing drain.

A lightning-to-3.5mm adapter cable for earphones, plus some cabled earphones sneaking up on it across a wooden table.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Feb 5

Stumbled across this scene in a Westminster park. Had a flashback to that bit in The NeverEnding Story.

Wooden sculptures of two horses made to look like they're partially submerged in the ground, with only their heads and hind quarters visible. In the background are some swings. In the far distance is a tall office building.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Jan 26

Here's my soggy bottom (I'd just clambered over a stone wall) photographing gothic duo @deadlight-dance.bsky.social in Bowden Hill yesterday. I railed it over to Wiltshire to snap the chaps in various locations, and indeed poses. Look/listen out for their new album, Vox Populi - coming soon.

Two men dressed in black standing by a stone wall, with a guitar case between them. Text running the length of the case reads: 'Wiltshire Gothic'. In the field in front of the men is a pair of legs belonging to me. I'm wearing black jeans that have some mud on the rear-left pocket.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Dec 25

I love this Christmas card, from my mum-in-law. Unsettling festive customs and iconography deserve a bigger look-in, I think. (Now seems like a good time to mention that 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' scared me as a kid, and I still find it a bit unnerving. So much for tidings of comfort and joy...)

A hand holding a Christmas card in front of some Christmas lights (red, green and yellow). On the front of the card is a black-and-white drawing of a decorated horse's skull, and some festive stars hanging from a snowy tree branch - a depiction of the Mari Lwyd folk custom.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Dec 12

Went to Bromley to look for Christmas presents. Came home with an ex-library hardback of The Woman In Black - for myself, of course. Despite loving the TV film, I've never read the book. It's a large-print edition too, negating my other purchase: new reading glasses from Poundland.

A hand holding a 1996, large-print, hardback edition of The Woman In Black by Susan Hill. In the background, slightly out of focus, is a pair of pink-framed glasses.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Dec 12

Yesterday I cantered on over to the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury for a 'hauntological holiday happening'. Ethereal dreamscapes from The Balloonist, and unnerving electronica from @hiddenbritain.bsky.social, accompanying their film Wren's Nest. Plus an episode of Dramarama! Xmas as it should be done.

Chalkboard sign outside the Horse Hospital, an arts venue in Bloomsbury, that reads: "The Double Act presents... A Concrete Hauntology Holiday Happening"

The Balloonist performing with a guitar and an array of pedals in front of some rear projection. An out-of-focus face, in an orangey hue, fills the screen.

A static projection at the rear of the performance space, in the style of an old BBC1 'coming up' screen, announcing: "Wren's Nest follow shortly." Below the text is a photo of a wren.

Hidden Britain performing the electronic score to their film Wren's Nest, while the film plays.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Dec 4

Ah, good luck in your quest! This is the stuff that keeps us going, isn't it? My poster isn't in too bad a shape. The perforated connection to the sleeve is a bit fragile, but it's hanging on in there. I wonder whether there'll be a 50th anniversary release of some sort next year...

Poster from the original vinyl release of King Kong (1976) by John Barry, showing a painting of Kong breaking through the island wall, with its huge door.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Dec 4

A fine choice, and well put! The score is the absolute heart of Kong '76. I like it so much I've bought it four times... so far. 😄

John Barry's score for King Kong (1976) on vinyl, plus three different CD versions.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 24

Still got the signed poster (yeah, like I was gonna bin it 😄).

A poster for the Architecture & Morality listening party, signed by Tim Burgess and Andy McCluskey.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 23

These landed yesterday: the expanded Carpenter/Carpenter/Davies scores for Halloween Kills/Ends - not films I love but I dig the music, and there are 35 previously unreleased cues here. A reflection in this pic makes it look like I've got my hand around Mr Myers' neck. Was gonna retake but... nah.

A table lamp casts an orangey glow over a hand holding two shrink-wrapped CDs: the expanded scores for Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022). The covers of both CDs show the head of a masked Michael Myers in portrait, one of which appears to have a ghostly hand clasping his neck - the reflection in the shrink-wrap of my hand taking the picture.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 22

Last night I watched Antrum (2018), which purports to be a cursed '70s film that could kill viewers. The prologue set up the conceit well enough to make me a tad nervous, and I found the film pleasingly off-kilter. Cracking music too, by Alicia Fricker. The main theme, especially, is <chef's kiss>.

Poster for Antrum (2018). A young woman holds her younger brother. Both look fearful. Behind them is a tall, goat-like effigy adorned with pentagrams. The scene is illuminated by a glowing red/yellow circle at the rear of the image, and flames below.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 16

Remembering the days when choosing a font meant browsing the racks of Letraset* in WHSmith. #Fanzines * Other brands of dry-transfer lettering were available.

Two partially used sheets of dry-transfer lettering: one branded Letraset, the other Transotype. Pic by Paul Henning (CC0).

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 14

Every week on here I see the #TOTP hashtag and think: 'I ought to dig out the pics I took last year of those neon signs in God's Own Junkyard, in Walthamstow.' And this week I've got my bum in gear and done it. I'm pretty sure these are originals.

Me standing next to a neon Top Of The Pops sign. Below it is a yellow (non-neon) sign that reads: "Can I have your attention please?" A large glitterball is just behind my head.

A neon Top Of The Pops sign on a wall, among some other neon signs.

Haunting The Atom@hauntingtheatom· Nov 14

I searched for the quote on archive-org, and found it in a Jung collection. I've screen-grabbed the snippet below, and here's a link so you can see the source and further context: tinyurl.com/carljungquote (sorry for the redirect - the original URL is super-long).