I'm Gordon Hel. This is my blog.
I'm a professor of Modern History at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. My academic focus is post-WWII New England history. I've had a personal interest in music my whole life. You'll see how those connect in a moment.
The Existential Dreadniks began in the 1960s and have changed lineups over time. Their recordings are genre-hopping and -bending! Unfortunately, their history is not well documented. But a collector of their recordings has been putting them up online. There's a new one pretty much every day.
Closely related (founding member, perhaps?) is Byron Fenris, the Bard of Arkham. I learned of Fenris shortly after joining the University. He invented the "Arkham Sound" from the late 60s - in particular the regional hit Come to Arkham (Wear the Wind in Your Hair). A cover of the song can be found here.
Remember how much attention Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brought to Savannah? Come to Arkahm lead to a regional rediscovery of Arkham. There were always the college students, of course, especially those attending Miskatonic University. But the song made it a "destination" like Mount Monadnock or LL Bean.
Compared to the Dreadniks, a lot more is known about Fenris' history. Fenris has written most of Dreadniks' songs. Sometimes he sings with the Dreadniks as the backing band. He's also written novels (mostly out of print, although The Late Edge of October has been digitized) and starred in various European B movies. He's also written some screenplays some yet to be produced musicals, such as Bloofer, Judas Nefarious, and Amelia Queen and the Halloween Dream.
There are other singers that regularly work with the Dreadniks, including the inimitable Gwendolyn Mooney, who played with them live at Wickerwood as well as the recent Words are Hammers concert.
At some point the Dreadniks and Fenris teamed up with a graphic designer named Simon Woodbine. Simon's has an online store of Dreadniks artwork available on T-shirts.
So go listen to the music. Buy a T-shirt. Read the book. Join us in feeling the existential dread!