The Incredibly True Story Of One Man In Love With A Band

In Chicago a 26 foot tall statue of Marilyn Monroe was recently erected. (Don't know why in Chicago, just is.) I love Marilyn Monroe, and I think this is a wonderful piece of art that Chicago has put in place in her honor.

Now, I will use that story to segue into a story legitimately about music. When I was thirteen I saw The New Guy.  Now, in this movie there is a scene where the protagonist walks past a group of goth kids at his new school. One of them had a shirt on with a odd stylized skull on it. This skull started to pop out at me everywhere I went. It was on T-shirts, notebooks, websites, shoes, patches, buttons, jackets, necklaces, guitar picks, everything had been emblazoned with this skull for the purpose of merchandising. What the hell was it? It was the logo of the founders of horrorpunk, and depending on who you ask, speed metal, The Misfits. 

I wandered into a music store one day and saw a CD by The Misfits called Walk Among Us. It was $6.99, so why not? I picked it up, got home... and listened to it nonstop for 3 months. After that I knew their music must be mine. All of it. So I got the Misfits Caroline Box Set on ebay... we're not even going to talk about how much I paid for that. It comes in a beautiful velour-lined coffin-shaped box, and came with an enamel "Fiend Club" button. 

I listened to The Misfits when I was happy. I listened to them when I was sad, man, disturbed, bored, delighted, tired, when I worked out, when I mowed the lawn, when I played video games, when I surfed the net, when I rode the bus to school, when I was at school in computer class, when I did ANYTHING The Misfits were there with me. I'm a purist, though, I only listen to Danzig-era Misfits. 

Now that I'm in college I started thinking about better ways to honor this band that changed the way I looked at music. They're the standard to which I hold up all other bands. They are my heroes, my inspiration, and they are what spurred me to love music. One day I had an idea. A sick idea. An expensive idea. I had a plan.

$180 and four and a half hours later...

(Yes, I stole it from some kid's DeviantArt. Don't care.)


I will wear the Crimson Fiend on my leg until the day I die, and that's okay by me. Oh, and Marilyn Monroe ties into this because The Misfits was the name of her last movie, and The Misfits are dedicated to keeping her memory alive.