An early pre-game warning, faithful LDBCers: a bunch of you have mentioned that Etsy ad, which contains the dread tune. But according to Laura, below, you have time to dump out of it before the fatal notes strike.

OK, so normally I post the day after Halloween. This year, I figured we could only deal with one anxiety-inducing ordeal at a time, so I waited for the World Series to end.

I hope everyone had a great summer.

Just 27 days 'til we give our nerves a REAL workout.

Spread the word.

OK, people. Last call: fill out the form (bit.ly/ldbcform) with your win or loss if you haven't already (no dupes, please), and let's see your winning Elfies! (Make like Jon Gardner's kid, Donald Dulchinos, Holly Melton, and Maïs Non here; attach them as comments to this post.)

For Mike!

With a little more than 24 hours to go, the missus and I are still standing.

Who's with us? Sing out.

Everything old is new again, so I have yet another warning for you.

This video, which features a group of young men caroling and the caption "You can't judge a book by its cover" took down a number of people a couple years back.

Now IT'S back.

Don't watch it.

That is all.

For Mike!

Another warning, this time from faithful LDBCer Angelique Ortiz-Kane: if someone sends you this, scroll on.

"Just because."

Because what? Because you're a myrmidon for The Boy if you forward this thing, that's what!

But Angelique knows better.

And now, thanks to her?

So. Do. We.

For Mike!

Also, a warning from LDBCer Zilpha Frank.

Alert: Thoughtful LDBCer Julianna Taylor-Gomia warns us that the Carpool Karaoke Christmas Special "has 1.5 instances of The Boy Who Drums" in it, which means you'll perish at time and a half. (No, my stupid joke doesn't make any sense to me, either. What, you thought I had standards?)

For Mike!

Heads up, people! Thanks to eagle-eyed (eared?) LDBCers Sarah Boucher and John Ruckus Kittredge, we've been warned that episode four ("Go Bang Time") of Netflix's BLACK DOVES features Johnny Cash's take on LDB and will, fittingly enough for this show, kill you dead.

Ever vigilant!

Heads up, Canadian friends—incoming! (And thanks to fallen LDBCer Joe LeClair for the warning.)

For Mike!

A warning from stalwart LDBC-er Cathy D. Thomas, people.

ALERT: AVOID ALL ADS IN MOVIE THEATRES

Fathom plays ads on most US screens, and the show For King and Country — A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS LIVE has ads there, on social media and tv/radio sites.

Also, beware of YouTube...

If you see this, post a knight.

After midnight tonight, he roams.

Another reminder of the horror to come, people. (Hey, it's my job.) And an apology to blog subscribers. I unpublished some stuff due to a tech SNAFU. As I republish, you may get pelted with notifications about ancient posts. We regret the error, and we'll try to go slow.

And now? On with the fear!