This post contains some spoilers.
Months ago I posted an entry discussing my feelings after watching the first five episodes of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It has been a while since then, but I have just recently finished watching the first season through, and I’m happy that things went as expected. In my previous post I noted that my lukewarm feelings about the show were a common reaction, but that the series improves as it progresses. For the most part I agree.Read More »
Grave Encounters is a 2011 Canadian found-footage horror film, written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. The film is a collection of footage from the final episode of a fictional ghost hunting TV show called Grave Encounters, which was cancelled after airing its fifth episode. This sixth episode was never broadcast. The host and crew are investigating the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, a supposed hotbed for paranormal activity thanks to its tortured history. After touring the grounds during the day they have the groundskeeper lock them in, from sundown until 6:00 AM, as they begin their mission to capture footage ghostly activity.Read More »
While I’m about a year late to the party I have recently started playing Destiny, an action role-playing first person shooter for last and current generation Microsoft and Sony consoles. The game is set in the far future after a “Golden Age” of colonization in the solar system by humanity, thanks to the technology granted to us by The Traveler, a gigantic sphere of extraterrestrial origin.
While there is a lot more explained about the circumstances of the world the game inhabits that I enjoy, and I am enjoying Destiny mechanically as well, I am continually dumbfounded by the lack of tangible world-building that was put into the game’s storyline and world. This was a criticism I’d heard before from friends and family as well as people in gaming media, but it’s been a whole other matter to experience it firsthand. The reason for this is the apparent fact that lore does actually exist, but you have to go out of your way to learn about it.Read More »
The Shining has always been a fixation in my life when it comes to horror — specifically the 1980 Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the famous Stephen King novel. There’s always been a certain je ne sais quoi about it that has cemented it in my mind when I start to think about horror films. Whether it’s the beloved Simpsons short from “Treehouse of Horror V” that first exposed me to the idea or the impact of watching the film itself for the first time, I can’t begin to think about watching Halloween movies without asking someone new “Have you seen The Shining?” There’s something about the whole scenario; the grisly spectres, the oppressive, isolated landscape, and descent into madness that makes the whole thing a tantalizing horror story.Read More »
While there are numerous ways to present the horror genre, I’ve found myself considering two distinct types of horror stories: those where the threat is paranormal, and those where the threat is mundane. When I say mundane, I mean something that we all acknowledge is within the realm of possibility. Stories that tell of gruesome killers and levels of cruelty only a twisted human imagination could conjure up and for all intents and purposes could actually happen.Read More »
The following is based on an actual nightmare I experienced. It was easily the most vivid I have ever had, and will likely stick with me forever.
Featured image by Rachel King/Carla MacKinnon.
The Halloween season is upon us once again, and for me that means I’m watching a lot more horror movies than I normally would. Over the last few days I watched Oculus and Sinister, in that order, both of which are rather recent releases. I enjoyed them both — especially the former — but watching them has got me particularly thinking a lot about explanations and the unknown in the horror genre.Read More »
Undermajordomo Minor is the newest novel by Patrick DeWitt, published by Anansi House Press on September 5, 2015. DeWitt is well known for his previous and bestselling novel The Sisters Brothers, which received significant acclaim. The story follows Lucien “Lucy” Minor, a young man going out into the world to seek something more from life, gaining employment as an undermajordomo at the mysterious Castle Von Aux. Promotionally, the novel is described as “A love story, an adventure story, a fable without a moral, and an ink-black comedy of manners.”Read More »
Spoiler Warning: This post is very specifically about details of the Dead Space series as well as the ending of Dead Space 3. Read at your own discretion.
Despite having received the game as a gift in 2013 and being a big fan of the series, I only just completed the storyline of Dead Space 3. The game continues a series of sci-fi horror video games developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts.
Something I heard consistently from friends and family that had played through it already was that by the end of the game far too much was explained about the source of the Necromorphs, the undead monstrosities that assault the player-character Isaac Clarke, and the Markers, alien spires that are the source of hallucinations, violence, and the spawning of these nightmarish creatures. Having now played through it, I’m not sure how I feel about it.Read More »
Recently, while having a conversation with a friend about books, the subject turned to reading what is generally considered to be “classic” literature. These are the books that are taught in high schools, university courses, and other academic circles. While I personally appreciate the academic reasons and approach to examining this kind of literature (which most people characterize as Literature proper), my friend brought up a very valid point: they’re not only a major chore to get through at times, but contain narrative devices and plot points that would be heavily criticized if done today.Read More »
Muse with Me 