All Posts By

MidnightSocietyBrian

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BELOW Creates a Haunting World to Explore Alone

My favorite kind of gaming experience is one where I can immerse myself in an interesting world and explore it by myself. So much of my writing is both inspired by games, and fueled by the time they provide for me to be in my own head. I cannot tell you how many times I've worked through story ideas on an almost subconscious level while wandering around the world of a game. It just puts me in a creative space. When I find a game that provides this kind of experience, and has a horror element to it, I cherish it. And Capybara Games' Below is one such game for sure[...]

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Great Horror Book Alert: The Cabin at the End of the World

I came across Paul Tremblay's The Cabin at the End of the World during a recent search for Lovecraftian horror that introduced me to The Fisherman from John Langan (which I loved). And while I would not personally categorize The Cabin at the End of the World as overly Lovecraftian, it definitely is an apocalyptic tale that provides constant tension punctuated by some truly horrific moments. The Cabin at the End of the World starts out innocently enough, with a family vacation. A young girl named Wen and her fathers are enjoying a peaceful, lakeside cabin stay in[...]

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The Legendary Adrienne Barbeau Has a New Podcast!!!

This week news dropped about a new podcast coming from Shudder, hosted by horror legend Adrienne Barbeau! It's called She Kills, and the ten-episode season of the show will be released on March 1. You can get the show on iTunes and Shudder. Here's the blurb: "Hosted by horror icon Adrienne Barbeau, She Kills explores horror through a female lens with conversations from women in front of and behind the camera – including Karyn Kusama, Dee Wallace, Jennifer Tilly, Illeana Douglas, Polyanna McIntosh and more." I cannot overstate how excited I am for this show. I[...]

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Let’s Play Dead Space 3

Dead Space is my favorite horror game series of all time, and over the past few years, I've revisited each of the three main games with a let's play on my Co-Op Critics YouTube channel. I've recently started the series for Dead Space 3, so I thought some of our horror gaming fans might enjoy it, especially if you haven't experienced the series before. What's interesting about Dead Space 3 is that it's a prime example of a publisher ruining something great. Dead Space 1,2 and Extraction (the Wii on-rails shooter) were all fantastic, horror-driven games. But by the[...]

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Great Horror Book Alert: THE FISHERMAN

I had a work trip coming up recently and wanted to bring a good horror novel along with me. A lot of my reading as of late had been nonfiction, and I was really looking for some good, Lovecraftian horror to immerse myself in. I did a little research, and one book in particular popped up in a few different places--The Fisherman by John Langan. So, I took a chance, and picked up what turned out to be the best Lovecraftian horror (and one of the best horror novels, period) that I have read in years. Langan perfectly captures the mounting dread of a good Lovecraft st[...]

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Bird Box: Better Than The Happening, But Less Fun

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would get a sequel to 2008's The Happening, but here we are. And whether or not Josh Malerman, Susanne Bier, Netflix or M. Night Shyamalan confirm that Bird Box is officially The Happening 2, in my mind it's canon. This is definitely a case of the sequel being a better movie than the original. But is that actually a good thing? https://youtu.be/o2AsIXSh2xo In The Happening 2: Bird Box, Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman trying to survive the apocalypse with her son and a young girl she has taken responsibilit[...]

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Music To Write Scary Stories To: Dance With The Dead

I've written about music a few times here on the blog, and as I've said before, the only thing I love more than horror is music. I try to bring those two loves together as much as I can, which is why many of my stories are littered with musical references. I also love to listen to music while I'm writing, preferably instrumental music. That usually means a lot of video game and horror movie scores. But there are some bands and artists that make for perfect writing music, and one of them is Dance With The Dead. THE SHAPE by DANCE WITH THE DEAD Dance With The Dead[...]

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The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a Living Horror History Museum

Over three years ago on this very blog, I was gushing about what a fantastically scary comic series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was. Well it's 2018 now, and thanks to a very successful Riverdale TV show, we have recently just experienced the first season of the live-action Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series. And what a season! Not only did I love the storytelling and how the tone got progressively darker as it went, but I was blown away by the multitude of Easter eggs in this show. I mean, this is beyond few nods here and there to the movies and stories[...]

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Hereditary Is a Slow, Disturbing Ride

Hereditary is an interesting film that any horror fan needs to see. I think my expectations were set a little too high when people started calling it the new Exorcist. In my opinion, it's not even remotely close to The Exorcist or The Exorcist III in terms of scares or quality of storytelling. For me, Hereditary was an interesting occult tale that has more in common with The Ninth Gate than with anything it's currently being compared to. And that's actually great, because I adore The Ninth Gate, and I enjoyed Hereditary quite a bit. https://youtu.be/V6wWKNij_[...]

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Ghost’s “Rats” Is a Love Letter to 60s, 70s and 80s Horror Flicks

https://youtu.be/C_ijc7A5oAc Isn't it magnificent? Man, I love Ghost. Earlier this month, the band released the first video for their upcoming Prequelle album, which will be arriving on June 1st. If you don't follow Ghost, you are missing out on the wonderful theatrics and lore Ghost builds around everything they do. I'll do another post about Cardinal Copia and his backstory alter, but for now, let's just bask in the awesomeness that is "Rats." Not only does this song have a distinct early 80s Ozzy Osboure feel, but it also feels like it could be off the sound[...]