It's nearly Friday the 13th, and if you love spooky things like The Midnight Society, your feed tomorrow will be equal parts autumnal black cats and Jason Voorhees gifs. It’s still hot as summer camp here in Florida, so I opted to celebrate with Jason and finally downloaded the Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle game. This game is a blast! You start the game as Classic Jason. He’s a tall, broad man in a hockey mask that listens to his mom like any good son. Even though Jason Voorhees became the face of the Friday the 13th movies, Pamela Voorhees was th[...]
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Video Games
0 I can't believe it, Zach. Nintendo just made another gaming dream come true this week when they announced that cult classic, Twin Peaks-inspired Deadly Premonition was coming to the Nintendo Switch. And as amazing as that was, the real news was that Deadly Premonition 2 was in production, and would be coming to the Switch as a launch exclusive. https://youtu.be/GHJaGBK1JW8 If you have never experienced Deadly Premonition, now is the perfect time to grab it on the Switch. Deadly Premonition centers on Agent Francis York Morgan, who has come to the quiet Northwes[...]
I have a confession. I have fallen down the YouTube hole, and, yes, I realize that I am years behind the times. See...my daughter introduced me to the YouTuber Markiplier, who plays horror video games. 16yo: "Mom! This guy plays scary games and you would like him! He's so funny and loves creepy stuff." Me: "That's cool." 16yo: "No, watch!" *sets screen in front of my face* Me: "Who is this?" 16yo: "Markiplier." And that was the end. I don't play video games. If you want to talk to someone who does, go find our Midnighter Brian, who posts what he's playing o[...]
You wake up alone, locked in an empty room. You lift up the phone from its cradle, and a scratchy voice intones, “All that you touch, you change.” The message repeats, no matter how many times you try to use the phone. It’s flat. Insistent. Its cadence is off, like something trying to sound human. So begins Cube Escape: Seasons, the first in a series of surreal horror games set around, and beneath, Rusty Lake. On the surface, the Cube Escape games are lovely, pastel escape rooms. Haunting music plays as you explore. You find objects while exploring each[...]
As I've mentioned here previously, I've been playing through Resident Evil 7, and I'm constantly impressed by the nods to old horror stories and movies this game has. One of my recent sessions involved giant insects, and as someone who really hates bugs, it added a whole extra layer of terror for me. You can watch me freak out here: https://youtu.be/-Ju6y3NIpYk Anyway, those giant insects reminded me of a 1976 movie that scarred me for life--Food of the Gods. Loosely based on an H.G. Wells story, Food of the Gods was about a strange substance that is found bubb[...]
A couple months back I wrote about my first impressions of Resident Evil 7, and how it was a love letter to horror fans. I was grinning ear to ear at the start of my playthough but every so often, the game likes to wipe the smile off of my face by scaring the ever living crap out of me. One of the ways it does that is with Jack Baker, the seemingly unkillable head of the family that is holding you captive. In the following video, the main character Nathan faces off against him in a brutal confrontation reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nathan has to defeat J[...]
I've been playing a lot of co-op horror games lately, and while in some ways it takes a bit of the edge off, in others it adds a whole new layer of horror. 7 Days to Die is a game where you are trying to survive in the zombie apocalypse, but it has a very particular twist--every seven days, a zombie horde attacks you. So, you spend the days in between the hordes gathering supplies and building materials to build a shelter that can withstand the assault. https://youtu.be/WS1j2-2OEdg This element of the game adds a constant sense of tension, as the moment you mak[...]
I'm only about three hours into Resident Evil 7, but I am in love with this game. While the series has been inconsistent at best over the past handful of years, this latest installment is the perfect blend of horror, humor and shocking moments that has me smiling from ear to ear every moment I spend with it. https://youtu.be/rxjOFd0YNo0 Switching to first person was a great decision, as it pulls you deeper into the experience, and allows the creators to surprise you in ways that just aren't possible in third person. This creates a level of constant tension that[...]
Every October I like to revisit some of my favorite horror games, and this year I went back to the 2008 masterpiece Dead Space. Equal parts Aliens and Event Horizon, Dead Space puts you in the role of Isaac Clarke, an engineer for the Concordance Extraction Corporation in the year 2508. Isaac and a small crew are responding to a distress beacon sent out from the USG Ishimura, a "planet cracker"ship that is designed to harvest resources from planets and moons. https://youtu.be/OUrq0PQgqPg?list=PL3o-jq7bqjfR0IoJLGSRJqZxG3gfPmchT From the second the small group cra[...]
I am a lifelong gamer (since the days of Red Box D&D and the Atari 2600), and one of the ways I like to recharge my creative batteries is by immersing myself in a good video game. It probably comes as no surprise to you that horror games are among my favorites to play. I find that inhabiting a scary story is a great way to inspire my own creative process, and few experiences are as immersive and interactive as games. One of my absolute favorite series of all time is the Dead Space series, and in particular the first two games of that series. It's Ghost Month[...]