Category: Horror

The Shining

the shining bk

Heeeere’s Torsten with another long overdue book/movie review. Savior once covered the movie, link here to see his thoughts: The Shining

Either way you go, the Shining is the story of the Torrance family spending a winter care-taking for the Overlook Hotel. Father, Jack, is a disgraced English Professor and struggling novelist and ex alcoholic. Mom, Wendy, silently resents Jack because he’s a F-up and last time he got drunk accidentally broke there psychic son, Danny’s, arm. While Danny sees things inside the hotel, Jack discovers the dark secrets of the Overlook’s past, things go shit up when they are trapped inside the Hotel and madness ensues, turning Jack against his family…

While the premise is the same, the executions are really damn different. Remember those creepy ass images from the movie: creepy twins, elevator full of blood, and whatever the hell was going on between the bear suit guy and that guy in the tux? Well there’s none of that in the book. In the book we got hedge animals that come alive and a hornets nest… Ok, so sorry no really creepy visuals in the book. What sells the book is the atmosphere and the build up to Jack losing it. The characters in the book are very deep but I can’t say I ever really found the book scary but a family drama with a dark ending. I like the movie better for a few reasons. Whereas I found the Overlook’s history ok in the book, I love the imagery Kubrick created from the same backstory (though the bloody elevator was all him.) I felt the family in the book was actually a loving family that would have been Ok if this didn’t happen, but the family in the movie seemed off, like a family pretending they weren’t about to explode. In the book, it’s plain that it’s a freaking ghost story but it was more intriguing that we didn’t know for sure what the hell was going on. Last was how the movie had a darker ending which I felt more fulfilling.

In the end I thought the book was Ok but the movie is legendary. Stephen King again proved he’s a master storyteller. May the gaming gods bring you glory and happy Easter from us to you.

Favorite Locales in gaming…

Let’s talk real estate, location, location, location. In gaming we get some gorgeous worlds that make us wish we could live there or pray we’d never set foot in but either way are memorable. Here’s a list of mine in no particular order starting with one that actually exists..

ac2 italy 1. Renaissance Italy ( Assassin’s Creed 2)

I’m a huge fan of the Renaissance era and being able to experience it and venture through Italy’s gorgeous architecture was truly a pleasure.

skyrim  2. Skyrim ( Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)

Who the hell wouldn’t want to go to the lush, fascinating kingdom of Skyrim full of interesting people, magic, killer beasts and epic dragons? Plus talking cat people…

arkham city 2 3. Arkham City (Batman: Arkham City )

I’d go here just because of the villains that lurk here like Two-Face, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, and that lovable goof Mr. J and his sweetheart Harley. A community is only as good as it’s people after all..

yharnam bloodborne  4. Yharnam (BloodBorne review)

I loved this creepy, Victorian, Gothic town the second I walked in with my trusty ax. Between the Lovecraft style monsters and classic horror feel, I’d put a top hat on and hang out there a night.

dishonored dunwall 5. Dunwall (Dishonored series)

Another town, though with a steampunk flavor of whale blubber, robot walkers, and plague but hey, the fashion is quite dashing. Especially that creepy bastard in the skull mask…

sevastopol isolation  6. Sevastopol Station (Alien: Isolation)

The last two are a morbid curiosity deals more than anything, but as a sci-fi, horror nerd I gotta do it. Granted I ain’t going here with a alien on board, hell no..

ishimura deadspace 7. U.S.S Ishimura (DeadSpace )

Many modern horror fans shiver at the name, knowing the horrific things inside but the areas inside are creepy as well as cool looking to see. Just make sure you have a plasma-cutter handy..

May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Flowers in the Attic

flowers in the attic

I’m starting this off by dedicating this to my lil sis who told me about this book and gave me the most depressing book I’ve read.

The book follows the Dollanganger family, the seemingly perfect family…until the father dies and everything unravels. They’d been living on a mix of luck and credit and are about to lose everything. Mother, Corrine, tells her four children they have to go to her estranged, ultra-rich parents; the kids are shocked to find they have grandparents, there last name is really Foxworth, and these grandparents aren’t great people. Corrine’s father is dying, so her plan is to become daddy’s girl again to get money so they can scram. Corrine’s mother hates her with a fiery rage and instantly despises the children; her stipulation is they have to live in the attic, having to pretend they don’t exist. Oldest of the four kids, Christopher and Cathy (the narrator) have to care for there younger brother and sister while dealing with there cruel, hateful grandmother, there mother who has forgotten them, a host of ugly family secrets, and forbidden feelings for each other as they stay in the attic…

I won’t lie, I love this book but holy crap is it heart  wrenching. V.C Andrews ingeniously dangles hope in front of them only to crush it by reality without making the book seeming to feel completely hopeless. I’ve frequently seen this book labeled “horror” and to an extent, I agree. Some of the images and scenes are pretty damn disturbing and there is as much tension if not more than I experienced in many other horror books. I absolutely recommend this book to aspiring writers like myself and people who need a good tear or two. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ricky Gervais: Humanity

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I have never watched a Ricky Gervais stand up, tho I have seen him talk and seen a few clips here and there. He always struck me as an intelligent and funny guy whether you agree with his point of view or not. I didn’t really know what to expect tho. After watching this one however made me realize this guy cares not at all about what he says. Not in the sense that he intentionally says messed up things or goes out of his way to be cruel or offensive. However he understands things certain things many people seem to have forgotten. The context of a joke and the target of a joke matters just as much as anything else. A joke including the word rape is not the same as making a joke about someone being raped, making a joke about a trans gendered person is not the same as making a joke about a person being trans gendered. Both of these are points he makes during the stand up he has encountered.  His stand up it at times messed up but is hilarious and thought-provoking and even if you don’t like that kind of humor it might make you appreciate a different perspective. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Trapt

trapt

What’s one of the biggest cliches in gaming? Cute, defenseless princess gets kidnapped and a hero needs to come to save her (not mentioning names Peach.) I found this PS2 pseudo-horror game on accident and while it kicked my ass, it also was a rarity for me at the time- a game that is badass but made me think.

Allura is a princess on the run after her father is murdered and she is framed by her evil stepmother. Her only refuge seems to be a Gothic manor where she gets possessed by essentially the Devil. She gains the power to summon traps in the house to kill her pursuers.

I will tell you off the bat I didn’t play the game in English but Japanese dub with English subtitle; I’m not sure if there is a English dub. The game isn’t perfect but fun. You set traps along the floor, wall, and ceiling, and use yourself to lure your prey to them. Besides these traps, you are defenseless so don’t get cornered and keep moving. The traps are cool and damn right cruel by the end, so if you are a Saw fan I’d definitely check it out. There are very elusive ultimate environmental traps that once triggered are disturbingly awesome, unless you get caught in them that is. Your own traps can kill you. Graphically, the game looks pretty and sounds nice. I found myself near rage-quit a few times because of either a bullshit kill or a certain boss that is a absolute pain about half way through. I’d recommend some research before buying but I found it alright in the end. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Game Over, Man (2018)

game over, man

Another Netflix movie that on the surface probably shouldn’t have been all that good. Three idiot friends that work in a hotel, one of which has a weird Salvia addiction that he buys from his possibly delusional money obsessed friend get the surprise on a lifetime. A rich internet celebrity is having a huge party at the hotel, and they are going to try to get him to finance their dream. One small issue, some terrorist have a slightly different idea.

The entire plot of this movie is that Terrorist and these 3 guys want money. Tho the 3 friends had a check that their boss took off them and gave back to the manager and they simply wanted it back. The movie is quite hilarious, and ladies if you want to see Adam Devine’s Dick, this is your chance. It is legitimately in the movie.

The story obviously should not be thought about, it has plenty of plot holes and is far from perfect. It is simply a fun and entertaining movies with some bad but passable special effects. Very much worth a watch tho, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Dante’s Inferno (game)

dante's inferno

I miss a time when EA games made games that hooked me, instead of killed things I loved like DeadSpace and Star Wars: Battlefront. Also by Visceral, we got a game adaptation of the dark epic poem by Dante Alighieri, journeying into the depths of hell.

Dante is a knight who went off to slay and lay for god during the Crusades, only to have his broken promises to his beloved Beatrice come back and bite him in the ass. The Devil comes and takes her as his own to punish Dante, forcing him to face the Grim Reaper guarding the gates of hell. After getting the Reaper’s scythe and a powerful holy cross he must fight through the River Styx, Purgatory, and all 9 levels of hell, battling the damned as well as his own demons to save Beatrice and slay the Devil.

I’m going to be blunt and call this what it really kinda was, God Of War with a creepier skin. A LOT of the gameplay is lifted from God of War, so if you aren’t into hack/slash type games, this isn’t for you. What sells the game hands down is the level and enemy designs which are truly beautiful and horrifying. I do like finding real historical figures in hell, hearing there stories and choosing whether to absolve them to heaven or damn them to oblivion. On a bad note though, towards the end the game fizzles out by the end and the Devil is a pretty lame final boss. I still think the game is worth checking out and at the very least admired  for showing us a classic but freaky hell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies

ppz

Another great WTF story from Seth Grahame Smith, we get a new way to reintroduce the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, to young folks of this generation. Add ninjas, guns, and a zombie apocalypse and whamo, we have Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies. The five Bennett sisters are divided women, raised to be sophisticated ladies of old time British society by there mother, but there father wants them to be strong to survive the mysterious zombie virus. Because of him, they’ve been trained as warriors. Elizabeth sticks to the warrior life close, not wanting to be a frail lady, but will she be doomed to be alone and unmarried? She finds herself connected to fellow warrior Darcy, but he is most disagreeable; but Elizabeth may be able to meet her hero as her sisters fall off of the path of the warrior…

This is a weird one to review. For much of the book, it is very much Austen’s classic. More experienced, clever  readers will notice the transitions between Austen and Smith (I don’t Jane Austen wrote about zombies and ninjas back then.) I will warn people though: it is in old English for most of the book so that turn off quite a few readers. All this being said, it is a cool, if not batshit crazy at times and the illustrations add a nice touch. I can’t say I liked it as much as Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but it’s a fun book. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

abe lincoln vampire hunter

Seth Grahame-Smith: a man who has made so many eye catching WTF titles, I damn near found it impossible not to pick up just on premise alone. I mean let’s be serious for a second, Abraham Lincoln- one of the most fascinating presidents of U.S history and arguably one of the greatest…and we’re supposed to imagine him slaying through the fiends of the dead. I admit, I thought it was going to be a ridiculous comedy but I was pleasantly surprised.

The story flips back and forth between Lincoln’s personal diaries and third person narrative discussing his life, his personal demons and his years hunting down vampires while trying to keep a family and keep to the path we know of in history.

I was impressed how grounded the book was and even creepy at times. There is a great sense of tension when Abe is around vampires, and he does get his ass kicked. He’s not a damn superhero as he is portrayed in the film. The book is well paced and as a general reader, the historical context isn’t unreasonable. There really wasn’t anything that made me call Bullshit or anything. I think it’s worth a read and may the gaming gods bring you glory and safe from vampires.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The movie

athf the movie

It finally happened: the Aqua Teens finally face Dr. Weird as we finally discover there origin in this epic feature film. Seriously, this movie sneaked up on me. It opens on a cameo of Abe Lincoln, a trip to the moon, and a sweet nu- metal remix of the theme song. So the plot mainly focuses on the gang getting a new piece of exercise equipment that turns out to be an apocalyptic death machine. If you love the show, you will love the crazy scale of the movie and will appreciate the other cameos throughout (Space Ghost man). I found myself liking it a lot more than I thought I would; may the gaming gods bring you glory.