Abby Howard is the ruler of the kingdom of creepy illustrated faces. Er, maybe the architect. The wizard behind the curtain? Oh, the god, the god.
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"The Black Stone Statue” by Mary Elizabeth Counselman (1937) “And those were the last words he ever uttered.”
Finding scary things deep in the jungle is what it’s all about in adventure stories, but the turn in this one (which is presented right up front) is neat. It’s more of that morality tale we would get from stuff like The Twilight Zone later on.
I often fantasize about illustrating text stories if I had the skill, just to visualize what’s in the brain. It’s cool to see Howard taking that on with one of these old timey and appropriately spooky stories.
The 30s movies are rough but things start to feel more my pace here in the 50s. I reckon it’s from having watched sitcoms like I Love Lucy and plenty of noir classics so the pacing and style is more familiar. As for the movie, it’s clear why it terrified audiences then and the concept continues to persist. Communism, corporations, conservatives, all a way to address the fear of an insidious enemy.
“I pinned them to his neck: one, two, three, four.”
I’m still puzzling over what exactly it was that drove this story. Some label or easy answer. But then, it’s scarier not to know.
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“Swamp Monster” by Basil Wolverton (1953) “You stare in unbelief at what used to be normal hands!”
There’s something appealing about these old, simple morality horror tales. I suppose it’s knowing that someone’s getting a comeuppance, or a rude awakening. So reading these is about knowing they’re gonna get it and enjoying the twisted revelation.
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The Mummy dir. Karl Freund (1932) “No man ever suffered as I did for you.”
Whoof, second day in a row that I yawn during a horror movie. Perhaps it’s not wise to watch black and white, slow-paced movies from the 30s late at night, but I feel like Dracula, Frankenstein, or Invisible Man all have enough going on to keep me more engaged. And seeing as the 1999 remake is the same plot with a lot more action, that’ll be my go-to Mummy experience.
Just saw someone on campus stop the person ahead of me to ask for directions and this poor man just looks at the student’s phone and goes “I don’t know how to tell you this… you’re on the wrong campus. You’re in the wrong city.”
My handwriting is the same style as the teacher’s who I had when I was nine. I’m now twenty one and he’s been dead eight years but my i’s still curve the same way as his.
I watched the last season of a TV show recently but I started it with my friend in high school. We haven’t spoken in four years.
I make lentil soup through the recipe my gran gave me.
I curl my hair the way my best friend showed me.
I learned to love books because my father loved them first.
How terrifying, how excruciatingly painful to acknowledge this. That I am a jigsaw puzzle of everyone I have briefly known and loved. I carry them on with me even if I don’t know it. How beautiful.
That Van Helsing sure takes his sweet time but I respect the dedication to the process. And now I see why everyone wants to make Mina Harker the star of her own thing because these fellas hog up way too much of the action.
Alternate universes is part and parcel for Star Trek, and this series of novellas seems to have arrived at a time when authors were keen to meld those universes and pepper in some “what if…” scenarios. I like that this one gives T’Pol a proper due.
The whole thing, just all of it. What a read and especially good timing as I was just in one of those former silver towns that were built on the slave labor from local people. The house is so richly described that I can still walk through it when I close my eyes.
A shockingly good game based on the Goosebumps license. It captured a really mellow, spooky atmosphere and wasn’t interested in rushing the player along. Just the kind of game I’d hope to see and I’m glad we at least got a couple of these meaty adventure games in the series.
Some potential in the second level (see the aforementioned note on pacing), but the first and third levels drop the ball a bit. I don’t need FNAF scares in a video game based on children’s lit.
