Unwinnable

And they lived happily ever after.

Well, perhaps the characters did, but it is rare that a viewer, reader or player is overjoyed by an ending. (more…)

Quentin Tarantino opens Pulp Fiction with two definitions of pulp: the first as a “shapeless mass of matter,” and the second as a publication, often featuring fantastic or highly stylized content, printed on cheap paper. While most film critics point to the second definition in providing frame, structure and exploit to the film itself, few give attention to that soft, shapeless mass of matter or what it’s really made of. Traditionally, the pulping manufacture process treats wood through various means to break cellulose down, resulting in a gloopy mess that eventually (some would say miraculously) becomes paper. Having lived in a college town not too far from a pulping facility, I can attest to the inherent inapproachability of the idea of pulp, both metaphorically and literally (the stuff stinks like crazy).
(more…)

For a long time, Stephen King has been, in one way or another, a very important part of my life.

I was 13 years old when I discovered the writer for the first time. My cousins were pretty psyched about a mini-series debuting on ABC called The Stand. From the opening moments, where Charlie Campion ran to his wife Sally, hoping to escape before the virus spread, I was entranced. Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” played out over the opening credits and I stared in horror as Captain Tripps spread across the nation. (more…)

Part Two: Cold Comfort, Colder Heart

Calming words are cold comfort in DayZ. When I left a fellow survivor to die alone, only to loot his body afterwards and tell those who would listen of what I’d done, I knew I had slipped. At first, I shirked it and tried to shake it off. I told myself I still had the option to back down, to back away, to back out – to shut the game off and never finish the experiment I’d set out on. (more…)

It seems Randall Flagg is once again at work in the world.

After numerous delays and a sizable budget cut, Deadline reports that the proposed three-movie and two-television series adaptation of Stephen King’s monstrous seven-book series of novels is dead on arrival. Universal has not offered any reason for the cancellation, but we would wager it might have something to do with said delays and budget problems. (more…)

Part 2: Fresh Folklore and the Modern Master
Isolation and the loss of self are the foundation of American horror.

From Poe’s obsession with death, the ultimate loss of will, to Lovecraft’s ancestral curses, the victims of which inevitably submit their wills to conform to the desires of forces much older and powerful, the proof in print is easy to see. In film, there are countless examples – The Wolfman and The Exorcist come immediately to mind.

America is a young country and unlike Europe and Asia, it is unburdened by centuries of mythology, tradition and taboo. Our native folklore is limited to the oral traditions of Native Americans and the jackalope, which affords us a fresh look at the things that frighten us. When old fears come visiting, American horror inevitably re-interprets them in new ways. (more…)

Ah, September; when the last humid exhalation of summer brushes up on the cool tip of autumn. Soon the trees will loose their leaves, the nights will get longer and we will all start thinking more about the things that might be lurking in the long shadows.

One thing that will shamble out of the darkness this Halloween is the long awaited premier of The Walking Dead on AMC. (more…)