Episode 15 Horror Month: Bloodlust

We're in the second week of Horror Month and I want to thank everyone for their overwhelming support.  This weeks episode discusses classic monsters and how they have changed over time.  Also we discuss some famous legends and ghost stories from our area.  Is that school down the street from you really haunted?  You'll just have to tune in to find out.

Episode 15 Horror Month: Bloodlust

-Big O

For the Creepy Kid in all of us

I. Love. Halloween.

It’s no secret—I love putting together costumes, I love dressing up, and I like going out. So of course I would enjoy any activity that allows me to do all three, and even encourages me to take candy from complete strangers! Plus, by the end of October the hellscape of Phoenix has finally cooled down enough to allow me to wander around outside in heavy costumes for more than a few minutes without dying of exposure (something Phoenix Comicon, unfortunately, doesn’t allow for as it occurs in the middle of the summer).

Besides going out in costume and buying copious amount of candy (that I’m totally going to hand out to Trick-or-Treaters, no really), one of my favorite Halloween activities is reading scary stories. As an adult, I typically lurk the annals of r/nosleep and r/creepypasta. I’ll also haunt Cracked’s October spook articles about true urban legends. I’ll watch horror movies on Netflix—the good and the bad. I’ll watch gamers play through scary games like Silent Hill and Fatal Frame on Twitch.

However, I didn’t have access to these as a child. Twitch, Cracked, Netflix, Reddit—none of these existed yet. Besides an original Game Boy, I had no way of playing spooky games at home. I doubt my mom would have let me play them anyway, since I wasn’t even allowed to see anything rated “PG-13” and above. So how was creepy, awkward, eight-year-old me supposed to get her horror fix?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Other folks raised in the '90s will recognize this title, and the series it spawned: More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones. Like Goosebumps and Bunnicula, Scary Stories was one of the few places children could get creeped out with parental permission. But unlike Goosebumps and Bunnicula, Scary Stories was legitimately frightening.

But not necessarily because of the content... No, Scary Stories had something the other scary children’s books didn’t have: truly horrific art.

 Oh god!

Those eyes... Why?

I don't... I can't even... That doesn't have anything to do with the story "Oh Susanna!"

I don’t know who approved these pictures to go into a book approved for children, but I loved every page of them. Some of them even gave me nightmares.

It’s been a while since I’ve gone through the pages of these delightful books (and yes, I still own all three), so I think it’s about time I tried reading them again. It’ll probably take me an afternoon (or an evening) to hash out all three. Maybe I'll do it in the dark of my room, using a flashlight like in the old days.

Until next time...

~Panda

Sleep well!

Horror Month is in Full Swing

Horror Month is official here and we are in full swing.  Check out our first episode of the month for our thoughts on scary movies.  We are huge fans of everything horror, but there is something special about the feeling we get while watching a scary movie with the lights off.  Whether it's so bad it's funny or shakes you to your core, horror movies touch us in special way.

Episode 14: Horror Month The Beginning

Each year, the members of the West Coast Nerd Corps like to pick a scary game to play while going through October.  This year, I decided to play a Nintendo DS title that is quickly becoming a horror/thriller classic:

999 was released in America in 2010 and is the first in what is known as the Zero Escape series (look forward to the sequels in the following years).  I've always heard great things so I look forward to playing it and giving you my impressions later in the month.  The rough story is that you are placed on a sinking cruise ship along with eight other people as part of a game.  Now they must solve a series of puzzles to make it out in one piece.  Obviously, drawing inspiration from the Saw franchise, this game should offer twist and turns to keep you interested to the very end.  I'm actually very excited to start this game and look forward to sharing my experiences with you lovely people.

As for my trusted colleagues, Beef has decided to tackle Outlast

This is a first person horror/stealth game released in 2013, and is still known as one of the best modern horror games to come out.  You play as a journalist following a scoop in a strange psychiatric hospital.  The entire game is told through the reporter's handheld camera, using night vision to explore darker areas.  On a side note, when this game was first announced, the trailer almost gave me a panic attack.  I look forward to seeing Beef's thoughts.

Rory called dibs on Costume Quest 2 (my first choice for this year).  

This brilliant game by Double Fine productions is a comedy RPG that takes place on Halloween.  Play as a group of friends as they collect candy and battle an evil dentist bent on destroying Halloween forever.  

Look forward to our thoughts on these games as we get near the end of October.  Let us know what scary games you are planning on playing this Halloween.  

-Big O