Eternal Darkness, Insidious, Scary Stories, Paranormal Witness & The White Death

Hola, como estas usted? I welcome you all to my blog.  For those of you who are familiar with what goes on around here, I thank you for joining us. I also apologize for the long wait due to many events happening to me after my last showcase. For those of you who don't, it is simple. I am your host, one who prefers the balance between the glorious embrace for light and the twisted love for the dark. Ever since I was little, I loved horror (Even though a lot of people thought I was crazy). I thought it was natural for anyone to have a curiosity to see what the dark side is like. Not everything is as evil as it seems since often times we may witness the dramatic side of it. Often times it has a comedic side. Other times it even has romantic feelings for you, but for now let's talk about tonight's showcase. I showcase several things from both the critically acclaimed, the cult gems, the unique messes, or the unknown and forgotten. I also tend to rate some of them (Depending on if they can be rated). This first item I would like to showcase tonight is:

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

A very interesting horror game that did get to a lot of players for a specific reason, Eternal Darkness became a recognizable milestone in the Survival Horror genre by adding elements of Psychological Horror at it's best. Now a lot of you might acknowledge that there have been earlier titles that included Psychological Horror also, but there are very few that not only scare us, but break our fucking minds while we're playing them. Our main heroine is Alexandra Roivas, a university student from Washington who travels all the way to Rhode Island to personally solve her grandfather's (Edward Roivas) unexplained murder. She finds a book that Edward had acquired before his death. The tome relates to an ancient war against an entity known only as "The Darkness". Wishing for a connection between her grandfather and the tome, she experiences several flashbacks of different individuals throughout time that have came across the tome and the labeled "Darkness". Players control Alexandra and her crew as they try to stop the ancient evil from manifesting. The game is also very memorable for it's strong concept of breaking the fourth wall (literally). While this is Nintendo's very first self published rated M game, it had also made a very unique system called the "Sanity Meter". It's a small green meter found alongside your character's health and mana bar. If for any reason the meter runs low, the player experiences certain "effects" that will continue until they are able to replenish it. For those who have never played the game or aren't quite knowledgeable of it are recommended to play it blind. Eternal Darkness isn't your average survival horror console game. It contains a historical Rashomon style effect usage on the plot line including a unique green meter. Now that I'm done explaining, now it's time for some preaching:

Now it may be obvious on the rating I'm going to give this Gamecube achievement, but let's go back on why it makes it a great "milestone". What seriously makes this game more unique than several games released before or during it's time? I can only point out Nintendo's genius meter and it's "effects". This being the applied psychological effects the player themselves experiences kind of literally made us literally shit ourselves or almost cry (I think you guys know which effect I'm talking about.) The game enhances visual and audio effects that range from random "glitches" in the game to things we haven't thought a video game around that time could seriously do, enforcing paranoia onto the players (We seriously thought it even screwed up the TV!) Almost everything can altar within the game as soon as the little green meter drops. From gameplay mechanics, altered camera angles, impaired graphics and "outside the box" moments, everything seems to be associated with the Sanity Meter. The storyline is excellent and not very ordinary, though the setting seems a bit similar to Lovecraft and Cthulu Mythos. The voice acting is really great also, helping us become more absorbed into the story. The gameplay is excellent as maneuvering your character is smooth, the amount of characters you control, the choices that can altar the game experience and you can even find come across unexpected jumpscares. Now that I've summed up my thoughts on the game, it's time for my vote. I'm giving this selection:

It's time to reveal the second feature of tonight's showcase:

Insidious

Oh where do we start with this piece? Well, I can definitely say the movie has an interesting plot to it that's different from most horror movies. It really is an interesting piece with really great dreading and horrifying moments. Before I give my point of view of this well known flick, I'll just get it on with the synopsis. The movie is about the Lambert family who move into this pretty (and quite creepy) house in which the only child, Dalton, curiously explores the attic (Damn it does he get himself into the worst coma ever!). Now here's where the fun starts: After Dalton is knocked out cold, the family starts to experience paranormal activity in their home. At first Renai & Josh don't give in to the idea that they're being attacked by spirits, until the Josh's loving and caring mother decided to phone an old acquaintance of hers, paranormal investigator and skilled medium Elaine Rainier. Elaine and her crew track down the reasoning behind the mysterious incidents, while Josh is confronted by his intriguing fear of photography. Elaine discovers something more interesting when she delivers the most famous line in the film, "It's not the house that's haunted, it's your son." No he isn't possessed, basically he has the ability to astral project, a paranormal experience where one is able to leave and return to their body at any willing moment, This however is bad enough since Dalton is in a coma and can't wake himself up to take control of his body, so Josh is selected to save his son from the Underworld before it's too late. Now that you got a snip of what the movie is based around on, it's time to get critical!

I really like how the film is reminiscent of the 50's and 60's Gothic Horror films. No gore is tracked on the film, so it's reliant on the fear of being completely replaced by a spirit or even worse (The main antagonist kind of reminds me of HIM from the Powerpuff Girls). It's a great tactic, although die-hard Action fans shouldn't watch it if they're into gore, guns or too many jumpscares. Speaking of which, I did like how they executed the scares. They mixed in both long durations of eeriness along with jump scares, though usually the set up of jumpscares were pretty easy sometimes. This is also a very interesting horror movie since it's the first one I've ever watched that deals with astral projection. Unfortunately, I don't think they executed the theme very well by the second half of the film. The first half was a great buildup, even if it took somewhat of a slow pace, it did end up doing an excellent job in setting the mood. The second half though, when they bring up astral projection and the real action starts, kind of actually let me down a little with how it displayed. The ending wasn't too bad, but I think the creators had to create a sequel to kind of explain to audiences who were left in the dark. Now that I've pointed out my thoughts, it's time for my rating:

There we go! Now that I've given my thoughts, it's time to move onto our next showcase. Usually I would end it here with something unrated as the finale, like a legend or mysterious place, but since I have been gone for a while, I decided to extend this one by a little more. So our third item in out showcase is:

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Somewhere out there, I know there are several 80's and 90's kids crying nostalgia when they see this specific cover. It was a fairly popular book series to read during and after it's run. The surprising thing is that it's usually viewed as a children's book, which brings up the fact that it's usually mentioned as a challenged book. If you don't know what a challenged book is, I'll explain: Unlike movies, shows. music and games, books are the least censored sort of entertainment, but they still have a highly critical limit to how much it presents to a certain target audience. There are many authors who challenge this limit by utilizing taboo topics, graphic illustration, profanity, graphic literature, symbolism among others things applying shock value. This can potentially lead to bad revenue sales, a demand for censoring or changes or even worse, banning at store chains or even countries. This is one of those challenged books (Also probably the most well known anthology series in literature) It truly gives off an unsettling feeling reading the stories while seeing horrifying images. Every book contains sections that categorize the stories within, whether it's creepy original tales, urban legends, folklore, comedy, songs and even stories inspired by actual events. Some famous bits from the entire series include "The Haunted House", "The Red Spot", "The Hook", "One Sunday Morning", "The Dream", "Oh Susannah" & "The Bride". Sadly, the series only spawned three books in the entire collection, but developed a strong cult following. Now that we're done analyzing it from afar, it's time for me to jot down my thoughts on this.

It's a great series, even if most of the stories are pretty cheesy or don't make sense (Although once in a while there will be a good story that actually sends chills). The notable thing about the series is the illustration. Even if the story you're reading is campy, the artwork is what seriously sets the tone of the story (More like the book).Stephen Gammell is known for his surrealistically bizarre yet creepy artwork for children's books. His images give people a sense of impending doom, like an apocalyptic nightmare that's scarred to you're brain after flipping a couple of pages. If you don't believe me, then here are some of the artwork featured in the series:

The fact that the pictures go even out of borderline weird gives in a more dreadful feeling to the children's campfire stories. The only downside to this wonderful series is not only has it been labeled on lists of challenged books, but they even went as far as to re-release the collection with new artwork by Brett Helquist, the illustrator for the awesome "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" series. The artwork is not as traumatizing as the original though (Not even scary really), so the effect the original 80's print delivered was taken away and made into a more child-friendly atmosphere. Seriously, who the hell made a petition to change the artwork?! It's supposed to scare the shit out of people for a reason! Oh well, other than that, it's time for my review:

Now that it's settled, we'll move along to our next piece, which is:

Paranormal Witness

Now I'm being serious here. A lot of you would probably be skeptical about paranormal television, since even several die-hard horror fans who only think something like Frankenstein or Bloody Mary exist only for entertainment purposes and that something unnatural would never happen (Then again, that's what they all say........). Seriously, though, this particular show is very interesting because it is a collection of the most well known paranormal cases in history. They don't choose phony ones of the street and immediately believe it, they pick the ones that have supplied enough creepy evidence to show that terrible unexplainable things can happen to any of us. Yet of course skeptics will be skeptical. Paranormal Witness had recently came out a few years ago on the Sci-Fi (Now SyFy) channel, which everyone knows is the place to watch horror movies, science fiction shows or horrible yet laughable The Asylum Studio films. This show is completely different from a lot of other paranormal shows I've seen. Before I get to that, I'll explain the shows setup: When people think of paranormal activity, they usually think of people being violently attacked or just plain scared by ghosts. Even though it is common to confront a ghost, that's only about 3/10 of what paranormal cases deal with. The show centers around reenactments of not only famous ghost encounters, but several other encounters as well including demons, creatures and aliens. The show is unique though for not only including evidence of the case, but for it's minimalistic action that usually differs from other shows. that and that they actually have a sit down interview with people who actually experienced these cases firsthand. Now that you've got the basics, let's get critical

Now I may have not watched every single paranormal related show to call this one the best, but I think it is the best I've ever seen. Especially when the only people talking are the ones who've experienced the case and the actors portraying the events. Other than that, half of the show is explained by bold white letters that appear every once in a while. The other interesting thing about this program is that even though skeptics believe the "victims" are actors, then they must be extremely great at their job to handle drama very well instead of taking it like a celebrity comedy show. It's even cases that could possible happen to us, not the "Oh dude! Let's go fuck around some dead person's place and record ourselves acting like insensitive jerks telling them to leave so that other jackasses can come over here to make it a safe tourist spot!" (I know, not everyone talks like that but you get what I'm going with this). The other good thing about the show is that not every paranormal experience is terrifying (Even though most of the show is). The only problem I view with the show is that, even though the third season has added stories from two other regions, most of the stories happened mostly in the U.S. and I wished they actually more encounters from around the world. Other than that, it's time for me to give a rating on this. I'm giving this a:

Now that it's settled, I'd like to showcase the last item. And here it is:

The White Death

Yes I know that the image above is from the Amityville Horror, but any picture of a creepy girl can work since the legend is fairly new. Now this here revolves around a curse created by a girl who commited suicide. She hated her life so much, her only wish before she was about to fly off was that all of her existence was erased. Now we are talking about something only a Weeping Angel can seem to do (For any Whovians out there). The legend states that if you learn about the titular girl, you will be visited by her apparition whom will bother you until she finally gains access somehow and obliterates you. The urban legend is said to be based off either Scotland or Mexico (Although a fanmade adaption which incudes more detail on how the curse works is based around Mexico), hell I can't find enough info on this legend since it is a few years old. In all matters, the girl literally stalks anyone who knows about her story. It's dreadfully reminiscent of the haunted chain mail letters, except not as stupid and literally the girl having no soul left to spare anyone. If you want to give yourself a good read on it, click on the link below and enjoy a nice urban legend.

http://www.scaryforkids.com/white-death/

Since I cannot rate an urban legend, I will leave you guys once again to do a little more research for next time's showcase (And to get rid of the damn flu already so I can start getting ready for Christmas). I thank you all for being here this lovely evening and I will see you later. Good Night!

The Scariest & Disturbing Television Episodes: Vol. 1

Hello and welcome to my blog! Those of my fellow bloggers that know me, I am repeating this opening dialogue and thinking about doing so for the rest of this blog's lifeline (It kind of is suitable for a horror host, isn't it?). For those of you who don't, it is simple. I am your host, one who prefers the balance between the glorious embrace for light and the twisted love for the dark. Ever since I was little, I loved horror (Even though a lot of people thought I was crazy). I thought it was natural for anyone to have a curiosity to see what the dark side is like. Not everything is as evil as it seems since often times we may witness the dramatic side of it. Often times it has a comedic side. Other times it even has romantic feelings for you, but for now let's talk about tonight's showcase. I showcase several things from both the critically acclaimed, the cult gems, the unique messes, or the unknown and forgotten. I also tend to rate some of them (Depending on if they can be rated). Tonight is going to be a very special occasion (Not because it's Thanksgiving). I have recently taken a keen interest on lists of creepy and terrifying television shows that I have watched throughout my life and find them immensely disturbing for all ages. There will be some cartoons on here also. Just because anything is animated doesn't mean it cannot be creepy. I will also give a brief summary of each episode as to not leave anyone in the dark, but I will not completely spoil it's entirety also. If anyone seems to think that I have forgotten or ignored an episode, do not worry, for I haven't watched them yet and will be making another list like this in the future. I will now like to present to you my compilation of: The most creepiest & scariest television episodes of all time....

Night Gallery: The Cemetery

This was the opening pilot to Night Gallery, an anthology series created by Rod Serling which garnered a beloved cult following status. This was also Rod Serling's scariest episode. The story focuses on jeremy Evans, an ungrateful nephew who's uncle, William Hendricks, is deathly sick and is taken care of by his butler, Osmond Portifoy. Jeremy kills his uncle solely for his wealthy inheritance. Much to Osmond's dismay, Jeremy inherits to house and the wealth. As Jeremy happily celebrates Will's death, his focus suddenly shifts on a peculiar painting his uncle made of the nearby family graveyard. After Osmond abandons Jeremy due to his vulgar behavior, Jeremy is left alone with the ever-changing painting of his uncle William rising back from the dead.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories: The Umbrella Goddess

The 8th entry of the highly appraised new anime series, Yamishibai. The anime is noteworthy of it's animation style created similar to kamishibai, the art of Japanese paper puppetry. It tells of a young boy named Kenji deciding to visit his friend Takeru during the summer. Everything goes well until Kenji is left alone with an eerie woman holding an umbrella with her teeth. After Kenji mentions this lady to Takeru, the parents overhear and panic. The father locks Kenji up in the shed outside and warns him to never open the door for anyone until the following morning. Out of confusion, Kenji obliges and decides to wait it out, until his friend visits him and then the mayhem ensues.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Final Escape

During the 60's, famous acclaimed host Alfred Hitchcock had his own anthology of psychological short stories. His other stories didn't have much of a surprising impact as much as "The final Escape" did. The episode featured John Perry, a bank robber who finally gets captured and is sentenced to 15 years in prison. This prison also happens to be a labor camp, which the state feels fine with placing John there. The story also happens to revolve around another inmate Doc, who is the oldest member of the camp. Doc dreams of seeing his granddaughter, who is in serious need of an operation, but fears his own condition being in the way. John overhears this and makes a deal with him: If Doc can help John escape from the camp, John will help finance in the operation Doc's granddaughter needs. The plan seems completely perfect, except one tiny problem.

The X-Files: Home

This episode is extremely disturbing and violent (Obviously not exactly for the faint of heart here). It also deals with one of society's most tabooed topics. The most well known "Monster Of The Week" episode takes us to Home, Pennsylvania where our famous duo, Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, are called on about the mysterious discovery of a deformed infant which was buried in a baseball field. The local sheriff tries to warn them about the Peacock family, a group of brothers who own a farm right next to the field. The duo learned that the brothers never left the farm for an entire decade after the death of their parents. The duo believes that the Peacock brothers kidnapped and continuously rape a woman inside their home. That idea goes down the drain when they find something far more sinister inside.

Hey Arnold!: Ghost Bride

During the run of Hey Arnold!, the most notable episodes fans remember revolve around the 4th graders investigating a local urban legend. Even though the show is set in a comedic slice-of-life style, this episode is more creepier than the others featured during the entire run. Gerald, Arnold's best friend, recalls the local myth since he is reigned "The Keeper of the Tales", even though Curly is upset over the decision. The story mentions a young woman who is excited about her upcoming wedding. The day it finally happens, she has been waiting for hours for her fiancé to show up. A week later she finds out her ran off and married her sister instead, which greatly angers the bride. On the same night, she dresses herself up in her wedding gown, carries an ax all the way to their house and dismembers them in their sleep. When the police arrive, she is found singing the "Wedding March" before she jumps out the window to her death. When the team decides to investigate the local graveyard, Helga is left out solely on the basis that she is a girl. She then decides to prank the boys back by playing as the bride, but things then take a sudden turn for the worse.

MTV Fear: Mina Dos Estrellas

Though it was also another mark on MTV furthering from anything music related (And also the fact it contained screwed up challenges), MTV Fear was a memorable reality game show that threw random people into "haunted" locations around the world (I say haunted like that since some of the areas actually don't exist.) and make them do challenges for two nights in order to win money. The interesting part of MTV Fear is it's "uninvolvement", that being no camera crews or no help for the two days (They were only accompanied by night vision cameras on their chest). The only connection to the outside world is a computer logged into the MTV Fear website. The most notable place was called Mina Dos Estrellas, an abandoned mine in Mexico where it is currently ravaged by a Nahual, a type of shapeshifting creature. The team was so paranoid that it remains the only time everyone quit. Yet the challenge was brought back up again to see if anyone could complete the dares.

Hora Maracada: El Último Metro

A popular Mexican series that ran during the late 80's, it developed a small cult following. The most horrific stories are ones that can actually happen; Meaning no supernatural crap. In this episode, a woman goes to the Department of Information to complain when around 3:00, everybody in the building magically disappears. She is about to head home in disappointment until two men kidnap her and take her to the building's basement, where she is questioned about her health by several odd people. In a state of confusion (and dehydration), the woman becomes more scared when the continue to examine her and mention how much in "great condition" she is. All of this happening to her before she can reach the last metro back home.

Doctor Who: Blink

Whovians and Horror junkies alike always remember this creepy episode (And the most terrifying species). The episode takes The Doctor and his companion Martha, back in time to warn a girl named Sally about these creepy aliens who are trying to have their hands on the TARDIS for pure evil (and a satisfying appetite I believe). Except these are not you're average species of alien, no they have a clever disguise on Earth. They look exactly like angel statues you would find at a grand Catholic church, except they mostly cover their eyes from freezing into place, giving them the title "Weeping Angels". These creatures feed off human existence (If they touch you, you get sent back in time to where you were never born, thus leaving behind an energy aura of your existence for them to swallow up.) The entire episode mainly focuses on Sally and her best friend'd brother Larry trying to take the TARDIS back to the Doctor before the Weeping Angels control it.

XxxHolic: Summer Shade

Even though XxxHolic is a occult supernatural series, and several of it's episodes make us feel a bit scared, the one that takes the cake for scariness is definitely Summer Shade. The story is setup at a beach house that Yūko, the time witch, and her timid helper, Kimihiro Watanuki, rent out for the summer occasion. They are accompanied by Watanuki's crush (Himawari Kunogi), his "rival" (Shizuka Dōmeki) and their outgoing companion Mokona. The scenes with them are often cut by a woman writing on the walls of a darkened room, waiting for a certain lover to come back. During their stay, Watanuki is afraid of going to the ocean (Since he can see the spirits of the dead) and Dōmeki continues to ask if he needs help. In the middle of the night, Watanuki hears scratching coming from the other side of the wall, though he confirms his room at the end of the hall. He then finds a hidden door and enters the exact room the woman was writing in, much to his shock of meeting the local "inhabitant".

Criminal Minds: The Lesson

Criminal Minds is noteworthy as a shocking investigation series, with all of the episodes cringe-inducing. A memorable episode starts with the BAU team locating several bodies in Arizona inside strange coffins. The victims were killed off in the most bizarre fashion: Hair dyed black, the body parts are all dislocated and victims died from hanging (Even though they've been hanged several times before death hit them). Believing it to be a ritualistic murder (It got strengthened when the 3rd victim had holes pierced through his hands), the team tries to fill in Adam Rain as a crazed holy fanatic. It's up until he kidnaps a father and son that they realize what his real goal is: To use the victims as marionettes to reenact a certain incident that traumatized Adam.

Courage The Cowardly Dog: King Ramses' Curse

A fan favorite animated series, Courage The Cowardly Dog featured the titular character facing off monsters of all kinds to protect his beloved owner, Murielle, and her antagonizing husband, Eustace. It took it's family friendly rating to it's limits without reaching a mature audience rating (Thank God there's slapstick humor). Even though it's hard to pinpoint which episode scared the crap out of viewers, this one is often the most viewed throughout. It tells of a stolen slab that Courage digs up and brings back home. Eustace, at first glance thinking it's garbage, decides to keep it due to the news report claiming it's worth. The spirit of King Ramses heeds Eustace to return the slab or face three plagues, each one worse than the last. Thinking it is a professor who recently tried to claim it from him earlier, Eustace refuses, thus putting him and the rest of the farmhouse in horrible danger.

The Hitchhiker: Killer

An interesting Canadian anthology series that's quite a gemstone, featuring stuff like nudity that we be too taboo and censored for audiences like the U.S. The series has a strange unnamed hitchhiker (Whom is our beloved host) arriving to a random location where something terrible is always going to happen. The most chilling and most well acted episode (Even though it still has some cheesy performances) is simply titled "Killer" where a young girl named Meg Kinderly is horrified to find everyone in her home dead. The killer is still roaming around the grounds while Meg, stuck to a wheelchair, is only armed with her shotgun. She runs around the house trying to hide herself from them while several disadvantages are thrown at her, such as the power going out. Since there is no help for Meg, she then decides to have a final showdown with the killer while still playing a tension driven hide & go seek.

Tales Of The Unexpected: The Landlady

Roald Dahl is a strange comedic genius, being quite the king of irony himself. He has written actually some great works with a lot of them containing some sense of humor (Even if it's twisted). He also had a show based solely on his works, including the extremely unsettling. If you think he couldn't write such great horror, then have a look at this episode, which tells of a young man named Billy Weaver who is on a business trip. He happens to stumble across a local Bed & Breakfast, where he meets the strange landlady who immediately (And I mean fast as fuck) greets him with open arms and a smile. He at first feels welcomed with the motherly attitude the landlady sports, but is soon realizing the eerie setting he's in due to the lack of guest appearances (Which she claims that there are more upstairs) and the feeling he's heard of the guests before. It all leads off to one of the greatest ironic twists of television.

Okay, and here we go....

I'm not going to rate these episodes on how I feel about them (That would take more time to analyze). It is up to you guys to debate on which is scary, since everyone has different fears and experiences. I will mention that it is an incomplete list, as there are many more creepy episodes and series than this. So do expect of me returning every once in a while to contribute to this list. I am also interested in making other lists as well (Since TV episodes aren't the only interesting things here). Other than that, I really hoped you've enjoyed today's post. I will be hopefully seeing you all very soon. Buenas Noches!