I generally don't like the horror genre, mainly because of how much signal noise it picks up from the slasher genre.
Y'see, horror is just that. Fucking creepy, scary, and suspenseful as all hell. But in a slasher? You can kiss pretty much the entire cast good bye. And I hate that sort of thing. But horror all on its lonesome is just fine by me.
The Silent Hills Interactive Play Test falls solidly into good old fashioned horror territory. And it inspires a wonderful little snippet.
"The Ring 2?" I said. "No thanks."
Rei gave me a cockeyed look. "I would have thought you of all people would be the least squeamish about a horror film."
I shook my head. "Not horror. Slasher. Big difference. In a slasher, everyone dies, except maybe one or two people. And even if it was just regular horror, then no thanks. While I was with Raven after The Accident, he was good enough to give me a some exercises in handling a real haunting."
Rei maintained the cockeyed look, though it was a bit more incredulous now. "He did? How did that turn out?"
"Total fucking nightmare fuel if I wasn't already having nightmares about The Accident. But out of everything I experienced, there was one thing that stuck with me the most.
"Imagine a dark room with only one door. There are counting marks all over the walls, and in the corner is a table with a crumpled up paper bag on it. The bottom have of the bag is slick and blackened from the putrid, rotting bit of human remains that are undoubtedly inside - I didn't even have to look inside to know. And as I walked up to that thing... it suddenly rustled like something inside had woken up suddenly.
"And then it suddenly speaks! In a deep, distorted baritone overlayed by the rustling of the bag. It said, 'I walked. I could do nothing but walk. And then, I saw me, walking in front of my self. But, it wasn’t really me. Watch out. The gap in the door... it’s a separate reality. The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you?' And that shit right there fucking chilled me to the bone far more than anything else, because that was exactly what I had been experiencing up until that point. I am never forgetting that shit as long as I live."
Rei was looking at me like she'd seen a ghost.
"Okay!" she suddenly squeaked out. "No horror for me! My quota is now full. How about that Studio Ghibli film instead?"
Y'see, horror is just that. Fucking creepy, scary, and suspenseful as all hell. But in a slasher? You can kiss pretty much the entire cast good bye. And I hate that sort of thing. But horror all on its lonesome is just fine by me.
The Silent Hills Interactive Play Test falls solidly into good old fashioned horror territory. And it inspires a wonderful little snippet.
"The Ring 2?" I said. "No thanks."
Rei gave me a cockeyed look. "I would have thought you of all people would be the least squeamish about a horror film."
I shook my head. "Not horror. Slasher. Big difference. In a slasher, everyone dies, except maybe one or two people. And even if it was just regular horror, then no thanks. While I was with Raven after The Accident, he was good enough to give me a some exercises in handling a real haunting."
Rei maintained the cockeyed look, though it was a bit more incredulous now. "He did? How did that turn out?"
"Total fucking nightmare fuel if I wasn't already having nightmares about The Accident. But out of everything I experienced, there was one thing that stuck with me the most.
"Imagine a dark room with only one door. There are counting marks all over the walls, and in the corner is a table with a crumpled up paper bag on it. The bottom have of the bag is slick and blackened from the putrid, rotting bit of human remains that are undoubtedly inside - I didn't even have to look inside to know. And as I walked up to that thing... it suddenly rustled like something inside had woken up suddenly.
"And then it suddenly speaks! In a deep, distorted baritone overlayed by the rustling of the bag. It said, 'I walked. I could do nothing but walk. And then, I saw me, walking in front of my self. But, it wasn’t really me. Watch out. The gap in the door... it’s a separate reality. The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you?' And that shit right there fucking chilled me to the bone far more than anything else, because that was exactly what I had been experiencing up until that point. I am never forgetting that shit as long as I live."
Rei was looking at me like she'd seen a ghost.
"Okay!" she suddenly squeaked out. "No horror for me! My quota is now full. How about that Studio Ghibli film instead?"