As you've probably noticed, it's 👻
I love October. I'm not sure why, but it always seems to be a busy month. It's host to some of my favorite online events of the year (in no particular order):
- The Shortbox Comics Fair - which runs for all of October (which I've already written about).
- Ludum Dare - a biannual gamejam which wrapped up at the beginning of October.
- Toyjam - a little jam focused on making toys rather than games, which I'm actually participating in because it's exactly my type of thing.
- The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival - an online pumpkin carving festival with other fun and spooky activities to do (which I also wrote about already).
- Dozens of art challenges that I always tell myself I'll participate in and never do (oops)
In addition to all of that, it's just fun to cozy up in a blanket in a dark room and read or watch or play something spooky, so here are a few recommendations for spooky stuff I've enjoyed this year:
To Play
Mouthwashing
A couple days ago, I played Mouthwashing with a friend and like, holy hell. My god. Jesus Christ. Mouthwashing. If you like a good psychological horror game, give Mouthwashing a go. What a time that was. I think I'm in love. It's not too long to complete -- maybe two to three hours if you're a normal person, maybe 4 or 5 if you're like us (insane). As you make your way through the game, the story is one that makes you quietly mumble under your breath, "no... No. Oh no... Oh No. No. No. No. No. No!" The aesthetic of the game is very ps2 horror in a way that I love. The colors are rich. The world has substance to it. It's not one of those games that's just really dark all the time because the darkness is "spooky" or whatever. Light and framing is used very purposefully. It's a great game to play with a friend because I found her having such loud reactions to certain things that I did not. You can really bond over what you find disturbing about this game. Haha.
If you're a fan of psychological space horror, this is for you.
To Read
Hi, I read a lot of manga. This is where the meat and potatoes of this post will be.
Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu (The Summer Hikaru Died)
A neat little manga about two boys who live in a small town in the country, except one of them went up to the mountain one summer and what came back... wasn't the same person.
What do you do when your find yourself entangled with something dangerous?
What do you do when you find yourself liking him anyways?
Disclaimer: I've heard people call it BL, and I understand why (like, the vibes are strong in the first few chapters), but uh... it's not. I wouldn't really go into it expecting that sort of thing, but there are definitely queer themes. The main character struggles with his feelings for his friend who doesn't (or can't) reciprocate them. They're basically the only two people that can understand each other in this small town (aside from one well-meaning housewife).But anyways...
If you've ever been a lonely kid with like, one good friend and a big secret to keep, and you like horror, give it a read. It's still on-going.
Fool Night
I. Love. Fool. Night. I love it!!! It's one of the more interesting manga I've read in recent memory.
The sky has been blotted out by thick clouds for over a century. As such, plants can't naturally grow, leaving the world without enough oxygen to properly support life outside of the cities which are held aloft by spirit blossoms (or spiriflora) - plants that have been grown from the living bodies of human beings. For ethical reasons, only those on the verge of death can receive the procedure, but in exchange, they are given a stipend to allow them to live comfortably for the last two years of their life.
There is a lot of interesting plant-based body horror (and psychological horror). The main character has such bad luck. And the bleakness of the world and like, the economic situation all of the characters find themselves in... it really hurts me, personally. lol
It hurts me so much and I can't stop reading it. I love this manga. Definitely my top current running horror manga. Also it has quite a lovely and unique art style that I like a lot.
It has juuuust gotten an official English translation (the first volume released here in August and the second in September). Please read it.
If you like plant-based body horror, if you like people struggling to survive, if you like a real messed up world, this is for you.
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Uzumaki
Yeah, the internet is all up in arms about how bad the second episode of Uzumaki the animated series is, but did you know that it was a manga first? Because it was. And the manga. Is good.
Also, I have some thoughts about the Uzumaki anime.
I saw some people complaining on twitter about the obvious drop in animation quality in the second episode of Uzumaki, but the thing (for me anyway) is the way they've chosen to weave a few chapters together into one theoretically cohesive story. I did think it was an interesting way to handle the first episode, but I think it just kinda ruins the pacing of the separate parts of the second. I'd honestly rather have little yami shibai style mini-sodes or like, courage the cowardly dog style half-isodes.Like the strongest part of that episode is the lighthouse because it's the only bit that kinda feels like it was given room to breathe? And even then, it feels like it could've had a little more time to itself.
In the manga, all of these events felt to me as if they were happening slowly over the course of days to weeks. Like a slow infection taking this town, but the anime jumps so quickly from story to story, it's almost like watching a speedrun of Uzumaki.
It just feels kinda scatterbrained.
Like, this is the obvious pitfall of adapting such an episodic series into this format. I understand why they're doing it like this, but even if the eventual plan was to write full length episode/longer stories, I think they could have started out breaking it up into segments or chapters or something and then just slowly discard that pretense as things ramp up.
Like, regardless of whatever "production issues" you may have had, even if it had been better animated, the bones of it are still... not good, imo.
Anyways......
I love the Uzumaki manga. I've long held the belief that really good horror also has a sense of humor and I'd say Junji Ito definitely does. A lot of his stories are creepy and morbid but also at times funny. Not really laugh out loud funny, but I feel like they almost rely on comedic timing. Except for horror. Does that make sense? Haha
So if you're ready to spiral into madness, I'd say it's as good a time as any to descend into Uzumaki.
To Watch
Mononoke
Mononoke is not a recent anime, but it is near and dear to my heart. It's a lovely series of ghost stories all following a mysterious medicine seller who carries a strange sword that can exorcise mononoke (for all intents and purposes, they're basically ghosts).
It's a stylish anime. Colorful, ornate, and riminiscient of japanese woodblock prints. A feast for the eyes, you might call it.
Each ghost story is presented a little differently from the last in a way that I find pretty captivating, and I pick up on something new almost every time I rewatch it. Also, if you enjoy Mononoke, it's a spinoff of the last three episodes of the Ayakashi: Classic Japanese Horror anthology, which is paralleled by the last three episodes of this series as well.
The reason why I've put Mononoke here though--aside from just being a yearly watch for me--is that it recently got a movie! The first of a trilogy apparently. One day I'll get to watch it... sigh.... It's supposedly "coming soon" to Netflix... which is... fine.... But I want it here now. In my hands. Or in my weird little local art theater... Please come to my weird little local art theater. ): One day......
Some honorable mentions for less recent things:
In conclusion...
I know this wasn't a particularly long list, but it's one near and dear to my heart. I hope you guys enjoy some of my current favorite spooky media.
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