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MidnightSocietyBrian

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It’s June 27th. Read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

No seriously--go read it. The New Yorker, in which the story was originally published in 1948, has the story up online. You can read it right here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery. Come back when you're done. It's amazing, right? I mean, when we say a story is "haunting," or that it "stays with you," we are talking about the feeling you get from almost every single Shirley Jackson story--and most definitely from "The Lottery." You just keep turning it over in your mind after you read it. "The morning of June 27th was clear and[...]

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Music to Write Scary Stories To: Dying Light (Original Game Soundtrack)

It's Camp Nano time, and if you're writing horror like all of us here at the Midnight Society, you need some good music to write to. I tend to flip between horror movie and video game soundtracks, and one of my absolute faves is on Spotify now, so you can check it out for free--the soundtrack for 2015's Dying Light. The soundtrack, composed by Pawel Blaszczak, is like a modern John Carpenter movie score. The main theme creepy, while making you want to go out and kick zombie ass at the same time. Many of the tracks are variations on that core theme, and[...]

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Airplane Movie Reviews: Ready Or Not

I fly a decent amount for work now, and it’s one of the few times I can catch up on some of the newer horror flicks, as well as old classics that make their way to in-flight entertainment services. Welcome to another installment of Airplane Movie Reviews. I'd heard a lot of good things about Ready or Not, and for the most part, the movie is a fun, thriller-comedy featuring a great performance by Samara Weaving. But I can't help comparing it to 2011's You're Next, and in that comparison, Ready or Not falls very short. https://youtu.be/ZtYTwUxhAoI Rea[...]

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The Outsider is a Perfect Blend of Mystery and Horror

Seasons one and three of True Detective are among my favorite television stories of all time. It's rare that I find a show that has just the right blend of horror and mystery for me. But I found another one, and it's The Outsider, the new HBO show based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. I haven't read the novel, so I have no idea whether or not the adaptation is faithful, but I will tell you this--it's expertly crafted as a TV series. Halfway through the ten-episode series, the pacing has been perfect, and the way this mystery is unfolding is so, so good.[...]

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Airplane Movie Reviews: CRAWL (2019)

I fly a decent amount for work now, and it’s one of the few times I can catch up on some of the newer horror flicks, as well as old classics that make their way to in-flight entertainment services. Welcome to another installment of Airplane Movie Reviews. I became an instant fan of Alexandre Aja's when I saw High Tension in the mid-2000s. But it was the masterpiece that is Piranha 3D that made him one of my favorite horror directors of the modern age. Yes, I said it--Piranha 3D is a masterpiece. If you don't believe that, you haven't seen it. Anyway, the idea[...]

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Airplane Movie Reviews: Child’s Play (2019)

I fly a decent amount for work now, and it's one of the few times I can catch up on some of the newer horror flicks, as well as old classics that make their way to in-flight entertainment services. Welcome to another installment of Airplane Movie Reviews. My excitement for a new Child's Play film immediately dissipated when I found out that not only would this new Child's Play be a reboot, but it would not involve series creator Don Mancini, or the legendary voice of Chucky, Brad Dourif. I had absolutely no intention of ever seeing this film. But being trapped o[...]

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DEADLY PREMONITION 2 IS HAPPENING!!!!

I can't believe it, Zach. Nintendo just made another gaming dream come true this week when they announced that cult classic, Twin Peaks-inspired Deadly Premonition was coming to the Nintendo Switch. And as amazing as that was, the real news was that Deadly Premonition 2 was in production, and would be coming to the Switch as a launch exclusive. https://youtu.be/GHJaGBK1JW8 If you have never experienced Deadly Premonition, now is the perfect time to grab it on the Switch. Deadly Premonition centers on Agent Francis York Morgan, who has come to the quiet Northwes[...]

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IT CAME IN THE MAIL: NIGHT OF THE CREEPS DELUXE LIMITED EDITION

I am not really one for collector's editions, which is mostly because I do not have room in my dork cave for any more stuff. But I do make exceptions, and when I saw there was a Night of the Creeps Deluxe Limited Edition, I pre-ordered it faster than you can "Thrill me!" Today, it arrived--and it's beautiful: I'm a big fan of the original artwork, but this new slipcase with art from Devon Whitehead is just gorgeous. And of course, the two-disc set with both the theatrical and director's cut, as well as tons of extras is great. But let's be honest--the reason I b[...]

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E3 2019: Blair Witch Game Coming This August

E3 was this past week, and while it was fairly lackluster overall, there were definitely some games announced that piqued my interest. One of them was a Blair Witch game that I didn't even know was in development. It's being made by Layers of Fear developers Bloober team, and it's slated to arrive August 30th for Xbox One and PC. The Blair Witch Project came out in 1999, but was set in 1994-1995, and it looks from the trailer like this game is set a year after the events of the movie. In any case, it looks great, and it gave me a real Alan Wake vibe, which was a[...]

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Trailers to Die For–A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

I LOVE movie trailers. My favorite part of going to the theater is seeing the previews, and as my family will tell you (much to their annoyance), I have to be in my seat before the previews even start, or the whole theater experience is ruined for me. Obviously, my favorite kind of trailers are horror movie trailers, and most of my all-time favorite horror flicks had me hyped for their release with a killer trailer. In this series, I'll be looking back at some of my favorite trailers, and I'm starting with a classic--A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. h[...]