The Joy of Gaming: October Challenge 2019 - Day 5: Jurassic Park: Danger! (2018)

Our daughter came out of the womb a Jurassic Park fan. Okay, well... that might be a bit of hyperbole for you. I can remember the exact moment she became enamored with it. AMC was constantly showing Jurassic Park. Oh my goodness it was driving me nuts. My daughter was already into dinosaurs, but when she came downstairs, I pointed out to her how cool the triceratops was in the scene where Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant and fawning over the Trice on the ground. She practically tried to climb in the TV and the rest... is history. 

This game was an absolutely must-have for her and, of course, it found its way into our collection. While the game plays up to 5 players, I have preferred the 2-player gameplay. Tonight we played it as a family. Sadly... my daughter's dinosaurs beat our poor set of Nedry, Dr. Sattler, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Malcolm. We each had one player die and then... well... Dr. Sattler left Dr. Grant all alone on the island. I'm sure he survived. Remember the retconned Jurassic Park 3? 

So you're probably wondering why in the world I would include this in the spooky games list. Well... when I was a kid and Jurassic Park first game out, I was scared to death. The scene where the T-Rex breaks out and then eats the blood-sucking lawyer? Yep... still can't stomach watching it. I left the theater EVERY TIME that scene started to play and I still, all these years later, avoid it. Not long ago I actually attempted to watch it, but I still cannot. Too many creepy moments. 

The basement at my childhood home also had a furnace or something that would snap in the basement. It was a finished basement, so there was a pull out bed and I was staying down there while my bedroom was painted. I heard that clicking all the time and it always made me think of the raptors clicking their massive claw. I can't tell you how many times I looked towards the hallway towards the sound, expecting the see a head peaking around the corner. 

Those traumas are why I couldn't resist putting this on my spooky list. Love, love, love the idea of it being scary. I still get anxious when the T-Rex starts to target me. Get me out of there are all costs!!!

October Movie Binge 2019 - Day 5: Ouija (2014)

Ouija boards are one of those things that has such an interesting history and either results in a use believing in it's power or the user being absurd about its clearly idiotic purpose. I mean, it's made by Park Brothers for goodness sake (acquired by Hasbro and previously sold by a novelty company). But I'm not here to get into the nitty gritty of a Ouija board. I admit I have used one both in earnest and in ignorance (so many of my friends were obsessed with dares, but I was a bystander). My mom and a few friends made a point of banishing these boards from their house and felt it was inviting evil spirits in.

So are they tools for good or instruments of evil? Ouija explores this very idea. To take away the jaded idea of being able to go to your local Target and buy one, the story allows for the initial character to find an old, authentic looking board in the attic, clearly from previous owners, while cleaning the attic as a chore for her parents. (Sidenote: Who are these people who move into a house and never "clear out" the basement and attic of weird crap that was left by the previous owners prior to establishing their own life in the building?) There is even a special planchette that is used to see spirits if using the board. I'd be a fool if I didn't say I never knew that about the planchette and never really questioned it's actual shape.

Ouija uses the energy of an object for a spirit to manipulate people. This is the first movie out of my set to start to tap into the idea of objects allowing for malicious spirits to exact revenge.

The most intriguing aspect of the Ouija films is how we identify with the villains and the heroes. Both Ouija and Ouija: Origin of Evil cause us to check our preconceived notions of spirits at the door. It is a concept explored in The Ring, which is Monday's film, but Ouija brings it out in a very intriguing way. If I actually explore the ideas, I'll spoil the film(s), but suffice to say... sometimes the ones we think need saving maybe don't deserve it.

Upcoming Trivia: The writers of Ouija, Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, also wrote The Possession, which is coming later this month. Additionally, this is another Sam Raimi and Ghost House Productions film.

The Joy of Gaming: October Challenge 2019 - Day 4: Unspeakable Words (2007)

Unspeakable Words is my absolute favorite word game EVER! I can't explain why, except that the rolling the dice mechanic to see if your sanity is affected really interests me. It's not like Scrabble where you try to get the better of other people with really weird words. It's more about making the words, tallying the score and then descending into madness!

The little tiny Cthulu are also absolutely adorable. The Deluxe Edition has new little Cthulus with different colors and a glow-in-the-dark D20.

I've played the game quite a bit with my students, who it always seems to be a miss, because they don't like word games. Even if it's only 3-letters or more, they don't seem to want to make words. I think in their mind, they HAVE to score high level words, when just nickle-and-dime your way to a win is still totally alright. I want to argue that some of it might be vocabulary or insecurity about spelling, but too often I see them just want to call a mulligan, because they can't make a word. Deep down I also wonder if it just accesses the kind of mental faculties that they don't associate with games.

Either way. I enjoy it, but even my daughter can't seem to get into it.

October Movie Binge 2019 - Day 4: Insidious (2010)

The Insidious Film Series is incredibly enjoyable. A friend of mine hates it and my husband and I have yet to fully understand why. I understand if it was the horrific violin music they use, but I like the interesting take on the afterlife in these movies.

Insidious is a series with modern horror greats at the very center of it's creation: James Wan, Leigh Whannell, and Oren Peli.

James Wan and Leigh Whannell are most famous for the Saw movies. Oren Peli was the director of Paranormal Activity, producer on the Paranormal Activity series, and went on to create the found-footage, supernatural TV series "The River."  Leigh Whannell wrote all four movies in the series and starred in all four as Specs, one part of the investigation team members.

Peli, Wan, and Whannell stayed involved in the project in different ways throughout the series, but James Wan branched off to work on his own box office busting series The Conjuring. He seemed to have taken Patrick Wilson with him, because Wilson went from traveling the astral dimension to portraying the most iconic paranormal investigator of all time: Ed Warren.

The series seems to follow the touchstone character of Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye) as she tackles difficult spirits throughout her career. Funny enough, as seems to be the case with several supernatural horror films of late, the movies start with her final case and the second film deals with how to wrap up the final case.

The serious deals with insidious (malicious) spirits waiting on the edge of the afterlife so that they can regain the joy of life. This includes demons and also spirits that seek to harm the living in payment for their own eternal and mortal suffering. Interestingly enough, even in the "real life" ghost hunting world, demons and demonic possessions have started becoming a common topic of discussion, mostly fostered by Zak Bagans of the "Ghost Adventures" show. It is an interesting discussion, I suppose, trying to pin down what are potentially ghosts (residual or intelligent) and what are demons. I have theories on this, but this article is not the place for it. I appreciate the line these movies walk in regards to that current conversation.

The Insidious films use the shock factor when it's scares, creating hideous images and visual events that cause you to jump and cringe. What I love about these films is that they are still story driven via the horror elements in the film. So many ghost movies either all into the pit-trap of being too overly wrought with plot and the spirits are merely a backdrop to the storytelling or the storytelling is merely there to generate the scares. I suppose this is true of all types of films, but the ghost movie is so varied in it's presentation of suspense and horror.

Wan, Whannell, and Peli changed the face of the supernatural horror genre and while the Insidious films have come to an end, there are more films to come from all of these creative masters.

October Movie Binge 2019 - Day 3: The Grudge (2004)

The Grudge (2004) came out during the high point of Japanese Supernatural Horror remakes. It followed its incredibly successful predecessor, The Ring (2002), to become somewhat of an iconic remake. This film, though, more so than The Ring (which I'll be watching later), has far more memorable scares and images for me-- the croaking, cracking ghost with the very unusual walk being the pinnacle of nightmarish images. I learned that her disturbing gait is called the "stutter walk." I also have a completely horrific image that still haunts my nighttime routine to this day. I won't go into detail, but if you're seen the movie you know all about the bed scene. Sleeping this month is going to be very difficult to me.

The nice thing about the remake of The Grudge is that the original, Juon: The Grudge, is just as good. The remake was pretty interesting, with some changes that were made to keep audiences on their toes. The two films, though, have the same feel to them, without the US version feeling like an overt rehash. This is because they have the same director: Takashi Shimizu. He did both the originals and the remakes. Sam Raimi is also attached through these films as a Producer and is produced for us through his production company Ghost House Pictures. Raimi pops up quite a bit in the movies I've selected, but look at that production company name... should I really expect anything else?

I also love watching the whole Grudge and Juon Series. Each adds their own flavor and take. What bothers me as I look back is that the series has fallen under the spell of the Hollywood Remake/Reboot that is completely consuming the film industry right now. So in 2020, The Grudge will be released with a high gloss American shine and a new director powering forward his gruesome take on this groundbreaking change to the way we see malicious spirits.

The Joy of Gaming: October Challenge 2019 - Day 3: Campy Creatures (2017)

I loved playing Campy Creatures right after The Demise of Dr. Frankenstein, because it's another mad scientist game. Here you get to revisit your favorite campy Silver Age horror movies. You're a mad scientist who needs humans (mortals) to complete your experiments, so you send out your army of creatures to retrieve what you require. The game uses hand management and set collection to achieve your goals and save the day. Will you collect enough humans? Or will your experiments fail?

The artwork will make you think of the heyday of horror and might even inspire in you and your friends your own campfire stories. Make sure you don't fall into the pit-traps of getting stuck with the fickle engineer, the vengeful hunter, or even the deep sea diver and his unpleasant harpoon gun. Campy Creatures is good for a laugh and lots of fun!

A great addition for any scary game selection. It's a quick play and there's an expansion. I haven't picked it up yet, but I love Campy Creatures enough to go off and get it.

October Movie Binge 2019 - Day 2: Lights Out (2016)

The concept for Lights Out (2016) was well thought out. I know the only silly bit that tried to cut away jaded viewers was the skin disorder with Diana. I liked, though, the unique take and bringing in certain elements from other horror subgenres to develop a strong story. The dealing with mental illness was also well done and, I think, sensitive to the issue. Almost as if Diana represents the part of us that feeds on that one moment of weakness we show and how dangerous that rabbit hole can be if we follow out.

Lights Out has some great jump-worthy moments, utilizing the lights-on-lights-off mechanic and the plot is sound. I've seen it a few times now and I still find it a nice little supernatural thriller.

The Joy of Gaming: October Challenge 2019 - Day 2: The Demise of Dr. Frankenstein (2010)

As a student of Romantic Literature (which includes the subgenre of Gothic), I absolutely fell in love with the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Truthfully, it dates back to some of the oldest storytelling related to reanimation and the dangers of Science from a horror perspective (also known as zombies). So when I was thinking of games that would be great to play in October, The Demise of Dr. Frankenstein was an absolute must.

My husband and I first encountered this game back when we first started attending GenCon. We met Mark Hanny who was hosting several of the games he had made. We weren't aware at the time that we had signed up for so many of his games, but we had a ball getting to know him and learning about his wonderful creations. The Demise of Dr. Frankenstein was one of those games and we love to promote his work when we can.

The game itself is a worker placement game and engine-building game. You're trying to construct your monster and gain points through various other actions before the angry mob comes to get you! Certain actions make the town angry, which causes them to come for you. Players have control over the length of each round as they can avoid making the town angry or even intentionally outrage the citizens when they think they're in an advantageous position. There's even one placement spot that lets you reduce or increase the town anger outright. How the game plays also is influenced by the amount of players.

Demise is a great spooky worker placement game and while it can be tricky to track down, I personally think it's worth looking into.

The Joy of Gaming: October Challenge 2019 - Day 1:The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (2001)

The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (2001) is my go-to game for my classroom. Every year we learn about party games and my students just end up falling in love with Werewolves. For many of my students, it reminds them of Mafia.

So in October, I run Werewolf Wednesday in my room at recess. I have students sign-up and every Wednesday in October I host The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. I have to take out a few specialty cards, because my students have a tendency to abuse them or not be honest about them, but we always have a great time.  I have a reference sheet that describes the ways the cards work and what they look like so that students don't ask about what their card does. That gives away who has what card.

I also wear my "I'm not the werewolf" shirt. It's a big hit and we have so much fun.

So why not start out the month with a bang!

October Movie Binge 2019 - Day 1: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999) is one of those iconic films that has filtered into so much of our modern culture. It's also rather polarizing. I was 18 years-old when it came out. I completely bought into all the hype... at first. The website and the documentary totally piqued my interest and it was actually the first "horror" movie that I independently pursued as an interest. What happened to me, though, before the movie came out, spoiled some of its glamour, but I still couldn't shake the terror of some witch lurking in the woods looking to take you out!

I realized the footage was faked and the actors were actors when MTV was advertising for their movie awards and in the commercial it showed a shot of the three actors walking on stage. I did a double-take and I can remember the feeling of how bummed out I was that the movie was fake. That sounds really sick, in hindsight, but... I was a kid and while I didn't want the people to be dead (which wasn't how I saw it before I saw the movie), I bought that this was something pretty real.

Now, though, found footage or first-person POV on camcorders or cell phones are a common thing in the "horror" world. Cloverfield (2008), Paranormal Activity Series (2008-2015), The Last Exorcism (2010), and REC (2007)/Quarantine (2008)... to name just a few.

TBWP broke the industry and it carried over the reality TV success that dominated MTV in the '90s with starting with The Real World and snowballing from there.

I love The Blair Witch Project. I watch it every year for Halloween. It felt like the perfect movie to lead off my haunted adventure with.

The original is classic. I still love watching it over and over with this weird mindset that I am somehow going to discover some sort of clue to something. Don't try to tell my mind it's fake... it betrays me every time.

I enjoyed Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000). I met Joe Berlinger when his documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004) came out. I said I liked the movie, but he said he was ashamed of it and wished he had never done it and it almost ruined him personally. He couldn't handle the backlash and negativity of the film.  I mean... I get it... he's a powerful and incredible documentary director (Paradise Lost Series, Brother's Keeper), but I felt bad for him. Especially when I learned that his version had been kidnapped by Hollywood to make it Box Office pretty. I'll add that it was also sad to see an actor or two who had already been seen on television and film in the sequel. It took away from even the idea that this could also be a form of found footage. (One of the actors is Jeffery Donovan, who also shows up in Berlinger's Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile about Ted Bundy.)

I, shamefully, liked the glossy version. I liked the story material and the continuation of the very premise of The Blair Witch. It fed the obsession I still had.

Then in 2016, the original was revisited and BWP2 was retconned. They went back to the 100% camcorder style and found footage, but adding certain modern twists. It wanted to recapture the uncapturable (much like Heather herself). The film tries too hard to make us care about the realistic qualities of these actors. Just like in the original BWP, it thinks that showing them at the club and eating hot dogs connects us to these people. BWP you could connect, because they were so long humanized to us before the movie. Here it just seems like an attempt to get us to invest ourselves in finding the person we won't find.

But I liked starting with this, because despite having House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Exorcist (1973), and Poltergeist (1982) on my list, 1999 seems to be the starting point for the movies I'm watching. More importantly, though, it was the starting point for me and what would become one of my primary film obsessions (besides zombies and nuns).