I know I’ve already tackled some horror-tastic movies for October, but there are other spooky outlets that deserve recognition. Here’s a hearty mix of frightful games/books, which I’ve mashed together because I’m too picky to have enough options to make individual posts.
1. Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark by Neal Shusterman, Alvin Schwartz, and illustrated by Stephen Gammell -
My God, these books are terrifying. I read them as a child, but even now they chill my bones. (Not to mention I occasionally have nightmares regarding the horrible woman from The Dream, and I can never look at anyone named Harold.) These books have a healthy mix of frightening short stories, poems, even shorter stories, and goofy/gruesome songs. (“They both are dead/In the very same bed/And neither one knows/That the other is dead.”) Paired with the freaky pictures, you’ll be sure to flip out. Memorable parts of my childhood were spent in creaky closets or dark rooms as my friends and I pored over these books. If you’re faint of heart, I don’t recommend looking at these books, even since they’re designated for kiddos. There’s a good chance you’ll have nightmares! There has also been plenty of chatter regarding a potential film, so win-win-win-win.
2. Eternal Darkness: Sanity Requiem
This game was too complicated for me, but I enjoyed watching my sister play it! If you still have a Gamecube, this is a definite October suggestion. In this game, a woman visits her late grandfather’s home and uncovers a string of secrets. Eternal Darkness was incredibly innovative in 2002 – before the spookiness of Amnesia, this game offered a sanity bar as your protagonists faced multiple obstacles and demons. If the sanity level dropped too low, your character would begin to hallucinate. Sometimes, your characters would explode. Other times, your character would begin to sink into the ground as you moved. My personal favorite is an essential blue screen of death, which informs you that you game has gone kaputz, only to revert back to your insane character who screams for help. This game is topsy, turvy, and perfect for a stormy October evening.
3. Ghost Story by Peter Straub
The first 50-ish pages of the novel are boring, but once the ball starts to roll, it keeps going, going, going straight to the end! You begin with the question, “What is the worst thing you have ever done?” and tracks the true/false stories of individuals in a small town. Some of the scares in the novel made me laugh rather than cringe, but others made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Occasionally the novel utilizes the confusion tactic of other novels, which I hate because I don’t like being confused, but I was entertained throughout! The ending finally answered all my questions and left me wanting a sequel. Straub writes other horror novels that I have yet to read, but I imagine his others are equally great.
4. Corpse Party
The premise of the game: a group of school students perform a ritual that ultimately sends them into a dimension full of sadistic and very dead kids/teens/adults. I actually wasn’t sure if I should include this game on the list since it falls under the gore/shock genre more than the horror genre, but it scared me enough that it deserves a mention. I never actually played this game – I watched someone play it on Youtube instead, but it was still scary. This game has so many freaky aspects that I can’t go into detail, but you will be shocked, disgusted, scared, concerned, and even amused by the characters’ journeys through this alternate dimension. If you’re squeamish, this may not be for you, as many of the pictures in the game are explicit, but it’s worth a shot.
5. Cabin in the Woods (novel adaptation) by Tim Lebbon
I read this novel before I watched the film, which chronicles the misadventures of five college kids and the unraveling of their existences. Although the movie was more entertaining, I wasn’t nearly as scared watching as I was reading. (This may have something to do with the fact that each time I watch the film, the screen is too dark for me to see any of the details.) The scene in which the zombie family arrives was TERRIFYING. The novel is relatively short, so it can be easily read and digested within an hour or two of picking it up, and the writing is straight-forward, so I highly recommend it if you want to read something that will haunt you.
6. Ju-On: The Grudge
This game, offered on the Wii, follows a family’s experience in following the release of the curse. This game has horrible reviews, but it was SO SCARY. I forced my sister to play the game because I could only handle watching from a safe distance. There’s a general feeling of unease, which mixes nicely with the jump scares and the fact that the grudge woman can just ATTACK YOU OUT OF NOWHERE. At the end of each level, the game rates you on how much you flinch while using the wii remote. Try not to be embarrassed by your results at the end.
Do you have any suggestions? I'm always interested in scary things, so let me know!
