Welcome back! It seems like the horror genre is becoming really popular in film, literature, streaming shows, video games, and other mediums. Many subgenres of horror are hitting mainstream media and it’s a great opportunity for my writing. Here’s an overview of several popular horror subgenres.
Backwoods Horror All manner of horror happens when people get lost in the woods. Serial killers are common villains in this setting, but some characters encounter monsters, cults, angry spirits, witches, and other malevolent forces. The woods can be a disorienting place and the characters may feel like they can’t escape. Backwoods settings are prime locations for murderers to hide nearby and stalk their prey. It’s also hard to tell who’s on your side in backwoods horror. After all, the friendly forest ranger might be the main antagonist. Examples: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Apostle, YellowBrickRoad, The Ritual, Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever, Animal Body Horror This genre might be a little more obscure, but it made a huge impact in horror cinema. Body horror features grotesque mutations and unnatural manipulations of the body. This subgenre is remarkably gruesome and often memorable for bizarre creature effects or bodily transformations. It tends to cross over with the science fiction genre regarding aliens, parasites, and unethical experiments. Examples: The Fly, The Thing, Leviathan, Malignant, Possessor, Videodrome, Splinter Comedic Horror Some horror movies are also very funny. It doesn’t have to be hardcore scares all the time. This subgenre is often a parody and a breath of fresh air among more serious, dower, and depressing projects. Comedic horror often includes the same elements from other subgenres, such as monsters, the supernatural, and elaborate death scenes. Granted, everything is much sillier. Examples: Zombieland, Gremlins, Warm Bodies, Tremors, Abigail, Lisa Frankenstein, Dark Shadows, Slotherhouse, The Cabin in the Woods, Army of Darkness, Werewolves Within, Happy Death Day Cosmic Horror The work of H.P. Lovecraft created an entire subgenre of horror with ancient Gods, alternate dimensions, and strange monsters from the abyss. Cthulhu and other eldritch abominations are usually present in these horror stories. These monsters hibernate for long periods of time, but something wakes them up, such as occult rituals, inter-dimensional traveling, or underwater exploration. Such encounters don’t usually bode well for the characters or mankind in general. Examples: The Void, The Mist, Color Out of Space, Annihilation, In the Mouth of Madness, Glorious Creature Features This category is very broad with a lot of variety. It might feature werewolves, creatures hiding in the shadows, or monsters stalking through the woods. Regardless, the monster is going to be frightening and nearly indestructible. Most likely, it will also be quite hungry for human flesh. In a worst case scenario, the creature might even turn you into a member of its species. Examples: The Wolf Man, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Boogeyman, The Descent, Imaginary, The Hallow, Late Phases, An American Werewolf in London, They, Come Play Deep Space Horror Nobody is going to save you if something horrific occurs in outer space. Explorers, scientists, or prisoners wind up stranded with a hostile extraterrestrial on a space station or mysterious planet. This subgenre leaves the characters alone, helpless, and the perfect bait for alien creatures. It takes a lot of clever improvisation and skills to survive deep space horror. Examples: Alien(s), Pitch Black, Life, Event Horizon, Pandorum, Doom, Prometheus, Screamers Demonic Possession Most of these movies have the same theme. Someone becomes possessed by a demonic entity and an exorcism or another event of survival takes place. Despite this lack of variety, the subgenre remains prevalent today. On the plus side, recent media about demonic possessions can be less predictable with different outcomes. Examples: The Exorcist, Evil Dead, Insidious, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil, The Nun, Night of the Demons, Prince of Darkness Folk Horror At first glance, folk horror may seem almost identical to its backwoods counterpart. Folk horror may take place in rural locations, but it primarily focuses on cults, ritualistic sacrifices, folk tales, and urban legends. You might want to stay away from the locals in these stories. They’ll probably lure you in a death trap. Examples: Children of the Corn, Pumpkinhead, The Legend of Sleep Hollow, Midsommar, Men, Heriditary, Candyman, Antlers, Pyewacket, Lord of Misrule, Dark Harvest Found Footage This subgenre features a unique perspective through camcorders, cell phones, and other visual mediums. It gives audiences an impression that the characters are filming the horror as it happens. Found footage isn’t a favorite subgenre of mine, but it’s definitely making a comeback. These movies can include any type of monster or phenomenon. Examples: The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, Grave Encounters, As Above So Below, Willow Creek, The Sacrament, Devil’s Pass Haunted Houses The horror genre is oversaturated with haunted house movies, shows, and video games. However, I continue to find interesting and unique content every year. It usually begins with the same premise, such as a family who moves into a house that’s inhabited by a vengeful spirit. Sometimes this subgenre has a strange twist that might surprise the audience, but I don’t want to give anything away. Examples: Oculus, The Amityville Horror, The Others, House on Haunted Hill, The Conjuring, Night Swim, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Grudge, The Messengers, Crimson Peak, Winchester Home Invasions Your house should be a safe haven for you. Unfortunately, many characters find themselves in perilous conditions when someone breaks into their house or vacation home. This subgenre tends to be unsettling, although less bloody than the typical slasher flick. The home invasion subgenre might remind you to lock every door and install an alarm system. Examples: When a Stranger Calls, Don’t Breathe, You’re Next, The Strangers, Vacancy, Knock Knock, Black Christmas Killer Animals Nature goes wild and vengeful in this subgenre. Animals may turn against mankind for any number of reasons, such as deforestation, genetic experiments, drugs, poaching, etc. Practically anything can send an animal on a killing spree in these horror movies. This subgenre should remind you to treat the outdoors and all living creatures with respect, regardless of their size. Examples: Jaws, Lake Placid, Anaconda, Deep Blue Sea, Crawl, Cocaine Bear, Arachnophobia, Willard, Beast, The Shallows, The Birds, 47 Meters Down Post-Apocalypse Some post-apocalyptic films are definitely part of the horror equation. The end of civilization is a terrifying thought and it can include zombies, plagues, natural disasters, and all kinds of mayhem. Blockbuster action movies can turn the apocalypse into a spectacle, but horror films remind us about the dread, fear, bloodshed, and despair associated with the fall of mankind. Examples: 28 Days Later, Knock at the Cabin, Dawn of the Dead, A Quiet Place, Awake, The Colony, It Comes at Night, Bird Box, The Crazies, I Am Legend, The Purge, Vanishing on 7th Street, The Blob Slasher Films These movies might lack refinement, although the slasher subgenre can be highly entertaining with elaborate death scenes. The horror genre is filled with supernatural phenomena and monsters, but humans can be more sadistic, violent, and terrifying in many ways. I recommend being nice to people, otherwise they might take revenge. Examples: Friday the 13th, Halloween, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Thanksgiving, Haunt, Hell Fest, Urban Legend Underwater Horror According to the horror genre, you can’t go anywhere. That includes the ocean and beaches. Monsters and specters lurk in the water. They may attack boats or lakeside communities as well. It’s awfully difficult to kill sea creatures because the ocean is their natural environment and you probably have little more than a knife or harpoon. Good luck, sailor! Examples: Fea Fever, Underwater, Sweetheart, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Deep Star Six, Deep Rising, The Fog Vampire Fiction The undead can take various forms and vampires have been major figures in the horror genre for decades. Vampires are often susceptible to sunlight, wooden stakes, and holy water. However, they are immune to most weapons, wield superhuman strength, and can drain a person’s blood very quickly. I advise against becoming a vampire slayer because the odds are definitely against you. Examples: Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, 30 Days of Night, Let Me In, Daybreakers, The Lost Boys, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Fright Night, Vampires Witchcraft Never cross a witch. They have the ability to drive you mad, suffer from diseases, or go on a murderous rampage. Witches are rarely forgiving and they often need victims for ritualistic sacrifices. If you’re thinking about becoming a witch, that’s a bad idea too. Witches might carry great power, but it comes from dark forces. Examples: The Witch, The Craft, The Wretched, The Skeleton Key, Don’t Knock Twice, The Pale Door, Rosemary’s Baby, Mercy, Drag Me to Hell There you go! I could list other horror subgenres, but this collection is a good start. What are your favorite horror subgenres? Tell me all about it in the comment section. Thanks for visiting, be safe, and have a good week.
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Greetings! 2024 appears to have one of the busiest gaming schedules ever. I’m seeing why the current industry is unsustainable. Now that’s I’m finished with Rise of the Ronin, I’m looking forward to the next round of releases. Let’s take a look at several upcoming games on my radar this year. At the moment, I’m focusing on games with actual release dates. Enjoy!
Adam Wolfe Release Date: 5/28/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Switch This collection of point and click adventures features a hard boiled detective who’s uncovering several mysteries. It might sound very simple and trite, but point and click adventures can be surprisingly fun. They’re usually a low key experience with intriguing puzzles. Most likely, Adam Wolfe will be short and very similar to most point and click games. Give it a shot if you’re tired of stressful games with high difficulty. BlackSad: Under the Skin Release Date: 7/12/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Xbox The original version of this game came out several years ago. Now it’s getting a port or remaster on modern consoles in July. BlackSad is a detective adventure that features humanoid animals in a noir setting. That might sound unsettling to you, but I don’t think it sounds any worse than Planet of the Apes. I heard the original release was very buggy, so let’s hope the new version sorts out those issues. Dave the Diver Release Date: 4/16/24 Platforms: PlayStation+ It seems like Dave the Diver took the world by storm last year. Now it’s coming to PlayStation+ in just a few days. Some people might call it a cozy game, but it seems to be a combination of different genres. During the day, Dave explores the ocean and catches fish. He completes missions and side quests for other characters. Some of the underwater missions include combat. At night, he works at the seafood restaurant, which adds a cooking simulator element. I also heard this game is quite funny. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to this one. Endless Ocean: Luminous Release Date: 5/2/24 Platforms: Switch I never had the pleasure of playing the previous Endless Ocean games. Luminous seems relaxing and interesting with many biomes to explore. It has a multitude of underwater species to encounter and study, including real, extinct, and mythical creatures. Judging from the trailers, I doubt this game has combat or a significant RPG system. It also has a multiplayer option if you want to play with friends. Sometimes it’s nice to play something different and laid back. Girl Genius: Adventures in Castle Heterodyne Release Date: 5/7/24 Platforms: Switch As you already know, I’m a huge steampunk fan. The Girl Genius comic book series is quite entertaining and it’s nice to see an interconnected game coming soon. Initially, this game probably looks like a generic adventure game. However, Girl Genius features a young lady who invents all kinds of gadgets, gizmos, and automatons. The gameplay features puzzles, combat, exploration, and stealth sections. You’ll take control of several small robots who can open doorways, explore vents, fly to higher locations, and activate specific weapons. The game looks a bit rough, but it might be fun nonetheless. House Flipper 2 Release Date: 5/3/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Xbox Maybe I’m going through a cozy kick. The next House Flipper game looks relaxing and oddly fun with the ability to fix and tinker with various households. You can sell these houses on the market, repair them, and learn about various backstories regarding the previous owners. I’m pretty sure some of the houses belonged to serial killers and people who were afraid of nuclear warfare. House Flipper 2 might be a good escape from action driven games. Lempo Release Date: 9/30/24 Platforms: PlayStation I’m not very good at stealth games and survival horror titles with unarmed protagonists. Regardless, I’m probably checking out Lempo anyway. It takes place in a creepy forest with inspirations from Finnish mythology. This game has both literal and psychological horror elements with various monsters, specters, and mythological figures. It probably includes stalker enemies, puzzles, and other mind bending elements. Hopefully, it won’t be too confusing for me. Mike Mignola’s Hellboy: Web of Wyrd Release Date: 5/24/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Switch Technically, this game came out last year. Granted, I’m a big collector of physical media and the disc release is coming out in May. I’m pretty sure Hellboy flew under the radar in 2023, so this might be another chance to reach broad audiences. It’s an action game with a roguelike structure, which seems a little strange for this type of game. I can’t tell if this game will click with me or not. Hellboy had unfortunate luck in the movie space and I’m hoping it will have better adaptations in gaming. Monster Hunter Stories Collection Release Date: 6/14/24 Platforms: Switch In the past, I never played the Monster Hunter games because it just seems like you’re killing all of the animals. However, Monster Hunter Stories looks more like Pokémon with the ability to raise monsters and use them in combat. I’ll gives this collection a shot, even though I don’t usually enjoy turn based games. With that said, I usually make exceptions for Pokémon and Monster Rancher. This collection gives players a chance to customize their protagonist and various monsters. It sounds like fun and hopefully, the turn based system won’t make me rage quit. Sandland Release Date: 4/26/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Xbox I’m intrigued with this anime RPG. It appears to have an open world environment, a big emphasis on creating vehicles, customizing weapons, and completing missions for NPCs. What kind of game is Sandland? The answer isn’t clear to me and maybe it’s an amalgamation of several genres. The story also looks really weird with demons, soldiers, bandits, and a post-apocalyptic world. It sounds weird enough to check out. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Release Date: 9/5/24 Platforms: Xbox and Game Pass We’ve been waiting a long time for the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It seems like this long awaited sequel is finally coming out in September. The marketing looks very promising with a supernatural post-apocalyptic setting, a sharp FPS system, and a base building mechanic. I must say, building bases is one of my least favorite things to do in video games. That’s why I never played Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Maybe the other elements will be strong enough to motivate me. Star Wars Outlaws Release Date: 8/30/24 Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Ubisoft+ Ubisoft just recently announced the release date for this Star Wars adventure. At this time, it seems like Star Wars Outlaws is going to be an RPG with an open world environment. The protagonist is a smuggler, which is a less typical perspective in Star Wars games. Right now, the general structure and gameplay feels unclear. I suppose we’ll learn more about this game within the next few months. Don’t forget, you can play this game day one on Ubisoft+. Stellar Blade Release Date: 5/26/24 Platforms: PlayStation Controversy is surrounding this game for some reason. In my opinion, it seems like Stellar Blade is similar to NieR: Automata with an android who wears sexy attire while slicing and dicing monsters in a post-apocalyptic environment. No judgment from me. The gameplay looks fast, challenging, and visceral. I strongly dislike most soulsborne games, but this one might be a little more accessible to mainstream audiences. We’ll see how it goes. System Shock Release Date: 5/21/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Xbox The horror classic, System Shock, is finally getting a remake for consoles. It was the progenitor to both BioShock and Dead Space. The PC version released last year and parts of it sound quite vexing with challenging enemy encounters and confusing puzzles. I might be wrong, but it seems like the PC version didn’t have a map either. System Shock leaves players to their own devices in traditional horror fashion. Let’s see if I sink or swim with this game. A Tale of Paper: Refolded Release Date: 5/3/24 Platforms: PlayStation This inventive puzzle game and side scroller is releasing on PlayStation consoles in May. Take the release date with a grain of salt because it already moved a couple of times. Anyway, the protagonist is an amorphous origami animal. It shape shifts into different creatures who have unique abilities. Birds can fly to specific locations, frogs can leap across tricky platforming areas, etc. The puzzles and platforming might be challenging, but it should be a nice break from first person shooters and similar genres. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II Release Date: 9/9/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Xbox Honestly, this game might be too intense for me. However, I’m still very curious. The new Space Marine game is taking cues from Doom and various multiplayer games, such as Halo: Infinite. It’s going to be an intense shooter with a bombardment of hostile enemies. That means your weapons need to be powerful enough to mow down countless alien creatures. I might not be good at this game, but it sparked my interest. Whisker Waters Release Date: 4/26/24 Platforms: PlayStation and Switch The cozy genre is experiencing quite a renaissance. This game combines elements from fishing simulators and action RPGs. You customize a cat who will go fishing and then barter with vendors. It also has a light RPG system with upgradeable fishing equipment. Whisker Waters includes a little bit of combat and character specific missions. I don’t know anything about the story, but the game looks cute. That’s all for now. I will post more release dates later in the year. My current list has a lot of smaller titles, but these indie games are going to be a major part of the market in the future. After all, we’re definitely getting fewer AAA releases in subsequent years. AAA games aren’t disappearing completely, but we’re going to have less of them. Who cares? It only matters if games are still good. What are your most anticipated games of the year? How do you feel about these inevitable changes in the gaming industry? Leave a comment. Everything is going to be okay. Take care of yourselves and have a good week. |
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May 2019
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