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Author Topic: The Horror Thread  (Read 35473 times)

Max White

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2011, 07:04:25 pm »

I bring an offering of peace, so that we may all sit and eat and not sleep at night!
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Pnx

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2011, 07:06:38 pm »

I've only ever managed to play horror games with the sound off, when you no longer have all the creepy noises, and can't hear the nasty things stalking around out there, it's much less scary, but still scary.

The penumbra series is fun, I had a lot of problems with the graphics though, that ruined a lot of it for me, and I couldn't actually play the second one. They just don't work very well on my cheap graphics card.

Amnesia ran with little to no problems, of course it would have been a lot more fun if someone had told me that losing sanity doesn't just make things wobbly, and occasionally make you pass out. It can also cause horrorterrors to show up. That actually makes it a much more interesting mechanic.
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SalmonGod

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #17 on: April 16, 2011, 07:14:12 pm »

Just read SCP-002... neat stuff!

I have a roleplay book that's similar.  The Book of Unremitting Horror.  It's a supplement for the Gumshoe system, designed for detective style horror games.  I've spoken with the author at gencon, who said it's his favorite of all his books.  It's just a creature collection, but every creature is presented with a short story and a case file attached, much like SCP.  Very fun to read and very creative.
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ToonyMan

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #18 on: April 16, 2011, 07:16:15 pm »

I would say the When They Cry series too, but it's not really just horror.  There are a bunch of creepy parts though.
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MetalSlimeHunt

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #19 on: April 16, 2011, 07:18:00 pm »

I played Penumbra Overture a bit, my problem was that it was too scary. I kind of freeze up when the first enemy appears and I'm too scared to actually do anything but hide. So yeah I guess that's a recommendation.
I wouldn't say so. It seems to me that horror works vary greatly based upon how scary they are. Like so:

Horrifically Unscary (Bad) -> Hilariously Unscary (Good) -> Boring Unscary/Only Jump Scares (Bad) -> Standard Scary (Good) -> Impressively Scary (Best)    -> Paralyzingly Scary (Bad)

Sadly, most horror works end up getting stuck in the Boring/Jump Scare catagory. Making that one leap forward seems to be a problem for artists. There's nothing really wrong with jump scares, but no one looks to just plain rice for a satisfying meal.
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SalmonGod

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2011, 07:24:15 pm »

Of course, taste varies greatly.  Your typical muggle might prefer Boring Unscary.  I prefer Paralyzingly Scary.  I love the horror genre because it forces you into introspection and makes you emotionally stronger.  Don't pull any punches with me.  Make me lose sleep.  However, I do not like pointless sadism.  I don't understand the growing market that consists of 'watch helpless people get kidnapped and tortured for a couple hours just for the hell of it.'
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In the land of twilight, under the moon
We dance for the idiots
As the end will come so soon
In the land of twilight

Maybe people should love for the sake of loving, and not with all of these optimization conditions.

Max White

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #21 on: April 16, 2011, 07:25:51 pm »

I like the kind of creepy that isn't that scary at the time, if anything it is funny, but then next time you see a garden gnome you really aren't so sure...

fqllve

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #22 on: April 16, 2011, 07:28:35 pm »

Of course, taste varies greatly.  Your typical muggle might prefer Boring Unscary.  I prefer Paralyzingly Scary.  I love the horror genre because it forces you into introspection and makes you emotionally stronger.  Don't pull any punches with me.  Make me lose sleep.  However, I do not like pointless sadism.  I don't understand the growing market that consists of 'watch helpless people get kidnapped and tortured for a couple hours just for the hell of it.'
Yeah, this is pretty much why I don't consider myself a horror fan. When I think horror I think paralyzingly scary and that's it, so I'm usually really disappointed. That's not the kind of thing most people, even horror fans, are looking for though. I can't say it's a pleasant emotion that I enjoy feeling but it is certainly an experience that I wouldn't normally have and that's the kind of thing I look for in fiction.
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MetalSlimeHunt

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #23 on: April 16, 2011, 07:29:48 pm »

I mean "Paralyzingly Scary" in the literal sense. As in "the work is too frightening for you to fully view". That's not good.
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Quote from: Thomas Paine
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
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No Gods, No Masters.

fqllve

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #24 on: April 16, 2011, 07:31:08 pm »

No, yep. That's what I meant too. I want to come out of the theater completely fucked up for weeks.
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MetalSlimeHunt

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #25 on: April 16, 2011, 07:32:55 pm »

Under my definition, that would be Impressively Scary. Paralizingly Scary would be running out of the movie theater 25% of the way though the film, hiding under your bed for a month, and never encountering the film ever again.
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Quote from: Thomas Paine
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
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No Gods, No Masters.

Max White

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #26 on: April 16, 2011, 07:34:43 pm »

Paralizingly Scary would be running out of the movie theater 25% of the way though the film, hiding under your bed for a month, and never encountering the film ever again.

I can do that.

fqllve

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #27 on: April 16, 2011, 07:35:33 pm »

Eh. I've never encountered a work like that and I doubt I ever will. I would like to though. The only horror movies I've never been able to sit through were either just disgusting or boring gorefests.
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Megaman

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #28 on: April 16, 2011, 07:35:44 pm »

I never saw a paralyzingly scary film or bit of media in my life, and barely anything counts as impressively scary for me.
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SalmonGod

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Re: The Horror Thread
« Reply #29 on: April 16, 2011, 07:41:43 pm »

In that case I don't think Paralyzingly Scary exists.  The work would have to supercede my willing suspension of disbelief.  I have never encountered such a thing, but if it exists (not including real-life horror like an actual snuff video) I would like to know about it.

Now some of the stuff that you would assert as impressively scary to me would probably count as paralyzingly scary to other people I know who have a much lower tolerance.

I can think of a few horror works that have effected me deeply, though.  Most did it by challenging my values, as 28 Weeks Later or Clockwork Orange. 

Ju-On is special to me for being the only one to do it on pure creepiness alone.  There was nothing especially psychologically challenging about that film, other than the fact that it strips you of everything normally held as psychological comfort.  It was just... so goddamn creepy... for a couple years afterwards I couldn't help but imagine that girl every time I saw a flight of stairs.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Nothing else has ever unsettled me in that way before, and I'd love to find another.
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In the land of twilight, under the moon
We dance for the idiots
As the end will come so soon
In the land of twilight

Maybe people should love for the sake of loving, and not with all of these optimization conditions.
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