Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list. Last week, we compiled you a nice list of foods that LOOK scary (or festive) but won’t actually kill you, repulse you or otherwise harm you. But if you thought we were stopping there, you’re wrong. This week, let’s take a look at foods that are actually horrifying in concept/appearance or for some other reason. I’d like to take one moment here to say what I hope is obvious to those of us adults living and eating in the wide world - it’s not nice to yuck other people’s yums. Just because the concept of something disgusts us here in the Western world (or outright frightens us) doesn’t mean that thing isn’t delicious or even a prized delicacy elsewhere. Still, there are certainly things that, if put on my plate, might make me run in the other direction. We skipped a lot of the usuals (save for one, because we just can’t not have it on this list) and threw in some curve balls you might not know about. Now, this should also go without saying, but …don’t die. Some of these things are fine to eat, some of them are dangerous to eat, and it behooves you to know the difference. Head Cheese Now, lots of us are dairy enthusiasts. I’d hardly kick a cheese off my plate, and rarely do. But head cheese, while cheese in nomenclature, is actually not really cheese. It is, instead, a sort of jellied loaf of pig’s head meat. As it turns out, pork heads have high collagen content, and if you simmer the interior meat of the head, it’ll form a nice gelatin and bind together. Sometimes this is accompanied by aromatics, herbs and spices, or vinegar. I don’t love the idea of it, but in all honesty, it’s not so bad, especially if spiced nicely. It’s just a weird concept, and akin to so many jello aspics that never should have existed in the first place. We’ll come back to that later. Escamoles I am a fan of just about anything I can get my hands on that any good Mexican cook can cook. I’m not 100 percent on escamoles though, which are black ant eggs that are boiled, cooked in soups or otherwise added to things like guac. Now, I can’t say I’ve tried them, it’s just that larvae isn’t really in my culinary dictionary as something delightful to find on my plate. Maybe I’ll change my mind though. Geoducks Look, these are just a jumpscare. I’ve seen ‘em on Iron Chef, and I know they’re probably pretty great. They’re served in a lot of fine dining situations but, come on. Look at them. I mean really, really look at them. They’re giant clams, and I mean, I wouldn’t just be like “Oh boy, let’s eat that!” Rhubarb Leaves Ok, so these don’t look scary. And some people actually say they’re not scary. After all, rhubarb is perfectly fine and great for pies and such. However, the leaves of the rhubarb plant contain toxins that at the best will have you spending way too much time in the bathroom being really unhappy. At worst, kidney damage. So..let’s just leave the leaves, and keep on keeping on with those magenta stalks, eh? Octopus Here’s the thing. Octopus is good. I mean really. I’ve had the tiny ones at sushi places, and I’ve had it in other things. It’s just this. Octopi/octopodes can play the piano. They’re really smart. And to be really fair, unless they’re tiny, the tentacle suckers are kinda a no from me, dawg. Beyond that though, what if they have a very ancient, very powerful Old friend. I think that’s reason enough to be a little concerned indulging in these 8 legged friends Fried Spiders This is not about me, but it’s a little about me. I have had a very hard time accepting spiders in my vicinity. I realize they’re our friends, on some level, but I’d like them to be my friends from pretty far away. I’ve overcome my major arachnophobia thanks to a scientist at the Field Museum who actually used a 9 year old child with arachnophobia who’d confronted her fear ahead of me in line to hold a tarantula to get me to do it, too. And I ended liking the pink toed tarantula that would later also hang out on the top of my head, where I was warned not to move too fast so I don’t upset her. Great. I do not, and I repeat, do not, want them on my plate. Especially the big tarantulas, not only because of my friend Rosie from the museum, but also because no no no no no. I don’t want one in the shower at the same time as me, and I don’t want one as a street food. I’m sorry. I will be abstaining should I find myself in Cambodia where these are popular. Nutmeg Ok, I’m gonna need you to put down the pumpkin spice latte for this one, friends. Nutmeg is in ALL THE THINGS. Especially right now, where the PSL is king. It’s one of the best things in a lot of really great spiced things, including pumpkin pie and carrot cake and…yeah. I mean, Alton Brown wears one around his neck so he has it in case of emergency. But did you know that in large doses, it can actually really toxic? It’s true. It’s capable of causing nausea and breathing difficulty or even a long lasting psychosis when taken in extremely large doses. So maybe just don’t do that, then? Aspics Like I said before, it seems like mid century America had a real problem with Jell-O. Mostly that they found really inappropriate things to suspend in it. I’ve encountered at least a few of these in my time growing up with my Polish relatives, including lime jello with radish (why is it always lime jello?) and various other Jello with celery or other chunks of things I’d much rather be left out. I wanted to find the worst offender, and according to my research, here it is. This horror graced the pages of Southern Living back in 1973 and included lime jello, raw shrimp, horseradish, and cottage cheese. There are other ingredients, but I need to make dinner soon. Might be a hot take, but I think we should leave meat (especially raw meat!) out of jello stuff. OK? Ok. Mushrooms that WILL NOT kill you that look just like Mushrooms that WILL kill you Mushrooms are fantastic. And possibly immortal. But they’re umami bombs, and there’s almost nothing I like more than a stuffed mushroom, mushrooms sauteed in butter, or the Polish mushroom soup I grew up on. I’ll take ‘em anywhere I can get them, and that means I’m always curious if the mushrooms I saw on my hike will kill me or make me very very happy. The thing that keeps me from going after it? Chanterelle vs Jack O’ Lantern mushrooms - These mushrooms are nearly identical. But one’s orange and one’s yellow, you say. Willing to bet your life on your definition of orange vs. yellow when there’s more than the 64 colors in your crayon box in the world? Or there’s death caps vs field mushrooms. Or cute little button mushrooms vs a mushroom called the Destroying Angel. And yes, some of these will absolutely kill you. If you have the guidance of a professional forager, go for it, and find yourself some free fungi that’ll go great in all your recipes, but if not…I’d just shell out for the lions manes and shiitake in your produce department and be happy you don’t have to wait to see if you die. Casu Marzu Italians are renowned for their cooking. When you watch Giada or Stanley Tucci or just about anyone stroll through those ancient streets and sit down at a table, you’re sure to be delighted at what you find there. Tomatoes so perfect they’ll make you cry. Big wheels of parmesan. Balsamic vinegar that’s so prized it’s in a bottle as expensive as what’s inside. The list goes on. But what it doesn’t include (partially because it’s illegal in the EU) is casu marzu. And speaking of not including it, I almost didn’t because I do not want to post a picture of it nor think about it at all. On top of that it’s on almost every list. But that’s because I just do not know how anyone can stomach it. And apparently it’s divine. That may be true, but this cheese is intentionally infected with fly larvae, and then the resulting maggots get to eat and live in there until the center of the originally hard cheese takes on a soupy texture. Oh my god. I apologize. I might be off cheese for a little while. Anyway, that should’ve finished you off for the horrifying foods, and I’m gonna go think of things that aren’t that. Join us for even more stomach churning horror in film, game, tv and …everything else form. Here’s a picture of a kitten as a palate cleanser. Goodnight.

Screenshot: Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 For the Emprah! As part of my ongoing midlife crisis, I’ve been playing a lot of games from my childhood.That includes a lot of “Doom clones” and other seminal titles, and I think Boltgun 2 would fit right in. While I felt like the original Boltgun was missing a few factors to make it a classic, Boltgun 2 goes a long way toward addressing my gripes while adding a whole new character, new weapons, and a branching narrative to encourage replayability. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is a retro-inspired, Build Engine-ish first-person shooter and a sequel to the mostly well-reviewed and well-received Boltgun. In it, you can play as either returning Ultramarine Malum Caedo or the Sister of Battle Nyra Veyrath. Screenshot: Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 Malum is the stompy, chainsword-wielding heretic slayer that you knew from the original. Nyra is a bit faster and carries a bolt pistol and a power sword. While there is some weapon overlap between them, they each sport their own arsenal and unique grenade. My biggest gripe with the first game was how aimless it felt. It was just encounter after encounter with set pieces, offering little in the way of interesting combat variety. Boltgun 2 fixes this with much more dynamic enemy encounters, mixing foes placed natively in the map with "PURGE!" holdouts where you have to survive waves while delivering the Emperor's judgment. Map layouts are better, too. A lot of levels are set up in the classic “find the X-colored key to unlock the X-colored door” style that Doom popularized so many years ago, peppered with surprises to keep retracing your path interesting. Screenshot: Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 Another gripe I had with Boltgun was its toughness system, where larger weapons were required to be effective against larger enemies. This created a sort of rock-paper-scissors dynamic like the one I hated in Doom Eternal. Now, weapons just do damage, and you can use whichever weapon on whatever foe as you see fit. Weapons in Boltgun 2 are pure joy, especially with how much destructive force they pack. It helps that each enemy seems ready to explode into gory sprites at the slightest provocation. Whether I’m using my frag cannon to take out groups of heretics or burning them down with dual meltaguns, the weapons available are amazing. There is one exception, and that’s Nyra’s crossbow—it just feels slow and weak compared to everything else at your disposal. Screenshot: Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 Despite how much carnage you can rain down, that overpowered feeling is balanced out by an overwhelming amount of enemies and projectiles. Carelessness can lead to an easy death. Fortunately, there are plenty of accessibility features that can make the game easier, allowing you to unlock all weapons, give yourself infinite ammo, or make yourself invulnerable. There’s also a navigation guide that can show you where to go—which is completely optional, so you can leave it off for retro game authenticity. You’ll be fighting a lot of the same types of enemies from the first game, alongside a few new variations and mounts. Khorne Berzerkers will try to get right in your face—and they can do a lot of damage very quickly. There are also mounts that units will ride, making them much more formidable; they remind me a bit of the Werebulls from the Serious Sam series. Boltgun 2 is a clear step up over its predecessor. Developer Auroch Digital did a great job taking the almost-great concept of the original and refining it. If you already loved the first game, this will be an absolute treat. For those who weren't sure the first time around: check out Boltgun 2.

Screenshot: Theos: Cities of Myth Triskell Interactive, the developer behind 2023's Pharaoh: A New Era, is returning to original IP creation alongside publisher Dotemu. While their new mythological city-builder Theos: Cities of Myth won’t launch in full until November 4, you can get an early taste of it starting today with a three-chapter Athens demo on Steam. Set in a reimagined Ancient Greece, Theos gives you the ability to build your polis the way you want—as long as you follow the will of the people, that is. And the gods will be watching. In this alt-universe, gods and mortals coexist on the streets. In the demo, you choose between Athena and Dionysus as your patron deity—with Hera, Ares, and three more Olympians confirmed for a roster of seven in the full release. Each god brings their own demands and city-shaping blessings, which you have to juggle alongside the desires of the populace and visiting historical luminaries like Socrates and Aristotle. Screenshot: Theos: Cities of Myth If you liked Pharaoh: A New Era or the late-'90s classics that inspired it, Theos: Cities of Myth should be right in your wheelhouse. It feels like a spiritual successor to 2000's Zeus: Master of Olympus—which was developed by original Pharaoh studio Impressions Games—complete with a central Sanctuary that grows alongside your city. However, Triskell has baked in a lot of modernization, most notably retiring the infamous "roadblock puzzles" that have defined the subgenre since the Caesar III and Pharaoh days. Instead of trapping walkers in closed loops, you can now manually customize patrol routes and dispatch emergency services like firefighters directly to hazards. Even better, after Pharaoh: A New Era opted for simplified auto-resolved combat, Theos reintroduces full real-time battles to defend your borders and conquer rival Greek rulers. Screenshot: Theos: Cities of Myth Theos: Cities of Myth looks poised to deliver the modernized Zeus successor fans have wanted for years, striking a smart balance between classic isometric charm and much-needed quality-of-life overhauls. The three-chapter Athens demo is live on Steam now, with the full game launching on PC on November 4.

Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list. Audition tends to be a big introduction to J-Horror. The film is practically ubiquitous with the the country's horror output, right their with Ringu. But unlike Ringu, Audition has maintained it origins, never getting a remake (note: there has been one in development for a long time) and for good reason. Audition is an incredible nuanced and subtle film that presents itself as one thing, transforms slowly into another, then hits you a bus of horror. Shigeharu Aoyama is a widower who has spent the last seven years caring for his son Shigehiko , who encourages his father to remarry. Enter Shigeharu's friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa, a film producer who devises a plan to set up a fake audition for a non-existent film in order for Shigeharu to find a wife. Kind of a gross misappropriation of power, but nothing the typical rom-com or romantic drama would have as a center piece. The film plays everything pretty by the numbers for most of the first two thirds as it introduces Asami Yamazaki, a former ballerina and the girl Shigeharu sets his sights on. In fact outside of one very, and I mean very, unsettling scene, it kinda just feels like a Japanese drama of a widower finding love in a problematic way. Your general romantic misunderstanding plot that surely will wind up being ok, with all the red flags brushed under the rug in the name of love like usual. Right? ...right? Well it is on a list of horror narratives, so no, it doesn't turn out alright for everyone involved. Instead the final third of the film is one of the darkest, strangest and frightening left turns a movie could take. I'm not sure if Audition has the same issue that films with such a vital a twist typically have since this movie has never been recommended under the guise of its twist (espeically with the poster being a complete spoiler). Rather the fact the film starts off as this benign but inappropriate romance then turns into a complete horror show is the selling point. I won't go into detail about how it goes off the rails, but it most certainly does and in spectacular uncomfortable fashion. It plays with your preconceived notions, twisting how you feel about everyone's motivations. Whether or not you were weary of Shigeharu's usage of the fake audition or not, he doesn't deserve what the film dishes out. Despite my thoughts of Audition being impervious to it's twist being revealed, after rewatching this trailer I may retract that statement a bit. Please don;t click this trailer anbd just watch the movie. Audition is available to stream and as a great 4K release from Arrow! Get you hands on this devious film and have you self a scary night.

Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list. I love a good Halloween episode of a TV show. And I love any holiday special. I think it’s because I’m a child of the late 80s, and early 90s. This was THE era for holiday themed TV, and Halloween was my favorite. Suddenly your favorite shows got a little scarier – even the sitcoms. And shows that were already scary? Well, you could count on them doubling down on the horror. For this list, we’re going pure nostalgia, and hopefully including a few you haven’t thought about or seen in a minute - though we’ll still throw some classics you’ll see on any 90s countdown in there. And let’s get this out of the way right now, since I feel contractually obligated to do so by my colleagues here at Culture Combine: The Treehouse of Horror episodes of the Simpsons are ALWAYS going to be right there at the top of any Halloween TV list, but especially the 90s ones. It’s a given. Halloween Hound: The Legend of Creepy Collars - Wishbone Let’s start off mild, with an adorable but slightly creepy tail…er, tale. That’s right, we’re going straight to PBS for this one, and straight to Wishbone. I’m so sorry, you can’t tell me you didn’t love the little guy. And literary scares are legit. Plus, dog in elaborate costumes. This one’s a take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that sees Wishbone in the role of Ichabod Crane. I mean, enough said. Get out of here and watch it. It’s actually available on the tube of you, and if you haven’t seen Wishbone in a while it’s gonna warm your cold dead heart. And scare you a little, if you’re like me and the Headless Horsemen shivered your timbers. Meatballs or Consequences - Animaniacs For me at least, Animaniacs was a can’t miss. If I ever rushed home from school to see something, it was this show. Sure, some of the jokes went over my head until I was a little older but I had the tapes of all the famous songs and I had the reruns memorized. Meatballs or Consequences gets us the Warner Brothers, and the Warner Sister - alone with Death/The Grim Reaper. And you know it’s gonna be his nightmare as much as it is theirs. So Wakko’s in a Swedish meatball eating contest because of course he is. And he’s attempting to outdo the largest person anyone’s ever seen. Kid packs away a lot of meatballs, but it turns out that knocks him out cold. Or dead. Which brings us to the grim reaper of it all. Wakko has perhaps binged his last. Now, I’m told that this was a parody of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s films, but all I could think of was Bill and Ted, because it lands the Warners in a checkers game with Death for Wakko’s life. It’s ridiculous, Death gets his ass kicked by three little kids (sorta. They’re kids. They’re just…ok, it’s best not to go too deep.), and added bonus: if you didn’t know it was an Ingmar Bergman parody then, you can watch it now and probably get even more out of it. Which is the beauty of Animaniacs. My recommendation to catch this one? Free on Tubi, with some ads. Stevil - Family Matters My nostalgia glasses aren’t so strong as to put this out there as a great episode in general, but my fear of ventriloquist dummies tips the scales some. Plus, it’s weird, campy and fun, and that’s a part of the fun of Halloween for me. In Stevil, Steve Urkel (look it up, you little tiny babies!) brings home a ventriloquist dummy which gets brought to life by an errant lightning strike. And y’know, the way these things happen, he decides to go on a murder spree. And honestly, it IS pretty scary. For one thing, again, ventriloquist dummies freak me out. But like, they dismember people, stuff them up chimneys, and just generally destroy the entire family. And maybe I repressed this one til I did the research for this article, because rewatching the clips has got me feeling some type of way. If you want to watch it and you have Hulu, you’re in luck, since Family Matters is available to stream there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure I’m cheating here, both because this is a TV special and because it’s from 1985. I was 3. However, I loved Garfield from as early as I could first read books. Maybe it was the sarcasm, the laziness - I have no idea. I just really, really loved him. Maybe we had one of those plushies you stick up in the car that stop bullets. I’m not sure.This special sees our sardonic orange tabby out trick or treating with Odie as his servant and encountering kids in costumes, which scare Odie. This of course annoys Garfield, so he reverse Scooby-Doos it. (Scooby-Does it?) and he rips off the mask to find out the kids are not kids at all and ARE actually g-g-g-ghosts. Ghost pirates, to be specific, and they’re hunting for treasure that’s buried in the very mansion they end up in. This was genuinely scary to little me, and might bring back some fond first scary memories on the rewatch for you, too. If you’re looking to rewatch this, it’s on Paramount+ or Amazon Prime WITH Paramount+ Hush - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Before you even begin to say “But that’s not a Halloween episode” I already covered Fear Itself and Halloween last year. And they’re great. I love both of them very, very much. But they’re far and away not as scary as Hush, or as much of a TV masterpiece. Remember, Hush got an Emmy nomination, though it was robbed of the win, in my very biased, Buffy adoring mind at least. And if you somehow didn’t have the images burned in your mind from this one, this is the episode featuring the Gentlemen, who roll into Sunnydale and steal everyone’s ability to speak. It’s a completely silent episode for most of its run time (27 minutes of silence, to be exact) and the Gentlemen are truly horrifying. The suits, the eerie floating and scary ass hands and face. The crazy scary straightjacketed one that flails around behind them? I mean, I’m still scared of all of this. And add to that fear that you can’t scream for help, and you can’t hear anyone else scream either. This was peak Buffy, and it’s truly amazing. Watch it over and over, because it never misses. Just…not too close to bedtime, because it is nightmare fuel. X-Files- “Home” Ok, so here’s another one that is a little bit cheating. That’s because this really isn’t a Halloween episode per se, just like Hush wasn’t. However, it did air in October originally, and it was so disturbing that it was actually controversial. It earned a TV-MA rating and viewer discretion warnings and some critics and viewers felt it went too far and was too graphic, too violent and too disturbing. We’ve heard that one before, horror fans, but it never seems to stop you. Honestly, this one is a hard watch for me, but it’s also incredibly scary and a really great episode of a really great show. Hulu folks, you’re able to get this straight to your nearest TV. Home Improvement - A Night to Dismember Say what you will about Home Improvement and its largely felonious cast. It was a powerhouse, a cornerstone of TGIF, and they had some damn good Halloween episodes. Every single year we watched the show as a family I’d look forward to them, and there’s more than one I could pick here. It’s not as corny or pranky as some of the other ones, and it actually has an emotional undercurrent that an aspiring goth girl like myself with real live teenage angst related to. In this one, Mark, the youngest of the boys, was making a black and white horror film with his friend Ronnie for their class. And, backing up to make my goth comment make sense, this was the era in which Mark had turned goth, with full on skinny black jeans, black nail polish, big shoes, and black hair. Me: so into this, wanting to do this too, related to the angst which would bring him to play the sad angry music and make the moody films : riveted. Tim and Jill usually had the upper hand in the Halloween prank wars that the family was known for in these episodes, but in this one they’re helping on a school project that turns dark. See, the plot of the movie is that a neglected child seeks out a mad scientist to make a potion to turn his family into freaks so that he can kill them. Now, don’t ask me why he didn’t just, IDK, kill them without all the mad science of it all? I’m not the writer here. But it culminates in Mark with a knife scaring the actual shit out of his parents, and prompting a heart to heart that touches on the real feelings behind Mark’s story for the film and his parents reassurance that he doesn’t have to change who he is or how he dresses, and they love him just the same. Which is surprisingly progressive for a show like this one. Those wanting to look back on this one can turn to Disney+ Good Will Haunting - Sabrina the Teenage Witch It’s a show about witches. The whole entire show could count for Halloween if you wanted it to. But this in particular episode is a lot of fun, both for the costumes the cast wears (Harvey as Frankenstein’s monster is great) and for the creepiness of it all. Because that’s right, we’ve got another creepy doll. This one summons monsters to a calm night of horror movie watching with friends/boyfriends, and has the added b-plot of Hilda and Zelda avoiding a witches Halloween party. It’s really goofy, and a little bit spooky, with a ton of amazing guest stars up to and including Ringo Starr (for real though. He’s the mummy!) and that’s a perfect reason to be reacquainted with this this Halloween. If you’re hunting for Good Will Haunting, you’ll find it on Hulu. The Scare - Dawson’s Creek Speaking of teenage angst as we have, let’s revisit Dawson’s Creek, the soapy teen drama girls my age were absolutely absorbed in en masse. Pacey, Dawson, Jen, Joey - I mean, pick one and tell me you didn’t have a crush. In this episode, Dawson being Dawson is trying to prank his friends. It starts with stupid practical jokes and escalates into a seance, all the while in the background a news report is warning of an actual IRL serial killer who’s heading straight for Capeside. What are the odds? Well, it’s the only town they ever seem to be in in the show, so pretty high. Still, no one’s super worried until Jen starts getting phone calls and notes. But psych! (do you like the use of 90s vernacular there?) it was just her boyfriend. So there’s no REAL killer, right? RIGHT? We get another red herring somewhere along the way only to find out Joey was RIGHT THERE WITH THE KILLER way earlier. I mean, is it terrifying? Sure, I guess. But it’s also a fun romp in how horror and romance go hand in hand. I recommend. This is available widely, including on Tubi, Disney+, Hulu and Apple TV. And Then There was Shawn - Boy Meets World This one has to be on this list, and if I had been counting down to number one, this would be tied with Hush for top honors. Here’s the thing - I love when a theme episode can do double duty and pull huge plot moments for the entire episode/season/series – the way that Once More With Feeling did for Buffy. Sure, that was a musical episode, and that’s a sort of “theme” or some say “gimmick” episode, but it revealed one of the most important plot points of not only that season, but the rest of the series. And Then There Was Shawn is a scary, sometimes funny, really well done Halloween Episode of a show I already adored. This was in the Scream era, and they got Jennifer Love Hewitt for it, who plays Eric’s love interest and became a love interest for Will Friedle as well. We’re in the middle of an emotional breakup between Cory and Topanga and after a fight, everyone gets detention. They didn’t really reveal this as what it would be until they all get into detention and stuff starts to get really weird, really fast. Feeny kicks it off when he pulls up a map screen and “ No One Gets Out Alive” is written on the chalkboard, but it gets even worse from there. They’re locked in the classroom, the lights go out, there’s a shadowy figure outside, and people get stabbed by pencils pretty quickly. Feeny dies, the janitor dies. People are dropping like flies, and for a series that LOVES a silly joke or a catchphrase, there’s way fewer laughs than there are actual freaky moments. This was a slasher parody done to great effect with a cast of really talented people and a great writer’s room, and it shows. But what it also shows is depth, as the killer is revealed and the reasons that things went that way become clear. I don’t even want to spoiler it now, because it’s brilliant, and so scary that the episode director, Jeff McCracken stated that the network was apprehensive to put it out there, and feared it could be too scary for the audience. I’m really glad this one made it to air, because it’s still the one I hold up as one of the greatest Halloween episodes of any show of all time, for its careful parody of slasher films, emotional undercurrent, total genre shakeup and great acting. Disney+ is where to park it to watch this classic. We hope you enjoyed this list, and that you’ll bookmark it to revisit some 90s classics for spooky season alone or with friends.

Screenshot: Matchbox: The Movie. Apple TV. For someone who writes for an arts and culture publication, sometimes I feel like I live under a rock. Maybe it’s just the sheer amount of stuff coming out that I can’t possibly have my eyeballs on everything. Case in point: Matchbox: The Movie. When I saw my first review for that, I was thinking, "like, the cars?" Yeah, like the cars. I thought Hollywood gave up on its obsession with making films with flimsy premises based on millennial and Gen X nostalgia, but then I remembered that Masters of the Universe and Barbie was a thing, so what the hell do I know? Announced way back in 2022 as a partnership with Skydance, I assumed this would be another toy cash-grab. But its biggest sin isn't that it's based on a toy—it's that it's a generic spy movie wearing the Matchbox branding for reasons that feel barely earned. Unlike films like Battleship that really tried to shoehorn their premise to fit the source material, Matchbox just shows us a few small cars next to bigger cars every so often to remind us that this is, indeed, a Matchbox movie. Too bad everything else feels crammed and cliche–though I admit I did get some enjoyment out of it. Only just. Screenshot: Matchbox: The Movie. Apple TV. When I first discovered that Matchbox: The Movie was released on Apple TV, I started to watch a trailer for it, but that made me almost chicken out. Like a shot of bad grain alcohol with way too much proof, you need to shut off your tastebuds, tune out the protests from your brain, and just get that sucker in your stomach. So I threw it back and hoped I wouldn't go blind. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, we’re introduced to Smalley (Bill Camp), who gives us a brief history of Matchbox cars. His character, with his autoshop featuring a model train-style setup dedicated to Matchbox cars, serves as the nexus that brings together the film’s protagonists. Screenshot: Matchbox: The Movie. Apple TV. Sean Walker has a crush on Aimee, blows his chance, and then hard cut to almost 30 years later. Sean Walker (John Cena) is now a badass super spy. You can tell because he’s doing extra scary spy stuff, like stealing a nuclear warhead and delivering it to an arms dealer. It’s a whole basket of cliches, with Cena’s Walker brash, insubordinate, and highly capable. His handler and former partner Helen is played by Danai Gurira doing her best Viola Davis-as-Amanda Waller impression, just with a few more smiles than Waller typically dishes out. After Walker successfully delivers the nuke, he finds out Matchbox lover and autoshop owner Smalley has died, prompting him to return to his hometown after 28 years away. While reconnecting with his friends, they’re all drugged and kidnapped by the CIA, who think they were Walker’s co-conspirators in this bomb heist. Screenshot: Matchbox: The Movie. Apple TV. Each of Walker’s friends in this ensemble—including Aimee played by Jessica Biel, Crosby (Sam Richardson), Ted (Arturo Castro) and Charmaine (Teyonah Parris)—spend the film mostly as just "Walker’s friends." There are a few half-hearted attempts at character building, one of which revolves around Crosby wanting his Leatherman back and Aimee wanting to drive because she’s a race car driver. The plot and characters are so by-the-numbers that I couldn’t have come up with a series of cliches quite as egregious as Matchbox: The Movie does. I would have rathered a clumsy attempt at making the movie about Matchbox cars than what the final product was. Eventually, Walker decides to ditch his friends because they're slowing him down, and he is immediately captured. Through the power of friendship and some serious charisma rolls by Aimee, the gang secures a small fleet of vehicles to find and save their friend. Screenshot: Matchbox: The Movie. Apple TV. In the middle of the movie, during an action sequence with one of their friends hanging out of an ambulance while on fire, it cuts to a small kid playing with Matchbox cars. It was, until that moment, that I had forgotten the Matchbox tie-in. The moment was so absurd, I wished it would have leaned into utter absurdity, instead of trying the skirt the line between “realistic” and “barely believable.” Matchbox: The Movie is barely about Matchbox cars. It ends up being a little bit of Fast and the Furious and a little bit of True Lies meets Grosse Pointe Blank with a small (tiny) pinch of The Road Warrior–but never as good as any one of those films were. It’s also full of the self-referential "wow, that just happened" style humor, and characters that are overused tropes. Matchbox: The Movie does little to encourage a new audience to check out the toy brand, nor does it serve as brand representation in any meaningful way. It is dumb, popcorn fun that is utterly missable.

Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list. Birthed out of the painful and tumultuous emotions of writer /director Andrzej Żuławski faced while getting divorced, Possession is a masterpiece of horror. Combining a variety of genre elements in the most pervasive avant garde fashion, the film had been a difficult to procure cult classic. But thanks to the resurgence of physical media, it's now readily available (albeit contentious color grading throughout its releases). The film centers on the relationship international spy Mark (portrayed fantastically by Sam Neil), his wife Anna (portrayed even more fantastically by Isabelle Adjani), who is seeing another man and wants a separation, and their son Bob. At first glance the film sounds like the making of a great drama, but moments into the film things just feel off. You have to be aware that this film relies heavily on emotion over plot, the feeling you get watching these people slowly destroy their lives over the logic behind their actions. Characters are staged oddly, they speak off to the side, and entire sequences feel disjointed and out of place. However it's all for a reason. Possession is a finely crafted film that truly take every aspect of its creation into account for maximum effect. The film as as uncomfortable as uncomfortable gets, with it's social political themes (the film takes place in West Berlin in the 80s) seeping into the other aspects of the film: from the duality of people (figuratively and literally as Bob's teacher Helen is the spitting image of his mother), the psychological pain of a divorce, and of course my favorite: body horror. Much of the film goes off the deep end rather quickly, with instances of otherworldly influences wreaking havoc on Mark and Anna. I don't want to spoil too many of the turns the film takes, but I will not that the subway scene is heartbreaking frightening and insane. It's no wonder that even if you haven't seen the film, the image of Isabelle Adjani frantically flailing around has become a staple of horror imagery. Like most great films, the film is open to deep and varied interpretation, thanks to its many layers of reality that can all be taken literally or with a boulder sized chuck of salt. You can view everything as a metaphorical representation of the characters heavy distress, or maybe the more supernatural aspect are actually happening. Whatever path you take, it's a harrowing experience that will leave you frightened for day to come. Go watch this amazing film before Hollywood remakes it. Oh, they already are? and it seems promising? Let's hope it doesn't turn out like one of the film's doppelgangers.

Screenshot: Gravebound Extraction shooters and looter-shooters share enough genetic material that mashing them together feels inevitable. Gravebound attempts exactly that, borrowing a smattering of inspirations from genre heavy-hitters—most notably wrapping itself in the thick-lined, cel-shaded visual identity of the Borderlands franchise. But where a game like ARC Raiders pits you against towering, militarized industrial mechs, Gravebound asks a much sillier question: what if humanity was wiped out because we gave our home appliances Wi-Fi? You and up to five other players are tasked with fighting off machines gone rogue. Instead of heavily armed death-bots, you’re fending off homicidal toasters, freezing refrigerators, and aggressively territorial Roombas. Screenshot: Gravebound The core loop revolves around deploying into these junk-punk cityscapes to scavenge scrap and rare tech to upgrade your gear. The deeper you push, the better the loot, but the risk of a squad wipe—and losing your hard-earned salvage—scales up drastically. That risk factor brings up the game’s first major hurdle: the six-player team size. Mustering a full, coordinated squad of six is difficult–especially for older gamers like me. And because the game is currently sitting at a “Mixed” user rating on Steam, the matchmaking pool is relatively shallow. Screenshot: Gravebound Solo drops were my primary way to play. While I didn’t have much trouble surviving the starting “noobtown” areas alone, progress beyond that wall requires a level of grinding and dedication I simply wasn’t ready to invest in a currently underpopulated game. The actual gameplay is fun enough. The shooting and movement feel closest to Fortnite. It operates at a deliberate, medium-paced cadence where you aren't slide-canceling at top speed, but rather relying on measured strafing and accurate fire. The rogue appliances aren’t tactical masterminds–the true difficulty stems from the sheer density of the hordes and their punishing damage output if they manage to swarm you. Because Gravebound is fresh into Early Access, the final verdict is still a long way off. The developers currently project a 10-to-18-month development timeframe–dependent on community feedback. That time is desperately needed to address the friction driving those “Mixed” Steam reviews, which seem to be a mixture of technical hiccups, and some controversy regarding a competition the developers held. A few of them mention the same solo player problem I had, too. For now, I’m going to reserve final judgment until Gravebound takes its 1.0 form. Beneath the current roadblocks lies a fairly competent shooter that is mostly limited by rigid design choices rather than foundational flaws. Implementing dynamically scalable difficulty and dedicated solo-play balancing would go a long way toward making this wasteland more enticing. Until then, I’ll be keeping an eye on it from a safe distance to see which direction it takes.

Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list. We live in a world where the whole universes converging and smashing together are old hat and an expected plotline in even the most pedestrian of movies. But Coherence, a small budget film that takes place in one location, was doing it way back in 2013 and doing it well. Coherence centers on a dinner party amongst close friends during a comet passing. What starts off as some some odd occurrences from cellphones cracking and not working to unexpected past lovers creating tension, quickly turns stranger and stranger. Stories of past celestial bodies having disturbed towns they passed by lay the foundation for some quick if not heavy handed foreshadowing. The film quickly turns into a tension filled, paranoia laced sci-fi film as the lights go down and more talk of comets lead them down the road, literally and figuratively, to the meat of the film. Multiple realities, with multiple versions of the characters, time schisms, and more are converging during this comet’s passing. Every aspect of the film feels way more honed than its tiny budget suggests. The writing is honestly incredible, truly feeling authentic with each character wonderfully defined archetypes being portrayed by some great actors. While everyone is great, and I mean great, Emily Baldoni shines as the film's focal point and Nicholas Brendon as a pseudo version of himself (uncomfortably so) stands out. There are some intriguing editing choices at the beginning of the film that really set the film's tone. At the beginning it feels disjointed, as it jumps from conversation to conversation through momentary blank spaces. It later becomes clear that these jumps mirror the feeling of confusing and sudden shifts in character. The film builds on its paranoid toxicity so well and believably, covering every base with a heaping dose of skepticism and sci-fi chicanery that will give you massive bouts of anxiety and genuine fear for these unfortunate universe clashed victims. Coherence benefits from multiple viewings and thankfully its quality rises above its low budget, making each viewing an incredible experience to dig into. Go watch Coherence and lament that all those superheroes can handle multiple universes as well and coherent as this film. Oh, coherent...coherence.... man they really were setting themselves up for failure if this film didn't end up making sense huh? Trust me though, it does and it's awesome.

Screenshot: Soggy Froggy Playdate Season 3 is here. And even though the console and all of its accessories are currently sold out on the Playdate store—which is a bummer; I went to buy a pizza box cover just to discover that the entire storefront is empty—Panic plans to have more hardware available later this year. In the meantime, current owners can look forward to their weekly Season 3 deliveries, with the first two games dropping just yesterday. One of those launch titles is Soggy Froggy, developed by Team Root—the crew behind the viral breakout hit Root Bear. It brings back that highly satisfying "get this just right" style of gameplay. But instead of pouring the perfect pint, you’re making sure your bathing frog doesn’t freeze, doesn't burn, and hits maximum enjoyment along the way. Screenshot: Soggy Froggy You use the crank (of course) to cool the constantly heating water. It requires a skill not unlike the balancing act of Flappy Bird—riding the line between two extremes. You can hit bonuses in the middle for extra points, but from there, it’s a game of endurance as you try to maximize your score. The animations were a standout in Root Bear, and Soggy Froggy is no exception. It features adorable reaction animations across a few different frogs to show just how cold, hot, or happy they are as you attempt to give them the best bath possible. Soggy Froggy reminds me a lot of Season 1’s first game, Whitewater Wipeout. That title not only taught me that micro-games on the Playdate are sublime, but that they’re sometimes fun enough to sink hours into. Screenshot Gloom Gate One of the other games I was looking forward to this season was Gloom Gate, so I’m delighted it’s a day-one drop. A visual standout, Gloom Gate uses pre-rendered 3D models turned into 1-bit sprites. This ingenious technique allows for some great visuals on a Playdate’s limited hardware, and manages to do it at 50 FPS. It is also the perfect foil to Soggy Froggy’s casual arcadeness. In Gloom Gate, you choose your path much like you would in a roguelite—branching paths in an overworld. You can find new gear, NPCs, and more as you explore each of the nodes. Of course, you’ll be running into enemies—and that’s where the soulslike comes in. Screenshot: Gloom Gate Combat in Gloom Gate is definitely soulslike—but only just. You have a stamina bar which restricts dodging and attacking. But dodging is a simple left and right maneuver—there’s no true 3D, even if the pre-rendered models want to fool you into thinking there is. Parry with B and attack with A. It’s that “simple” but enemies are tough, and parry windows aren’t very forgiving. These day-one Season 3 Playdate games are fantastic and a good omen for things to come. I’m especially looking forward to Shaun Inman’s Cross Words. He was the solo developer behind Ratcheteer, which is both a great Playdate game and an excellent retro-style RPG that saw a wider release on Steam earlier this year. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the games this season.

2019 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor. It’s near 2 am on some random side street or alleyway in and around the theater district or Lakeview in Chicago, and a few random vehicles are pulled up to the outside of a restaurant with a cabaret room run by somebody unfortunate, a big corporate brewery with several floors and an elevator up to the actual dressing room, a full on vintage ballroom, an incredibly unique bar or two, or a huge events space with “so much room for activities.” A few surviving tech crew have convinced tired performers from the show, maybe even the queen themselves, to help pack up the black light cube in a Rubbermaid alongside the hundreds of LED candles we use because there is a building code in the modern haunt of the vampire. We feebly toss those Rubbermaids in someone’s car or cars, unglue the fangs, and get in the car for a red-eye drive back home. 2022 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor This is the life of someone who’s been a part of the latest revival of the Vampire Ball, a tradition that as far as I can tell, goes back to the 1890s, heavily enmeshed in the tradition of the masquerade. Not all masquerades are equal though, and they’re certainly not all the same. So over time, magic crept in. Or a community of outliers, who to some seem a sinister, dark, villainous bunch. Maybe of the occult or maybe just from hell or co-signed by demons or something. There had to be something. As communities distilled, vampires and masquerades of a Victorian nature were encountering emo, alt and goth culture, were also a part of LGBTQIA+ culture and had an alarming majority population of people in the arts or hospitality. Theater nerds, tech guys and band geeks. This didn’t always mesh well, and sometimes it still doesn’t. I don’t think it’s easy to say what the “tradition” of a vampire ball is, because they are so inextricably linked to the places that continue to host them. Louisiana’s event is called Endless Nights - appropriately ethereal for that romantic green glass ghoul vibe. If you sign up for their official newsletter, you can enter your Vampire/Nightside Name along with your email address. You laugh, and a lot of people do, but it can also be good to put your normal life aside for a night and get lost in pomp, circumstance and a live DJ from midnight to 2 am. New Orleans’ ball’s theme this year is Vampire Carnevale, and it’ll be held on Halloween itself. They describe it as “Venetian Masquerade meets a Vampire Court, with the energy of a rock concert and the elegance of Burlesque cabaret” 2025 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor We here in Chicago have been in Facebook chats about this since August and somehow it still doesn’t seem like enough time. This time, we had a mid-planning venue shift, to a much bigger place with multiple levels. As the person who’s been photographing all of the latest series of Vampire Balls - 7th annual for this run - I love multiple levels. I love to haunt sidestages, balconies, and dark corners because it’s where I get the coolest shots. What are we having? We’re having bats, and burlesque, tarot readings. A ghost poet and a Night market with vampire jewelry and that’s before the actual show begins. Roxy the Bat. 2025 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor At doors, a stream of people comes in. Some people came to see the bat. Her name is Roxy, and she's soft as cashmere and lovely to get the chance to interact with. Some are part of the larger vampire community in Chicago, and some just thought that a Vampire Ball seemed like the coolest way to kick off the Halloween season and are here to have a great time until we have to kick them off the dancefloor at 2 am. Baton drops at 8 and the lights go up, I find the current least crowded place I can photograph for a while, and a series of contenders from various of the communities I mentioned the vampire masquerade community encountered are set to take the stage in a “demonstration of power.” 2019 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor This is essentially the first part of a talent show, but it’s going to be so much more glamorous and spooky than all that. Contenders include dancers, metal singers, drag performers, bellydancers, opera singers, and general theatric horror performers ready with so much fake blood. There are burlesque performers backstage getting ready to be the backup dancers to the spectacle, so to speak, but are actually the key ingredient to hype up the crowd for the second half of the proceedings: The Transformation. If you’ve ever known a burlesque dancer that’s good at being in the background for long, well…I’d be surprised. These “middle acts” are absolutely insane. There are elaborate costumes and props and in some cases, so much fake blood. They’re electric, they’re powerful, and they charge up an audience that’s already having the time of their lives. 2024 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor Transformation involves some of the most elaborate and beautiful costumes I’ve ever seen, from full size broken-doll marionettes and beautiful Victorian gowns to head to toe glitter and glam in rich purples, burgundies and blacks, and another display of talent. In true Chicago style though, it’s not as simple as getting on stage and doing a good job. If you’re wanting to curry favor with this crowd as a contestant for king or queen, you should be making friends. Entry to the ball grants an attendee one blood red bead/gem. You use it to cast a vote for your favorite after Transformation. Buying a drink earns you another bead. Someone in a trench coat and Groucho glasses might also be selling velvet pouches of them, or giving them away if the conversation makes him smile. You as a king or queen contestant could buy a pouch of those, but you would never do that, would you? After Transformation, the votes are taken back to the backstage area and counted, and a new vampire king or queen waits in the wings to be announced. The chairs are taken down, and everyone presses onto the dance floor to find out who will take the throne. A little fanfare, a little drumroll, and, from behind the curtain (or from outside in the hallway) the newly appointed vampire king or queen takes the throne, and a handcrafted crown is placed on their heads. This year’s was commissioned from an artist in Kentucky and we’re pretty sure it’s actually haunted. The 2022 Chicago Vampire Ball. Queen: David Tenninch. Photo: Marielle Bokor In the beginning, there were two very separate, very distinct crowds at the Vampire Balls we hosted. Those who considered it a lifestyle and had found community there, and those who were looking to dress up, dance and just be someone else for the night. As I said before, those two groups didn’t always mesh well, but to date by the time the show’s over and the crown is on someone’s head, it seems like it’s all pretty well worked out. The lights go down, the DJ turns up the music, the drinks get poured and everyone parties until just about 1:30 am, when the pizza gets delivered to the crew, the lights go up, and we pack it in til next year. When I started writing this, I wanted to find out which of these traditions were universal, which were historic, and what their origins were. It’s the fault of being a journalist. I wanted to fact check it all, have a source for everything. Explain why the beads, why the illegal voting activity that seems so fitting here? Demonstration of power? Transformation? Where did the rituals come from? It could be magic. It could be the reconvening of a community that’s often othered. It could be improv. And I could tell you which I think it really is, but I would never do that, would I? Green Envy @ 2022 Chicago Vampire Ball. Photo: Marielle Bokor The 2026 Chicago Vampire Ball will convene on October 9, 2026 at Artifact Events in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood this year, and tickets will still be available at the door at the time of publishing. Louisiana’s Endless Nights: Vampire Carnevale is on October 31st at the New Orleans House of Blues, with tickets also selling fast and available at this link.

Screenshot: Beat, Heart, Beat I’m a sucker for rhythm games, a love affair that started with PaRappa the Rapper and GuitarFreaks in the late 90s. This was long before Guitar Hero and Rock Band dominated the scene and dictated exactly what the genre should look and play like. We’re finally far from that era. While games like Stage Tour attest to the lingering nostalgia for peripheral-based games, players have become highly receptive to experimental rhythm hybrids. FPS rhythm shooters and roguelikes like Crypt of the Necrodancer shattered the old mold, clearing the stage for weirder, wilder concepts. In Beat, Heart, Beat, you play as Peccori on a journey to reach their withering heart. What does that mean? I’ve played the game, and I'm still not entirely sure—and that’s not a complaint. The game features a bizarre, absurdist world brought to life through a chaotic mixed-media aesthetic that blends 2D animation, FMV, and digital collage art. It’s strange, slightly unsettling, and pairs perfectly with the game's original alt-rock and grunge soundtrack. Screenshot: Beat, Heart, Beat At first glance, gameplay looks like a standard 2D action-sidescroller where you attack on the beat. In reality, it’s much closer to a Guitar Hero track, as there is really only one correct way to approach the "combat" in each level. The enemies are the notes. You can jump, and attack forward, up, and down. That might sound simple, but actions dynamically change based on context. A jump becomes a jump attack if there’s a target above you, forcing you to attack downwards to hit the next beat. Attacking forward while in the air keeps you airborne to clear gaps. It creates a system where encounters can dynamically alter the chart or throw new visual curveballs at you as you go. Screenshot: Beat, Heart, Beat Beat, Heart, Beat is entering Early Access, meaning it has some way to go before hitting 1.0. According to the developer, it will stay in the oven for about a year. Right now, it features roughly 30 percent of the planned Story Mode content. However, the inclusion of a custom Level Editor and full Steam Workshop support gives the game endless replayability for those who blast through the story. I’ll be keeping a close eye on Beat, Heart, Beat as it heads toward the finish line. It’s an incredibly fascinating intersection of midwest emo grunge, rhythm mechanics, and avant-garde art. The highly specific—and punishingly addictive—gameplay loop makes it a unique standout in the indie rhythm space.