Chicken Pi: Twisted Tales by S. Lawrence Parrish (2013) - Horror Audiobook Series Review

Chicken Pi: Twisted Tales is a collection of fifteen short horror stories written and spoken by S. Lawrence Parish (he of Where Evil Grows and Yog-Sothoth's Box fame), each one roughly twenty minutes in length. His previous audio books have been straight up narrations and featured him doing a variety of voices. The stories contained in Chicken Pi all have sound effects and music added which really gives them some added flavour.

Parrish gives all his audio work away for free and this is no exception and so the only aspect to look at is are these stories any good, and are they worth the listen? The resounding answer would be yes. I was very impressed with the variety and quality of these tales with only a few coming across as anything but excellent. While all the stories are different there are several themes that he keeps coming back to. A few of the stories concern demons and vampires while a fair few of them are post apocalyptic in nature. It is the apocalyptic ones in particular that had a real power of dread behind them.

Not all the stories in Chicken Pi were amazing, in particular I did not enjoy Givin' the Dog a Bone which was about an old man and woman trying to survive nuclear fallout, it was depressing from the start and ended a bit strangely. The other one which I did not think was as good as the others was final story Kitty Kitty about a witch and a very hard to kill cat. For that one I just straight up got confused as to what happened. That is not to say these are badly written, far from it, Parrish never disappoints with his style of writing and he is skilled at coming up with different voices for the characters in that particular unique voice of his.

On the other end of the spectrum the best tale by far is Current Events that brings real horror of nuclear Armageddon into play, it is harrowing throughout and ends in such an amazing and descriptive way that I got goosebumps hearing it, something very special there. The two parter The Prophet was also another stand out story. That one concerned a feudal based civilisation who are approaching end times and had a sense of urgency and frustration and again ended on such a blinder of an ending.

Most of the stories here finish badly for the characters being followed, it almost come to be expected that everything would go wrong and so I came to look forward to getting the ironic or deserved end to these people. A few curve balls are thrown also with the best oddity being A Fistful of Rubber that seems to be a post apocalyptic based yarn about the day after a wild party. The story is narrated by Stumpy who speaks in a very A Clockwork Orange way with his own little language that was fun to hear.

With stories set hundreds of years in the past and future, demons that crawl into people via their bottoms, aliens who can take over your mind with just a touch, Scanner style head explosions and exploding babies the variety is always consistent leading you to never know what is going to be next. Chicken Pi: Twisted Tales is essential listening if you are a fan of short horror stories, I cannot recommend it enough.

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This is the End (2013) - Comedy Horror Film Review

The trailer for this made me laugh a lot so I had to give the film a go. Am I the only one who finds it weird that this has come out pretty much the same time as the Simon Pegg film 'The Worlds End'? Titles just sound too similar to me. This is the End has a whole host of famous people playing exaggerated versions of themselves.

Jay Baruchel is in L.A to visit old friend Seth Rogan who convinces him to go to a party at James Franco's new house. After heading out to buy some supplies Rogan and Baruchel experience cataclysmic events; earthquakes, fire, explosions, panic and people being beamed up into the sky. They rush back to the party just in time for a huge sink hole to open up and swallow most the guests. Thinking they may be facing the apocalypse the survivors; Baruchel, Rogan, Franco, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson barricade themselves in Franco's mansion and wait for rescue. As the days go on with no rescue the group start to realise that it may in fact be the real end of the world.

I was slightly worried that all the films best bits had been shown in the very funny trailer, but no, this film is consistently funny and laugh out loud funny at that. Around 50% of the film is apparently ad libbed which leads to some utterly hilarious lines. Most the humour comes from the dialogue which is liquid gold for nearly the entire running time. There is some low brow humour that is not really my thing but for the most part it works and has some fantastically placed dark humour as well as well as sight gags (using tape to tape up cracks that have appeared in the walls of the house for instance).

There are a hell of a lot of cameos which unfortunately were lost for the most part on me as I only knew a handful of the actors due to not watching the right sort of films. For example Rhianna was in the film and I hate to admit I had no idea what she looked like, that shows the level of celebrity knowledge I have. Special mention has to go to Michael Cera who is portrayed as a coked up idiot, he was fantastic, so funny. There were quite a few people I recognised from other films,  and of course Emma Watson (from the Harry Potter series) who had quite a funny role.

For the most part the film take place in Franco's house and details the interactions between the core leads who are hilarious and each have a shed load of awesome one liners without coming across as trying to upstage each other. The group squabble over supplies, theories about what is happening (such as a zombie apocalypse or biblical Armageddon) and have plenty of talk about previous films they have done with there even being a sequel to Pineapple Express acted out and filmed by the bored group.

Being a film about the end of the world brings with it some horror elements. The characters become so likable that I did come to be worried for them, I couldn't see how a good ending could be arrived at and so despite all the comedy there was a tinge of sadness to things. Though a lot of the film is set in the one house special effects are used to great effect when ever the outside is shown to display the raging hell hole the world has become. Some later scenes have genuine horror to them with nods to a variety of horror films. There are some quite bloody parts also, one great early scene had a severed head get into the house, the group all screaming and kicking it at each other in terror, so funny to watch. Every time you think things can't possibly get worse for the poor characters they somehow do, it's amazing how it just keeps ramping up and up right until the end. There is real evil outside the house, discovering what exactly is going on in the outside world is part of the hook for the films plot.

I don't know how to review comedy films! This is a terrible review and for that I am sorry. This is the End is the funniest film I have seen this year, it is frequently hilarious and while there is not a particular stand out comedy moment it gave me a lot of enjoyment even if it did start to drag ever so slightly towards the end. The acting is mostly of a high standard, especially Franco who I did not rate as a good actor previously, and I do like Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill anyway. When I left the cinema my jaw was hurting from laughing so much, that is my endorsement. I imagine it is one of those films that just gets better with repeated viewings. For all my talk of comedy it does do enough to warrant being labelled as a horror

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Supernatural Season 4 - Horror TV Show Review

After re-watching the first 3 seasons of Supernatural I was well up for seeing Season 4. Spoilers ahead for those who have not seen the previous 3 seasons and also unavoidable spoilers for Season 4 (to be fair even the back of the DVD box gives away these spoilers).

With Dean being dragged to Hell at the end of 3 there was not much the show could do other than spit him back out, and that's exactly what happens. Awaking in a coffin Dean emerges to find out 4 months have passed since he died. He soon learns that he was pulled out of Hell by Castiel; an angel (such a good introduction scene for him!). Season 4 revolves around the battle between demons and angels, the demons led by head demon Lilith intend to start Armageddon. While Season 2 tried to have the whole 'dark side' storyline of Sam succumbing to the evil within him it failed, here the plot is resurrected, this time Sam's descent to evil is far more believable, his blossoming power gives him the ability to exorcise demons using just the power of his mind...but at what cost?

I thought this season was possibly the best yet, the main storyline of Supernatural has always been a bit lame but here it hits its stride a bit more clearly, the battle between Heaven and Hell can't fail to be epic, and for the first time the story feels like it could carry on over multiple seasons rather than be confined to one. Worries that the show could become a bit preachy and religious are put to rest when it becomes readily apparent that the angels are mostly utter dicks, uncaring about humanity and carrying a huge superiority complex.

Misha Collins is the best of the new characters, playing the emotionless Castiel with real weight that gives his brief appearances an impactful feeling. Supernatural does its usual job of introducing both awesome and lame characters and then quickly killing them off before they get a chance to shine. By far the best new bad guy comes in the form of slimy demon Alastair; the head torturer of Hell, the worst new character is 'riot girl' psychic Pamela, I was delighted to see the pain and misery her character endures though. I don't think it is sexism but the shows writers really seem to hate females on the show.

After the writers strike made season 3 shorter than normal it is good to see it come back up to 22 episodes, it gives the team a chance to make some weirder ones, as well as the usual hit or miss comedy ones. Some of the more out there episodes include 'In the Beginning' where Dean is transported through time to the early 70's, 'It's a Terrible Life' where Dean and Sam seem to be in an alternate reality where they are office workers, 'After School Special' that visits the Winchester boys as teenagers (the actors who play their younger selves are very well cast), and a real strange one 'The Monster at the End of This Book' where they discover a series of pulp books named 'Supernatural' that chronicle their previous adventures with spooky accuracy.

Not all the episodes are good though, as I said some of the comedy episodes just don't work. 'Monster Movie' is a homage to the old Universal monster movies and as such is filmed in black and white, kinda boring truth be told. The other comedy episodes are not quite so bad but the image of a 8 foot tall suicidal Teddy Bear is kinda stupid even for this show! Monster of the week episodes pop up every now and again, it seems a bit strange in light of the broad plot that the boys would take out time to solve these cases but are well done.

There has often been bad attempts at creating tension and division among the boys, here it works a lot better as it is readily visible the differences they have leading to quite a few fist fights between them. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer before it trying to compare addiction to magic to addiction to drugs is really quite stupid. Sam's magic withdrawal episode where he sits hallucinating and sweating over not getting his fix was pathetic and unbelievable.

The show has a budget, that can be seen but it still relegates a lot of the action to off screen, usually Sam and Dean will wander on to the aftermath of a huge battle rather then see it first hand. Season finale was another real good episode, as expected now the season ended on a huge cliffhanger that has me counting down the days until I get paid so I can buy season 5. A fantastic show that even with some bad episodes is still well worth seeing.

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The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead (2012) - Zombie Horror Film Review

The first film I saw at Day of the Undead 2012 was The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead. At first I thought this was going to be three seperate short films, but it is instead done in a Tales from the Crypt style of one wraparound story and three mini interconnecting ones.

An ancient evil awakens from the earth, with him comes zombie apocalypse, everywhere he goes the zombies follow. This supernatural terror will ensure no human escapes the ravage plague sweeping the lands. In this land a lone survivor is holding out in the mountains. A stranger appears, carrying with him a book that tells tales of the zombie apocalypse. One tale is of a zombified man searching for his daughter, one has a young man on a mission to locate his parents, the last is about a man who will do anything to protect his son.

There are lots and lots of zombies in this film, around 700 I believe. Director/writer; Damien Morter stated how many of the cast were family and friends, and unfortunately it does show as some of the acting is truly terrible with people sounding like they are reading from a script they have never seen before. The child actors all do that hideous over acting technique thing where they over emphasize words and sound unnatural.

The zombies themselves are for the most part sparsely made up, this is a great thing, I don't know what it is about sloppily done zombies but I love it, makes it feel more like a proper zombie film, there are so many as well that the sense of being completely doomed runs rampant. Some great effects are used at times, in particular I remember when someone got their face pulled off (I think) - that looked great!



For a low budget film it really does look great, the directing is also very well done. The surviving humans all look scummy, a great choice of actors were used for these characters, not so much the main ones. The dad in the third story was giving off a Swedish vibe for some reason which was off putting for a story set in Britain, while the large zombie obsessed with finding his daughter was kind of funny rather than tragic. The funniest character by far was some meat-headed man whose son got killed after he failed to punch a horde to death. Believed dead he reappears later on covered in bite marks, ready to fight the hero of story two;  a very funny moment. The stories are interconnected but only really in the way that the same zombies keep showing up which fits with the supernatural cause of the outbreak

This is a hard one, I did really enjoy this film, there are many, many far worse zombie films, it's just that I never cared about the antagonists in either of the shorts at all, I never rooted for them. I am not sure if the film is supposed to be serious or if it is an accidental comedy. For zombie action though there is a lot of fun to be had. I love the idea of a supernatural figure leading the undead, one who knows where any remaining survivors are and can find them where ever they hide.

The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead is definitely a zombie film you should see, it is a lot better than Meat Market, and other low budget films of that type. The acting may be wooden, the plot may be uninspired, but it gets zombies right, hordes of shambling flesh hungry creeps are here in abundance and for that Morter should be commended.

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Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky - Horror Book Review

Metro 2033 was originally a Russian book released in 2005, it has been translated into many languages with the English language version being released in 2010 to coincide with the release of the game. Interestingly Glukhovsky preferred a videogame of Metro 2033 over a film adaptation. Anyway, I digress, I am not the best at book reviews, having not done many, I will try my best though.

Metro 2033 takes place around 20 years after nuclear Armageddon has destroyed the surface world. Artyom lives at VDNKh; a station on the edge of the Moscow Metro. Beings known as Dark Ones have begun attacking the station. It is feared that if they over run VDNKh then the whole Metro will be in peril. A Stalker named Hunter gives Artyom a special mission. He is to head to the heart of the Metro to the legendary station Polis and alert them to the dire situation with the Dark Ones. Having never been far from his home station this is a huge undertaking for the young man, and one that will lead him on a path of adventure, horror, and self discovery.

It is hard to write about this book without comparing it to the game. The world of the Metro is a place with not much hope. The game has you fighting many many hundreds of mutants and monsters, the book for at least two thirds is far more calm and at times reads like an essay. The meaning of life, religion, politics all are looked into deeply, sometimes many pages dedicated to Artyoms inner thoughts as he de-constructs the belief system, the sense of nationality and free will. On his travels he comes across many different ideologies; the fourth Reich (Nazi's), the people of the Red Line (Communists), as well as cults (such as the Children of the Worm) and more normal, but no less troubling faiths.

At times Artyoms travel seems less like a story, and more like an excuse to look into these different beliefs. He is railroaded from one set piece to a next, always some miraculous event saving him from the many times he is captured. His character states he does not believe in destiny and that free will persists yet he has changed these thoughts by the books end. One particular fourth wall breaking moment had him wondering if he was just a character in a book, unknowingly following the plot of an author, which of course he is!

The Metro is a place of tales, paranormal activity and surrealness. A lot of the book is dedicated to gossip and stories various characters have, all for the most part are interesting, and often downright creepy such as the story of a Satanic cult which believe they are on the gates of Hell and so kidnap people to dig downwards to open up the way to Hell. Others talk of a secret second Metro line where Angel type beings silently monitor the inhabitants of the world. The Metro is compared to Purgatory, to a dream, to a punishment for all mankind. There are many ghostly encounters through the story; ghost trains, mysterious voices, visions and a really interesting look back on World War II that has the Russian Red Star actually being a pentagram used to summon demons with which to fight the Nazis and their magic.

So much happens throughout the book that it never has time to get boring. It is quite sedate (apart from bursts of random violence) until towards the end when far more action occurs once Artyom gets topside and is hunted by the various mutants of the wasteland. I have gone back to play through the game after reading this book and surprised how much of an action game it actually is when my opinion before hand was that it was more low key.

A well translated book and I will definitely be picking up the sequel (Metro 2034). Be aware this is not a happy book and has a massive, massive downer of an ending, one that even though I already knew what it was (due to the game) left me speechless with it's powerful impact. An essential book to read, a modern classic.

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Evil Quest - Fantasy Videogame Review (X-Box Live Indie)

Evil Quest is a low budget RPG from Chaosoft Games, I found it in the murky depths of the Xbox Live Indie Channel for the cheap cheap price of 80 Microsoft points (around £1). In a refreshing change you play as the games bad guy, with your goal to destroy the world rather than save it.

Galvis is the dark ruler of an evil army who has conquered nearly all the lands. During a key battle with the King's forces his lieutenant betrays him leading to him being captured. With his army destroyed and his armour and weapons taken away from him he is chucked into a cell to wait out the rest of his days. A young soldier looking to get revenge for his family's death at Galvis's hand results in him escaping from his cell. Fuelled by the legend of a God killing weapon known as the Chaos Axe Galvis sets out to find it so that he can destroy the world that he is so bitter and hateful at.

Evil Quest is a retro adventure game that takes place in a fantasy land full of monsters. As Galvis you can visit villages to buy items and learn about the locations of dungeons, typical stuff apart from the fact everyone knows you are evil. Frequently amusing dialogue will lead to Galvis just straight up murdering people. There is quite a bit of funny dialogue with his hatred of everyone.  As you progress you get better weapons and armour and level up by defeating enemies. It really is not a hard game but it is fun, and the twist of you being the bad guy is kinda cool.

There are a lot of boss battles against usually giant foes, such as a Salamander posing as a Volcano God, an ice giant, even an automaton appears as the Lightning Shrine boss. Levels are maze like, off route paths giving you chests full of items, money and better equipment. Evil Quest lasted around two and a half hours (around the same length as my Silent Hill: Downpour third go took) and was fun all throughout with only one frustrating moment (a particularly hard boss). Evil Quest is cheap enough that if your in to retro style RPGs there is no excuse not to get this!

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Last Hope by Drew Brown - Zombie Horror Book Review

Zombie books can be really good, really exciting thrill rides, or they can be tense slow paced affairs. Last Hope manages to be both, and succeeds at both.

Last Hope follows mid 40's Budd Ashby; an American pilot who is spending a night in a posh London Hotel after flying over a top Scientist for the company he works for. To make things better Budd ends up hooking up with a young French pop star; Juliette. It turns out things could not get better for him.  Waking up the next morning he sees that London has gone silent. Nearly everyone in the Hotel is lying dead on the ground. Budd and Juliette meet up with some fellow survivors just in time for a very thick fog to settle over London, and pretty soon all the prone bodies start to at first twitch and then to return to life, predictably as flesh hungry zombies, but this is just the start of the troubles...

This is one great zombie book, I don't think since Autumn (by David Moody) have I enjoyed one as much. Budd is a fantastic character as he is so flawed, but in a human way. Frequent internal thoughts are provided for him, showing his thought process which are quite funny. His motivations that he explains to other survivors are usually vastly different to what he is really thinking (such as when he says he is going to go look for a first aid kit when in reality he just wants to get away from fighting zombies) and he is not afraid to turn tail and run, even abandoning others which is a fresh breath of air into stories where the main character is usually some 2 dimensional hero type wanting to help everyone.

At over two thirds of the way through I realised that not much at all had happened, all the characters where still hanging around the giant Hotel but this was an awesome realisation as it had all gone so quickly that it didn't matter at all at how slow paced it had been, each short chapter led onto the next one beautifully making it a book you just couldn't put down.  The full title of Last Hope is actually 'Last Hope Book One: Onslaught' Naming a book 'Book One' I at first thought as arrogant, as if your book would be so good that a sequel was already assured but this is one book that needs a sequel essentially.  It is such a roller coaster ride and ends on such a cliff hanger that it would be criminal if there was not a further book, or five, ten, twenty. This was like crack, I could read infinite numbers of sequels and never be bored by it.

Needless to say it was not long after realising how much of the book had passed before things spiralled into craziness with a genre shift (still zombies, but a different style). Brown has the enviable gift of creating locations and situations that you cant but help see in your mind as you read, I felt like I was there with the characters. To be fair some of the side characters were not fantastic; some I got confused with who they were, while others such as Sam (supposedly the 4th best poker player in the world) were just no interest to me. The key characters of Budd and Juliette were fantastic.  Budd's desire to protect his new love interest gives his character real motivation, at times she does seem no more than a prop for him to focus on but attraction is such a powerful emotion.

There are a lot of unanswered questions in the book; nothing is explained which works really well in the context, there is also the often commented half joking theory that it is all a dream, this is one situation where if it did all turn out to be a dream would be the perfect ending, as such sub plots hinting at time travel, and Budd having a mysterious uniqueness to him that people are willing to die to protect him give plenty of places for the next (already announced) book to go (Last Hope Book Two: Revelations).

At just one year older than me Drew Brown is a great author, I look forward to his next work. Typical zombie horror, but very well done, and don't be put off by the terrible cover.

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Deadworld: War of the Dead Issue 1 (2012) - Zombie Horror Comic Review

Deadworld is set to return this August in a new miniseries titled Deadworld: War of the Dead.  The comic (created by Gary Reed) is set in a world destroyed by a supernatural holocaust. For a while I read it in the past, I remember it was quite a twisted bleak comic that involved a bunch of teens trying to avoid the zombie masses. What made this different was that the zombies were led by intelligent ones, in particular King Zombie - the Harley riding sadistic leader. Intelligence gave the zombies a much more dangerous slant.

What is exciting about this new miniseries is that for the first time Deadworld is going to be in colour, since it's inception in the late 1980's it has always been black and white which does fit the grim vibe the comic goes for. I have gotten a preview copy of Issue 1 of this 5 part miniseries (one issue per week for August), so on with the review.

Deadworld: War of the Dead is a continuation of the main Deadworld story but thankfully does enough to introduce new readers without losing them in assumed knowledge. There is a lot to catch up on but the story does that well.  There are 'lepers' who are basically humans trapped in decaying zombified bodies, and other human survivors, then there are the main characters who are given flash backs to bring you up to speed on them.

Issue 1 takes place in and around a community college called Safe Haven, in the past it had been created as a way for a insane doctor to trap humans to experiment on, but due to it's defences it has been made into an actual safe haven. Despite this it still comes under constant attack by the hordes of undead.

Sometimes with colour comes a lack of horror, but with Deadworld,s look this is not the case, the colour adds to the atmosphere in a way far better than black and white. The colours are all washed out, saturated browns, reds and greys that create a sense of suffocation onto the world of Deadworld. The artwork is fantastic, the sharp strokes of the pen giving detail to the bleak place. It reminded me a lot of the Silent Hill comics in the way it looked, though thankfully the artwork is more constant than it was there.

A great comic with literally hundreds of zombies, and an interesting premise (more so than the snooze fest The Walking Dead turned into), Deadworld: War of the Dead is one to I'm looking forward to.

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Horror Videogames of E3 2012

So E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) has been and gone for another year, I noticed there were quite a lot of horror games announced and shown so I have compiled a little list of them all.

Aliens: Colonial Marines - This has to be better than the Aliens Vs Predator game early on in the current gen cycle. The gameplay trailers make it look better at least. Lots of new xenomorph types are being created for the game, kinda looking forward to this.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - I loved the first Lords of Shadow game despite it not feeling like a traditional Castlevania. The CGI trailer was darn exciting seeing a vamped up Belmont laying waste to an entire army. In this sequel Belmont is now a vampire it seems. Also there is a 3DS Castlevania game in the works; (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate), looks like it takes place in Castlevania but I don't know any other details.

Crysis 3 - Once again set in New York, but this time the city has been covered by a giant dome and has jungle melding with the buildings. Not too excited as it just seems more of the same Crysis 2.

Darksiders 2 - The first game saw you play as War, for this one you play as Death, another cool CGI trailer was shown. If it carries on the Darksiders homage to Zelda then it should be another solid game.

Deadlight - A downloadable zombie puzzle game with a unique look. Could be interesting.

Dead Space 3 - I am hearing some bad things about this game. Early reports say it has gone too far into action, that coupled with the awful news that it is going to be co-op only (going the way of the Resident Evils') means I do not have high hopes for this being remotely survival horror like at all.

DMC: Devil May Cry - I have never been keen on the Devil May Cry series of games, they have all been too tough for me to get any enjoyment out of. Hopefully this reboot will make things easier for us normals.

Doom 3 BFG Edition - I love, and I mean love Doom 3, so this HD version had already gotten my interest but with the addition of a new seven level story has made this one I must get!

God of War: Ascension - A prequel to the God of War games, it just seems to be more of the same. I liked God of War but have yet to play the others in the series yet so now seems like the perfect time.

Halo 4 - Not fussed about this, no doubt when it goes cheap enough I will get it. More covenant as well as a new cyborg looking enemy, woo.

Metro: Last Light - Metro 2033 was fantastic so hopefully this one will be too, more Russian post apocalypse goings on. I saw a short live action film detailing a nuke strike on Moscow made for this game, was not half bad.

Resident Evil 6 - Yet again co-op but promising to go back to its horror roots. It certainly looks good but the plot seems as jumbled a mess as always. Not going to lie though, I do want it.

Silent Hill: Books of Memories - For the Playstation Vita, this Silent Hill game seems to be a Gauntlet style overhead game. It is playable for up to four people and seems to be very action orientated. Don't know what to think about this one.

And there you have it, I am sure I have missed some but it is still quite a list of upcoming horror games. So many games, so little time...

Dark Inside (2011) by Jeyn Roberts - Horror Book Review

Dark Inside is the debut novel of Jeyn Roberts written for young adults. Despite being aimed at younger people it is still a book that deserves to be read by all.

A series of catastrophic earthquakes occur world wide devastating much of the Earth. With the earthquakes millions die, yet millions more become changed, now possessed by a great evil they exist only to cause chaos and butcher any survivors unaffected by the madness covering the globe.  Dark Inside follows four separate teens as they try to survive in the ruins of America.  Michael who teams up with a fellow group of survivors, Clementine who survives the massacre of her entire town, Mason who battles the evil threatening to over take him, and Aries who is set on her way by a mysterious young man who seems to know too much about the events that have happened.

Each chapter written in first person focuses on one of the four teens, with a fifth mysterious perspective from someone called 'Nothing'.  Each of the four (well five) has their own story going on in the world, so it is like reading totally different stories. This was a really well done method of telling the story, chapters that ended on cliff hangers were made all the more suspenseful due to it being several chapters before the hangers got resolved. The stories all feel like road trips, each of the four heading through destroyed towns, fighting and evading the 'Baggers' (what the crazed monstrous humans are called in the fiction) and just trying to find food and shelter to survive.

For a book aimed at young adults this is plenty grim with lots of violence.  The Baggers are insane to various degrees, some are totally crazy (one character says how he saw a Bagger snap his own neck after getting his head stuck between two posts) while others have degrees of intelligence able to work together, such as the groups who go house to house dragging out survivors and murdering them.  Other times Baggers even are able to hold conversations and pretend to be survivors, waiting for their time to strike which leads to some cool plot twists.  Roberts really doesn't shy away from describing the acts of the Baggers, such as school bombings, carers killing infants with poisoned juice, while descriptions of the crazies roaming the streets armed with crowbars, and baseball bats just brings images of violence to mind.

The main characters themselves are not perfect either, many with deep flaws, bad decisions are made along the way which leads to pain and suffering for other survivors. One such scene was straight out of 28 Weeks Later with someone abandoning his group to the mercy of the Baggers, while other characters argue, get drunk, and don't make any attempt to help people in need for fear of getting caught themselves. It is interesting that some characters who appear seem like they are going to be key people only to get killed a few chapters later, is a nice touch that anyone seems up for being killed off at any point.

I seriously could not put this book down, I read it in two sittings, only stopped the first time as it had gotten to 2AM, I even read it on the bus; I get travel sick really easily so just shows how much I was into it that I even chanced getting ill to read it. Nearly all the chapters end on cliffhangers, all four of the stories are exciting with some awesome scenes such as a chase through a blizzard, getting caught in the middle of earthquakes, and the suspense of being stalked through buildings leading to a spectacular finale which arrives perfectly paced. I can't remember the last time I was so engrossed in a book like this.

This book has everything a horror fan could want, no matter what your age. A thrilling road trip with a unique take on zombies, though with similarities to Brian Keene's The Rising (similar though his did have a talking zombie lion!). Interesting though I am not sure how this could be made into a series and still feel as fresh as it did here, but Roberts is definitely an author to keep your eyes on.

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The Walking Dead - Episode 1: A New Day - Zombie Horror Videogame Review (X-Box Live Arcade)

Kinda excited I was when I heard that Telltale where creating a series of adventure games based on The Walking Dead. Telltale have been responsible for a bout of successful modern day adventures such as Sam and Max and Back to the Future (the less said about the Jurassic Park game the better).  Telltales games are less about action and more about dialogue, so this style fits the comic series perfectly.

Episode 1 takes place one week after the zombie outbreak begins, it is set before the comic book and features a few characters from that, but is a stand alone tale.  Lee Everett is a convict being transferred to state Prison when zombies cause the Police car he is travelling in to crash.  Escaping the wreck he is faced with a horde of zombies.  Fleeing he arrives at a suburb where he discovers a little girl; Clementine who has been surviving on her own after her baby sitter got turned.  Deciding to look after her Lee meets up with some other survivors and together they head off to find refuge from the walking dead.

The game has a different feel to it from previous Telltale games, you are usually confined to a small area where you have a set task to do, whether it being locating medicine for a sick man, or rescuing a survivor.  A lot of this involves you walking around talking to other survivors and picking up objects.  The dialogue is very good, and it has to be said the acting is awesome.  Lee in particular is a fleshed out character, with his murky past constantly haunting him.  Choosing dialogue options varies the story in that characters can come to trust or distrust you based on your actions and what you tell them. The plot is mature and interesting, you get a lot of dilemmas that vastly affect the future of the series, such as a key decision early on when you must choose a character to save from the zombies; both are good people but you must pick within a strict time limit.

There is quite a few bouts of zombie fighting which takes place via quick time events for the most part.  Sticking to The Walking Dead lore nearly all this combat takes place up close with house hold objects, guns would attract other zombies.  The game does not let up on the gore, there are some violent zombie deaths, and also gruesome deaths for Lee should you fail.  One such death saw him having his intestines ripped out!

At 400 MS points this is well worth the few hours it lasts for, and has replayability with the game altering decisions presented to you which will carry over to the other 4 episodes (due to be 1 released per month).  I had lots of fun with this, it looks great (like a comic book come to life), sounds great and really draws you into its world.

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Bastion (2011) - Post Apocalyptic Videogame Review (X-Box Live Arcade)

I completed this game a while ago, so my memory might be a little blurred. Bastion is a action RPG that was raved about for its lush cartoony visuals, and its defining feature: a narrator who comments on every action you do.

Bastion takes place post apocalypse (or post calamity as it is known here). The world has been shattered and destroyed, floating islands all that remains of the once vast city of Caelondia and its surrounding areas. You play as 'the Kid' who awakes on one of the small floating islands. Your immediate goal is to get to a safe area known as 'The Bastion' where people were told to go to in times of trouble. The remains of the city are deserted with most the population turned into ash. Monsters are everywhere, having came into the city now that there is no one to stop them. Upon arriving at the Bastion you meet up with a fellow survivor (the games narrator) who instructs you to collect magical crystals (called shards) from the world in order to make the Bastion reach its secret real potential.

The game is level based, with the Bastion serving as a hub world. Usually you get a choice of levels to travel to; various parts of the city and surrounding countryside that still exist. Levels see you walking around a location that builds itself as you traverse, platforms dropping into place in a neat effect. Upon getting the shard for the level you must then escape the level. The format is pretty much the same for all the levels though there are variations. Training levels set you challenges to complete for power ups and upgrades for the many weapons. The hub level can be used to buy new powers, as well as level up existing weapons.

Despite the colourful look of the game it is a bleak story told. Nearly the worlds entire population perished in the calamity, with levels being ruins of the once prosperous city. A few characters provide plot that while nothing special has some deepness to it with racism and religious beliefs all brought into question.

Combat is fun, you are able to have two weapons equipped at any one time which bring some interesting combinations. You have access to a variety of weapons that include a war machete, duel pistols, a hammer, crossbow, grenade launcher and more.

A bit of a muted review. I enjoyed Bastion when I was playing it but despite promises of a slightly different story I had no desire to ever want to play it again once it was done, maybe one day I will return. An awesome soundtrack by the way.

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Survival of the Dead - Zombie Horror Film Review

George Romero will always be known as the Grandaddy of zombie films with his awesome original trilogy but lately his films have been less good.  Land of the Dead was utter over produced trash, Diary of the Dead was a bit better, and now his latest one Survival of the Dead. I was a tad tipsy when I saw this film, so my mind is not that strong on this one to be honest.

The film starts a week after zombie apocalypse on Plum Island (off the coast of America) where two rival Irish families are having opposing ideas on how to treat the undead. The head of the O'Flynn's (Kenneth Welsh) thinks all the zombies on the island should be killed, while the head of the Muldoon's (Richard Fitzpatrick) believes they should instead be restrained for in case a cure is ever discovered. Their differences leads to O'Flynn and his men being banished from the island. On the mainland to get revenge they direct survivors to the island, knowing that Muldoon hates strangers. A band of AWOL soldiers led by Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) hear the broadcast and head to the island with O'Flynn where they find out that things have turned sour...

What is cool about this film is that Sarge and his soldiers have a small part in Diary of the Dead, that scene is re shown here, it is a nice nod to that film and gives some continuity. Whether it was the Vodka, or my mind frame I really quite enjoyed this film even though it has a load of faults.  First of all, yet again it is not a patch on the original trilogy, played far too much for laughs in places, the most glaring fault though is the over reliance on shoddy CGI which really rips you out the experience with computer generated violence.  An early scene features a load of still living zombie heads on stakes, utterly terrible looking, the old way of doing effects looked so much better.  Some of the deaths are questionable; a zombie whose head bursts on fire after being shot with a flare, a zombie whose foot rips off after getting pegged to the ground with a rake, and a zombie killed with a fork (may have been a small knife) all look terrible.

The story is quite simple, and kinda interesting if Romero had not done the 'power corrupts' story hook so many times before, with the break down of society comes the inevitable break down of rules and order as always.  None of the characters are that good.  Sarge and his team are all generic templates, while the teenage boy travelling with the group is just plain odd looking. I guess O'Flynn is the most fun of the characters, showing different sides to his personality.

Lots of violence, just a shame most of it is CGI, head shots don't have the same impact when they look so clean.  The zombies are ok but they just invoke no fear, even when dragging people to the ground they are just bland, scary zombies equals a better film, it is not hard to make zombies scary. The bad guys don't come across as that bad and there is no one to really root for.

Compared to Land of the Dead this is a classic, but it is still just another slight tarnish on Romero's legacy, still, maybe his next film will be a return to form.

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Dead Island (2011) - Zombie Videogame Review (X-Box 360)

Dead Island is a first person role playing zombie survival game set a small island. It is similar in feel to Borderlands at times, in the fact that vehicles can be driven. the game is intended for four player co-op, and there are many different open world areas littered with hundreds of side quests.

The game takes place on the resort Island of Banoi the night after a party at the resort hotel. Four characters wake up hungover in the hotel - hotel clerk Xian Mei, former football star Logan, bodyguard Purna and rapper Sam.B. The hotel is in disarray and an evacuation signal is playing over the loudspeaker. Encountering strange humans (zombies) the group are chased until cornered and attacked.  Waking up an indeterminate time later they are told by a group of survivors that the whole island has been overrun by flesh eating zombies, and that the four seem to be the only people who are immune to the disease. What follows is a series of fetch quests, and minor tasks as the group are sent out to bring aid to the groups of survivors holding out all over the island. Oh, and also a strange transmission is being broadcast over the radio by a shadowy figure that promises the group salvation if they can locate him.

I love this game! Intended for four players I played through it all (as I am want to do) on my lonesome, well after I discovered how to turn off online co-op (that is strangely set as the default option and requires a quit out of the game to change) I headed off into the beautiful island. The game is set in a variety of beautiful and different locations. Starting off in the resort area you are in a giant area in which the zombies are spread out, the island stretches off into the distance and if not for the blood and gore everywhere (as well as hundreds of beach clad zombies and zom-babes) would be idyllic. The sun is beating in the sky, and the surf washes against the shore. Later locations I don't want to ruin too much but include a gigantic city full of slums and sewers, as well as inland where the jungle and bandits reside.

The locations are very varied and really make you want to see what's next, each place is vastly different to the last and brings its own tone, as well as its own zombies (eg: security guard zombies at the hotel, and tribesmen zombies in the jungle).

The zombies...oh the zombies! They are ace in this game, they really are, varying between runners and shamblers they attack on their own, in groups, and even just ignore you as they bumble around or feast on dead bodies. They really look the part being in various states of decomposition; some have their insides hanging out, others have various parts of their bodies missing. In the vein of Left 4 Dead there are also boss enemies that are introduced as you progress. A hulking brute in a straight jacket charges at you, a bloated fat zombie spews acidic bile, one has his arm bones sharpened into spikes while yet another is slow moving but a giant powerhouse able to knock you literally flying with one swing of his beefy arms.

You attack mainly by melee weapons, each character specialises in a certain weapon type, Xian Mei (the character I played as) specialised in sharp objects, so I stuck to them throughout using swords, knives, axes, to hack up the zombies. Arms can be sliced off, heads decapitated, and legs hacked to make zombies move slower. Blunt objects such as baseball bats and police batons can be used to break enemies limbs. Weapons can be improved by the use of work benches as well as modified to have different effects, such as a machete that can electrocute enemies, a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, and guns whose bullets can poison zombies. Parts need to be collected to do this, and cash (that can be found everywhere) is used to repair damaged weapons.

As you progress you get experience points that make you stronger as well as give you a point into your stats (such as the ability to instant kill downed enemies, higher percentage of weapon damage, and longer special times). Each character has a unique ability that can be used once your bar is powered up.  My character went berserk where the screen goes grey with enemies showing as bright red and your knife skill drastically improving for a limited time.

There is so much to talk about with this amazing game. My playthrough lasted about twenty five hours so it is really an epic zombie survival game that seems more realistic than others of its type. Missions can be plain (such as searching for food) but also more poignant such as a man who tasks you with returning to his flat to kill his zombie wife and child, or putting up posters around a city for a man who hopes his wife may see the poster and know he is safe.

The game has many faults it has to be said. A lot of bugs got ironed out after release but some still persist.  One particularly annoying one was where you are unable to access your weapons, doing so makes your character swig from a bottle of alcohol making you swerve all over the place. This usually happens after running and is very frustrating to turn around to battle the zombies chasing you only to find your not allowed access to your weapons. The human characters you encounter and the zombies are the same model type, there is not much variation with most people looking the same and having some very dodgy Australian accents, and even found someone with a Manchester accent. All very odd sounding.  For all the backstory the four main characters get, there is very little story for them which is slightly disappointing. The plot itself is basic but the cause of the zombie outbreak is actually quite refreshing for a change (despite some red herrings of toxic waste in the sewers and a suspicious remote laboratory).

The game succeeds as it really feels like you are in the middle of zombie apocalypse. Having passed out from your wounds at the games start you have missed the initial week or so of outbreak so the island is in a static state of collapse with many stories told by the many characters and people you encounter. Files can be found that are quite boring (giving real life facts and information about the area of the world the game takes place in) but the audio tapes are very well done, and kind of chilling chronicling a reporter's journey through the outbreak of the apocalypse. At times the game is ham fisted making some characters one dimensional but at other times it can get quite moving (never getting to the limits achieved in the trailer though).

Very well recommended, if you like zombie games and want to know what it is like to be in a zombie apocalypse on a tropical island then Dead Island is the game for you! Now I'm off to play the DLC...

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