Tag Archives: Spooktober 2023

2 Guys Get Spooky – Episode 1.02

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After the audio issue in the last episode, we decided to get together and record in person this time. Other than the gain on the microphone being a bit low while recording (easily remedied), everything came out much better. Enjoy 2 Guys Get Spooky.

First, we talk about childhood trauma related to horror movies. Then, we discuss a few other franchises before moving on to our favorite horror movie of all time. We both agree that it is Shaun of the Dead.

There’s a brief talk about television shows, mainly the Walking Dead. We both agree that the show never was that good and we even lost faith in the comic. But, Chris mentions some other comics that he likes in the horror genre. I never read many horror comics, so I let him take the wheel in this segment.

Finally, we talk about video games. Chris tells a story from when he first saw me playing Fatal Frame. We both think it is probably the scariest game out there. Chris hates Resident Evil much more than I do, so I let him get that out of his system.

Finally, we wrap up with the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. No matter how much you think the Simpsons sucks now, the Halloween episode never disappoints. Thanks for listening to 2 Guys Get Spooky and we’ll talk to you again in a few weeks to discuss the new Ixalan set from Magic the Gathering.

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2 Guys Gaming
2 Guys Get Spooky - Episode 1.02
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Snap *censored* Pop Culture

A Note About the FNAF Movie

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Introduction

My kids went to see the FNAF movie on Thursday. They actually put together a group of their friends and took over a movie theater for the event. When I heard, I got the idea to maybe record a special episode of Noob and Sons with them.

Then, I talked with each one of them about the movie. None of them seemed overly impressed with the movie. Because I like to promote positivity whenever positive, I don’t want to release a podcast basically trashing it. So, I collec their thoughts here and put the whole mess behind us hopefully.

Quinn – “It was Okay”

Christine and I both asked him the night of the movie when he returned home. He replied, “It was okay.” But, he reported that he had fun and that’s all that matters. He also told us a funny story about one of his friends who got scared during the movie only when a truck honked its horn. For the record, Quinn is very much like me when it comes to entertainment. His “It was okay” means that he’s pretty disappointed with the whole ordeal.

Aiden – “They Made it for Kids”

Of the three, Aiden sounded the most positive. He said the movie, for what it ended up being, was okay. He didn’t like that they geared it too much for kids. His final complaint is that they should have followed the game more. When I said I only recently played the game, he confessed that he never played it much, either. So, no big surprise, but our horror kid wanted the movie to be scarier.

Liam – “The Problem is the PG-13 Rating”

He said this the other day when we watched Scream as a family. He made the connection because of Matthew Lillard. I need to watch something good with Matthew Lillard in it. “So,” I replied, “you didn’t like the movie.” During his answer, he said this. I asked, “The games aren’t that violent, are they?” He laughed and said they are. It’s mostly pixelated violence, I guess, but they do show people being dismembered and such. Well, I guess I never witnessed that in my quick playthrough last week.

The Verdict

I also considered watching the movie myself and giving my thoughts when I learned that they released it on streaming at the same time. So, for now, we put this subject to rest with the knowledge that all three Lucas-Mullen kids came away disappointed with the FNAF movie.

Digital Playground

Five Nights at Freddy’s First Impressions

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Note: Banner taken from Deviant Art page.

Introduction

As many of you know, the movie releases this Friday. My oldest texted the group chat last week to notify his brothers that he and his friends wanted to go. Because our kids are close, he invited them to come along and even said Aiden could bring his girlfriend. Truly, the movie to heal our divided nation. I thought, perfect for a Spooktober I forgot to plan for this year! I can finally play the game and give my Five Nights at Freddy’s First Impressions.

Of course, I mean actually playing the game. I heard about the game from my kids. They all discovered it in middle school (Quinn earlier because he’s younger) and as far as I know, they played the game. At first, I thought nothing of it. Seemed like a mostly harmless jump scare type game more or less appropriate for the age range. Then, I stumbled on some lore or fan fiction (or both) and some parents seemed worried.

Worried About What, Grandpa?

Well, that’s the thing. I can’t quite put my finger on what about the game actually worries me. I tried explaining it to Christine when we saw the trailer. She said something along the lines of, “Wow, that looks pretty scary. Do you think Quinn will actually enjoy it?” I thought about it for the rest of the movie and then tried to explain my thoughts later in the car on the ride home.

It looks like simply a silly little jump scare game. But then, I read some more lore or fan fiction (or both) and I’m not entirely sure anymore how I feel about the game. The sensible thing would be to try to find those things that concerned me about the game. But, when have you ever known parents to do the sensible thing.

I Did The Sensible Thing

I went on a search for what I might have read and found nothing in the games that I consider inappropriate for my kids. What I found was a companion novel that “shares the same universe” but does not fit together with the game “like a puzzle piece”. It includes a “human element not before introduced in the games”.

So, what I read was that the animatronics were inhabited by the souls of kidnapped children and that seems like an unnecessary addition to me. I understand wanting to be scared. This game seemed to provide just the right fright factor for kids who remember going to Chuck E Cheese and being absolutely terrified by that rat and his minions. Why somebody added the element of abduction and soul stealing rituals to that mythos is beyond me.

Have You Actually Played the Game?

Once.

In anticipation of this week, I loaded up a web version of the game last week. In order to replicate what I understand as the “experience”, I went in with no instructions other than what the game told me. I clicked camers, heard some pots and pans bang around and then received the “Game Over” message.

Once that happened, I looked up some more information on the game. Apparently, the pots and pans alert you to the movements of Chica, one of the animatronics in the game. I needed to respond to that noise in some form or fashion to avoid “Game Over”. Hey, you live and learn.

The Verdict

After my Five Nights at Freddy’s first impressions, I want to play the game more. Unlike my kids, who spent much more time with the game, I have no interest in seeing the movie. However, I might try to record a special version of Noob and Sons this weekend to see what they thought of the movie.

Digital Playground

My Case for Fatal Frame

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Note: Banner taken from here.

Introduction

I came up with the idea for these articles this week in a bit of a panic. When I got sick a few weeks ago and then slogged through the madness of Homecoming while still a bit under the weather, I realized that I neglected the page for two weeks. While not unusual for us around here, at least for the last year I made this page a priority. So, for Spooktober, a collection of articles about the old horror games I used to play. Therefore, I present my case for Fatal Frame.

As what, exactly? Well, let me answer that question with some more exposition. I wrote in my last article that Fatal Frame ranks as my favorite horror game ever made. So, maybe I just write one of my patented articles where I try to convince you that you need to like the game as much as I do. Because, honestly, what else makes sense at this point?

This Game is Scary

I told a story about how I played Silent Hill in surround sound and ambient sounds in the game creeped me out. Resident Evil made me jump more than once. But, only this game kept me on the edge of my seat through the entire game.

So, wait, let me get this right. Psychological massacre horror? One moment of scary? Zombies, a deep rooted fear from childhood? A couple of jump scares? But, a game about a camera that captures the souls of ghosts with a slightly punny title? That one gets your vote as truly scary.

Yep.

Just sitting here and thinking about it. The creepy little ghost kids still give me chills.

The Game is Pretty

Those who come to the page often know that I don’t care much about graphics. I feel compelled (for some reason) to clarify that statement. It depends on the game. Mario? I want the stylized graphics of my youth. A world and story built on atmospheric horror? Give me the goods. This game came out on the PS2, which offered greater graphical capabilities than the PS1 and it showed. Sure, they smartly hid some of the limitations behind darkness and mist. But, even so, the ghosts came through enough to make them legitimately scary.

The Story is Solid

Granted, I don’t remember the entire story. But, I remember the relevant parts. You are tasked with releasing the souls of ghosts using a camera. I know. It sounds silly. And, I admit that when I first heard about the game I thought it might be a joke game. But, the game is no joke. I wanted to keep playing to understand more about these people I met in the afterlife. And the main story provided enough intrigue and suspense that I cared what happened and worked actively to undo the damage.

The Verdict

All of these years later, I haven’t played a horror game that affected me as much as Fatal Frame did. A student asked me again what my favorite video game was and I replied, without hesitation, “Portal 2.” Fatal Frame does much of what Portal 2 did right. It might just be in my top 5 games.

Digital Playground

Noob’s History With Silent Hill

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Introduction

This year left me scrambling a bit. I kept current through the beginning of the year, but then a bout with (maybe) Covid plus homecoming threw me off my schedule. I finished the comics reviews for this month last week and then hastily crafted a plan for the rest of Spooktober, which may go into the first week of November. Oh well, time is relative. In any case, let’s start this trip with Noob’s history with Silent Hill.

As you know, Chris and I recorded last month. The recording came out less than ideal, but we enjoyed it so much that we planned for the rest of the year. Because I came up with the idea for Spooktober last year and more or less kept the page running for an entire year, I made the suggestion that we talk about horror themes in pop culture this month; video games, books, movies, and TV shows. We meant to record today, but that slipped my mind. Thursday, it is.

What’s the Deal with This Game?

Unlike Resident Evil, which dealt with my favorite horror sub genre of Zombies, or Fatal Frame, which brought my wife and I together as she watched while I played, I discovered Silent hill through other means. Way back in the ancient history of the internet, before social media algorithms threatened the very fabric of reality, you needed to search for things. As a result, many search engines populated the landscape. No Bing, but Google popped up pretty early. My engine of choice was Yahoo! until Google became the behemoth that we all know. There’s something to be said for algorithms.

I go to my grave arguing that Ask Jeeves is the best name and logo for a search engine.

Even with all those search engines, I still learned about gaming news from my favorite gaming page of the time. IGN. Now a meme, at the time, well it was a meme then, too. But, in addition, it was the go to page for entertainment for almost a decade. During one of my visits to the page, I saw an article about Silent Hill. A horror game based more in psychological scares? Sounds like my type of game.

Journey into Silent Hill

I Yahoo’d (doesn’t sound as natural as Googling) the game to get more information. Everything I found only solidified my desire to play the game. I rented it via Gamefly, and fired it up. At the time, I hooked my game systems to my surround sound and this game paid huge dividends. I have a core memory of hearing a sound go from the front speakers to the rear and it scared the daylights out of me.

I also remember my first encounter with Pyramid Head. He is the sword wielding boss of the game with a Pyramid as a head or covering his head. I’m not entirely sure which. Perhaps I should ask Jeeves. Then, just as abruptly, I have no additional memories of the game. I either played it just that once or only one or two more times and then never again.

The Verdict

Noob’s history with Silent Hill is shockingly short. Sometimes that happens. I don’t dislike the game, mind you. I simply never got into the game like I did Resident Evil or Fatal Frame. Sometimes the idea of something is better than the actual thing, if that makes sense. I still keep track of the new games. I consider picking one up every now and again. If that happens, keep an eye on the page for my thoughts.