Tag: psychological horror

Reviews - Games

Review: Rule of Rose

Katie Marie

Disempowering

Today I am writing to talk to you about the Rule of Rose, a survival horror game by Punchline. It came out on the PlayStation 2 and was first released in 2006 by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan, by Atlus in America and by 505 games in Europe.

The game is set in England in 1930, and revolves around Jennifer who becomes trapped in a world ruled by young girls. The game director describes the game as an interactive movie, which should give you an idea on the gameplay.

In a nutshell this game is wonderfully creepy, getting the balance of story and disempowerment just right to keep you on the edge of your seat. The aesthetic and setting are powerful, giving the game both atmosphere and tension. The character’s, both the player character and the side characters you interact with are wonderfully developed and nuanced.

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Reviews, Reviews - Books

Review: Heart-Shaped Box

Katie Marie

Rock and roll!

Today I wanted to write to you about Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. 

Heart-Shaped Box was published in 2007 and was Joe Hill’s first novel. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. 

Being a huge Stephen King fan, I was naturally drawn to this book by his son and I was not disappointed. Joe certainly shares his father’s skill for storytelling with well-crafted plots, believable characters and a firm grasp of what makes the horror genre great.  

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Horror Writing

Horror Writing: The Variety of the Horror Genre

Katie Marie

Variety is the spice of life

This letter was inspired by a conversation with another friend of mine.

We were discussing films and videogames, a common topic of conversation in my circle. I naturally spoke about horror films and games that I enjoy, only for said friend to begin talking about slasher films. I had to confess that slasher films are not my preferred choice, to which my friend was surprised.

In a nutshell, my friend was of the mind that horror was limited to hack and slash with the occasional zombie thrown in for good measure. This triggered one of my favourite topics of conversation the versatility of the horror genre.

Horror as a genre has so much variety, there are almost limitless directions to go with it and today I wanted to talk about some of those directions. I could cover the majority (I doubt I could cover them all as new ones pop up all the time) but I will stick to the less obscure sub-genres otherwise this blog would be an insane length or a series in its own right.

I would also like to add that a lot of these sub-genres overlap, so you might have a dramatic horror with body horror thrown in for good measure, or an action horror with a monster genre mixed in.

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