PROLOGUE: Ever since I was in elementary school, I’ve always loved horror films. This love goes all the way back to 1982 when I first saw Halloween after trick or treating on T.V. when I was 8 years old. The next day all the kids in school were talking about how the “Boogeyman” was coming to get them, so I took it upon myself to go “catatonic” and become Michael Myers and pretend to chase the kids around during recess. Keep in mind the times were different back then and the world had not become the insane place it seems to be today. You could walk down the street alone at dusk and not fear of ending up on the back of a milk carton. Back to my story…so the needle was in deep, so to speak, with horror films and I was hooked. So much so that my first tattoo was a “Thorn” symbol on my wrist that mimics the “Curse of Michael Myers” from Halloween 6.
Long story short, my love for horror has always been great and I appreciate all things horror from art, to film, to books, music, and now of course…video games.
Horror video games made its mark early on with Haunted House on the Atari 2600 and even Halloween, while rare to find, was a first of the genre’s fore into homes on an interactive level. While other titles had tried to capture a horror theme such as “Zombies Ate My Neighbors” and even film adaptations of “Friday the 13th” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” were around the genre didn’t really take shape until 1992 with Infogrames now grandfather of the survival horror genre, “Alone in the Dark”. The feeling of being near helpless in a paranormal environment caught buzz with many horror fans, but it wasn’t until Capcom’s immortal Resident Evil hit the marketplace that the genre would catch wildfire beyond belief.
If you check your history book kiddies, RE’s first appearance, especially the classic dog/window scene, was as crucial to the success of this genre as GTA is to the open free roam genre. After this, many sequels to the RE series have come to pass, and many clones, genre add ons, wannabees, and knockoffs such as Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Fatal Frame, and even Alan Wake to name just a couple of come and gone and kept horror alive, even through the films dark times of the late 1990’s when horror films became quite campy.
It has been many years since the first RE got the ball rolling, but now what was once taboo and only for Mature audiences, has become a household name as common as Disney in many respects. Now zombies are the big craze, from survival horror, to DLC maps for a war shooter in Call of Duty. Zombies are as beloved as Big Bird and in many homes more welcome. While I can’t say I agree with 8-12 year olds being subjected to such violence and carnage, I can’t say it’s wrong either as I would then be a hypocrite. Even if society is much different and we are a much more vicious community than when I grew up, it’s hard to deny that parents allow for much more than they used to. Back in my day, I was a very rare exception, but even then, under a very stern watchful eye of a loving mother.
THE STORY: So where does all this lead? To a new article I like to call “Boogeyman’s: One Good Scare”. Each week I will come to you with the latest in gaming news as it refers to all things horror gaming. Whether it is a new announcement, screen shots, updated info, or even a flashback article on horror games past, you can look here to find out the latest and exclusive news on this genre I love so dearly. You will be informed, reminisce, be in the loop, and maybe be even a little scared. So come back each week to find out what’s the buzz in horror gaming news. Who knows, I may even suggest a few films in the mean time for inspiration. As always, if you have any suggestions on what to add or comment upon, please feel free to email me at boogeyman@gaming-age.com and I’ll be happy to let you chime in.
WHAT’S NEW IN HORROR THIS WEEK:
Video Games: Some new goodies such as Naughty Dog’s new IP “Last of Us” and “Alan Wake’s : American Nightmare” have gotten a lot of buzz and critical hype. I can’t wait to see more than what the VGA’s trailers introduced as far as footage and news are concerned. As far as 2012 is concerned, I’m sure horror fans will be have enough horror in their lives to make this new year a happy one indeed.
Other news: Stephen King’s: Bag of Bones started a 2 part mini-series/movie based off the short story, and we are only 2 episodes left till the finale of American Horror story. Let us not forget the release of the Fright Night reboot on Blu Ray and DVD this week on 12/13/11!
I’ll be back next week with more coverage, news, and horror business you could ask for. Until then, shoot me some feedback and tell me what you think of this idea and supply some of what you would like to see more of from this article. Till then, everyone is entitled to one good scare.
~Brian “The Boogeyman” Peterson