My Top 10 Horror Films

I know, I know. Halloween was LAST week. But A) My articles come out on the first of the month and B) Who cares? Scary movies are great all year round. So let's dig into this.



I love horror movies. Ever since I watched my first horror film as a kid(It was “Child's Play” and to make matters worse, I had one of those buddy dolls in my closet at the time), I've been enthralled with them. There's something so thrilling about watching a film that inspires true terror in you that it causes you to think about it in the darkness of your bed. As a filmmaker, it's a difficult feat to accomplish and one that depends on the individual viewer. But if it is achieved, it stays with that person and lingers in their psyche. And I love it.

I've watched my fair share of horror films, some good, some terrible. I wouldn't call myself a horror film connoisseur, but I do pride myself on having seen some truly horrifying films.

So here at A Bit of Geek, I'd like to present to you my own personal list of the top scary films.



*I preface the list with the claim that this list is subjective to my personal opinion. If you do not find these films scary, that's fine. But I do and I think they merit praise.



So without further delay, I present

MY TOP 10 HORROR FILMS

10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't heard of this movie. It was a big hit in its time and is arguably the predecessor of the “Found Footage” horror genre of movies.

And while I will openly admit the movie doesn't have a satisfying payoff, the build up is still terrifying to watch. From the fearful frustration of the filmmakers as they wander through the woods to the subtle torture by the Blair Witch, it's a fright to watch unfold. You can almost feel the fear of these filmmakers. Definitely worth a viewing(even if you can cut out the last 10 minutes of the film)



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

At this point in the film, the filmmakers have been lost for some time and been harassed by the Blair Witch each night. So they decided to make their tent and try to sleep out the night, hoping for peace....

9. Dead Silence (2007)

There are some things that are inherently scary to us as human beings: clowns, spiders, the dark, Beliebers and, of course, puppets. It's hard to say why we have such a fear of puppets. Maybe it's their lifeless eyes or the fact that they can't tell a lie, but something about them unnerves us.

Which is exactly the kind of fear that Dead Silence drives into us as viewers. It starts as a simple ghost story: a barren old woman crafted puppets in lieu of children but when some children went missing, the townsfolk blamed her and killed her. Now her spirit lingers as vengeful ghost story the people tell their children. It's a simple concept that I feel the film pulls off wonderfully, if only because of the grim creep factor of the woman and her puppets. Don't watch this one in the dark.



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

During a recounting of the legend of the woman, one of the townsfolk recalls an incident when he was a boy. His father was the mortician and had worked on the woman's body. But when the boy went to see the body at night, he accidentally knocks the coffin over....

8. Evil Dead (2013)

Now don't get me wrong: I'm not saying this remake was better than the original series. As a huge fan of the originals, I can say they are a marvel to watch and a testament to the horror genre. But it's not the scariest of the series. The remake is.

Sure, the first Evil Dead was purely a horror film. But while it was great, the effects had a tendency to break the immersion of the film. Milk-blood and claymation just doesn't quite make the cut.

But the remake upped the production value and brought the feel of the first film to a better quality.

The grisly scenes of gore looked authentic but never over-saturated the horror of the film. It was, in my opinion, perfectly balanced between the two. One of the best remakes I've ever seen and I'm glad they did the original series justice.



The Scariest Scene in the Movie:

By this point, the evil book(Necronomicon in the originals, “Naturon Demonto” in this one) has been read and the evil is creeping into the cabin-dwellers. After being barfed on by a possessed friend, one of the girls goes to clean herself up in the bathroom. But there's more than cleanliness waiting for her there....

7. Event Horizon (1997)

I really love this movie, not only for its dark and gruesome horror, but also for its premise. The story goes that in the distant future, an experimental spaceship(named “Event Horizon”) designed to warp space vanished on its test flight. Now, seven years later, it reappears with only the haunting message of a distress signal. So a research team is sent to investigate, slowly learning that the Event Horizon did indeed warp space....with a small detour into Hell. Now the ship has a dark will of its own as the crew try to escape the horrors of Hell in space. Brilliant concept, in my opinion.



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

When the Event Horizon sent its distress signal, a lot of the video was garbled and not a lot could be made out. But when the research team finally unscrambles the video, they suddenly wish that they had left it garbled.....(Warning: the video is not for the squeamish)

(Side note: Laurence Fishburne's line at the end? Perfect response.)

6. Jeepers Creepers (2001)

I'll admit, this movie is a bit of a nostalgia pick. When I first watched this movie, I was a teenager and my friends and I gathered around to watch it in the dark. But even today, this movie still holds some terror for me. It tells the story of two siblings, Darry and Trish, as they make their way cross-country to their mom's house for break. But on the way, they catch the notice of a grim figure who they quickly learn is anything but human. It stalks them as they unravel its dark handiwork from sewing people onto walls to cutting out whole parts of body parts. And it never stops. Not until it has one of them...



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

The scariest part to me comes near the beginning of the movie. On the road, Darry and Trish had nearly got ran over by a large truck with the vanity plate “BEATINGU”(Which you learn later on stands for something else..). They siblings continue on the road until they see a house on the left. And BEATINGU....

5. The Conjuring (2013)

When I first went into The Conjuring, I'll admit I was a little skeptical. It was made by the James Wan, the director of the Insidious movies and like Insidious, even starred Patrick Wilson as the lead. And while the Insidious movies were fine in their own right, I went into The Conjuring thinking it was just going to be an Insidious-clone. But I was wrong. It actually had a compelling story about two paranormal investigators as they looking into a family's haunting. It quickly begins to escalate and soon, all hell breaks loose(so to speak). It exceeded my expectations and left me feeling satisfied as a horror lover.



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

Funnily enough, the scariest scene of the movie for me didn't have actually have anything to do with the main story. It was the opening sequence, where the investigators are looking into a demon-possessed doll named Annabelle. And yes, it was just a setup for the spinoff movie, but the scene was actually a great little horror story within a bigger horror story. It started off the movie on a good note and kept that level of quality all throughout the film.

4. Slither (2006)

I was hesitant to add this film to the list because a lot of times, it's almost a comedic film. But it left me with a such a sense of disturbance and terror at the mere premise of it that it merited a rank on my list.

It's a classic alien-in-the-hometown story: an alien crashes near a home town, terrorizes it and then the heroes of the film have to figure out a way to kill the creature. Simple stuff, right?

Wrong. Slither takes that premise and runs wild with it, making the alien create such nauseating horrors that they will haunt your mind even after you're done filming. Things like worms infesting your brain, mutations that force you to eat until you explode or giving your body to become part of a hive-mind of human body mass. It disturbed me, but not in a gruesome way, which is how it should be. Would definitely recommend this movie(And it's got Nathan Fillion in it!)



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

The scariest part for me was what the alien does to some of the townsfolk: implanting a special slug that forces them to eat and eat. One of main characters, who had survived until the end of the film, meets this fate and begins to eat people against his will. Eventually, he is mercy killed but the thought of this fate haunts me even today.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip of this, so instead, here's a clip of a bloated-infected woman bursting at the seams!

3. Paranormal Activity (2007)

I really liked this film. I know a lot of you have probably already seen it and have your own opinions on the movie, but I for one really liked it(the first one, at least). For those not aware, the story follows a young couple as they video tape their experience of being haunted from what they at first assume to be a ghost(but later learn it is a demon...muhahaha!). What I really enjoyed about this film was the natural progression of the terror and how the escalation felt natural. In the beginning, there's not much. A few doors that open on their own or sounds coming from other areas of the house. But then it intensifies, eventually leaving the young couple crippled in terror. And while the ending had as much satisfaction as any other Found Footage movie, I felt like as a stand alone movie, Paranormal Activity was excellent. One of my favorites.



Scariest Scene in the Movie:

It's near the end of the film, when the demon has become overly aggressive in its hauntings. The demon enters the bedroom and, seeing Katie's overhanging foot, decides to have a little fun. I remember being the film, watching this scene, and knowing that that's when the shit really hit the fan. Best scene, in my opinion.

2. The Fly (1986)

This movie is one of my all-time favorite horror films. It took an old film's concept(scientist accidentally crosses himself with a fly) and brought it to a gruesome and repulsive level. With better production value and a more modern take, this version brings real terror as you watch the gradual change from man to fly-man hybrid. Not to mention Jeff Goldblum's performance was beyond superb. And the effects? Breathtaking. I myself am more of a practical effects kind of guy and this movie nails it on the head. Watching Goldblum's devolution into the fly-man is grisly and fascinating at the same time. Definitely worth watching if you love horror films.



The Scariest Scene of the Movie:

I know I am doing the movie a discredit by showing you this, but really the best(and scariest) part of the film is the ending, when you finally see the full transformation of the Brindle-Fly. Not only this, but his twisted plan is appaling and terrifying to consider and poor Geena Davis is helpless to fight it. Really fantastic. But if you want to watch the movie, skip this scene for right now because the build up makes this scene all the more powerful.

1. The Thing (1982)

To those whom know me, this comes as no surprise that my all-time favorite horror film is John Carpenter's “The Thing.” The movie is such a brilliant film in so many ways that I can only scratch the surface in this review. To those not familiar, the movie focuses on an American research station in Antarctica as they come under attack by a shape shifting alien. It's a being that can perfectly replicate an organism as the researchers soon learn when some of their own are replicated. From then, the movie is all about the paranoia of the researchers as they abandon their trust of one another and try to survive the deceptions of the Thing. Not only is this compelling storytelling at first impression, but the effects are fantastic, even for an 80's film. When the Thing is caught on occasion, it transforms into a form to fight off its attackers, assuming whatever shape it deems necessary. And it's disturbing.

I've seen this film nearly a hundred times and it still enthralls me. If you can only see one film from this list, make it John Carpenter's “The Thing.”



Scariest Scene from the Movie:

One of the best scenes in the film comes after the Thing has already imitated some of the researchers. While in a squabble amongst themselves, one of the researchers has a heart attack. So they pull him into one of the rooms and the doctor attempts to restart his heart with a defibrillator....

So that's my list, ABOGers! I hope you enjoyed it and make a point to go out and give these films a try.

If you have thoughts on the movies listed or want to add some favorites of your own, leave a comment below or say so on our Facebook page.



Until next time,

Tom

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Superheroines in Film: The Case for Wonder Woman and Black Widow

For all the progress comics have made since their inception, there's still many areas where they fall short. Despite its advancement in addressing social issues and its providing of racially diverse heroes, comics are still generally a male-dominated genre.

Sure, publishers are accepting more and more that they have female readers and they're steering away from the misogynistic storytelling of their early comics.

But as I said, for all their progress on the matter of fairness amongst the sexes, there's still a lot more that can be made. The focus of their comics, for the most part, still focus on the male heroes.

For every Ms. Marvel story Marvel puts out, there's six different stories on Spider-man they have on the shelf.

Not only this, but the number of notable female leads publishers choose to focus on is minute at best.



Quick: name me one female super hero!



Did your mind instantly go to Wonder Woman? That's fine, she's a great example of a strong female superheroine.

Batgirl, maybe? Another prime example of a positive superheroine role model.

Now name me 5 other superheroines.



Then 5 more.



If you're struggling to come up with names on the list, then I've made my point.

You could probably come up with a minimum of 10 male heroes to fill the list: Superman, Batman, Spider-man, Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash.

There, 10 male superheroes. And I didn't even have to break into the second-tier heroes.

 

I'm talking, of course, about the Whizzer.

Don't get the wrong impression. I'm not saying there are no female superheroine stories. To say that would be a discredit to the hard working artists and writers who work diligently put their efforts into great, existing titles.

What I'm trying to get across is that even for all that is being done, there could be more.

More focus could be shifted, more creations of superheroines that would inspire.



A prime opportunity of this is in the film industry.

Right now, superhero films are booming. They're thriving more than they ever have in history and the film industry is finally giving us writers and filmmakers worthy of creating fantastic superhero stories.

No longer do we have the “Daredevil”s, but instead are given “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

And yet, despite this, not one good film with a female lead.



Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Tom, there have already been superheroine movies from both DC and Marvel.”

Too true, Hypothetical-Naysayer-I-Just-Made-Up.

DC have had two female-lead films, “Supergirl”(1984) and “Catwoman”(2004).

Marvel, “Elektra”(2004).

And every one of them has been universally hated.

Based on reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, each movie were considered dismal failures that soured the superhero film genre. Supergirl receives an 8%; Catwoman, a 9%; and Elektra bringing up the highest of the three with a 10% approval rating.

One might wonder as to why these films did so poorly. Sure, the finger can be pointed to a lot of things:

Cheesy effects, bad writing, poorly chosen actresses(*Achem*Halle Berry*Achem).

But if you want my honest opinion, I think a major contribution is the times these movies were released in.

When “Supergirl” was released, there had already been three Superman movies, each met with critical success. But superhero movies were still largely a niche genre that only catered to the most prominent of heroes. And they wouldn't receive the kick in the pants from Tim Burton's “Batman: The Movie” until five years later, in 1989.

And then we have “Elektra” and “Catwoman.” Both were released in 2004, just at the dawn of the upswing of superhero movies. I've talked before about how I consider 2000's “X-men” and 2002's “Spider-Man” to be the catalysts of the superhero film fascination, and this remains true.

However, this meant during their wake in the early 2000s, there were a lot of awkward superhero movies. This meant movies that, although having a decent budget and interest, were clunky and/or just bad. Poor director choices, bad actor performances and awkward scripts that tried to maintain the dynamic between comic lore and general fan attraction were all contributing factors.

The film industry was taking their baby steps into the superhero genre, and they were ugly steps.

Two of such ugly steps were “Elektra” and “Catwoman,” who although they featured female protagonists, were still poorly done.

Coincidentally enough, the superhero genre would receive yet another kick in the pants from Batman the following year with “Batman Begins.” Its critical success prompted Marvel to retaliate with its Cinematic Universe, starting with “Iron Man” in 2008.

To me, this is where superhero films really came to head, utilizing proper effects, amazing actors and well constructed writing that brought special attention to character development. The recent surge in ticket sales in superhero movies is a testament to this, which is why I consider this the best time for superhero movies.

 

....mostly.

And it's also why I consider it time for a good superheroine movie.

This means a battle between Marvel and DC's two prominent female characters: Black Widow and Wonder Woman, respectively.



Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not many people knew or cared about Black Widow. She was an alternate character who'd they would bring in if they needed an espionage storyline or some thrilling tale of deceit. But after Scarlett Johansson took up the role in “Iron Man 2” and then her follow-up performance in “The Avengers,” suddenly Black Widow was a somebody. She was standing toe-to-toe with Iron man, Captain America and Thor as an equal and valued member of the team. Not only this, but her portrayal in film was one of genuine character strength. She was a strong woman capable of exceeding expectations and who had complex, compelling emotions and thoughts. I applaud ScoJo's performance for giving us a female character whom fans can look up to as a positive role model (albeit the whole “Being-a-deadly-assassin” part)

 

I'm really curious how this comes up in the kids' show...

Inversely, DC's trying to match Marvel's success with “The Avengers” by bringing in a setup for the Justice League in “Batman Superman: Dawn of Justice.” This of course means Batman and Superman, but it also means the other members like Aquaman and, above all else, WONDER WOMAN.

H'ooohhhhhh man!

Wonder Woman, finally getting a role in a major film?! We've been waiting for this for forever!

We've had umpteenth Batman movies and so many Superman movies, but never a film featuring the mighty Amazonian princess. And it's about time because, let's face it, Wonder Woman is badass. She rips cars apart, flies, and punches out bad guys just as easily as Superman. She also makes it her business distributing justice to Nazis wholesale.

 

It really should be on every superhero resume.

However, our victory is shortened by the fact that, despite being considered a member of equal importance to Batman and Superman in the League, her first film appearance is as a support character where the primary focus are the boys in black and blue.

But I'll reserve further criticism until the film is released.



What I will say is that both of these women represent a strong opportunity to bring a superheroine in a featured film, each for their own reasons.

Black Widow has already been established in film and has been shown as a strong woman capable of getting shit done. To me, she's every bit as capable as Captain America, so why not give her her own movie? Take her out as a supporting character and bring her into the spotlight. We've already seen that Johansson can portray her with the dynamic of being badass, emotionally complex, and morally righteous at her core. Seeing more of that would be fantastic. Plus, she's already been integrated as an equally important Avenger, so why not take the chance?



As for Wonder Woman, the waters are still untested. Because the movie she's featured in has yet to release, there's no telling how she'll come across. They could have her only as a supporting character who takes up arms with the boys or she'll be as much of a contender as the title characters.

It's still unknown.

But what is certain is that she's DC's best chance for a superheroine title character on the silver screen. Out of all DC's characters, Wonder Woman is the most deserving for her own movie. And the recent surge in superhero popularity shows that audiences want to see well done, compelling superhero stories. Why can't it be Wonder Woman?

It all depends on how she's portrayed in Dawn of Justice and how the audience receives her in her film debut.

But let's face it: Wonder Woman's been due for her own movie for a loooooooong time.



Now, both Marvel and DC have movies deadlocked well into 2018. This might be discouraging if not for earlier this year, when due to the positive response from leaked footage, the Deadpool movie was finally green lit and added to Marvel's movie roster.

So I say it's entirely possible to add a Black Widow or Wonder Woman movie into this lineup, or any other superheroines they choose to try out.



The future remains to be seen for superheroines in film, but it's progress I hope to see come to fruition in the next few years.

We can do it!



-Tom

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The Perfect Horror Game

I've always been a fan of horror. I enjoy scary movies, frightening books and just about every other form of medium that horror slithers itself into. There's just something so enthralling about that fear, dread and nausea that specifically comes from horror. Video games, too, are just as captivating. So it makes perfect sense why horror and video games have blended so well together over the years. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.

I myself recently picked up a horror game I've long been meaning to play: Dead Space. For those unfamiliar, either because you don't play many games or you're like our wonderful Miranda who cringes at the thought of horror, Dead Space is a game that takes place on a space station that's gone quiet. You play as a character sent to investigate its mysterious silence when you run into Necromorphs, horrible abominations that infect human hosts and mutant them into grisly abominations.

 

But enough about Rosie O'Donnell...

And while I can certainly gave it a good try, I can't say I was a fan of Dead Space.

Now before you start flooding the comment boxes with Dead Space defense, know that I can see that the game has merit. Visually, the game looks good and the atmosphere is definitely on par, but somehow the game just didn't click with me. It had a lot of good things a horror game should have, but it just wasn't quite there.

This failure to click got me thinking: what do I consider the qualities of a good horror video game?

So, for your consideration, I present my personal take on what makes the perfect horror game.

1. Type of Horror

The first thing to consider when building a horror game is decided what type of horror it's going to be. This doesn't mean picking whether it's a horrible monster that you dread, a horrible monster that disgusts you or a horrible monster that eats you.

 

Last one, I promise.

What this means is the type of scare you're going to bring to the player. Basically, I can say there are three types of horror:

1 Jump Scares, where the horror pops out at you when you least suspect it.

2 Visual Scares, where the horror is presented to you in the open for you to see at length.

3 Combination Scares, which take elements from both the Visual and Jump Scares.



Jump Scares are a great way to cause a player to initially feel unsettled, not knowing when a scare is going to leap out at them. This is a good way to get the player's heart pumping and is primarily the horror that Dead Space employs. And a lot of games use it themselves, including this clip from Bioshock Infinite:



But while it has its uses, Jump Scares have their limit. Relying on them too much causes the player to begin to expect them and, even worse, suck the horror from a game. This is mostly because Jump Scares are just surprises meant to break the sense of safety. But this isn't true horror, it's just a normal human reaction when we're forced to react to something quickly.



Visual Scares try to take this onto a deeper level, appealing to your psychological fears. A good example of this type of horror is the F.E.A.R. series, where they put all the horror on display and just let you take it all in. They let it creep into your mind and scare you on a deeper level, where you're dreading what you'll find around the next corner.



This is a good type of horror to put into a game, but even it isn't perfect. The perfect horror game, in my opinion, is one that finds the balance between the two, the Combination Scares, as I like to call them.



These type of horror games are ones that blend the psychological impact of Visual Scares with the jarring disturbances of Jump Scares. They're the games that present you with a horrific visual and sound but throw a few Jump Scares every now and then to keep you off balance. Not so much that it becomes predictable but enough to keep the player from knowing what's going to happen next. This is the balance, where the player is so filled with dread from the game that it feels like genuine fear.

2. Atmosphere

Now it probably goes without saying, but without a good atmosphere, you can't have a good horror game. You can't exactly build a horror game using the Hello Kitty universe(or rather, you can, but it'd be hard to do). So you're going to have to create a game where the atmosphere reflects the horror that you're trying to instill in the player.

 

Now I can't get that pitch out of my head. Somebody, get on it!

This is often done by creating a setting that strikes at our most basest fears as human beings, such as the dark, confinement, the decay of death, or even our fear of predators. That's why you'll find a lot of horror games that share similar patterns to one another: small corridors shrouded in darkness, gore that signifies mortal frailty and enemies that are inhuman, beyond our rationality to fight.

A man we can fight, a monster is different.

For an example of how atmosphere can affect a game, I'll turn to Half-Life 2 as an example. A great game in itself, it's a first-person shooter where you fight mostly armed soldiers and aliens. But there is a great part of the game where the genre deviates into horror and you can see the visual change in style and presentation.

Here's how the atmosphere of the game usually is:

And here's when they shift to Ravenholm, the horror portion:

Notice the change? The change from bright, open areas to darker, more crowded alleys? This wasn't done on accident. The designers changed this intentionally to give Ravenholm a greater sense of uneasiness and dread. And it works, too. Ravenholm is one of the more terrifying parts of the game.

Good atmosphere can make a great horror game.

3. Immersion

If you're a gamer, than I can bet you've already experienced immersion in a game. That feeling when you're so engrossed in the game that you feel yourself disconnect from reality and connect to the events that are happening in the game. It happens a lot in most games but in horror games, it's essential.

Immersion is how you really scare a player because if they are enthralled into what's happening, then they momentarily feel it happening to them, as if they were the character experiencing the horrors.

This can be achieved through a number of ways.

Often, horror games will be in the first-person perspective instead of third-person. Of course, there are third-person horror games but I find the best ones are usually in first-person. The focus of first-person not only lets the player look through the eyes of the protagonist to simulate it in themselves, but it also gives them a bigger visual to view said horrors. The more you can see, the more fear can be pumped in.

Another good trick of immersion is in the audio of a game. Creepy sounds, random shrieks and primal drumbeats are great ways to get the players deeper into the game by not only appealing to their visual sense but their auditory as well. Playing a silent horror game is much less involving than playing the same game with appropriate horror sounds.

However, immersion is a fickle bitch. It's hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. It can be broken at the top of a hat, either through glitchy game mechanics or even poor design. And once you break a player's immersion into the horror game, you snap them back to reality where they're safe in their homes. Nonetheless, immersion is important to strive for and should always be a necessity of a great horror game.

4. Player Power

This last point is one that I believe has one of the strongest influence in horror video games: how powerful the player is.

Like we've talked about before, horror games are about simulating the fears of the player through the game. Fear that comes from a weak state, a state of helplessness against that which threatens us.

And the best possible way to destroy that fear is to give you a giant gun with unlimited ammo so that you may blast said fear away.

See, a lot of games have the problem of associating first-person with first-person shooters and think that the only way of making a horror game is to also give you a gun to fight the terror. But what some designers fail to realize is that the terror they want to induce in their players would be best by taking away their means to fight, to be completely helpless against the horrors they face. Having them hide and run away might not seem enthralling, but the reason their running away is because they're helpless and scared.

Take DOOM 3 for example. A good horror game, in my opinion, but which gives you plenty of weapons to shoot the horrors you face:

On the inverse of this spectrum, I'll give you Amensia: The Dark Descent, which basically only gives you a lantern:

Which would you suppose, if you were in the place of the protagonist of either game, would you choose to be in? The one where you have a gun or the one where you have a lantern?

Of course you'd choose the gun because it's a means to fight, a means to survive.

And that's exactly what you want in a horror game: to make the player feel vulnerable against the horrors.

Playing Dead Space, this was something I found to be a problem with because they tried to find the middle ground. They gave you a lot of guns that did very little against the enemies. And while this may seem like a way of creating helplessness, it's a cheap out. To the player, they've got all this fire power but none of it works. It's basically pointless and that's what breaks them out of the game.

The key is pick one of the extremes, either very powered or very underpowered, preferably the later.





So there you have it! All the proper elements I believe make a great horror game. It's not necessarily a how-to, but it is something to think about when you're playing your next horror game.

And heck, if you decide to design your own, all the better! Because now you'll know how to truly strike fear into the hearts of your players.

-Tom



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Why it's a Great Time to be a Geek

Part of appreciating what you have is about taking stock of how far you've come. It's a way of honoring the steps you've taken to get where you are and the ones who've helped you get there.

So without a hint of doubt, I can say this: there hasn't been a greater time to be a geek.

I mean that in all seriousness. Right now, in the 21st century, is the thriving time of the geek.

Now, I was born in the late 80's. Which means that by the time I had arrived, a lot of well geeky foundations such as comics, video games, television and film were already pretty well established. A lot of phenomenal contributions had already been made, but I would argue that being a geek hadn't quite hit its stride.

Liking Star Trek, reading comics or playing video games was still somewhat looked upon as juvenile interests or, at worst, the strange hobbies of the geek outcast.

But I would argue that that sentimentality really started to change in the 90's with the rising advancement of technology, more specifically in the refinement of computers and the enormous connecting power of the internet. Suddenly, everything was different.

With better and better computers, mediums across the board were growing in quality.

Video games went from this:

To this:

To this:

Witnessing this from nearly the start, this was huge. I remember playing through Zelda or StarFox on the Nintendo 64 and being amazed at the graphic world I was presented. At the time, it was the most advanced, immersive worlds I could conceive. But if you had shown me the things that were to come, I would have been blown away at your wizardry.

And I was not alone in this excitement. Millions of other people joined me in this wondrous process, following along each step of quality progression. This staggering amount of people did not go unnoticed, which is primarily how the video game industry has continued to grow.

As more and people paid attention to video games, seeing them no longer as childrens' fancies, so did the production companies, who in turn started producing better quality games for the masses.



But video games were not alone in this. Films and television, too, were growing.

The introduction of CGI(Computer-Generated Imagery) in the 90s brought a whole new world of world creation that brought deeper immersion to audiences.

The Lion King, considered a masterpiece in animation and visuals, was the direct result of computer animation. It became so popular, it still holds the record for third-most grossing animated film.



Another major contributor to the geek film culture was the introduction of superhero movies.

Now, Superman had already come out in the late 70's, followed by Tim Burton's Batman movies in the late 80's. And while these were necessary predecessors to superhero movies, I would go as far to argue that they never really hit their widespread popularity until the 2000 movie, “X-Men.”

In its opening week, X-men grossed $54,471,475, convincing Marvel Studios to begin making adaptations of their other products. Eventually, this would lead them to begin their expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Iron Man and culminating in The Avengers(where they brought in all the characters/actors from the previous movies and grossed $1,518,594,910 by itself worldwide).

 

My inner 9 year-old is STILL freaking out.

In response to Marvel's success, DC launched their own modern film series with the 2005 movie “Batman Begins,” Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman legend. His triology(“Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises”), is widely considered one of the best film adaptations of Batman with an average rating 0f 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing nearly 2.5 billion dollars.

 

It's Bat-tastic.

These two titans of superhero films, Marvel and DC, would create a culture of popularity in geek films, spawning other adaptations from other mediums, such as “Hellboy,” “Scott Pilgrim” and many more.

Suddenly, not only was it popular to be a geek but it was profitable for the industry as well. And while they gained off exploiting our interests, it also led to more numerous, better quality productions.

All by the dawn of the 21st century and the rise of technology.



All of this growing technology, while it may not have seemed like it at the time, was all cultivating the culture of the geek. Everything that we as passionate fans hold dear started in these early beginnings at the start of the century. The growing availability of computers and the staggering connecting power of the internet brought us closer together as a species, bringing our unified interests to light.

This brought a whole new level of acceptance to geek culture as we found kindred spirits in our respective interests all over the world. Online gaming, geek sites and more united us together, creating a global culture of gamers, comic enthusiasts, crafters, writers and everything else under the sun.

What was once considered obscure interests is now commonly accepted, even celebrated for its uniqueness.



Comic-cons are more popular than ever.

Fans are able to tweet their favorite creators.

Films and television are streamed online.

Digital comics are on the rise.

And Joss Whedon rules us all.



The geek is at his most thriving time. It's truly a great time to be alive.

The future only holds greater promise and I cannot wait to see what it yields.

-Tom

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The Top 4 Best (and Worst) Movie Remakes

Sometimes in the film industry, they like to give you reminders. They say, “Hey, remember that one movie you love? Well, it's been about 14 years since its release, so why don't we bring it back with a newer look?” This, as we all know, is known as the remake.

Now, remakes are a double-edged sword that have the potential to either be a great reinvention that pays great homage to the original or be a soul-sucking carbon copy, that from the start, was a clear ploy for money. From a filmmaker standpoint, remakes are tricky because you're damned if you're too similar to the original and damned if you're too different from the original. There is a very fine line where you have a remake that's similar but different enough to be appreciated.

Sometimes it works. Other times, it doesn't.

So we here at A Bit of Geek have compiled a short list of remakes that landed the mark and those we wish we could forget.



(Disclaimer: while there are certainly other remakes out there other than what's on this list, I had to limit it to remakes I had actually seen, out of fairness. Even as some remakes looked worse than these ones[Total Recall], it wouldn't be just to judge them without actually seeing them. So, here we are)

4th Worst: “When a Stranger Calls” (2006)

This 2006 psychological “horror” film is a remake of the 1979 movie by the same name. Both movies are based on the urban legend “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs,” where a babysitter is watching some kids, a creepy call comes where a man asks her if she's checked the children and the call is revealed to be coming from inside the house. Oh, and he already killed the kids. This was turned into the 1979 version, which despite its best efforts, never landed to stick. Then 2006 came around and the new one was given a chance to reinvent the movie for a modern age.

But it flopped. It even got a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. Its big mystery (“The call's coming from inside the house”) was revealed in its trailers, thereby ruining the big suspense. Also, the performance of Camilla Belle as the heroine is not very good.

For this remake, it's better to hit “Ignore” for “When a Stranger Calls.”

4th Best: “The Producers” (2005)

I'll be honest with you right away: I love musicals. I love the dancing, the numbers, everything. Especially comedic musicals. They just go hand-in-hand with all the showmanship.

Which explains why I love the remake of “The Producers,” starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. The movie itself is about a sleazy musical producer and his closet-producer accountant as they try to make the worst musical possible as a get-rich-quick scheme. Hijinks ensue(with plenty of number in between) and the film becomes one of the best pieces of musical comedy around.

What's great about this film is that it's actually based on the 1968 version done by the one-and-only, Mel Brooks. Now, trying to outdo Mel Brooks in comedy is a very hard thing to do and while the remake shouldn't be compared to being “better,” it still gives a honorable rendition to the classic.

Even better, its production values are better(most likely do to the film's accountants), which make the numbers more dramatic and over the top.

A fitting remake that is a joy to watch every time.

3rd Worst: “Halloween” (2007)

The Halloween series has always been a staple of the American horror genre. It was there when horror films were really taking off and stands its ground against “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street.” Personally, I believe this had a lot to do with John Carpenter, who understands the fine subtly to horror and is an overall amazing director(we'll get to that later). Michael Myers doesn't just pop out of frame and slashes at his victims in a moment of surprise. He waits in the background. He makes sure you see him so that you, as a viewer, feel a building of suspense for the unknowing victims.

The 2007 “Halloween” remake by Rob Zombie failed to understand that. Instead of utilizing the psychological horror aspect of Michael Myers, Zombie went for a different approach, portraying Michael as an unstoppable killing machine, akin to Jason Voorhees. This might be due to Zombie's influence as a writer/director, having had more success with his “House of 1000 Corpses” and “The Devil's Rejects,” which were films more about their grisly gore horror than any sort of suspense horror.

3rd Best: “Dawn of the Dead” (2004)

When I first saw the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” I was blown away. It was a couple years before the zombie genre had really hit full swing, so seeing this film was like seeing the precursor of many more. And seeing it through the eyes of director Zack Snyder(“Watchmen,” “Man of Steel,”) brought us a grandiose sense of disaster to zombie films.

Now, the 1978 original film, done by the proverbial creator of modern zombies, George A. Romero, was a good film in itself. It told the story of a handful of survivors of the zombie apocalypse making their refuge in an abandoned mall. It was a fine zombie film thinly masked as a commentary on American consumerism.

However, what made the remake better were two words: production value. This especially has merit in a zombie movie, where the difference in immersion comes down to either red-dyed corn syrup or high quality blood and guts. Where the original lacked in a big budget for special effects, the remake made up for with fantastic effects. It even had a zombie baby!

2nd Worst: “Night of the Living Dead” (1990)

I know what you must be thinking. “Tom, you just had a George A. Romero remake, and it was good! How could this remake be bad??”

Well, naïve reader, it once again comes down to the level of immersion. The remake of “Night of the Living Dead,” despite its best efforts, undermined itself and the believability of the “of the Dead” series.

See, when the original 1968 “Night of the Living Dead” hit theaters, it was a terrifying spectacle. The dead, rising from their graves to collectively eat the living? Jeepers! And as expected, the reanimated bodies of the dead moved slowly, as though they were rigid from their time spent as worm food. This created the suspense when the protagonist decided to hold up in a house with fellow survivors, only to have the dead eventually break through and devour them.

The remake undermined this suspense with one single scene.

There is a part where one of the protagonists says, “They're so slow. We could just walk right past 'em and we wouldn't even have to run. We could just walk right past 'em. We have the guns. If we're careful we could get away.”

To which her fellow protagonist, after taking a moment to think, says, “No, that wouldn't be a good idea.”



OF COURSE IT'S A GOOD IDEA WHEN THEY MOVE AS SLOW AS A WALK AND HOLDING UP IN ONE PLACE WILL MEAN YOUR DEFENSES WILL BE OVERRUN.



Completely took the believability out of the “Of the Dead” zombies.

2nd Best: “Evil Dead” (2013)

It's a bit of an understatement to say that I love The Evil Dead series. I love the originals with a burning passion that is only dwarfed by the largeness of the Bruce Campbell's chin. While not a consistent genre, the films are a masterpiece in themselves, if only for their campiness, badassdom and the introduction of bookshelves as enemies.

But then the remake came along in 2013, directed by Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez. And it brought Evil Dead back to its roots: to Evil Dead 1, where it had been entirely meant as a horror film.

The Evil Dead remake reinvented the series as a story about demon possession in a cabin in the woods, while simultaneously being about recovery from drug addiction(overcoming a different demon, if you will). But it was filled with such disturbing scenes of gore and sphincter-shrinking mutilation that I felt it reignited the horror aspect of the series. Even better, the filmmakers made the wise decision not to have an Ash character, who was the protagonist from the old series.

Because let's face it: there is no replacement for Bruce Campbell. He's a god among men.

1st Worst: “Planet of the Apes” (2001)

Bless Tim Burton's heart. He tries so hard.

The 2001 remake of the 1968 original by the same name was.....abysmal. It was bad in every possible way and pales in comparison to the classic.

The original “Planet of the Apes” was an icon of the late 60's. Charlton Heston's rugged acting as part of an astronaut team whom discovers a planet of sentient apes was a fantastic take on the exploration science genre. And with the great twist (Does one give out spoiler warnings for movies 50 years old....?) where the astronauts discover the planet is actually Earth in the future, it has been a staple of film history ever since.

The 2001 “Planet of the Apes”? Not so much. It was a weird, hot mess that was signature of Burton's work but mesh with all the wrong elements.

For one, Mark Wahlberg and Tim Burton should never work together. Wahlberg's tough-guy alpha male-ism conflicts horribly with Burton's dark, twisted visualization of characters and settings. Like bringing the frat boy to a My Chemical Romance concert.

Secondly, the film tried to hard to make the dystopian world of the apes strange yet advanced and at the same time, primitive. Swirly armors met with spiraling cities and it was just uncomfortable to take in, visually.

But the coup de grâce was the cheesiness of the movie. Everything felt unbelievably phoney, from the weird ape-on-human romance to the “ape god,” who turned out to be an astronaut ape that came with the originals. However, all of these are nothing compared to the ultimate cheesiness of the movie's ending. Their own take on the original's twist, where we're forced to see Mark Wahlberg's take on the “it was Earth the whole time!”......as he sees an ape-ified version of the Lincoln Memorial.

No doubt, the worst remake I've seen to date.

1st Best: “The Thing” (1982)

Let me be perfectly honest and say this with no form of bias whatsoever.....John Carpenter's “The Thing” is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. It's the perfect combination of suspenseful horror, sickening gore and psychological thriller. For those of you unprivileged enough to have not seen it(yet), the film follows an American survey team in Antarctica as they come under attack by a shapeshifting alien who assimilates any living thing and replicates it perfectly. Suddenly, the team finds themselves mistrusting one another, not knowing who or who isn't a Thing. If you haven't seen it, go see it immediately as it will change your life (Warning: your results may vary).

But what some may not know is that John Carpenter's Thing is actually a remake of a 1951 movie titled “The Thing from Another World.” However, these two versions are completely different from one another. While the remake is a suspenseful paranoid horror film, the original “The Thing from Another World” was classic black-and-white creature feature, The Thing of old is a Flora Frankenstein, being a plant-alien that needs blood plasma to reproduce. It stalks the American outpost as the plucky heroes try to brave against the monster. It even has a happy ending, where the alien is killed and everyone important and good survives to see the credits roll.

But the remake is far superior, in my opinion. It's even closer to the source material as both films are based on a 1938 novella called “Who Goes There?” In the novella, the American team do become paranoid about who's a Thing, so they perform a series of test, like in the remake. Except one thing both films left out was Thing cows.....and ingesting Thing milk.

Sometimes, it's alright for remakes to be different from their originals if they improve on the idea of the concept.





That's our list of remakes, for good or ill! If you agree with us or have some remake mentions of your own, let us know! Comment below or contact us on Facebook, Twitter and tumblr!

-Tom

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Awesome Fan Films

A fan is an interesting type of person. Like any representative of the human race, a fan has the potential for great good but also great evil. We've all seen the two types: one fan who respects their passion but also contributes positively to the fanbase. While the other is a wretched, spiteful human being who's only response to other fans is a flame war the likes of which put the Fire-Chucking War between my cousin and I to shame. However, in the very rarest of cases, the beacons of fan goodness shine through and produce something truly amazing: the quality fan film.

Fan films can also be good and bad but when they're good, ohhh man are they good. This is usually the result of the filmmakers being fans themselves and understanding the feel of the source material. Other times, it's a stellar budget that allows for near authentic production value. In either case, the result is fantastic.

So we here at A Bit of Geek have compiled a list of some great fan films, in no particular order of importance, for your enjoyment. Behold!

1. "Fight the Foot"

As far as this list goes, this fan film is the shortest, coming in at just over three minutes. But damn if they don't manage to tell a great story in that time. The film is set in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, following April O'Neil in her investigation of the ninja gang, the Foot. And when some Foot thugs come to silence her, we get to see some killer turtle action by the R-man himself. Take note, Michael Bay, because this is a fan film and even their ninja turtle looks better than yours.

2. "Half-Life: Escape from City 17"

This short Canadian film, done by the Purchase Brothers, is set in the video game universe of Half-Life 2, just after the announcement that City 17 is going to explode within a matter of hours. The film follows the escape of several resistance members as they fight their way through Combine and Headcrab Zombies. Very well done.

3. "Fallout: Nuka Break"

This Fallout fan film focuses on the story of "Vault dweller, his ghoul companion, and a slave they free from New Vegas." It was so popular in its release in 2011 that it received funding for it's own web miniseries and follow-up movie. If you're a fan of the Fallout series, this is definitely something you should check out.

4. "Megaman X"

This one is a personal preference because, frankly, Megaman X is awesome. But even as it's picked for its subject matter, that doesn't diminish its quality. The short film follows a programmed simulation that Dr. Light installed into X during the time before he was awoken by Dr. Cain. The simulation has X fighting a copy of Protoman to determine the morality of X. Brilliant, I say.

5. "Portal: No Escape"

This Portal fan film is spectacular because it does something not found in abundance in the Portal games: adds drama. The film is a serious interpretation on the imprisonment of Chell as she's forced by Apeture Science to conduct testing. It's great because it doesn't necessarily feel like an alternate take as it could very well be what goes through Chell's head in between the cake jokes. This film is one of my personal faves.

6. "The Punisher: Dirty Laundry"

I cannot properly express to you how amazing this fan film is. Thomas Jane, who played the Punisher in the self-titled 2004 film, played Frank Castle with such finesse and raw brutality that he is without a doubt, my favorite incarnation of the Punisher. But then Dirty Laundry comes around. A fan produced, fan made Punisher film that stars Thomas Jane himself?! Pure gold. Not only this, but another big name actor signed on for this short film. I won't say who it is; you'll just have to watch the film yourself and thank yourself afterward.

7. "Airsoft GI- Left 4 Dead"

Okay, remember before when I said that this list was in no particular order of importance? Well, I lied. Right to your face, I lied. Because this fan film, out of all the ones we've listed, is the best.

It follows the world of Valve's zombie-masterpiece, Left 4 Dead. But not only is it a fantastic Left 4 Dead fan film, it's also something else. It has a turning point in the film that will honestly surprise you. I won't say more; just please, watch it. It's.....the best.







That's all we have so far! But if you've got some fan films that you enjoy, feel free to comment and tell us! Or let us know what you thought of the ones we showed you!

Oh, and an honorable mention to Bat in the Sun, who does awesome fan video showdowns. Definitely worth checking out.

-Tom



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The Video Game Glad Game

Every now and then, you get beat by a game. A cheap enemy that continually kills you, a glitch that ruins a saved game, whatever it might be. All of these leave you feeling irritated, frustrated and crushed. This would be a good time to just rage quit, but little did you know there's an alternative:

THE VIDEO GAME GLAD GAME

It's simple to do and it could even up lift your spirits. Here's how you play: whenever you get frustrated by a game or sad that you can't progress, you just take a second to think of all the moments in video gaming that make you feel happy. Any specific feeling or euphoric moment in a game that left a positive mark on your brain.Everyone's list is different, catered specifically to your video gaming career. So to get you started on your own Video Game Glad Game, I present you my personal list of feel-good-video-game moments:

 Reaching the highest point on the end-level flag in Super Mario Bros.

 Grabbing an air bubble just before you're about to drown in Sonic the Hedgehog.

 Doing a swan dive from a great height in the Tomb Raider series.

 Hitting the exact buttons to use the Hadouken in Megaman X.

 Beating the Penguin in the ice race of Super Mario 64.

 Taking down every enemy in an area in the Batman: Arkham series without being spotted once.

 Chainsawing an enemy in Gears of War.

 Becoming Pokemon League Champion in Pokemon Red/Blue.

 Using the supercharged Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2.

 Beating Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts.

 Looking up at the skies in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Those are my glad moments in video gaming, ABOGers! They keep me going through all the rage quits and corrupt save files. What are some of yours? Tell us in the comments or on our Facebook page.

-Tom

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"The Stanley Parable" and You

This is the story of you.

Right now, you are sitting in that exact location with your eyes locked onto your screen, reading these very words. You are reading this so astutely, in fact, that your mind is jumping ahead through the text and wondering what the whole point of this introduction is.

I will answer that question by saying that now the voice in your head reading this article is now speaking with a British accent. Not a cockney British accent, but the most elegant, graceful British accent your mind can muster.

Let's read this sentence together, all with that British voice you made up in your head.

Well, did it work?

Are you thinking with a British voice, all because I gave you the suggestion to do so? If you are, then let me ask you this:

Why did you obey my suggestion?

What was the reason you decided to do exactly what I told you to do?

Was it because these words are holding your attention captive, forcing you to adhere to my every whim? Or was because you where going along with the story, giddily going along with the flow to find out where it was all going?

Well then congratulations! You've just learned a valuable lesson on the illusion of choice.

One such lesson learned from the video game called “The Stanley Parable.”

The Stanley Parable, for the curiously unfamiliar, is a first-person adventure game that deals with the subject of choice and the lack thereof. Written and developed solely by Davey Wreden, the game originally began as a mod of the Source engine and became available to Steam in 2011. But since its release, it has grown in such popularity that a high-definition remake was designed and released late of 2013. The game has been praised for its thoughtful subject matter, well-crafted design and its clear sense of originality.

But it's the story that really drives the success of the game. In the game, you play a simple office worker by the name of Stanley. Stanley's job is to press buttons all day when a prompt comes up on his computer monitor. He's so blissfully happy with this menial task that it's a shock to him, at the start of the game, when one day the computer stops telling him what to do. Upon further investigation, Stanley discovers that all of his coworkers have vanished suddenly without a word. All of this exposition, as you the play the game, is told to you by the voice of the Narrator, who walks through everything that Stanley does along the story. However, even as the Narrator vocally dictates where to go and what to do, you can opt to ignore his instructions, following the path led by your own choices. Your ending is thus altered, much to the annoyance of the Narrator who insists you stay on the original story.

Now while the plot may not sound like something truly groundbreaking, it's the real story behind the story that pulls you in. This is because, despite the notions established throughout the game, the story is really about you, the player.

Sure, the game follows the actions of Stanley, but because you're the one actually controlling the actions of Stanley, the story is actually yours, as told through the life of Stanley. Normally as a gamer, you'd brush this off and disassociate your life from that of the protagonist's.

But not in The Stanley Parable.

As the game progresses, you find out that the game acknowledges this disassociation and forces you to take reflection on what you're doing with your life, both through the game and out of it. It makes you pause at the confines of video game narrative and makes you consider one crucial question:

“Do I truly have a choice?”

Because, through the parable of Stanley, we have to wonder if the power of our choices were ever really real or if they were just designed confines, predetermined since before we were born. Most games don't really delve into such topics so as not to break your immersion of the game.

But not The Stanley Parable.

Because The Stanley Parable isn't the really the story of Stanley.

It isn't the story of his missing coworkers, or the Narrator.

It isn't even the story of whether choice is really relevant.

This is the story of you.

-Tom

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Being a Geek Parent: Year One

About a year ago, my wife gave birth to our firstborn son and we began a new chapter in our lives.

 

Obligatory picture of said brood: check

It was a surreal experience and I could not truly grasp how much it would come to impact my life for the better. Because not only did I become a parent, but I also became something else. A relatively new brand of dad known only as the “Geek Parent.”

Yes, all my years of comic book reading and video game playing had not deterred my lovely spouse from me and together we brought into this world a beautiful, nerdy offspring. I'd become the kind of father most likely to play Super Mario with his son or teach him the mantra of the Green Lantern Corps. It was something I had come to expect, but what I hadn't counted on was how being a father would change my geekiness itself. How it would refine and change my perspective on everything I held dear and near to my two-timelord-hearts.

So for all of you expecting gamers and prego nerds, here's a bit of a heads up on some of the things I've learned in my first year as a geek parent.

Your Friends And Family Do Half Your Geek Introduction For You

When your child first comes into the world, you're going to feel the impulse to gather all the geeky related things you can for your darling Level 1 Human. Superhero onesies, Star Wars Pacifiers, the works. But what you'll soon come to find out is that the people closest to you are going to be more than willing to help you in this. Your loved ones, knowing how geeky you are and caring for their new relative, will shower you in enough geeky goodies that it will be impossible for your child to not be exposed to your interests. It's really awesome, actually, because when all of their clothes are options of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, there's never a shortage of geek that's adorned onto your child.

You'll Learn Time Management And Which Of Your Geek Loves Most Deserve Your Free Time

It kind of goes without saying, but children take up your time. I'm being completely serious when I tell you that you're going to not have a lot of free time to yourself. But while some might get gloomy about this, it also helps you prioritize what interests you really care about. No more mindless wandering on reddit, no sir/madam, you're going to be crazy focused on what you really want to do. Want to finish that fantasy novel? Organize a new Magic deck? Complete the final campaign in the latest installment of your favorite video game? You're going to be more motivated than ever to do it! Because now you have a little one that depends on your time and attention, you're going to be less inclined to waste your free time on idle interests. So like a geek lightning rod, your true interests will come to focus and you'll be a better for it in the end.

Your Geeky Upbringing Will Not Be The Same As Your Child's, But It Can Be Similar

There was a lot that happened in your life to bring you to the wondrous form of nerd you are today. For me, it was the combination of the Frieza Saga, “The Spider-man Animated Series,” and lots and lots of video games. And while all those are well and good for me back when I was growing up, some of it might sadly be dated for me to expose my son to. Sure, I could attempt to recreate my own childhood for him, have him play on the N64 or gather old Pokemon cards for him to trade. But it wouldn't hold the same magic as it did then because that was the past, and geek future is moving forward. He's got to experience his own moments on the road to geekdom, ones that are better fit to the times he is raised in.

But that doesn't mean that you can't share anything with your child. If you want to get your kid into D&D, then by all means, do it. It's a part of who you are and even if it's dated to your time, your child will still take interest in it because it's something you can share together. Which leads into my last point....

Your Excitement To Share Your Passions With Your Child Will Reignite Old Flames And Bring You Closer

Being a geek, in its truest form, is about finding joy in something. Whether it's movies, video games, or whatever, it's all about having passion in something. And when you can share that passion with your new reason for living, it only enhances your interests. Suddenly, you'll be racing to think of all the things you want to introduce to your child. Old books you loved, video games worth talking about and board games that demand playing. You'll remember a lot of things you used to love in your pursuit to bring it to the attention of your loved one. Because now you have someone new whom you can bring your joy to and have them become just as invested as you are.

Not only will this make you both happier, but it will also bring you closer together as a family unit. A geek family is a happy family because you're united in a common interest.





So there you have it. This is only the tip of the things you'll learn as a geek parent and of the joys you'll experience along the way. It'll be a trying journey at times, but it will ultimately bring you to a happier place of togetherness and serenity between you and your little one. Because being a geek parent isn't just about telling your kids all the comic trivia you know. It's about presenting your passion to someone you love and watching in wonder as they take your hand and join you on the nerdy path.

-Tom



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