Dark Dungeons (2014)

 Regular visitors know I usually wait until the end of the month to give a recap on what shows/movies I've watched. But after seeing this, I felt it needed its very own post.

When JR Ralls (writer) won $1000 in the lottery, he decided to do something special with it. That thing was to adapt the Chick tract of the same name into live action. The Kickstarter got him enough attention that Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, known for their comedic films about RPGs, jumped on board.

If you're not familiar with Chick tracts, they're preachy, illustrated religious pamphlets. You can read the original Dark Dungeons one right here. Somehow I wasn't aware of this despite it having a cult status in the RPG community for how ridiculous it is. As someone that got into D&D around the age of 13, I can assure you there is nothing nefarious going on at the gaming table...at least not in the games I played (cue mysterious music).

 

They managed to produce something that's true to the source material but also comes across as a satire because of how over the top the original is. Going into the movie, I had only known it was adapting a Chick tract and while I had no trouble believing someone suffering from Satanic Panic would see this as a warning, it became apparent that they were poking me in the ribs as if to say "Can you believe this?"

If you don't at least have a toe in the RPG community, you probably won't get as much enjoyment out of it as someone that knows the difference between a d10 and a d100.You can watch the entire 40 minute short on YouTube.

Roll for intiative!

Halloween 2023 Wrap Up

 This is a couple days later than usual but I'm holding to the the last gasps of Halloween before the Winter Holiday Assault begins. Today, the inside decorations came down. I like taking vacation time after Halloween both for clearance shopping and sort of mourning period. The outside decorations usually come down first thing on 11/1. For me, it's part of the magic when everything in my yard "vanishes" the next day. At least that's what I think my neighbors think.

How cool is this not-LEGO Sam figure? I got him (and some other really cool stuff) as a gift. I'd actually been meaning to look for one so he could hang out with my not-LEGO Jack Skellington.

For Halloween, I tend to make up 40-45 treat bags to hand out. By the time we generally head into Salem (around 6:30) the bags are almost always gone. This year, Mrs Dex and my mom stayed at the house while my stepdad and I went into Salem. There were still bags left when I got home later, so it seems we had fewer Trick or Treaters than normal. Mrs Dex said people at her work had fewer as well. Some people think it's due to schools having trunk or treat events. Which, good for the kids, but terrible for the older "kids" that are expecting to see lots of costumes at their door. A small part of me is wondering if this will eventually impact the traditional door to door ToT.

Salem seemed to also have smaller crowds this year on Halloween. I'm in a couple Salem Facebook groups and the weekends leading up to the day were definitely record breaking for visitors. Of course, it could partially be that it fell on a Tuesday. 

 

Regardless, we still had fun scaring people and posing for pics. Mrs Dex and mom are usually the photographers for the night because my costume does not allow me to handle a phone. Sadly, I don't have any pics to share this year but here's a video someone else took that I shared on the Countdown to Halloween Instagram.

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I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Monthly Media Recap - October 2023

As is tradition, the Monthly Media Recap is live earlier than normal in case you're looking for something to watch after the little ghouls are in their graves. All links below are Amazon affiliated for which I may earn for qualifying purchases.

Streaming

Ahsoka (2023, Disney+)

As much as I enjoyed this, this is where they start alienating the casual fans that haven't watched season upon season of an animated series. It's still watchable without that knowledge but it's not going to mean a whole lot to you if you don't know who the main characters were before this.

Creepshow (S4, Shudder)

A lot of these have a Tales from the Crypt vibe and that's fine with me! It seemed like a lot of them were "despicable person does bad thing and gets what they deserve." Still plenty of gory, ghoulish fun!

Mickey & Friends Trick or Treats (2023, Disney+)

This was a lot better than I was expecting. Maybe it's the stop motion animation but this was like curling up in a warm blanket of Halloween nostalgia feels.