Review: THE LIGHT IS THE DARKNESS, Laird Barron

It took me quite a while to formulate my thoughts on Laird Barron’s Lovecraftian-by-way-of-Robert E. Howard novel “The Light is the Darkness.” This was primarily because I try to find good sides of anything I read. (Yes, even Twilight, which had an interesting idea regarding vampirism—if you WANT to be a vampire, you don’t lose control. It’s a mishandled, throwaway line in an awful series, but it IS a bright spot.) Let’s just say it was difficult with Barron.

See, the problem with Barron is that he tries too hard. His writing seems like that of a very excited child who’s been given permission to play with big kid toys. He’s tinkering in Lovecraft’s sandbox (Lovecraft’s antipersonnel-mine-laden sandbox), and he’s so glad to be there that he wants to mention every single Lovecraftian idea Lovecraft, Howard, and every similar writer afterwards has invented. Because I am a singularly boring man, I spent some time picking through the book, finding every Mythos organization or Elder God Barron namedrops.

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 5, "Seizure Time!"

It's been one of those weeks. I just got done with a twenty-hour project reading articles, taking notes, scribbling ideas, and finally writing a research proposal. The topic? Player agency and the Gothic in Dark Souls. I'm pretty excited. But also very tired. Anyway, I played some games this week. And reviewed them for your pleasure. Or boredom. Whatever. I'm too tired to care, honestly. Research is not my strong suit. It burns me out very quickly, and I struggle to narrow things down to a reasonable level. All the same, I enjoy finding out new things and coming up with new interpretations. 

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 4, "A Terrible Night..."

Hey! A solid month of posting these things! That must be some kind of personal record. This week we've got Castlevania, Castlevania, and...more Castlevania. Way to go for the variety there, huh? I've got about as much imagination as Dracula--sorry, Alucard. 

I'm a pretty big fan of the overall vibe of Castlevania. The earlier ones, at least. Not so much the later ones that got kind of anime emo and such. Even though I like anime emo sometimes. Just not in my Castlevania. Muh Castlevania needs to be Gothic and spookay. CASTLEVANIA. GOTHIC. SPOOKAY. 

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 3, "Bubbles and Blobs"

Hey, week three of this backlog...oh, what's the word? Rampage? Slog? Eh, who cares? It doesn't matter anymore... *cue Linda Ronstadt singing* Anyway, I've managed to keep on chugging, which is as shocking to me as it is to you, I'm sure. So without further ado (what IS ado, anyway?), let's go! We've got Blobs and Blaster Masters and Bubble Bobbling dinosaurs to be oogling and ogling! 

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 2, "Bionic Comman-DOH!"

Yeah, I'm back. I know, I know. I'm shocked too. Usually I don't manage to stick with a project for two whole weeks. It's rather freakish, honestly. Worrying. Anyway, I'm back with some more NES games I played for...somebody's amusement. Certainly not mine. One fun game out of three is not a good ratio. Especially given that I've already cherrypicked these games somewhat. Oh well. You can't have everything, I guess. Anyway. I'm running on caffeine and the massive amount of Halloween candy left untouched by trick-or-treaters, so let's get our retro game review on!