Brad Harmer
Favourite Horror Movie: Whittling it down to a top ten would be harder for me, so I’m grateful that I only need to pick one. It’s undoubtedly The Evil Dead. It’s a great "monsters in the woods" movie. It launched the careers of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi...and it fucked off Mary Whitehouse more than any other movie did. That’s got to count for something, right?
The gore’s great, the atmosphere is great...it’s just great.
Favourite Horror Book: I absolutely love Dracula, but I think that’s more of all “all round” love, rather than just as a horror novel. In fact, it’s not particularly scary, and I see it more of a great adventure/action story.
As far as “so scary that your right nut falls off” goes, you’ve got to go with H.P. Lovecraft. I’m going with The Dunwich Horror as it may not be the scariest one I’d ever read, but it was certainly the first time a book had ever scared me, and that’s worth something.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: I’m totally going with Jason Voorhees here. He’s not as crafty or magical as some, but he is seven feet tall and psychopathically violent. Plus he is one of the most iconic horror characters ever.
Favourite Horror Video Game: I think the original Silent Hill is probably still the best. Resident Evil was tense, but Silent Hill was the first one that managed to make a video game genuinely horrifying.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: I’ve played a lot of horror board games and RPGs, but the only one that fills me with terror is Monopoly.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: I’ve gotten lazier as I’ve gotten older so I tend to gravitate towards shop bought costumes, which is really terrible of me as a) I swore I’d never do that and b) they are always incredible rip-offs. They’re always built for someone who’s about the same shape and size as a Time Bandit and have an awkward trade-mark sticking out somewhere.
So, the best one I’ve ever made was definitely the time I went as Army of Darkness-era Ash, including a toy chainsaw duct-taped to my hand.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: I don’t know if I’ve ever home-made one that was excessively bad, to be honest. I went as Rick Dagless from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace last year, and then had to spend most of the party explaining who I was. My explanations gradually went from “Rick Dagless, MD.” to “he was in a Channel Four comedy called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace a few years ago” to, finally, “I’m a mad scientist”.
Favourite Halloween Memory: When I was very small, about five or six, I went as a ghost. This was a typical “white sheet over the head, with eye-holes cut out” deal. Anyway, my parents threw the sheet over my head, then – as this was the mid-eighties, and before such things as “duty of care” – cut the eyeholes out with kitchen scissors. I can remember standing very still whilst blades danced in front of my eyes and small fragments of eyebrow dropped to the floor.
The gore’s great, the atmosphere is great...it’s just great.
Favourite Horror Book: I absolutely love Dracula, but I think that’s more of all “all round” love, rather than just as a horror novel. In fact, it’s not particularly scary, and I see it more of a great adventure/action story.
As far as “so scary that your right nut falls off” goes, you’ve got to go with H.P. Lovecraft. I’m going with The Dunwich Horror as it may not be the scariest one I’d ever read, but it was certainly the first time a book had ever scared me, and that’s worth something.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: I’m totally going with Jason Voorhees here. He’s not as crafty or magical as some, but he is seven feet tall and psychopathically violent. Plus he is one of the most iconic horror characters ever.
Favourite Horror Video Game: I think the original Silent Hill is probably still the best. Resident Evil was tense, but Silent Hill was the first one that managed to make a video game genuinely horrifying.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: I’ve played a lot of horror board games and RPGs, but the only one that fills me with terror is Monopoly.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: I’ve gotten lazier as I’ve gotten older so I tend to gravitate towards shop bought costumes, which is really terrible of me as a) I swore I’d never do that and b) they are always incredible rip-offs. They’re always built for someone who’s about the same shape and size as a Time Bandit and have an awkward trade-mark sticking out somewhere.
So, the best one I’ve ever made was definitely the time I went as Army of Darkness-era Ash, including a toy chainsaw duct-taped to my hand.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: I don’t know if I’ve ever home-made one that was excessively bad, to be honest. I went as Rick Dagless from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace last year, and then had to spend most of the party explaining who I was. My explanations gradually went from “Rick Dagless, MD.” to “he was in a Channel Four comedy called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace a few years ago” to, finally, “I’m a mad scientist”.
Favourite Halloween Memory: When I was very small, about five or six, I went as a ghost. This was a typical “white sheet over the head, with eye-holes cut out” deal. Anyway, my parents threw the sheet over my head, then – as this was the mid-eighties, and before such things as “duty of care” – cut the eyeholes out with kitchen scissors. I can remember standing very still whilst blades danced in front of my eyes and small fragments of eyebrow dropped to the floor.
Rob Wade
Favourite Horror Movie: A toss-up between five. If only there was an article detailing my favourites and why...
Favourite Horror Book: I’m quite thinly read on horror novels, so I’m going to go with The Enemy by Charlie Higson.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: “The Thing” from The Thing. The movie sets a great tone of not knowing who to trust, and the reason is that the monster can take so many forms.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Silent Hill – to this day, the only game I’ve had to pause in order to get my heart rate down low enough to want to carry on playing.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Hard one here – probably Call of Cthulhu, just because of the absolutely ludicrous stuff that our gaming group has come up with playing it.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: The Count from Sesame Street.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: Garth from Wayne’s World – it was awesome, but hardly relevant.
Favourite Halloween Memory: The look on Brad’s dad’s face when I uttered my first “ah-ah-ah” dressed as The Count.
Favourite Horror Book: I’m quite thinly read on horror novels, so I’m going to go with The Enemy by Charlie Higson.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: “The Thing” from The Thing. The movie sets a great tone of not knowing who to trust, and the reason is that the monster can take so many forms.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Silent Hill – to this day, the only game I’ve had to pause in order to get my heart rate down low enough to want to carry on playing.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Hard one here – probably Call of Cthulhu, just because of the absolutely ludicrous stuff that our gaming group has come up with playing it.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: The Count from Sesame Street.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: Garth from Wayne’s World – it was awesome, but hardly relevant.
Favourite Halloween Memory: The look on Brad’s dad’s face when I uttered my first “ah-ah-ah” dressed as The Count.
Blake Harmer
Favourite Horror Movie: The Thing. An excellent plot, monster, and some of the best special effects in a horror movie that shows that prosphetics will always be better than CG.
Favourite Horror Book: The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P Lovecraft. The first story I read of the Cthulhu Mythos, and of the few stories to have actually made me properly scared.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: The xenomorph. An armroured killing machine with acid for blood and can easily take out an entire ship through hiding in the shadows and attacking with speed and ferociousness. It's an iconic movie monster, and deservedly so.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Resident Evil, the first one. Dogs through the window, enough said.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Zombie Plague. It's not got a great engine like Fury of Dracula, or the same epic scope as Arkham Horror, but Zombie Plague captures the same tense feel and need to work as a team that you get in zombie films. Also, as it's a free download, it has superb value for money.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: My costume last year as Ryuk from Deathnote. Sure, it fell apart and was very obscure; I still loved how accurate and impressive it looked while it lasted though.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: An attempt at a Teen Wolf style werewolf that went slightly wrong which made me look across between the monkey from Jumanji and a minge.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Kat laughing so much she had to run to the toilet after seeing me in said werewolf costume.
Favourite Horror Book: The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P Lovecraft. The first story I read of the Cthulhu Mythos, and of the few stories to have actually made me properly scared.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: The xenomorph. An armroured killing machine with acid for blood and can easily take out an entire ship through hiding in the shadows and attacking with speed and ferociousness. It's an iconic movie monster, and deservedly so.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Resident Evil, the first one. Dogs through the window, enough said.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Zombie Plague. It's not got a great engine like Fury of Dracula, or the same epic scope as Arkham Horror, but Zombie Plague captures the same tense feel and need to work as a team that you get in zombie films. Also, as it's a free download, it has superb value for money.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: My costume last year as Ryuk from Deathnote. Sure, it fell apart and was very obscure; I still loved how accurate and impressive it looked while it lasted though.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: An attempt at a Teen Wolf style werewolf that went slightly wrong which made me look across between the monkey from Jumanji and a minge.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Kat laughing so much she had to run to the toilet after seeing me in said werewolf costume.
Charlotte Barnes
Favourite Horror Movie: Shaun of the Dead. It is really funny and it is just gory enough to make me feel like I am hardcore (I am a big cowardy custard...that's why I never review anything horror based)!
Favourite Horror Book: I am not a horror fan so the closest I get to reading horror books is paranormal romance. My favourite book of that genre is Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong. It has serial killers and werewolves in it so I guess it kind of passes for horror.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: Ludo from Labyrinth! Isn’t he gorgeous?
Favourite Horror Video Game: Well Doom 3 upset me so much I had to leave the room after playing if for half an hour...so I guess Dead Space: Extraction but it makes me feel seasick.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Arkham Horror. It is great fun I have played it so many times and I think there are still some monsters and cards that I haven’t seen before. It can be a bit intimidating and it is definitely not for a newbie gamer but it has provided me and my friends plenty of fun!
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: Dressed up as Carrie last year, that was pretty awesome! The costume took a full week to make, the only thing I regret was buying such a cheap wig, I itched so much!
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: I handmade cat ears and a tail to go as a black cat. It was really hard work but ended up being lame...still I wasn’t the worst one that year one of my friend’s costume was so bad they ended up looking more like a cushion than a cat!
Favourite Halloween Memory: I have two favourite memories and they all seem to centre on Blake. The first year Brad and I had a Halloween party at our house Blake had come dressed as Teen Wolf. However, he couldn’t get hold of any fur fabric so he bought some brown feathery material instead. With that stuck round his face combined with his pink lips he just ended up looking like a minge. The second took place at last year’s Halloween party, when he dressed as an obscure gothic monster from a Japanese film. Although he looked the part, the majority of his costume was stuck on with glue and little bits of it kept falling off, so where ever he went he left a trail behind him!
Favourite Horror Book: I am not a horror fan so the closest I get to reading horror books is paranormal romance. My favourite book of that genre is Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong. It has serial killers and werewolves in it so I guess it kind of passes for horror.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: Ludo from Labyrinth! Isn’t he gorgeous?
Favourite Horror Video Game: Well Doom 3 upset me so much I had to leave the room after playing if for half an hour...so I guess Dead Space: Extraction but it makes me feel seasick.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Arkham Horror. It is great fun I have played it so many times and I think there are still some monsters and cards that I haven’t seen before. It can be a bit intimidating and it is definitely not for a newbie gamer but it has provided me and my friends plenty of fun!
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: Dressed up as Carrie last year, that was pretty awesome! The costume took a full week to make, the only thing I regret was buying such a cheap wig, I itched so much!
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: I handmade cat ears and a tail to go as a black cat. It was really hard work but ended up being lame...still I wasn’t the worst one that year one of my friend’s costume was so bad they ended up looking more like a cushion than a cat!
Favourite Halloween Memory: I have two favourite memories and they all seem to centre on Blake. The first year Brad and I had a Halloween party at our house Blake had come dressed as Teen Wolf. However, he couldn’t get hold of any fur fabric so he bought some brown feathery material instead. With that stuck round his face combined with his pink lips he just ended up looking like a minge. The second took place at last year’s Halloween party, when he dressed as an obscure gothic monster from a Japanese film. Although he looked the part, the majority of his costume was stuck on with glue and little bits of it kept falling off, so where ever he went he left a trail behind him!
Omer Ibrahim
Favourite Horror Movie: 28 Days Later. As a casual horror fan, this movie is incredibly accessible and was really my introduction to the zombie/infected genre. There are better out there, but not ones that I like more.
Favourite Horror Book: In a move that will have me scrubbing the E14 toilets for a month, I'm going to admit that I've never read a horror. I have, however, skim-read Katie Price/Jordan's autobiography. That was fucking terrifying.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: Not strictly horror movie monsters, but I'm going for the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park. I know they're oversized and not feathered, but I just love how creepy and intelligent they are. The kitchen scene is amazingly tense, and "clever girl" is the best movie line ever.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Again, I haven't played many, and not any that I liked, but there was a level in the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on the N64 that was downright freaky. The game used minimal music, but this level had none, and you wandered through a runic maze, being chased by nasty beetle things, so you had to stare at the floor as you crack off shotgun shells... Then miss the big guy with the axe, who isn't on the floor.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Zombie Plague. Brad introduced me to this one, and the simplicity of it makes for a truly hilarious experience as you end up filming a movie in your head. Usual highlights include Zombies hiding in the fridge and barbed wire 4x2's (No, not 2x4's, the wood's the wrong way.).
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: I make 99% of my costumes each year, so they always stand out, but the hardest, and most E14 one I've ever had was Optimus Prime. It took me about three months, was made out of boxes (Boximus Prime) and was incredibly complicated. The eyes flashed and it had a voice changer, and if I took my head off, turned the body round and sat on the floor, I became a truck. Oh yeah.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: Optimus Prime. The damn thing was impossible to walk in, I couldn't sit down, drink, eat or even use my hands very much. Or see. (Most of the night was me being guided by a human Christmas tree.) It fell apart rapidly and I had to do constant running repairs. Also, whilst a truck, the only way to "drive" was to reverse-bum-wiggle across a filthy dance floor.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Wrestling on a Halloween show for Triple X Wrestling in Coventry about three years ago. My match culminated in me spearing/Goring my head into a lit pumpkin with the Turkish Flag carved into it. Also, the whole crowd showed up in suits and Lucha masks.
Favourite Horror Book: In a move that will have me scrubbing the E14 toilets for a month, I'm going to admit that I've never read a horror. I have, however, skim-read Katie Price/Jordan's autobiography. That was fucking terrifying.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: Not strictly horror movie monsters, but I'm going for the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park. I know they're oversized and not feathered, but I just love how creepy and intelligent they are. The kitchen scene is amazingly tense, and "clever girl" is the best movie line ever.
Favourite Horror Video Game: Again, I haven't played many, and not any that I liked, but there was a level in the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on the N64 that was downright freaky. The game used minimal music, but this level had none, and you wandered through a runic maze, being chased by nasty beetle things, so you had to stare at the floor as you crack off shotgun shells... Then miss the big guy with the axe, who isn't on the floor.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Zombie Plague. Brad introduced me to this one, and the simplicity of it makes for a truly hilarious experience as you end up filming a movie in your head. Usual highlights include Zombies hiding in the fridge and barbed wire 4x2's (No, not 2x4's, the wood's the wrong way.).
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: I make 99% of my costumes each year, so they always stand out, but the hardest, and most E14 one I've ever had was Optimus Prime. It took me about three months, was made out of boxes (Boximus Prime) and was incredibly complicated. The eyes flashed and it had a voice changer, and if I took my head off, turned the body round and sat on the floor, I became a truck. Oh yeah.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: Optimus Prime. The damn thing was impossible to walk in, I couldn't sit down, drink, eat or even use my hands very much. Or see. (Most of the night was me being guided by a human Christmas tree.) It fell apart rapidly and I had to do constant running repairs. Also, whilst a truck, the only way to "drive" was to reverse-bum-wiggle across a filthy dance floor.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Wrestling on a Halloween show for Triple X Wrestling in Coventry about three years ago. My match culminated in me spearing/Goring my head into a lit pumpkin with the Turkish Flag carved into it. Also, the whole crowd showed up in suits and Lucha masks.
Favourite Horror Movie: It's impossible to pick just one favourite horror movie. If I was pushed I would have to choose Stay Alive, a tacky American teen-horror that I fell in love with in my teen years. A geeky and modern approach to horror, it's basic plot is that what happens in your video game, happens in real life. Some genius ideas, like using the universal sound of a games controller vibrating, instead of music, to add suspense and warn us when the monster is near. It's fun, it's youthfull, and its actually quite creepy. It's one of those movies you never get sick of watching.
Favourite Horror Book: I'm not a very intense horror reader, but one book that sticks in my mind, again from my teen years, is The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. It's a kid's book, there's no denying it, but some bits really got me, and I definitly couldn't read it unless I was under the covers. I also read Clive Barker's Books of Blood when I was a teenager, which I then promptly regretted, because I had nightmares for weeks. But to look back now, that just means they must have been really good.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: The monster from movies that scares me more than any other is the bitch from The Grudge. I guess the fact that the thought of her still scares me means she must be a really good horror creation. The "freaky dead girl" gets me every time, even if the movie I'm watching is shit.
Favourite Horror Video Game: The only horror video game I ever played was Resident Evil 4, and I couldn't play it without supervision, because it made me scream.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Murder in the Dark!!! Let's face it, that game was awesome. We used to play a version of it where, when you died, you had to act out your death. That was often hilarious.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: Ooh! I dressed as Xena a few years ago, it was awesome, I made the costume, and it was pretty darn accurate if I do say so myself. Not the scariest costume, but still one of my proudest. Omer made a Conan costume to match. And this is why we rock.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: For my birthday most years I have a fancy dress party as it's so close to Hallowe'en. For my twentieth I wanted to be Sally from The Nightmare before Christmas. Now, I normally make my costume every year, but this year my mum offered to buy me the official Sally costume for my birthday, and boy did I regret it. It was the single most unflattering thing I have ever worn. The wig was frumpy and wouldn't stay on and I looked like a patch-work marshmallow.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Every year when I was a kid my mum would drive us to pre-selected and pre-warned houses so that we could "Trick or Treat" them. We always went to my great aunt Aggie's house, and she would always give us a pound that she had very lovingly counted out of her penny jar earlier that day. Sometimes, they were literally pennies. One hundred pennies. One of my fondest memories of Trick or Treating was the first year my sister decided she was "too old", so I brought along a friend instead. We were both wearing Scream masks, and my aunty thought that my friend was my sister. We didn't have the heart to tell her, as she lavished my friend's pocket with one hundred pennies. The next day, my friend and I went to the shop and bought 200 pixie sticks with our hard earned pennies.
Favourite Horror Book: I'm not a very intense horror reader, but one book that sticks in my mind, again from my teen years, is The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. It's a kid's book, there's no denying it, but some bits really got me, and I definitly couldn't read it unless I was under the covers. I also read Clive Barker's Books of Blood when I was a teenager, which I then promptly regretted, because I had nightmares for weeks. But to look back now, that just means they must have been really good.
Favourite Movie Monster/Killer: The monster from movies that scares me more than any other is the bitch from The Grudge. I guess the fact that the thought of her still scares me means she must be a really good horror creation. The "freaky dead girl" gets me every time, even if the movie I'm watching is shit.
Favourite Horror Video Game: The only horror video game I ever played was Resident Evil 4, and I couldn't play it without supervision, because it made me scream.
Favourite Horror Unplugged Game: Murder in the Dark!!! Let's face it, that game was awesome. We used to play a version of it where, when you died, you had to act out your death. That was often hilarious.
Best Halloween Costume You've Ever Had: Ooh! I dressed as Xena a few years ago, it was awesome, I made the costume, and it was pretty darn accurate if I do say so myself. Not the scariest costume, but still one of my proudest. Omer made a Conan costume to match. And this is why we rock.
Worst Costume You've Ever Had: For my birthday most years I have a fancy dress party as it's so close to Hallowe'en. For my twentieth I wanted to be Sally from The Nightmare before Christmas. Now, I normally make my costume every year, but this year my mum offered to buy me the official Sally costume for my birthday, and boy did I regret it. It was the single most unflattering thing I have ever worn. The wig was frumpy and wouldn't stay on and I looked like a patch-work marshmallow.
Favourite Halloween Memory: Every year when I was a kid my mum would drive us to pre-selected and pre-warned houses so that we could "Trick or Treat" them. We always went to my great aunt Aggie's house, and she would always give us a pound that she had very lovingly counted out of her penny jar earlier that day. Sometimes, they were literally pennies. One hundred pennies. One of my fondest memories of Trick or Treating was the first year my sister decided she was "too old", so I brought along a friend instead. We were both wearing Scream masks, and my aunty thought that my friend was my sister. We didn't have the heart to tell her, as she lavished my friend's pocket with one hundred pennies. The next day, my friend and I went to the shop and bought 200 pixie sticks with our hard earned pennies.
DE PROFUNDIS GIVE AWAY
The Diana Jones 2002 Award Nominated game of psychological horror returns in an all new, and expanded, 2nd Edition. Blending the imagination of H. P. Lovecraft and other contemporary horror and conspiracy writers and themes, De Profundis is a correspondence-based story-telling game that can be played from the point of view of participants from a variety of eras.
Whether you take on the role of a Victorian investigator, a soldier from the front line during WW1 or WW2 confronted by the Weird, a government investigator looking into the strange and unknown, an internet conspiracy theorist in the modern age who gets in too deep, or someone else entirely, De Profundis provides a great alternative in gaming that allows you to participate in an interactive story with friends old and new.
Not requiring the usual face-to-face aspect of most traditional RPGs, the game caters for people who find it hard to maintain a regular gaming group due to time commitments, or for those who don't have any fellow gamers in their neighbourhood.
Utilising a mix of letter writing, email and text based gaming - depending on your chosen era of play - it's a perfect game for the modern time strapped gamer.
Thanks to our friends at Cubicle 7, we've got a copy of De Profundis to give away! for your chance of winning, send your name and full postal address to deprofundisgiveaway@yahoo.co.uk before midday on Wednesday 3rd November. The first name out of the electronic hat grabs the prize!
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