Search
Search results
Abraham Polonsky: Interviews
Book
Abraham Polonsky (1910-1999), screenwriter and filmmaker of the mid-twentieth-century Left,...
Goosebumps Night of Scares.
Games
App
No Advertisements - VR compatible! - Featuring Jack Black as the Voice of R.L. Stine ...
The World of Lore: Dreadful Places (The World of Lore #3)
7.0
Rate It
Book
Captivating stories of the places where human evil has left a nefarious mark, featuring stories from...
Mayfair Witches Collection
8.0
Rate It
Book
An enchanting, hypnotic trilogy of witchcraft, adventure, and romance from the beloved author of...
Betrayal of Thieves (Legends of Dimmingwood #2)
Book
Ilan has narrowly escaped her last encounter with the soldiers of the evil Praetor but many of her...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Maid of Sker in Video Games
Nov 7, 2020
Hold Your Breath
Maid of Sker- is a excellent first person horror game.
The game takes place in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, located on an imaginary island called Sker Island, where the protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns the place is controlled by cult followers called "The Quiet Ones". The history of Elisabeth's family is revealed when Thomas finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel.
The story is inspired by multiple Welsh and British folklore tales, specifically the idea of the hotel is influenced by the Sker House, a real life historic place situated just outside the town of Porthcawl, near Bridgend, Wales, which is made famous by the three-volume novel written by R. D. Blackmore, The Maid of Sker. The game has drawn influences from this novel as well as the folklore story under the same name (called Y Ferch o’r Sger in Welsh). The game has been compared to Outlast, The Evil Within 2, Silent Hill, and its saving system was also compared to those of Resident Evil, with the typewriter switched to a gramophone in the saving rooms.
In the original folk story, Elisabeth Willaims, a woman of the higher class, falls in love with Thomas Evans, a poor harpist. Elisabeth's father, Isaac, disapproves of the relationship, and, in one of the variations of the tale, her father locks her in a room to prevent her from running away until she starves; other variations include Elisabeth dying from a broken heart or being forced to marry a richer man who she does not love until she passes away from illness. According to the tale, her ghost, alongside the ghost of a sailor, haunt the Sker House.
The game is using the first-person perspective and features blind enemies that can find the player by noise, they are introduced as "The Quiet Ones." As Thomas cannot fight back (except for when a temporary weapon is introduced mid-game), the player is forced to be stealthy when exploring the hotel grounds, or making sounds to distract The Quiet Ones so Thomas passes them safely. The only way to search through the hotel grounds successfully is by avoiding The Quiet Ones by not making noise and holding your breath when a Quiet One is close or not bumping into objects. If the player holds their breath for too long, Thomas gasps for air which alerts the enemies. In certain environments, such as when the protagonist is in a dusty location or close to a fireplace, he coughs, and the player has to stop him by holding his breath as this alerts The Quiet Ones.
It consists of a device which sends shock waves and temporarily damages the hearing of The Silent Ones, stunning them for a short duration; this allows the player to run away from the location. While the player gets this weapon, ammunition is scarce and the player has to use it carefully.
The game features a manual save style and there is no autosave. To save the game, the player has to find "safe rooms", the rooms have green-tainted patterned doors, and inside the rooms are gramophones which the player has to play to save the game. Before the game saves, the gramophones play records of Elisabeth and her experiences with her family which adds to the background of the story. After the records end or when the player stops them manually, the game starts saving. If the player dies or restores a save, they lose all the progress made after the last save, additionally, enemies always change routes and cannot always be found lurking in the same places. This saving system is compared to the one which appeared in the Resident Evil games.
While the game is praised for its great sound design, Thomas never speaks in the game. Aside from grunting noises, he is completely mute throughout the game and his lines are displayed as text instead; however, this is not the case for Elisabeth and she has her voice actor. This has received some negative feedback alongside the sensitivity of the movement on consoles. The game has been compared to Outlast when it comes to the gameplay style, and The Evil Within 2 and Silent Hill when it comes to the game's atmosphere.
I love the concept, the atomsphere, the horror, the strategy, it does remind of "The Evil Within", "Resident Evil", "Silent Hill" and "Outlast". All excellent horror games and same with this one.
The game takes place in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, located on an imaginary island called Sker Island, where the protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns the place is controlled by cult followers called "The Quiet Ones". The history of Elisabeth's family is revealed when Thomas finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel.
The story is inspired by multiple Welsh and British folklore tales, specifically the idea of the hotel is influenced by the Sker House, a real life historic place situated just outside the town of Porthcawl, near Bridgend, Wales, which is made famous by the three-volume novel written by R. D. Blackmore, The Maid of Sker. The game has drawn influences from this novel as well as the folklore story under the same name (called Y Ferch o’r Sger in Welsh). The game has been compared to Outlast, The Evil Within 2, Silent Hill, and its saving system was also compared to those of Resident Evil, with the typewriter switched to a gramophone in the saving rooms.
In the original folk story, Elisabeth Willaims, a woman of the higher class, falls in love with Thomas Evans, a poor harpist. Elisabeth's father, Isaac, disapproves of the relationship, and, in one of the variations of the tale, her father locks her in a room to prevent her from running away until she starves; other variations include Elisabeth dying from a broken heart or being forced to marry a richer man who she does not love until she passes away from illness. According to the tale, her ghost, alongside the ghost of a sailor, haunt the Sker House.
The game is using the first-person perspective and features blind enemies that can find the player by noise, they are introduced as "The Quiet Ones." As Thomas cannot fight back (except for when a temporary weapon is introduced mid-game), the player is forced to be stealthy when exploring the hotel grounds, or making sounds to distract The Quiet Ones so Thomas passes them safely. The only way to search through the hotel grounds successfully is by avoiding The Quiet Ones by not making noise and holding your breath when a Quiet One is close or not bumping into objects. If the player holds their breath for too long, Thomas gasps for air which alerts the enemies. In certain environments, such as when the protagonist is in a dusty location or close to a fireplace, he coughs, and the player has to stop him by holding his breath as this alerts The Quiet Ones.
It consists of a device which sends shock waves and temporarily damages the hearing of The Silent Ones, stunning them for a short duration; this allows the player to run away from the location. While the player gets this weapon, ammunition is scarce and the player has to use it carefully.
The game features a manual save style and there is no autosave. To save the game, the player has to find "safe rooms", the rooms have green-tainted patterned doors, and inside the rooms are gramophones which the player has to play to save the game. Before the game saves, the gramophones play records of Elisabeth and her experiences with her family which adds to the background of the story. After the records end or when the player stops them manually, the game starts saving. If the player dies or restores a save, they lose all the progress made after the last save, additionally, enemies always change routes and cannot always be found lurking in the same places. This saving system is compared to the one which appeared in the Resident Evil games.
While the game is praised for its great sound design, Thomas never speaks in the game. Aside from grunting noises, he is completely mute throughout the game and his lines are displayed as text instead; however, this is not the case for Elisabeth and she has her voice actor. This has received some negative feedback alongside the sensitivity of the movement on consoles. The game has been compared to Outlast when it comes to the gameplay style, and The Evil Within 2 and Silent Hill when it comes to the game's atmosphere.
I love the concept, the atomsphere, the horror, the strategy, it does remind of "The Evil Within", "Resident Evil", "Silent Hill" and "Outlast". All excellent horror games and same with this one.
Chris (1 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Books
Oct 18, 2017
Fun novel for all ages
What we have here is a well told origin story which does a good job of getting readers wanting more. We have the story of Harry Potter who live with his aunt and uncle. He is treated badly. One day he discovers he has magical powers and is invited to study at Hogwarts school of magic. There he learns about his parents and his past with an evil wizard. This is a great start to an adventure.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Nightingale in Books
Jan 15, 2018
Wow! Just wow! This book was beautifully written. It is so full of heartbreak & evil but in the end the fact that love is what remained makes it beautiful. It felt so real, I don't doubt that there are women out there that did what Vianne & Isabelle did. They are 2 brave sisters who risk everything to help make the world a better place despite being surrounded by all the horrors of WWII. It has been a long time since I cried like I did at the end of a book. I'd have to stop reading several times in the last few chapters because I was so moved. What a beautiful story!
Lee Ann (116 KP) rated This Fallen Prey (Casey Duncan, #3) in Books
May 24, 2018
Kelley Armstrong is a cruel, evil woman.
This Fallen Prey takes you on a rollercoaster as Casey tells you all about the day the Council drops a dangerous serial killer into Rockton without any advance warning.
What you get from that point on is a crazy edge of the seat ride as you try and figure out whether he's really what the council have claimed, or if there's something deeper and more complex going on. With betrayals and deaths and twists that just keep you turning the pages, the third book of the Casey Duncan series does not disappoint.
It does leave us with a minor cliffhanger.. and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book!
This Fallen Prey takes you on a rollercoaster as Casey tells you all about the day the Council drops a dangerous serial killer into Rockton without any advance warning.
What you get from that point on is a crazy edge of the seat ride as you try and figure out whether he's really what the council have claimed, or if there's something deeper and more complex going on. With betrayals and deaths and twists that just keep you turning the pages, the third book of the Casey Duncan series does not disappoint.
It does leave us with a minor cliffhanger.. and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book!
Dean (6927 KP) rated the Nintendo GameCube version of Resident Evil Zero in Video Games
Feb 7, 2019 (Updated Feb 20, 2019)
Great graphics (2 more)
New 2 character gameplay
Can be played on the Nintendo Wii
A great prequel to the franchise
Another great Resident Evil game, this time set before the events of the first game. It has a very similar look and feel to the GameCube remake. The graphics again are excellent with great detail light and shadow effects. It has a new feature where an extra character will help you out and you can switch between the two at different stages. The story is good and the bosses were well designed as you would expect. A HD version of this is available on the next gen consoles. Check it out if you missed it!