gytrash

The wealth of the 10 richest people in the world – a list dominated by US tech billionaires – increased by a record amount after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, according to a widely cited index.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated that the world’s 10 wealthiest people gained nearly $64bn (about £49.5bn) on Wednesday, the largest daily increase since the index began in 2012.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, registered the largest increase with a $26.5bn addition to his fortune, which now stands at $290bn. The prominent backer of Trump’s campaign, benefited from a surge in the share price of Tesla, the electric carmaker where he is chief executive and in which he owns a 13% stake.

The gains came as tech business leaders, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook parent Meta, and Apple’s Tim Cook publicly congratulated Trump on his election win...

“Have you ever read any H. P. Lovecraft?” Ted Levine’s Hunter S. Thompson-inspired character, counterculture author Thomas Blackburn, asks intrepid journalist Anne Roland (Katia Winter) in 2013’s Banshee Chapter.

When Anne says she hasn’t, Thomas continues: “Wrote a story in about 1930-something-or-other, was about a scientist who created an electronic device, a giant tuning fork. It emitted a resonance wave. It stimulated anybody who was nearby, their pineal gland, allowing them to experience planes of existence outside the scope of accepted reality. He would see incredible, sometimes horrible things — these… entities. He kept turning it up higher and higher, ‘cause he was really getting off on seeing this shit. But it was too late when he realized that the entities… they could see him too.”

Thomas is referring to the short story “From Beyond,” first published in 1934. From the outside, it would be difficult to spot that Banshee Chapter is a loose adaptation of this tale, or of any Lovecraft story for that matter. There are no tentacles, no blasts of that pinkish-purple light that we’ve all collectively decided is the color out of space. Instead, director Blair Erickson’s film leverages proven real-world conspiracy theories to make us question how many horrors we might find if we peeled back the corner of our accepted reality and peeked behind...

Following his standout performance in the box office sensation Terrifier 3, acclaimed character actor and horror icon Dan Roebuck takes on a new lead role in the highly anticipated film Camp Triple Moon. The new film promises to add a fresh twist to the genre, combining Celtic folklore with a story that explores generational trauma alongside supernatural horrors. Read the full synopsis below:

"Camp Triple Moon follows a group of troubled teenagers sent to a secluded rehabilitation camp, where they are forced to confront their past as well as the malevolent forces lurking in the shadows. The campers quickly realize that the area harbors dark secrets and their inner struggles aren’t the only forces threatening their lives. As strange occurrences unfold and tensions within the group escalate, the campers discover the terrifying legend of the Bodach—a sinister trickster from Irish folklore that haunts the forest, preying on those who dare to enter"...

Dark Horse Comics has announced a spin-off to its fan-favorite cosmic horror graphic novel, Beyond Mortal. The publisher's upcoming comic series Jumpscare will introduce fans to its titular horror superhero this February.

Per Dark Horse, Beyond Mortal's creative team, Cullen Bunn and Danny Luckert, return to helm the upcoming four-issue limited series. Jumpscare is lettered by Jim Campbell. The publisher's Jumpscare description reads, "Strong, fast, and violent horror fan-turned-vigilante Jumpscare can conjure any gore-soaked weapon from any gore-soaked movie she’s watched. With this power, she's become a force for good in Empire City, hacking her way through ne'er-do-wells and monsters alike. Now, her enemies want her dead, and a mobster-turned-monster, Grindhouse, will do whatever he can to bring her down"...

I had been a huge fan of the Hell House LLC series since I stumbled across the first instalment on Shudder during a lazy weekend a few years ago. I often question whether I should cancel my subscription to the streaming platform that’s dedicated to horror and save a few pounds each month, but then there’s always one film that draws me back in.

The first Hell House LLC, released in 2015, was that rare gem and my only regret is that I didn’t discover it sooner.

It had everything I love watching in horror: A group of friends who make silly yet entertaining decisions; a seriously creepy venue like a haunted house; or, in this case, an abandoned hotel and clowns.

I actually have a genuine fear of clowns so the fact that I love films like Hell House and Terrifier will always be a mystery to me.

When I realised Hell House LLC was also found footage, I could not grab my snacks and press play fast enough. And just like that, I was gripped...

Social media users were shocked over an “alien” creature that washed ashore in Australia with some labeling it the “freakiest thing” they’d ever seen.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this before!” wrote the sea denizen’s discoverer Vicki Evans in a post with a photo on a community Facebook page. “Nature never ceases to amaze!”

The beachcomber happened across the freaky flotsam while walking along Horseshoe Bay in Port Elliott, South Australia, The Advertiser reported.

Evans included photos of the oceanic oddity, which is long and riddled with gelatinous tendrils that are tipped with shells, like maritime hair-braid beads.

Many Facebook users were equally baffled by the vermicelli-esque tentacles, with one writing, “That might just be the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen!!”

“Wow, it looks long judging by scale of dog,” one said, referring to a curious pooch seen inspecting the creature in the photo...

Ritual Tides is the first game to come from Vertpaint Studios, and should offer something fresh and original for horror fans who are burnt out on a glut of remakes and sequels.

The first trailer for Ritual Tides is heavy on atmosphere, with an ominous voiceover promising plenty of tension as players explore a secret-riddled island populated by gruesome monsters.

With Halloween just around the corner and the spooky season in full swing, now’s the perfect time for new horror games to make themselves known.

This year has been an excellent year for highly-rated horror experiences, with Alan Wake 2 continuing Remedy’s connected universe and the Silent Hill 2 remake proving to be a major win for the devs at Bloober Team.

However, while there are plenty of frights and delights to choose from in gaming right now, Ritual Tides is looking to set itself apart by diving into Folk Horror, a genre with a deep roots that is not often explored within video games...

Many tabletop games feature intrepid heroes battling the minions of the Cthulhu Mythos. Options like Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green allows players to investigate strange mysteries, encounter horrific scenes and wrestle with their own sanity. The Arkham Horror Files, which sprung from Fantasy Flight Games’s legendary Arkham Horror board game, are a collection of games and other media that have introduced tabletop gamers to the Cthulhu Mythos for almost 20 years.

The company has a bountiful portfolio of Mythos themed games including the third edition of Arkham Horror, the miniatures board game Mansions of Madness, a=and the hidden traitor game Unfathomable. They just released new expansions for the Arkham Horror: The Card Game which they sent along for the article. I also recieved an advance copy of the Arkham Horror Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook to review...

Now widely considered as one of folk horror’s classic films, Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General (1968) was not only the first of the unholy trinity that are seen to define the genre – alongside Piers Haggard’s The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973) – but also arguably the most disturbing of the three. Adapting Ronald Bassett’s 1966 historical novel, Reeves examined a world of superstition, heresy and misogyny, effectively dramatising the brutality of a society gone awry.

Reeves’ film follows the evil doings of witchfinder general Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) and his second-in-command Sterne (Robert Russell) as they persecute their way across East Anglia during the English civil war. Parliamentarian soldier Richard (Ian Ogilvy) is due to be wed his love Sara (Hilary Heath) after gaining permission from Priest Lowes (Rupert Davies). With locals falsely accusing Lowes and Sara of witchcraft, Hopkins and his mob descend on the village, enacting terrible deeds supposedly in the name of God. When Richard returns to find the aftermath of Hopkins’ actions, he vows revenge upon the witchfinder.

Although the film has undoubtedly become important to the yet-to-be-identified folk horror genre, Reeves in fact set out to make a kind of English equivalent of a western, particularly in the mould of filmmakers such as Sam Peckinpah. He pays particular attention to the landscape, successfully creating the impression of vast East Anglian plains, where isolated communities are left to their own devices and superstitions, which fester into violence. The result is one of the great cinematic inversions of the pastoral ideal; a film whose landscapes are simultaneously idyllic and ominous.

Here are five locations from the film as they stand today...

I've often thought lighthouse keeping would make a fine second career, albeit mostly because in my head, it would give me endless time to write (and finish Baldur's Gate 3). You won't have much time to write in Static Dread, sadly. The world has ended, the oceans teem with squirmy, extra-dimensional lifeforms, and it's your job as the apparent sole surviving lighthouse keeper to distinguish vessels loaded with eldritch horrors from vessels loaded with people who need saving from eldritch horrors.

Going by the teaser trailer, below, this appears to be comparable to playing border guard in Papers, Please, but it's less political and more tentacular. You field queries over the radio, run your finger down a clipboard, and decide whether to kindle the lamps or beg the coastguard to blast that ship back to hell. There's a dialogue line in the trailer which I, personally, would consider highly untrustworthy. "It's consuming my team!" screams a self-described ship captain. "Please, send help! Gosh..." Look, "friend", no genuine human being says "gosh" in an emergency situation. Not even British human beings say "gosh" in an emergency situation. That's what you say when somebody tells you the pizza-flavoured crisps are back on sale at Aldis...

During the 2010s, a trend emerged that many dubbed ‘elevated horror’. It’s a lazy term, suggesting that all horror that came before it wasn’t artistic or explored deeper themes beyond scares and thrills. Regardless of the argument for and against ‘elevated’ horror, it is interesting to note that two of the most acclaimed movies from this period fell into the folk horror subgenre – The VVitch and Midsommar.

Both were distributed by A24 and became well-loved titles in the canon, praised for their exploration of themes such as trauma, gender, grief, life and death, and isolation. To explore these topics, the filmmakers used folklore as their foundation, calling upon old stories that have echoed through generations of humans, and the innate fears and beliefs that have followed people for centuries.

Perhaps that’s why these films came to be labelled ‘elevated horror’: at their core, folk horror relies more on creating a general atmosphere of fear through the exploration of human anxieties and the power of group beliefs, as found in religious cults and close-knit villages.

There is a lack of masked killers, extreme gore, jumpscares, haunting spectres, zombies, and vampires in folk horror. When the genre focuses on witchcraft, the audience doesn’t fear terrifying images of witches per se. Instead, the fear is often found in the humans that hunt them down as though they’re animals, attacking femininity and alternate ways of thinking that don’t align with an autocratic system of beliefs.

Thus, the folk horror genre has a particular allure, bringing us face to face with fears that have been carried down through generations and were experienced by our ancestors. No matter the year, folk horror movies explore themes that remind us of our heritage and that people have always been persecuted for being different and outcasts for religious or social reasons, even to the point of extreme violence and death...

Did you ever have a dream of running your own cult? well Worshippers of Cthulhu, has you covered! Take control of an unknown Shepard leading his flock to awaken The Great Old One himself. Fresh out in early access, you check it out on Steam for £20.99...

... Worshippers of Cthulhu is quite a meaty game. It also provides an enjoyable challenge. Although I confess, I struggle with City-Builder games quite a bit. The overall gameplay is interesting with how you must also defend your island as well. No issues came up, and the game was great for guiding you through the steps. After finishing the first chapter, I left it at that, as I prefer playing full games. As seen when it came to my Greedfall 2 Preview.

I can see myself putting a fair amount of hours into the game. The road map also looks to be bringing some interesting stuff, such as more Eldritch horrors to control and a sandbox mode.