Traveling the Lighter Side of the Dark

My dearest weirdlings,

Not all that’s strange is terrifying. Our assemblage of the weird includes some less frightening fare this week, including Irish folktales, family friendly horror, and compelling interactive storytelling.

Movies

Wolfwalkers is 2020’s Greatest Animated Film So Far (Polygon)

In Wolfwalkers, Irish studio Cartoon Saloon presents a beautifully animated story of friendship between two girls — one who aspires to become a hunter and the other who has the power to turn into a wolf.

The 10 Best Horror Movies To Watch With Your Family (PopHorror)

Looking for something “scary” to share with the kids? Check out these family friendly freakouts, both old and new.

TV

“Who’s quoting this?”: Synchromystic Language, Narrative and Metatextuality in Hellier (House of Alexander)

Mitch Alexander takes a deep dive into the TV series Hellier, examining the forms of communication used throughout and how it intersected with verbal and nonverbal language and storytelling.

Games

Exploring Tell Me Why's Landmark Depiction of Trans Identity (GamesIndustry.biz)

Tell Me Why, an episodic game about dealing with the aftermath of murder, is the first game from a major publisher to feature leading trans man protagonist, Tyler Ronan. In this article, trans game professionals discuss how the game handles representation.

Literature

Living in Haunted Houses: Reading Shirley Jackson in Quarantine (Book Riot)

“Shirley Jackson, created the blueprint for the modern haunted house, cementing for future generations of writers and readers the deep anxieties of marriage and family and domestic spaces as environments in which women not only find their deepest fears but also find their greatest strengths,” writes Giovanna Centeno on reading Jackson’s works in a time of quarantine.

Short of the Week

In Tunnelen (The Tunnel), director André Øvredal presents an overpopulated future, in which a family returning from a day at the beach has to travel through a tunnel that serves a deadly second purpose.

The film is an adaptation of the short story, “The Tunnel Ahead” by Alice Glaser, which you can read and/or listen to on Pseudopod.