As the year draws to a close, I’m back again to go through my favourites. Several years ago I set a simple new years goal: READ MORE BOOKS and WATCH MORE MOVIES. As of December 12th my 2021 stats are as follows: 344 movies watched and 70 books read. This is purely for fun and to keep me busy! Through my writing, both here and on several other websites (HorrorObsessive, Castle of Chills and Hear Us Scream) I got to experience lots of amazing things this year, from early film screenings, to ARCs for book reviews and the chance to interview some incredible people. While the last monthish has been extremely difficult due to combined factors I am hopeful for the new year. Thank you for being on this journey with me.
If you’d like to see my previous favourite lists, here’s Mid-2021 and 2020.
To Rouse Levithan by Matt Cardin
About half the books I read are from recommendation threads, I add them all to my wishlist and check for sales. Although sometimes I don’t get around to reading them for a while. I believe this was one of them, as I don’t remember buying it yet it stared at me from my Kindle library for months. After finally getting around to it: yeah this rules. It’s a collection of cosmic horror stories and I adored the variety in which to explore otherworldly Gods, through the everyday or obsession or weird cults. I’m definitely going to read more of Cardin’s work. Plus that cover! So good.
Come True (2020, dir. Anthony Scott Burns)
For this one, I’m conflicted. I would probably put it as my favourite film of the year, if not for the last literal 5 seconds where it resorts to “lol actually it was all a dream”. Wouldn’t it be scarier to leave that up to the audience, to guess whether it really happened or not? So many elements from Come True are ones that I am drawn to in my own life: troubled relationship with mother, nightmares, cryptids/otherworldy beings… plus the dream sequences in this are terrifying! So to basically invalidate that at the end is disappointing. Anyway I’ll still probably buy the physical version but I’m gunna continue being salty. Also did not realize until looking it up after but I’ve unknowingly been a fan of Anthony Scott Burns for years, under his music Pilotpriest.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
My most anticipated game of the year and I am so happy to report it did not dissapoint. I LOVED the first game on the 3DS and was overjoyed when the sequel was announced. While the mainline Monster Hunter games are a bit too much for me, Stories is more my pace as a casual RPG and monster farming title. It’s one of those cases where it’s basically the first game, but bigger and better. And that’s fine by me! I love hunting for rare monster dens, fighting huge bosses and riding around on my cute lil dragons. I think this could be a great way of introducing someone to the world of Monster Hunter.
Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror
I don’t want to repeat myself too much, as I already reviewed this for Horror Obsessive, but basically this book rips harder than Leatherface. While it is reprints, most of these I hadn’t read before and to have them all in one place is divine. Some of the most visceral descriptions of destruction, change and recreation of the human body. I got a digital ARC and when the physical copy released I bought that too because I just needed it in my life. I’m the goopy weird body horror person, what did you expect?
Dune (2021)
When I’ve been at my darkest, the thing I come back to is: Well you have to see the new Dune film. You can make it to that, and then the next thing and keep going. I’ve been a huge fan of the books ever since my Dad mentioned the David Lynch Dune film to me as a teenager. Without access to it I instead turned to the book. I’m so pleased with how this new version turned out (and this is coming from someone who likes the old film, flaws and all) and you can really see the enormous attention to detail in every aspect. The costumes, the props you only see for like 2 seconds, tons of little things that Dune fans can point out (Muad’dib!) and get excited over. I’m frankly obsessed and can’t wait for part two. Long live the fighters!
Garden Story
Another game I was lucky enough to get a review key for, especially considering how excited I was for Garden Story to release. An adorable adventure inspired by Zelda and farming sims, you play as Concord, a tiny grape and you need to travel to different towns, defeating the Rot and restoring balance. There’s a bunch of different weapons and abilities, and you can even craft furniture!
Well, that’s everything. Once again a big thank you to everyone who reads this stuff. Love you all. Catch you in the New Year! ※
LORMAGGOT 