Board 8 > Snake Ranks Anything Horror Related Vol. 6 *THE RANKINGS* (Extra Spooky Edition)

(+) Yeah! (+)

102. Otherside Picnic (novel) (14 points)
Nominated by: Mr Crispy (4/5 remaining)


Importance: 4
Fear: 4
Snake: 6

Drawing influence from the all-time philosophical literature classic, Roadside Picnic written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, from which this light novel literally derives its name from, Otherside Picnic tells the tales of Sorawo Kamikoshi and Toriko Nishina, two college-aged women who enter the Otherside, a zone-like area where urban legends and folkloric monsters live and exist. Sorawo (pictured above on right), is a shy and introverted woman who enjoys the Otherside for its quiet and lonely nature, despite the monsters, however Sorawo (pictured left) enters the Otherside looking for her lost friend Satsuki. They cross paths after Sorawo is attacked by one of the monsters, and from there they become fast friends. The characters, at least on the surface, are stereotypical, a tomboy and girly-girl pairing with a twist, but through the novel's deep introspective portrayal of both leads, it transforms the escapism fantasy into an emotional ride, as tthe depths' of both characters' tragic isolation and love for one another is explored through their struggles together, as sisters-in-arms and as wayward souls in the real world. The horror of the series tends to vary - while the monsters the pair encounter are drawn mainly from Japanese ghost stories, some stories are very goofy, such as the one with ninja cats sticking out the most to me. A lot of the stories are light-hearted and offer plenty moments of comedy and bonding, sometimes feeling like a breezy, relaxing vacation moreso than an intense horror-drama, but it's the type of series that slowly opens itself up to the reader as it does with its two leads; much like Roadside Picnic and Stalker, the undercurrent of depression and unsettling unknowables makes this series much more than any Yuri novel you may have read in the past, and I think it's worth a look if you love folklore, internet horror, or just a powerful story about two wayward souls trying their best to make it a world where they seem unwanted.

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That does sound surprisingly compelling

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Yeah, sounds pretty interesting.

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Otherside Picnic is one of my favorite titles being translated by j-novel (there's also anime and manga adaptations, but I was pretty disappointed by the anime because of how lazy it seemed. can't comment on the manga since I haven't read enough of it to say anything about it).

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So some unfortunate bad timing - my computer just broke down today, and the replacement part I need probably isn't coming until a week from now. My time will be a little more constrained until then for doing this project but I will try my best to still write-up some when I can, hopefully.

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Your computer clearly was just spooked by all the Halloween content.

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I think so! I mean... having to live with that first ranked image was too much I suppose.

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Nominate:
Your computer breaking down in the middle of a big project

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Johnbobb posted...

Nominate:
Your computer breaking down in the middle of a big project

Snake: 1

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Aw damn, that sucks! Hopefully it ends up being an easy fix

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It's a power supply issue I believe. It'll be tricky but I don't think it will be too bad.

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Yeah take your time! Id rather get the nice write ups weve been getting rather than whatever you can put together on your phone.

I started Roanoke btw! The first episode wasnot what I was expecting at all. But it seems a lot more focused than some of the other seasons so Im excited for now.

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Hang on cause it only gets more wild from there!

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Snake5555555555 posted...

105. Grace Le Domas (Ready or Not)

What a great write-up! I feel like there's something to be said about the profusion of strong yet human-feeling (for lack of a better term) female protagonists in horror in particular (versus other movie genres) over the years, as you touched on. At least to me, Grace Le Domas is certainly a shining recent example.

Also, I too find Otherside Picnic intriguing based on your description.

Speaking of concurring with others' thoughts, hopefully your computer issues are resolved sooner rather than later - though I too am happy to wait and have write-ups of your current quality standard.

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Thank you very much Metal!

In addition to Grace & Erin, even characters like Dani from Midsommar or Elaine from The Love Witch (my favorite example) really contribute to the strong feminist horror wave of the 2010s. Though they're more flawed, damaged, and darker than perhaps your traditional "strong female hero", I think they prove that your characters doesn't need to have a shotgun in their hand necessarily to prove their worth as women and people and humans. Their intense emotions and actions speak for themselves and the message is even more nuanced as a result.

And after thinking on it most of the day, I will probably wait until my computer is fixed to do anymore. But I will still work on my outlines in my spare time so I can get them out faster when it is fixed!

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Happy Halloween everyone!

It's a brisk but relaxed 63 degrees out there right now, dropping to a more chilly 49 tonight, so you might need to throw on a coat over your creepy costume tonight while you're out trick 'r treating! But don't let the ghouls and ghosts keep you out too late, as a high winds and flooding advisory are in effect from 8 PM - 12 AM, with wind speeds as high as up to 70 miles per hour. We also advise avoiding any particularly deep areas of flooding since yoU wouldn'T wanT tO finD what'S lurkinG iN therE. Remember to always travel in groups with people you know, and if you happen to lose track of someone, report them to the nearest authority figure and DON'T look back.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween!

This topic will resume after a brief word from our spons-


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Happy Halloween!
I didn't do anything this year but the upside is I've had a relaxing Sunday.

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Happy Halloween!

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Not looking too good, it decidely WASN'T the power supply.

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Fear: 10

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maybe the real extra spooky edition was the rankings we delayed along the way

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Hey it just means we get an extra month or two of October, which I'm certainly not complaining about!

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We're in for one scary Thanksgiving this year!

Or a spooky Christmas!

Or haunted New Years

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Or bloody Valentine...

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or slasher Spring

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or fearful Easter

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I feel like I'm living out the plot to Drag Me to Hell right now

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I hope you're not planning to ride a car any time soon.

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Make sure you check the envelope

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leave the cat alone

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Bump

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wallmasterz posted...

Bump

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Life right now is like I watched The Ring tape while reciting Candyman 5 times in the mirror, but the story is book-ended by Crypt-Keeper puns.

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Blermp

(Thats a spooky bump)

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Boomp

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Update! I'm starting to get things a little back to normal, so chances are this project will be starting up again soon. Just a matter of finding the time really; but rest assured, we will find the light once again out of this virulent and oppressive forest of madness... it's inevitable!

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Woooooo!!!

I meanbOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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102. SCP Secret Laboratory (game) (14 points)
Nominated by: handsomeboy2012 (3/5 remaining)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/700330/SCP_Secret_Laboratory/ (it's free to play!)

Importance: 4.5
Fear: 4.5
Snake: 5

Secure. Contain. Protect. Prominent pillars of this horror game, which casts you equally as hero and villain randomly in six different roles: Chaos Insurgency, Class D, Scientist, Facility Guard, SCP and Mobile Task Force. This free to play multiplayer horror game is all the rage, or at least, it should be, but I rather think it's too niche and complex to truly take off. Combining the best aspects of Among Us, competitive FPS games like Overwatch and Call of Duty, and the new wave of internet horror, SCP is at first a social experience, and secondly, a hectic game of cat and mouse where each and every move can lead closer to victory or your instantaneous death. Communication is key, as with any game in this genre. Alliances will be formed and broken as players play out their very own nightmare scenarios in this fantasy world of corruption and terror. Quality of games vary wildly, and will always depend on how the players involved are willing to take it seriously. As tense as many matches can be, they can equally be comedic fuckfests which is where a lot of the game gets its joyous shine from. For me, it was a game I hated at first. I barely knew what I was doing and this type of game typically isn't my favorite genre of multiplayer games, but it's certainly an interesting game as you become more accustomed to its complex and multi-layered, dynamic systems. It features a claustrophobic environment of interlocking, maze-like areas, and you are challenged with passing these challenges and trials depending on who or what you play as. It's a game I still struggle in finding the words to describe accurately and admittedly not one I spent a lot of time with. However, the world of horror-adjacent multiplayer games is something I'm excited to see continue grow, and it's nice to see something with this level of potential at least get some recognition out there.

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Oh shit

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We have officially risen from the dead!

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Alright it's "Return of the Living Snake"

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Yeah its not a very enjoyable the game if you have no idea what is happening before dying in the first 2 minutes. Gets a lot better once you figure out to what to do, especially if you manage to escape as a D-class. And still quite scary when a SCP jumps you.

101. The Powerpuff Girls - Speed Demon (episode) (14 points)
Nominated by: rwlh (3/5 remaining)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrObWOgsGhc

Importance: 3.5
Fear: 5
Snake: 5.5

Considered by many to be one of the darkest and scariest cartoons out there, Speed Demon is an episode that feels very off-balance from what you would expect from your typical PPG episode, and that is what truly makes it so grand. As the episode starts, the titular Powerpuff Girls are looking to vacation to the Bahamas after a boring day in school, and to get there, the Girls challenge each other to a race to see who could get there the fastest. Well, they go so fast, they enter a wormhole and are launched into an apocalyptic future where everything the Girls know and love is either decrepit, destroyed, and deceased. The episode truly pulls no punches: one of the first signs that something is wrong is the sight of the Professor, now old beyond his years, ranting and raving, forgetting all about how he made the Powerpuff Girls and trying to recreate the formula. It's something that's a little funny and exaggerated sure, but mostly it feels tragic and sad; placing yourself in the Girls' shoes, seeing this person you love and know in a state such as his would be traumatic and emotionally damaging beyond words. This is a good time to bring up some of the directorial choices of the episode, particularly the framing and color palette. When the Girls first time travel, the camera is deliberately zoomed in on their house to give the illusion that everything is normal. The Professor's lab has an old, Universal-style black and white color palette with a German Expressionist set design, feeling wonky and hostile with harsh, jagged angles, reflecting perfectly the Professor's mental state. I also love later when we are showed the outside of the house, now zoomed out and showing the totally destroyed house and blood red skies, a common apocalyptical representation in animation and cartoons. However, it is funny that the Girls didn't notice that initially upon entering! From there, it's a total misery tour as the Girls find the mayor dead, a totally unrecognizable and monstrous-looking Ms. Bellum crying over his sash and hat, and even their old teacher in the same spot they left her that fateful day after school. The true highlight of the episode comes when it's revealed HIM, the Powerpuff's most devilish antagonist, was the mastermind behind all this destruction, and that it was the fault of the Girls' racing antics that caused all this to happen. As an antagonist, this is is HIM's most triumphant moment and a culmination of his psychological trickery and depths of pure evil. Between HIM's maniacal laughter and a group of almost zombie-like children chanting "you're fault" at the Girls over and over, this episode genuinely caps itself off in a moment of pure horror that's honestly impressive. These scenes are so well-directed, and shots like HIM's imposing tall figure instills fear and scale with a few effortless frames. It portrays the Girls' as powerless and small at that particular moment.

The episode draws a lot from shows like The Twilight Zone (including a direct quote from the episode "Time Enough at Last", a fellow apocalyptic knife-twister), Batman: The Animated Series ("Perchance to Dream" and "Dreams in Darkness" come to mind), and classic comics like Days of Future Past (the OG example) and The Dark Knight Returns, which asked a similar question: what if Batman was no longer around to save the day? They all teach us similar lessons in different ways: to value our time and not rush the small moments, and that good may take a break, but evil doesn't. In real life, we may not have superheroes like The Powerpuff Girls or the X-Men, but we have good people like doctors, nurses, cops, artists, musicians, and everyday Samaritans who try everyday to make the world a better and more positive place for us all. "With great power comes great responsibility", and this Powerpuff Girls classic episode emphasizes that quote through flashes of brilliant terror and simply effective storytelling.

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Powerpuff Girls was one of those shows I wrote off growing up because it was for girls and my little sister liked it, but then looking back or watching episodes now, the show is hilarious, bizarre, well-written and excellently made

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At last, it returns! The suspense was killing me!

Also, I think your ranks for those last two should each be one spot higher.

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Oh you're right, I'll readjust with the next ranking.

I'm going to do a quick recap post soon as well since we now technically have reached 100.

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Here's your top 100!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LTFlOgY9mdnqkKY1JnFbTWaKv-SwQkg3G1teuiTAKos/edit#gid=0

Things are only going to get spookier from here on. Your horror host is back in business.

Of all the nominators, Anagram, BetrayedTangy, Great_Paul, Player_0 all remain perfect with 5/5 nominations remaining.

It's still too early to call a top ten... or is it? Give it your best shot! Or don't.

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Woohoo!! Always love an extended spooky season. Any meaning behind the green highlighted cells?

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