Operation Backlog Completion 2026

It’s Time for Celebrating All Things Spooky 2026!

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Video Games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 022026
 

Here I am, neck-deep in both Hundred Line and Fire Emblem, and suddenly I look at the calendar and see it’s October.

I almost skipped Celebrating All Things Spooky this year, just like how I skipped the romance and mystery celebrations.

“But no,” I said to myself, “Celebrating All Things Spooky is where it all started. On top of that, you’re (possibly) associated with horror more than the other two. You can’t cancel it!”

So here we are, ready to kick off Celebrating All Things Spooky 2026!

As usual, the bulk of my content this month will be spooky game reviews.

I’ll cover games I played before but never discussed here, games I’m playing for the first time, and in general, anything I can fit under the nebulous category of “spooky.” (Remember when I decided Zero Time Dilemma counted?) My goal is to have a new review each Monday/Wednesday/Friday in October after today, although I might cut that down if I get too overwhelmed.

I’m also holding a sale this month, like I sometimes do, but this one is different.

Instead of holding an Amazon sale like I have in previous months, this year’s sale will be at Smashwords! From now until the end of the month, you can get The Book at Dernier for only $1.50 at Smashwords. I may bring my other stories to Smashwords, as well.

Finally, the tradition continues with a contest this year!

Contest

All you have to do to enter the contest is participate! Every comment you leave on my blog earns you a point, and the three participants with the highest number of points at the end of the month get to choose a prize!

This year, the available prizes are:

  • Alan Wake (gift sent through Steam)
  • Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (gift sent through Steam)
  • Not It: Spookiest Edition (gift sent through Steam)
  • Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (gift sent through Steam)
  • Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse (gift sent through Steam)
  • Silent Hill 4: The Room (gift sent through GOG)
  • Dead Age (Steam code)
  • Lakeview Cabin Collection (Steam code)
  • eBook copy of The Book at Dernier
  • eBook copy of It Came Back
  • $15 sent through PayPal
  • You pick a game for me to review!

If you choose the review option, your chosen game must be something I either own or is easily obtainable, which you can discuss with me beforehand. It must be a single game, not a collection (although the chosen game can be part of a collection). I will start playing it in November.

Now, read on for the full rules:

  • No purchase is necessary.
  • Only comments made between October 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM EDT and October 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT will be counted.
  • 1 non-spam, non-anonymous comment on any Celebrating All Things Spooky blog post (including replies to other comments or posts from previous years) = 1 point.
  • You must use an email address or website URL (or include another way of contacting you) in your comment so I can contact you if you win.
  • You must earn at least 5 points to qualify for a prize.
  • The top 3 qualifying point earners will win prizes.
  • The person with the most points will get their first pick of the prizes. The person with the second most points will pick second, and the person with the third most points will pick third.
  • In the event of a tie, tied winners will be contacted at the same time. A tie for third place will allow for more than 3 winners. If tied winners choose the same prize, duplicate prizes will be possible.
  • The winner will be contacted by November 2, 2026.

Ready? All right, let’s get started and enjoy this month of October!

Got any spooky games you’re planning to play?

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Tormented Souls

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video Games  5 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 312025
 

Happy Halloween!

I’d wanted to conclude this year’s Celebrating All Things Spooky with Silent Hill f, but I realized I wasn’t going to finish it in time unless I rushed – and it’s not a game I want to rush!

I also considered Tormented Souls II, but I didn’t think I’d finish that in time either… and then I realized I’d never blogged about the first game before!

I’ve mentioned it a few times in passing, but now it’s finally time to talk abut Tormented Souls.

Tormented Souls is a survival horror game styled after the classics, and I love it.

I reviewed it for MonsterVine back when it came out in 2021, so be sure to check out my full review there.

Suffice it to say it’s an excellent survival horror game with fixed camera angles, nightmarish enemies that create a tense atmosphere, and all the exploration and puzzle-solving I could want.

It really captures the feeling of classic Resident Evil and similar games.

I’m excited to play the sequel, and even if it doesn’t surpass the original, I hope it at least comes close. Anyway, if you love classic survival horror games and haven’t tried Tormented Souls yet, it’s definitely one you should check out.

In fact, I even added it as a last-minute addition to this year’s possible contest prizes, so keep that in mind! All comments on this final day count, after all.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Asylum

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video Games  8 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 292025
 

It’s been a long, long time since we first talked about Asylum.

I first mentioned Asylum back in 2013 in my review of Scratches, the previous game from the same developer.

Asylum was the first game I ever backed on Kickstarter, and after a twelve-year wait, it finally came out earlier this year. And as we approached the end of October, it suddenly occurred to me that I should play it for spooky month!

Set in the crumbling Hanwell Mental Institute, you play a man searching the asylum for answers so he can find out the meaning of his hallucinations by learning what happened to him when he was at the asylum years earlier. It has a haunting, ominous atmosphere as you make your way through the almost-abandoned halls.

It is a point-and-click adventure game, and that actually took me by surprise; even though I knew it was an adventure game, I expected to walk around in 3D.

But no! Just like Scratches, you’ll use the point-and-click interface for everything, including walking around a room. While having only a few set areas in each room you can walk to makes exploration take a little getting used to, I adjusted to it in time and found its gameplay approach almost nostalgic. As you explore, you’ll find documents to read, occasional puzzles to solve, and a handful of characters to talk to.

There are a few oddities. For example, I can’t help but wonder why interacting with the projector had a cutscene for getting out and putting away each film reel when most interactions just had item disappear and reappear as needed.

Nevertheless, it takes a little under 10 hours to complete, and I found it to be a satisfying experience. Although I enjoyed Scratches more due to the way its sense of horror and dread slowly builds up, Asylum still has a great sense of atmosphere, and I felt I really knew the location by the end. The ending seems controversial, and I did find it puzzling at first, but the more I think about it, the more content I am with it.

Now, having waited 12 years for it, I have to admit I had built it up to be bigger and grander in my mind, when it really feels more like… another game in line with Scratches.

But when I think back to how I felt when I played Scratches and what I’d have wanted from another game in that style, I’m happy with what I got in Asylum. It was a good choice to play this October.

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