Picks: September

Theme: Masks

It's that time of year! Things are getting spooky, I'm still very behind on YOC, and it's time for another month of picks. This month, the theme is Masks, physical and conceptual. Masks are something I have been irrationally terrified of for a very long time ever since first visiting my Nana's house and seeing them covering her wall. I'm hoping this theme will deliver some spooks in accordance with the approach of Halloween, and will lead a nice transition into a broader spooky theme in October. With that said, here are my picks for September!

Album: Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses)

Artist: Slipknot

Why I chose this Album: Slipknot! Well that's a name I haven't heard in a minute. Yes my album for this month is in fact from middle school metal artist Slipknot, the band that wears jumpsuits and masks on stage and plays spooky stuff. I think on top of their wearing of masks, the type of music they play will really fit in nicely with all of my other pieces of media for this month. It's seemingly a bit more artsy and provocative than their other stuff, honestly I'm just in it to see if my friends in middle school were on to anything (and for some spooks).

Film: The Face of Another

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Why I chose this film: From just a quick google search one can see that there is an endless sea of films dealing with masks as a horror trope. Horror movies are super popular, and thus it's to be expected that they would use and abuse one of the most terrifying items ever conceived by man. Unfortunately however, all of them pretty much stick to using masks purely as a spooky element, rather than engaging with the psychological element of the mask. That isn't the case for Teshigahara's 1966 film "The Face of Another", and is the main reason I decided on it for this month's theme. Dark, eerie, and psychologically twisting, this film is exactly what I was looking to watch for this month.

Book: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Why I chose this Book: Pretty undeniably one of the most famous and frequently referenced horror books of all time, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is a cultural touchstone of modern society - and in case you've been living under a rock your whole life and somehow do not know what this book is about, pick up the book yourself and read it along with me. As a side note, this will also be the first book I've read by RLS, somebody who has had a surprisingly large impact on pop culture, so it's two birds with one stone!

Video Game: Majora's Mask

Director: Eiji Aonuma 

Why I chose this Video Game: Yes to the surprise of nobody my game for this month is "The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask". After I finished Ocarina of Time earlier this year, I knew I would have to play it's direct sequel as well at some point. I needed to give the series a bit of a break though so as not to come off as picking favorites. It's been nine months since then, (damn how time flies), so now I think it's apt to make a return to such an impactful series with the dark horse of the bunch. It's a game everyone has been telling me to play and is one that everyone says I will adore so I'm excited to finally, finally, get around to it. It's weird, it's creepy, it's totally different than any other game in existence, and it's going to make me write the word "atmospheric" a million more times.

PS: I will be playing the N64 version, this cover art just looks nicer.

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And those are my picks for September! A long time coming, I certainly have a lot of catching up to do. Hoping I can release all of my September and October reviews in the month of October for a particularly spooky month! Next up will be my review of "Kid A".

Until then!