Cobweb and Stripes Review with James Paradie: Chapter 11 - I'm a lonely boy & Chapter 12 - According to plan

Much like last week's review, I am going to tell you the story while reviewing it. I think that's going to be the norm for now on.

Seeing this title, David Lee Roth (from Van Halen) comes to mind.

"I ain't got nobody

Nobody cares for me, nobody

Nobody cares for me

I'm so sad and lonely

Sad and lonely, sad and lonely" ... Just  search it up on Youtube. It's much better to hear than to read it.

Great. Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head this whole review. 

The Story/The Review:

We start off with Beetlejuice playing a card game. He must be feeling a little generous, as he tells the waitress to buy him another beer and get something for herself. On the way out, he decides to give her a nice smack on the tooshie. I don't think it was meant in a sexual way whatsoever. He was, uh, looking for polyps. Don't Google that. One of his card players asks, how is he such a chick-magnet? But the other card player says, he's a shapeshifter. Stupid question! While they're conversing/arguing, Beetlejuice looks down at the cards, specifically at the queen and see's Lydia. Visuals help, so here you go ... 

You gotta love Beetlejuice's smug smile in the top panel. 

Video Game Review: The Music Machine (Spectator)

Haley, an eccentric 13 year old girl, has a complicated relationship with her old friend Quintin. He's a ghost now, and he's puppeting her body with the intent of finding a satisfactory way of killing her. This dubious quest has led them to a mysterious abandoned island, where several people were recently murdered. And where, among the rotting cabins and dense trees, a strange new building hides a bizarre secret... 

"He met a man an eyeless man a toothless man and he looked at the man and the man looked at him and he saw that the man was beloved and dearest of friends and the man spoke to him 'how long since you've tasted bone marrow' and he told him he told him truthfully and the man said 'come' and he came with the man and they vomited pure cold clean water into the endless eternal infinite sea and then, the end." 

From the game's Steam page. 

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Overview:  

Indie-horror games can be a unique experience for either players or spectators, such as myself. They offer something the big, commercial games can't and that is a different experience each game. There are exceptions to that rule, because there are a lot of indie-horror games full of tired cliches, horrible writing or no writing at all, and just a mess. But what I'm talking about is a few gems and this game is a gem.

Not to put big title horror games under the bus. Sure, I enjoy the commercial games like Alien: Isolation or Silent Hill, but you're to expect the multi million dollar graphics, with cinematic cut scenes, and motion capture technology. But what I love about indie-horror games is that you're not to expect that. What you will expect though is a different experience each and every single game. A labor of love. And if it's not a quick cash crab, which unfortunately a lot of these indie-horror games can be, the ones that are not, can provide a riveting experience.

Sure, indie-horror games do tend to be pretentious and repetitive with over the top scares, no storyline, or laughable dialogue, but then you have these gems. These gems that become icons, Gods amongst the masses. Maybe not the latter, but they're so good you find yourself listing them as your favorites above the triple A games. When an indie-horror game is done right, it gives birth to innovation and revelation to a new generation of game creators. Look at what Amnesia: The Dark Descent did, Five Nights at Freddy's did, and Slenderman (the link leads to Slenderman: The Arrival. I never reviewed the original, which is the one I'm referring to). They were made by a small team independent video game maker (in some cases, a lone maker, like FNAF) and they changed the scene of horror games forever. These game creators (or most of the time, lone creator) do this for the simple joy of taking a blue print from their mind and making it a reality. That's awesome.

My Review: 

That's what The Music Machine has accomplished. A new, innovative experience that I can truly say I enjoyed thoroughly. The game has received rave reviews on its Steam page, with rarely any lukewarmness. The design is something to behold. It seems so simple, like Into the Gloom (another indie-horror favorite of mine), yet effective. The colors of black, red, and orange create this mysterious effect. It's also different that this game doesn't follow the old mold of other horror games by relying solely on jumpscares and viscera, but rather focuses on atmosphere, story, and it does deliver on both fronts. 

Needless did I know when I began watching this that this is a successor to another title called The Moon Sliver. Once I found that out, I figured I would be lost in the loop. But instead, I found it easy to follow. I do plan on reviewing The Moon Silver as well soon.

The story's protagonist(s) are Quintin and a 13-year old girl named, Haley. There is a catch though, Quintin is dead and has possessed Haley. This may seem as a bit cliche, although I've never seen it in horror games. Also, I like it, because even though Haley's actions are influenced by Quintin, a majority of the game has them talking to each other as if they're standing next to each other. And you would think Haley would be pissed about her life being violated by a spirit, but she seems okay with it. At the beginning of the game, their first conversation, Haley asks if Quintin wants to kill her, and he says, he does. Haley says he doesn't. He hasn't made her do it yet,

I found the dialogue between these characters interesting. Haley can be annoying though sometimes, but she's a teenager, so they can be irritating, so I'm not going to mark that against the review.

The music is fantastic and is a mood setter.

The environments are really neat.

And the fact that a lone creator made all this possible is quite the accomplishment. Very good job, David Szymanski.

Other than that, I think you should experience the game yourself. Either buy the game on Steam or watch the game. Either way, it's quite the experience. 

Final Verdict: 

The Music Machine presents itself in an interesting fashion. Though the storyline of a ghost possessing someone has been done before, the execution is well done. The lack of a variety of colors creates an interesting appeal. The environments are otherworldly and neat. If I was to grade this on the story, it would probably be a 7/10. 

So This is How They're Getting People Interested in the Paranormal Again ("Paranormal Orgies!")

This is what I saw when I first logged onto the Facebook account I use to network Scared Sheetless. Gave me a good tickle. 

Has the power to kill countless people, but ...

A Paranormal Opinion with James Paradie: Is Paranormal Investigating Dead?

Yes.

There we go. You just read the shortest article ever on Scared Sheetless.

Nah, just kidding.

When shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal State, and a whole slew of other paranormal related shows hit the television markets years ago, there was an up rise of paranormal investigators. But even back then, I said it was just a fad. Not a large fraction of these people actually really gave a damn about the paranormal and were only doing it, because they're bandwagon jumpers. And as soon as the next fad comes out, they will jump right off, and that's that. Fast forward to 2017, I believe I can say I was right.

Shows have been cancelled, even Ghost Hunters is no longer with us. The only well known paranormal show still on TV, creating new episodes, is Ghost Adventures. I believe that's more of people (-ahem- women -ahem-) who gawk at The Bagans. "Take your shirt off, Zak! That will get the ghosts attention!" To be fair, I do make fun of it, but I still prefer watching GA over any other paranormal show. It's entertaining, even if it ever comes out that it is fake and most of the stuff you see is strictly Hollywood like SOME paranormal shows we know.

This is NOT a bad thing though. The interests of the paranormal has waned, yes, but the ball is back to those who are actually interested in the paranormal. I think the rise in paranormal investigators put a hamper on those who are actually into it. Think about how hard it was for those who are actually into it to get an investigation when, at one point, it seemed like everybody and their brother was an investigator. I'll tell you coming from a group, it was really hard finding investigations, and the interest was there. Some places didn't even want us unless there was news coverage. Despite taking out ads in newspapers, being a constant presence on social media, and coming short of practically begging people on my weekly newspaper column (because remember, Scared Sheetless started out on the newspapers) to give us a call.

It's a huge exhale. Those who actually study, it rather than say, trying to get a TV show or doing stupid publicity stunts while using the paranormal as a backdrop - naked paranormal, anyone? Is that joker even still relevant? What was his name? Ste --- no. Sta -- that's not it. Stu -- ah! STUpid. Yeah, that's it. There was too many people who were interested in the paranormal for the wrong reasons. To make a mockery of it (naked paranormal), to whore themselves because they're hot. I've seen it, though I can't name who or what the team was called. Basically the gimmick was attractive women ... who "hunt" ghosts. Ooooh! Interesting! (HEAVY sarcasm). Then there were some who had some pretty hard nosed social standards (only allowing females, only allowing those of the LGBT community). It was all gimmicks. It was all a fad. A joke.

Now the ball is back in the court of the people who are actually interested in it for the RIGHT reasons. To see if there is a life after death. If there is spirits who are having a hard time crossing over, to help them across that threshold. Gone are the days where people watch a Ghost Adventures episode and think, "I'm going to yell like a lunatic at ghosts. That will help them!" Gone are the days of people using gimmicks rather than science to influence others. Gone are the days of para-douches bullying others around, because they don't fit their standards.

Is it REALLY completely gone? Probably not. The paranormal dips and resurfaces in popularity all the time. There have been surges and declines since the early days of mediums and then it will come back into the public eye and go away again. Now the only time the paranormal is even relevant is around Halloween. How long will take before it's all over TV again? Who knows, but let's take advantage of this moment and to breath new life into a life full of death.

The Ghost with the Most! Review with James Paradie - Chapter 2

What's going on, Beetlejuice fans? I'm back with the chapter 2 review of Cobweb and ... Nope. Wrong one. It's really messing with me that I now review two Beetlejuice related comics. The Ghost with the Most! Exclamation point. I keep on forgetting it. It is part of the title after all. I liked how I did the last Cobweb and Stripes review, where I review as I'm giving you the story, so I'm going to do that here. Let's get on with it. 

I never quite understood peoples fascination with what I like to call, the Skunk-do. Eh, I guess I'm a hair snob. 

We start off with Lydia asking Beej, what is he doing there? Annnnnd we get sappy Beetlejuice again. He says he wants to know why he couldn't have seen her sooner and that he missed her. He then asks why she stopped calling him and she said, she grew up. I guess Beetlejuice is like Drop Dead Fred where once someone grows up, she doesn't give a damn about her imaginary friend anymore. Beetlejuice SNAPS! What was he? Some pet you could just get rid of when she get's bored? But that's not what she meant. She wanted to live her own life. 

She wanted to see the world, get married, and she couldn't do that with him around. He says, she could have, but she says, no. She then reminds him of all the times he would scare people off like Prince Vince or some boys she was interested in. Beej says she didn't want her dating some losers. Which, to be fair, does sound like something Beetlejuice would say. She then says all he wanted to do was play around. Woah, wait a minute here. Oh, she didn't mean it like that. And Beetlejuice was always depending on her. He says they could have talked it out and it didn't have to end like this. 

But she was trapped. He can't believe that, his head twirls like it does when he thinks of sandworms. He then drops an F-bomb! -Gaaassssssspppppp!- Eh, I don't care. He says, she has no "fucking" idea what being trapped is like. He was trapped in the Neithworld for 30 years. Every day he waited helplessly for her. Wait, really? Hey, Lyds is cool, but you're in the land of the dead. Couldn't you find Brittany Murphy or someone? I bet she's a fun "playmate" -suavy eyebrows- Okay, I'll stop. In the words of Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show, when it was actually good, "Come on, man! It was a joke! ... You're such a racist." Buuut to be fair, I guess Beej does make a good point that he didn't know if she was hurt or worse. 

HE LOVED HER! I'm not overemphasizing here. That's how it looks. 

See? 

Ugh. Is this Beetlejuice here or some character from General Hospital? I mean, seriously. It's like we never even get a glimpse of Beetlejuice. We just see some over dramatic person who is just wearing the same clothes he does. Kind of like Robin Thicke or whatever his name is (I hate pop-culture). Anyway ... 

Lydia says she never knew. Beej says he was going to wait until she was older to tell him. She says it would never work. His old enough to be her grandfather five times over. I think it would be more, considering he's six hundred years old (or at least the last time he's been with a woman, according to a line in the movie) or maybe Lydia has some really good genes in her family where they can have a long life-span. Yeah, I'm overthinking this, probably. Also, were they lovers before or is it one of those old storylines where one person always loved the other, but could never say anything? That hasn't been established yet. I'll give it some time. Give it a chance. 

She doesn't know what else to say and Beetlejuice says, she's said enough. He's leaving. Good! Maybe bring in Beetlejuice now? Too much? Too salty? Probably. But she starts saying the three B's, but he says she can't put him back where he was even if she wanted to and besides, she wasn't the one who brought him there in the first place. Wait a minute. I thought anyone could bring him to them or put him back? When was it established that only the person who called him could put him back? That's new. But she wonders, who would/could call him? 

In comes Lucy on cue. Like she was hiding behind something, waiting for that perfect moment. Lydia sees the diary and is wondering, where did she get that? Lucy says that she found it in a box that got mixed up with hers. Don't get mad, Lydia! That's why they created markers, so you could mark shit that belongs to you! Jeez. She wanted to know what her mother was like when she was younger. Come to find out, her mother was hanging out with a dead guy. She read the passage to bring Beetlejuice to her and presto. Lydia, in overdramatic fashion, snatches the book from her hands, and asks, how could she do this? Whoa, chill Lydia. Maybe you should've locked it up somewhere. Then again, that wouldn't be convenient for this story. Lucy says, how could she do that to her? How could she abandon a guy for thirty years? Wait, why should she care? Maybe she's a caring soul, I guess. Not a bad quality to have, I suppose, but still. What's it her business? Lydia asks if she's been spying on them this entire time and Lucy stammers with basically saying, yes. Lydia says, it's a good thing her father is on business or she'd be in trouble. Right, Lyds. Telling your husband you were close, perhaps too close, to a dead dude is really going to go over smooth with him. He'll think she's going ... eh, let this Homer .gif handle it. 

Oh, but surprisingly (not, it's not) emo Beetlejuice makes a comeback and asks, "What are you ashamed of me?" Lydia ignores this question and demands Lucy put's him back, but she is reluctant. It's all too much for Lydia. They start bickering, which is what is shown in the comic (eh, it's kind of funny, I'll admit). Beetlejuice said that if he's going back, she's going with him. Wa ... eh ... Why?! And what's funny is Lydia blames Lucy by saying, don't you dare! Umm, it was Beetlejuice who said it. Lucy's just basically standing there. Doing nothing. But she goes through it. She says the three B's, Beetlejuice says "It's showtime!" and they go through a portal. Honestly, only two frames and it is the only time we ever see Beetlejuice acting like Beetlejuice since the beginning. Lydia tries to dive for it, but she's too late. Lydia has a fit and rightfully so. 

We're now in the Neitherworld where Lucy opens her eyes to a world she has never seen before. Finally, this has perked my interest. I know I've been very cynical about this whole chapter, but ... I'll get to that at the end. Lucy turns into a Disney princess by twirling around. "This place is so cool!" But she oversteps her boundaries as a cliff crumbles beneath her feet and she falls. Beetlejuice exclaims, "SHIT!" and goes after her ... by growing his arms. He wraps his arms around and tries to pull her up while panting that he needs to work out. THERE! There! We finally have Beetlejuice. She's pulled up and says, thanks, meanwhile Beetlejuice just says, "Sure, whatever." Exactly what he would say. See. There is promise. 

Lucy asks if this is the Neitherworld and Beetlejuice basically says, yep. See ya later. That was the grand tour. She asks where does he think he's going? He's done. See ya later, babes. She says, "I don't think so, bub." She brought him to the Outerworld and without her, he would never find out what happened. Fair point. And also, she saved his butt from her mother comtinuing to humiliate him. Nah, Lucy. He was doing a really good job at that himself from acting like every other fan fiction written about him. She's owed a thank you. He says he's not good at the whole "thanks" thing. He starts to go away and she asks him to be her friend. He asks if she's right in the head. She says from her mom's diary, he seems cool. He asks if she's mentally sane? There's not much to do in the town she lives in and it's been exciting since he's shown up. ... Yeah, honey, I don't know if I agree with that, but hey, it's looking good now. Plus, he seems lonely. Dante's Inferno exists in this cannon, right? Cause he won't be lonely then! 

He says, he is not! And she says he is the most transparent ghost she's seen. Ha! Transparent. See through. Puns. ... -grumbles- I liked it. And then we get the, "Wait, you're the only dead guy I've ever met." Beetlejuice asks himself, "What is up with this broad?" which I do agree with him. But in all fairness, he has nothing to do and besides, he hasn't messed with anyone in ages. He says, he'll be her friend. First thing is, he's going to show her around. He grabs her and they fly off. 

And that's it. 

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What did I think? 

No offense to the writer/artist, but 3/4's of this chapter were really rough to get through. I mean, I've made points before on C n S and even in the first chapter of this, that Beetlejuice having human moments is a good thing, but only in small portions. This ... he's a poor, whine ass sap almost the entirety of this chapter. Showing no visible sign that he's even Beetlejuice until the very end. From when they are in the Neitherworld, it's fun. Before that? Boy, it was like reading a transcript for some soap opera. 

Some people who read my previous review said I was "too easy" and "less strict" with this. "Too nice" is basically what they were saying. And chapter 1 wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but it had it's moments. This. I'm thinking after this it does get better, but for right now, I'm going to have to say this was the worst chapter. No resemblance to Beetlejuice until the final act, but most of it is just him and Lydia bitching at each other. 

Also, Lydia was kind of a bitch in this chapter, which is out-of-character. I would think she would at least have the courage to tell her "best friend" why she can't see him anymore. 

I suppose I could give some leverage to the writer, considering it's been thirty years, but like I said, in thirty years I'd be thinking someone would move on. Besides, Lydia will die someday and then she can't avoid him. But my point is, even with it being an emotional scene, Beetlejuice could've still acted like himself. He could act bitter. He could act like he doesn't give a shit. He could try to make Lydia jealous. There were ways around it, but then again, I'm not the writer. But I am the reader and it just wasn't my cup of tea. The last act, from the Neitheworld on, was fine. Before? Sorry, but no. 

We'll see what chapter 3 brings to the table. 

Until then, this has been another review of The Ghost with the Most! 

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Read more of my reviews of this comic as they became available. 

Prologue/Chapter 1 <---> Chapter 3 (coming soon) 

Beetlejuice Related Reading Material 

Cobweb and Stripes Review 

Nice *Bleeping* Sequel! (A blog I wrote when news was running rampant about a Beetlejuice sequel)

My box set review of Shout Factory's Beetlejuice the cartoon 

Annoying Things About Beetlejuice Fan Fiction 

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Check out more of BlooeyedSpazz (that's the artist of The Ghost with the Most) at these links: 

Deviantart 

Facebook 

Paranormal Opinion: Bigfoot/Loch Ness Monster - Do I Believe?

(One of the most famous "Bigfoot" pictures around. This is from the short 1963 film, Patterson-Gimlin, which claims to show evidence of Bigfoot. However, some people believe it is just a man in a gorilla costume.)

The quick answer is, I doubt it. I know this is going to make Bigfoot experts and advocates of his existence very mad, but this is just an opinion. Like it's your opinion he does exist. "HE DOES!" That's okay. No need for a temper tantrum. I'm not here to shit all over your beliefs. Only to talk about what I think.

My mother is a fan of the Bigfoot shows. Any time there's "proof" she always has to tell me to change the channel and I tell her no. A very blunt, no, too. Don't waste my time. First of all, I don't believe anything from some reality TV show in desperate need for ratings is a valid source. That's also the main reason why I don't watch paranormal shows. I never trust anything attached to Hollywood as evidence. They need something to keep those ratings up and the higher the ratings, the more advertising money they receive.

For all we know, it could be just some wise ass dressing up, strutting past a (oddly enough) terrible camera and all of the sudden we have "evidence." People do find the fact that the cameras are always crappy kind of odd, right?

Secondly, like I tell her or anyone else that brings Bigfoot up, with all the technology we have, we've should've found evidence of Bigfoot's existence. I mean, if we can find the Titanic in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, then surely we can find a big, hairy, humanoid "monster." "Yeah, well, they knew where the Titanic sank, so bad example." Fair enough, I suppose. But with all the sightings of Bigfoot pinpointed in certain areas, then what's the difference? Unless, of course, he/it doesn't stick to one area for too long, then I can see your point.

I'm not saying Bigfoot outright doesn't exist. There is a difference between doubt and certainty. I doubt it, but I'm not certain of it. It's a lot like the Loch Ness Monster. Again, there's photographic "evidence", but even some of those have been proven to be faked or the photographer admitted it was fake (sources: 1, 2), but despite proof, people just won't let it go. Much like people who are obsessed with "orbs." Those have been proven, by science, to be nothing more but specks of dust or bugs. But people are determined to prove you wrong, even though in the end they're wrong, which is commendable in its own strange way, but at the end of the day, you're only looking like a fool in the end if you just can't accept it.

Bigfoot is a different bag, though. The legend has never been proven to be fake, but then again, it's never been proven to exist either.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I do doubt it. Especially with all the advances in technology, but then again, we can't be in all places at once. Maybe someone is just in the right place at the right time. It would be cool if Bigfoot did exist, but then again, it wouldn't. They'd probably catch him and turn him into an exhibit.

Cobweb and Stripes Review with James Paradie: Chapter 9 - I Don't Care & 10 - Alone

I do care, it's just the name of the chapter. 

Told you it was. 

I'm going to do things a little differently. Rather than doing an overview and then my review, I'm just going to review it while I do the overview. Just give it a try and see how it works. 

The chapter starts off with Beetlejuice and Jacques at Huck's pub. Huck throws Beej a beer and says it's on the house for being there when Huck needed him. Swell guy that Huck is. Beetlejuice says that it's the cheapest bar and Sawyer is a skinflint. First time I've ever heard of that insult. I need to try it on someone. And it's good to pick on Vince, BJ says. Yes, it is, because he's an ass.

Book Review with James Paradie: Dracula by Bram Stoker

The version I have, which has very cool artwork and has an otherworldly feel to it

Dracula is one of those books I've always wanted to read. There's just something about Dracula that never ceases to grasp his fangs of interest into any culture or any generation. My mother gave me the book (the very same edition you see above) for some holiday that I forget. I read perhaps fifty, maybe sixty or more pages and stopped. The reason why I stopped is, I'll admit it's laughable, is because I couldn't quite grasp the dialect. Of course, early 1900's English varies differently than today's English, so there was a lot of scratching the head on my part. I didn't pick it up again until I downloaded it onto my iPad for free, because iBooks has a lot of classics for free. I don't know if this was an updated version or maybe my vocabulary advanced from the last time I read it, but I read the iPad version with very little problems and pretty much understood everything from cover to cover. 

The story, if you do not know, follows Johnathan Harker on a business trip to Transylvania where he is meeting with a potential buyer. Harker is basically what is now known as a real estate agent. After some weird occurrences on his trip, he finally makes it to castle Dracula, where he meets with the Count Dracula. Through a diary expose style of writing, you learn, along with Harker, that the Count is a very strange fellow. Pale skin, blood red lips, and his canine teeth are pin-pointed sharp. He is quite flamboyant, however, he seems quite charming for the most part. That is until his real intentions turn their ugly head and the head is in the shape of a bat poised to make Harker, and everyone he is associated with, lives a living hell. 

I do not like revealing too much of the story, so I'll give a few reasons why Harker is starting to become suspicious of his client. Dracula tells him exactly what to write in his letters. That he is to arrive on such a date and that everything is fine. But everything is not fine and is about to become worse. One night, Johnathan Harker is asleep and awakes to three lustrous women who want to kiss him ... with their teeth. Dracula tells them basically, "he's mine!" and to leave Harker alone until he's done with him. Among other strange and downright frightening experiences, Johnathan and the reader will fear for his life. But Johnathan Harker's story is only the tip of the searing teeth that will serenade you to read more. 

My Review: 

My first love of this book is the way it's told, through diaries of all characters and Dracula actually has a good ensemble cast of dynamic characters. I really love that and felt immersed in the story. I believe too many novels nowadays tell it through either first person, or the more common, third person narrative (I admit I'm guilty of this as well). 

Dracula is pretty much how I've always pictured him: an intimidating character that you're suppose to hate, but it's really hard, because he is such a loved character in fiction. I'm fine with the fact that he is not over sexualized like he is in modern entertainment. In fact, even though this is the original, it's refreshing. 

One thing you will learn very quickly ...

Van Helsing is not as bad ass as this^ in the book. He is an old man whom is just as much smart as he is caring about everyone around him. He is an enjoyable character, though his over exposition can be tiring. 

Another reason why I stopped reading this originally was because the beginning was extremely slow. However, right after (what I'll just call) the boat incident, that's when the progress becomes a bit better. Strange events turn into even stranger. The book get's quite spooky to downright scary in areas. The author really immerses you into the environment with great explanations. 

Final Verdict:

I can see why this is a classic. Although the book is over one hundred years old, it's still a page turner. It still has an intriguing value and will continue to do so. Hopefully. I definitely recommend it. 

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Both images for this review were found using Google. I do not own them. 

Scary Game Review (Spectator) with James Paradie: Resident Evil VII

What's going on, guys and gals? It is I, your brave watcher of horror games. This time, I review the latest installment of Resident Evil - VII (7). I'm a fan of the RE series and I think I've found my favorite one in the series, so let's get on with the review. 

But first a synopsis: 

You play as Ethan, a husband who hasn't heard from his wife, Mia, in three years. Until one day, you receive a simple, but strange letter from your wife telling you where she is and to come get her. Her directions bring you to the Bayou - Louisiana, in the swampy backwoods to a deserted house. But is it really deserted? Soon, you meet the Baker family, who welcome you with open arms and sharp weapons, bugs, and a twisted sense of humor. Welcome to Resident Evil VII.

- I actually took the time to write the synopsis. Go me! 

Demos To Love

We received a glimpse at what RE 7 had to offer through various demos that really intrigued both players and spectators (like me). I will post the demos of Harshly Critical's playthrough down below. 

The first demo shown below, is the first demo Capcom released called Beginning Hour. Although you don't play as the main game's protagonist, Ethan, the demo is still cannon to the main story. Also, the found footage part of this demo did make it into the final game and is playable like it is here. 

Capcom would release a VR demo called Kitchen. A short experience, only lasting around four minutes, but scary nonetheless. Do note that in the video provided below, there are other demos that are not RE related, but still a fun watch :) The Kitchen demo is the first demo shown. 

Capcom would also release an updated version of The Beginning Hour demo entitled "Midnight." New content, new areas, and new scares were included. 

Is it bad that Jack's smile doesn't creep me out? It's got that, "Hey, buddy!" feel to it and not that Dr. Trager from Outlast type of "Buddy." Trust me, he's not your buddy and neither is Jack.

Real Paranormal Experiences: The Legend of Wizard Clip by SpookyLady InSanDiego

When I was a little girl, my family in West Virginia would take me to Wizard Clip where we’d pick “field diamonds” from the soil (more on those below). Though there are various versions of the story the one I tell below is the one I’ve heard since I was a child. It’s been called “one of the most wonderful manifestations of God’s benevolence during the struggles of the primitive Church in these United States.”

In the late 1700s in southern Berkeley County, Virginia, among the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains there was a village named Smithfield. It’s now located in Jefferson County, West Virginia (West Virginia became a state in 1863) and is known as Middleway.

A farmer named Adam Livingston moved to Smithfield with his family in the 1790s; his wife, three sons and four daughters. Adam was considered intelligent, hardworking and kind-hearted. The land he owned and worked was along the Opequon Creek.

All was well and quiet with the Livingstons until one stormy night. The rain came down in buckets and the wind howled through the trees. The moon and stars were completely blacked out by clouds. During that awful storm a knock came on the door of the Livingston house. A soaked and weary traveler stood at the door. As with anyone needing help, the Livingstons welcomed the man into their warm, dry home.

Just a few hours after everyone went to bed the stranger asked for Adam to come to his bedside. The man was very sick and wouldn’t survive the night. Though he begged Adam to find a Catholic priest who would give him Last Rites, Adam refused; he hated the Church and wouldn’t let a priest into the house. Unfortunately, at midnight the unnamed houseguest died. His body was buried in unconsecrated ground.

Since the stranger’s burial bizarre and mysterious things began to happen to the Livingstons. Their cattle died of an unknown illness. Every piece of crockery in the house was broken. Logs leapt from the fireplace, threatening to burn the house down. Chickens and turkeys ran around the barn with their heads chopped off. The constant sound of clipping, though from a large pair of shears, was heard around the farm day and night. Nothing was safe from the invisible shears: clothing, saddles, animal fur, human hair, bed linens, curtains…everything was incessantly cut, always in a crescent shape. This went on for around three months.

Adam had a dream where a man finally came to help him end their torture. One Sunday his wife insisted they attend Mass as a family. When Adam saw the priest, he began to cry, telling his wife, “That is the man I saw in my dream!” They told the priest their story and he agreed to visit the Livingston farm and consecrate the ground where the stranger was buried.

The priest came to the Livingston farm, blessed the house and the dead man’s grave. As soon as he finished everything stopped and the unseen shears stopped their clipping. Some versions of the story say that the farm had to be blessed more than once to end the Livingston’s nightmare. The family was immensely thankful; Adam even gave 40 acres of his land to the Church. The land is known as Priest’s Place and it is still owned by the Church. Visitors of Historic Middleway can see signs depicting a pair of scissors and a crescent: these mark places in the Adam Livingston story. The stranger’s grave is still there as well as a memorial to Adam Livingston.

I haven’t seen many other stories out there that mention the field diamonds. They’re small, looking a bit dirty, rough and yellowed crystalline rocks in the shape of an octahedron. My guess is they’re fluorite, which is common in the region. They typically surface after it rains – near the area where the stranger was buried. The image below is a fluorite octahedron that resembles one of the field diamonds from my family’s collection. The legend goes the diamonds were never there until after his grave was consecrated.

Information from The Middleway Historical Conservancy; original pamphlet printing dated 1936 from the press of Robert Smith.

He Doesn't Seem to Mind

You always meet the most ... unique ... people while being a paranormal investigator. 

The Ghost with the Most Comic Review with James Paradie - Prologue and Chapter 1

Yes, there is another Beetlejuice related fan comic book out there. What?! I know. It's awesome! Well, it's awesome that there is more Beetlejuice related material out there, but is this comic awesome? We'll see.

While I stumbled upon Cobweb and Stripes first, shortly after I found another Beetlejuice comic simply titled "The Ghost with the Most." This comic is written and drawn by Blooeyedspazz. Lovely name. At least your parents were original. Yes, that is a terrible joke. Looking at her Facebook she is really into liberal things (if that's your thing ... I'm not into politics), art, and she's ... she's from Vermont!? Oh, no! She's from the upside down state! I'm from New Hampshire, we say that all the time. Just a joke. Actually, it's not. I live only 15 miles from the Vermont border and once you go into there, it's like bizarro world, man. Another New Hampshire joke. I have more, but you're not here for that.

Before I start the review; two things - 1. I will show some images from the comic, but unlike Cobweb and Stripes, I do not personally know the artist, so I couldn't get a hold of her. I looked at her Deviantart page and found no email address. Hopefully she won't mind, but the way I look at it, it's free advertising. If she does have a problem with it, then I'll take it down. No biggie.

2. I'm not sure whether I'm going to give you a complete overview of every chapter or just a little bit. I've done both with my reviews of Cobweb and Stripes, because sometimes it's really hard not to talk about the whole thing while critiquing it. We'll see how it goes.

Overview:

Prologue 

Much like Cobweb and Stripes, this comic also follows the cartoon canon. We start off with Lydia at the mirror, reciting the favorite line that starts with, "Though I know I should be wary ..." The master of scare-a-monies, the Beetlemeister, shows up and wants a rematch of Hide and Go Shriek. Lydia says, "You're on!" and ... we don't get to see it. ... Okay. Fine. I guess we didn't have enough time for that, because it's montage time! We see Lydia asking Beej to promise her that he'll always be there for her. Beetlejuice says, he's stuck to her like glue. Lydia says she loves him and Beetlejuice says ... he loves her too. Huh. Was thinking he would be like, "Blech! Love?!" or something he would say from the cartoon, but okay, okay. This is an adaption after all. 

Then we get to some touchy-feely material. They're having ice cream and Beetlejuice asks if she wants to get some tomorrow. Lyds says, no. She is super busy. To which Beetlejuice says sadly, "Okay." This next part, I need to remember, it's an adaption. It's an adaption. Remember. Remember! Okay. I'll let the strip explain it better. 

I'll save what I think of this part for my review, so keep note of this particular piece. 

We start off at BJ's Roadhouse in the Neitherworld. Ginger, Jacques, and the Monster Across the Street (who for now on, I'm just going to refer to as Monster, because I'm not typing that all out every time) show up, because Beetlejuice isn't acting like himself. Oh, so they also read the fan fictions where people completely butchered the Beetlejuice character! -clear throat- Moving on. To be fair, I actually did like this page, because the artist really does a fantastic job with the characters and I can picture them saying stuff like this. Very good. Anyway, Beej tells them to scram. Ginger asks why can't he just go see her? To which I'm assuming it's Jacques that says, it's only her who can call him. 

An unspecified amount of time passes by. We get a funny couple pages where Beetlejuice wakes up and says he won't brush his teeth. He then asks why a dead guy like him still grows hair. Astute question, if I do say so myself. He questions how long it's been. Seems like forever. He doesn't remember the last time he pulled a prank. The last time he played some armpit music or ... -cue the dun dun dun- he ate a beetle. He then looks at a picture of himself and Lydia dressed up, holding hands (yep, you're doing this right from the get-go, aren't you?) Then says, "Friends forever ... my ass!" In a fit of fury, he zaps the picture, rendering it to just a singe mark. And then ... he wallows in self-pity. Okie-dokie. That was a quick relapse. 

Until ... 

"Though I know I should be wary ..." 

It's her! 

"Still I venture someplace scary." 

She's calling him!

"Ghostly hauntings I turn loose." 

Time to turn on the juice and see what shakes loose! 

"Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!" 

The portal in the mirror opens and Beetlejuice goes right into it like it's headless topless night at Dante's (their aim is a little off, so Beej can get away with some stuff). Beetlejuice comes flying out of the mirror and butts heads with the caller. He is so excited to see Ly --- Wait. It's not her. He drops her to the ground. Smooooooth. He questions where they are. That this isn't her old house in Peaceful Pines and who the hell she is. After she demands an apology for dropping her like that and to which Beej does a half ass apology, she reveals her identity. She is Lucy Stout ... went to school with a Stout. He was a dick. I kid, I kid. He won't read this, but if he did, it would be funny. Anyway, she is Lydia's daughter. What?! But her last name is Stout and Beetlejuice is bummed Lydia is married. Oh, no! Another one of those fan fictions where they can't just let them be friends! -Cue temper tantrum-, because it's unoriginal and everyone does it! Gah! Calm down. -Says through gritted teeth- it's an adaption. Beetlejuice asks how old Lucy is and she says, she's almost 20. Beej is bummed out (again) that it's almost been 30 years. Damn. He asks where her mother is and she says she's in the living room, and zoom! There he goes. 

We then cut to Lucy finding Lydia's diary. It's not specified whether this was before or after she called Beetlejuice. I assume before, because that's probably how she found out about Beetlejuice's "calling card." 

We now go to Lydia - 30 years later. She is singing "Day-O", moving boxes around, until Beetlejuice finds her, and she is surprised to see him. 

And we end on a cliffhanger. 

----

My review: 

Before I start my review, let me bring up two things: remember that part where I said, keep this in mind? The one where Beetlejuice was emotional? K. Now, let's also take that temper tantrum part. The latter was part actual opinion/part humor. If people who have read my Cobweb and Stripes reviews (and there are people who do. My last reviews for Chapter 7 & 8 brought in over 100 hits. So take that, you lousy doubters!) they know I knit-pick about the whole them always getting together. Cobweb readers don't necessarily agree with my views, but they're mature about it. So, that part was for them. I wasn't trying to insult the artist or anything. It's just it does get tiring to see the same old fan fiction of them getting together. My main issue with that is out of all the fan fictions I've read where they get together, the Beetlejuice character turns into a whiny little emo, and that's not how Beetlejuice should be portrayed. I'm sorry, but it's not. There is such thing as keeping it close to the source material, because it isn't your character. 

However, if they keep Beetlejuice, well, Beetlejuice, then fine. He's still the ghost with the most, he's still the dirty, foul-mouthed goul that I feel in love with (not THAT type of love) when I first saw him in the movie. As long as they keep his character, fine. It's when they do a complete contrast is when I roll my eyes and never bother reading any more. But this comic doesn't do that. Yes, Beetlejuice wallows in most of this, but I remember episodes of the cartoon where he did the same thing. The episode where Lydia is sucked into Beetlejuice's mind is a great example of Beetlejuice actually showing emotion and this isn't that far off from that episode. 

Also, considering they were great friends, thirty years without any contact or why she cut off contact would drive someone, even the likes of Beetlejuice, to the brink of depression. Here it's understandable. That's why it get's a pass. Just wanted to explain that, so in case the artist reads this or fans of the comic they won't think I was actually bashing it. It was more of a live read to put suspense that, "He may not like it." I didn't mind. 

---

The Good

- Lucy. She is definitely someone I would love to hang out with. She's gothy or alternative - I think is a term you can use? I mean, Suicide Girls are referred to as Alternative Models, so why not? I guess. She's like Lydia, but has a razors edge to her attitude and to me, that's awesome. She's also cute, which I don't know if that's weird to say considering she's a comic book character. I mean, people think Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Emma Frost are hot. I think I can get away with saying I think Lucy is cute. Why am I so interested in defending that? 

- The whole thirty years without contact blew my mind. Wow. Well, I guess if they ever do a Beetlejuice sequel (which I guess they're not doing anymore, according to recent news) it would be thirty years since these two characters have seen each other. That causes intrigue. How much has changed in thirty years? Is Lydia different? Does she hate Beetlejuice? Who is she married to? What does she do for a living? Does she still have contact with the Maitlands? Is she a forty year old goth? Which I would still find attractive. I mean, if Harley Quinn was forty and was still wearing the gettup from Arkham Knight, I would still --- stop defending yourself. You think cartoon women are hot. Get over it. 

- The part with Monster, Ginger, and Jacques was excellently done. It was mind-blowing how acute to the characters the artist did this and like everything they said is something they would actually say in the cartoon. She gave all of them their own accents and the characters were flawless. Complete copies from the source material. Bravo! 

- The art style was different. Definitely different from Cobweb and Stripes, which is fine. Everyone should have their own style. It was pretty good. 

----

Middle Ground: 

However, Beetlejuice's character design though is quite different than what he normally looks like. He looks more like an anime character than anything else. I have mentioned before that Beetlejuice from Cobweb and Stripes looks like a cross between Beetlejuice and Bigby Wolf from the Fables series (or Wolf Among Us for gamers), but he still resembles Beetlejuice. The reason why this is in Middle Ground is, again, this is an adaption. Things are bound to be a bit different. But also, maybe I'll warm up to it eventually? We'll see. I did warm up to Cobweb Beetlejuice relatively quickly, so I could with this one. 

---

The Bad 

I think the only bad thing I have to say about this chapter is Beetlejuice's bi-polar attitude. One panel it shows him blowing Lydia off (the "Best friends, my ass" part) and then the VERY NEXT panel he is back to being depressed. This only happened once, so I wouldn't really make it a huge X on the what's good, not good, but I figured it was worth mentioning. 

---

Final words: 

Although this is much different from Cobweb and Stripes, it still kept my interest. What happened between Beetlejuice and Lydia and why she abandoned Beetlejuice raises questions. I would like to see Beetlejuice act more like himself and consistency with his emotions, but I have read ahead and it does get better. Much like C n S, I need to give the artist a chance to find her niche. Lucy seems like an interesting and fun character. We'll see what happens, but I'm still intrigued. 

Until the Chapter 2 review, take care. 

----

Read more of my reviews as they became available. 

---> Chapter 2 (coming soon) 

Related Reading Material 

Cobweb and Stripes Review 

Nice *Bleeping* Sequel! (A blog I wrote when news was running rampant about a Beetlejuice sequel)

My box set review of Shout Factory's Beetlejuice the cartoon 

Annoying Things About Beetlejuice Fan Fiction 

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Check out more of BlooeyedSpazz (that's the artist of The Ghost with the Most) at these links: 

Deviantart 

Facebook 

Rest Well, Jeff and My Apologies

About the first year Scared Sheetless started, I found a website called Paranormal News. At that time, it was the biggest paranormal website around. For shits and giggles, I e-mailed the admin, giving him some samples of my work, and not really expecting to write for this high-end website. The admin, Jeff Behnke, emailed me back, and said he would love to post my articles. That was that.

I sent Jeff articles quite often for the first year I wrote for him. Posting various D.I.Y. paranormal tips, as well as stuff about haunted locations. After a while though, I stopped sending him new material, mainly due to the fact that this was when the contributors were keeping this page alive and I took a backseat. This was also because my grandfather (my mother's father) was very ill and needed someone to be there for him. Jeff and I kept in touch via Facebook. 

Jeff asked me to review one of his books, In The Light, which talks about how panic attacks led to hallucinations about his own death, which led to him being sent to a mental hospital. Jeff swore up and down to me it was all true and I believe him. It wasn't the best written book, it definitely had some grammar issues, but the story was very intriguing. I did have a review up, however, I took it down ... I'll explain that now.

You're My Boo (Happy Valentines Day!)

Card by: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TurtlesSoup

Happy Valentines Day to you from us here at Scared Sheetless. 

Cobweb and Stripes Review with James Paradie: Chapter 7 - All work and no play ... & Chapter 8 - Lydia's Evidence

Overview: Only three pages this chapter and basically all you need is this screenshot below to know the highlight. 

And the important part here is ... that is one adorable bat. I mean, look at it! I want to pet it. Good thing everyone is in bed or else they'd be seeing me petting a screen. No, I didn't really pet the screen. 

As you can see, Bones (that's Jacques to all you Beetlejuice the cartoon fans out there) has received information that Prince Vince has bribed the jury, but the good news is, the judge is on Beetlejuice's side. And that's it. 

Annoying Things About the Paranormal: Facebook Group Pages

This one is short and sweet. 

Want to rile people up using a single word? Just say, Facebook. Everyone hates it, yet a lot of people have an account, and are on it countless hours a day. Yes, myself included. If you're into the paranormal; be it an investigator, an author, a radio show host, or simply an enthusiast, most likely you have one for this reason: networking. 

I have two Facebook's. One is personal, where I only invite people I actually know. Then there's my other Facebook by the same name that's for networking this blog; although I seldom post on it, mainly because I'm not on this blog often anymore.

Before I begin, am I saying networking is bad? No. I just said I do it as well. What I'm talking about is the irritating redundancy of people adding you to their paranormal groups. But what's so wrong about these groups? People can add you without your consent. So, essentially you can be added to a group supporting the KKK, Neo-Nazi's, or a sequel to the Paul Feig Ghostbusters WITHOUT your consent. Also, people are aware you were added and they may not know it was without your consent. That's one of the problems with these groups.

Another is, why not just make a Like page? That way you can invite people and it's THEIR choice. To me, the whole forcing people to join your group just makes you seem annoying. They will leave, you lose support for your group, what you're trying to teach people, etc. etc.

It's just annoying. Make a Like page. Give people the option to like your page or not.

Photo of the Day: "there cat ghost on my head"

I was going to blur the face, but I think it's blurry enough. Couple suggestions:

1.

2. A better camera.