The holidays will look different this year. NYE Netflix binge parties, your mom still not realizing she’s on mute during a Zoom seder, and so on.

One universal holiday tradition however can’t be curtailed by a global health crisis, and that is drinking alcohol. Whether you’re shopping for your in-laws or for yourself, these small-batch (mostly) boozy gifts can also be delivered right to your door or ordered for curbside pickup.

Please note these are products found in Canada, so expect a follow up list for our readers across other borders!

Left Field Brewery’s Beer For a Cause

For the sixth year running, the always amazing brewery Left Field is partnering with Red Door Family Shelter for all of December for Draughts And Crafts Virtual Gift Guide 2020.

Every gift guide vendor is donating a portion of the proceeds from their featured item, including this bad-ass Warm Up Pack that includes a trio of Blackburne Imperial Stout, including the extra-warming 2020 flavour: Mexican Chocolate, two Brewmaster glasses and a Warm Up Long Sleeve – excellent for layering, and perfect on it’s own for those who run a little warmer for only $48.

Another boozy gift option from Left Field is the Give Back Pack which includes: 1x Koozie Brand Cooler Bag, 1x Red Door 6 Pack: Prospect Sabro: Single Hop IPA, 10𝇍 Beer Night, Greenwood IPA, Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale, Squints Seed Gose, Go Ahead Raspberry Hibiscus Gose and 1x Beer For Everybody Tee!

These gifts make an incredible, direct impact to people in need. Peruse the full guide to find the perfect gift. Draughts And Crafts lasts until December 24th!

FOUNTAIN Fermented Cider

This earthy fermented cider from Revel uses blueberries and organic lemon basil. 250g/L of fresh blueberries from Norfolk County just east of Hamilton, Ontario. The lemon basil was grown from a friend of Revel in Acton, Ontario.

Herbal tones of the basil are more pronounced and the aroma is mainly green fennel, with hints of freshly turned soil.

Fountain is overall quite earthy and is said to remind the creators of beets. Basil is the star of this cider in both aroma and flavour.

Blueberries lend their colour, but are a lighter overall note. Lingering notes of green herbs give Fountain a tonic-like quality. 6.5% ABV | 750mL

$500 from this release was donated to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. They work on equality rights in relation to mental health, disability, gender, youth, immigration, refugees, race, poverty, LGBTQ2S+ rights and more. Learn more here

Natty Wine & Kimchi from Paradise Grapevine!

Paradise Grapevine specializes in natural wine, craft beer & cider and also carries some absolutely delectable snacks. Pivoting from selling wine to making it themselves while running an independent liquor store of sorts during COVID19 has filled a gap for harder to find labels that you’d never find at the LCBO or Wine Rack (for people outside Canada, all our liquor is sold through one government store essentially).

Now offering free delivery, curbside pick-up and takeout, Paradise Grapevine has something for everyone and natural wine fans can’t miss this gem. Don’t forget to use their gorgeous and unique wine bottle gift wrapping to add extra class to your boozy gifts!

Malty & Hoppy’s Edible Beer

Toronto based company Malt & Hoppy uses beer from the best local breweries in Ontario to make delicious beer jellies with a French twist!

Françoise Briet was inspired by her French background and love of beer. Using quality ingredients rich in flavours, these jellies are delicious and environmentally sustainable.

Jellies now available include: an imperial IPA from Black Oak Brewery, a pale ale from GLB and an oatmeal brown ale from our personal favourites Left Field Brewery.

These boozy gifts all make incredible additions to a charcuterie board or even on a hunk of fresh baked bread. Check out the full online shop here 

Scandinavian Candy, Organic Wine and Bouquets from Miss Pippa’s

Photographer and drag artist from Toronto Adam Moco and partner Anton Levin, a Swedish florist, met while both living in Portugal. After moving to Toronto in 2018, they got married and jumped on the opportunity to open a new space in Brockton Village.

With Anton’s experience running a flower shop, they decided to add other items they loved which resulted in a shop-slash-bar. This type of shop is more common in Europe and has been a hit since opening it’s doors in Toronto.

Named after their dog Pippa, this local haunt is also an ode to drag queens: Adam’s drag name is Miss Moço – thus creating Miss Pippa’s, a truly unique Toronto gem.

Although the stylish and eclectic space is closed for dine-in, they have pivoted to feature all their amazing offerings and boozy gifts online. If you happen to live in Toronto, they are also open for pick up Tuesday-Sunday 8AM-10PM. FREE Delivery orders over $150 are also available here.

Cocktail Kits from a Local Mixology Legend! 

Kelsey Ramage is no stranger to innovation, the anti-waste bartender behind The Trash Collective Inc. is now serving up DIY cocktail kits, classes and group cocktail delivery perfect for boozy gifts!

Dolly Trolley Drinks offers an amazing variety of cocktail types including cold-weather cocktails like a gin gimlet with a Ontario evergreen pine twist, or a Mai-tai made with Canadian grown walnuts!

Kits come with or without alcohol and make for the perfect excuse to use your kitschy mismatched vintage glassware. Store and delivery details available here!

HP Lovecraft Tiki Bar Accessories & Magical Zoom Cocktails

As you all probably know, we are horror nerds – So when we saw the legendary nerd bar Storm Crow Manor were offering Cthulhu Tiki mugs and other related accessories we had to share with you all! Aside from the gorgeous Tiki mug and “Great Old One” Flask, Storm Crow also is selling a wide variety of nerdy gear like masks, shot glasses and apparel.

Aside from accessories, buckets of fried chicken, Star Wars themed burgers, boozy bread puddings and cocktail kits are also available for pickup and delivery.

Cocktail kits include:

• A Very Krampus Cocktail Kit (7 servings of Mulled wine)
• Magic Zoom Meeting Cocktail Kit (9 servings of dangerously delicious boozy punch)
• Release The Kraken Kit (6 servings of a Rum soaked take on the Moscow Mule)
• Butterbeer Kit (6 servings of creamy boozy deliciousness)

Don’t miss other exclusive deals as part of Storm Crows 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SPECIALS! Delivery and pickup is available here.

Fellow horror expert and comedian Hunter Collins, has graciously shared his personal round up of Actually Scary Movies, with some hilarious commentary of course.

—

Everyone is always asking me for scary movie recommendations. Something about me just screams “this guy knows where to find things that will make me sick and afraid” (maybe it’s the vomit chunks on my unholstered gun). So I thought I’d make a list. Here are 10 actually scary horror movies you may have never seen.

The picks below aren’t for chicken-shit pants-shitting shit-birds. I will lay this out so you can gauge what my fear threshold is: Alien is not a horror movie; Get Out was a fine film but not scary whatsoever; and The Babadook sucks. If you want to watch a mother barely hold back from bashing her kid’s head in while some creepy prick with poor fashion sense looks on with glee, take me to Great Wolf Lodge. The films included here made me want to lock my doors, check under my bed and load the shotgun I keep under my machete rack.

Although they are marvellous and effective fright films, you won’t find titles like The Conjuring or Hereditary on this list. These are slightly deeper cuts, and they cut hard. In fact, they cut like a gun that shoots knives (which I also own – it’s called a “gknife”).

Last thing before I list these actually scary horror movies: if you love horror, do yourself a solid and sign up for Shudder. It’s 60 bucks for the year and they keep pumping out more content than you could shake a monkey’s paw at. Also when the pandemic ends, come see my live horror/comedy show at Comedy Bar in Toronto called Guts For Laughs. Follow us on Twitter and IG at @GutsForLaughs.

Do it, or else. Keep in mind I own firearms and this website tracks your home address.

Here we go:

The Witch In The Window (Shudder)

Tiny cast. Hack first few minutes. A screw-up dad is trying to regain the love of his family by fixing up a haunted-ish house you know there’s gonna be a witch of sorts inside of. But it takes a mind-bending turn, packs some wicked jumps and pulls the rug out from under you with several switcheroos before it’s all over. Plus, If you’re Shudder and chilling, this movie is 70 minutes in & out, so you can swiftly get to the part where you say, “Hey, did you know there’s also a witch in the window of my zipper? Check it out…” and get to gettin’ fresh. That line works for everyone regardless of your sexual orientation.

Special distinction: only movie I’ve ever seen that has an honest to cripes Magic Eye painting scare.

Terrified (Shudder)

Not to be confused with Netflix’s shameless gore-porn horror “Terrifier” starring a clown with teeth like the inside of a Crunchie bar. This Argentinian offering presents three subsequent stories that tie together. Three neighbours are experiencing some paranormal bull-shit: I can’t write about the first guy without spoiling it, but it’s one of the most memorable horror scenes I’ve ever watched because it goes on for so long and you are forced to sit in the horror of it and watch powerless as evil runs amok. Like the presidency.

Second one is about a guy who sets up a camera after his furniture keeps moving around in the night and the last one is about a dead kid. And yeah: they show you the dead kid. And it ain’t just some child actor with corn syrup on his forehead. This is South America. They might have used a real dead kid. But it’s important to note this isn’t a true anthology like Creepshow. The driving throughline about investigators trying figure out what in the horny Christ is happening in this ‘hood flows smoothly in and around the intertwined tales.

Special distinction: the way director Demian Rugna’s frames his scares often mimics the viewpoint of a natural human eyeline, producing a stripped-down air of realism that leaves you feeling like this is what it would actually look like if your life got absolutely FARKED by malevolent forces.

Belzebuth (Shudder)

Don’t get turned off by the poster! Although it depicts a creepy baby carriage, this isn’t one of those movies that shovels out the ol’ convention where a woman is pregnant with a baby but the baby is also pregnant with a demon or some shit. It’s actually an ambitious, $3.6M Mexican production that in its essence is a possession whodunnit, where a skeptical cop is trying to track down the demon who killed his child.

It alternates between Spanish and English and boasts a tasteful CGI evil Jesus scene. The film kicks off with a scene so despicable, it feels like a joke a racist cabbie told you at an off-track betting bar in Cincinnati. This isn’t much of a jumpy one, but it is profoundly disturbing. Think Sinister on crank and tequila.

Special distinction: Probably the highest and most unforgiving infanticide rate of any movie I’ve seen.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Shudder)

This film is contained to a small rural coroner’s office but it tells such a huge story. A father and son coroner duo cut into this lady and hoo-boy! Her insides are more fucked-up than the shelves at K-Mart on Boxing Day! The journey through the autopsy generates so many questions about how this woman died and even though she’s dead, you start getting the impression she doesn’t want to get autopsied ‘cause some next shit starts going down with the other corpses in this spooky-ass old coroner building. Quality jumps throughout this one too.

Special distinction: expertly frightening despite having a main antagonist who is completely inanimate.

Dead Birds (Prime, Shudder)

Another poster that makes the movie look like it cost 38 bucks and whole lotta favors to make. I swear, there’s a scene at the beginning where a guy sees a dead bird and goes, “Huh, there’s a dead bird,” and then they don’t mention birds, dead or otherwise, for the rest of the movie. Dead bird content dearth aside, this is an unconventional film that places a group of Civil War era bank robbers on a farm overnight while on their way to Mexico with a big sack of stolen gold.

But this farm makes Robert Pickton’s look like Baskin-Robbins! There’s gross critters and other evils abound that start picking these stinky cowpokes off one-by-one. And what a cast of stinky cowpokes they are! Every minute a different big name pops up, including Michael Shannon, the fat beardy guy from 30 Days of Night, Elliott from E.T. and Isaiah Washington. This is probably the least scary movie on the list, but there’s so much originality and genre-bending to this creature feature paranormal haunted house western, that I thought it belonged.

Special distinction: a young Michael Shannon throwing around racial slurs. Yup – that one. Washington was able to keep the slurs to himself this time, however: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/isaiah-washington-anti-gay-slur-fell-article-1.1456063

Veronica (Netflix)

Spanish director Paco Plaza, who also made the REC series, peddled this out in 2017. It’s rife with heavy-handed allegory about the coming of age of womyn (the fyuture is fymale), but in the horror world, I’m like, what isn’t, dude? Technically Godzilla is a girl’s coming of age tale when you consider that Godzilla’s mouth-lasers are a metaphor for menstruation. Zappy, blasty menstruation.

In this film, a teenager in a working class neighborhood has to take care of her younger siblings, but this foolish, stupid, naive, female, lady girl puts her dumb double-X chromosome’d hands on a Ouija board DURING an eclipse! You put your whole family in danger by opening a demonic eclipse portal, you idiotic womb-haver!

But el patriarcado aside, this movie is loaded with jumps and taut tension and even though it’s about a teen, it doesn’t strictly cater to a younger audience the way Slender Man or Ma did. There’s a nun with milky eyes, shadowperson apparitions galore, and it features the “creepy naked man scare” a full year before Hereditary did it, and a full two years before my dad did it at a local figure skating meet and we never saw him again.

Special distinction: based on a true story where a Spanish girl mysteriously died in the 90s after using a Ouija board. Second leading cause of death in Spain after pronouncing your Zs like a t-h to death.

Channel Zero (Shudder)

This is a TV show where each season of six episodes is based on a different creepypasta. Episodes are 45 minutes long, which is so little to commit to. But the reason I recommend this show is that it’s light enough that you can watch it during the day and the stories are so loose and ethereal that you can have it on in the background while you I dunno – make soup or harass former lovers over the phone.

The seasons are hit and miss (season one revolves around a little boy made of human teeth who eats teeth and there we go, I got fed up just typing that), but the fourth and latest season is about a woman (Miss Denmark 2008 Maria Sten) who descends into madness after rediscovering her homicidal imaginary friend, the latter of which is portrayed by a stupendously talented contortionist.

There are loads of practical gore effects that’ll make you turn away and at one point they barely explicably shimmy in an army of little people dressed as crayons.

Special distinction: It’s all shot in Canada but it looks like it isn’t.

The Possession of Hannah Grace (Crave)

I was super skeptical of a “The Possession Of” movie and maybe my low expectations are what led me to enjoy this so much. In this story about a disgraced police officer (ACAB) who becomes a security guard (ASGAB) at a morgue, a stiff is dropped off that somehow, instead of just sitting there, appears to get healthier.

You can imagine where this leads (they fuck – JK), but the lighting and the sound design seamlessly team up to drive a multi-sensory screwdriver into your nervous system. The creeps take their sweet-ass time and this polished production is all-in-all jumpier than bullfrogs on a griddle.

Special distinction: maybe the only film whose title starts with “The Possession/Haunting of” that is legitimately frightening.

POD (Prime, Shudder)

The key to this 2015 gem is that instead of having the terror stem from a guy in a monster suit, it comes from the unravelling mind of a schizophrenic man trying to convince his brother that he has a captured alien in his basement. The performance of this mentally unstable dude is so convincing, you can picture him asking a cashier at Taco Bell for the nuke codes.

The film does an admirable job of keeping you guessing whether there’s a basement alien or not. Pod is a testament to how solid a film you can make with a wee budget, as long as you have a sturdy premise and some decent actors. Plus it’s only 76 minutes! So if you’re Shudder and chilling, it won’t be long before you can be like, “Hey did you know I also have a ‘pod’ behind this zipper?”

Special distinction: It’s got to be challenging to pull off an alien horror movie, because aliens are inherently jovial visitors who just want to meet your leader and give you a hearty bumming.

Garden State (in the garbage somewhere hopefully)

It is absolutely beyond horrifying that someone gave money to Zach Braff for a script that’s just a bunch of people going “aren’t I weird?” for an hour and a half.

Special distinction: none. This movie is is pure bowel cancer for your heart, mind and eyes.

Celebrating love, sexuality and diversity in the adult industry this year’s awards feature an evening of surprises and guests that will shine a spotlight on the most desired and creative humans on earth.

Image (c) Pornhub Awards

13.5M videos, 140M+ daily visitors and over 55 billion searches will determine who walks away with a trophy at the end of the night. Unlike most award shows, Pornhub uses data driven results with big wins going to the most searched, viewed and lusted after this past year on the site.

In addition to celebrating the industries best porn stars from around the world, the pornhub awards also will feature best selling Latin musician Ozuna, Miami based hip hop duo City Girls, Film icon John Waters, Drag legend Violet Chachki, Patia of the incredible meme account @PATIASFANTASYWORLD, Leimoy Maldonado an iconic ballroom dancer and MANY MORE who will present awards or participate in skits.

Our interest piqued mainly for John Waters as a presenter who was drawn to the awards out of concert for the health of others, saying “Good filth-on-demand is what we all need to stay home and be sexually safe and socially distanced in this obscene pandemic,” in a statement issued by Pornhub. “Giving a Pornhub Award seems like a civic duty to me.”

Tune into the Pornhub awards December 15th starting at 7PM EST.

A Selection of Fan Voting categories (with our picks in bold) are below:

NICEST PUSSY
Emma Hix
Mini_Diva
Alix Lynx
Sarah Banks
Jane Wilde
Leo From LeoLuLu
Emily Willis
Luxurygirl
Ana Foxxx
Riley Reid
Tinna Angel
Luna Okko
Janice Griffith
Kira Noir
Morgpie
Madison Ivy
Elsa Jean
Lexi Lore
Miss_Impulse

FAVORITE MILF
Cory Chase
Julia Ann
Jodi West
Lady Fyre
Alexis Fawx
Cherie Deville
Diamond Jackson
Lisa Ann
Veronica Avluv
Ava Addams
Nina Hartley
Kendra Lust
Mandy FLores
Sara Jay
Brandi Love
Osa Lovely
Asa Akira
Eva Lovia
Esperanza Gomez
Jessa Rhodes

NICEST TITS
Angela White 
Kendra Sunderland
Gabbie Carter
Hitomi Tanaka
Sophie Dee
Ava Addams
Violet Myers
Dillion Harper
Diamond Jackson
Korina Kova
Paige Owens
Crystal Lust
Mini_Diva
Autumn Falls
Chessierae
Brittney White
Larkin Love
Bridgette B
Lena Paul
Valentina Nappi

FAVORITE INKED MODEL
Liya Silver
The Red Fox
Canela Skin
TheHotChocolate
Kali Roses
Littlebuffbabe
Honey Gold
Anna Bell Peaks
Joanna Angel
MrsFeedMe
Karmen Karma
Leah Meow
Bonnie Rotten
Alissa Noir
Bella Bellz
Anuskatzz
Karma Rx
Reislin
Owen Gray
Kleio Valentien

FAVORITE FETISH MODEL
Charlotte Sartre
Natalie Mars
Spiel_Maschinerie
Astrodomina
Lianagood
Larkin Love
Lance Hart
Adriana Maya
Ezada Sinn
LadyUltraviolet
Amber Chase
Rae Lil Black
Kinky Babies
Bianca Stone
VelvetVeronica
Melody Cheeks
Mandy Flores
AutumnxxJordan
Lady Fyre
BDSM Elves

HOTTEST ASS
Lana Rhoades
Nicolette Shea
Crystal Lust
Lele Star
Emily Lynne
NoFaceGirl
Molly Pills
Teanna Trump
Moriah Mills
Canela Skin
BehindTheMaskk
Kenzie Madison
Rachel Starr
Misty Stone
Alexis Texas
LeoLuLu
Jade Jordan
Mia Malkova
Mia Queen
Abella Danger

FAVORITE TRANS MODEL
Erica Cherry
Mandy Mitchell
Chanel Santini
Bailey Jay
Domino Presley
Aubrey Kate
Jessica Fox
Natalie Mars
Jessy Dubai
Natassia Dreams
TripleXTransManXXX
Mia Isabella
Sarina Valentina
Ella Hollywood
Venus Lux
TS Foxxy
Viktor Belmont
Casey Kisses

FAVORITE GAY MODEL
Zilv Gudel
Colby Keller
JoshMooreXXX
Diego Sans
Deangelo Jackson
Colby Jansen
Joey Mills
Austin Wilde
Austin Wolf
Matthew Camp
William Seed
Rocco Steele
Trenton Ducati
Max Konnor
Armand Rizzo
Johnny Rapid
Beaux Banks
Cutler X
Boomer Banks
Paul Canon

FAVORITE COSPLAYER
OppaIbby
MyKinkyDope
Korina Kova
Veronica Chaos
Hidori Rose
AliceBong
Little Puck
Felicia Vox
Purple Bitch
SiaSiaBeria
Indigo White
Chibella Chan
KassMonday
Elisabeth Weir
Arwen Datnoid
MollyRedWolf
Arwen Datnoid
Emanuelly Raquel
Mia Bandini
Ellie Idol
CatJira

FAVORITE CHANNEL
JAYSPOV
Bratty Sis
VIXEN
CUM4K
Fake Hostel
Brazzers
Mom Teach Sex
LetsDoEit
BangBros
Fake Taxi
Property Sex
JulesJordan
BLACKED
Family Strokes
MOFOS
Hot Guys Fuck
Public Agent
Sis Loves Me
SPANKMONSTER
Reality Kings 

Full category list and fan voting for the Pornhub Awards is still open until December 10th! Be sure to VOTE for your favorites.

Legalization and Drug Reform measures were on the ballot in a number of US states this year. Five states voted to legalize recreational and or medicinal cannabis, while even more controversial issues surrounding hard drugs and psychedelics made huge strides.

Here’s a round-up of all the Drug Reform related results from the 2020 election.

Oregon

Oregon passed the sweeping Measure 110, which decriminalized small amounts of all street drugs. Oregon is the first state to pass anything like this. This measure reduces misdemeanour drug possession violations to the equivalent of traffic tickets.

Measure 110 also reduces legal penalties for what are currently felony possession cases, all while funnelling cannabis tax revenue into addiction recovery centres, treating drugs as a public health problem rather a criminal offence.

“This is the most significant reform in our nation’s failed drug policies in a generation,” Kassandra Frederique, the executive director of Drug Policy Alliance, which spent more than $4 million backing the measure, said. “It’s particularly significant because most people don’t realize that drug possession is the number one arrest in the US.”

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. passed a Drug Reform ballot measure to decriminalize the use of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics. While the initiative disappointingly doesn’t legalize the drugs, it makes stopping the cultivation, distribution, possession and use of certain plant-based psychedelics one of the police department’s lowest enforcement priorities.

The initiative, formerly known as the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, will now go to the D.C Council for review, before eventually being reviewed by Congress to officially make it the law of the land.

New Jersey, Arizona & Montana

Cannabis, already legal for medical use in 33 US states and recreational use in 11, was also legalized for recreational purposes in New Jersey, Arizona and Montana.

New Jersey estimates approx $126 million a year for the states economy through cannabis alone. Arizona has passed Prop 207 to become the lucky 13th state to legalize cannabis, allowing adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to 1 ounce with no more than 5 grams being concentrates, and also grants people to cultivate up to 6 cannabis plants per primary residence.

The Arizona Department of Health Services will issue licences following the application period from Jan 19 – Mar 9,2021. Many medical cannabis dispensaries will get a recreational licence which will allow them to sell medical and recreational cannabis from their dispensary locations. The measure also allows people with cannabis related charges to petition for expungement.

Montana has passed a pair of complimentary Drug Reform ballot initiatives which together legalize recreational cannabis use in Montana for adults. I-190 creates rules for cannabis use, including a 20% tax and the option for individual counties to prohibit dispensaries.

CI-118 amended the Montana Constitution to allow the state to set the minimum buying age to 21. Both measures were needed to pass for recreational use to become legal.

South Dakota & Mississippi 

Voters in Mississippi voted for legal medical cannabis, while South Dakota voters approved Drug Reform for both medical and recreational cannabis.

Mississippi voters passed an activist- led initiative allowing for a broad medical cannabis program that includes 22 conditions such as PTSD & chronic pain and allows patients to obtain up to 2.5 ounces of weed per 14-day period.

South Dakota became the first state in the country to legalize both rec and medical cannabis on the same ballot. The medical program would allow patients with a ‘debilitating condition’ whereas the recreational program would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of cannabis in public, and grow up to 3 plants at home if they live in a place with no weed store nearby.

Conclusion

Over the past 10+ years, criminal penalties for drug offences have been reduced in many US states. Democratic policy makers have been increasingly outspoken in favour of ending the failed war on drugs, particularly given its disproportionate effect on non white communities. More aggressive Drug Reform initiatives to end the war like cannabis legalization and broader drug decriminalization, are still controversial among politicians and policymakers and most have voted on the more cautious side.

Polls show a majority of Americans (⅔) and especially high numbers of Democrats (¾) back cannabis legalization. Yet, the President elect Joe Biden, is still opposed to full legalization, arguing for a milder measure at the federal level to remove prison time but not allow sales.

Thanks to Drug Reform efforts from activists in more conservative states, like Montana and South Dakota politicians are starting to push forward for cannabis and drug reform which is historic especially in predominantly red jurisdictions. These 2020 election results show that voters and even some politicians are eager to pull back on America’s failed war on drugs and create a promising financial future for a majority of states now entering what is known as the cannabis “green rush”.

Adaptogens & Nootropics are all the rage. Read on to learn the benefits, differences and ways to try these brain building alternative medicines. 

The world of Adaptogens & Nootropics

Biohacking and wellness continue to become more prominent industries as humans learn more about our neurological and biological systems and how they interact with natural alternative medicines and ingredients.

We all know the importance of mindfulness and “brain training” – but did you know that nutrition can have just as impactful an effect on your brain function?

That’s where Adaptogens and Nootropics come in.

Whether you’re a skeptic or believer, there’s no denying the rise in popularity for adaptogens, and wellness drinks. From Kombucha to Ashwagandha to weirder things like “magical moon” and “golden dandelion” lattes and teas, it can be a bit daunting and confusing to know where to start.

We’ve done a deeper dive into WTF adaptogens and nootropics are – and which are some of the best adaptogenic and nootropic drinks to experiment with.

Are they worth the hype?

100%.

Here’s why:

What are Adaptogens?

Adaptogens are ancient plants, herbs and or roots that support brain function and help the body’s ability to handle mental and physical stress.

These are different from Nootropics in the sense that Adaptogens benefits are widespread throughout the body, instead of focusing on a particular area or concern.

Examples:

Lion’s Mane Mushroom – An edible and medicinal mushroom known for its ability to boost mood, energy levels and reduce anxiety. Found in capsule or sometimes liquid extract form.

Check out Rainbo Mushroom 11:11 and add this multi-vitamin complex to pretty much any drink you’d normally drink. We personally love adding it to our morning smoothie or latte.

Maca – A root vegetable, related to the criminally underrated radish. Boosts mood and regulares stress hormones. Normally found in powder format making it easy to add to any drink you’d like.

Goji – Also known as the wolf-berry, native to China, the Goji berry is packed full of nutrients and has been used in herbal teas, juices, wines and medicines. Early studies found they promote better sleep, weight loss, immunity boost and a feeling of well-being and calmness.

What are Nootropics?

Nootropics or “brain boosters”, are substances that improve cognitive function, in particular relating to creativity, memory, focus and reduce inflammation in the brain.

Examples:

L-Theanine – A naturally occurring amino acid found in tea, but can also be taken as a supplement. Several studies show that taking 200mg of L-Theanine has a calming effect, without causing drowsiness. Taking even 50mg – the amount found in roughly two cups of brewed tea – has been found to increase alpha-waves in the brain, which are linked the creativity.

Ginkgo Biloba – Ginkgo biloba, or maidenhair, is a tree native to China that has been grown for thousands of years for a variety of uses.

Because it’s the only surviving member of an ancient order of plants, it’s sometimes referred to as a living fossil.

While its leaves and seeds are often used in traditional Chinese medicine, modern research primarily focuses on ginkgo extract, which is made from the leaves.

Ginkgo supplements are associated with several health claims and uses, most of which focus on brain function and blood circulation.

Creatine – Produced naturally and found in amino acids – Creatine is the number one supplement used for improving performance in gym. Studies show it increases muscle mass, strength and exercise performance. Additionally it protects against neurological disease.

5 Adaptogenic / Nootropic Drinks To Try

1. Blue Medicinal Mushroom Latte

One of our favourite brands Rainbo shared this beautiful immunity boosting adaptogenic latte recipe packed full of 11 powerful and potent medicinal mushrooms.

Ingredients

1 tbsp butterfly pea flower tea
2 slices of fresh ginger
½ cup of boiling water
¾ cup milk of your choice, I prefer oat or hemp for the best foam
1 dropper of Rainbo 11:11 tincutre
Rainbo Forest Juice, to taste

Directions

Steep butterfly pea tea with ginger and boiling water for 1-2 minutes until dark indigo.

Strain the tea and add to your favourite mug.

Top the tea with foamed milk, Rainbo tincture and Forest Juice to taste. Combine all ingredients together, gently and enjoy

Source: https://rainbo.com/blogs/recipes/blue-mushroom-latte

2. Magic Moon Latte

Food stylist and writer Sophia Macken shared this adaptogenic herbal latte to help ease PMS symptoms. Full of hormone balancing ingredients anyone can benefit from, and can just be consumed as a healthy alternative to overly sweet and expensive flavoured lattes. Here’s the recipe from her website Wholehearted Eats:

MOON-TIME LATTE

Influenced by this recipe from the Great Kosmic Kitchen.
Serves 1.

1 Mug Almond Milk (about 12 oz)
1 Rounded tsp. Dandy Blend (or favourite instant dandelion or chicory coffee substitute)***
1/2 tsp. Ashwagandha Powder
1/2 tsp. Tahini
1/2 tsp. Maca
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp. Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp. Coconut Sugar (optional)

Begin by measuring the amount of milk you need by pouring the milk into your intended drinking cup.

I used a standard mug, which was about 12 oz. In a small pot heat up the milk and other ingredients until nice and warm.

You’ll probably want to give it a bit of a stir to make sure the ingredients don’t stick to the bottom.

Once it gets all nice and warm, pop it in a mixture in a high speed blender and whip on high for a minute or until frothy.

Serve and enjoy!

*** If you don’t have access to herbal coffee, a strong decaffeinated coffee will also work.

3. The Ultimate Tonic

The Ultimate Tonic is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory packed tincture containing mushrooms, turmeric, cinnamon, and sweet dates with cashew milk.

Medicinal mushrooms are packed with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds and active constituents that have been shown to have immune boosting properties among other health benefits.

This tincture uses the power of adaptogens found specifically in medicinal mushrooms. Here’s the recipe from Nutrition Stripped:

THE ULTIMATE TONIC RECIPE

SERVES 1
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups homemade nut milk
1 tablespoon chia seed
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon local honey
1-2 medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of each organic powdered cordyceps, reishi, shiitake, chaga, maitake, and king oyster OR use 1 tablespoon of a mushroom mix
Pinch of sea salt

Directions:
Simply combine all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Adjust sweetness by adding additional dates
Serve chilled over ice or serve warm by pouring into a small saucepan and gently heating until warm to touch.

4. Daydream Sparkling Water

This sparkling water contains no sugar, no caffeine, and a mix of powerful adaptogens and hemp extracts that work with the body’s immune system. Making it a go-to for anyone looking to increase focus, reduce stress & fatigue. Some adaptogens found in Daydream include:

Hemp Extracts (Balance & Clarity)
Schisandra (Stress Reduction)
Moringa (Anti-inflammatory & Anti-oxidation)
Ginseng (Focus & Energy)

Canada’s first sparkling water infused with hemp extracts and adaptogens come in a variety of delicious flavours, like: Blackberry Chai, Cucumber Lime and Peach Ginger. This water is a hot item so order yours online before they sell out (again) or check your local stockists to grab a can or sample pack!

5. Anti-Stress Ashwagandha Shot

If you find yourself constantly reaching for that second or third caffeine dose half way through the day, we highly recommend this quick and easy shot as an alternative to a quick pick-me-up.

It’s a powerful adaptogenic drink that uses the all-natural superpowers of: honey, apple cider vinegar, and Ashwagandha.

This shot is a fantastic source of antioxidants and helps your immune system less susceptible to harmful effects of stress.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp ashwagandha powder
1/4 cup water (optional)

Instructions:

Heat all the ingredients in a small saucepan then pour in a shot glass.
You can drink the mixture as it is or dilute it in 1/4 cup of water.
If you are a bit weirded out by things like “moon lattes” we also included more digestible and accessible ways to experiment with this new growing trend of nootropic and adaptogenic drinks, elixirs and tonics.

Interested in adaptogens, nootropics, plant medicine and alternative ways to bio-hack? Stay tuned to Strange Comforts for new content every Monday.

Featured image credit: Photo by Lisa Hobbs on Unsplash

Ubawareta Houkago – PC-98 (1995)

Pastel cities trapped in a timeless future-past. Empty apartments drenched in nostalgia. Classic convertibles speeding into a low-res sunset. Femme fatales and mutated monsters doing battle. Deep, dark dungeons and glittering star ships floating in space.

All captured in a eerie palette of 4096 colours and somehow, you’re sure, from some alternate 1980s world you can’t quite remember…

The Style of ‘PC-98’

Now beloved by legions of obsessive artists and collected by accounts like Noirlac, ITEM, and Densetsu.ch, this now-forgotten art style native to Japan is known, shorthand, as “PC-98”

X-Girl PC-9801 (1994)

With it’s unique style of colours and hand-made gradients, it has spawned an underground subculture of collectors and creators dedicated to keeping the unique PC-98 art form alive.

Drawn painstakingly one pixel at a time, with a palette of 4096 possible colours, pushing the limits of these 80’s era machines memory, these early graphic artists and hackers alike have left an indelible mark on the world of digital art and internet culture, only to be forgotten in the passing of time.

But what made this boring business computer from Japan so special?

What is a ‘PC-98’ anyway?

One of Japan’s earliest and most dominant computer makers, electronics giant NEC arrived early on the home computer market, pretty much obliterating domestic competitors like Hitatchi and Fujitsu and swallowing a whopping 60-70% of the market up from IBM by the mid 80s with their PC-88 / series of computers.

The reason? The Japanese market needed hardware much more capable than the business built IBM PC, anemic early Macintosh computers or the home consoles of the era where it counted most: graphics.

Then came the PC-9800. Using custom chips designed to deliver rich colour and complex Japanese characters, the NEC machines had 16x the video memory of their American counterparts, leading to an explosion of new game creators putting these features, and their limitations, to use.

‘Virgin Angel’ PC-9801 – 1994/95

While there were countless models in the near 20 year history of the NEC platform, and thousands of programs designed for them, their unique hardware (while capable of many colours, the machines were still extremely slow and incompatible with MS-DOS computers at the time) combined with the style of games created for the PC-98 led it to be  jokingly dubbed “The Anime Computer”.

Possessor PC-9801 (1994)

Countless simulation games like Sim City, darker fare like cyberpunk adventures and bullet hell shooters lived alongside stranger, slice of life simulators closer to titles like “The Sims” starring popular comic characters from the world of Anime. The machines speed limits produced a more adult, story driven style of game called a “visual novel” that became a mainstay of the scene over the more arcade driven games coming from the world of Sega and Nintendo.

Macross Love Stories PC-9801 (1994)

Metal Gear creator / problematic gaming legend Hideo Kojima got his start on the platform with his classic potboiler “Policenauts”, and perennial weirdo favourite “Corpse Party” started way back in the 90s as a PC-98 game.

So if the PC-98 was so popular, why don’t we remember it like the Super Nintendo or Playstation, or even more obscure computers like the Sinclair, so lovingly honoured in Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch.

Well, the thing about these games is that they’re…weird.

Like, really weird.

Obscenely weird.

Enter the Doujins: PC-98’s rebels

Never heard of classics like “Variable Geo 2: The Bout Of Cannibalistic Goddess?” or “Dead Of The Brain”?

Haven’t played battleship against Space Hitler in Void Vanity Fleet or dodged a sex-crazed Captain Hook in an all female Peter Pan parody called “Neverland”?

I’m guessing not.

Neverland (1994)

Equally important to the early success of the PC-98 as the corporate users were what are known as “Doujins“.

Named from the Japanese slang for “hobby group”, these dedicated legions of game designers, artists and pixel pushing perverts created literally thousands of titles for the platform (At last count their were over 6000 PC-98 games in the world.)… with new games still released to this day.

A wild west of avant-garde adventure games and bizarre digital storybooks, these developers operated in the fringes of late 80s and early 90s popular culture in Japan. Wildly popular with the Otaku (Japan’s culture of hermetic male obsessives…sort of an primordial Incel, if you will), these games are… intense to say the least.

‘Rusty’ – PC-9801 (1993)

Constantly skirting the threat of copyright infringement, Doujin or “Fan-Softs” put popular anime or game characters in strange, very often sexual, situations, yet were wildly popular among even mainstream audiences.

Not content with simple cut and paste jobs, Doujin PC-98  developers and artists pushed the limits of what these early machines could do, and the limits good taste, one upping each other with each release.

Kurayami PC-9801 (1996)

Themes like rape, torture and cannibalism were among many taboo subjects shadowy developers of the PC-98 scene created in parallel with safer, more mainstream titles like Might and Magic, and imports of American games like Doom and Alone In The Dark.

Writer Kyle Bradford called the PC-98 Eroge or “Erotic Game” culture “a relic from an age of Japanese Otaku culture seemingly obsessed with the obscene”

Studios with nonsensical names like “Software Creation Tips” or “Apple Pie Coffee Break” would announce titles in a chatroom or magazine classifieds, release a handful of bizarre or pornographic PC-98 games mailed directly on disk, then disappear months or even weeks later, never to be seen again.

Some of these developers even went on to create classic franchises in mainstream gaming, funded in part by their X-Rated fundraising in the PC-98 scene and the lessons learned squeezing performance from these now near ancient machines.

End of the PC-98 era

So what happened?

Windows based machines quickly sailed past the early performance lead of NEC’s PC-9800, and the sheer variety of clones and new hardware displaced their monopoly. The market share of the PC-98 standard fell from 60% to 33% in just five years, and NEC finally abandoned the PC-98 in favour of the global standard.

By the 2000s, NEC had completely abandoned their computer platform and developers had long moved on to new systems with far superior hardware and 3D graphics.

Developers still operating on the fetishistic fringes of Eroge migrated en masse to the uncontrolled world of Microsoft and Apple machines, free from the ban on adult games from major publishers like Sega and, eventually NEC themselves.

Widespread broadband internet meant the Otaku of Japan could satisfy their fetishes without need for disks or “Doujinsoft” direct mail, and, within a few years most PC-98 machines were relegated to junk shops and basements, left to collect dust.

But a culture dedicated to preserving the platform holds on.

With small teams, sometimes a single developer, Doujins still compete in hack-a-thons and game competitions turning out games in as little as 24 hours.

New games continue to pop up, and a small emulation scene translates some of the better titles to be enjoyed by new generations of weirdos, never to be truly forgotten.

While it’s focus on the obscure, obscene and downright strange, it’s probably likely you’ll never play any of these games, but their influence continues to be felt today in modern sub-cultures like Vaporwave music, animators like the infamous Paul Robertson, and modern developers that are bringing some of the platforms DNA to modern games like “World Of Horror“.

Long live the weird and wonderful world of the PC-98.

Psychedelics can be challenging even to the most experienced users. A so-called ‘bad trip’ can take many forms, the most well-known being frightening hallucinations.

Others may experience more physical challenges like feeling a lack of self control over themselves and their bodies.

With the simple tips below, we hope to help guide new users and veterans of plant medicine through these sometimes difficult encounters.

Please note these tips apply to the use of psychedelics and plant medicine, we do not recommend experimenting with chemical drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, DXM and others unless you have the ability to properly source, test and or use these substances in a medical environment and or through medical professionals.

Survival Guide

Tip 1 – Breathe

This may sound obvious, however always remembering to breathe – and doing so mindfully – is the best defence against a bad trip.

If things get dark or challenging, focus on your breath and exhale longer than you inhale, noticing the tension in your body release with every exhale.

Studies have found that deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is due to your brain getting signals to relax when inhaling deeply.

Activities that increase heart-rate like: fast breathing, high blood pressure all decrease when you practice breathing techniques or as some call it breathwork. This is why you see professional athletes like Boxers moving around the ring and exhaling between rounds.

Belly breathing is probably the easiest technique and can be done anywhere, even in a crowded festival (post covid19 of course). Just follow these easy steps:

1. Sit or lie flat in a comfy position
2. Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other on your chest
3. Take a deep inhale through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out.
4. Exhale through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.
5. Do this between 5 to 10 times. Take your time!
6. Take note of how you feel in the moment when you finish

Tip 2 – Acceptance

Now that more psychedelic clinical trials are underway, medical professionals have also become aware of the potentials of bad trips with some of their patients using Psilocybin, LSD or other psychedelic substances.

Guides for these trials will now often advise participants to surrender to the experience, especially if it’s a challenging one.

Showing compassion and curiosity to negative thoughts, feelings, or experiences is often a guide into your deep consciousness, and these dark journeys inwards are often just as important as the positive ones.

If certain aspects of what you are seeing or experiencing are bothering you always try and remove them. This could be something as simple as putting your phone in airplane mode, or turning on a different visual on TV.

“If you feel like you’re dying, melting, dissolving, exploding, or going crazy, go ahead and embrace it” said Dr. Bill Richards, a pioneer in the psychedelic research world.

Trying to combat these organic feelings during a bad trip will do much more harm than good and through sheer willpower and some of these other suggestions, you can safely navigate through the bumpiest of trips.

Tip 3 – Change of Scenery

The best thing about tripping is that there really are no rules or perfect formulas to perfect your experience.

Sitting in one place physically for the entire trip may make certain folks feel a bit trapped, closed in or anxious and this is totally normal.

One of the best ways to change the mood before a bad trip takes hold is to switch things up, either physically or by going from indoors to outdoors.

Lighting, music and visuals can always be a huge help too. Making you feel like you’ve transported yourself to a completely different space, without needing to necessarily leave your home. If you are too deep into a trip to even consider travelling too much, try changing your clothes, touching your hands, feet, and body.

Walk around your personal space and try and find any part or place that feels like home. You can shift negative thoughts and energies simply by moving and experimenting with where you feel best while tripping.

For me personally I always feel best tripping 50% in the comfort of my own home and 50% out in nature around as many of the elements as possible.

For you though – could be totally different.

Tip 4- Distract Yourself

Negative thoughts are always a possibility while tripping, and we’ve already covered why it’s important to accept though feelings.

However, another smart approach to avoiding or controlling those feelings is to simply distract yourself. Thought loops and reminiscing on traumatic events is never fun, but sometimes it will come up.

To prepare for this inevitability a lot of people who trip prepare activities ahead of time. This can be anything from painting to making a beat, simply writing in a journal, playing a video game, watching your favourite movies or having a luxurious bath or shower.

Just always make sure to prepare for any more complicated activities before tripping to avoid….problems.

Tip 5 – Talk About it!

If you were with a group of friends and someone said something super offensive or troubling, you or someone in the group would probably speak up.

The same theory should apply to tripping on psychedelics. If you are having a bad time, tell someone you are with and or whom you trust!

If they are also tripping, you don’t even need to go into details, but should still let them know if you are struggling through your experience.

Human connections or even a gentle physical touch like someone lightly holding your hand or rubbing their hand over your back softly can help lift you out of a devastating feeling or negative place.

If you are scared your trip might get overthrown by negativity or you’d like to work through a hyper specific and complex problem, you should look for a trip sitter, experienced guide or possibly a full fledged psychedelic retreat centre or treatment facility.

Sources:
Doubleblind: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEaMF_tBj9B

MAPS: https://maps.org/articles/5953-refinery29-7-ways-to-help-someone-who-s-having-a-bad-trip

Photo by Christopher Ott on Unsplash

We’re used to seeing unspeakable things in horror and sci-fi films. Whether it’s unstoppable and reincarnated serial killers, otherworldly entities or extraterrestrial and or Lovecraftian terrors, genre and exploitation cinema has no shortage of dread and terror.

Running from a known predator or having to break a ghostly curse is one thing, but what about having to fight against an unknown and unexplained enemy?

Psychedelic tinged genre films are rooted more in the abstract, which help distort the viewers perception of reality. This usually results in a mind-bending and sometimes transcendental cinematic experience.

Stacked full of warped realities, neon-drenched color palettes and synth heavy scores, psychedelic films are just as weird as you’d expect. Which may be why although this subgenre is quite small due to many constraints in modern filmmaking the ones that do make it past the cutting room floor are super effective and find a special place in the hearts of many cult film fans.

Our list might not be for everyone, these mind melting delights are perfect for cinephiles looking for something truly different and bizarre.

House (Hausu)

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Whenever most people think of J-horror, they usually think of Ringu, Ju-On and Dark Water. Dead girls with long hair have essentially become a mascot for the genre. One Japanese Horror film that hopefully hasn’t gone under your radar is House (Hausu).

This absolutely surreal film follows a high school student visiting her aunt’s house with a group of friends. Unfortunately, for the group of gorgeous school girls there’s an evil presence in the house that eats them one by one in increasingly strange ways that range from death by piano to being entombed by a grandfather clock.

House was originally designed to be Obayashi’s answer to Jaws, and was given the chance to develop the script. Basing it on the childhood fears of his young daughter. It would take two years before Obayashi was allowed to direct, creating an under-seen cult masterpiece.

Color out of Space

Director: Richard Stanley 

Richard Stanley’s directorial comeback brings this strange tale from H.P Lovecraft to life. Centring around the Gardner family who move to a farmhouse outside of the fictional town of Arkham. After a meteor crashes on their farm the families lives are thrown into a cosmic nightmare, bringing with it an otherworldly color.

Full of stunning hoes of pink and purple, there’s no denying how gorgeous this movie is to look at. Alongside the stunning cinematography and VFX, this cosmic color comes with some truly grotesque body horror moments as well, as it amalgamates with all biological material it touches.

Richard Stanley’s adaptation is one of the strongest Lovecraftian visions yet: Deranged, tantalizing and just bat-shit spooky. Although not for everyone, this is a modern take on a classic short cosmic horror story guaranteed to trip you the fuck out. (Read our full review!)

MANDY

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Red and Mandy lead a peaceful existence in ‘The Shadow Mountains’ of the Pacific Northwest in 1983.

That is until a cosmic cult catapults them into a phantasmagoric journey filled with vengeance, LSD laboratories and otherworldly visuals and music that will make you bored of pretty much any movie you watch after you finish this new cult classic.

The experience of seeing this film is more important than the movie itself, and for that reason I consider MANDY one of my favorite films of all time. If you aren’t into ultra-violence, 80’s revenge or Nic Cage, then I’m confused as to why you are reading this list in the first place.

Don’t miss out on this future classic

A Field in England

Director: Ben Wheatley 

Set during the Civil War in 17th-Century England, a small group of deserters flee from a battle through an overgrown field.

After being captured by an alchemist a shroom fueled search for treasure begins. The group quickly descends into arguments, fighting and paranoia, and it becomes clear that the original search might have been a trap…or something even worse.

A Field in England is Wheatley’s most experimental film yet, which makes it unique in the sense that it doesn’t make things easy for the audience. This is true art house in every sense of the word – Full of intense, surreal visuals and metaphysical twists and turns throughout.

Don’t let us spoil too much, and I’d probably advise to not eat psilocybin along with this bad trip. 

Altered States

Director: Ken Russel 

What could possibly go wrong when experimenting with Indigenous hallucinogens and sensory deprivation in a research lab? 

To most, cinema is a form of escapism from an increasingly complicated society. Teleporting an audience to another realm to make them laugh, cry or think about the complexities of humanity is a hard feat in 2020. While most people enjoy Hollywood blockbusters like “The Avengers”, cinema’s darker side is generally forgotten or given a shallow reputation. Film is a multi-faceted creature, full of strange and deep crevices filled with things you probably never imagined could even be possible, and it’s in this spirit we explore the most disturbing movies of all time.

Horror films are easily the foremost escapist genre in art history. Tackling themes and characters that most humans would try and constantly avoid or don’t even imagine to be real. The most impactful and shocking films combine hyperbolic facets of real life with the impossible.

If a movie stays with you long after the initial viewing then it’s done its job. Despite critics quickly dismissing the darker side of film, there are lots of people who love a wholly different type of escape. Which generally includes: realistic scenes of violence, absurdism, torture and a general disregard for human life.

The Most Disturbing Movies on this list all come with a forewarning with potential to scar your mind for years to come and prove that a movie can still be considered artistic or poignant, even if it’s on the extreme side. If you’re curious to find out what lies beneath the surface of the conventional and one-dimensional movies we see advertised everywhere, you’re on the right list.

• MARTYRS
• KILL LIST
• BEGOTTEN
• SEUL CONTRE TOUS
• UN CHIEN ANDALOU
• TIDELAND
• MEN BEHIND THE SUN
• THREADS

THE MOST DISTURBING MOVIES: #5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=054OIVlmjUM

Note: This Article Has Been Updated From Its Original Format (April 2020)

Mysteriously appearing in our social feeds, the new throwback indie game “WORLD OF HORROR” is described as “..a love letter to the cosmic horror work of Junji Ito (伊藤 潤二) and the 1-bit aesthetics of early Macintosh computers”. Players are armed with clues, spells….and dwindling sanity as they investigate mysteries all over the city and in the realms beyond. While Horror games are nothing new, it’s refreshing to see something beyond another Resident Evil or yet another movie tie-in that emphasizes imagery and atmosphere over action, and the inspiration of Ito’s iconic artwork, one of our personal favourites, gives ‘WORLD OF HORROR‘ a timeless and terrifying edge we can’t wait to dive into.

Junji Ito is often called the “David Cronenberg” of Japanese comics, an author who has changed how Japan viewed ‘Manga’ forever. His uniquely macabre imagination has scarred readers for over three decades with a blend of body warping afflictions, surreal spiritualism and crawling cosmic horrors. With the works of Kazuo Umezu, Hideshi Hino, and H.P. Lovecraft among his inspirations, Ito has crafted a unique style that is hard to mistake for anyone else’s and ‘WORLD OF HORROR‘ is almost guaranteed to get under your skin.

Watch the trailer below and check out a few screen shots to get a better feel of the Junji Ito inspired vibes throughout. A WORLD OF HORROR demo is available for both Mac/PC (don’t worry, there’s not much horsepower needed for this one) and the full version is a scant $15 USD. Check it!

For those of us who were around in the ’80s and 90’s, video rental stores carry a fond nostalgia. Many of us miss the weekly visits to our horror VHS section, but no one seems to miss it more than VHS and classic video game collector Nick Collins, who has actually created his own video store, Nostalgia Video, in the basement of his own home, perfectly encapsulating the full movie rental experience in all it’s glory.

Before building Nostalgia Video, Collins started his collector status in 2012, only seeking out retro games. As any collector of ephemera will tell you, once you start a collection – it’s hard to stop.

Nick’s game collection quickly expanded to VHS tapes, and as the years added up he began running out of storage space for his quickly expanding collection.

“Collecting VHS tapes quickly became an even bigger passion of mine than when I collected retro games. There was just an indescribable feeling of seeing these old VHS covers again that I would see so regularly in the video stores of the late 90s. Holding, examining, observing these works of art brought back incredibly warm memories for me. It was a joy to begin owning a lot of these movies that I rented so many times in years past.” – Nick Collins in an interview with Horror Geek Life

Around the time Collins glorified closet collection space got too full, James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) had built a video store in his basement as a passion project. From there, Nick took inspiration and started to hatch his plan for his very own home made rental store. Enter Nostalgia Video.

The construction to expand the tape room into Nostalgia Video began in the spring of 2017. Nick and his Uncle began to tackle the project, which took about two months and cost only $1,200. From May-July of 2018 they spent every day and night cutting, sanding, measuring and painting until the sun came up. Although Collins has no carpentry experience or handyman work under his belt he was determined to finish the project.

Once Collins was finished construction of Nostalgia Video, he was shocked at the end result. It had the look and feel of a Blockbuster Video from the 90s. Nick in interviews has said that “I’m not really a social media guy” nor did he even have a personal Instagram account at the time of the build. Fast forward to today, Nostalgia Video’s Instagram page has over 14k followers and continues to grow in popularity.

Although these VHS era relics have become extinct after the meteoric rise of streaming and subscription services, scrolling through endless Netflix options will never compare to the excitement of wandering the aisles of your local video store to find a movie to call your own for a few nights. (Ed: I also found a strange pleasure myself in having to adjust the tracking on older tapes and using my rewind machine to avoid a penalty fee on my account.)

Take a look at Nick’s very own video store, Nostalgia Video, below and make sure to give him a follow on instagram at @nostalgia.video

Royal Ontario Museum – (c) @boravsbora

Apart from the incredible “Bloodsuckers” exhibition itself, #FNLROM’s Vampire Ball featured some incredible performances from burlesque performers: Scarlett LaFLamme, Dainty Smith, Delicia Pastiche and Cara De Mela. The Vampire Ball also showcased incredible food and drink stations, a killer DJ and more! All of this went down in the main area of the museum just feet away from a massive dinosaur bone installation, surrounded by tons of historical artifacts which made for a dramatic and well packed dance floor! Bloodsuckers fans were sinking their fangs into delectable food and drink stations from: Gushi (Korean fried chicken (our personal favourite), Tita Flips (Filipino street food), Shuck (Oyster bar),and  Ice Volcano Ice Cream (Co2 powered ice cream) which had them lined up into the late evening. Because the “Bloodsuckers” exhibit is built around blood – Screamish HAD to attend and let our incredible readers what to expect if checking out the exhibit.

Luckily, ROM experts Dr. Mary Burridge, Antionia Guidotti and Dr, Burton Lim were on site answering any questions party goers had about the fascinating specimens and exhibits. Amongst the live leeches, taxidermy displays of bats, goats and spiders were preserved eels free to handle by the braver attendees, live mosquito larvae, teeny tiny beds complete with bed bugs, and massive 3D models of the microscopic Bloodsuckers that feed on us every day.

From leeches and lampreys to birds and moths,  there are over 30,000 species that feed on blood, and these bloodsuckers have fascinated humans for millennia. Supernatural or immortal, fear of these creatures spawned myths of the undead the world over, including the story of Dracula and the legend of the Chupacabra. “Bloodsuckers” covers these myths and legends ranging from ancient artwork and texts from African, Asian and ancient Sumerian societies, to Brahm Stokers notes on Dracula, and all the way to modern Hollywood hits. While real bloodsuckers have inspired the mythical, they have also influenced the medical field, from spreading blood-borne diseases to the practice of bloodletting and their role in modern medicine. “Bloodsuckers” is packed with amazing medical devices, anatomical displays and other ephemera from the world of weird medicine sure to fascinate you. Filled with amazing blood-feeding facts, larger than life installations and live specimens, the “Bloodsuckers” exhibition answers your biting questions.

Without giving the entire exhibit away, we’ve included some of our favorite creatures and historical artifacts found in the exhibit below, including Instructional guides for bloodletting, Enema syringes, giant blood cells, Porcelain Leech containers, Vampire hunting tools, a bust of Count Dracula, Bram Stokers hand written notes, Mosquito larvae and MUCH MUCH more! Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches runs until March 22, 2020 at The Royal Ontario Museum. GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

“It’s the perfect place for my collection!” Exclaimed Kirk in an interview with NOW. “Being inside is more like being on the set of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari. German expressionism all the way! Or H.P Lovecraft, in the Cthulhu mythos, the elder gods’ living areas were made out of angels and planes that were not meant for human existence”.

Current director and CEO Josh Basseches is hoping to “transform people’s lives by helping them understand the past, make sense of the present and shape a shared future” Which is a fantastic mission to stand behind, all the while curating and programming more modern and relevant exhibits like IT’S ALIVE. “If you look at the history of these posters, and the movies they represent, you can track what issues were causing anxiety and fear throughout the 20^th century”. This collection, like Josh says is full of dread, terror and a historical timeline of not only horror but styles of lithography, typography and art. Oh …and some fucking insane guitars from Hammett’s personal collection, displayed beautifully.

Basseches found an ideal partner in Hammett, who famously paid over $1 million USD for Frank Frazzetta’s Conan The Conqueror book cover art, has been preaching the horror lithography gospel for years. Taking a once dead art and bestowing it cultural and commercial value and significance. No one would point to a Frankenstien poster and say, ‘That’s going to sell for $25,000. Lo and behold, that’s a cheap price now,” Hammett laughed while sitting down with NOW.

Combining high horror art and a classic natural art history museum is a match made in heaven, because it opens the sometimes-stuffy reputation of museums to a more pop culture savy clientele that museums strive for. Organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. IT’S ALIVE is one of the world’s most extraordinary collections of classic horror and sci-fi movie posters. Exploring the connection between artistry, emotion and popular culture through a selection of incredible works from 20^th century cinema.

IT’S ALIVE was curated in a beautiful way that acts as a time capsule and walk through yesteryear – to discover exactly what were the collective fears in past eras. Whether it was the breakthrough scientific discoveries, fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union post-WWII or the rise of women’s rights in the 60s, Horror and sci-fi always shine a spotlight on society itself, it just replaces politicians and people with demons, ghosts and goblins.

Take a little peak at some of the incredible works of art below. And please visit this exhibition before it’s gone January 5^th, 2020 at the Royal Ontario Museum.

“Being inside is more like being on the set of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari.” – Kirk Hammett