Arcranium – Mark Towse and Daemon Manx

5 stars

Arcranium sucked me in from the very first chapter and kept me in a stranglehold the whole way through! Each of the scenarios that the authors came up with for their colleagues were so well thought out and showcased their differing ideas of what horror was to them.

I think my favourite had to be Yas’. I knew the story of the Kashima Reiko from an indie horror game called Teke Teke, and that was a really cool connection for me. I wasn’t as familiar with The Red Room, but getting to learn about it and looking into it more was so interesting!

The machine itself was absolutely fascinating to me also. It reminded me a little of the machine in The Evil Within, but more technology focused. The idea of entering into a machine where the person controlling it can do anything they want to you is terrifying in and of itself, but then you realize that the machine is constantly learning and growing with each person that is fed into it. That takes this concept to a whole nother level entirely, and is something very horrifying to think about (especially in today’s climate with AI).

Mark and Daemon knocked this one out of the park. They gave me characters I could feel something for (pity, dislike, grudging sadness…all kinds of fun emotions), and a plot that stuck in my head and let me make all kinds of connections to. And the stories at the end were really great reads as well!

All in all, I’m a very happy camper!