Category: Unwinnable Monthly

A top-down view of an alien figure in some sort of bed, coffin, or pod. It is unclear if it's living or dead, but something glows within its abdomen.

Can Scorn Get Out From Under the Cosmic Horror Legacy?

By Emma Kostopolus • January 27th, 2023

Scorn and other sci-fi horror games like it rely almost entirely on the horror of the unknown – the unknowable, the inconceivable, and the, well, alien.

Past Presence

A top-down map from the videogame Dwarf Fortress showing the labyrinthine halls of a massive underground cavern.

Recursion

By Emily Price • January 26th, 2023

Over the break, I started playing Dwarf Fortress, a game about avoiding the recurring, inevitable spiral of collapse for as long as you can.

Run It Back

A black-and-white photograph of a Black woman standing in front of a Senegalese mask hung on a wall. Her hands rest on the wall to either side of it, and she turns to look over her right shoulder towards something or someone behind her.

1966

By Oluwatayo Adewole • January 25th, 2023

Freedom is one of those fundamental and recurring items in how we think about the world we live in and our place in it. There are few times where this was clearer than in 1966.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – January 2023

By Noah Springer • January 24th, 2023

A little wrap-up of potential classics Noah overlooked last year.

Feature Excerpt

Hideo Kojima Hates You

By Emma Kostopolus • January 23rd, 2023

A study in difficulty scaling.

Feature Excerpt

Time Loop of Trauma

By Alma Roda-Gil • January 20th, 2023

There is no catharsis to be had at the end of Returnal’s time loop. It becomes clear, as the player finishes the story, that it will keep going.

Here's the Thing

Two close-ups on a Transformer toy's head and face. Each image is slightly different, as if gremlins were playing with the settings on the production line at the Transformer toy factory.

Gremlins in My Toys

By Rob Rich • January 12th, 2023

Rob notes that gremlins – as a metaphorical concept – aren’t just a problem for the usual suspects. They can also gum up the works during action figure manufacturing.

Forms in Light

An artist's interpretation of several small gremlins tinkering with the wings and body of a WWII bomber plane.

Gremlins on Board

By Justin Reeve • January 11th, 2023

Before there was the movie, there was the real thing. I’m of course talking about the little monsters that tear apart airplanes whenever pilots aren’t looking.

Casting Deep Meteo

A close-up of the gremlin Brain from Gremlins 2. He looks a bit more intelligent than his brethren due to the wire-rimmed glasses magnifying his yellow-red eyes.

Stripe, Mohawk, Brainy, Linux, Windows

By Levi Rubeck • January 10th, 2023

It’s a miracle any hardware, software, or network has run as long as they have, and we are best not considering that miracle and its ties to nuclear armament systems and whatnot. Better to concern ourselves with the gremlins in our own home, for now.

Rookie of the Year

Rand Peltzer, inventor patriarch of the family featured in the film Gremlins, sits at the kitchen table with a face full of shaving cream while his son Billy looks on, laughing.

Ranking the Gremlins Gizmos

By Matt Marrone • January 6th, 2023

In honor of Rand Peltzer, we have decided to rank the unappreciated genius’ six greatest gizmos, from worst to first.

Interlinked

Greta, the female gremlin from Gremlins 2, poses in a sequined red gown and pink feather boa, a large red flower pinned to her shiny green mane of wavy tresses. Her makeup is flawless on her scaly green face.

Gremlin Girl Energy

By Phoenix Simms • January 5th, 2023

Greta is both a problem and a potential solution to that problem, but when read under a more feminist-revisionist lens, she’s charmingly camp, she’s a 90s icon and she’s absolutely that bitch.

Collision Detection

A portrait of the band Mogwai, lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and staring blankly yet directly into the camera, true indie-cover style.

In the Spaceship Over Glasgow With Mogwai

By Ben Sailer • January 4th, 2023

Mogwai are often pigeonholed as the elder statesmen of post-rock. The real story about their roots and influences is much more interesting.

Here Be Monsters

The mogwai Gizmo, from the movie Gremlins, with an exaggeratedly sad frown on his face. He's furry with enormous ears and eyes, the definition of "weird but cute."

Going Gremlin Mode

By Emma Kostopolus • January 3rd, 2023

Cuteness and horror.

Past Presence

The title screen for the movie Gremlins. The word "Gremlins" is superimposed in red over the the snowy idyll of Kingston Falls, Pennsylvania.

Enter the Gremlins

By Emily Price • December 23rd, 2022

Emily’s (live) reactions to the movie, time stamped if you want to watch along.

Revving the Engine

A miniature knight in full-plate with a head wreathed in flame stands at the edge of table, sword at the ready.

How Dracma Studios is Lighting Its Own Path With Candle Knight

By Ben Sailer • December 22nd, 2022

Mexico-based Dracma Studios is creating more than just an intriguing platformer with Candle Knight. They’re lighting a path forward for themselves (and developers across Latin America).

Feature Story

The Peltzer family stands on their porch at the end of Gremlins, several of them looking worse for wear.

On Gremlin-tology

By David Shimomura • December 21st, 2022

As humans, we like to have answers as to why. Why did my brand-new air fryer work only once? Why did my car just sputter and stop? Why did that airplane go down for seemingly no reason? Gremlins.

Feature Excerpt

An Ode to Little Freaks

By Phillip Russell • December 20th, 2022

On a surface level, Gremlins is a movie that evokes classic horror tropes, but when you dig deeper you find a meta horror satire that attempts to comment on American excess and consumerism.

Here's the Thing

Key art from Return to Monkey Island, featuring pirate protagonist Guybrush Threepwood and his motley crew.

The End of Return to Monkey Island

By Rob Rich • December 19th, 2022

After reaching the end of the latest Monkey Island game, Rob was surprised by how hard he was hit by the ending.

Forms in Light

A black and white illustration of an American P51 Mustang airplane.

Anatomy of an Airplane

By Justin Reeve • December 19th, 2022

This might be the moment to take an architectural approach to the best warbird of them all, the P51 Mustang.

Casting Deep Meteo

Ghost of Tsushima and the Cutting Word

By Levi Rubeck • December 16th, 2022

Reading poetry becomes work; writing poetry is meant to be freedom unbound.

Area of Effect

A screenshot from Slime Rancher 2 shows several colorful and smiling slimes waiting to be harvested.

Plorts Are Poop

By Jay Castello • December 14th, 2022

Make no mistake.

The Heavy Pour

Several monstrous costume pieces hanging in a booth at New York Comicon, including masks for Scream's Ghostface and Jason's hockey mask from the Friday the 13th franchise.

The Monsters We Make

By Sara Clemens • December 13th, 2022

As storytellers, the monsters we make are so often just mirrors.

Rookie of the Year

A still Gerald's Game shows a woman crying on the floor of a bedroom. The bedclothes are bloodied and she is handcuffed to the body of her dead husband.

Your Post-Halloween Horror Movie Questions Answered!

By Matt Marrone • December 9th, 2022

Streaming random horror movies, especially without checking Rotten Tomatoes before you start them, can lead to a lot of unanswered questions concerning plot holes or peculiar character motivations.

Interlinked

The prince of Hades rests a large blade across his shoulder while showing off his well-muscled chest.

The Prince of Hades Laughs with a Mouthful of Blood

By Phoenix Simms • December 8th, 2022

Zagreus is definitely a liminal figure trapped in a purgatorial space – and this metaphor extends to the entire setting of Hades.

Collision Detection

A screenshot from Bad Writer showing the pixellated protagonist staring at a blank computer screen.

Better Living, Better Writing

By Ben Sailer • December 7th, 2022

Bad Writer shows how becoming a more interesting writer starts with living a more interesting life and there’s nothing interesting about joyless overwork.

Mind Palaces

A still from the movie Barbarian shows a woman with long curly hair standing on a porch gazing off into the night.

Go In Blind

By Maddi Chilton • December 6th, 2022

There’s a very simple reason why you have to go into Barbarian blind: because the big twist makes no sense.

Here Be Monsters

In a screenshot from the videogame Resident Evil, the player character gazes down at a spookily lit desk, upon which is an old typewriter, some files, and a book on castles.

Limited Inventory and Staggered Saves

By Emma Kostopolus • December 5th, 2022

The rhetoric of classic survival horror.

This Mortal Coyle

On Organizing My Skyrim Library and Living in a Human Body

By Deirdre Coyle • December 2nd, 2022

Organizing books makes me not care that I’m a decaying meat-coated skeleton living by the light of a dying star. I love skeletons! I love stars! Who cares, just let me read!

Self-Insert

The full cover art from the dust jacket of the American release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, featuring Harry, Ron and Hermione being carried to safety from a dungeon by Fawkes the phoenix.

Elevating Trash

By Amanda Hudgins • November 30th, 2022

If you, dear reader, are someone who loves Harry Potter, do yourself the service of rereading the series as an adult. Interrogate it. Be prepared to actually know what you’re talking about.

Run It Back

A black and white photograph of several Black Americans rioting in the street in the 1970s.

1973

By Oluwatayo Adewole • November 29th, 2022

A poetic embodiment of the fever-dream feelings within The Spook Who Sat By The Door and Ganja & Hess.

The Beat Box

Selection from Danger Mouse and Black Thought's Cheat Codes album. Several black-and-white photographs of mens' heads have been altered to have red and green bullseyes over their eyes.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – November 2022

By Noah Springer • November 28th, 2022

Noah shifts his focus from monsters and the hip hop of the past to focus on the here and now.

Revving the Engine

The tiny protagonist of A Tale of Paper: Refolded runs across a desk scattered with papers, which lay like carpets beneath the character's feet.

Breaking Away From the Fold

By Justin Reeve • November 23rd, 2022

A Tale of Paper: Refolded poses a number of interesting questions including the extent to which our most deeply held hopes and ambitions can impact the people around us.

Feature Story

What Creates Class In The Internet Age?

By Ciaran Doran • November 22nd, 2022

Worldwide internet penetration is only hovering at around 50%. That means that every other person worldwide has no independent chance to read this article.

Feature Excerpt

In key art from the videogame Stray, a robotic citizen kneels down to pet a stray cat in a neon-lit city street.

Surviving Humanity

By Jon Bailes • November 21st, 2022

The cat, the fox and the apocalypse.

Feature Excerpt

Lost in Translation

By Aidan Moher • November 18th, 2022

The Sega Saturn is one of the best JRPG consoles of all time…just not in the west.

Here's the Thing

The Monster in My Belly

By Rob Rich • November 14th, 2022

Rob talks about the unpleasant stomach troubles he’s had to deal with for the past several years, all thanks to some bad seafood.

Forms in Light

A photograph taken inside the courtyard of a Neoclassical building. The red and white color scheme and angle of the photo give the viewer a feeling akin to being inside of a monster's locked jaw, peering out through its teeth.

Monstrous Architecture

By Justin Reeve • November 11th, 2022

Neoclassicism never actually had any positive connotations and became increasingly sinister over time, going from somewhat dodgy to entirely despicable.

Always Autumn

A still from the internet phenomenon "Too Many Cooks" showing the recurring serial killer character in a 1980s kitchen with a bloodied face and apron.

There are Decapitations

By Autumn Wright • November 10th, 2022

Too Many Cooks is at once an absurdist comedy sketch and a critical cautionary tale, full of pastiche referents like “relics of a time that we long for but shouldn’t return to.”

Casting Deep Meteo

Barry Windsor-Smith’s Taxonomy of Monsters

By Levi Rubeck • November 9th, 2022

Barry Windsor-Smith is a veteran of superhero comics, and as such, knows that you can’t title a book Monsters without a menagerie of such.

Area of Effect

An image of Stonehenge looking majestic as the sun sets behind it, perfectly aligning between two stones.

Contested Landscapes

By Jay Castello • November 8th, 2022

Horror is perhaps the genre where contested space is most easily found lurking.