I love Horror/Halloween and since System is already doing Video Games and Movies, I thought I would do a board game and TV show conversation 😁 each day I’ll post a board game and a show leading up to Halloween! Join the conversation, let me know your thoughts on your favourite horror things whether it’s board games/shows and all else!

Day one!!!!!

Board game - The Night Cage
I absolutely adore this game! It’s such a unique experience, every time you play it it’s extremely different as every time it’s randomised. When you move away from the path it falls away, as the light moves. The goal is collect keys to then escape. You need to work together to collect keys without losing the path to them/to the exit. Also while avoiding the creatures that lurk in the night!

It is an extremely difficult game, and each time my friends and I have played it on the easy difficultly but it’s one I will never tire of playing. You can also play it solo but I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/306709/the-night-cage

Day one!!!

TV SHOW! The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
One Season,10 Episodes.
This is easily one of the most brilliant horror series I’ve ever seen. The storytelling is phenomenal, focusing on the families relationship, each siblings trauma, the house.

Mike Flanagan is a brilliant writer and director (I will be speaking about his other shows because they are also great in their own way) but this one honestly shocked me at times.
The Bent-Neck lady episode, still shocks me.

The cinematography is incredible, let alone the hidden secrets in every episode. If you have watched this show or decide to watch it. Did you notice how many ghosts are hidden throughout the house each episode? I missed so many on my first viewing, they put an incredible amount of effort into creating this masterpiece. Such a wonderful cast that I have enjoyed following their careers since, especially Victoria Pedretti.



www.imdb.com/title/tt6763664/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Flanagan has not missed on his Netflix shows. I think Midnight Mass was my favourite of those shows, but they're all great. Hill House gave me the creeps and I can't remember the last time I watched a show or movie that had me glued to the TV looking for stuff in the background and all that. Probably Paranormal Activity was the last time.

I tried The Haunting of Hill House and couldn't get into it. A lot of time jumping made it confusing to follow, I wasn't really invested in the characters, nor was I scared.

The Night Cage sounds awesome, thematically it's similar to another horror board game that is probably on your list.

Bly Manor, Hill House and House of Usher were ALL amazing. I loved all 3 and would probably rank them in that order. Flanagan really is the best.

Admittedly I haven’t watched Midnight Mass yet. Seeing that RT enjoyed it is making me want to give it a shot. I think I was just burnt out by church horrors and didn’t want to watch it but I know I must.

Oct 1, 2024 18:00:57 GMT Emperor said:

I tried The Haunting of Hill House and couldn't get into it. A lot of time jumping made it confusing to follow, I wasn't really invested in the characters, nor was I scared.

The Night Cage sounds awesome, thematically it's similar to another horror board game that is probably on your list.

If I don’t end up mentioning the game, you’ll definitely have to tell me!!

Day two!!!

Board game: Betrayal at House on the Hill. Another game where anything can and most likely will happen. Every single time is extremely different even if you manage to trigger the same haunt.

Placing down tiles to complete and investigate the house creates a unique experience for every player, every time but as you search through the house you uncover new icons/items and curses which will reveal the haunt. This is when the game truly shines, the group is split. Usually one person becomes possessed and has a particular challenge to win, while the others have another task in order to stop them. The very first time I played it the haunt was the ghost bride wanted to marry me!!

This game is really made with the group you play with. It offers a unique experience that every haunt is a surprise/kept secret until you uncover it.

Definitely recommend checking this out. The more people the better.
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547/betrayal-at-house-on-the-hill

Day Two!!!

TV Show - Interview With The Vampire (based on Anne Rice novel).

I was reluctant to watch the show originally because I adore the movie but found the books a little boring, the cast also seemed a bit off based on the trailers. I’m glad I gave it a chance because it is a brilliant show with such an amazing cast.

They do make some changes but it works better for the show. They made Claudia older (she’s also black in this) so it does change a lot from the book where she was 5 and was seen as a little angel so her terrifying vampiric state was so horrifying. Where in the show due to racism in the times she is already seen in a type of violent nature so they play into it earlier. It really works, the actress for each season did a great job in their own way.

The first 2 seasons follows Louis the closest as he tells the story of Lestat, Armand, Claudia and other events in his life. Jacob Anderson is incredible as Louis, he does a brilliant job balancing all the emotions and he has such strong chemistry with the other cast members especially Sam Reid as Lestat and Assad Zaman as Armand.

Sam Reid is unbelievable as Lestat, and I’m so excited for season 3 as it will be following him as they start the Queen of the Damned storyline!

Without giving any spoilers away this show definitely deserves a huge chance. Season one was a little slow to get going but season 2 was one of the best seasons of television I have seen.

www.imdb.com/title/tt3960394/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Oct 2, 2024 14:19:48 GMT sandylea said:

If I don’t end up mentioning the game, you’ll definitely have to tell me!!

You don't have to wait long...

Oct 2, 2024 14:19:48 GMT sandylea said:

Board game: Betrayal at House on the Hill.

I've played Betrayal twice - the second time was the Baldur's Gate version - and I do love the sense of exploration and building the world around you. However both times we got a fully cooperative haunt so I haven't had that aspect of traitors vs heroes yet.

Oct 2, 2024 18:55:27 GMT Emperor said:

Oct 2, 2024 14:19:48 GMT sandylea said:

If I don’t end up mentioning the game, you’ll definitely have to tell me!!

You don't have to wait long...

Oct 2, 2024 14:19:48 GMT sandylea said:

Board game: Betrayal at House on the Hill.

I've played Betrayal twice - the second time was the Baldur's Gate version - and I do love the sense of exploration and building the world around you. However both times we got a fully cooperative haunt so I haven't had that aspect of traitors vs heroes yet.

Hahahaha, that’s excellent

I haven’t had a fully cooperative one yet, but it’s been awhile since I played it so will need to get it back on my table and get more haunts going. My poor friends the first time I played it with them the haunt got triggered way too quick so they are reluctant to give it another go.

Day Three!!!

Board game - Mysterium
Easily one of my favourite board games, I love that you play individually (though you can openly discuss it) but at the end you either win together or you lose together.

There is 2 roles you can play. You can be the ghost and you give out dream cards and keep track of whether the psychics are choosing the correct options. It’s a fun role to play, though it can be challenging as you are limited with the cards you pull and you have to remain quiet and try not to respond. I struggle with that part as I definitely do not have a poker face and get annoyed when people are clearly picking the wrong option 😅

The next role is as the psychic, it’s your job to interpret the dream cards to find the location, weapon, and killer. You can talk/argue amongst each other to try and determine which is the correct option. This section can be extremely fun when playing it with the right people.

The dream cards are gorgeous, and it’s always fun to see how people think the card can relate to things. Whether it’s the image shown or it’s a colour.

I also have the expansions Hidden Signs and Secrets & Lies which adds locations, weapons, characters, and story cards.

You can play the game with just 2 people but I’ve only ever played it with 5-7 people and I love it with such a big group.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181304/mysterium

Day Three!!!

TV SHOW - Dexter

I have been rewatching Dexter lately, and while I never saw it as true horror it does follow a lot of serial killer stories which in reality is actually pretty terrifying. Dexter as a character is an interesting guy and he is played wonderfully by Michael C. Hall and I always saw him as doing the ‘right’ thing. In reality though, he is murdering a lot of people and a lot of innocent people get caught in the crosshairs.

I didn’t like Doakes for example, and he also was a murderer but I forgot how horrific his death actually was.

Then you come to the other horror aspects. The other serial killers each season is focused on. My favourite season with the Trinity killer ending with poor Rita’s death.

It’s a brilliant show, which ended up going off the rails a bit. I also still need to watch the new season (no spoilers please if you have watched it) but the most horrifying aspect of this show in particular is how close to life it really is. Also unsure how the new series about a young Dexter will go… seems a bit unnecessary tbh

www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Dexter is an amazing show. Not sure I'd ever rewatch it but what a thrillride. Incredibly entertaining. The Netflix series You must have drawn a lot of inspiration from it, but Dexter is a GOAT show.

Not long ago I played Mysterium for the first time as someone brought it to the board games event. I was intrigued but playing the game I realised it wasn't for me. I'm just not into that whole vague image interpretation guessing mechanic (Dixit is similar). I get why people enjoy the game but it's not for me.

One of my favourite shows ever. I enjoyed the books for what they were even though by Jeff Lindsay’s own admission the show is better.

Day Four!!!

Board Game - Paranormal Detectives

A similar game to Mysterium in the way that someone is a ghost and the others are investigating a murder. This time you are the one who has been murdered!

It is your role to give the detectives clues to discover how you have died but you can only give clues based on what question they ask and what interaction card they play - that’s where the true difficulty and enjoyment comes in.

Whether you use a rope, tarot cards, use a Ouija board, draw on a persons back… there are so many ways to keep this game fresh and entertaining. Also unlike Mysterium this one can be much easier and friendlier for younger audiences.

This one seems more of a hidden gem, has anyone played it?

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/280136/paranormal-detectives

Day Four!!!

TV Show - The Haunting of Bly Manor
One season. 9 episodes.

The next show by Mike Flanagan, though there is a lot more people attached to this show than The Haunting of Hill House and I think it shows through the writing. It is also an adaption of The Turn of the Screw so it doesn’t feel too original but it’s still an enjoyable watch if you like ghost stories.

At the focus of this show though, it’s not just a ghost story. It’s a love story, and a beautiful one of that though it takes awhile to truly unfold. The last 2 episodes really tie everything together so it can be a chore to get through the other 7 episodes because your questions aren’t being answered but it’s absolutely worth it.

I personally don’t think it’s as good as The Haunting of Hill House, but the story unfolding and the character progression is memorable. It’s also super fun trying to spot all the ghosts hidden throughout the show.

www.imdb.com/title/tt10970552/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Oct 3, 2024 16:45:20 GMT Emperor said:

Dexter is an amazing show. Not sure I'd ever rewatch it but what a thrillride. Incredibly entertaining. The Netflix series You must have drawn a lot of inspiration from it, but Dexter is a GOAT show.

Not long ago I played Mysterium for the first time as someone brought it to the board games event. I was intrigued but playing the game I realised it wasn't for me. I'm just not into that whole vague image interpretation guessing mechanic (Dixit is similar). I get why people enjoy the game but it's not for me.

You, definitely used Dexter as inspiration but different motivations.

I completely understand that, I personally don’t like DixIt - the cards are pretty but the gameplay was disappointing

I've never heard of Paranormal Detectives, can't tell if it's abstract like Mysterium or more concrete. Seems interesting!

Day Five!!!

Board game: Psycho Killer!
This is one of my favourite card games, admittedly explaining it to someone - it sounds boring, but it’s incredibly fun and quick to learn and play.

You have cards which you can play to try and escape the psycho killer, but if you keep weapons they will become your injury pile. It’s a different twist to Exploding Kittens but very similar gameplay.

The expansions make it even better. There is an expansion that effects all players as a type of zombie virus, there is an expansion that gives you range weapons so instead of taking the damage you give it out to your opponents, and the other expansion which I haven’t actually used yet - turns it into a drinking game! Instead of damage you get shots instead.

It’s a fun game, and you can replay it multiple times in a row and it stays fun every time.

Also the packaging looks like a VHS tape and I think it’s pretty cool.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/327371/psycho-killer

Day Five!!!!

TV Show: American Horror Story
This is mainly for the first season, because it was original and one of the best. It was so unique, and the twists! Honestly still shocked at times.

There is other seasons I enjoyed, but I honestly haven’t watched a few of the last seasons because I just started to lose a lot of interest.

I loved season 5 with the haunted hotel, that was a lot of fun.
Season 2 of the Asylum had its moments but it was overall a bit disappointing.
Season 3 Salem also had some decent moments, but season 1 and 5 are definitely the ones I liked.

What seasons did others enjoy? Is there any I should give a chance to that came much later?

www.imdb.com/title/tt1844624/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Day Six!!!

Board game - Friday the 13th Horror at Camp Crystal Lake
One of my absolute favourite games and it’s honestly so very simple to play. Your object is to collect items and get back to the cabin before Jason attacks you.

It’s super satisfying pulling tokens out of a bag, and that’s the main thing in the game. You blindly grab items, play cards which allows you to steal cards from opponents/pick out more tokens/escape Jason etc. once you collect the tokens you wish or don’t want to push your luck you return to the cabin.

Depending on the order you return depends on the rewards you receive. It’s played in a few rounds and while it’s probably the most basic game to play. I LOVE IT

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/304490/friday-the-13th-horror-at-camp-crystal-lake

Day Six!!!

TV Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I have watched this show since the 90’s, I was extremely young and while I never really found the show truly scary. There are definitely some episodes that spike up the scare factor.

One of the episodes that jumps straight to my mind is Hush - no only are the creatures bloody horrifying, the idea of having no voice to call for help is hard to imagine.

Most of the shows horror aspects come from the heartbreaking realisation that Buffy is a teenage girl who has to risk her life every single day to protect people and she gets zero recognition for it. Eventually it is recognised that she is a hero, but it’s never really known why exactly she seems to save everyone.

The real issue episodes are scary - the school poisoning by the cafeteria lady, domestic abuse relationships, self hatred, depression/suicide, losing your love ones. I mean the episode The Body breaks everyone emotionally. Joyce dying is a real issue everyone will have to deal with one day, losing a parent and I think the way Buffy reacts is the most true human moment. Not to mention Dark Willow skinning Warren alive is something you never forget.

It’s a classic show for a reason, while it’s not horror jump scares/gore. The show is legendary.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Day Seven!!!

Board game! Buffy The Vampire Slayer
I actually just played this today! System bought it for me as a Christmas present years ago and it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to try new lengthy games and we did today!!!

I absolutely loved it, I was confused initially because I thought it was too easy and then one round we got a little lazy killing off the baddies and getting items instead that it majorly hit us in the ass and got extremely difficult. We ended up losing the game, but we were one plot card off from killing the big bad and winning.

It’s a cooperative game, event cards summon enemies - you also get a special weekly monster as well as a big bad to defeat to win the game. It’s similar in a way to Cthulhu, Marvel Zombies, Pandemic etc. but also has a fun unique twist that each character has their own special abilities.

I have the expansion as well so there is a lot of characters to pick from, there is a lot of big bad bosses that need to be defeated so the replay-ability is high, and we are all excited to get it back on the table!

Even if you don’t know much about Buffy (as my friends don’t) I still highly recommend checking this one if you enjoy cooperative boardgames.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/203102/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-board-game

Day Seven!!!

TV Show: True Blood!

I thought I would stick with the vampires for now (and even some werewolves). Strangely the scariest parts about True Blood is a lot of the bad drug trips that occur with Jason and him just being a genuine douchebag 😂 (still love him tho)

There is a few horrifying Vampire moments, but it’s very over the top that it comes across quite laughable instead.

The worst scary moments come from the rape/abuse scenes that occur all throughout the show, the over the top gore if you aren’t a fan, but mainly it just an extremely weird show and that’s why it fits so well with the horror genre because a lot of the best horror movies are weird af 😅

I do like the show, but looking back I really shouldn’t have been watching this as young as I did - especially the nonstop season 2 orgy.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

DAY EIGHT!!!

Board game - Ultimate Werewolf

A hidden role game, where the objective is to find the werewolf before they murder the innocent villagers and win the game!
It’s a great social deduction and bluffing game that can go up to a whopping 75 people.

It’s a brilliant party game, as well as being fantastic for a small gathering. Whether you have one werewolf or multiple, it’s fun to argue out who it could be. There are also other hidden roles that change the game is such a huge way. Such as the seer, Cupid, the village idiot, and there can even be vampires!

If you love arguing with friends, and murder mysteries I cannot recommend this game anymore.

There is also a One Night edition which is less arguing and more straight forward but I find it extremely disappointing in all honesty.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/152242/ultimate-werewolf-deluxe-edition

DAY EIGHT!!!

TV Show - Being Human, I love the US version but there is also a UK version I haven’t seen.

You have vampires, werewolves, and ghosts! What more could you want!? It’s a brilliant show watching how Aidan, Josh, and Sally (US) live together despite their huge differences and the fact that vampires and werewolves in particular hate each other.

You see Aidan deal with his extreme blood lust, Josh’s self hatred and the violent werewolf side, and Sally finding her ghost powers and coming to terms with her death/revenge.

There is some really blood gore scenes, and honestly it’s a brilliant show with one of the best endings I’ve ever seen. I adore this show and it breaks my heart that the last 2 seasons never got a physical release 🥲

www.imdb.com/title/tt1595680/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

DAY NINE!!!

Going to split doing board games/shows on different days now 🙂

First up as always, the board games! 😁

Another wonderful argumentative game that is absolutely brilliant Trust Me, I’m a Doctor. It’s obviously not super horror but it is pretty horrific to see what the ‘cures’ for illnesses were decades/centuries ago, and what somethings were considered illnesses.

It’s an extremely fun game/educational to a point and there is even expansions for Witches/witchcraft, or pirates/on the seas and different cures that would’ve used.

Trust me, I’m a superhero is also another really fun version 🙂

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/295687/trust-me-im-a-doctor

DAY TEN!!!

TV show: The Vampire Diaries
Admittedly this is more of a young adult show compared to the others I’ve mentioned, but there is no denying there is some really dark storyline’s in the show.

Not only does everyone’s parents end up dead (almost) while most of these characters are still in High School, they also have to deal with some of their parents trying to kill them, their friends turning on each other and trying to kill them.

No one can trust anyone, and your favourite character dies at least once.

The horror aspect of the show ramps up when The Originals are introduced because that brings in Hybrids and Klaus wanting to murder everyone. There is one scene that’s a standout where he drown’s Tyler’s mum to Christmas music - really brings in the Christmas spirit!!!

www.imdb.com/title/tt1405406/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

You play an awful lot of board games!

The only one I know from your recent batch is Ultimate Werewolf. I'm not a huge fan of Ultimate Werewolf, I find it a bit of a limited game because there's not too much variety in the discussion you have. Plus once you're dead you can't really contribute. A similar but more complicated social deduction game has become popular in my city recently. The first time I tried it I wasn't too optimistic because of my Werewolf experiences but surprisingly I enjoyd it and can't wait to play more - although it can be similarly limited depending on what role you get. I imagine this game is on your list.