The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: Known much more for penning the seminal Dracula in 1897, this is every bit as dark. It concerns a young man who discovers he has an uncle he’s never met that turns out to be a very wealthy relative about to leave his fortune to him. The young man, an Australian, ventures to jolly old England to meet this benevolent uncle. When he arrives, the young man is made privy to strange goings on by the uncle’s friend. It seems there is a neighboring woman enshrouded by mysterious happenings and poor misfortune to those who venture too close. This becomes an exciting tale with intermittent scenes consistent with the Victorian period: stuffy guys in formal clothing, sharing cigars and brandy in front of fireplaces, and bantering with stilted language. I liked it.

Nosferatu at the movie theater: Bill Skarsgard, who so effectively played the horrible archvillain, Pennywise, in the newer It movies, is an unrecognizable Count Orlock in this remake of the 1922 silent Dracula ripoff. He does a remarkable job. 1838 Germany. A decaying castle filled with rats and last hope sunsets. This movie contains all of the trappings of a classic Universal Dracula movie. There is a scene in which the young litigator, having gone to Transylvania to assist the mysterious Count Orlock with a real estate purchase, is walking toward the Count’s residence. He comes to a crossroads in a forest. It’s broad daylight, but the trees are so thick it looks like night. Suddenly, in the distance can be seen a black mass coming down the road toward him. It’s not discernible until you can make out the manes of galloping horses and we begin to realize it’s a coach sent to pick the young man up. This will become the most memorable scene in a horror movie for me in probably the last five years. The movie is heavy with blacks and grays. The costumes are on point, as is the dialogue which is painted with Victorianism. I was glad when the movie ended and not because it was a bad movie, not at all. It was just bleak and filled with melancholy. It made me glad I didn’t live back then.

Baldur’s Gate on Steam: With all of the wondrous rage over Baldur’s Gate 3, I figured it was time to get Baldur’s Gate 1 knocked out. And yes, I know besides the setting the games are unrelated. Still, being the purist I am, that’s not the way I roll. I’m glad I started with this one. The characters have real personality and I care what happens to them, the writing is topnotch. Level caps are weird, over 50 plus hours and I finally hit level 5. (And I’m in Chapter Four of a six chapter game.) And, being as difficult as these early RPGs were out of the gate, some leveling up consists of simply changing your level number. There are no added pluses to weapons, no fresh skills, no increasing lockpicking from 45 to 46, oh no, it’s simply bumping your character up from level 2 to level 3. The game scenes look handcrafted and are a beautiful play space. Lastly, Beamdog did a wonderful job with the Enhanced Version tweaking the game to run on modern rigs. The game centers on a curse that causes realm-wide corrosion of iron. So, there goes all of the weapons and all of the armor. It’s up to your party to delve into the mines where the iron is pulled and get to the bottom of what’s causing the curse. The plot is as immersive as reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. If you’ve finished Baldur’s Gate 3, do yourself a favor: go play Baldur’s Gate to see where it all began.


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