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You’re Hunted, Lost and Alone in ‘Hektor’
The indie psychological horror game Hektor only recently made its way onto my radar when I was working on the spooky game release schedule for next month — look for that to go live in about two hours — and boy, am I glad I found it. The game follows a former test subject who’s been trapped in an underground research facility in Greenland called Hektor. Making this worse is the creature that’s looking for something to eat, maim, or maybe even a little of both.
Even the environment itself is an obstacle to overcome. According to its Steam page, the world “literally moves with your every twist and turn.” Sounds freaky.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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