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The Hunt is On in ‘Friday the 13th: The Game’
After enduring a decades-long hiatus from the world of video games, it warms the cockles of my heart seeing Jason lumber about in the Friday the 13th: The Game world premier, in which our silent hero wastes nary a second of his nearly five minutes of screen time getting to work prematurely ending the hopes and dreams of a few stray teens with whatever’s within reach. This is early alpha footage, meaning it’s unfinished — so some jankiness is to be expected — but it’s enough to give us an idea of the game that Illfonic hopes to deliver when it’s finished this fall.
Until then, let’s enjoy watching this exceptionally talented troglodyte use the tools of his chosen trade to express himself on the canvas he made from a teen’s lifeless body.
I can’t be alone in thinking the highlight of this video comes very early on, when Pamela tells Jason to punch the teens who don’t belong here. That’s lame enough to drive me to kill, and I only had to hear it once. When you consider how Jason has to listen to that all the time, it suddenly makes sense that he would be so uniquely skilled at dispensing death like a sociopath doing simple math, with cold calculations based on his immediate surroundings. To him, a screaming stranger’s face plus the nearest hard surface is the equation Jason has to use in order to grant himself a few precious moments of mental freedom from the demands of his overbearing mother.
Are we the real villains here? Jason’s origin story involved a gaggle of sexed up bullies whose actions led to his drowning in Crystal Lake, the primary setting for the upcoming asymmetrical multiplayer horror game, where Jason is again outnumbered, only this time he’s more than capable of defending himself against his seven would-be enemies.
I guess we’ll find out when Friday the 13th: The Game releases this fall for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Update: She said punish, not punch. Got it.
News
Legendary Grimdark ‘Warhammer 40,000’ Artist John Blanche Has Passed Away at 78
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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