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Battle Saint Nick in the Demo for ‘The Planet of the Bloodthirsty Santa’
Just when you thought you were safe from the holidays, along comes Puppet Combo and their demo for their PlayStation era-inspired survival horror holiday-themed game, The Planet of the Bloodthirsty Santa. Backing up for a moment, Puppet Combo is the one-man developer behind the games Power Drill Massacre and Babysitter Bloodbath, two survival horror games that are intended throwbacks to 80s slashers. Hence, the cheesy title for their latest game.
The story for The Planet of the Bloodthirsty Santa goes like this: You are part of a scavenger crew that have landed on a seemingly deserted planet. As expected, the planet is in fact very much inhabited, and now you’ve got to get off the planet alive. If you’ve played any of Puppet Combo’s previous games, you know what to expect.
Visiting the game’s Itch.io page allows you to not only check out the charming 80s-inspired feel of the game and download the demo, but you can also visit Puppet Combo’s Patreon page if you’d like to throw the dev a couple of bucks (and gain access to the full game once it’s finished). It’s not the most polished game at the moment, but there’s definitely a charm about it (think games like Outbreak: The New Nightmare or DUSK).
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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