Being horror fans, Halloween has always been a special day for us. We decorate our table, we eat Soforah’s infamous pumpkin pastas and we watch horror movies.
This year, we’ll spend our afternoon hunting Baa’l, World of Warcraft’s Secret Demonic Goat. Then, we’ll watch Halloween Ends (which is very scary, not because of the horror, but because of the extremely bad reviews), followed by the new Hellraiser.
When you celebrate Halloween in a country like Belgium, where barely anyone decorates his house and no trick or treating is going on in the streets, you can’t help but feel lonely. That’s why I’ll be playing Caroline Kornstar’s Lonely Halloween until our ears bleed, because something has to bleed on Halloween, right?!
A controversial true crime writer finds a box of super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s. (Source: IMDB)
There’s almost no blood and no gore in Sinister. In fact, the movie could have been rated PG13, wasn’t it for the nature of its content, which is often being deemed the scariest movie ever made. As a matter of fact, Forbes Magazine conducted a study where the heart rate of the viewers were monitored while they watched a number of horror films. Out of 35 films, this movie won, having the highest average heart rate at 86, spiking at 131BPM.
Of course, whether a movie is scary or not is entirely subjective. Soforah and I didn’t have many jump scares. However, we found the ambiance disturbing, almost as if you’re actually watching a snuff movie. The fact that a real super 8 camera was used to shoot the kill clips really helps creating a creepy atmosphere. The soundtrack is also a perfect fit, I especially enjoy the song “Gyroscope” by Scottish electric band Boards of Canada.
Trivia
The family that was hanged on a tree were all played by stuntmen, however when the scene was first done the stunt coordinator botched the preparations for the scene resulting in the actors being legitimately hanged and choked. Fortunately they survived, and the coordinator was fired soon after. (IMDB)
Do you wanna know how to easily identify which snakes are non-venomous? Do the rhyme, “Red on yellow, dangerous fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack.” The snake that is seen in the movie is a non-venomous King snake.
Left: Secret Lab Titan Evo 2022 Right: DXRacer Formula F08
After 6 years, the time had finally come to replace our old DXRacer gaming chairs. The only problem was that the fake leather had started to crack. Other than that, the chair was as comfortable as it was on day one.
After months watching videos and reading forums, it became clear that there wouldn’t be an easy solution to the question “which gaming chair is the best for us”.
To some, the best gaming chair isn’t a gaming chair but an office chair like the Herman Miller Aeron or the Steelcase Leap v2. Both chairs cost more than 1000,00€
One thing that is certain, Secret Lab’s marketing is amazing, they’re everywhere! Their trick is simple: post a review and a picture of your chair anywhere on social networks and we’ll give you a warranty extension. As a result, you’re literally hammered by the brand.
We don’t really have a budget limit when it comes to our battle stations but I guess that we’re still not used to go over the 1K price tag for a chair. Psychologically, it remains a barrier.
We both suffer of dust allergy and a fabric seat easily becomes itchy, while leather and fake leather chairs can easily be wiped with a Swiffer.
As a result, we ordered two chairs from Secret Lab, a small for Soforah and a regular for me. Let me tell you that the quality is impeccable. The chair is easy to assemble and feels very solid with an attention to every detail.
The only problem is that no matter how we tune it, that chair is the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever had to sit on! It’s so solid, it feels like on a wood plank. Not only did it hurt our backs but our bottoms as well! We gave it 2 weeks to see if it would break in but nothing changed, that chair is a real piece of shit! (Aah, the power of profanity…)
So we ended up purchasing two DXRacer Formula. We know that chair, we’ve already used one and it lasted 6 years, for 300,00€. Ok, the quality isn’t the same, the chair feels less sturdy than the Secret Lab, but it feels good on our backs and on our butts!
Why didn’t we buy an Herman Miller instead? You have to know that Herman Miller delivers the chair and picks it back up if you change your mind during the first 30 days. The chair is delivered constructed and with a 12 years warranty. But I guess that we didn’t want to do any more tests this year. We had just spent nearly a month with 4 gaming chairs in our apartment, changing every single day and talking about it for hours. At some point, we made a decision and we’ll stick to it until next year. All we want for now is to empty up our heads of those questions and sit to comfortably for the new expansion of World of Warcraft.
So, are we in Gaming chair heaven? No. Is the DXRacer more comfortable than the Secret Lab? Oh hell yes! I can’t actually believe that the Titan receives so many good reviews while it’s the most atrocious chair I’ve ever tried in my entire life. Will we order an Herman Miller? There is no doubt about that, but it’ll have to wait 2023.
It’s Sunday and Soforah is baking pancakes. That sentence alone makes me happy because pancakes are awesome. Pancakes are life!
This afternoon, we’ll be doing a few tests.
As we’re getting closer to Dragonflight, we’re testing a few classes to replace our long time hunter mains. This afternoon, we’ll be giving another chance to the Druid since the class seems to be in a great shape for the new expansion. Also, we’ve always been Druid fans.
Don’t ask me how it happened, but we actually have two sets of new gaming chairs at home and we have to decide which one we prefer. On one hand, we have the Secret Lab Titan Evo 2022, which is very solid and shows a great quality in its materials but feels very hard on our backs and buts. On the other hand, we have the DXracer Formula F08, which is more comfortable but feels a bit wonky and the armrests aren’t great at all.
Voilà, the pancakes are ready. I’m on my way to food heaven…
Edit 1: The pancakes were delicious!
Edit 2: We’re not sure that we could main Druid an entire expansion. In its present state, certainly not, but everything is about to change on Wednesday with the new talent system. We maybe won’t have to cast Starfire 400 times/hour, which is really mind nuking. So, at the moment, our hunters may very well stay our main characters for Dragonflight.
Edit 3: The Secret Lab chair is harder but the armrests are much better placed and feel softer on our elbows. Also, we’re getting used to the harder backrest. However, both chairs have pros and cons, we need more time to decide.
When the Campbell family moves to Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. (source: IMDB)
The movie is really well made, the writing is powerful and the acting is excellent. So why only 3 stars? All the ingredients are there to make me love it, yet I just manage to like it.
Maybe haunted mansion stories didn’t manage to scare me anymore? But it’s not the case, since The Enfield Poltergeist (The Conjuring 2) is one of my favourite horror movies. However, by comparing these two movies that I finally found out what’s wrong with The Haunting in Connecticut: it doesn’t manage to build a feeling of terror, while The Conjuring 2 does it perfectly.
When an horror movie is supposed to be creepy, it has to create a deep sense of threat, the malevolent entity has to inspire a sense of terror. The Haunting in Connecticut, while dark doesn’t do any of that. I guess that the story of the sick kid and the unnecessary drunk father overshadows the occult part of the movie.
Anyway, it’s not a bad horror movie but, with such a potential, it’s sad that it doesn’t manage to hit its mark.
By the way, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are known for involvement in The Enfield Poltergeist case, were also investigators for this case.
