Im Personally A Big Fan Of Games That Are Accessible To Anyone With A Computer; Most Especially Ones

I’m personally a big fan of games that are accessible to anyone with a computer; most especially ones that are spooky or halloween-esque. Some of these games are horror, some are just plain silly, and others are interesting and quite the experience.

A Dark Room: An open-source software role-playing text-based game originally published in mid 2013 for web browser by Doublespeak Games.

Alter Ego: There are seven stages of life in Alter Ego. You play from birth until death, whenever that may be.

Coma: Pete wakes up and finds that everything in his life has changed. Players join Pete on a quest to save his sister, and wind up meeting some fascinating characters along the way.

The Company of Myself: This is a story about a hermit.

Cooking With Satan: You are looking to make some delicious cupcakes in the only way you know how; by sacrificing items to Satan!

Covetous: A game about the will to exist. Partially inspired by fetus in fetu. (TW: Body horror. Seizure Warning!)

Deep Sleep: You are stuck inside a nightmare dream. Something lurks in the darkness… Something in the depths of your own mind wants to pull you even deeper. Someone will escape this dream for sure. The question is - who is that going to be? (Part 1 of a 3 part series)

Deeper Sleep: A sequel to an award-winning horror point-and-click game Deep Sleep. Nightmare returns and this time it goes even deeper. (Part 2 of a 3 part series)

The Deepest Sleep: Here you are, at the final depth. Danger lurks behind every corner, even the Shadow People are afraid of this place. Will you be able to get back to the surface and wake up? Or will you remain here forever? (Part 3 of a 3 part series)

Entity: A game about a girl who wakes up with sleep paralysis, a stage between awake and dreaming. She’s struggling with moving her body while she’s surrounded by shadow creatures, she needs your help to wake up!

Everyday the Same Dream: A little art game about alienation and refusal of labour. Made in 6 days for the Experimental Gameplay Project.(TW: Suicide)

Haunt the House: Possess items around the house and scare everyone out! The more you scare, the more powerful you become. Don’t frighten them too much though, they might freak out and do something stupid.

Loved: Can games carry the auteurist intent and interconnection of traditional cinema and writing? Can we tell stories through games that aren’t disposable? That live on after you’ve stopped playing? This is a short story in the form of a platformer that answers these questions. (TW: very abusive language)

Milk For the Ugly: Imagine that you are a young social worker, dedicated to finding out the hidden and forgotten old souls who haunt the cold, mean streets of the city. You seek to report on their living conditions, possibly recommending they be removed from their roach-infested “homes.” So it is that you have come to find yourself sitting at the kitchen table of a cadaverous old shut-in you’ve been assigned to visit.

Monstre de Coiffure: A very silly monster makeover game in which you give haircuts and apply make-up to a procession of grotesque monsters.

My Father’s Long, Long Legs: The story of a girl whose father one day suddenly comes home from work and begins digging a hole in the dirt-floored basement of their house.

The Ooze: In an ageless temple at the corner of the earth, a primordial Ooze sits waiting… Shift its shape to (gleefully) eliminate all trespassers.

Take This Lollipop: An interactive horror short film and Facebook app.

UrbEx: Explore a scary old abandoned factory. Invited by a trusted friend you head deeper within, except all is not what it seems in this derelict place. Something dark lurks within, something creepy and in-human. Will you get out alive?

With Those We Love Alive: Before living this life, have a pen or sharpie nearby, something that can write on skin. There is music, so headphones are good. But it’s okay if you can’t. Content warning for violence, self harm, blood, abuse, unreality.

Last Updated June 10th, 2016.

MIDNIGHT STAYS: A SPOOKY SHORT STORY REC LIST

‘tis the season!  october’s almost halfway through, the evenings are stretching out across the days, the leaves are falling, and it’s cold enough to warrant whole days curled up inside with a book.  here are some of my favourite scary stories for that extra chill:

each thing i show you is a piece of my death, by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files - originally published in the 2nd of the excellent Clockwork Phoenix anthologies; this is one of my favourite short stories, period.  It’s also one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever read.  Even Cat Valente, who was also included in that anthology, recommends it wholeheartedly.  The premise is very simple - what if spirits could haunt film? - but done originally and very, very well.

Shirley Jackson, the queen of American Gothic - I’ve expanded on my love for Jackson on countless occasions.  Her most famous story is likely The Lottery, but The Bus, The Possibility of Evil, and, unfortunately not available online but widely anthologized, The Lovely House, are all also excellent and creepy, as is her longer fiction.

A Rose For Emily, by William Faulkner - to stick with American Gothic for a moment; I first read this in English 12 and it haunted me for weeks afterwards.

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - in some ways one of the most terrifying short stories ever written, particularly the more one reads into it, this Lit class classic about a woman with postpartum depression and the woman she sees in the wallpaper grows and refracts upon itself with each new reading, making it endlessly creepy and rewarding both.

and, of course, the king and founder of American Gothic, Mr. Edgar Allen Poe - most or all of his known works are available on Project Gutenberg, but some of my favourites include The Masque of the Red Death, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask Of Amontillado, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, Morella, and, of course, The Tell-Tale Heart.

The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann - the author of the story that would become the beloved Tchaikovsky ballet The Nutcracker also wrote a story so alarming that Freud wrote an entire theory on it.  In fact, The Sandman is probably just the most quintessential Hoffmann tale as, long before Freud ever wrote about him, he produced a great deal of tales focussed on the uncanny and an undermining of perception and the security of the self (which is all a highfalutin way of saying that Hoffmann anticipated the anxieties of his readers to come in fascinating and unsettling ways.) 

Don’t Look Now, by Daphne Du Maurier - unfortunately not online so far as I can tell, this is one of my favourite stories ever by one of my favourite authors, the masterful creator of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, who also wrote the short story upon which Alfred Hitchcock based The Birds.  This story was also adapted into a film in the early seventies, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, also a favourite of mine.

The Landlady, by Roald Dahl - another story dramatized by Alfred Hitchcock, about the horrors of taxidermy.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving - thanks to the Tim Burton film and the currently-running tv show, we all know this story.  Or at least, we think we do.  Irving wrote something a bit different than either of those adaptations lead us to believe of the story.

The Monkey’s Paw, by WW Jacobs - an exemplar of the “be careful what you wish for” genre.

the works of Algernon Blackwood - personal favourites include The Willows, The Kit-Bag, and The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York.  Blackwood is one of the originators of what would become the Weird tradition within horror writing, although he had much more of a sense of humour (and was much less racist than HP Lovecraft)

HP Lovecraft - speaking of, if you must read him (and he does loom large over almost all horror written after him), I suggest doing so critically, without ever trusting him, and with an eye towards doing better.  I also suggest the stories Cool Air, The Thing on the Doorstep, and The Whisperer In Darkness

William Hope Hodgson - creator of one of my favourite literary figures, not least for the possibilities he opens up, Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, who is essentially a supernatural Sherlock Holmes.  Hodgson also wrote one of the forerunners of cosmic horror, a novel called The House on the Borderland.

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison - a postapocalyptic sci-fi story featuring a vengeful computer that was groundbreaking at its time of publication and remains quite scary.

the late, great Ray Bradbury - one of the most formative influences on my own imagination, and one of the most important writers of the last century.  A lot of his work isn’t available online (although he’s beloved of almost every librarian I’ve ever met so finding his work shouldn’t be a problem), but here are a few: The Veldt, The Pedestrian, and The Pendulum

The Entrance, by Gerald Durrell - when I mentioned to a friend and prof that I was fascinated by mirrors in literature, she recommended this story by Durrell, who is better known for being a naturalist, an author of charming memoirs, and brother to Lawrence Durrell, but she failed to mention how terrifying it is.

Faces in Revolving Souls and Houses Under the Sea by Caitlin R Kiernan - two particularly disturbing stories by a writer who is perhaps less famous than she should be.

The Krakatoan, Who Is Your Executioner?, and The Cellar Dwellar, by Maria Dahvana Headley - three short stories by one of my favourite writers, author of Queen of Kings and Magonia, and keeper of a truly excellent tumblr

The Bone Key and other stories by Sarah Monette - The Bone Key: The Necromatic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth tells the story of Booth, an awkward and introverted archivist who finds himself in the midst of a host of supernatural mysteries, sometimes to do with his own shrouded family history.  They are easily some of the most engrossing and enjoyable short stories I’ve ever read.  Wait For Me, The Replacement, and White Charles are all available online, as is the newer story To Die For Moonlight.  Two other Monette stories, unrelated to Booth, that I recommend highly are Queen of Swords and Under the Beansidhe’s Pillow.

A Kiss With Teeth, by Max Gladstone - vampires and parent-teacher meetings, enough said.  My favourite story I’ve read recently.

Madeleine, by Amal El-Mohtar - my favourite story I’ve read all year, which is perhaps unsurprising as I adore El-Mohtar’s writing (not to mention her passion for speculative fiction and poetry and raising its visibility), about memories, and loss, and struggling with your own mind.

What is Midnight Stays? Tip me here.

When we say that Ada Lovelace was arguably the world’s first computer programmer, that “arguably” isn’t thrown in there because of questions of definitions or precedence – she definitely wrote programs for a computer, and she was definitely the first.

Rather, the reason her status as the world’s first computer programmer is arguable is because during her lifetime, computers did not exist.

Yes, really: her code was intended for Charles Babbage’s difference engine, but Babbage was never able to build a working model – the material science of their time simply wasn’t up to the challenge. Lovelace’s work was thus based on a description of how the difference engine would operate.

Like, imagine being so far ahead of your time that you’re able to identify and solve fundamental problems of computer programming based on a description of the purely hypothetical device that would run the code you’re writing.

Asking for a Letter of Recommendation

I’ve seen some people post about being nervous/scared of rejection/etc so here is my strategy for requesting a letter of rec:

1. Title the email clearly, so recommender can access later: “Recommendation Request for NAME LASTNAME”

2. Greet them formally: “Dear Dr. X,” (I tend to do this no matter how close the relationship is)

3. Make the request: “I am writing to ask if you would be willing to write a letter of recommendation to support my application to WHATEVER THING.”

4. Tell them the deadline: “I would need the letter by MONTH/DAY/YEAR.” (If you want to give a reason, you can also say that the application is due, or that you are hoping to submit your application by that date.)

5. Why Them?: Share 1-2 sentences about why you think they are the right person to recommend you, or what they might add to your application. “Given your role as my advisor/mentor/colleague/etc, I believe you could offer a clear picture of my interpersonal skills/research abilities/developing strengths/academic abilities/etc.”

6. Offer to Help: Let them know that if they accept the offer, you will provide guidance and support in letter-writing. “If you are willing to write the letter, I would be happy to share more information about myself and my experiences, as well as information about where to send the letter.”

7. Help them decide if they are the right fit: Attach your CV, so they can take a look and make a more informed decision about whether they can confidently recommend you. “I have attached my CV in case you would like to review it.”

8. Thank them for their consideration and/or time

9. Sign off: Make sure your contact information is included in your email signature.

Hey, you are not an embarrassment for not knowing how to do certain household chores/basic self-care. They do not come naturally to us. A lot of it takes practice! Maybe you had a neglectful guardian. Maybe you had one that was very coddling and never thought to teach you. Maybe you haven't lived in a place where these things were available to you or needed. Doesn't matter. It's okay to not know and far more common than you might realise.

That said, this website provides very simple instructions on how to do everyday tasks such as making your bed, using a washing machine, cooking different foods, washing dishes, taking a shower, etc. All you have to do is use the search bar to find the task you're struggling with, and it'll come up with what you need + other related how-to's:)

If you're having trouble navigating it, let me provide you with some examples:

How to clean dishes by hand

How to make your bed (with visual demonstrations of each step!)

How to fold clothes (with visual demonstrations of each step!)

How to take a shower & dry yourself off (also provides ways to shave beards, armpits, legs and genitals)

How to shave legs, armpits, beards, pubic areas, etc. (a more in-depth guide)

How to mop the floor

How to sweep the floor

How to swallow pills

How to make small talk

How to make eye contact in different situations (or how to avoid it while still looking natural)

It's also perfectly okay if these don't help or aren't appealing to you. Unfortunately, nothing helps everyone.