review Archives - The Fine-toothed Comb

Firewatch – game review

November 8, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

It’s been a while since I’ve played anything other than Blood Bowl 2, but when my Steam Deck arrived, I felt a powerful itch to get gaming once more. Coveted but previously unplayable titles like Control, Jedi: Fallen Order, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves were suddenly within reach, and I had a little bit of …

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The Woods – indie book review

October 11, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

‘If you go down to The Woods today, you’d better not go alone, It’s lovely down in The Woods today, but safer to stay at home…’ Hersham Horror has developed a modest range of short fiction and novellas over the last decade, always with an eye for quality, drawing upon fresh and upcoming talent. I’d …

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The Private Life of Elder Things – book review

July 12, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

There is a discomfort to Lovecraftian fiction that continues to fascinate readers and writers alike, a century after H.P. Lovecraft published his first story. The sense of cosmic horror he engendered through his writing brought him fame, but it’s the Mythos formed from his dread *pantheon that embodies his literary legacy. It has proven to …

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The Witches – boardgame review

June 8, 2022June 7, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

Fantasy fans will be more than familiar with the Witches from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, but on the off chance you’re not a big reader – or simply haven’t gotten around to them yet – let me fill you in on the relevant bits. Pratchett’s witches may look like your stereotypical black-clad hags, but Granny …

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Nunkie’s M.R. James

May 11, 2022May 9, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

Robert Lloyd Parry in full flow as M.R. James

ChillerCon is just around the corner, and my favourite storyteller will be there, so I thought it apt to reshare, expand and update my thoughts on Robert Lloyd Parry’s performed readings of M.R. James’ classic ghost stories. We’ll kick off with a primer for those who don’t know about M.R. James, so if you’re familiar …

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Mansions of Madness – game review

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

I’ve played stacks of table top games over the past few years, ranging from the simplest piss-around to the most mind-bendingly complex time-sinks. I’ve enjoyed a hell of a lot of them, but the experience is almost always intellectual rather than visceral. Like video games, most table-tops employ a narrative structure of some kind, but …

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Splashes of Darkness – November edition

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

Comic-books are a medium, not a genre; they can tell any story and suit any palate. You want horror? I’ve got bottles of the stuff. Welcome to ‘Splashes of Darkness.’ I’m archiving my Splashes of Darkness posts for Ginger Nuts of Horror here at The Fine-toothed Comb as well, for easy access in case you …

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Splashes of Darkness – October edition

January 10, 2022 by Dion Winton-Polak

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Splashes of Darkness – September edition

December 8, 2021December 3, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

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Splashes of Darkness – August edition

December 3, 2021November 16, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

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See (eps 1 & 2) – tv review

November 9, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

In a post-apocalyptic future, Mankind has been devastated by disease, our species reduced to a mere 2 million souls, sightless and crawling on the face of the Earth. Generations later, society has reformed into tribes and developed new modes of survival, of communication, of battle and of culture to circumvent their blindness. Vision has become …

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Foundation – tv review

November 9, 2021October 12, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

Foundation is one of the Apple’s tent-pole tv series and, frankly, the only reason I thought it might be worth the free trial. I’d heard good things about For All Mankind and Ted Lasso, but nothing caught my attention like Foundation when the project was first announced. Pretty strange, considering I’ve only read the first of Isaac Asimov’s novels – once – and that was 30-odd years ago. Anyway, I have now watched the first four episodes of the tv series, cursing the fact I’ll have to pay in order to see the last six. (Because I will pay, goddammit.) Here’s why…

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Little Nightmares – game review

August 11, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

It’s always awesome when a friend recommends something new, but there’s a special joy to be had when a: you’d never heard of it before, b: it’s not the kind of thing you’d usually buy, and c: it turns out you frigging *love it. So it was for me and Little Nightmares, a cute yet terrifying game from Tarsier Studios.

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Anna – book review

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

Anna is a dystopian novel, set a few short years from now. War has devastated us to the point of societal collapse. It’s a lawless, bleak and wretched place out there, but our protagonist has managed to survive it, picking her way through the Unlands and trying where possible to avoid the remnants of humanity. Her capture happens with shocking speed, and we are dragged along with her into a living nightmare of enslavement, degradation and manipulation in a cold and bitter world.

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Splashes of Darkness – July edition

December 2, 2021July 13, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

Splashes of Darkness - July - Deadbeats/Little Sisters of Eluria/We Love Trouble/White Knuckle

Comic-books are a medium, not a genre; they can tell any story and suit any palate. You want horror? I’ve got bottles of the stuff. Welcome to ‘Splashes of Darkness.’

Hi folks, I’ve recently started a column for the Ginger Nuts Of Horror site, reviewing comics. This is partly to give me an excuse to get back into the medium as a reader, partly because reviewing is good exercise for the old analytical muscles, and partly just because I wanted to give something back to a community that has welcomed me with such open-heartedness.

I’ll be archiving here at The Fine-toothed Comb for easy access in case you miss any of them. There’ll be a separate post for August, September and so on.

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Invincible – tv review

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

Bright yellow text saying 'Invincible' on a bright blue background, the whole thing spattered with blood.

Invincible is an 8-part animated superhero show based on a *long-running comic series by Robert Kirkman, famed for creating The Walking Dead—and if that doesn’t give you a big enough clue, I’m going to say this flat out: this is not one to plop your kids in front of while you sit on a Zoom call or potter round the house. But you though? You should totally watch it. It’s all kinds of awesome.

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The Wolf Among Us – computer game review

June 4, 2021May 10, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

I first came across Telltale Games through their Walking Dead adaptation – an original story that played out like some kind of orgy-sparked bastard between a graphic novel, a choose-your-own-adventure book, and a point-and-click game, complete with hot-button action scenes. I remember it being pretty awesome, so I was excited to see more output following, in different genres.

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Horrified: Universal Monsters – board game review

June 4, 2021April 12, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

Here’s a good one for folks out there looking for something new and engaging to play. You don’t need to be a board-game geek or master of strategy to have fun with this family game, nor do you need to worry about the fear factor for youngsters. This is what I like to think of as creaky horror: lumbering along, arms outstretched, eyes wide – but very much with a twinkle and a grin. Let’s take a closer look.

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The Hartlepool Monkey – comic review

June 4, 2021March 15, 2021 by Dion Winton-Polak

“A Nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours.” Dean William Ralph Inge

There are people with certain attitudes, events that unfold around us almost daily, where you almost have to laugh or you’d cry: where tragedy cleaves so close to comedy they become all but indistinguishable. Wilfrid Lupano and Jérémie Moreau stride that tightrope over despair’s abyss with supreme confidence in their humorous retelling of the legend of The Hartlepool Monkey.

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