Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Blaine Martin (he/they)

@notalonehorror.bsky.social

250 followers 1.1K following 110 posts

Podcaster, game designer, horror fan. I am a producer and cast member on Greetings from Stability, a horror world-building actual play podcast. http://www.stabilityor.com/ https://blainecmartin.itch.io/

www.stabilityor.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · Sep 24

If you don't already know me: Hi, I'm Blaine (he/him) your horror and RPG loving friend! I am the host and producer of You Are Not Alone (www.notalonehorror.com), which is currently on hiatus. I'm also a producer and cast member on Greetings from Stability (www.notalonehorror.com/stabilityor).

Greetings from Stability

www.notalonehorror.com

1 1 5

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

You can tell the script is by Tarantino, full of profanity, obscenity, and quick dialog. If Tarantino isn't your flavor it probably won't be even with vampires. But if Rodriguez, Tarantino, and Kurtzman teaming up to make a trashy Vampire western sounds fun then From Dusk till Dawn delivers. (10/10)

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

While not on the effects team, make-up legend Tom Savini shows up as Sex Machine, the crotch-gun toting biker. This is a good time to mention the 2014 TV series where Sex Machine is played by Jake Busey. The first season expands the movie out to 10 episodes and a lot better than I expected. (9/10)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

Also of note is the set design. Really, the one set but it is a doozie. The Titty Twister is half Aztec ruin half strip club and it is gorgeous. As we get introduced to the cast of characters take a few moments to pause the movie and just take in the incredible work that went into this set. (8/10)

1 3

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

The story was written by FX legend Robert Kurtzman who paid Tarantino to finish the script so he could take over as makeup effects supervisor. The make-up and gore are what you’d expect from an expert hand. A personal favorite is the band’s switch to playing body parts for the vampire fight. (7/10)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

If you’ve read my past reviews, you might be asking “what about the practical effects?” (You weren’t and that’s okay.) Let’s talk about them. The vampire make-up is incredible. It draws on Aztec myth and imagery to create unique snake-like vampires that look as amazing as they are horrifying. (6/10)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

Then the vampires show up. There are few sequences that can stand up to the introduction of Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium. The acting, the music, the choreography, the costume design. Incredible. A sudden bar fight leads Santanico to transform into vampire and all hell breaks loose. (5/10)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

He delivers the remote wide shots, shootouts, and law/lawlessness that westerns promise. The first half builds tension between the Geckos and both the law and the Fuller family. We are left wondering if Jacob will be pushed to fight for his family before the cops finally catch up. (4/10)

1 2

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

Rodriguez is a master of the neo-western. By 1996 he had already given us El Mariachi and Desperado, two of the best westerns of the 90’s. He’d go on to finish the trilogy with Once Upon a Time in Mexico and give us an amazing (to me at least) Star Wars western in The Book of Boba Fett. (3/10)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

The Geckos leave a trail of bodies in their wake as we learn Seth got busted out of jail by his brother Richie. In a bid to get across the border they take a family hostage led by Jacob wearing a white dad hat. It all goes south when they end up at a strip club called the Titty Twister. (2/10)

1 3

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 1d

It is a fact long held that in a western the bad guys wear black hats. In Robert Rodriguez’s 1996 vampire flick, From Dusk till Dawn, the Gecko brothers trade black hats for black suits but Rodriguez wastes no time in proving that they are BAD. (1/10)

1 3 14

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

🔪b. narr🔪 @sassylich.bsky.social · 2d

heyyy everyone! it's my first ever #hauntalong entry, and it's indigenous peoples day, so we're gonna talk about PREY (2022), the coolest movie in the predator franchise

Mike Murderens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13d

Weeeeeee're baaaack.

#hauntalong has a group of ttrpg wrting/arting/playing friends chatting about their favorite horror movies.

This year, we've got a full month of recos, and we'll truly push Bluesky's threading feature well beyond the black rainbow.

Come haunt along with us.

3 10 33

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 6d

The sequence where Desmond explains the interaction with Lil is such an "Answer a Question" move.

1 1

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

Ben // Foresight Studio @foresightstudio.bsky.social · 6d

Hi friends! For my first ever #hauntalong, I want to shine a (flickering) light on Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (FWWM). Released in 1992, a year after the titular TV show's cancellation, David Lynch took a beloved setting known for its charming characters and said: "it's worse than that."

The cover of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, featuring a burning half of a heart-shaped "best friends" necklace with a photograph of Laura Palmer, a young blonde woman, smiling. In the background, red curtains line the walls of a room with a zig-zag black and white floor. Toward the bottom is the text, "In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent."

1 7 14

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

𝙒𝙚𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 is Dead. @carrion-comfort.com · 7d

It's my second (of many) entries for #hauntalong this year and I'm surfacing one of my favorites of the Universal Monster movies for the morning crowd!

Today I present you:

Jack Arnold’s 1954 creature–feature The Creature from the Black Lagoon!

1 4 15

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

Gabriel Robinson @glowingroots.bsky.social · 7d

Continuing this year’s #hauntalong, I’m recommending Bring Her Back (2025).

Film poster for Bring Her Back, featuring a hand grading the head of a child with red demonic eyes and a circle of blood in the background

3 6 24

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

Mike Murderens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 8d

Make something for the best damn community zine in existence.

Amanda/iamatrex @iamatrex.com · 9d

Sprigs & Kindling sprigsandkindling.com is actively seeking pitches:
Vol 6: Endings & Beginnings. Any Carved from Brindlewood-related creation. Due Dec 1, 2025
Vol 7: Gods & Monsters. The Silt Verses TTRPG and Arkham Herald. Due Mar 1, 2026
Vol 8: Short-form CfB. Due Jun 1, 2026

DM me with pitches!

Sprigs and Kindling

An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games

sprigsandkindling.com

3 8

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

𝖏 𝖆 𝖈 𝖐 @jackofficer.bsky.social · 8d

Hello, rats and bats. It's #hauntalong time, and tonight I'm kicking off my selects with inarguably the best (authorized) Dracula movie ever.

Title card for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992)

1 6 15

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

𝙒𝙚𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 is Dead. @carrion-comfort.com · 9d

This #hauntalong, I'm trying to be a bit sexier than last year. I'm talking sultry, sanguineous, seductive, and penetrative.

Like with knives.

Or teeth.

I wanted to get

Let's talk about my first entry:

Claire Denis' 2001 psychosexual horror film, 'Trouble Every Day' 🫀

Still from the Claire Denis film Trouble Every Day. It shows a wall with wild blood splattering all over it. A woman walks from right Drake to the left, also covered in blood while wearing a neglige.

The foreground says, "Trouble Every Day" A film by Claire Denis.

2 7 18

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

Didn't there used to be someone in Philadelphia that fulfilled your orders? Tom or Terry or something like that? My vision just went purple and there's a tickle somewhere in my brain. It feels like a sweater being pulled apart strand by strand.

Reposted by Blaine Martin (he/they)

Mike Murderens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12d

Do you like fun simple games that are deceptively deep art, luring you to the brink of losing yourself in the listless void before summoning you home with the sticky smells of dried Coke and fry oil?

Me too!

The ttrpg book Tourist Hole in hand. The author on the cover seems to be labeled “Escape,” which is a little weird.

The printed edition of Tourist Hole opened to its introductory page, where a family of toy figures strolls under the shadow of a hanging skeleton.

2 16 32

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

Ingrid Torelli as Lilly and David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy are particular stand outs. Lilly’s shifts between naïve sweetness and horrifying evil are a delight and Jack's desperation and sadness are palpable. If you are a fan of possession horror, give Late Night with the Devil a try. (7/7)

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

The medium is used to great effect. The film itself seems to react to the evil being unleashed. There are lots of clicks and film skips in unusual places. The grainy, deteriorated quality helps boost the believability of the little bit of CGI that gets brought in in the last act. (6/7)

1 3

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

I’ve said it before, but I’m a sucker for practical effects and that is the other thing Late Night does well. There are some really great practical effects from demon makeup to black bile to a body full of worms that are gnarly in the best possible way. (5/7)

1 4

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

There’s a brief meta documentary at the opening of the film that fills us in on what we need to know about Jack Delroy but once we're on set, we stay there. When things go south, the tight set makes it feel like everyone, including the audience watching at home, is trapped with the evil. (4/7)

1 3

Blaine Martin (he/they) @notalonehorror.bsky.social · 11d

I think what makes the movie really special is that it does A LOT with very little. It is an incredibly claustrophobic set. A majority of the film is set on the filming stage and the small slice of backstage just behind the curtains. (3/7)

1 3