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Mollie Russell

@spookysyntax.bsky.social

350 followers 250 following 170 posts

Scream Queen at Wargamer. Autistic. South Wales poet and facilitator. Nerd for gaming, horror, music, and literature. She/Her.

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 20d

Finally played Molly House. Had a breakdown. Bon appetit. www.wargamer.com/molly-house/...

Molly House is the most important board game you'll play this year

Molly House is a perfect marriage of theme and mechanics, where the challenges you face are complex, frightening, and very, very real.

www.wargamer.com

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 1d

Day 15/31 was Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

God this film fucks SO HARD. Might be a bit in love with Donald Sutherland.

Movie poster for Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 1d

Day 14/31 was Children of the Corn.

One of those films that's more fun to analyse than to watch. I will probably prefer the book.

Movie poster for Stephen King's Children of the Corn, showing a silhouetted hand holding a farming too in front of a red sky

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 1d

Day 13/31 was Gonjiam Haunted Asylum

Delightfully tense found footage film, though the finale left me wishing for a more upsetting reveal.

Movie poster for Gonjiam Haunted Asylum showing a brutalist building in front of a red sky

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 2d

I'm so fucking stoked to dive into this

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 2d

Shout out to Wargamer for giving me this platform to be my weirdest, nichest self.

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 2d

Wrote a deeply personal piece about my first tabletop RPG. GrailQuest was the less famous rival to Fighting Fantasy, and its art gave primary school me literal fucking nightmares. So, for Halloween, I decided to ask the artist all about those traumatic drawings. www.wargamer.com/grailquest-t...

The most terrifying tabletop RPG I ever played was a comedy game for children

I tracked down the artist behind my first TTRPG to talk about horror, anatomy, censorship, and the art that thoroughly traumatized me.

www.wargamer.com

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 3d

Day 12/31 was Scanners

Some excellent exploding heads, but this was so much more boring than I was expecting from Cronenberg

DVD cover for David Cronenberg's Scanners, showing a man whose skin seems to be melting as he screams

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 5d

Day 11/31 was A Tale Of Two Sisters

A bit disappointed with this one. A solid ghost story, and did a good job of making you question reality, but a bit paint by numbers

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 5d

Day 10/31 was House

My perfect mix of schlock and surreal.

House movie poster showing art of a red, monstrous cat

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 7d

Me when my D&D players are on their phones

Mark Jarrell @markjarrellart.bsky.social · 7d

Myself most days..

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 7d

Day 9/31 was The Blood on Satan's Claw.

One of the OG folk films. Holds up surprisingly well!

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 8d

Day 8/31 was The Hills Have Eyes

Not my favourite Craven flick, but there are some very memorable scenes.

Movie poster for The Hills Have Eyes shaping a white man with an unusually shaped bald head.

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 9d

Day 7/31 was The Ugly Stepsister

For a movie filled with blood, cocks, and tapeworms, this film looked GOOD. I had fun with it.

The Ugly Stepsister movie poster showing a delicate lady's shoe with bloody toes and a cleaver

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 10d

Day 6/31 was Near Dark

Two totally wooden main characters that are, fortunately, saved by a fantastic supporting cast (all of who were in Aliens?), a great synth-y score, and impeccable Vampire Western vibes.

Near Dark poster showing a young man covered in blood and burns

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 11d

Day 5/31 was One Cut of the Dead

Definitely one of the more unique zombie films out there. Was never 100% sure where it was going, but the end result was pretty charming.

Move poster for One Cut of the Dead, showing a bloodied film crew and zombies

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 12d

Day 4/31 was Crawl

A creature feature that's actually a lot of fun.

Movie poster for Crawl, showing a woman floating on a boat in a flooded house as an alligator swims underneath

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 12d

Day 3/31 was The Strangers.

Plodding pacing and characters that make poor decisions at every turn really killed the tension. Liv Tyler looks vaguely menaced for 70 minutes, and not a lot else.

The Strangers movie poster, showing Liv Tyler standing in a lounge with a masked figure in the background.

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 13d

Day 2/13 was The Damned (2024).

A gothic ghost story that's moody and gorgeously presented. It's let down by a lack of ambition in the story it's trying to tell. Competent, but very forgettable given the caliber of horror we've had lately.

The Damned Movie poster. Under the title text is a woman in winter period clothing, standing in the snow with red crosses around her.

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 15d

Fury of Dracula is a Holy Grail game for me. Can never seem to find a copy second-hand, stuck playing it over and over on Steam.

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 15d

Since it's October 1, I'm going to be on the hunt for spooky tabletop games to write about.

Please shout at me about the spooky games that you love! I have a whole month to check out recommendations.

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 15d

It's HALLOWEEN! Every October I watch 31 horror movies I haven't seen before. Best time of the year.

DAY 1/31 was I Saw The TV Glow.

A really touching movie that only seems to be called a horror because it defies genre categories. Not always executed perfectly, but original and often beautiful.

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 17d

Likewise, thank you for the powerful design work!

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 17d

Interviewing Critical Role is like being asked to eat lunch with the coolest people in school and finding out that all the rumours about their coolness were absolutely true: www.wargamer.com/critical-rol...

Also, there's a YouTube version hidden in the article!

We asked Critical Role campaign 4's cast to introduce us to Aramán

Ahead of Critical Role campaign 4's debut, we asked the cast about themes, characters, and bringing Brennan Lee Mulligan to the table.

www.wargamer.com

Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 19d

I don't even know what to say, genuinely flabbergasted

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Mollie Russell @spookysyntax.bsky.social · 19d

Dan please say this is a joke

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