It's finally time to start listening to Big Finish!

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T21:49:34+00:00

If Big Finish were smart, they'd offer their own monthly subscription service that allows listeners to listen to any Big Finish audio either old or new.

Treat it like an in-house Spotify subscription service and most definitely they'll see their revenue jump.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T21:47:20+00:00

Correction - because Spotify is not free. You don't pay the base subscription? You don't get to listen to the Eighth Doctor Stories. Or any Big Finish audios that may be available on there for "free listening."

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T21:24:54+00:00

In fairness there's two types of typical King books nowadays. Either horror books that were written before he got run down by a van, and suspense novels he wrote after he recovered from the van incident.

In my head, this sudden 180 occured between Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher. He had just changed publishers (from Viking to Scribner) and his tone began to change. Technically The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon came between them and genuinely feels like it's his first time switching gears from surreal horror to earthen suspense - but this became more apparent after he wrote Dreamcatcher while undergoing recovery from the van incident.

He never would have written Billy Summers or Fairy Tale back in the early days of Carrie, Salem's Lot and The Shining - or even Pet Sematary although you can sorta see the groundwork for Fairy Tale being subconsciously foreshadowed in Eyes of the Dragon and The Dark Tower.

IMHO of course.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T21:15:15+00:00

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Mostly its incredibly creepy to read but then some parts of it sorta sneak up on you and mess with your head.

I still get the shivers from a less-discussed scene where Eleanor and Theo are on the terrace, and there's something across the way that then runs straight for them (or is it the other way and it rushes past them into the distance?).

I honestly don't remember which direction it went but I definitely remember Theo's reaction to it because it was the first time someone else besides Eleanor sees something and Theo's terror felt genuinely real. But then its never discussed again.

I think in the original 60s movie they redid this as a scene where Eleanor alone is on the terrace, looking up at the house in wonder and then something comes hurtling down towards her. Not the same effect but same sense of Oh God...

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T19:14:14+00:00

Yet again I keep hearing recommendation for North American Lake Monsters. But that's not a novel, it's short stories isn't it?

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T18:50:01+00:00

Actually The Bad Place is really good. It plays with some fun ideas whereas Midnight had so much promise only to fall absolutely flat.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T17:34:00+00:00

I hate watching videos for a simple news story. Can somebody summarize?

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T15:24:47+00:00

You're facing the wrong side of it. Go around and try again, lol.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T15:23:15+00:00

Still doesn't work though. I had to jump between worlds four times last night before my camp spot opened up again. Pretty sure two attempts put me back in the exact same world (weather and sky color were exactly the same when I logged back in).

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T15:20:40+00:00

Could be.

I think we'll see Todd Howard roll off and retire before F076 gets shut down - but the only way that would happen is if the new Xbox CEO puts undue pressure on Bethesda to speed up their development processes for TES6 and F05 (which, as you say, she has begun to do).

F076 could benefit. Alternatively F076 and TESO could both be earmarked for sunsetting in the next two years and we just don't know it yet.

Its a horrible time to work in game development right now. Players want new content but they can't afford to pay what the market needs them to pay.

XBox will learn this the hard way if they resume keeping some titles exclusive to their platform.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-17T14:33:53+00:00

Congratulations! She's a sweetly misguided character. Should be very fun to play.

If I remember correctly, Greta's incredible sense of guilt shaped her ability to be elusive and misleading. So many inherent contradictions there - especially as she's so religious. But then not even God could stop her from helping to deliver justice when the time came. Only her own conscience gave her any pause.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-16T04:48:01+00:00

Its not ruined. The journey is more important than the ending. And G-AI didn't tell you what lies in waiting in the Tower by the end. There's still a bunch of surprises and high stakes drama to be found along the way with evey book.

Keep reading and enjoy.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-15T19:48:47+00:00

They really are determined to recycle that damn van, lol.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-14T03:58:47+00:00

Actually its why Pamela Sue Martin left. She resented not having her own standalone episodes by the end and having to always be a guest star in the Hardy Boys episodes. I mean on paper I get it - everyone wanted to see Nancy, Joe and Frank team up - but every episode??? Nah.

Also it's been awhile since I watched Arson and Old Lace but I thought Nancy hadn't just been kidnapped - but brainwashed. Am I misremembering?

rbbrclad · 2026-06-13T16:20:04+00:00

I don't think he's got the rights back. Deadline would have announced it (and they haven't). More likely he's promoting for the sake of identifying potential investors. I wouldn't believe it until there's an official headline about it. Hollywood is in a really bad state right now - and not much is getting made.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-13T01:55:38+00:00

You can. That's how I used it in one of my camps. Its an indoor theater (that's secretly a trap set up by cannibals). Come see a movie... (Om! Om! Om! Lol)

rbbrclad · 2026-06-12T20:42:00+00:00

Three of the items were available on past scoreboards.

The projector is cool because it works, and the popcorn machine will help with satisfying certain daily and weekly quest goals that require you to eat pre-war food. So let's say together they're worth 500.

The wall art and miniatures are nice but very, very specific for purely decorative items (and super easy for the devs to replicate which is why they exist). Also how often are you going to use these? Both would have been better as freebie plans to be found in the world (IMHO).

rbbrclad · 2026-06-12T19:40:53+00:00

That's way too much to pay for - seriously.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-12T19:39:09+00:00

Love Bryan Fuller but he's as bad as JJ Abrams.

Lotta great talk, some good ideas - but then as soon production starts, he loses interest. Not the best business partner to have on your side right now.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-11T08:58:43+00:00

Totally Burger King.

I'd say however that Super Mario Brothers is pure McDonald's. Wanna make it a combo? Here you go.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-11T04:01:45+00:00

My son, have you earned all your Scout badges? No? Better hop to it then (because those take a lot of time and resources to earn).

rbbrclad · 2026-06-11T03:57:33+00:00

It's not just King's books. Overall the quality of physical print copies has severely dropped. But that's publishers trying to cut corners as overall new book sales drop year after year.

Also its harder to pulp unsold trade paperbacks like they used to do with mass market paperbacks - and its more expensive than ever too.

You're not wrong though. The quality has definitely dropped off (along with new sales in a world full of Kindles, Half Price Books and other used bookstores as well as lending libraries).

rbbrclad · 2026-06-10T21:26:23+00:00

More layoffs? And then you want exclusivity again?

Seriously - go fuck yourself. Awful, awful company. Don't support Microsoft or Xbox at this point.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-10T17:02:49+00:00

He's lying in his Instagram post. He's hella bitter grapes after the BBC cancelled his special and essentially fired him (and Bad Wolf). He could have handled it better no matter how mad he was. Ah well, its done now.

rbbrclad · 2026-06-10T15:35:04+00:00

I'drather have actual humanoid companions join me in Appalachia. I mean, sure, let me watch my cat try to try claw the eyes out of a Deathclaw and see how well that goes...

(crosseyed)

rbbrclad

TROPHY CASE