Shaun Horton's Blog

Video Game Review: The Callisto Protocol

This game was lauded as the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, and as it was being made, it certainly looked and sounded the part. Some of the people who made Dead Space were even working on it, trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was the original series. 

For one that loved the Dead Space series so much, it took me until the game was free for Playstation Plus members to play it myself. Maybe it was just balking at the cost of $70 - $100 for the game. Maybe it was becaus...

What is the chupacabra?

 If you're expecting a writing post today, I'm afraid you'll be a little disappointed. This post is about a cryptid, and a thought that popped into my head which actually explains it pretty well. I was trying to figure out where to write this little dissertation and I figured this would be as good a spot as any. 

Now, it's worth pointing out there are currently two versions of the Chupacabra running around. The original, reptilian version from Puerto Rico, and the canid version in Mexico and the ...

Review: Helluva Boss

 Horror fans are a special bunch. We laugh at things that make other people say "What the fuck?" and "Oh My God!" As one might expect, there's not much chance of shows like that making it on prime-time TV, or really even onto a popular streaming service. 

Thank God for YouTube. 

Helluva Boss is a YouTube cartoon series that checks all the boxes for me as a twisted horror fan. It's dark, dirty, hilarious, and at times unbelievably wholesome. 
The series follows a trio of Imps from Hell as they run a...

Movie Review: Antlers

 I haven't forgotten about this blog. Subjects worth commenting that I haven't already done just seem to be coming in few and far between. That being said, this was a movie I was rather eagerly anticipating and was finally able to catch. 

Spoilers Below!

A Guillermo Del Toro produced horror movie, so you know it's pretty good. In addition (and this isn't a spoiler for anybody who really knows their horror monsters) it's about the Wendigo, which is one of the few creatures that really gets to me. 
T...

New Release! "Burrows" is out in the wild!

 It's been a while since I posted here. I've got a few drafts I've poked on, but nothing to post, but this one is easy. 

I've been talking about Burrows for a little bit, but now I'm letting ya'll know that it's out! My next Cryptid novellette is up on Amazon! 

The Gobi Desert is a treasure trove of dinosaur fossils, giving up some of the most famous and complete skeletons found in the world. Sherene Carter and her team are hoping to uncover the next big skeleton in the dunes and rocks. What they ...

Short Story: The Carol of the Trees

 Hi all! Wrote this up for a submission call that ended up closing early before I could submit it. So now you all get to read it here! Enjoy and Merry Christmas! 

          Charlie hopped out of the truck, his shoes crunching in the layers of snow.  Fresh flakes drifted down around him, draping all the trees in a thin layer of white that reflected the weakening sunlight.Ya know, dis place is right pretty. Im glad I came by here. He hefted...

Start Prepping! NaNoWriMo is coming!

 It's October, and what does that mean? 

Well, yes, ghosts, pumpkins, and other spooky things, but for writers it also means November is coming, which means, NaNoWriMo! I'm going to be making my own attempt at it this year to try and get my creative juices flowing. I haven't been idle this year, but I haven't gotten anywhere near as much done as I want. 

The Class 5 audiobook is out now. 

Hannah and Paths: Three Short Horror Stories are now available on Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo ebook platfor...

Video Game Review: The Last of Us 2

This game has been a long time coming. Check out my review of the first game to get a good feel for the world this series takes place in. Check it out, then come back. It'll be worth it, and I'll wait. 
Okay, welcome back, but before I get into the review proper, I have to give this warning. 
SPOILERS BELOW THE IMAGE

Now, you've been warned. 
The Last of Us 2 starts almost exactly where the first game ends. Ellie and Joel are living with Joel's brother Tommy, growing up, doing their part in the litt...

How goes 2020?

Whew, 
Describing this year, as most people know, would require a string of expletives longer than blogger would probably allow. If a writer took everything that's happened in the past six months, made it into a book and submitted it to a publisher, they would be blasted for a story that made no sense and was completely unrealistic. 
Pandemics, murder hornets, and the most powerful country on Earth falling from grace. Sheesh. 

Quiet now, but I'm betting they reappear for the climax.

Still, the world...

Death of the Author

So, a friend showed me a video on Youtube where there's a woman discussing the phrase "Death of the Author". I honestly didn't know what this was referring to, and I wasn't really sure after watching the video either, so I looked it up on wikipedia.

Death of the Author was an essay by a French literary critic, Roland Barthes, in 1967. In it, Roland argues against the idea that to really understand a work, you had to know about the author's personal life, attitude, and society. The simple...