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While the movie theater offers size, volume, and shared communal experience, there is an intimacy to television that can provide a very different experience to the big screen. This is especially true when it comes to scaring the audience. The screen might be smaller, but there is something that can’t be matched about sitting alone, late at night, while a truly scary TV episode unfolds.
There have been many terrifying TV shows over the years, but often the scariest episodes come from those shows that aren’t scary week in, week out. Anthology shows such as The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits frequently mixed horror, sci-fi, and fantasy–these were shows that were consistently strange and inventive, but wouldn’t attempt to only terrify their audience. And the scary episodes were all the more effective for that. Equally, there are many forgettable shows, particularly horror anthology series, that tried to consistently deliver the scares, but never really managed to in quite the same way.
In more recent years, shows such as Black Mirror have carried the small screen legacy of those earlier shows. In many cases, the scary episodes are the ones most beloved by fans and still stand up today. It might be getting harder and harder to scare viewers, but these episodes are every bit as effective as they were when first broadcast. So here’s a look at some of the scariest TV episodes ever made.
Sony Pictures Virtual Reality has announced Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, a VR game that is set 26 years after the famous Harold Ramis film starring Bill Murray.
Developed by Tequila Works, the makers of Rime, the game features an original story that includes characters from the 1993 film, and will be coming later this year to PSVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. A teaser trailer for the game can be seen below.
The game puts players in the shoes of Phil Connors Jr., the son of Bill Murray’s character from the film. In Like Father Like Son, Phil Connors Jr. is trapped back home in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and just like his father, is forced to repeat the same day over and over again.
Sony has announced and released the first trailer for the upcoming video game Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. The VR game is a sequel to the 1993 Groundhog Day movie, taking place many years after the events of the film.
According to Sony, you play “as the charming but arrogant Phil Connors Jr., who grew up in the shadow of his father–a man who spent a lifetime repeating a single day until he had made it perfect.” Just like his dad, Phil Jr. finds himself stuck living the same day over and over, one where he’s still trapped in “the small town he thought he’d escaped, where he can’t even get a decent cappuccino–and he’s going to have to repeat the day over and over, until he learns the true value of friends and family.”
Like Father Like Son is a story told entirely in VR, and has you exploring a branching narrative within the same looping period of time. You’ll interact with different characters–some of which you’ll recognize from the 1993 movie, like Ned Ryerson–and have to figure out how to get Phil Jr. his perfect day so that he too can break his vicious cycle.
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is scheduled to release for PSVR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive, and is coming sometime in 2019. Seeing a game like this coming out is just what VR needs to become a more worthy investment for people who are on the fence about buying a headset, as 2018 saw the release of some good titles–like Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and Tetris Effect–but not many.
VR had a fairly heavy presence at CES 2019 in January, with HTC announcing two new headsets–the Vive Pro Eye and Vive Cosmos–as well as a new unlimited Viveport subscription model. Oculus unveiled a new VR headset as well, called Quest, and Holoride showed off a brand-new VR simulation you experience from the back of a moving car.
The moment I first saw Soul Reaver is crystallized in my mind. I was leaving a cousin’s house and, as I said my goodbyes, he turned on his PlayStation. A few moments later a narration over an intro sequence began, “Kain is deified,” a booming voice said. “The clans tell tales of him, few know the truth. He was mortal once, as were we all. However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brethren…”
In strolled Raziel, a visually striking character; pale white of skin with obsidian hair curtaining his chiseled David Bowie-like face. A distinctive red sash was draped over his right arm, and a confident swagger carried him across an arcane throne room. Raziel was the first-born of his vampire clan and kneeled before his creator, Kain. I was transfixed by him and the world that Soul Reaver had established in mere seconds.
I continued to watch as Raziel was branded a traitor and cast out by his sire, thrown into a lake to burn, but born again after an eternity as an otherworldly wraith. “Raziel, you are worthy…” a mysterious voice from beyond said. By the time the intro was over I was completely invested, I needed to see what happened next.
Soul Reaver had an impressive shifting gimmick that allowed Raziel to move been the material and spectral realms, which shapeshifted the environment and provided different puzzle, platforming, and combat opportunities. But story was the star of Soul Reaver for me. Co-written by Amy Hennig, who would go on to write Uncharted games at Naughty Dog, Soul Reaver was built on the foundation of the Legacy of Kain series, which it referenced frequently. This history, how it shaped Kain as a villain and Raziel as a hero, was absolutely fascinating. The world of vampires had changed considerably since Raziel was condemned, so learning about what it was like from him and seeing what it had become alongside him, was incredibly compelling.
It’s a cliche at this point to call games with a strong sense of place “Souls-likes,” referencing From Software’s Dark Souls and Bloodborne titles. However, to me, that DNA stretches back farther to The Legacy of Kain. To me, those kinds of games are Reaver-likes | Tamoor Hussain
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Heads up, boxing fans: this weekend’s title bout between World Boxing Organization titleholder Eleider Alvarez and 32-3-1 Sergey Kovalev happens tonight, February 2 at 12 midnight, Eastern time. You can watch the fight for free if you sign up for an ESPN+ trial right now and cancel before the 7-day trial period is up.
If you want to fill your entire Saturday night with pugilism, there’s also a UFC Fight Night happening, beginning at 8 pm Eastern time. You get the main event and all the other fights on the main card, too, streaming on ESPN+.
When Supernatural first premiered on The WB back in 2005–the same year YouTube came into existence–it was introduced as the story of two brothers, reunited and fighting the evil forces their family had been chasing for years. Now, 300 episodes later, Supernatural is still exactly that. While secondary characters have come and gone, it always comes back to the tale of Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) and his brother Dead (Jensen Ackles), traveling from town-to-town and vanquishing whatever otherworldly forces seem to be wreaking havoc.
There’s a third piece of the Winchester puzzle that’s been with the brothers since the very beginning, though, and it’s as integral to the formula as anyone or anything else on the show. When Dean rolled back into his brother’s life in the show’s pilot, he did it in his trusty 1967 Chevrolet Impala, nicknamed “Baby” and passed down to him by his dad.
Baby, in many ways, is the heart and soul of Supernatural. For the brothers, it is the armory of weapons they use to fight against any number of demonic entities, their home on long nights with no motel room in sight, and the vessel that takes them to a new locale each week. The car has even had its own episode of the series in Season 11’s “Baby,” which told a story from the Impala’s point of view.
What’s more, Baby is the one piece of the Winchesters’ past that they’ve been able to hold onto. The one thing that’s always there for them, regardless of circumstances, ever since it was passed to Dean from their father. “I think if Dean were a child Baby would be his blanket,” Ackles explained to GameSpot at Supernatural’s 300th episode celebration. “That’s his safe place. [It’s] kind of the touchstone of who he is. It represents a lot, and I think it represents a lot to the show. It’s the one constant in his life other than his brother.”
A constant isn’t exactly something Dean–of his brother, for that matter–has the luxury of, given the life of a hunter of supernatural entities. While it may be the “Family business,” as Dean has reminded viewers of several times over the years, it’s a truly lonely existence, even with your brother at your side.
After all, the character is nearly 40 years old, and his entire life is wrapped up in his work, his brother, and his car. He’s not the kind of person that you truly believe will ever be willing to settle down and live peacefully because he thrives on the chase and having no specific place he considers home other than the driver’s seat of his Impala. It’s something that’s simply his.
“For somebody who lives kind of a vagabond life and a nomad existence, to have a constant like that, to have something that is his and that is his domain is, I think is really important to the character,” Ackles continued. “You’ll see a scene in an episode that we’re filming, we just finished filming, where Dean says, ‘I need to go clear my head. I need to go for a ride in Baby,” and Sam says, ‘Well, let me go with you.” He says, ‘No, no, no, I just need me and Baby and a long stretch of highway.'”
While to outsiders who haven’t taken the ride with Supernatural over the last 300 episodes, it may seem like Baby is just a car, fans know better. With total respect to Misha Collins, who plays the angel Castiel and has become one of the show’s most beloved characters, Baby is the third lead of the series. What would have been three tons of steel on most shows is a fully fleshed out character on Supernatural.
And according to executive producer Robert Singer, who also directed the 300th episode of the series, she’s one of the reasons why, all of these years later, Supernatural is still speeding down the highway and has already been renewed for an impressive 15th season. “It’s as much of a character as anyone else in the show,” he said. “And yeah, [we] keep waiting for it to break down, but it’s still humming.”
The 300th episode of Supernatural airs Thursday, February 7 at 8 PM ET/PT on The CW.
February is officially here, which means PlayStation Plus subscribers will soon have a new selection of free games to download across PS4, PS3, and Vita. That also means this is your last opportunity to grab January’s free PS Plus titles before they return to their regular prices on February 5.
PS4 owners still have time to download the extreme snowboarding game Steep and the co-op RPG Portal Knights. PS3’s freebies include Zone of the Enders HD Collection and the rhythm game Amplitude, while Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion and Super Mutant Alien Assault are free for Plus subscribers on Vita. Thanks to Cross-Buy, Amplitude and Fallen Legion are also playable on PS4.
You’ll be able to grab all six titles at no charge until February 5, when they’ll be cycled out with the next batch of freebies. If you’ve yet to download them, you can simply head to the PS Plus page and add them to your library. As usual, all six games will remain free to play for as long as you have an active PS Plus subscription.
Once February 5 rolls around, another six titles will be up for grabs. PS4 owners will be able to get the full first season of Hitman as well as Ubisoft’s swordfighting game For Honor. Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be available for free on PS3, and Gunhouse and Rogue Aces make up Vita’s freebies.
February also marks the last time Sony will offer free PS3 and Vita games for Plus subscribers. Presumably as a concession for this, the company recently announced it will expand the amount of cloud storage members have access to from 10 GB to 100 GB. This change is set to begin sometime in early February.
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