GUS EDGAR-CHAN Venue Co-Editor
BETH BENNETT Venue Co-Editor
I was never allowed to trick or treat as a child. Warned of neighbours handing out razors like, er, candy, my Halloween consisted of a couple of limp, hacked pumpkins and some festive fun, minus the festive fun. It was only ‘til Uni that I realised that the holiday was a big deal. The costumes are a big deal. The LCR is a big deal. October in general is a big deal. Still unsure about whether it’s a big deal? Well, this special spine-tingling issue of Venue will make you feel like it’s a big deal. Oh, I’ve said ‘big deal’ too many times? Big deal. Hence the pumpkin-faced front cover, our gothic creative writing section, the spooky tunes of our music section, and Sam Hewitson’s fantastic ideas on how to celebrate the month if the LCR just isn’t your thing. And if Halloween isn’t your thing? Well, tough luck, you Santa-loving scrub. As I’m still in London, we’ve employed the rather wonderful Beth Bennett to take the position of interim Venue Co-Editor n my absense. She’s the reason why our features look fantastic, our articles are prim and proper and -this time - our sudoku is fully functioning (I hope!)! Enjoy, but be warned. This issue’s ‘boutta shake you up.
Unlike Gus, Halloween to me has always been the proverbial bees knees. Growing up, my dad was obsessed with the gothic and from a young age I was also super excited by the strange and unusual. Think Winona Ryder in ‘Beetlejuice’ only blonde and with a tan. So moving away to Uni, I had to go it alone and find a bunch of housemates who love pumpkin carving and watching scary movies (okay, Robyn, I know you don’t like them much but ‘tis the season, y’know?). Themed nights at the LCR; pumpkin flavoured things from Unio; October really is a special time of year at UEA, and Norwich too, and this issue of Venue will help show you why. I hope. I mean, this is my first time doing this so I’m writing with a sense of impending panic at how this all turns out. So thank you, Gus, for being away in London right now! I kid, he’s been super helpful in making sure I know what the hell I’m doing. And thank you, Dad, for the hereditary obsession with this time of year! So, sit back, relax with your pumpkin spiced latte (no shame!) and read about everything spooky, everything creepy, and everything orange-tinged that we’ve carved out for you in this issue.
Icons courtesy of Vecteezy
Rabbit by Fay Austen
Johanne Elster Hanson
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Shelby Cooke
Jordan Hunniset
Gabriela Williams
Jodie Bailey
Pumpkin courtesy of VectorStock
Nick Mason
Rebecca McDonnell
Beloved Banksy painting destroyed In today’s society, there’s a lot of discourse surrounding art ownership. Does the art belong to the artist once it has been mass-produced and sold in the form of merchandise? Personally, I have always appreciated the anonymous street artist Banksy’s combination of art, politics and dark humour in a form that is frowned upon by the law. The graffiti that Banksy creates is a form of protest against the institutions that restrict expression and freedom, and his latest political showcase is no exception. Recently, Banksy quite literally destroyed the argument that art can be bought, by shredding one of his most famous pieces, ‘Girl With Balloon’. This was originally a mural created by Banksy in 2002 in London’s West Bank, depicting a girl letting go of a heart shaped balloon. The mural is claimed to be one of Banksy’s most universal pieces of street art as it resonates hope, an emotion that everyone can relate to. More recently, the image has been used to support Syrian refuges, making the artwork ever politically relevant. On October 5, the mural was auctioned off by Sotheby’s in London and sold for a little over £1 million. Moments after the painting was sold, a hidden shredder built inside of the frame was activated, culminating in the painting being damaged in the auction house. The stunt could be seen to critique how artists lose ownership of their work when it becomes something to be sold, rather than to be enjoyed and understood.
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The destruction of the piece doesn’t appear to have negatively affected the price of the artwork; in fact the new owner of the piece has seen a hefty increase in its value, now £1.042 million. Speculators have presented the idea that this political stunt can only have a positive impact upon Banksy’s career, sales will inevitably increase and Banksy will be ever popular in the nation’s eyes. The artist is no stranger to causing controversy as a result of his artwork. He combats many politically important issues through his work; one example of this is ‘Reverse Pat Down’. This piece of street art tackles the issue of police brutality; the role reversal of the young girl patting down the soldier highlights the discourse of pat downs and police brutality. Pushing boundaries is something that Banksy is famed for and one way he does this is by placing artwork in noteworthy locations. An excellent example of this is Banksy’s Peckham Rock, displaying a caveman scene with a shopping trolley, complete with its own information card. The piece first appeared in the British Museum in 2005 and was sat for 3 days before any staff noticed that it didn’t belong in the exhibit. Currently, Peckham Rock is on loan and back at the British Museum. It is now being featured in Ian Hislop’s exhibition, and Hislop claims that his exhibition illustrates tales of satire and subversion, fitting Banksy and his artwork down to a T. Another aspect of modern society that Banksy appears to critique through his street art is social media and how it impacts the public’s mental health. The ‘Comment Heart Request’ highlights how social media sites have a massive influence over our lives, how we view our self worth and image by depicting like, comment and follow-icons in true Instagram-style, together with a child crying because they have none. Banksy leaves no stone unturned in his piece ‘A New Meaning’, one of his most controversial pieces. Jesus is depicted on the cross, but his hands are not empty, they are filled with shopping bags. I believe this piece critiques the Christmas holiday period and how it seems to have lost its original meaning. Society has forgotten that Christmas is a religious holiday and instead focuses on material gain and what to write down on their wish lists. He reveals the uglier side to modern society in his street art. Each new piece of art critiques a different aspect of society, whether it’s social media, materialism or politics. The artist is by no means finished with being controversial in his work, and I’m looking forward to the next debate-provoking piece of street art.
Image: Pixabay.com
Jess Barrett
Powerful, exciting, awesome! After spending my Thursday evening completely engulfed in the story of a warrior queen, I can safely say that Minotaur Theatre Company’s Boudica was phenomenal. I arrived expecting excitement, courage and rebellion, and was not disappointed; the team of actors, directed by Priya Appleby and Thomas Guttridge, really delivered. Atmosphere was built through the actors, the space and the design. My heart started pounding when doors slowly opened to reveal Jess Lester as Boudica, Nancy O’Meila as Blodwynn and Alex Hayes as Alonna, all stood in powerful stances, lit from below. Synchronised chanting and stomping made for a very exciting representation of battle, and conjured up a feeling of anticipation. In one critical scene, a wounded Roman soldier was carried on stage with the words ‘DEATH TO ROME’ etched into his skin. Lizzie Brown’s makeup magic shone here as the mere sight of the wound made me queasy - it was scarily realistic. It seemed that the directors had chosen to use the audience as a tool within the play – an extra character if you will. In one scene Katherine Edwards plays a bereft
mother and addresses the audience as if crowd members. She cries out “Why are you just staring?” which made me feel like a passive onlooker on the devastation before me. In a monologue delivered by Erin Clancy as Gaius Suetonius, the lights shifted from the stage to the audience, as in an interrogation. Then the lights bled into a deep red and you knew that things would turn nasty. Battle was brought to life and the threat of the play felt real because of the team’s remarkable efforts with combat training. The grunts, the cries, the rolling around on the floor – I was astounded by the immensely realistic violence involved. I felt myself flinch during Boudica’s scene of torture, which involved some awesome lighting effects and a whip. It’s necessary that the terror of the play be presented realistically; this way, the audience are able to feel the fear, the anxiety and the power exerted, and company certainly succeeded in this. This production showcased the immense talent of the members of Minotaur Theatre Company, and I feel everyone should be
Concrete Book Review
Alex Gallacher
Melmoth by Sarah Perry Sat on one of the pews in the Unitarian Octagon Church, I cannot help but be in awe of the space. The Book Hive owners were quite right; we would not have all fit in the shop. Once upon a time, before Sarah Perry had become Sarah Perry, her book launches had been hosted in the independent bookseller’s store. But for the evening, and for Melmoth in particular, there could be no better space – the eight-sided structure means that everyone can see everything, and the Unitarian church celebrates authenticity, seeking love and justice in the world. It seems apt for this Gothic tale of the ever-watching Melmoth the wanderer; Melmoth the witness. ‘Ooh, it’s quite dark!’ remarks Perry as she’s given the pages chosen for the reading, and that same darkness permeates each and every page. The ‘drab creature’ that we meet at the novel’s outset is our … ‘heroine? – that’s pushing it a bit’. Helen Franklin is eager to slip through life unnoticed, hiding much like some of Melmoth’s other victims that we are introduced to. These are not like the cast of characters in The Essex Serpent - a cast of determined individuals and leaders eager to act - Melmoth’s characters are those who run, those who carry Image: Public Domain Pictures
the burden of guilt, and those who are eager to remain unseen. Perhaps they would be too if it wasn’t for the titular villain; a revisioning of Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer. Drawing on her conservative Christian upbringing, Perry weaves the biblical into her own created myth of Melmoth. Consequently, she crafts a character as memorable as the literary greats; Frankenstein, Dracula, Faustus. Discussing her fascination with the Gothic and with Biblical parables, Perry notes how such tales and myths allow ‘communities to encode and discuss their own fears and desires’ and to allow them to make sense of their world. One might read Melmoth as an attempt to bring back this type of literature to a disenchanted world, where politics is beyond comprehension and humanity’s outlook on the world seems bleak. Certainly, Perry sees the work as a ‘moral object’, written with ‘real rage’ and through the pain of a prolonged illness. The novel’s melancholic tone and wintry Prague setting sounds unlike the Sarah Perry that we know and love, but Melmoth is like a refreshing gust of icy air. It pierces you and lingers, and the sense of Melmoth’s gaze will haunt you long after the final page. Jodie Bailey
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Elisabeth Frink: “Humans and Other Animals” To commemorate the anniversary of her death, The Sainsbury Centre have assembled the largest collection of Elisabeth Frink’s work (Humans and Other Animals) for 25 years in tribute to the influence she had on the Art world. With over 130 pieces on display by Frink and other influential artists - some never before displayed in public the exhibition truly is spectacular. But this is not what makes this exhibition feel so contemporary. Frink was born in 1930 into an army family. Her formative years were taken up by some of the bloodiest and most gruesome sights that this world has ever seen, and this is immediately prevalent in her work. Although she was known as a bright and engaging person, her work is quite the opposite; dark, brooding and distinctly sad. Elisabeth Frink was concerned, first and foremost, with humanity and ‘human behaviour’, which she believed was eternally wounded by the events of the 20th century, stating that ‘we are becoming brutalised, we no longer respond properly to the atrocities’. And I think that many of us can really empathise with this statement. In a world so full of hatred, this exhibition is the first place I have felt those emotions truly realised. Although we are not experiencing war the way that Frink did, we as a planet have no shortage of hatred and brutality to be affected by. Perhaps most obviously reflecting this confusing worldview is Frinks motif of the warrior; a solid, naked, male figure who is at once both strong and vulnerable (and aren’t all humans, in their own ways?). They embody the idea that it is the nature of both animals and humans to fight and protect all at once in what is perhaps the most polar of all life’s opposites. In fact, the human form is found throughout Frink’s work, always pushing the limits of a body, as with The Running Man or The Bird Man.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The latter is, without wings or feathers, both human and not. Amongst this array of male bodies stands some of Frink’s earlier work. The display of birds, reflecting the flighty, protective, aggressive, beautiful nature of human beings is simply stunning. These are contrasted perfectly with works from Frinks contemporaries and current artists, my favourite being Louise Bourgeoise’s Spider II, which is so familiar yet utterly alien. They suggest that emotion and humanity aren’t synonymous with human beings themselves; an animal may feel as much love or sorrow as a human, or conversely that a human could feel less remorse or compassion than an animal. However, throughout her battle with cancer until her death in 1993, Frink changed her focus to images of The Green Man; a more uplifting side to humanity associated with rebirth and new life. Perhaps, in facing her own death, her opinions towards humanity became more positive, or perhaps it was to ease her own existentialism. We will never know. In short, this exhibition is about using art to reflect the utter hopelessness of a generation engulfed in war and threat and genocide while at the same time embracing the naturalness of what it means to be a human being. I think that this exhibition really is the centrepiece that we need right now, if only to help us as individuals to understand that it’s okay not to be happy with the state of the world, and that it is important for us to remain affected by the violence we see so often in our lives. It reminds us of what it means to be human; hope and hopelessness, aggression and protection, pain and beauty. I think that we witness enough today to need this reminder, and we need to know that we can turn these emotions into something beautiful.
Abi Steer
ABOUT LESTER THEATRE REVIEW
‘About Lester’ is a production by Coast to Coast, written and directed by third year English and Drama student Rohan Gotobed. Receiving excellent feedback from is
Freshers is difficult. And it is even harder when you have Week 1 to tackle simultaneously. Who knows when the best nights to go out are, how to complete the underlying tension between power and sex, and also as a means to emulate the destructive correlation between being beautiful and being worthy. Blurring the line the introductory work on a and wicked and how toand embark on a new and between reality and fiction, this play is both thought-provoking accusatory,hangover, inviting us to reflect upon our own moralities beliefs regarding the weighty subjects that improved are depicted. social life? originial performance back in June, I was intrigued to attend its recent revival, and was not disappointed. Wonderfully written, the cast successfully execute a range of
complex and beautifully crafted characters who all possess ambiguous moral compasses. The play serves as social commentary, reflecting on the very relevant topic of
About Lester alludes to the ramifications of the demise of high-profile celebrities and the catalytic societal changes that are created, inspiring movements such as ‘Time’s Up’, a recent political movement that has captured the attention of the world. It tells the story of Lester Burnham (the talented Charlie Douglas), who, after rising to fame as a Hollywood actor, has become immersed in stories of corruption and assault. Lester is a character who epitomizes ambition and greed, and yet still exudes a certain level of vulnerability. Greatly influenced by Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein’s fall from grace based on accusations of sexual assault, the parallels drawn from real-life scandals grounds the play to a level of realism, of which we have been spectators of over the last year. I found it particularly interesting that the play is intersected with doses of authenticity with the addition of TV clips of interviews with the two actors, as well as appearances from US President Donald Trump making misogynistic and sexist remarks, using abhorrent exclamations such as ‘grab them by the pussy!’, reiterating the gravity of the subject in a society striving for equality, with a man such as Trump in such a position of power. Nyree William’s depiction of Carolyn as a representation of a woman in power is captivating, and her character intricate. It certainly made me question my own personal response to a scenario such as the one she found herself having to confront. If the world chooses to forgive-should we too move on? Can such things be erased from the mind of the world? Should they be? The underlying tone of the play evokes a cynical view regarding the treatment and justice of sexism and sexual assault within society, alluded to by the complexities of the relationship between the women in the play, particularly that of Angela (Nancy O’Melia) and Jane (Erin Clancy). Both inspiring to be actresses, the play also explores the destructive nature of the expectations placed on women to fit a certain mould, and the harmful consequences this has on one’s feelings of self-worth. Erin and Nancy perform with sincerity and execute the more emotional scenes of the play beautifully. Whilst initially the second half of the production can be a strange transition from the world of Hollywood actors and agents we have been introduced to, the alternate reality wherein Lester is simply a teacher in a school engages the audience by creating a relatable, every day scenario that explores Lester as he would have been if he had never become an actor. Exploring the gender dynamics in a more mundane setting adds another layer of realism to the production, and subverting the roles adds
ELLA ROWDON
Image: ROHAN GOTOBED
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One of Us: July 22
In a poem about the German occupation of Norway, Norwegian writer Nordahl Grieg states that “We are so few in this country/ Each fallen is friend and brother.” This mentality from the war-years resurfaced on July 22 2011, when 77 people were killed in coordinated terrorist attacks. Eight people died after a car bomb went off in the executive government quarter in Oslo, and 69 more people were killed in a massacre on the island of Utøya, where the Labour Party held their annual youth camp. The man behind the attacks, Anders Behring Breivik, claimed to have acted in order to protect Norway from multiculturalism.
This year, two feature films about the attacks have been released in quick succession; one Norwegian, one English. Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s film “Utøya 22. juli” premiered in March to almost unanimous praise, while Paul Greengrass’s “22 July” was released on Netflix last week. Based on Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad’s 2013 book One of Us, Greengrass’s film depicts both attacks as well as their aftermath. Jonas Strand Gravli plays the film’s protagonist Viljar Hanssen, who was only 17 years old when he was shot five times by the terrorist. Anders Danielsen Lie has taken on the difficult and muchdiscussed task of playing Breivik. I am not sure how I feel about the decision to have all the actors speak English, and I’m also slightly disappointed by the many simplifications in Greengrass’s script, where his use of clichéd phrases sometimes makes the characters act more like symbols than threedimensional people. But then I realised this film was not made for me: Paul Mason, of New Statesman, writes of Greengrass’s film, “few of us have a vivid mental image of what happened on that day.” To the rest of the world, July 22 did not feel personal. But to us, each fallen was a friend and a brother. However, we may have been too focused on this mournful sense of unity to truly examine Breivik’s ideas and where they came from. Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten all but confirmed this when they, days before the seventh anniversary of the attacks, revealed how young survivors are still harassed and threatened on their lives. The murderous hatred is still out there; it is channelled through letters and social media, and it re-traumatises those who, in 2011, feared their lives would end on an island in the Tyrifjord. This is why it is important that Greengrass made a film that can reach a wider audience, as, since 2011, right-wing extremism has been on the rise. Many of Breivik’s opinions about immigration and multiculturalism are now openly discussed in public debates and on mainstream platforms. Although it may seem tasteless, some stories need to be retold, in many different formats meant for many different audiences, again and again, so that we know what is out there. Aftenposten’s revealing article meant that we could no longer insist on the marginality of Breivik’s world-view. Towards the end of Greengrass’ film, Breivik assures his attorney Geir Lippestad that others will “finish what we started.” “And we will beat you”, Lippestad responds. “You can’t even see us,” says Breivik, and once again I am reminded of a line from Grieg’s poem: “Worse than burning cities/Is the war that no one can see.” We didn’t see him – to us he came out of nowhere. Perhaps we still don’t really see him, because he was, after all, one of us. To read a longer edition of this review, visit Concrete-Online.co.uk. Image: Wikimedia Commons
Johanne Elster Hanson
Mississippi Burning and the White Gaze Mississippi Burning is a tense historical thriller that tells the story of the FBI investigation into the murder of three civil rights activists during the Freedom Summer campaign by several KKK members. The film won an Oscar and has a fantastic cast, starring Gene Hackman as Agent Anderson and Willem Defoe as Agent Ward. Many would argue that this film is a classic and yet… As a viewer looking back on this film, who has become far more aware of the subtleties of the treatment of race in film, I cannot help but feel troubled. Despite the film prizing freedom, truth and equality, the way that the film works serves at times to reiterate negative stereotypes and the pervasive trope of the ‘white saviour’. The problem with the movie is not the story itself. The plot and action, even if not one hundred percent historically accurate, makes for a moving and compelling viewing. The issue with Mississippi Burning is the mechanics of how it operates and its perspective. With a white director, the film is crafted through the ‘white gaze’ - the act of seeing, or being seen, through the perspective of only white people, often navigating black people’s experiences.
Jordan Peele’s revolutionary film, Get Out, challenges the white narrative of cinema by exploring the dangers of the white gaze in modern America. His film forces the audience to question the restrictive and constraining image of black people that is created and sustained by white stereotypes. Not only inherently racist and sometimes openly aggressive, the white gaze can also be subtle and attempt to assimilate black people into white culture. Yet, despite the attempt of black artists and writers to challenge the white narrative, the lack of black directors in cinema means that it is rarely challenged in film. In Mississippi Burning, the film’s good intentions are undermined by its attempts to garner sympathy from a white audience by situating the black community as voiceless victims. Despite Martin Luther King Jr. having visited the town a month after the disappearances of the three activists and the film being set during the Freedom Summer movement, no prominent black figures are included in the film except for a young black child and a black FBI officer. Neither are given extended roles in the narrative, let alone wellrounded ones. The persistent motif of burnt churches and
their black congregations singing, although hopeful, limits the film’s concept of what it is to be black and its exploration of black culture. It displays these black Mississippians as passive, and the focus on the white FBI officers contribute to the trope of the white saviour and strips black characters of their agency. Some may argue that this was the power relations at the time, but I would say that the film oversimplifies the true historical narrative. In so doing, Mississippi Burning tries to un-‘other’ black people, and, whilst it attempts to remind us all of what is common to all humans, it whitewashes the narrative entirely; eroding, erasing, and rewriting what it is to be black. It takes away the voice of the black community, as much as it tries to protect it. Perhaps Mississippi Burning is just failing to stand the test of time, it’s treatment of racism and black culture is not strong enough by today’s standards. But perhaps by watching it and enjoying it with a critical eye that does not blindly accept the white gaze, then maybe we might be able to learn from it.
Jodie Bailey
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Like what you see? Visit Concrete-Online.co.uk for even more great film content! 09
Blade: The Most Underrated Superhero Film of the Last Twenty Years
Black Panther: praised for its “unprecedented” inclusion of a black lead in a superhero film. Deadpool: lauded as the first commercially successful R-rated Marvel movie. And yet, neither of these films deserve the credit. Both honours belong to director Stephen Norrington’s 1998 horror-action film, Blade. With the movie celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, one can make the case for Blade being one of – if not THE – most underrated superhero films of the past two decades. Based on the Marvel comic-book character of the same name, Blade is a blood-pumping thrill-ride of 90s high-octane action and chaotic horror-badassery. Wesley Snipes plays the titular character, a half-human/half- vampire, who inherited the strengths of a vampire from his human mother, who was bitten whilst Blade was still in his mother’s womb. This alone, as a concept, should win you over for why this film is brilliant. ‘Blade - Part Man. Part Vampire. All Hero.’, as the D.V.D. cover puts it, enables Snipes to portray one of the more interesting cinematic action heroes. In a decade of everyman John McClane’s and superhuman T-800s, Blade’s character takes the humanity of the former and fantasy of the latter to create an empathetic and interesting protagonist for the audience. Blade’s mix of mortality and monstrosity, with the very human motive of wishing to avenge his mother’s death, creates a likeable, interesting, and relatable protagonist for the audience – one who is both down-to-earth and out-of-this-world. Oh, and did I mention that Blade is black? Although skin colour does not and should not always define a film, Blade - along with other films like In the Heat of the Night and Moonlight – is a landmark for black representation in cinema, not only being the first commercially successful Marvel movie, but also the first critically acclaimed superhero film featuring an African-American lead. This alone should cement Blade a
place in film history.
This does not even consider the impact Blade had on the film industry as a whole. Blade proved once again, following the success of Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, that adult superhero movies could be commercially viable. However, Blade used unprecedented levels of blood and gore that would have never been permitted on the set of Tim Burton’s Batman. Gore in comic book films – as seen in Deadpool - has its origins in Blade, a movie whose franchise re-established Wesley Snipes as an action star, and helped launch the Hollywood careers of a multitude of directors, writers, and actors, including Guillermo del Toro, David S. Goyer, and a certain Ryan Reynolds... And yet, hardly anyone talks about this film. Not to say that Blade doesn’t have fans. It is a muchloved action franchise, with a cult following and a small, but noticeable presence in modern popular culture. But this is not enough. Blade is so much more than just another schlocky 90s action film. Back when Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin was still in recent memory, Stephen Norrington and David S. Goyer made Blade - a dark, adult piece of superhero cinema, whose influence prevails in the modern film industry. The progress Blade made in the development of superhero films and the advancement of black cinema appears to have been eclipsed by the work of the modern M a r v e l Cinematic Universe, and other Marvel-inspired movies like Deadpool. Perhaps Black Panther and Deadpool simply had better timing? Even so, this does not justify Black Panther or Deadpool being given total credit for improving black representation in the superhero film genre, or demonstrating to producers the commercial viability of R-rated superhero flicks. Instead, this justifies exactly how ahead of its time Blade actually was, and how much more recognition this action-horror masterpiece deserves for innovating the modern superhero.
Dylan Bailey
5 Halloween Clichés and How to Avoid them! Finding a Halloween costume is always a tricky task. Do you play it safe and go as something everyone will recognise that ten other people will also have dressed up as? Or should you go as something a bit more obscure and deal with people asking what you’re supposed to be all night?
1. The Cat
As Halloween is getting closer, it’s easier to just throw on some cat ears, draw some eyeliner whiskers, and wear an all-black outfit and say you’re done. Many girls, including myself, have done this on Halloween as a last-ditch attempt at a costume. When you consider the fact that Amazon sells cat ears for less than £4, it’s tempting but do you really want to wear the same costume as half the other people at the party? No, you do not.
even meet your Prince (or Princess) Charming, but does that mean you have to wear a princess dress in order to find them? Absolutely not. Snow White and Cinderella are not exactly the scariest characters in all of Disney so perhaps shake it up and go as a villain instead? Maleficent, Ursula, or the Queen of Hearts are some great candidates for this year’s Halloween costume. Remember, you don’t have to be a princess to be the bell of the Halloween ball.
2. White T-shirt covered in Blood
This is usually worn by a guy who put on his usual clothes and then covered himself in fake blood five minutes before pres started. It’s almost guaranteed that his friends will do the same and they will spend the night walking around like they just got into a fight with a gang of ketchup bottles. While this low effort costume may be tempting, just know now that no one will be able to tell any of you apart.
3. Disney Princesses
Anything can happen in the LCR on Halloween and you might
4. Superheroes
Superman, Spiderman, and Batman always make an appearance at least once at Halloween and you’ll see a couple of others from this year’s Hollywood superhero blockbusters. In 2016, we saw a wave of Harley Quinn’s appear on Halloween and this year there will probably be a high number of Marvel superheroes hitting the scene. But
most of us have seen the movies and could have stayed in on Halloween to rewatch them if we wanted to see those costumes again.
5. Anything Culturally Appropriative or Racist
Sticking feathers in your hair to look like a Native American, pulling on a flowery skirt to look like a Hula dancer, or dressing up like a sombrero-wearing Mexican may seem like funny jokes to some. But it’s important to remember that people’s cultures aren’t something to be worn one night and then tossed away the next. Wearing costumes that play on or laugh at stereotypes of a particular group of people are disrespectful and dehumanizing. Throw the idea out of the window and spend your time on making something that will actually be enjoyable for everyone on Halloween. So, what goes into a good Halloween costume? Well, make sure it’s not something you’ve already seen ten times before, try and be as original as possible. Group costumes are always fun but avoid ones that are going to make you and your mates all look identical. Perhaps ask yourself, is the costume actually scary? If not, then try to make it more scream-worthy. But above all else, your costume should be something that can be fun and enjoyable for everybody, not just a few.
Eve Mathews
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Eco Fashion: A trend for the future Conscious trends can be found in a plethora of stores worldwide, and it is becoming increasingly popular by the day, proving fashion has been no stranger to the eruption of the eco-age. This trend includes anything from the use of organic cotton to the recycling clothes campaign in H&M. The reason for this is that sustainable fashion is the future. The rising awareness amongst consumers, especially the millennials, has led to higher demand for sustainable products. Microfibers from clothes are eaten by plankton in the sea, hence are capable of reaching toxic levels in humans, due to bioaccumulation. Dyes used in colourful and patterned clothes, a staple in almost every store, are responsible for being the second biggest contributor to water pollution.
“Norwich is a fine shopping destination and is home to many stores that offer ethical clothing options” Sustainable fashion essentially refers to products that have been produced in the most eco-friendly manner possible. A fine example would be the use of organic cotton and hemp to make clothes instead of regular cotton or wool. The growth of organic cotton requires lower amounts of water, fertilisers and pesticides compared to regular cotton or hemp. The Loop Shoe, a part of Stella McCartney’s fall
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collection 2018, uses technical stitching to replace the glue in trainers. Tanning in vegetable dyes is a part of this movement, and Paradise Row, London, is well known for its sustainable bags. Not only have newer boutiques offering sustainable fashion sprung up, such as the luxurious Reve en Vert, but affluent fashion brands have also taken steps to provide ethical fashion to its consumers. Stella McCartney has avoided using fur and feathers in their products, and consciously use only recycled polyester.
“The growth of organic cotton requires lower amounts of water, fertilisers and pesticides” Companies such as H&M and Marks & Spencer offer benefits for customers that offer to return their used clothes to be recycled. An eco-collection can be found in widespread stores like Mango as well as the student-friendly Asos. Norwich, a fine shopping destination, is home to many stores that offer ethical clothing options. Sahara, Norwich, offers elegant clothes made from sustainably grown hemp, although their prices might be quite steep. Nobody’s child is a popular brand found in Topshop and other stores, that is known for its complete control over its supply chain and hence its ability to maintain ethical standards. Its prices are affordable for students as well, which makes it a great place to shop.
“People Tree is a fantastic place to shop, located by Castle Mall” Another ethical fashion brand (with student-friendly prices) that is a fantastic place to shop is People Tree, found by Castle Mall, Norwich. Nancy Dee, Bibico and Thought are other online shops where one can find sustainably produced clothes. Primark, a student favourite, has also recently come into the spotlight with its Sustainable Cotton Programme. And of course, we have the well-known H&M conscious and Asos’ Eco-edit collections. While there have been plenty measures taken to promote sustainable fashion, we still have a long way to go, to revolutionise the fashion industry.
Swetha Nataraja
Image credit: Spence Dahl, Unsplash
Dungarees, love them or hate them? Dungarees are the fashionworld’s gift to lovers of comfort and practicality. Not only is the word itself super satisfying to pronounce, but wearing dungarees brings about a feeling of freedom that few other outfits can. They have the ability to give their wearers a free-spiritedness akin to Meryl Streep’s character on her Greek Island in Mamma Mia. They have been around for longer than time itself it seems, with the term having been in circulation since the 17th century. Unlike much of our Western closet, dungarees transcend gendered fashion
boundaries, offering all genders, ages, and sizes a comfortable but fashionable look. Dungarees are effortless; the wearer does not have to worry about whether their tops and bottoms are matching because just about anything can go underneath dungarees whether you dress them up with a funky shirt underneath or dress them down with just a casual t-shirt. They can go from a practical and fun daytime outfit to classy and cool eveningwear just by simply switching up some accessories or shoes. Brands such as Lucy & Yak are bringing ethically-sourced
cotton dungarees with bold designs to the forefront along with some brightly-coloured corduroy pieces, giving an exciting new twist to the classic blue or black denim look. These more experimental styles, have enabled dungarees to make the jump from a practical and relatively conventionallooking item to an exciting statement piece. Dungarees are an Autumn/Winter wardrobe staple, with the option to sport a long-sleeved top or a jumper underneath for those chillier days. Dungarees are the perfect investment at this time of year.
Mary O’Driscoll
Up-cycling: a new lease of life for your clothes What is upcycling and why it’s important? Upcycling is designed to encourage people to be innovative in the way they use things by converting tired products into new products. It promotes reusing over discarding, hence benefiting the environment, and is necessary to substitute the simplicity of buying new consumer goods. Here are three easy tips on how you can upcycle your tired clothing:
Be imaginative
There’s no right way to upcycle. When you see an interesting piece of clothing that might be a snazzy additional piece to that t-shirt you are working on, go for it. Maybe that old lace table cloth could replace the ripped part of your favourite shorts; get stitching. Perhaps that old t-shirt could be made into t-shirt yarn which you could
use to make a scarf in time for the winter. Everything you see can be upcycled, the secret is how creative you are to give a new purpose to the clothes that you already own.
Considerations
There are always things to consider when starting off a new project. What are the levels of your expertise? How skilled are you with stitching, sewing, embroidery, knitting? Do you have the equipment you need to piece the clothes together? It is good to be prepared before starting a project but at the same time, it’s a learning process. You can always learn how to use a sewing machine or master the art of embroidery; it’s trial and error so have fun with it.
Experiment with your fashion style
In this era of fast fashion, everyone on the streets ends
up wearing the same style of clothing from H&M, Top Shop, Hollister and other wellknown fashion brands. With upcycling, you are not bound to the same constraints as the established multinational fashion companies; you are your own fashion designer. You have the power to be unique, to stand out with your own design and style. There are so many materials, colours and a wealth of ideas to inspire you out there. Have a go and show off your own unique clothing. Be bold and be you! The most important tip of all is to respect your re-loved clothing because you have put so much effort into it.Never be afraid to get started with upcycling because there are never mistakes, only lessons.
Sylvie Tan
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TRICKS
HOW TO ANSWER YOUR DOOR
It’s that time of the year again when you can expect some impending knocks on the door, to be greeted by various creatures of the night or characters from Frozen. Not to mention the accompanying adults reliving their childhoods vicariously through their children, trying to look bored. This week, I have pondered the ritual of Halloween, and the ‘Trick or Treat!’ mantra that is spouted at you once you have given up hiding and decide to open the door. While giving out free food to other people and pretending to enjoy it is a hoot and all, it’s made me ponder over the decorum of the exchange. Why, I wonder, do we have to remain hostage to the Trick or Treaters? Perhaps, just maybe, this could be the year that we turn the tide on this little festivity and play some tricks of our own. It would certainly save us £5 and a trip to Tescos. SOME FUN IDEAS FOR POTENTIAL TRICKS: • • • • • •
Return their ‘Trick or Treat!’ greeting by saying it back to them, hold out bucket and look at them expectantly. Go all Home Alone and throw a fake tarantula at their face. As soon as you have shut the door, run out the back to next door and answer there too. Do this for the whole street. Pretend to be a Jehovah’s Witness, give them a Bible and a short lecture about Satan. Release pet bats through the window. Egg them.
If these don’t quite do it for you, the standard plastic turd in the place of a treat is better than remaining shackled to the front porch, reluctantly handing out sweets to strangers and their children. Or we can all just go back to turning the lights off and hiding behind our sofas.
Image: Oriental Interiors
HOW TO DECORATE ‘Tis the season to be spooky, and living off of campus means every Halloween-loving student has the opportunity to pimp up their front door. No Halloween is complete without a pumpkin. Go pumpkin picking as something fun to do with your housemates or purchase one from the local supermarket. Having a lit pumpkin outside your door is a surefire way to give the Trick or Treaters the go ahead to ringing your doorbell. If you’re crafty or not, it’s no matter! Pumpkin carving doesn’t require a lot of skill and it’s a great way to get into the spooky spirit. Another decorative item that no student house is complete without is bunting. In the shape of bats, skulls, skeletons or pumpkins, there is no way you could do wrong with a few strings of bunting. It’s a lot cheaper to get than pumpkins but still shouts that you’re ready to Trick or Treat. Next on our list is the ever-fun window stickers. Not a single window in the house should feel left out, go wild! Set your inner child loose and create little scenes on your glass or chuck them on randomly. Window stickers are also quite cheap and are usually sold in most pound shops. The stickers are fun and funky so they are definitely worth your time and your precious pennies. In this fairy light loving world we live in, a few shops appear to come out with a Halloween themed range. Like bunting but better, fairy lights will brighten up your life and the front of your student digs. However, these are more expensive than the other options so only the truly committed will splash the cash for a sparkly and spooky Halloween!
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35mm: documenting music Becoming more and more popular, the music documentary is hard to define. A diverse medium, it can serve as a person’s biography, narrate an artist’s musical life, explore a genre or be a recording of a performance. All to inform or entertain the viewership, us. ‘Amy’ covers the life of Amy Winehouse, a member of the infamous 27 Club. Documentaries like this seek to narrate their musical life up until their death. Serving as a visual memorial, they are a way of getting closer to an artist that we will never be able to see again, by talking to those that were close to the artist in life. Labelled controversial, ‘Amy’
blames the viewers (and the rest of our generation) for her untimely death. “This started off as a film about Amy, but it became a film about how our generation lives” the director Asif Kapadia starts “It was important to turn the mirror back on the audience – not just the people around Amy who were making decisions, but the people who wrote about it, the people who consumed it, the people who shared it on Twitter and Facebook. We all let this happen. We are all slightly complicit.” In the documentary ‘Matangi Maya M.I.A.’ (to be released this year) there is as much a focus on politics as music, The Atlantic
boldly states ‘[t]his is not a normal pop documentary’. We learn that M.I.A.’s most famous song, Paper Planes, seeks to address the stereotypes that are placed upon refugees. Being a refugee herself after fleeing the Sri Lankan civil war, she seeks to use her platform to inform people of the issues that they face. ‘Amy’ and ‘Matangi Maya M.I.A.’ are merely two examples of music documentaries that serve to show the range of issues that can be covered, and therefore explain the enduring popularity of the music documentary.
Molly Bates-Porter
Spooky Scary Skele-tunes Sunny Hill - Midnight Michael
Jackson
- Christopher Larkin -
Circus
Thriller
Soul Sanctum
Midnight Circus coaxes you in with an off-kilter piano melody; welcoming you to an enthralling, yet unsettling, show caught in a kaleidoscope of adlibs, horns, and rollicking percussion. Ensnaring theatricality, eclectic polish, and pseudo-psychedelic jazz with the thrill and sleaze of a circus show struggling to keep itself together.
This choice may seem obvious but it’s a classic! The original music video for this song had people dressed up as Zombies and it started the iconic red leather jacket trend (This is the jacket that Michael Jackson wears in the video). If this comes on at a Halloween party its sure to get a crowd trying to recreate the famous dance moves.
Taken from the video game Hollow Knight, Soul Sanctum soundtracks a land of warped souls and evil experimentation in a beautiful game. Organ-led and sounding like what a haunted house looks like, Soul Sanctum is a tapestry of uneasiness that should adorn the speakers of any lover of classic horror soundtracks.
Danny Brown - Ain’t It Funny
Bobby Pickett - Monster Stein - Stranger Things
There’s nothing quite like existential terror and substance abuse; dictated by a charismatic nutjob revelling in his downward spiral. The skittery, distorted horns here sound almost pained. Danny Brown frames this moment of personal clarity within an active nightmare like some sort comedy skit, urging us to laugh with him.
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Kyle Dixon and Michael
Maddi Hastings
Mash The Monster Mash is a childhood favourite of mine and absolutely cannot be left out of a Halloween playlist. This nostalgic song is great for a child’s game of musical chairs and doubles as a cheesy pick for a teenage or mid-twenties Halloween gathering.
Gabriela Williams
Another soundtrack number and one that will sadly be absent from most TV sets for the first time in three years and Stranger Things takes a longer break than usual. The throbbing synth and spare and buried heartbeat are both a marvel of atmosphere and production. If you want a horror number that will send you upside down, there is no better.
Nick Mason
Charitable chords: Oxjam Norwich As the days get shorter, the leaves fall, and the possibility of drinking your pint in a beer garden slips away, now seems like a good time to remember all the great things coming up this winter to look forward to. Halloween, bonfire night, selfies at the Christmas tunnel of lights… and Oxjam music festival 2018! Taking place on the 10th November, this year’s festival is truly taking over our fine city, with music and spoken word taking place across multiple venues about town, including The Bicycle Shop, The Birdcage, Bedford’s Crypt, and the Magdalen Street Oxfam shop (where the mega successful ‘Women of Oxjam’ fundraiser took place last month). The wristband ticket allows complete access to all the venues, meaning you can turn Norwich into your very own Glastonbury for the day…although hopefully with nicer toilets.
The line-up this year is really something to get excited about, jampacked with amazing performers – including local bigshots such as indie band perfection Marigolds, the super cool electro sibling duo LEIFXMATHI, and sultry poprockers Sisteray (travelling all the way from London as part of a tour of Oxjam festivals around the country!). Even more excitingly, plenty of our very own UEA talent will also be making appearances. Pop-punk four-piece Space Is Big are guaranteed to fill the room with their high energy gritty punk goodness, while UEA musical BNOC Yellowlees is an act not to be missed, performing straight off the back of the release of his EP ‘Homemade’. Whatever music you’re into, there’s bound to be something for you.
charity. One hundred percent of the profits raised from the event goes to Oxfam, helping them to continue to do amazing work around the world to combat poverty… which in itself is a pretty awesome reason to get yourself a ticket. You can stay up to date by following the Oxjam Norwich Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for more exciting line-up announcements, and early bird tickets are available now via www. wegottickets.com for just £8… so what are you waiting for? Get your ticket today and get ready to start Oxjamming!
Georgia Rees-Lang
Another amazing thing to remember is exactly why Oxjam happens: to raise money for
Soundtracking your nightmares The soundtrack to any horror is vital. Jason Voorhees’ killing spree would hardly work as a horror if it was set to 80s staple Girls Just Want to Have Fun. The legendary chestburster scene in Alien would be a non-starter if Freddie Mercury was belting out his desire to break free as it happened. It is all too easy to say when a horror soundtrack wouldn’t work, but far harder to decipher what works in horror soundtracks. A definite sense of mood and purpose is the first matter which will determines the effectiveness of horror. Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein’s soundtrack for Stranger Things is fleetingly mentioned overleaf, but special mention must be given to the care it entails. Using analogue synths, a favourite of the 80s, to create the backdrop for an 80s-themed horror seems so obvious, yet not many would
have aimed for it. However, Stranger Things deserves credit for its usage of the 80s staples shunned in the introduction of the article. Toto’s Africa appears during one of the tensest scenes of the first season and it is this breaking of conventions, whilst respecting the mood and purpose of the source material, which makes it so effective. Horror sits outside of the cinema mainstream. When treated with soundtrack conventions, such as in big budget horrors, the clichés come out in full force. Out-of-tune pianos, loud crashes and an attempt to create ‘fear’ (read into that as many quotation marks as you see fit) come to the fore. But the greatest horror soundtracks have never followed this trend. The theme to Halloween is fastpaced and slightly corny, Alien revels in a sparse but more traditional orchestral sound.
Paranormal Activity truly bucked the trend and decided to have no soundtrack at all. Nothing in these films resembles the annual franchise horrors where reliability and predictability, in production and the inevitable poor reviews, pervade the culture. The horror soundtracks which stick with us, in turn keeping the film or show with us, are those which understand the subject matter and break conventions to follow it. In such an unconventional medium as horror, there is room to play with sound, atmosphere and instrumentation. Those powerful soundtracks are the ones which decide to experiment. After all, slamming a piano lid down only works until it is the obvious conclusion to the scene.
Nick Mason
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You Me At Six: reVItalisation Surrey-bred rock band, You Me At Six, have given us their sixth album, conveniently titled ‘VI’ (just in case you forgot). Whilst eclectic would be stretching it, styles do switch throughout providing something for everyone, as long as you like rock. It is refreshing to hear a band that have done so well sticking to their rock roots in the past branching out, even if it is into the pop style.
was aiming for. From the bassled IOU to the more mainstream Back Again which has a slightly odd Coldplay tone to it.
The band brought on pop producer Eg White who’s worked with artists from Paloma Faith to Tom Grennan. This can be heard consistently from the first track ‘Fast Forward’ which open the album on some shy synths before breaking into a storm of guitars and drums and is one of the strongest tracks of the piece.
This brings us to the minor gripe with this album: it’s what the optimist in me wants to call an easy listen. This installment amalgamates into just another pop-rock album of 2018. This, however, appears to be deliberate, the chart-like sounds which can appear messy at times enable the album to flip between styles track-totrack whilst somehow keeping a consistent sound. From the angsty Predictable that invites headbanging to the strung out chorus bluntly opposed by harmony-led Losing You’ You Me At Six have spread themselves across the rock genre in a slick fashion.
The preceding singles perfectly encapsulate what the album
Despite minor shortcomings, for a band who promoted this latest
release with a vegan kebab shop called ‘You Me At Shish’ they’ve produced several standout tracks and an album that invites you to listen no matter the mood.
Joseph Saul
Fatherson: Scot-rock takeover It seems somewhat fitting that Fatherson have arrived in Norwich on World Mental Health Day. The band have always been candid with mental health and feelings of loneliness, painting a cinematic background that has united a cult fanbase in singalongs and earnest connection. Ever huge on record, the band face the challenge of keeping their immense sound live for their first headline Norwich show in a room less than a fifth of the size of the last venue they rocked up to: a sold-out LCR. Opening the nights proceedings, however, are Norwich locals Prey Drive. Similarly huge on record, the band are cursed with a mix thinner than Donald Trump’s skin. For all the energy and conviction, the band put behind their incredible songs, they are let down by a disappointing front of house sound. They battle through and sell
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themselves well, despite this, coming away as one of the local scene’s finest. The same cannot, unfortunately, be said of Blue Americans, a band who are so monumentally dull and lacking in any genuine emotion that they could be described as the musical equivalent of jellyfish. Sounding like a toothless Panic at the Disco rip-off, the band trawl through a set of Death of a Bachelor Z-sides ticking every set piece they can. Standing on the PA system, check. Signing in the (incredibly uninterested) crowd, check. Flipping their guitars behind their back a la Bruce Springsteen, check. Emotion, sadly lacking. As the closing notes of their set ring out, Blue Americans have left a room puzzled by how a band with so little going for them could act so confidently. Fatherson, thankfully, leave no such impression. As with Prey
Drive, the band are hindered by a poor mix, but frontman Ross Leighton’s vocals still soar and the driving instrumentals make it through simply due to a band willing to adapt and power through. Touching on all three of their albums, Ross steps onto stage for a solo rendition of Joanna, with a heartfelt tribute to the importance of looking after mental health. It’s one of the bands deeper cuts, but stands with stark beauty as a highlight of the set. Hitting the last couple of favourites and finishing on Charm School, the band walk off stage and into the bowels of Waterfront Studio with a calm confident, sure that they left a lasting impression on the crowd. They absolutely earned that confidence.
Nick Mason
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onli concrete-
Game opinions: what to look for in a horror game this Halloween What makes an effective horror game? What is it about titles like Darkwood, Resident Evil 7 or the timeless classic Silent Hill 2 that make our toes curl and keep us watching our backs hours after we’ve put down the controller? Horror games - good ones, anyway - are all about making the player feel weak. Monstrous beasts lose their impact when you can blow off their head. Think of Resident Evil 6, which was essentially a zombie shooter with the Resident Evil name
War, legends and classics: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey As the developing team behind one of the most played franchises in the last decade, in recent years Ubisoft seemed to approach their award-winning Assassin’s Creed series with the perspective that ‘bigger is better’ - and although that’s run them into some trouble with previous titles, this mindset may have just been what was needed for the breath-taking new release Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Released earlier this month on October 5th, Ubisoft reported that Odyssey had “the franchise’s best launch-week per-
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slapped on it. Then consider how you tense whenever hearing the ominous clicking of the infected in The Last of Us - you know that if you get caught, you may well be screwed. But monsters and how you fight them are only part of the story. Some of the best horror titles will make you feel so alone in that if you were to scream, you’re acutely aware no one would hear you. This is done best when the environment closes in on you. Darkwood’s formance of this console generation”, and all it takes is a few hours of gameplay to understand why. Set in the mythological and vibrant world of Ancient Greece, featuring rolling hills, rocky mountains, sun-kissed islands, and a vast ocean for you to explore, you’ll find yourself instantly drawn into the epic tale of either Kassandra or her brother, Alexios. In this traditional-style RPG, not only is the picturesque setting and gripping storyline fit for a classical hero, but there’s also enough combat variety to satisfy all kinds of action. This game challenges you with enemies ranging from brutish thugs and wild beasts to great political figures and chilling monsters straight out of ancient legends throughout. It isn’t long before you begin on your quest as a revengeful assassin, mastering your skills to become the great-
Images: BagoGames, Flickr; Instacodez, Flickr; Raptorex, Devianart
pitch black forest, with only a small cone of light for vision, does this perfectly. Or Resident Evil 7’s abandoned plantation. Even when you do meet people in these environments, they are madly aggressive, or as weak and helpless as you are, only adding to the hopelessness of your situation. It’s being left on your own, amidst the dark, knowing you might well be too weak to fight, that truly makes a great horror title.
M. A. H. Neal est hunter, warrior and thief in a period of intellectual prowess and extraordinary traditions. From the off, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has a warmth that the preceding title Origins was
lacking. There’s something particularly enchanting about Kassandra, one of two playable protagonists, who happens to be Ubisoft’s confirmed ‘canon’ character of the game, her journey inspired by stories of the Assassin Creed novels. Sharp, empathetic, witty and willful, several critics have claimed she’s perhaps the best assassin in the franchise so far, dominating the field with her upbeat personality and emotional intellect, the shortfalls of prior, hypermasculine characters. However, the game is also the first in the series to give an option to who you’d like to play as - if Kassandra isn’t to your liking, you can take the role of Alexios, who is just as diligent as
his female counterpart. In fact, player choice within this game goes to extents never before seen in the franchise, with additions of various dialogue options, mission solutions, and role playing possibilities to craft an individual experience best suited to your style. There’s even opportunities to flirt, if it takes your fancy - although a fullblown romance unfortunately appears to be off the cards. Be warned - because as usual with player choice comes the possibility of fatal consequences. With reportedly various endings to Odyssey, you’ll have to make your decisions wisely. If this sort of thing doesn’t keep you engaged in a game, and you’re playing
for a great experience rather than the stress of narrative development, then there’s also no need to worry - Ubisoft have you covered. Odyssey’s insane visuals matched with it’s indepth content on the history and culture of Ancient Greece invites you to a world that, honestly, is begging for you to explore and learn from. Further content for the game will be available in December, with the release of the first part of the episodic ‘Legacy of the First Blade’ DLC - but with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey being so beautiful, intricate, and captivating on release, I’m sure we’ll be satisfied until then.
Jordan Hunnisett
Cyanide take on H.P. Lovecraft in Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game This Halloween, game developers Cyanide give us the opportunity to delve into their take on the mysterious and haunting universe of H.P. Lovecraft, with their upcoming release Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game. Based on the 1928 short story by famed horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, as well as Chaosium’s 1981 role-playing game of the same title, Call of Cthulhu is a role-playing survival horror video game, soon to be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows. The game’s cryptic narrative relies heavily on both visuals and in-game mechanics to deliver a haunting and
immersive experience for the player following the game’s protagonist Edward Pierce as he investigates the obscure and eerie goings on of Darkwater Island, following the mysterious death of the Hawkins family, near Boston, Massachusetts in the 1920s. Pierce, a private detective and war veteran in an alcohol-fuelled existential crisis, inspects the island for clues while dealing with conspiracies, secret cults and psychological horrors in a true Lovecraftian manner. This proves similar to games such as Outlast and Alien Isolation, which rely more on stealth as opposed to combat, Pierce developing skills such as Eloquence and Psychology to
gain the trust of sinister locals, and Medicine and Occultism which give him insight into the clues he finds around the island. With eerie darkness and ghoulish green glows, the game’s otherworldly visuals set up and reinforce the games ominous narrative, heightening the strange visions and building tension before the terrorising jump scares. Additionally, the game’s notable sanity mechanic really captures the classic Lovecraftian theme of ‘forbidden knowledge’, in which his characters often uncover knowledge that ultimately leaves them with crippling regret, for what they have learned has the
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potential to psychologically destroy them. Similar to other survival games such as Eternal Darkness and Don’t Starve, Call of Cthulhu has an in-built ‘sanity system’; based on how the game is played, certain circumstances can cause Pierce to begin to lose his mind, leading to the development of phobias such as claustrophobia, and paranoia, causing Pierce to hallucinate, that will affect the rest of the game’s outcome. This may manifest in Pierce finding clues
Recently played: Civilization VI You’ll be hard pressed to find a PC gamer who has never played, or at least heard of, Sid Meier’s Civilization series. Since 1991, these games have mercilessly driven players to disregard their work, lives and loved ones in order to seek glory in building the biggest, strongest and wealthiest empires the world has ever seen. Needless to say, twenty-seven years and six iterations later, Civilization has become no less addictive, only a lot more advanced. Having loved the preceding title in the series, Civilization V, I was dissapointed when I discovered that many were not fans of the on-sale and recently released Civiliation VI. A common complaint was that not much had been changed in the
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six years between V and VI, and that the new artistic choices were something of a step backwards. It’s true that Civ VI is similar to V in terms of dynamic, but the biggest problem, by far, is how temperamental the AI leaders are. Any small transgression is now punished by denouncement and war. It’s difficult to repair relationships once they are broke, forcing players towards military victories rather than the peaceful alternatives. That said, I don’t necessarily think that Civ V is a better game. The fresh look of VI is a great change, in my opinion, with smoother animation and more detail. The dynamic of having specialized ‘districts’
Images: steamXO, Flickr; tofoil-douglas, Flickr
that don’t actually exist, or being attacked by monsters that are simply a figment of his imagination, shaping the narrative of the game and potentially sending Pierce down a rabbit hole of increasingly chaotic and misleading events. Set to be released on October 30th 2018, Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game will provide us with the cosmic madness and ominous horror we deserve just in time for Halloween, when the real monsters come out to play.
Abbigail Steer
for different types of building allows all construction to be animated on the map, and the ability to place wonders in their own tile, rather than leaving it to the AI, helps assist space management. On top of this, religion can now be utilized for victory. Spies, too, have been updated with a whole arsenal of abilities and options. The same can be said for the masterpiece dynamics, the social policies and methods of warfare. Overall, I would say that Civilization VI is a very different game to V. Almost every dynamic has been edited, even if only very slightly. It’s more engaging, complicated and realistic. Apart from a couple of issues with touchy AI’s, Civ VI is an amazing game... but only when it’s on sale. For pity’s sake don’t go paying the full price of £49.99. We’re students after all.
Seàn Bennett
The Haunting of Hill House: The Terror of Trauma Not to be confused with House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting of Hill House begins as you would expect from any horror fiction concerning a haunted house. A family moves into their new home – a mysterious mansion – and soon they experience supernatural happenings. But it soon becomes clear that this 10-episode long show is a much different beast than first expected, and it benefits all the more by standing out from the crowd. The Haunting of Hill House focuses on the five Crain siblings, partly during their time spent in the eponymous house as children and also in the present day as adults. At first it is difficult to distinguish between each character and understand what direction the narrative is
intending to take, but, after a couple of episodes the show balances the two timelines perfectly to demonstrate that it is much less about the haunting itself and is instead concerned with the long-term impacts it had on the children. As adults, they are all still affected by the past and each have different methods to cope with it. It may then be considered an analogy for childhood trauma, with the supernatural haunting being a visualisation of the persistent, psychologically haunting presence of the past. In fact, the actual horror elements are fairly subdued. When they appear, they can be truly nightmare-inducing, but the show commits to a slow and deliberate pacing, leaving plenty of space for terror – an
enduring sense of tension and dread. Running parallel to this is a compelling family drama, fuelled completely by the haunting and other traumatic events. In the process, the show addresses the impacts of past ordeals on mental health, and how unhealthy habits such as drug abuse can stem from these deeply rooted issues. Like all good horror fiction, The Haunting of Hill House uses the supernatural as a tool to hyperbolise personal issues – in this case, the effects of trauma and grief. While there are certainly plenty of effective scares, the series can also be devastatingly heart-breaking, and is a brilliant example of what the horror genre can achieve.
Joel Shelley
The season of the witch We can all cast a nostalgic glance back to the 1996 TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and remember the highlights: the sassy aunts, the corny jokes, and of course Salem. But will we recognise Sabrina now? Long gone is Melissa Joan Hart’s portrayal of every 90’s girl’s favourite witch. Instead she’s replaced with Kiernan Shipka. The show itself has metamorphosed into a modern, thrilling, more mature portrayal of a young girl who has to decide between becoming a witch or remaining human. The trailer for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina feels fresh thanks the modern cinematography, but Images: Akin Cakiner, Unsplash
crucially when we see Salem he doesn’t speak! Although the show might lack this comedic element, the producers of Riverdale are exactly the right people to remake this childhood classic. The original comics of the same name had a crossover with the Archie Comics, which is why I’m glad that the producers that have transformed the storylines of Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Archie and have decided to do the same for Sabrina. The trailer shares some notable stylistic traits with Riverdale: there’s 50s style music, the American style high school setting, and of course the town of Greendale, which serves as a
link between this TV series and Riverdale. My favourite line from the trailer is ‘My name is Sabrina Spellman and I will not sign it away!’; Sabrina’s defiance adds more suspense and tension to the already gripping trailer. I am excited to see how this remake of the classic TV series will do. Will it be able to keep the attention of the Riverdale viewers and draw in the new viewers who loved the original comics and the TV show? I know that this will be my first pick for a Halloween night in!
Gabriela Williams
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Fright night favourites Black Mirror (Netflix) The Netflix (formerly Channel 4) show Black Mirror features some of the scariest characters and stories ever on TV and has enough great episodes to get you through that long Halloween night. Personal recommendations would be U.S.S. Callister, featuring Jesse Plemons as one of the great villains in recent TV, The Entire History of You, a paranoia-inducing story that also happens to feature the new Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), and finally my favourite, the truly horrifying Shut Up and Dance. Every episode is a good watch but remember they may both terrify you and add real doubt about the future of humanity. Happy Halloween!
Matt Branston
American Horror Story (Netflix) If you’re looking for a good binge watch this October, go for Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Story. Each season is its own story, beginning with a house with a murderous past and angry spirits. Seasons two and three will take you to an insane asylum and a coven of witches. Other seasons explore a freak show and an enigmatic hotel. This show also includes real horror stories such as the mystery of the Roanoke colony and the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. This year’s Apocalypse explores the long-awaited cross over between Murder House and Coven, making this show perfect for Halloween.
Nerisse Appleby
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Amazon Prime) The ultimate TV show for a night in on Halloween, for both newbies and diehard fans. An absolute late 90s classic from the supernatural genre it comes with frightening demons, Halloween themed episodes and a literal hellmouth. Grab your popcorn, your blanket and try not to shut your eyes as Buffy Summers and the ‘scooby gang’ face up against the worst Sunnydale has to offer. But do not fear as with plenty of comedic moments and a stake wielding slayer on hand you can sleep easy on all hallows eve. See my recommended episodes online.
Evlyn Forsyth-Muris
A Discovery of Witches (Sky) This new series on Sky might be a good choice for those who miss the good old days of Vampire Diaries and Twilight. Based on the series of novels by Deborah Harkness, this new romancefantasy drama stars Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode as Dr Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont respectively. The historian and biochemistry professor meet at Oxford university after Diana, a reluctant witch who avoids her powers finds a magical book that vampire Matthew has been looking for for centuries. In this world, witches, demons, and vampires live in secret and the different species are often violently opposed to one another. Enter awkward Romeo and Julietesque romance between Diana and Matthew.
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Jodie Bailey
Images: Nicolas Picard, Unsplash; Vecteezy
The philosophy of... AHS Coven
Each season in the anthology series American Horror Story (AHS) has something to teach us about fear, the ‘Other’, and mortality. However, the show’s third season, Coven, goes further than this, exploring ideas about feminism and female agency, race relations, and ageism. At the same time, Coven does not always promise a hopeful note. Despite Cordelia’s ascension to Supreme of the coven, the ever presence of death and need to purge and renew the coven itself repeatedly suggests a violent cycle of usurpation is needed to ensure that all women are able to flourish. One way in which Coven explores this violent dynamic is through the relationship between reigning Coven Supreme, the once in a generation leader who can perform all seven wonders, Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange), and her daughter, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson). Rather than appreciating her daughter’s gifts in herbology and potions, Fiona looks down on Cordelia with scorn. She sees her daughter’s magic, and her approach to it, as a weakness because it is fundamentally different from the powerful, physical, and violent nature of her own. In addition to this, the white coven (descended from Salem witches) stands in contrast to the black
coven (practitioners of Voodoo magic and descendants of Tituba), led by the immortal Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett). Their fierce rivalry flies in the face of reason, seeing as both sides are persecuted by witch hunters and both are ‘Othered’ for their magic.
proach to differences ‘results in a voluntary isolation, or false and treacherous connections’, and we see that unfold throughout the series. Fiona and Marie both make bad decisions, committing murder and selling their souls, only to end up in a lonely, Faustian-version of hell.
On one level, Coven tries to educate us on how we ought to treat each other’s differences, and by extension how we ought to treat the ‘Other’. Black author, poet, and philosopher Audre Lorde argues that the society that we live in forces us to see each other’s differences as a potential threat. In her essay ‘Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference’, she argues that society programmes us ‘to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing’ leading us to react to these differences in one of three ways: ‘ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate’. The latter option is how Fiona treats such differences, overshadowing her daughter and undermining her authority as a teacher at the witches’ school, and provoking an all-out war with Marie Laveau.
Fiona is eventually overthrown by the next Supreme, her daughter Cordelia. Cordelia, who appreciates all strands of magic and learning, opens up the school to more witches and enables witchcraft to flourish once more. She makes the perfect leader as she is ‘able to recognise differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior or superior, and devise ways to use each other’s difference to enrich our visions and our joint struggles’ - how Lorde says we ought to treat our differences. There is hope as the series comes to a close, but the death of the old to bring in the new and the inability to truly reconcile the two, including the burning of Cordelia’s mentor at the stake, is a stark reminder not to become complacent in protecting and respecting all women and our differences.
Furthermore, Lorde notes that this negative and fearful ap-
Jodie Bailey Images: freestock.org, Unsplash
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onli concrete-
Atman I try to make something different, I really do. But he’s still there. He always finds me. It was a long time ago when he started existing on the page; my page, not his. It was never his page. I gave him life, and everybody loved him — more than they could love me. He was fictional, and sweet, and a bit wobbly. A stoned cat, a skinny child. And everybody loves a wobbly fictional character. He had all the praise and I was happy for him, really, I was proud. They still talk about him. All my other children of ink and dust, they will never be like him. He is the eldest, the sweetest, the craziest, the cruellest. He will always have all the attention. More than that, I gave him life. More life than his siblings. He is Atman; he is the “soul”. And I, his creator — no soul left. All I had I gave to him. I picked that name because I wanted him to be special. And he is special. But he still haunts me. And he is still by my side, talking in his weird accent, smiling at me, pretending that he hasn’t ruined me. Maybe — he hasn’t. He knows I’m afraid that I will never write a character like him. I’m afraid that my vocal cords outstretched irreparably while giving him life. I’m afraid I’ll never meet someone like him. Maybe — I won’t, and it’ll be better that way. But then I think, there are so many orphan words in the world. He can’t be all there is. I know he can’t be all that is left of me. He can’t. Benedetta Mancusi Right?
The Trees It was one of those not-quiteautumn days. One of her favourite kind of days. One of those days where it was still warm enough to throw on just a dress and a jacket and not be cold, but where the sun was already low in the sky by the time she caught the 4:41 bus home. This setting sun casting a strangely warm and cold light over everything simultaneously. She knew the route off by heart now and knew every overhanging branch that would be hit as the bus carved its way through the streets. She loved these journeys as a rare 20 minutes or so to let her mind wander and daydream and recap the events of the past few days and weeks. Maybe the windows had just been cleaned, maybe she had never really looked that hard before, maybe there was just something in the air. The more she studied the intricately
wrinkled branches and delicately perfect leaves, the more she became convinced that there was nothing that separated herself from them. There was glass, no window, no bus. The more she became convinced that it would be the easiest thing in the world for her to reach out and run the waxy greenery through her fingers, the less familiar the waxy greenery looked. The longer she lingered in that stillness, the closer the gnarled tendrils crept towards her. With no protective glass between her and them, it vaguely occurred to her that she should have been more concerned about this than she was, but their slow and steady exploration, like a sped-up time lapse of their growth, was far too mesmerising to tear herself away from. Like the bus and its passengers that surrounded her moments ago, she could no longer say whether or not there was even any music being piped into her ears.
Instead, all she was aware of was an ominous, overwhelming, eerie creaking. Presumably, the continuously creeping tendrils were the source of this sound, but having no recollection of when it started, nor any way of identifying its source, this was all just speculation. A mixture of the unusual happenings persuaded her to abandon all sense of logic and she began to raise her hand towards the unfamiliar familiar. She welcomed the greenery and asked it to intertwine its fingers with her own. The lights turn green. The traffic races to make it through this sequence. She forgets the details of her daydream but quickly drops her inexplicably outstretched hand into her lap. She will try and relive this small, private adventure tomorrow.
Becca Allen
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ALTERNATIVES TOIOTHE LCR N! HALLOWEEN EDIT
SAM HEWITSON
Halloween is back, and it is one of, if not, the biggest night of the year. The LCR is obviously a hotspot for UEA students, given that tickets are sold out immediately upon release. Freshers in particular who are living on campus are always eager to get their hands on that coveted ticket. Naturally, many people are left disappointed and frantically offer to sell their souls for a ticket on the Ticket Exchange. So, what do you do if you can’t bag yourself a ticket? You may not have any VKs thrown at your head, and you may or may not hear Mr Brightside, but not all hope is lost, as there are plenty of alternatives for you: If you are desperate for a night out with plenty of booze, there are many other clubs in town to consider, with most hosting Halloween themed nights either on or around Halloween. Get yourself down to Waterfront for a Halloween themed Propaganda on the 26th, or alternatively, for all my fellow Potterheads, the Harry Potter Party with Cabana Club, which is also on the 26th, is a must-attend. On the 27th, there is a Warehouse party with Sigma, which, considering the success of the last Warehouse party, should be epic. Mantra has a series of ‘Day of the Dead’ themed nights running from October 25th if you don’t mind spending a horrendous amount of money on VKs and Jager Bombs, and Popworld has consecutive ‘Monster Ball’ themed nights. Long story short, there are other options out there for those who cannot get an LCR ticket but still want to go out, so don’t think that your Halloween is instantly dead in the water. But if nights out aren’t your thing and you fancy a more sober night? If you don’t want to have to deal with taxis in the early hours of the morning, or the inevitability that one of your friends won’t be able to walk by the end of the night, what else is there for you? Then your answer, and key to an amazing Halloween, is a house party. House parties are underrated, and people forget this. Be as creative as you want with it! Come up with a dress code, decorate your house or flat from top to bottom, plan some games, and get everyone over for the best night ever. Remember, you make the rules. Give out punishments for the worst dressed person, or people who don’t dress up at all. Maybe give a forfeit for people who come dressed as the same thing? Target everyone who will no doubt rip up a white shirt, apply fake blood, and say they are a zombie, because trust me, that will be a lot of people. Just don’t go and get yourself a noise complaint, because then your night and fun will be instantly ruined. Halloween for students is very much just another excuse to drink, and, like a lot of aspects of university life, the dependence on it has some feeling a little left out. So, for those who do not drink, or those who simply just want an incredibly chilled night, you also still have options, so don’t panic. A movie night in with your close friends is a classic, and marathoning the scariest films out there means that you don’t miss out on the spooky side of things. Grab popcorn, a blanket (or a person) to hide behind, and you are all set. You will have a great night and not be hungover the next morning. It’s a win win situation. Halloween, as I have stressed, is a big night with lots going on. It is very easy to get swept up in it all, so just remember to stay safe at all times, and keep a close eye on your friends. Halloween is supposed to be scary, but only in a superficial, trivial sense. We don’t want any literal horror stories when the night goes a little too far. With that said, have an amazing night no matter what you end up doing, and again, stay safe!
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Image: Pinterest
celebrating black history month
educate, inspire, change see uea.su/bhm for further info
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