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‘American Dad’ Goes Full Blown Horror In New Episode

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Creepypasta has long since grown from murmurs and memes on the internet to mainstream popular culture the last several years. Slenderman is a household name and some creepypasta tales are set to be adapted to the big screen. And last night with the latest episode of American Dad, a similar format has been used for one extremely clever horror comedy!

Image via AmericanDad.Fandom

The originally FOX and now TBS Animated sit-com from Seth McFarlene essentially follows Stan Smith, an All-American CIA agent and his quirky family. The show has since shifted to a more absurdist, if surrealist comedy most prominently featuring Roger The Alien’s numerous character personas as plot points, and the weirdness has only strengthens the series. Last night’s episode entitled ‘Rabbit Ears’ felt like something from The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. Stan finds an old school big TV set for the dump and decides to install it in the basement despite his family’s disinterest and attention focused on Roger who’s latest persona is a baby. He manages to find a show to watch after fiddling with the ‘rabbit ears’ of the television, an old 1960’s late night variety show called Nighthawks Hideaway hosted by a charming socialite named Alistair Covax (Voiced by Chris Pine).

Image via AmericanDad.Fandom

Stan soon becomes obsessed with the show, which features Covax having politically incorrect conversations with guests, drinking, and listening to smooth jazz. The same episode plays repeatedly with minor shifts and differences with every viewing such as different people playing the same characters. When Stan seeks information from TV Guide headquarters, they tell him the show has never existed and the only other person who knows about it is Stan’s neighbor, Tuttle. Only for Tuttle to disappear and show up on Nighthawks Hideout! Stan’s investigation leads to him going through projected static and into the TV show itself. Only to discover, to his horror, he now cannot leave!

Image via AmericanDad.Fandom

The episode plays like many Creepypastas and SCP Foundation entries about similar accursed cases of media that can absorb its viewers. In the episode itself, the horror of Nighthawks Hideout and its sinister hot are played all but completely straight. Despite his smooth exterior, Covax is a menacing monster with no origin and only motivated to keep his show on track. Anyone who tries to escape, he disposes of during the commercial break. Including an unfortunate Back To The Future fan voiced by Fred Savage in a cameo. And worst yet, with every repeat of the episode, the people stuck inside like Stan and Tuttle lose more and more of their memory! It’s a story with a genuinely creepy hook that on its own could stand as a good horror story. Of course, with Stan and Tuttle as the protagonists, it handles the job of balancing the horror to the comedy by having the horror treated deadly serious and simply having them react in funny ways.

This is an episode well worth checking out if you’re looking for some animated weirdness. It’s also kind of ironic considering one of the most popular creepypasta sub-genres is ‘cursed/lost episodes’ of popular shows. Looks like American Dad beat them to the punch on their own show!

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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