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Cassandra Calls Nothing But 
Blackened Teeth seems to be a 

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horror book that has divided 
people as I've seen it both on 

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the list of the best horror 
books ever and the worst horror 

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books ever. 
As a big horror fan myself, I 

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wanted to check it out because, 
you know, why not. 

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I will say the cover art is 
absolutely phenomenal. 

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It is creepy, it is dark, it is 
definitely memorable, it has an 

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incredible setting, an 
incredible premise, and it seems

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to be exactly my kind of thing. 
I'll give you the summary. 

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A Hayanira mansion stands 
abandoned, its foundation 

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resting on the sons of a bride 
and it's walls packed with the 

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remains of the girls sacrifice 
to keep her company. 

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It's the perfect venue for a 
group of thrill seeking friends 

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brought back together to 
celebrate a wedding. 

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A night of food, drinks and 
games quickly spirals into a 

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nightmare as secrets get dragged
out and relationships are 

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tested. 
But the house has secrets too, 

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lurking in the shadows as a 
ghost bride with a black smile 

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and a hungry heart. 
And she gets lonely down there 

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in the dirt. 
At just 125 pages it is bound to

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be a quick read so I thought we 
would just jump in today and 

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let's see what we think. 
As with a lot of my book 

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reviews, I do like this. 
I wrote my script as I went 

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along, so you're going to be 
getting my like real time 

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reactions to what I was reading 
on the page. 

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Part 1 How the F are you this 
rich? 

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I took in the old festivule, the
wood ceiling that domed our 

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heads. 
Time etched itself into the 

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shape and stretch of the Hain 
mansion, its presence apparent 

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in even the texture of the 
crumbling dark. 

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It felt profane to see the place
like this, without curators, to 

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chaperoners, no one to say do 
not touch and be careful. 

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This was old, before the word 
for such things existed. 

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That Philip could finance its 
desecration, lock stock, no 

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question, and do so without self
reproach was symptomatic of our 

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fundamental differences. 
He shrugged, smile cocked like 

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the sure thing that was his 
whole life. 

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So this is how the book opens 
and it is very indicative of 

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everything that it's become. 
Lots of over the top flowery 

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descriptions contrasted with 
very basic dialogue with a lot 

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of swearing and quite 
one-dimensional characters who 

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were just like these annoying 
rich kids that we are about to 

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be introduced to. 
I say kids. 

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They're not really kids, 
although for the longest time in

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this book I had no idea how old 
they were meant to be. 

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Really confused me. 
On the one hand they act like 

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teenagers, on the other hand I 
was like maybe they're like 

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young adults. 
On the other hand they put a lot

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of money. 
So I was like anyway turns out 

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they're like 25 ish or something
like that but I was really 

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confused. 
First up we got Philip, who is a

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billionaire who has flown them 
all out there and rented the 

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mansion for a few nights. 
His vasty jacket, still 

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perfectly fitted to his broad 
quarterback frame, blazed indigo

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in yellow where it caught the 
sun in the dusk. 

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Letters of his name were guilt 
and glory and good stitching. 

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Poster boy perfect. 
Everyone craved him like a vice.

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Seriously though, it's no big 
deal. 

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So again, having this be the 
first bit of like character 

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description really confused me 
because again, I had no idea how

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old they were meant to be. 
I thought vasti jacket meant 

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like skit still in school and a 
teenager. 

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But then I was like, if he's a 
teenager, how does he have the 

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money to fly his friends to 
Japan? 

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Why was friends getting married?
Like I was really confused to 

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me, like knowing that he's like 
an adult still wearing a varsity

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jacket gives like peaked in high
school. 

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But the narrator of this book, 
the main character still thinks 

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he's attractive for God knows 
what reason. 

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And it's like the only thing she
ever says about him. 

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It's like Philip did this. 
Did I mention he's super hot? 

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And then Philip did this, and 
oh, my God, he's so hot. 

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Philip did this. 
Yeah. 

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So hot. 
It's really annoying. 

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And honestly, like, that is the 
only thing we ever learn about 

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Philip. 
By the end of the book. 

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He is rich and attractive. 
That is it. 

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Nothing more. 
Like if you want to play a 

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drinking game during this video,
right? 

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And if you're using alcohol, 
please don't. 

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You may die. 
Feel free to play along with 

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whatever else. 
Soft drink water, milk. 

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Drink every time cat the 
narrator gushes over how hot 

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Philip is. 
Drink anytime there's an F word.

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I'll tell you there are 76 of 
them in the 125 page book, so 

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that's one every other page 
pretty much more than what else 

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can we do? 
Drink every time there's over 

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flowery language. 
Leave your other drinking game 

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things down in the comments 
because it'll be fun. 

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Cat, have you ever cannonballed 
into a cold lake? 

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The shock of an old memory is 
kind of like that. 

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Every neuron singing a bright 
hosanna. 

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Here we are. 
You forgot, that is, but we 

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didn't forget about you. 
Only one other person had ever 

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said my name that way. 
Is Lynn coming? 

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I licked the corner of her 
tooth. 

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No comment. 
You could just about smell the 

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cream on the lip of Philip's 
grin, though I tried not to 

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cringe, to wince, beset by a 
zoeotrope of sudden emotions. 

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I hadn't spoken to Lynn before I
checked myself into. 

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We'll get there. 
It was a mental health facility,

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basically, but when you're 
reading stuff like this, it's 

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like the author sword a 
thesaurus, and not in a good 

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way. 
She really reminded me of Milo 

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Winter when we read his poetry, 
and it was just like he was 

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throwing words in that sounded 
fancy and big, but weren't 

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necessarily right for the way he
was using them. 

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At least in this I can tell. 
Like she's using the right words

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in the right context most of the
time. 

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It just still sounds wrong. 
It sounds like she's using them 

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to be fancy, not because they're
the best word for the situation.

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So I hadn't spoken to Lynn since
before I checked myself into the

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hospital for terminal on Wii. 
Exhaustion so acute it couldn't 

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be sanitised with sleep, 
couldn't be remedied by anything

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but A twist of rope tucked 
tight. 

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And this is something else. 
You'll see. 

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She can't just do 1 description.
She'll be like, it was like 

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this, like this, like this, like
this, and it just, it gets a 

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lot. 
We don't need that many 

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descriptions of the same thing. 
Sometimes less is more. 

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The doctors kept me for six days
and then sent me home. 

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Pockets stuffed with pills and 
appointments and placards 

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advocate in the commandments of 
safer living. 

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I spent six months doing the 
work, a shooting committed to 

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the betterment of self 
University and my study of 

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Japanese literature, both formal
and otherwise, shelved 

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temporarily. 
So of course, she has a tragic 

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back story of mental illness 
that doesn't really go anywhere.

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So last year I read Kikoko's 
Cameras. 

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There's no such thing as an easy
job, and in my opinion that does

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a much better job of 
representing the feelings of 

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depression and melancholy and 
general on we and general 

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malaise than this book does. 
If you want to hear someone 

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living with those kinds of 
feelings or lack of, go read 

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that book. 
This book does not do it that 

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well. 
The main character in that book 

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doesn't go as far as Cat in this
book, like she doesn't try and 

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commit suicide or anything like 
that, but I just find her whole 

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tone and behaviour a lot more 
believable and well written. 

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Another thing is that I find it 
so hard to believe that a 

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heavily depressed woman who's 
only just putting herself back 

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out into the world would be 
using such grandiose language 

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and vivid descriptions. 
The tone and subject matter are 

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jarring and not in a good way. 
It feels like this is the voice 

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of the author, not the voice of 
the narrator, which that sounds 

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like the same thing, but they're
not. 

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They're very, very different. 
Because, for example, like the 

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way I talk would be very 
different to the way a fictional

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character spoke. 
So if I was writing a book from 

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the perspective of a certain 
character, I'd need to make sure

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I was giving them their voice 
and not my voice. 

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I feel like that's not what's 
happened here. 

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I feel like Cassandra is writing
Cat's narration in her voice, 

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not Cat's voice, and that's why 
there's such a jarring 

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juxtaposition between the 
dialogue and the descriptions. 

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And it feels like the 
descriptions don't feel 

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realistic for Kat and her 
supposed depression. 

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You know, I don't, I don't know,
I don't know, maybe I'm reading 

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too much into this at this 
point. 

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We also meet Faze and Talia who 
are apparently the couple 

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getting married. 
A door thumped shirt and we both

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jumped, turned like cogs. 
See what I mean about like this 

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happened like this, this 
happened like that. 

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Like there's too many 
descriptions for like the same 

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thing. 
All my grief riled somewhere 

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else. 
I swear, if that moment wasn't 

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magic, wasn't everything that is
right and good, nothing else in 

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the world is allowed to call 
itself beautiful. 

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It was perfect. 
A Hallmark commercial and freeze

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frame, autumn leaves swirling 
against a backdrop of Beech and 

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white cedar, God rays dripping 
between the bows. 

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Phase and Talia emerging, arms 
looped together, eyes only for 

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each other, smiling so hard that
all I want to do was promise 

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them that forever will always, 
eternally, unchangingly be just 

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like this. 
Tis a lot, and I'm all for 

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showing, not telling, but this 
is taking that to the extreme 

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where it just almost feels like 
too much. 

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Like a you know what reading 
this book reminded me of feeling

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overstimulated, like sensory 
over stimulation, but with 

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words. 
It wasn't pleasant. 

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I felt like I had to shut out a 
lot of it to like get to the 

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real meaning underneath it, 
which is not what you want in a 

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book. 
And, and don't get me wrong, I 

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love a nice flowery book. 
I love a lot of vivid 

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descriptions, I just think 
there's authors that do it 

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better than this. 
This felt like a lot of noise 

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rather than a lot of detail. 
Without warning, Honorate, a cat

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hears a creepy voice speaking to
her in Japanese. 

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I'm not even going to try to 
pronounce any Japanese words 

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here, but I will say it 
translates to at sooner 

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Matsuyama. 
Even the waves have a voice. 

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We don't actually find out the 
meaning in book until later, but

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I figured I'd just tell you now 
because why not. 

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My head Jack knifed up there. 
It was the stutter of a girl's 

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voice, sweet despite its 
coarseness, like a square of 

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fabric worn ragged, like a sound
carried on the last ragged 

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breath of a failing record 
player, a hallucination. 

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00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,760
It had to be. 
It needed to be see again. 

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Like the use of two similes in 
succession like that is too 

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much. 
It's needless. 

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Use one if you want, but use 
some sparingly for more impact. 

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You know, when you're bombarded 
with image, image, image, you 

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never really get to the true 
meaning, the true feeling. 

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Like when you use, sorry, I'm 
going off script here, but like 

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when you use a simile, you're 
not just like painting a picture

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in someone's head and saying 
this is like this, that you can 

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picture it, but the particular 
image that you use or comparison

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that you use that connotes 
something else. 

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So for example, you know, 
comparing this to a square of 

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fabric worn ragged, that has 
different connotations than, for

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example, the last ragged breath 
of a failing record player. 

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00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,920
Both of them are given you 
raggedness. 

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00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,320
I mean, it says ragged twice. 
But when we think of, for 

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example, like fabric worn, we 
might think of it as like worn 

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rough because it's been touched 
a lot. 

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Maybe it's been touched with 
love, with tenderness. 

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It used to be comforting to the 
point where like it's been worn 

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away. 
When we think of, for example, 

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like last breath of a failing 
record player, we think of 

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something that's maybe been 
played over and over again in 

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joy and happiness that's been 
like used so much in excitement 

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that you know it's finally 
broken and worn down and it's 

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not useful anymore. 
With the fabric, when it gets 

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ragged, maybe like there's still
comfort in that. 

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00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:26,480
Maybe it's not that it's damaged
now, it's that it's changed. 

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00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,480
With the record player. 
It's like it's been so overused 

227
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,440
that we can't use it anymore, 
that it's poorer quality, that 

228
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,160
it's not giving us the sound it 
used to when there's less 

229
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,840
enjoyment there. 
So even though both of them are 

230
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,320
giving ragged, they say very 
different things. 

231
00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,560
So when we have the same voice 
described as both this and this,

232
00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:47,560
I'm like, wait, is it meant to 
be comforting or is it meant to 

233
00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:50,840
be like, oh, it's like not fit 
for purpose anymore? 

234
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,760
Is it meant to be like this used
to be comforting, but it's 

235
00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,520
changed? 
Or is it like this used to be 

236
00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,280
fun and now it just is a bit 
uncomfortable? 

237
00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,840
Like if she picked one or the 
other, I would know more of her 

238
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:07,720
meaning, but it's it's hard and 
I, I I get it sweet. 

239
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,760
Despite its coarseness, we could
say the fabric is the sweet bit.

240
00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,200
We could say that the record 
player is the coarseness. 

241
00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,160
But then again, I think even 
just saying like a square 

242
00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,200
fabric, one record, we could say
that that is sweet. 

243
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,240
Despite its coarseness, A 
failing record player. 

244
00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:24,920
I don't see how that could ever 
be sweet. 

245
00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,760
It just, I don't know, They 
don't work for me putting them 

246
00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,280
together. 
It's just it's unnecessary. 

247
00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,760
It muddies the meaning. 
I just, yeah, sorry, I've gone 

248
00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,480
off script there, like a little 
ramble, but yeah, there you go. 

249
00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:40,960
And no, let me know in the 
comments if you agree with me or

250
00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:42,200
not. 
Maybe you like this. 

251
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:43,720
Maybe you think both are 
necessary. 

252
00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,320
I'd love to hear your thoughts. 
So Honorary A cat tries to play 

253
00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,200
all off as a joke, but it's 
clear that her and Philip had 

254
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,560
some sort of relationship 
between them that ended badly in

255
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:54,200
the past. 
He says. 

256
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,160
I know, but that crap I did, 
that wasn't cool. 

257
00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,800
You and me, I should have found 
a better way of ending things. 

258
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,080
And his hands fluttered and fell
in time with the backbeat of his

259
00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,200
confession. 
Philip's expression cracked with

260
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,800
the guilt he'd held for years. 
Like a relicory. 

261
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:09,640
Like I say, sometimes less is 
more. 

262
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,280
But again, I wouldn't mind this 
language. 

263
00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,080
I find it hard to pronounce. 
I'm not going to read it out 

264
00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,560
loud, but I wouldn't mind some 
of this language. 

265
00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:19,000
But there's just too much of it 
all piled together for me. 

266
00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:21,800
I want this is going to sound 
silly. 

267
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,720
I want beautiful words and 
beautiful vocabulary used 

268
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,880
sparingly sometimes so that you 
can really appreciate it, so you

269
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:34,280
can really let that word choice 
linger and really, like, soak it

270
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,480
all in and really pick up all 
its meaning when you just have 

271
00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,000
like, big word, big word, big 
word. 

272
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,880
I'm just like, sometimes there's
too much. 

273
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,040
And like I keep saying, it 
muddies the meaning. 

274
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,520
Truth was, I hated that he still
felt guilty. 

275
00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,400
It wasn't charitable, but 
apologies didn't exonerate the 

276
00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,560
Sinner, only compelled 
graciousness from its recipient.

277
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,320
The words, each time they came, 
so repetitive that I could tune 

278
00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,440
a clock to their angst, soared 
through me. 

279
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,040
You can't move forward when 
someone keeps dragging you back.

280
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,920
I trapped the tip of my tongue 
between my teeth, bit down, and 

281
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,920
exhaled through the sting again.
I feel like some of this was 

282
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,240
written with the intention of it
being like, quoted on Tumblr. 

283
00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,960
You know, I feel like 20 years 
ago on Tumblr, this would have 

284
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:13,800
killed it. 
Us teenagers would have loved 

285
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,040
that. 
I will say though, and there's 

286
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,080
some bits I do like in this and 
we'll get on to one in a minute,

287
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,800
but one of the things I do like 
is, as you can imagine from the 

288
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,520
title of the book, there is this
repeated image throughout the 

289
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,000
book of teeth and teeth in 
various states. 

290
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,320
Licking a tooth, blackened 
teeth, white teeth, teeth doing 

291
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,200
this, this, I think that's good.
I really like that. 

292
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,760
I'll discuss it more later in 
the video, but I it's the thing 

293
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,280
that I do really like about this
book. 

294
00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,160
There are a lot of things I 
don't like, but it does have 

295
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,000
some really good bits and I want
to talk about them. 

296
00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:45,720
Another bit that you like, 
though, listen to this. 

297
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,560
A breeze slouch through the 
decaying soji screens. 

298
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,840
Lavender, mildew, sandalwood, 
rotting incense. 

299
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,200
Some of the paper panels were 
peeling in strips, others nod to

300
00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:56,800
the still vividly lacquered 
wood. 

301
00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,560
But the tatami mantling the 
floors, there was so much, too 

302
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:03,720
much for everywhere, more than 
even a Hans Noble house should 

303
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,480
hold. 
And all of it was pristine, 

304
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,000
store bought fresh, even when 
the sentry should have chewed 

305
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,280
the straw to mulch. 
So as much as I struggled was 

306
00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,000
reading that, I do like this. 
It's atmospheric. 

307
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,520
I like that juxtaposition of old
and new, sweet and sour, life 

308
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,280
and death. 
The scents, you know, lavender 

309
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,880
and mildew, sandalwood and 
rotting incense. 

310
00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,680
You can really smell that and 
picture it. 

311
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,640
And that juxtaposition makes you
uncomfortable, as it should. 

312
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,400
I think this is really, really 
good. 

313
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,200
I like how uncomfortably out of 
place the mats are. 

314
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,640
I think it's great. 
I think it's really unsettling. 

315
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,040
The whole setting for this book 
I love. 

316
00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,040
I feel like it's such a good 
setting. 

317
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,280
It's based on so many amazing 
bits of folklore, and there's 

318
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,040
all these like, amazing 
references to characters and 

319
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,720
beings from Japanese folklore. 
And I find some of the 

320
00:14:55,720 --> 00:15:00,520
descriptions so beautifully 
creepy and so unsettling and 

321
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,120
just like, oh, it gets me like, 
really shivering. 

322
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,320
I feel like this book had so 
much potential. 

323
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,760
It just doesn't use any of that 
as well as it should. 

324
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,520
It feels like a real waste of 
potential. 

325
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,240
It's a real waste of some 
amazing folklore back story and 

326
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,720
setting. 
And I find that really, really 

327
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,160
sad to be honest. 
Like even this amazing 

328
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,880
description is then ruined as 
the paragraph continues. 

329
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:26,680
The sight of it itched under my 
skin. 

330
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,200
Like someone fed those small 
black picnic ants through a 

331
00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,440
vein, somehow got them to spread
out under the thin layer of 

332
00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,120
dermis, got them to start 
digging again. 

333
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,160
Sometimes less is more. 
If you just left it at the ants 

334
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,800
under the skin or maybe ants in 
my veins, that would have been 

335
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,520
creepy enough. 
That would have been atmospheric

336
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,280
enough. 
We would have got that feeling. 

337
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,360
We don't necessarily need every 
description to go on and on and 

338
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,120
on and on, you know? 
So we learned a little bit of 

339
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,400
back story to the characters. 
They're all childhood friends. 

340
00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,360
There were five of them, I think
Philip, who's rich because of 

341
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,440
some inherited family money, 
Faze and Talia, who are getting 

342
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,440
married, Cat on narrator and 
someone called Lynn who isn't 

343
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:05,920
there yet. 
And it's unclear if they will 

344
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,240
be, but spoiler they will. 
The mansion that they're staying

345
00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,760
in is also known for being 
creepy and haunted and having a 

346
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,560
really cool history, and it's 
unclear exactly what strings 

347
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,240
Philip had to pull and who we 
have to pay to let them stay 

348
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:17,960
there. 
But this definitely isn't like a

349
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,920
regular hotel Airbnb somewhere 
they're actually allowed in. 

350
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:23,640
Tourists don't regularly go 
there. 

351
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:25,160
This is meant to be like a 
special thing. 

352
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,000
It's like usually bordered up. 
It's like a historical building 

353
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,720
basically. 
We also start to learn why 

354
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,120
there's some tension between 
them all. 

355
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,240
Cat said something horrible 
about Talia and phase as a 

356
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,840
couple. 
Phase she describes as her best 

357
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:40,480
friend and is the only reason 
that Talia didn't wall her out 

358
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,920
her words after all the drama. 
We're constantly told that Phase

359
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,280
and Cat are best friends, but we
never see them acting as best 

360
00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:47,400
friends. 
We never see any of that 

361
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,880
relationship. 
We never actually see much of 

362
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,080
their friendship. 
We're told a lot about it and 

363
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,120
we're told a lot of history and 
back story, but we don't really 

364
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,680
see very much of it. 
Cat and Phase are meant to be 

365
00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,280
best friends, but they never act
like best friends. 

366
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,880
We never really see like, you 
know, maybe them having a nice 

367
00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,119
joke together or having a moment
where they like, oh, I missed 

368
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:06,920
you, I missed you so much. 
Oh I love you lots. 

369
00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,440
They don't have like some heart 
to heart. 

370
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,839
They don't have like, oh, like 
sit and share secrets together. 

371
00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,319
They don't have like, oh, let me
tell you about my life. 

372
00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:17,560
Let me tell you about yours. 
They don't have like inside 

373
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,599
jokes. 
They don't have, you know, any 

374
00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:22,880
of the things I feel like I do 
with my best friends regularly. 

375
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,319
You don't see in them. 
So I feel like we're told 

376
00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:27,599
they're best friends, but that 
doesn't mean much because we 

377
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:30,200
never see it again. 
I'll I'll well, I'll tell you 

378
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,320
now. 
The horrible thing that cat said

379
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,560
about Talia and Faye is it, I 
guess it kind of was horrible. 

380
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:39,680
And basically, Talia says that 
Cat has insisted they break up 

381
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,040
because they weren't happy, and 
Talia says you nearly cost me 

382
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,760
everything. 
Talia said, still staccato in 

383
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,160
her rage. 
I have both your best intentions

384
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:49,600
at heart. 
Are you sure? 

385
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,680
Her expression shaded with pity.
I glanced at the boys. 

386
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:54,680
Or were you hoping to get Faze 
back? 

387
00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:56,800
And at this point I was like, 
you know, I'm actually on 

388
00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,360
Talia's side here. 
You don't want your partner's ex

389
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:01,520
who told them to break up with 
you at your wedding, do you? 

390
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,120
So that's the whole thing. 
So here's the drama. 

391
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,480
Cat used to date Phillip and 
then Phillip broke up with her. 

392
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,520
Cat also used to date Phase 
who's now her best friend and 

393
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,400
now Phase is marrying Talia. 
And when Phase and Talia got 

394
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,880
together, Cat was like you 2 
should break up, you're awful 

395
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:17,880
together and now Talia is mad at
Cat. 

396
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,800
Obviously, we never see why Cat 
thinks they should break up. 

397
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,680
We're told it was, you know, you
was in your best interest. 

398
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,160
But like, why? 
Why do you think they're a bad 

399
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,040
couple? 
We've seen no evidence of them 

400
00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,280
being toxic together or them 
being bad for each other. 

401
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,960
And now you're saying like, oh 
God, I wish they could just stay

402
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,480
like this forever. 
Like there's no consistency. 

403
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,240
We don't see any of this stuff. 
We're told a lot of it, and we 

404
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,880
don't see any of it on the page.
There's a lot of telling and not

405
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,360
showing in building these 
relationships. 

406
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,080
And that's why I think I kind of
don't care about any of these 

407
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,080
characters. 
So yeah, the other thing to note

408
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,240
here, this is a very incestuous 
friendship group. 

409
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,440
So far we have two men. 
Cat has dated them both. 

410
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,560
She then replies to what I think
is Talia's very valid point with

411
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,200
I'm effing sure of it, and 
Jesus, I don't want your man. 

412
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,080
I told her with as much 
detachment as like a scrounge 

413
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:06,840
not wanting to sell a face 
short. 

414
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,000
Not after all this. 
It's been years since we were 

415
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,360
together and I don't know what 
more you want from me. 

416
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,160
I've apologised, I've tried to 
make it up to you, although we 

417
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,560
never know how. 
And Talia let a corner of her 

418
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:19,680
lips with her. 
You could have stayed home. 

419
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:24,040
Yeah, well, Talia has a point. 
We're at 13% of the way into 

420
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,920
this book, and Team Talia, I'll 
be honest, we also get a nice 

421
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,720
little excuse to infodump about 
the location, too. 

422
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,720
I'm not mad about this. 
I don't mind a nympho dump when 

423
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,520
it's relevant, when it's done 
well, when it's about one of the

424
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,120
few interesting things in this 
book, which is the setting and 

425
00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,040
its history. 
So tell me about this place, 

426
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,520
Philip, said Talia, voice 
billowing in volume, filling the

427
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,560
room, the house. 
And it's dark. 

428
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,120
Tell me this isn't secretly 
Matsu Castle because I'd kill 

429
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,680
myself if it is. 
I heard they buried a dancing 

430
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,840
girl in the walls, and the 
castle shakes if anyone even 

431
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,280
thinks about dancing near it. 
The manna seemed to breathe in, 

432
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,800
drinking her promise. 
I could tell we all noticed it 

433
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,400
all at once, but instead of 
hightailing it, we bent our 

434
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:04,760
heads like this as a baptism. 
The house might hold you to 

435
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,200
that. 
I blurted before I could stop 

436
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,000
myself. 
And the sheer wrongness of the 

437
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,920
statement, the weird puppyish 
earnestness and it's jump from 

438
00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,840
my throat made me cringe. 
I just don't like cat. 

439
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,160
I don't you'll may be seen on my
channel. 

440
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,360
I recently did a review of 
yesteryear by Carol Claire 

441
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:20,560
Burke. 
Great book. 

442
00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,920
I think it's fantastic. 
Hated the narrator in that as 

443
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,040
well. 
But when meant to like she's 

444
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,720
meant to be awful and like 
because of that, I think it's a 

445
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,400
brilliant book and I was so 
invested in it. 

446
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,240
I loved it. 
This. 

447
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:33,400
I just hate cat. 
That's it. 

448
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,560
I just hate cat. 
Anyway, turns out they don't 

449
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,560
know the mansion's name, but 
when asked about its back story.

450
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,800
I don't know, Philip said, the 
singsong timbre of his voice 

451
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,040
familiar, the sound of it like a
coyote lying about where he'd 

452
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,280
left the sun. 
But rumour has it that this was 

453
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,360
once supposed to be the site of 
a beautiful wedding. 

454
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,240
Unfortunately, the groom never 
showed up. 

455
00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:55,360
He died along the way. 
So I was thinking here we're 

456
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:56,720
getting some foreshadowing, 
right? 

457
00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,600
Talia dies, it looks like a 
suicide or it is a suicide and 

458
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,840
then face is going to disappear 
or die before the wedding, 

459
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:04,960
something like that. 
I was thinking like, they really

460
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,440
bring this back story into like 
the present day and have like a 

461
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,000
connection. 
It'd be really cool. 

462
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:13,520
No, no they don't do. 
Of course they don't do that. 

463
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,320
That would be too interesting 
anyway, said Philip with a 

464
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,960
clearing of his throat. 
The bride took her abandonment 

465
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,240
in stride and told her wedding 
guests to bury her in the 

466
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,600
foundation of the house alive. 
I whispered. 

467
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:27,600
I thought of a girl holding both
hands to her mouth, swallowing 

468
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,480
air, then dirt, her hair and the
hems of her wedding dress 

469
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,080
becoming heavier with every 
shovel's worth of soil to come 

470
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,800
down alive, said Philip. 
She said she had promised to 

471
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,320
wait for him, and she would. 
She kept the house standing 

472
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,200
until his ghost finally came 
home. 

473
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,480
And every year after that they 
buried a New Girl in the walls, 

474
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,840
said Philip. 
Why start phase startling 

475
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,920
somehow at this revelation? 
The F would they do that? 

476
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:51,920
I, I don't like that bit 
dialogue. 

477
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:53,640
I do not. 
It's weirdly split up. 

478
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,480
You didn't. 
I feel you don't need to split 

479
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,280
it there because it gets lonely 
down there in the dirt, Philip 

480
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,360
continued. 
And you know what, as creepy 

481
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,560
backstories go, I like this. 
This is creepy as hell. 

482
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,240
And it sort of makes sense in 
that over the top, dramatic way,

483
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,320
You know, that imagery of a 
woman being buried alive, of her

484
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,360
waiting until her dead lover 
comes to join her, that, that is

485
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,920
horrifying. 
That is kind of, I wasn't going 

486
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,600
to say kind of believable, but 
like, yeah, that is something 

487
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,160
that I can imagine this, like, 
tragic character doing and then 

488
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,320
like, you know, her ghost 
haunting the place for centuries

489
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,400
after waiting and waiting. 
That that part is great. 

490
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,160
That works for me. 
I love that. 

491
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,920
I feel like you can then have, 
like, similar parallels with the

492
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,960
characters in this time and the 
ghost, like interacting with 

493
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,000
them in this way or making them 
behave in certain ways. 

494
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,840
I think that's fantastic. 
That is like that back story. 

495
00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:47,880
That's a book I want to read. 
That's a film I want to see. 

496
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,840
That's, you know, horror I want 
to experience, but I just don't 

497
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,000
think it's used well. 
I think it's a waste of an 

498
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,120
amazing back story, This book. 
You'll see. 

499
00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,280
We'll get there. 
I couldn't shake the idea of an 

500
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,280
eminently practical family, one 
that understood that bone won't 

501
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,440
rot where wood might, ordering 
the workers to stack the girls 

502
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,600
like bricks, arms here, legs 
there, a vein of skulls wet, fed

503
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,200
into the manners, framing 
insurance against a time when 

504
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:12,760
traditional architecture might 
fail. 

505
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,720
Might as well. 
They were here for the long 

506
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,720
haul. 
One day these doors would open 

507
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,680
and wedding guests would pour 
through and there would be a 

508
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:20,840
marriage. 
Come the cataclysm or modern 

509
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,880
civil, the house would wait 
forever until it happened. 

510
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,800
One girl each year, 206 bones 
times 1000 years. 

511
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,520
More than enough calcium to keep
this house standing until the 

512
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,600
stars ate themselves clean, 
picked the sinew from their own 

513
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,120
shining bones, all for one girl 
as she waited and waited alone 

514
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,640
in the dark. 
And again, this feels a little 

515
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,560
overwritten, but I can forgive 
that for the creepiness because 

516
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,160
those images are a house 
literally built on bones of 

517
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,560
like, young women's bones being 
built into the walls, like girls

518
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,640
stacked like bricks. 
That is a horrifying image, and 

519
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:56,160
I love it. 
For a horror book, I think it's 

520
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,640
brilliant. 
This is such a creepy setting 

521
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,520
with so much potential. 
And again, having like, the 

522
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,480
ghost having that motivation of 
like, waiting for her lover and 

523
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,200
now you're having a married 
couple here. 

524
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,960
I'm like, the potential here is 
amazing. 

525
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,320
I think it's fantastic. 
It doesn't go anywhere, like it 

526
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,720
doesn't pay off in a satisfying 
way. 

527
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:18,840
I'm telling you that now, and 
it's really frustrating. 

528
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,680
Philip leaves to go take photos 
of the building and nothing ever

529
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,240
comes of that. 
Nothing's mentioned of it again.

530
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,800
The nothing comes of the photos,
nothing creepy happens with the 

531
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,440
photos. 
The photos never come up again. 

532
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,880
I think they just want an excuse
to get him out of the room. 

533
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,160
Meanwhile, everyone is treating 
Kat with awkward kid gloves. 

534
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,040
Kat describes Philip as a 
Rembrandt in high definition, 

535
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,200
which I kind of hate for some 
reason. 

536
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,680
You know why not? 
And also drink for Philip being 

537
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,800
hot again, when Cat follows 
Philip at the room when he's 

538
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,360
taking photos and when they're 
alone, Cat asks him when did you

539
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:52,760
date Talia? 
Was it after or while we were 

540
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,760
seeing each other? 
About a month after. 

541
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:56,360
But we weren't exclusive or 
anything. 

542
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:58,480
You never did like exclusive 
things? 

543
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,080
No, it's not that. 
So much sincerity in those gold 

544
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,120
blue eyes, crowns of honey 
around black pupils. 

545
00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:07,440
It's just we were kids. 
We're still kids. 

546
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,720
These relationships won't last 
into adulthood. 

547
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,640
Most of them won't. 
Tyler and Vaze, that's something

548
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:13,920
else. 
Anyway. 

549
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560
When I'm older I'll settle down 
but these are the best years of 

550
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,920
my life and I don't want to 
waste them shackle to a person I

551
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:22,080
won't like at 30 again. 
I was so confused about the ages

552
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,920
of these characters and since 
it's turned out they're like 

553
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:28,320
2526 and whatever. 
Like it feels weird he's talking

554
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,000
like this but whatever. 
I'm also really confused about 

555
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,520
the timelines of everyone's 
relationships but here we go. 

556
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,760
Incestuous friendship. 
Talia has dated Philip and then 

557
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:39,760
Faze and now she's marrying 
Faze. 

558
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,520
Cat dated Faze and then Philip 
and then Philip dumped her and 

559
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,640
dated Talia and then tell it. 
I don't care. 

560
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,120
I don't care about any of these 
people. 

561
00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,720
Just go date other people you're
not friends with and just stop 

562
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,320
complicating things. 
It's not that hard. 

563
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,040
I'm just wondering if Faze knows
you two were together. 

564
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,760
He stilled. 
That's some Talia to tell him, 

565
00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,800
not me. 
I mean, you're his friends so 

566
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:04,080
you could say something, but OK.
I considered my next words in 

567
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,200
case he doesn't know. 
I feel like you should make it a

568
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,320
point to pretend you 2 weren't 
ever an item. 

569
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,520
Guile was the reply. 
Why? 

570
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,680
I thought of Faze and his teeth,
bad and blunt and bitter. 

571
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,400
Faze might not like suddenly 
finding out you slept with his 

572
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,000
fiance. 
He's an adult and male. 

573
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,080
He's not going to care about 
someone's sexual history. 

574
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,840
Better safe than sorry, Philip. 
I paused. 

575
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:27,960
I'm sorry. 
You can't use it exclusive. 

576
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,640
He's an adult, he can deal with 
it. 

577
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,560
But when you're talking about 
you also feel like I'm still a 

578
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,280
kid. 
Shut up. 

579
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,120
Sorry, you're the same age. 
Better safe than sorry, Philip. 

580
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,920
I paused. 
Also, FU Phase is an adult who 

581
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,160
can make his own decisions, but 
you're a kid who shouldn't 

582
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:43,200
commit yet. 
There you go. 

583
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,720
Hey, people mature at different 
speeds. 

584
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,000
Literally my point though, It's 
so annoying. 

585
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,560
So, so far we got 23% of the way
into this book. 

586
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,800
We have a super cool setting, 
really cool bit of intriguing 

587
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,040
history, and we have a group of 
annoying entitled people of 

588
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,080
indeterminate age who all seem 
to hate each other and have been

589
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,760
incestuously dating for the last
God knows how many years, 

590
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,520
swapping partners and resentment
and God knows what else. 

591
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,600
They seem awful at this point. 
I don't give a damn about any of

592
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,400
them. 
I don't care what happens to any

593
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,360
of them. 
I was just hoping at this point 

594
00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,920
we got like a cool intertwining 
of like the relationships 

595
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,040
between the characters and the 
relationship of like the bride 

596
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,120
waiting for her husband and that
kind of thing. 

597
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:26,040
But that doesn't happen. 
So all I wanted at this point 

598
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,480
and throughout the rest of the 
book is to tell them to grow up.

599
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,120
Philip thinks that they are 
going to see a ghost in the 

600
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:35,560
mansion and that she'll be hot 
and it's OK that he's being 

601
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,120
gross about it all because he's 
just a hot blooded male. 

602
00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:42,240
He confessed doing what hot 
blooded males do. 

603
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,440
I said in my original script, I 
hope he dies 1st and we get to 

604
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:50,680
witness a grisly death. 
Sometimes wishes do come true. 

605
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,280
Cat finds these sliding doors 
painted with big scenes of 

606
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,600
animals and yokai which are like
these creepy shape shifting 

607
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,840
demons and ghosts which some 
sometimes take the form of 

608
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,000
animals or have like animal like
features. 

609
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:07,440
They're a really cool, creepy 
part of Japanese mythology and 

610
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,760
folklore and I think their 
inclusion here is really damn 

611
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,040
cool. 
I wish there was more of a focus

612
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,920
on them. 
I wish some of the descriptions 

613
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:15,560
of them have been expanded on a 
bit more. 

614
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,440
I think it could be really, 
really fun, and I wish there was

615
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,760
more about these paintings and 
less of hearing about how Kat 

616
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,920
thinks Philip is so hot with his
grin like a politician's smile 

617
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,320
beaming up from the cover of GQ,
only better because it was 

618
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,880
actually sincere, larger than 
life, yet still intrinsically 

619
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,560
boy next door. 
I don't care. 

620
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,600
Tell me about the creepy 
painting, and please excuse my 

621
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,640
terrible pronunciation here. 
I'm probably going to butcher a 

622
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,600
few of these words, but I 
promise I will try my best. 

623
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,760
It was all yokai, A veritable 
parade, kitsune and elaborate 

624
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:52,360
Thomas Sode, tails curling with 
questions, Ninjio crawling from 

625
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,000
the jewelled sea, Kappa and 
towering Oni negotiating for 

626
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,280
baskets heaped with cucumbers 
everywhere, every last brush 

627
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,000
painted face insight. 
Even the housewives, some with 

628
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,960
eyes, some with only lips, some 
with gaping smiles sliced into 

629
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,760
place. 
Every last one of them. 

630
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,840
All effing yokai, creepy as 
hell. 

631
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,280
I love this. 
I want more of this, please. 

632
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,040
And again, I'm really sorry if I
butchered some of that 

633
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:19,320
pronunciation, but I think the 
inclusion of it and like the 

634
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,240
like, this is all so creepy. 
These are brilliant, perfect 

635
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,040
horror elements. 
I love like some of the creepy 

636
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,360
aspects of old Japanese 
mythology. 

637
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,600
Like I've read so many of those 
old stories and I think they're 

638
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,840
wonderful and their inclusion 
could bring so much to this 

639
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,640
story, but it feels like they're
just set dressing without 

640
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,640
actually being integral to the 
story. 

641
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,040
And I think that's a real, real 
shame and it's real wasted 

642
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:45,960
potential. 
And I also like, I find this 

643
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,240
really jarring to read as well 
because the setting is so 

644
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,000
creepy, but the characters are 
just so insufferable and 

645
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,320
annoying that it's jarring, but 
not in a way that's like 

646
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,040
purposely uncomfortable, just in
a way around like I wish, I wish

647
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,440
they weren't together. 
The prose of the narration is 

648
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,720
trying to be so poetic and 
flowery and over the top, and 

649
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,160
yet the dialogue is like, you're
good people talk to the hand 

650
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,000
bitch, she's hurt just to hurt 
bearded male and all that vapid 

651
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,040
nonsense. 
And every single one of those 

652
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:14,840
was a direct quote from the 
text. 

653
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,640
I'm not making that up. 
So having that next to this like

654
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,280
awfully flowery descriptions, 
just it just feels off. 

655
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,880
It doesn't work for me. 
And again, I wish there was more

656
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,520
focus on the creepy horror 
elements and the mythology 

657
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,200
elements than the like, oh, to 
the hand and used to her 

658
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,280
bloodied meal. 
Like, you know what I mean? 

659
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,200
The first chapter or part of 
this book ends with Cat hearing 

660
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,880
the whispered words again, and 
she narrates a whisper so quiet 

661
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,160
the cerebellum wouldn't 
acknowledge its receipt. 

662
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,600
The words were drowned by the 
reverb of phases, voice calling,

663
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,280
an afterimage, an impression of 
teeth on skin. 

664
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,600
We exit the room, the future 
falling into place behind us 

665
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,960
like a wedding veil, a morning 
call like froth on the lip of a 

666
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:57,920
bride drowning on soil. 
Again. 

667
00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:59,760
I feel like this also could 
benefit from being a little bit 

668
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,280
more simplistic in places. 
Like the descriptions are so 

669
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,920
flowery and the dialogue is so 
cheesy and over the top. 

670
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,680
Like it's from like a 2000s 
raunchy comedy like American Pie

671
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:11,800
or something like that. 
I don't know, you know, you know

672
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:13,560
what I mean? 
Like the dialogue feels like 

673
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,680
it's straight out of that era of
crappy film. 

674
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,640
I just want her to rein all of 
it in, Rein it all back a bit, 

675
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:24,120
be a bit more subtle, focus on 
just telling a good creepy 

676
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,160
story. 
One of my favourite horror books

677
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,560
I've read recently was a Ketsu's
Strange Houses, and while it's 

678
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,160
very simple in its writing 
style, there were certain 

679
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,160
passages which just creeped me 
out so much to the point where 

680
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,040
at the time when I was reading 
it, I I still have my Chira and 

681
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,120
at the time I was just like 
Kyra. 

682
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,920
You are not leaving my side. 
I was so creeped out and I was 

683
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:45,760
like, you were staying with me 
on the bed while I'm reading 

684
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,640
this book. 
You know, I was like, Mama needs

685
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,680
you to protect her. 
And I found that really cool 

686
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,560
because it's such a simple book 
and even the premise is quite 

687
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,760
simple. 
But he didn't overcrowd the page

688
00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,600
with overly complex descriptions
or language. 

689
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,480
He didn't let the dialogue be 
super cheesy and over the top. 

690
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,560
He just let the creepiness of 
the situation in that particular

691
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,520
building he was describing. 
He just let it build on the page

692
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,640
and take over your mind and your
imagination kind of filled in 

693
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,400
the gaps and you get so creeped 
out when you're reading. 

694
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,240
And I love that. 
I thought it was fantastic. 

695
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,440
I did not get that at all with 
this book. 

696
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,080
So that's a shame. 
Like I keep saying, it's a 

697
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,360
fantastic setting, but there's 
just no atmosphere. 

698
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,280
It often felt like particularly 
creepy elements were being like 

699
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,200
listed off like a checklist, 
Like we need to include this and

700
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,280
this and this and this. 
Now shove them all in a scene 

701
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,200
and they're there, but they 
never really actively part of 

702
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,360
the story and they never really 
create a creepy atmosphere. 

703
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,800
They don't there's no room for 
your imagination to fill in the 

704
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,200
gaps. 
And that's what I think they get

705
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,360
really scary with horror stories
when you let your imagination 

706
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,400
fill in the gaps, you know, and 
I've been reading a lot of 

707
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,080
horror books recently. 
I think that's some that do it 

708
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,200
really well and some that do it 
not so well. 

709
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,120
I just think it's a shame. 
So they all go off to kind of 

710
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:55,680
explore the house a little bit 
together. 

711
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,560
And we poured across its spaces 
alone and together, sifting 

712
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:01,760
through the ruins. 
In one room sat terracotta 

713
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,760
monks. 
Heads waited with an ancient 

714
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,080
regret, and another dolls with 
mouths lacquered black, and 

715
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,760
another books, or at least the 
corpses of books. 

716
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,280
The volumes were mulch eaten by 
insects, infested edifices 

717
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,560
turgid with egg chambers right 
from the rot. 

718
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,040
Despite the horror of the 
visuals, they did not smell of 

719
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,160
anything but a green, dark 
wetness. 

720
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,960
There's so many elements here 
that are like they're put in but

721
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,400
but nothing ever comes of them. 
This author could learn from 

722
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:28,960
like the basics of like 
Chekhov's gun. 

723
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:30,960
You know, if you show a gun in 
Act one, it needs to go off in 

724
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,200
Act 3. 
She throws these in here like 

725
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,320
the creepy dolls and the 
terracotta monks. 

726
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:36,440
Nothing really ever comes of 
them. 

727
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,280
They're not mentioned again. 
It's not really a thing. 

728
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,560
The books do get unmentioned, 
but this is such a brief mention

729
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,440
and set up here that I forgot 
they were even there. 

730
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,840
So we'll get to that though. 
That's it though. 

731
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:47,760
I'm very into the whole haunted 
house thing. 

732
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:49,880
I love that. 
I think there are so many books 

733
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,080
that do it better than this one 
though. 

734
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,760
And so Craig de Louise episode 
Code 13 is one that springs to 

735
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:57,800
mind as being an amazing haunted
house. 

736
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,280
It's got the whole creepy house 
changing proportions thing going

737
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,200
on. 
House of Leaves is another 

738
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,160
fantastic choice. 
I recently just finished reading

739
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,400
horror stuff since finishing 
this script by Grady Hendrix. 

740
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,080
And that's set in kind of like 
an IKEA knockoff. 

741
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,360
And but even that has some 
really cool bits with like, you 

742
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:19,520
know, the shop floor being 
haunted and like changing 

743
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,000
passageways and the whole creepy
setup and kind of elements of 

744
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,239
like not being sure where you 
are. 

745
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:25,639
I think that does a great job 
with it. 

746
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,320
And I just think there's a lot 
more books that do this kind of 

747
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,840
haunted house setting better, 
which is a shame. 

748
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,440
Although in the comments, if 
anyone can recommend a really 

749
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,440
cool haunted house book that has
this kind of setting, you know, 

750
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,639
and this kind of back story, but
it's done better, I'd love to 

751
00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:44,239
read it because again, I feel 
like this has potential, it's 

752
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,639
just not realised. 
So if there are any books out 

753
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,960
there that are like this, but 
with actual, you know, realised 

754
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:51,280
potential, then I'd love to read
them. 

755
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,480
Cat immediately kills the mood 
by being catty about, so I guess

756
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,800
she's living up to a name. 
It isn't too late to head back 

757
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,840
to Kyoto or something, You know,
Talia has wanted to get married 

758
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:02,560
in a haunted house since she was
a kid. 

759
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,240
I'm not going to take that away 
from her. 

760
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,520
He swallowed hard between each 
sentence, face calcified. 

761
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,440
Not after what it took to get us
here. 

762
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,640
I don't want to diminish Talia's
wants and dreams here, but 

763
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,960
someone has to say it. 
I tried for a smile. 

764
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,480
Which freaking kid grows up 
wanting to get married in a 

765
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,240
haunted house? 
I mean come on. 

766
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,520
I wish more was made of this. 
I wish we got like some back 

767
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,880
story for Talia and found out 
like why she wanted this in the 

768
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:27,720
1st place. 
Why it was important to her. 

769
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,600
I wish that had some relevance 
on the plot, but it doesn't. 

770
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,120
Even this is never brought up 
again. 

771
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,280
It feels like they just needed a
reason to get them to the house.

772
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,440
It's like it's like the reason 
was made for the book, not that 

773
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:40,960
the characters actually had a 
real reason. 

774
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,800
Does that make sense? 
The point of them being there is

775
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,640
for the plot, not the point of 
them being there is because 

776
00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,840
Talia wanted this and felt like 
this, and her motivation was 

777
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,840
this and this. 
You know, I thought of the rooms

778
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,040
and the Osseries they'd become 
the books separating flat bodied

779
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,680
beetles, hollowed, hallowed in 
their decay. 

780
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,400
I think this is all a mistake. 
Us coming here, us being here, I

781
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,040
think they're going to regret 
it, that's all. 

782
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,600
I would be more creeped out 
about her worries and her fears 

783
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,080
about the house and everything 
if I wasn't just distracted by 

784
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,320
her pettiness. 
And I just feel like, again, a 

785
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,080
lot of this creepiness is 
unearned. 

786
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,120
I know she's heard a whispered 
voice twice now, but other than 

787
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,520
that, there's no like, creepy 
atmosphere in the house. 

788
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,400
I don't really know what she's 
worried about. 

789
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,360
Again, it feels like she's 
worried for the plot, not 

790
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,280
because of something that's 
happened in the plot. 

791
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,720
Like, OK, it's a creepy house 
filled with history and 

792
00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:31,040
potentially made out of bones, 
but you're a jealous ex who's 

793
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,800
hearing voices after having some
sort of mental health problem. 

794
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,440
I feel less creeped out by a 
ghost story. 

795
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,760
I'm more worried this is like an
unhealthy woman who may be out 

796
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,320
to get some sort of revenge. 
But even then, like, I thought 

797
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,120
if this is all in her head and 
she's making this up and she is 

798
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,480
having some sort of, like, 
mental breakdown, I was like 

799
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:49,880
this. 
That could actually be like a 

800
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,240
really cool twist on the story. 
But it's not even that. 

801
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,160
Anyway, then Lynn arrives. 
Lynn was ahead of his time, 

802
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,160
ahead of the curve ahead of us 
with a Wall Street job, a Wall 

803
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,400
Street wife, a brownstone 
mortgage with a hydroponic herb 

804
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,520
garden on a baroque little 
balcony. 

805
00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:07,080
Again, how old are these people?
He's brought a crap tonne of 

806
00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,440
beers in an icebox and everyone 
is making a big massive pot of 

807
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:13,720
soup or casserole or something 
in the communal space. 

808
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,920
I have questions. 
Why hasn't he brought his wife? 

809
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,400
Is that not just normal to like 
bring your wife to a wedding? 

810
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,720
But OK, I guess not. 
I guess the author didn't want 

811
00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:26,000
to add in another character but 
she wanted to make him married. 

812
00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:28,800
Also, Lynn is the only one I 
think, who hasn't slept with 

813
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,800
everyone in the group, so he's 
special for that reason. 

814
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:33,760
Cat narrates. 
If you're going to debauch 

815
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,360
history, go big. 
I feel like this is begging for 

816
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,880
teenagers on Tumblr in the early
2000s to quote this. 

817
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,400
You know, there's a really weird
interaction I don't understand. 

818
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:43,560
Is Faye still in the other room?
Said Talia. 

819
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,440
Who said Lynn, He was one of 
your groomsmen. 

820
00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:49,400
I had like 16 groomsmen. 
You can't expect me to remember 

821
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,560
them all. 
It was an event after all. 

822
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,120
You made him fly to Iceland? 
Talia, thin to mouth Lynn draped

823
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:57,600
an arm around me. 
I made everyone fly to Iceland. 

824
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,360
He's the reason you're here. 
We're getting married, that's 

825
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,400
the whole point. 
You came. 

826
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,160
Oh, Nah. 
Lynn glanced at me, smoking. 

827
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:05,840
I thought I was just here to see
Cat. 

828
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,200
I froze long enough for Talia to
see and for her mouth away with 

829
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,320
condolence. 
Linda, with his thoroughbred 

830
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:14,360
wife and his Immaculate life, 
still blind from those late 

831
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:16,880
night Manhattan lights, took no 
notice at all. 

832
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,840
I don't understand if he's 
joking or not. 

833
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:21,880
It's just really bizarre. 
He does this thing throughout 

834
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,320
the book while like he pretends 
not to know the others. 

835
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:27,160
And I don't know if that's meant
to be like him trying to be 

836
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,000
like, Oh, you guys treated Cat 
badly and when she had a 

837
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,040
breakdown and I'm siding with 
her and I don't I don't, I don't

838
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,600
understand. 
Lynn seems to just be like 

839
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,520
obsessed with Cat for some 
reason and like protecting her 

840
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,560
and making sure she's OK. 
And he's like, I'm only here for

841
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,480
you. 
And it's like if you told me 

842
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,840
that Lynn and Cat were best 
friends, I didn't believe that. 

843
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,760
But then Cat and phase are meant
to be best friends, but we never

844
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:52,200
see them acting like that. 
I don't understand any of these 

845
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,200
characters or their 
relationships or the motivations

846
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,880
or and many of their actions. 
It just it. 

847
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:00,440
It's so bizarre. 
Either way, Lynn doesn't seem 

848
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,080
like a very nice person. 
None of these people seem like 

849
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:05,160
they're very nice people. 
None of them seem like they're 

850
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,440
friends. 
Even Faze and Talia don't even 

851
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,320
really seem like they like each 
other that much and they're 

852
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,800
apparently getting married. 
They all seem like they hate 

853
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,440
each other. 
I don't know if we've touched 

854
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,760
that yet, but there's some kind 
of drama between Faze and Philip

855
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:18,240
where they kind of hate each 
other. 

856
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,760
Lynn hates everyone except Kat. 
Everyone seems to hate Kat 

857
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,640
except for Lynn and Faze. 
Kat hates Talia, Talia hates 

858
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,120
Cat, Cat has resentment towards 
Philip but he's hot so it's OK. 

859
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:32,760
Philip seems to have weird guilt
about dumping Cat. 

860
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,320
And then I, I don't know, I 
don't, I don't care, I don't 

861
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:38,520
care. 
I don't understand why any of 

862
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:42,120
these people are friends. 
That's that's the summary I 

863
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:43,920
think I've said before in my 
other videos, and I'll say it 

864
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,000
again, when you're an adult, you
don't need to hang around with 

865
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,640
people you don't like. 
It is OK to go off and make 

866
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,160
other friends. 
You don't need to stay with your

867
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,920
same group of childhood friends 
that you've all had incestuous 

868
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,040
relationship with and have all 
this like drama around. 

869
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,600
If you don't like each other, 
don't be friends. 

870
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,160
It's that simple. 
Phase comes back in, holding 

871
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,040
like a little box of presents 
for everyone. 

872
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,960
And I'm here, sorry. 
Phase's voice came from behind a

873
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,680
soji screen, quickly 
overshadowed by a shrill of 

874
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,960
splintering timber worm wounded 
fibres coming apart. 

875
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,600
The panel to our right shuddered
before it fell over. 

876
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,880
No fanfare, no collateral damage
to the adjunct architecture, not

877
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:23,800
even a plumbing of grey dust, 
only an audible smack as it hit 

878
00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:26,560
the floor, A sound like a pawn 
colliding with a cheek. 

879
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,040
We froze like hairs. 
Crap, Said Faze. 

880
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:32,000
Faze stood smiling at us from 
behind the devastation. 6 feet, 

881
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,320
but not quite of shame and self 
loathing. 

882
00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:37,760
He cradled a stack at slim 
rectangular boxes, each packet 

883
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:39,720
wrapped in guilt bows on 
everyone. 

884
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,000
Sorry. 
We laughed as a group this time,

885
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,600
and we all sounded drunk on 
being alive. 

886
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,560
Philip got up and walked over to
phase, punched the other man 

887
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,160
square in his shoulder, half 
enough to dislodge his cargo. 

888
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,520
The gifts stumbled free gloss 
and gold trimmed ribbons. 

889
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,320
Philip caught them all 
naturally, 1 armed and 

890
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,600
effortless Golden Boy to phase 
as dross. 

891
00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,920
This Lin muttered with too much 
Glee, is how super villains are 

892
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:02,640
born. 
So I thought this was like 

893
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,440
trying to set up some sort of 
like phase feeling lesser than 

894
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,880
Philip, but it's just 
confusingly written. 

895
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,880
I wish, I wish there was like 
more of a relationship developed

896
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,560
between them because like, this 
does come up later, Faze feeling

897
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:15,960
lesser than him. 
And it's like, it's like an 

898
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,320
integral part of the story. 
It's you know what, honestly, it

899
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,120
ends up being like the only 
relationship in this book that 

900
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,160
actually matters. 
So they open the gifts. 

901
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:24,320
The room laid stream with 
wrapping paper. 

902
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,560
Faze and Talia had bought us 
gifts, statuettes of deepest 

903
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:29,720
jade, the green of an ancient 
lake. 

904
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:32,840
They were, each of them shaped 
like a woman, her head bowed as 

905
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,120
though sacralized by grief, her 
legs faded into a half finished 

906
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,080
column. 
She is being buried alive, 

907
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,440
buried by a Lord's hope, buried 
to hold steady the weight of her

908
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:43,440
master's manner. 
Hito Bashira. 

909
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,360
I stroked A restless thumb of my
effigy's cheek. 

910
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,440
There were neither eyes nor 
mouth on her, no way for her to 

911
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,920
scream or see. 
How'd they know to gather these?

912
00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:53,800
I wondered. 
The trip was billed as a 

913
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,400
surprise. 
Had Talia known? 

914
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:58,920
Had Philip, our Golden Boy, God,
king of small towns, perfect 

915
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:01,920
Philip, who no woman would 
reject, coyly spoken to Talia 

916
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:04,280
beforehand. 
Take another drink for how hot 

917
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,560
Philip is. 
Gonna be honest, like a bit of a

918
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:07,760
creepy gift. 
Cool. 

919
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,800
For those of you unfamiliar, 
he'd have a share a really cool 

920
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,040
little history there. 
It's like a historic ritual 

921
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,760
sacrifice where a person was 
buried alive under a big 

922
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:19,280
building or a structure as a 
sort of offering to protect the 

923
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:21,320
building from natural disasters 
or damage. 

924
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:24,680
So I guess this has like similar
links to the back story of the 

925
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:28,360
mansion here with, you know, the
woman being buried alive waiting

926
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,880
for her husband to return and 
then other girls being buried 

927
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,560
alive every year. 
Similar, similar stories. 

928
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,320
So to gift a little statue of 
someone this has been done to, 

929
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,400
it's both in theme with the 
house they're currently in, but 

930
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,920
also quite an odd morbid gift 
for a wedding, right? 

931
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:47,720
But the question is like, how 
did Faze and Talia know to give 

932
00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:49,920
these gifts for the house if 
they didn't know the Baxter of 

933
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:52,320
the house before they got there?
They didn't know what house they

934
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,240
were going to it. 
It's bizarre. 

935
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:57,080
And and like I say, odd choice 
to say thank you for coming to 

936
00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:59,520
my wedding with a symbol of 
ritual murder. 

937
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,920
I thought these little statues 
would like play more of a role 

938
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:05,840
in the story. 
Maybe they would do something 

939
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,240
later, They would come back up. 
They would be relevant later. 

940
00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:10,200
They're not. 
I don't think they're ever 

941
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,080
mentioned again. 
This is like that one and only 

942
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:14,120
thing. 
I thought the idea of like 

943
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:16,520
either Faisal Talia knowing 
about the house before they got 

944
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:18,120
there. 
I thought, you know, hinting at 

945
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,560
that. 
I thought that would be relevant

946
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:22,000
to the plot. 
It's not. 

947
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:24,840
I thought that might be relevant
to like some sort of character 

948
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:26,680
development or character 
relationship. 

949
00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:30,360
It's not. 
I don't. 

950
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:31,760
I don't understand the point of 
this. 

951
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,360
It makes no sense. 
Talia then suggests they play a 

952
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:38,040
game, which the name of it 
translates to a gathering of 100

953
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:41,600
ghost stories, which is a game 
about telling scary stories and 

954
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,120
blowing out candles as you do. 
And as you blow out the last 

955
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:46,960
one, which is often the 100th 1,
you can play a smaller version 

956
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,280
with fewer candles. 
And as you blow out the last 

957
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:51,760
one, it's meant to open the 
doors to the spirits and let 

958
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:54,480
them into our world. 
Talia has already prepped for 

959
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,040
this game by lighting 100 
candles in another room. 

960
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,760
Not sure when she found the time
to do that, but OK. 

961
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:01,720
I thought there might be some 
relevance to her being the one 

962
00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:07,440
to suggest it, but there's not. 
And I thought like, this would 

963
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:08,840
be really cool. 
I was like Oh my God, like we're

964
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:10,840
going to get some like really 
creepy stuff here, it's going to

965
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:13,680
be great. 
No, that doesn't happen. 

966
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:15,640
Before they can play this game 
and it actually gets 

967
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,600
interesting, Lynn decides to 
start to like, stir up some 

968
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:21,560
trouble by saying to Philip 
about Talia. 

969
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:23,560
You're still sweet on her, 
aren't you? 

970
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:27,040
Said Lynn, face cracked into a 
grin he pushed from the wall. 

971
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,640
What? 
He threw a shrug, hands tossed 

972
00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:32,560
up so quickly that his fingers, 
if they had been birds, would 

973
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,560
have broken in the violence. 
We're all thinking it, the 

974
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:37,480
stupid little figurines that 
Talia gave us. 

975
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:39,800
This was supposed to be a 
surprise allotment. 

976
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:41,880
How did she know? 
Dude, come on, tell me. 

977
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:43,920
That's like the only relevance 
of the figurines. 

978
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,880
That's it. 
Like they never come back up 

979
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,240
again. 
Philip moves to attack Lynn, but

980
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:51,280
Cat stops him and says. 
He glared at me then, and his 

981
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,160
eyes were cold, so cold your 
heart would freeze in that blue.

982
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,480
You're right, he said. 
Philip, we all knew, had his 

983
00:44:57,480 --> 00:44:59,600
universal script. 
I'm above that. 

984
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:02,120
But you're not above sleeping 
with someone else's wife. 

985
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,120
Lynn collared his own neck with 
his hands and rubbed his Adam's 

986
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:07,840
apple after Philip had let him 
go smile. 

987
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:11,120
Enduring is a bad habit. 
I didn't sleep with Talia, but 

988
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:13,960
that's not what he was saying 
earlier to Cat, so I don't know.

989
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,400
I'm confused whether he did or 
not, I don't have a clue. 

990
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,920
I don't care, it's not real, 
none of it's relevant. 

991
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,920
I don't care, he then says. 
His rage began to Slough as he 

992
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,000
spoke. 
I don't know, I lost my temper. 

993
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:26,320
That bum hole does it to me all 
the time. 

994
00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:29,160
I think I can keep my crap 
together, but something about 

995
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:30,880
Lynn just makes me want to punch
a wall. 

996
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:32,560
Yeah, Nah. 
Own it, mate. 

997
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:34,080
No one makes you violent but 
yourself. 

998
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:35,920
Calm down. 
There's more jealousy and 

999
00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:37,320
nonsense. 
It's boring. 

1000
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:39,920
Let's skip over it. 
Even though it's literally the 

1001
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,920
entire book. 
Cats are like, is he right? 

1002
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:45,880
Do you still like her? 
And Phillip's like you sound 

1003
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,000
like you want it to be. 
And he doesn't even give a 

1004
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:49,520
proper answer. 
We never find out. 

1005
00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:52,160
He then goes to apologise to 
Lynn and Kat starts hearing the 

1006
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:54,040
creepy voice again. 
You know the little whisper. 

1007
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,080
A female voice, solicitous and 
sweet. 

1008
00:45:56,240 --> 00:45:59,360
Distantly the brain stem 
screeched, stress hormones 

1009
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,920
wailing at my motor system, 
demanding I run, run now, escape

1010
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:05,600
into the sanctuary of 
multiplicity, disappear into the

1011
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:07,960
waiting herd. 
Do anything, so long as I remove

1012
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,040
myself from probable harm, 
Anything. 

1013
00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:11,400
Just go. 
Go now. 

1014
00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:13,960
But my limbs would not concede 
to their urging. 

1015
00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:16,600
I want to find this creepy, but 
the overflowery language just 

1016
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:18,720
takes me out of it. 
This is what I mean about like 

1017
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,160
Cat's narration not fitting with
her voice in the dialogue 

1018
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:24,960
writing. 
My limbs would not concede to 

1019
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:27,360
their urging. 
When your character doesn't talk

1020
00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:29,960
like that to other people just 
sounds pretentious and 

1021
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,000
ridiculous and it takes me out 
of it there. 

1022
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:35,640
There can be reasons why your 
character speaks differently in 

1023
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,040
dialogue to other characters to 
how they speak in their head. 

1024
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,200
Maybe they're hiding different 
aspects of their personality. 

1025
00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:43,360
Maybe they're trying to protect 
tend to be one thing when 

1026
00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:45,600
there's something else, but 
that's not the case here. 

1027
00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:48,200
It it's just jarring for no 
reason. 

1028
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:50,240
I want tension. 
I want creepiness. 

1029
00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:53,960
I want real fear. 
I don't want someone to be badly

1030
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,360
trying to be PO and failing. 
Edgar Allan Poe was a master of 

1031
00:46:57,360 --> 00:47:01,200
horror and creepiness and 
creating tension and using this 

1032
00:47:01,240 --> 00:47:03,880
absolutely beautiful descriptive
language. 

1033
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:08,640
He did that with so much skill. 
He didn't just pile words in for

1034
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:11,360
the sake of it. 
You know, every word was chosen 

1035
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:15,880
with such intention. 
He focused so much on making 

1036
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,480
sure his work had a proper 
rhythm and that like, it speed 

1037
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:22,960
up and slowed down, like the 
literal prose speed up and 

1038
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:27,720
slowed down to create tension 
and like build suspense in 

1039
00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,560
certain places. 
This is all just like in 

1040
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:33,120
comparison. 
You know what? 

1041
00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:35,960
The word pebbled in my throat, 
cold and dead. 

1042
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,320
Haltingly, head full of static, 
I lurched stiff leg towards the 

1043
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:40,800
mirror. 
This was a dream. 

1044
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:44,080
This was not a dream, this was a
haunting, A possession, and any 

1045
00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:46,920
second now I cut my throat. 
The first casualty of the night.

1046
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:50,080
After all, isn't that the 
foremost commandment in the 

1047
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,240
scripture of horror? 
They who are queer, deviant, 

1048
00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:56,680
tattooed, tongue pierced other, 
must always die first. 

1049
00:47:57,040 --> 00:47:59,400
The slurred remnants of my 
consciousness chewed on the 

1050
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:01,160
thought as my eyes stood across 
the mirror. 

1051
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,000
My stomach clenched. 
And this is the first of many 

1052
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:05,680
attempts to kind of get matter 
in this. 

1053
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:09,240
So normally I love a book that's
self aware of its genres, usual 

1054
00:48:09,240 --> 00:48:12,080
conventions and actively 
subverts or critiques them. 

1055
00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:14,040
I think there's some great 
examples of this. 

1056
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:18,280
So not horror, but look at 
Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone in

1057
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:21,360
my family has killed someone and
everyone on this train is a 

1058
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,080
suspect. 
He's also got two more out there

1059
00:48:23,080 --> 00:48:26,200
was like a Christmas Story and 
there's a like a fourth book in 

1060
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:27,440
the series, but I've not read 
those two yet. 

1061
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:30,120
But the first two are great. 
They're about like, this author 

1062
00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:35,160
who and his main job in life is 
to write about like murder 

1063
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:38,160
mysteries and whodunits. 
And he writes about the genre 

1064
00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:40,560
conventions and like, here's how
you can write your murder 

1065
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:43,760
mystery and that sort of thing. 
And he finds himself in the 

1066
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:47,960
middle of a real murder mystery 
twice or more with the other 

1067
00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,160
books, I guess. 
And so he uses his knowledge of 

1068
00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:53,920
the genre to try and figure out 
who actually is the murderer and

1069
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:57,160
who actually, like, committed 
these crimes and so on. 

1070
00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:58,800
They're great books. 
They're funny. 

1071
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:00,880
They're smart. 
They're really great at leaning 

1072
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:05,320
into and at times subverting 
expectations at the right times.

1073
00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:06,560
Yeah. 
And I love those books. 

1074
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:08,720
And I think even within the 
horror genre, this can be done 

1075
00:49:08,720 --> 00:49:11,120
really well. 
So look at the original Scream 

1076
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,560
film, which was so revolutionary
at the time. 

1077
00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:16,520
You know, your murderers were 
literally horror film fans who 

1078
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:18,640
were saying, like, these are the
conventions of horror films. 

1079
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:20,120
These are the rules of horror 
films. 

1080
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,160
If you do this, this happens. 
If you do this, this happens. 

1081
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:28,000
And that's why they became, and 
that's why like the reveal at 

1082
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,680
the end of the film was so 
surprising and dramatic. 

1083
00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:33,400
But at the same time, they've 
been telling everyone from the 

1084
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:36,560
start what they were doing and 
why they were like explaining 

1085
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:38,960
their reasons with, you know, 
the rules of horror films like 

1086
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:41,240
this and this. 
And it was, it was great films 

1087
00:49:41,240 --> 00:49:44,120
like Cabin in the Woods and more
recently from that, films like 

1088
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:46,960
The Final Girls. 
These take the genre conventions

1089
00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:49,280
of horror films and slashes and 
so on. 

1090
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:52,480
And they lean into them and at 
times subvert them. 

1091
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:54,120
And it's really cool. 
It's really meta. 

1092
00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:56,040
So my point is this can be 
really great and really 

1093
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:57,440
effective. 
Similar to this. 

1094
00:49:57,520 --> 00:49:59,600
If you've ever seen The Woman in
Black, yes. 

1095
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:02,720
So it was originally a book and 
then it became a play and it's 

1096
00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:05,000
also been a film as well. 
But I'm specifically talking 

1097
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,560
about the play version and it's 
absolutely amazing. 

1098
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:13,280
Two person play, so damn creepy.
Like I was terrified at times. 

1099
00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:16,080
It was brilliant. 
And when I went down to London 

1100
00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:19,360
to see that, I got to do a 
really cool workshop with the 

1101
00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:22,080
actors from that play. 
And the whole acting workshop 

1102
00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:25,760
was about how to create a 
suspense on stage, but also, so 

1103
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,000
like, it's a great set of rules 
that can translate to writing 

1104
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,520
and creativity and films and all
sorts of stuff. 

1105
00:50:31,520 --> 00:50:35,200
And it was all about managing 
the audience's expectations and 

1106
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:38,240
knowing when to lean into what 
they expect and when to subvert 

1107
00:50:38,240 --> 00:50:40,960
what they expect and how. 
That's a huge part of creating 

1108
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:44,480
tension and suspense and horror 
in general. 

1109
00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:45,880
It's something that's always 
stuck with me. 

1110
00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:48,960
And so in general, I like the 
idea of this book getting a 

1111
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:51,480
little better and being like, I 
feel like I'm in a horror film 

1112
00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:54,480
right now. 
In horror, X must die first, 

1113
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:58,440
therefore I can expect this 
person to die first and so on. 

1114
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,920
And like, I feel like this could
work, but it's weird that it's 

1115
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:05,000
only been introduced now like 
25% of the way into the book. 

1116
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:08,600
And I don't understand why like 
Cat's suddenly doing this. 

1117
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:12,320
Like we've had nothing before 
that says Cat has any interest 

1118
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:16,400
in horror in film or books or 
any other medium, so I don't 

1119
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:19,040
understand why she's suddenly 
like, getting met her about it. 

1120
00:51:19,160 --> 00:51:21,560
If we knew she was a horror fan,
it would make sense. 

1121
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:23,560
The other characters start doing
it too. 

1122
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:26,440
Like I think Lynn starts doing 
it at one point and again, if 

1123
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:29,920
maybe he'd been established as a
horror fan, it would make sense,

1124
00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:33,520
but he's not. 
So it feels weird that they're 

1125
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:35,120
suddenly doing this out of 
nowhere. 

1126
00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:39,840
Also, Cat been like, I'm either 
queer, deviant, tattooed, tongue

1127
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:41,760
pierced or other. 
And so she's like, that's why 

1128
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:44,840
I'm going to die first. 
But at this point we don't know 

1129
00:51:44,840 --> 00:51:46,800
that she's any of them. 
We were like, well, we know 

1130
00:51:46,800 --> 00:51:48,720
nothing about Cat. 
Is she queer? 

1131
00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:51,880
Turns out, yes, she's bisexual, 
but we don't know this at this 

1132
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:54,280
point, so this line makes no 
sense in context. 

1133
00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:56,560
Is she deviant? 
Is she tattooed? 

1134
00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:58,600
Is she tongue pierced? 
We don't know any of these 

1135
00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:00,640
things. 
As far as we know, she's none of

1136
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:01,880
them. 
It's bizarre. 

1137
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:05,240
It's really bizarre. 
It's just, it's done so poorly. 

1138
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:08,280
I think if you want to get meta,
you need a context for it to get

1139
00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:10,360
meta. 
In another example. 

1140
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:13,600
So I just finished the book How 
to Survive a Horror Story by 

1141
00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:16,200
Mallory Arnold and it was fine. 
It was. 

1142
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:20,000
I'm not sure if I liked it all 
that much that it had its ups 

1143
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:20,760
and downs. 
I didn't. 

1144
00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:22,840
The ending was very good. 
Actually, the ending kind of 

1145
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:25,920
made me rate a bit higher than I
was going to, but I thought it 

1146
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,320
was really cool. 
And the premise of it is this 

1147
00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:31,480
famous horror writer has died, 
and he's collected a bunch of 

1148
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:34,880
other horror writers all in his 
mansion for, like, the reading 

1149
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:37,400
of a will. 
And he's basically said, OK, 

1150
00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:40,080
like, you will inherit my house,
my entire fortune, my 

1151
00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:42,520
everything, if you can get out 
of this house. 

1152
00:52:42,520 --> 00:52:45,720
And to get out of this house, 
you have to solve a bunch of 

1153
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:47,400
riddles. 
You have to go through all these

1154
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:50,000
different like horror tropes, 
essentially. 

1155
00:52:50,120 --> 00:52:52,880
And so again, it's quite meta. 
But again, that makes sense 

1156
00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:56,160
because you've got the setup 
that the man setting this up is 

1157
00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,640
a horror writer. 
The people living through this 

1158
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:01,480
are horror writers. 
They know the genre, they know 

1159
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:05,160
the conventions, so they know 
what to expect and what to not 

1160
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,480
expect and so on. 
And that's how it can be like 

1161
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:10,320
really good when you get meta in
this. 

1162
00:53:10,520 --> 00:53:14,560
We never get any inkling that 
any of them are horror fans in 

1163
00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:16,560
any way. 
They they don't read horror 

1164
00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:17,840
books, they don't watch horror 
films. 

1165
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:20,280
They just suddenly start getting
meta for no reason. 

1166
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:24,360
I'm just like, I need some 
context for the metanus of it 

1167
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:26,560
all. 
I need a reason for you to start

1168
00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:28,480
talking about horror films. 
You know, the average person 

1169
00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:30,440
doesn't do that. 
So imagine I went to the shop 

1170
00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:33,240
one day and I was like, well, 
you know, in a crime book, 

1171
00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:35,920
someone would burst through the 
doors right now and we'd all be 

1172
00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:38,600
held hostage. 
Like that would be really weird 

1173
00:53:38,600 --> 00:53:41,160
for me to do because nothing 
prompted that. 

1174
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:42,840
I just went to the shop on a 
normal day. 

1175
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:48,920
Now, if I was like a known crime
author and then I saw this was 

1176
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:50,880
shady and this was shady and 
this was shady. 

1177
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:54,440
And I was like, Oh my God. 
Like in my genre that I write 

1178
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:57,600
and I know and I live, this is 
what happens in crime books. 

1179
00:53:57,600 --> 00:53:59,480
And I'm seeing a clue here and 
I'm seeing a clue there. 

1180
00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:02,000
I'm seeing a clue there. 
It might be logical for me to 

1181
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:05,120
say, oh God, in a crime book, 
this is what might happen next. 

1182
00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:08,200
But in your average day-to-day 
existence, you don't do that. 

1183
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:10,920
You don't say that. 
So in a book, when you want to 

1184
00:54:10,920 --> 00:54:12,800
get metal like that, you need to
set it up. 

1185
00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:15,080
You need to have a reason why 
the characters are talking like 

1186
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:18,000
that, and you need something to 
actually set them off, to draw 

1187
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:20,600
those comparisons and so on. 
And I've been talking about this

1188
00:54:20,600 --> 00:54:22,240
for too long. 
The point is, it annoyed me. 

1189
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:25,600
It really annoyed me. 
So Talia comes in to check on 

1190
00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:28,560
Cat and says she was staring at 
the wall and Cat says was I? 

1191
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:31,640
And then Talia snaps back with 
that slimming of her mouth 

1192
00:54:31,640 --> 00:54:34,680
again, and when she spoke it 
wasn't with her satin Polish, 

1193
00:54:34,720 --> 00:54:38,280
bitterness coursing up her tone.
You know we don't have to like 

1194
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:40,440
each other, but you don't have 
to be a bitch. 

1195
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:45,080
Bitch is the kind of word that 
reads like a gunshot, rings like

1196
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:47,480
a punch. 
I snapped straight at the sound.

1197
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:50,840
The word clarified again, 
distant warm candle glow and 

1198
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:53,880
Talia's glacial stare. 
What is your problem with me? 

1199
00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:55,680
I mean, besides the one I 
already know. 

1200
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:57,520
Honestly, I'm still team Talia 
here. 

1201
00:54:57,600 --> 00:54:59,600
Kate's like, did you actually 
mean it when you asked if I was 

1202
00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:01,000
OK? 
And then it gets all weird 

1203
00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:04,480
between them. 
F me, shoot and score. 

1204
00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:06,200
That's what I get for trying to 
be nice to you. 

1205
00:55:06,720 --> 00:55:08,400
That's what you get for being 
fake. 

1206
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:11,680
That's Can't Sing, That's Talia.
What do you want from me? 

1207
00:55:11,880 --> 00:55:14,320
Her voice brittled. 
I'm trying for Faze. 

1208
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:17,080
I don't like you, and I don't 
think I'm a bum hole for it. 

1209
00:55:17,200 --> 00:55:19,120
You tried to break us up, but 
you know what? 

1210
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:21,600
I'm working on that. 
I would trade a lot of money for

1211
00:55:21,600 --> 00:55:24,800
you to not be here, but this is 
where we are effing meet me 

1212
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,680
halfway. 
If it helps, I wish you weren't 

1213
00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:30,040
here either. 
I hope this house eats you, 

1214
00:55:30,360 --> 00:55:32,720
Talia. 
Her charity only good for so 

1215
00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:34,600
much. 
I hope the same about you. 

1216
00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:36,520
So so far Cat is an awful 
person. 

1217
00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:40,280
I am completely team Talia here.
I don't get why Cat is so 

1218
00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:43,080
horrible to Talia. 
We never find out why she 

1219
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:45,800
dislikes her so much. 
We never see Talia really doing 

1220
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:47,960
anything that warrants Cat to 
dislike her. 

1221
00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:52,840
It's just, you know what awful 
to chapter 4 now, and I'd really

1222
00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:55,440
like some more creepiness here 
instead of petty fighting and 

1223
00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:58,080
jealousy between immature people
of unknown age. 

1224
00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:01,200
But sadly, we don't get it. 
This chapter starts with them 

1225
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:04,880
playing the candle game and 
telling stories in a room full 

1226
00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:07,680
of candles. 
You know, dark room, creepy 

1227
00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:10,800
candlelight, creepy stories. 
There's also a bunch of creepy 

1228
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:13,280
dolls in there. 
As the game is progressing, 

1229
00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:16,520
they're slowly blowing out the 
candles, so this could be really

1230
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:19,080
damn cool. 
Except all the interesting stuff

1231
00:56:19,200 --> 00:56:21,720
up and off page, just like 
between the chapters, we're not 

1232
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:23,200
showing it. 
All the stuff that could 

1233
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:26,600
actually build atmosphere and 
tension and maybe tell us 

1234
00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:28,920
something really cool about the 
characters and their backstories

1235
00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:31,280
and their motivations. 
All of it happens off page. 

1236
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:34,920
We don't see any of it. 
We are now 42% of the way into 

1237
00:56:34,920 --> 00:56:37,080
the book and it's honestly kind 
of boring so far. 

1238
00:56:37,080 --> 00:56:39,720
We killed a candle with every 
story until there was one last 

1239
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:41,880
flickering survivor. 
It's light twitched through the 

1240
00:56:41,880 --> 00:56:44,480
Soji screen. 
The walls here frothed with 

1241
00:56:44,480 --> 00:56:47,480
waves and rough ocean through 
its lambent waters, the paint 

1242
00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:50,200
glittering as though tinctured 
with crushed sapphire. 

1243
00:56:50,440 --> 00:56:54,680
Woodblock octopi watched as 
incuriously and at this point I 

1244
00:56:54,680 --> 00:56:56,200
was like I don't want to read 
this book anymore. 

1245
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:59,400
This is a pet hate of mine but 
I'm sorry if you already heard 

1246
00:56:59,400 --> 00:57:01,040
me rant about this a million 
times in videos. 

1247
00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:03,680
It's not octopi. 
Octopi is wrong. 

1248
00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:07,880
It is octopuses as the plural. 
You can also use the archaic 

1249
00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:11,480
octopods if you want, but the 
correct modern plural is 

1250
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:15,360
octopuses. 
Octopi never has and never will 

1251
00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:17,520
be correct. 
Stop saying octopi. 

1252
00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:19,920
And it's not just me that like 
talks about this right? 

1253
00:57:20,040 --> 00:57:22,920
My favourite ever book, The Soul
of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. 

1254
00:57:23,160 --> 00:57:26,720
Literally in her the opening 
page she says I knew a little 

1255
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:29,400
about octopuses. 
Not even that the scientifically

1256
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:31,760
correct plural is not octopi, as
I'd always believed. 

1257
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:35,680
It turns out you can't put a 
Latin ending I on a word derived

1258
00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:39,400
from Greek, such as octopus. 
Octopuses, not octopi. 

1259
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:43,960
Where was her editor annoyed me.
This is why I will never like 

1260
00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:45,920
this book. 
I can forgive many a thing. 

1261
00:57:46,200 --> 00:57:48,600
I can forgive annoying 
characters and bad storytelling 

1262
00:57:48,600 --> 00:57:52,400
and flowery writing. 
But I cannot forgive the wrong 

1263
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:56,880
use of the plural of octopus. 
So Kat says she's going to tell 

1264
00:57:56,880 --> 00:58:00,280
the like, sorry, all that aside,
do you see what I mean? 

1265
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,800
That was all we got for setting 
up the atmosphere and the game 

1266
00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:04,680
and everything. 
And like, that game could have 

1267
00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:06,520
been so interesting. 
There could have been so much to

1268
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:08,440
it, and that's all we got. 
It's annoying as hell. 

1269
00:58:08,520 --> 00:58:11,600
Kat says she's going to tell the
very last story, Story 100. 

1270
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:15,080
But first, blah, blah, blah, 
she's drinking beer. 

1271
00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:17,280
Cool. 
Lynn's drinking plum wine. 

1272
00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:20,440
My teeth were just sugar now. 
Third, with so much plaque, I 

1273
00:58:20,440 --> 00:58:22,080
couldn't stop working my tongue 
over them. 

1274
00:58:22,080 --> 00:58:24,640
Over and over, like a horse, 
like a dog that had gotten into 

1275
00:58:24,640 --> 00:58:26,920
a bag of toffee. 
Back forth, back forth. 

1276
00:58:27,080 --> 00:58:29,640
I've got a story again, this 
sort of imagery with the teeth, 

1277
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:32,120
something that's repeated 
throughout the whole book, and 

1278
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:33,720
it could be super creepy and 
uncomfortable. 

1279
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:35,200
I hate teeth. 
They gross me out. 

1280
00:58:35,840 --> 00:58:39,000
But again, I feel like this is 
just a bit overwritten. 

1281
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:41,360
I don't need more than one 
simile, I don't need like this, 

1282
00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:43,280
like this, like this, it's too 
much. 

1283
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:46,200
Face spoke up first, Sometimes 
he still remembered how to be a 

1284
00:58:46,200 --> 00:58:47,880
best friend. 
You don't have to. 

1285
00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:50,840
You've had a rough night, just 
suddenly enjoy how she had a 

1286
00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:52,200
rough night. 
When was she having a rough 

1287
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:54,120
night? 
Because she was mean to Talia, 

1288
00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:55,320
that means she's had a rough 
night. 

1289
00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:58,440
Why they suddenly babying her? 
This makes no sense. 

1290
00:58:58,600 --> 00:59:00,760
I'm so confused. 
And it's not that I've missed 

1291
00:59:00,760 --> 00:59:03,080
out stuff and like just not told
you about stuff that's happened,

1292
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:05,560
I've told you at all. 
Kat is now very drunk but she 

1293
00:59:05,560 --> 00:59:09,680
brags about having the bestest 
ever ghost and tells Linda and 

1294
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:13,400
puts her finger to his mouth 
like a patronising dog owner. 

1295
00:59:13,520 --> 00:59:16,800
She's sloppy and Phase and Talia
try to get a drink water but 

1296
00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:19,480
cats too busy being horrible. 
I've known phase. 

1297
00:59:19,880 --> 00:59:22,160
I strangled the rest of the 
sentence and sat down again, a 

1298
00:59:22,160 --> 00:59:25,400
knot of acid sizzling just under
where my ribs fought from my 

1299
00:59:25,400 --> 00:59:27,800
sternum. 
Like Chapel doors or a wishbone.

1300
00:59:28,120 --> 00:59:30,320
Oh God, sorry, I just realised 
how gross this is. 

1301
00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:34,240
I've no face since before the 
thought of effing him was a wet 

1302
00:59:34,240 --> 00:59:37,640
spot in your crotch. 
I got damn vomit. 2 fingers 

1303
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:40,480
bolted over my lips. 
Just let me tell my story. 

1304
00:59:40,720 --> 00:59:42,880
It's my drunk voice and but 
yeah, please just tell you a 

1305
00:59:42,880 --> 00:59:43,560
story. 
Seriously. 

1306
00:59:43,560 --> 00:59:46,320
Like I want something scary in a
horror book, not a bunch of 

1307
00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:48,960
adult children bickering. 
I hope to hell in that moment 

1308
00:59:48,960 --> 00:59:51,280
that she was listening. 
Half because I was tired of 

1309
00:59:51,280 --> 00:59:54,840
being unloved, being pitied like
a form panting its last handful 

1310
00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:58,040
of breaths into a ditch because 
I hoped it was all true. 

1311
00:59:58,400 --> 01:00:00,760
A little bit of magic. 
Even if it was hungry, even if 

1312
01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:03,440
it was a house with rotting 
bones and a heart made of dead 

1313
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:04,560
girls. 
Ghost. 

1314
01:00:04,800 --> 01:00:07,440
I'd give it everything it wanted
just for scraps. 

1315
01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:11,160
Some unabridged attention, some 
love, even if it was from a 

1316
01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:13,840
corpse with blackened teeth. 
Anything to feel alive right 

1317
01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:15,360
now. 
Again, I really want to like 

1318
01:00:15,360 --> 01:00:16,960
this. 
Like I do feel like this could 

1319
01:00:16,960 --> 01:00:20,320
have been such a great depiction
of depression and loneliness and

1320
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:23,040
how you know she she feels so 
lonely and excluded from her 

1321
01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:26,360
friend she reaches out to like a
potential ghost for attention. 

1322
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:29,520
Like, that could have been so 
amazingly creepy, but Kat is 

1323
01:00:29,520 --> 01:00:32,760
just so horrible and 
unsympathetic that I'm really 

1324
01:00:32,760 --> 01:00:36,080
struggling to care about her all
Once Upon a time I repeated. 

1325
01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:39,640
Once Upon a time there was a 
house in the middle of a forest,

1326
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:44,240
and it stood silently until a 
group of honey somethings barged

1327
01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:46,240
through the door looking for 
ghosts. 

1328
01:00:46,840 --> 01:00:48,760
Philip and Faze gave each other 
high fives. 

1329
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:52,040
They their dinner. 
They drank their beer, they 

1330
01:00:52,040 --> 01:00:54,120
played a game to call it the 
dead from their rest. 

1331
01:00:54,320 --> 01:00:57,400
As I said, they didn't have to. 
The house already knew they were

1332
01:00:57,400 --> 01:00:59,120
there. 
I saw it backwards, weight 

1333
01:00:59,120 --> 01:01:00,920
balanced on the heels of my 
palms. 

1334
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:04,720
Watch that one fly as it wiggled
from a crack in the ceramic 

1335
01:01:04,720 --> 01:01:07,560
boy's skull and buzzed to 
another doll, squeezing through 

1336
01:01:07,560 --> 01:01:10,200
its black lipped mouth. 
I thought I could hear its feet 

1337
01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:13,120
scratching the lacquer. 
Lincol on 1st, did you see 

1338
01:01:13,120 --> 01:01:14,680
something? 
A cow? 

1339
01:01:15,240 --> 01:01:17,840
I whispered, it should have 
sounded like a joke, something 

1340
01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:21,520
stupid, but a wind frizzened 
through the cracks in the soji 

1341
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:23,320
and it was as if the manner was 
laughing at me. 

1342
01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:27,520
I was sure it's voice dripping 
with termites, A pale little 

1343
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:31,680
bride with a smile full of ink. 
Right on cue all the lights went

1344
01:01:31,680 --> 01:01:34,280
out. 
So again, this could have been 

1345
01:01:34,280 --> 01:01:37,960
great, but there was just no 
tension built for me before any 

1346
01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:39,920
of this. 
I know it's a short book, but I 

1347
01:01:39,920 --> 01:01:43,000
just wanted more. 
You can do so much in just a 

1348
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:45,160
short few pages with building 
tension. 

1349
01:01:45,280 --> 01:01:46,760
And also just this game in 
general. 

1350
01:01:46,760 --> 01:01:49,120
Like playing this game could 
have been a really great 

1351
01:01:49,120 --> 01:01:51,160
opportunity for us to learn 
about the characters from the 

1352
01:01:51,160 --> 01:01:54,240
stories they chose to tell and 
how they reacted to each other's

1353
01:01:54,240 --> 01:01:55,880
stories. 
Like, you know, a bit like 

1354
01:01:56,480 --> 01:01:59,640
haunted but but not, you know, 
like each of the characters in 

1355
01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:02,040
the theatre has their own story 
to tell and they do like 

1356
01:02:02,040 --> 01:02:04,240
performance and it tells us 
something about their back story

1357
01:02:04,440 --> 01:02:06,760
and also how they see themselves
and the world and how they ended

1358
01:02:06,760 --> 01:02:08,600
up there and so on. 
We could have had something like

1359
01:02:08,600 --> 01:02:12,200
that here, but like, you know, 
shorter but with just as much 

1360
01:02:12,200 --> 01:02:13,680
impact. 
So the author could have like 

1361
01:02:13,680 --> 01:02:16,640
built up this tension slowly as 
we see each person getting more 

1362
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:19,040
and more creeped out as more and
more stories are told. 

1363
01:02:19,280 --> 01:02:21,880
And slowly as each candle is 
blown out and the room gets 

1364
01:02:21,880 --> 01:02:24,760
darker and darker. 
Cat gets drunker and drunker 

1365
01:02:24,760 --> 01:02:26,440
slowly. 
And so we see her becoming a 

1366
01:02:26,440 --> 01:02:28,200
more and more unreliable 
narrator. 

1367
01:02:28,760 --> 01:02:31,960
And again, even her portrayal of
like being drunk, I feel doesn't

1368
01:02:31,960 --> 01:02:34,880
work for me because like, she's 
there apparently slurring her 

1369
01:02:34,880 --> 01:02:37,960
words and like this. 
And like, that's kind of clear 

1370
01:02:37,960 --> 01:02:40,200
in her dialogue. 
But then when she's narrating 

1371
01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:42,400
and she's like, yes. 
And then the wind. 

1372
01:02:42,560 --> 01:02:45,440
But I don't like when I'm 
reading a drunk, unreliable 

1373
01:02:45,440 --> 01:02:48,320
narrator, I want even their 
narration to seem drunk. 

1374
01:02:48,440 --> 01:02:50,720
So I'm getting that they're 
unreliable and they're not 

1375
01:02:50,720 --> 01:02:53,280
really aware what's going on. 
And I want to feel that 

1376
01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:55,800
disorientation when I'm reading.
What I want to see is like the 

1377
01:02:55,800 --> 01:02:58,200
slow build up through like each 
story. 

1378
01:02:58,200 --> 01:03:00,280
You know, we could could have 
learned about what drives each 

1379
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:01,920
character. 
We could have learned about what

1380
01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:03,880
each of them thinks is the 
scariest thing. 

1381
01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:07,120
And we actually vaguely learn 
later that each of these 

1382
01:03:07,120 --> 01:03:09,000
characters has like a really 
cool background. 

1383
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,160
Like each one's from a 
completely different country and

1384
01:03:11,160 --> 01:03:12,080
culture and all this sort of 
thing. 

1385
01:03:12,080 --> 01:03:14,800
And they all came together in 
like a different place and 

1386
01:03:14,800 --> 01:03:18,040
they're all different and like 
races and ethnicities. 

1387
01:03:18,320 --> 01:03:21,320
So it could have been a really 
cool opportunity to be like, OK,

1388
01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:24,160
well, like this person's from 
here, let's have them tell a 

1389
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:27,480
ghost story or like something 
from like their cultures 

1390
01:03:27,480 --> 01:03:29,120
mythology. 
This person's from here. 

1391
01:03:29,120 --> 01:03:30,920
So we could have a ghost story 
from this culture. 

1392
01:03:31,120 --> 01:03:32,800
This person's from here, we 
could have a ghost story from 

1393
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:35,000
this culture. 
Even something like that could 

1394
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:38,400
have been so damn good. 
Let's say either Faisal Talia is

1395
01:03:38,400 --> 01:03:41,240
having like worries about 
getting married or something. 

1396
01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:43,600
Maybe they're ghost stories that
they tell, could have hinted 

1397
01:03:43,600 --> 01:03:45,800
towards that and like whatever 
insecurities they have. 

1398
01:03:46,000 --> 01:03:48,400
If you want to build up the 
insecurities that Fais has 

1399
01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:51,400
towards Philip, you could have 
had like some ghost story about 

1400
01:03:51,400 --> 01:03:53,960
like some little man getting 
revenge on the big guy. 

1401
01:03:53,960 --> 01:03:56,160
Do you know what I mean? 
Like we could have learned so 

1402
01:03:56,160 --> 01:03:58,200
much about the characters and 
their motivation from the story.

1403
01:03:58,200 --> 01:04:01,280
They chose to tell, but instead 
we don't know what any of it is,

1404
01:04:01,560 --> 01:04:04,360
none of it's told and it's just 
such a waste. 

1405
01:04:04,360 --> 01:04:07,120
It's a real shame. 
Anyway, now they're apparently 

1406
01:04:07,120 --> 01:04:10,840
scared because they think Cat, 
who's drunk, saw something and 

1407
01:04:10,840 --> 01:04:12,560
apparently that means they're 
all scared now. 

1408
01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:15,440
And so they all grab their 
phones for light and for some 

1409
01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:17,840
reason Talia goes running off. 
We never really found out why 

1410
01:04:17,840 --> 01:04:20,200
but she goes running off, Faiz 
and Philip full of her. 

1411
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:23,000
But Lin and Cat stay behind. 
Lin says he doesn't care about 

1412
01:04:23,000 --> 01:04:24,400
the others or what happens to 
them. 

1413
01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:27,440
And then the book tries to get 
Metro again, like for no reason 

1414
01:04:27,440 --> 01:04:30,080
with no build up he knows. 
Hold his head against my temple.

1415
01:04:30,080 --> 01:04:33,080
Exhaled Cat. 
This is literally the part where

1416
01:04:33,080 --> 01:04:34,800
the supporting cast dies 
horribly. 

1417
01:04:35,240 --> 01:04:37,560
You're bisexual. 
I'm the Comic Relief. 

1418
01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:41,760
It's going to be one of us. 
But Philip's white, he'll be 

1419
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:44,240
fine. 
Faze is the hero, so he won't 

1420
01:04:44,240 --> 01:04:48,280
die in the first effing act. 
And Talia, well, maybe Talia's 

1421
01:04:48,280 --> 01:04:51,240
thoroughly effed, but I don't 
care about her, he said. 

1422
01:04:51,240 --> 01:04:53,400
It's so casually, like it was 
the easiest line in the 

1423
01:04:53,400 --> 01:04:54,920
universe. 
That's nice. 

1424
01:04:55,080 --> 01:04:57,600
It also feels like a really 
weird, like, info dump of like, 

1425
01:04:57,600 --> 01:05:00,400
cat sexuality in here. 
It feels kind of pointless and 

1426
01:05:00,400 --> 01:05:03,400
like I'm all about, like, having
representation in books. 

1427
01:05:03,400 --> 01:05:06,240
We do generally need more queer 
characters in literature and I 

1428
01:05:06,240 --> 01:05:09,520
think that's great. 
I just don't understand like the

1429
01:05:09,520 --> 01:05:12,640
choice to make her queer when it
has no impact on this. 

1430
01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:15,600
I just, I don't know, her only 
relationships in this book are 

1431
01:05:15,600 --> 01:05:17,840
with men. 
The only complications in this 

1432
01:05:17,840 --> 01:05:20,560
friendship are because she's had
relationships with men. 

1433
01:05:20,600 --> 01:05:24,120
The fact like she's bisexual 
doesn't come into this at all. 

1434
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:27,360
And it feels like an odd thing 
to throw in just to try and like

1435
01:05:27,360 --> 01:05:30,040
maybe make this a bit more meta 
and be like, queer characters 

1436
01:05:30,040 --> 01:05:33,000
die first so you expect her to 
die first or something like 

1437
01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:34,040
that. 
I don't, I don't know. 

1438
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:36,800
I don't know what the author was
thinking but I feel like it 

1439
01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:39,320
doesn't work in general. 
I think all of this could have 

1440
01:05:39,320 --> 01:05:42,640
been handled so much better. 
Anyway, Talia appears back out 

1441
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:45,520
of nowhere and she says she's 
found something and then Phase 

1442
01:05:45,520 --> 01:05:48,440
and Philip reappear too. 
Again, all the interesting stuff

1443
01:05:48,440 --> 01:05:50,880
happens off page while we just 
have to sit and listen to their 

1444
01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:53,040
petty drama. 
Cat starts to freak out because 

1445
01:05:53,040 --> 01:05:55,560
she thinks doors and corridors 
have appeared where they weren't

1446
01:05:55,560 --> 01:05:58,280
there before. 
Again, this whole creepy house 

1447
01:05:58,280 --> 01:06:01,000
changing thing is one of my 
favourite like creepy bits of 

1448
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:02,440
fiction. 
It really gets to me. 

1449
01:06:02,520 --> 01:06:06,280
Episode 13 House of Leaves both 
did it brilliantly and I love 

1450
01:06:06,280 --> 01:06:08,880
that even Horror Story did it a 
little bit as well. 

1451
01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:10,400
I just didn't care that much 
here. 

1452
01:06:10,600 --> 01:06:13,480
It just happened out of nowhere 
with no build up and even Oh my 

1453
01:06:13,480 --> 01:06:16,600
God Marcus Cluers we used to 
live here. 

1454
01:06:16,840 --> 01:06:18,240
That does it really well as 
well. 

1455
01:06:18,360 --> 01:06:20,960
So damn creepy that book. 
Loved that. 

1456
01:06:21,080 --> 01:06:22,640
Although I feel like I wanted 
more from it. 

1457
01:06:22,640 --> 01:06:24,280
It ended. 
I was like no give me more. 

1458
01:06:24,320 --> 01:06:28,080
They all handled the whole 
changing house horror so much 

1459
01:06:28,080 --> 01:06:31,520
better than this random line. 
Anyway, Cat's like oh that 

1460
01:06:31,520 --> 01:06:34,200
appeared out of nowhere and then
that's as tense as it ever gets.

1461
01:06:34,520 --> 01:06:38,320
And then Talia, Phase and Philip
all go running down this 

1462
01:06:38,320 --> 01:06:41,240
apparently newly appeared 
hallway, and cats like don't go 

1463
01:06:41,240 --> 01:06:42,880
down there, but then they do 
anyway. 

1464
01:06:43,040 --> 01:06:45,280
The words came together, but I 
swallowed them stillborn. 

1465
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:47,960
It was too esoteric, too 
ambiguous to get across. 

1466
01:06:47,960 --> 01:06:51,800
Maybe I'd been wrong, but if I 
wasn't, I got up Lin bellowing 

1467
01:06:51,800 --> 01:06:54,960
protests and staggered after the
clacker, sandals on wood, half 

1468
01:06:54,960 --> 01:06:57,560
blind as I followed my Dante's 
into damnation. 

1469
01:06:57,680 --> 01:06:59,280
On to chapter 5. 
We're travelling through the 

1470
01:06:59,280 --> 01:07:01,800
house, we could have had some 
really cool stuff with like the 

1471
01:07:01,800 --> 01:07:04,360
house changing and moving and 
her not being sure where she is 

1472
01:07:04,600 --> 01:07:07,440
and feeling really like, 
disoriented, but instead that 

1473
01:07:07,440 --> 01:07:09,680
all happens off page between the
chapters and just suddenly 

1474
01:07:09,680 --> 01:07:11,320
they're on a bridge. 
Kat's still drunk. 

1475
01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:14,240
She starts going across a bridge
that's across a garden. 

1476
01:07:14,440 --> 01:07:16,120
Lynn's trying to tell her not to
go. 

1477
01:07:16,120 --> 01:07:18,560
The writing's kind of confusing 
here and it's all a bit all over

1478
01:07:18,560 --> 01:07:21,200
the place, but from what I can 
tell, Kat now thinks the others 

1479
01:07:21,200 --> 01:07:23,440
are in danger. 
She implies she needs to save 

1480
01:07:23,440 --> 01:07:24,880
them. 
Because they were there for me 

1481
01:07:24,880 --> 01:07:27,280
when you weren't. 
I blotted tears from my eyes, 

1482
01:07:27,280 --> 01:07:30,240
slowing thought for a moment on 
the value of pointing out what 

1483
01:07:30,240 --> 01:07:33,200
had happened as the world 
smeared into a sodium haze. 

1484
01:07:33,480 --> 01:07:36,240
Somehow Lynn had taken no notice
of the spatial weirdness. 

1485
01:07:36,240 --> 01:07:39,280
So I said nothing. 
We were effed, clearly, might as

1486
01:07:39,280 --> 01:07:42,600
well die without any bad blood. 
They kept me going, they got me 

1487
01:07:42,600 --> 01:07:44,720
to come out of the house. 
They made me feel normal. 

1488
01:07:44,960 --> 01:07:47,600
Well, if you just called and so,
and now I'm confused. 

1489
01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:50,760
Apparently like they all hate 
her because she said she didn't 

1490
01:07:50,760 --> 01:07:53,440
want Faze and Talia to be 
together. 

1491
01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:55,800
But then apparently like they're
all weird about her because she 

1492
01:07:55,800 --> 01:07:57,440
had this breakdown. 
But apparently they were there 

1493
01:07:57,440 --> 01:07:59,160
for her when she had the 
breakdown, which is why they're 

1494
01:07:59,160 --> 01:08:00,880
friends. 
But then like Lindsay and the 

1495
01:08:00,880 --> 01:08:02,960
one who's always been there for 
her, but then he abandoned her 

1496
01:08:02,960 --> 01:08:05,640
during her breakdown, but now 
he's back and he's the one who 

1497
01:08:05,640 --> 01:08:07,680
likes and there's no 
consistency. 

1498
01:08:07,840 --> 01:08:10,840
I do not understand any of this.
The characters are so poorly 

1499
01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:13,480
written for a book that's all 
about their drama. 

1500
01:08:13,480 --> 01:08:15,880
It's very confusing. 
So she complaints that Lynn 

1501
01:08:15,880 --> 01:08:18,319
wasn't there for her and didn't 
even tell her that he got 

1502
01:08:18,319 --> 01:08:20,080
married. 
And he's like, I didn't think 

1503
01:08:20,080 --> 01:08:21,800
you'd want to know, 'cause 
you're unhappy. 

1504
01:08:22,399 --> 01:08:25,840
Again, I think there's potential
in how these characters respond 

1505
01:08:25,840 --> 01:08:27,319
to someone with mental health 
issues. 

1506
01:08:27,399 --> 01:08:29,439
That could be an interesting 
part of the story. 

1507
01:08:29,680 --> 01:08:31,040
That could be an interesting 
part. 

1508
01:08:31,040 --> 01:08:32,960
Like to link it to the horror 
elements in this. 

1509
01:08:32,960 --> 01:08:35,760
But none of it's handled well 
and none of it's interesting. 

1510
01:08:36,040 --> 01:08:38,960
None of it's well executed. 
Lynn apologises. 

1511
01:08:39,080 --> 01:08:41,840
And Cat says you came back and 
that's what's important. 

1512
01:08:41,960 --> 01:08:44,600
We're friends again. 
I'm still sorry, Lynn said, 

1513
01:08:44,600 --> 01:08:48,200
threading his fingers with mine.
It, it's OK, you're here now, 

1514
01:08:48,240 --> 01:08:51,720
but we gotta go now. 
This time, Lynn didn't argue. 

1515
01:08:51,840 --> 01:08:54,600
And that's it, That's all their 
friendship drama resolved 

1516
01:08:54,600 --> 01:08:56,720
quickly. 
Done like that, and it's never 

1517
01:08:56,720 --> 01:08:59,279
brought up again. 
It never has any consequences. 

1518
01:08:59,479 --> 01:09:01,479
That's it. 
Then again, all the action 

1519
01:09:01,479 --> 01:09:04,680
happens off page and the next 
sentence is literally by the 

1520
01:09:04,680 --> 01:09:07,640
time we found them, Talia was 
all dressed up in someone else's

1521
01:09:07,640 --> 01:09:10,279
wedding clothes. 
So we've gone from zero to 102 

1522
01:09:10,279 --> 01:09:13,279
pages again at this point. 
I appreciate the repetition of 

1523
01:09:13,279 --> 01:09:14,640
the teeth imagery. 
This is cool. 

1524
01:09:14,680 --> 01:09:17,800
Against the Vermilion of the 
overcoat, Talia's skin seemed 

1525
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:20,479
depthless. 
Not brown, but black as ink on 

1526
01:09:20,479 --> 01:09:22,399
teeth. 
Like I say, I like this motif 

1527
01:09:22,399 --> 01:09:24,720
throughout the book, it's just 
not always as creepy as I want 

1528
01:09:24,720 --> 01:09:27,439
it to be, but I appreciate it 
being there nonetheless. 

1529
01:09:27,640 --> 01:09:30,359
It's one of the few things I do 
like about the book where the F 

1530
01:09:30,600 --> 01:09:33,800
Lynn wasn't smiling for once. 
No attempt to defuse, disarm. 

1531
01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:35,920
You know what doesn't effing 
matter? 

1532
01:09:36,120 --> 01:09:38,160
You know this probably belong to
a dead person, right? 

1533
01:09:38,560 --> 01:09:41,319
The hell is wrong with you? 
Face trotted out from a side 

1534
01:09:41,319 --> 01:09:44,680
room, wearing execution as 
blacks, a regular suit, slightly

1535
01:09:44,680 --> 01:09:47,680
rumpled bow tie and everything. 
If you're going to be a bum 

1536
01:09:47,680 --> 01:09:49,359
hole, get out. 
Sorry. 

1537
01:09:49,399 --> 01:09:52,760
Lynn said, not sounding like he 
was at all, just pointing out 

1538
01:09:52,760 --> 01:09:55,280
the obvious. 
Faze pinched his brow. 

1539
01:09:55,520 --> 01:09:57,440
You 2 are drunk idiots at this 
point. 

1540
01:09:57,440 --> 01:09:59,880
I was so confused. 
I was like, I don't know if Lynn

1541
01:09:59,880 --> 01:10:03,040
and Kat are just drunk imagining
all the creepy stuff and like, 

1542
01:10:03,040 --> 01:10:05,320
these guys are trying to like, 
actually get married and they're

1543
01:10:05,320 --> 01:10:09,080
like, oh, this is all weird. 
Or if it's all really happening.

1544
01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:10,960
I didn't know. 
And I was like, that kind of 

1545
01:10:10,960 --> 01:10:12,440
added to like, the creepiness of
it all. 

1546
01:10:12,440 --> 01:10:14,880
But like, it's weird because 
like, the author seems kind of 

1547
01:10:14,880 --> 01:10:17,680
aware of all of this confusion, 
but instead of writing it well, 

1548
01:10:17,680 --> 01:10:19,760
she just kind of makes it a plot
point. 

1549
01:10:19,920 --> 01:10:21,320
Are you talking about the ghost 
girl? 

1550
01:10:21,520 --> 01:10:24,280
Philip circled around from 
behind me, cupped me below the 

1551
01:10:24,280 --> 01:10:27,240
arms and lifted me straight up, 
propped me against an alcove 

1552
01:10:27,240 --> 01:10:29,320
where vase blooming with dead 
flowers sat. 

1553
01:10:30,040 --> 01:10:32,200
The petals crumbled to ashes as 
they leaned back. 

1554
01:10:32,480 --> 01:10:35,200
The air tasted like honey had a 
chewiness to it. 

1555
01:10:35,480 --> 01:10:38,760
No one's seen her, don't worry. 
No, not like honey, I corrected 

1556
01:10:38,760 --> 01:10:41,040
myself. 
It was sinewy, sweet as a knot 

1557
01:10:41,040 --> 01:10:43,440
of tendon after you'd gnawed on 
it for minutes. 

1558
01:10:43,840 --> 01:10:46,880
A faintly corrupt delight. 
We need to go after the 

1559
01:10:46,880 --> 01:10:49,600
ceremony, said Philip. 
We need to go, I said again. 

1560
01:10:49,760 --> 01:10:52,760
It'll be fine. 
Spoken like a true white guy. 

1561
01:10:53,200 --> 01:10:55,240
Lynn rolled a frustrated noise 
in his throat. 

1562
01:10:55,480 --> 01:10:58,000
Entirely animal. 
Ahead of us, Faiz and Talia 

1563
01:10:58,000 --> 01:11:01,360
joined shy hands in front of an 
altar to the faded dead, the 

1564
01:11:01,360 --> 01:11:04,000
small gods of whatever still 
lived in the eaves. 

1565
01:11:04,720 --> 01:11:06,960
You could feel the house pulling
a breast, You could feel its 

1566
01:11:06,960 --> 01:11:08,160
eyes. 
I could. 

1567
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:11,320
Ignoring everything Kat said, 
how does any of this seem like a

1568
01:11:11,320 --> 01:11:13,880
good idea? 
Even assuming it's all just the 

1569
01:11:13,880 --> 01:11:16,920
delusions of an incredibly drunk
mind, this is just plain weird. 

1570
01:11:17,080 --> 01:11:19,400
How the F does any of this make 
sense to you people? 

1571
01:11:19,480 --> 01:11:22,480
And like I say, I love a bit of 
metafiction, but this just all 

1572
01:11:22,480 --> 01:11:25,240
falls flat for me. 
Talia tells Lynn to go away 

1573
01:11:25,240 --> 01:11:28,440
because no one wants him here 
except Cat, and Cat says fine, 

1574
01:11:28,680 --> 01:11:32,200
we're leaving. 
And then phase is like new cat 

1575
01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:35,040
stay. 
We just want Lynn to go, but 

1576
01:11:35,040 --> 01:11:36,880
then Talia is like, no, they can
both go. 

1577
01:11:36,880 --> 01:11:39,080
And I'm like, can I just please 
be the one to go because I don't

1578
01:11:39,080 --> 01:11:41,040
want to read any more of this. 
And it's awful. 

1579
01:11:41,360 --> 01:11:43,080
They are all acting like 
children on the playground. 

1580
01:11:43,240 --> 01:11:45,640
Then out of nowhere things just 
get crazy. 

1581
01:11:45,640 --> 01:11:48,720
It it's so weird how they all 
just like accept this is a 

1582
01:11:48,720 --> 01:11:51,440
creepy horror situation and go 
on with go along with it without

1583
01:11:51,440 --> 01:11:54,040
like questioning anything. 
I, I don't know, I don't know. 

1584
01:11:54,720 --> 01:11:57,720
Cat and Lynn turn to leave, but 
then Lynn just changes his mind 

1585
01:11:57,720 --> 01:12:00,160
at the last minute. 
And out of nowhere, for no 

1586
01:12:00,160 --> 01:12:02,920
reason, with no prompting 
because they just stood there 

1587
01:12:02,920 --> 01:12:07,800
doing nothing, Lynn lunges at 
Talia, grabs her veil, tears her

1588
01:12:07,800 --> 01:12:10,880
veil, and then suddenly there's 
a reveal that oh, that's not 

1589
01:12:10,880 --> 01:12:14,800
Talia after all, it's a demon. 
I don't know if this is like a 

1590
01:12:14,800 --> 01:12:18,360
demon that's possessed Talia or 
possessed her dress or replaced 

1591
01:12:18,360 --> 01:12:19,600
her. 
I don't know what, it's not 

1592
01:12:19,600 --> 01:12:22,000
clear, but suddenly Talia's 
gone. 

1593
01:12:22,200 --> 01:12:24,800
It's a demon. 
She hid nothing this time, the 

1594
01:12:24,800 --> 01:12:27,800
thing beneath Talia's veil. 
My girl from the mirror. 

1595
01:12:28,040 --> 01:12:30,600
There wasn't a face to remember,
because there wasn't a face to 

1596
01:12:30,600 --> 01:12:32,560
find. 
Black hair tendriled across 

1597
01:12:32,560 --> 01:12:36,800
contourless meat, no features to
be seen, only suggestions, only 

1598
01:12:36,800 --> 01:12:39,400
smooth flesh. 
And that grinning mouth, those 

1599
01:12:39,400 --> 01:12:41,800
red lips stretched as far as 
they go. 

1600
01:12:41,960 --> 01:12:43,760
Black teeth and the smell of 
ink. 

1601
01:12:44,040 --> 01:12:47,840
As I gawked, Talia's kimono bled
itself of colour, pinks and 

1602
01:12:47,840 --> 01:12:50,680
golds running from every layer, 
pouring into the dust at her 

1603
01:12:50,680 --> 01:12:52,840
feet. 
So all was left was white, the 

1604
01:12:52,840 --> 01:12:55,600
colour of expensive chalk and 
boneless to cook in the sun. 

1605
01:12:55,960 --> 01:12:59,160
The Oha Guru Batari began to 
laugh before any of us could 

1606
01:12:59,160 --> 01:13:01,680
think to scream. 
This is actually a part that I 

1607
01:13:01,680 --> 01:13:03,760
like this description, so I will
say that now. 

1608
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:07,240
So again, if you're not familiar
Oha Guru Batari, they are these 

1609
01:13:07,240 --> 01:13:09,880
spirits which appear as like 
beautiful women in wedding 

1610
01:13:09,880 --> 01:13:13,040
dresses, have like blank faces 
except giant mouths with 

1611
01:13:13,040 --> 01:13:14,840
blackened teeth. 
Super creepy. 

1612
01:13:15,320 --> 01:13:16,920
It makes sense with the name of 
the book, you know? 

1613
01:13:17,680 --> 01:13:21,040
It's why the book has its name. 
Makes sense for the teeth 

1614
01:13:21,040 --> 01:13:23,360
imagery throughout the book. 
That's all really cool. 

1615
01:13:23,600 --> 01:13:26,000
They're known for having a 
creepy laugh and being known to 

1616
01:13:26,000 --> 01:13:28,240
lure young men in. 
I love this inclusion. 

1617
01:13:28,240 --> 01:13:30,000
I think it's a really creepy 
character. 

1618
01:13:30,280 --> 01:13:33,720
Really good to bring this 
element of like Japanese 

1619
01:13:33,720 --> 01:13:36,400
folklore into this. 
I think it's great. 

1620
01:13:36,480 --> 01:13:41,400
I think this description of the 
demon thing basically creepy as 

1621
01:13:41,400 --> 01:13:42,480
hell. 
Love that. 

1622
01:13:42,560 --> 01:13:44,640
I just wish there'd been more 
build up to the reveal. 

1623
01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:46,680
They were just stood around and 
they're like you leave. 

1624
01:13:46,680 --> 01:13:47,880
No, you leave. 
No, you leave. 

1625
01:13:48,120 --> 01:13:50,440
Oh, I'm going to grab the veil. 
Oh, there's a demon now. 

1626
01:13:50,600 --> 01:13:56,960
There was no build up. 
It's all just rushed and there's

1627
01:13:56,960 --> 01:14:00,320
no tension. 
There's no like, we don't 

1628
01:14:00,320 --> 01:14:02,120
understand the motivation for 
anyone. 

1629
01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:04,280
We don't really understand how 
any of this has happened. 

1630
01:14:04,280 --> 01:14:05,760
It's just, I don't know. 
I don't know. 

1631
01:14:05,760 --> 01:14:07,440
It's just like, oh, petty drama 
one minute. 

1632
01:14:07,480 --> 01:14:10,440
Oh, and now he is a demon and 
we're meant to find it scary and

1633
01:14:10,440 --> 01:14:11,520
I don't. 
Chapter 6. 

1634
01:14:11,520 --> 01:14:14,240
And everyone's scared now. 
The demons that were painted on 

1635
01:14:14,240 --> 01:14:17,080
the walls and the room dividers 
now all seem to come to life and

1636
01:14:17,080 --> 01:14:18,880
they turn to face them with 
mocking expressions. 

1637
01:14:19,080 --> 01:14:20,720
This is creepy as hell. 
I love that. 

1638
01:14:20,720 --> 01:14:22,720
I think this is a really cool 
moment. 

1639
01:14:22,840 --> 01:14:24,960
And we get these like, cool 
creepy descriptions for like, 

1640
01:14:25,120 --> 01:14:28,320
you know, a little tiny bit, but
instead of it being used to 

1641
01:14:28,320 --> 01:14:31,160
like, build attention and like, 
build fear and make it a really 

1642
01:14:31,160 --> 01:14:34,600
horrifying moment, it's all 
ruined because told you she was 

1643
01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:36,480
probably going to be possessed 
and everything was going to 

1644
01:14:36,480 --> 01:14:38,440
hell. 
Lynn said, more satisfied, 

1645
01:14:38,440 --> 01:14:40,040
maybe, than anyone had the right
to be. 

1646
01:14:40,120 --> 01:14:41,880
No, he didn't. 
But I'm glad we've got clarity 

1647
01:14:41,880 --> 01:14:44,160
now that she's actually been 
possessed and that's what's 

1648
01:14:44,160 --> 01:14:46,160
happened, because it wasn't 
clear before. 

1649
01:14:46,240 --> 01:14:49,560
The dead girls are singing 
Talia's Place, Faze's changeling

1650
01:14:49,560 --> 01:14:50,360
bride. 
Why? 

1651
01:14:50,360 --> 01:14:54,160
As a tongue of wax, let her 
laugh to ebb to a giggle, low 

1652
01:14:54,160 --> 01:14:56,680
and coquettish. 
Demurely, she raised her sleeve 

1653
01:14:56,680 --> 01:14:59,960
to her mouth, her chin ducked 
and moved towards each of her 

1654
01:14:59,960 --> 01:15:02,240
steps, causing a scramble back 
of his. 

1655
01:15:02,440 --> 01:15:05,400
He whimpered, head lolling. 
Yeah, I love this description of

1656
01:15:05,400 --> 01:15:08,520
her, I think it's brilliant. 
Again, I just wish it had more 

1657
01:15:08,520 --> 01:15:10,400
impact. 
Because we don't really care 

1658
01:15:10,400 --> 01:15:12,440
about Talia at this point. 
We don't really know what's 

1659
01:15:12,440 --> 01:15:15,760
happened to her, We don't know 
really why she's been possessed.

1660
01:15:15,760 --> 01:15:17,680
I mean, I guess she was the 
bride, so that kind of makes 

1661
01:15:17,680 --> 01:15:19,720
sense, but there's no build up 
to it. 

1662
01:15:20,080 --> 01:15:22,640
If anything, we thought Cat was 
the one being haunted, but now 

1663
01:15:22,640 --> 01:15:25,120
she's taking Talia. 
I don't know, we kind of don't 

1664
01:15:25,120 --> 01:15:26,760
care. 
This is a really creepy 

1665
01:15:26,760 --> 01:15:30,600
description that is wasted on 
utterly boring book with 

1666
01:15:30,600 --> 01:15:32,320
horrible characters that we 
don't care about. 

1667
01:15:32,400 --> 01:15:36,000
I think if we'd seen more of her
and Faye's being a happy couple 

1668
01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:38,400
too, we'd care about it more and
it would have more impact 

1669
01:15:38,400 --> 01:15:41,400
because we'd be like Oh no, this
wonderful happy couples being 

1670
01:15:41,400 --> 01:15:44,400
split up by this like demon 
possessing the bride. 

1671
01:15:44,400 --> 01:15:47,400
What a shame. 
But as it is, we don't care. 

1672
01:15:47,400 --> 01:15:51,520
We don't give a damn. 
So the Oha guru Batari starts to

1673
01:15:51,520 --> 01:15:53,840
say the Japanese phrase that 
Cat's been hearing for the whole

1674
01:15:53,840 --> 01:15:56,040
book. 
And this time Cat translates it 

1675
01:15:56,040 --> 01:15:57,400
to everyone and says it's from a
poem. 

1676
01:15:57,600 --> 01:16:00,160
Then a memory filled my mouth. 
If I were one that had a heart, 

1677
01:16:00,160 --> 01:16:02,520
that would cast you aside and 
turn to someone else. 

1678
01:16:02,680 --> 01:16:06,800
Then waves would rise above the 
Pines of Suno Matsu Mountain. 

1679
01:16:07,120 --> 01:16:09,280
That's the poem, the thing she 
keeps repeating. 

1680
01:16:09,280 --> 01:16:11,760
It's part of the poem. 
I said she's still waiting for 

1681
01:16:11,760 --> 01:16:13,200
her husband to be after all 
these years. 

1682
01:16:13,560 --> 01:16:16,120
She's hanging on to the hope 
he's coming home. 

1683
01:16:16,520 --> 01:16:18,640
That, or she's saying it 
ironically, declared Lynn. 

1684
01:16:18,960 --> 01:16:22,120
Which I can tell you now worries
me because that sounds like the 

1685
01:16:22,240 --> 01:16:24,360
recipe for an angry, effing 
ghost. 

1686
01:16:24,440 --> 01:16:26,720
He paused. 
Or an angry ghost effing. 

1687
01:16:26,760 --> 01:16:30,000
I find the attempts of humour in
this alongside the creepiness 

1688
01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:33,600
like it doesn't work for me. 
It's just jarring again, like 

1689
01:16:33,600 --> 01:16:36,200
because I neither find it funny 
nor creepy. 

1690
01:16:36,200 --> 01:16:39,120
Faze finally decides to ask the 
spirit where Talia is, and to 

1691
01:16:39,120 --> 01:16:40,720
give her back. 
I mean, took him long enough, 

1692
01:16:40,720 --> 01:16:43,080
really. 
Faze hit her his first bore into

1693
01:16:43,080 --> 01:16:46,600
her sternum through it. 
But there was no crunch, no wet 

1694
01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:49,800
pop of bone concaving, no sound 
to speak of, nothing but 

1695
01:16:49,800 --> 01:16:53,680
softness, the oh, her guru's 
body bending into the impact, 

1696
01:16:53,840 --> 01:16:57,000
swallowing his arm to the elbow.
For a moment I thought she might

1697
01:16:57,000 --> 01:16:59,960
have a mouth buried in the mound
of white silt that we were a 

1698
01:16:59,960 --> 01:17:03,200
sliver of a breath away from, 
hearing Faze scream self bloody.

1699
01:17:03,200 --> 01:17:05,240
Again, this could be really 
creepy and if I cared about the 

1700
01:17:05,240 --> 01:17:06,800
characters it might have an 
impact on me. 

1701
01:17:06,960 --> 01:17:09,640
But I don't, so it doesn't. 
And then the demon just 

1702
01:17:09,640 --> 01:17:11,760
vanishes. 
The painted demons all around 

1703
01:17:11,760 --> 01:17:14,000
them, they stay and they're 
still watching them. 

1704
01:17:14,200 --> 01:17:17,080
Again, this would be creepy, but
like, there's no tension, 

1705
01:17:17,080 --> 01:17:18,800
they're just forgotten about. 
And you know what? 

1706
01:17:18,800 --> 01:17:20,440
They're never mentioned again 
after this scene. 

1707
01:17:20,520 --> 01:17:24,040
They don't do anything, they 
don't have any impact. 

1708
01:17:24,040 --> 01:17:25,840
There's no point to them. 
I don't know. 

1709
01:17:25,960 --> 01:17:29,160
Even the descriptions of the 
demons here are so overwritten 

1710
01:17:29,160 --> 01:17:31,840
with simile, simile, simile, 
simile that you don't feel 

1711
01:17:31,840 --> 01:17:33,360
creeped out by it and you 
should. 

1712
01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:36,040
Again, so much potential that's 
just wasted. 

1713
01:17:36,120 --> 01:17:37,960
Lynn again is like, we need to 
leave. 

1714
01:17:38,160 --> 01:17:40,640
And then Philip's like, no, we 
need to stay and find Talia. 

1715
01:17:40,800 --> 01:17:43,600
And then Faze cries on the floor
and Cat finally drinks water 

1716
01:17:43,600 --> 01:17:48,000
because, you know, she's drunk. 
Of course, Cat uses this moment 

1717
01:17:48,000 --> 01:17:52,400
to tell us how hot Philip is 
again, because it's all she 

1718
01:17:52,400 --> 01:17:54,400
cares about. 
Philip, for all of his easy 

1719
01:17:54,400 --> 01:17:57,280
swagger, knew the trick of 
standing smaller, being shorter.

1720
01:17:57,480 --> 01:18:01,000
Most days you couldn't tell he 
was 6 foot three, an artist 

1721
01:18:01,000 --> 01:18:04,440
rendition of the American Dream,
Broad shoulders, muscled thighs,

1722
01:18:04,760 --> 01:18:08,000
a ruggedy Neolithic jaw. 
But now he'd given that up, 

1723
01:18:08,120 --> 01:18:10,960
exchanged his approachability 
for something more contentious, 

1724
01:18:11,120 --> 01:18:14,520
A predatory stillness that drove
a scream through the medulla 

1725
01:18:14,520 --> 01:18:17,080
oblongata. 
We get it, you're into him. 

1726
01:18:17,160 --> 01:18:19,640
Please give us a break. 
Go ahead and stay, I guess. 

1727
01:18:19,840 --> 01:18:22,400
But this is when the murder 
star, you know, this is when the

1728
01:18:22,400 --> 01:18:24,520
murder star. 
Lynn's voice cracked twice 

1729
01:18:24,520 --> 01:18:26,760
through the sentence. 
He removed his glasses, wiped 

1730
01:18:26,760 --> 01:18:29,400
them along the hem of his shirt.
We're going to die here. 

1731
01:18:29,560 --> 01:18:32,040
So even though Cat started off 
being the voice of the meta 

1732
01:18:32,040 --> 01:18:35,560
narrative, now it's Lynn for 
some reason again, we don't know

1733
01:18:35,560 --> 01:18:39,640
why he doesn't have a back story
of, like, being into horror 

1734
01:18:39,640 --> 01:18:43,640
books or films or being a writer
or reading a lot of stuff. 

1735
01:18:43,640 --> 01:18:46,280
Like none of that. 
It just started Cat. 

1736
01:18:46,280 --> 01:18:48,760
Now it's Lynn because I guess 
someone has to because the 

1737
01:18:48,760 --> 01:18:51,600
author fancied it, but the 
characters have no motivation. 

1738
01:18:51,600 --> 01:18:53,720
It's silly. 
Lynn then just starts singing 

1739
01:18:53,720 --> 01:18:56,560
out of nowhere. 
Gonna die, gonna die, gonna die.

1740
01:18:56,560 --> 01:18:59,560
La La la, we're all gonna die 
because they're dead or lonely 

1741
01:18:59,560 --> 01:19:01,480
in the dark and they all miss 
the sun. 

1742
01:19:01,560 --> 01:19:04,280
So apparently he's insane now. 
I think that's what I meant to 

1743
01:19:04,280 --> 01:19:06,200
believe. 
It's just come out of nowhere 

1744
01:19:06,200 --> 01:19:08,600
over 3 pages, just ramped up 
quickly. 

1745
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:10,920
It's bizarre. 
Again, it has no impact. 

1746
01:19:10,960 --> 01:19:14,080
It's also rushed. 
Phase also decides to jump in on

1747
01:19:14,080 --> 01:19:17,080
the whole meta thing and says 
there's a library in the house, 

1748
01:19:17,240 --> 01:19:20,120
so there must be a book with 
information at this point. 

1749
01:19:20,120 --> 01:19:22,560
In my original script, I said 
this would have more impact if, 

1750
01:19:22,560 --> 01:19:25,560
one, we'd seen a library before 
because, you know, Chekhov's 

1751
01:19:25,560 --> 01:19:28,040
gone. 
And two, we hadn't been told the

1752
01:19:28,040 --> 01:19:31,960
house was decaying with holes in
the ceiling because if there are

1753
01:19:31,960 --> 01:19:33,800
books, do we really think 
they're in good enough condition

1754
01:19:33,800 --> 01:19:35,360
to read and give information 
about? 

1755
01:19:35,560 --> 01:19:39,360
And three, why would he suddenly
get meta like this when Phase 

1756
01:19:39,360 --> 01:19:42,480
has never referenced horror 
films or stories or stuff 

1757
01:19:42,480 --> 01:19:44,640
before? 
Or I don't know, why is he doing

1758
01:19:44,640 --> 01:19:46,480
it now? 
Turns out, oh, I was wrong. 

1759
01:19:46,760 --> 01:19:50,160
We did have that one mention of 
books earlier and something 

1760
01:19:50,160 --> 01:19:53,440
about rotting, but like it 
wasn't a library, but it was 

1761
01:19:53,440 --> 01:19:55,200
like, oh, there's some books in 
this room. 

1762
01:19:55,200 --> 01:19:56,960
You know what I mean? 
I don't care. 

1763
01:19:56,960 --> 01:19:59,200
I really don't care. 
Can you tell how much I just 

1764
01:19:59,200 --> 01:20:01,280
like this book? 
You know, it's so funny. 

1765
01:20:01,680 --> 01:20:05,680
Few books have got me as like 
annoyed to review as this one. 

1766
01:20:05,680 --> 01:20:09,160
It's it's a lot when I've 
reviewed bad books before, like 

1767
01:20:09,160 --> 01:20:12,640
Haunting Adeline, like Zodiac 
Academy, like they're just bad. 

1768
01:20:12,720 --> 01:20:14,280
The premise isn't well thought 
out. 

1769
01:20:14,280 --> 01:20:15,760
The characters are annoying the 
setting. 

1770
01:20:15,880 --> 01:20:17,760
Annoying. 
The actions are problematic, 

1771
01:20:17,760 --> 01:20:19,440
there's just not really much to 
them. 

1772
01:20:19,440 --> 01:20:20,840
There's nothing redeeming about 
them. 

1773
01:20:21,040 --> 01:20:23,720
So like, they're bad, but then 
you're like okay, cool, throw 

1774
01:20:23,720 --> 01:20:26,800
out the book, whatever. 
This I think annoys me so much 

1775
01:20:26,800 --> 01:20:29,360
more because and want to like 
it. 

1776
01:20:29,600 --> 01:20:32,840
I feel like the story has so 
much potential, the premise has 

1777
01:20:32,840 --> 01:20:36,480
so much potential, the setting 
has so much potential, the demon

1778
01:20:36,520 --> 01:20:40,360
has so much potential. 
Like this would be a book that I

1779
01:20:40,360 --> 01:20:44,320
would love if it was just well 
written with a good plot and 

1780
01:20:44,320 --> 01:20:46,840
good characters. 
And I want character 

1781
01:20:46,840 --> 01:20:49,440
development. 
I want a ghost story that ties 

1782
01:20:49,440 --> 01:20:52,120
into the characters and their 
story and their journey and we 

1783
01:20:52,120 --> 01:20:53,800
don't get any of it. 
And I think that's why it's 

1784
01:20:53,800 --> 01:20:57,560
frustrating me, because there's 
potential here that's just left 

1785
01:20:57,680 --> 01:21:00,200
unfulfilled. 
Dude, that's just fiction. 

1786
01:21:00,200 --> 01:21:03,440
In real life, people don't just 
leave around solutions like like

1787
01:21:03,440 --> 01:21:06,000
it's some kind of video game. 
I said we have to go. 

1788
01:21:06,240 --> 01:21:08,640
I'm sorry, I'm sorry about 
Talia, but we're going to need 

1789
01:21:08,640 --> 01:21:09,840
to leave. 
It's too late. 

1790
01:21:09,920 --> 01:21:11,160
We should go. 
We should go. 

1791
01:21:11,160 --> 01:21:12,600
We need to go. 
You need help. 

1792
01:21:12,800 --> 01:21:16,040
It's Kat saying this. 
Kat was the one who was like 

1793
01:21:16,080 --> 01:21:19,600
getting meta 1st and being like 
in horror films, I'd be the 

1794
01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:22,440
first to die, blah, blah, blah. 
You can't go from being the 

1795
01:21:22,440 --> 01:21:25,280
voice of meta to suddenly trying
to be the voice of reason and 

1796
01:21:25,280 --> 01:21:27,240
logic. 
It doesn't make any sense. 

1797
01:21:27,320 --> 01:21:30,080
None of these characters are 
consistent in any way. 

1798
01:21:30,240 --> 01:21:35,800
Philip suggests Cat and Lynn, 
you leave Faze and me will stay 

1799
01:21:35,800 --> 01:21:38,520
and find Talia. 
And then Faze is like, no, you 

1800
01:21:38,520 --> 01:21:40,640
can't go. 
We all have to stick together 

1801
01:21:40,640 --> 01:21:43,480
for God knows what reason. 
I don't know why they don't just

1802
01:21:43,480 --> 01:21:45,720
like call someone for help. 
They've all got phones that 

1803
01:21:45,720 --> 01:21:47,760
they've been using as tortures. 
So why don't they just like be 

1804
01:21:47,760 --> 01:21:50,160
like, hey, we're in a creepy old
house, our friends gone missing,

1805
01:21:50,160 --> 01:21:52,560
come help us please. 
I don't know why they don't do 

1806
01:21:52,560 --> 01:21:54,160
that. 
It's never explained. 

1807
01:21:54,600 --> 01:21:56,720
Then there's just a lot of 
sitting around and talking about

1808
01:21:56,720 --> 01:21:59,960
what they could do instead of 
actually doing anything. 

1809
01:22:00,480 --> 01:22:02,160
That's the annoying thing about 
this book. 

1810
01:22:02,520 --> 01:22:05,120
There's a lot of sitting around 
and talking and arguing and 

1811
01:22:05,120 --> 01:22:08,680
being petty, and then they do 
something off page and then we 

1812
01:22:08,680 --> 01:22:11,760
watch them sit around and talk 
and be petty and then they do 

1813
01:22:11,760 --> 01:22:15,200
something off page and then they
sit around and talk and be petty

1814
01:22:15,200 --> 01:22:17,560
again and again. 
I think that's really annoying. 

1815
01:22:19,160 --> 01:22:23,920
Cat notices that Faze's eyes are
weird and she narrates Read 100 

1816
01:22:23,920 --> 01:22:26,120
books on heart. 
So she's the she's the voice of 

1817
01:22:26,120 --> 01:22:28,440
Metro again for some reason. 
OK, this has happened. 

1818
01:22:28,440 --> 01:22:31,120
I guess we've switched back. 
Read 100 books on Horror and 

1819
01:22:31,120 --> 01:22:33,640
you'll find that every last one 
possesses at least one mention 

1820
01:22:33,640 --> 01:22:36,560
of someone's eyes gone strange, 
unfocused and unsettling to 

1821
01:22:36,560 --> 01:22:38,400
witness. 
I'd always thought it sounded 

1822
01:22:38,400 --> 01:22:41,560
kitschy, hammy, a lazy trope 
implanted into the creative 

1823
01:22:41,560 --> 01:22:45,000
subconscious by sub par mentors.
Pure Hollywood dross. 

1824
01:22:45,200 --> 01:22:47,600
But the look tenanting phase 
eyes remedied those 

1825
01:22:47,600 --> 01:22:49,920
preconceptions. 
All the lights were on. 

1826
01:22:50,120 --> 01:22:53,280
All the ghosts were home too. 
It wasn't the face of a killer 

1827
01:22:53,280 --> 01:22:56,600
or the face of a suicide, but 
someone too exhausted to be 

1828
01:22:56,600 --> 01:22:58,840
either, which was somehow all 
the worse. 

1829
01:22:59,240 --> 01:23:01,320
When you're tired enough, you'll
do anything for sleep. 

1830
01:23:01,600 --> 01:23:03,960
It's just so inconsistent as 
like, again, this would have 

1831
01:23:03,960 --> 01:23:07,120
more impact if we'd known that 
Kat, for example, liked reading 

1832
01:23:07,120 --> 01:23:09,720
horror books, like that line, 
read 100 books on horror and 

1833
01:23:09,720 --> 01:23:12,280
you'll find that would have so 
much more impact and make so 

1834
01:23:12,280 --> 01:23:15,360
much more sense for her to say. 
If we knew that in her life, 

1835
01:23:15,680 --> 01:23:19,480
she'd read 100 horror books. 
Like maybe she's a horror 

1836
01:23:19,480 --> 01:23:21,720
author. 
Maybe she studied horror 

1837
01:23:21,720 --> 01:23:25,320
literature at university. 
Maybe she just carries a horror 

1838
01:23:25,320 --> 01:23:26,560
book around with her all the 
time. 

1839
01:23:26,720 --> 01:23:28,600
And we could have a thing where 
like, you know, when she's 

1840
01:23:28,600 --> 01:23:31,880
alone, she's reading it in the 
house or like we see her slip it

1841
01:23:31,880 --> 01:23:33,920
into her bag when Philip gets 
there or something like that. 

1842
01:23:33,920 --> 01:23:36,880
Like we could have just had a 
small thing of like knowing she 

1843
01:23:36,880 --> 01:23:39,600
likes to read horror books or 
maybe she references them 

1844
01:23:39,600 --> 01:23:40,680
sometimes. 
And she could have been like 

1845
01:23:40,680 --> 01:23:43,040
when she first allowed, she 
could be like, oh, I read a book

1846
01:23:43,040 --> 01:23:46,640
about this where blah blah blah 
happened and something, anything

1847
01:23:46,640 --> 01:23:48,200
to let us know she reads horror 
books. 

1848
01:23:48,440 --> 01:23:51,000
Because otherwise, why would she
bring this up? 

1849
01:23:51,120 --> 01:23:53,360
Why would she say this? 
It bothers me. 

1850
01:23:53,480 --> 01:23:57,320
Similarly, out of nowhere, Phase
says we have to do the ritual. 

1851
01:23:57,320 --> 01:23:59,880
Phase said no variation in 
intonation. 

1852
01:24:00,080 --> 01:24:02,600
What? 
The Hitabashari ritual. 

1853
01:24:02,600 --> 01:24:04,960
We have to do it. 
It'll give Talia back. 

1854
01:24:05,000 --> 01:24:07,240
I know it. 
Len's voice spiked. 

1855
01:24:07,440 --> 01:24:09,840
We're not bringing someone to 
get your effing girlfriend back.

1856
01:24:09,880 --> 01:24:12,360
Where has this come from? 
Where's any of this come from? 

1857
01:24:12,400 --> 01:24:15,600
When they were given the 
statues, Kat mentioned what 

1858
01:24:15,760 --> 01:24:19,720
Hitabashari was, but they never 
discussed it between them as a 

1859
01:24:19,720 --> 01:24:22,040
group. 
There's nothing that says Faze 

1860
01:24:22,040 --> 01:24:24,320
knows what this is. 
There's nothing linking it 

1861
01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:27,600
necessarily to the house. 
There's the back story of like 

1862
01:24:27,600 --> 01:24:30,920
the girls being buried every 
year, but it's never called 

1863
01:24:30,920 --> 01:24:32,560
that. 
It's I, I don't know. 

1864
01:24:32,560 --> 01:24:34,720
I don't know. 
This doesn't make sense. 

1865
01:24:35,360 --> 01:24:38,800
It doesn't tie back in what 
we've seen in a cohesive way. 

1866
01:24:38,800 --> 01:24:42,160
It whatever, OK. 
And again, Phase isn't supposed 

1867
01:24:42,160 --> 01:24:44,840
to know anything about the 
history of its house or its 

1868
01:24:44,840 --> 01:24:47,160
history before they got there. 
Maybe he did because of the 

1869
01:24:47,160 --> 01:24:49,080
little figurines that him and 
Talia got everyone. 

1870
01:24:49,280 --> 01:24:50,680
Still, why would he know about 
it? 

1871
01:24:50,680 --> 01:24:53,040
Why would he know what it is? 
We haven't been told he knows 

1872
01:24:53,040 --> 01:24:55,040
anything about that or its 
history or whatever. 

1873
01:24:55,040 --> 01:24:59,080
I I don't understand. 
And OK, let's say, let's say 

1874
01:24:59,240 --> 01:25:01,280
Phase doesn't know the history 
of the house. 

1875
01:25:01,280 --> 01:25:03,160
He knew it before they got 
there, and that's why they 

1876
01:25:03,160 --> 01:25:05,080
decided to give the figurines to
everyone and so on. 

1877
01:25:05,360 --> 01:25:09,480
In in the story with the history
of the house the girls buried to

1878
01:25:09,480 --> 01:25:11,800
keep the original ghost company,
right? 

1879
01:25:12,200 --> 01:25:16,280
That's the reason for in the 
story, in the original myths of 

1880
01:25:16,320 --> 01:25:19,880
Hita Bashari, they're basically 
human sacrifices to protect a 

1881
01:25:19,880 --> 01:25:22,880
building or protect a structure 
of some kind. 

1882
01:25:22,880 --> 01:25:24,440
OK. 
It's meant to be like, hey, 

1883
01:25:24,440 --> 01:25:27,280
we're giving you this, you 
protect the building, please. 

1884
01:25:27,440 --> 01:25:32,360
How the hell, knowing those two 
things, would he jump to if we 

1885
01:25:32,360 --> 01:25:36,360
give you a sacrifice, you'll 
give our possessed friend back. 

1886
01:25:36,560 --> 01:25:38,920
It's not logical. 
It doesn't make any sense. 

1887
01:25:38,920 --> 01:25:41,960
I hate this book, He goes on to 
say the whole logic out the 

1888
01:25:41,960 --> 01:25:44,000
window. 
I'll be the sacrifice. 

1889
01:25:44,000 --> 01:25:47,000
She's my fiance. 
I'll I'll be the one to do it. 

1890
01:25:47,000 --> 01:25:49,160
Phase sinambulated through 
phases. 

1891
01:25:49,360 --> 01:25:51,880
Annunciation gone. 
The crispness of his voice 

1892
01:25:52,000 --> 01:25:55,160
diluted by misery. 
Really, he's sinambulated. 

1893
01:25:55,480 --> 01:25:59,080
You can just say sleepwalk. 
You couldn't say he was slurring

1894
01:25:59,080 --> 01:26:00,640
his words a bit. 
You couldn't have said like he 

1895
01:26:00,640 --> 01:26:05,720
was just, I don't know anything.
Anything simpler, anything that 

1896
01:26:05,720 --> 01:26:08,160
would have the same effect but 
be more accessible to the 

1897
01:26:08,160 --> 01:26:10,480
average reader. 
Anything that would be a little 

1898
01:26:10,480 --> 01:26:12,520
bit more visual. 
You know what I mean? 

1899
01:26:12,680 --> 01:26:14,760
Anything that could make us 
really hear his words. 

1900
01:26:14,760 --> 01:26:17,120
I this is what I mean about it 
being overwritten. 

1901
01:26:17,280 --> 01:26:20,640
I feel like she's choosing big 
words over the right words 

1902
01:26:20,640 --> 01:26:23,120
sometimes. 
Sometimes less is more. 

1903
01:26:23,200 --> 01:26:25,520
Again, this doesn't make sense 
with what we know about like the

1904
01:26:25,520 --> 01:26:28,280
history of the house. 
In the history of the house, to 

1905
01:26:28,280 --> 01:26:31,560
appease the original ghost, they
buried young women so they could

1906
01:26:31,560 --> 01:26:33,040
be her friend and keep her 
company. 

1907
01:26:33,400 --> 01:26:37,800
Why would Faze think that he 
like sacrificing him would be 

1908
01:26:37,800 --> 01:26:40,080
what she want? 
Maybe he could argue the 

1909
01:26:40,080 --> 01:26:43,240
original bride ghost wanted a 
husband. 

1910
01:26:43,520 --> 01:26:47,360
I'm due to be a husband. 
Sacrifice me and maybe she'll 

1911
01:26:47,360 --> 01:26:50,280
let Talia go. 
Maybe that will appease her and 

1912
01:26:50,280 --> 01:26:52,680
she'll stop haunting this. 
Maybe she'll finally leave if 

1913
01:26:52,680 --> 01:26:55,720
you do that. 
If he said that, that might make

1914
01:26:55,720 --> 01:26:59,200
sense, but that is never once 
spoken. 

1915
01:26:59,280 --> 01:27:02,240
Not at all. 
Instead he's just like Oh yeah I

1916
01:27:02,240 --> 01:27:06,200
love Talia and if we give her 
anyone they'll give her back so 

1917
01:27:06,320 --> 01:27:10,920
kill me because I love her. 
Like none of this makes sense. 

1918
01:27:11,200 --> 01:27:12,920
So they are just sit around 
arguing instead of actually 

1919
01:27:12,920 --> 01:27:15,560
doing anything and then out of 
nowhere Faze decides to be nasty

1920
01:27:15,560 --> 01:27:16,960
to Cat. 
I thought they were meant to be 

1921
01:27:16,960 --> 01:27:18,560
best friends. 
We've seen nothing of them 

1922
01:27:18,560 --> 01:27:20,640
acting like best friends. 
We've seen like one basic 

1923
01:27:20,640 --> 01:27:24,360
interaction with them where like
Faze vaguely stuck up for Cat 

1924
01:27:25,280 --> 01:27:28,280
vaguely, and now the next like 
big interaction they have is 

1925
01:27:28,280 --> 01:27:31,240
this like you can't just say Oh 
my best friends and then like 

1926
01:27:31,240 --> 01:27:33,800
never have them interact or do 
anything and then suddenly have 

1927
01:27:33,800 --> 01:27:36,160
like, oh, he's nasty out of 
nowhere. 

1928
01:27:36,160 --> 01:27:37,680
You don't understand any of 
this. 

1929
01:27:37,800 --> 01:27:40,320
He's backed choppily, kneeling 
in tears again, the pitch of his

1930
01:27:40,320 --> 01:27:42,120
voice going stratospheric 
towards the end. 

1931
01:27:42,520 --> 01:27:45,080
The yokai applauded. 
Of course they'd love it. 

1932
01:27:45,080 --> 01:27:46,800
You've never had a proper 
relationship. 

1933
01:27:46,960 --> 01:27:50,000
You know what it's like to need 
someone to love, someone to, to 

1934
01:27:50,000 --> 01:27:52,760
give a crap you don't know 
because you're always too busy 

1935
01:27:52,760 --> 01:27:55,680
running away to whatever new 
effing thing you have waiting. 

1936
01:27:55,880 --> 01:27:58,520
You don't understand, you never.
These people all hate each 

1937
01:27:58,520 --> 01:28:00,360
other, don't they? 
It's, this is just a book about 

1938
01:28:00,360 --> 01:28:02,840
toxic friendships. 
It's not a horror book, it's 

1939
01:28:02,840 --> 01:28:05,720
just annoying people doing 
horrible things to each other. 

1940
01:28:05,840 --> 01:28:07,840
He's like blah blah blah, let's 
go get the book from the 

1941
01:28:07,840 --> 01:28:09,400
library. 
And then Cat's like, do we even 

1942
01:28:09,400 --> 01:28:12,160
know there's a book there? 
I heard myself say, of course 

1943
01:28:12,160 --> 01:28:13,960
there is. 
We saw them when we got in this 

1944
01:28:13,960 --> 01:28:16,040
place. 
This place is rotten with books.

1945
01:28:16,160 --> 01:28:18,240
There were libraries everywhere.
We're going to have answers 

1946
01:28:18,240 --> 01:28:19,120
there. 
I know. 

1947
01:28:19,520 --> 01:28:21,840
And like I say, I was so 
confused by this. 

1948
01:28:22,040 --> 01:28:24,880
I actually like flip back to see
if books had been mentioned 

1949
01:28:24,880 --> 01:28:26,520
anywhere else. 
And like I said, there was that 

1950
01:28:26,520 --> 01:28:30,200
one small mention of in another 
room, books, or at least corpses

1951
01:28:30,200 --> 01:28:32,840
of books, the volumes of mulch 
eaten by insects. 

1952
01:28:33,040 --> 01:28:36,120
That's not libraries everywhere,
that's not even books. 

1953
01:28:36,240 --> 01:28:39,280
That's like corpses of books. 
Like it said, no mention of 

1954
01:28:39,280 --> 01:28:41,600
libraries. 
It's just a room with some 

1955
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:44,280
rotten books. 
I, I don't care anyway. 

1956
01:28:44,560 --> 01:28:47,080
Then there's a lot of swearing, 
like every other word, and I'm 

1957
01:28:47,080 --> 01:28:49,440
not going to repeat it. 
Lynn still wants to leave. 

1958
01:28:49,440 --> 01:28:51,840
Nothing's changed there. 
Cat thinks they shouldn't split 

1959
01:28:51,840 --> 01:28:53,480
up. 
Philip decides they need to find

1960
01:28:53,480 --> 01:28:56,160
the library library that's 
appeared out of nowhere, so they

1961
01:28:56,160 --> 01:28:58,200
go to this previously non 
existent library. 

1962
01:28:58,720 --> 01:29:01,920
And in this chapter, it wasn't 
so much a library as much as it 

1963
01:29:01,920 --> 01:29:05,360
was an archive of corpses. 
Manuscripts chewed up by the 

1964
01:29:05,360 --> 01:29:07,760
sentries edges went out by 
insects. 

1965
01:29:07,960 --> 01:29:11,200
They're leather fested with 
mould, with mushrooms, wide 

1966
01:29:11,200 --> 01:29:15,240
brimmed with fluting bodies, 
tiered like cheap apartments and

1967
01:29:15,240 --> 01:29:18,360
blanched by the half light. 
Some could barely be labelled as

1968
01:29:18,360 --> 01:29:20,480
books anymore. 
They're paper digested, then 

1969
01:29:20,520 --> 01:29:22,280
regurgitated as building 
material. 

1970
01:29:22,560 --> 01:29:26,160
There were so many of them. 
Wasps nests, almost intestinal 

1971
01:29:26,160 --> 01:29:30,320
in luck, built atop the remains 
of a terrarium, it's inhabitants

1972
01:29:30,320 --> 01:29:33,480
long dead. 
So this is just the room with 

1973
01:29:33,480 --> 01:29:34,880
writing books that was mentioned
earlier. 

1974
01:29:34,920 --> 01:29:37,160
It's not a library. 
It's not many libraries. 

1975
01:29:37,160 --> 01:29:40,600
I OK, first thinks he finds a 
book and he tells them 

1976
01:29:40,600 --> 01:29:42,120
everything. 
But then everyone else is like 

1977
01:29:42,360 --> 01:29:46,160
what he says. 
The book says that this place is

1978
01:29:46,160 --> 01:29:49,040
consecrated to the four kings, 
and each of them requires a 

1979
01:29:49,040 --> 01:29:51,320
different sacrifice. 
And the four kings apparently 

1980
01:29:51,320 --> 01:29:54,920
requires sacrifices of blood, 
bone, semen and an organ. 

1981
01:29:55,160 --> 01:29:56,560
I don't know where he gets this 
from. 

1982
01:29:56,600 --> 01:29:58,000
He's not even like reading a 
book. 

1983
01:29:58,000 --> 01:30:00,880
He's just like looking at these 
like, disintegrated pages. 

1984
01:30:00,880 --> 01:30:05,120
I OK Phez is like, I'll do it. 
I'll cut my heart out for Talia 

1985
01:30:05,200 --> 01:30:07,000
because he doesn't want to go on
without her. 

1986
01:30:07,120 --> 01:30:11,040
And so Cat slaps him and says 
you're not cutting your effing 

1987
01:30:11,040 --> 01:30:13,520
heart out. 
What the effing F do you think 

1988
01:30:13,520 --> 01:30:17,440
this is an effing Shakespeare 
tragedy or some effing crap like

1989
01:30:17,440 --> 01:30:19,480
this? 
We're not effing letting you. 

1990
01:30:19,480 --> 01:30:21,600
And then she cuts off. 
Do you see what I mean about 

1991
01:30:21,600 --> 01:30:24,800
like the flowery language next 
to this is just jarring. 

1992
01:30:24,920 --> 01:30:28,280
There's more swearing followed 
by drink, guys, more 

1993
01:30:28,280 --> 01:30:30,080
descriptions of how hot Philip 
is. 

1994
01:30:30,200 --> 01:30:33,560
Whoa, guys. 
Wonder Boy Philip Glossy is the 

1995
01:30:33,560 --> 01:30:37,040
cover of Forbes $100. 
Clean fade and a jawline to 

1996
01:30:37,040 --> 01:30:39,480
slice open your heart slid 
between us. 

1997
01:30:39,760 --> 01:30:41,880
You could always count on Philip
to save the day. 

1998
01:30:42,160 --> 01:30:45,440
Forget the initial argument. 
He had room to play heroes. 

1999
01:30:45,440 --> 01:30:46,400
Stop it. 
I don't care. 

2000
01:30:46,600 --> 01:30:48,920
How many more times do you want 
to compare him to a magazine 

2001
01:30:48,920 --> 01:30:50,840
cover? 
And I'm done with this. 

2002
01:30:51,400 --> 01:30:55,080
Cat kicks Philip like a child. 
And then in the next room, 

2003
01:30:55,080 --> 01:30:58,240
apparently the OHA guru Batari 
appears again and starts 

2004
01:30:58,240 --> 01:31:00,760
laughing. 
That could be creepy, but again,

2005
01:31:00,960 --> 01:31:03,480
no. 
Chapter 8 opens and apparently 

2006
01:31:03,480 --> 01:31:06,320
off page something creepy 
happened that we never get to 

2007
01:31:06,320 --> 01:31:07,120
see. 
I don't know. 

2008
01:31:07,400 --> 01:31:10,560
And now Phase has again off 
page. 

2009
01:31:10,560 --> 01:31:13,600
All the action happens off page.
Phase has pulled out his own 

2010
01:31:13,600 --> 01:31:17,000
tooth and tried to offer the 
house blood and semen. 

2011
01:31:17,000 --> 01:31:18,800
Lovely. 
I mean, I'm glad that wasn't on 

2012
01:31:18,800 --> 01:31:21,240
page, but here we go. 
All this stuff like in pulling 

2013
01:31:21,240 --> 01:31:24,720
his tooth out on whatever, that 
would be so much more grotesque 

2014
01:31:24,720 --> 01:31:27,920
if it did happen on page. 
Like that is something that I 

2015
01:31:27,920 --> 01:31:30,960
would find really uncomfortable 
because I I already have issues 

2016
01:31:30,960 --> 01:31:33,480
with teeth. 
Like seeing that I would, oh, I 

2017
01:31:33,480 --> 01:31:36,080
would be so uncomfortable. 
I would be so creeped out. 

2018
01:31:36,240 --> 01:31:39,200
That could be so visceral. 
You could really like, you know,

2019
01:31:39,200 --> 01:31:42,320
make the reader feel it. 
I'm not really a fan of gore in 

2020
01:31:42,320 --> 01:31:44,920
general, but I still think it 
would be better to have it on 

2021
01:31:44,920 --> 01:31:47,720
page than just oh by the way, 
between chapters that happened, 

2022
01:31:47,880 --> 01:31:51,920
all the horror happen happens 
off page and instead the stuff 

2023
01:31:51,920 --> 01:31:54,520
we see on page is all focused on
petty arguments and 

2024
01:31:54,520 --> 01:31:56,880
interpersonal drama and I just 
kind of don't care. 

2025
01:31:57,040 --> 01:32:00,200
People tell Phase he's crazy. 
Cat goes on about how hot and 

2026
01:32:00,200 --> 01:32:03,680
muscly Philip is, and then 
Philip calls Phase melodramatic 

2027
01:32:04,040 --> 01:32:06,000
drink again for Philip being 
hot. 

2028
01:32:06,200 --> 01:32:09,920
Lynn decides that of nowhere to 
start smoking weed because why 

2029
01:32:09,920 --> 01:32:12,960
not, I guess. 
Cat joins in because, you know, 

2030
01:32:12,960 --> 01:32:15,280
why not be more impaired? 
Apparently the creepy spirit 

2031
01:32:15,280 --> 01:32:17,040
bride is just hanging around 
now. 

2032
01:32:17,040 --> 01:32:19,080
She's just just sat there doing 
nothing. 

2033
01:32:19,240 --> 01:32:21,800
Yeah, like I, at this point in 
the book, forgot she was even 

2034
01:32:21,800 --> 01:32:24,560
there because she's so non 
consequential. 

2035
01:32:24,600 --> 01:32:26,840
It's just like, oh, I know what 
makes a horror book. 

2036
01:32:26,920 --> 01:32:29,800
Let's put a demon in the room 
and then just not mention her 

2037
01:32:29,800 --> 01:32:31,080
while we sit around smoking 
weed. 

2038
01:32:31,080 --> 01:32:32,200
Yeah. 
This is not horror. 

2039
01:32:32,200 --> 01:32:34,800
This is not creepy. 
This is not good storytelling. 

2040
01:32:35,000 --> 01:32:37,720
Yeah, apparently she's just 
around now and she's sitting 

2041
01:32:37,720 --> 01:32:39,600
beside them. 
And I don't know. 

2042
01:32:39,640 --> 01:32:43,120
He lit cigarette, hand rolled 
cook with tamarind peel and 

2043
01:32:43,120 --> 01:32:46,200
weed, and squatted beside me, 
smoke curling between his teeth.

2044
01:32:46,720 --> 01:32:49,760
The OHA guru Batari followed, 
kneeling beside him. 

2045
01:32:49,760 --> 01:32:53,240
Beside us, Lynn didn't look at 
her once, but I did. 

2046
01:32:53,720 --> 01:32:56,960
I stared at the yokai as I took 
a toke from Lynn's joint. 

2047
01:32:57,080 --> 01:33:00,280
She had the angles of someone 
carefully starved from cradle to

2048
01:33:00,280 --> 01:33:04,240
nuptials, clavicle and 
collarbone in stark chioscuro. 

2049
01:33:05,040 --> 01:33:08,520
Her skin didn't just look like 
porcelain, it was porcelain, 

2050
01:33:08,720 --> 01:33:12,160
enamelled and gleaming, 
faultless save for her red 

2051
01:33:12,160 --> 01:33:14,960
mouth. 
No eyes, no nose, no fill trim, 

2052
01:33:15,160 --> 01:33:17,520
not even the conceit of 
cheekbones. 

2053
01:33:17,680 --> 01:33:21,560
But even her flesh wasn't as 
pale as the shiramuku. 

2054
01:33:21,680 --> 01:33:25,280
She wore the satin the colour of
expensive chalk. 

2055
01:33:25,440 --> 01:33:26,560
Again. 
Is anyone else just getting 

2056
01:33:26,560 --> 01:33:28,320
like, no atmosphere from this at
all? 

2057
01:33:28,520 --> 01:33:31,720
She should be creepy, she should
be terrifying, but it's just 

2058
01:33:31,720 --> 01:33:34,000
like, OK, she's there, I guess. 
Cool. 

2059
01:33:34,240 --> 01:33:37,760
Lynn says that phase isn't Kat's
responsibility and they should 

2060
01:33:37,760 --> 01:33:40,000
go. 
Kat says he is because he's a 

2061
01:33:40,000 --> 01:33:42,640
best friend again. 
It's like you don't even like 

2062
01:33:42,640 --> 01:33:43,240
each other. 
How? 

2063
01:33:43,480 --> 01:33:45,280
Like why do we care about your 
friendship? 

2064
01:33:45,400 --> 01:33:46,840
We've not seen you be best 
friends. 

2065
01:33:46,840 --> 01:33:49,120
Why do I believe this? 
I why should I care? 

2066
01:33:49,520 --> 01:33:51,240
Why should any of us care? 
I nodded. 

2067
01:33:51,360 --> 01:33:53,920
There wasn't much else to say, 
so we sat for a long minute, 

2068
01:33:53,920 --> 01:33:56,440
passing the cigarette between us
until it shrivelled to an ember.

2069
01:33:56,720 --> 01:33:58,920
Phase and Phillip fighting the 
whole while. 

2070
01:33:59,480 --> 01:34:01,400
So apparently they're fighting, 
that's just happening. 

2071
01:34:01,400 --> 01:34:02,640
And what? 
It's like an aftersaw. 

2072
01:34:02,760 --> 01:34:06,120
OK, no tension there. 
They diversified the character 

2073
01:34:06,120 --> 01:34:08,800
attacks, petty insults. 
All those years of friendship 

2074
01:34:08,800 --> 01:34:12,040
run through the abattoir back 
and forth until every secret was

2075
01:34:12,040 --> 01:34:14,560
turned inside out. 
Any second now something was 

2076
01:34:14,560 --> 01:34:17,320
going to snap, a neck or a 
temper or a spine. 

2077
01:34:17,760 --> 01:34:19,800
And this sums up the whole book,
to be honest. 

2078
01:34:19,800 --> 01:34:25,120
Like the whole pinnacle of this 
book revolves around Phase and 

2079
01:34:25,120 --> 01:34:27,400
Phillips tension in their 
friendship. 

2080
01:34:27,400 --> 01:34:31,320
Except that friendship is never 
built up. 

2081
01:34:31,320 --> 01:34:34,480
We're not told they were close. 
At one point it's hinted at that

2082
01:34:34,480 --> 01:34:36,760
they kind of have a rivalry, but
it's never really. 

2083
01:34:36,960 --> 01:34:38,360
They never have a back and 
forth. 

2084
01:34:38,520 --> 01:34:40,200
There's no tension built between
them. 

2085
01:34:40,200 --> 01:34:42,840
It's like we're told, oh, this 
could cause tension in the 

2086
01:34:42,840 --> 01:34:45,160
future. 
Cool, blah blah blah blah blah 

2087
01:34:45,160 --> 01:34:48,200
blah blah blah blah blah blah. 
All the tensions reach boiling 

2088
01:34:48,200 --> 01:34:50,480
point is like, wait, how did we 
get here? 

2089
01:34:51,120 --> 01:34:53,600
It was never building. 
It was just told this could 

2090
01:34:53,600 --> 01:34:55,680
potentially happen. 
Oh look, it's happening right 

2091
01:34:55,680 --> 01:34:57,240
now. 
There's nothing that makes us 

2092
01:34:57,240 --> 01:34:59,720
care about this. 
I'm so, so tired of this. 

2093
01:35:00,000 --> 01:35:03,600
OK, Lynn says that phase or 
Philip is going to kill one 

2094
01:35:03,600 --> 01:35:06,280
another and Cat narrates getting
better again. 

2095
01:35:07,400 --> 01:35:08,840
This is the problem with horror 
movies. 

2096
01:35:09,120 --> 01:35:12,280
Everyone knows what's coming 
next, but actions have momentum,

2097
01:35:12,520 --> 01:35:15,080
every decision and equal and 
justified reaction. 

2098
01:35:15,400 --> 01:35:18,520
Just because you know you should
doesn't mean that you can stop. 

2099
01:35:18,680 --> 01:35:20,120
Again. 
The meta thing is not working 

2100
01:35:20,120 --> 01:35:21,240
for me. 
I hate it. 

2101
01:35:21,440 --> 01:35:23,560
Philip punches face and breaks 
his nose. 

2102
01:35:24,080 --> 01:35:27,920
Lynn says this is the part where
we all die and we're 86% of the 

2103
01:35:27,920 --> 01:35:30,160
way through the book. 
So I was like, thank God, 

2104
01:35:30,320 --> 01:35:32,960
finally kill them all please. 
That's the only thing that could

2105
01:35:32,960 --> 01:35:35,520
save this book for me. 
If these horrific characters 

2106
01:35:35,640 --> 01:35:40,600
have horrific deaths and I get 
to celebrate it, face pulls out 

2107
01:35:40,600 --> 01:35:42,680
a knife. 
God knows where he got it from. 

2108
01:35:42,800 --> 01:35:44,720
This was never spoken about 
earlier. 

2109
01:35:44,720 --> 01:35:48,160
Like again, I wish she'd 
Chekhov's gun this like if she'd

2110
01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:50,800
like set it up earlier where 
like, you know, maybe he carried

2111
01:35:50,800 --> 01:35:54,040
a knife for protection or like 
we saw him like pick it up after

2112
01:35:54,040 --> 01:35:56,160
the meal when they weren't 
running off or simply, but no, 

2113
01:35:56,200 --> 01:35:58,200
suddenly he just has a knife out
of nowhere. 

2114
01:35:58,680 --> 01:36:01,040
It's like even in the in the 
middle of this video, if I just 

2115
01:36:01,040 --> 01:36:02,840
like, oh, by the way, here's a 
knife. 

2116
01:36:03,240 --> 01:36:05,480
Like you'd be like, wait, where 
did that come from? 

2117
01:36:05,720 --> 01:36:08,600
It doesn't make sense because 
where would I get a knife from? 

2118
01:36:08,720 --> 01:36:11,240
Where did he get a knife from? 
Suddenly, though, there's a 

2119
01:36:11,240 --> 01:36:13,360
knife. 
He stabs Philip in the stomach 

2120
01:36:13,480 --> 01:36:15,880
and Oh my God, look at that 
Philips dying. 

2121
01:36:16,120 --> 01:36:19,320
I feel like this should have 
been a big dramatic turning 

2122
01:36:19,320 --> 01:36:23,880
point, a point of no return. 
It should have been dramatic and

2123
01:36:23,880 --> 01:36:26,000
tension filled and we should 
have had it building and 

2124
01:36:26,000 --> 01:36:28,640
building and building, but 
instead it just falls flat and 

2125
01:36:28,640 --> 01:36:31,400
it's like, oh, his knife came 
out of nowhere and oh, he 

2126
01:36:31,480 --> 01:36:33,720
stabbed in the stomach. 
I like I say, I wish they'd 

2127
01:36:33,720 --> 01:36:36,880
built up that relationship more.
Like they hinted that kind of 

2128
01:36:36,880 --> 01:36:38,520
rivalry, but they never really 
showed it. 

2129
01:36:38,520 --> 01:36:41,600
They never built it, their 
really feelings of jealousy over

2130
01:36:41,600 --> 01:36:44,160
Talia. 
Did Phase really feel inferior 

2131
01:36:44,160 --> 01:36:45,920
to him? 
And if so, like how was that 

2132
01:36:45,920 --> 01:36:48,040
show and how did it come out? 
Like we could have had all of 

2133
01:36:48,040 --> 01:36:50,320
this shown with like dialogue 
between them. 

2134
01:36:50,320 --> 01:36:52,680
We could have had it shown with 
the stories they chose to tell 

2135
01:36:52,680 --> 01:36:55,320
in the game. 
We could have had like Philip 

2136
01:36:55,320 --> 01:36:58,120
like acting touchy feeling with 
Talia and Phase getting jealous 

2137
01:36:58,120 --> 01:36:59,840
about it and trying to get 
between them, something like 

2138
01:36:59,840 --> 01:37:00,920
that. 
I don't know. 

2139
01:37:00,920 --> 01:37:02,880
I don't know. 
It's never explored. 

2140
01:37:03,080 --> 01:37:05,760
And therefore this payoff of 
Phase stabbing him in the 

2141
01:37:05,760 --> 01:37:07,520
stomach, it feels like a 
nothing. 

2142
01:37:07,600 --> 01:37:10,760
It just, oh God, I don't care. 
Faze cries. 

2143
01:37:11,280 --> 01:37:14,640
The OHA guru Batari laughs 
because Oh yeah, by the way, 

2144
01:37:14,640 --> 01:37:17,360
she's still there. 
Yep, cool, doing nothing, just 

2145
01:37:17,360 --> 01:37:20,160
laughing away. 
Faze apologises and he's like, 

2146
01:37:20,160 --> 01:37:21,960
I'm sorry. 
Sure you are. 

2147
01:37:22,160 --> 01:37:25,360
Lynn's voice shook. 
Sure, absolutely. 

2148
01:37:25,520 --> 01:37:27,960
You have absolutely no 
motivation at all to kill a guy,

2149
01:37:28,000 --> 01:37:31,480
your fiance yesterday, the Greek
God to your sedentary geek. 

2150
01:37:31,680 --> 01:37:34,560
No reason, nothing like that 
ever crossed your consciousness.

2151
01:37:34,720 --> 01:37:37,240
In fact, you're so sure about 
this being an accident, you can 

2152
01:37:37,240 --> 01:37:39,520
guarantee this never crossed 
your subconscious either. 

2153
01:37:39,960 --> 01:37:42,840
Doesn't like an attempt to 
explore this potential rivalry 

2154
01:37:42,840 --> 01:37:44,680
between them, but like, it's too
late now. 

2155
01:37:44,800 --> 01:37:46,560
Why are you doing it now after 
he's already dead? 

2156
01:37:46,560 --> 01:37:50,440
I God knows. 
And also like we don't even know

2157
01:37:50,440 --> 01:37:54,560
at this point if he even knew 
that Philip and Talia used to 

2158
01:37:54,560 --> 01:37:56,720
date for a We know this could be
the first time he's hearing 

2159
01:37:56,720 --> 01:37:57,480
about this. 
I don't know. 

2160
01:37:57,480 --> 01:38:01,560
There's no, no build up, so 
stupid Cat then says, but 

2161
01:38:01,560 --> 01:38:05,640
Philip's dying so we, I, let's 
make it count for something, I 

2162
01:38:05,640 --> 01:38:09,040
guess. 
And they decide to use Philip's 

2163
01:38:09,040 --> 01:38:11,040
dying body because he's not 
quite dead yet. 

2164
01:38:11,040 --> 01:38:13,600
He's dying on the floor. 
They decide to use him for this 

2165
01:38:13,600 --> 01:38:16,600
ritual sacrifice that they've 
decided they need to do because 

2166
01:38:16,960 --> 01:38:20,960
phase was going through decayed 
pages of books and was like the 

2167
01:38:20,960 --> 01:38:24,000
four kings, the four sacrifices.
Oh, we need to do. 

2168
01:38:24,000 --> 01:38:26,320
I don't know where he got it 
from, but apparently it's now 

2169
01:38:26,320 --> 01:38:29,960
factual and they're using 
Philip's body. 

2170
01:38:29,960 --> 01:38:32,280
They need blood, bone, semen and
organs. 

2171
01:38:32,280 --> 01:38:36,440
So, so they basically had to 
like, you know, masturbate the 

2172
01:38:36,600 --> 01:38:40,360
dying Phillip and get his semen.
That sexual assault that feels 

2173
01:38:40,360 --> 01:38:43,320
like sexual assault. 
So Cat says that let's make it 

2174
01:38:43,320 --> 01:38:46,600
count for something, I guess. 
And the very next sentence is we

2175
01:38:46,600 --> 01:38:48,600
dug a hole at the base of the 
fourth pillar. 

2176
01:38:48,600 --> 01:38:49,800
What? 
What is this fourth pillar? 

2177
01:38:49,800 --> 01:38:51,960
Where does this even come from? 
Where are these pillars? 

2178
01:38:52,120 --> 01:38:54,240
We dug a hole at the base of the
fourth pillar and placed 

2179
01:38:54,240 --> 01:38:58,040
Phillip's viscera into the 
cradle of shallow loam, 1 coil 

2180
01:38:58,040 --> 01:39:00,600
at a time. 
Time Faiz and Lynn fought over 

2181
01:39:00,600 --> 01:39:03,720
whether we should cut his throat
or whether we should measure out

2182
01:39:03,720 --> 01:39:06,840
his awful and fill another three
holes, just to be sure. 

2183
01:39:07,440 --> 01:39:09,960
One last act of mercy for the 
man we've known since we were 

2184
01:39:09,960 --> 01:39:12,240
all 16. 
Or have his death matter. 

2185
01:39:12,560 --> 01:39:16,120
But then the man aside. 
A long, slow breath, a dying 

2186
01:39:16,120 --> 01:39:19,280
man's breath spun of silk 
filaments, and suddenly there 

2187
01:39:19,280 --> 01:39:23,120
was Talia, propped up against 
the wall, still garlanded in her

2188
01:39:23,120 --> 01:39:26,040
wedding whites. 
It was exactly like the fairy 

2189
01:39:26,040 --> 01:39:30,240
tales from what fairy tales? 
What fairy tale it was exactly 

2190
01:39:30,240 --> 01:39:33,680
like the fairy tales promised. 
A little blood, a little bone, a

2191
01:39:33,680 --> 01:39:36,600
little semen, and a little bit 
of organ. 

2192
01:39:36,840 --> 01:39:39,520
And the manner returned the girl
of Fazer's dreams. 

2193
01:39:39,920 --> 01:39:42,920
She smelled of the earth and 
summer sunlight, honeysuckle and

2194
01:39:42,920 --> 01:39:46,000
fabric softener and skin warmed 
on a stoop in the sun. 

2195
01:39:46,280 --> 01:39:49,480
When Faze took Talia in his 
arms, Philip's heart gave out 

2196
01:39:49,760 --> 01:39:52,760
one last exhausted pump. 
I thought he was already dead to

2197
01:39:52,760 --> 01:39:54,760
get her back. 
He died alone while our backs 

2198
01:39:54,760 --> 01:39:56,800
were turned. 
Then how do you know? 

2199
01:39:56,840 --> 01:39:59,400
24 years of being the centre of 
everyone's attention. 

2200
01:39:59,400 --> 01:40:02,200
And that's how he went out. 
Not with a bang or a whimper, 

2201
01:40:02,480 --> 01:40:05,760
just a sigh in the world going 
colder and the last light from 

2202
01:40:05,760 --> 01:40:09,840
the lanterns dimming to nothing,
fireflies and blind eyes. 

2203
01:40:10,240 --> 01:40:13,080
We went home after that. 
What else are we supposed to do?

2204
01:40:13,200 --> 01:40:14,600
And that's where the main book 
ends. 

2205
01:40:14,600 --> 01:40:15,920
That is it. 
There is an epilogue. 

2206
01:40:15,920 --> 01:40:19,000
I'll talk about it in a minute. 
But like, it's so annoying that 

2207
01:40:19,000 --> 01:40:21,680
Philip gets absolutely no 
character development. 

2208
01:40:21,680 --> 01:40:23,240
He doesn't have the character 
arc. 

2209
01:40:23,520 --> 01:40:27,560
He's just there being rich and 
hot, and then he dies being rich

2210
01:40:27,560 --> 01:40:29,760
and hot, stabbed by Faze, and 
that's it. 

2211
01:40:29,880 --> 01:40:32,320
Why am I supposed to care? 
There's an epilogue. 

2212
01:40:32,320 --> 01:40:35,880
Like I say, Catlin and Faze go 
to memorial for Philippine 

2213
01:40:35,880 --> 01:40:38,720
Canada. 
Talia is apparently in hospital 

2214
01:40:38,720 --> 01:40:41,840
nursing her nightmares. 
It turns out after they left, 

2215
01:40:41,840 --> 01:40:44,240
they all set the house on fire 
and they tried to claim that 

2216
01:40:44,240 --> 01:40:47,320
Philip died in the fire. 
Everyone believes them and they 

2217
01:40:47,320 --> 01:40:50,360
just got away with murder. 
Lovely Cat goes back to uni 

2218
01:40:50,760 --> 01:40:52,080
again. 
How old are these people? 

2219
01:40:52,080 --> 01:40:55,360
OK, and then the very last 
paragraph of the book is. 

2220
01:40:55,520 --> 01:40:58,640
Lately I've begun to wonder if 
the OHA guru Batari followed us 

2221
01:40:58,640 --> 01:41:01,720
from the Manor. 
I see her sometimes, or at least

2222
01:41:01,720 --> 01:41:05,080
I think I do, reflected in the 
windows, her face as Wayne as 

2223
01:41:05,080 --> 01:41:07,600
mine. 
But it is always my reflection, 

2224
01:41:07,600 --> 01:41:11,360
the eyes smudged of definition, 
the mouth blotted in shadow so 

2225
01:41:11,360 --> 01:41:13,280
it looks like there's nothing 
but blackened teeth. 

2226
01:41:13,400 --> 01:41:15,240
And that's it. 
That's where the book ends. 

2227
01:41:15,720 --> 01:41:19,040
I don't understand why the 
spirit that was supposedly tied 

2228
01:41:19,040 --> 01:41:23,000
to the house waiting for her 
husband like would follow you. 

2229
01:41:23,600 --> 01:41:24,840
I thought she was tied to the 
house. 

2230
01:41:24,840 --> 01:41:27,080
I thought she was there waiting 
for him so why would she follow 

2231
01:41:27,080 --> 01:41:29,800
you? 
I thought like if she took Talia

2232
01:41:30,000 --> 01:41:32,480
and gave her back when she got 
Philip then wouldn't Philip 

2233
01:41:32,480 --> 01:41:34,280
fulfil that need and she 
wouldn't need to fall? 

2234
01:41:34,280 --> 01:41:37,160
I it doesn't make it. 
The story makes no sense and 

2235
01:41:37,160 --> 01:41:39,560
none of this makes any sense. 
I don't get it. 

2236
01:41:39,960 --> 01:41:43,360
Or maybe it's trying to imply 
that like this was all in Cat's 

2237
01:41:43,360 --> 01:41:45,840
head and because she's still not
mentally well it's following 

2238
01:41:45,840 --> 01:41:48,960
them now and that like they all 
just got paranoid and Faze 

2239
01:41:48,960 --> 01:41:52,040
killed Philip for no reason. 
But then where was Talia the 

2240
01:41:52,040 --> 01:41:53,280
whole time? 
I don't know. 

2241
01:41:53,280 --> 01:41:56,000
I don't know. 
This is so stupid I hate it. 

2242
01:41:56,080 --> 01:41:59,880
The setting, the use of the 
Oguru Batari, the other little 

2243
01:41:59,880 --> 01:42:03,040
demons and spirits, it could 
have all been so damn good. 

2244
01:42:03,200 --> 01:42:06,120
The house, the back story, that 
could have been amazing. 

2245
01:42:06,280 --> 01:42:09,840
Tying in all the Japanese myths 
and folklore and that could have

2246
01:42:09,840 --> 01:42:12,680
been incredible. 
It could have been so damn 

2247
01:42:12,680 --> 01:42:17,360
creepy and well thought out and 
tying those old myths to like 

2248
01:42:17,360 --> 01:42:20,440
modern day stories and 
relationships could have been so

2249
01:42:20,440 --> 01:42:23,600
good. 
But as it stands all we got was 

2250
01:42:23,600 --> 01:42:26,680
a crappy story about a toxic 
friend group who kept being 

2251
01:42:26,680 --> 01:42:29,040
toxic until one of them killed 
another and then they covered up

2252
01:42:29,040 --> 01:42:31,680
the murder. 
The spirits and creepy stuff in 

2253
01:42:31,680 --> 01:42:35,720
the end had like no real impact,
not even in terms of like we 

2254
01:42:35,720 --> 01:42:37,720
could say it's like a mental 
health story and it was their 

2255
01:42:37,720 --> 01:42:39,520
paranoia. 
And because it wasn't really, it

2256
01:42:39,520 --> 01:42:42,320
was what they did. 
Like even then it doesn't stand 

2257
01:42:42,320 --> 01:42:45,240
up as a good story. 
What was the point of this all? 

2258
01:42:45,520 --> 01:42:48,000
It was such a waste of 
potential. 

2259
01:42:48,080 --> 01:42:50,600
Here's how I would fix the book 
if this was me. 

2260
01:42:50,600 --> 01:42:53,200
First, let's address Kat's 
mental health issues. 

2261
01:42:53,400 --> 01:42:56,000
Maybe instead of just generic 
depression and a suicide 

2262
01:42:56,000 --> 01:42:58,680
attempt, we turn her into a 
proper unreliable narrator, 

2263
01:42:58,680 --> 01:43:00,480
right? 
Maybe she was having some kind 

2264
01:43:00,480 --> 01:43:03,480
of hallucination or she was able
to tell what was reality and 

2265
01:43:03,480 --> 01:43:06,280
what wasn't. 
Maybe she had some kind of like 

2266
01:43:06,280 --> 01:43:09,480
psychosis or something going on.
She's now on medication and she 

2267
01:43:09,480 --> 01:43:12,480
thinks she's functioning well 
again, but when all the creepy 

2268
01:43:12,480 --> 01:43:14,680
stuff starts happening in the 
house, she doesn't know if it's 

2269
01:43:14,680 --> 01:43:16,880
real or in her head. 
So she doesn't know if she can 

2270
01:43:16,880 --> 01:43:19,400
trust herself and she doesn't 
want to tell the others in case 

2271
01:43:19,400 --> 01:43:20,920
like they think she's crazy 
again. 

2272
01:43:21,000 --> 01:43:23,760
So we get her doubting herself 
and not knowing what's real and 

2273
01:43:23,760 --> 01:43:25,360
what isn't. 
And as the story goes on and 

2274
01:43:25,360 --> 01:43:27,280
progresses, she still doesn't 
know what's real. 

2275
01:43:27,280 --> 01:43:29,240
So we don't know what's real and
we get her being a proper 

2276
01:43:29,240 --> 01:43:32,280
unreliable narrator. 
Secondly, I want to know more 

2277
01:43:32,280 --> 01:43:34,400
about the character 
relationships and who each one 

2278
01:43:34,400 --> 01:43:36,920
is as an individual. 
Tell me their values. 

2279
01:43:36,920 --> 01:43:39,800
Tell me what drives them. 
Show that they actually do like 

2280
01:43:39,800 --> 01:43:42,560
each other and care about each 
other and like, especially when 

2281
01:43:42,560 --> 01:43:45,440
they're in peril, show those 
moments of friendship. 

2282
01:43:45,440 --> 01:43:47,480
Show those bonds. 
Show those like, you know, 

2283
01:43:47,480 --> 01:43:49,960
instead of just like we ate and 
got drunk together, Show like 

2284
01:43:49,960 --> 01:43:51,520
them actually having a heart to 
heart. 

2285
01:43:51,640 --> 01:43:53,560
Show them actually being kind to
each other. 

2286
01:43:53,680 --> 01:43:57,040
Show them supporting each other.
And horror games like Until Dawn

2287
01:43:57,040 --> 01:44:00,040
do this really well because it 
has these complex characters who

2288
01:44:00,040 --> 01:44:03,600
aren't all good or bad, but you 
can tell they do care about each

2289
01:44:03,600 --> 01:44:05,640
other and that their 
relationships mean something and

2290
01:44:05,640 --> 01:44:07,120
that there's a rich back story 
there. 

2291
01:44:07,360 --> 01:44:09,920
So even when things are 
complicated, you get really 

2292
01:44:09,920 --> 01:44:11,960
invested in the characters and 
what happens to them and you 

2293
01:44:11,960 --> 01:44:13,880
want to save them. 
I mentioned earlier, but like a 

2294
01:44:13,880 --> 01:44:15,920
really good way to show this 
would have been in the 100 

2295
01:44:15,920 --> 01:44:18,240
candles game. 
The stories each of those 

2296
01:44:18,240 --> 01:44:20,840
characters chose could tell us 
about who they are, what they 

2297
01:44:20,840 --> 01:44:22,360
valued, what they thought of 
each other. 

2298
01:44:22,760 --> 01:44:25,480
And it would be a great way for 
the audience to infer a lot 

2299
01:44:25,480 --> 01:44:28,160
about the characters and like 
come up with their own theories 

2300
01:44:28,160 --> 01:44:29,960
about oh, they chose the story 
for this reason. 

2301
01:44:29,960 --> 01:44:32,600
The stories don't shows this 
about their psyche and so on. 

2302
01:44:32,920 --> 01:44:34,640
Each of the characters had 
really different cultural 

2303
01:44:34,640 --> 01:44:36,720
backgrounds. 
So it's mentioned Philip was 

2304
01:44:36,720 --> 01:44:40,960
Canadian, Lin was Chinese, Phase
was half Japanese. 

2305
01:44:40,960 --> 01:44:42,840
I'm not sure what the other half
of his family was. 

2306
01:44:43,080 --> 01:44:45,480
Talia was from somewhere else. 
And again, I think it would have

2307
01:44:45,480 --> 01:44:48,000
been really cool if they'd 
brought in cultural elements 

2308
01:44:48,000 --> 01:44:49,160
into their ghost stories as 
well. 

2309
01:44:49,160 --> 01:44:51,720
Because we could have got like 
some really cool interesting, 

2310
01:44:51,720 --> 01:44:55,520
like mythology and folklore and 
like, you know, stuff like tying

2311
01:44:55,520 --> 01:44:56,720
in there. 
It would have been really, 

2312
01:44:56,720 --> 01:44:59,080
really damn cool. 
Thirdly, I wish the actual back 

2313
01:44:59,080 --> 01:45:03,120
story of the house and the use 
of the Ohaguru Batari had been 

2314
01:45:03,120 --> 01:45:06,960
better incorporated because as 
it stands honestly that could 

2315
01:45:06,960 --> 01:45:09,960
have been any ghost or any 
monster in any location and the 

2316
01:45:09,960 --> 01:45:11,520
outcome would have been exactly 
the same. 

2317
01:45:11,880 --> 01:45:16,560
I wish they'd utilised this 
amazing setting and back story a

2318
01:45:16,560 --> 01:45:18,720
lot more like. 
So for example, if the haunting 

2319
01:45:18,720 --> 01:45:20,920
started because the bride was 
waiting for her husband to 

2320
01:45:20,920 --> 01:45:23,640
arrive who died on the day of 
their wedding, then why did she 

2321
01:45:23,640 --> 01:45:26,760
kidnap Talia or not Faze or 
possess Talia or not Faze? 

2322
01:45:26,960 --> 01:45:29,240
Surely it would have made sense 
for her to steal a groom for 

2323
01:45:29,240 --> 01:45:31,320
herself, no? 
Or maybe she possessed Talia 

2324
01:45:31,320 --> 01:45:33,640
because she's the bride and so 
she wanted to hide as Talia 

2325
01:45:33,640 --> 01:45:36,520
until the wedding and then she 
was discovered too early so it 

2326
01:45:36,520 --> 01:45:37,800
got like out of hand or 
something. 

2327
01:45:37,800 --> 01:45:40,000
Like I don't. 
I just, I wish they'd made it 

2328
01:45:40,000 --> 01:45:43,320
more relevant to the story and 
the outcome and how everything 

2329
01:45:43,320 --> 01:45:46,000
was settled and so on. 
Since you had like such an 

2330
01:45:46,000 --> 01:45:50,120
incestuous friendship group, 
maybe you could have had that 

2331
01:45:50,120 --> 01:45:51,680
playing into it all a little bit
more. 

2332
01:45:51,680 --> 01:45:54,240
I don't know, Like, like if 
Talia wanted to get phase back, 

2333
01:45:54,240 --> 01:45:56,640
then she could be like, OK, we 
need to sacrifice a woman to 

2334
01:45:56,640 --> 01:45:58,480
keep the bride company as the 
story suggests. 

2335
01:45:58,480 --> 01:46:01,440
So come on Kat, we're going to 
kill you because I want my 

2336
01:46:01,440 --> 01:46:03,160
future husband back. 
Something like that. 

2337
01:46:03,360 --> 01:46:05,640
And then Kat's considering it 
because of her history's phase 

2338
01:46:05,640 --> 01:46:07,400
and she's like, well, he is my 
best friend. 

2339
01:46:07,560 --> 01:46:09,880
We've shown this best friendship
in the story. 

2340
01:46:09,880 --> 01:46:12,080
That would be good. 
So of course I'm going to want 

2341
01:46:12,080 --> 01:46:15,120
to sacrifice myself for him. 
Plus, you know, I've just been 

2342
01:46:15,120 --> 01:46:16,720
suicidal or depressed or 
whatever. 

2343
01:46:16,720 --> 01:46:19,080
So like, maybe I'm feeling like 
I don't have much to live for. 

2344
01:46:19,080 --> 01:46:21,880
So yeah, I'll factors, I'll 
sacrifice myself for phase, but 

2345
01:46:21,880 --> 01:46:24,800
at the same time she's like, Oh 
no, but actually like, why does 

2346
01:46:24,800 --> 01:46:26,960
Talia get to get to have the 
happy ending with him? 

2347
01:46:26,960 --> 01:46:29,080
And I don't like, maybe I should
have had that with her. 

2348
01:46:29,240 --> 01:46:30,600
Like, that could have all tied 
into it. 

2349
01:46:30,600 --> 01:46:31,880
That could have been really damn
cool. 

2350
01:46:31,880 --> 01:46:34,520
You know, maybe she's still 
jealous of Talia and she's like,

2351
01:46:34,680 --> 01:46:37,040
well, you don't even want phase.
You actually want to be with 

2352
01:46:37,040 --> 01:46:38,480
Phillips. 
You've got that going on. 

2353
01:46:38,640 --> 01:46:41,160
I'm the one who really loves 
Phase, even if it's just as a 

2354
01:46:41,160 --> 01:46:43,600
best friend now. 
So you should sacrifice yourself

2355
01:46:43,600 --> 01:46:45,120
for him or something like that. 
I don't know. 

2356
01:46:45,600 --> 01:46:48,200
As it stands, I feel like Lynn 
was an absolutely nothing 

2357
01:46:48,200 --> 01:46:51,520
character in this. 
He had no impact on the story. 

2358
01:46:51,520 --> 01:46:53,280
I don't understand why he was 
there. 

2359
01:46:53,560 --> 01:46:55,760
Nothing. 
He did have any consequence. 

2360
01:46:55,800 --> 01:46:57,760
He did nothing. 
You could Take Me Out the story 

2361
01:46:57,760 --> 01:46:59,400
and it would be exactly the 
same. 

2362
01:46:59,520 --> 01:47:01,920
So if I was improving this book,
I would actually give him a 

2363
01:47:01,920 --> 01:47:03,800
role. 
Maybe if you want to do the 

2364
01:47:03,800 --> 01:47:07,280
whole meta narrative thing, he's
the friend who's a writer or a 

2365
01:47:07,280 --> 01:47:08,800
reader. 
He's the one who's coming in 

2366
01:47:08,800 --> 01:47:11,480
with all the meta stuff because,
you know, he is really into 

2367
01:47:11,480 --> 01:47:13,800
horror and he starts to like see
it and he's like, here's the 

2368
01:47:13,800 --> 01:47:16,480
tropes and blah, blah, blah. 
Or just give him something to 

2369
01:47:16,480 --> 01:47:18,080
do. 
Same with the creepy demon 

2370
01:47:18,080 --> 01:47:19,960
paintings on the wall coming to 
life, right? 

2371
01:47:19,960 --> 01:47:22,480
I love that idea. 
I found the descriptions creepy.

2372
01:47:22,480 --> 01:47:24,680
I think that imagery was creepy.
I love that. 

2373
01:47:24,920 --> 01:47:26,440
Why didn't they actually do 
anything? 

2374
01:47:26,440 --> 01:47:27,840
Why did they never pose a 
threat? 

2375
01:47:28,080 --> 01:47:30,120
Why did they never interact with
the people? 

2376
01:47:30,120 --> 01:47:31,840
Why weren't they used in the 
story at all? 

2377
01:47:31,840 --> 01:47:33,960
They were just there and then 
they were never mentioned again.

2378
01:47:33,960 --> 01:47:36,800
They were forgotten about. 
And again, you could take these 

2379
01:47:36,800 --> 01:47:39,560
moving demons out and it would 
be the exact same book, just 

2380
01:47:39,560 --> 01:47:42,880
like you could replace the demon
with any kind of monster or 

2381
01:47:42,880 --> 01:47:45,240
ghost or anything and it would 
be the exact same book. 

2382
01:47:45,320 --> 01:47:47,440
And that's a problem. 
Like you literally could have 

2383
01:47:47,440 --> 01:47:50,480
had these people in like, like 
like a house like this, OK. 

2384
01:47:50,680 --> 01:47:52,880
You could have had five people 
in a Victorian house in 

2385
01:47:52,880 --> 01:47:55,200
Yorkshire where no one had died 
and it has no back history. 

2386
01:47:55,200 --> 01:47:57,440
And it's blah, blah blah. 
They all get together the night 

2387
01:47:57,440 --> 01:47:59,640
before a wedding. 
And then Faze finds out Philip 

2388
01:47:59,640 --> 01:48:02,200
had a thing for Talia. 
Talia runs off because she's all

2389
01:48:02,200 --> 01:48:04,400
sad. 
Faze and Philip argue, Faze 

2390
01:48:04,400 --> 01:48:08,440
stabs Philip, they all cover up,
bam, same book done without any 

2391
01:48:08,440 --> 01:48:11,120
of the supernatural elements. 
It would have been exactly the 

2392
01:48:11,120 --> 01:48:12,520
same. 
The exact same things would have

2393
01:48:12,520 --> 01:48:14,640
happened and it would be just as
not creepy. 

2394
01:48:14,640 --> 01:48:16,760
There is a lot more I can say 
about this book. 

2395
01:48:16,960 --> 01:48:19,480
It is a book with a lot of 
potential, but it was just a let

2396
01:48:19,480 --> 01:48:21,840
down for me and I find that 
really, really sad. 

2397
01:48:21,840 --> 01:48:24,160
I wanted so much more from it 
and I think that's why I'm so 

2398
01:48:24,160 --> 01:48:26,840
frustrated like I said earlier, 
because this is a book that 

2399
01:48:26,840 --> 01:48:29,920
could have been amazing and it 
just wasn't. 

2400
01:48:30,400 --> 01:48:32,560
I thought I would end this video
by looking quickly a few reviews

2401
01:48:32,560 --> 01:48:34,480
that other people have left and 
seeing what other people 

2402
01:48:34,480 --> 01:48:36,160
thought, the positives and the 
negatives. 

2403
01:48:36,320 --> 01:48:38,360
This was a two star review. 
That said the prose was 

2404
01:48:38,360 --> 01:48:41,280
burdensome to read and I usually
like that sort of thing, but 

2405
01:48:41,280 --> 01:48:43,160
with this I had to wade through 
it for some reason. 

2406
01:48:43,400 --> 01:48:45,920
The metaphors and imagery were 
unusual and I would literally 

2407
01:48:45,920 --> 01:48:48,560
have to stop and think about how
it made any sense. 

2408
01:48:48,720 --> 01:48:52,240
Very purpley but also a little 
poetic which I do struggle with.

2409
01:48:52,320 --> 01:48:54,400
This wasn't person's full review
but I definitely agree with a 

2410
01:48:54,400 --> 01:48:56,800
lot of what they said but it's 
interesting because not everyone

2411
01:48:56,800 --> 01:48:59,040
felt the same. 
This person gave it four stars 

2412
01:48:59,040 --> 01:49:01,560
and said most of this rating is 
frankly for the prose. 

2413
01:49:01,800 --> 01:49:04,280
The book takes its prose from 
gothic horror and the amount of 

2414
01:49:04,280 --> 01:49:07,480
disturbing phrasing added to the
atmosphere in a terrifying way. 

2415
01:49:07,880 --> 01:49:10,600
It's not character developed or 
character heavy in any way. 

2416
01:49:10,880 --> 01:49:12,760
Like most gothic horror. 
The main character is the 

2417
01:49:12,760 --> 01:49:14,600
setting. 
It's disturbing and also 

2418
01:49:14,600 --> 01:49:16,680
horrifying. 
Are the characters fully fleshed

2419
01:49:16,680 --> 01:49:18,720
out? 
No, but they don't really need 

2420
01:49:18,720 --> 01:49:20,720
to be for this. 
The book does what it wanted to 

2421
01:49:20,720 --> 01:49:23,480
do and it does it very well. 
And I understand where this 

2422
01:49:23,480 --> 01:49:25,120
person's coming from. 
And as always, they're 

2423
01:49:25,120 --> 01:49:26,400
completely entitled to their own
opinion. 

2424
01:49:26,400 --> 01:49:29,120
That's absolutely fine. 
But just personally I disagree. 

2425
01:49:29,560 --> 01:49:32,520
I wish the house had been more 
of a character, you know, So 

2426
01:49:32,520 --> 01:49:37,680
like, for example, in Riley 
Sager's Only one left or pose 

2427
01:49:37,680 --> 01:49:41,040
the Fall of the House of Usher 
and or even T Kingfishers, what 

2428
01:49:41,040 --> 01:49:43,240
moves the dead. 
Yeah, the houses in those books 

2429
01:49:43,240 --> 01:49:45,520
are very much characters. 
They are very much part of the 

2430
01:49:45,520 --> 01:49:47,080
story. 
Those books would be very 

2431
01:49:47,080 --> 01:49:48,560
different in very different 
settings. 

2432
01:49:48,720 --> 01:49:51,560
Like in the Only One Left, you 
have the whole house being on 

2433
01:49:51,560 --> 01:49:54,440
this Cliff edge and tilted and 
feeling like it could fall at 

2434
01:49:54,440 --> 01:49:56,160
any moment. 
And at the end of the book it 

2435
01:49:56,160 --> 01:49:58,160
does. 
And that's like a whole like 

2436
01:49:58,160 --> 01:50:02,160
metaphor and analogy for, I 
guess, the lies and storytelling

2437
01:50:02,160 --> 01:50:03,720
of the characters who live in 
the house. 

2438
01:50:04,080 --> 01:50:06,920
And you feel very off kilter and
off balance while you're in 

2439
01:50:06,920 --> 01:50:09,680
there because you don't like the
house is so tilted and you don't

2440
01:50:09,680 --> 01:50:13,280
quite know like, where you're 
standing and what's safe and 

2441
01:50:13,280 --> 01:50:15,200
what isn't. 
So it makes sense in those books

2442
01:50:15,200 --> 01:50:18,040
that the house is a character, 
House of leaves, the house is a 

2443
01:50:18,040 --> 01:50:20,280
character. 
Even in episode 13, to some 

2444
01:50:20,280 --> 01:50:21,680
extent, the house is a 
character. 

2445
01:50:21,840 --> 01:50:25,880
But in this, the mansion is just
a setting that is underutilised 

2446
01:50:25,920 --> 01:50:29,920
and not really explored enough. 
It's there, we get some 

2447
01:50:29,920 --> 01:50:32,680
descriptions that should be 
creepy, but it's not creepy. 

2448
01:50:32,680 --> 01:50:34,480
There's no tension, there's no 
nothing. 

2449
01:50:34,520 --> 01:50:37,080
And I I also disagree with this 
review that the characters don't

2450
01:50:37,080 --> 01:50:39,880
need to be fleshed out more. 
I think for me to enjoy this 

2451
01:50:39,880 --> 01:50:43,160
more, I either need the 
characters to be fleshed out or 

2452
01:50:43,160 --> 01:50:45,200
for the house itself to play a 
bigger role. 

2453
01:50:45,360 --> 01:50:47,640
But as it stands, the book did 
neither, and it just left me 

2454
01:50:47,640 --> 01:50:49,920
wanting more. 
As for the prose being inspired 

2455
01:50:49,920 --> 01:50:52,560
by gothic literature, I'd agree 
that this is clearly what the 

2456
01:50:52,560 --> 01:50:55,600
author's going for, but as I 
said over and over, it just 

2457
01:50:55,600 --> 01:50:58,080
didn't work for me because it 
was too out of place with the 

2458
01:50:58,200 --> 01:51:02,280
basic sweary, cheesy modern 
dialogue, and the bits which 

2459
01:51:02,280 --> 01:51:05,440
could have been done often ended
up being overwritten for my 

2460
01:51:05,440 --> 01:51:07,120
tastes. 
I felt like there were some good

2461
01:51:07,120 --> 01:51:09,680
ideas in there, and like I say, 
there are a few descriptions I 

2462
01:51:09,720 --> 01:51:12,480
really did like and really did 
find creepy, but overall I think

2463
01:51:12,480 --> 01:51:16,960
it needs a lot of editing to be 
enjoyable by a lot of people. 

2464
01:51:16,960 --> 01:51:21,040
I think where it fails being 
like gothic horror literature is

2465
01:51:21,040 --> 01:51:23,160
that it wants to be lyrical, but
it isn't. 

2466
01:51:23,160 --> 01:51:26,200
It doesn't have that rhythm, 
that flow. 

2467
01:51:26,400 --> 01:51:28,960
It doesn't have that imagery 
that is beautiful and vivid. 

2468
01:51:29,120 --> 01:51:32,080
Also, the thing about like 
gothic literature, whether it's 

2469
01:51:32,080 --> 01:51:35,320
whether it's Poe or whether it's
something like Frankenstein, is 

2470
01:51:35,320 --> 01:51:39,800
that the descriptions are often 
detailed and and lyrical and 

2471
01:51:39,800 --> 01:51:41,280
full of this beautiful, vivid 
imagery. 

2472
01:51:41,280 --> 01:51:43,640
But it's never more complex than
it needs to be. 

2473
01:51:43,680 --> 01:51:45,800
And I feel like in this, it's 
complex for the sake of 

2474
01:51:45,800 --> 01:51:47,840
complexity and I just find it a 
little off putting. 

2475
01:51:48,320 --> 01:51:51,280
Another reviewer said two stars,
unfortunately not as epic as the

2476
01:51:51,280 --> 01:51:53,120
cover. 
Basically just a friend reunion 

2477
01:51:53,120 --> 01:51:55,720
where every single person is 
toxic, but it's in a haunted 

2478
01:51:55,720 --> 01:51:57,600
house. 
I think that's pretty spot on. 

2479
01:51:57,680 --> 01:51:59,640
And this person said again, two 
stars. 

2480
01:51:59,800 --> 01:52:02,880
Great premise, poor execution. 
The ending was slightly cheesy 

2481
01:52:02,880 --> 01:52:04,440
too. 
Agreed, and I also think the 

2482
01:52:04,440 --> 01:52:07,080
ending was incredibly rushed, 
which didn't really work for me.

2483
01:52:07,160 --> 01:52:09,360
Another person said the writing 
style is so choppy and 

2484
01:52:09,360 --> 01:52:12,160
unnecessarily flowery it's 
impossible to read without 

2485
01:52:12,160 --> 01:52:14,480
getting distracted. 
At times the use of adjectives 

2486
01:52:14,480 --> 01:52:17,600
is so redundant it becomes 
laughable despite its original 

2487
01:52:17,600 --> 01:52:19,640
intent. 
Why do I need to read 3 or 4 

2488
01:52:19,640 --> 01:52:23,240
synonyms one after the other 
when they mean the exact same 

2489
01:52:23,240 --> 01:52:25,200
thing? 
I got the concept, thank you 

2490
01:52:25,200 --> 01:52:27,360
very much. 
The characters ruined everything

2491
01:52:27,360 --> 01:52:29,320
else. 
I dare you not to hate every 

2492
01:52:29,320 --> 01:52:31,680
single one of them from page 4. 
They're petty jealous. 

2493
01:52:31,680 --> 01:52:34,760
Arguing took such a big part of 
this novella, there wasn't much 

2494
01:52:34,760 --> 01:52:37,200
space left for the horror. 
I came for the dead bride and 

2495
01:52:37,200 --> 01:52:40,000
Japanese demons, not these 
ridiculous squirrels about who 

2496
01:52:40,000 --> 01:52:43,960
slept with whom. 
I completely agree 100%. 

2497
01:52:44,120 --> 01:52:46,680
This person however, gave it a 
four-star review and said I 

2498
01:52:46,680 --> 01:52:49,400
really love the incorporation of
so much Japanese language and 

2499
01:52:49,400 --> 01:52:51,800
culture in this story. 
The inclusion of mythological 

2500
01:52:51,800 --> 01:52:54,920
Japanese creatures really added 
to the story and I agree that I 

2501
01:52:54,920 --> 01:52:57,520
loved those elements, but I 
didn't feel they were actually 

2502
01:52:57,520 --> 01:52:59,800
incorporated in the story. 
It's like they were kind of 

2503
01:52:59,800 --> 01:53:01,720
stuck on almost like an 
afterthought. 

2504
01:53:02,160 --> 01:53:05,160
And I wish it had been 
incorporated more. 

2505
01:53:05,160 --> 01:53:06,920
I wish we'd have more of those 
elements. 

2506
01:53:07,080 --> 01:53:10,880
Give me more Japanese creatures 
and mythology and folklore and 

2507
01:53:10,880 --> 01:53:14,360
culture like I want. 
I want more of that, You know, 

2508
01:53:14,520 --> 01:53:18,080
that's, that's what I went into 
this book wanting and I just 

2509
01:53:18,080 --> 01:53:20,280
felt like it under delivered. 
Oh, OK. 

2510
01:53:20,360 --> 01:53:22,760
Anyway, this is where I'm going 
to end the video because I have 

2511
01:53:22,760 --> 01:53:24,560
been ranting so much and I'm so 
sorry. 

2512
01:53:24,560 --> 01:53:27,280
I have been very like, I've been
way more emotional in this 

2513
01:53:27,280 --> 01:53:29,920
review than I thought. 
It's just, again, nothing annoys

2514
01:53:29,920 --> 01:53:31,920
me more than wasted potential. 
So I've had a lot of big 

2515
01:53:31,920 --> 01:53:34,440
feelings about this and but I 
would love to hear your thoughts

2516
01:53:34,440 --> 01:53:35,560
on this book down in the 
comments. 

2517
01:53:35,560 --> 01:53:37,400
If you loved it, if you hated 
it, let me know. 

2518
01:53:37,400 --> 01:53:39,120
If you disagree with me, let me 
know as well. 

2519
01:53:39,120 --> 01:53:41,560
That's absolutely fine. 
Otherwise, please let me know 

2520
01:53:41,560 --> 01:53:43,920
what are the horror books you 
love or hate or you would 

2521
01:53:43,920 --> 01:53:46,760
recommend to me either to read 
for fun or to make bad book 

2522
01:53:46,760 --> 01:53:48,280
reviews about. 
I can do either. 

2523
01:53:48,440 --> 01:53:50,800
I just love a good horror book. 
And if you do want to see what 

2524
01:53:50,800 --> 01:53:52,960
I've been reading recently, you 
can follow me over on Goodreads 

2525
01:53:52,960 --> 01:53:55,360
because I've been reading quite 
a bit of horror recently, quite 

2526
01:53:55,360 --> 01:53:56,840
a few thrillers. 
I've been reading loads. 

2527
01:53:56,840 --> 01:53:59,080
It's been really great. 
Actually, it's been a really 

2528
01:53:59,080 --> 01:54:03,960
good reading year so far. 
I am making little reading wrap 

2529
01:54:03,960 --> 01:54:06,320
UPS over on my second channel, 
but I'm a little bit behind with

2530
01:54:06,320 --> 01:54:09,160
posting them at the minute, but 
I'm slowly getting on top of it.

2531
01:54:09,160 --> 01:54:11,400
But yeah, if you want, you can 
follow me over there or 

2532
01:54:11,760 --> 01:54:14,680
occasionally I will post about 
little books and stuff that I'm 

2533
01:54:14,680 --> 01:54:17,080
reading over on Instagram so you
can follow me there as well at 

2534
01:54:17,080 --> 01:54:19,720
Rachel Oates with Air 0 instead 
of an O. 

2535
01:54:19,800 --> 01:54:22,000
Thank you so much for watching. 
I appreciate you guys so much. 

2536
01:54:22,000 --> 01:54:23,840
Thank you so much for your time,
for your attention. 

2537
01:54:24,040 --> 01:54:26,480
If you'd like to help support me
and my channel, I do have a 

2538
01:54:26,480 --> 01:54:30,080
Patreon where you can join for 
as little as like a dollar a 

2539
01:54:30,080 --> 01:54:31,880
month or a pound a month or 
something like that. 

2540
01:54:31,880 --> 01:54:34,320
And then at the higher tiers you
can get sent out exclusive 

2541
01:54:34,320 --> 01:54:36,000
stickers and prints and cool 
stuff like that. 

2542
01:54:36,120 --> 01:54:38,240
Go have a look at that if you 
want, but absolutely no 

2543
01:54:38,240 --> 01:54:40,240
pressure. 
But for now, thank you for 

2544
01:54:40,240 --> 01:54:41,560
watching. 
I appreciate you guys, you are 

2545
01:54:41,560 --> 01:54:43,960
wonderful. 
Have a great rest of your day. 

2546
01:54:44,040 --> 01:54:44,680
I'll see you again soon.