BY AUGUST HILL
DIVISION X
I’m not me when I kill people. At least, that’s what I tell myself. I wake up, and I know I’ve done something horrible. My hands are covered in blood, my clothes are gone, and my stomach feels full. I don’t remember what I did. All I remember is the pain. It’s impossible to forget.
It starts with the fur. It spreads like fire, melting me. My bones go next, shifting, changing, breaking. I always cry, always scream, but I can live with the pain. I can’t live with what comes next. Something takes control and pushes me into the dark. I sleep a dreamless sleep, and when I wake up, the nightmare begins.
I don’t know them, the people I’ve killed, the ones I’ve eaten. But I do know they weren’t all bad. I live with the pain because I deserve it.
-Confessions of a Cannibal
About Me
August Hill
“Who doesn’t like a good story? Whether it be a movie, show, game, book, or a chat with friends, storytelling is an essential part of entertainment. I always wanted to be a storyteller, to entertain, and writing just always felt right to me. It also happens to be cheap.”
- August Hill
Films
#1 Alien
This is a very basic answer if you know anyone who’s obsessed with the horror genre like I am. Alien is often regarded as one of the best movies ever, and for good reason. It is the best, in my opinion. The idea is simple, but when I first saw it in elementary school, it changed my favorite genre of movie to sci-fi. Ripley is my all-time favorite movie hero. She was a regular Joe at the start of the film, but by the end, she’s the ultimate survivor. The cinematography, sound, and creature design are also amazing, but that’s a given. If you dislike this movie, I dislike you, and if you haven’t seen it, watch it.
Books
#1 Frankenstein
This one’s an oldy and a bit wordy for most, which is terrible if you think about it. A book with too many words, preposterous. I’ve read this four times, which isn’t much, I know, but I’ve heavily analyzed this book as well. Outside the theme of man becomes monster, man makes monster is my second favorite. I’ve read a lot of horror books, and besides certain Goosebumps stories, I’ve never really connected to a horror story like I have with Frankenstein. I know, Goosebumps and Frankenstein don’t sound like good companion pieces, but what can I say; I know what I like. This book is literature, and it’s more poetic than anything I’ll ever write. To think it was disregarded and considered derivative of other characters and myths is insane. All ideas come from somewhere else. The critics who blasted this novel should have been blasted out of a cannon.
Video Games
#1 Red Dead Redemption
Whoever says video games aren’t art has never played these games. This is my favorite western story… ever. There’s a lot a video game can do which a book or movie can’t. Namely, player agency. It allows the player to connect with the protagonist on a level movies and books can’t. The player carries out the protagonist’s actions. It sounds like a story telling dream come true, but for some reason people still think video games and their narratives are worth less than movies or books. That blows my mind. Playing this game when it originally released was insane. No game has ever reached the heights of Red Dead Redemption before or since. Playing as John Marston, saving his family, killing his old gang mates, it’s a western dreamscape. The real Westworld. And everyone can experience it if they’d only try.
