This was a rollercoaster ride for me: It was only alright, then it became perfect, and then it took a sudden turn away from all the elements that made it special.

This could have been something great had it leaned into Will’s yearning for fatherhood and his descent to insanity. I understand that would omit the creature aspect when it’s a story within a collection titled “creature feature,” but there already is nowhere near enough creature for it to be considered actual creature feature . . . so why not let it be more ambiguous, more mysterious, more emotional?

The backtrack on the marital tension was a whole letdown on its own, a climax point shattered to bits before it ever reached its potential. One moment the story was making a point on emotionally unequal relationships, and the next that was treated like such a horrendous thought process it required the thinker to absolve himself through self-sacrifice … which made it an even worse unequal relationship, but now minus a depth to the story beyond just a creature feature.

The concept for a cult was incredibly interesting, again until that very end. Over-explanation kills lure. The more mysterious something is, the bigger the lasting fright factor. The ending made it too mainstream, too run of the mill — just like any movie.

But the biggest sin was the millennial humour, one that cropped up even at the very end, completely ruining that moment.

Thinking back to it, I’m not even sure the “perfect” portion was really perfect, or if the atmosphere was created by the fact that I was listening to Nox Arcana.