Horroctober Roundup

Creatures, Killers, Monsters

Just another day in Tippy Dale, Vermont

Those of you who have followed me for a while will know of Don’t Look Back, the love letter to classic horror and slasher films, written by Matt Burns and published by Black Site Studios. For those of you who are new here, I wrote a review of Don’t Look Back which you can check out here!

I also introduced Tippy Dale in a Halloween toy photography challenge provided by Tourmaline., a friend of mine, and an excellent photographer, so please check her work out. The Halloween Challenge is available to c heck out here! In short, Tippy Dale is my setting for Don’t Look Back, replacing the in lore North Wood setting. Tippy Dale is the most haunted town in America, and is plagued by paranormal events, creature encounters, and an abnormal murder rate and serial killer count. This is all swept under the rug by the powers that be, for some reason, and the call of the town always seems to bring those who leave, back to Tippy Dale…

While painting Don’t Look Back miniatures, I give myself a painting restriction, with only a few exceptions, player characters don’t use red. This came about as when I first started painting them, I had just painted a bunch of Blood Angels, and Novokh Dynasty Necrons, both of which use a lot of Red in their colour schemes. In Don’t Look Back, I need to have a good reason for using red on characters. Kat from the Final Girls expansion got Red on her skateboard, as I was recreating the Zero deck, Bloody Nosebone, for example.

Cryptid Encounters

Within the scope of horror lies the folklore of cryptids - creatures whose existence or survival is disputed. These include things such as Bigfoot, The Yeti, or here in my home county of Northumberland, The Green Shark, or the Laidly Worm of Spindlestone. Fallout Wasteland Warfare brought the cryptids introduced in Fallout 76 into the game, which includes my personal favourite cryptid, The Mothman, and the Flatwoods Monster (who in Fallout is a Zetan alien). Along with the Flatwoods Monster are three regular Zetan aliens and an Alien Drone.

The Mothman models have Fluorescent red eyes which light up under UV light, and they have a gloss varnish over them, which gives the Ommatidium of their eyes clear delineation. In person, they are a flat red, but with the angled light of the lightbox in this photos, they look a lot more detailed. The Flatwoods Monster has two head options, one as a bare Zetan head, the other as the fishbowl head that I used, I followed the colour scheme of the ingame models, and gave the eyes the glowing effect that we see in Fallout 76.

Bringing Whimsy

Now, this model is a TTCombat 2020 Black Friday exclusive model. The option for a can of bleach spray or an axe was an easy choice to make, and I initially wanted to use this model as my entry into the Zamanurg competition held by Zambies. Only problem was that I finished it too late for the entry deadline, so it just ended up being one of the models for Horroctober! I experimented with crackle paint again, using the Greenstuff World Crackle Paint on the heel of the model, to give it dry, cracked skin. On some of the blisters, I used the AK crackle medium, which I have always struggled to get to work well. I did however find that it makes for great blisters! It adds a bit of depth, looking like the skin is thinned with the plasma beneath it. I also got to use some of the TTCombat effect paint, Glistening Puke, which not only makes for great sick and puss, but also great snot! This model will end up in the crowd for Rumbleslam, cheering on Rottergut, but also keeping those dirty wrestling marks at bay with her bleach spray!

The Gourd Reaper II

“Soul light, soul bright, his soul is bound on Hallows’ Eve night!”

The sequel to The Gourd Reaper brings us his hulking form. Boasting a massive health pool and strong attacks, surviving The Gourd Reaper II is a true challenge, bringing the sequel mindset of “now the gloves are off” to Don’t Look Back. On the original Gourd Reaper model, I used fluorescent green on the carved features of his face, which I kept for this model. The base features a corrupted pumpkin patch, with a trench of corrupting energy sprouting vines, and a large pumpkin growing a horrific face. The pumpkins are from Greenstuff World.

Bloody Depths

Bloody Depths is an expansion for Don’t Look Back which introduces us to a new Killer Profile, and one which uses other models as sort of henchmen, or sub-killers. This is Kokakushu, a huge crab monster, and two smaller crabs. Now, Vermont is landlocked, but ignore that. I based these on Brown Rock Crabs, which you can see in Maine, home state to Stephen King - so there’s the horror link!

The Quorum

The Quorum is a writhing mass of meat and bone, with the remains of a host on top. If I told you which wanker politician I based this guy on, I’d probably have the police sent to my door, because he can’t face the truth about his dogshit political party which seems happy to ruin this country.

The Judge Of Hangman’s Rock

This is one of the named killer models for Don’t Look Back. From the founding of Tippy Dale in 1698, The Judge was lynched on Hangman’s Rock by criminals who were using the Appalachian Trail as a criminal route. The Judge stood strong against the criminal element, with a no-nonsense stance on their crimes. Now his spirit stalks the Bronson Woods passing judgement on anyone he finds.

Momma Luna’s Pizza

I had already painted the Momma Luna Werewolf form, but not her human form, or the Werewolf killer model. The Werewolf has a woodland base, whereas Momma Luna stands on the path outside of her pizzeria. Momma Luna got to break my No Red rule for characters, due to her Italian Flag on her apron,

De’Graw Cleaning Crew

When experiments escape the lab, these guys are called in. I gave them the yellow CBRN suits rather than a stealthy black outfit, to act as cover for if they were to be spotted on operations. Their masks were open on the eyes, so I used a blob of UV resin to give them a full face gas mask with clear sight after I painted their faces. The bases are made using plasticard for the curb and path, with Citadel Astrogranite for the road texture. I also used some UV resin in the gutter to give the look it had recently rained, as it had while I painted them.

Cold Case

My Whipper is the killer from the Cold Case expansion, bringing another classic Slasher inspired killer to the game. An evil Ice Cream Man, Mr Whipper has the trait Chilled Touch which gives characters hit by his Attack 1 a -4 to skill checks in the next Character phase, which makes a huge difference in the game. To show this trait on the model, I used some Green Stuff World Liquid Frost on his hands and on the canisters of Liquid Nitrogen, and even a little bit on the ground around him.

Who Needs Chainsaws?

This killer model is from one of Black Site Studios’ Horror Packs, which gives you extra models to use in games of Don’t Look Back, some of which are based on popular films and shows, others are original creations. This creepy character is wearing what looks like a straight jacket from the back, but also a strange mask. Though the most eye-catching thing about him is the circular saw he’s carrying. It puts me in mind of the French horror film High Tension (Switchblade Romance in some areas) with the Concrete Saw.

Zombies!!!

The zombie is a Hasslefree Miniatures zombie banana model, which makes me think of Gary Busey. Hasslefree also does a non-zombie version of this guy, where he is holding the fireaxe. The Astronaut Zombie is a Blacksite Studios model from a Horror Pack. Missing an arm, and with a smashed visor, this unlucky astronaut crashed down near Tippy Dale, and began to roam the streets looking for flesh.

Possessed Patients

These are an expansion blister set of Possessed Patients. They are part of the Pack Killers expansion, like the De’Graw Cleaning Crew, where multiple killers are on the board at once, working as a group to kill the players. These killers use nearby Fright Tokens to boost their attacks, and when you fall victim to them, that character is replaced by a possessed patient, keeping their numbers growing.

Attack Of The Greys II

Special Agent Miller joins the cast of characters in the sequel to the grey alien expansion, Attack Of The Greys. This time we go up against the Skin Catchers, grey aliens who wear the skin of their victims to infiltrate society. Growing up in the 1990s, female FBI agents have to be red heads, thanks to my love of The X-Files and Gillian Anderson as Agent Scully. In the iconic blue FBI jacket, Special Agent Miller faces off against the Skin Catchers, who I painted to match the Greys I had previously painted. This time, in flesh suits. On the flesh, I added some slight bruising around the stitched areas, which adds a bit of colour variance and interest.

Stalkers Of Bronson Woods

Within the Bronson Woods, around Tippy Dale, the siren call of evil sprits brings them. The hook handed killer escaped from Mount Saint Cardinus, Home For the Criminally Insane, whereas Pigsy has links to Jedidiah “Big Jed” Graw, a butcher who appears on Tippy Dale Market during spates of missing persons and pets.

The Seer

Another of the Horror Pack models, this model gives Cultist vibes, so I painted them in the turquoise of the Church Of Dagon from Carnevale, my go to colour scheme for cultist robes, now. This is a model I will use as The Seer, a trilogy campaign in the Don’t Look Back Core Book.

Frankenstein

This model came from the Horror Packs, a classic Frankenstein! Complete with neck bolts and all! And yes, he is Frankenstein. He even says it! Victor Frankenstein is his father, therefore, he is a Frankenstein. Adam Frankenstein. So shut up.

And his base is a wintery base to represent his time in the Orkneys.

Ethan De’Graw

There are a few different versions of Ethan De’Graw available. There is the standard version in Supporting Characters, the zombie version in the Zombies Pack Killers blister, the Facility (left image) contains this early mutation form of Denise’s dad, Ethan De’Graw, head of the De’Graw Corporation. The later form of Mutation is the Super Mutant Ethan De’Graw, where we see the mutation taking hold even further and begining to take away his human proportions in exchange for the horrific form emerging. The Super Mutant Ethan De’Graw was a great excuse to use more of the TTCombat Glistening Puke paint as the mutant blood and slime. Using multiple layers of it gives a great variance in colour, too.

Manhunt

Ben W is an expert tracker. This skill made him a valuable asset to Ethan De’Graw, and helped him work his way up to being a Personal Security Agent. Ben is tasked with tracking down high value targets, be they for use in experiments, or having been used in them. In the case of the Manhunt expansion, he is tasked with finding and capturing V-13, an escaped test subject who has gained power through trading her soul with an entity in the Bronson Woods after escaping a secret De’Graw Lab. The bases are made with Krautcover basing mixes. Ben W uses the Grimdark mix, and V-13 uses a little of the Grimdark Mix for the dirt and a bone, and the Ruins of Persistence to create a destroyed wall/ceiling look. I wanted her base to look like the ruins of an abandoned De’Graw lab, or maybe even her own escape. On the base there is a little bit of text, which is a section of the ‘GR from De’Graw. Perhaps a reception area with branding?

Hasslefree Miniatures

Some more Hasslefree Miniatures make their way into my collection. I now own a metal and resin version of the Evil Dead Ash model. The metal one is on a mini diorama piece. Both of these models also break my No Red rule, due to them being direct references. Ash’s famous Chainsaw hand has a red body and Jason Voorhees has red marks on his mask. Red Raine is the name of the woman, a Final Girl style character with an axe and machete. She has an alternate face with a hockey mask, which I didn’t want to use on her. I did however file out the back of it, so it would fit on her leg, like it’s attached to her belt as a prize from defeating the killer. She would make a great addition to a Trilogy set game, where she is a prior survivor, back to finish the story.

Darkhearts

Darkhearts is a Character expansion which introduces magic to the arsenal of the player, and new ways to take on the killer. Featuring Dante Darkheart who I picture as a My Chemical Romance style Black Parade warlock. Stella Bell, a Hoodoo priestess, The Twins who are your cliché creepy twins, who I have dubbed Little Lord and Lady Fauntleroy, then The Cultist, again in Dagonite Turquoise. These all use Psychic Abilities in different ways to combat the dangers in the game.

Perpetually Absent Teen

Pat appears in different scenarios as the MacGuffin you’re searching for. Black Site Studios ended up making them their own character! Pretty androgynous so you can call them he or she, Pat is essentially a Supporting Character you can play as, as the Killer tends to target them over the others.

The Characters + Prom Night

The Core Characters were expanded in the current version of the Don’t Look Back, and the original characters all got new sculpts! Returning are Holden, Max, Seth, Ranger Sandy, Denise and Alice. New to the game are Mia and Keen. Keen Hauser is in a wheelchair, but his backstory involves his connection to the well in the woods, where he wakes up in the middle of the night there, but without his wheelchair. There was also the Prom Night set which was released and features all of the Core Characters in their finest clothes, and Ranger Sandy there as a Chaperone. I tried to change how I painted these sculpts from how I painted the original ones, but in the case of Alice, I couldn’t, as I was maintaining the school’s colours that I based on the Vault-Tec University colours we see in Fallout 76, whereas with Max, I gave him jeans instead of brown slacks.

Loot Tokens

The loot tokens contain a variety of different items to depict stashes. Snacks, items, weapons and bags make up their designs, and they look great instead of using card tokens, which I like to try and replace where I can.

This month I painted exactly 70 models - the most I’ve painted in any month, which was massively helped along with my week off work I had. I even managed to fit watching some horror films in for good measure, which includes all 4 of the Fear Street films on Netflix currently, and Stranger In The Woods, which is available for free on YouTube right now. All films I would highly recommend.

SO! What’s the goal for this month? Well, as work will begin ramping up for Christmas, remember, I am a butcher, so it’s a very busy time for us, I’m going for a lower model count, and to get into the festive mood, I’m calling it Noel-vember! I’ll be painting Christmassy models!