Welcome back, Loreseekers! Do you like scary movies? Today we're going to be talking about Duskmourn: House of Horrors, a plane with a more modern take on the horror genre than Innistrad. While Duskmourn broadly tackles the 80s in horror, but does pull from a wide range of modern horror. With that out of the way, let's dive in!

Enter the Enigma by Chris Rallis

Media References

While I'm a fan of the horror genre, I certainly haven't seen everything and I'm sure there will be references that I miss, but there's so much stuff here worth talking about.

Stephen King is on display in a big way in Duskmourn. As a horror auteur whose work exploded in the 80s, it's easy to see his influence all over a set based on 80s horror. Orphans of the Wheat is a clear reference to Children of the Corn, while Unsettling Twins and Break Down the Door are references to The Shining. Come Back Wrong is the concept behind Pet Sematary. The Jolly Balloon Man feels a bit like Duskmourn's version of Pennywise from It.

The other big influence here is the Evil Dead franchise, which feeds more into the general trope space of Duskmourn over specific references, although things like Hand That Feeds, Shriekwood Devourer, Drag to the Roots, Chainsaw, or Come Back Wrong all feel like homages to these films. For those of you unaware, the basic premise is a group of teens go to a cabin in the woods and discover the Necronomicon. The main character, Ash, Destined Survivor loses a hand (which itself becomes possessed), fights a possessed tree, and wields a chainsaw against evil.

Meathook Massacre II is of course a sequel to The Meathook Massacre, which is itself a reference to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, another formative slasher film. Get Out is literally a movie title of the film that launched Jordan Peele's directing career.

Killer's Mask is reminiscent of the hockey mask worn by Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise. Jason is the sort-of the progenitor of the supernatural slasher, from whom the razorkin of Duskmourn seem to draw a lot of inspiration.

The Lord of Pain is reference to both the [Saw] franchise and the 'death game' horror subgenre. These are further referenced in Let's Play A Game and Trial of Agony. Cursed Recording is a reference to the Ring, the Japanese horror film that brought Japanese horror to the mainstream in the west.

Omnivorous Flytrap is a reference to Little Shop of Horrors, a musical comedy-horror. The gremlins of the plan, like Irreverent Gremlin and cards like Midnight Mayhem, all reference the PG horror-comedy Gremlins.

Razorkin Needlehead and Disturbing Mirth feel like homages to Hellraiser, a franchise where sadomasochist demons are summoned by solving their puzzle box. Altanak, the Thrice-Called and Say Its Name are references to the "Bloody Mary" urban legend, Candyman, or Bettlejuice, all of which are beings summoned by saying their names three times (or five times in Candyman's case).

Arabelle, Abandoned Doll is a direct reference to Annabelle, a possessed doll from the Conjuring universe. The Conjuring is based on the work of "paranormal investigators" (and frauds), Ed and Lorraine Warren, as is a good number of haunted house media. Note that the 'real' Annabelle was a Raggedy Anne doll, referenced in Ragged Playmate.

Ghost Vacuum is a reference to both Ghostbusters and the Luigi's Mansion franchise (and by extension, the 90s Casper film which features ghosts being trapped in a vacuum). Turn Inside Out is a cosmic horror trope, but it's very reminiscent of a scene from The Thing, where while doing compressions on a man, the chest opens up and consumes some hands.

Phenomenon Investigators are a clear X-Files references, which makes the presence of a fear of aliens like Fear of Abduction and Unidentified Hovership make more sense.

Unidentified Hovership by Calder Moore

Marvin, Murderous Mimic is another haunted doll pastiche, although this one's serial killer personality makes me lean more Child's Play, a story about a serial killer's soul possessing a friendly toy doll. Speaking of toys, let's close this out by mentioning that Giggling Skitterspike seems like one of Sid's toys from Toy Story. The Swarmweaver is our Wickerman from this set, a folk horror staple that the wickerfolk in the set are based on.

Genre Tropes and Flavor Gems

Contrary to what you might have seen people say, tropes aren't a bad thing! They're useful storytelling shorthand. We see things reminiscent of American high school, like Acrobatic Cheerleader, because those elements are core to most horror of the time. Jump Scare is of course the expression for a sudden event in a piece of media meant to startle, using surprise rather than tension.

Living Phone is just a cute possessed toy phone. I love it. Savior of the Small features the set's only kor, and one wonders if she's native to Duskmourn or a Zendikari or Dominarian kor who wound up here by mistake. Split Up is of course the thing you never want to do in a horror film. Sure, you can cover more ground, but it makes it easier to pick you off one by one.

Toby, Beastie Befriender features my favorite thing from Duskmourn, the Beasties. Falling into the helpful monster trope, they're a little bit Monsters Inc., a little bit muppet, a little bit Where the Wild Things Are. Trapped in the Screen is a trope that has existed ever since mankind invented mirrors, and reinvented for each piece of technology since where we capture our own likeness. Unwanted Remake is an unsubtle nod to the remakes of the last couple decades, especially in horror, that nobody asked for.

Stay Hidden, Stay Silent is that moment in a horror story where the main character is in the same room with the killer or the monster, and if they make a sound, they're dead. Unable to Scream is common trope in horror, with people either being paralyzed from screaming, or in the case being transformed into something, playing into our fear of not being able to call for help.

Cynical Loner and Popular Egotist are more 'high school horror movie character' archetypes, while Unstoppable Slasher is born of films like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Grasping Longneck leans into a Slender-man style 'the proportions are wrong' space. Bedhead Beastie plays with the monster under the bed trope.

Clockwork Percussionist is a reference to the cymbal banging wind-up monkey toys that became common in the horror film space. Attack-In-The-Box features a 'pop goes the weasel' joke, referencing the music most Jack-In-The-Boxes play. Grab the Prize is all about that moment where the loss of limbs becomes apparent, but the only way to survive is to risk it.

Baseball Bats, Bear Traps, and Conductive Machetes are all common objects found in horror films. And speaking of finding things, Found Footage references the subgenre of horror films pioneered by the Blair Witch Project, where the movie you're watching is intended to be diegetic to the film universe. It quickly became a popular (and inexpensive) way to film horror.

Mesa Enchantress by Eelis Kyttanen

The last few items here are my flavor gem picks for the set. Haunted Screen is a black and white tv that can become color (complete with red-green-blue) for a price. This is just so much fun, I think it's my favorite flavor card of the set. Mesa Enchantress plays with the card name by putting the character on a table, which in spanish is mesa. A clever way to ground the reprint in the universe.

Finally, Norin, Swift Survivalist. I did not expect him to still be alive, but as I've noted elsewhere, Armored Cancrix told us a decade ago that time rift stuff is still showing up in the future, and while all the other Time Spiral legends went back to their own time, Norin apparently went forward in time.. And ended up on Duskmourn. Talk about unlucky!

That's all for now, until next time Lore Seekers!