Analog Horror

Analog Horror: The Past as Nightmare, Not Nostalgia

In recent years, a fascinating trend has emerged within the horror genre that has captivated the imaginations of Generation Z: analog horror. Cribbing the aesthetics of VHS tapes, public access television, and other analog media, this subgenre is the opposite of retrowave. Becauuse instead of eliciting nostalgia for simpler times,…
August 13, 20249 Comments
Online Nostalgia

Millennial Online Nostalgia

Around here we've spent a great deal of time detailing generational tendencies. When it comes to nostalgia for their long-gone childhood years, Gen Y is notorious for living in the past, while Millennials are notorious for consigning anything from the before time to the memory hole. But recently, a new…
August 7, 202415 Comments

Generational Stereotypes Work

Stereotypes catch a bad rap. But when you get to the heart of the matter, all they are is hyper-efficient ways of transmitting common understandings. For example, we all know the trope of the clueless Boomer clicking his tongue at younger generations who haven't made out as well as he…
August 6, 202413 Comments
abused generation

Failed Generations Are Abused Generations

Adjacent to discussions of Cultural Ground Zero theory is speculation as to what went wrong. Generation X was passed over for any position of authority. Gen Y creatives can only churn out shallow pastiches of superior 80s and 90s entertainment. It's an open secret in the video game industry that…
July 31, 202417 Comments

Zoomer Uses 1980s Technology for a Week

Stop the press. The haywire internet algorithms' varioius malfuncitons aligned in such a way as to make a useful suggestion. This digital miracle occurred over the weekend, when YouTube recommended a video wherein a Zoomer uses 1980s technology for a week. For over fifteen minutes, I watched enrapt as YouTuber…
July 29, 202416 Comments
Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet 2

In Surprise Move, Pizza Hut Brings Back Buffet

The phenomeonon of most Pizza Hut locations switching from dine-in to carryout only was viewed by many as a sign of terminal societal decline. But now, in a surprise move all the more unforeseen in the wake of Corona-chan, Gen Y's favorite pizza chain is bringing its legendary lunch buffet…
July 16, 20248 Comments
Akira Ground Zero Rubble

Diggers in the Rubble of Cultural Ground Zero

During my recent sojorun into small town America, a family member guided me on a whirlwind tour of the local game stores and arcades. Yes, they still have arcades, plural. As it turns out, small towns are not immune to Generation Y's nigh-religious attachment to pop culture relics of the …
July 11, 20244 Comments
Clock - Safety Last

The Clock Is Ticking for Boomers

A series of comments on yesterday's post by neopatron Bayou Bomber struck a chord with multiple readers. In the interest of giving the people what they want, here are his insights on the successive deaths of hipsterism and nerdery, slightly rearranged for ease of reading. A couple of thoughts: 1)…
June 25, 202431 Comments
Time Machine

We All Have Our Time Machines

Getting my new dark fantasy novel The Burned Book ready for launch is demanding more of my time of late. So here's a blast from the past that didn't get enough love the first time around. Did you know that you own a time machine? As a matter of fact,…
June 19, 20248 Comments
Traitor to Tradition

The Boomers: Traitors to Tradition

Every generation since the dawn of man has passed hard-won knowledge down to their posterity. That may seem like stating the obvious—and in any other age it would be—but something unprecedented happened to the West in the 1960s. Wht happened was the parents of gens X and Y decided not…
June 18, 202412 Comments