Alexander Had

Alexander Had

@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

I wrote From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror - out now @bitmapbooks.com 🐜 🧟‍♂️. Bylines at The AV Club, PC Gamer, Edge, RPS, The Verge, The Washington Post, Slant Magazine, Wireframe, others.

504 followers97 following338 posts

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

One of the unexpected side effects of taking up early-morning coffee drinking for the first time is I've started reading literature on a daily basis again. Not a bad habit to fall back into

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

What's crawling through the air ducts? From Ants to Zombies lets you explore the evolution of space-themed horror with an entire chapter devoted to derelict stations, infested vessels & voracious behemoths prowling the cosmic void, from the Apple II to the PS5. @bitmapbooks.com

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Games aimed to unsettle and terrify players long before Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil. Featuring more than 40 titles from the 1980s, From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror guides you through these haunted corners of gaming history. @bitmapbooks.com

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Hugely underrated game & one of the most unique offerings in the woefully underrepresented subgenre of folk horror.

Santa Ragione@santaragione.com

Saturnalia is 90% off for the first time on Steam. If you were ever curious about this multi-character non-linear narrative horror game, or if you think your friends should check it out, now is the time. store.steampowered.com/app/916350/S...

Alexander Had reposted

Baxter
@cosmicspooks.bsky.social

little psa: if you're ever looking for someone who knows how to write about Japanese media in particular (games, movies, anime, manga, books, you name it) I'm here and almost definitely interested! I'm also down for NOT Japanese stuff, but hey that's my calling card

tsundokudiving.comElsewhereHere you can find a nice archive of all my non-Tsundoku Diving posts – be it in major publications or guesting on my friend's amazing blogs and podcasts. If you're someone interested in collabing or ...
Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

...which does remind me that I should be definitely resuming this thread (which is meant to provide a quick glimpse at every main entry in the book), as soon as I find a spare moment...

Alexander Had@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Since the list is already available online (www.bitmapbooks.com/products/fro...), I'll be making a daily(-ish) thread covering every main entry in From Ants to Zombies with some of my unused screencaps. 1) The Wreck of the BSM Pandora: a 1981 Apple II boardgame adaptation inspired by you-know-what

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Sold-out for nearly a year, From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror is back in stock on June 17, along with several other excellent titles, including The Games that Weren't, I'm Too Young To Die & 50 Indie Games that Changed the World.

Bitmap Books@bitmapbooks.com

bitmapbooks.com @gamesthatwerent.com @alexanderhad1.bsky.social @aaronpotter.bsky.social @stuartmaine.bsky.social

bitmapbooks.comHigh-quality retro video game books and collections | Bitmap BooksAt Bitmap Books we work with experienced writers, designers and gaming experts to create visually ambitious books that bring your classic gaming memories to life.
Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Fantastic deck-builder that's (Shock! Horror!), not a roguelite. Oozing atmosphere, a touching story, and a finely tuned combat system based on deliberate card-crafting (rather than random rewards) and tactical positioning, not unlike Into the Breach. Arriving late but probably my GOTY for 2025.

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

I mean, I can see the argument in burying a game because of its AI use but let's just say I'll be really, really curious to see how you handle your next review of something published by rabid union busters or unrepentant genocide enablers...

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Always an honour to get praise from colleagues, but especially so from someone like Mike - can't wait for the Aliens book!

Mike Diver@mikediver.bsky.social

This C64 beauty gets a mention in my book of next year, too (cos it sure wears that Alien influence), albeit not to the detail of Alexander's excellent coverage in this terrific book.

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Essential thread to understanding what's happening in the US (and, surely, a blueprint for the rest of the West to follow) as not simply the machinations of an unhinged would-be dictator but as the culmination of decades of across-the-spectrum systemic manouevring to bring us exactly to this point.

alec karakatsanis@equalityalec.bsky.social

THREAD. In Trump's speech to an unprecedented gathering of generals, he announced that he was preparing to order them to use American "cities as training grounds for our military." I want to highlight a few other statements that are bone chilling and put them into context that U.S media obscures.

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

not sure what the odds are of me playing this scene from Soul Blazer for the 1st time & watching that Jon Stewart bit in the same day, but there certainly seems to be a theme emerging from my Saturday entertainment picks

Alexander Had
@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

Watched the 1985 NZ sci-fi The Quiet Earth for the 1st time yesterday for some light research on post-apocalyptic worlds. Moving & uncomfortable, it paints a more convincing picture of life in an empty world than most examples of the genre & deserves a place alongside classics like Miracle Mile.