Weekly Witch Hunt: Darkness in the Valley & The Walking Dead 'New Best Friends'

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

Both of the entries on trial this week have a horror element to them.  While one is an old favourite that is regrettably starting to sour; the other is a recently discovered realm of fantasy that has been giving me much pleasure.  I live in hope that our entrant in the Torture category can be redeemed but I have some reservations.

The Scorcher

I recently included The Uncanny Valley: Tales from a Lost Town in my Scorchers of 2016 as it was one of the books I thoroughly enjoyed last year.  Well I can safely say that the follow up Darkness in the Valley is just as entertaining.  It follows the same format where the story unfolds from the diary entries of different residents of the valley.  Where it does differ is that this covers one event; whereas Uncanny Valley was made up of anecdotes of different goings on in this strange town.
The circumstances all take place over a few months in 1909 as a mining corporation want to take over the town to get to the rich minerals they believe are present in the area.  Dark forces are at work and the residents slowly come to realise they must take action or risk losing everything they care for; including potentially their lives.
Some of the characters return from Uncanny Valley while others are newly introduced.  While there are a lot of people to keep track of as the narration flips from one to another; you still get a decent amount of character development in the majority of cases.  So when things take a turn for the worse for some you still care what is happening to them.
This material and setting would be ripe for a television or film adaptation.  I could see someone like David Lynch taking this to some dark places or alternatively Tim Burton revelling in the fantasy and horror components of it all.
Gregory Miller does an excellent job once again of blending the fantastical element with reality.  Things do get seriously creepy at times and you do get a good sense of dread and suspense as the tale unfolds.  He has set this out as a three part act and while the middle section does feel a little too overlong; the final act pays off handsomely as it rushes to the inevitable conclusion.
I will look forward hopefully to a third visit to this strange and wonderful location.

The Torture

Speaking of entries in my 2016 Scorcher or Torture list; here is one who made it into the latter category.  I have been a big fan of The Walking Dead since the very first season aired but just lately have found my devotion waning greatly.
It isn't because they have deviated so far from the comics that it all feels alien, if anything they do follow the comics rather faithfully in general.  I think part of the problem is the character development as the main cast seem to have stagnated or are just becoming too repetitive by nature.  However those are different issues to why episode 10 of season 7: New Best Friends has been sent to the torture chamber this week.
One thing that TWD has done is try to ground itself in a realistic setting; as much as you can when the world has been overcome by a zombie apocalypse.  By sticking with the same storylines as the comics though this is where the show is starting to fail.  Some of the elements that work well in comic format are not transferring over as well to the television screen.
Don't get me wrong I love Ezekiel in both formats but The Kingdom seems too caught up in the realm of fantasy for the realism they are striving for.  The Saviors likewise also come across as too one note; surely there has to be some members amongst them with a shred of compassion or human decency.  Instead they are all painted as comic book villains so that when we do finally get to see them get their comeuppance we won't feel sorrow for any of them.
Those are just two of my objections.  My main complaint was with the Dumpster Dwellers as I shall nickname them until we get an official moniker.  What the hell is going on with this group?  So let me get this straight; the apocalypse happened a little over two years ago in TWD's timeline.  During those couple of years the speech patterns of the Dwellers has regressed to some form of broken English?  I can understand the group using coded terms and sign language amongst themselves but when Jadis the leader is conversing with Rick she still keeps up the same cadence and patter.  I questioned whether she was completely sane.
Every one of the Dumpster mob must have looted the same group of shops that only cater to Goth's because every single one of them was wearing black or grey or some other sombre tone.  Colour does not appear to be an option if you want to join this gang.  The only place you are allowed some colouring though is in your hair; especially if you are the leader of this motley crew.  Jadis hasn't got time to hunt for supplies; she is too busy getting her ends done at the local salon!
At first I was thinking the Dumpster Dwellers have been based on some Mad Max style apocalyptic band of warriors; they definitely gave off that sort of vibe.  Or my second thought was that maybe they are a type of death cult.  However I re-evaluated that opinion once Jadis threw Rick into the fighting pit against what I can only describe as a Resident Evil style of monster; the comically named Winslow.
Firstly this group do not look like they could be bothered to capture a zombie, let alone then festoon said zombie's body with all manner of spiky implements.  And secondly he doesn't resemble a zombie; he looks more demonic and less like a former human.  Winslow's makeup is good for a horror creature but he fails as a decomposing body that has been abused by his captors.  His ribs don't look like they belonged to a person, he has claws and sharper than normal teeth; overall he appears otherworldly and that is a problem for the universe they have built here.
Resident Evil must have been an inspiration for this whole segment.  Not only would Winslow feel at home in that environment but Jadis herself looks like she could fill in for Milla Jovovich as Alice.
To top off the surreal experience of seeing this Mad Max/Resident Evil hybrid; we then see yet more bizarre attitude from Rosita who has fast moved to the top of my list of characters I would like to get eaten or beaten next.  I want someone to slap some sense into her so badly and scream at her to stop acting like a spoilt teenager.  Barring that then let Negan swing away.
The one saving grace for the episode was Father Gabriel.  I mentioned the characters seem to have come to a standstill in their overall development; well the opposite is true of Gabriel.  He out of everyone has gone on a massive arc of redemption since his introduction.  I only wish that the writers would take as much care with the remainder of the group, then my investment in the show might be restored.