Site 59: No Escape

I have mixed feelings about this game. While I felt that the story idea wasn't entirely original and failed to completely grab my attention, I enjoyed discovering the different endings. I liked how there were different paths that you could take which would either lead to escape or - most often - your death. I especially liked how you could choose to abandon your camping trip plans in the beginning. If someone told me that the place I was headed to was dangerous, I would immediately go somewhere else rather than wave off their warnings and continue on (as most characters in horror movies seem to do). The choices in this game were rather logical, and I'm certain that a lot of work went into tying all the paths together and making sure that they led to the right endings.

The quality of the writing was average, perhaps slightly below. Honestly, I felt that it was stating facts rather than pulling me into the story and the world. For instance, there were one or two scenes where the main character had a chance to experience a tender moment with someone. But during those times, I felt like the writing was rattling off a list of events that occurred, which made me feel nothing at all. I was almost impatient to continue on with the story, but at least the grammar was excellent. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters. I understand that the main focus of this story may be on the horror and attempting to survive, but it would've been nice if their personalities were shown a little more. Then, I'd stop seeing them as random side characters whose lives I have little concern for. Also, I personally thought that the attraction between the character and JR was a bit forced, so I found it hard to feel bad whenever he was killed and the character expressed her grief and dismay.

Overall, this game was a nice way to pass the time, but I struggled to remain interested in it after a while. I experienced no emotions the entire time, not even fear or dread whenever the killer made an appearance. I felt detached from the character's world and the events. However, I don't regret playing this game, as the different endings were fun to discover. I simply wish that it would have sucked me in more. 5/8

The quality of the actual writing is good, if a bit overly dramatic for my taste. But I found the characters and plot rather lacking.

The entire cast are basically cookie cutter, stock, archetype characters, and I never really felt any kind of meaningful connection to them. And the plot just reminded me of "Friday the 13th" with a different villain. I'm a fan of horror fiction, but this combination has been beaten to death.

Why do the campers always have to get axe murdered? Why can't we have a nice peaceful fishing trip and grill some burgers and onions? Perhaps a bear eats JR because he doesn't know the different way to respond to a black bear and a grizzly. (Play dead against a grizzly: fight a black bear. The latter is a scavenger and eats dead things. Never run from either.) Maybe if we pass on the camping trip, the town gets invaded by Cu Sith or the Dullahan... or Men's Rights Activists in an occupy 'Merica movement.

I like how you got creative with the editor and the varied endings, but for me, the plot wasn't quite imaginative enough to really capitalize on what you had going.

Site59 is a terrifying and entertaining romp through a well-constructed scary story. It is full of drama, classic horror tropes, and graphic violence. The story is expansive and unforgiving, and horrific death awaits the reader at every turn.
The story’s strongest feature is its character development. Each and every character in the large cast is unique, interesting, consistent, fully imagined, and relatable. This is the most effective tool in the author’s scary story toolbox because it gives the reader an emotional connection with the characters. This connection adds to the tension when the characters are in danger, and the emotional reaction when things happen to them.
No one would accuse this story of being highly original, but in my opinion that did not diminish its entertainment value. Its weakness, I would say, was from the less-than-colorful descriptions; interludes in the action often felt like reading a grocery-list of things which happened and were of little interest to the reader except as filler. There was also a point in the story where “wtf” was used un-ironically in a description, and that struck me as just lazy writing.
All told, I enjoyed the story a lot. It was entertaining, well-constructed, and exciting. The scenes of violence were troubling, and a lot of effort was clearly put into its presentation. The ending scene was killer as well, and it might be the best bit of writing in the piece.
Sidenote: this story boldly violates the premier rule of horror stories by saying the characters in it have, in fact, watched scary movies, and don’t want to repeat those mistakes. I chuckled.
Cheers

A slasher style horror huh? Haven't seen that one on the site yet.

this was really good, I thought there was sometimes too much between the choices but other then that it was great.

Bad

Better than heading home...

voted it 4/8 as it fails to excite me, but i kept reading anyway just to know what's the ending

I got the best ending on my first try! Its easy to get with a little common sense, and, with knowledge of scary movies, knowing what NOT to do to get you killed. It's a great story. I love the color scheme, it really sets the mood. There were a few typos here and there, but nothing enough to distract you from the awesome story. Definitely going to replay to see what other endings I can get!

Worst story ever