CIA brainwashing experiments helped make Outlast an iconic horror series

The Sleep Room in The Outlast Trials is named after a real-life space at McGill University’s Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, where from 1957 to 1964, doctors conducted mind-control experiments on patients as part of the CIA’s MK-Ultra initiative. Led by Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron, these tests included electroshock therapy, sensory deprivation and heavy doses of psychedelic drugs. One patient, Linda MacDonald, went to McGill seeking help for symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth to her fifth child. She was placed in a drug-induced coma for 86 days in the Sleep Room, and records show she was treated with 109 rounds of shock therapy. MacDonald lost her identity, memories and motor skills; she had to be toilet trained all over again. Another patient, Robert Logie, was 18 years old when he went to McGill with leg pain. He ended up in the Sleep Room, where he was injected with LSD every other day for weeks, his syringe sometimes spiked with sodium amytal — “truth serum” — and other drugs. A speaker positioned under his pillow played the phrase, “You killed your mother,” on a constant loop for 23 days. Meanwhile, his mom was alive and well. Logie left McGill with amnesia, insomnia and a painful leg. The old McGill hospital is just two miles away from the Red Barrels offices, where the Outlast games are made. “The name of the Sleep Room in Outlast Trials, we took that from McGill hospital,” Outlast series writer JT Petty said. “In the 1960s, they had the Sleep... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-08-14 19:50:55 UTC ]
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SDCC 2024: Kids’ Comics Make a Comeback

While children colored Bluey pages and adults geeked out over the latest Marvel and DC announcements, there were indications of a growing middle ground of titles for all ages at last month’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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As more seniors head online, efforts are needed to help their digital media literacy skills

Canadian seniors haven't been the focus of many digital media literacy initiatives, but with more everyday tasks requiring digital fluency, misinformation swirling online and given the influence this cohort wields, experts say older adults want and need more education and support. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2024-07-26 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books About Immigrant Experiences

New picture books, graphic novels, and YA fiction grapple with the short- and long-term effects of leaving home. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Presses Make Welcoming Homes for Immigrant Writing

At Restless Books, Black Lawrence Press, and Academic Studies Press, first-generation American editors want to hear from writers with cross-cultural stories to tell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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6 New Works of Fiction and Nonfiction About Immigrant Experiences

Authors from across the globe document the joys and travails of diaspora communities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A new generation of authors is finally making book merch interesting

Sable Yong’s debut book comes with some unusual marketing merchandise—a perfume to match. Sable Yong always wanted to make a perfume. She calls herself a “frag-head,” having previously written about fragrances for Allure and hosting the podcast Smell Ya Later with Tynan Sinks. Still, producing... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-07-22 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Orbit Launches Horror Imprint, Run for It

The fourth imprint launched by Orbit, Hachette Book Group's SFF division, Run for It joins the flagship Orbit imprint, Redhook, and Orbit Works. Orbit executive editor Bradley Englert will serve as the imprint's principal acquiring editor. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Morning After: US officials help take down AI-powered Russian bot farm with nearly 1,000 fake X accounts

US officials and their allies have identified and taken down an artificial intelligence-powered Russian bot farm comprising almost 1,000 accounts. These accounts were able to spread disinformation and pro-Russian sentiments across X, formerly Twitter. The Justice Department has revealed the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-07-10 11:16:59 UTC ]
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Check It Out: How ThriftBooks Helps Libraries Turn Excess Books Into Revenue

As the world’s largest independent seller of new and used books, ThriftBooks is known to customers as the place to purchase affordable books and locate hard-to-find titles. But the online retailer also plays another important role: helping libraries raise significant funds from unneeded books.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Our 21 Most-Anticipated Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books for the Rest of 2024

It might be a bad year in the world, generally speaking, but it has been a great year for books—especially genre books! I love some good literary fiction as much as anybody but I’m a sucker for a good book of magic, dragons, spaceships, monsters, slashers, ghosts, etc… and so I’ve been combing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-03 08:56:04 UTC ]
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2 Books to Make You Love Karaoke, or at Least Respect It

In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-06-29 11:50:03 UTC ]
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Engadget Podcast: Motorola's 2024 Razrs make a compelling case for foldables

Motorola is still trying to reclaim the glory of its original Razr phone with its latest foldables. The new Razr and Razr+ are more stylish than the previous models, and at $700 and $1,000 respectively, they're surprisingly affordable for devices with massive folding OLED screens. In other news,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-06-28 11:30:27 UTC ]
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Toys 'R' Us uses OpenAI's Sora to make a brand film about its origin story and it’s horrifying

The rise of artificial intelligence in our media and entertainment industries has raised a lot of concerns about programs like Open Al’s text-to-video maker Sora replacing the artistic endeavors and aspirations of humans. If those AI made movies are anything like a new brand film about the Toys... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-06-25 21:47:30 UTC ]
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Most freelance book critics are making less than minimum wage.

Since September 2023, the book criticism working group of the Freelance Solidarity Project (a union of digital media workers, organizing to raise labor standards across the industry) has been collecting data on freelance rates. Its findings, published earlier this month, are pretty damn bleak.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-20 20:53:12 UTC ]
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Fall 2024 Adult Preview: SF, Fantasy & Horror

Fall brings a fresh crop of suitably autumnal cozy fantasies and gothic horror alongside some hotly anticipated sequels from TJ Klune, Chloe Gong, and others. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Would you name your baby after a sexy fairy? It's happening thanks to a popular book series

Some of the characters from Sarah J. Maas' internationally best-selling series A Court of Thorns and Roses are starting to pop up on baby names lists in the U.S. and Canada. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2024-06-13 08:00:01 UTC ]
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Here are the guest editors (and new covers!) for the Best American Series 2024.

The Best American Series is a literary institution. But just in case you’re stumbling upon it for the first time: Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, science and nature writing, to food writing. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-11 14:00:24 UTC ]
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Modder gets Android on the Rabbit R1 AI gadget, makes it actually useful

For all the hullabaloo around AI this year, the consumer products that feature AI seem a bit lackluster. They’re either augmenting existing designs (like “AI PCs”) or they’ve flopped hard. Take the Rabbit R1, which was such an instant failure that it made its way into mainstream news.... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2024-06-10 15:16:41 UTC ]
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This NYC vet makes house calls. In 'Pets and the City,' she's penned a memoir full of tails

As a city kid, veterinarian Amy Attas had big dreams of roaming the countryside healing animals a la the classic “All Creatures Great and Small.” Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-06-10 13:18:31 UTC ]
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Authors drive boom in US marketing demand as they seek help to plug books

Writers say investments in book promotion to augment publishers’ in-house staff are key to successKatherine Reay has written a dozen novels. When The Berlin Letters, her most recent, hit the shelves earlier this year, she embarked upon a 30-stop promotional book tour.“I love the personal... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-06-07 11:30:48 UTC ]
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