"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear." So opens H.P. Lovecraft's seminal work Supernatural Horror In Literature. He goes on to discuss the panoply of terrors and misgiving with which humanity grapples, and how the best of novelists have learned to harness these emotions in their craft.
But perhaps that is the greatest horror of all. Evolution has imbued us with an astonishing jangle of emotions and impulses, designed to aid our survival as hunters and gatherers on the savanna. But where once they helped us master our environment, now we have become slave to them. And purveys of macabre entertainment know that they can play upon these unconscious fears to make a quick buck. Have your instinctual buttons pushed--all for the low, low price of a movie ticket, a pulp novel, a comic book, a vote.
And so we end on that most primal of fears: the fear of exploitation. Is this what it comes down to? Was it all just a ruse, to goad us into buying prints online, popcorn in the lobby, home security devices to fend of chimeric criminals?
So this final volley would have us believe. Though Brian layers the message on top of what has come before, its really as if he's stripped horror to its core. Not an easy trick, that.
Fade to black, on the clarion call of the cash register. Who came out ahead? Please join us in the forum to lobby for your favorite.
Play by play commentary for this match is provided, as it happens, by Matthew Baldwin.
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Congratulations to Mig Reyes, Layer Tennis Season 3 Champion.
Thanks to all the players, commentators and fans who made Season Three of Layer Tennis a big success. And thanks to the crew at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and all the folks at Adobe Creative Suite for making it possible. Watch this space (or sign up for Season Tickets or follow us on Twitter) for news about some special exhibition matches being planned and about Season 4.
Cast your votes on The Championship Match. Both Finalists will receive invitations to play in the post-season tournament for Season Four.
Here's how the voting works. Decide who you'd like to declare as winner and then simply tweet their first name following a hash mark. Either #mig or #noper and, this is important, also include #lyt in that tweet. We'll leave the voting open all weekend and announce our Season Three Champion on Monday.
Find links to all the matches played previously and check on matches to come here.
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