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10 PRINT Perched nimbly before my old BASIC interpreter, home to so many spaghetti codes circular, I found myself entering into my keyboard some old type-in listings unknown and unexplored. What wisdom of gurus and hackers was hidden within? As I typed, I stirred up thoughts unbidden of power untold earned through mass calculations, of sinister schemings and foul machinations, of wheels within wheels in a dark subroutine... I was finding myself being drawn through the screen! I swam through the data, surfed code like a master, then found I was bound by the lines of the raster imprisoning me like the bars of a cage! I tore through the listings exploding with rage. But what had I done? This was not what I wanted: the comments suggested this program was haunted! Escape from this Hell without END I attempted but every egress was a GOSUB demented diverting the users aborting the program. Im needing your help to emerge from this logjam. Please free me from my IF-THEN-ELSE-ing tormentor I urge you, the user, to mistype and enter an invalid input - only SYNTAX ERROR can spare me this limbo of torment and terror... and never again will I henpeck in listings - free software provided by accursd Mistigris. 20 GOTO 10 Zombie-like, it arose from its grave after crumbling away in the dank darkness for some sixteen years. After giving you an unimaginable shock of recognition across the long and distant ages, it shambled away again, seemingly forever, only to trouble you again a year later. That was manageable you had time to board up the windows, call a priest and prepare yourself. But last year was different: arriving where you live, it refused to go away. Seating itself at your table, the uninvited houseguest demanded to sup on a regular basis until you ran out of ways to cook brains. Month in and month out, Mistigris was a constant companion, not entirely dissimilarly to the parasitic twin celebrated in a certain 90s episode of the locally-filmed X-Files television program. But I digress. This artists calendar pretty much revolves around the core holidays of Halloween and, of course, April Fools. Its not about the scares, but rather the palimpsest practice of the masquerade that appeals. It was not due to proximity to this holiday that we chose October for our first release -- that was just how long it took us to get it together after hitting the ground running in August 1994 after iMPERiAL folded. For our first couple of years the seasonal occasion was barely reflected in our October artpacks, but by the time we got to 1997, thrills and chills were clearly constituting most of the items on the menu. Fast forward past our long living death and when we returned in 2014, it only made sense to celebrate the anniversary of our establishment in the month of our first artpack release. In 2015 it was apparent that our anniversary artpack contained a smaller Halloween artpack inside of it trying to break free I looked it up, the episodes name was Humbug, S02E20, and in 2016 we made it official: reserve October for the scary stuff, and celebrate the anniversary in November. So what does a Halloween-themed artpack after a year of monthly artpack releases mean on the ground? It means weve been skimming scary cream off the top for a whole year, and dang but that amounts to a veritable monument of grand guignol. As weve completed an entire year of monthly artpack releases Ive crunched some numbers into spreadsheets and uncovered some curious trends, but probably I should save them for next months infofile: nothing is scarier than the taxman, but he invokes a kind of creeping dread rather than evoking terror. But heres a cool number: 256. Its of significance to mathematicians and computer scientists. If you dont know why, look up the numbers delightful entry on Wikipedia or check out 256stuff.com/256.html ... this heaping collection contains 256 files of computer art for your enjoyment and edification! Truly no one can say that were not coming by our 8-bit credentials honestly. So what would be lively news to mention here? Artists making their artpack debuts here this month include FANSI artist Clear from the 8bitMUSH, pixel artists Gleeborp and Picture.Elements, Mr. Halloween Toren Macbin Atkinson and an improbable photograph from Maylee Helene. Noteworthy or otherwise extraordinary creations in this artpack include: Awesome Angelas foray into glow-in-the-dark fusion beads inktober offerings from various artists, most notably Bonemouse two computer music versions of the same song the first CD I ever owned, Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells, arranged by the same musician 25 years apart the ProTracker .MOD of Dorian Grey? more old ANSI art by Spitoufs on horrific themes, including a comprehensive ANSI-illustrated collection of the works of Edgar Allan Poe from which I poached this infofiles framing elements -- though the header logo is by Nail, much obliged! the return of Jnos Hork with a hilarious pixelart panoramic summoning Theresa Oborn back in her native spoopy element and of course a tireless onslaught of terrifying teletext by Horsenburger. And I dont know if you caught this artpacks highlights reel -- I shopped out the standard promotional trailer to Wasabim, who has demonstrated tremendous virtuosity in VFX in his chosen niche of the Atari ST, and he turned our standard pedestrian preview slideshow into a nightmarish gauntlet of blood-curdling sights and sounds. If you havent yet seen it, I highly recommend you find it on our YouTube channel -- its an incredible enhancement on the artpacks embarrassment of riches. Anything else you need to know about? Lord Nikons exhibit of typewriter art has just wrapped up, but Nick Lakowski has just completed a suite of paintings which you can view here in this artpack! for a local exhibition of works inspired by the ancient practice of divination through the examination of entrails -- a neat dovetailing for a painter whose day job is working as an MRI technician! I know, you may not think it sounds like the Halloween-iest theme, but when is more appropriate to unleash a torrent of blood and guts? For the time being, you can catch the paintings hanging at the AHVA Gallery in room 1001 at the Audain Art Centre in Vancouvers University of British Columbia until November 4th. And while were at it, though he might prefer I dont talk about it publicly dont worry, Ill hide it away at the end of an infofile where we can be well assured that no one will ever see it, Id like to utter an unholy Samhain prayer for the full recovery of teletext revival vanguard Illarterate, who is presently laid low with horrific health concerns. That said -- lets try to not get our fantasy fright buzz bogged down in the horror of existence. Come get your creep on! Well catch you again in a month for our fabulous 23rd anniversary extravaganza! Mistigris 2017: Coming by our 8-bit credentials honestly.
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