Unwinnable Weekly Issue 21

Since 2010, Unwinnable has been a showcase for weird, experimental, poignant, funny and iconoclastic stories. We're devoted to examining the intersection of the culture we love and the lives we lead. Unwinnable wants to bring you the best in pop-culture criticism, creative non-fiction, and the occasional serialized fiction once a week in a beautiful digital magazine. Unwinnable is life with culture. Ethan Sacks laments the state of the modern big budget horror film (spoiler alert: director Guillermo Del Toro appears in a cameo). Jill Scharr brings her parents to a haunted house...based on 1980s-era New York City. Ed Coleman doesn’t like horror movies and reveals the 1988’s The Lady in White is the reason why. Stu Horvath does some revealing, too, namely why he dislikes Halloween costumes. Finally, Gus Mastrapa talks to Nate Hayden, designer of the awesomely gruesome board game Psycho Raiders. Nate’s collaborator, artist Mat Brinkman is responsible for our grisly cover art. A special thanks to the both of them for letting us reprint it! And speaking of art, I’ve thrown in a monstrous photograph and Chris Martinez and Amber Harris collaborated on a cheeky bit of Halloween art. No matter what your taste, Unwinnable Weekly has you covered, so make sure to check out our selection of back issues today!

Since 2010, Unwinnable has been a showcase for offbeat, experimental, poignant and funny stories about games, books, movies and even weird stuff, like an advice column from a space marine 38,000 years in the future. We're devoted to examining the intersection of the culture we love and the lives we lead, bringing you the best in pop-cultural criticism, creative non-fiction and the occasional serialized short once a week in a beautiful digital magazine. Unwinnable is life with culture. In this issue, Matt Marrone reports from the 2014 Newport Folk Festival and Gus Mastrapa delivers the latest installment of Dungeon Crawler. Meanwhile, Owen R. Smith gets angry at the unjust world we live in and Stu Horvath muses on his life of gaming. No matter what your taste, Unwinnable Weekly has you covered, so make sure to check out our selection of back issues today!

Hellboy revisits an old vampire acquaintance in the bowels of Hell. Mike Mignola has once again proven that he is a master of his genre.�Comics Bulletin No amount of hyperbole can do the book justice. Mike Mignola is back, and better than ever.�Newsarama

Afghanistan was an unwinnable war. As British and American troops withdraw, discover this definitive account that explains why. It could have been a very different story. British forces could have successfully withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2002, having done the job they set out to do: to defeat al-Qaeda. Instead, in the years that followed, Britain paid a devastating price for their presence in Helmand province. So why did Britain enter, and remain, in an ill-fated war? Why did it fail so dramatically, and was this expedition doomed from the beginning? Drawing on unprecedented access to military reports, government documents and senior individuals, Professor Theo Farrell provides an extraordinary work of scholarship. He explains the origins of the war, details the campaigns over the subsequent years, and examines the West's failure to understand the dynamics of local conflict and learn the lessons of history that ultimately led to devastating costs and repercussions still relevant today. 'The best book so far on Britain's...war in Afghanistan' International Affairs 'Masterful, irrefutable... Farrell records all these military encounters with the irresistible pace of a novelist' Sunday Times

Aang and friends must join together once again as the four nations' tenuous peace is threatened by an impasse between Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei! As the world heads toward another devastating war, Aang's friendship with Zuko throws him into the middle of the conflict! Available for the first time in omnibus format, this volume collects parts 1-3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise. This is the official continuation of the hit Nickelodeon(TM) series!

After twenty years, three Eisner Awards, and a smattering of hate mail, the Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club is finally breaking up. When Bill's dream job in a comic shop turns into a nightmare for the club, more than bridges and membership cards are burned in a fiery, fan-tastic finale! * From the creator of _Beasts of Burden_ and _Milk & Cheese_.