Gore Screaming Show
JAST USA
Black Cyc / JAST USA
2006 2022
Gore Screaming Show is a horror visual novel -- I'd call it a horrifying visual novel -- released by developer Black Cyc in 2006. The official localization arrived much later, in 2022. There's a compelling tale here, buried under mountains of viscera, though the game falters for two primary reasons: 1) a repetitive and tedious route structure and 2) a glut of absurd painstakingly detailed sex-gore scenes that last forfuckingever.
Interested now? Okay. The protagonist is a guy named Kyouji. He, like the typical VN man, is apparently a high school senior. He returns to his hometown after an absence of several years and is shacking up with an older, female relative (you can guess what happens between the two of them). I like this guy. He's hotheaded and takes no shit. He meets a bully on the first day of school and just decides to strengthmog him and then he beats him up. Also, upon entering said school, Kyouji reunites with three female friends. They comprise the three romance options, at least for the front half of the story. Each girl is dealing with some past private trauma. A pain that could be soothed via a blossoming relationship with Kyouji. But then...
Kyouji encounters a conniving, vicious young woman named Yuka and her perpetual sidekick, a maniacal hulking man-beast called Gore Screaming Show. That's right, "Gore Screaming Show" is a character in the game. Their mission, at least initially, is to destroy (to put it lightly) whoever happens to be getting close to the protagonist. The villains really carry this one. Yuka is childlike and chiding, but will then launch into profane rants and deeds, her origins unknown until many hours in. Gore is an attempt at comic relief; he's incredibly violent but also goofy and speaks backwards like Yoda. They show up together, unexpectedly, first in deep dark recesses and inhabiting a decrepit mansion, but then at school and on the streets and everywhere at once, providing no escape for Kyouji and company.
Based on decisions made by the player, Kyouji can reach a "good ending" where he ends up in a successful relationship with one of the three ladies (Akane, Aio, and Kiika). Failing this, each one becomes tortured and mutilated to death by Yuka and Gore, in an increasingly bizarre and sexual fashion. As noted in the opening paragraph, these scenes are both far too long and gory (ha). I get that this is "the point" of these moments but they're so gratuitous and gross that their impact becomes dulled and I found myself simply clicking rapidly to get through things as quickly as possible. Actually, the game kind of cucks out, regarding the violence. It's explained that much of what's shown could actually be a "delusion" -- all planted in the heads of Yuka's hapless victims. There's also "normal" sex here and there, too, but it's doubly weird as Gore Screaming Show pulls out both the "1000 year old witch" card (in regards to Yuka) and implies that middle schoolers are also, somehow, eighteen years old. Yeah.
But the main issue with those initial character routes is that they're just too similar. Yes, the particulars change but the settings, main events, and so on remain interchangeable, so there's a lot of fast-forwarding. Plus events that end up "close enough but different" and thus can't be fast-forwarded -- oof. Thankfully, the writing picks WAY up in the back half, as events click by faster and the mysteries begin to be revealed. The route for Yamiko, Kyouji's relative, remains my favorite stretch of the game. She's fun and spunky and engages in some gumshoeing and occult research that calls back to the detective visual novels of old. She's also got a male friend who is determined to slay Yuka and Gore (insofar as such a thing is possible); he's the tragic character with dubious revenge motives and Kyouji's relationship with him becomes complicated. Following this is a villain redemption arc, which has some fulfilling scenes, but Yuka's motives ultimately turn out to threadbare if not outright incoherent. The violence just gets sillier and sillier. I guess Gore got sick of dismembering people because at one point he decides to simply run over someone with a truck?! Finally, there's a really well-hidden bonus route that I think opens up if you treat Kyouji like a total ladies man and (successfully) try to romance multiple women at once. Those who are looking for some ultimate closure won't get it. The game ends with many questions unanswered (I'm betting the upcoming remake will flesh things out some).
The visuals (outside of CGs I mean) are alright. I do find the school uniforms dull and many characters look pretty simple. Backgrounds can be sterile but the "spooky" ones (the well, mansions, woods, etc.) are well done. The OST is excellent. It's probably the most unnerving VN soundtrack around, even managing to outdo Saya no Uta. Certain tracks even become triggering, as they foreshadow impending terrors. Voice acting is pretty standard (and Kyouji is unvoiced). The big exception being Gore, whose voice is granted this subtle echo effect and an actor who really hammed things up.
Curiously enough, I think the best scenes in the game completely lack onscreen (small-g) gore and flashy visuals altogether. The opening is surreal and completely unsettling. It's a bit like the uncanny "storybook" that introduces Kara no Shoujo -- Gore Screaming Show begins with something that resembles VHS "found footage" complete with garbled audio and ambiguous contradictory narration by one of the minor side characters. Some time later comes the death of a "random" victim of the Y/G killing spree. This is described solely via text + audio and it's genuinely a hundred times more frightening than any of the gratuitous content.
Not exactly great holistically, Gore Screaming Show still remains an essential part of the "weird VN" pantheon. Never read anything quite like it.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed: 04/08/26