I thought I knew body horror. I've seen The Thing, Eraserhead, Videodrome, and my torso. I also thought I knew body horror in Red Dead Redemption 2. After tinkering around with some modding tools to play as a caveman, I accidentally broke Arthur. I made him into a Ken doll with impossible arms.
But Reddit user CountCosmology did much, much worse. Their Arthur is an abomination.
CountCosmology is a dedicated Red Dead Redemption 2 photographer, with a massive library of lovely images growing every day. And as any professional game photographer would in a hunt for the perfect shot, CountCosmology has turned to mods, referencing quite a few beneath their posts.
I'm a big fan of the Red Dead Redemption 2 mods on tap already. I can swap outfits, become an eagle, skip time for the perfect light, or become a skeleton with a few key presses. Mods just aren't officially supported and have a tendency to break things. Slendarthur is the product of things gone truly awry.
I admit, I'm in love with the confident walk depicted up top. Arthur looks more like a cartoon, a goofy exaggeration of a confident person, like he just left the gym or got a new gun belt. He's feeling himself. I'm feeling it too.
It doesn't last.
Arthur catches the scent of human flesh. His neck extends and distorts in search of further quarry. His thirst becomes insatiable, and in something right out of a horror movie, he bashes open a window to satisfy his bloodlust.
Look at the faces on those men. Baffled. Uncomprehending.
After consuming the souls of a few of Valentine's unsuspecting residents, Arthur evolves.
A damn knife sprouts from his neck. It's the worst. You can see it in his spine as he beats down that first guy. And when he crouches, splooch. There it is.
What's the next stage of Arthur's evolution? Will he ever stop growing? I'd rather not find out.
Let's soften the visual trauma with a bit of fun. One of the top comments in CountCosmology's post references The Bee Gees' hit song Stayin' Alive as the perfect accompaniment to Monster Arthur's confident walk. I've embedded it below. Hit play, scroll back up, and wash away the terrible images from the back of your skull. It'll be OK. Arthur can't hurt us. Probably.
