Nightmarish

Nightmarish is the sixth episode of Chapters.' second season, Atrocity Exhibitions. Written and Directed by Mike Barkhoff, the episode stars himself as well, and sees a fictional version of himself trying to battle nightmares after a night of drinking. The episode received acclaim, primarily for it's camerawork and disillusion in it's scenery tricks. It has been coined as Barkhoff's best short film work by many, with others declaring it is his second greatest since Candlelight.

Opening Poetry
",what seems unreal is never fully invalid,"

Plot
Mike Barkhoff drinks before going to sleep. He awakens and hears noises. Going to investigate, he stumbles through a wall. He sees a shadow figure and tries to fight it but goes limp. He continues trying to fight the presence but has no avail of winning. He then gets lead to the staircase, where he finds a cigarette and a lighter. He lights the cigarette as he sits down.

Themes
The addictions of the episode are nicotine and alcohol.

Barkhoff described the film as "an alcoholic being faced to confront what he doesn't want to admit". Several scenes in the film make his character look small, whether in comparison to an object or in general.

Trivia
- Barkhoff filmed this prior to "Entry" but felt that it should be Episode 6 because "Episode 6 being my favorite sounded more cool than Episode 5 being it."

- Barkhoff was drinking and smoking excessively during the inception of this episode. Similar to what he tried to do with Doppelgang, he partially wrote this intending it'd scare him into quitting. Also similar to Doppelgang, it didn't work.

Continuity
- The episode's nightmare sequence is a homage to an episode of The Sopranos. Barkhoff also used this technique in INFINITE.

Reception
Nightmarish received rave reviews and holds a perfect rating on IMDb as of May 21st, 2021. It is considered by many to be one of, if not, the best short films done by Barkhoff.

The camerawork has been met with laud, as well as his acting and the subliminal hints of what the story is about fitted within, with many complimenting it in favor to Barkhoff's "outlandish thought provocative pieces" that lead them to nowhere but confusion.