Shadow Bound is the extraordinary web series that pays brilliant homage to the halcyon Hollywood era of silent movies and film noir - while also being heavily influenced by the delirious horror of Lovecraft.

Set in the fictional city of Veritas in 1931, the series tells the story of Jack Pickman, a famous pulp magazine writer of horror and suspense tales.

Having left town as a young man, Jack returns to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding the death of his father, a veteran police detective, and the subsequent mental breakdown of his younger brother.

As he digs deeper into the horrific last case his father was working on, he stumbles into a nightmare involving ritualistic murders and the occult.

Something very dark and dangerous is happening in Veritas. An unspeakable evil bound to the shadows long ago is breaking free ...

Shadow Bound is a sensational combination of style and substance.

True to classic noir, the series is filmed entirely in gorgeous black and white. The adroit cinematography helps give the project an authentic retro look.

The interplay of light and shadow creates an eerie, slightly ethereal atmosphere, effectively giving rise to a palpable sense of dread necessary for this kind of horror.

Another series standout is the production design.

Like The True Heroines, another exceptional period web series, it's obvious tremendous effort was made to reproduce everything from hairstyles, to props, to costumes as period accurate as possible.

However, the project's main hallmark is its narrative structure.

Outside of the elegant musical score, there are no other sound effects, and not a word of dialogue is spoken.

Authentic to silent films of yesteryear, dialogue is presented using title cards. While this may sound distracting to our modern sensibilities, it's not, and it works perfectly to complement the project's aesthetic.

Of course, this device would fail miserably if the actors' performances were not up to par.

No worries there.

The entire cast, led by series creator and writer Nathan Shelton, turn in magnificent performances.

With just their facial expressions and body language, the actors impressively convey a full range of emotions necessary to communicate the terror of Mr. Shelton's chilling script.

With its visual flair and panache, Shadow Bound is a genre standout.

Here is the intriguing series trailer ...

Frankly, I was blown away by Shadow Bound's lush production design, sensational performances, and sharp script.

The entire series is available for viewing on YouTube.

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