Monster victims: dead to us now, literally.Courtesy of Paramount

With Cloverfield finally in theaters today, your excitement for J.J. Abrams's monster-based actioner is probably right now approaching its zenith. But for the nerdy members of the Unfiction Forums (and the nerdy editors of Vulture), who've been obsessing over every nebulous bit of viral marketing for the past six months, piecing together clues to the film's knotty, endlessly negligible alternate-reality game, today marks the end of an era. Now that the movie's out, what are geeks, like us, supposed to do with ourselves? Shower? Go outside for the first time since July? The horror!

"[I]t will be strange to get my old life back," says message-board user Headman. "My wife will be happy!" Another, dairyking08, has already seen the movie and says the experience was bittersweet: "It was very overwhelming. Seeing the characters we've gotten to know over the last few months go through all of that was very sad and scary. I know it is only a movie, but still." Member dontlookmyage agrees. "I know," he says. "Just as you're getting to know them better — gone." Still, hope springs eternal for Nighthawk, who thinks Cloverfield's marketing team may yet have some tricks up its sleeve: "I'm fairly sure we'll keep getting updates, albeit possibly sporadic, all the way up to DVD release." Oh, if only it were true!

Unfiction Forums [Unfiction]