Escapist may refer to:
The Escapist is a metafictional character, a comic book hero in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, written by Michael Chabon, created as an homage to the heroes of the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The character's abilities as an escape artist are inspired by the early illusionist career of comic book artist Jim Steranko.
Introduced in Chabon's novel in 2000, the Escapist is said to be the creation of the book's protagonists Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, a pair of Jewish comic book creators in the 1930s and '40's. The character's modus operandi is part of a recurring theme of escapism in the novel, representing the imaginative escapist nature of superhero comics as well as Kavalier and Clay's attempts to escape from the troubles of their past. Joe Kavalier has fled to America from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in Europe, while Sam Clay wants to escape from himself — both his polio-stricken body and repressed homosexuality.
Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 26 September, 2007 in Finland, 28 September in Europe and 2 October 2007 in the United States. It is the first album without original vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed in 2005, as well as the first album involving future member Troy Donockley on uilleann pipes and tin whistle. It is the first of only two albums with vocalist Anette Olzon, who was eventually dismissed in 2012 after the release of the band's subsequent album, Imaginaerum.Tuomas Holopainen has referred to it as the "album that saved his life".
The first single, "Eva", was leaked on the Internet six days before its official release, prompting the band to release the single earlier to boost downloads. Several other versions of the song were posted on YouTube and torrent sites a month later; the entire album with record label voiceovers had been leaked on the Internet by 2 August. The full album (without voiceovers) was leaked on 21 September 2007, as a result of several stores in Mexico selling the retail album much prior to the worldwide release date.