I’ve always loved scrapbooks. I collect little bits and pieces, movie tickets and news clippings, photographs I’ve found on the street. I always want to put them together, but by then the moment has passed…
Category Archives: sundry media
The children of the night, what beautiful music they make…
Poenari Castle in Romania, a place which I have long wanted to visit.
…from The Smithsonian article on the real places behind frightening stories.
Things that go bump in the night…
The New Scientist has am article on whether or not odd magnetic fields might be the cause of paranormal experiences. Seems like it’s mostly that people expect to be frightened, but there could be something to it, you never know…
another gem from McSweeney’s
YouTube Comment or e. e. cummings?
BY FRANÇOIS VINCENT
1. loog a his lirow nose
2. there is some shit I will not eat
3. LISN bud LISN
4. this i bad sorry to saY
5. leave her alone
she’s not your gal
6. She is Lucifierian !
7. THuNdeRB
loSSo!M iN
8. aThe):l
9. stunned. i. am. stunned. every question speaks to us
10. What is nothing?
YouTube comment: 1, 4, 6, 9, 10
e. e. cummings: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8
Dr Who The Anime
Mad props to OtaKing.
Haunted Houses!
We went to Shipwreck at the Queen Mary this evening… They make a big deal about how scary it is, but I was disappointed. It’s nothing but cheap plywood, terrible props, and really long lines. Oh, and it’s possible that security outnumbers the patrons. Crummy atmosphere.
Among the locals, it’s a widely held belief that the Queen Mary IS haunted, so it’s freaky enough on its own right, and several of the mazes are on the ship, so it has the potential to be absolutely terrifying. If they just dressed up the halls, threw in a few ghostly actors here and there, it would be nightmarish. I’m un-flinchable, and I’m not all that superstitious, but I suspect that would have even me climbing the walls to get out.
There actually were moments where I almost freaked out — but it was in hallways, stairwells, during the “empty” times when they hadn’t done anything but, say, change the lighting, and perhaps neglect the paint for a few years. I was far, far more terrified of the ship itself than anything they’d done to make it “scary.” Alas, so much potential, wasted.
+ + +
On the completely opposite side of the spectrum is the Open Grave at the GardenWalk in Anaheim. It’s very understated, so much so there’s almost nothing to it. It relies entirely on atmosphere and your own ability to see horrifying things in the shadows.
The haunt starts with a few minutes in a tiny, totally dark room, lots of banging and crashing against the walls — It sounds tacky, but it sets the dissonance for the next part, which is nothing more than a large open area filled with stage fog. At first I wondered if they’d lost their budget, it looked like it was going to be superbly disappointing.
There are no walls to lean on, so one is already a bit creeped out, and then out in the open one feels tremendously exposed. It’s very dark, and we spent whole time feeling like we were lost. The actors grabbed every chance they got at a flinch, lots of noise makers and people coming up out of nowhere, but it really worked.
