Metatalktail Hour: All the creatures were stirring October 29, 2022 2:03 AM Subscribe
Happy eve before All Hallows Eve eve MeFiends! I've just closed the shutters, pulled the drapes, fed another log to the dancing flames in the fireplace, heated the cider, set out the candy apples, and paid tribute to the Halloween deity Rabat to ensure the success of our little convocation. Now, do you have any scary stories to share? True tales of terror? (not necessarily supernatural).
Will also accept recipes for creepy cuisine (and cocktails, naturally), haunted photos, mysterious music, ghoulish games, all sorts of trickery, and of course treatery. Or just witchever thoughts you've been possessed by recently (but nothing truly diabolical, IYKWIMAITYD).
Will also accept recipes for creepy cuisine (and cocktails, naturally), haunted photos, mysterious music, ghoulish games, all sorts of trickery, and of course treatery. Or just witchever thoughts you've been possessed by recently (but nothing truly diabolical, IYKWIMAITYD).
I was a kid in California during the time of the Zodiac Killer and I heard about him from other kids. I was told, or maybe I just imagined, that he killed people based on their zodiac signs. Sometimes if I woke up in the middle of the night I would imagine he might be outside right then. He might be aware of my thoughts. So as protection I thought false information about the zodiac signs of everyone in my family. I'm Aquarius, Mommy is Gemini . . . (No, I can't explain the logic of that.)
I grew up and one day I found myself driving down a little highway just before dawn in a part of Montana that was nothing but sagebrush and range cattle when some news about the Zodiac Killer came on the radio. (Maybe there was some new evidence about who he might have been.) I hadn't thought about him in years, but that name - Zodiac Killer - sent a little chill through me and I suddenly felt more alone and less safe. That was probably the only time doing field work alone in the middle of nowhere made me nervous.
posted by Redstart at 6:29 AM on October 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
I grew up and one day I found myself driving down a little highway just before dawn in a part of Montana that was nothing but sagebrush and range cattle when some news about the Zodiac Killer came on the radio. (Maybe there was some new evidence about who he might have been.) I hadn't thought about him in years, but that name - Zodiac Killer - sent a little chill through me and I suddenly felt more alone and less safe. That was probably the only time doing field work alone in the middle of nowhere made me nervous.
posted by Redstart at 6:29 AM on October 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
My hospitalization a couple of months back included a night -- 100º outside -- where the air handler failed. I was awake. I heard it die. I don't particularly think it was ghosts so much as this entire year's theme of Everything That Can Go Wrong Is Actively Trying To Go Wrong At Me but the existing misery of the hospital as both a workplace and a patient was compounded somewhat.
Nothing particularly spooky is actually going on around here. Daughter's got a costume squared away for work on Monday. The group costume (ugh) is "hair band" so as people who were there, man, her parents were obligated to involve themselves. A gorgeous sheepskin is involved. There's a leg bandana. It's going well.
I guess there's a vaguely spooky angle to today's cuisine: I crept upstairs from my place of exile at 5AM, went into the fridge to extract something... and a single grape fell! Oooooh! Then I stalked through the darkness outside, where a mysterious metal clanging was heard. Oooooooo! A long low moan started to rise, sustaining itself, unceasing. Oh noooooooo! In the darkness, a cruel blood red flashing... 225. 225. 225. What did it mean?
I put the pork butt in.
posted by majick at 6:36 AM on October 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Nothing particularly spooky is actually going on around here. Daughter's got a costume squared away for work on Monday. The group costume (ugh) is "hair band" so as people who were there, man, her parents were obligated to involve themselves. A gorgeous sheepskin is involved. There's a leg bandana. It's going well.
I guess there's a vaguely spooky angle to today's cuisine: I crept upstairs from my place of exile at 5AM, went into the fridge to extract something... and a single grape fell! Oooooh! Then I stalked through the darkness outside, where a mysterious metal clanging was heard. Oooooooo! A long low moan started to rise, sustaining itself, unceasing. Oh noooooooo! In the darkness, a cruel blood red flashing... 225. 225. 225. What did it mean?
I put the pork butt in.
posted by majick at 6:36 AM on October 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
So my wife has been having some fairly serious health issues, as I alluded to here. Increasingly escalating one-sided pain when moving, eating, lying down, standing up, etc. We spent most of the year getting every GI test known to modern medicine, none of which showed anything other than some vague nonspecific irritation. Meanwhile, she can't even drink water without pain. It was getting bad.
After the last round of useless tests (a barium swallow is especially unfun when you can't eat anything comfortably!), I was giving her a back rub and noticed that her ribs on that side seemed unusually uneven. So I did some googling and found Slipping Rib Syndrome, whose most notable characteristic is that on the rare occasions it is actually diagnosed, it's diagnosed after someone goes through the whole GI battery for abdominal pain and gets no results. We called around, found a surgeon shockingly nearby who specializes in treating this, and got an appointment almost immediately.
I gave the history to the PA (including the minor car accident a year ago that we hadn't thought was relevant.) His reaction was "Wow, that's fast!". It had been a year. But apparently the average time to diagnosis for this is ten years. And the prognosis gets worse the longer it takes. The surgeon came in, poked her ribs, found the spot where one moved in a way it shouldn't, and sent us to get surgery scheduled.
Surgery is on Halloween. I'm dressing up as a worried wife in a hospital waiting room. But, fingers crossed, this will be the end of the horror story.
posted by restless_nomad (retired) at 6:37 AM on October 29, 2022 [79 favorites]
After the last round of useless tests (a barium swallow is especially unfun when you can't eat anything comfortably!), I was giving her a back rub and noticed that her ribs on that side seemed unusually uneven. So I did some googling and found Slipping Rib Syndrome, whose most notable characteristic is that on the rare occasions it is actually diagnosed, it's diagnosed after someone goes through the whole GI battery for abdominal pain and gets no results. We called around, found a surgeon shockingly nearby who specializes in treating this, and got an appointment almost immediately.
I gave the history to the PA (including the minor car accident a year ago that we hadn't thought was relevant.) His reaction was "Wow, that's fast!". It had been a year. But apparently the average time to diagnosis for this is ten years. And the prognosis gets worse the longer it takes. The surgeon came in, poked her ribs, found the spot where one moved in a way it shouldn't, and sent us to get surgery scheduled.
Surgery is on Halloween. I'm dressing up as a worried wife in a hospital waiting room. But, fingers crossed, this will be the end of the horror story.
posted by restless_nomad (retired) at 6:37 AM on October 29, 2022 [79 favorites]
MetaTalk: I put the pork butt in.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:45 AM on October 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:45 AM on October 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
Now that the Zodiac Killer has been mentioned, I can't resist linking to this story by Terrance Flynn.
posted by BibiRose at 7:16 AM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BibiRose at 7:16 AM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I recently asked a question about how to make my new home cozy and comfy, and after reading all the wonderful replies I marched straight to the store and bought a billion lamps. I got the color changing lightbulbs, and now they have Halloween "scenes" you can choose from! There are things like "trick or treat," "witching hour," and "spellbound" in spooky variations of red, orange, green, purple and endless variants.
Now my formerly dark and desolate giant living room is lit up with bright lamps using the pumpkin themed "glowing grins" theme. It's pretty great!
posted by kinsey at 7:48 AM on October 29, 2022 [17 favorites]
Now my formerly dark and desolate giant living room is lit up with bright lamps using the pumpkin themed "glowing grins" theme. It's pretty great!
posted by kinsey at 7:48 AM on October 29, 2022 [17 favorites]
When I was homeless it was the 4th of July and a bunch of us were sitting in the park by the bridge. It's crowded because of the holiday and they close the bridge to traffic in the evening because tons of people hang there to watch the fireworks at the stadium. This guy comes across the bridge and into the park, scopes out the homeless gang and joins in. He's still wearing this wristband from jail in the next town over. Not to uncommon, half the people there had done some sort of jail, it's "three hots and a cot".
I did not like him, he creeped me out, so I did what I usually do and left. Avoided him for the next couple of days. Then it came to pass that some people were back in that park and six or seven police cars surrounded the park and swarmed. They had found him.
He was an ax-murderer (well hatchet) that had killed this old retired general (or something) and his wife a few states and weeks ago. Creepy.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:50 AM on October 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
I did not like him, he creeped me out, so I did what I usually do and left. Avoided him for the next couple of days. Then it came to pass that some people were back in that park and six or seven police cars surrounded the park and swarmed. They had found him.
He was an ax-murderer (well hatchet) that had killed this old retired general (or something) and his wife a few states and weeks ago. Creepy.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:50 AM on October 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
Wow, BibiRose. *Shiver*
When we lived in New Orleans, there was a guy we were on friendly terms with who worked at the neighborhood convenience store, and either lived in the building next to us, or later moved into that building, I'm not sure which, but at some point after we left, he murdered his girlfriend in that house, put her in a trunk, and just you know, lived there with his dead girlfriend in a trunk, and then when he moved, he moved his dead girlfriend in a trunk to his new place, and then finalllllly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she was discovered and he was arrested.
It freaks me out how often we saw this guy, and just, you know, casual how ya doin' etc, etc. He did NOT seem like a living with murdered girlfriend in trunk guy.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:55 AM on October 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
When we lived in New Orleans, there was a guy we were on friendly terms with who worked at the neighborhood convenience store, and either lived in the building next to us, or later moved into that building, I'm not sure which, but at some point after we left, he murdered his girlfriend in that house, put her in a trunk, and just you know, lived there with his dead girlfriend in a trunk, and then when he moved, he moved his dead girlfriend in a trunk to his new place, and then finalllllly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she was discovered and he was arrested.
It freaks me out how often we saw this guy, and just, you know, casual how ya doin' etc, etc. He did NOT seem like a living with murdered girlfriend in trunk guy.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:55 AM on October 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Currently in {looks out of window} a library in Worcestershire. Hmmmph, interesting times, perhaps.
A few tunes, for the annual conjunction of this world and a different place...
Amiina:
- Skakka
Boards of Canada:
- Audiotrack A1
- Beware the friendly stranger
- You could feel the sky
- Sherbet head
- Julie and Candy
- A is to B as B is to C
- The Color of the Fire
- Transmisiones Ferox
- Reach for the dead
...but bringing you back with Olson
posted by Wordshore at 8:08 AM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
A few tunes, for the annual conjunction of this world and a different place...
Amiina:
- Skakka
Boards of Canada:
- Audiotrack A1
- Beware the friendly stranger
- You could feel the sky
- Sherbet head
- Julie and Candy
- A is to B as B is to C
- The Color of the Fire
- Transmisiones Ferox
- Reach for the dead
...but bringing you back with Olson
posted by Wordshore at 8:08 AM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Are creepy murderers the order of the day?
Late 90s, early 2000s, maybe? Guy used to work for me was a genius. MIT education. Bright, cheerful young guy, full of ideas, deep thoughts. Had some very interesting notions about string theory which is very outside my own field but were fun to listen to. Wrote terrific code.
His wife went missing. Little while later he poked his head around the corner of my fancy cubicle with windows said he was heading out, left work, walked up the Bay Bridge on-ramp, and threw himself off. My boss had to talk to the cops the next day although I didn't. They dug up the body in the east bay a bit after that. I think they eventually found some pretty compelling evidence to connect him.
posted by majick at 9:29 AM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Late 90s, early 2000s, maybe? Guy used to work for me was a genius. MIT education. Bright, cheerful young guy, full of ideas, deep thoughts. Had some very interesting notions about string theory which is very outside my own field but were fun to listen to. Wrote terrific code.
His wife went missing. Little while later he poked his head around the corner of my fancy cubicle with windows said he was heading out, left work, walked up the Bay Bridge on-ramp, and threw himself off. My boss had to talk to the cops the next day although I didn't. They dug up the body in the east bay a bit after that. I think they eventually found some pretty compelling evidence to connect him.
posted by majick at 9:29 AM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
There's a walnut tree in our new-to-us backyard and after reading up about it online, I gathered a basket and then another and set up a drying-rack contraption and (I've told this before here, somewhere) something came and took them. The good ones, that is.
So we set up a trail cam and, yes, it was a mouse.
We knew there were mice as we'd seen their poop and a cracker package got savaged, so it wasn't a surprise. Honestly we're glad it wasn't some other, larger animal.
The bigger mystery is the faucet. In the bathroom there is (was, really, because I took it off after the second time) a faucet out of the wall for a washing machine. Useful.
Last spring, late winter, I went to the house and a bag of toilet-paper rolls that had been hanging there was now on the floor, soaked into a mushy mess, as though it had been thoroughly sprayed by the faucet. In fact, looking at it, it was clear that the water had been on long enough to flood the bath and flow all the way out into the hall. There had been some kind of event - yet the faucet was off and trying it, it was very closed. I attributed it to prankish/lightly malicious human behaviour. It kind of sucked to think of it that way, but I also decided it didn't really matter enough, I would put it out of mind. I did changed the locks, mind you, and made doubly sure there was no 'easy' way into the house.
Then about a month ago, we went up together and it had happened again - the bag of towels that sat roughly under the faucet was soaked, as was the indoor-outdoor carpet in the hall, as was - incomprehensibly - a bucket far from the faucet, filled with water.
There was zero sign of anyone getting into the house. None whatsoever. I removed/closed off the faucet this time.
Some weeks later I was going to bed when I heard some not-insignificant noises from somewhere back in that direction of the house (the house is very modest in every way and the bathroom is in an addition from the seventies - an addition built to provide a shelter for tools and some sheep. modestly) We've heard the mice on and off all summer, so no surprise there, and we had heard about raccoons in the area. This sound was big enough that it almost sounded human-made. The dog was with me, but made no move to react so after the original alarm ebbed a bit I put on shoes, grabbed something vaguely club-like on my way through the kitchen and banged very loudly about as I headed towards the bathroom/addition.
Nothing. All the doors were locked, windows closed, no sign of anything.
We've wondered about a ghost (I have at least) due to the faucet business and a couple times windows that no one will acknowledge opening were found open. And now the sound.
Still no idea what made it. We will go up again this weekend/early part of the week and see what turns up...
posted by From Bklyn at 9:30 AM on October 29, 2022 [10 favorites]
So we set up a trail cam and, yes, it was a mouse.
We knew there were mice as we'd seen their poop and a cracker package got savaged, so it wasn't a surprise. Honestly we're glad it wasn't some other, larger animal.
The bigger mystery is the faucet. In the bathroom there is (was, really, because I took it off after the second time) a faucet out of the wall for a washing machine. Useful.
Last spring, late winter, I went to the house and a bag of toilet-paper rolls that had been hanging there was now on the floor, soaked into a mushy mess, as though it had been thoroughly sprayed by the faucet. In fact, looking at it, it was clear that the water had been on long enough to flood the bath and flow all the way out into the hall. There had been some kind of event - yet the faucet was off and trying it, it was very closed. I attributed it to prankish/lightly malicious human behaviour. It kind of sucked to think of it that way, but I also decided it didn't really matter enough, I would put it out of mind. I did changed the locks, mind you, and made doubly sure there was no 'easy' way into the house.
Then about a month ago, we went up together and it had happened again - the bag of towels that sat roughly under the faucet was soaked, as was the indoor-outdoor carpet in the hall, as was - incomprehensibly - a bucket far from the faucet, filled with water.
There was zero sign of anyone getting into the house. None whatsoever. I removed/closed off the faucet this time.
Some weeks later I was going to bed when I heard some not-insignificant noises from somewhere back in that direction of the house (the house is very modest in every way and the bathroom is in an addition from the seventies - an addition built to provide a shelter for tools and some sheep. modestly) We've heard the mice on and off all summer, so no surprise there, and we had heard about raccoons in the area. This sound was big enough that it almost sounded human-made. The dog was with me, but made no move to react so after the original alarm ebbed a bit I put on shoes, grabbed something vaguely club-like on my way through the kitchen and banged very loudly about as I headed towards the bathroom/addition.
Nothing. All the doors were locked, windows closed, no sign of anything.
We've wondered about a ghost (I have at least) due to the faucet business and a couple times windows that no one will acknowledge opening were found open. And now the sound.
Still no idea what made it. We will go up again this weekend/early part of the week and see what turns up...
posted by From Bklyn at 9:30 AM on October 29, 2022 [10 favorites]
oooh, I love/hate these kind of weird stories. Months from now I'll be sitting around, and out of nowhere will suddenly think "okay, but what/who DID turn on From Bklyn's bathroom tap (&tc)???? If you solve this mystery, I have to know.
posted by taz (staff) at 9:37 AM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 9:37 AM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
Oh, and the dog was unbothered? How many of you were in the house, because maybe the culprit is known to the dog? My dog would start and stare fixedly at the dark hallway sometimes when I was home alone and freak me the fuck out. She wasn't really helping either.
posted by taz (staff) at 9:41 AM on October 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 9:41 AM on October 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Here's a story about ghosts at the Smithsonian. It includes the link to a Smithsonian sidedoor podcast on the subject. I know one of the people featured in the story/podcast, and her story involves faucets mysteriously turning on at the Natural History Museum. I can attest that she told me about the faucet thing years prior to them doing this podcast.
posted by gudrun at 10:47 AM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by gudrun at 10:47 AM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just listened to a spooky excellent new (or possibly re-posted) story from LeVar Burton Reads podcast. It is really good and really spooky. ”Multo” by Samuel Marzioli
posted by Glinn at 11:57 AM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 11:57 AM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
About ten years ago, I lived in Manitou Springs, which is absolutely lousy with ghosts.
It's this little Victorian town pushed right against the foothills below Pikes Peak that became home to thousands of tuberculosis patients seeking dry air and the healing waters of the mineral springs around the turn of the century. There were stories about a stable that had caught fire and spread too quickly before any of the livestock could be saved. It was said that on some cold winter nights you could still hear the screams of trapped horses. At the time I was doing a overnight editing for a particular client, and around midnight or so I'd leave my little cottage by the creek, walk downtown, and stretch my legs, often ending up at the old arcade in the center of town because there was a soda machine there, and most of the time it worked. Sometimes, suddenly, a dormant arcade game would roar into life when I was walking by, and I'd have to peel myself off the wood beams of the ceiling and hurry home.
Up in the hills there's a castle, Miramont, which served as a convent and a tuberculosis hospital, and it's known for two particular ghosts. There's a little girl ghost who lingers in the gift shop near the dolls, and a few have even talked to her. And there's a young nun, who, finding herself unexpectedly expecting, had hanged herself from one of the castle windows and now sits quietly, headless, in one of the chairs in an upper floor. One of the technicians at the blood draw lab, this grizzly old rocker guy with a heart of gold, swears that he's seen her himself.
I never saw either of the Miramont ghosts. On some of my late-night walks, though, I'd take my dog Annie up that way and when we got to a particular point near the north side of the castle, she'd stop, steel herself down low like she was trying to dig her nails into the pavement, and bay at one of the top windows. I figured maybe the light was reflecting oddly up there, there's a streetlight nearby and the old windows have wavy patterns that catch the light. And I'd try to drag her away but she wouldn't come with me, and eventually I'd have to scoop her up and she'd go perfectly stiff until we went around the hillside and the castle fell out of sight. Every single time.
I found out just this summer that the window Annie was always baying at had been the nun's window, the one she had jumped from a hundred years before, or so the story goes.
I moved away years ago, but I keep meaning to take her back up there, see if she remembers, see if she still reacts.
posted by mochapickle at 12:15 PM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
It's this little Victorian town pushed right against the foothills below Pikes Peak that became home to thousands of tuberculosis patients seeking dry air and the healing waters of the mineral springs around the turn of the century. There were stories about a stable that had caught fire and spread too quickly before any of the livestock could be saved. It was said that on some cold winter nights you could still hear the screams of trapped horses. At the time I was doing a overnight editing for a particular client, and around midnight or so I'd leave my little cottage by the creek, walk downtown, and stretch my legs, often ending up at the old arcade in the center of town because there was a soda machine there, and most of the time it worked. Sometimes, suddenly, a dormant arcade game would roar into life when I was walking by, and I'd have to peel myself off the wood beams of the ceiling and hurry home.
Up in the hills there's a castle, Miramont, which served as a convent and a tuberculosis hospital, and it's known for two particular ghosts. There's a little girl ghost who lingers in the gift shop near the dolls, and a few have even talked to her. And there's a young nun, who, finding herself unexpectedly expecting, had hanged herself from one of the castle windows and now sits quietly, headless, in one of the chairs in an upper floor. One of the technicians at the blood draw lab, this grizzly old rocker guy with a heart of gold, swears that he's seen her himself.
I never saw either of the Miramont ghosts. On some of my late-night walks, though, I'd take my dog Annie up that way and when we got to a particular point near the north side of the castle, she'd stop, steel herself down low like she was trying to dig her nails into the pavement, and bay at one of the top windows. I figured maybe the light was reflecting oddly up there, there's a streetlight nearby and the old windows have wavy patterns that catch the light. And I'd try to drag her away but she wouldn't come with me, and eventually I'd have to scoop her up and she'd go perfectly stiff until we went around the hillside and the castle fell out of sight. Every single time.
I found out just this summer that the window Annie was always baying at had been the nun's window, the one she had jumped from a hundred years before, or so the story goes.
I moved away years ago, but I keep meaning to take her back up there, see if she remembers, see if she still reacts.
posted by mochapickle at 12:15 PM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
Also: A few of us are doing a no-rules November writing month over on IRL! It's a low stress, no stress, work-on-whatever-you-like kind of thread for anyone who wants to get some writing done before the end of the year, or like me, focus on writing more regularly. Come join if you want!
posted by mochapickle at 12:27 PM on October 29, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 12:27 PM on October 29, 2022 [9 favorites]
Woke up this morning about five in the morning to the dog running around the bedroom hallway and barking at the back window. After hearing nothing else we grumpily told him to cut it out, and we all eventually went back to sleep.
Later, at a more reasonable hour, I was out in the backyard and noticed a number of small, deep, messily dug holes in the mud. Pretty sure our ghost was an armadillo passing through, searching for grubs.
posted by Tuba Toothpaste at 12:36 PM on October 29, 2022 [8 favorites]
Later, at a more reasonable hour, I was out in the backyard and noticed a number of small, deep, messily dug holes in the mud. Pretty sure our ghost was an armadillo passing through, searching for grubs.
posted by Tuba Toothpaste at 12:36 PM on October 29, 2022 [8 favorites]
my dad was 20 years old and was visiting Chicago in winter of 1976-77 and swears he was approached a man who he is certain was John Wayne Gacy. i don't have any more details to add.
i was born in 1978.
posted by glonous keming at 1:17 PM on October 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
i was born in 1978.
posted by glonous keming at 1:17 PM on October 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
When I was a young man, many years ago in the mid 60's, I had a job working at Chicken Delight. Part of my duties included delivering orders. Just a few days before Halloween, I had to deliver an order to the westside of town. An area of huge old homes. Mostly in good condition, but a few starting to slip into disrepair. So I rang the doorbell of the home and was beckoned inside by a middle aged woman who was wearing a long black skirt and a black sweater. The room was a living room I believe...Lots of dark oak trim, and a few well worn oriental rugs on the floor I remember mostly now. What was really off was the fact that there were 7 or 8 white washing machines, unplugged sitting in a semi circle in the room. The chords were all pulled towards the center of the semi circle. The lady left the room to get the payment, and I noticed that she rather glided along...no normal stepping noticeable. She returned in the same manner, tipped me handsomely and bid goodnight. She had a Mrs Danvers quality, from "Rebecca". I've never forgotten the encounter.
posted by Czjewel at 1:37 PM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 1:37 PM on October 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
This is possibly tangential, but I recently came across writings that imply the searches for Yeti in the 50s(?) were a front by the CIA for keeping track of what was going on in China, Tibet, etc. This seems very plausible.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:52 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by wittgenstein at 5:52 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'd been watching some livestreams of the Halloween crowds in the Itaewon district in Seoul. Since nothing much seemed to be happening, other than there being large crowds of people and many of them not even in costume, I called it a day. Then some hours later this happened:
Seoul Halloween crowd crush kills at least 153
posted by needled at 6:14 AM on October 30, 2022
Seoul Halloween crowd crush kills at least 153
posted by needled at 6:14 AM on October 30, 2022
I was home alone one evening when I was about 10, when our neighbor lady pounded on our screen door. She wanted to warn my mother that there was an escaped lunatic wandering around our neighborhood. She'd seen him walking up and down our street, arms stretched out in front of him and lumbering like a zombie. But he disappeared in the few moments it took her to run inside and call the police, and she was worried because our front door was open. The police had arrived moments before and were searching our yard and other yards nearby with flashlights.
When no one answered our door, she came in our house to make sure everything was ok, no doubt terrified that she was about to come face to face with either the man, the murdered corpses of my family, or both. She found me cowering in the empty bathtub. After ascertaining that I was ok and no one else was home, it occurred to her how odd it was that I was in hiding before she ever told me what was going on. Her eyes narrowed. "IT WAS YOU!"
I'd been bored at home by myself and decided it would be fun to dress up like Frankenstein's monster. I found an old brown suit of my dad's, the jacket of which I put on backwards for some reason; and a bedraggled shoulder-length black wig that had once belonged to my grandmother. The effect was pleasingly creepy and I was sad there was no one around to see it. So that's when I decided it would be fun to go stalk around my neighborhood at dusk moaning, and scared the absolute living shit out of my neighbor. Then I'd gotten bored with the game fairly quickly because there wasn't anyone else out there, so I went home and took off my costume. I was just about to settle in to watch some TV when the cops pulled into our driveway and they began searching our bushes with flashlights. I had no idea why they were there (I was not a smart child, in case that wasn't obvious before) so that's when I hid in the bathtub. My mother came home just in time to find the neighbor lady explaining to the cops, and nearly died of embarrassment. I'm pretty sure I'm still grounded.
The end.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 12:59 PM on October 30, 2022 [32 favorites]
When no one answered our door, she came in our house to make sure everything was ok, no doubt terrified that she was about to come face to face with either the man, the murdered corpses of my family, or both. She found me cowering in the empty bathtub. After ascertaining that I was ok and no one else was home, it occurred to her how odd it was that I was in hiding before she ever told me what was going on. Her eyes narrowed. "IT WAS YOU!"
I'd been bored at home by myself and decided it would be fun to dress up like Frankenstein's monster. I found an old brown suit of my dad's, the jacket of which I put on backwards for some reason; and a bedraggled shoulder-length black wig that had once belonged to my grandmother. The effect was pleasingly creepy and I was sad there was no one around to see it. So that's when I decided it would be fun to go stalk around my neighborhood at dusk moaning, and scared the absolute living shit out of my neighbor. Then I'd gotten bored with the game fairly quickly because there wasn't anyone else out there, so I went home and took off my costume. I was just about to settle in to watch some TV when the cops pulled into our driveway and they began searching our bushes with flashlights. I had no idea why they were there (I was not a smart child, in case that wasn't obvious before) so that's when I hid in the bathtub. My mother came home just in time to find the neighbor lady explaining to the cops, and nearly died of embarrassment. I'm pretty sure I'm still grounded.
The end.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 12:59 PM on October 30, 2022 [32 favorites]
This Halloween, what supernatural event would you dress as?
posted by clavdivs at 4:23 PM on October 30, 2022
posted by clavdivs at 4:23 PM on October 30, 2022
I'd dress as my grandfather, circa 1926.
I loved my grandfather and lost him at age 5. family held a special service just for me. which means putting glasses on him and his hat was by his hand. I remember asking my mother, why does he have his glasses on? my grandparents always slept in separate rooms. After, from time to time I would spend the night at my grandmother's house in his room. I remember one cool Ann Arbor summer evening, waking, must have been 1:30 a.m. and I looked over to the window and the drapes were blowing and I looked to my right and I saw my grandfather in his 'shoe chair, I rubbed my eyes and he was gone, didn't really understand it quite fully but here's the kicker, one time my grandfather gave me half a asper gum at like age five and my grandmother just flipped out for obvious reasons and he used to give me the little cups that they put atop NyQuil which is really just a byproduct of his alcoholism. but I'll say he died 3 years sober. when I woke in the morning, on top of the bureau or three stacked NyQuil cups and in left hand drawer, in the very back, was a pack of asper gum and I swear to God those cups we're not there. My grandfather had a Minnesota sense of humor.
posted by clavdivs at 4:47 PM on October 30, 2022 [9 favorites]
I loved my grandfather and lost him at age 5. family held a special service just for me. which means putting glasses on him and his hat was by his hand. I remember asking my mother, why does he have his glasses on? my grandparents always slept in separate rooms. After, from time to time I would spend the night at my grandmother's house in his room. I remember one cool Ann Arbor summer evening, waking, must have been 1:30 a.m. and I looked over to the window and the drapes were blowing and I looked to my right and I saw my grandfather in his 'shoe chair, I rubbed my eyes and he was gone, didn't really understand it quite fully but here's the kicker, one time my grandfather gave me half a asper gum at like age five and my grandmother just flipped out for obvious reasons and he used to give me the little cups that they put atop NyQuil which is really just a byproduct of his alcoholism. but I'll say he died 3 years sober. when I woke in the morning, on top of the bureau or three stacked NyQuil cups and in left hand drawer, in the very back, was a pack of asper gum and I swear to God those cups we're not there. My grandfather had a Minnesota sense of humor.
posted by clavdivs at 4:47 PM on October 30, 2022 [9 favorites]
My mother saw La Llorona when she was a little girl.
posted by Kitteh at 5:36 PM on October 30, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 5:36 PM on October 30, 2022 [8 favorites]
Kiddo is going as Number Five for trick or treating. Getting the costume together turned into a family effort - dragging kiddo to multiple thrift stores to try on suit jackets and find a jacket and a pair of pants that could stand up to being destroyed without shame. Sweater vest, tie and an axe with a foam head. I burned a finger affixing trim to the jacket with the glue gun. He did a test run of the costume last night and it looks AMAZING. He is owning the character.
As for ghostly stories. our first house was over 100+ years old. Both spouse and I would occasionally catch the scent of flowery perfume or cigar smoke at random moments of the day. We always shrugged it off. We had honeysuckle growing in overabundance on a nearby fence and our neighbors were smokers (and the friendly drug dealers, but that is a different story).
One day I was upstairs and I heard the sound of one of the outside doors pening/closing and footsteps walking across the hall. I went to the top of the stairs and yelled spouse’s name. Silence in return. There was no one there except me and the three cats. As the cats were not fussed by the weirdness, we decided that if there was a spook, it was a pretty friendly one.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:43 PM on October 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
As for ghostly stories. our first house was over 100+ years old. Both spouse and I would occasionally catch the scent of flowery perfume or cigar smoke at random moments of the day. We always shrugged it off. We had honeysuckle growing in overabundance on a nearby fence and our neighbors were smokers (and the friendly drug dealers, but that is a different story).
One day I was upstairs and I heard the sound of one of the outside doors pening/closing and footsteps walking across the hall. I went to the top of the stairs and yelled spouse’s name. Silence in return. There was no one there except me and the three cats. As the cats were not fussed by the weirdness, we decided that if there was a spook, it was a pretty friendly one.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:43 PM on October 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
Now, do you have any scary stories to share?
Dunno about scary, per se, but I grew-up in a haunted house. The main “haunting” was a small recurring apparition, which was independently seen by others from time to time over the years. It was more of a “huh. wtf was that?” thing, rather than a “OMGWTFWASTHAT!!!?” thing.
It was a naked foot/lower leg that you would see disappear around a corner when you happened to glance down the hall from the living room. It was like you looked up just as someone had rounded the corner and all you saw was the lower bit of their leg and foot as they walked around. It was the damnedest thing.
I saw it all my life in that house, and never mentioned it to anyone. Then, one night soon after I had gotten married, my wife and I were having dinner with my parents, at the house. Just for the heck of it, I told everyone about this weird foot I kept seeing. Everyone got really quiet. It turned out, they all had seen it, too, over the years, including my wife who had been to the house only three or four times prior to that night. It was kind of a cool moment to know I wasn’t entirely crazy.
Then there was the time I died. But that more scared my wife than me. I thought it was kinda fascinating.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:03 PM on October 30, 2022 [16 favorites]
Dunno about scary, per se, but I grew-up in a haunted house. The main “haunting” was a small recurring apparition, which was independently seen by others from time to time over the years. It was more of a “huh. wtf was that?” thing, rather than a “OMGWTFWASTHAT!!!?” thing.
It was a naked foot/lower leg that you would see disappear around a corner when you happened to glance down the hall from the living room. It was like you looked up just as someone had rounded the corner and all you saw was the lower bit of their leg and foot as they walked around. It was the damnedest thing.
I saw it all my life in that house, and never mentioned it to anyone. Then, one night soon after I had gotten married, my wife and I were having dinner with my parents, at the house. Just for the heck of it, I told everyone about this weird foot I kept seeing. Everyone got really quiet. It turned out, they all had seen it, too, over the years, including my wife who had been to the house only three or four times prior to that night. It was kind of a cool moment to know I wasn’t entirely crazy.
Then there was the time I died. But that more scared my wife than me. I thought it was kinda fascinating.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:03 PM on October 30, 2022 [16 favorites]
theBigRedKittyPurrs, I started out super stoked, because robots are awesome, was getting slightly and then more confused, because pants, until I got to the bit about the axe, at which point I became utterly baffled. Apparently there's a different Number Five out there who is not Johnny Number Five, now.
While this is an unexpected (for me!) turn of events, I hope the small person enjoys the hell out of the not-robot costume.
posted by majick at 5:59 AM on October 31, 2022 [5 favorites]
While this is an unexpected (for me!) turn of events, I hope the small person enjoys the hell out of the not-robot costume.
posted by majick at 5:59 AM on October 31, 2022 [5 favorites]
majick, Number Five from the Umbrella Academy! He is rocking it and we are all enjoying the hell out of it.
Note: Kiddo is not a small person any longer, but trick or treating is HUGE in our neighborhood and we get peeps of all ages and will hand out candy to everyone. It is my favorite day of the year.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:24 AM on October 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
Note: Kiddo is not a small person any longer, but trick or treating is HUGE in our neighborhood and we get peeps of all ages and will hand out candy to everyone. It is my favorite day of the year.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:24 AM on October 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
glonous kenning, if your dad was there in Chicago alone, at his age he’d definitely fit the profile. Scary.
I think I read every ghost book in the library as a kid. They had these great old books full of Victorian ghost stories. It was the “real” stories I loved, but the fictional scares would do if there weren’t any books available with “true” stories. And while I always loved a good scary story, I’ve never had any sightings or experiences. Probably because I wanted it too much.
My aunt’s family, however, had experiences. Her nephew would talk at a young age about “Shadow Boy.” He would ascribe weird happenings to Shadow Boy. At dinners from time to time non-battery operated toys would start making sounds from the other room. His sister ran screaming from an empty room and said there were people there. All of this could very well be explained somehow, I’m sure, but we always asked growing up for the latest Shadow Boy story to see what new events had happened.
posted by glaucon at 7:43 AM on October 31, 2022 [5 favorites]
I think I read every ghost book in the library as a kid. They had these great old books full of Victorian ghost stories. It was the “real” stories I loved, but the fictional scares would do if there weren’t any books available with “true” stories. And while I always loved a good scary story, I’ve never had any sightings or experiences. Probably because I wanted it too much.
My aunt’s family, however, had experiences. Her nephew would talk at a young age about “Shadow Boy.” He would ascribe weird happenings to Shadow Boy. At dinners from time to time non-battery operated toys would start making sounds from the other room. His sister ran screaming from an empty room and said there were people there. All of this could very well be explained somehow, I’m sure, but we always asked growing up for the latest Shadow Boy story to see what new events had happened.
posted by glaucon at 7:43 AM on October 31, 2022 [5 favorites]
There was daylight trick ot treating on Broadway Saturday. My favorite was a toddler robot: a bespoke black and grey box lit with red LEDs on the corners with tiny black sleeved and gloved hands poking out of the armholes below. It brought out the inner demon haunted printed circuitry of the child within who was careening about at adorable right angles.
posted by y2karl at 7:46 AM on October 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 7:46 AM on October 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
Kiddo is not a small person any longer
My 21 year old child just drove my 26 year old child to work, who I greeted at breakfast with "good morning, small one." They are all small person and I will not be dissuaded.
posted by majick at 8:28 AM on October 31, 2022 [4 favorites]
My 21 year old child just drove my 26 year old child to work, who I greeted at breakfast with "good morning, small one." They are all small person and I will not be dissuaded.
posted by majick at 8:28 AM on October 31, 2022 [4 favorites]
Here I am, vexed by witches, beguiled by drink. But is it the other way round? I wonder.
They are becoming. I cannot stop it. I have neither the power nor the will. I sit within the comfort of my study, and think I am safe, but I know, deep down, within the secret spaces of my heart that nothing can stop what I fear the most.
Noises, sounds, brief scrapings amongst the physical world has an effect upon my dreaming consciousness, and I fear that there is nothing which will silence these tiny whispers; the hints of pain still forthcoming.
Time will tell. Hours, minutes, seconds. The slow tick, time moving forward, sand in my joints, glass in my eyes, a blade in my heart.
My doctor, M ___, has counseled me to write it all down, and so I shall. This record may prove to be spurious at best, and yet, I shall record the event as it unfolded.
As a young man, the occult was a fancy that I studied with utmost passion. The power promised by magick was a heady drink with which I could not slake my thirst. Of course, all those roads led to disappointment, as most of what is recorded in the real world is penned by charlatans and fake seers. Growing older and wiser, I began to pay more attention to the vagaries of life. Work, wife, family and home. The years seemed to slip by and I had forgotten that which had beguiled me in the first.
And then I met him. It was a simple story he told, his brother, a mentally challenged young man with a love of professional wrestling. They grew up on Long Island, in a house with an attic. The house had been in the family for generations. The story was that the grandmother had passed away in one of the rooms upstairs, her last words as she pointed a finger: “Baby crying! See to the baby! Can you not hear it cry?”
Years later, when my new friend had been living in the house with his brother, he awoke in his attic room with a disquieting feeling. He went downstairs to find his brother at the kitchen table, working at a jigsaw puzzle.
“Is everything okay?” He asked his brother.
“Everything is okay.” was the reply, “Down here.”
And then, his brother raised a finger, and pointed up.
“Do you hear it?” He said. “Baby crying.”
posted by valkane at 8:37 AM on October 31, 2022 [10 favorites]
They are becoming. I cannot stop it. I have neither the power nor the will. I sit within the comfort of my study, and think I am safe, but I know, deep down, within the secret spaces of my heart that nothing can stop what I fear the most.
Noises, sounds, brief scrapings amongst the physical world has an effect upon my dreaming consciousness, and I fear that there is nothing which will silence these tiny whispers; the hints of pain still forthcoming.
Time will tell. Hours, minutes, seconds. The slow tick, time moving forward, sand in my joints, glass in my eyes, a blade in my heart.
My doctor, M ___, has counseled me to write it all down, and so I shall. This record may prove to be spurious at best, and yet, I shall record the event as it unfolded.
As a young man, the occult was a fancy that I studied with utmost passion. The power promised by magick was a heady drink with which I could not slake my thirst. Of course, all those roads led to disappointment, as most of what is recorded in the real world is penned by charlatans and fake seers. Growing older and wiser, I began to pay more attention to the vagaries of life. Work, wife, family and home. The years seemed to slip by and I had forgotten that which had beguiled me in the first.
And then I met him. It was a simple story he told, his brother, a mentally challenged young man with a love of professional wrestling. They grew up on Long Island, in a house with an attic. The house had been in the family for generations. The story was that the grandmother had passed away in one of the rooms upstairs, her last words as she pointed a finger: “Baby crying! See to the baby! Can you not hear it cry?”
Years later, when my new friend had been living in the house with his brother, he awoke in his attic room with a disquieting feeling. He went downstairs to find his brother at the kitchen table, working at a jigsaw puzzle.
“Is everything okay?” He asked his brother.
“Everything is okay.” was the reply, “Down here.”
And then, his brother raised a finger, and pointed up.
“Do you hear it?” He said. “Baby crying.”
posted by valkane at 8:37 AM on October 31, 2022 [10 favorites]
My son turned 18 and moved out of the house to go live with his boyfriend over 1,000 miles away. My heart has been so broken up over it. It's stupid, I know. He's a man now and can do what he wants, but he was also my partner and buddy and I just miss him so much. I sent him Cat Stevens' Father and Son and we had a good cry. He promises he'll visit early next year.
But this weekend I took my other kid on a little road trip down to the Mothman Museum in West Virginia. We had a blast. It was so kitschy and creepy and fun. We stopped at this little family run fry house for lunch and I had some great chicken, and my kid a delicious perch sandwich. And the trees were so pretty for the drive. So yeah, good and sad, but lucky and thankful.
posted by Stanczyk at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2022 [10 favorites]
But this weekend I took my other kid on a little road trip down to the Mothman Museum in West Virginia. We had a blast. It was so kitschy and creepy and fun. We stopped at this little family run fry house for lunch and I had some great chicken, and my kid a delicious perch sandwich. And the trees were so pretty for the drive. So yeah, good and sad, but lucky and thankful.
posted by Stanczyk at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2022 [10 favorites]
For anyone interested in the Yeti conspiracy mentioned above, here is more.
posted by wittgenstein at 2:23 PM on October 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wittgenstein at 2:23 PM on October 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
Alex had the surgery. This morning she woke me up doing dishes. She had half a rib removed yesterday and she was doing dishes at 5:30 this morning. The pervasive abdominal pain is gone. The surgical pain is much less bad and not too hard to manage. She's smiling. I haven't seen her smile like that all year.
I'm not super coherent but I am very, very grateful.
posted by restless_nomad (retired) at 11:12 AM on November 1, 2022 [27 favorites]
I'm not super coherent but I am very, very grateful.
posted by restless_nomad (retired) at 11:12 AM on November 1, 2022 [27 favorites]
She's smiling.
I am grateful.
Welcome home. Welcome both of you home.
posted by majick at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2022
I am grateful.
Welcome home. Welcome both of you home.
posted by majick at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2022
Late, as usual, to the party. So in case anyone reads down this far, this is the closest I've come to an almost murderer....
Back before the internet (or at least before everyone had computers), there were newspaper personals. After my divorce, I tip-toed into blind dates. Had nice phone conversations with a guy named "Will", and we met at a bar/restaurant for a first date.
We were both divorced; I had two small kids, he did not. We had similar interests, we cracked jokes, we had a good time. We agreed to a second date, this time to spend time at a beach and then dinner.
Somewhere between the first and second dates I began to get misgivings. I didn't want to be rude, so when we met for the second date, I was honest and told hiim that I enjoyed his company, but I didn't feel that we were headed for a romantic relationship. He agreed. We had dinner, and most of the night he spoke of his ex-wife. He seemed to be still hung up on her (I think he mentioned her on our first date, too). I listened to him - he was calm, low-key, just a normal guy. We parted amicably. (Though the restaurant was in my neighborhood, and I walked through parks just so he couldn't follow me home. My gut told me to)
The next day I went to a minor league baseball game with friends. Come home to a message on my answering machine from a detective, saying he needed to speak with me immediately, and to NOT contact Will. I returned the call ....
He asked me about Will, our date, if he'd had anything to drink, and if so, how much. Then he told me..
After our date ended, Will drove to his ex wife's house. He beat her up so bad she ended up in a coma. He put her at the bottom of stairs, then called 911. The doctors at the hospital knew her injuries were NOT from a fall and called the cops. When they went to confront him, they found him dead, from self inflicted stab wounds.
They kept asking me why I didn't want to date him. The only thing I could say is that my gut told me not to....
posted by annieb at 7:16 PM on November 3, 2022 [6 favorites]
Back before the internet (or at least before everyone had computers), there were newspaper personals. After my divorce, I tip-toed into blind dates. Had nice phone conversations with a guy named "Will", and we met at a bar/restaurant for a first date.
We were both divorced; I had two small kids, he did not. We had similar interests, we cracked jokes, we had a good time. We agreed to a second date, this time to spend time at a beach and then dinner.
Somewhere between the first and second dates I began to get misgivings. I didn't want to be rude, so when we met for the second date, I was honest and told hiim that I enjoyed his company, but I didn't feel that we were headed for a romantic relationship. He agreed. We had dinner, and most of the night he spoke of his ex-wife. He seemed to be still hung up on her (I think he mentioned her on our first date, too). I listened to him - he was calm, low-key, just a normal guy. We parted amicably. (Though the restaurant was in my neighborhood, and I walked through parks just so he couldn't follow me home. My gut told me to)
The next day I went to a minor league baseball game with friends. Come home to a message on my answering machine from a detective, saying he needed to speak with me immediately, and to NOT contact Will. I returned the call ....
He asked me about Will, our date, if he'd had anything to drink, and if so, how much. Then he told me..
After our date ended, Will drove to his ex wife's house. He beat her up so bad she ended up in a coma. He put her at the bottom of stairs, then called 911. The doctors at the hospital knew her injuries were NOT from a fall and called the cops. When they went to confront him, they found him dead, from self inflicted stab wounds.
They kept asking me why I didn't want to date him. The only thing I could say is that my gut told me not to....
posted by annieb at 7:16 PM on November 3, 2022 [6 favorites]
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posted by GenjiandProust at 6:21 AM on October 29, 2022 [7 favorites]