Horror Archives - the bird on fire

What are you afraid of?

January 9, 2024 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

By 8th Grader Jackie Doyle Padgett

It’s a new year–that time of year many of us make resolutions, affirmations, envision a better life, vow to turn over a new leaf, get over our fears. Jackie’s interested in fears. Turns out, there is a lot to be afraid of in life: heights, dark water, spiders. And a healthy fear helps us survive: keeps us from dangling from high places, entering uncharted waters, getting bit. But, some extend their fear to clowns, mirrors, balloons, the sun. Fear–is it survival instinct? or irrational debilitation? Jackie looks at fear.

Common Fears

This section focuses on common fears you’ve probably heard about before; maybe you even have some of these fears. They might look a little bit different as I listed them by their “phobia names.”

Acrophobia

Acrophobia is commonly known as the fear of heights. Acro comes from the Greek word akron, which means “high point.” Most people get this fear from seeing people get hurt from falling or falling themselves (Forbes Health).

People could also get this fear from a natural survival instinct that inhibits an accidental fall off of something high enough that it could kill them (Medical News Today).

Arachnophobia

This is one of the phobias everyone knows, the fear of spiders. I have met many people who have a disliking of spiders or who are outright afraid of them. Researchers think this fear comes from multiple things, the main ones being the spiders could hurt us, or the fear is passed through scary movies (Psychology Today). The probability of someone getting hurt or dying from a spider/spider bite is very low, around one tenth of a percent. While there are around 43,000 species of spiders, a very small amount is dangerous to us–only around 30 of those could be deadly to humans (Britannica). Movies do capitalize on the scariness of spiders. There are so many where spiders will kill people–that’s literally one of the main plots for a movie called Arachnophobia.

Coulrophobia

When I was a kid I definitely had a mild version of Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, especially at theme parks. There have been multiple studies to see why people fear these, supposedly, happy mascots. Researchers found that this fear comes mostly from pop culture and not being able to see the clown’s emotions (Scientific American).

Since they have so much makeup on, the person behind the clown face could be frowning, but we wouldn’t be able to tell. Similarly the eyebrows (which are pretty good indicators at what a person is planning/thinking) are covered. Movies/books, like IT, promote the horror of clowns. There was even a serial killer clown named John Wayne Gacy (Britannica).

Claustrophobia

I definitely have a very mild version of claustrophobia. I can’t stand being in an elevator, or a locker. It makes me feel like I’m going to be stuck there forever. Researchers think people have this fear from getting stuck in a tight space as a child. This can also be passed on if your parents have claustrophobia. Most parents will keep their child with them at all times, so if a parent has this fear, their child likely will avoid the enclosed spaces their parents have so carefully kept away from (NHS UK). I think I have this fear from getting stuck in an airplane’s bathroom, twice. I couldn’t figure out how to undo the lock (okay, I know it’s meant to be super easy, but the lock got stuck or something).

Thalassophobia

If deep, dark, empty water has ever scared you, you might have a bit of Thalassophobia. It sometimes relates to the fear of the unknown, which makes a lot of sense. Around 95% of the deep ocean is unexplored (Ocean Wise), so that’s a lot of stuff we don’t know about just living in the ocean we swim in–how fun. This fear can also come from having been close to drowning, seeing a creature lurking in the water (sharks, whales, big fish etc…), or even hearing about someone’s bad experience with deep water (Health Line).

Unique Fears

Most of these are fears I’ve never heard about before or knew little about. You’ll notice I use their most common name, but they have multiple names depending on where you’re from.

Eisoptrophobia

Eisoptrophobia (or catoptrophobia, or spectrophobia) stands for the fear of mirrors. The Greek word eisoptro means mirror, and phobia, of course, means fear. There isn’t too much knowledge as to why people have this fear, but it’s probable that it comes from someone scaring you (Health Grades). For example, you entered the bathroom and were about to fix your hair when you saw something in the corner of your eye. You look into the mirror, and there is your friend creeping up behind you as a joke, and now you’re stuck with this fear of catching something creepy in the mirror. It could also do with self image problems, like you’re scared of seeing yourself in the mirror (Very Well Mind).

Globophobia

This is the fear of balloons; sometimes this fear comes with an attachment of the noise it makes when the balloon pops. Imagine going to the Winter Formal last year with this fear….Anyways–this fear is commonly started at a young age, whether you got hurt by a water balloon or someone scared you with the pop of it (Louis Laves Web). People with this phobia can also be frightened with any type of balloon including hot air balloons (Hot Air Flight).

Heliophobia

A lot of fears are unfortunate/annoying to have, but this fear, the fear of the sun, is definitely one of the worst. People have to go outside to see the sun everyday, and it’s very hard to avoid it. The word helio comes from the Greek word, hēlios, which, of course, means sun. Researchers think people who have this fear are scared of getting skin cancer or wrinkles from the sun (aka photoaging) (Lybrate).

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Whoever came up with this name definitely thought they were funny. This is the fear of long words. It’s called hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia because sesquipedalian means long word. Somewhere along the way they added hippopotamus and monster (Verywell Mind). This fear is considered more of a social phobia because it commonly gives people anxiety to pronounce these long words in front of people, scared they will get judged if they mispronounce it. Most people get this fear when they are young and learning how to pronounce, for example, antidisestablishmentarianism. Maybe the teacher was being too harsh with them mispronouncing the word, or the students made fun of this person for it (Health Line).

Submechanophobia

This is the fear of underwater/partially underwater human-made objects, for example, planes, submarines, statues, ships, or any other machinery. Similar to Thalassophobia, this fear also could come from a fear of the unknown, fear of losing control or bad past experiences (Very Well Mind, India Times). These experiences could include being on a ship/plane that crashed and sunk (Dove Med).

Trypophobia

Last but not least, the fear of holes grouped together in some sort of pattern. If someone with this fear sees a cluster of holes in food or flowers, etc… It might cause them to have a gag reflex. This is under the phobia category, but people with this fear aren’t really scared of it, they’re mostly disgusted (Cleveland Clinic). Researchers think that people get this fear by a survival instinct in their brain telling them that these patterns could be dangerous. For example, the holes are reminiscent of spider eyes, or a deadly skin disease, etc…. Another reason for the fear could be that it takes a lot of brain power to look at complicated patterns, which could cause people some distress (Osmosis).

I find that fear is such an interesting thing–look at all these different fearsome phobias. Of course, I missed a lot; there’s practically a fear of everything and anything. If you know any fun facts about a fear I didn’t cover, I’d love to know about it. Tell me about your favorite phobia!

The after.

January 10, 2023 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

The life and times of G.B Eripmav

Serial Fiction, by Middle-Schooler Penny Andreas

London, January 30th, 3018

Dear Diary,

It’s been one year since the human population and the animal kingdom became extinct. They left behind yet another world of destruction and later decay. I live here alone in this old and empty barber shop. I am the only one left of my race; however, there were not originally many. I have been forced to feed off of a substance other than my first choice: blood. Although nothing really has the taste of murder and the releasing of an empty soul, I have found other items give me a similar shiver down my old spine. I have found that cranberries are one option that is always around; they seem to grow in every watery bog. They are quite bitter. But, when served in a glass cup and sprinkled with crickets, there is an obscure taste that I find almost . . . alluring. I am left with few other options.

London, February 1st, 3018

Dear Diary,

From my concoctions, I seem to have made myself ill. I am barely able to write. I cough and cough. I am absolutely disgusted about being sick. It really is terrible; though I am grateful to still be alive. It’s a terrible day today, too; the dark clouds came back like the day everyone perished. That memory will be forever stuck in my mind. How I wish I could somehow forget it. Alas, the sun has finally come out. It’s been at least a week or so without it. Not much happens. I still sit here alone and in perfect solitude. Anon I shall look for at least one sign of life. I shall deeply wish forever for another source of life, since I am immortal and other life has been completely diminished. Farewell for now, I have some more thinking to do.

Somewhere…Perhaps what used to be London, February 13th, 3018

Dear Diary,

I do recall wishing for another sign of life, but the wish backfired on me. I have found a species…or so I think. They are terribly tall with hidden faces behind cloaks. I do not recognize the language they speak, nor do I have the ability to in my current state. They came across my home in the old barber shop carrying great big weapons with fire. They have brought me somewhere…perhaps what used to be London, since there is a giant collapsed clock that stands in decay. I’ve heard it’s called “Big Ben.” At this moment, I am currently sitting on a cement ground. I sit in an empty room. I do not remember how I came to this room. It is all a blur. I managed to grab my notebook and a pen as I was being taken. I have things to try to remember now. Farewell.

I possibly may know this place, February 22nd, 3018

I am now guessing that I was knocked out, due to my throbbing headache and my knowledge of nothing that happened earlier. I am now in a blue room with what looks like UV lights above me. Whoever this species is, they do not have much knowledge or know of the existence of my race. I am deeply interested in this odd situation, and I wonder if they are a species from a new planet, or maybe something extremely out of the ordinary on Earth. Anything is possible….I hope this ends soon. Farewell until tomorrow.

The Annual Decoration of the Doors

November 3, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

A summary of the Halloween contest as seen through the eyes of Indiana Behr.

By Junior Indy Behr

It was officially Halloween season, and so began the annual Palm Valley tradition of classroom-door decorating. Last week, I wanted to see this tradition in progress, so I went around to several advisories throughout the Upper School to see what was up and what was being taped up.

Ms. Zachik

Ms. Zachik, a 9th-grade advisor, showed me what the ultimate plan for her door’s decoration is. Her advisory’s door was expected to be a scene from Angry Birds. When I saw it, they had a sky background on the door with several cutouts ready to be added. I asked myself, Will this be enough to win? We shall see…

Ms. Maguire

Ms. Maguire’s 10th-grade advisory was the runner-up in the door-decorating contest last year, and her advisory is known to be very competitive when it comes to their door decoration. So far, when I saw it, nothing had appeared on the advisory’s door. As most of the preparations were done inside of her classroom, Ms. Maguire said confidently, “We’re ready,” and time will tell if they can come out on top.

Mr. Jowett

Mr. Jowett is a 10th-grade advisor as well, and so far his door has been seen to have several skeletons on it. They even had several skeletons peeking out at those crossing the halls through the window in the door. It seemed that a lot of effort had been put into these decorations. My thoughts were This door could definitely be a serious contender.

Mr. Satterfield

Mr. Satterfield’s 11th-grade advisory had a large amount of purple pieces of paper attached to the inside of his door. He told me that Christina and Alyna were collaborating on decorating their advisory’s door, and that the end result was going to be three-dimensional in some way. If this was executed correctly, this door could definitely have had a shot.

Ms. Castellano

Ms. Castellano is an 11th-grade advisor (and my advisor). Her door was covered by a huge spooky octopus, with tentacles sprawling all across the outside of the science building. I may be biased, but I think that our door was one of the best, and I was very hopeful that we could pull it off.

Mrs. Bernstein

Mrs. Bernstein, a 12th-grade advisor, attributes college counseling on Tuesdays and Fridays as the reason for which her advisory had not been able to decorate their door this year. Hopefully next year her class will have an opportunity to participate!

After administrative judges scoured all of the competition, on October 31st, the winner of the Upper School was declared. The winner was my own advisory, Ms. Castellano! What was the secret? Ms. Castellano said, Go beyond the door. Think outside the box.

Scary in Verse

October 15, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

And, for our final Scary Stories post, our International Correspondent Quintus shares a scary poem.

By Quintus Ni

Pale night, dim candle
Old man of old roots
Spit out your teeth, and say
One year and one month, bones grew out of the soil
Crow, wind, open mouth of grave
Full moon in branches
Dead willow by water
A skinny barking dog outside the village
The moonlight cleans the windows silently
Like a cold hand
Children dare not dream
I always think, what’s out there
Quietly, walking
It’s hanging from the top of the tree
It’s the ghost of grandfather
Or mom’s sleeves?
That night
Silence darkens the night
The room is empty
nothing in the world

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

Randonautica

October 15, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Hannah Hall

Have you ever heard of Randonautica? When Editor Erik said to the Blog Staff, “Find scary stories!” Hannah thought Randonautica was pretty darn scary.

Randonautica is an app that utilizes a quantum random number generator (QRNG) to create random coordinates. Users wander to and about these coordinates–bringing into play their own unique intentions. The app focuses around the quantum process of using thought and consciousness to influence your environment, thus filling it with synchronicities and coincidences.

To use the app, you start by entering your radius of desired movement and whether or not you want water points included in your coordinates, then you send in your location. After that, you tell the app what kind of quantum point you want generated. For this step, you are presented 3 options:

*Attractor (the center of the densest cluster of quantum dots),

*Void (the center of the least dense cluster of quantum dots),

*and Anomaly (the strongest of the two).

From there, you decide your own journey by setting an intention. Usually, it is a broad theme such as joy, peace, or love, but other times it is something specific such as spotting a rose bush. Then, the quantum point is generated by the QRNG of your choice; the app defaults to the Australian National University, which bases its points on the fluctuations of the magnetic field of virtual particles from a quantum laser in a vacuum! The other two QRNG’s are Temporal, which is based on processor time cycles, and Cam RNG, which is based on thermal noise in the photo-matrix detectors within your smartphone camera. Once the point is sent to you, it will come with all of its statistical info, including the z-score, power, and radius…basically the technical deets. Nevertheless, once you get it, you may embark on your amazing adventure with your handy dandy GPS (aka Google Maps).

But, sometimes Randonauting can be far from amazing. In June 2020, a group of Washington teens took all the steps to begin their quantum trip. Unfortunately, nothing could prepare them for what was to come. They set their intention and started trekking their way to their point. It sent them to the shore of Alki Beach in Seattle. Filming the experience, they crept down the rocky slope to their coordinates only to notice a black suitcase. The video they were filming had the accompanying caption, “…We found this black suitcase. We were joking that maybe the suitcase would have money. As SOON as [we] opened it, the smell was overwhelming.” Because the smell was so alarming, a girl from the group promptly called 911. The police came to the scene, and later notified the public that the content of the dreaded black suitcase was two dismembered bodies. Later, a man was arrested with connections to the remains.

This leads us to ask, What really were their intentions? What led this Randonauting group to that suitcase?

You, too, can go Randonauting (once the app re-opens in two weeks). I hope you do so without running into something gruesome. To be honest, when I did this with a friend, it sent me to the Staples parking lot in Palm Springs. And, all I found were cars and trash in the lot.

Sources Referenced:

https://www.randonautica.com

https://www.thecut.com/2020/07/what-is-randonautica-the-app-that-led-teens-to-a-dead-body.html

https://www.q13fox.com/news/man-arrested-in-case-of-human-remains-found-in-suitcase-on-west-seattle-beach

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

THE GIRL IN THE RED CAPE

October 13, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

Scary Stories Editor Erik invites you to read this story about a babysitter who sucks at her job. Blogger Evan was committed to finding a classic scary story. He remembers hearing it for the first time ten years ago, and he was very scared.

By Evan Spry

One night a little girl’s parents went out for a business dinner, so they hired a babysitter to watch her.

“Can I have some ice cream?” the little girl, Holly, asked after supper.

“Sure,” said the babysitter, Beatrice. “Where’s the freezer?”

“In the basement, so are the nuts, cherries and candy and stuff.”

When babysitter Beatrice went down to the basement to get the ice cream, she looked out the window to see a little girl standing outside. This didn’t strike her as too suspicious, so she simply brushed it off.

When Beatrice handed Holly her ice cream, Holly asked, “Can I have some hot fudge on this, please?”

“Course,” was Beatrice’s quick reply.

Beatrice went back down into the basement to retrieve the fudge next to the nuts and berries. She looked back out the window to see the same little girl, this time wearing a red cape. As she trudged back upstairs, Beatrice absentmindedly wondered if the girl was playing dress-up.

“Got it,” she said to Holly, after setting the fudge in the microwave and putting the hot thick chocolate goop on the ice cream.

“Can I please have some nuts on this …?”

“Really?”

“Please?”

“Fine…” the babysitter sighed, already heading back down the stairs. As she got the nuts out of a small cabinet in the wall, she looked back out the window to see the same little girl in the red cape, only this time, holding a knife.

As babysitter Beatrice ran upstairs, she decided she was calling the police.

“Ooh. Thank you!” Holly squealed happily from her perch on her pink Disney Princess booster seat.

“Uh-I-I yeah. Hey, Holly, I need you to-“

“Oh no! Can I have a cherry on top, please?”

Not wanting to alarm Holly, Beatrice decided that she would go get the cherries, then call the police–after locking herself and Holly in the bathroom. There’s no way the little girl in the cape could get inside if the windows and doors were all locked.

After slowly descending the stairs, Beatrice opened the freezer with shaky arms.

Daring to peek out of the window, she closed her eyes before staring out.

The same little girl, in the same red cape, holding the same knife was there. Only the knife now had blood on it.

Running up the stairs, scared of what might await, Beatrice quickly checked on Holly.

Holly was dead.

Beatrice ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind her before dialing 911.

When the police arrived, the tearful mother and father were with them. The mother approached Beatrice, sobbing uncontrollably. “What happened?!”

“Oh God- I’m sorry oh God! I-I saw this little girl with this red cape and a knife outside your basement window!”

The mother said, “We-we don’t have any basement windows, only mirrors…”

http://www.everythingscary.com/story/the-little-girl-in-the-red-cap.html

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

The Zodiac Killer

October 12, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

In the pursuit of Scary Stories, Jake examines the mystery of the 1960s Zodiac Killer and how the killer ended people’s chances at young love.–Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

By Jake Sonderman

On December 20, 1968, 17-year-old David Faraday and 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen drove to lovers lane in Vallejo, California, for their first date. They were greeted by two bullets.

On July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Mike Mageau, 19, were also in the car at a California Golf Club. They were also greeted by bullets. The Vallejo Police got a call that same day that said, “I also killed those kids last year.”

The Zodiac Killer was confessing to the murder of both couples.

The Zodiac Killer struck again on September 27, 1969. 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard and 20-year-old Bryan Hartnell were having a picnic when they were approached by a hooded figure. The hood had a circle with two lines through it. The figure tied up and stabbed the couple. This time, there was a survivor–Bryan Hartnell.

On October 11, 1969, Zodiac got in Paul Stine’s San Francisco cab. Zodiac shot Stine in broad daylight, and this time there were more witnesses. Witnesses described Zodiac as a 25 or 30-year-old white male with glasses. The police knew that the suspect had to be close. The police nabbed a man. Unfortunately, the dispatcher had mistakenly told the cops that the suspect was black, and Zodiac escaped.

These are all of the known murders of the Zodiac Killer, but these might not even scratch the surface of the evil of the Zodiac Killer.

After Zodiac’s July 1969 murder of Ferrin and Mageau, he sent a message to local newspapers, but in encrypted language. He provided details only the murderer would know. He also made calls to the police department confessing to the murder of Paul Stine. In August of that year, the serial killer sent another encrypted letter and began it with “This is Zodiac speaking.” This is the first time the killer referred to himself as Zodiac, a self given name. He would continue to call himself “Zodiac” in future letters.

The Zodiac Ciphers: What We Know - HISTORY

These letters were a combination of requests and threats. In one letter, Zodiac confessed to the murders of 37 people.

In another letter, Zodiac threatened to destroy a school bus if the people of San Francisco didn’t start wearing his circle with two lines through it. Zodiac never said what was significant about the symbol, but some have thought it was a rifle sight. It is more likely that he chose this because of its significance in ancient religion and witchcraft teachings. The circle with two lines through it is a symbol for the sun, and the symbol is called the sun cross.

This symbol has shown up multiple times in history, importantly during the reign of Nazi Germany. Certain Nazi groups in Norway and other countries adopted the circle cross as their logo. The website “Stormfront,” a neo-nazi site, adopted the logo in the 90s. Investigators never figured out why Zodiac adopted that symbol.

25 Witchcraft Symbols Everyone Should Know About | Thought Catalog

It is likely that Zodiac explained the symbol and said much more in his letters, but many of them remain undeciphered.

No other murder from Zodiac was ever discovered. Zodiac continued to make threats through 1971, and then went silent.

Other letters have come in but are thought to be copy cats. The real Zodiac never spoke or struck again.

Sources:

25 Witchcraft Symbols Everyone Should Know About

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer

https://www.biography.com/news/zodiac-killer-murder-identity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_cross

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

The Scariest Folktales From Different Cultures

October 8, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

We finally made it to the Halloween season. Here are some scary stories the Blog Crew found.–Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

By Sara Habibipour

We’ve all probably heard classic scary stories of vampires, zombies, and serial killers. But have you heard of these folktales from around the world?

North America: The Ghost Witch of the Wabanaki Tribes

Long ago, a witch died of old age. In her day, she was feared by all throughout the Dawn Lands. When she passed away, there were no friends or colleagues to attend to her body. The few relatives she had finally wrapped her in blankets and placed her body in an old, gnarled tree deep in the heart of a black forest.

The forest became a place of dread. People saw strange things flying in and out of the trees on moonlit nights. Hunters heard terrible sounds echoing from the burial grove. Eventually, people and animals stopped visiting the forest all together.

Several years later, a man and his wife were traveling east. They did not know many people in those parts, so, instead of asking for a night’s lodging, they decided to sleep under the stars. Looking for a good place to spend the night, they saw the old forest and set foot into that dark grove. Suddenly, chills overcame the wife, and she questioned her husband about their night’s stay. He merely laughed away his wife’s fears and attributed them to superstition. “You shouldn’t fear the dead. It’s the living out there in the real world that we have to be mindful of.” He then prepared a fire and cooked their supper.

It was not long after they went to sleep that the wife began to hear a gnawing sound. At first, she convinced herself that it was the old tree branches rubbing against each other in the wind or a small animal gnawing on its dinner. Just when it seemed that she could take no more of the gnawing, it stopped. The wife reached out to wake her husband, but he did not stir, so she let him be.

When the sun finally rose, the wife roughly shook her husband by his shoulder. To her horror, he rolled onto his back with a face frozen in terror. He was dead, and the left side of his chest was a ruined mass of blood. The wife screamed. In terror, she then ran with all of her might to a lodge. She tried to tell her story, but her words were incoherent and jumbled. When she could finally put words together and explain what happened to her husband, the people in the lodge recalled the story of the ghost witch, and immediately knew that the witch was the murderer of the woman’s husband. With weapons in their hands, they marched to the haunted grove where the ghost witch resided.

In order to cleanse the grove of all evil spirits and ghosts, the men burned the trees in the haunted grove. From that day forth, the old forest was a little bit brighter and cleaner. Shadows no longer held unseen menace, and animals once again returned to the grove.

* * * *

South America: La Casa Matusita in Lima, Peru

La Casa Matusita is an ordinary-looking yellow building located in downtown Lima. But although it looks normal on the outside, local legend says that the building was the scene of a horrible crime.

One version goes that a local Peruvian man slaughtered his entire family and committed suicide, while another says that hallucinogens were served at a dinner party, resulting in a gruesome massacre.

Regardless of the story, the second floor is told to be the most haunted area in the house, with those who venture upstairs quickly going insane. In fact, a journalist in the 1960s attempted to prove this theory wrong, but lost his mind while he was on the second floor.

* * * *

Europe: The Dutch Story of Witte Wieven (White Women)

Once, when a woman was getting water from a well, she suddenly felt the touch of an icy hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw that at least twenty white women had surrounded her. They came nearer and nearer, leaving the woman no room for escape. In fear, the woman called out to her husband, but he didn’t hear her.

The white woman who had put her hand on the woman’s shoulder said, “Why are you so frightened–come with us to dance on the hills.” The woman tried to resist, but she couldn’t escape.

Later, when she didn’t return home, her husband was struck with dismay.

Instead of going to work the next day, he waited in front of the door to his farmhouse. He suddenly heard people quietly talking inside. “Did you sleep well, my child?” “And has the little one eaten the nice porridge yesterday?” “Has the little child been good?” Among them was the voice of his wife, with a melancholy sound. Softly he opened the door. The child was lying in the bed with his hands stretched out and a big smile on his face. But, there was no one else to be seen.

Later, the farmer was able to get his wife back, but with a certain condition. No one could say the words, “Away, you pig!” or she would be in the hands of the White Women for eternity. The husband didn’t express any concern. After all, it wasn’t a common phrase.

A few days later one of their workers was busy binding the grain. He didn’t notice the pig waddling towards him till it came near and sniffed the grain. He kicked the animal….Soon it came back. “Away you pig!” he cried. Then he remembered the words, and he left the grain. He made his way to the husband as fast as he could.

They frantically searched for the woman, but she was nowhere to be found.

* * * *

Africa: Uniondale’s Lost Lover Looking for a Ride

This urban legend comes all the way from South Africa.

According to urban legend, Marie Charlotte Roux had recently become engaged to Giel Oberholzer in 1968. Over the Easter Weekend of that year, the couple embarked on what was to become a fateful evening on the outskirts of Uniondale in Karoo.

Roux was asleep on the backseat of Oberholzer’s Volkswagen Beetle when her fiancé lost control of the vehicle in stormy weather. The car rolled on the Barandas-Willowmore road, roughly 20 kilometres from the Uniondale, killing Roux.

Yet, according to some motorists, Roux can still be seen waiting on the side of the road, waiting for the return of her fiancé and a lift to her final destination.

According to several reports, motorists driving along the desolate stretch of road at night come across a woman hitchhiking. This woman, who apparently fits the description of Roux, asks for a lift, and most motorists oblige.

However, a few kilometres down the road, Roux vanishes. Some shocked motorists have described the woman’s laughter and a sudden cold chill in the air.

* * * *

Asia: Japan’s Red Room Curse

This urban legend is one of Japan’s most famous and recent. And honestly, probably one of the scariest ones because it involves modern technology.

The story centers on the idea that a cursed pop-up will appear on a random victim’s computer. The pop-up is just an image of a door, and a recorded voice will ask, “Do you like the red room?”

The pop-up will continue to appear until the voice can finish its question, even if it is closed. Those who see the pop-up are later found dead, the walls painted red with their own blood.

This story began as an animation about a boy who was cursed and died after seeing the pop-up. In real life, the pop-up is set to appear on the user’s computer at the end of that animation video. The video’s status as an urban legend was cemented when it was discovered that the 11-year-old murderer who committed the Sasebo Slashing (the killing of her 12-year-old classmate) had the video as a bookmark on her computer.

Sources:

https://www.nativetales.com/fireside-chat/the-ghost-witch

https://nearshoreamericas.com/la-casa-matusita-haunted-latin-america/

https://letterpile.com/creative-writing/The-White-Women-the-Dutch-legend-of-the-Witte-Wieven

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/south-africa-five-favourite-ghost-stories-explained/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/best-japanese-urban-legends-and-myths/

Image Sources:

https://www.deviantart.com/tag/skudakumooch

https://www.livinginperu.com/terrifying-legends-peru-1-la-casa-matusita/

5 Spooky German Ghost Stories to Amp Up the Horror

https://skolmen.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/the-ghost-of-uniondale/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/best-japanese-urban-legends-and-myths/

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

10 Days in a Madhouse

October 6, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

When Editor Erik Bearman assigned the Blog Staff the subject “Scary Stories,” Elizabeth went looking for a real-life horror story.

By Elizabeth Shay

The “haunted asylum” trope has been widely used in horror movies for many years. Such films are often more frightening because of their basis in reality. No one in their right mind would willingly commit themselves into a psychiatric hospital,…right? Well, long before the days of recent horror movies, a female journalist did just that.

In 1887, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman–better known by her pen name, Nellie Bly–launched an undercover investigation of the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island in New York. The word “lunatic” comes from luna, meaning moon, and the popular misconception at the time was that the changing moon could cause people to have fevers or to act irrationally. The word “lunatic” was used broadly to describe any person with a mental illness or behavioral disorder. Many conditions were not well known, and people with a wide variety of symptoms were labelled insane and sent to asylums. Suspicious, Bly purposely had herself committed to the asylum on Blackwell’s Island for 10 days in order to expose the real conditions. Working under an assumed name, she took a room in a boarding house and began wandering around, refusing to sleep, and ranting incoherently. The owners of the house soon called the police, and Bly, claiming to be a Cuban immigrant with amnesia, was sent to Bellevue Hospital by a judge. There, she experienced a first look at the poor treatment of the mentally ill, as she and other hospital inmates were forced to eat spoiled food and live in squalid conditions. After being diagnosed with dementia and other psychological illnesses, Bly was sent to the Women’s Lunatic Asylum.

Conditions in the asylum were worse than Bly had expected. More than 1,600 patients were being held in the hospital intended to house 1,000. Due to extensive budget cuts, patient care had sharply declined in recent years. Only 16 doctors remained on staff, and those that remained had very little training or compassion. Patients were forced to take freezing baths and remain in their wet clothes for hours. They were forced to sit on benches silently and unmoving for 12 hours, and some were tied with ropes and made to pull carts like mules. Food and sanitary conditions were terrible, as the inmates were given rotten meat, moldy, stale bread and contaminated water. Those who resisted or complained received beatings and were threatened by staffers. Many of the patients were not insane at all. A large number of the women were recent immigrants, caught in a law-enforcement system in which they were unable to communicate. Others were committed simply because they were poor and had no family to support them. If they were not suffering from mental illnesses before they arrived at the asylum, the asylum’s treatments inflicted grave psychological damage.

Upon her release, Bly wrote a book detailing her experiences at Blackwell’s Island: 10 Days in a Madhouse. The exposé had immediate results. New York state officials increased the budget by one million just for the Women’s Lunatics Asylum. And, the book helped spark hospital and asylum reforms across the country.

Sources Referenced:

https://www.nps.gov/people/nellie-bly.htm

https://www.biography.com/news/inside-nelly-bly-10-days-madhouse

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

3rd Place Short Story Winner

January 16, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Harlow Berny

Hello! Here, finally, is the 3rd-place winner of the Halloween Short Horror Story Competition written by Erik Bearman! It was a tough choice, but ultimately the Masked Rabbit and his story “The Darkness” won 1st place, and Marianne Capetz came in 2nd place with her story “The Child.” Enjoy!

Cobwebs

By Erik Bearman

My grandmother always gave me one rule, “Don’t touch the cobwebs!” If she asked me to clean out garage, she’d say, “Don’t touch the cobwebs!” If she asked me to fetch something from the attic, she’d say, “Don’t touch the cobwebs!” Even if I was washing the dishes after dinner, she’d always say, “Don’t touch the cobwebs!” even though there was no chance of cobwebs being in the dishwasher, she’d still warn me. I never questioned my grandmother’s preoccupation with cobwebs because she was always there for me. Ever since my parents died, she was always there for me. When I was being bullied in middle school, she was there to scream at the principal until they were expelled. When I struggled in math class, she was there to make sure the teacher tutored me after school. I figured that since she was always there for me, being paranoid of a couple house spiders wasn’t a big deal.

Two months after my 15th birthday, my grandmother died in her sleep on the 31st of October. Once I had finished grieving (or at least summoned the ability to be able to walk through the front door without bursting into tears), I went to clean out her house. It was Christmas, and the snowfall was heavy. My girlfriend, Juniper, was kind enough to help me clean out my grandmother’s house. Funny thing is I never asked her to help; she just showed up and started helping. Without my grandmother to keep them at bay with her “holy duster” (a feather duster with a handle specially carved in the shape of a religious cross, as she called it), the cobwebs had spread all across the house. We started cleaning in the dining room. As I was stacking the chairs against the wall, Juniper walked straight into a cobweb! I laughed as she picked spider silk out of her mouth. It was the first time I felt joy in a while; and I figured that since my grandmother was gone, touching the cobwebs wouldn’t be a big deal. I was wrong.

That night me and Juniper were sitting on the sofa watching some of my grandmother’s old movies. Juniper sat on my lap as I braided her hair. Halfway through Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Juniper and I fell asleep on the couch. The last thing I remember hearing before I closed my eyes was the basement door creak open. I woke to the sound of Juniper whimpering as she held me tight. “Damien,” she said, “Damien, please wake up!”

“What? What is it?”
“Look at the floor!”

When I did look at the floor my skeleton nearly leapt out of my body. The floor was thickly covered in giant cobwebs as far as we could see.

“Wha-What happened?”
“I-I don’t know! I woke up and the floor was covered in the stuff!”
“Okay, let’s just remain calm and–”

I was interrupted by a loud squeaking noise. We looked at the top of the cable box and saw a raccoon had managed to break through one of the windows while we were sleeping. It sniffed around the room searching for a meal. It turned its head towards the hallway which led straight to the kitchen. As it descended the box, its large, bushy, tail got caught in the webbing. As soon as it tried to tug itself free, we heard the basement door slam open! And a large, black blur shot across the floor before puncturing the raccoon’s flesh with its sharp fangs. Strangely, there was no blood, there was no gore of any kind. The raccoon didn’t squeal or even flinch. It just went limp, with a minor twitch here and there. Paralysis, I thought. Whatever had paralyzed the rodent turned and dashed out of the room back into the basement, but not before I got a good look at it.

The moonlight that shone through the broken window had revealed a giant, black, spider the size of a Saint Bernard. Its spiny legs were as thin and sharp as a sewing needle, glistening fangs the size of butcher knives, and eight red eyes the size of baseballs. But the eyes were the strangest part; they were deformed and detached from the spider’s head. They dangled and swung like loose buttons on an old doll’s head.

Out of fear, Juniper squeezed my arm tightly and whispered, “Damien, please tell me this is a nightmare! Please tell me this is just a figment of my imagination!”
“I wish I could; I really wish I could!”
“What is that thing!”
“It looked like a black widow spider! But they don’t usually get larger than 1.5 inches.”
“How-how do you kill one?”
“Normal ones? Step on them. This one? Use a machine gun!”
“Damien, we have to get out of this house! Let’s just drive as far away from here as we can!”
“How do we get out? The broken window is too small, and if we touch these webs … well you saw what happened to that raccoon!”

I looked for a way out of the room, but it looked like the spider had us in the perfect trap. The only objects not covered in webbing were the couch, T.V., and the various boxes we had stacked across the house.

The boxes!

I turned to Juniper, “I have an idea! You know the game, ‘The Floor is Lava’?” Juniper replied, “Yeah, what about it?”

—

Slowly we hopped from pieces of furniture to stacked boxes to-and-fro as we tried to exit the house. We could hear the scattering of giant spiders coming from the basement. “Keep calm, Juniper. We’re almost to the door.” Since black widows prefer warmer temperatures, we thought the odds were good that we’d make it to the car. I hopped onto the table by the door. I slowly turned the knob–

“Damien.”
“Yes, Juniper?”

When I turned around my heart nearly dropped! Juniper had slipped and her foot had gotten caught in the webs. I could hear one of the spiders getting closer. A dark blur turned the corner of the entryway and charged at Juniper. Within a split second the beast was on top of her, her body going limp with paralysis. The worst part was her eyes; her eyes stared blankly at me. She was trapped in her own body, and there was nothing either of us could do. The creature, almost as if it was taunting me, slowly dragged her body back to the basement. And while it could’ve just been my head playing tricks on me, I could swear its dangling eyes were staring right at me. I cried into the darkness. The only person left in my life who I loved had just been taken. First my parents, then my grandmother, and now Juniper; one by one they’d all been ripped out of my life. I gathered myself and slowly made my way to the kitchen. I wasn’t just going to let her die down there, not without a fight. If there was even a slight chance Juniper was still alive, I was going to save her. I grabbed a knife and headed towards the basement. I figured that anything stabbed in the face would likely die. I could hear the creatures skittering across the floor, their faint outlines barely visible in the darkness. I held my breath, determined to kill them all, if not to save Juniper, then at least to avenge her death. I bent down and touched the webbing on the floor and in an instant a spider lunged out of the basement and threw me down the stairs. Even in my daze I could hear the spiders swarm around me. They bared their fangs and–

—

“And what Dad? How did you save Mom? How’d you kill the spiders?” Damien’s son Devon asked. Damien sat in his chair trying to remember how he saved his wife–except he couldn’t. He couldn’t remember a thing. The last thing he remembered was being thrown down those steps as the spiders closed in on him. Had his memory blacked out the events? He had to find out. “Hold on.” He told his son as he headed towards the kitchen. His wife, Juniper, was making her famous Shepherd’s Pie. Damien approached her, “What were you and Devon talking about?” asked Juniper. “I was just telling him about the time I rescued you from my grandmother’s house all those Christmases ago.” Juniper replied, “Oh, my little knight in shining armor. You dashed right into that room and killed them all! I knew in that moment that you were the man I wanted to marry,” she said as she hugged him.

“It’s really weird, honey, but I can’t remember a thing!”
“Oh always such the jokester, Damien. C’mon, you remember!”
“Honey, I swear on my grandmother’s grave, I don’t remember anything after the spider threw me into the basement!”
“Oh sure you do, it’s in your brain somewhere. We simply need to pry it out!”

The scent of rot and decay hit Damien’s nose like a train. He looked over at Juniper’s pie, and it had been replaced by a mass of a grey, mucus-like substance. Protruding from this substance was a raccoon’s tail, a broken feather duster, and a large lock of Juniper’s hair. “Juniper, what’s going on? Why can’t I remember anything? Marrying you? Having a son? Any of it?” Damien asked frantically. The last thing Damien saw was Juniper’s sinister smile.

—

Damien awoke wrapped in a cocoon of spider silk, only his head was exposed. He could feel where the spider had bit him. While the wound had miraculously cauterized, the spider’s hallucinogenic venom was just starting to wear off. He turned his head as far as he could to the left where he saw one of the spiders crawl on top of a screaming Juniper. It almost seemed to be laughing as it prepared to feast. He felt another spider slowly crawl up his body. As their eyes locked and it opened its gaping maw, Damien heard one last thing. “Don’t touch the cobwebs!”

—

As the spiders feasted on their latest victims in the basement, one of the creatures had managed to squeeze through the raccoon-sized hole in the window. As it landed on the ground, the snow evaporated into thin air. The arachnid dashed off into the night as its kin followed suit. It was going to be a red Christmas this year!

For Fun: Discover the mystery behind these creatures. Translate the binary, and the answer will be revealed.

https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/ascii-to-binary.html

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Editor: Leo Milmet