Yes, it's a terrifying ceramic baby happily tearing at the flesh of an amorphous blob with a screaming mouth. Perfectly normal. Nothing to see here.
This unsettling ceramic art is created by Israeli artist Ronit Baranga.
Imaginary Friends
Children. Tiny miniature people with all sorts of wrong in their minds. Scary midget beings. Don't be fooled by the fact that they sometimes do cute things. Their brains are filled with horrifying things. They must be watched constantly and treated with deep suspicion. If you don't believe me, read on...
[Stories harvested from Reddit by Cara at Popcorn Horror]
The History of Zoltar
Could it be that the popular fairground machines, immortalised in the film 'Big' were based on a real person?
Swami Kaladhar Subhash was a renowned fakir and fortune teller on the streets of Jaipur in the early 1900s. It was said he could know the innermost thoughts and desires of a man by simply by touching his forehead.
A rare photograph of Kaladhar Subhash.
Through his profound knowledge of Vedic astrology, Kaladhar Subhash was thought to be able to tell the entire history and destiny of those who came to him for advice. Those who saw him described him as gentle and softly spoken, and said he lived by the mantra: "Do not impose your opinions; better express your wisdom".
In the 1920s, a struggling English magician, John Pimm, took to the stage in London's West End, performing illusions and "question answering" in the character of 'Kaladar'. It is believed he was inspired by tales of the Swami he had heard from his mother - who had been profoundly affected by meeting the great man while living in India. The show became very successful and toured the world, even enjoying a short run on Broadway.
John Pimm, performing as 'Kaladar'.
In the 1950s, an American fairground and Wild West sideshow operator named James Graham created the first 'Kadar' machine, inspired by bill posters he had seen of Pimm's Broadway show. He later re-branded the machines as 'Zoltar' when they entered mass production in the early 1960s, believing the 'Z' to be a more appealing letter than 'K'.
The Incredible Electric Man
A bright spark from China has discovered he can conduct powerful electrical currents through his body without suffering pain or injury.
Ma Xiangang found his powers when he accidentally touched live cables carrying 220 volts during an attempt to fix his household wiring.
He claims that he is now addicted to feeling electricity coursing through his body, saying it makes him feel "energetic".
Scientific investigations of this real-life X-Man have revealed the secret may lie in his hands. The skin of his hands is much rougher and drier than others, functioning like a pair of insulated gloves.
Scientists say his tough skin prevents most of the electricity from entering Ma's body. The actual current passing through Ma's body only contains six milliamperes, while the safety limits for ordinary people is 8-10 milliamperes.
Wyrd Consumerism 2: Razor Edged Ruby
When your jewellery and tablewares need an edge, like REALLY need an edge, then look no further than Razor Edged Ruby over at Pyewackett and Pecke.
Cutting edge stuff...
Possession in the freezer aisle
Not sure what to make of this one. If it's a hoax, it seems remarkably well done. When I first saw the video, my initial thought was that the guy must be suffering some sort of seizure. But watch the reflection in the glass at the end, just before the apparent poltergeist activity.
Strange stuff indeed...
Strange stuff indeed...
Scared? You will be...
If you aren't already entered the wonderful world of "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" you are in for a treat!
Catcher In The Rye as a Manchurian Trigger
In the 1950s and 1960s, the CIA conducted a series of experiments in extreme psychological techniques, under the banner "MK Ultra". These experiments explored mind control through drugs, hypnosis and other conditioning techniques, tested on human subjects.
The project was officially shut down in 1973, when the then director of the CIA Richard Helms destroyed almost all records pertaining to the controversial and often illegal activities carried out in its name.
In its 20 year history, MK Ultra had seen the surreptitious administration of drugs and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture used on US and Canadian citizens. It is widely believed that the project lives on to this day through Psi-Ops schemes with deceptively banal codenames such as 'Bluebird', 'Artichoke' and 'Paperclip'.
One of the stated aims of 'MK Ultra' was the creation of unwitting assassins - 'Manchurian Candidates' - who would be conditioned to kill targets without knowing why, using trigger words, sights or situations.
'The Catcher in the Rye' was found in the possession of both Hinkley and Chapman after their respective rampages. In fact, when the New York City police apprehended Chapman in the aftermath of Lennon's assassination, he was sitting glassy-eyed and zombified, calmly reading Salinger's book. It was later revealed that Chapman had attempted to legally change his name to Holden Caulfield in the days before the event.
Was the book used to trigger post-hypnotic control, as the Queen of Hearts did in Richard Condon's novel 'The Manchurian Candidate'? Its popularity would make it easily available at short notice in almost any location. Its tale of a disaffected teenage boy may tap into the male psyche, creating a feeling of familiarity that leaves subjects open to manipulation.
Although there is little evidence to prove this theory, there are strong suggestions that mind-controlled killers could be a reality. Robert Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan has long maintained his innocence, claiming to be an involuntary participant in the crime as he had been subjected to "sophisticated hypno-programing and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed".
Black Shuck
On 4 August 1577, at Blythburgh in Suffolk, a large black dog with malevolent flaming eyes is said to have burst in through the church doors to a clap of thunder. As large, some say, as a calf, the dog was known as Black Shuck, the Devil's own dog.
He ran up the nave, past a large congregation, killing a man and boy and causing the church steeple to collapse through the roof. As the dog left, he left scorch marks on the north door which can be seen at the church to this day.
Another encounter on the same day at nearby Bungay was described in 'A Straunge and Terrible Wunder' by the Reverend Abraham Fleming in 1577:
"This black dog, or the divel in such a linenesse (God hee knoweth al who worketh all,) running all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse, and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in somuch that even at a mome[n]t where they kneeled, they stra[n]gely dyed."Adams was a clergyman from London, and therefore probably only published his account based on exaggerated aural accounts. Other local accounts attribute the event to Satan himself (Abrahams calls the animal "the Divel in such a likeness". The scorch marks on the door are referred to by the locals as "the devil’s fingerprints", and the event is remembered in this verse:
"All down the church in midst of fire, the hellish monster flew, and, passing onward to the quire, he many people slew."But the gigantic hound does not only terrorise churches. W. A. Dutt, in his 1901 book 'Highways & Byways in East Anglia' has this to say about Black Shuck:
"He takes the form of a huge black dog, and prowls along dark lanes and lonesome field footpaths, where, although his howling makes the hearer's blood run cold, his footfalls make no sound. You may know him at once, should you see him, by his fiery eye; he has but one, and that, like the Cyclops', is in the middle of his head. But such an encounter might bring you the worst of luck: it is even said that to meet him is to be warned that your death will occur before the end of the year. So you will do well to shut your eyes if you hear him howling; shut them even if you are uncertain whether it is the dog fiend or the voice of the wind you hear. Should you never set eyes on our Norfolk Snarleyow you may perhaps doubt his existence, and, like other learned folks, tell us that his story is nothing but the old Scandinavian myth of the black hound of Odin, brought to us by the Vikings who long ago settled down on the Norfolk coast."
According to some legends, the dog's appearance bodes ill to the beholder - for example in the Malden and Dengue area of Essex, the most southerly point of sightings, where seeing Black Shuck is believed to mean the observer has less than a year to live. Other stories tell of death or illness in the families of those who see the malevolent beast. However, more often than not, stories tell of Black Shuck terrifying his victims, but leaving them alone to continue living normal lives.
It is also very likely that Black Shuck was the inspiration for literature's most infamous canine: Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Hound of the Baskervilles'.
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In 1901 the author returned from South Africa suffering from typhoid fever. In order to recuperate, he decided to take a golfing holiday in North Norfolk. He was accompanied by his friend the journalist Bertram Fletcher Robinson and stayed at the now demolished Royal Links Hotel in Cromer.
During their visit to Cromer, Conan Doyle and Betram Fletcher Robinson had dinner with Benjamin Bond Cabbell at Cromer Hall. During dinner Cabbell told them about his ancestor, Richard Cabbell - Lord of Brook Manor and Buckfastleigh - who had been killed by a devilish dog. The story went that Richard Cabbell's wife had been unfaithful and that, after beating her, she had fled out onto Dartmoor. Cabbell pursued her and stabbed her - but while committing the murder his wife's faithful dog attacked him and tore out his throat. The ghost of the dog was said to haunt Dartmoor and to reappear to each generation of the Cabbell family. It is clear that Richard Cabbell became the model for the evil Hugo Baskerville in Conan Doyle's classic tale.
There is also another fascinating Norfolk connection - namely that the coachman who drove Conan Doyle to Cromer Hall was apparently called Baskerville. Conan Doyle often drew his character's names from real life.
Also, Conan Doyle would almost certainly have been aware too of the East Anglian legend of Black Shuck - the terrible Hound which terrorised parts of the county and was said to haunt Beeston Bump - which is not far from Cromer.
Interestingly, Conan Doyle's description of Baskerville Hall bears an uncanny likeness to Cromer Hall:
"The avenue opened into a broad expanse of turf, and the house lay before us. In the fading light I could see that the centre was a heavy block of building from which a porch projected. The whole front was draped in ivy, with a patch clipped bare here and there where a window or a coat-of-arms broke through the dark veil. From this central block rose the twin towers, ancient, crenellated, and pierced with many loopholes. To right and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite. A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high chimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a single black column of smoke."
Mystic Menagerie
Do your ears a favour and subscribe to this excellent podcast that covers the worlds of paranormal entertainment, hauntings, spooky happenings and alternative arts and culture. Featuring Dan Baines of Lebanon Circle and Lord Freddie Valentine along with various special guests.
CLICKY CLICKY
Men in Black... in Scarborough?
Another MIB encounter - perhaps the strangest of all – took place in the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1968. Adele (a pseudonym), who was sixteen at the time, answered the door to what appeared to be a very strange insurance salesman. He was tall, wore a black suit and tie, and had a ‘florid’ complexion. After staring at the sixteen year old and smiling for an unnerving length of time he ‘jerked’ into action and asked Adele “do you have insurance? Is it now?” Adele later remarked that his voice seemed to be computerised.
She suggested that the insurance salesman come back later when her parents were home. At that moment, the man suddenly began to sweat profusely. He removed his hat to reveal a bald and extremely pale head. Adele could now see that he was wearing makeup to darken his face. “Can I see a glass of water?” the MIB asked. Inviting the man in because this was before “Stranger Danger”, Adele fetched him a glass of water and he did just that – he looked at the glass of water and set it aside.
Next, he turned his attention to a clock on the mantelpiece. Adele told the MIB that the clock was her father’s retirement present, at which he seemed baffled. “Is it your father’s time?” he asked, “Is it here and now?” Then the MIB seemed to freak out like a malfunctioning robot. He began repeating “your father - his time” over and over and became stiff and immobile. Turning to the door he had to use his hands to move one of his legs. He told Adele to “watch the lights” before leaving in a hurry, disappearing down the street impossibly quickly.
What did he mean when he said ‘watch the lights?’ – Adele would soon find out. Shortly after the MIB left, Adele’s living room filled with small bright lights, which danced around before exiting through the window. Was this a robotic MIB agent, built by aliens and sent to add a little magic to the sleepy Yorkshire town? Or was it just a sweaty creeper with alopecia and a laser pen?
Nearly forgot...
... to wish you all a very happy Walpurgisnacht. No better time than now to burn any surplus witches you have lying around your home.
The Traveller
Possibly just a story. Possibly true. I sort of want it to be true because it is weird in such a low-key, everyday way...
This from the Ghost Theory site:
It certainly was a busy and muggy day at a feverish Tokyo airport one day in 1954. Those passengers who had just deplaned stood in a somber queue, waiting for the Customs agents to review and properly stamp their passports.
As the hordes of passengers spill out from the terminals, one passenger, a tall mysterious man, stood apart from the rest.
The man presented an authentic looking European passport and carried European currency from several countries and carried himself in a professional manner but that wasn't what alerted the authorities. No matter how much they had searched, the Customs agents could not find the European country that had issued him the passport anywhere in their maps. The unheard country of Taured. When they asked the Caucasian man to point on their map where Taured was located, he answered them in fluent Japanese. The man told them that it was a small country in Europe, nestled between France and Spain. When the agents produced a map, he pointed to where the Principality of Andorra, Spain, rests.
The mysterious man took a step back when he realized his country did not exist on any of the maps. He claimed that the country of Taured has been there for almost 1,000 years and that he has never heard of Andorra. He produced a driver’s license issued by the government of Taured and accompanying documents such as bank statements and business papers but they were found to be invalid, alongside his bank account. There was an eerie silence in the interrogation room as all of the Customs agents stared at the new arrival. The tall mysterious man from Taured looked as confused as they were.
It had been nine years since the end of World War II and Tokyo was busier than ever. The city began to sprawl as more and more countries landed . Most of the travelers to the Island country found themselves in long queues waiting to get their passport stamped and allowed entry into the country. Life in Japan was returning to normal except of course for the high strangeness that was going on inside the Customs interrogation room.
Eight hours after landing, the mysterious man from Taured sat tired and frustrated in the cramped interrogation room. He kept insisting that he was from the country of Taured and was in Japan on a business trip. The man told the officials that he had been traveling to Japan from Taured for the last five years without problems. He pointed to the past stamps that were issued on his passport to prove that he’d been traveling back and forth from Taured to Japan without any problems in the past.
Airport officials then placed a phone call to the company the man claimed to work for and found that it did not exist. Tired and getting nowhere, they decided to send the man to a guarded hotel room so that he could rest while the proper authorities were contacted and a follow-up investigation was planned. The mystery man left the Tokyo airport escorted by police and Customs officials.
He was placed inside a hotel room high above the hustling city streets. With only a small window and no ledge. After a light dinner at the hotel’s kitchen, he was escorted back to his room where he stayed the entire night. The guards reported not seeing or hearing him after the door was closed. When morning approached, they knocked and received no answer. Upon entering the room they officials were shocked to discover that he had vanished. With no possible escape routes other than the well guarded front door, Japanese officials scratched their heads in total bewilderment.
An extensive search was subsequently launched by the Tokyo police department only to come up empty handed. There was no sign of him anywhere. As mysteriously as he had appeared on that Tokyo airport that fateful day in 1954, the man from Taured vanished.
The story appeared in the book “The Directory of Possibilities”, Colin Wilson & John Grant [Corgi Paperback, 1982. ISBN: 0-552-119946]. No one knows for certain if this was a factual account. No documents or newspaper clippings exist other than what was written by Colin Wilson and John Grant.
In the story of ‘The Man from Taured’ we learn that an European visitor to Tokyo seems to be caught between two worlds. One of which the man’s reality seems similar to ours, except of course for the country that doesn't exist. At least in our wormhole-shanghai-tunnel-flickr-stuck-in-customsworld. Taured exists in no map, yet the man carried official documentation to prove otherwise. So what really happened in that muggy Tokyo airport in 1954?
Could the man from Taured have been a traveler caught between a wormhole? One that sent him unknowingly into our dimension. An alternate universe in which things played out entirely different. A world that lived under the control of the Axis side.
Another explanation is that the man from Taured was telling the truth. As far as he was concerned, he came from the country of Taured. He’s always known of his country to exist, and had never heard of The Principality of Andorra before seeing it printed on the Japanese world map. As far as he was concerned, everyone had to be playing a prank on him. However we all know that Andorra clearly has existed for quite some time and that the Allies won the war. So could this man be a spy for some dark government agency sent on a mission to Japan? A brainwashed spook that was given a false identity alongside all documentation to make him believe.
The Principality of Andorra has certainly had a long history with war and politics, so that explanation wouldn’t be such a stretch.
What happened inside that Tokyo airport we may never know. One thing is for certain, strange things happen every single day.
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