10 days to spirit's eve... Spooky fact time

[Zen_the_Ogre]

1. Vanished without a trace. In the last 70 years almost 100 planes have disappeared with no found wreckage or debris. This has happened for even longer with ships and sailing vessels. Since the airlines are recent enough for family members I will not mention the flights but provide this link https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/missing-flights/ as far as the ships are concerned the Ourang Medan and the Mary Celeste are two popular vessels

Edit I will be back tomorrow to discuss cryptids that have causes a ruckus

 

[Laissez_Faire_Farming]

Thanks for sharing.
I am pretty sure that those airplanes disappear similar case to the Bermuda Triangle.
Some said that it has to do with the whirlpool or climate change.

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

2. Another fun fact. While we may enjoy hearing the hoot hoot of an owl at night other people not so much. The wailing scream of a flying spirit banshee is commonly accepted as the scream of a common screechow. The great horned owl has also caused it's fair share of misidentification ranging from mothman all the way to aliens landing in the fields. While there are die hards that insist on the supernatural often it's a person own brain doing this to them. Here is a way to hack your brain into seeing a false image https://mindhacks.com/2010/09/18/the-strange-face-in-the-mirror-illusion/

Up next the zombies next door

 

[FlyingCatPhillips]

That's kindda creepy....

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

3. Zombies and you. There are several incidents in nature of zombie outbreaks. Ranging from parasites that literally take over their host and use it to infect others. This occured with parasitic roundworms that infect snails/frogs and have them sacrifice themselves to infect predatory birds to complete a their life cycle to xenomorph like wasp that make spiders build custom webs to support the baby wasp pupae. Then we got the mother of all. Would you believe me if I told you there is an animal that will attack an organism then keep part of it alive within it's body to defend itself. The sea slug can do this. It ingest the stinging cells from cnidarians (jellyfish) and migrated those cells into those frills and fronds that grow off the back of them. They can also do this with plants and the chloroplast of the cells. They have discovered some of the slugs never have to eat again as the slugs gain all the energy from these stolen organelles.

Coming next Who is Jack and why does he have a latern (will address the turnip laterns too)

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

4. Jack o' lantern. For Samhain it was a tradition to carve lanterns turnips. The original purpose has been lost though it is speculated it either represents the dead or is used to scare evil spirits. Over time with the influx of Irish immigrants to America they started to use pumpkins instead of turnips which spawned

Now for good ol Stingy Jack who is now associated with the name. I am editing this for expletives as my uncle's tend to be tipsy when this story was told....very tipsy. Stingy Jack was a miser who would spend a single pence if he could avoid it. He was approached by a shadowy man in a black leather cloak that covers his body and legs. He introduced himself as a trader is sorts. Jack asked what ye be sellin. The Man offered him a coinpurse that makes 2 silver pieces a day. Jack's eyes gleamed. Aw that must be a load of rubbish. Why would you sell something that could buy you anything. The Man cackles I am collecting other things. Jack asked what is the man asking for. The Man ask for his soul. Saying just look at you not like you value it and it's not in good condition. Jack says he is still using it at the moment and will come back on the sixth of June six year after this agreement at sundown. Jack agrees. Jack uses those six years and collects those coins every day and locks them in his house. Never spends a single one. The sixth year rolls around. Jack waits for his "friend". Just like clock work a dusk the smell of sulfur fulls the air. The Man appears. As he unfurls his clock revealing them to be be wings and he walks on the legs of a goat. Jack screams you wronged me. This purse hasn't worked the day you gave it me. The devil is caught off by this. Jack exclaims why would I be living in the hovel for 6 years when I could have at least fixed the walls. Your coin purse has a hole in it. The devil looks around confused as there are no furnishings, no liquor nothing to suggest wealth. Let me see this hole in the purse. Jack opens the purse and points inside. The devil says I see no hole. Jack says we'll I see no money. The devil shrinks to a moth to look inside. Jack closes the coinpurse and traps the devil inside screaming to be let out. Jack says what will pay for your freedom. Tell me why I shouldn't dig a hole or toss you down a well. Your eternity is longer than my final days ha. The devil spent 3 years bargaining. Finally he said fine you can keep your soul when your day of judgement comes I will not be there to collect. Jack says can I keep the purse. Angered the devil says fine. He released the devil and retrieved his two silver for that day telling the devil it's a pleasure dealing with yah. Jack lived out the rest of his days not spending hardly a pence. Like all things mortal he died. When he approached judgement he tried to walk right it. However he was told he was to wicked for heaven and to bothersome for Heck so the returned his spirit to earth. The gave him a lantern made of a turnip and candle to light his way as he looks for more money to keep in his coinpurse.

 

[Dr. eeL]

3. Zombies and you. There are several incidents in nature of zombie outbreaks. Ranging from parasites that literally take over their host and use it to infect others. This occured with parasitic roundworms that infect snails/frogs and have them sacrifice themselves to infect predatory birds to complete a their life cycle to xenomorph like wasp that make spiders build custom webs to support the baby wasp pupae. Then we got the mother of all. Would you believe me if I told you there is an animal that will attack an organism then keep part of it alive within it's body to defend itself. The sea slug can do this. It ingest the stinging cells from cnidarians (jellyfish) and migrated those cells into those frills and fronds that grow off the back of them. They can also do this with plants and the chloroplast of the cells. They have discovered some of the slugs never have to eat again as the slugs gain all the energy from these stolen organelles.

Coming next Who is Jack and why does he have a latern (will address the turnip laterns too)

Add to your list, infected pill bugs, that are "directed" to walk out in the open so that they can be eaten by birds and complete the parasitic lifecycle.

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

5. Vampires not so dead and loving it. Let's face it the ever since Bram Stoker invented a larp group of vampire hunters the idea of a vampire is more of a loose concept than dedicated monster. It's not like a mummy which was a preserved body of former upper class. Vampires have existed in varying forms. You have the red cap which in Irish folklore was more of a vampire goblin in Romani it was the sign that a child would turn into a vampiric spirit after death although with the Romani the conditions in old folklore were plentiful. Born on Christmas, born with red cap, born with teeth, died never married, died in a sinful manner, being the seventh son or daughter in a row of children. Yeah pretty much if you fall in the fringe of normalcy you were a vampire. Then you got asian vampires that range from the Polynesian vampires who are woman by day flying torso proctologist by night. There is also Jiang chi which are vampiric but more zombie as rigor mortis has set in so the hop.

Not all vampires even drink blood. Some like the Romanian types will still luck, Polynesian steals body waste, Jiang shi steals life energy and the succubus steals .......my days not moderated if I post that one.

In either case vampires are just a fun fiction that they change depending on society. If your repressed you base the vampire as the Noble in power. If you are in a plague you base it on a spreading illness. If a jack the ripper type is running around you base the monster off of him (Springhill jack). So while you may not like the sparkle vamps or the gothic edgelords they are just as much of the evolving mythology as anything. The main thing a vampire represents is mortality of the victims, a hidden enemy that stalks us, and temptation of bypassing death.

If you would like to see a really good vampire show find a copy of Shiki. It's an anime of a disease infecting a small village in the modern day. Its a becareful hunting a monster less you become one yourself.

Shiki (TV Series 2010–2011) ⭐ 7.6 | Animation, Drama, Horror

24m | TV-MA

www.imdb.com

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

6. If mummy ain't happy then ain't no one happy. Now these are interesting as the mummy itself would have never been the enforcer of a curse. The mummy is a classic monster but honestly it is a mistake of Hollywood. Mummies were the elite caste corpses in ancient Egypt. They were made by extracting as much water bearing organs and stuffing the body with herbs (and spices) then wrapping it in a gauze like material. The goal is that the body will be in a condition to be used again by the spirit of the deceased. This would happen sometime in the future when they have their hearts weighed against a feather of truth. This is why the organs were preserved in jars. If they were deemed worthy they would get to enter into a paradise based on the illustrations the had made in there tomb. Cats were mummified as well. They things that were not were the slaves to be attendants of the deceased as they were being as labor and the pesky concept of a soul and damnation didn't apply to them as they couldn't get into the club anyway(hopefully Amazon doesn't get any ideas for a workforce).

The thing about mummies though is that if you were rich enough you could get a entombment. This lead to Egypt being full of mummies. And due to the British colonial system many of these tombs were exploited with the resulting bodies being used for pigments(mummy brown), kindling (conductors liked kings as peasants didn't burn as hot) being turned into brown butcher paper, tea and medicine.

Some people believe those tombs were cursed and that's why the British seemed out all the world's spices but eat the blandest foods possible. Well I will get 7 back shortly

 

[FlyingCatPhillips]

As someone who has, as a hobby, spent years dedicated to the study of Ancient Egypt. It's pretty neat but not really a lot based in true historical record. Especially the slave part as Egyptians deemed them unworthy of even work on building a pyramid. Only the most notable people were buried in a pyramid and that was at the persons' natural death. This is why some attendants found in pyramids were put there at different times. This even happened to the master masons who even have carvings depicted their status and importance with their remains.

The curse concept has been around well before British ever set foot in Egypt; as cave robbers were a problem. It probably sprung up due to bacteria and fungi found in tombs which would make you sick. But there was a particularly devious pharaoh who installed traps in his pyramid.
I did not study whether the British were completely disgusting in the manner of treating mummies. That is a bit modern as compared to Ancient Egypt.

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

The curse concept has been around well before British ever set foot in Egypt; as cave robbers were a problem. It probably sprung up due to bacteria and fungi found in tombs which would make you sick. But there was a particularly devious pharaoh who installed traps in his pyramid.
I did not study whether the British were completely disgusting in the manner of treating mummies. That is a bit modern as compared to Ancient Egypt.

Not mention differing gases that accumulate overtime. Such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide. While not super common there have been instances where the gas's builds up naturally underground (hence the canary for miners) and if you work into a filled chamber the gas can kill even if oxygen is available. The weight of some of the pyramids may have caused some deposits to sleep much like radon in modern basements and could account for the near instant deaths of some who broke into the tombs. Toxic mold is no joke and could leave with pox like lesions that began growing after leaving the tombs. Anthrax and small pox are another few items that could survive especially since in the crystalline (sp) and cyst(anth) these pathogens can survive long periods without exposure to UV light.

 

[toe]

these are fun to read thank you for posting LOL

i’ve also seen Shiki and it’s a really good anime!

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

7. Why werewolves. The idea of a werewolf is common among many areas. It's even mentioned with king Nebuchadnezzar in the old testament. (Daniel 4:33). This is an odd situation that can and does happen though not necessarily because of magic. Pathology speaking there are several causes ranging from STDs(though this only occured after European trips to America in Columbus era), rabies(get bit by rabid wolf become rabid yourself), feral child syndrome or hypertrichosis. You also have psychological conditions that occur as well.

Let's list off a few werewolf's from around the globe
1. Wendigo-this is the result of cannibalism in Native American folklore. We're people become infested with a spirit that drives them to continue feeding. Dark stuff the movie Antlers is a good example even if the monster looks like a Slavic lyshee.

2. European Werewolf-honestly these have evolved over time but seem to be the foundations of full moon, silver, wolfsbane and the term werewolf rules

3. Berserker- these were large men usually around Norse areas. They would wear bear skins and then drink a concoction of urine and amanita mushrooms before going into battle. They fought with such ferocity it is often believed they may have inspired the monsters and grendel from Beowulf.

4. King Lycoan- he was a ruler of Greece who supposedly invited the gods to a feast. He had tried to serve them a former servant and they were appalled by this and cursed Lycoan to a wolf like state. He restored the servant though he walked with a limp (Aphrodite took a love bite)

5. Little Red riding hood. Side note get that grandma some Nair if the wolf can cosplay as her.

6. Kitsune- not really a wolf and more of a were human. These spirit foxes could take on the shape of humans. Not savage like the others unless wronged

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

8. Mischief night. This is an odd one. Originally Samhain didn't really have a mishief element actually quite the opposite as guest of honor to the villages tend to be represented by military leadership. Act up with him in town and you probably would be executed. The mischief element looks like some how the Greek festivals of Dionysus got comingled with the gaelic traditions. It was documented fairly late as the earliest mentioning around the 1790s.

Evidently another name for it is cabbage night.