Fourth Lotus Block Update - The Lotus Falls

First off, I want to correct my previous comments on how the whole of the Lotus' block was coming down. That was the impression I'd gotten from the articles I'd read. But in reality, it appears the McCarthy-Holtus building is going to be left standing, and the new hotel will wrap around this building. As such, the building is still open, and has been given a protective coat of paint on the two exposed sides (I assume the Lotus side will get one as well, when the last of it comes down). These painted walls, will of course be hidden by the new, possibly haunted, building.

Anyways onto photos of the Lotus' destruction. Here it is last week, just starting to come down:

 

And this week with just a small section of wall remaining:

 

Prep work on the previously cleared areas has continued as well. It should not be long now, before actual construction starts:

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Bad horror movie review/summary: The Remains

So, I've picked a horror movie with really bad reviews to enjoy, analyze, and whatnot; The Remains. Yes, this will contain SPOLIERS. It starts off with heavy handed blast of music, one of the complaints in the reviews, so, good start right?

Then it opens with a Ouija board rules without a board séance with plot devices, “You must ask only yes or no questions. And do not break the circle.” Can anyone else hear the CinemaSins ding? But honestly, I did not expect the twist that took. So maybe this movie is not as bad as the online reviews say?

Cue the 80's setting montage (in a 2016 movie) and we jump to present day, California. And now the classic house hunting single parent family, who conveniently buy the first house we see on screen. I want to see one of these movies where the first house we see is not the one they buy. So we spend that whole scene looking for a creepy moment, and surprise it’s not the haunted house. With maybe a cat based jump scare to keep things from being too boring.

Little boy, “can we just pick a house already?” Calm down, kid, you've only looked at one.

House has a smaller version of the house inside, because classy. Ding.

And cue the creepy occurrences; flashing lights, shadowy apparitions, and ghost that apparently only come in grey scale. So far nothing is set up well enough to be a successful jump scare. The attic seems no more haunted then the rest of the house, but we're obviously supposed to believe it's the worst of it, because there's antiques up there.

Dad literally just throws down a box of stuff to look at a pocket watch his son found. Meanwhile the almost legal teenage daughter is showering, and frankly her shoulders are more nudity then we needed. This scene added literally nothing to the plot, except to let us know, she's supposed to be the sexy character.

Living room is mysteriously trashed. Dad is the only one not swearing. Teenage daughter character switches from kid to wife mode instantly, almost like she go the lines of a cut character. Seriously, did no one question her jailbait portrayal in the script?

Pretty neighbor lady that looks kind of like the Dad's dead wife shows up, and is super friendly. Kids meanwhile are acting like zombies.

BLOOD EGGS!

Real-estate agent checks in on them, because this always happens in these movies. Has this ever happened in real life? Seriously guys, does it happen? She has no knowledge of the previous owners, but an unhealthy obsession with spirit photography. And how did the photos even get in the attic? Who developed the photos and thought these belong in the attic, not the police department? - The younger children are suddenly in distress while they’re talking cliché. At least it wasn't the trapped in a room or fell in the lake version of this cliché. This movie does get some credit for trying to be original.

Dad chews out teen daughter for not knowing anything had happened while she was in her room with headphones on, so she immediately invites her bad boy boyfriend over. Creepy half-naked make-out session mixed with failed jump scare. Honestly the ghost was more interesting then the romance, if we can call it that, though I'm sure if this movie has any teen viewers they were freaking excited, and then freaking scared. Does she have white star tattoos? Her conservative dad paid for that? Cut to a close-up of Jailbait eating a fast food hotdog since they can't actually show sex at her age, and aren't we all thankful?

Radio malfunctions, and dad confronts a ghost. Burn them! Nice and cryptic. But I assume she means burn the photos or antiques in general.

Internet proves the realtor should have known who owned the house before. It also reminds us of the fact the photos should not be in the attic, as they would never have been developed, or would have permanently ended up in the police station's evidence storage. Everything goes back in the trunk, and just encase it's not unbelievable enough yet, apparently the pocket watch is still ticking after all these years.

Music flares up again. But honestly I don't know what everyone was complaining about. . . this seems appropriated to the violence that happens right after.

Dad could have packed up the whole trunk, but no, he boxes the contents instead. Younger daughter interrupts, but luckily a playback of the séance expedites the packing process.

Apparently the son gets all the good lines in the movie, “Are we going to eat take-out every night?” Too bad he's deadpan all the time, which could be read as he's half-zombiefied, though most the reviews attribute this to bed acting.

Dad confronts the realtor over the phone about her lack of knowledge on the house, resulting in a HAL sounding reply, “Why would I lie to you, John?”

He comes home to look for his kids, finds a ghost first, then the neighbor lady teaching the kids about tarot cards. Everyone starts fighting. But she had cake! Still, Dad's cussing now too.

Antiques are not longer packed in the sealed box. I feel like this movie must be close to the end now. Neighbor lady comes back to apologize. . . and only now bothers to mention her father's stroke happened in the house when he was putting down mouse traps, because the city would totally hire a neighbor for pest control in this situation.

Grounded teen sneaks out to see her secret boyfriend. Wait, why did she have him come to the house earlier if he's a secret?

Everything in this movie revolves around the witching hour (which is the 3am version in this case). The next round of spooky paranormal possession stuff starts out fine, but ends up coming off as silly. Off-screen violence, just in time for the teenager to get home, and not notice anything is happening. . . again. . . but then gets up to check on everyone anyways, because she's suddenly switched back into mom mode.

Burn the trunk. She's surprisingly strong for her build. Trunk contents catch fire way too easy. Even stuff that's supposed to burn, doesn't catch fire like that. But finally, it's over. . . or is it?

Cue the weird credit music.
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Evil Things

Evil Things, a series that started up last year, with episode three apparently; The Eye & The Attic. It's as the name suggests, supposed to be tales of people encountering objects with spiritual attachments and curses. Did I ever give this series a try? I can't remember, that's why I'm watching the confusingly listed, episode three, series premiere, right now.

The first half starts with a story about a woman who was in a motorcycle accident and had a cornea transplant, then started seeing things. Either this is not an uncommon claim or they're just blatantly ripping off the movie The Eye (2008), on their first, or third, episode.

It's a distraction making it hard to focus on the second half, in which the husband finds a bunch of cursed video tapes taken by a Peeping Tom. Pretty sure that was a movie too. . .

Blatantly fake paranormal shows seems to be a growing trend. My Haunted House is notorious for this. There's a whole episode about a Sad Sam Clown killing, but if this had happen, there would be a trail. Google it, there is not (mind you, you will find real cases like John Wayne Gacy). But Sad Sam is as real as Pennyland Amusement Park. But to be fair these show both open with 'inspired by' messages to let you know, nothing in them is an actual claim. Still, does this mean there are claims of haunted eye transplants? I rather hear an actual claim.

So many more questions; Are false stories just better TV? Are there just not enough undebunked paranormal claims to go around? Do producers just figure no one will care?
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Something on Your Back?

A weary nighttime traveler heading home hears a mysterious request, “obariyon,” that is, “give me a piggyback ride,” followed by a weight on his shoulders and back. As he continues the weight slowly grows, until he is crushed to death. He has been killed by a mysterious child-sized Yokai (a Japanese paranormal creature), known as Obariyon. In other versions of the legend, the traveler makes it home safely, finding he's been carrying a bag of gold, and it now very rich. Conventional wisdom suggests these tales relate both the overwhelming weight of child rearing and the great rewards of it.

However Obariyon's behavior reminds me of another paranormal creature, a demon from Jewish mythology, called a Dybbuk. Dybbuk are either straight-up demons, or the angry souls of the dead, which ride on people's back, slowly draining the life from them.

(Illustration: “Book of Job” Die Bucher Der Bibel, by Ephraim Moses Lilien - obtained via Wikipedia)

Is it possible Obariyon and Dybbuk are the same paranormal effect with different background mythology attached to them? And what other paranormal creatures are said to ride on people's backs?

Digging deeper revealed a lot of references to Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Nightmares, such as, “witch/hag riding your back” (American/European), “hag ridden” (European), “Night/Old Hag” (Eurpoean), and “the Devil on your back” (African). The idea that witches, hags, ghosts, demons, and/or aliens can cause the effects sleep paralysis and lucid nightmares is global, but the phrasing of “on your back” makes little sense when you consider it rarely happens to anyone not sleeping on their back, and is least likely to happen to those that sleep on their stomachs. Among the folk cures for Sleep Paralysis, such as s tucking silverware under your pillow, getting into bed backwards, praying and reading religious scripture, there is included, sleeping on your side.

This however does not directly relate to Obariyon or Dybbuk as these phenomenon happen during daily activity, as opposed to during a waking dream. In Japan Sleep Paralysis phenomenon is called “Kanashibari” or “to tie with iron rope” and is also believed to be caused by ghosts or evil spirits.

The other results of my initial search came up with very brief Christian commentary about seeing demons riding people's backs in an attempt to turn them from the true way, and signaling the end of days (as a lot of things in Christianity are wont to do). This certainly fits the Dybbuk interpretation, but the accounts I encountered are not very detailed and do not go back very far, suggesting a modern origin (which if it's the end times, make sense). So, once again, this is something I'll be on the lookout for more information on.

Sources/Further Reading:

“Dybbuk” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-12-15)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dybbuk

“Night Hag” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2018-01-10)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_hag

“Obariyon” Yokai.com
(Last modified 2015)
http://yokai.com/obariyon/

Rosen, Brenda. The Mythical Creatures Bible. New York: Sterling, 2008.

“Symptoms” The Sleep Paralysis Project
(Last modified 2018)
http://www.thesleepparalysisproject.org/about-sleep-paralysis/symptoms/

The Diagram Group. Understanding Dreams. Philadephia: Running Press GEM, 1993.
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Third Lotus Block Update

The second of four buildings was fully down a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it's kind of eerie thinking about how there was a building there when you see an empty lot like this. Though honestly witnessing the progress on the demolitions has become kind of exciting for me:

And while no progress had been made on the next building a week later (it appear the Lotus herself will be last), the rubble is clearly being sorted:

 

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A Second Lotus Block Update

For the past few weeks the building that was behind the yellow building has been coming down (I say was because the yellow building is gone of course). It was not a building I ever noticed anyone express interest in, until the demolition made the stain-glass windows of the upper stories more visible:

The following images were taken a week later (Sept 19th). And while it may not look like a lot of progress bringing it down, we should understand there is a lot of crap they're shifting through. Plus, look at the new crane they brought in:

 

 

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And the Clock is Ticking for the Lotus Cafe

As of last week, the yellow building on the far end of the block where the Lotus Cafe building sits has been pretty much entirely demolished (Portland, Oregon). You can see in the image below the building between it and the Lotus still stands, but it's days are now visibly limited:

 

 

It's a bitter-sweet sight for sure. While the area is being renovated in a way that should boost business in the area, the Lotus' block sat among the shiny office buildings like a pocket of history. Demolitions are always interesting to watch, but it can also feel like memories are being taken away. Though as I stated before, there may be a paranormal investigative value here too, if the new building in fact proves to be haunted.

I'll continue to bring you updates when I can. Hopefully, I can catch when the Lotus is half-down for posterity.

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