Cyptobotany - Fern Flowers

So it's the evening of the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the shortest night of the year. So, why is that significant (other then all the cool scientific implications)? Well, it's the night the Fern Flowers are supposed to bloom.

Hunting for Fern Flowers, aside from being innuendo for young couples that wander off into the bushes (in some areas it's actually part of a ritual to encourage engagement among young adults), is the possibly futile search for something science says doesn't exist. Ferns are non-flowering plants, they reproduce with spores. . . or do they? Legend has it the Fern Flowers bloom just this one night a year, and withers before morning. And also, they're extremely magical, though the exact nature of that magic is somewhat debated. They might bring good luck, or grant wishes, or allow one to speak to animals. But there's usually a catch (because isn't there always?); sometimes the fortune or wishes can't be shared with others, and other times the flowers are guarded by evil spirits.

This bears and interesting resemblance to a magical method of treasure hunting which is of Mormon origins. The treasure hunting party first uses a ritual to summon a ghost, which is supposed to lead them to treasure buried in the woods. The area will be guarded by a devil which can attack if they speak. So they must silently drive metal bars into the ground, draw a magic circle, and finally dig up the treasure, all while the devil tries to scare them into cursing. The reward for both is great, but so is the risk.

However the Fern Flower offers the finder a choice; take the flower with it's riches and curses, or appreciate it's fleeting beauty and leave it be. In treasure hunting that choice was already made, because no one goes looking for buried treasure to not dig it up.

Sources and Further Reading:

“Fern Flower” Criptid Wiki
(Last Modified prior to 2019-06-21)
https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Fern_Flower

“Fern flower” Wikipeida
(Last Modified 2019-01-28)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_flower

“The Fern Flower” World Stories
(Last Modified prior to 2019-06-21)
http://worldstories.org.uk/stories/the-fern-flower/

Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

(sorry, I don't know what edition I read from)
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Sounds of Terror

Through a series of bad YouTube decisions, I found myself listening to a clip of the WKCR Hijacking (aka The Old Tape) near midnight. I had viewed many cursed image, and listened to some mild to truly horrifying sounds in the preceding hour or so. Horrifying for what they meant, like how a nuclear siren might be the last thing thousands of people ever hear, or the true fear in the voices of 911 callers, or the usually high pitch of some video games' music that many people found so unnerving they wrote creepypastas about them.

But this was different. This sounded like something I should not hear, something I was never meant to hear. To me, this sound was the one that was truly unnerving. The best part; it's one of the few sounds I listened to that was probably a hoax.

The story goes that a 4chan user found a recording they made in 1994 or 1995, of the radio station WKCR 89.9 when the broadcast was suddenly interrupted for five minutes by disturbing sounds including the voice of a woman reading off obituaries of people that died in the 1980's. This list included some higher profile deaths, like Frank Oppenheimer and plane crash victims.

Some people call this the Max Headroom Incident of the radio, while others note the quality seems too good to have been recorded in 1994/1995. Some even claim to hear a 1998 date in the list, meaning it could not have been recorded before then without access to prophecies or time travel. Others believe it was real broadcast, but since the station is college run, it was intentionally broadcast as a prank, experiment, or art project. The host and woman are even said to sound similar. But this, with the fact that no one else seems to have come forward with memories of this hijack, much less a second recording with unique markers, suggests it's probably a hoax.

You can listen to the whole five and a half minutes on YouTube or another site, to decide for yourself, but do you really want to? Even knowing what I know now, I still feel unnerved hearing bits of it. Then again, maybe listening to the whole thing will alleviate some of those feelings?

The audio clip I listened to (and other spooky sounds if you want to listen to the whole video):

https://youtu.be/4dnO1Ky5454?t=300

Full audio (for the brave or stupid):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LlO2MOQK20

Some WKCR Hijacking details (on a blog I'll need to revisit):

https://silentthrill.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/wkcr-hijacking/

Info on the WKCR-FM station itself (in which the incident is not mentioned):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKCR-FM

Wikipedia's list of Broadcast Signal Intrusions (which does not include it either, how weird):

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

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The Haunted Waters of Lincoln City

There lots of good reasons to visit the Oregon coast; gorgeous views, historic locations, fresh seafood, spacious beaches, local festivals, and even ghosts and cryptids. That's right, there's a ton of supposedly haunted locations along the Oregon coast. And Lincoln City has it's fair share of these, from restaurants, to museums, to cemeteries, and even the very waters around the city. Two particular bodies of water are said to be haunted (or inhabited) there; Devils Lake and Siletz Bay.

Devils Lake (not to be confused with Devil's Lake, Wisconsin), in the north, is a large calm fresh water lake, that empties into the ocean via one of the world's shortest rivers, D River (if I remember correctly, this is what happens when boy scouts get to name things). Legend has it this lake is inhabited by a monster, either a giant fish, or a large tentacled monstrosity, distinct from know giant squid, octopus, or even the legendary kraken, in that it has a freshwater environment. According to the legends, Native Americans fishing here would experience the churning water as the monster passed below, and on one particular full moon night, canoes full of warriors were pulled under the water by the angry monster as they tried to impress maidens who were watching them from the shore.
 

(Devils Lake photos taken at Blue Heron Landing Boat Rentals)

I didn't get any pictures of the monster on my visit to the lake, just some rather content looking ducks.

(It's almost like they have no idea of the potential death lurking below the lake's surface.)

Further south is Siletz Bay, named for the Siletz tribe. Here a ghostly schooner (or similar vessel) is said to sail just above the waters, one last remnant of the vessel that washed ashore over a century and a half ago, and is now buried in the mudflats. This phenomenon is supposed to happen on foggy days however, so the weather was probably too nice on my latest visit. Which is when you unsurprisingly, get clearer more easily identified pictures.

(Siletz Bay photo taken from the Public Beach Access on the north side) 

 

 
Sources/Further Reading:

“Devils Lake (Lincoln County, Oregon)” Wikipeida
(Last Modified 2018-04-01)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Lake_(Lincoln_County,_Oregon)

“Ghostly Encounters - Lincoln City, OR” Visit Lincoln City on Oregon's Central Coast

(Last modification unknown)
Http://www.oregoncoast.org/things-to-do/itineraries/ghostly-encounters/

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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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