Nightmare Fuel

[Serpentine]

Let us discuss it.
I'll start us off: Man shoves girlfriend's lung back in after she's mauled by an airborne barracuda. (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8198455/woman-kayaker-impaled-by-flying-barracuda)

And, you know, various (http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_the-6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html) topics (http://www.cracked.com/article_17173_7-terrifying-creatures-youll-never-see-coming.html) covered (http://www.cracked.com/article_17379_6-real-islands-way-more-terrifying-than-one-lost.html) by (http://www.cracked.com/article_18686_the-7-most-horrifying-museums-earth.html) Cracked (http://www.cracked.com/article/125_13-real-animals-lifted-directly-out-your-nightmares/).

[Frozen_Feet]

Yes, the world is full of bizarre things.

My advice: don't think of it too much. Many of the bizarre things don't actually hold any relevance when you open the door and step into fresh air. For some things, "out of sight, out of mind" is a valid policy.

[golentan]

People who are not only willing to stand idly by while their fellows suffer and die but consider it a moral imperative not to.

Brain cancer. Many forms of cancer, truly, but brain cancer has an especial horror for me as it attacks the seat of my mind.

The inescapable danger that it's all just a hallucination and I am alone, unloved, and likely dying in a desert somewhere. Even more so that this is the best hallucination my mind could come up with.

Sins of omission.

Yeah. Physical peril holds very little fear for me. It's the emotional and spiritual dangers which leave me quaking in my boots. The barracuda I'd at least have an idea how to deal with.

[Lycan 01]

The whole thing becomes rather funny if you imagine that song "Barracuda" playing in the background as you read.

Ooooooh, barracuda...

[Lady Moreta]

Serps, I think how you described the link to the barracuda story was creepier than the story itself! Still, gotta be grateful you've got a guy who doesn't freak out easily.

I haven't read all of the links - just the 7-deadly animals one, and the museum one... and I gotta admit, first reaction to the first two museums on that link were "oh wow, that's so cool! look at how fantastically those are preserved! I wanna go!" that is pretty much a literal interpretation of what I was thinking - I changed that slightly for the cholera museum, 'cause that's just nasty and rude, but I am fascinated that they mummified naturally and am wondering what the soil conditions were like.

Oh, and I have two degrees in archaeology. If you wanna freak me out, you'll have to do better than mummies :smalltongue: I've seen pictures of better preserved ones from the massive tombs in China...

[Savannah]

Is it bad that I read those Cracked articles looking for (and getting) ideas for my D&D games? And that I really want to go to the Glore Psychiatric Museum now (and I'd happily go to either of the mummy ones, too)?

[Serpentine]

Speaking of tombs in China and two degrees in archaeology, do you know anything about whether they'll open up the pyramid associated with the Terracotta Army anytime soon? I am dying to see what's in it.

Also, mostly I wanted to start this thread cuz of the first link, cuz I have a bit of a thing about organs sticking out; the rest I mostly just find interesting too :smalltongue: (although, some of those foods... *shudder*)

[Asta Kask]

Zombies. You want to freak me out, give me the living dead. Pet Sematary is the only book to have triggered a full-blown panic attack in me.

[Bhu]

I must design a campaign around these...

[Dr.Epic]

You should have seen the stye I had two days ago. Nearly my entire eye was swollen shut.

[Beelzebub1111]

You know that "swallowing six spiders a year" statistic is totally fake. It's more like six hundred, every night.

sweet dreams.

[Frozen_Feet]

Meh, if they're too small for me to notice while I'm chewing them down, they rank sligthly lower than "pineapple" on my nightmare list. Not too shocking, that is. :smalltongue:

[Mordokai]

This one? (http://www.nileguide.com/blog/2010/07/17/afflicted-11-abandoned-american-hospitals-and-asylums-open-for-exploration/)

SU comes up with things like this quite often.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

I don't want to spoil anything for those who don't read it and plan to, but I'm sure everyone who's read it knows what I'm talking about.

> [S] Jade: Wake up. (http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004748)

[rayne_dragon]

I'm not sure if you linked one of the cracked articles that referred to this, but there's a particular forest in Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_forest) that's super spooky. I recall seeing an episode of Destination Truth (I think) that went there and they found all sorts of bones and abandoned campsites. I also recall that they went to an abandoned temple somewhere that was more haunted than anything you ever see on TAPS... I wish I recalled the name of it so I could drop a link.

I find both of these places great ideas for D&D settings... :smallbiggrin:

[Asthix]

I read a news of the weird once about a guy who accidentally bit off his girlfriend's nose. Never really got over that one.

[Asta Kask]

A nighmare is something which is almost a nightmare, right?

[Frozen_Feet]

Just for note, most nightmares I've seen have been about being late from school or work, getting lost in a forest, falling from a cliff (often shoved by one of my scouts), Exile, Metroid Prime and DOOM. (That is, two videogames I've played horrible lot, and one I played a lot in my childhood and it left a lasting impression.)

I wish they were about something as interesting as most things mentioned in this thread. :smalltongue:

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I wish they were about something as interesting as most things mentioned in this thread. :smalltongue:
Over this way mine are interesting. Too interesting. I just wish they were as tame as these.

[Icewalker]

...Anyone seen Black Swan yet?
:smalleek:

[CynicalAvocado]

...Anyone seen Black Swan yet?
:smalleek:

i did. i didn't know if i should be incredibly terrified or turned on

[Lady Moreta]

Speaking of tombs in China and two degrees in archaeology, do you know anything about whether they'll open up the pyramid associated with the Terracotta Army anytime soon? I am dying to see what's in it.

Highly unlikely to ever be opened. Highly unlikely that there's anything left in it anyway.

The Chinese government is extremely strict about letting archaeologists in to mess with the tombs - extreme ancestor reverance makes it just about the wrongest thing you could possibly do.

Having said that, it's highly unlikely that there's anything in there to find - well, not much of anything as impressive as the terracotta army itself. Most of the grave goods are likely to have already been stolen by grave diggers in the past.

[Traab]

Best. Nightmare. Ever. Im being chased by Freddy Kreugar around my neighborhood. Apparently he is slow as im always able to stay ahead of him. But that isnt it. There is also a small single engine plane that is scaring me for some reason as it flies around me whenever im outside, so im running from that. For whatever reason im desperate to avoid its oddly small shadow. Even better, apparently no doors in the area are able to shut, they all are swinging saloon style doors, so no locking these things outside. Sometimes gravity apparently goes on vacation, and im bounding across the yard like im neil armstrong talking about giant leaps. Ive had that dozens of times, and I always wake up exhausted the next day, as if I actually spent the last 8 hours running laps around my block.

Ive also raided dungeons in my sleep as an actual character instead of playing the game. Oddly enough not quite a nightmare, probably because im with a group and we are fighting back, but still cool. Ive done that for WoW, Everquest, and several final fantasy games.

[golentan]

???

I think you missed the point of the thread, maybe?

[Coidzor]

Brain damage and any other myriad methods by which to die but leave a living body, with or without something else behind the eyes that isn't yourself.

[Ranger Mattos]

Huh. I guess Australia really is trying to kill us.


Is it bad that I read those Cracked articles looking for (and getting) ideas for my D&D games?

Might want to add SAN checks to our game as well :smalleek:

Please don't turn Ark'Aneri into Snake Island...

[Savannah]

Might want to add SAN checks to our game as well :smalleek:

You know, I was just about to say that you're safe because I wasn't thinking of either of the games you're in with me, but then you went and said this:


Please don't turn Ark'Aneri into Snake Island...

I hadn't thought of that :smallbiggrin:

[Traab]

???

I think you missed the point of the thread, maybe?

Ok then, let me spell it out more explicitly, horror movies used to be huge for causing nightmares for me, they dont bother me now that im older but the seed is still there from way back in the day. I hate being followed, it makes me paranoid and edgy, which is the reason the whole "shadow following me around" part is there. As for the self insertion into games thing. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to go to an underwater city and fight off vicious sea creatures? Or into a lava filled underground cavern setup fighting magma giants and a 50 foot tall living incarnation of fire with a gigantic fricking weapon?! I have a very vivid imagination and if the mental picture of actually being in those situations isnt a bit scary, I dont know what is. But most of the stuff that fuels what passes for nightmares in my life involve being chased/followed.

[Serpentine]

A nighmare is something which is almost a nightmare, right?Arg. I didn't even notice that.
Highly unlikely to ever be opened. Highly unlikely that there's anything left in it anyway.

The Chinese government is extremely strict about letting archaeologists in to mess with the tombs - extreme ancestor reverance makes it just about the wrongest thing you could possibly do.

Having said that, it's highly unlikely that there's anything in there to find - well, not much of anything as impressive as the terracotta army itself. Most of the grave goods are likely to have already been stolen by grave diggers in the past.That sucks, but grave goods aren't even what I'm looking forward to checking out.
The ancient sources said that the emperor (Qin, right?) was buried with a full army. Modern people pretty much figure it was just a myth or exaggeration Then they dig up the mounds around his pyramid and find the terracotta army.
The ancient sources also said that the tomb itself was built to look like the whole universe, with gold and stuff and rivers of liquid mercury. Also assumed to just be myth or exaggeration... but tests have found elevated levels of mercury in the soil.

I WANNA SEE! D=

I think the last official word was that the Chinese government didn't think modern technology is good enough yet to preserve any finds. Good for them if true, but sounds like an excuse...

[The Glyphstone]

I've been to the Mutter Museum - I live a trolley-ride away from it. That place is crazy awesome.

[Bhu]

A few linkies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths
http://www.unusualphobias.com/
http://listverse.com/2010/07/07/10-most-terrifying-places-on-earth/
http://www.worldoffemale.com/top-10-terrifying-places-on-earth/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reportedly_haunted_locations_in_the_world

[Serpentine]

Those are cool links, but one of them...
If you do not believe in spirits and haunted mansions, I assure you after reading this article – you will start having faith in these phantom creatures.Uh... No, not really :smallconfused: But more significantly:
In olden times around 1980’s, they were used by the traders as store rooms to keep their goodsWhut?! :smalleek:

That List of Unusual Deaths is awesome, though :smallbiggrin:

[Sholos]

Ok then, let me spell it out more explicitly, horror movies used to be huge for causing nightmares for me, they dont bother me now that im older but the seed is still there from way back in the day. I hate being followed, it makes me paranoid and edgy, which is the reason the whole "shadow following me around" part is there. As for the self insertion into games thing. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to go to an underwater city and fight off vicious sea creatures? Or into a lava filled underground cavern setup fighting magma giants and a 50 foot tall living incarnation of fire with a gigantic fricking weapon?! I have a very vivid imagination and if the mental picture of actually being in those situations isnt a bit scary, I dont know what is. But most of the stuff that fuels what passes for nightmares in my life involve being chased/followed.

I have a game series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_Tower_%28series%29) for you.

[Asta Kask]

Scaphism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphism) sounds fun.

[Serpentine]

Anyone know how I'd find the guy with the second skeleton?
For those who haven't heard of this, a young man developed a strange disorder in which any tissue that is damaged, rather than healing with the same tissues it would instead replace it with bone. Wouldn't just be a cut or anything like that, normal muscle tearing and things like that. Surgery to remove the extra bone was no good, because that healed with bone. He ended up basically forming a second skeleton around his normal one. He ended up slowly stiffening more and more, and died young - after bequeathing his skeleton to scientific study.
Poor guy, seemed like such a decent person, and there was nothing anyone could do :smallfrown:

[AsteriskAmp]

Anyone know how I'd find the guy with the second skeleton?
For those who haven't heard of this, a young man developed a strange disorder in which any tissue that is damaged, rather than healing with the same tissues it would instead replace it with bone. Wouldn't just be a cut or anything like that, normal muscle tearing and things like that. Surgery to remove the extra bone was no good, because that healed with bone. He ended up basically forming a second skeleton around his normal one. He ended up slowly stiffening more and more, and died young - after bequeathing his skeleton to scientific study.
Poor guy, seemed like such a decent person, and there was nothing anyone could do :smallfrown:

Sounds like the first angel in Evangelion, where ossified tissue grows over previously lost tissue.

To contribute something I'd recommend you to look for "Hombre Árbol" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hRPgu52DlE&feature=related) it's not so creepy as sad though.

[VioletRice]

Anyone know how I'd find the guy with the second skeleton?
For those who haven't heard of this, a young man developed a strange disorder in which any tissue that is damaged, rather than healing with the same tissues it would instead replace it with bone. Wouldn't just be a cut or anything like that, normal muscle tearing and things like that. Surgery to remove the extra bone was no good, because that healed with bone. He ended up basically forming a second skeleton around his normal one. He ended up slowly stiffening more and more, and died young - after bequeathing his skeleton to scientific study.
Poor guy, seemed like such a decent person, and there was nothing anyone could do :smallfrown:

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "finding him" but I do believe that his skeleton is being kept at the Mutter Museum.

FOP (the disease he had) is pretty scary though.

[Serpentine]

Well, his name and/or the disease so I can find something about him online.

[AsteriskAmp]

Well, his name and/or the disease so I can find something about him online.

Harry Raymond Eastlack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Raymond_Eastlack)

[Serpentine]

Yup, found it. The disease is Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva). And it is terrifying.

edit: Here's him and his skeleton:http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/harry-eastlack.jpgAnd I'm not sure whether this is him or someone else, but I think it's the same thing:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q38/tabeb/2005_Newsletter_img_11.jpg

[Bhu]

Those are cool links, but one of them... Uh... No, not really :smallconfused: But more significantly:Whut?! :smalleek:


Yeah that was there for giggles. :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

Bobble heads. I can't resist making them move, but then I want them to stop jiggling their frozen smiley faces, but they won't stop, they won't stop!:smalleek:

[Knaight]

http://listverse.com/2010/07/07/10-most-terrifying-places-on-earth/
http://www.worldoffemale.com/top-10-terrifying-places-on-earth/


Honestly, most of these aren't very impressive, with the few exceptions being what happened in them, not the place. None of them are nearly as scary as, say, Laboratory 251, if its expose is at all accurate. A germ laboratory for ebola, lyme disease, and other fun diseases and virii, with horrible architecture for keeping diseases in, staffed by people who don't pay much attention to disease security.

[Ranger Mattos]

You know, I was just about to say that you're safe because I wasn't thinking of either of the games you're in with me, but then you went and said this:



I hadn't thought of that :smallbiggrin:

Good gods, what have I done? :smalleek: On a completely unrelated note, how much does snake repellent cost?

[Geno9999]

Tvtropes has quite an extensive list of nightmare fuel, and here's a few from the video games that stand out to me:
-Mother Brain's Final form from Super Metroid.; My first thought that crossed my mind when I first saw it was, "WTF IS THAT THING!?!?"
-Beating Bowser in New Super Mario Bros.; He's the first Castle boss you fight, and Bowser had a nostalgia feeling to him, since his fight is exactly like Super Mario Bros., right down to breaking the bridge to drop him into the lava. The fuel comes in when the game graphically Bowser's skeleton Yes, his skeleton. No skin, no flesh, just bone) bobbing up, making it appear that Bowser is trying to get out in his dying breath.:smalleek:
-Marx from Kirby SuperStar (Ultra); First off, Marx pulls a one-winged angel when you fight him in SuperStar's Milky Way Wishes, becoming one of the hardest bosses in the game. SuperStar Ultra cranks that up to TWELVE with Marx Soul, the final boss of the True Arena. It has to be seen, to be believed. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaEoJvlNfpc)

[AtomicKitKat]

Living entombment ala Cask of Amontillado.
Persistent vegetative state and/or severe mental retardation.
Amputation(especially if multiple).
Being decomposed while still alive(flesh-eating bacteria, or buried alive with lots of insects, or the death by honey overload in an anthill).

[Derjuin]

Bot flies and the death of Abigail Rose Taylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Taylor), along with many other stories of unusual deaths...

:smalleek::smalleek::smalleek:

[Bhu]

Honestly, most of these aren't very impressive, with the few exceptions being what happened in them, not the place. None of them are nearly as scary as, say, Laboratory 251, if its expose is at all accurate. A germ laboratory for ebola, lyme disease, and other fun diseases and virii, with horrible architecture for keeping diseases in, staffed by people who don't pay much attention to disease security.


lets give it another shot

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1590448/the_five_most_painful_execution_methods.html?cat=3 7

[Knaight]

lets give it another shot

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1590448/the_five_most_painful_execution_methods.html?cat=3 7

The issue is that they are all historical. If these were contemporary methods, with serious thought given to bringing them back in even first world countries, it would be far more terrifying.

[Castaras]

You know that "swallowing six spiders a year" statistic is totally fake. It's more like six hundred, every night.

sweet dreams.

Still incorrect. More like 6 in a life time if you're very unlucky. :smallsmile:

[Bhu]

possibly nsfw in some cases

http://www.cracked.com/article_18955_6-crackpot-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_18931_6-supervillains-from-history-that-make-joker-look-subtle.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_18884_the-7-most-horrifying-cost-cutting-measures-all-time.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_18850_7-modern-dictators-way-crazier-than-you-thought-possible.html

http://www.oddee.com/item_96537.aspx
http://www.oddee.com/item_97113.aspx
http://www.oddee.com/item_97109.aspx
http://www.oddee.com/item_96484.aspx

[CynicalAvocado]

last few episodes of neon genesis evangelion

including EoE

[Marillion]

I don't want to spoil anything for those who don't read it and plan to, but I'm sure everyone who's read it knows what I'm talking about.

> [S] Jade: Wake up. (http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004748)

I...what?

What did I just watch?

[Claudius Maximus]

I...what?

What did I just watch?

A very strange page from a very good comic.

If you want an actual somewhat spoilerish explanation:
The girl's dream body has died, so now when she sleeps her mind goes to the Furthest Ring, where these Lovecraftian horrorterrors live. Same story for the fish girl.

The Squiddles are mankind's subconscious attempt to portray the horrorterrors, and I guess it might be said that the breakdown/transition here is her realizing this.

The thing at the end just seems to be what happens when you go to the edge of the universe and look outward.

[Kneenibble]

Ooh, I likey this thread. Thank you all.

I find Japanese buddhist mummies (who do the embalming process while they are alive) grimly fascinating, and also Jeremy Bentham's embalmed corpse-in-a-closet.

[golentan]

lets give it another shot

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1590448/the_five_most_painful_execution_methods.html?cat=3 7

...

I remember those! Oh, man, memories. Scaphism I missed out on, and thank god, but... I don't know. Brazen bull, not too bad, just painful. Crucifixion at least gives you a chance to make some pointed displays of defiance and mess with the executioner's head. Drawn and quartered, nasty, nasty way to go, but relatively quick. The one I really hate is impalement: words cannot describe the pain or brutality involved.

Perhaps I need to reflect more on my life. People seem to spend way too much of it executing me.

[Bhu]

Ooh, I likey this thread. Thank you all.

I find Japanese buddhist mummies (who do the embalming process while they are alive) grimly fascinating, and also Jeremy Bentham's embalmed corpse-in-a-closet.

Kneenibble! Your alive!