RE: ULOG # 061: Visiting my Daughters and Some (possibly) Creepy Discovery
Amazing - first, the conditions in Venezuala, with no electricity, and smoke from a neighbor's fire aggravating your daughter's respiratory illness. No wonder she has nightmares. Being unable to breathe well while asleep can lead to dreams of being smothered, killed, pursued. And her dream journal is extraordinary just in artistry - add to that the prophetic angle! A year later, another artist (Russian? "Creepypasta" ?) has drawn the same image, lending credence to the idea of a Muse, or a Zeitgeist, some source of inspiration that has people all over the world, unknown to each other, inventing the same new technology (radio, e.g.) or coming up with new story ideas and metaphors and images. She told me that when she saw the image she thought it was familiar. She had drawn something very similar about a year ago when she decided to start drawing images from her recurrent nightmares. Awesome, and creepy, yes, but above all, amazing, and maybe kinda reassuring to know that other people, however far away, and unknown to us, are experiencing life the same way....? Great post, anyway, and great artwork, and I wish your daughters well - with clean air and electricity powering your home!
Thank you for stopping by, @carolkean, and for leaving this great comment. I'll make sure my daughter reads it.
I think that with art, something similar to the polygenesis effect in folktales can happen. Considering that all our artistic expressions are representations of common/shared/colective experiences, then it should be "normal" that we find coincidences.
Just to clarify, the Russian experiment story that has been circulating as part of this sort of urban legend genre called "creepypasta" goes back to 2010, according to some sources (it is said it was authored by Holly Ice, there are news of a movie based on Ice's book to be released this year), the creepy image that accompanies the story in most websites it is said to be a faked photos of some halloween poppet; my daughter says she did not know about until some days ago.
You're most welcome! And I agree with this: Considering that all our artistic expressions are representations of common/shared/collective experiences, then it should be "normal" that we find coincidences. Serendipity. Synchronicity. There is a connectedness!
I do think a lot of nightmares are caused by difficulty breathing in the night, but the imagery of the nightmares - that's for the Zeitgeist or the polygenesis effect to explain. It's only Western Civilization that doubts what "primitive" or other cultures "know" - that telepathy, clairvoyance, and things mystical are more real than we Americans or Europeans care to imagine. :) (That said, I would love to be a ghost whisperer or a mystic, but my brain is hard-wired for skepticism!)
Hahaha. I feel the same. "Ignorance is bliss", they used to say. There is a certain level of truth in that. The comfort of sheer disregard for logic and sense is something we lose when we become skeptical of anything.
Just FYI, or FMI (for my information!),
The difference between urban legends and creepypasta
is that urban legends are older and are usually told to serve a purpose, such as making kids come home before it's dark becase scary things will eat them. Creepypasta is more for entertainment for people who like 'spooky' stories.
Yes, I am learning about this. Before my daughter made me look for info about that story I had not heard or read anything about the term. I did know about spaghetti western, another kind of pop culture pasta :)
Spaghetti Western - not to be conused with Creepy Pasta - love it! Though some of those Westerns did get pretty creepy. The haunting harmonica refrain in Once Upon a Time in the West!!!
Anasi's Goatman Story
Based on a Native American legend, this creepypasta ....
.... the mix of pre-existing lore and new narrative is not rare for creepypastas, but it's the strength of the writing that really makes this particular story worth sharing. There are variations of this story, but most follow a similar formula where a group is stalked by the titular monster with different outcomes.
The age-old tradition of telling ghost stories around a campfire has gotten a digital upgrade with creepypastas — scary stories or pictures that spread across message boards, becoming internet lore that are discussed both on and offline.
People around the word share their bizarre and terrifying creepypastas, hoping that the tales will gain popularity and become classics, often quoted or cited by horror fans and frightened netizens.