ULOG # 061: Visiting my Daughters and Some (possibly) Creepy Discovery

in #ulog5 years ago

Greetings, everyone
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Yesterday, I visited my daughters, Anna (11) and Vivian (17). Anna has been sick lately, more of the same. She has been suffering from respiratory infections for quite a while and was having one more episode. Ironically, (if you read my previous ulog you'll see the irony) I had to witness, once again, how Venezuelans' lack of consideration for their fellow neighbors makes it really hard for any of us to restrain murderous thoughts. There was no electricity in the house and some people decided that it would be a good idea to start a fire on the lot abutting my daughters' neighborhood. The curtain of smoke that covered the whole area was so intense we were suffocating even with every window and door closed.

I did my best to vent the area around them with a piece of cardboard while hoping for a change of winds or the power back. Some neighbors rushed to try to put out the fire, others called the firefighters. After some desperate minutes power was back and we were able to turn an air conditioner on. That made the air inside the room more breathable. I was so released Anna did not panic and start coughing. She remained calmed and was rather excited that we were all dealing with together.

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This happens quite often in this neighborhood. People are carelessly and irresponsibly burning vegetation, trash, dead animals and tires (during protests) without taking into consideration the damage those fumes can cause to innocent people around.

Fortunatelly, after half an hour or so, the smoke was gone and we were able to share some time without worrying about an asthma attack.

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Vivian played a couple of songs on her guitar, which she has recently started learning how to play. She is getting really good at it, especially considering she's mostly doing it on her own. Anna and I put together some puzzles and played some educational game (Conector Desafio).

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The creepy part of the visit was not the sophocating smoke, though. Vivian asked me if I had heard about the Russian sleep experiment, a story she just ran into. I think I might have heard about it, but could not recall any details. She was freaking out, not so much about the story itself, which we were sure (without the compulsory research) was some sort of internet legend (I later learned the term "Creepypasta" is the new genre that accounts for that sort of story), but because of the image at the end of the blog she read.

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.

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So, she dug out from under some mattress one of her old drawing blocks and one of the images was certainly similar to the image usually posted next to any of the versions of the Russian experiment story.

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I don't have any reason to doubt my daughter's story. She seemed genuinely shocked at the idea of having dreamed of something she would not see but a year later. I still have to search the other images and see if they are representations from some movie, cartoon, or comic. I know from my experience that we tend to dream about things we have seen, heard, or sensed one way or another. I also know that some things may not have a logical explanation, which would make it an amazing story. I might have seen something like this in some Japanese anime. If any of you have seen the possible reference to any of this drawings, please, let us know in the comments.

In any case, I was impressed byher art, even though I have seen her draw since she could hold a pencil. She always showed she had the artistic talent, and I know she has enough sensibility to connect to multiple aesthetic sources. It freaked me out, though, the possibility of her having these nightmares that are or may be somehow connected to others' creepy visions.

At least she is expressing all those nightmares artistically and I am very proud of all her talents.

Thanks for your visit

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Good heavens...those are some incredible sketches of nightmares! I love them, but the idea they came from the imagination of a young girl like that is freaky...

It is indeed. I'm pretty sure they are informed by some images she must have registered from somewhere. As @michellesamson has pointed out,the movie Mama shows some elongated nightmarish creatures that match some of my daughter's sketches. I told them to stop watching horror movies! :)
Thanks for stopping by

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.

Seen similar stuff in the movies. "MAMA" and then again "MARA". One other movie that I can't really recall the title. Both horror movies and in the first she lost her child and was after someone else's daughter's, in the second movie she was a demon associated with sleep paralysis.

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It makes perfect sense. Thanks, @michellesamson.
I did think the style was familiar.
I watched Mama years ago, when it came out. Did not remember exactly the concept art for the scary creatures.
I just checked and, yes, the scary woman with sharp claws on scary child's shoulders much have come from there.
Do you watch a lot of horror movies?
I stopped watching them, precisely because fragmented images make their way to our dreams and there's no fun in that. Also, horror movies became quite formulaic and predictable, relying more on noise and gore than in actual scary stories.
Thanks a lot for commenting

Yes, I used to watch alot of horrors movies but I stopped about a year ago cause I started hallucinating about them and noticed I could hardly stay alone in a room at night.

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@hlezama,

Your daughter is a damned fine artist! Those are really good sketches. Creativity, of one kind or another, runs in the family.

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