Creepy

I have been nursing a serious bout of sinusitis for over a week now. I believe this webcomic sums up the experience of such sickness well. The main problem now, though, is that as my sinuses drain, my Eustachian tubes fill up with pressure, which causes my ears to vibrate and perceive strange sensations of dizziness and floating, which in turn causes my subconscious brain to freak out and believe my body is spinning off into the ether. Such a state does not make me conducive to doing much, but I have been able to finish up to series six of Doctor Who, and read a few of the comic books I've bought in the last year. Admittedly, I mostly just dithered around on Pinterest, namely in the geek category. A great deal of my pins are of Doctor Ten (is shameless), but at least I get a lot of the meme jokes now, especially regarding River Song.

I'm now trying to finish the rule book for a new game system my brother wants to try, World of Darkness's Hunter: The Reckoning. Having spent the better of two weeks watching a great deal of Steven Moffat stories means that I will be a very scary storyteller, because I have a penchant for throwing my players against things I'm scared of, or find creepy.

In case of anyone wondering, here are some things I generally don't like because they are creepy:

• dolls (I am mildly pediophobic, actually)
• clowns
• large taxidermied animals (I had to walk by a stuffed buffalo to clock in/out at a hunting convention job I did for three years. It was terrifyingly massive and always seemed to follow me with its gaze)
• giant squid (strangely okay with the octopus, though)
• cooked food that still has a face/eyes
• dark areas with mirrors (it feels like spirits are just waiting on the other side of the glass to grab me)
• spiders
• scorpions
• insects
• eyeballs or lack thereof
• also sockmonkeys (did I mention the dolls?)
• disembodied organs
• dead things

In spite of this, a significant quantity of the media I consume is of a rather creepy nature. Case in point, films such as Donnie Darko, Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage, and Coraline are in my library, as well as books from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series and Christopher Golden's The Veil. I love mythology and read ravenously of the ancient ideas of the various monsters that populated the landscape in different parts of the world. Plus, it's rather strange that I hate slasher films, but will devour anything that contains zombies. Also, I watch Doctor Who, a show that really pulls out the stops on creepy monsters about as often as the silly ones. My sister and mother on the other hand, are really into the gory horror. My sister even went through a phase of researching famous serial killers before becoming engrossed in medical documentaries. I remember my mom trying to gift me with this series of teen horror books back in eighth grade that were about unknown evil twins trying to kill off the good twin and steal their life, which didn't really go over well. Heck, I was nervous reading Carrie for a popular fiction course in college, but after reading for awhile, I actually enjoyed the story because it was about an abused girl able to act out her violent revenge on her tormentors.

I'm not sure now where I was going with that thought. Anyway, I guess I'm just trying to say that if I want a good scare, I'm more likely to delve into a tale of psychological thrills than other types of horror. Fantasy monsters are fun, and remind you to have manners and not take things for granted. Besides, I won't insult the creatures of the world-behind-the-world by implying they may not exist.

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Another reason I started this post, is Sirenidi's newest game we put together. She calls it "Ghost Stories," wherein she jumps under my blankets with me on the bed, and we whisper as we hide from monsters. I always suggest we scare away the monsters, so after a count of three, I pull back the covers and we both yell into the room, which invariably always sends the monsters away. She is very fascinated by monsters, and "scary things," but I always explain that no monsters would ever live in the house or wait in the closet or under beds to frighten her, as her Auntie is much scarier than any monster. I may, though, start telling her that the Doctor got rid of all the bad monsters, and left only the good ones behind on earth. Her mother is already going to be cross that my brother and I introduced her to the likes of Dungeons and Dragons, so adding Whovian to the list isn't much of a stretch.

The Further Adventures of Silly Shenanigans

Before I formally began my Steampunk campaign, I thought it prudent to brainstorm some minor adventuring ideas. Again bouncing off of the setting created by Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald," I wrote them in the style of Victorian newspaper ads, using similar language to 19th century adverts and announcements. I really can't imagine my literature teachers expecting such knowledge to be used in this way...

By the way, I thoroughly recommend the short story, "I Cthulu" for more hilarious takes on Lovecraft's universe.

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