you might make everyone happy but you're dead, just like me

Day 280 of the Eternal Headache has dawned, and I'm beginning to think I'm going to 'celebrate' a full year of this thing. Y a y . Ah, well.

To other things: have you ever had one of those feelings where you almost grasp the shape of something, but you're not sure how to execute it?

Well, I'm still there, but this is what I came up with for the moment.

I have a few zombie AO sets--some bought as one whole item, some that had a few poses and I added some of my own. I grabbed the one from RC Cluster (which is now an outlet/heavily discounted skybox store, as the actual RC main store no longer exists), and it's MUCH more in-your-face in its approach.



I'm currently at Deeproot Manor, it seemed appropriate. And I'm not going to show off all the moves of either of these, but this is a snippet of...I guess my main dead-thing default, at this point?

I like it. It's fun, it's unnerving, it goes over well at parties. But it is very extreme.



Now this one. This one is gloriously subtle, and I mean that as a compliment. It's like the difference between a ghost standing and screaming at you, versus slowly rising up from the floor and just...watching.

{{Note from the Editrix, post-publishing: All I did was unbox this and put it on. Which is why there's a fair bit of repeating moves. Took me a bit, because of tired and ow, to find the thing, but I finally did. I'll link to the next entry to explain that.}}



But there's something even better, that the video doesn't really go into, which is why I took three stills. The hand work.



Believe me, it looks better on Grim, he has these great spindly hands with spidery fingers, but even on me, there's just enough distortion in the animation of the fingers to visually imply claws. It's brilliant.



And that attention to detail, what the eye notices, but doesn't completely register, is why this is so good. There's a great little head-bobble, which is about the most obvious pose in this entire thing. The rest...I mean, it's ideal for haunted characters--wraiths, phantoms, spectres, anything that has a need to float. I have a wasp-winged Unseelie lass I pull on from time to time (it's the one seen here, with the horns), and I'm thinking the Revenant AO? Is going to be just perfect for her.

Finally, a note from Grimoire Hexem I want to pass on:

The animations in this AO were created by llweyndwell resident (the designer behind Aten-Ka), as a member of the Vae Victis team. Please contact him for inquiries.

It's available at the Warehouse event, specifically at the /Vae Victis\ booth. If you want to try a demo, that's at the booth too, or you can drop by the /Vae Victis\ main store. It's on discount, down to L$630. And the Warehouse will be open until the bir....I mean, the 18th. Go see it! And see what it can do to you!

how'd you get so desperate? how'd you stay alive?

[15:14] Marloo Redd (marlooredd): you can't have your meat candy til you've had your gummy broccoli

But MOOooommm...



So LEVEL is open, and remember when I mentioned the "Baphomet" Lapel Chain and Signet Ring from /Vae Victis\? That I wasn't sure if the event was open or not?

Well, it still is, and here's the booth, and it's still marked L$425.



Also, I ran into Arkivet at Shop 'n Hop! Her gift is the Crystalline Horns in Candycorn. Free for anyone who wanders by!

Meanwhile...hmmm.



The "Famous" Spook House, it says.



So I'm at Jenia's Very Spooky Haunted Halloween Land...I am already unimpressed.



And there's Jenia...and she's on moderate land.

Wearing that.



Well, let's get this over with.



This little guy was pretty neat, but he reminds me uncomfortably of the Coraline ghost children.



I jumped into the next car, not realizing someone else had done the same thing, and before I could jump out again, we were off. Well, let's make the best of it...and apparently 'the best' includes game rips. These are two iterations of Alice from Alice: Madness Returns.



And this lass is from Resident Evil, I believe, where a lot of the mesh zombies on the grid come from.

I may have to take back something said earlier about the maker of this particular dark ride: namely, I thought the game rips were annoying, but pervasive enough on the grid some people may just not know what they mean. But going through this ride, seeing the same exact infringing properties--could it be that the maker included those game rips in the sales package??

If so, there's extremely disheartening.

Two out of five skulls, and that only because Jenia says if she's on the parcel, then every rider gets five Linden, and on Halloween, she's raising it to ten Lindens. So...a small amount of free Lindens if she's there, at least.

If nothing else, Jenia did look lovely in that outfit...it just wasn't designed for moderate sims.

the feelings start to rot, one wink at a time

There's one in every crowd.

[15:39] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: hey Emily
[15:39] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Hi!
[15:39] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you are so sexy

Occupational hazard. Seriously, 70% of the way I look is due to look restrictions at work, followed by dominant instructions on how he wanted me to look. I've made small adjustments here and there--the face is largely my work, the height is definitely my work, but the figure? I'm glad people appreciate it, but--I just did what they told me.

[15:39] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, thank you.
[15:39] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: how are you dear
[15:39] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I'm good.
[15:39] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nice to listen that
[15:40] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i want kiss you later

Oh, here we go.

[15:40] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: can i add you dear ?

And, while I was pondering how best to politely demur--

[15:41] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i think it is better way to say yes
[15:41] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and accept my friendship

That's vaguely threatening.

[15:41] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, that may be slightly tricky. So. What is allowable for the Mate, or the partner, goes into business for others.

Translation: "I am not about to freely jump into the arms of someone who wants to friend me just for unpaid sex without a darned good reason, thanks ever so".

[15:41] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): But I can send you my rate card, absolutely willing to do that.

And then he sent a Gyazo snap. That's...creepy.

[15:42] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yes, that's [Mxxxxx], I'm here with him.

You'd think "I'm here with someone", and him sending clear proof of same, would be enough, but...

[15:42] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i send you my rate card so i dont thing you want send and to other half of you
[15:42] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) tries to parse that
[15:43] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So, you just want me to buy your services for half of me, not the whole person?

Thankfully, he either couldn't come up with a snappy rejoinder, or just gave up, but--weird conversation. So much yikes.

nothing you can say can stop me going home

Tying up things for the year, a very disappointing one for haunts, all in all. But we're now at the Ils de l'Ours haunt, so...maybe this will at least be average.



From the front entrance, things look very foggy.



And monochrome.



It's atmospheric, I'll give them that. But it's just one graveyard. Next.

How about the Church of the Poison Mind? They're technically a club, but to the right, there's a haunt.



The furniture's interesting...



Ah, yes, the cannibal kitchen trope. Tired of it.



Probably shouldn't have had that third glass of arsenic...



But what I most want to know is--what happened to the baby?

Anyway, that's it for the year. I'm calling it. There may be more houses out there, but I'm tired of digging through dreck to find even paste gems. The angel statue in the first one made a great picture, and I do like the haunted bed set, to be fair, but...eh. Three of out five skulls?

I guess there's next October.

so, don't swear to God, he never asked you, it's not his heart you drove a knife through (part II)

(Continued from part one.)

So it was another chain ride--another dark ride--but it had a few odd differences...



It started off the same as most of them. This one was based around blasphemy, so the exterior was a black church with dark red and yellow stained glass gothic windows. Inside, all the walls were painted black, and it started right up with the inverted pentacles.



The first turn was a straight run towards a panel inset with a flickering photo of a long hallway.



The first serious turn brought me into a large room the car spirals through--and I do mean "spirals", it was REALLY hard to take pictures because the car kept corkscrewing along the track. I could swear the figure to the right is one of the elves from World of Warcraft, but to be fair, I don't really know that game as well as others.



I am fairly sure that the two sigils on either side of the eviscerated lass is a small homage to Silent Hill, however.



After a few more corkscrew turns, the car slides past the devil towards another inverted pentacle...



...the pentacle in question, of course, being on fire...and the snarling whatever-it-is underneath...



...and the ride finishes by running the car through a solid corridor of flames and capering imps. And then it ends, and I'm back at the front again.

Short? Absolutely. Fun? Not if you're taking pictures, but otherwise yes. There's lots to do here, between the park rides and the various 'photo ops', not to mention the maze--and, barring the 'graphic' (ha) nature of the dark ride, there's very little here I'd say is even R-rated, so it's fairly suitable for all ages.

All in all, not bad. Three out of five skulls.

so, don't swear to God, he never asked you, it's not his heart you drove a knife through (part I)

Creepfest Park told me,

"Join us Oct. 2 thru Nov. 1 @ CREEPFEST PARK Where you can create your own image of CREEPY and we won't distort your view. Halloween, Fair , Ferris Wheel, Roller coaster, Corn Maze. Rides, Haunted House, Interactive, Couples, Singles, Family.."

but now I'm wondering how they mean that. I can "create [my] own image of CREEPY" and they won't "distort" my view?

What view?



I was amused by this, I admit.



So, past the entrance, there was a proper amusement park of creepy rides. This was the front entrance to it.



This was a pirate ship, hydrolically rocked through an artificial storm. I'm intrigued enough I might go back and see how it is to actually ride.



Past the section with rides, there was a small area where small yellow "Photo opportunity!" signs started showing up. While this rest area had one near the front, where I stretched out by the crackling fire was fine for pictures.



Past the fire and the log and hay bale seating was the entrance to a maze...



...and, uh...whatever this was...



And past that I found...the Unholy Roller Horror Ride.

(Continued in part two.)

running from the debt in the battle of cyber heads

I won't lie, finding out that my blog is essentially text-only at the moment sort of drained all the joy out of finding new haunts. I still have a few days' worth of entries I'd already completed, which will also launch without images, and...it's depressed me a bit, along with trying to find other working ways to get the pictures back to visible shutting down one by one.

But I'm still working on it. For what it's worth.

How about Lunar's Haunted House in Itaca? The description does sound like a haunt:

Interactive Haunted House. Halloween, Haunted Mansion. Fun for all ages. Take your time exploring and sit on things to interact. Spooky, Scary, asylum, Circus, Freakshow, Haunted Museum, Fright, Halloween Photo Spot. Vampires, Haunt, boo, witches,

It seemed to take a very long time to rez things in, and...asa I had a touch of headache knifing my forebrain, and it was late when I went through (the night previous), I just gave up and started walking around.

There's lots of screaming here. That is also not precisely helping.



Definitely an evil pumpkin.



I guess this is the entrance?



Hello, annoying collection of game rips.



Way overcrowded. There's just too much going on.



Was I here last year? I have the weirdest feeling I was. Or at somewhere very similar. I had to have been here. But it wasn't this cluttered last year, was it? I can't remember.

oh, no apologies, twisting your word and your policies

A brief Scenes from a Chat:

[11:47] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Can y'all see this? 🔠

Unless it's supposed to be just letters, no. That or a plain empty box are usually what I see when the emoji in question isn't showing up in chat.

[11:47] axxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes
[11:47] Lxxxx Mxxxxxxxxx: Yep
[11:49] Mxxxx Gxxxxxx: yes
[11:49] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Okay: this is the least used emoji at the moment.

If that's all it is, I understand why.

[11:49] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Basically if you can, remember to use it in your vocabulary so we can give this little thing some love too.

Why?

[11:50] Mxxxx Gxxxxxx: i just got online lol were there soooo many ?
[11:50] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Here is it again: 🔠
[11:50] Mxxxx Gxxxxxx: oh wow you dare [kxxx]
[11:50] Emilly Orr: [Kxxx], I see four little letters that I think read A-B-C-T?

Because in SL, this thing is not only not blue, but smaller, so...it was hard to make out.



That is what I saw in world. Also, just to clear this up if required, "K" was the letter her display name started with. Her actual name was longer, and began with a different letter.

[11:50] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: A B C D
[11:51] Emilly Orr: Oh, it's supposed to be that?
[11:51] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yass

Then I'm confused.

[11:52] Emilly Orr: Okay, so this is tiny brain moment--whassit mean?
[11:52] Txxxxxxxx Exxxx: lol Emily
[11:52] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: A B C D are the first letters of the latin alphabet
[11:53] Emilly Orr: Yes....
[11:53] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yas.

I don't get it.

[11:53] Emilly Orr: So that's it? No deeper meaning, like the difference between the blue heart and the red heart?
[11:53] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: A B C D are the first letters of the latin alphabet.
[11:54] Emilly Orr: You keep saying that like it means something.

Because, Ms. K, that means nothing. That is meaningless. That carries even less inherent sense than many emojis.

[11:54] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Eh that's what it means.
[11:54] Emilly Orr: Then I don't get it.
[11:55] mxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: 🔠
[11:56] Emilly Orr shrugs and moves on

I mean, am I just missing some incredibly obscure joke here? Someone help me out. Does it have an actual meaning? Why is this such a big deal? Is it just Ms. K wants to encourage people to use an alphabetic emoji for no particular reason but using it?

I still don't get it. So, onward to the haunt!

The description for East of London is short:

This is the only replica of how Londons East was in the 1880s during Jack the ripper reigh.

I think they mean, "during Jack the Ripper's reign", but hey.



I don't think Whitechapel would have ever named a pub "Jack the Ripper", even in the height of the Ripper hysteria.

That seems on the grim side.



Problem: same top-hatted gentleman. Same name for the pub. Repeats on a supposedly authentic Victorian sim? Never good.



That's a tad bit on the nose, a soiled dove standing next to a waiting coffin.



Poses of some of the crime scenes (and at least one victim). Around the corner from this, there's a posestand in front of a slideshow of various Victorian street scenes. Neat concept.



An ominous shadow on the bricks...



And a lass that was not saved in time.

In point of fact, this is more history than horror, but it does give you the feeling, at least, of wandering a foggy Whitechapel night. There are some sights, and relatively few rips (there are a few, but for the most part, they're used in ways they make sense). So if you're up for a slightly haunted stroll, this one's recommended.

jeepers creepers, shiver me, tingles, what’s a girl to do?

It takes all kinds. Standing in the middle of the last Adult haunt I was at, was an apparent Cistercian nun, full habit, wimple and veil included. I pulled her profile and her entire SL bio consists of two Bible quotes:

Matthew 5:28
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

and

Romans 13:13
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Her groups are kind of all over: six hardcore religious groups, most of them having "NO SEX" in their group descriptions, then three very much sex groups, including a "teen" sex ring and Whore Street.

My brain has no place for this.

Pursuant to the Tumblr post, I did go ahead and download my files in a backup .zip. It took eighteen hours to batch up. Eighteen. Hours. And four additional hours to download. It's a stunning eleven gB of data.

So, soon as I figure out how the download format works, and sort through things, I'll be killing my Tumblr account. And then I'll be done with it.

In the meantime...let's discuss TRICK OR [F**KING] TREAT (censorship mine). Uh-huh. Their description states:

Halloween, Haunted house, creeypasta stories, graveyard, great to explore or take fall themed photos. Trick or treat. scary. pumpkin patch , hay, corn maze,

" RegionOverride*/ /*Sky: "[TOR] FOGGY - Silent heck" RegionOverride*/

Riiiight. The creepypasta mention threw me, until I actually got to the sim and realized the soundtrack to this was someone reading creepypasta stories. Okay, that works.

But keep that Windlight setting in mind, because that's important to this. That setting, and insane amounts of lag. Let me explain.



This is the first picture I took. And I took this picture after ten whole minutes of standing in the weeds. That is the best rez, best visibility, I could manage. Take that in.

I crashed twice from the land, let a couple of days pass, and went back today. Where I just sat in front of a harp and then watched Horror Noir on Shudder. At the forty-nine minute point, I crashed again. This haunt is impossible.



I ported to the Delphinus sim, and walked to the corner edge, and tried to cam in and grab the haunt that way. No joy.



I gave up, ported in, then walked back until I was on another section of Mercury, and cammed in. I set the sky to (SS) Atmospheric 00:00cloudy, and I let it sit. I wandered off to get more iced tea. I watched a bit more of Horror Noir. And then, finally, I started taking pictures of the haunt.

I do love this corner set-up. The twig stars and Blair Witch sticks from Death Row Designs, the blanket-draped chair from dust bunny, all of it conspires to create a scene that's both comforting and unnerving.



The large living room, complete with piano, harp, and idly dancing skeleton.



A skeleton climbs the stairs towards empty frames, empty cages, and stillness.



And this is proof that haunts don't have to be vintage to be disturbing. The Cammino e Vivo Capovolto statues, the mysterious Illuminati print from Dahlia, one of NOMAD's still-impressive mannequins...very well done, very evocative of a certain mood, and, under normal circumstances, I would highly recommend going.

But unless you have a higher-end computer, lag will eat you alive, and that may be the scariest thing of all.