Time Or Dimensional Slips

[Paul_Exeter]

By Twitter poster 'Ancients of Avalon yesterday', 1st April 2024 BUT after the noon April Fool deadline (and they claim it really happened and hadn't noticed the date):

'It was a rainy night in September many years ago. Myself and some friends had met in a quiet pub just off the Old Steine in the center of Brighton. It was about 9pm when we noticed a man and woman walk in through the front doors and make their way to the bar. They seemed a little awkward in their manner. They looked in astonishment at a TV showing music videos. The odd thing about them was their clothes. They were immaculately dressed in the style of the late 1940s. They sat at a table and seemed to be watching everyone and everything carefully. They had little note books that they would jot notes into from time to time. They reacted specifically to things like mobile phones and fashion. As we were leaving the pub, the woman leaned forward and got my attention. She spoke perfect English but with a German accent. "Excuse me for asking you what may sound like a strange question. But...what year is it? "It's 1999" I replied.Both her and her male companion looked totally startled. "Are you sure?" She asked and then repeated"1999 and not 1969?"I smiled and assured her it was 1999. As we left the pub and walked out into the rain and darkness, I remember looking back and seeing the strange couple talking to each other. They still looked shocked by the discovery of the date. Were they just actors still dressed in character or were they time travelers from the late 1940s or people caught in a time slip?The whole experience was very odd and we still talk about it to this day.'

Personally I'm going for 'Convincing actors having a laugh' but it does sound intriguing!

Hmm...

It was a rainy night in September many years ago

... and then they tell us it was 1999, so why not just say "1999'? Already the narrative style is suggesting fiction rather than fact

Myself and some friends had met in a quiet pub just off the Old Steine in the center of Brighton.

So we know whereabouts they were so why not tell us the name of the pub or just say, "Not sure which one but it may have been..." or "It's not there anymore'...? Again, this vagueness adds to a fictional narrative but not a factual one

From experience there should have been at least one discarded newspaper in a 1999 pub and usually a rack with complimentary newspapers, so why didn't they just pick one up or discretely ask to borrow one rather than 'blow their covers' by asking what year it was?

But @JudSawyer you might have nailed it, the time-travelling 'Goodnight Sweetheart" was a big hit on tv back then:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Sweetheart_(TV_series)

... and they seem to be acting like characters straight out of that show, so there could be something in that.

 

[catseye]

Hmm...



... and then they tell us it was 1999, so why not just say "1999'? Already the narrative style is suggesting fiction rather than fact



So we know whereabouts they were so why not tell us the name of the pub or just say, "Not sure which one but it may have been..." or "It's not there anymore'...? Again, this vagueness adds to a fictional narrative but not a factual one

From experience there should have been at least one discarded newspaper in a 1999 pub and usually a rack with complimentary newspapers, so why didn't they just pick one up or discretely ask to borrow one rather than 'blow their covers' by asking what year it was?

But @JudSawyer you might have nailed it, the time-travelling 'Goodnight Sweetheart" was a big hit on tv back then:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Sweetheart_(TV_series)

... and they seem to be acting like characters straight out of that show, so there could be something in that.

Oy, 1999 isn't 'many years ago' already, is it?

 

[JudSawyer]

Again, this vagueness adds to a fictional narrative but not a factual one

I'd like to think she's not making it up (I've checked: she's a she) as her account always seems straightforward and sincere, if a little whimsical with its folklore tales and fairy pictures. Nor is she deliberately creating her own fictitious world, in the way that Hookland, Scarfolk and others have been developed as apparently real places at first.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I'd like to think she's not making it up (I've checked: she's a she) as her account always seems straightforward and sincere, if a little whimsical with its folklore tales and fairy pictures. Nor is she deliberately creating her own fictitious world, in the way that Hookland, Scarfolk and others have been developed as apparently real places at first.

I would agree, the style is bit of a ghost story cliche but the actual detail is rather straightforward and there wasn't a 'Whoo!" ending (if you get my drift) so I'm thinking art students or actors although another possibility is that they ere German tourists who asked a question that got lost in translation: for example, they may have been asking when the pub was opened as it doesn't sound a very 'traditional' hostelry

 

[JudSawyer]

That suspiciously 'writerly' trait again:

'The shocked teen said to himself, “Whoa, what’s going ON here?”'

By far the most obvious and natural thing to write would instead be: 'David said to himself' or 'My grandson said to himself'.

This sort of things pops up in paranormal anthologies quite a bit. The book 'Paranormal Anglesey' by Bunty Austin was dreadfully embroidered (though I did still find it entertaining!) There again there was another book (can't think what it was....) that cut out so much detail that everything came out a bit abrupt even for me and I felt that things were being kept from me!

Mind you, I know someone who related her true-life story about her illness and cure to one of those scurrilous but completely non-supernatural weekly magazines aimed at women, and was assured they would stick to exactly what she'd told the very nice journalist - but then they edited her account to death, adding cliches such as 'I was on a rollercoaster of emotions' and inserting something that just wasn't true at all!

 

[Steven]

Yep, I know what you mean. For instance, ghost books from my area always feature historical cases which are so fey and quaint that the style argues against the cases' possible credibility. The result is that they bore far more than they intrigue or thrill.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Yep, I know what you mean. For instance, ghost books from my area always feature historical cases which are so fey and quaint that the style argues against the cases' possible credibility. The result is that they bore far more than they intrigue or thrill.

All those "Old Nick himself placed that rock on the top of the hill"-type tales do my nut in to be honest They made have made a great story for uneducated peasants two hundred years ago but you don't have to include it in your generic, £1.99 on Kindle 'Ghsosts of [insert place name]' book mate! ,

 

[SimonBurchell]

All those "Old Nick himself placed that rock on the top of the hill"-type tales do my nut in to be honest They made have made a great story for uneducated peasants two hundred years ago but you don't have to include it in your generic, £1.99 on Kindle 'Ghsosts of [insert place name]' book mate! ,

I love those stories!

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I love those stories!

 

[kesavaross]

Hmm...



... and then they tell us it was 1999, so why not just say "1999'? Already the narrative style is suggesting fiction rather than fact



So we know whereabouts they were so why not tell us the name of the pub or just say, "Not sure which one but it may have been..." or "It's not there anymore'...? Again, this vagueness adds to a fictional narrative but not a factual one

From experience there should have been at least one discarded newspaper in a 1999 pub and usually a rack with complimentary newspapers, so why didn't they just pick one up or discretely ask to borrow one rather than 'blow their covers' by asking what year it was?

But @JudSawyer you might have nailed it, the time-travelling 'Goodnight Sweetheart" was a big hit on tv back then:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Sweetheart_(TV_series)

... and they seem to be acting like characters straight out of that show, so there could be something in that.

How did the couple pay for their drinks? They would have had pre decimal currency.

I live in Brighton and the only 'quiet' pub off the Old Steine I can think of was The Duke of Marlborough along Pavillion St which coincidentally used to often put on amateur plays upstairs.

 

[SimonBurchell]

How did the couple pay for their drinks? They would have had pre decimal currency.

I live in Brighton and the only 'quiet' pub off the Old Steine I can think of was The Duke of Marlborough along Pavillion St which coincidentally used to often put on amateur plays upstairs.

There's also the bar of the Royal Albion Hotel.

 

[kesavaross]

There's also the bar of the Royal Albion Hotel.

That not really a pub though.

 

[catseye]

All those "Old Nick himself placed that rock on the top of the hill"-type tales do my nut in to be honest They made have made a great story for uneducated peasants two hundred years ago but you don't have to include it in your generic, £1.99 on Kindle 'Ghsosts of [insert place name]' book mate! ,

I agree! There's a place for stories like these, the 'the Devil met a clergyman and decided...' stories belong in folk lore not ghost stories.

 

[Aydee_Aitchdee]

Oy, 1999 isn't 'many years ago' already, is it?

10 years ago, wasn't it?

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Nice reverse timeslip account on today's Quora:

"I just heard this story off a friend who lives in the village I retired to in Lincolnshire UK.
The difference with this story is it's in reverse. My friend was walking down a very busy Lincoln road with loads of people cars buses and lorries flying by.
He was surprised to see 3 people standing at the side of the road with look of sheer terror on their faces.
He noticed they were dressed in very old fashioned clothes Victorian or earlier. Fancy dress he thought a party somewhere.
He shouted are you ok? They replied "what's happened?" "Everything changed. "Where are we?" and then they vanished.
My friend was shocked to say the least and put it down to being tired after work imagination or was it?
He said they were definitely not ghosts they were real people but he did notice their clothes looked a bit tired and rough - not the kind for a party.
He could tell they were terrified of the huge lorries buses and cars driving past.
So we have heard stories of people suddenly finding themselves a hundred years or more in the past for a few minutes even hours . Who say the past can't visit the present?"

 

[Stormkhan]

With my steampunk gear, I've often wondered if I could be bothered to dress up when there's a heavy mist between Scarborough and Whitby ... and just stand there for an hour or so. There's a nice stretch between the moor and a wood which hides a track to a lay-bye further on ...

 

[Floyd]

I love those stories!

'uneducated peasant'

I rest my case.

Only joking.

 

[Steven]

With my steampunk gear, I've often wondered if I could be bothered to dress up when there's a heavy mist between Scarborough and Whitby ... and just stand there for an hour or so. There's a nice stretch between the moor and a wood which hides a track to a lay-bye further on ...

 

[Sabresonic]

With my steampunk gear, I've often wondered if I could be bothered to dress up when there's a heavy mist between Scarborough and Whitby ... and just stand there for an hour or so. There's a nice stretch between the moor and a wood which hides a track to a lay-bye further on ...

Just bought the Whitby Goth (is it Steampunk as well) tickets for my daughter and her boyfriend at the end of April but my and her mother are going with them....I wonder what to dress up as ?

 

[Stormkhan]

Well, the common law has it that Goths don't like Steampunks. Dunno why - they feel SP's have 'stolen' their vibe? Bit silly really, because Goth really involves attitude or music more and only share a Victorian-style Gothic vibe. Then again, I know a couple of middle-aged folks who have steampunk costumes and Goth clobber, which tends to have less colour and more BDSM elements.
At the Whitby Goth Weekends, the steampunks are in the background. I'd wear black and white Victorian gear, keeping the hats more subdued than the more exuberant steampunk aesthetic.

 

[Sabresonic]

Think I go for the David Vanian look 1976-1981 before the big hair came in or maybe just go for a sort of Gothabilly mix of Bauhaus and The Meteors.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Well, the common law has it that Goths don't like Steampunks. Dunno why - they feel SP's have 'stolen' their vibe? Bit silly really, because Goth really involves attitude or music more and only share a Victorian-style Gothic vibe. Then again, I know a couple of middle-aged folks who have steampunk costumes and Goth clobber, which tends to have less colour and more BDSM elements.
At the Whitby Goth Weekends, the steampunks are in the background. I'd wear black and white Victorian gear, keeping the hats more subdued than the more exuberant steampunk aesthetic.

I'm a former Goth and I like Steampunk. But I'm not actively doing either, so I guess that doesn't count.

 

[Stormkhan]

I'm a former punk and consider goths to be wayward.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I'm a former punk and consider goths to be wayward.

I'm a former punk too. My progression (or regression) is as follows:
Heavy Metal > Punk > Goth > New Wave > Old Fart.

 

[JudSawyer]

Nice reverse timeslip account on today's Quora:


He was surprised to see 3 people standing at the side of the road with look of sheer terror on their faces.
He noticed they were dressed in very old fashioned clothes Victorian or earlier. Fancy dress he thought a party somewhere.
He shouted are you ok? They replied "what's happened?" "Everything changed. "Where are we?" and then they vanished.
My friend was shocked to say the least and put it down to being tired after work imagination or was it?

This is a great tale. It would be a heck of a thing to imagine through fatigue, it's a whole little scene!

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Nice reverse timeslip account on today's Quora:

"I just heard this story off a friend who lives in the village I retired to in Lincolnshire UK.
The difference with this story is it's in reverse. My friend was walking down a very busy Lincoln road with loads of people cars buses and lorries flying by.
He was surprised to see 3 people standing at the side of the road with look of sheer terror on their faces.
He noticed they were dressed in very old fashioned clothes Victorian or earlier. Fancy dress he thought a party somewhere.
He shouted are you ok? They replied "what's happened?" "Everything changed. "Where are we?" and then they vanished.
My friend was shocked to say the least and put it down to being tired after work imagination or was it?
He said they were definitely not ghosts they were real people but he did notice their clothes looked a bit tired and rough - not the kind for a party.
He could tell they were terrified of the huge lorries buses and cars driving past.
So we have heard stories of people suddenly finding themselves a hundred years or more in the past for a few minutes even hours . Who say the past can't visit the present?"

Great stuff, have you got a link?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

How did the couple pay for their drinks? They would have had pre decimal currency.

I live in Brighton and the only 'quiet' pub off the Old Steine I can think of was The Duke of Marlborough along Pavillion St which coincidentally used to often put on amateur plays upstairs.

I think two amateur dramatists getting into character is likely to be at the root of this. I was once stood outside a theatre as people were guessing to get in and some of the cast came outside 'in character' to entertain the queue but it felt a bit unreal (a production of 'The Boyfriend' and there were in 1930s costumes).

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Great stuff, have you got a link?

Unfortunately not - only the text, which I cut and pasted above, appeared on yesterday's Quora.
It would be great if someone can find an account from a Lincolnshire village maybe 200 years ago of 3 people having a nightmarish vision of huge, horseless carriages thundering past them.

 

[Robbrent]

Nice reverse timeslip account on today's Quora:

"I just heard this story off a friend who lives in the village I retired to in Lincolnshire UK.
The difference with this story is it's in reverse. My friend was walking down a very busy Lincoln road with loads of people cars buses and lorries flying by.
He was surprised to see 3 people standing at the side of the road with look of sheer terror on their faces.
He noticed they were dressed in very old fashioned clothes Victorian or earlier. Fancy dress he thought a party somewhere.
He shouted are you ok? They replied "what's happened?" "Everything changed. "Where are we?" and then they vanished.
My friend was shocked to say the least and put it down to being tired after work imagination or was it?
He said they were definitely not ghosts they were real people but he did notice their clothes looked a bit tired and rough - not the kind for a party.
He could tell they were terrified of the huge lorries buses and cars driving past.
So we have heard stories of people suddenly finding themselves a hundred years or more in the past for a few minutes even hours . Who say the past can't visit the present?"

That is brilliant, you could imagine their horror jettisoned into a modern world they knew nothing about, I would guess that like many people they kept it to themselves for fear of mockery, we could do with more of those tales

 

[escargot]

Astonishing Legends have just done a 2-parter on the Versailles incident. I'm about 1/2 way through episode 2 at the moment.

https://astonishinglegends.com/al-podcasts/2024/01/13/ep-275-the-ghosts-of-versailles-part-1
https://astonishinglegends.com/al-podcasts/2024/01/28/ep-276-the-ghosts-of-versailles-part-2

Some interesting ideas put forward by the team.

It is mentioned that the ladies interacted with one of the people they saw and got the exact response both times, as if the person was an NPC in a computer game. It made me think of the idea that has been floated that we are living in a simulation, and are timeslips effectively a glitch in the matrix?

When I go to that website I can't find a link to click for playing the episode. What am I looking for?