• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Weird IHTM Tales From Reddit & Other Sites

Son and fiancee recently turned their place upside down looking for the bottle opener. Finally they gave in and decided that one of them must have accidentally thrown it away. Bought another. (Which took us a while to find as they wanted a certain one, I think). Few days later, lo and behold they not only turned up but in the middle of the kitchen counter that had been cleared and definitely had no bottle opener on.

Their flat is a newbuild but on the site of an old children's hospital where thousands of kids will have died in the 19thC and early 20th... They've heard things, and stuff gets knocked over, I think, quite often. My son is still trying to be a sceptic but at this point it's not so easy...

ETA: They live close to a place where someone they know of, saw the ghost of a monk so frequently, in the early evening when he cycled home, that he changed the route as he was sick of being stared at by the monk.
 
Their flat is a newbuild but on the site of an old children's hospital where thousands of kids will have died in the 19thC and early 20th... They've heard things, and stuff gets knocked over, I think, quite often. My son is still trying to be a sceptic but at this point it's not so easy...
Time and again, I have observed that once it becomes a matter of exerting oneself in the maintenance of a belief in the impossibility of certain forms of phenomena or experience (because... PHYSICAL LAW!), a person is doomed. Such scepticism should remain effortless, like passing gas, in order for the comforting fictions it reinforces to maintain their hold.
 
When I returned from the Edinburgh Fortean Society trip to Loch Ness recently I found I had lost the quick release plate on my tripod. Spent time checking for it and checking the car I travelled in. No joy. Put the tripod in a filing cabinet drawer. Ordered a new plate. When it arrived I went to get my tripod and the old plate was literally sat next to it in the drawer. I would have seen it when I put the tripod in. In between it disappearing and reappearing I think I have emptied the drawer to place a new covering on the base and did not see it.
 
When I returned from the Edinburgh Fortean Society trip to Loch Ness recently I found I had lost the quick release plate on my tripod. Spent time checking for it and checking the car I travelled in. No joy. Put the tripod in a filing cabinet drawer. Ordered a new plate. When it arrived I went to get my tripod and the old plate was literally sat next to it in the drawer. I would have seen it when I put the tripod in. In between it disappearing and reappearing I think I have emptied the drawer to place a new covering on the base and did not see it.
Any possibility that the plate could have been stuck to another part of the tripod where it wasn't easily seen (sounds a little stupid to ask, but I had to).

Time and again, I have observed that once it becomes a matter of exerting oneself in the maintenance of a belief in the impossibility of certain forms of phenomena or experience (because... PHYSICAL LAW!), a person is doomed.
Like a piece of grit caught in a gear, isn't it.
 
Time and again, I have observed that once it becomes a matter of exerting oneself in the maintenance of a belief in the impossibility of certain forms of phenomena or experience (because... PHYSICAL LAW!), a person is doomed. Such scepticism should remain effortless, like passing gas, in order for the comforting fictions it reinforces to maintain their hold.

Yup, the former Mr Snail prided himself on being a hard-headed sceptic even in the face of constant phenomena - Phantom Drips, polt activity, ghostly cats, mind-reading, you name it. I believe the effort to stay sceptical helped sent him round the twist.
 
Yup, the former Mr Snail prided himself on being a hard-headed sceptic even in the face of constant phenomena - Phantom Drips, polt activity, ghostly cats, mind-reading, you name it. I believe the effort to stay sceptical helped sent him round the twist.
It's indeed strange the lengths to which people who pride themselves on their scepticism seem to go to avoid accepting what is happening under their noses! These belief systems -- of all kinds -- become so important to people that they will literally give their lives for them (martyrdom) or kill others who don't happen to share them. And they are a pain to everybody else in the process.
 
Yup, the former Mr Snail prided himself on being a hard-headed sceptic even in the face of constant phenomena - Phantom Drips, polt activity, ghostly cats, mind-reading, you name it. I believe the effort to stay sceptical helped sent him round the twist.
This particular son has said to me for years that if ghosts/paranormal phenomena really existed, how come no-one had captured something on their phone by now? This has been one of his standard rants for oh, ten years... So last week I asked him why, if so much unexplained is going on in his flat, he hasn't caught it on his phone, yet. He didn't find me funny.
 
When I returned from the Edinburgh Fortean Society trip to Loch Ness recently I found I had lost the quick release plate on my tripod. Spent time checking for it and checking the car I travelled in. No joy. Put the tripod in a filing cabinet drawer. Ordered a new plate. When it arrived I went to get my tripod and the old plate was literally sat next to it in the drawer. I would have seen it when I put the tripod in. In between it disappearing and reappearing I think I have emptied the drawer to place a new covering on the base and did not see it.

I've done exactly the same with digital camera chargers. Had three different types so was forever juggling them. Now and then I'd order a new one in desperation, only for the missing one to turn up WITH ALL THE OTHERS INCLUDING THE EXTRA ONES I'D ALREADY BOUGHT.
 
Any possibility that the plate could have been stuck to another part of the tripod where it wasn't easily seen (sounds a little stupid to ask, but I had to).


Like a piece of grit caught in a gear, isn't it.
No worries for checking, nope it’s a mini tripod so the plate is actually quite bumping in comparison so easy to see.
 
And now reaching for my glasses I knocked them off their shelf. They can only have fallen down and I cannot find them. Mind in searching for them I did find a £2 coin and a tripod which I knew had misplaced but I had not actually looked for.
 
When I returned from the Edinburgh Fortean Society trip to Loch Ness recently I found I had lost the quick release plate on my tripod. Spent time checking for it and checking the car I travelled in. No joy. Put the tripod in a filing cabinet drawer. Ordered a new plate. When it arrived I went to get my tripod and the old plate was literally sat next to it in the drawer. I would have seen it when I put the tripod in. In between it disappearing and reappearing I think I have emptied the drawer to place a new covering on the base and did not see it.

I get the feeling it never would have reappeared if you hadn't purchased the new one. Somewhere the universe/cosmos must be laughing at us.

:)

I've done exactly the same with digital camera chargers. Had three different types so was forever juggling them. Now and then I'd order a new one in desperation, only for the missing one to turn up WITH ALL THE OTHERS INCLUDING THE EXTRA ONES I'D ALREADY BOUGHT.

Yep, proving my point :)
 
And now reaching for my glasses I knocked them off their shelf. They can only have fallen down and I cannot find them. Mind in searching for them I did find a £2 coin and a tripod which I knew had misplaced but I had not actually looked for.

My bedside reading specs once disappeared so suddenly and comprehensively I thought they must've been abducted by aliens. Ransacked the bedroom, no sign, until I remembered flicking the duvet back and jumping out of bed a couple of days before. Had they been on the duvet? Found them, safe and well, on the floor at the opposite end of the room.
 
Not Reddit, but found on the Thomas Ligotti forum:
http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=38&page=4

I grew up in a tiny little farm town. One of my favorite childhood past times was exploring old, abandoned farmhouses. I must have been in fifth or sixth grade when a few friends and I camped out near a creek, probably a few miles from town. There was an especially eerie old house on the horizon. It kept inviting us over, to come inside and have a look at its contents. Upon entering, we found any number of dusty artifacts. There were warped records of long forgotten country and western stars. A decaying high school letter jacket. A Santa Claus mask that was the definition of abject terror-- for reasons, even thirty years later, that I can't quite articulate. We even found a dingy Mason jar containing some kind of gelatinous muck. We broke it open and unleashed the most putrid stench imaginable. But what I found upstairs, on a rickety old floor that was entirely unsafe to walk across, was the thing that sent me out an upstairs window and sprinting back to camp, forgetting both my friends and my pride. It was an enormous shoe, filthy and cracking from decades of exposure to the elements. Where was its mate? What kind of person would have worn such a colossal shoe?

It was an experience so uncanny that, even now, the hairs on the back of my next stand up. It likely sounds ridiculous to whoever reads this post. But at that time, in that moment, that grotesque shoe was absolutely nightmarish. Its fascinating how subjective and/or abstract horror can be. Perhaps this is why I'm so attracted to the genre.

Point being, "The Bungalow House" took me back to this moment more than any work of art I've experienced. In fact, I'd kind of buried that experience until reading Ligotti's masterpiece. The story is powerful enough, in and of itself, but the associations I make while reading it, or listening to Jon Padgett's narration of it, make it all the more astonishing. Thanks to all who've contributed to this thread, it's a pleasure to see others' thoughts on such a classic tale.
 
Not Reddit, but found on the Thomas Ligotti forum:
http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=38&page=4

I grew up in a tiny little farm town. One of my favorite childhood past times was exploring old, abandoned farmhouses. I must have been in fifth or sixth grade when a few friends and I camped out near a creek, probably a few miles from town. There was an especially eerie old house on the horizon. It kept inviting us over, to come inside and have a look at its contents. Upon entering, we found any number of dusty artifacts. There were warped records of long forgotten country and western stars. A decaying high school letter jacket. A Santa Claus mask that was the definition of abject terror-- for reasons, even thirty years later, that I can't quite articulate. We even found a dingy Mason jar containing some kind of gelatinous muck. We broke it open and unleashed the most putrid stench imaginable. But what I found upstairs, on a rickety old floor that was entirely unsafe to walk across, was the thing that sent me out an upstairs window and sprinting back to camp, forgetting both my friends and my pride. It was an enormous shoe, filthy and cracking from decades of exposure to the elements. Where was its mate? What kind of person would have worn such a colossal shoe?

It was an experience so uncanny that, even now, the hairs on the back of my next stand up. It likely sounds ridiculous to whoever reads this post. But at that time, in that moment, that grotesque shoe was absolutely nightmarish. Its fascinating how subjective and/or abstract horror can be. Perhaps this is why I'm so attracted to the genre.

Point being, "The Bungalow House" took me back to this moment more than any work of art I've experienced. In fact, I'd kind of buried that experience until reading Ligotti's masterpiece. The story is powerful enough, in and of itself, but the associations I make while reading it, or listening to Jon Padgett's narration of it, make it all the more astonishing. Thanks to all who've contributed to this thread, it's a pleasure to see others' thoughts on such a classic tale.
There's another similar Reddit story, it's now been deleted and archived (not sure why). File attached.
 

Attachments

  • Abandoned house no longer exists___ _ Glitch_in_the_Matrix.pdf
    136.8 KB · Views: 47
There's another similar Reddit story, it's now been deleted and archived (not sure why). File attached.


Ooh very interesting, and I too wonder why it has been deleted.

The photograph links look promising, at least the first one I've tried seems to work (it must be copied and pasted and the spaces removed).
 
It is possible to buy size 22+ EEEE wide men's shoes online.

I wonder who lived in that house and why they left all that stuff, including one giant shoe. So many strange abandoned places I've gone by. I always wonder who lived there, why they left, and where they've gone.
 
It sounds a bit like a clown's shoe perhaps something to do with the mask downstairs? Maybe props for a film that was made?
It may have been Coco the Clown's US residence.
 
Browsing my favorite blogs I came upon this post from 2011. Nice story:
https://victoriaphantasmagoria.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-church-doesnt-want-to-be.html

A fragment:
Often I find myself scouting out the church down the block, hoping for some new, previously unseen angle that might make a nice picture. It's a Lutheran church, not especially old, as these things go. It's fairly plain, with a mishmash of styles, thanks to the additions and annexes that just aren't in keeping with the original structure.

I've been doing this for about three years and still haven't managed it. Every time I think I've got a shot - this Gothic archway here, or that stained glass window there, it turns out I've got nada. Just a mess. The one time I almost got a good shot, the lens was covered in pollen, so it just seemed to be surrounded by ghostly orbs. Typical. :/ And it was definitely pollen, not ghosts. If I had to choose the local church most likely to be haunted, it would not be this one.
 
Browsing my favorite blogs I came upon this post from 2011. Nice story:
https://victoriaphantasmagoria.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-church-doesnt-want-to-be.html

A fragment:
Often I find myself scouting out the church down the block, hoping for some new, previously unseen angle that might make a nice picture. It's a Lutheran church, not especially old, as these things go. It's fairly plain, with a mishmash of styles, thanks to the additions and annexes that just aren't in keeping with the original structure.

I've been doing this for about three years and still haven't managed it. Every time I think I've got a shot - this Gothic archway here, or that stained glass window there, it turns out I've got nada. Just a mess. The one time I almost got a good shot, the lens was covered in pollen, so it just seemed to be surrounded by ghostly orbs. Typical. :/ And it was definitely pollen, not ghosts. If I had to choose the local church most likely to be haunted, it would not be this one.

Thank you for quoting my blog, Uair! :)
 
Wrt the giant shoe in the house, I'd suggest that people with physical abnormalities and growth problems may well choose to live in more isolated places, to avoid being stared at.

They also, sadly, tend to live shorter lives, and may be more prone to dying without anyone to inherit their property, hence personal belongings being left on the property.
 
Glitch in the matrix thread on Reddit today.
ttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/eqies2/whats_your_creepiest_glitch_in_the_matrix_or/

I'm quite liking this sort of thing, by jooope_jope:

"Broad daylight. Sitting at a stoplight to turn left under a highway bridge. In front of me and to the left is the turnaround lane for traffic coming from the other direction.​
I hear a police siren coming my way. I see a motorcycle cop with his lights flashing, and siren on following a white SUV.​
The white SUV turns left in the turnaround lane, with the policeman following about 20 feet behind.​
This is where is gets weird.​
Both the SUV and motorcycle cop are going roughly 25mph. As the cop enters the turnaround lane his siren suddenly shuts completely off the MOMENT he passes behind a small concrete pillar. HE NEVER COMES OUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PILLAR.​
The SUV just continues on as if nothing happened and heads for a chicken express just up the street.​
I'm sitting there in disbelief, wondering how and why the cop came to a complete stop from going 25mph, and his siren turned off at the same time, and the pillar would have only BARELY been able to cover him front to back.​
When the light turned green I went and looked behind the pillar, expecting to see him somehow but he wasn't there.​
My motorcycle cop got swallowed before my eyes into another dimension and I think the white SUV did it somehow."​
 
Glitch in the matrix thread on Reddit today.
ttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/eqies2/whats_your_creepiest_glitch_in_the_matrix_or/

I'm quite liking this sort of thing, by jooope_jope:

"Broad daylight. Sitting at a stoplight to turn left under a highway bridge. In front of me and to the left is the turnaround lane for traffic coming from the other direction.​
This reminds me of the various youtube videos where cars and motorcycles "disappear" behind turning cars.
 
Back
Top