Strange Things That Scared You (But Aren't Obviously 'Scary')

[catseye]

I didn't have an uncle Dave. But my brother is Dave, so all my children do.

 

[Jepra Peld]

EQUINOX

That has just been mentioned in another forum I frequent. I didn't mind that one too much ,but the World in Action theme was quite scary. I still find Vitruvian Man rather unsettling and it must be due to association with that theme.

 

[Floyd1]

That has just been mentioned in another forum I frequent. I didn't mind that one too much ,but the World in Action theme was quite scary. I still find Vitruvian Man rather unsettling and it must be due to association with that theme.

('Arena' was the best).

 

[Mythopoeika]

('Arena' was the best).

I think so too. But not scary.

 

[hunck]

('Arena' was the best).

You probably already know it’s Another Green World by Brian Eno.

 

[Floyd1]

You probably already know it’s Another Green World by Brian Eno.

I didn't young man, but thanks for that.

 

[Mythopoeika]

You probably already know it’s Another Green World by Brian Eno.

I have that album.

 

[catseye]

I recently went on a train journey down to London, and discovered (well, I've always sort of thought it, but this really cemented the feeling) that I get creeped out by groups of trees in fields.

Not little woods or copses, but otherwise bare fields where they have a group of maybe half a dozen trees just left randomly, surrounded by space. Rationally I know these will be pheasant or fox coverts and that they are good for wildlife, but there just seems to be something about these trees, blocking the view of a small patch of countryside, that makes my brain go 'nope, not going anywhere near that.'

I blame M R James, myself.

 

[escargot]

I recently went on a train journey down to London, and discovered (well, I've always sort of thought it, but this really cemented the feeling) that I get creeped out by groups of trees in fields.

Not little woods or copses, but otherwise bare fields where they have a group of maybe half a dozen trees just left randomly, surrounded by space. Rationally I know these will be pheasant or fox coverts and that they are good for wildlife, but there just seems to be something about these trees, blocking the view of a small patch of countryside, that makes my brain go 'nope, not going anywhere near that.'

I blame M R James, myself.

Also Birnam Wood?
I used to tell my kids Shakespeare stories. They loved pointing out Birnam Wood on train journeys.

Might've given them nightmares, dunno.

 

[catseye]

Also Birnam Wood?
I used to tell my kids Shakespeare stories. They loved pointing out Birnam Wood on train journeys.

Might've given them nightmares, dunno.

I seem to remember Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane was just the soldiers disguising themselves with bits of tree, so they could move through the landscape undetected? That's human and therefore not frightening, but there's just something about these groups of trees...maybe I'm wondering why the farmer left those trees in particular (they all tend to be fairly mature trees, not saplings). Just why weren't they taken out when the field was cultivated.
In short - what are they hiding and what happens to people who go in there?

 

[Stormkhan]

After having quite uncanny experiences in Chanctonbury Ring - which is really a large copse - I think that many are kept intact by tradtion; i.e. summat bad happened there, locals avoided coppicing or felling, and it became an ingrained habit.
BTW, don't forget M. R. James' Martins Close, which was the closed off area around a pond.

 

[Dinobot]

I seem to remember Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane was just the soldiers disguising themselves with bits of tree, so they could move through the landscape undetected? That's human and therefore not frightening, but there's just something about these groups of trees...maybe I'm wondering why the farmer left those trees in particular (they all tend to be fairly mature trees, not saplings). Just why weren't they taken out when the field was cultivated.
In short - what are they hiding and what happens to people who go in there?

We all know what goes on there....

Spoiler

 

[CharmerKamelion]

 

[Spring Heeled Spud]

That has just been mentioned in another forum I frequent. I didn't mind that one too much ,but the World in Action theme was quite scary. I still find Vitruvian Man rather unsettling and it must be due to association with that theme.

Not scary but for some reason the World in Action theme makes me almost unbearably sad. I guess it because it reminds me of being a kid when my parents were still alive but there's plenty of other themes and music from that era that I love hearing. It always takes me to an incredibly sad place

 

[Tunn11]

I seem to remember Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane was just the soldiers disguising themselves with bits of tree, so they could move through the landscape undetected? That's human and therefore not frightening, but there's just something about these groups of trees...maybe I'm wondering why the farmer left those trees in particular (they all tend to be fairly mature trees, not saplings). Just why weren't they taken out when the field was cultivated.
In short - what are they hiding and what happens to people who go in there?

Are they always in the same field? Do they move from field to field at night?

 

[Stormkhan]

Not scary but for some reason the World in Action theme makes me almost unbearably sad. I guess it because it reminds me of being a kid when my parents were still alive but there's plenty of other themes and music from that era that I love hearing. It always takes me to an incredibly sad place

I recall a peice of classical music. At school, the music teacher explained that it was written as a tribute to - I think - a Napoleonic cavalry charge. It's a shady memory.
But once we listened to it, gradually relating it to the story of a cavalry charge, you came to 'hear' the jingle of the horses tack, the pounding of their hooves, the exhileration of their riders etc. It built up, peaked then faded away ... to their demise. Really quite moving - once you knew the story it was telling.
Another peice of music that always gets to me is "When The Tigers Broke Free" by Pink Floyd. Such a heartbreaking, tragic evocation.

 

[escargot]

I seem to remember Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane was just the soldiers disguising themselves with bits of tree, so they could move through the landscape undetected? That's human and therefore not frightening,

You kidding? A load of soldiers coming to murder you isn't frightening?

 

[catseye]

You kidding? A load of soldiers coming to murder you isn't frightening?

Not as scary as a bunch of trees coming to murder you. That's scary...

 

[brownmane]

I seem to remember Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane was just the soldiers disguising themselves with bits of tree, so they could move through the landscape undetected? That's human and therefore not frightening, but there's just something about these groups of trees...maybe I'm wondering why the farmer left those trees in particular (they all tend to be fairly mature trees, not saplings). Just why weren't they taken out when the field was cultivated.
In short - what are they hiding and what happens to people who go in there?

Sometimes they are left because there may be a sunken area and/or tiling that can be damaged by equipment, or can damage equipment if hit. A low wet spot that isn't worth fixing to cultivate.

 

[Erinaceus]

There were at least three ponds in fields where I used to live, each with trees and bushes round the margins.

 

[catseye]

Sometimes they are left because there may be a sunken area and/or tiling that can be damaged by equipment, or can damage equipment if hit. A low wet spot that isn't worth fixing to cultivate.

Some of them may have been, but most were on rising ground, just sitting in a field. As I said, pheasant coverts, most probably, but still just something sinister about them... to me.

 

[Bad Bungle]

There were at least three ponds in fields where I used to live, each with trees and bushes round the margins.

Extract from my first post on the forum:
One Summer evening we camped in a stubble field in Suffolk and I wandered off to look for a near-by pond marked on the OS map. In the gathering gloom I found a circular stand of trees where the trunks had grown so closely together you couldn't slide a piece of paper between them. I stepped up hoping to get a glimpse of water or indeed of anything behind the wall of wood and was struck by several sensations at once. First was a uncomfortable weight of Antiquity pushing down on me, this was not a modern site and it had an air of menace you could almost taste. Second was an increasingly loud insect buzz and in my mind came an image of a million mosquitoes hovering over black fetid water that hadn't seen daylight in centuries. Third was a rising panic, I was sure if I got too close I would somehow fall through the trees into the pond and would never ever get out again. I ran.

 

[Coal]

Extract from my first post on the forum:
One Summer evening we camped in a stubble field in Suffolk and I wandered off to look for a near-by pond marked on the OS map. In the gathering gloom I found a circular stand of trees where the trunks had grown so closely together you couldn't slide a piece of paper between them. I stepped up hoping to get a glimpse of water or indeed of anything behind the wall of wood and was struck by several sensations at once. First was a uncomfortable weight of Antiquity pushing down on me, this was not a modern site and it had an air of menace you could almost taste. Second was an increasingly loud insect buzz and in my mind came an image of a million mosquitoes hovering over black fetid water that hadn't seen daylight in centuries. Third was a rising panic, I was sure if I got too close I would somehow fall through the trees into the pond and would never ever get out again. I ran.

I've had than, but without the running. Damned if I'm going to let them know I'm frightened. Pah.

 

[Coal]

View attachment 64317

Well, that was a big surpise.

 

[escargot]

Third was a rising panic

Panic! PAN-ic.

We have threads on that.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

I recently went on a train journey down to London, and discovered (well, I've always sort of thought it, but this really cemented the feeling) that I get creeped out by groups of trees in fields.

Not little woods or copses, but otherwise bare fields where they have a group of maybe half a dozen trees just left randomly, surrounded by space. Rationally I know these will be pheasant or fox coverts and that they are good for wildlife, but there just seems to be something about these trees, blocking the view of a small patch of countryside, that makes my brain go 'nope, not going anywhere near that.'

I blame M R James, myself.

I occasionally get this too, it's instinctive with no rational that I am aware of, no idea where it comes from.

 

[catseye]

I occasionally get this too, it's instinctive with no rational that I am aware of, no idea where it comes from.

I wonder if it's to do with disrupted sight lines. Those tiny little copses aren't big enough to hold a predator, but they block your view of much of the rest of the field. so anything could be creeping up. And people get freaked out in woods for similar reasons, after all.

 

[Coal]

I wonder if it's to do with disrupted sight lines. Those tiny little copses aren't big enough to hold a predator, but they block your view of much of the rest of the field. so anything could be creeping up. And people get freaked out in woods for similar reasons, after all.

Nice idea. When you're in a bare field you're 'safe' from ambush, perhaps the copse sets up a kind of cognitive dissonance, or focuses your attention on the available ambush point.

 

[ramonmercado]

Those tiny little copses aren't big enough to hold a predator

A small farmer could easily hide in one of them.

 

[catseye]

A small farmer could easily hide in one of them.

Or a smallholder. I just really wouldn't want him running out at me with his small holding...