"Your Handwriting. The Way You Walk. Which China Pattern You Choose. It's All Giving You Away. Everything

“Superstition is a part of the very being of humanity; and when we fancy that we are banishing it altogether, it takes refuge in the strangest nooks and corners, and then suddenly comes forth again, as soon as it believes itself at all safe.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections

Writing has two stages:

1. you can't stop

2. you can't start to save your life

A lawyer woke up in the hospital after surgery

He asked, “Why are all the blinds drawn in here?” The nurse answered, “There’s a fire across the street and we didn’t want you to think the operation had been a failure.”

Sleepy baby

Sell Your Haunted House (2021)

Finally, an exorcist with an actual job!

Hong Ji-a (Jang Na-ra) is the CEO of Daebak Realty, a real estate agency that exorcises haunted houses or apartments plagued by vengeful spirits. Together of Oh In-Beom (Jung Yong-hwa), a scammer with special psychic abilities, she helps put those spirits to rest and help the living move on from their distress and bereavement.

The series expresses on the idea that greed and corruption often creates resentment and regret, which in turn, fuels the creation of these vengeful spirits. Only by letting go of these negative energies (in most cases, stabbing at the heart with an exorcism needle), can both the dead and the living truly move on from their uncomfortable positions.

It's a heartwarming series with a number of comedic and horror moments. The storyline is very engaging and the cast members really compliment each other, making this series a very interesting addition to your watchlist.

‘Our Town’s Libraries’ which I drew for the @nytimes recently… Speaking of libraries, I have a new book out titled REVENGE OF THE LIBRARIANS and I am visiting Brooklyn NY, Philadelphia PA, and Columbus OH with it in the next week. Visit tomgauld.com for details…

Pengabdi Setan (2017)

Pengabdi Setan, also known as Satan's Slave, is an Indonesian horror movie written and directed by Joko Anwar who also worked on other Indonesian horror films such as Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (Woman of the Damned Land aka Impetigore, 2019) and Ratu Ilmu Hitam (The Queen of Black Magic, 2019).

In the film, the matriarch who fell ill more than 3 years ago passed away under mysterious circumstances, setting a chain of horrific motions haunting her children Rini (Tara Basro), Tony (Endy Arfian), Bondi (Nasar Anuz), and Ian (Muhammad Adhiyat). Set in the early 1980s, Joko Anwar sets the mood with dim lighting and plot twists, evoking a building sense of suspense that climaxes into a horrific peak involving fertility cults and zombified pocongs.

Aside from the riveting storyline and awesome cast and crew, one thing that stuck with me is the soundtrack. Throughout the entire movie, snippets of Kelam Malam, performed by The Spouse and introduced as the matriarch's hit song early in the film, further set the mood playing throughout the movie with its haunting melody and suggestive lyrics.

The easter egg ending features Darminah who, for those who don't know, appeared in the 1980 version of Pengabdi Setan making this movie a remake, though some suggest it is also a prequel given that the 2017 setting was 1981 while the 1980 setting was 1982. Regardless, the seductive ending scene set against Diwajahmu Kulihat Bulan by Sam Saimun also set the mood for the sequel which we will see soon this year in 2022.

Happy Hauntings!

#053/ ∞ — [random Egypt photos]

Encounter 

by Felix Riano

Feeling rather ouija-bored myself these days...

The Nashville Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, April 7, 1920