I've started looking at this, but can you provide a little context?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Creepy! Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Oh -- that is SO COOL! I just read all of it, up to the point it is...
Farmgirl
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
No context needed - just read it.
And it's very well done.
Dagonee
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm about halfway through it now. Good stuff. Thanks for the link!
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
I saw this yesterday and read all the emails, but I missed seeing the LiveJournal and the updates section. Really well done, and very creepy!
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Interesting....
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
So you guys think its just someone pulling a Halloween hoax?
AJ
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Um....Yeah, Anna. It's pretty clearly a ghost story.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Could be true. Maybe it's a result of all the identical housing put up in the suburbs.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Well yeah I figured as much, but I guess it's more that they went to such work including the corroborating live journal, that boggles my mind.
AJ
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
What the hell?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Man, that is so well done! Very creative (and good) use of the medium to make to story feel more real. That's the mark of a good ghost story--it's creepy precisely because there is some little part of your mind that tells you that it could be true.
Actually, it kind of reminded me of a short story..."Press Enter", I think it was called, by John Varley. Anybody else reminded of that one?
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Yes, that was very well done, hard these days to come up with a good ghost story, and I guess this one wasn't really a great story, but really brilliant presentation. Thanks for the link!
Hobbes Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
Ooo, I've been wanting to read "Press Enter"! I need to hunt that down.
I am constantly amused at how things travel from LiveJournal to Hatrack. This showed up on my LJ's friends list about an hour before it was posted here. I didn't find it very creepy, probably because I went into it thinking that it had to be a hoax. Also, I was rather distracted at how neatly the story unfolded via a series of emails. I would expect email to flow less smoothly.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
It was evident from page 1 it was a "hoax" (I would rather think of it as a "story" ) but it was new and it had all the elements of a good ghost story, I certainly approve.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Spoilers
Take the introduction page, already we're seeing far too high a level of sophistication for what is supposedly a blog. The only reason for the incredibly clean (and time-consuming) presentation is if (s)he wants a large number of people to read it from begining to end, and has enough time and motivation on his hands to get it done. If you wanted to ignore the problem (as he says he does) would you spend hours inventing and this format for presentation? And then creating the header? Also, as a blog, it does not make sense to have a timeline posted as a header, he apaprently created this for mainly one other person, and she would know when it was without a continual reminder that it goes from Septemeber to October.
Then, what's with the title? You might title a sotry this way, but keep in mind, it's supposed to be a blog, "Events of the Dionaea House" might be appropriate, but never just "The Dionaea House".
Then there's the copyright at the bottom, obviously the most telling.
If you still don't believe that it's a story, we can go into some of the very obvious plot techiniques used.
Hobbes Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
Oh, I definitely agree it's a story. What I'm saying is that knowing in advance that it was a story lessened the effect of the story, because I was already distanced from it. I find this fascinating, though. I mean, why do I not find this creepy, but was very disturbed by The Blair Witch Project, and I *knew* that was a movie pretending to be real? Is it an effect of the media used, or a story device, or the subject matter, or what? I'm planning on rewatching Blair Witch on Halloween (hey, I have no parties to go to, so why not?), so I'll be thinking about my reactions then. Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
OK, I posted that because I love the good ghost story, but it's impossible to take anyone in these days really, unless you create a truly material experience for them, something akin to The Game, we’ve all become way too cynical, or perhaps critical after seeing innumerous hoaxes on the web, or just reading stories, anything creepy enough to be really creepy wouldn’t be believed.
Actually it’s my theory that this is why movies normally scare people so much more than books, that people in general are much less adept at filtering out truth when the experience is more than purely cerebral (like when reading a book), we just have much less experience at it. Which is a shame, because I really love a good ghost story.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Xenra, I didn't think you did, that was more of a, this is why, than this is why you should agree, kind of post.
And FYI, my previous post was typed before I saw yours.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
As a sidenote, the reason I give is one of many (I think). There's also the fact that we are such visual learners, what is the percentage? Something like 90% of our input comes from visual clues, and the fact that a movie will imerse you in it's world more than a book (in a dark room with surrond sound and only one place to look), but that doesn't mean my first idea doesn't hold too.
Hobbes Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
Yeah, I realised that you likely weren't responding to me directly, but I posted anyway because (a) I am practicing speaking my mind, and (b) as a storyteller, I really am curious as to why one story is more effective than another.
Movies aren't just visual--they're audio, as well. So there's TWO kinds of stimulation happening. And I don't know about you, but I am often more creeped out by an unexplained sound than an unexplained sight. I also do think that it's easier to distance yourself when you are reading something, likely due to the difference in how the mind processes words versus audiovisual stimuli.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I'll admit, I googled the names and came up dead blank. So I knew from that alone that it was fiction. If there really had been a shooting and a news article as claimed, I'd have found something.
Still, very entertaining, and I'll definitely be following it. I have a feeling we're in for a big climax on Sunday.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Hobbes, I get just as freaked out by this or a book as I do a movie.
I also laugh out loud and cry about books.
Posted by HRE (Member # 6263) on :
Interesing...Dionaea is a type of Venus Fly-trap.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I find books to be much more potent than movies, period. Horror, suspense, erotica, even humor--written material has a greater potential to immerse me in its world than does any other medium.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I liked it a lot, but I was thinking the whole time that if that wasn't a story, then someone had been watching too much Travel TV (with all of their "ghost stories" format!)
...
Kwea
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Um... real people don't give narratives in their emails.
Posted by Wonko The Sane (Member # 2945) on :
interesting "story"
[ October 28, 2004, 07:27 AM: Message edited by: Wonko The Sane ]
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
That is why it was pretty obvious it was a story...it was too neat.
It worked pretty well, although it was fairly obvious where it was going with it.
Kwea
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*nod* For it to be a really convincing hoax, it would have to be less focused on driving the story forward. I actually found the LiveJournal "update" more convincing, thanks to the information provided that wasn't directly related to the story.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
"Press Enter" is an awesome story.
I stopped reading about halfway through this one. I'll go back and read it later, when I have fewer distractions.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:*nod* For it to be a really convincing hoax, it would have to be less focused on driving the story forward. I actually found the LiveJournal "update" more convincing, thanks to the information provided that wasn't directly related to the story.
I'm grateful they didn't try to do this - it was much more enjoyable as a story than it could have been as a possible hoax.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I agree--it's just realistic enough to allow the reader to easily suspend disbelief, but it's narrative structure is clean enough to really make the story flow in a way that a more convincing hoax just couldn't. I think it balances things really nicely. It seems like a really creative appraoch to telling a story to me.
The livejournal and today's IM transcript are both very good touches, I think.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
The "red rover red rover send Jenny right over" gave me goose bumps.
Good story.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
me too!!! Very well done, I felt my lil' heart going faster at some parts.
Why isn't anyone giving me a link to "Press Enter"? Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Allright. I'm convinced it's fake. Just searched the Idaho Statesman for the story about the shooting. Got nothing. I know Boise, that would have been front page news. And a front page story wouldn't have a Dillard's ad on the back of it.
[ October 28, 2004, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: Boris ]
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
Wow, I wish I could do something like that. And I wish the new updates would happen faster.
The guy who wrote it is apparently a Hollywood screenwriter and has another site, www.heisserer.com.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Definately a cool story. I could see the movie wheels turning in this guy's head while I read it (Frankly, they were turning in my own head)
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
Glad you all liked it. What told me it was just a story (or hoax, if you'd like) was this line:
quote: > I remember him. He was never the kid with the idea, he was > the kid who agreed with yours. Slowest to get the joke, usually > laughed the longest.
Real people just don't write like that... although authors DO. So, it screamed story.
I liked it, though.
-Katarain
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
*bump*
Something is going to happen today in the story, and I didn't want to search for the link. Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Is that it??? Did I miss something?
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
Check out the comments on the last link (Eric's blog). Eric posted another link about the story.
-Katarain
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Hmmm, seems my post didn't go through somehow....
Last I see on the blog is Eric getting ready to go to the newly found house, Sunday am. I was so sure we'd get a big soemthing last night!
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I liked it more when I thought it might be real...*shrug*
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Look at the comments on that last blog entry.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
It's back.... Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I loved this last year. I hope he does something again.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
>>"Press Enter" is an awesome story.
Okay, I had a Lost flash back. . .
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
Oooh. I love that it's back. Just spent some time refreshing my memory, then read the new stuff.
Very cool. Hope it's updated soon. I'm not patient!
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
It's pretty clearly a ghost story.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)