posted
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!
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
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?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
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!
posted
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.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
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.
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.
posted
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. Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
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.
posted
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.
posted
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.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
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.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
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.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
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!)
posted
*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.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I stopped reading about halfway through this one. I'll go back and read it later, when I have fewer distractions.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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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.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
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.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
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 ]
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
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)
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
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.
posted
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!
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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It's pretty clearly a ghost story.
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