Flying Purple Thing Over Sansara

 

 In what looked like a scene from an eldritch horror story, while checking out an area of construction for the Trans-Sansara Causway in Pomponio, I noticed something floating to the north. Upon further inspection, it was some kind of weird floating thing with a single, disturbing-looking eye.

 

Maybe he was part of a "Flying Purple People Eater" video.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

SL Video: "Halloween Music Video"

 

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 From Luvett Productions on  October 31, 2018 (fake blood in video)

Reader Submitted: Mystery Flesh Pit

 

Welp... I just found the "Mystery Flesh Pit"... in Second Life. You can use the LM here to get to it. https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vigdorova/101/152/83

 

Let's see... Oh yea! It's an SCP... SCP-6713...
Oh wait! That's outdated info...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Flesh_Pit_National_Park 

Reader Submitted: Grave Situation

 

 
Sent by Andrea Jones, a scene from June 21 at a Halloween event, "Found a nice quiet gravestone off by itself to rest on."  But it seems things won't be quiet for long
  

Mutant Turkey Monster Prowls Montecito Bay

 
Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!
Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!
Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!

Thanksgiving has taken a strange and scary turn in the community of Montecito Bay. There have been sightings of a huge mutant beast resembling a four-legged turkey prowling the streets. While Montecito Bay has been the source of wild tales, this one has some pictures as evidence.

The beast shown in the pictures, and eyewitness descriptions, is a quadraped about twice the size of a normal human or anthro. Most of the creature is covered in turkey feathers, including a large plume of them in the back. Only the lower back legs, which resemble that of a feline, have any hairs. On the sides are two wings which are probably too small to small for it to really fly, probably. But it would be able to glide from someplace high to the ground. The head and neck are like those of a turkey, but much larger and stronger. The beak appears sharp and with the presumed size and strength of the creature is likely capable of tearing holes into someone or taking off limbs.

The creature has supposedly be sighted following people. And there are stories about a few people whom haven't been seen for a few days. Did they go ahead out of town for Thanksgiving, or did something else happen? Supposedly it followed someone into the city's Club 86, but left the people there alone. It is unknown what it would do if it encountered someone alone. But it has been seen consuming meat. Ironically enough, it seems to have a taste for turkey legs.

A number of Montecito Bay's streets have  dim to no lights. So residents in the city are advised to avoid traveling down these streets alone at night. And should you hear "gobble-gobble-gobble" sounds that don't seem right, RUN! You just might end up some mutant turkey's Thanksgiving dinner.

Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!
Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!
Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble!

Stay tuned for further details.

Bixyl Shuftan

Note: The preceding article is for entertainment purposes, and residents aren't in actual danger.

Innfest 2019, The Lovecraft Festival

Even if you haven't heard of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, you've probably heard of one or more of his characters and/or pictures and games inspired by him, such as Cthulhu. On August 20, the author's birthday, the Lovecraft festival began at the sim of Innsmouth. From shopping, to music events, to exploring the strange and scary, the event and the areas it takes place on has a few things to offer.

Read the story in Events.

Akino Beach's Halloween Sim and Deepwood Manor

Gemma Cleanslate is back once again from her search for more spooky places this Halloween season. One is a scary location set up by Akino's beach. But this haunt is anything but a day at the beach with frightful sights and sounds that can sent one running to the exit. Deepwood Manor gets it's name from Deepwood Forest where it's in. This haunted house has plenty of unnerving thrills and chills.

Read Gemma's article in Places

Press Release: "Frankenstein" Comes to Holly Kai Park

Second Life – On Sunday, October 21st at 2pm slt, Fantasy Faire Radio and Seanchai Library will present Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," specially adapted for radio and live performance in six voices, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the novel's original publication.  The two-hour performance will take place live at this year's iteration of "Haunted Holly Kai" high above the Blake Sea based Art Park, and will benefit Relay for Life.

Da5id Abbot, Corwyn Allen, Zander Greene, Shandon Loring, Elrik Merlin, and Caledonia Skytower will come together to present the script adapted by Skytower and Abbot from Shelley's original novel.  The performance, running just under two hours, will be live on stream at "Haunted Holly Kai: featuring Frankenstein" and simultaneously broadcast on Fantasy Faire Radio. Residents can teleport to the performance from the Park's Information Center. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/205/120/22

The novel, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" was written by English author Mary Shelley that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a human-like creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment while still a student at University in Ingolstadt. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in France in 1823.

Famously Mary, her lover and future husband Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story while staying at Byron's rented home, Villa Diodati, near the shores of Lake Geneva. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the novel's story. It has had a considerable influence in literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films and plays.

In 1931, Universal Pictures released "Frankenstein: The Man Who Made The Monster" directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the Creature (now "Monster").  The screenplay was based on Peggy Webling's stage play "Frankenstein" which was loosely based on Shelley's novel. It is here that the Frankenstein as the green-skinned, bolt-headed, mad scientist experiment-gone-wrong took shape, forming the popular culture version that pervaded the 20th century.

"Haunted Holly Kai: featuring Frankenstein" will pay tribute to both the original novel and its film adaptations with an outdoor amphitheater for the novel's presentation and other planned events, and a towering castle featuring a mad scientist lab created by Stranger Nightfire.  Residents are encouraged to explore both the castle and the outdoor areas.  This year's "Haunted Holly Kai" will open October 21st and remain open through Halloween. 

About Fantasy Faire Radio
Since 2014, Fantasy Faire Radio has been a special event station, sponsored by Radio Riel in its role as Media Partner in Fantasy Faire, the annual celebration of fantasy art, writing, design and creativity that raises money every year in the virtual world of Second Life for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, supporting cancer research, caregivers and cancer sufferers all over the world. In 2017, FFR began broadcasting 24/7, as a full‐time Internet radio service. Listeners can tune in by opening https://radioriel.org in their internet browser and choosing Fantasy Faire Radio in the left hand sidebar, by opening http://fantasy.radioriel.org in a network audio player.

About the Seanchai Library
Seanchai Library (Shawn-a-kee, which means "Storyteller" in Irish.) was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. The program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through live voice presentations: "We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life and other virtual worlds."  http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/

LoveFest 2018

Deaflegacy stopped at an event for fans of horror's more unusual writers: H.P. Lovecraft. Although he never achieved literary fame in his lifetime, since his passing not only are his works well known, but given their own sub-genre: Lovecraftian horror. Deaflegacy went around the festival grounds, at the shops, the trolley, and the Arkam Asylum.

Read Deaflegacy's story in Events.

Weekend in Brief

A number of events took place this weekend. At the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, the Ferragosto festival look place. At the Middle Earth sim was a Woodstock tribute. It was also the start of the "Lovefest" which will go on for several more days.

More on these stories, and more, as time permits.

"Lovefest 2018" Lovecraft Festival Starts Today

Today marks the start of the "Lovefest 2018" festival, a yearly event by and for fans of the stories of HP Lovecraft. The nine-day event offers shopping, music concerts, and an adventure, "The Path to Madness."

Along with the shops and event schedule, visitors may opt travel to Arkham, Massachusetts, there to delve into a mystery!

Find yourself at the notorious Arkham Sanitarium, where a particular patient is beset with a dark, quite disturbing mental affliction…

Discover clues as to what brought this pathetic lunatic to his state of crazed despair, and follow a trail of clues.  Find yourself at places such as the prestigious Miskatonic Univerity, or the back alleys of some less-traveled, shadier parts of town.  Perhaps a journey to Dunwich village or the dread fishing port of Innsmouth is in order, maybe even further off beyond New England.

One thing is certain, insanity lurks in many places.  Is there something to be learned? Are there grave things lurking, incubating as a result of the careless delvings of a too-curious soul?  Is there even a soul still to be had by this hapless individual?

Will you find your way, and unravel the secrets along the Path to Madness?

For more information, check out the website at: https://lovefest.wordpress.com/

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ravenheart/128/128/53

"Dead Space" Sci-Fi Horror Game Being Given Away

For gamers looking for a deal, Origin is offering the sci-fi horror first-person shooter game "Dead Space" for free. The only catch is downloading client software and accepting their terms of use, that and for this particular game not being too scared of half-alien zombie monsters.

In the game, the player takes on the role of Issac Clarke, who is among those sent to investigate a distress signal on what looks like an abandoned ship. Unfortunately, the ship's crew was killed and the corpses mutated into "Necromorphs," creatures whom just shooting the head won't work, but have to be completely dismembered. This game is definitely not for the faint of heart, and can be quite unnerving to even some otherwise hardened gamers. The game may scare you, it may frustrate you, but it's unlikely to be boring.

"Dead Space" was developed by EA Redwood Shores (Now Visceral Games) in 2008. It sold over two million copies in two years, and several sequels followed.

"The Well: Ultimum" By Loki Eliot

If you haven't had enough of Halloween, or just appreciate a good scary adventure, there's something waiting for you in the Escapades sim. Noted builder Loki Eliot has come up with a horror-themed game, "The Well: Ultimum." The fourth and final installment of his "The Well" series, players follow the clues left behind by a frightened boy, piecing together what's going on  So does this experience compare to Loki's previous work?

Read the article in Design.

Calas Galadhon's Dark Moon

Ty Tenk and Truck Meredith have once again outdone themselves in their new area at Calas Galadhon. For Halloween, they're not doing what one might expect, spooky woods with ghosts and zombies. Instead, what they have this year is a science-fiction horror themed adventure: Dark Moon at the Erebor sim. So what awaits the travelers who brave the dangers to explore this alien world?

Read the story in Places.

SL Video: "Slender Furry"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Art Furry Studios on March 3, "Attention! Not for the faint of heart!!! Music and sounds - the official soundtracks of the SlenderMen series of games"

A Look at the Lovecraft Festival

As a writer of horror, H.P. Lovecraft had a style of his own, coming up with a mythos that relied not on gore or similar ways to shock readers, but on utterly alien things Man was not meant to know. In honor of his birthday, for the sixth year in a row his fans in Second Life had their Lovecraft festival. The events took place over ten days, the last one being Sunday August 27. But the sims are still up (as of the writing of this article) for anyone wanting to check the shops or the sights. Bixyl Shuftan and Deaflegacy checked out different parts of the festival grounds.

Read Deaflegacy and Bixyl's story in Events.

H.P. Lovecraft "Lovefest" Festival Starts August 17

Fans of the horror author H.P. Lovecraft will be flocking to the Innsmouth sim this week as the area will be the location of the ten day "Lovefest" event.   The sixth annual event of it's kind, it celebrates the writer's birthday, and promises, "something exciting, entertaining, and unique for all. Enjoy shopping at the merchants quarter of our New England Coastal town, try the machines at our Seaside Gacha Shack, or hazard a visit to the local tourist features. You will, if you like, also experience ten days of sim-wide events and entertainment, featuring SL’s best music and stage shows."

Among the activities advertised on the Lovefest blog is "Mysteries of the Deep"

... sign onto the Miskatonic University Oceanic Expedition Team!
Team members will be transported to a remote area of the vast Pacific Ocean that has been charted for research and exploration, equipped to descend into the abyss to explore the wonders of the “Deep Blue” and investigate finds initially reported by an earlier “advance research” team. Should you accept the assignment, you will will be given proper deep sea diving gear on deck of the research vessel S.S. Abigail, board a submersible and be transported to the ocean floor to step forth and venture into the Pacific abyss, collect samples and expand upon what the first team discovered beyond.

Among those taking part is the Seanchai Library, Guerrilla Burlesque, Whymsee, Elysium, and many others.

For more information, check out the Lovefest blog.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Innsmouth/13/247/53

 Hat Tip: Ciaran Lival

Bixyl Shuftan

Weekend at a Glance

There were a few things going on this weekend. Among them, the "Hot Bay City Nights" car show event at Bay City. Still going on at North Channel (128/128/24) until the 27th, you can see a number of classic cars there.

It was also the first day of the new game at Madpea, "Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior." "People Embark on an epic expedition, solve puzzles and dodge deadly traps as you navigate your way through the Devil's Cave and crack the vault where precious treasures are waiting to be discovered." To play it, teleport to MadPea (218/60/2224), pay for the gaming HUD, and brave the tunnel.

The weekend was also the last couple days of the "Lovefest," or Lovecraft festival, in Umbra. This wasn't about romance, but an event for fans of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft best known for "The Call of Cthulhu." Taking place on the week of the writer's birthday, it's over now, more info available at the website: https://lovefest.wordpress.com/ . Besides the shopping, there was a passenger ship, and an island with things Man Was Not Meant To Know. Read more about the event later this week.

Bixyl Shuftan

Madonna's "Cancer's Worst Nightmare"

So what would you do for the Relay? There have been no shortage of things that have been done to raise money from the "Bid Me Bald," to wearing a different type of avatar for a while, to being a color you told everyone you loathed. But Madonna Daehlie's "Bid a Nightmare to End a Nightmare" took things to a whole new level. Inspired by a scene from a horror movie, the DJ noted for her rubber suit was sporting a look that no doubt will "bug" her fans.

Read the story in Events.

Madpea's "Unia" Game To End on July 31

It was about a year ago in which the Madpea gaming team and location released "Unia," an inworld horror game. The product of more than two years of development, Madpea was very proud of the game, and the public group chatter has been full of people playing and asking for hints for many months. But all good things, and scary things, come to an end, and earlier this week Madpea announced the game would be closing on July 31.

UNIA was a dream come true for us at MadPea but every dream has an ending and UNIA’s end is nigh! July 31st UNIA will close and the zombie chickens will be returned to their pens, the sandworms will bury themselves forever and the Dreamers will drift off to restful sleep forever more. UNIA was the biggest game to hit Second Life and has been keeping players captivated for over a year. Until the closure in July we have slashed the price of the gold hud to 500L$ and removed the Silver and Bronze options. Play UNIA from now until then with your friends before this piece of Second Life history is no more.

Those interested in playing, it's not for free but the full package is now cheaper. The Bronze and Silver HUDs, which were 400 and 750 Lindens respectively, have been discontinued while the Gold HUD, which has three colors of uniform, a "triple shield," and a lockpick for an axe and gun, is now 500L.

Madpea has a long history of making games within Second Life, going back several years, some of which the Newser has reported on. Their most recent game is "The Interview."

Instructions on how to play Unia

Madpea blog

Madpea website

Hat Tip: Inara Pey

Bixyl Shuftan