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In an age of overlapping social crises, the 12-foot skeleton is a flamboyant status symbol, and a super-human vector for discussions of privilege, comfort, and wealth. Foreign Body: On the 12-Foot Skeleton as Supra-residential Memento Mori, a short essay by Anna Soper.This is one of the eight part series Ghost Light II: Monstrosities from NiCHE Canada, curated by Caroline Abbot who is also responsible...

Special effects legend Rick Baker has had a storied career in cinema, dating all the way back to his first (and the first) Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work in the 1981 John Landis-directed cult horror-comedy classic An American Werewolf in London. And though the film had plenty of clever effects work, no scene was a better showcase of his talents than...

Nazareth, 29AD. A rage-filled fighter becomes an apprentice to a mysterious Carpenter, compelling him to pursue his greatest potential. An adopted viking orphan* becomes a carpenter's apprentice to Jesus. The orphan, Oren, fights as a side hustle. His experience training as a carpenter with Jesus as his mentor changes his lifestyle. This is a real trailer, for a real movie. (SLYT) *Who owns a...

The web series Work Is Four Letters usually spotlights people talking about their jobs. But for this week, the stories go in a... spookier direction: Meet Rennie (personal assistant), Liz (skincare influencer) and Vic (researcher and lecturer).

Some readers may recognize ... the Stoic idea of the "dichotomy of control" – the notion that you ought to confine your concerns to things you can influence, while cultivating detachment from everything you can't. But to be honest, and perhaps unfairly to Stoicism, I've always found this slightly bloodless and intellectual. Hard as I've tried, I apparently can't just divide the world up...

Korean a capella group Maytree sings the theme to Psycho [SLYT] Maytree @ Wikipedia Bonus link: Maytree sings Looney Tunes Theme/Leopold!

Fireside Canada is a podcast by David Williams now in its 4th season and covering Canadian legends, lore, and the history behind them. This season Williams is focusing on legends based in locations that have been abandoned, emptied out or demolished.

Come for the shivers, stay for the chills! Also, my fave out of these--and yes yes I am sure MeFites will trip over themselves to be dismissive--is the couple who fed feral cats and one night got more than what they bargained for! Anyway, Happy Halloween, ghouls and gals!

Two short fantasy stories, both published 2024, about taking care of family as & after they transform. Content notes on both, at top of the page. "The Wilding Year" by Jamie M. Boyd: "Erin resists the urge to ask the doctor what he changed into during his Wilding Year." Boyd says it "explores the messiness of parenthood and growing up, the loneliness and friendships...

"The fun's in the fight" is an essay by Molly Ivins (previously), published in Mother Jones in 1993.

The days of the calendar differ. But it intrigues me that there is a wide swathe of the world which celebrates a holiday marked by sweets, blurred boundaries between the living and the dead, votive candles or bonfires, and costumes. How much can we really know about things like this — cultural patterns which might share a common origin in the distant past, but...

Tobias (Electrotrucker) quit his job to move to driving electric trucks. Here, he shares the experience of a working week spent driving loads around Germany and Austria in a Scania 40R . We see some of the attractions and some of the challenges. Dubbed in English from the original German.

The Fall band talk 'Grotesque'! : the John Robb interview The former members of The Fall have taken control of their back catalogue with a novel rerelease schedule that recreates classic albums with live versions of tracks. They talk to John Robb about this and how they wrote the songs in the first place, dealing with the legacy and working with Mark E Smith....

Meet Kirsty, Betty and Desmond — the giant rats fighting the illegal animal trade. Scientists say their research shows the rats have a similar sense of smell to dogs, but they're able to fit in tighter spaces.

Combing through excavation material from Mount Zion in Jerusalem, lab director Gretchen Cotter noticed something unusual on an Abbasid-era clay jug

President Biden issues 'formal apology' on behalf of Indian Boarding School Policy Biden called the 150-year boarding school era "one of the most horrific chapters in American history" and is the first U.S. President to issue an apology. "After 150 years the United States government eventually stopped the program, but the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened until today. I...

When you meet these people, most of the time, you're going to be disappointed. Either because they're mean, or they're just not like what you thought they were going to be like. The Hollywood publicity machine creates a certain image, and it's very rare to meet a celebrity who is genuinely an amazing, brilliant, kind, humane person to everyone all the time. from What...

Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie," has died. She was 79. Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis "surrounded by family and friends," said publicist Heidi Schaeffer. I had interviewed her for several DVD extras. Funny, kind and charming.

Admire the musical chops of Band-Maid - from now on (thx Thorzdad), the kawaii metal vibes of Antimental by STMLT, this live version of Angel Eyes by Spiritbox, in case you missed it when it came out, Nita Strauss - The Wolf You Feed ft. Alissa White-Gluz, and let's end with the growls of Killing Spree - Snake Chamber.

Uncovering the mysteries of the deep with a little help from AI. The artificial intelligence used for passport facial scanning is now helping Australian conservationists track elusive sea turtles.

"Something arcane is afoot at Queen's College Cambridge! Possibly it's the prestigious conference, with visitors from around the country. Or it could be the 450-year-old monarch, waiting in the dim chapel for someone to listen to her. A novella-length meander into Dark Academia." writes E. Saxey of their fantasy novella "On the English Approach to the Study of History", published last year. "I like...

"There are many things we can do to reduce our risk of developing dementia. Several research studies have concluded that physical activity is one of the best ways to reduce risk significantly. For example, after analyzing 16 studies on exercise and dementia, the Alzheimer's Society found that regular exercise reduces the risk of developing dementia by 28 percent and, specifically, AD by 45 percent."