This is not Locky trying to be spooky. He just tested if he was big enough to cover my TV (15inch monitor). Why do other things when you have a dog, right?
It’s October. I don’t celebrate Halloween, it’s not
something common where I am. Yes, the cinemas here are populated by horror
movies, but that is common all year round. What’s up with that? I guess the
market is good, and most probably, horror movies require smaller budgets. Make
everything dark, there are many settings that already look scary, adapt local
urban legends and true terrifying stories, make it even darker; the recipe for
good profit margins is there. I have only watched a few horror movies in my
life, but this is not my opinion only because I have heard other similar
inputs: Indonesia and generally Asian horror movies are the scariest horrors.
To be fair, Indonesia is very mystical. We have plenty of
scary beings. I’m not sure what to call that, but there are many creatures out
there with A LOT of eyewitnesses. There are many jungles and unexplored places.
I have heard actual scary tales from my friends, my dad, and people I trust and
witnessed weird stuff myself.
The ones I witnessed were ‘indirect.’ Back then, I went on
many camping trips, from junior high school to university. They were not those
fun camping, but we went to remote areas to learn about survivalism,
explorations, and expeditions. The most modernized gadgets we had were magnetic
compasses; I am not even sure it’s easy to find one now. We relied on paper
maps (if any) and almost no communication methods. On more proper and bigger
scale explorations, the organizer would have walkie-talkies, but that was all.
I witnessed on three separate occasions of my fellow campers
being ‘possessed.’ I wasn’t sure what they did; we didn’t go around and disturb
old burials or anything, although we came across them on some trips. Our
activities were educational and responsible, and everyone I knew held up to
those values. I still remember some of the mottos: kill nothing but time, take
nothing by pictures or keep nothing but memories, and leave nothing but
footprints. We were not those hippies, Instagram nuts nowadays who climbed
Balinese sacred mountain, went butt-naked on the peak, posted on social media,
and were deported for it. Idiots. Disrespectful idiots.
However, it happened. I didn’t get too close to them, but it was surreal to witness. I could see the physical transformations, no, not those elaboration movie styles, but the people possessed looked different. They screamed, they cursed, and their eyes went wild, bulging and sometimes red. They were unrecognizable, and their facial expressions were intense, not those we normally see unless we go to extreme lengths to make faces, and even so, it would not be easy to duplicate. One looked extremely angry, while the other was confused and wailing; one had to be held down because he started to destroy things. The weird similarity, fortunately, was that they were all staying in relatively the same area, as they didn’t go around, go wild, actively attack people, harm themselves, or go missing. On these occasions, the organizers would seclude the rest of us in a distance while a team of them would try to calm, negotiate, talk, and maybe pray. All of us would stay in silence and just hoped it would pass soon. It could take some time and even hours, but eventually, the person would pass out and wake up with no memory of what had happened. Fortunately, no one was harmed on these occasions, but it could be traumatizing.
My first experience was when I was just fourteen, and one of my
schoolmates was up there on the table with contorted bodies, screaming in a
language no one understood, and it happened subsequently to multiple other
students. It didn’t help there was a storm that night, and we had to huddle
together in some old abandoned school (maybe that was why?) Almost every
student was crying, traumatized, and swore off similar activities. I’m also not
sure if those organizers prepared for those kinds of events; I wouldn’t be
surprised if they did. I was always a participant only in those bigger groups.
It might sound unbelievable; there might have been another
explanation for why these people were going berserk. I keep my mind open, but
from my experiences, it looked pretty legit to respect and maintain my peace.
In university, I joined an outdoor organization where the
explorations went to even more remote areas. We were all students just doing
our outdoor hobbies and some social work. Here, I was taught not to leave my
mind empty because it would be easier to ‘occupy’ (not a problem for me because
that nosy brain never stops talking); we had to respect everything and excuse
ourselves when we entered strange/remote/abandoned areas. To my amazement,
everything went smoothly. I never had scary incidents except for one
questionable expedition. It was the smallest group I had been in, five of us
climbing a stratovolcano mountain. Nothing spooky, actually, just weird. I
saw a cat that night when we camped near the peak. Not a mountain cat, cougar,
or whatever wild cat, but a black house cat. This was not a popular mountain,
and it was the year 1997; we were the only one there and had to open our own
trail, so it was a relatively untouched mountain. Is it weird to see a house
cat there? I don’t know. I also heard regular wave-crashing-the-shore sounds,
and we were very high (2800+ meters/9200+ feet), but I tried not to think about
it and went on to sleep well.
There was a legend out there, which we obviously didn’t
comply that we should always have an even number (for small groups) because
otherwise, something would even it out for you. Maybe that was the purpose of
the cat?
Those are spooky October stories for you. I have more but I
don’t want to blabber too much.
I hope you are well over there, wherever you are. Whatever
struggles, sorrows, or hardships you are trying to overcome, I am rooting for
you to win the battle. Don't give up.
Take care, and thanks for being here, as always.
