Sorry my dudes, I’m keeping this one short and sweet because I have a headache. It was interesting though I find cults much scarier than the dark. I think the guy and his girlfriend weren’t very great friends if they let Natalie fall into that lot, to be honest.
The tie to the Church of the Divine Host was interesting, as I seem to recall the lights all going out as the whatever it was came for the girl in A Father’s Love.
I wasn’t expecting the tie to ol’ Gertie. Very interesting.
I said I would never open commissions again but I’ve had some changes in my life and now is the time. If you have any questions or would like to discuss commission options that aren’t listed here, feel free to send me an email and we can come up with a plan.
Everything is written out under the cut for anyone who can’t see the image.
Sorry for the off-topic post but this is me if anyone is interested in buying some arts. Also my already slow upload time may suffer because I’ll be working more from here on. Thank you for your understanding!
Adding to the list of things I’m not afraid of: Clowns and dolls. This episode kind of fell short for me, to be honest. It felt more like an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark than The Magnus Archives. I guess I just found the concept of an evil clown doll ripping someone’s jaw off to be a bit... silly. None of the imagery really captured me and while I feel rather certain that we’ll be seeing the calliope again, nothing else really tugged at my curiosity.
That said, a less enjoyable episode of TMA is still very enjoyable so I’m not complaining, just explaining how I reacted to it.
It was nice to have a little intermission with Sasha. She has a very cute voice. For the record, I have never heard it pronounced in any other way than how Jon initially pronounced it.
Let’s see, what thoughts did I have that are worth mentioning? The name Nikolai Deniken seems really familiar to me but I have no idea why. Jon looking into the book on old circuses just emphasized to me how strange it seems that he never did research on the history of The Magnus Institute. Like maybe it’s just plot convenience but it doesn’t seem like the writer’s that lazy. Also when the neighbor described the men moving the pieces of the calliope my brain immediately went, “Beacon and Hope??” but that’s probably just because it’s the only movers that have been mentioned XD
Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I usually listen to TMA while I’m making art and the last few times I’ve opted to stream my drawing instead. Listening to this episode made me realize how much I missed it, so I’ll make an effort to avoid long gaps again. As an update, I am now not only listening to the episodes twice in a row before writing my reaction, I am also taking notes. XD
I really enjoy the odd historical statement we’ve been getting. I like that most of the statements are grouped in a specific timeframe but the occasional older one is like a treat. It was interesting to get some background on the Magnus Institute, even if it was just the name of the founder. I did think it was very odd when Jon said that he didn’t know much about the history of the Magnus Institute. That just seems very out of character for him.
Writing-wise, I found the imagery really compelling in this episode. Maybe it’s because so many of the other statements take place in cities and towns and, as a born Montana-girl, I do love some forest and wilderness. It also helps that the AC in my art room is broken and the writing was evocative enough that I even felt a little chilly. XD
I don’t have much to say about the first half of the story. It was interesting but really seemed mostly background-y. I did find it very amusing when Martin walked in. Bold man. I can’t imagine walking around at my place of work with no pants on, even if it was 7 in the morning! I choose to imagine him wearing boxers with something like the Loch Ness Monster on them, annoying Jon even more.
It seems very suspicious to me that the books on the shelves were ruined but a book on the floor was salvageable. I am fairly certain that we’ve encountered open eye imagery before, but I can’t put my finger on when. Perhaps we haven’t and the whole thing gives me such Illuminati vibes that I just assume the eyes. :P
So, the eyeless man was interesting to me. I feel like he’s supposed to be in some way connected to the mausoleum, but his clothes seemed too modern for that and the idea of a boogey man getting new clothes, but not quite new new clothes, seems a odd to me. He seemed to fit the timeframe of the old man from the village’s story, but there was no man in that story that seems to connect with him. Perhaps I’m missing something.
I also found his attack a little odd. From my understanding, it happened a while after Albrect found the coin and book, right? But the story seems to want me to assume that he stopped his attack because at that time Rudolph stole the coin from Albrect’s belongings, right? That’s why the eyeless man killed him so viciously instead of Albrect. But Albrect had taken the coin from the mausoleum, and the eyeless man had waited before coming after him. Why not kill Albrect and then Rudolph? Perhaps I am, once again, missing something.
Now the connection to Mary Keay was interesting. She was descended from Wilhelm, not Albrect, but I thought perhaps the book he found was connected to her Leitner book. But as I recall, her book was written in Sumerian and I do not believe that’s an easy language to confuse with Arabic. I am struggling to find the reason for the connection outside of the book, but I seem to be missing a lot today so maybe I’ll come to understand it all when I get more information.
Now that that’s out of the way, this episode was such a massive improvement over Alone that it’s actually making me rethink my stance on that episode. Like Martin did not at all sound like he was reading off a page; he sounded like he was just telling his story as it came to him. It makes me wonder if the... the sort of fakeness of Alone was actually intentional? I may have to listen to it again...
I don’t have much to say about the events of the episode. The description of Jane Prentice was a bit creepy but I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot new in terms of lore that was added. It really seemed like more of a character episode.
And I loved it as a character episode! Martin is so sweet and seems to want so badly to please Jon. I’m going to be very disappointed if it turns out that’s all an act. :c He’s such a nice contrast to Jon. I could feel that maybe he believes the statements a bit too much and is a much more emotion-driven person than Jon.
On the subject of Jon, I really appreciated that he didn’t act skeptically towards Martin and in fact took steps Martin did not expect to make sure that he will be safe moving forward. To me it felt like he was showing that his grouchiness is a good deal more bark than bite.
I am terribly curious to learn more about what the ‘Archivist’s crimson fate’ is. It reinforces my idea that there’s a reason beyond his organizational abilities that Jon is in the position. I gave it some thought and the only times I really remember red being mentioned was in Jane Prentice’s dress and, unless I am misremembering, in the forms that flowed through the dream and into Gertrude’s body in Dreamer. Both seem to have potential to be related, but I’m not sure either of them really sounds right.
A few questions I was left with: Is Martin really ok? We only have his own words and he could very well have been infected. I don’t think this is hugely likely as it seemed like the girl in Squirm still had control of herself up until the end so if he was similarly infected, I would expect that he doesn’t know it himself. Also the text at the end said ‘we’ had our fun. Maybe she means herself and all her bugs, but I suspect that’s not the case.
And finally, I hope that Jon sets up some kind of safe word system with Martin and the rest of his researchers so that a situation like this won’t happen again. Both a word that they can give to indicate that they’re in danger and also a question that they can ask each other to ensure that who they are talking to is who they say they are.
Let me start by saying that, while I anticipated that there would be cliff hangers in this podcast, I was not ready.
That said, I apologize for my absence. I took a day off to celebrate successfully navigating another rotation around the sun by hiding under my blankets from the overwhelming specter of mortality.
Now, on to the actual reaction...
I have to admit, I didn’t find this one very spooky. Agoraphobia and falling aren’t really on my list of things that frighten me and to be completely honest I found the image of the sky twisting around and eating someone more amusing than terrifying. Honestly, I have a hard time trying to picture it without giggling.
The part that interested me the most about the whole story was the fact that the sky diving company was fake or at least unregistered. It implies to me that it was a trap for Robert (and maybe others) all along. The majority of the events so far have felt more random, with a few exceptions. Like the victim had bumped into the wrong person or wandered into the wrong place. This indicates more of a long game.
The parachute bag that was found by the farmer or whatever confused me. I guess it was implying that that was Robert’s and maybe he never actually came down from the sky and whatever interacted with his mother was some sort of... reflection? Or now that I think about it, he only had his coworker’s word that the old man came down and left, so maybe it was the parachute she used with him and she didn’t actually need one? I’m not sure on this one....
And then the ending where Martin barged in was a thing. Very unexpected, which tickled me. I’m glad I will not have to wait a week for the next episode XD. I listened to that ending bit three times and the sound effect when he came in seemed very.... squirmy.
I’ve finished chapters 1 through 20 of The Magnus Archives so I had a little chat about it with Sketch and I drew a quick picture of how Jon looks in my head. I have seen fanart of Jon before and I’m certain that it has influenced my visualization of him, but I tried to divorce myself from that as much as possible. Conversation under the cut.
Sketch: Do you have a favorite character yet?
Niki: I don’t honestly think it’s possible for me to have a favorite character yet because the only characters who I’ve gotten any actual characterization for are Jon and the one-off people who provide the statements. Any other characters I’ve only seen through Jon’s eyes and even then it’s been mostly in a work setting with only a few comments thrown in like Martin is incompetent and Tim is a playboy. Jon hasn’t commented much on Sasha personality-wise, now that I think on it. And there is one other investigator... I can’t remember their name...
Sketch: That’s fair. I have a few favorites, but I can’t share them yet for spoilery reasons. You know a couple of them, a couple you don’t.
Do you have a favorite episode so far?
Niki: I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite, but I do have some that stand out above the others and that I find myself thinking about more. Anglerfish was a really good introduction; it said exactly what it needed to to draw me in and make me want more. Do Not Open told me that I couldn’t expect the typical from this podcast. Page Turner gave me hints of a deeper story that made me really start wanting to know more about the world. Vampire Killer I just really loved for the way vampires were portrayed. It seemed more... real than typical vampire stories. Dreamer was the first one that really set my brain spinning, along with The Bone Turner’s Tale. I don’t think I could put any of those above the others, but they’re my favorites so far.
Sketch: I think for me, out of the first twenty episodes, my favorites are Anglerfish, Thrown Away, and Squirm. Like you said, Anglerfish is a pitch perfect opening. I like Thrown Away specifically because we don’t get all the answers, and it leaves us searching for more. Yearning for clues we may never have. It’s a good way to show that the statements are just that: statements. Not all of them have clean endings, and we may never get to know the full story. It’s an interesting concept to me, and it keeps me wanting to come back and listen to it again. Squirm is just... very well written and efficient at being unnerving. It’s a testament to Jonathan’s writing, as most of the episodes are. This was the first one to really freak me out, and it stuck with me because of that.
What episode creeped you out the most?
Niki: To be completely honest, I’ve found some episodes a little gross (Squirm, The Man Upstairs) and I’ve appreciated the spooky ambience of some (Anglerfish, Vampire Killer), but I don’t think I would say any of them creeped me out or really unsettled me. The closest that came to actually upsetting me was Lost Johns’ Cave because of the claustrophobia and underground aspects, but it was mild.
Sketch: Like I said, Squirm freaked me out the most. It actually f***ed me up a bit. Something about the imagery of having sex with someone, and then watching them explode from the inside out with squirming, maggoty worms? No thank you, no, nope. They said that they burnt the place down and I was relieved.
I honestly appreciate that, by the way. The characters don’t follow a lot of horror movie tropes. They don’t open the coffin, they don’t follow the anglerfish, and when someone inexplicably explodes into a pile of maggots, they go “I’m out” and burn every single last one. It’s a nice change of pace from “I’m gonna bring this cursed heirloom in my house, certainly nothing could go wrong!”
Niki: Agreed. I like how clever the Do Not Open guy was in avoiding opening the coffin.
Sketch: Do you have any criticisms for the podcast?
Niki: I hesitate to present any criticisms at this point because I’m so early on that they may be things that improve or are explained as I progress. As you know, the only episode I really criticized was Alone and I think the biggest problem I had with it was that it was written the same as all the previous written statements despite being presented as a person telling their story aloud. It failed to account for the very different ways people communicate in writing verses speaking off the cuff. It wasn’t my favorite plotline, either, but it was the delivery that really threw me off and as that’s the first and only guest presenter that I’ve encountered, I can’t really make any general critiques based on that.
Sketch: Yeah, that’s fair. My main criticism is a severe lack of ambience in the background. I know Jon and the statements are the main focus so it makes sense that there wouldn’t be much, but also, this is an old building. I want to hear it creaking and groaning, I want to hear some movement- something to make me feel more immersed. Not a lot, just... Something.
I can’t really give much other criticism than that for this early in the series, though. I’ll give more once we’re deeper in.
Niki: I don’t know if I agree with that or not. I feel like in the midst of recording a statement it might pull me out of the story. Hmm, I’m not sure.
Sketch: Last question for now, I think, though there will be more in the future. Do you have any running theories you want to share that you feel confident in?
Niki: Confident in? No. I’m confident that there’s more to Gertrude than meets the eye but I can think of any number of possibilities that it might be, all wildly different and probably all wildly incorrect. Most of what I have now are ideas about things I should pay attention to because it feels like they’ll be important later. From the very obvious Jurgen Leitner books to the less smack-you-over-the-head things like the not-Grant? Uh? Not-Greg? I can’t remember his name, but from Across the Street. The lady in the red dress from Squirm. The Cult from A Father’s Love. There’s a few other things, but any theories I have about them are tenuous and mostly consist of if-thens.
Sketch: Fair enough! I once again can’t put literally any input into this answer but just know that I’m really excited to hear your theories in the future.
Niki: I’ll try to remember to put them in my reactions as they come up XD
I found this episode more interesting than the last, though the further it progressed the more I felt as if it were describing a mental break over possession. It seemed as if this was intended to make me think that the priest explained away his mental break as possession due to the delusions however I do look at that with a bit of suspicion because it certainly seemed like something was influencing him, whether it was demonic or not. I find the concept of driving someone to madness and playing with their mind like they’re photoshopping a picture as much more interesting than the typical possession story, so I take back some of my dissatisfaction with the previous episode.
That said, this whole pair of episodes was still uncomfortable just because of the religious aspect.
Anyway.
It seemed that the first step of bending the priest’s will was to make him doubt himself and perhaps break himself from his faith by making him feel unworthy. The Bible giving him passages from Cain (and thus perhaps foreshadowing the future murder) was interesting but the confessional aspect seemed a little overdone. (Sometimes I’m not sure if these reactions should focus strictly on my response to the story and information provided or if I should continue to toss in the occasional critique of the writing. Given that my response to the writing is overwhelmingly positive, I think it’s ok to sneak in one or two little comments where I felt it fell short. Let me know your thoughts.)
I’m curious as to the symbolism of the pale yellow stole. I’m certainly no Biblical scholar and I wasn’t raised Catholic, so if there’s some religious meaning to it, it is outside of my realm of experience. So far the only thing I recall being notably yellow in previous episodes was the rotting meat, but this seemed to bring a different image to my mind.
The inclusion of Mark 9, 14-19, wherein Jesus heals a boy who is presented as possessed, was interesting. I would have expected the entity to provide him with something more disheartening. Perhaps something about the punishment for sin or whatever, rather than something that he could easily have taken as hopeful that his faith could drive out his ‘demon’. Maybe it was just trying to twist the knife? I don’t know.
I do feel I will need to keep an eye out for a pale, bony man with dark eyes in future episodes as I had thought even before Jon commented on it in the post-statement that it was unusual that he seemed to act on his own unlike to parishioners and that none of the hallucinations mirrored killing anyone.
The last thing that tickled my brain specifically about this statement was that in the prior statement the priest said that when he went to see Bethany’s home he made a point of stating it was his first visit to the house. Now Jon reveals at the end that it was the same house where the cannibalism took place but in his story the priest said that he didn’t know where he was when he came out of his hallucination. He said it seemed like an old basement. It seems odd to me that he either did not know where it was or did not clarify it in his statement, as it seemed like his comment in the previous episode was intended as foreshadowing.
More hints that either Gertrude was or Martin is up to something in the Archive (or both) but at this point that’s no surprise to me. (On that note, I wonder again how much time is supposed to pass between each of these episodes because how long has Martin been out sick by this point?) I do think it’s notable that whoever read it previously misfiled the second half which would seem to be a deliberate move to draw attention to the statement. That or it’s just an excuse to tell a longer story by breaking it into two parts. :P
I got to wondering, when Jon was talking about discussing this incident with the police just how well known The Magnus Institute is in the world of the podcast? I suppose my initial assumption was that it was a very secretive institution, investigating the supernatural and keeping it under wraps from humanity at large. That doesn’t seem to tie very well to the apparent ease with which they are able to get all sorts of records from everyone (occasionally assisted by Tim flirting, apparently). Is this a government funded agency? Jon always lists it as The Magnus Institute, London, so is it world-wide and he is only the Archivist for this particular branch? I look forward to getting more information about this.
Lastly, I assume that these episodes came out on a weekly basis when they were first presented, though I could be wrong in that. Regardless, I only remembered the relevance of Beacon & Hope (sp?) Delivery because I listened to Do Not Open for a second time only a few days ago. How were people supposed to remember such a thing when it was months prior? XD
***REMINDER: This is a blind reaction to The Magnus Archives. Any questions posed are simply to demonstrate where my mind is going as I listen. Please do not respond to answer them! Thank you!***
When I listened to the episode the first time I assumed the priest was wrong about the demons, and he just thought so because he was a religious priest
That's possible and I wondered that as well, though when I say 'demon' stories what I guess I really mean is 'possession' stories. Demons as monsters are kind of cool and I'm fine with them, but possession in and of itself bores me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Let’s start with my own confession: I strongly dislike demon stories. It’s not that I’m afraid of demons in the least, but that I find the concept pretty boring compared to other monsters and they tend to stir up some religious trauma from my childhood. It’s not enough that I will avoid demon episodes, but fair warning in advance that I’m not likely to enjoy them as much as other things.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t catch that it was the same priest as in Burned Out until they mentioned the nurse. Maybe I was feeling slow while listening to this episode because I didn’t really notice much to comment on. I did note that the demon or whatever was possessing the priest did not seem as powerful as whatever was in the house because it was only able to slow the burning and it only went away when the tree was uprooted.
I am interested to hear more about the cannibalism aspect of this all and I see that the next episode is marked II, so perhaps I shall not have long to wait- which I honestly find a little surprising?
I listened to this episode twice though not because I was as caught up as I’d been for the last episode. I think that will be my habit from now on, as it helped me catch some things I would have missed otherwise.
So for the most part this episode didn’t strike me as creepy or spooky at all, just gross. I felt like there was a very key bit of information that was missing that made the whole episode fall a little flat for me. They never told us Toby’s estimated time of death. It just seemed like that information could have added another layer to it all.
Ok, let me back up. I want to comment on the intro music, as I’ve yet to do so. I really enjoy it and think it sets the mood for the podcast very nicely. It’s simple and not distracting and creepy but not in an unpleasant way. I find the clattering sound interesting. It makes me visualize a long hallway in an old school or prison or the like with those noisy lights that make a loud noise as they’re turned off, with the lights turning off row by row down the length of the hallway. I can only assume that’s the intention and it’s an intriguing image.
Anyway, back to the timing. This whole story was spread out over a much longer time than most of the other ones I’ve heard so far, nearly five years from when he moved in to when he reported it. Toby was nailing meat to the walls for like two years before his body was found and I find it difficult to believe that quantity of rotting flesh wouldn’t attract more attention sooner. It was also over two from the time when the guy delivered the package to Toby and when he discovered his body. The mention of the mark on Toby’s hand seemed like it was emphasized enough that it should have been relevant like perhaps this was the wound that became gangrenous and killed him but from what little I know if gangrene it doesn’t usually take that long.
I guess overall this episode felt like it lacked a sense of cohesion and left so many questions unanswered that it went from intriguing to frustrating. There were lots of little tidbits that felt like they were supposed to lead somewhere but unless I’m being particularly obtuse, just were sort of left hanging. There were prior episodes that left a huge question mark at the end- Lost Johns’ Cave springs to mind- but they were much more about the experience of the person than about the answers we might glean from it and ‘stinky upstairs neighbor’ just wasn’t that enthralling to me. Perhaps I’ll get more information and feel more satisfied with it in the future but for now it’s low on my list of favorite episodes.
Where is Martin? Is he really out sick or is he on some kind of super secret mission? :o
After MAG 015, apparently so many people were worried that the cat was gonna get hurt and couldn't enjoy the episode, Jon made a rule that if introduced an animal, then it would be safe.
Normally I would ask not to be told this kind of information but in this particular case I find that very comforting, as an animal lover. It also reminds me of the grave sin that I've committed in not commenting on how Major Tom is a fantastic name for a cat.
Get comfortable because I have a lot of thoughts about this one (In fact I’m gonna put this behind a cut for length.) I wouldn’t say that this one is my favorite of the episodes that I’ve heard overall, but it definitely has some moments that will rank in my favorites. This was the first episode that I listened to and then immediately restarted and listened again. I was tempted to listen a third time, too. I’m going to try to go through it in order, as best I can remember.
The introduction was delightful. I have heard and read many people pontificate about the timelessness of the written word and the importance of language as a means of sharing ideas and whatnot but the subtle way that words were compared to a virus here was beautiful. The idea of infecting another person with your thoughts as opposed to just sharing them seems... so relevant right now and certainly not just as it relates to this story. Books as endless contamination points...
Listen, I want to make it clear that I love books and am certainly against censorship and all that, but it’s a notion that I find both fascinating and worthy of consideration.
Moving on.
My immediate thought when I started an episode that was about books and a library was that we were going to encounter another Jurgen Leitner book but the initial description of The Bone Turner’s Tale had me thinking that I was mistaken. The descriptions of the books in Page Turner and the background information about Jurgen commissioning special copies of books had me thinking that all of his books would look very fancy and probably leather-bound and whatnot. I was not expecting a battered paperback. It makes me think of Jumanji and how the game will disguise itself as whatever it takes to get you to pick it up....
My father’s name is Michael and, as previously mentioned, I’ve seen a number of drawings of a character from TMA named Michael so, like Johns, I may be a little more prone to perk my ears up when I hear the name. I am fairly certain, though I may be mistaken, that Michael Crew was the name of the kid who got struck by lightning in Page Turner. Now he is the one who seemingly snuck the book into the library. The lightning incident did not seem to have anything to do with the actual book in Page Turner other than the ... crap, what’s it called.... the Lichtenberg Figure (thank you smarty-pants Husband) but now the name has, I think, been mentioned in two episodes about Leitner books. Interesting.
My ears also perked up when I heard the name Jerad but this does not seem to be related to Jerad Key (who I have since been informed is actually named Gerard Keay so what do I know XD)
So the rat. What struck me as very odd about the rat incident is that the person who gave the account mentioned that the rat’s head may have been at an odd angle but that his memory of the ‘incidents’ ran together. Now other than the rat the only incidents he mentioned were Jared and Jared’s mother and it seems very odd to me that he would mix up any details about a rat with either of those. It makes me wonder if he had other encounters that he didn’t mention? Why wouldn’t he? Very odd.
The little interjection with Jon and Elias!! I believe that this is the first time we’ve had any interjection mid-recording and, other than Alone, this was the first time it really felt like a radio play rather than just a read out story. It was a simple interaction but I felt like it deeply added to the whole of the podcast and I look forward to more interactions like it in the future.
It also really emphasized to me again that Jon is clearly doing voices when he reads the reports. The startled change from character voice to his normal speaking voice when Elias walked in made it clear that that’s not just a narration choice for the podcast but a recording choice by the character of Jon. He does voices, he interjects a feeling of emotion, stress where appropriate, etc. This is not the action of someone trying to create an impartial recording. If this isn’t explained by the end of the podcast I am going to be very disappointed.
(My working theory, and mind you this is very rough, is that Jon was given the role of Archivist specifically because he has some sort of empathic abilities and that he may not even realize himself that he’s doing it.)
Maybe it’s just a result of working under too many bosses who were less interested in the employee welfare and more interested in pleasing the investors, but Elias gave me bad vibes. He didn’t even say much but I just kind of went, “Oh, I know you and I don’t like you very much.” That felt very deliberate and when I’m given such a seemingly deliberate first impression about a character I always eye it with suspicion.
I found it interesting that Elias mentioned Martin. It seemed off-hand but a writer wouldn’t throw that in for no reason. My ‘something is going on with Martin’ suspicions have been further ticked.
I felt that the bleeding books didn’t really fit with the rest of the story. There are certain times when listening to the podcast that there will be specific details that don’t mesh with the rest of the tale and almost seem as if they were put in just to add a bit more of a spooky factor or something. I previously mentioned the apple in Burned Out. I can’t think of any others off the top of my head, but the bleeding books struck me like that. It seems to me that these evil books want to be picked up and read in order to spread their power. The one from Page Turner (I’m not gonna try to remember and spell the Latin name lol) seemed to attract the gaze and he couldn’t stop flipping through. The Bone Turner’s Tale almost seemed to entrance Jared. Why on earth would you want to make yourself look suspicious and evil by making other books bleed??
Anyway.
The description of the thing that used to be Jerad was delightfully spooky by itself. It reminded me of something but damned if I can figure out what. But the idea of it being able to move its bones at will and of stealing bones from other people to expand itself. Yeah, I loved that.
The Post-Statement told me a lot more about The Magnus Institute than I had previously known. I suppose I had conceptualized the Institute as a sort of... A mix of the Men in Black (from the movies) and Ghostbusters lol! It was in my mind that the people came to them not just to have their experiences recorded but also to seek out help for what they were experiencing. Jon mentioning Elias’s policy of ‘record and study, not interfere and contain’ was a surprise. I wonder if that has always been the policy of the Institute and if it is, I wonder again why there does not seem to be more evidence of investigation being done on these accounts prior to them being sent to the Archives.
Final thought is that I wonder how long it is between when Jon picks up a file and when he makes his recording? He mentions that he had Martin try to look into the person who gave the account but Martin was sick when Jon made the recording. Probably a very minor detail but something to think about regardless.
This all makes me wonder if I should read more horror. I’ve never been able to watch horror movies because I can’t stand all the blood and whatnot and I have absolutely no interest in slasher anything but the monster concepts in this podcast are so fascinating to me. Anyone have any recommendations for good books that don’t involve a ton of mindless killings for shock factor? If it helps, I adore ghost stories.
One final note! Thank you to the lovely people of my Discord server for helping me with the spelling of a few names. I mentioned it there and I’ll mention again here that after I’ve noticed a name crop up a few times, I will ask for a spelling. Please do not volunteer spellings to me because just your telling me that I’m spelling something wrong gives me a clue that it’s probably an important character and I’d rather discover that as I go. Thank you! And if you’d like to join the server and discuss TMA and my reactions (behind my back, I don’t go into the spoiler channels), you’d be very welcome! The link is HERE
I don’t hate spiders, but I do prefer them at a distance from myself. When I saw the title of this episode I thought I was in for it. Surprisingly, this one didn’t really bother me. I think it was the focus on one specific spider that made it far less creepy to me. The ‘ghost’ spider aspect detracted from it even further. Not to say that it was bad, just not something that was going to horrify me.
The only thing that really stood out to me as worth commenting on were the worms that infested the apartment and thus attracted spiders. They sound similar to the worms that were described in Squirm and I’m wondering if they’re related.
Not specifically related to this episode, though, I have been thinking about Jon and his skepticism. I sort of assume that, from a Watsonian perspective, Jon is recording many more accounts than are presented in the podcast and we only hear the really good ones (presumably the “real” ones, but that could be argued). From the perspective of just what we hear it seems ridiculous that he’s so skeptical of everything, even when there seems to be evidence for every case, but if this is just one of a hundred other cases where it really was head trauma or sleep paralysis or whatever then it makes much more sense.
All that said, I anticipate that his skepticism is going to come into play more as things progress with the story. It may even be part of the reason he was assigned this job in the first place.
Alone is one of my favorite episodes, sad you disliked it. Also if you ever do a relisten again I highly recommend at least reading the transcript instead of skipping the episode completely
Sorry to disappoint you :) Different things will resonate with different people. In the future if I listen through again, I will be sure to pick up a transcript. At the moment, I am avoiding doing that for fear of unintentionally running into any spoilers. Thank you for reaching out and sharing your opinions!
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that it's really nice to hear from you again. Really. It's completely ok that you've lost interest in hs, and I actually have listened to all of tma, so im really looking forward to this little adventure you've decided to share with us. Again, it's just nice to hear from you again, but don't feel rushed. I just wanted to let you know that. And I hope it doesn't sound to weird or personal. Take care.
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say! I'm glad you are looking forward to going through TMA with me. :) I appreciate your reaching out!
