Red Gloves

Published

3 years ago

December 12, 2020

Dawn hid a yawn behind her hand, watching the mass of children clustered in the cafeteria. It was the last day of school before Christmas break. The kids were going nuts.

Connie, Dawn’s fellow fourth-grade teacher, slid next to her. “You don’t look like you’re in the Christmas spirit,” she said.

“Barb had trouble sleeping,” Dawn said.

“Married life. If one of you can’t sleep, neither can,” Connie nodded.

“For better or worse, and all that,” Dawn replied. No need to go into any more detail than that.

Barb had spent the night at the kitchen table, pouring over notes and newspaper clippings. “Those red gloves they found in the lifeguard station,” she’d muttered. “Why would someone have winter gloves at the pool?”

The first bell rang, and the kids spilled out into the halls. Dawn and Connie followed.

“Better not let these little monsters see you yawn,” Connie said. “If they sense weakness it’s all over.”

“Ugh. The only thing getting me through today is knowing there’s a two-week vacation and a bottle of wine on the other side.”

Connie laughed. She opened her classroom door. Sitting on her desk was a brightly wrapped gift.

“Who’s that from?” Dawn asked.

“Dunno,” Connie said.

Dawn’s students were grouping at her door. She left Connie to open her gift.

“Let’s put our things away and find our seats,” Dawn called.

If she was honest she was glad to be at school, with bright faces and paper snowmen. Anything to get her mind off Barb sitting at the kitchen table, scribbling like she was trying to solve the damned case by herself. But what else could she do? The bomb had taken Barb’s kid brother. It wasn’t something easily gotten over.

Something in the hallway caught Dawn’s eye. It was Connie, leaving her classroom. Some of her students were standing at the doorway, whispering.

Dawn went to the door. “What’s up?” she asked.

The girl shrugged. “Ms. Holland just walked out of the room.”

“There she is!” a student cried.

Dawn’s classroom windows looked out over the front of the school. Busses were still arriving. She spotted Connie walking out the front door, right into the road. She stepped off the curb in front of a bus.

The bus hit her. Dawn clapped a hand over her mouth. The students screamed. The bus squealed to a halt. Connie was laying in the middle of the road, not moving.

Dawn closed the windows before any more of the kids could see. “We’re going to go across the hall and sit with the other class,” she said. “Come on, right now. Stay away from the windows.”

“What happened?” a student asked.

“No questions right now,” Dawn said. Her hands were shaking. She saw the red package on the desk. It was laying on its side, contents spilling out. Inside was a note that said, thinking of you, in handwriting that Dawn recognized. The note was resting on top of a pair of red gloves.

Thinking of you, with the same loopy scrawls that usually made out Grab milk on your way home, love you.

Dawn grabbed the note and crumpled it in her hand.

Original Series

Nightmarish Nature: Giants Among Spiders

Published

5 days ago

April 28, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

So, as you may have noticed, we have a special fondness for spiders here on Nightmarish Nature. Well, they are kind of the spokes-critters for horrifying animalia, perhaps because they are so freakishly different from us. Or maybe it’s because I find them a little disconcerting for all that I try to take the “you mind your business, I’ll mind mine” approach, at least if they stay outdoors. Or just because I really like to draw spiders for all that I prefer not to find them sharing my home (though I’ll gladly take spiders over other bugs or mice or larger critters who didn’t get an invite).

Anyway, this segment is devoted to the largest Giants Among Spiders, as if you didn’t have enough to worry about already. And the top place is contested based upon body mass or leg length. Most of these are tarantulas, which globally take top place among the large arachnids.

Goliath Birdeater Tarantula

The Goliath Birdeater Tarantula of South America is the biggest brute of spiderdom, weighing in at over 6 ounces. They build funnel burrows and are known to eat birds (although rarely), mice, lizards, frogs, and snakes, but largely any big insects including other species of spiders. They have urticating barbed hairs that they fling at would-be attackers as an irritant to escape. And people even eat them after they singe the bristles off. Here’s a National Geographic video showing this spider in action, in case you wanted to see a giant spider take out a mouse.

Giant Huntsman Spider

And with the longest legs, we have the Giant Huntsman Spider of Laos, with a leg-span of 12 inches. Their legs have twisted joints and they move in a crab-like manner, which furthers their impressive appearance. ‘Cause they’ve got legs, and know how to use ’em. They prefer to live in underbrush and cave entrances. These are like the big relatives of their Australian cousins, which we’ve all seen online and developed a healthy aversion to.

Everything's cuter when it's fuzzy, right? tarantula drawing by Jennifer Weigel — Everything’s cuter when it’s fuzzy, right?

Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater & Brazilian Giant Tawny Red Tarantulas

Next we have two more South American species: the Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater, which boasts one-inch fangs, and the Brazilian Giant Tawny Red, believed to be the longest-lived spider with a lifespan of up to thirty years. Both are in the tarantula family and have urticating hairs, a word you probably never read much before today unless you are in the hobby. So apparently South America is not the best travel destination for you if you struggle with arachnophobia, though I suspect you’d figured that out already. (I wouldn’t recommend Australia or Southeast Asia either.)

Face Size Tarantula

And finally the Face Size Tarantula, which has a very terror-inducing name reminiscent of the Face Huggers of Alien-glory. Anyway, these spiders have an 8-inch leg-span and live in India and Sri Lanka. They look kind of like big hairy wolf spiders with stripey legs, sometimes with pink and daffodil coloring.

If you enjoyed this eight-legged segment of Nightmarish Nature on Giants Among Spiders and their larger than life kin, please check out past segments:

Terrifying Tardigrades

Original Series

AI journey: Little Red Riding Hood, Part 3 Final

Published

2 weeks ago

April 21, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

So here is our last installment of our AI journey exploring the idea of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad wolf being one and the same. All of these are based upon the AI generated art and prompts using NightCafe and then created as posters in Canva. Feel free to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this exploration if you missed them.

Forget this talk of sheep, it isn't helping..., Dark Fantasy style, Aug. 1, 2023 — Dark Fantasy style, Aug. 1, 2023

A non sequitur I know, but I couldn’t resist. If you picked up where we left off you’ll get it.

So what about Little Red Riding Hood as a wolf?, Dark Fantasy, Aug. 1, 2023 — Dark Fantasy, Aug. 1, 2023

Seriously?! Again with the cropped off head cop out…

Little Red Riding Hood as a wolf, seriously we want to see her face!, Artistic Portrait, Aug. 1, 2023 — Artistic Portrait, Aug. 1, 2023

Finally! That was a journey. And not even worth the result, in my opinion.

Anyway, here is a bonus montage I made out of a bunch of additional Red Riding Hood prompts for an article that never happened…

Little Red Riding Hood AI art montage, Nov. 4, 2023 — AI art generated Nov. 4, 2023

Prompts for Montage:

1.) What if Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf were one and the same being?
2.) Her wolf face peering out of her red cloak, fangs dripping with the blood of another victim, lost in the forest and never found.
3.) Little Red Riding Hood closes in for the kill, lunging from her red cloak, her wolf fangs dripping with blood.
4.) I am Little Red Riding Hood. I am the Big Bad Wolf. I am coming for you.
5.) Howling within, the rage sears forth from the red cloak, discarded in the deep woods. Red Riding Hood succumbs to the lycanthropy.
6.) Heaving breaths. Dripping blood. Red Riding Hood is not what she appears. She is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
7.) Her red cloak masks the fangs hidden below the surface.
8.) It starts with a long sighing breath. Waiting. The wolf within stirs.
9.) Red Riding Hood trembles. She succumbs to the lycanthropy.
10.) The wolf bursts forth from within. It takes over Little Red Riding Hood’s mind, her body, her being.
11.) Red Riding Hood howls. She is ravenous with hunger for blood. The wolf within has taken over. Mind, spirit, body. She feasts on the blood of the moon.
12.) Big Bad Wolf Red Riding Hood ravenous blood moon feast
13.) Blood moon beckons. I. Little Red Big Bad Riding Hood Wolf. Freedom howling night curse.
14.) Beware. Bewolf. BeRedRidingHood. Betwixt. Beyond.
15.) I pad quietly as the forest dissolves around me. Red Riding Hood and Wolf, one and the same.
16.) Wolf within howling dark recesses of the mind, Red Riding Hood lost
17.) Red Riding Hood HOWL wolf bane true existence polymorph within-and-without.
18.) Red howl Riding Wolf dark existence brooding within

So thank you for joining us on another AI art journey. You can still catch the last AI art journey on Haunted MTL here. To see more such devolutions into AI generated art, check out the Will the Real Jennifer Weigel Please Stand Up? blog.

Original Series

AI Journey: Little Red Riding Hood, Part 2

Published

3 weeks ago

April 14, 2024

Jennifer Weigel

Continuing our AI journey from last time exploring Little Red Riding Hood herself as the Big Bad Wolf… All of these are based upon the AI generated art and prompts using NightCafe and then created as posters in Canva.

Little Red Riding Hood as a wolf, Sinister style, Aug. 1, 2023 — Sinister style, Aug. 1, 2023

How very… Phantom of the Opera predatory… this is definitely not what I had in mind. Maybe something more cutesy?

Little Red Riding Hood woman with wolf head instead of her own, Anime V2 style, Aug. 1, 2023 — Anime V2 style, Aug. 1, 2023

Ugh. Maybe not.

Wolf face peering out of red hooded cape, Sinister style, Aug. 1, 2023 — Sinister style, Aug. 1, 2023

Wow, that seems like such a cop out, cropping off the head so you don’t have to depict it. And I don’t want to lose the Little Red Riding Hood reference completely.

Wolf in sheep's clothing as Little Red Riding Hood, Artistic Portrait style, Aug. 1, 2023 — Artistic Portrait style, Aug. 1, 2023

So no surprise there, I knew that was too many references to work.

And we continued to devolve, join us again next week for the final installment to see how this ended… And again, if you want to catch the last AI art journey, you can find it on Haunted MTL here. To see more such devolutions into AI generated art, check out the Will the Real Jennifer Weigel Please Stand Up? blog.