C-2747 Logbook, as found
Logbook Entry 1: 20.12.25, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. Arrived at research location in loosely wrapped gift box, promptly shredded any evidence of my instructions on the wrapping. Began exploration of interior. There are many individual rooms that are interconnected to form a whole space. Seems to have fuzzy yarn floor covering throughout much of the layout except in the room where food comes from and the room where the humans deal with their excrement. My return pod, disguised as a leopard-print sleeping tent, is in the room that I entered into the location in, along with a large evergreen tree covered in shiny baubles that resemble H-com devices. This warrants further study since the humans are not thought to be this technologically advanced and thusly we may not be the only outsiders with interests here. The humans have offered me a plastic domed pod for my waste in a side room off of the room in which they deal with their excrement. Most of the rooms with the floor covering have high jumping ledges. I don’t yet know what is kept up there.
Logbook Entry 2: 20.12.26, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. The humans reprimanded me for climbing the large evergreen tree and took it away. I did not get a chance to examine the shiny baubles more closely to see if they were in fact H-com holographic communication devices as they appeared to be. I’ve discovered that I spend an inordinate time napping here, although it actually seems that much of my day is spent downloading while casually napping. Just what is taking the Mother Ship so long?
Logbook Entry 6: 20.12.30, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. Was alone most of the day. Have not yet determined where the humans go for hours on end. Perhaps to another similar habitat that requires the traveling room by which they first brought me here in the loosely wrapped box. Will try to follow up on this when I am able. I am keeping these logbook entries short to try to maximize transference with the Mother Ship, since contact is so spotty.
Logbook Entry 7: 20.12.31, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. One of the humans found me on one of the high jumping ledges looking around. They made a huge commotion waving their arms and shouting “No!” before ungraciously scooping me up and dropping me back on the floor. There must be something important and top secret up there, I shall have to continue my explorations while they are asleep or away.
Logbook Entry 10: 21.01.03, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. I have not heard from the Mother Ship for several days. So I am working on training the humans. Making mournful cries and staring at the sustenance bowl has not resulted in more kibble dispensation. Instead, they shake the kibble down to fill in the hole to the bottom that I have meticulously unearthed. I will have to make a more concerted effort to ensure that they follow through on actually filling the bowl in the future. I shall continue to test and hone my whining capabilities in this.
Logbook Entry 13: 21.01.06, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. One of the humans was up for much of the night and has spent an inordinate time in bed. They may be sick. I stayed with them to observe them for signs of further distress. They seemed mildly perturbed that I set up a vigil by their head staring at them but allowed me to remain there anyway. At one point they tried to grab me and enfold me in their arms but I shook myself free and moved a little further away to stare from a safe distance.
Logbook Entry 15: 21.01.08, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. The humans and I have discovered the most wonderful interactive game in which they wave a wand with a string and ribbons attached to make them flutter. It has provided opportunity to bond and to sharpen my hunting skills. I am working to train them to engage in this activity more often, further developing my whining capabilities.
Logbook Entry 16: 21.01.09, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. Why is contact with the Mother Ship so intermittent? The Mother Ship dropped off for several hours today in the middle of a download. One of the humans caught me with my motor running but shrugged it off. They said it was “cute”. Uncertain what exactly that means – will have to look into this further. I shall try to be more diligent so as to not be discovered in the future.
Logbook Entry 19:21.01.12, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. One of the humans rose unannounced in the middle of the night to use their excrement room. Thankfully they didn’t see me exploring one of the high ledges or notice as the aperture of my vision sensors refocused with the new light levels. They do not seem entirely aware or capable in the night; I shall have to utilize this knowledge to further advantage later. The high ledges have nothing of note upon them, just little figurines and knickknacks that would make a great clamor as they broke into hundreds of tiny pieces should they be knocked off the ledge… This is very tempting, but not when I’m trying to remain hidden…
Logbook Entry 22: 21.01.15, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. I am losing sight of the Mission. What exactly was I supposed to be learning from this exercise? I find that I am more and more drawn to sitting beside the humans and have continued to express my desire to play with the ribbon wand and for them to fill the sustenance bowl with more kibble. They are easily trained but don’t always follow through on their training well.
Logbook Entry 27: 21.01.19, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. The Mission has been extended without further instructions. Awaiting download from the Mother Ship for more clarification. Other agents have stopped by on the other side of the external glass to offer their criticisms of my approach, but they do not offer any more guidance and I continue to be steadfast in my duty to observe my research environment.
Logbook Entry 31: 21.01.23, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. I have finally heard from the Mother Ship! Having observed the humans and logged their activities over the past month, I have been instructed to smother them in their sleep as they have been deemed dangerous and oafish creatures that are incapable of greater awareness than younglings for all that this has not been my full impression as they are somewhat trainable and are well-intentioned. Nonetheless, I am practicing my assigned task by sleeping on their faces in the middle of the night.
Logbook Entry 34: 21.01.26, 07.00 hours
C-2747 reporting. I announce finalization of my Mission. I am awaiting return to the Mother Ship. I will be resting peacefully in my Pod at 08.00 hours awaiting intermolecular transport.
Side note: Although C-2747 reported having completed their objective, C-2747 didn’t actually follow through on smothering the humans in their sleep. The humans awoke late that morning to find their beloved new housecat and its leopard print sleeping tent missing. Countless LOST flyers yielded no response. The cat was simply gone.
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.
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:
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.
A non sequitur I know, but I couldn’t resist. If you picked up where we left off you’ll get it.
Seriously?! Again with the cropped off head cop out…
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…
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.
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.
How very… Phantom of the Opera predatory… this is definitely not what I had in mind. Maybe something more cutesy?
Ugh. Maybe not.
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.
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.
