X Marks the Spot: an Eco-Horror Tale by Jennifer Weigel
An eco horror tale of a man just doing his job… until the unthinkable happens…
It was a long, sultry day. Hot and humid, sweat-inducing balminess engulfed Jarred as he pressed on. All of these trees had to go to make way for the new development. He didn’t care what was being built, a road or something, just that the world had to make way for progress and he was tasked with getting it ready.
Another spray-painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
Why bother anyway? They knew all the trees were going to be removed. Why was it necessary to mark them first? It’d make more sense and be so much more efficient to just bulldoze the swath and be done with it. Oh well, it was a job anyway… Jarred surveyed the scene, wiping his hand over his sweat-soaked brow bandana. So many trees done already, so many more trees destined for removal. Better get back to it then.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
But all of the tree-hugger eco-activists were very clear that no extra trees should be doomed to destruction. It had taken too much time to run off the squatters. The resulting work required more precision than just a blanket approach. So here Jarred was tagging the trees unfortunate enough to grow between the guidelines.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
After the accident, the squatters had fled. Some of the crew said that the ghost of the tree-hugger who died still lurked in these parts. The mediation and legal discourse that followed had been nightmare enough, though most of the workers weren’t subject to that and Jarred was pretty new to the team. Best not to get wrapped up in such drama and just do the work.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
Jarred knew the ghost stories, but every site had them. There were the Native American graveyard warnings, the magnetic field extraplanar myths, the swallowing land environmental hazard stories… Whatever. He’d heard it all, and none of it ever made any difference. You just did what you had to and moved along to the next site. That was all that mattered.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
But wait, that tree he just passed… Jarred was certain he had tagged it. Yet there it was, clean as day. Was he slipping? He surveyed the others. A sea of bright red X marks stared back at him, bereft of one. It was a just another tree, like all of its brethren. He raised his spray can and gestured swiftly.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
He stood there a moment. The X that Jarred had just painted began to disappear, as if the heat was causing it to evaporate away into the atmosphere. He could almost see it radiate red smoke as it vanished. He aimed the spray can at it, slower and more deliberately this time. His arm arced as a jet of paint misted over the surface of the bark.
Another spray painted X. Another tree slated for demolition.
Something about the tree itself began to feel ominous, as if another presence stirred. The paint began smoking off of the bark surface more rapidly, seemingly smoldering. The red mist began to surround Jarred and the world went hazy. Everything around him started to dissipate to steam. The heat was otherworldly and he raised his hand, spray can in tow. He let loose.
Another spray painted X…
The red smoke thickened all around him and engulfed Jarred completely. The tree and construction site faded away completely. The spray can itself vanished in a cloud of red smoke. He watched his own hand fade into red and smolder away, followed by his arm and shirtsleeve. He felt nothing. He looked down at his legs and feet to see them evaporate before his world went completely red. It absorbed him wholly before dissipating to nothingness. The world disappeared around him like pinpoints of red light, leaving him in a black void.
A jarring X appeared within and of the surface of the tree where he had stood just moments before.
It was never determined what happened to Jarred. A search party yielded nothing. But the work had to continue. The interstate had been delayed too long already.
Devon finished spray painting the trees, passing over the ones that had already been painted. He didn’t consciously notice that one was seemingly carved and reabsorbed instead of being painted, it just blurred into the sea of X marks as he continued on, intentionally unaware. He’d heard the ghost stories. Best not to get wrapped up in such drama and just do one’s job…
Eco horror X marking the spot is all that remains, and not for long…
Jennifer Weigel is a regular contributor at Haunted MTL. You can check out more of her work on her website here.
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.
