Spring Horror Collection: The Naming Ceremony by Jennifer Weigel
Welcome to the third story of the Spring Horror Collection for 2022, where Haunted MTL’s writers craft original tales of terror that’ll grow on you. Check with us all week for new stories.
For more original stories, check out Haunted MTL’s Original Creations.
Imagine, if you will, a world in which every individual’s name must be completely original and unique, where they cannot be repeated under any circumstances. Growing in numbers, how do you address the Naming Ceremony?…
In the Maternity Ward
Raynala gazed at the newborn cradled in her arms. What could she possibly name the little girl? This was the most stressful decision for any mother, for if she chose a name that had already been given the child would wither away, shriveling to dust instantaneously.
For no two persons could exist by the same name as it confused the Gods and was thusly forbidden. So any time this happened would result in the immediate death of the baby by divine interventions. Sure, there were safeguards in place in order to minimize the likelihood that a mother would decide upon a name that had been taken already, but even that was not a guarantee.
From a far room down the hall of the maternity ward, Raynala heard a woman shriek and then burst into a fit of uncontrollable crying. Apparently she had chosen poorly and had suffered the loss of the baby as a result. Her resounding sobs echoed throughout the corridor reminding all of the other mothers of their possible fates.
The sound of the Naming Cart grew louder as it approached from that direction, wheel squeaking as it slid across the polished tile floor. The Recorder of Names entered the room in his hooded evergreen robe pushing a metal trolley with incense and candles burning in a circle around the tome in which all persons were recorded. He rocked gently back and forth and chanted softly to appeal to the Gods to bestow a worthy name unto this young mother for her newborn child.
He slowly and methodically wheeled the cart to the foot of the hospital bed while continuing his chanting and swaying. As he came to rest in the proper position, he stopped suddenly and fixated his gaze upon Raynala. The time had come for the Naming Ceremony to occur. It was up to her now.
Raynala gasped and emitted a hollow shrill sigh before finding her nerve and her voice. “May I call upon the Gods and hope that this pleases them, this child’s name shall be Aryanalarayna,” Raynala proclaimed through clenched teeth as she winced. She had stuttered in the Naming Ceremony and, although she had recovered, she desperately hoped that the misspoken moment would not cost the baby girl her life.
The Recorder of Newborns pressed the tip of the pen to paper in the giant book on the cart before himself. A faint glow emanated from the page and then faded away as he traced over the letters. Nothing happened. He looked up and gazed at the young mother smiling.
“So it is written, so it shall be,” the Recorder of Names exclaimed. “You have chosen wisely.” He rose from his perch overseeing the hospital bed where the young woman lay with the infant. He turned and wheeled the cart with the tome recording all living and dead persons out of the room and down the hall towards the next uneasy new mother’s room, chanting and swaying.
You can find more of Jennifer Weigel’s horror stories, reviews and art here on Haunted MTL and check out more of her writing on her website at Jennifer Weigel Words.
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.
And as promised in Big Bad Poetry, we shall embark on our next AI journey, this time looking at Little Red Riding Hood. I had wanted to depict her as the Big Bad Wolf one and the same, although maybe not so big nor bad. But it just wasn’t happening quite as planned. All of these are based upon the AI generated art and prompts using NightCafe and then created as posters in Canva.
So I actually like this even better than my original vision, it is playful and even a bit serene (especially given the Sinister style). The wolf is just being a wolf. It’s quite lovely, really. But it wasn’t what I had in mind, so I revisited the idea later to see if I could get that result…
Well, that’s not quite right…
Yeah more of the same…
And as you can see this is starting to devolve quickly. Join us again next week to see how this continued to develop… And 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.
J.M. Faulkner
March 22, 2022 at 12:37 pm
“Russian Roulette” with children – a terrifying prospect
Jennifer Weigel
March 22, 2022 at 6:59 pm
Best choose wisely… 😉