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…
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
Those religious icons really get around. This time it’s a journey to visit the Deep Ones. And Dracula’s Castle. Because everyone has to be a tourist now and then, and what’s the point if you don’t pick up a souvenir or two?
This was a gift for a friend for their sea life monster theme bathroom. It started as one of those old school wood plaques where the picture is waxed on. And the eyes were originally that creepy – all I did was add the tentacles. So don’t blame the overall weirdness on me, it wasn’t all my doing.
Oh, and apparently Mary wanted in on the action, so she’s gone to Dracula’s Castle for a bite. She even brought back her own religious icons souvenirs…
So this one isn’t as old, nor is it real wood. But it still totally goes with Mary’s journey. And it’s also a little blacklight reactive with the flowers.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
So I just keep on going… Here are some more repaint porcelain figurines and other madcap painting. OK maybe some of them aren’t porcelain, but still totally redone.
This Pennywise clown started as some plastic figurine from Italy. I was drawn to this because of the pretty marble base. It’s a nice touch, don’t you think? I’ve seen others in this series and honestly they’re all kind of creepy to start with, so they really lend themselves towards repaint prospects. Perhaps I’ll pick up more to redo in similar ways later on… Oh, and the eyes are blacklight sensitive, in case he wasn’t creepy enough already.
With all of the new movie hype, I couldn’t resist a throwback to the classic Beetlejuice, and this little bride figurine and teddy bear were just too perfect. Featuring more blacklight sensitive accents, like her veil flowers. And I don’t know why she only has one glove, I blame it on the 1980s… Or maybe she was just that drunk (you’d have to be for that wedding)…
So yeah, all those preppers ready for the zombie apocalypse – you know some of them are gonna get bitten. It’s in the script, what can I say? More blacklight eyes, cause why not?
I admit I haven’t seen this film, but it sure looks fun. Mathilda, eat your heart out. Literally.
OK so this isn’t a repaint. Nor is it porcelain. What is it even doing here? Well, she’s cool and ready for a party and kinda reminded me of Abigail, so she sort of just tagged along. Sexy Sadie started as an Avon perfume bottle with a fragrance I didn’t care for (I think it was called Head Over Heels). Because honestly the bottle topper was all that mattered. And now she has her own disco dancing platform. What more could a vampish vixen want?
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
I wrote this script for Beyond the Veil awhile back, exploring the bond between two twin sisters, Edith and Edna, who had lived their lives together. There was a terrible car crash and someone didn’t make it. The other is trying to contact them beyond the veil…
Beyond the Veil Setting:
Two women reach out to one another individually in a séance setting.
One sits on one side of a dining table. The other sits at the other side. Each studies a candle just beyond her reach; there is darkness between the two candles. The long table is barely hinted at in the interstice between the two but it is clearly present.
The camera is stationary showing both in profile staring through each other.
The women are both portrayed by the same actress who is also the voice of the narrator, who is unseen. All three voices are identical so that it is impossible to tell which of the two women the narrator is supposed to represent.
Both women are spliced into the same scene. They are together but apart. The two candles remain for the duration of filming so that the two halves of the film can either be overlapped (so that both women appear incorporeal) or cut and sandwiched in the middle between the candles (so both women appear physically present). It is possible to set the scene thusly using both methods in different parts of the story, with both women seemingly flickering in and out of being, both individually and apart.
Script:
I. Black, audio only.
Narrator:
I was riding with my twin sister.
We were in a terrible car crash.
The car drove over the median and rolled.
It spun off the road where it caught fire.
There was smoke everywhere.
My sister didn’t make it.
II. Fade in to the long table with two lit candles; flames flickering.
Two women are just sitting at either end.
They stare blankly through each other.
Call and Response
Edith: Now I’m trying to contact her…
Edna: …beyond the veil.
Simultaneous:
Edith: Edna, do you hear me?
Edna: Edith, do you hear me?
Together (In Unison):
If you hear me, knock three times.
Narrator:
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Call and Response:
Edith: I miss you terribly.
Edna: I miss you so much.
Edith: Do you remember…
Edna: … the car crash?
Edith: We rolled…
Edna: … over the median.
Edith: There was fire.
Edna: There was smoke.
Edith: I could hear the sirens.
Edna: They were coming…
Edith: … to rescue us.
Edna: But they were so far away.
Edith: So far…
Edna: … away….
Simultaneous:
Edith: Are you okay?
Edna: Are you hurt?
Together (In Unison):
Knock three times for yes. Knock once for no.
Narrator:
Knock
– pause –
Knock
– pause –
Together (Syncopated):
What’s it like, on the other side?
– long pause –
Simultaneous:
Edith: I miss you, Edna.
Edna: I miss you, Edith.
Together (Syncopated):
It’s so lonely here.
Call and Response:
Edith: There’s no one here.
Edna: I’m all alone.
Edith: Without you…
Edna: …the spark of life…
Edith: …is gone…
Edna: … so far away.
– pause –
Together (Entirely Out of Sync):
It’s so dark.
III. Fade out to black
Narrator:
I was riding with my twin sister.
We were in a terrible car crash.
The car drove over the median and rolled.
It spun off the road where it caught fire.
There was smoke everywhere.
I didn’t make it.
I had planned to actually turn this into the video for which it was written, but quickly discovered that my plans for recording required a space that was too drastically different from my new house (and new large gaming table) and that my vision for filming could not be well-fully executed or realized. So now it exists as a script only.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
-
Book Reviews7 days agoReview: Don’t Eat the Pie, Monique Asher’s delicious trope fest.
-
Movies n TV4 days agoAmerican Horror Stories, Leprechaun
-
Original Creations4 days ago
Religious Icons Revisited for the Second Second Coming
-
Movies n TV2 days ago
American Horror Stories, The Thing Under The Bed
