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Art Doktor Other Haunts

1xRun.com offers classy affordable art

Hail Zombo
Hail Zombo

It’s time to take down that ratty Sisters of Mercy poster, the one you taped to your dorm room wall, the one that’s followed you into this so-called adult life that you’re leading. I understand why you cling to this relic. It reminds you of when you were with-it, when you were relevant. I agree. You need better things to hang on your walls than the soul-less, mass market crap from Kmart. But face it, there’s not a lot left of the paycheck for home decorating. Let me tell you about 1xrun.com.

Every single day, 1xrun.com features a different hip, reasonably priced art print. For a few bucks more, they’ll frame it using archival materials and ship it to you so well packaged and cradled it’s almost like they are home delivering babies or something. The runs are limited editions, signed and numbered and the images are from some of the freshest contemporary artists. I have a whole wall full of pieces by John Dunivant, the crazy genius behind Theatre Bizarre and they’re all from 1xrun. Other folks of interest to DailyNightmare readers are Glen Barr, Mimi Yoon, Chet Zar, Sarah Joncas… seriously, lots of great images. From time to time, 1xrun.com also offers the original art associated with the print run for more serious collectors with deeper pockets. Subscribe to the mailing list at least to slap something interesting in your face on a daily basis.

"The Twins" by John Dunivant from 1xrun.com
“The Twins” by John Dunivant from 1xrun.com

From time to time, 1xrun.com has “Archive Sales” where they sell the final few pieces from some of their recent runs. This is the gold mine, the last-train-to-Clarkesville chance for missed opportunity. For instace, I was able to pick up Dunivant’s “The Twins” from a run printed long before I was hip to 1xrun. If you can keep a secret, there’s another Archive Sale happening this weekend and when I just checked, one of Dunivant’s “Illusionist’s Ball” prints was available, that cool poster from the last Theatre Bizarre but printed on metal.

"The Illusionist's Ball" by John Dunivant from 1xrun.com
“The Illusionist’s Ball” by John Dunivant from 1xrun.com

You took an art history class, didn’t you? You have a taste for the better things, cooler things. 1xrun will hook you up.

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Book

TREMENDOUS e-book deal — Subterranean Press Humble Bundle

Humbe Bundle Sub PressSubterranean Press publishes gorgeous editions of speculative fiction, and they’re based right here in the Midwest which makes them a special delight to the Midwest Horror Snobs here at the DailyNightmare. To celebrate 20 years of publishing, Subterranean Press is teaming up with the Humble Bundle and WorldBuilders with a great promotion. Hurry over to Humble Books to pickup some choice ebooks at very reasonable prices. BUT HURRY because the offer is only good until March 3rd.

Humble Bundle is a nifty operation which offers bundles of books, games and comics, and splits the proceeds with a charity. For the Subterranean Press promotion, pay WHATEVER you want and you get seven ebooks, DRM-free — (including The Ape’s Wife and other Stories, a collection of dark weird fiction by Caitlin Kiernan who is one the Doktor’s favorite authors.) Pay more than the average price (currently about $13 bucks) to unlock a FULL DOZEN more titles (including Clive Barker‘s Tortured Souls and The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein by Thomas Ligotti) or pay more than $15 to unlock the whole kit and kaboodle.

One slick feature of the Humble Bundle is a set of sliders that allow you the purchaser to decide how much of your contribution goes to Subterranean Press or a charity, in this case WorldBuilders. All, none, little, some, you get to decide. Worldbuilders deserves a plug all on its own. Formed as a registered charity by fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear) Worldbuilders rewards folks who donate to Heifer International. Heifer International is non-profit charity that seems to me is based on the traditional wisdom, “Give someone a fish, feed for a day; teach someone to fish, feed for a lifetime.” Heifer International gives folks the means to change the conditions of poverty and hunger. But if it’s not your jam, you can choose to divert your payments to Subterranean Press or Humble Bundle itself.

At least check out the deal before it closes on March 3rd. And if ebooks aren’t your thing, check out Subterranean Press for gorgeous hardbound editions of speculative fictions.

Categories
Creepy Crafts Halloween

How to Haunt Your Home, Part One: Planning

Zed's Hat

By Michael Cieslak

My name is Zed, and I’m a home haunter. I’ve been approached by the Head Nightmarian to discuss the ins and outs of turning your home and/or yard into something terrifying this October.

For those unfamiliar with the term, the home haunter dwells in the middle ground between person who puts up some decorations at Halloween and the Haunted Attractions which spring up around the end of September. The typical home haunt has detailed props, some of which may use light, sound, and pneumatics to achieve their scares. Some home haunts are large enough that the rival the professionals, drawing hundreds or even thousands of people a night.

If you are thinking “this guy is talking about Halloween already?” then this post might not be for you. Everyone else, read on.

Continue reading “How to Haunt Your Home, Part One: Planning”
Categories
Nightmares

Nightmare #356 – The Child Coffin Merchant

Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdcoregirl/. No changes made. https://flic.kr/p/4Ypu5U. Used under the Creative Commons License.
Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdcoregirl/. No changes made. https://flic.kr/p/4Ypu5U. Used under the Creative Commons License.

(Male, 50’s) This happened at the end of a much longer dream. My partner and I were walking through a dark area, shadowy streets. There was some element of danger, too. We weren’t alone on these streets and it was late enough that the people around were up to no good but largely they ignored us. It was thrilling more than scary, rather fun. We strayed to an industrial area, cement buildings, some abandoned, that stood close enough to each other to make a maze of little roads, each barely wide enough for a truck to fit down. M partner wanted to turn back but I insisted we press on to the end of this alley. It opened up to a dark woods. We skirted the side of building. We passed a silent man who carried fishing gear, bound for a stream hidden somewhere in those woods.

Then we turned a corner and the wall of the factory building disappeared. It was a very dark market, busy with the commerce of death. Maybe a half dozen men, with ragged work clothes milled around the items, some buying some selling. There were at least three coffins, tiny ones. child coffins. Beautiful, hand assembled wood boxes. Antiques. But then how could they be antiques? Old coffins would be in graveyards, wouldn’t they? There was something unwholesome here, like maybe these coffins had been dug up. But I looked at them as if I was interested. The salesman said “You don’t want to put a child in these. They’d get used to being dead.” As if I would use a coffin for a cradle. I told him, “No, I have a special doll that I need to keep safe.” He nodded grimly, as if that was what these were good for, for some kind of black magic. But I was most interested in the metal grave liners. I’d never seen them before, just slightly larger than the coffins, thick rusted metal, industrial but grim, very grim. There’s only one way they could have gotten so rusty, so corroded.

I had the sense that no one walked away from this market without buying something. That if you were ever desperate enough to find this midnight sale, you paid whatever was asked for the item you needed. It was a compulsion, a craving, a need. No one simply browsed here.

Categories
Book

“Inspired by…”?– From Nightmare to Your Submission

DollMaskIntialDryBrush2

We’ve had questions about what we mean that submissions should be “inspired by” an actual nightmare that we’ve posted on the site. Fair question. Lord knows, the words “Inspired by True Events” have caused us to roll our eyes so often we’ve suffered permanent brain damage. But even though nightmares are “true events,” sometimes devastatingly real for the dreamer, it can be challenging to get to the facts of the matter.

Clearly we’d like it best if you could travel to the dream-realm and uncover the events. You could merge your consciousness with the original dreamer, allowing you to re-enter the actual dream and craft a tale based on that direct experience. Perhaps via a hypnotic trance. Or hire someone to read the account of the nightmare to you, over and over, while you sleep. Alas, we know how hard it is to find professional dream-whisperers these days.

The next best solution —- and fully valid —- would be to evoke the sensation of a dream while using any element of the nightmare in question. ANY element. This kernel could be an image, a turn of phrase, the mood… We ask that your piece stand on its own because it’s highly likely readers won’t look up the original nightmare to check on how closely your account matches.

Pro Tip: Don’t go with your first thought. Or maybe your second or third. Sharpen at least one point of the literary pentagram: character, plot, mood, theme, setting. Further advice: imbue your piece with a “sense of completion” that grants the reader the same sensations experienced following a satisfying dream or nightmare.

Categories
Movies

Three and a half reasons I love “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake”

Everyone has one good love song, one good novel and maybe one good movie in them, and the real achievement of digital culture is that more folks– everyday regular folks like you and me– can have the opportunity to record that one good song, write that one good novel and even make that one good movie. I wish I could say that “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake” was the one good movie destined to the folks at Silver Bullet Pictures. I can’t. It’s crap. But let me celebrate the 3 and half things I really sincerely LOVE about this weird, half-camp/half-bullshit horror movie, okay?

The first thing I celebrate at the top of my lungs to all that will hear, and that’s the poster for this film. The poster for “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake” is probably the best movie poster I have ever seen in my whole life. The guy at The Lost Highway does excellent work. I have his rendition of a Hellraiser and a Trick ‘r Treat, but he really out did himself with this poster for “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake.” It does everything a great trailer does: it sets the tone, hits some of the high points and makes you really, really want to see the movie. If you get absolutely NOTHING out of this review, get your ass over to their website and buy the poster. Buy two and give one to your gramma.

The second thing I unabashedly love about “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake” is that it’s a complete feature length movie, and for that matter, it’s not the only complete feature film made by those weirdos at Silver Bullet Pictures. Digital video means that every idiot with a cell phone can shoot and edit a movie, but to be honest, not many folks do. It’s a drag to shoot enough footage, a severe bummer to edit it down and Lord save me from the drudgery required to produce a DVD, even if I must question if any time whatsoever was spent writing, directing and acting this piece of shit. Most poseurs wimp out long before half way through and never even complete a single film, let alone a full length feature. Silver Bullet Pictures have a half dozen complete feature films including Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake, available on DVD and in some cases even on VHS. I’ve sat through several of them, including “Heavy Mental VHS” which received distribution by Troma– which should give you a really good indication of the aesthetic operating here.

The third thing I abso-fucking-lutely LOVE about “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake” is that Silver Bullet Pictures are based in the Detroit area. How many kids in Detroit grow up thinking they’d like to, I dunno, work at a casino or move someplace warm. Kids my age thought they’d work for Fords. These folks make goddammed movies, for fuck’s sake. How cool is that? Making a movie is a gazillion times cooler than any stupid party you had planned for Saturday night. These folks actually DO the stuff that you dream about doing.

The half point is that I sort of get “trash culture,” the campy, nearly bizarro weirdness that seems to guide Silver Bullet Pictures. If I squint and drink a lot of beer, I can frequently make it through a whole movie, say one distributed by Troma pictures, without suffering a blast of anal leakage. Lord knows, I’ve championed John Waters since the first time I saw Polyester but honestly, too many folks hide behind John Waters’ coat tail, IHMO without having the authenticity of being gay, outré and stranded in 1970’s era Baltimore. Too many folks borrow Water’s aesthetic and are too afraid to hang their balls on the line and actually attempt to MEAN something. Am I just being Midwest sentimental to think that “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake” lands a bit on the positive side of that divide?

Saints preserve me, but I have the perverse sense that if Silver Bullet Pictures continue to make movies–and I summon all infernal powers and heavenly forces to help ensure they do keep at it–eventually they will find their own weird and express the uniquely bizarre and disturbing reality that is found in southeastern Michigan. Until then, when they produce that one good movie that I can champion without reservation, at least buy the poster for “Blood Orgy at Beaver Lake,” willya?

Categories
Events Performances

News Flash: Winter is OVER: Violin Monster is RETURNING to Ann Arbor

This just in to the DailyNightmare News Network:

Beloved lycanthropic fiddler known as Violin Monster is reportedly in mid-migration BACK to the streets of Ann Arbor, just in time for the Festifools Parade this weekend. Locals are heartened by this well-known harbinger of spring. A great opportunity to get bitten by a love of fun street performance that requires no full moon to enjoy.

Photo of the Violin Monster, from the Violin Monster's website
Photo of the Violin Monster, from the Violin Monster’s website

— Get updates! Follow the Violin Monster on Facebook and Twitter

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Movies

Movie: “Blood and Donuts”

bloodanddonuts_poster

by Samantha Reeve, from the Great White North

Think of vampires portrayed in films, and you’ll likely picture the suave, sexy kind that seduce their victims. It’s hard not to – Hollywood has been churning out these handsome bloodsuckers since Bela Lugosi‘s charming Dracula hit the screens in 1931. Though less common, the reluctant vampire is one we’ve even seen before. But one who’s also shy and socially awkward? This is what makes Boya’s character in the 1995 Canadian horror-comedy Blood & Donuts the rarest breed of all.

Having crawled into a bag for hibernation back in ’69, Boya is awakened when a golfer’s stray ball knocks down the shack it was stored in. He jumps into a nearby taxi and asks to be taken to a local cemetery, where he digs up his belongings, and then wanders off the find a room to rent. Meanwhile the taxi driver, Earl, is back at his favourite donut shop, but has been getting harassed by some local thugs. Boya ends up at the donut shop by chance and is able to intervene, saving Earl from a beating with his vampiric strength and agility. He quickly befriends and falls for Molly, the beautiful waitress, and thus begins his involvement in both humans’ troubles.

Devoid of the major laughs or scares you’d find in most horror-comedies, Blood and Donuts is a subtler (but still an enjoyable and unique) take on the genre. It’s lighthearted and filled with characters you can root for – one’s you love even though most of the actors gave pretty poor performances. The few scenes where Boya gets mad and transforms into a terrifying vampire are great, and the campy quality of the rest of the film keeps the ball rolling. Horror fans will also enjoy the cameo appearance of the legendary David Cronenberg, who plays the crime boss.

Though frequently forgotten on many “best Canadian horror” lists, in my books Blood and Donuts is a must-see for those with a penchant for either Canadian horror or 90’s cult comedies.

Categories
Movies

Movies: “Good Neighbours”

GoodNeighborsMoviePoster

by Samantha Reeve, from the Great White North

Good Neighbors (2010) is not often labelled as a horror film. You’ll usually find it listed under drama and thriller, but it has pretty much everything you’d want in a good horror flick: murder, suspense, and creepy characters. What it lacks, and I salute its creators for this, is a lot of the blood and gore that currently dominates the horror genre.

Set in 1995 Montreal, our tale focuses on three people that inhabit an apartment building. Victor, the new arrival, is a teacher who has returned from a stay in China. He befriends Louise, a waitress, and Spencer, a man left crippled and wheelchair-bound after an accident. A serial killer has been preying on the young women of the area, but the trio soon discovers that none of them are who they seem and one of them may be tied to the deaths.

Now without giving too much away, I’m going to say that the strongest, most unsettling thing in Good Neighbours is the characters. From the get-go they seem like mostly agreeable people, but their flaws and potentials as suspects are slowly revealed: Victor is the seemingly friendly guy who creates a fantasy relationship between himself and Louise, and goes so far as to tell others they’re engaged. Louise, with her affection for her cats, first comes off as a kind animal-lover – but one who only cares for animals. Last we have Spencer, the handsome man who was dealt a cruel hand, but who harbours some very dark secrets. With no one to root for, it’s a strange but satisfying story to watch.

One of my only gripes with this film is the choice to set it in 1995. While there was some added tension with the backdrop being the 1995 referendum (in which Quebecers voted to not separate from Canada), the costumers and production designers did little (if nothing) to make this look like the 90’s. Nit-picking, I know, but it felt kind of lazy that there were three lines of dialogue that were meant to completely transport us back in time.

Griping aside, I recommend this film to anyone with a penchant for smarter, less action and murder-packed horror. Be warned, though, that watching the trailers will actually kill much of the mystery – so if you’ve yet to see it, steer clear and take my word for it. You’ll be in for a better ride.

Categories
Doktor Movies

Winner of First Annual “Impy” for Short Form Cinematic Horror: “Other”

gallery_promotionalmaterial_thumbnail_01Let the joyous news be spread: “Other” by Daniel Delpurgatorio takes home the first annual “Impy,” the DailyNightmare prize for Midwest Snob Horror selected from short films screened at Three Corpse Circus. The 9″ award statue and CASH prize are on their way to the director in loving appreciation of this gem. Competition was stiff and we’ll laud other entries in coming days but for the moment, let all the glory rest on “Other.”

How do we love “Other?” Let us count the ways:

“Other” probes the under-expoited subgenre of body horror, with themes made particularly relevant by current health care debates in the US. A maverick doctor, Patrick, is struck with a terminal condition which provokes radical and risky procedures for self-medication with unintended consequences. “Other” weighs in a just 15 minutes long but we wouldn’t have wished it a moment longer. The piece recalls favorable memories of Cronenberg, especially The Fly and Aronofsky, especially Pi.

The mood of “Other” is controlled and consistent featuring an ambience that felt cramped, echoing the death sentence inflicted by the illness, and cluttered with the bizarre medical equipment that Patrick has desperately cobbled together. We at the Dailynightmare are not generally fans of voice-over but the technique works to great effect here, especially with the touch of irony that the doctor’s comments are recorded on cassette tape. The sound work is also impressive ranging from jarring to nearly uplifting as the true consequences of the experiment are understood. Though the Impy goes to the director — yes, yes, we’re mired in 20th C auteurist presuppositions over here, get over it — but “Other” features actual honest-to-goodness acting by David Steiger. The appearance of, y’know, real dramatic portrayal of character is rare enough in horror films, but it is double-plus wonderful to find in a single actor screenplay. Steiger as Patrick is by turns desperate, exhultant, smug, tortured and deranged, and all he has to react against is some cleverly blinking bits of set dressing and a glob of nauseously pulsing tumor. The prosthetics and make-up were, frankly revolting, but demonstrated an internal logic beyond the mere gross-out. As Patrick peers into a mirror in the closing moments, the wounds on his torso range from fresh and seeping to ones that have scarred over and have started to heal. Well-done… and yuck!

For its attention to detail, intriguing themes and, oh yeah, disgustingly thought-provoking premise, we at The DailyNightmare.com are extremely proud to award the very first Impy to “Other.”

Categories
Events Movies

Noshing and Hobnobbing with the Three Corpses

FourCorpsesTonight at Lena, in downtown Ann Arbor, the editorial board of the DailyNightmare had a serious sit-down with seven of the Corpses behind The Three Corpse Circus. Over plantain and blackberry infused liquor, we plotted the future, mused about world domination and, of course, we confided the winner of the first annual “Impy” award for cinematic excellence in Midwest Snob Horror. The Corpses were aghast. Threats were made; bribes proffered. Tears, blood and a bit of red wine all were spilled but in the end, we of the DailyNightmare stood valiantly behind our decision. At the end of the evening, we shook hands and parted of one mind. No fatalities. Few deep wounds.

Wanna know which film best exemplified the ideals of the DailyNightmare well enough to win the FIRST Impy — a selection we were willing to FIGHT over? You’ll have to attend the fourth annual Three Corpse Circus, September 28 in the historical Michigan Theatre in downtown Ann Arbor, MI. There will be THREE full blocks of films, starting at 3:30 but the Impy won’t be revealed ’til the last ghoul growls.

Categories
Book

Book – Gilgamesh

I joke about teaching a class one day called “Poetry for Guys” and if I ever get that opportunity, Gilgamesh would have to be on the reading list. I’ve meant to read this ancient poem (poem fragments, really) for years but I finally picked up a copy of the Stephan Mitchell translation from a guy who sells used books from a folding table he sets up on State Street. Ya gotta love a college town, eh? It’s short but I savored every page.

Gilgamesh is an epic tale about a king Gilgamesh who is oppressive and unbearable to his subjects until the gods create a perfect friend for him, Enkidu who is a wild man living in the wilderness. Enkidu is tamed by a temple prostitute, then he challenges Gilgamesh to a wrestling match after which they become best buddies. It’s a very touching story of a friendship between two guys that really can’t be summed up under the phrase “male bonding” let alone “buddy picture.” The pair go on epic adventures together, all slightly tinged with Gilgamesh’s concern that people will forget him when he’s dead. Then, Enkidu falls ill and dies. Gilgamesh is distraught with grief. He tries to seek out Utnapishtim, the only mortal who’s been given immortality. More adventures occur frequently with the refrain, and here I paraphrase “Gilgamesh, dude, you look like crap.” If nothing else, Gilgamesh depicts the grief process very palpably.

I’m mentioning the book here because there is much to commend the poem to a genre-interested reader. Gilgamesh is basically a super hero, depicted as 2/3’s divine and 1/3 mortal. There are monsters that haunt a cedar woods, scorpion people who guard the long tunnel that the sun traverses after sunset, stone-men who pilot a boat… It’s folklore from a radically different time, one not to concerned with ethics, where stories didn’t need morals. Gilgamesh also recounts a worldwide catastrophic flood that bears many similarities to the description in Genesis. The differences are also pretty interesting. The world of the Gilgamesh is polytheistic so there is disagreement and deception among the gods, gods who more or less maintain the same attitudes throughout the story, whereas with the more monotheistic world of Genesis, the God must change his mind, from anger to repentance. There’s a similar though not identical release of birds at the end of the flood. Both narratives mention a gift given as a sign that never again will the world be drowned, one is a necklace, the other a rainbow. Utnapishtim is granted eternal life whereas Noah seems to be plagued by survivor guilt and turns to drink. In an alcoholic stupor, Noah curses one of his sons thus perpetuating the kind of evil the flood was allegedly intended to wipe out. I’m sure folks have spilled much ink comparing and contrasting these two narratives. Frankly, if I had to write a dissertation on Gilgamesh, I’d focus on Shamhat, the temple sex priestess who acts as a sexual intermediary between Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Plus, it’s short. The poem itself is roughly 120 generously margined pages accompanied by a gently pedantic introduction and an exhausting set of end notes. I’ll slog through end notes when I’m reading seriously but not for summer reading. And I have to say that Gilgamesh actually does make pretty good summer reading at least I read it this summer and it just felt right.

Categories
music

Music: “Saucy Jack” – Finally Available!

Die hard fans of Spinal Tap, that groundbreaking metal/fusion/progrock powerhäus, will recall that a long-time dream project of Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbens was “Saucy Jack,” a musical based on the story of Jack the Ripper. A tantalizing glimpse of that musical opus has FINALLY heard the crack of dawn. And what’s even better is that it is available as a free-ish download on the Spinal Tap website. The download requires registration which is a small price to pay in order to experience such awesome-ousity.

Saucy Jack!

Download it, listen and the only way you’ll get it out of your head is with a scalpel!

Categories
James Frederick Leach

“Pisser” Accepted by Necrotic Tissue

James Frederick Leach (The Grim Gnome’s alter-ego) reports: I received word last night that Necrotic Tissue accepted my 100 word story “Pisser.” It will appear in the October 2009 issue. Necrotic Tissue also published my piece “A Public Relations Nightmare” in January of this year, which testifies to the good taste and sensible judgment of their editorial staff.

Check out Necrotic Tissue at: http://www.necrotictissue.com/ Their tagline is “Dark is not enough” which also happens to sum up my own personal perspective on the genre quite nicely. For me, even the most preposterously speculative piece has to tell me something about the human condition, even if there are no humans involved in the story at all. But I digress. Necrotic Tissue is becoming a print publication with the July issue after a six issues of publishing as a downloadable .pdf. What this means is that, for the moment at least, a year’s worth of reading is online and available. Check it out. And if you like what you read, consider supporting the magazine through a subscription.

Categories
"What We Fear"

Electronic “Ghost Repellant”

I wish this retailer had an affiliate program because this is a product I can really stand behind: an electronic ghost repellant.

Ghost Repellant

Rest assured that this device uses complicated electronics, ones that can distinguish good spirits from bad spirits — which is good because you wouldn’t want it accidentally emptying your liquor cabinet, right?

I’m intrigued by the whole relationship between ghosts and technology. For awhile, there were many reports of “phone calls from the dead” which perhaps says much about how mysterious telephones were to some folks. Demons require exorcisms but ghosts… they can be dispelled with transistors. It reminds me a bit too much of a certain electronic mosquito repellant I saw at a friend’s house last summer.

Categories
Book Other Haunts

Contest from HorrorLibrary

The creepy-good publishers at Horror Library – er, strike that, reverse it – those publishers of creepy goods at Horror Library are sponsoring a contest to keep the chill on this winter.

It’s easy to enter, simply write a post at their blog but you’ll have to do it quickly because the contest ends December 14th.

http://horrorlibrary.blogspot.com/2008/12/horror-library-vol-3-and-drp-10-holiday.html

Categories
Nightmares

Nightmare # 186 – The Metal Barn

(Male, 30’s) I was showing my wife the farm I grew up on as a child. Everything was changed, weird. We had gotten to the barn. It used to be wood with a concrete floor, a normal barn. But in the dream, it was metal. Rusted dirty metal. Thick pieces bolted together. We walked down the aisle where the cows used to be penned in, where I used to have to feed them while they were getting milked. It was all dark gray. It seems like even the floor was metal. The rafters and ceiling too. Cold metal. We got to the place that used to be where we stored the “chop” – ground up corn and oats, I think. I used to give the cows one section of a bale of hay and half a shovel of chop. But where the chop used to be kept in this open bin, in the nightmare, there was a rusted metal door with a dead bolt lock. I had a big keyring full of keys in my pocket. These were MY keys too, not like I’d borrowed them from someone. My house keys and car keys were on the ring too. For some reason I had to show her what was in there. But also I had to find out myself. I got out the right key but it kept slipping in the lock, like I had to turn the key just right to get it to “catch” onto the locking mechanism. But I eventually got the door unlocked and open and we went inside. It was the same space, probably six foot by twelve foot with a bin built into the side. But everything was metal. A gray metal that was splashed and dirty almost like it had patterns of rot on it. Everything felt so filthy. But really, there was nothing there. We turned to leave and discovered the door had closed behind us. It was locked. There was another keyhole on this side as well. I put my key in the lock and fished it around trying to catch onto the locking mechanism. It didn’t work. Then the door was pulled out of my hands. Some one was opening it from the other side. I felt relieved for an instant until I saw the hand that grabbed onto the door. It was pale and rubbery and it seemed to have too many fingers. I stepped through the doorway since I didn’t want to be trapped and from around the edge of the door there appeared this scary looking figure. I don’t know if it was a man or a woman or whether, really if it was even human. It had a rubbery face with droopy long nose and cheekbones and it wore a black hood. It was one of those instances where I didn’t know if it was someone wearing a Hallowe’en mask and jumping out to scare us or whether this was something that was really dangerous and I should be trying to protect my wife. It was certainly shocking.