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The Grand Wazoo
04-05-2009, 23:51
This is perhaps the photo of which I'm most satisfied with, of all those I've ever taken - the getting of it was an achievement in itself.

This is The Glacier National Park in Northern Montana, a few summers ago.

It is close to Logan Pass on the 'Going to the Sun Highway'. There was a really moody sky & a storm on the way & I waited in this spot, perched on the side of the mountain just hoping I'd see the last few glimpses of daylight poking through the weather.

Fantastically, when they eventually appeared after what seemed like a very cold lifetime, they were beaming down at exactly the same angle as the mountainside on the other wall of the valley. Magical!


http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1354/imgp0572w.jpg


Tham thar hills is a little different to Lincolnshire!!

DaveK
05-05-2009, 07:42
Nice !!

Spectral Morn
05-05-2009, 08:36
Fantastic photo Chris....:)



Regards D S D L

Spod
05-05-2009, 11:33
The rare times I see the rays like that I never seem to have a camera handy (or I'm driving in a place where there's no chance of pulling over!), great photo!

The Grand Wazoo
05-05-2009, 20:39
This was a great trip - we took in a lot more than just Montana. We flew to Calgary, picked up our hire car, went to dinosaur country in the Badlands of Southern Alberta & then we rolled east through Medicine Hat & into Saskatchewan, then down into Montana & just into Wyoming.

The reason for going to Wyoming was so we could see the Grand Titon Mountains - a long held ambition for me. These are amazing mountains - they rise straight out of the valley bottom with no foothills.

This photo was taken about 50 miles outside of Jackson Hole.


http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3765/imgp0505.jpg

........shame about the crap on the lens top right.

Jackson Hole was the fulcrum of the trip, so we went north east from there & into Idaho, back into Montana, Glacier National Park & then Calgary.

2 weeks - almost 3,000 miles - 1 driver

More from this trip to follow - Alien Landscapes next (and no, I don't mean Neil's back garden!!!!)

DaveK
05-05-2009, 21:11
Hi Chris,
Nice photo.

........shame about the crap on the lens top right.

The 'crap' that I can see is very minor and easily removed. I am no expert but I do have a computer programme (Adobe Elements) that could easily remove them without trace. If you care to send me a hard copy (for scanning, defects to be removed marked on reverse - hold up to light to see)) or would allow me to try to improve the image included with your posting I would be happy to try - can't do much for the negative or original file though but may be able to provide you with a better copy.
Am about to go on holiday for 2 weeks so would not get done until late May.
Let me know :)

The Grand Wazoo
05-05-2009, 21:16
Hi Chris,
Nice photo.

........shame about the crap on the lens top right.

The 'crap' that I can see is very minor and easily removed. I am no expert but I do have a computer programme (Adobe Elements) that could easily remove them without trace. If you care to send me a hard copy (for scanning, defects to be removed marked on reverse - hold up to light to see)) or would allow me to try to improve the image included with your posting I would be happy to try - can't do much for the negative or original file though but may be able to provide you with a better copy.
Am about to go on holiday for 2 weeks so would not get done until late May.
Let me know :)

Thanks for the offer, Dave. I've actually got something that'll do it...........when I get round to it.
Cheers
Chris

Spectral Morn
05-05-2009, 22:47
I thought at first it was one of those boomerang shaped UFO's. Those annoying Cyber Men at it again errrrrrrrrrrrr.:lol:



Regards D S D L

The Grand Wazoo
06-05-2009, 20:27
Hey Neil,
Do ya recognise this?

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2714/imgp0238.jpg

Spectral Morn
06-05-2009, 21:42
Nope;) :lol:

Episode of Star Trek perhaps ? Arena...


Regards D S D L

The Grand Wazoo
06-05-2009, 21:45
Nope;) :lol:

Episode of Star Trek perhaps ? Arena...


Regards D S D L

Well it looks to me like its right behind you in your avatar!!!!!
Or somewhere very similar.

The Grand Wazoo
06-05-2009, 21:47
Actually it's in Southern Alberta - Dinosaur Provincial Park, about 120 miles south-east of Calgary

Spectral Morn
06-05-2009, 21:48
You are right, it looks nothing like this...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Gorn_Rock.jpg/800px-Gorn_Rock.jpg


Regards D S D L

The Grand Wazoo
06-05-2009, 21:49
I see you've moved your greenhouse to make way for the new rockery!

Spectral Morn
06-05-2009, 21:49
Well it looks to me like its right behind you in your avatar!!!!!
Or somewhere very similar.


:lol::lol::lol:...very good.



Regards D S D L

The Grand Wazoo
11-05-2009, 21:51
And so, Ladles & Gentlespoons, may I present, for your exclusive deeee...lite and deee...lectation.........For tonight's photo on the 'Alien Landscapes', theme we have............................


http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/5159/imgp0369.jpg

The Grand Wazoo
13-05-2009, 22:29
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6725/imgp0277.jpg

These things are scattered all over the grain growing areas of the US & Canada, so we saw a lot of them in our trip. Because the land is so flat, & every town with a set of rail track running through it has or had one, you can see them from miles away.

I loved this old rundown one we found in the Missouri Breaks, an incredibly remote area in Northern Montana.

(There's that old boomerang of mine again - top right of picture this time!)

Spod
14-05-2009, 16:56
The "Alien Landscape" photo ...great pic but... eh? explain? what is it? What's the misty bits on the top corners? :scratch:

The Grand Wazoo
14-05-2009, 17:14
The "Alien Landscape" photo ...great pic but... eh? explain? what is it? What's the misty bits on the top corners? :scratch:

Aha!
I thought you'd never ask............some people think it came out of my nose, but that's just a vicious rumour.

It's called Orange Spring Mound and it's in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. There are some hot springs which carry mineral deposits here. The mound is just basically a huge pile of kettle-scale! Geologically speaking it's travertine rock. It's slowly engulfing the trees at the base, which it killed long ago. The thing is about 12-14 feet tall & the springs vent out of holes in the top - hence the steam you're seeing.

The orange colour is derived from thermophilic bacteria that live in the moisture. The colours in the photo are particularly vivid because it was raining and sunny.

............Spooky place!

Marco
14-05-2009, 17:23
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6725/imgp0277.jpg


Looks like Texas Chainsaw Massacre country, Chris! :uhho:

Marco.

The Grand Wazoo
14-05-2009, 17:42
Texas Chainsaw...haha!

Yeah, we also spent some time poking around in ghost towns, which was a bit wierd - every time we'd walk into an abandoned building we'd half expect to see some redneck fondling a shotgun!

Loads of the shacks still had ancient newspapers pinned to the walls to keep draughts out - the weather's so arid that they don't rot.

I'll put some of those piccies up sometime soon.

Beechwoods
14-05-2009, 20:14
Amazing pictures. I spent a week or so in 'small town America', south California 7 or 8 years ago and it was fantastic. Just interesting for the culture shock. One of these days me and Mrs B will hire an RV and do a roadtrip. I may tap you for some ideas on the itinerary, GW. How long did you take on your trip, Chris? We suspect 3 weeks minimum is what's needed. Not sure I could get more than 4 weeks off in one go, let alone afford it :)

Marco
14-05-2009, 20:27
Don't do it Beechy, there's stuff and things out there in the hills - in the shadows, waiting, watching...............

Marco.

Beechwoods
14-05-2009, 20:33
Sounds fantastic.... Marco!

You ain't from round here, are yo' boy :eyebrows: :lol:

The Grand Wazoo
14-05-2009, 20:52
Hi Nick,

We've done this quite a few times both to the US & to Canada. We've always gone for just a fortnight, or thereabouts, but then we've always known we would be going back, so never tried to cram too much in.

We've nearly got an RV several times, but always just gone for a car & motels/hostels/forest service cabins & never regretted it. I'm also convinced it's cheaper that way & you get more time to see stuff, 'cos your not obliged to do the 'housekeeping' stuff you have to do with an RV. Also, you can get a car to places you'd never try taking an RV.

We don't do proper itineraries, preferring to follow the nose & see how it goes - though, of course you have an idea of the main things you want to do.

If we book book accomodation, it's only ever for the first night, at somewhere near(ish) to the airport. One tip, though, you need to have an address for the first night to put on the card you have to fill in for immigration control: X-airport Holiday Inn/Days Inn/Sheraton or whatever usually does it, though! After that we wing it. Late afternoon/early evening we look for a motel - always a family owned place, never a chain. We've only ever had a problem on a national holiday or when in a city, but then we generally stay away from cities!

I prefer to use the old highways rather than the Interstates - you see the real people & places that way. There's a fantastic book called 'Blue Highways' by William Least Heat Moon you should read - the blue ones are the old roads. We only use the Interstates for mad dashes (usually when we've not left enough time to get back to the airport at the end of it all!).

We've found that for the NW USA, it's often cheaper to fly to Vancouver or Calgary than Seattle or wherever.

The next trip we do will be I don't know when unfortunately, and God knows where we'll go - I want to go back to Arizona for a third time, I want to go to Eartern Montana/Dakota, I want to go to Colorado, I want to do West Texas/New Mexico, I want to do the Mississippi from source to the sea................

You should do it - it's fantastic fun. If you want any more advice anytime, just give a yell.

The Grand Wazoo
14-05-2009, 20:53
Re. accomodation: I can recommend Bates Motel.................

Beechwoods
14-05-2009, 21:03
Thank you for the tips Chris! Agreed on the idea of winging it after the first day. When I went to California we did a week in San Fran and then winged it round the smaller towns thereafter. Generally looking for places with their own local brew-pubs! I discovered Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada while I was out there and still rate their beers. Had a great day having a personal tour of one of the small-town breweries when no-one else turned up at the allotted time.

The 10 hour flight didn't excite me, but it was worth it when we got there.

We're just waiting for the weans to be old enough to appreciate it and then we're off :)

The Grand Wazoo
14-05-2009, 21:21
The best meal I've ever had in the States was in The Beartooth Cafe in Cooke City, Montana, just north of the north entrance to Yellowstone. They had more micro brewery beers than I've ever seen on display anywhere- ever. I got addicted to a beer called Moose Drool

Marco
15-05-2009, 08:19
Sounds fantastic.... Marco!

You ain't from round here, are yo' boy

Hehehe... Can you hear them banjos? ;)

Chris, truly magnificent photographs - well done. I'd love to tour off the beaten track in America in one of those big motor homes or maybe some big 'daft' American car, and the 'blue highways' sound like just the ticket. The more 'one horse' the town and deserted the road the better!

I also love those old 'Diners'/cafes you see in films off the road in the middle of nowhere, where truckers stop at and the atmosphere seems distinctly bleak and creepy - and Motels like that too, neon-lit at night in the depths of the countryside, and seemingly empty until some weird little man appears from nowhere at the check-in desk... Yes, I have a very strange mind! :eyebrows:

Does anyone remember the film 'Duel'? The roads featured in that film and the Diner there are exactly what I'm referring to. Do such places (or similar ones) actually exist?

Marco.

Spectral Morn
15-05-2009, 09:20
Hehehe... Can you hear them banjos? ;)

Does anyone remember the film 'Duel'? The roads featured in that film and the Diner there are exactly what I'm referring to. Do such places (or similar ones) actually exist?

Marco.


Brilliant film....I can just see you as Denis Weaver, Marco..:lol::lol:

http://www.automotiveblogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/duel2.jpghttp://www.briantroutman.com/Resources/duel-dennis-weav.jpeg
http://alsolikelife.com/shooting/images/duel/duel1.jpghttp://alsolikelife.com/shooting/images/duel/duel11.jpg
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/080522/Spielberg/Duel-Dennis-Weaver_l.jpg


Regards D S D L






PS Or you might witness the local wildlife fighting a duel.............................

http://dvrdiva.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/duel.jpg

Marco
15-05-2009, 09:34
Superb, Neil :)

Yes I loved that film, too. Just look at those old, deserted, country roads and the type of landscape and 'atmosphere' there... That's exactly where I'd like to go in America!

And look at that truck - it just oozes evil; you just know that there's liable to be a psycho, or something else even more terrible in there...

Marco.

Spectral Morn
15-05-2009, 09:39
Superb, Neil :)

Yes I loved that film, too. Just look at those old, deserted, country roads and the type of landscape and 'atmosphere' there... That's exactly where I'd like to go in America!

Marco.

My wife and I watched it( Duel ) on TV a few months ago, my wifes first time and my :scratch: no idea how many times... She loved it, normally she wont stay up for a late movie but she did for this one. One of Steven Spielbergs best and based on a story by Richard Matheson an excellent Horror/sci-fi writer.


Being honest....I have seen way to many movies that would put me of those types of locations, but I would make an exception for New England.


Regards D S D L

Marco
15-05-2009, 10:59
LOL. Me too, Neil!

But I'd still like to get out there, right in amongst it in the wilderness, and go through all those ghost towns and strange little places, stopping at some lonely and deserted Diners and Motels en-route...

Can you tell that I used to write horror stories/thrillers as a hobby? I like dark and macabre things :eyebrows:

Perhaps I'll post some snippets of my old novels (done on an ancient manual typewriter) if I can find them. It would be worth a giggle! Some of the scary stuff that goes on in my head is quite bizarre...

Anyway, could you recommend which part of America would best facilitate what I've described above?


Re. accomodation: I can recommend Bates Motel.................


Chris, I can recommend the 'Overlook Hotel', especially room 237............................................... ..

Marco.

The Grand Wazoo
15-05-2009, 13:33
LOL. Me too, Neil!

But I'd still like to get out there, right in amongst it in the wilderness, and go through all those ghost towns and strange little places, stopping at some lonely and deserted Diners and Motels en-route...

Can you tell that I used to write horror stories/thrillers as a hobby? I like dark and macabre things :eyebrows:

Perhaps I'll post some snippets of my old novels (done on an ancient manual typewriter) if I can find them. It would be worth a giggle! Some of the scary stuff that goes on in my head is quite bizarre...

Anyway, could you recommend which part of America would best facilitate what I've described above?



Chris, I recommend the 'Overlook Hotel', especially room 237............................................... ..

Marco.


It's funny that you should mention diners just after I wrote about 'Blue Highways' by William Least Heat Moon.


He has a method of finding the best place to eat in any given locality. If a diner has several calendars on display, then it's a good 'un!

"Sizing up an unfamiliar café’s worth by the number of calendars found on its walls:
No calendars—same as an interstate pit stop;
One calendar—pre-processed food assembled in New Jersey;
Three calendars—can’t miss on the farm-boy breakfasts;
Four calendars—try the home-made pie, too;
And the seldom-found five-calendar Valhalla—keep it under your hat, or they’ll franchise".

And do you know what? He's absolutely spot-on! We noticed it time & again & now it's our benchmark for a good feed – where you have a choice, go to the place with the most calendars!

The reason for this strange phenomenon is probably that the travelling salesmen eventually find out where the best food and hospitality (usually a waitress with a beehive!) is after passing through town a few times. After they've been to the diner, they get to know the waitress or owner a little & at Christmas they hand over a calendar advertising their wares. So the calendar count goes up!



Marco, of all the places I've been to, Arizona would probably best fit your requirements, but I think I'm right in saying that Montana is one of the least populated States.

Back to 'Blue Highways', though & any of the following would probably suit you just fine.

NUWER: What are a few of your favorite town names?

LEAST HEAT MOON: I suppose my favorite of all is Nameless, Tennessee—because of the peculiar logic behind naming a town “Nameless”. Dime Box, Texas, is a fine name. So are Klickitat, Washington; Liberty Bond, Washington; Gnawbone, Indiana; Scratch Ankle, Alabama; and Turkey Nest, Texas.

from an interview at: http://www.hanknuwer.com/William%20Least%20Heat%20Moon%20(Trogdon).html


Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America/dp/0316353299/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The Grand Wazoo
15-05-2009, 16:02
NUWER: What are a few of your favorite town names?

LEAST HEAT MOON: I suppose my favorite of all is Nameless, Tennessee—because of the peculiar logic behind naming a town “Nameless”. Dime Box, Texas, is a fine name. So are Klickitat, Washington; Liberty Bond, Washington; Gnawbone, Indiana; Scratch Ankle, Alabama; and Turkey Nest, Texas.

from an interview at: http://www.hanknuwer.com/William%20Least%20Heat%20Moon%20(Trogdon).html


Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America/dp/0316353299/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I can't believe this! I just bought a copy of a book - 'This Wheel's on Fire - Levon Helm & the Story of the Band'.

I look at the back cover blurb & see that Levon Helm, the drummer of The Band was born in a town called Turkey Scratch, Arkansas!


Cheers

Spectral Morn
16-05-2009, 00:06
LOL. Me too, Neil!

But I'd still like to get out there, right in amongst it in the wilderness, and go through all those ghost towns and strange little places, stopping at some lonely and deserted Diners and Motels en-route...

Can you tell that I used to write horror stories/thrillers as a hobby? I like dark and macabre things :eyebrows:

Perhaps I'll post some snippets of my old novels (done on an ancient manual typewriter) if I can find them. It would be worth a giggle! Some of the scary stuff that goes on in my head is quite bizarre...

Anyway, could you recommend which part of America would best facilitate what I've described above?



Chris, I can recommend the 'Overlook Hotel', especially room 237............................................... ..

Marco.

Now thats interesting....do you like HP Lovecraft (not the band)....I am working on a Gothic/Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi story/novel at the present time....its going in a particular direction and I find that I can't bring myself to change the direction despite the fact I know its wrong...wrong/uncomfortable for me...not the story. Its shelved for a short while...while I work on a sci-fi/fantasy story/novel. I would be interested in reading some of your work..in fact you could help me by giving me constructive criticism when I get something more complete written...still very much works in progress still...

Regards D S D L

The Grand Wazoo
16-05-2009, 23:31
Superb, Neil :)

Just look at those old, deserted, country roads and the type of landscape and 'atmosphere' there... That's exactly where I'd like to go in America!

Marco.


You want roads.............I got roads.......................

You want landscape.............I got landscape.......................

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/2674/igotroads.jpg

The Grand Wazoo
16-05-2009, 23:50
You want deserted.............I got deserted.......................

You want ghost towns...............I got ghost towns....................

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/165/imgp0261.jpg

You want Scooby Doo and "It was the caretaker all along........and "If it hadn't been for them pesky kids.............. "

Well, nope, I ain't got that.



BUT I HAVE GOT A TREE THAT LOOKS LIKE A FISH HEAD!!!!

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6488/imgp0232.jpg

Marco
17-05-2009, 06:51
Awesome, Chris!!

That's just the kind of places I'm talking about :)

Now inside that lonely old shack must lurk some kind of psycho...

People sometimes stop by asking for directions, never to be seen again, as they are tortured barbarically and their intestines used as sausage meat for barbecues; the screams of the hapless victims silenced in the emptyness of the remote and desolate landscape. Outside, the brightness of the day conceals the darkness of the terror within, as with surgical precision the masked madman hacks through brain and bone to the music of Wagner... :eyebrows:

Neil,

I'll see if I can look out some stuff. Films by Dario Argento and John Carpenter used to inspire me.

Marco.

The Grand Wazoo
17-05-2009, 08:12
Fer Pete's sake, don't leave out the bit about the tree that looks like a fish head!!!!!

Marco
17-05-2009, 10:54
Fer Pete's sake, don't leave out the bit about the tree that looks like a fish head!!!!!


With their car broken down and abandoned some miles back at Skullbone Creek, Dave and Martha ambled wearily towards the old shack, seeking sanctuary from the piercing intensity of the midday sun. They were thirsty, exhausted and desperately hoping that someone would be at home and able to help.

As they approached their destination, they walked up a dusty old track lined with trees, whose life had been eroded long ago by the harshness of the arid landscape, and which looked as decrepit as the shack which was just ahead. Dave observed how the decaying bark of one tree resembled a fish head and another, rather terrifyingly, like the time-creased face of someone long dead, with its sinewy branches waving in the wind like outstretched arms, beckoning them forward further towards the shack. He had a bad feeling about this.

Arriving at the entrance, Dave knocked on the door and waited, but there was no reply, so he did so once more, but again was met with silence. The door of the shack was old and frail, and obviously not locked, as it suddenly gave way and opened with a loud creak. It was dark inside, as most of the windows were boarded up or just thick with cobwebs, and an acrid smell pervaded the air, rather like the bloody stench of animal carcasses hanging in an abattoir, causing Martha to gag. Dave, however, stifled his desire to vomit and pointed to a shaft of light coming from a room at the end of the corridor.

They could hear music playing and what sounded like a pot bubbling on a stove, so it appeared that someone was in. Both Dave and Martha felt very uneasy, and a terrible dread engulfed them as they made their way down the corridor towards the room, however such was the desperateness of their situation that they had no choice but to proceed......

To be continued ;)

Marco.

aquapiranha
17-05-2009, 16:56
:popcorn:

Marco
17-05-2009, 16:59
You like?

Marco.

aquapiranha
17-05-2009, 17:08
You should start a new thread...

Marco's chamber of horrors !:sofa:

Marco
17-05-2009, 17:10
Hehehe... Some twisted shit goes on in my head sometimes! :eyebrows:

This is one of my favourite films: http://home.swipnet.se/~w-20851/hemsida/trauma.htm

Watch alone in the dark on a wet and windswept night...

Marco.

Spectral Morn
17-05-2009, 18:49
Yes I would be up for this a sort of 3 words daily but continue a story.... It would need to stick to the genre and be done seriously...not as a piss take.


What do you guys think ?

Sorry Chris to divert your thread a bit.

Chris trees are fun...I saw a really weird one in Scotland in a grave yard...dead twisted and hardly a tree, more like a carved sculpture. I built this into a Doctor Who related story I am working on (I have a lot of writing projects on the go), its not about the Doctor, but set in the same reality/universe.

I'll post a picture shortly....see link http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?p=45948#post45948.


Regards D S D L

Marco
17-05-2009, 19:30
Neil,

Why not continue my story here by supplying the next few paragraphs and I'll move our contributions to a separate thread? :)

I suspect you've got as warped and twisted a mind as I have... ;)

Marco.

Spectral Morn
17-05-2009, 19:44
Neil,

Why not continue my story here by supplying the next few paragraphs and I'll move our contributions to a separate thread? :)

I suspect you've got as warped and twisted a mind as I have... ;)

Marco.


No problem.... I am off out for a walk along the sea front...I'll do it when I come back. This could/should be fun.


Regards D S D L

Marco
17-05-2009, 19:58
Excellent. Watch out for the Sea Devils!!! :eyebrows:

Marco.

Spectral Morn
17-05-2009, 23:11
sorry this is a bit late, and a bit more than a few paragraphs (I got carried away)....here goes.



As Dave's eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, small details feed his growing unease. The floor was covered in small piles of sand, grit and the tiny carcases off lots of rats. Some looked as if all their juices had been sucked out and others like they had been chewed on. Shaking his head Dave's mind presented him with logical answers, a dog had got into the shack or maybe other rats had done this. The shriveled up bodies had become desiccated through the effect of the deserts dry heat. And yet some where inside Dave's mind he knew this wasn't right.

The deep shadows that hung like shrouds over the decaying contents of the room seemed to grow lighter and deeper as he studied decades of neglect. Shafts of bright light speared the shade and little moats of dust rose and fell on invisible currents of air. Dave shivered.

“Martha wait here, I'll see if I can find out who lives here....okay ?” Dave looked into the eyes of his wife and he tried to reassure her with a smile. He did his best but he failed. His normal friendly, comforting trade mark which won over strangers and had attracted many girls in his youth, was not working. She looked scared.

“Please don't be long. I really don't think we should be here.”

“I'll be back in a few minutes. If no ones here we will go.” He smiled again and this time Martha seemed satisfied.

As Dave turned away and moved carefully towards the back of the room, trying not to step on any of the decaying debris, he could make out a long corridor stretching of into the bowls of the building. As he stepped into the corridor the smell seemed stronger, more putrid and it clawed at the back of his throat. He tried not to gag on it.

Moving forward again he noted that the floor was covered in thicker piles of dust and sand in the shadows it looked as if something had been dragged through it and down the length of the hall. Under his feet the floor felt soft, it gave slightly under each step. I hope the floor boards are sound ? Dave thought to himself, walking slowly, testing the floor each time before putting his full weight on it. The strange music which had been playing when they had entered this tired structure began again. There was no conventional tune, it was abstract and meandering, unearthly. The music, the hall and the foul smell was turning Dave's unease into outright fear. The situation Martha and he where in, forced him on. Many would have fled, but Dave continued, fighting to control the rising tide of terror that sought to engulf him.

At the end of the corridor a very ancient door stood slightly ajar. Its most recent colour was red but the peeling paint revealed many past faded colours. Strange growths of fungus covered the lower edges and parts of the wall surrounding the door frame. As Dave peered into the room beyond the door he put his hand on the wall and it felt soft and warm. He tried not to make a sound as his fingers slid into a patch of fungus, but the sensation of the wall giving under his hand along with the pungent odour that filled every breath sought to part him from the contents of his stomach. He placed his left hand over his mouth trying hard to hold the bile that rose in it back. He took a deep breath and looked into the room.

A soft glow illuminated the scene, beyond the door. The source of the light was an old oil lamp, its once white shade covered in dirt. The crack in the door only allowed Dave a narrow view of the rooms contents. An ancient wind up gramophone stood playing on a low table and in front of it a figure sat in a low chair. The mass that sat there gently moving was covered head to foot in sack cloth. Thick rope had been used to sew the sacks together. In many ways the clothing reminded Dave of the kind of clothes a monk might wear. Just as Dave was going to rap the door and say hello it moved and the movement seemed wrong. Something about the movements under the brown fabric was just plain wrong, almost inhuman. With mounting horror Dave stood transfixed as the unnatural movement increased. He suddenly noticed that the music was growing in volume and the jerking undulations seemed to match the alien sounds that the music had become.

Dave's mind screamed run, but he could not. He stood gazing at the brown shape on the chair, held under some influence he was only slightly aware of. His eyes widened and the scream that sought to rip from his throat failed, transformed to a dry rattle. From under the bottom edge of the sack cloth a long shape uncoiled slowly like a long snake. It was scaly and glistening and the stench grew as it slid onto the dusty floor and jerked in time with the rising discordant noise, that drifted out of the age tarnished speaker horn; attached to the gramophone. Dave's voice returned as he gasped. The figure turned and a hood that had hidden the head slipped back........


Regards D S D L

Spectral Morn
18-05-2009, 20:36
Okay Marco/or anyone else ? go for it....


Regards D S D L

Marco
18-05-2009, 20:59
Hi Neil,

I'll add more madness tomorrow - today was a bit busy :)

Marco.

Spectral Morn
18-05-2009, 21:03
Hi Neil,

I'll add more madness tomorrow - today was a bit busy :)

Marco.

Indeed.... I look forward to that. Its always interesting to see where someone else will take a story.


Regards D S D L