Forum Moderators: RedPhantom, msansing
Challenge Arena F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 29 12:58 pm)
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The greatest part of wisdom is learning to develop the ineffable genius of extracting the "neither here nor there" out of any situation...."
You know, I might be frightened of that face coming to "tuck me in at night" and it is long past my childhood. Effective image! And, Pam, that exaggerated foreshortening and twisty roots help make your fairy image even more warped. Meanwhile, the month is half over, and I've got to get mine done. :sigh: Carolly
Totally agree with you there.....I think this is the best challenge on renderosity. Have to admit I was hoping that one of our writers would have entered this time.....a nice spooky story would round it out nicely.
The greatest part of wisdom is learning to develop the ineffable genius of extracting the "neither here nor there" out of any situation...."
I'd noticed that we didn't have any written entries this time. The image I'm working on can go into another challenge somewhere (there isn't a shortage of scary or creepy or spooky typed events) and I could do a ghost story or poem for the forum instead. After the hot-dog haiku, however, this might not be the best idea! ;^) So far we have renderings, photographs, and fractals, so throwing a few words into the witch's brew ought to be like adding that last bit of bat breath! Carolly
I went to visit my Grandmother the other day, and on my way I noticed a house that I had never seen before. This rickety old house with windows boarded up and the door half off its hinges, seemed to speak to me, as though it was calling my name. I couldnt tell weather it was the cold air whisking past my face, or the fact that I was completely alone, but I could swear I heard my name each time the wind would blow. Very slowly I walked toward the house my curiosity had taken hold of me. The closer I got the house seemed to grow. Its red painted siding nearly faded completely out from season after season. Why did I never notice this house before, I have walked this way to my grandmothers house for years now. I drew closer to see upon the gate, the yard was a waste land, of dirt, and weeds. As the wind blew again it was like a mini dust storm that forced its way across this graveyard. I opened the gate to walk in, I didnt want to go any further the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up, but I was compiled to continue, I had to keep going something was driving me further and further. I stepped onto the porch with the creaking sounds of the ages that this house has stood bare for so long. I tried to look through a window and saw nothing at all. The door had not been locked as I turned the knob. Terror was rushing over me, fear had consumed me, but I could not stop, I had to keep going, I had to. Sweat was pouring down my face and freezing in the October air. I placed my right foot in to this house waiting for a moment to make sure it was safe. After I placed my left foot inside and closed the door behind me I noticed everything. The lights where on, how I did not know. A small fire was burning with a crackle of warmth. Pictures hung on the wall as though they had just been placed. Faces of a mothers, fathers, and Ccildren filled the place, each one looking straight in to my eyes. I felt another shock of fear, where they looking at me, I mean really looking at me. I turned away swearing to not let them get the best of me. As I walked towards the next room I almost felt as if I was floating some force pushing me to were they wanted me to go. This family room was very nice. An expense taste of couches, chairs, and tables. Above the fire place another mural. But this one was different from the others. The man and woman in this painting seemed depressed and lifeless. I did not notice them in any of the others. But I did not have time to contemplate the matter as I felt myself beginning to move again. Up the stairs to another level I tried to stray and wonder a bit, but I could not walk away. I pushed my leg to move forward again, and instead began to climb the stairs once more. I came to a door much nicer than the rest, solid oak with a brass handle and golden letters that spelled out Attic. I took a deep breath opened the door. My fear had vanished; I was calm and felt at home in my own house. The attic was filled with toys, and games. A doll with red hair and a green dress sat upon an antique chair. A cute little purple tea kettle in front of her, and a grey teddy bear that seemed to want to walk up to me. I walked over to the little fire truck and placed my hands upon it. I had always wanted one when I was younger. Than I heard it again, someone was calling my name. I jumped to my feet, and looked around; the only real light was coming from a small stained glass window high above me. I yelled out to see if anyone could hear me, and my voice seemed to be swallowed with in the room. I ran to the door my feet where my own again, and grab the handle and jerked on it. Nothing happen, I did it again and nothing. The voice began to get louder and my fear was full once more. I turned around to look in to the room again, and this time everything was gone, except the doll on the chair. I ran and kicked it over and tried to scream again, nothing except the strain in my throat. The door, the door I must try again, so I ran back to the door and pulled as hard as I could. Nothing!! The voice right in my ear how did it know my name, how did it know I was here. I jumped and screamed once again. Tears coming down my face I will never see my home again. I turned slowly to stare back in to my prison and their she was standing before me. The woman from the mural above the fireplace, a kind look with long golden hair, the expression of joy was written on her face. She reached out her hand towards me, as I grabbed the door I tried to escape. Theirs no way out your here to say, no use running I planned it this way. You are mine forever more, you never should have opened the door I turned once more to peer in her eyes. I screamed at her to let me go. The last thing I remember is the doll back in its place, and a smile when it grind upon its face. Now trapped inside this house, I am just another picture hanging on the wall. By: Ryan Penzotti.
Hope it's not too late, but here's a little something I came up with at the gym this morning. jon Morning Routine J. M. Strother I work for a rather enlightened company. It has a gym on site, complete with an Olympic sized swimming pool and a jacuzzi. It's a nice fringe benny, considering the price fitness centers charge these days. And it's a lot more convenient, being right on site and being open 24 hours a day. I used to try and work out right after work. But the gym is pretty crowded then (it's the most popular time according to the attendant). Plus I soon leaned that I really just wanted to go home at the end of the day and found it harder and harder to get up the energy to face the weights and treadmill after a hard day at the office. So I dropped it for a while. A recent glance at the scale told me that dropping the gym was a mistake. So I decided to try working out before the start of the day instead. It was hard to force myself up at 5am, but I found a predawn workout much preferable to a late afternoon one. And as a side bonus the gym is virtually abandoned at 6am. It's usually just me and the attendant. It's so abandoned, in fact, that sometimes it gets kind of creepy. Occasionally I seem to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I look, no one is there. There is the occasional odd noise too. The sound of a door closing. The isolated clank of metal as if someone just set down the weights. It got really creepy last week. I was in the shower and I could swear that someone was out in the gym using the weight machines. I could definitely hear the rhythmic clank clank of someone pressing iron. But when I dressed and went back out into the gym to leave, no one was there. It was dead still. As I went through the anteroom I asked Charlie, the attendant, who else was in the gym. He shook his head. Just you, bud. I started to object, but then shrugged and went on to work. The next day I could have sworn I saw the door to the women's locker room closing just as I got there. I went to the men's and changed out, but found no one in the gym when I came back out. As I was about to go on and start my routine I heard a distinct splash from the pool. It is on the other side of the pass-through locker rooms, so I went back the way I had come and stepped out on the deck to the pool. No one was there. There was only the gentle lapping of the water in the side gutters. Very odd. I don't use the pool myself. I'm not a good swimmer, and would never dream of swimming alone. Since I'm usually the only one there in the early morning the pool is out of the question for me. In a way I was relieved that no one was swimming. I would have been sort of worried about them the whole time. Face it, swimming solo is dangerous. But no one was there, so I went back to the gym for my work out. Just as I reentered the gym the door to the anteroom was closing and I smiled. So that was it. Charlie was trying to spook me, the nasty trickster. So, we got ghosts? I jibbed on the way out. He just grinned. 'Gotcha!', I thought. On Thursday last I was just getting ready to strip for my shower when I heard a splash out in the pool again. This time I was closer and there could be no doubt. I quit unlacing my sneakers and dashed to the pool entrance to catch the culprit red handed or wet handed. But there was no one there. I'll catch that bast... Wait a minute. I took a few steps out onto the deck. Wet foot prints on concrete. Petite foot prints, like those of a woman. I glanced at the women's locker room and scratched my head. Who the Hell was trying to spook me? I started to turn back to take my shower when I thought I saw something in the water. My heart jumped to my throat and I dashed down the side of the pool, yelling for help. There was a body in the water! But as I drew near what I thought had been a body melted away into just some odd reflections from the overhead lights. I cringed and hoped Charlie had not heard my frantic cries for help. Damn, I was starting to scare myself! As I gazed into the water someone gave me a shove from behind. I hurtled into the water in a panic. I was fully dressed, except for the left shoe, which came off and floated to the bottom. I'm a terrible swimmer in the first place and my wet clothes were dragging me down. As I drifted towards the bottom of the pool I looked up and saw a woman standing poolside. I reached out, beseechingly, silently begging for help as I sucked water into my lungs. She dove in! She was going to save me. But as she approached I saw the bloated face of a dead woman. She grinned with lifeless eyes, her long hair twining around her face and shoulders. My vision went white then, and I blacked out. The next thing I knew I was coughing up water and struggling under Charlie's face. He dropped back and gave me room. He had indeed heard me cry out, but by the time he got there I was already in the water and flailing away. He had pulled me out with the dead-man's pole and administered mouth-to-mouth, and just in time. I'm told there was a woman that used do an early morning work out with the weights, and then do laps in the pool. She swam alone and drowned. I still exercise in the mornings before work. I jog my neighborhood. You'll never see me in a gym, any gym, ever again.
~jon
My Blog - Mad
Utopia Writing in a new era.
Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=1077964&Start=1&Sectionid=1&filter_genre_id=0&WhatsN
Since we have some ghost stories, I can go ahead and post an image. You've been saved from silly limericks by the skin of your teeth. I'll post a cropped version here (one of my tests), but the full image is at the link... even that suffers from shrinkage (which might be appropriate given the subject). ;^) Also, I have no idea where the bloodspots came from in the final version. They are not on ANY of the layers. :boggle: Carolly"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch." - Bette Davis
I've finally been able to get the forums to load for me again. And of course, I've missed yet another start for the voting. :/ Here we are on Nov 1st and ... Anyway. I'm here to say, let the voting begin. We'll only give it a day or two so we can get Novembers challenge started. Please select your three favorite entries and let us know. Voting ends on the 4th and Ill count them up on the morning of the 5th. Good luck everyone!
The doctor says I have way too much blood in my caffeine system.
That's ok, the clock is barely ticking and the guy with the sythe and hourglass is two months away yet. Since we have some new players (yippee!), perhaps we could mention that we don't vote for ourselves, and that we assign points to our choices: 3 pts Ted 2 pts Fred 1 pts Zed and that the person with the highest total gets to choose next month's theme? Carolly
Ten entries? And all of them good choices? This is going to be tough. 3 pts. Tresamie. The Banshee's Wail It is spooky, and unnerving, and edgy in an elegant way. 2 pts. daybreakteacher. Sometimes the familiar is scariest of all, and what can be more familiar than your parent's face? 1 pt. jstro. Morning Routine Just the right pacing as day by day gets a little more dangerous.
3 points - Tresamie 2 points - Dialyn 1 point - anniemation
Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things
SndCastie's Little
Haven
Voting on these was an absolute nightmare for me. Each had it's own qualities to make it unique and quite good in it's own way. I had to look and re-read many times and sit and ponder. But, I finally made a very tough decision. 3 pts Jstro (I love to read and can't write a paragraph, I have no imagaination in the area, I greatly respect and admire those who do.) 2 pts Dialyn (A perfect haunted house) 1 pt Hauksdottir (this image is so captivating, sad, and even somewhat disturbing that I just had to keep looking at it.)
3 pts for The Stuff of Nighmares, by hauksdottir. The image is terrific, but the little write up that goes with it really gives one the creeps! after the wedding, when he made curtains out of her dress... Yikes! 2 pts for dialyn's spooky little house 1 pt for DigitalAwakening's short story Nice job, everyone. jon
~jon
My Blog - Mad
Utopia Writing in a new era.
As always it seems with me... a day or three late.. but none the less, here we go. In 7th place, with 2 points: Elizabyte Tied for 6th place, with 3 points each: DaybreakTeacher & DigitalAwakenings In 5th place with 4 points: Hauksdottir In 4th place with 5 points: Chohole in 3th place with 7 points: jstro Tied for 2nd place, with 9 points each: Dialyn & anniemation And, in first place... with 17 points: Tresamie! Congratulations to everyone!! Awesome turn out and a great spead. Tres, if you would do the honors of starting a November Challenge.
The doctor says I have way too much blood in my caffeine system.
Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12372&Form.ShowMessage=2464906
Here is the link for the November challenge.Fractals will always amaze me!
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I thought it would be good to have a thread to post images in for the October challenge. The theme is 'Spooky' and everyone (no matter what type of art you have to share) is invited to interpret that in any way that pleases them. Post your images in this thread.
Fractals will always amaze me!