Miss Cellania

Monday, October 19, 2026

Have you ever noticed your cat staring at something, or maybe nothing at all? Cats can develop what looks like an obsession, which some folks interpret as a spiritual presence that humans cannot see. Keep telling yourself that, and strange things may start happening. This is Simon Tofield's Halloween story. (via Laughing Squid)

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Lumber

(via Bad Newspaper)

Common Words Inspired by Polytheism

The influence of the Roman Empire is everywhere. The many gods of the Latin world influence everything because Latin spawned other languages. Latin and Greek mythology gave us the names of the planets and the months. But deities from polytheistic religions came into our language from all over. Our days of the week come from Norse mythology in several languages, and Roman mythology in other languages. Everyday words have religious roots in other languages that we never knew about. Dr. Erica Brozovsky takes us on a tour of how the names of deities ended up in our modern English.

Parking Advice

(via reddit)

Remain Calm

When a stranger comes up with an uncanny smile and tells you to remain calm, you know something weird is up, because that's about the worst thing a stranger can say. But then he says he's from the federal government, and that's even scarier. The twist in this story is that remaining calm is the only thing that will save your life. How can you do that when you're terrified? Or when you're watching a creepy horror story? Well, what normally calms you down when you're stressed? You don't need to answer that; the film will guide you.

Remain Calm is a horror short by Jake Lewis of the Lewis Brothers, starring Pauly Shore, Nick Swardson, and Doug Jones. Yes, it does have some comedy overtones among the terrifying scenes that have commenters asking for more episodes starring the two store cashiers, or a full-length movie, or even a series following these characters. (via Metafilter)

Drive Through

(Thanks, WTM!)

Autumn's Transformation

When a dog owner gets older, it gets harder for them to get outside and exercise their dog every day. When dementia slips in, it's easy to lose track of how much the dog is being fed, since feeding is a way of showing love. It happens a lot, and that was the story when Autumn's owner passed away and she ended up in foster care. A beagle shouldn't weigh 72 pounds! But with a careful plan of diet and exercise, Autumn overcame the extra weight that was holding her back. (via Laughing Squid)

Perfection Takes Time

(via Fark)

How to Vote

Comedian Demi Adejuyigbe busts some myths about voting. It's not hard. Really, the hardest part is making yourself get get off the couch and do it. If you find it's more difficult than it should be, that's a sign that you should do something about it, like get involved in your community to change things. I vote every chance I get, even in elections where I know my vote is akin to spitting in the wind, because I would regret missing that chance. Here in Kentucky's 5th district, that's pretty much all of them, but I will still vote because I care about my country and its future. (via Boing Boing)

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Anniversary

This one is so old, he'd most likely out by now. (via Bad Newspaper)

The Tingler

The 1959 horror film The Tingler involves Vincent Price discovering a parasite that attaches to a person's spine. When they are afraid, the parasite grows stronger, and when they scream, it grows weaker. So it is to the tingler's advantage to scare the victim, and if you can't scream for some reason, you're a goner. But there's more than a monster in this movie- there's murder, too.

Producer and director William Castle often used gimmicks for his films. For The Tingler, a method he called Percepto! was used. A buzzer device was installed in some theater seats that relayed a "tingle" at certain points int he movie. The audience was encouraged to scream if they felt it, because that would relieve the effects of the parasite. They also staged medical emergencies among some audiences. The Tingler wasn't all that well-received at the time, but has become a cult classic because of its camp qualities and Vincent Price's performance. (Thanks, WTM!)

War Against the Machines

(via She Who Seeks)

Luna and Kallie

When I had a houseful of kids, someone would bring a cat home as "their cat." but the cat would decide to be close to a different person. That didn't really matter with a bunch of busy teenagers. Now the cats are all close to me, because they have no choice. Luna was adopted into a family with several children, and decided the baby Kallie was hers. Can you blame her? Everyone loves babies.

The 50 States Halloween Costumes

Hey, why not represent your state this Halloween! This map is from Matt Shirley.

Why Ghosts Wear White Sheets

There was one time I actually went trick-or-treating as a ghost wearing a bed sheet with two eye holes. Just once. I learned that it's impossible to keep the eye holes in the right place when you're walking, or doing anything. I guess that's why Charlie Brown had multiple eye holes cut into his sheet. When my kid wanted to be a ghost, I insisted on using a white bathrobe with a (non-pointy) hood and plenty of white face paint. She changed that to a black robe with white face paint and was much scarier.

But why are ghosts depicted as being covered in a white sheet? The art that makes them look like that goes back further than the trick-or-treat costume. Even today, when very few kids want to be a ghost for Halloween, we hang up balloons with white fabric over them to decorate our porches, because that says "ghosts" to us. Dr. Emily Zarka of Monstrum explains why.

Horror Movies