Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we explore history, mysteries, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
Speaker: Disturbing and mature content to follow. Into the nightmare, if you dare.
Speaker: So this week can kind of suck it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's, um it's been a pretty crappy week. just i'm not I'm not trying to come out here and bitch, but like man, to money too many deaths, too much stress. It's been too freaking hot. yeah like like It's been a lot, both micro and macro right now.
Speaker: For anybody listening out of order and to listen to this later, we're reeling over the deaths of a lot of icons this week. Most famously, Dolly Parton yes and Tim Curry. and i mean there's There's several others actually this week. has's been pretty heavy. Yes. I mean, I do also want to mention, i think King Harold of Norway literally just died this morning. Yeah. And then there was another king as well. ah oh really? Yeah. I just saw that. because it was like two it was the youngest king on the planet and the oldest king on the planet both died on the same day. oh
Speaker: Peter Cullen also passed away. he was the the voice actor for Optimus Prime and Transformers and Bjorn Winnie the Pooh. He is. he's on And just a few notable things. Yeah. He did a lot of stuff. Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know if you're familiar with Yayoi Kasuma. She's an artist that's really known for her polka dots. Yeah. Oh, she does the the mirror art as well. The infinity art, I think is what it's called. Yeah. She was 96.
Speaker: But I want to talk about Dolly. Did you have, was dull was Dolly Parton significant to your life growing up at all? No. I know I grew up in Texas, but no, I was raised by Hispanic parents who had nothing to do with that culture. so I was raised by Southern people, so i I have very, very, very early, early memories of Dolly Parton. I think Dolly Parton was the first famous person I was aware of. Now, I will say I did listen to her music as I got older.
Speaker: i also, i know she gave a lot to charities, right? And she also, she was very supportive of ah like the... And I know she was like also really supportive of like the LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. She was, i mean, this is really, really hard way for the gays for sure. But it's, yeah, no, she was huge on that. She had her reading program, which she would send books to, kids up to five years old, but you know, and she helped fund the development of the Moderna COVID vaccine. Oh, really? I didn't know that. Yeah, she was amazing. She is everything everybody should want to be, like, icon.
Speaker: But my earliest memories of her were from 1982 musical. called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. So I still have not seen this to this day. I know you've mentioned this to me before at some point and we talked about it, but I don't think I ever saw it. It's just the image of ah of a three-year-old Nim running around talking about Texas having a whorehouse in it, but there's nothing dirty going on And anyway, so I've been singing Dolly Parton songs since I could sing and inappropriate ones in all.
Speaker: What about Tim Curry? Tim Curry, I feel like, was more in my wheelhouse. I mean, mainly... what was your first Tim Curry? My first Tim Curry was Home Alone 2 then and Muppet Treasure Island. Awesome. Yes, I remember him in that. And there was another one that I remember seeing him in as a young kid.
Speaker: says he was in the Addams Family reunion. Yes. In Tales from the Crypt. Yeah, he was in a couple of Tales from the Crypt episodes, actually. Interesting. But yeah, I mean, I know he was in like a lot more things and obviously the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of course. I have never seen it. Oh my gosh. have we never seen it. We have things to do. i know. Yes, we do. So my very first Tim Curry movie was from Legend, which was 1985 movie with Tom Cruise. And there was Unicorns, which is why love it. Yeah, I know. It's a fantasy. He plays darkness. He looks like the devil. He does not look like himself. What? My first Tim Curry that I knew who Tim Curry was, was Clue.
Speaker: Clue. Wasn't that late though? When was Clue? 1985. 1985. I just watched that movie recently. I watched that. That's a yearly watch for me. That's so funny.
Speaker: Yeah, I forgot he was in that. And it says he was also in Fern Gulley. He was a very prolific voice actor. He's been voice acting for like 40 years, like big roles, little roles. Like I look through his voice is so notable. I surprising never. If you look at his credits, there's some for things like worm number one. Oh, like like he. i love that. Did a ton of voice acting. He's the evil, seductive pollution spirit. Hexus.
Speaker: From Ferngully. Oh my gosh. Now I have to watch that movie. Watch Ferngully and listen to Tim Curry be an evil cloud of smoke. Because that is the most fantastic cloud of muck and smoke.
Speaker: I'm telling you. He's so... You're not wrong. Yes. It's so great. So remembering those who have come and gone, entertained and loved and just been great overall.
Speaker: Yeah, and I don't usually get a lot of like real feels over celebrity deaths. Oh yeah, but there's some nostalgia in some of them. Man, some of them hit. this This week was hard.
Speaker: Yeah. So are you going to cheer us up? No.
Speaker: to cheer us up no No, no, no, i'm not. and I will not be doing that today. No. So to today i have decided to bring you a wonderfully boring history lesson. Oh, yay! Yes. So I think i think that's what we'll just do today.
Speaker: Hey, you know what? I love a history lesson. We're going to talk about a little group of islands in Venice known as the Lazzarato Islands, which translates to...
Speaker: the place where the contagious reside. Oh, yes. That sounds cozy. Like a really great vacation spot. Definitely. Some of the lore attached the islands can be a bit extreme and unverifiable.
Speaker: And with that being said, we will first explore the verifiable history of the islands. Then we will delve into the current status of the islands. And then we will bleed into the mysterious legend of their cursed waters. Nice.
Speaker: Keep in mind... There were other areas in Venice that were pulled in as temporary Lazzaretto as well, but the main focus today will be on the three most prominent in the fight against the plague.
Speaker: As you know, we humans always have to try and work with everything when it requires zero of our assistance. Oh, yeah. So, we begin. There are 126 island masses that make up the lagoon that is Venice, Italy.
Speaker: Historical records show that most of the early population of Venice were refugees fleeing Roman cities from Germanic and Hun invasions. Ones who fled to smaller island chains became tight-knit communities of people just living their best lives, answering to no one but themselves and maybe the occasional neighbor,
Speaker: They survived by fishing and trading salt with the nearby mainland town of Palestrina when necessary. By doing so, they were able to avoid taxes from the mainland. Nice. Yes.
Speaker: So, like the rest of Venice, some of these islands were expanded and fortified by building into the existing lagoon. They drove piles of alder trees into the existing mud and sand until they reached clay.
Speaker: What was interesting is elder trees are water resistant. like they just So it basically just forms the solid. it It almost petrifies where it is. Oh, wow. Yes. And so they would drive it into the clay and then they would put a foundation of Istrian limestone on top of the piles to in ensure that a solid building foundation was available.
Speaker: and So that's how they expanded the land and as well as some of the islands. So in... In 1378, the War of Chioga fought between Venice and Genoa caused significant damage to many of the smaller islands, including Pavilion and a couple of the other Lazareti, and these inhabitants were forced to evacuate.
Speaker: The citizens scattered through mainland Venice, and the smaller islands remained mostly abandoned for centuries. In 1348, the Bubonic Plague, later known as the Black Death, hit Europe and wiped out millions of people.
Speaker: It would return again and again over the centuries. Venice was a prominent trade port from the 1300s to the 1800s. It was where trade with the East came into Europe.
Speaker: So they saw a lot of people and creatures coming through the ports and cities, which also meant... the plague and other diseases were also entering in through their port. Right. Yeah. So the plague was, i don't remember the name of the parasite, but it's like through the fleas, flea bites on primarily black rats. Correct.
Speaker: All of that important stuff was just moving them everywhere. Sorry. I just took all your shit. No, that's fine. i was going to ask you what you knew about it. That's what I know. so Yeah.
Speaker: And also, like like you mentioned, everything was coming in through the port. And we know hygiene was... Not what it is today. It was a whisper, if a thought, at the time The first big outbreak of the plague was in 1348. It reduced the population by about in Venice.
Speaker: There was another notable one from 1575 through 1577 and to outbreaks, one while there were centuries in between these outbreaks one thing remain the same the need to contain the outbreak to avoid more death and economic disruptions.
Speaker: It was known as the bubonic plague and pneumonic plague. The type of plague you have depends on the transmission. And there's other types as well, but these are the most common. So the bubonic plague is believed to spread through infected flea bites, and it affects your lymph nodes. It causes your lymph nodes to swell into large...
Speaker: Bubbles, yes, which is where the name comes from. It is the most common form of of the plague and apparently the one that is the easiest to survive. Unless it spreads to your blood. Right. It makes it a septicemic plague. This will destroy your living tissue and organs and eventually lead to organ failure.
Speaker: So not not a comfy way to die. Not ideal. The pneumonic plague infects the lungs and that one spreads through the air. It causes severe pneumonia, as the name suggests, which can lead to respiratory failure, which makes it the most dangerous type. Right. right The final type of plague is called pharyngeal plague.
Speaker: This one comes from eating infected meat and will cause an infection in your throat. It is very rare. yeah All of these plague symptoms are caused by the same bacterium, Yersena pestis. That's what it is, yeah. Yes. It just spreads differently. So in the times of these outbreaks, it was believed that it was coming over on boats with plague-infected rats and fleas. While they didn't have the medical science needed to get ahead of it,
Speaker: the officials of Venice acted quickly to try to reduce casualties. They used the little islands outside of the mainland to their advantage as a kind of port stop and quarantine point for major outbreaks.
Speaker: Venetians are credited with implementing the first mass quarantine measures. According to Francesca Malgini, a modern-day Venetian linguist and researcher, quote, they saw the only solution was to separate people, to take away the sick people or suspected sick people.
Speaker: This was the only way to protect everyone's health and allow the economy to continue. End quote. There's no way that could go wrong. They even imposed mandatory bathing regulations and suggested burning of contaminated clothing.
Speaker: And of course, there's the use of the beak masks, the notorious masks of the time, the plague doctor masks. Yeah, they would stuff those full of flowers and stuff so they wouldn't smell all the gross stuff. Yeah, aromatic herbs like mint, cloves, and rose to protect the wearer from the smell of death and transfer of sickness.
Speaker: These masks were interesting in that they covered the whole face, even the eyes, and it contained glass eyepieces that allowed the doctor to see while protecting his entire face from any airborne or touch contamination.
Speaker: This is pretty impressive, seeing as the introduction of germs and disease would not be present in the scientific community for another 400 years at the time of the plague. yeah So two of the Venetian islands that we're going to talk about, they were titled Lazaretti, were specifically used in the beginning. So on these islands, people and their cargo would spend a period of about 40 days anchored to the island before they were allowed to proceed into the main city of Venice.
Speaker: Fun fact, the Italian term for 40 days... Quarinta giorni, which in English became quarantine. ah huh Quarinta giorni.
Speaker: Because I don't speak Italian. In 1423, the island of Lazzaretto Veccio, located in Venice's central lagoon, was reserved to isolate and treat Venetians who had contracted the plague.
Speaker: This meant that anyone in Venice who was showing symptoms or came into contact with someone who did they would have to be taxied by boat to this island. There, they would stay until they were recovered or died for 40 days.
Speaker: And if you didn't have it when you left, you probably did when you got there. Exactly. In 1468, the second island of Lazzarato Nuevo, originally a monastery, became an anchor point for ships coming from infected areas, as well as ships containing crews suspected to have the plague.
Speaker: Here they would wait out the quarantine period. This island contained warehouse-style buildings for goods and hundreds of rooms to hold quarantined people. So this was actually one of the nicer islands, the second one that was built. A 16th century historian, Francesco Sosovino, wrote that Lazzarato Nuevo's buildings had the semblance of a castle.
Speaker: In the warehouses, teams of armed guards and port workers unloaded ships. following quarantine protocols at the time to smoke out the goods with aromatic herbs such as juniper and rosemary.
Speaker: They would use salt water and vinegar to cleanse after handling good suspected of contamination. it This reminds me so much of COVID. I know, but it's crazy because like they had, they had no understanding right of any of this, but they just use these basic things that they knew, you know, for food and Right. Things that clean seem to have antiseptic properties. yes Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, obviously not great that we're just throwing all of our sick to an island, but you know, i i mean, I guess it helped keep other people from dying. I mean, from the macro standpoint and standing back and thinking about it logically, it seems like a sound. 100%. But if you think about it for two more seconds, you you've got to land. ah Anyways, keep going. Well, let's, let's, let's see where we land. Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, well, the smallest island of Pavellia was introduced for overflow of the two other islands and mostly the burial of the dead. There's a lot of sources that suggest that Pavilion held more than 160,000 plague victims over the years, and its soil is said to be composed largely of human ash.
Speaker: I wow didn't actually see proof of that one, but I also ran into some Venetian sites that seemed to point to this final island being more of like a final use place at the tail end of the epidemic.
Speaker: But I also ran across some Venetian sites that seemed to point to this final island being more of like a final use place at the tail end of the epidemic. Okay. Like we're at the end of the overflow situation. yeah and We're just kind of exactly like there was a lot of weirdness because I will say there's a lot of sites that show Pavilion and some of these Lazaretto islands is being like overly full. And then there's like some Venetian sites that are like, well, Pavilion wasn't even like really like it had like 17 people die on it. So like everyone calmed down. I'm not sure who to believe there. So there's that.
Speaker: who So patients would suffer through the disease or succumb to it. You know, unfortunately not much was known. I'm sorry. I can't believe that 17 people during the plague Exactly.
Speaker: i can't. Well, see, they're saying that that happened in like 1793, like after everything was done. They're saying that no, no, no other people from the original plague were ever brought to Bavalia.
Speaker: That specific island and not the other ones? Okay. All right. Keep going. So unfortunately, not much was known about how the plague spread or what the exposure and emergence windows look like at the time.
Speaker: Venetian medics at the time, they did their best. But they just tried to get the patient through the disease and then avoided getting it themselves. Like there's there's nothing they could do, right? We have antibiotics now. They they didn't have any of that. right Massive ships would bring Venice's dead to the islands to be buried in mass graves or burned.
Speaker: When archaeologists were exploring the plague pits, they found that some of the skulls had rocks clamped between their jaws. Do you know why that would be? Rocks clamped between their jaws? Yes.
Speaker: Do you know why that would be? i don't think I do. During the plague times, they would dig these pits, fill them with bodies, add some dirt, and then more bodies would come.
Speaker: So they would uncover the pit a little bit, add some more bodies, and Like a corpse lasagna. Great. If you will. I will not. They would sometimes find corpses with blood on their faces and coming out of their mouth. And so they didn't quite understand what decomposition was or that sometimes being buried in these pits, the gases would build up and the bodies would explode.
Speaker: And so the people of the time assumed that these were vampires. feeding on the corpses that were placed in the pits. So their solution was to lodge a stone in the mouths of the corpses that had that on them so that the vampire wouldn't be able to feed again and would eventually starve to death. So I love again moments of history where people were like, Nope, doing it. I don't care. We're legit preparing for vampires. Yeah. That is some of my favorite parts of actual history, period. End of story. That's great.
Speaker: You know, there was just one guy that was like, no, no, my grandma told me about that. We're not. No, we're not taking any chances. Right. This is how it starts. And then vampires.
Speaker: telling you. I'm telling you, Vincenzo. Hey, somebody write this book, please. Yeah. Well, current day, Lazzarato Vecino, the first of the islands we talked about, it was left in ruins after the last of the plague victims moved on.
Speaker: In 2008, Restoration Works began with the Ministry for Public Works and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Their goal is to recover all the structures that remain on the island and turn it into the Museo Archaeologico della Laguna di Vincenza.
Speaker: Did you understand any of that? Because I did. It's at the museum, archaeological museum of Laguna of Venice. So basically the Vecino and the Nuevo, the two biggest ones, because they were just left in ruins, right? The government never went and cleaned anything up. The people... never went back. And so there's just dilapidated stuff there, right? Right. Because who's going to clean that up? Oh my God. Exactly. So that was part of the restoration project for 2008 was to, you know, clean the area and then restore it as a cultural heritage site and, you know, honor those
Speaker: that, you know, died there and and everything that the Venetians did to try to control it. The second of the islands that we discussed, it still contains the main structure because that was the one that had the warehouses and the hundreds of rooms, the one that was said to look like a castle.
Speaker: It's called the Teson Grande. The walls are covered with words, messages, and drawings of the people quarantined there from all walks of life.
Speaker: with mentions of Constantinople, Alexandria of Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece. Yes, so due to the island's strategic position, it spent some time after the Great Plagues as a military supply holding place for Austrian and French troops. And in the present day, the island is also included in that same restoration project, which as of now, they are open to the public. So they they were actually able to complete it.
Speaker: As for Pavilion, the final island that was commandeered in the efforts to control the plague, in the 1700s, it was used as the only remaining lazaretto and dubbed the lazaretto novissimo due to the decline in plague sufferers. So they closed the other two because they were basically falling apart at the time. Sure. And were just like, hey, we'll just send them all to this this place.
Speaker: Were there non-sick people also on this island caring for these people at all? and On the other ones, yeah. So there there were. There were doctors. After it's deemed as a hospital and burial ground was abandoned, a psychiatric facility and hospital for the elderly was built on the property in 1922.
Speaker: One report also states that it was called Stazozone Sanitaria and was used for the Italian Navy during both world wars. It was closed in 1969 when issues with the water supply led to all remaining patients being evacuated. Wow. These structures have worn over the years with abandonment.
Speaker: Now, with that last one, that was the one that I was telling you about. Like, it a lot of reports originally seemed like Pavilion was very prevalent and like. It was the place where a lot of the bodies were buried.
Speaker: And so that was a little bit frustrating for me because I then, that was the one that I said I found the site, actually a couple of sites of people who claim to be Venetian saying, hey, like this is not the true history. So it felt kind of, I don't know.
Speaker: Like, I don't feel like everyone else got it wrong, but I don't i don't know, man. That was just weird. It was a weird a weird thing to just come up with at the end of it. Sounds like there's more to that story. I agree. Someone's hiding something. Oh, someone's always hiding something. So as of the early 2000s, the group of islands known as Pavilion are overgrown with the remnants of abandoned buildings. The islands are not open to the public due to the dangerous nature of the toppling structures, the two main ones, but not the islands of Pavilion. There's three of those little ones.
Speaker: Gaining legal access to the island requires requesting a permit, which could take years to be reviewed. Even then, finding someone to take you there and or show you around could be very difficult and costly and dangerous. I don't know if I want to.
Speaker: have a stranger take me to an abandoned island. Right. Yeah. It seems like you're asking for trouble personally. I'm just not adventurous, I guess. So fishermen actually are said to avoid the area surrounding the island. They claim that on a clear day, you can see bones under the surface of the water. Wow.
Speaker: Fishermen of the area also claim that if a skull or bone is accidentally caught in their net, they'll usually just throw the entire catch back. By doing this, they hope to avoid being cursed or haunted.
Speaker: Sure. In 2025, a group of Venetians named Pavilion for Tutti, or Pavilion for Everyone, they were able to purchase a portion of the land for preservation.
Speaker: The group had been campaigning for years to avoid turning this into another overcrowded tourist hotspot, so they purchased a little piece of pavilion and they'll be preserving the land as a public green space for the enjoyment of Venetians specifically.
Speaker: The group has now has a 99-year lease on their portion of the island, and they hope that maybe they're going to turn it into like a park for the Venetian residents to enjoy with a permit.
Speaker: I do find it a little odd that this island wasn't recovered and added to the museum they made. Which is weird. I don't know. It's said to be the most haunted of the islands in some reports. When they decided to renovate the other ones, this one was still in use though, right? No. Oh, well then I have no idea. Yeah.
Speaker: It's the only one that's currently still abandoned. So there is a warning stone on this one from 1793. And the warning inscription translates to, do not disturb those who in life were contagious rest here.
Speaker: Yeah. so that's why I'm like, you're telling me that just, no, there was, there was something more. And there was so many structures that were originally on that island. It was just weird.
Speaker: Is there like photos or anything of, or, or like, like of the remnants? Yes. But over the years. Right. Because I mean, obviously it's been, In disuse since about.
Speaker: You said 1700s. 1700s. Yeah. So. And it. Oh, well, I guess it came back in the 1900s as a hospital. So. But still, that's quite a bit of time. Yeah.
Speaker: So there is a supposed supposed supernatural side of the island, which I feel like we have to talk about. Okay. So here we are. i struggled with this part because like.
Speaker: There's really no evidence of any of this stuff. And like anyone can say anything they want to. so I'll just like leave that part there as a disclaimer of how I feel about this next part.
Speaker: For the island of Pavilion, urban explorers state that one of the easiest entrances into the hospital is through one of the cremators. So that makes it like extra spooky and gross. And so like people are like, oh you get like...
Speaker: spirits attached to you or something. There's also a phantom bell that tolls from the island tower that is left, but the bell is gone. So they're like, it can't toll. But I feel like you're in a lagoon. like Sound travels. Yeah. yeah Not only that, but they also say there's a little girl named little Maria. She's been reported for over 400 years.
Speaker: um And she is said to be a child who died from the plague and she roams the beach crying, which that's terrifying. if There's a little girl on a beach. I mean, i would I would want to say that I would help her. But man, I don't think I would. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. That's a trap.
Speaker: Nope, that's a trap. Don't look at me like that. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to look at you like anything. I i was trying to. Are you telling me you would go into the fairy circle trap? I mean, it's a kid.
Speaker: I don't know, man. You would be the one to fall for the kid in the car seat in the middle of the road on the dark road. Have you not seen those? are Is this anything like the black eyed children? Well, no, like this is actually like you, you get out or you stop and then people like take you and kill you and stuff.
Speaker: What are these people doing? Why is that what people want to do? i don't know. i always wondered that. Like, what is the motivation? What are they getting out of that? I have no idea. I don't know. i We were talking about the plague. We were. We were talking about the plague. Sorry. little Maria.
Speaker: yes. She roams a beach crying, apparently. ah Pietro, from the time of the psychiatric hospital, apparently, he is apparently in a wheelchair and has both legs amputated, and he races through the hospital on his wheelchair.
Speaker: So... And we are judging that by the age of like the type of wheelchair he had to know which time period he was from. Sure. Okay.
Speaker: Logic sound. Um, People know. Sorry to logic our ghost story. People report faces in the windows of the hospital. And some people report an overwhelming feeling of dread or sorrow when visiting the island, which I can see that just being because you're like on an abandoned island with rubble and it looks apocalyptic and you're like, man, this is a super bummer.
Speaker: Well, places can definitely have vibes. That's for damn sure. I remember when I went to the Metairie, that, like, just walking through that city of the dead, basically. I mean, it was heavy. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: So they say there's shadows that follow you through the facility and getting scratched and pushed by entities, which again, it's an abandoned Island with no electricity. It's, it's in shambles. You're going to get scuffed. Sure.
Speaker: The final one is the most frustrating one for me. Okay. um So there was a supposed evil doctor who threw himself off the clock tower. He was said to do horrible experiments to the patients and he doesn't seem to exist in any records of the Island or have any patients that were mistreated more than any other sanatorium at the time. So, and and there's also like no recorded death from the clock tower, but like, so is it like urban legend or is it like, I'm guessing, but like, or is it a coverup? I don't know because there's a lot about pavilion that like, it's weird.
Speaker: I bet it's one of those situations where there's some truth to it and it's there' probably one doctor doing that did one bad thing. And they're like, they're mad that. Yeah.
Speaker: Somebody should write that story. We have so many story ideas. If anyone needs them. And that is the condensed version of the Lazareti Islands of Venice and how they used these islands. Yeah, that's crazy. I didn't know about that. That is one way to do it. That's a way to escape the rats.
Speaker: Is it? If you run away from them, they can't catch you. Okay.
Speaker: So Nightmare Fuel, did you finish watching Hysteria? No, did not. I need to So what happened was? Life. Life happened. That and like Ace like caught me watching it and he was like, oh, that actually looks really cool. And I was like, so I started it over and then we got to the point where I am at.
Speaker: And then I fell asleep. So it wasn't because I was like, uninterested. It was because I was really tired. Sure. Yeah. Okay, well, everybody else should watch that. I had a fun time with it. it Hysteria, it's a satanic panic set in the eighty s Some shit goes down and these kids decide to make a band about it. And Bruce Campbell's in it and the casting's great. but yeah The dialogue's fun. Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, it was it was a good time. and it's It's like a one and done season kind of situation. There's eight episodes and that's it. That's all there is. Also, there was a book that you said...
Speaker: Yeah, um I just finished reading Devolution. de i want to call it dysphoria for some reason. Devolution. That's what it was. Yeah, I think you described this one to me and it sounded really interesting. Yeah, so it's a Sasquatch situation. There's these rich people that live in like this isolated mountain community in the Pacific Northwest. And they're like super away from everything, but they depend on technology to make everything comfortable and stuff. yeah But then a volcano happens. What?
Speaker: And they're stranded and it's like winter and like nobody can get to them. nobody Wait. a volcano and they're stranded and it's winter oh my gosh there's so much stuff happening and then sasquatch so anyways i did the audiobook it's got a full cast it was really good fine um judy greer was the main character and she was awesome so that's really cool yeah so devolution by max brooks nice lastly i did jesse insidious the new one that just came out i think it's the sixth one
Speaker: I always think of the word insipid thinking and i get stuck on not knowing what the word I'm trying to come up with. To be honest, I've like seen the other one. So i was like, i need to see it. And like as a standalone, it wasn't bad, but like, it's like, why did we need another one in the franchise? Like the last one, like, is this another one of those where if it had been named something else, you would have liked it more?
Speaker: No. Oh, okay. Because it it uses the same cast and like everything. It's just like, why are we, why do we keep like dissecting the story second by second? I just, it's getting too granular. It's zooming in too much. We're zooming in too much.
Speaker: We've, we've over mic, microscoped, magnified. We've over magnified. Like in science class, when you accidentally press the thing too far and it breaks the glass. I hate when that happens. That's what happened.
Speaker: So are you recommending it Is it part of nightmare fuel? Okay. So it sounded like I didn't like it, but like I said, as a standalone, it's good. Like it's, it's fun. It's, it's fun. It's dumb. It's, I mean, I enjoy it. It goes, it goes with the lore.
Speaker: it definitely follows the same patterns of loud jump scares, but you know, yeah. I mean, it's out there. Watch it. Fueled for your nightmares. Literally, because it's about astral projection.
Speaker: I'm going to take us out with a wee bit of folklore. Do you have more? Are you familiar with the Japanese yokai baku? No. Okay.
Speaker: This is a folkloric creature that banishes nightmares. Nice. As the legends go, Japanese yokai Baku was made from all the parts left over from creating the other animals.
Speaker: It's got rhinoceros eyes, tiger paws, an oxtail, bear's body, and the trunk of an elephant. What? And the Malaysian tapir, they call those Baku too because they they look like that. i don't i'm gonna just I'm just going to show you.
Speaker: Look at these cute little weirdos. Are those real? Those are real. Those are weird. don't like them. I love them. Their face freaks me out. Oh my gosh. I hate it Nightmare Cottage at gmail.com. Tell Nyleen she's wrong and that Malaysian tapirs are adorable. Like, they're... Okay.
Speaker: They're weird and so cute. I love... Whatever. I love weird stuff. This yokai is known for eating nightmares through its trunk. Okay. Children would call out to Baku three times to get them to come and banish bad dreams.
Speaker: um But like with other folkloric creatures, be careful. Because if you call on the Baku too much, the nightmares may no longer be enough to save their hunger. So they'll devour the good dreams, the hopes, the good feelings, all of that. Baku has been prominent in Japanese culture for centuries. The kanji for its name is stitched on pillows and etched over temple doors. And of course, there's a Pokemon based off of it.
Speaker: Nice. Drowsy, for those who aren't familiar. And that's Baku, the devourer of nightmares. Nice. So we'll be back next time. We will.
Speaker: With more nightmares. We will. Sweet dreams. Bye-bye.
Speaker: If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi email us at nightmarecottage at gmail.com or visit our website at nightmarecottage.com. Sweet dreams.
Speaker: Bye
