Thanks :)
The legends about that military base floated around my hometown in the USSR, back in the day. The townsfolk said it was some sort of Soviet Area 51, but way darker, and it hid even more secrets than its American counterpart.
I was twenty-five years old at the time and had just started working at the local newspaper. I was eager to get the next big headline, but unfortunately, everything was state-owned and state-controlled. It was impossible to do things on your own. If the state authorities had to find out you had done something without their knowledge, it meant jail time. Or worse.
That is why I had always tried to play it smart. Things went way smoother if you were an obedient soldier and servant to the Communist Party. Soon after, I left my job at the newspaper and took on a different path in television. I was assigned to shoot documentaries about how great the nation and its leaders were.
After a few successful documentaries that pleased those in the upper hierarchy, I had received orders to film a new one at a military facility in Siberia. This situation was beyond odd, and I thought of it as punishment. But I never did anything wrong, nor did I give the impression I was against the regime. Nevertheless, I was a little scared of this situation because it came without notice, like an order from superiors I didnβt have.
I received a letter telling me that I had to shoot a documentary at a top-secret military base. I had to document everything and report back as soon as the night ended. I had twenty-four hours to do everything and be ready at 6 am the following day.
A military truck came for me. But, again, no one said anything about where I was going or the true purpose of this trip.
βYou have to film three former Soviet spies and see their reaction during the night. Then, once it ends, you are to hand over the tapes to me and keep quiet about this for the rest of your life. Did I make myself clear, comrade Alexeievich?β the officer asked me.
I nodded and didnβt say a word until we arrived.
The facility mainly looked abandoned, and a few lightbulbs flickered here and there. I donβt remember seeing any military personnel on the premises, but I did what the tall and buff officer told me. First, he showed me a small wooden cabin where I had to stay until the morning. Then he led me to three different rooms where I had to install the equipment. Then he said that the film subjects would arrive at midnight and leave at the crack of dawn.
There was
... keep reading on reddit β‘Time passed by ever so quickly in that control room. The blizzard screamed outside, and the snowflakes seemed like deadly bullets made out of ice. Yet, I still couldn't understand what I had experienced while watching the first tape. I was taken aback by the whole, and I still couldn't believe what I just had witnessed.
I thought for a moment if I should even watch the second tape. But, supernatural events or not, these people hired me to do a job, and whoever that officer was, he sounded impressed.
What if it was all a test, and I was the central subject of this experiment? I didn't have an answer to that burning question. All I knew was that I had to start watching the second tape.
It was 2 am. One-third of the night was gone, but I was sure the following tapes would be even more terrifying.
The second room was so much more different than the first one. Although it looked like a study room, it had a large mahogany work desk with old pencils and a small library behind it. The books seemed ancient and were bound in leather. They were rather odd, not like anything I had ever seen before. I had an urge to go inside that room and see what secret those tomes held; what would they reveal once opened by someone?
A set of horrifying pictures adorned the walls. They depicted fantastic creatures and beasts with large tails and teeth and horns. Some even resembled demons with twisted sickly faces. They looked hungry and eager to jump out of the frame and into our world. I cringed at that thought, but nothing seemed impossible anymore after what I had seen earlier.
This room didn't have a TV, and a sense of relief came over me. At least the static creatures would not make an appearance in this room, or so I hoped.
A man entered the room. He was tall, thin and he wore a lab coat. Worry and anguish were consuming his face. He had one of those faces that always bear a certain sadness and sorrow.
The man looked very tired as well. So tired that be barely stayed awake. His eyes constantly spun in his head. Maybe his body warned him that he was about to faint or die from exhaustion.
He walked around the room for a second like he didn't know why he was there in the first place. Then, he stopped and looked at the old books on the shelves. He gently caressed them, running his fingers above the books, and then picked one out.
He pulled the chair and sat at th
... keep reading on reddit β‘These things should not have happened. I sat down on the chair and still couldn't believe what was happening.
I began fearing for my life. The last camera was about to be turned on, and I knew I had to expect something downright evil to happen.
Uneased and afraid, I turned on the third and final monitor. This transmission for this one was in color. The colors were so bright and vibrant, unlike anything I had seen before in my life.
The transmission revealed a white padded room with thick walls. There was a glass cage in its center. A man dressed in a bright electric blue suit was just waking up. He wore golden cufflinks and a tie and black shiny leather shoes. He sat on the side of the small bed and interlocked his fingers. He played with his thumbs, and I could feel something troublesome about him.
"I have been waiting for you. You, the watcher," the man said, slowly raising his head. He stood upright, and as he turned his sight to the camera in the room, I could see a deep seethed anger and hate in his eyes. His eyes were colored deep brown hue, almost like a puddle of volcanic mud.
I could see tiny sparks cracking inside his eyes as if he trapped a whole storm inside them.
"Ah, you are here at last. We have been waiting for you to come for so long. It is my utmost pleasure to know you are here," said the overly dressed man while he waved at the camera. "If you speak, I can hear you."
I thought it would be impossible. But the more these events happened to more possible they seemed.
"Uh, hello there, I guess. Who are you?" I said reluctantly. I asked myself how this man could have heard me, but in the end, questions like that were in vain. Nothing was normal here.
"Yes! He has a voice. Lovely! Who I am is not important; I can be whoever I want to be. What I am though that's the important question. I am what would they call me a soul-eater. I eat the souls of those who did evil in this world," the man said, playing with the cufflink on his left sleeve.
"What do you mean?" I replied.
"Let me show you a quick demonstration," the man with the fancy suit said.
Right before my eyes, he started contorting. Finally, I heard his bones cracking, the sound giving me a horrid headache.
... keep reading on reddit β‘
You know how we always get mad at today's Oscars, saying that the nominated films aren't worthy? Well, the exact opposite was true in 1975, a legendary year where every movie would end up being an iconic masterpiece. Jaws missed out on best director, Amarcord on best picture, but otherwise every might rightfully deserved it's nods, and for once I don't envy the voters who had to pick just one winner. Looking back, which film is closest to YOUR heart?
I'm looking for films in a similar vein to FM, Roadie, Rock 'n' Roll High School, On the Air Live with Captain Midnight, Animal House, Corvette Summer. Thanks.
Based on the book by Harlan Ellison.
The year is 2024, and takes place in an alternate timeline where John F. Kennedy was not assassinated.
Instead of the Space Race, technological developments are focused on, leading to more intelligent animals, telepathy, and improved robotics. This leads to a more intense Cold War, which in turn leads to two World Wars, including a Nuclear war which destroys nearly all of civilization and reduces the earth to a vast wasteland.
The two main characters in the film are 18-year-old Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, who travel the wasteland together: Blood relying on Vic for food, and Vic relying on Blood to find him women.
The film subverts the usual "boy and his dog" tropes by having Blood be the more intelligent, intellectual, and "human" of the two, while Vic - who was raised without parents or any sense of ethics or morality - is driven by more simplistic, animalistic urges.
Probably the most famous (and infamous) part of the film is its final line, which Harlan Ellison himself disavowed as "moronic, hateful, and chauvinistic", but which went down pretty well among audiences.
It's also well-known for having a sharp tonal switch midway through the movie, when Vic enters the subterranean civilization known as Topeka.
Personally I find the film interesting because of its lack of a true villain or protagonist - there really aren't any "good guys" or "bad guys." Kind of expected though from a post-apocalyptic world.
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