I Told You I Was Sick...

I recently made a restless midnight run to The Mausoleum and right off the bat I could tell it was a "friendly" creepy kind of place. It had the feel of a haunted social area, a place to gather for lots of fun and good conversation.

I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Eanya Dalek the owner of The Mausoleum, and the leader of the Undertakers Union. I say briefly because approximately 30 seconds into the conversation, my driver crashed, grrrr. But Eanya was nice enough to send me a notecard with all the details of her build and info on the union as well. 

Turns out The Mausoleum should be on the historical SL treasure list, well,  if there were one! Built in 2004, the original Mausoleum had it's humble beginnings on a sim called Terminous where Eanya sold her creations in a store located in an underground crypt. (Pretty cool idea)

Her currant build originated after seeing the movie Lemony Snicket's "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" and is based on Aunt Josephine's house in the film. (Great flick,  rent it tonight, it's worth it!) Later Eanya relocated her establishment to Echo, a sim that happened to have a bluff that overlooked the ocean. Surrounded by protected Linden land all around, Eanya felt this would be the perfect place as The Mausoleum could hang precariously over the edge of the drop. She's been there ever since.

As for her group the Undertakers Union, (the name alone makes me want to join) they get together for dancing, events and host meetings in SL and RL! Eanya has entertained members over the years with games like Trivia, Greedy and once she and her pardner Eldraque staged an elaborate treasure hunt. Solving notes found along the way, participants had to pick up pieces of a costume one at a time. After finding the last piece, the crown, the contestant than had to battle a scripted monster to claim the prize! 

Eanya says things are quiet around SL these days. She and Eldraque, her pardner in both worlds, spend more time in RL working on their home, but try to get in SL as often as possible.

Still the couple's well constructed build functions well in their absence. Come enjoy the Gothic theme park, the dance floor with streamed in goth/synth/emo music, 2 dance balls, (one is for tinys) or a steampunk elevator that takes you to a small Gothic sky garden. If you'd like to just sit and chat with friends, there's fishing, and a fire pit to relax by, and of course there's the store inside the Mausoleum, in which you'll find Eanya's unusual avatars and other exciting items. 

If you're searching for lots of fascinating things to keep you and your crowd busy, this is the place! I found a couple of new favorites here. The first I'll let you find for yourself, it's such a delightful surprise that I don't want to spoil it ahead of time. (Hint: Go first, than look at the photos on Flickr) The second thing was an unpretentious grave with a single sentence written on it's headstone, that read; 

"I told you I was sick." 

Discovering that you can whine AFTER death.., priceless!

The Mausoleum

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I Caaaannn Seeeeeeee Yoouuuuu......

Oh yeah baby, a very creepy someone is watching you work your way through.....,

The Horror Maze, Labyrinth of FEAR!

Don't let the modest entrance fool you, once you start down those long-close-corridors, you're going to wish you had some way to mark your path. BE WARNED; create a landmark now, right here, at the entrance, because chances are once inside, forever inside, unless you teleport to the entrance and start over again. Trust me on this, in fact let me tell you more about my little experience inside of the Horror Maze.

A few steps into the maze I am given a torch to wear to carry with me as I maneuver the corridors. My first thought, why a torch? How dark is it gonna get? I'm not fond of the SL version of the dark, it's the equivalent of a black hole, tar pitch emptiness that disorientates me and immediately induces a virtual and oddly enough, real life sense of panic, you know, like suddenly not being able to see in a nightmare.., what, you've never dreamt you had limited vision in a nightmare? Sure you have, and if the dream was really scary, the instant blindness boosted the scream factor for you, through the roof, am I right?!

So with my new torch and more than a bit of apprehension, I begin my journey.

Straight away the walls set the mood, plastered from top to bottom, are sinister yet some how familiar images of distorted vaguely humanoid beings. Some intentional transparent texture work keeps the monstrous faces flickering constantly. Fog and green mist fill claustrophobic corridors and narrow passage ways, and around every twist and turn, I hear strange cries and demonic laughter. In the shadowy confusion, someone or something whispers thickly,

"I caaannn seeeee yoooou...," The Horror Maze is starting to work on me!

At the next turn a butchered horse's head lies in my path, A BUTCHERED HORSE'S HEAD LIES IN MY PATH! (Awesomeness rating just zoomed to 10!) I step over it to continue!

Bugs skitter out from under walls beneath my feet, spiders tangle in my hair as they swing down from the ceiling. Disturbing art in gilded frames decorate the walls at unfortunately frequent intervals, and just when the images, sounds, and surprises truly fill me with a sense of imminent peril, a shower of blood rain soaks me to the bone as it slowly turns my vision, or at least my screen, that particular shade of deep red.

False starts, dead ends, and frightening distractions don't deter me from trying to find the end of the maze and also, maybe picking up some cash along the way. Yes, for the cash strapped there's money to be made if you can find it, so keep searching, that is, if-you-CAN-keep-searching.

The promise of linden$ and the challenge of escape help stop me from dwelling too much on the delightfully disgusting things happening around me. But still...., I realize I'm secretly glad I'm not trapped in the Horror Maze in real life...., no Disney Halloween nights for this girl!

The maze does have an ultimate ending. I never made it.

Maybe you will...., or...., not.

Bring your courage and your friends, you can hold hands as you shiver your way through the Horror Maze! But pay attention, at the end, you may find that it was not your friend's hand you held in yours that whole time.... but something far less.... pleasant.

Very dark indeed!

The Horror Maze

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My gallery "19" Art For The Dark and a list of all SL galleries

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Update! A big apology to "An" in my Raven piece who I identified as a she when she was actually a he! I fixed it immediately. Thanks for your understanding and also for letting me know!

Carnival Of Doom!

I'm standing in front of the ticket booth waiting to get my ticket when suddenly there is a scream! High above me a car has come detached from the Ferris wheel! It plunges toward me and I jump aside as it crashes into the ground inches from my feet! I reel in shock, my heart pounds in my chest and I realize I have arrived at....

THE CARNIVAL OF DOOM! 

Begin at the booth where you'll be given a ticket/HUD to wear. You must wear the hud to participate. (Newbies, find the hud in your inventory in the objects folder, left click on it and choose wear, and you're good to go.) The HUD looks like a rough, yet charming backwoods voodoo doll that sits on the upper right side of your screen. A warning about the COD-Carnival Of Doom, you can and will probably sustain damage, you may even die! Not to fear, death is only the beginning at the COD, but I'll let you discover that for yourself.  Ready? Let's go!

What's a carnival without cheesy rigged carnival games? That's part of what we come for right? The COD has all kinds of them! Interesting and interactive, you can play alone or with a friend and you may even win a prize or two if your ah..., lucky? 

Ditto for the rides. Hop on the merry go round and you'll find this machine can move! Spinning faster and faster, you realize the fun's going to last a "virtual" lifetime; five minutes or more. But, don't even try to get off until the ride is over or something really really bad will happen to you. No, really, something bad, it's bad. 

Hungry? There's plenty to eat! You'll find all the old favorite familiar carnival foods. Vendors offer everything from hot dogs, to slushies except..., you may want to wait to get home to eat. Everything, and I mean everything, you do here has consequences, most of them unpleasant,  Did I say bad?

After you've recovered from your little food experience, you might want to check out the other great exhibits and adventures the COD has to offer. There is the Freakshow, where you can see various mesmerizing monstrosities, a store where you'll find interesting novelties, the fortune teller who will give you "good" advice and of course, a haunting haunted house. 

If you do "kick the bucket" during your explorations, no worries, you'll be instantly transported to the Carnivals own and now my, particular interpretation of hell. But that's a whole other story!

At first glance the carnival may seem like a place of campy horror, it gets a darker edge to it when you get past the meat and down to the bones. Notice the details. 

Neon lights in a derelict food cart flicker on and off, for no apparent reason other than to create a sense of dread. Look closely at the carousel horse on the merry go round, and see the expression of sheer terror frozen forever on it's face. Tour the haunted house and find a room that's just a bit more disturbing than fun.

Humorous and definitely creepy, the Carnival Of Doom is every ones kind of fun and a real treat! Bring your whole posse for a few chills, spills, a rockin good time and see for yourself. I dare you. It's an experience you may never forget. 

Ever.

Carnival Of Doom

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Welcome!

Welcome to Dark Plots, the blog of everything dark in the virual world of Second Life! I decided to start this blog to share with you the dark places I visit in SL and through their links, I hope to show you new places to love, old places to revisit, and new mysterious adventures to enjoy!

My name is Nima, I am an artist and dark by nature, (if death and taxes are the ultimate truths, how do we get through all the living in between? How can one live, and not have a touch of darkness in their souls?) and naturally, the dark recesses of human creativity are the places I tend to seek.

Warning, things can change fast in SL, what is there today may not be tomorrow, see it while you can. If you have a favorite or run a dark place in SL and you think I should check it out, I'd love to hear from you. Please drop me a note, or leave me a message.

I hope you enjoy these posts and more than that, find them useful.

And without further ado, let's begin.......,