The Hum was more than a sound. It was a transmission that transformed at profound levels. A synesthesia signal that changed the way you experienced your environment. Once you picked it up, you were changed.
Tweet by @HooklandGuide – original quote attributed to Matt Adams
Part Two – Hauntings: two for the price of one.
A few days after starting to write the first half of this article, and halfway through my re-watch of Hellier, I was feeling a little uninspired and decided to watch something similar enough to be relevant but different enough to feel like I didn’t have to pay close attention. I settled on a livestream from the Travelling Museum of the Paranormal and the Occult.
The livestream was from the 12th of September and I was watching it on Monday the 13th. I was home alone as we were moving house and my housemate was staying at the new place. The stream was fun; as compelling as always (I love and stan The Worm Man). Part way through, however, some strange things started to happen; it started with a phenomenon I have experienced before: ghost cats. Quite specifically, a spectral version of our own cats. I seem to get haunted by our cats quite regularly. They’re not allowed in my bedroom, but sometimes I still see them running around and hiding. When I get up to chase them out, they’re not there – and I frequently find my bedroom door locked, proving that they were never there to begin with (I have not ruled out astral projection; if anything was going to achieve the conscious separation of spirit and body it would be one of our cats, trying to astrally pee on my favourite rug). On this particular evening I was being haunted by our eldest cat; a black and white fluffy demon called Felix. Felix doesn’t enjoy spending time with the family and usually can be found sleeping upstairs on someone else’s bed, which is where he was this evening. Despite me frequently checking on him and him being sound asleep upstairs every time, I still would see him pacing around in the living room; only to be gone when I took a closer look. Fortunately a cat doppelgänger doesn’t seem as scary as a human and I wasn’t particularly bothered by the apparition. At least it wasn’t screaming to be fed.
Halfway through the livestream I headed upstairs to the bathroom and noticed the figure of a man stood in my housemate’s bedroom. The shadowy figure had no noticeable features except for a white triangle on his chest, as if he was wearing a white shirt under a dark jacket (or, more accurately, a morph suit of someone wearing a shirt under a jacket; there was no texture to the ‘outfit’ – it seemed completely flat). The figure didn’t move, and I felt no fear at all. I turned and went straight into the bathroom as if nothing weird was happening; it wasn’t until I locked the door behind me that I realised the strangeness of the situation. It was as if I was compelled to remain calm and go into the bathroom. I already knew that he wouldn’t be there when I opened the door to check.
The next morning I rang my housemate to tell her what had happened, and she told me that something eerily similar had happened to her. When walking up to her room in the new house she noticed the figure of a man, wearing a red jacket, standing in the doorway to my bedroom. Like with me, she didn’t notice any other features and she was calmly compelled into her room where she went to bed. My housemate is not as interested in the paranormal as I; and certainly experiences more fear and less elation at potential hauntings than myself. The fact that she didn’t run from the house or angrily call me to ask me if I’d moved any of my ‘weird shit’ in is a testament to the calming powers of whatever came to us both that night.
I’ve not seen the shadow figure since, although both my housemate and I have continued to experience ghost cats and strange goings on. I can only presume that this was yet another ‘pay attention’ message.
I’m not sure why I, and so many others who watch Hellier, seem to be getting drawn into the mystery. I highly doubt I’ll end up goblin hunting in Kentucky – mostly due to the fact that I am largely confined to the north of England (and that it would take some immense trickery to convince any friend onto a 17 hour flight to take part in the aforementioned hunt).
Of course the show isn’t entirely about the location Hellier, Kentucky: its about adventure, awakening old gods and allowing yourself to be led off the beaten path. Its about the nature of ‘phenomena’ and how interacting with it can change your perception; perhaps even your life. Hellier wants you to pay attention.
tinyghoul productions 