Week 3: Spooky Time Very Nice
Let's talk about the Moon, hyper-realistic dolls, talking dogs and Randonautica.
Halloween is here and so is the second full moon of October. It is a spooky time for many reasons, so I picked a handful of interesting and unsettling TikToks for your enjoyment.
Bunny the Dog
Bunny is a dog from Tacoma, WA who has learned how to talk using voice recorded buttons. I’ve been following Bunny for a while and it has been incredible to watch the progress of her learning unfold on my feed. Recently she’s been taught words to do with time and space, so she’s been asking more questions…. It has become a popular joke this week to pretend to be Bunny having an existential crisis as she learns how to communicate with deeper meaning. Here are a couple videos of Bunny:
I recommend following their YouTube and TikTok accounts.
Coat hanger mind control
I hate to admit that I tried this and it totally works.
Randonautica
It wouldn’t be a spook season TikTok newsletter without bringing up one of the creepier things to come up this year. The adventure app Randonautica was released in February 2020. A simple explanation of its function is that it was created as a way to explore the relationship between technology and human consciousness. Basic instructions are to set an intention and the randomly generated coordinates are meant to lead you to something related to the original intention, often with coincidence and deeper meaning. Naturally, it became extremely popular on TikTok. The timing itself made sense because life as we knew it had completely changed due to Covid-19, and everyone was stuck at home. The hype reminded me of when Pokemon Go first came out but mixed with creepypasta.
You would most likely have seen Randonautica in the news back in July after a group of teens found a dead body while using the app at Alki Beach in Seattle. The discovery was a tragic coincidence. It added a real sense of fear to the app and video content. Many of the more popular videos involve dramatic editing, storytelling and this unnerving audio clip:
The sensational nature to the content requires some critical thinking before accepting anything at face value, as with most media. The Randonauting community has existed before the app’s creation and TikTok hype. There are many stories on Reddit, of course.
SAD
This absolute legend has been showing up on my feed lately zooming around in a shopping cart. I think the vibe embodies 2020… FAST and “~sad~”.
An elephant seal walks home alone at night
The Full Moon
Also back in the summer, a group of “baby witches” were banding together to hex the moon. Of course WitchTok (TikTok for witches) got up in arms about this, the result of this drama I didn’t actually see the resolution to but that’s just how the feed goes sometimes. I bring up the moon because Halloween has a special Full Blue Moon. Much like other trends and topics on TikTok, astrological events tend to be over hyped with with an element of fear, often adding to the heaviness of 2020. Here is a creator talking about the upcoming full moon in a comforting way for any witches reading:
I don’t know why this scares me but it does
The kangaroo is here
Digital wolves
I kept seeing these on my feed a couple days ago and I deeply do not like this content so I had to include it here.
POV: You just woke up and you don’t know why this man is in your house but he is
Every video on his account is basically a variation of “Goood moooorning my queens above 18.” If I was better at doing characters and voices I would absolutely add this to my repertoire.
These are my frogs
Frog TikTok is very real and it simply will not leave my For You Page.
GRANDMA LOVES DARK CHOCOLATE
I don’t know if I can look at pumpkin deeley-bobber headbands the same way ever again… So this one is clearly trying to be wacky and weird but it steps over the line and is just terrifying. It pushes the question of “do they think it is funny for the same reason I do?”
Reborns
There’s a rather strong community online surrounding these hyper-realistic baby dolls. Doll collecting is not a new thing but many people get into Reborns for therapeutic purposes. Apparently the process of creating a “Reborn” doll is called “Reborning”
Baby dolls in general tend to freak me out but the creep-factor is also a huge source of entertainment while browsing antique markets and thrift stores.
5 minute crafts but for your face..?
So there’s that trend across social media platforms involving absolutely bonkers craft tutorials that are promoted as being quick and easy but would end up being an absolute mess in practice… I’ve seen a few DIY paintbrush tutorials involving human hair… ANYWAY I think this might similar but for lip plumping.
Cathy don’t go to the supermarket today
I’ll end the content stream of consciousness here but not before sharing an old favorite. I was watching cult-related documentaries this week and it caused me to think about this pop banger produced by the the Children of God… oops I mean… “The Family International” as a recruiting tactic:
Thank you for reading the third issue of Night School. Check back next week for a post-election cleanse.
Let me know in the comments if there is anything mentioned that you’d like to see more of.