The Alien-Free Challenge

Well, folks, my brain is tired, and I'm sick of the summer. Which means...

LOTS OF SPOOKY YOUTUBE VIDEOS!

(Speaking of YouTube videos, I'm planning on filming a couple this week, so stay tuned!)

Okay, so I'm fond of creepy stories, especially when fall is coming, so I have been digging up creepypastas and urban legends, and I watched a few episodes of Buzzfeed Unsolved.

Correction: I watched a lot of episodes.

And I noticed something: whenever there's a mystery that seems unsolvable, after the rational theories are gone, two things always seem to remain.

Ghosts.

 

And aliens.

Which has brought me to the realization that I'm a pseudo-skeptic when it comes to these kind of stories. I believe in spirits, but I dispute that they are hanging around waiting for people with radios to talk to them, and I believe in extraterrestrial life, but I disagree that they come to Earth to draw circles and abduct people in the middle of the night.

Mainly, I think that our world is plenty weird without having to go right to "ghost" or "alien" as the reason for everything strange that happens. I don't like the idea of jumping to them as explanations because it seems lazy to me.

For example, I don't like hearing that "aliens built the pyramids" because that, to me, is insulting to the ancient Egyptians. Why wouldn't they be smart enough to plan and build the pyramids efficiently?

Just because we don't know how they did it, doesn't meant they didn't know how to do it themselves.

So here I am, thinking about all these paranormal stories, the urban legends and conspiracy theories, and I'm thinking...what if it wasn't aliens?

What if it wasn't ghosts?

What if the truth was something far stranger?

As a writer, my brain perked up. Because this is the realm of creativity. This is where exciting things can happen, when boundaries are placed.

Thus, I came up with this challenge: to, this autumn, write short stories based on famous ghost/alien encounters, but give a new explanation that is weirder, fresher, and possibly creepier than the original. No ghosts. No aliens. None of the conventional explanations, ordinary or weird.

Something else.

Granted, this is all fiction. I don't plan to rationalize away all mysteries. Just to use them as a starting place, give myself limitations, and see what happens. Maybe nothing...or maybe I'll write something worthwhile.

Fellow writers, wanna try?