Stories By Van

The tooth fairy is rivalled only by Santa Claus in popularity among American children. She is famous for exchanging a few dollars for baby teeth that have fallen out. Belief in the tooth fairy has become so common in the United States that losing belief in her is considered a rite of passage showing that a child is “growing up.” Despite its popularity, little is known of the origins of the tooth fairy and few parallels are found in other cultures. One fact that emerges when the tooth fairy’s origin is investigated is that the original tooth fairy, if there was one, seems to have been of a less innocent nature than the modern dental sprite. Precursors in European Folklore There is no direct parallel to the tooth fairy in European folklore. In Medieval England, it was popular to burn a child’s baby teeth. The reason for this was connected to beliefs about the afterlife. An old superstition was that if a child did not dispose of his or her baby teeth properly, the person ...

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton The option to impose one’s will on another is an option that position alone wrongly affords all too many individuals. Indeed this option to impose on, rather than work with, this option to impose on without any regard whatsoever for due process, becomes, in the hands of most, a license to harm, if not destroy the careers and lives of others. People do, after all, inexplicably lose their jobs; careers do get gently nudged onto the rocks; professional marginalization does occur; first-rate organizational, social and political initiatives do encounter untenable resistance, if they are not obstructed altogether; minority oppression does occur; individual whim decimates cultures and destroys countries.   There are some obvious explanations as to why individuals would abuse the authority associated with their formal positions.  The existence of an altogether unrelated drive for personal gain...

Humanity may be the first intelligent species in the universe and might have to wait a long time to communicate with extraterrestrials, astronomers have claimed. Two separate pieces of research have suggested our civilization evolved at the "very beginning of a long era" in which stars have evolved to the right size to let life evolve on planets orbiting them. We may be just  0.1% of the way through this "life-supporting period", meaning aliens may be extremely primitive and unable to communicate with us. Academics from Oxford University have published a paper which suggests the "necessary elements of life", such as carbon and oxygen, developed tens of millions of years after the Big Bang. They also found that the sort of small stars which support life are likely to glow for trillions of years, meaning we "may be too early" to get in touch with aliens. Dr Rafalel Alves Batista, from Oxford University's department o...

Halloween is upon us. The spirits of the departed return to haunt the living and demons roam the land. Predictably, scary movies flood television screens and packs of costumed, sugar-crazed children wander the streets. In many ways, trick or treating and watching horror movies are puzzling activities. What possesses people to help their children become ghouls, monsters and supernatural villains for one enchanted evening? Why do we seek out experiences that we know will expose us to dread, disgust and terror? Not everyone is drawn to these experiences, of course. As a rule, humans seek pleasure and avoid pain. But some seem to welcome emotional pain and even luxuriate in it. The ‘Dark’ Factor  Researchers have explored what influences enjoyment of horror movies in the hope of understanding the paradox that lies at its heart. Liking horror movies is associated with an underlying dimension of entertainment preferences, dubbed “the Dark factor”. P...

Alright, let me be honest, this post today is going to be a more-or-less, copy and paste blog post. Mostly, because this blog is just as helpful to me as it can be to you.  Today's blog is about the different camera tricks that you can use to in a horror movie to further "advance" the experience. And, since that's something that I want to do sometime in future (hopefully, the near future. I do have a couple short film scripts ready to go) I thought this post would be beneficial. And if there's anyone reading this that wants to do the same thing, I hope you find this post helpful. The original article link is here:  https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/cinematography-tips-for-horror-filmmakers/ . This site has a lot of other articles as well for future filmmakers. Check them out. They're great. Horror is a very specific genre that calls for some unique lighting techniques. These five cinematography tips will make just about any horror film more styl...

Hey, everyone my age, you know our parents love Charlie Brown's Halloween special "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"? Well, today I'm going to ruin all of that for them, and I'm hoping that you will watch the special for the first time with these theories in your head. I'll go ahead and apologize to my mom now. Sorry, not sorry. Alright, I'm excited. Let's do this! “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” isn’t only the most popular TV Halloween cartoon. It’s one of the most beloved and watched holiday specials in television history. And when something is viewed that many times over so many years, people are bound to start seeing certain things, coming up with certain ideas, and proposing the following theories about the cartoon… The Great Pumpkin is a Vengeful God Who Killed all the Kids' Parents One of the most notable aspects of both the Peanuts specials and the comic strip is the complete absence of any parents whatsoever. T...

This is a theory of life put into a story by Andy Weir. I found this story a few years ago, and it still blows my mind to this day. I hope you enjoy it too. You were on your way home when you died. It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. And that’s when you met me. “What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?” “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words. “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…” “Yup,” I said. “I… I died?” “Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said. You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?” “More or less,” I said. “Are you god?” You asked. “Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.” “My kids… my wife,” you said. “Wha...