Prompt Table Challenges and Craziness
ShipwreckAlien InvasionLove LetterAfraid of the DarkUnrequitedBabySeeing You with New Eyes/ Second LookMissingIgnoredAloneFor 10_hurt_comfort : Pick your own table; Domlijah
Cop and a victim or witness he's protectingStranded in the StormHooker and Wealthy ClientVampire and HumanRevengeEscaped Prisoner and his HostageGrieving Widower and his Neighbour/WorkmateMistaken IdentityCop and an Amnesiac Accident VictimRunning from an Arranged Marriage and Falling for a Stranger who turns out to be the GroomFor 50harlequins : Pick your own table 10; Domlijah
HauntingDoppelgangerRetrocognitionPrecognitionQuantum MechanicsRevenantFugue StateAmnesiaIllusion des SosiesChannelingBlack AgnesSpectral DogsMegalith/MonolithSpringheel JackIncubus/SuccubuGhost HuntShadow PeopleCultApocalypseTarotVampireSkinwalkerWriters Choice: HalloweenWriters Choice: AliensWriters Choice: ??For paranormal25 : Pick your own table; Domlijah
Definitions for Paranormal Prompts:
Haunting: The return of a ghost to the same location over and over. Some hauntings have multiple ghosts.
Doppelganger: A German term that literally means "double-walker." It refers to an apparition of a living person, an exact physical double.
Retrocognition: A sudden time warp in which you find yourself in the past, seeing and experiencing events of which you had no prior knowledge. This more involves seeing the past rather than interacting with it. Physically entering the past would be a timeslip/time travel.
Precognition: Direct knowledge of the future obtained through abnormal, psychic means, like visions or dreams.
Quantum Mechanics: A theory of physics that says that side by side with this world, another world exists - a parallel universe that is somehow slightly different and yet the same. An infinite number of parallel universes exist for every possible variant.
Revenant: Animate corpses which rise from the grave to haunt the living. Thought to be a bit more animated than a zombie.
Fugue State: A psychological disorder with four main characteristics -
1.) The person suddenly and unexpectedly departs from the conditions of one's ordinary lifestyle, such as job, home, and family.
2.) Assumption of a new identity, which might include a new name and vocation.
3.) Inability to recall one's previous identity.
4.) The absence of causes such as an organic mental disorder.
Victims of fugue states have often suffered great mental trauma, and the fugue manifests in an attempt to escape from that trauma. Often the fugue state will end when the perceived threat is removed or the trauma is dealt with. Sometimes a fugue state just spontaneously ends for unknown reasons. It is similar to amnesia but is not exactly the same thing. With amnesia, the person knows they had a previous identity, but have forgotten it. They also do not assume a new identity as if the other one never existed. Amnesia victims may choose a new name and career out of necessity, but they are aware they had a different one at some point. With a fugue state, the person is unaware they had a previous identity.
Amnesia: The inability to retrieve information from memory. Amnesia is caused by disease of or injury to the head/brain or psychological trauma.
Localized amnesia: Forgetting everything from a particular time period.
Selective amnesia: Only certain details from a period of localized amnesia cannot be recalled.
Retrograde amnesia: Inability to remember events immediately prior to a point in time.
Anterograde amnesia: Inability to remember events immediately after a specific point in time.
Continuous amnesia: Anterograde amnesia that persists from this specific point to the present.
Source amnesia: One can remember something, but cannot recall how that information was learned.
Infantile amnesia: The inability to remember the first three years of life.
Generalized amnesia: The complete inability to remember anything.
Because amnesia is such an uncommon thing to happen in real life, at least on a large scale, just the amnesia will be paranormal enough to fulfill this prompt.
Illusion des Sosies: A condition in which a person becomes convinced that a family member or other close personal associate has been replaced with an exact replica. Because this is a paranormal challenge, the origin of the replacement should be supernatural in nature, or the reason behind this assumption.
Channeling: A form of spirit communication where an unseen entity takes possession of a medium or other person and speaks through them.
Black Agnes: While Black Agnes does refer to several actual statues, this legend can refer to any statue used as a grave marker that has the supposed ability to kill. Usually, Black Agnes is a seated statue that marks the grave of a woman who died grief-stricken, and anyone who sits in her lap overnight is supposed to be found dead in the morning. In other regional stories, just meeting Agnes's gaze will strike you dead. You can also use this prompt for any story featuring a similar killer statue.
Spectral Dogs: A being that looks like a very large, menacing, black dog, usually with glowing eyes. They are often associated with the devil/Hell and can be portents of death. If you're writing in the "Supernatural" fandom, you can use the Black Dogs/Hell Hounds for this prompt. (The invisible dogs that came after people who made deals at the crossroads, not the stupid ghost hunting dudes.)
Megalith/Monolith: A huge stone or rock slab used in prehistoric monuments and constructions. A monolith would be one of these stones by itself, while a megalith would be a group of these stones. Stonehenge is a megalith. It is thought that many megaliths were once used for religious rituals.
Springheel Jack: A mysterious humanoid seen in London in 1837 and '38. Sightings have spread to other parts of the UK, the United States, and Argentina in the years since and continue to this day. Meetings with Springheel Jack always occur at night, often in alleyways or on doorsteps. I'm going to quote from the site http://www.unknown-creatures.com on the rest of this because whenever I try to type it, it all sounds so ridiculous that I can't stop laughing long enough to get it done. (I'm sorry, the description of this thing is just so funny.)
Springheel Jack is described as being a tall, thin man wearing a dark cape and a close fitting cloth helmet or hat. The creatures hands have large claws, and his eyes glow bright red at times.
In one of the 1837 sightings, a woman heard a loud knocking on her door. She opened the door to see a man she thought was a police officer standing there. The officer shouted 'for gods sake, bring me a light, we have caught springheel jack in the lane'. The woman returned with a candle, but the man at the door was gone, she ventured outside to find a man standing by her gate. As the woman gave the man the candle, he removed his cloak, and spew out blue and white flames from his mouth. (XD XD) The man then tore at the woman's dress, and scratched her stomach and face. While the attack was happening, the woman noticed the man's eyes were glowing like red coals of fire. The woman's sister heard her screams for help and ran out into the street as the creature fled away.
The creature is able to cross the streets by leaping from one rooftop to the next, taking acrobatic leaps that can be of up to five meters high and ten meters long.
One resident shot at the creature at close range, and said the bullets did nothing to even slow him.
Reports also said that he had a lamp strapped to his chest. Springheel Jack could also leap over fences. In a typical encounter, he might leap in the way of a passing pedestrian, screech at them, and scratch their face before bounding away. Don't let my cynicism sway how you write your story. Feel free to interpret it in a scary manner if you want.
Incubus/Succubus: A male demon that seeks intercourse with human women, often while they are asleep. Mythological lore says that incubi can induce intense sexual desires only they can satisfy. Its female counterpart would be the succubus.
Ghost Hunt: An informal attempt to simply see or record a ghost in a location known to be haunted. Ghost hunts often use typical equipment for such an activity, like cameras, tape recorders, and EMF detectors.
Shadow People: Supernatural shadow-like creatures that can usually be seen moving in the peripheries of your vision and disintegrate or move out of sight when noticed. The most common shadow people look like hooded figures or a man wearing a fedora hat (the "hat man") with no discernable mouth, nose, or other features. Sometimes they have glowing eyes. Humanoid shadow people with no cloak and child-size shadows have also been reported.
Cult: Obsessive and faddish devotion to the leader of a religious sect. Also refers to the system of religious worship where this kind of devotion takes place.
Apocalypse: Current, most popular definition is the destruction of the world and/or civilization.
Tarot: A deck of playing cards used for fortunetelling. There is a large variety of Tarot decks for sale, many of them designed to be a work of art in every card.
Vampire: A folkloric revenant who subsists by feeding on the blood of the living. For more information, you can check out the Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire
Skinwalker: Native American legend of a person with the ability to change into any animal they want.
Cop and a victim or witness he's protectingStranded in the StormHooker and Wealthy ClientVampire and HumanRevengeEscaped Prisoner and his HostageGrieving Widower and his Neighbour/WorkmateMistaken IdentityCop and an Amnesiac Accident VictimRunning from an Arranged Marriage and Falling for a Stranger who turns out to be the GroomFor 50harlequins : Pick your own table 10; Domlijah
HauntingDoppelgangerRetrocognitionPrecognitionQuantum MechanicsRevenantFugue StateAmnesiaIllusion des SosiesChannelingBlack AgnesSpectral DogsMegalith/MonolithSpringheel JackIncubus/SuccubuGhost HuntShadow PeopleCultApocalypseTarotVampireSkinwalkerWriters Choice: HalloweenWriters Choice: AliensWriters Choice: ??For paranormal25 : Pick your own table; Domlijah
Definitions for Paranormal Prompts:
Haunting: The return of a ghost to the same location over and over. Some hauntings have multiple ghosts.
Doppelganger: A German term that literally means "double-walker." It refers to an apparition of a living person, an exact physical double.
Retrocognition: A sudden time warp in which you find yourself in the past, seeing and experiencing events of which you had no prior knowledge. This more involves seeing the past rather than interacting with it. Physically entering the past would be a timeslip/time travel.
Precognition: Direct knowledge of the future obtained through abnormal, psychic means, like visions or dreams.
Quantum Mechanics: A theory of physics that says that side by side with this world, another world exists - a parallel universe that is somehow slightly different and yet the same. An infinite number of parallel universes exist for every possible variant.
Revenant: Animate corpses which rise from the grave to haunt the living. Thought to be a bit more animated than a zombie.
Fugue State: A psychological disorder with four main characteristics -
1.) The person suddenly and unexpectedly departs from the conditions of one's ordinary lifestyle, such as job, home, and family.
2.) Assumption of a new identity, which might include a new name and vocation.
3.) Inability to recall one's previous identity.
4.) The absence of causes such as an organic mental disorder.
Victims of fugue states have often suffered great mental trauma, and the fugue manifests in an attempt to escape from that trauma. Often the fugue state will end when the perceived threat is removed or the trauma is dealt with. Sometimes a fugue state just spontaneously ends for unknown reasons. It is similar to amnesia but is not exactly the same thing. With amnesia, the person knows they had a previous identity, but have forgotten it. They also do not assume a new identity as if the other one never existed. Amnesia victims may choose a new name and career out of necessity, but they are aware they had a different one at some point. With a fugue state, the person is unaware they had a previous identity.
Amnesia: The inability to retrieve information from memory. Amnesia is caused by disease of or injury to the head/brain or psychological trauma.
Localized amnesia: Forgetting everything from a particular time period.
Selective amnesia: Only certain details from a period of localized amnesia cannot be recalled.
Retrograde amnesia: Inability to remember events immediately prior to a point in time.
Anterograde amnesia: Inability to remember events immediately after a specific point in time.
Continuous amnesia: Anterograde amnesia that persists from this specific point to the present.
Source amnesia: One can remember something, but cannot recall how that information was learned.
Infantile amnesia: The inability to remember the first three years of life.
Generalized amnesia: The complete inability to remember anything.
Because amnesia is such an uncommon thing to happen in real life, at least on a large scale, just the amnesia will be paranormal enough to fulfill this prompt.
Illusion des Sosies: A condition in which a person becomes convinced that a family member or other close personal associate has been replaced with an exact replica. Because this is a paranormal challenge, the origin of the replacement should be supernatural in nature, or the reason behind this assumption.
Channeling: A form of spirit communication where an unseen entity takes possession of a medium or other person and speaks through them.
Black Agnes: While Black Agnes does refer to several actual statues, this legend can refer to any statue used as a grave marker that has the supposed ability to kill. Usually, Black Agnes is a seated statue that marks the grave of a woman who died grief-stricken, and anyone who sits in her lap overnight is supposed to be found dead in the morning. In other regional stories, just meeting Agnes's gaze will strike you dead. You can also use this prompt for any story featuring a similar killer statue.
Spectral Dogs: A being that looks like a very large, menacing, black dog, usually with glowing eyes. They are often associated with the devil/Hell and can be portents of death. If you're writing in the "Supernatural" fandom, you can use the Black Dogs/Hell Hounds for this prompt. (The invisible dogs that came after people who made deals at the crossroads, not the stupid ghost hunting dudes.)
Megalith/Monolith: A huge stone or rock slab used in prehistoric monuments and constructions. A monolith would be one of these stones by itself, while a megalith would be a group of these stones. Stonehenge is a megalith. It is thought that many megaliths were once used for religious rituals.
Springheel Jack: A mysterious humanoid seen in London in 1837 and '38. Sightings have spread to other parts of the UK, the United States, and Argentina in the years since and continue to this day. Meetings with Springheel Jack always occur at night, often in alleyways or on doorsteps. I'm going to quote from the site http://www.unknown-creatures.com on the rest of this because whenever I try to type it, it all sounds so ridiculous that I can't stop laughing long enough to get it done. (I'm sorry, the description of this thing is just so funny.)
Springheel Jack is described as being a tall, thin man wearing a dark cape and a close fitting cloth helmet or hat. The creatures hands have large claws, and his eyes glow bright red at times.
In one of the 1837 sightings, a woman heard a loud knocking on her door. She opened the door to see a man she thought was a police officer standing there. The officer shouted 'for gods sake, bring me a light, we have caught springheel jack in the lane'. The woman returned with a candle, but the man at the door was gone, she ventured outside to find a man standing by her gate. As the woman gave the man the candle, he removed his cloak, and spew out blue and white flames from his mouth. (XD XD) The man then tore at the woman's dress, and scratched her stomach and face. While the attack was happening, the woman noticed the man's eyes were glowing like red coals of fire. The woman's sister heard her screams for help and ran out into the street as the creature fled away.
The creature is able to cross the streets by leaping from one rooftop to the next, taking acrobatic leaps that can be of up to five meters high and ten meters long.
One resident shot at the creature at close range, and said the bullets did nothing to even slow him.
Reports also said that he had a lamp strapped to his chest. Springheel Jack could also leap over fences. In a typical encounter, he might leap in the way of a passing pedestrian, screech at them, and scratch their face before bounding away. Don't let my cynicism sway how you write your story. Feel free to interpret it in a scary manner if you want.
Incubus/Succubus: A male demon that seeks intercourse with human women, often while they are asleep. Mythological lore says that incubi can induce intense sexual desires only they can satisfy. Its female counterpart would be the succubus.
Ghost Hunt: An informal attempt to simply see or record a ghost in a location known to be haunted. Ghost hunts often use typical equipment for such an activity, like cameras, tape recorders, and EMF detectors.
Shadow People: Supernatural shadow-like creatures that can usually be seen moving in the peripheries of your vision and disintegrate or move out of sight when noticed. The most common shadow people look like hooded figures or a man wearing a fedora hat (the "hat man") with no discernable mouth, nose, or other features. Sometimes they have glowing eyes. Humanoid shadow people with no cloak and child-size shadows have also been reported.
Cult: Obsessive and faddish devotion to the leader of a religious sect. Also refers to the system of religious worship where this kind of devotion takes place.
Apocalypse: Current, most popular definition is the destruction of the world and/or civilization.
Tarot: A deck of playing cards used for fortunetelling. There is a large variety of Tarot decks for sale, many of them designed to be a work of art in every card.
Vampire: A folkloric revenant who subsists by feeding on the blood of the living. For more information, you can check out the Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire
Skinwalker: Native American legend of a person with the ability to change into any animal they want.