Eerievember is a monthly prompt-based challenge. Art made for it will be archived here. Some more context behind each piece can be found on my social media (Twitter, Instagram) and daily art streams.
Images are © Eduardo Valdés-Hevia unless otherwise noted.
Claude Bernard’s Homunculus Museum, located in Paris, contains the failed results of the physiologist’s experiments on the creation of artificial human life. The formaldehyde preserved bodies were thought to be hoaxes, but a recent analysis has shown them to contain human DNA.
CC-BY-SA 4.0 Eduardo Valdés-Hevia
Sources: Wolfmann, Deframj22 on Wikimedia and kthypryn on Flickr.
These large organic remains, nicknamed “the bog body” were found in a quarry near Knoxville, Tennessee in 1907. The walls around the body were carved, forming what looked like a grave. Once exposed to the elements, the delicate state of the remains quickly deteriorated.
Monodontia, commonly known as “Tombstone teeth”, is a rare condition where adult teeth grow fused into a single block. No cure exists apart from complete excision and replacement with dentures. The causes of monodontia are unknown, but it is thought to be the result of a combined effect of susceptible genetics and infections happening at an early age affecting the growth of teeth.
1975. The Abnormal Religions and Beliefs (ARB) Division of the UCR undertakes an experiment. This so-called Artificial Salvation Test attempted to cause a Type 1 Rapture Event, sending the subject’s body to a High-state Plane. It only worked partially. [Listen to the subject interviews]
CC-BY-SA 4.0 Eduardo Valdés-Hevia
Sources: Desherinka, Nevit Dilmen and RSatUSZ on Wikimedia
Nov. 5 2008. Last image captured from the GRFL generator, a failed attempt at creating fusion energy. During a routine check, a man was killed by an accidental generator activation. The unrestrained energy burst destroyed the machine, which the company would never recover from.
The last signals received from the ship Almirante Cardoso on Dec 22nd, 2012. 21:23 “…lling for assist…GPS is nonfunc…land lost…the fog” 21:31 “cont…lighthouse…so bright…bright” The ship was never found. This image was taken from the coast of Navarino island, 21:29.
It is customary among sailors to refrain from mentioning the “Ocean’s Mind”, lest you lose its favour. Most see it as an old wives’ tale, but seasoned seamen know that there is a deeper truth to it under the waves.
Calcium hyperproficiency is a rare complication of vitamin D deficiency, where excess calcium from bone resorption forms complex structures resembling primary teeth. Neoformed teeth grow on different bones, such as this patient’s hand, causing fractures and joint dysfunction.
Sources: DVIDS, Coronation Dental Specialty Group.
Skeleton recovered from the Le Lanchon experiments on human evolution. In these tests, volunteers were subjected to procedures to “accelerate the development of mankind”. No subject is recorded to have survived. Their crab-like form is thought to be an instance of carcinization.
Source: Cliff on Flickr, taken at the Smithsonian’s Osteology collection.
The Worm is off the string.
His name is Richard, he belonged to @_Catherineese_ One day he fell in love with the Moon and escaped his tethering to be with her.
During early DNA tests, some newborn subjects were infused with vectors carrying nucleic acids in an attempt to cure genetic disorders. The introduction of contaminated heterologous genetic material during the tests would lead to severe developmental problems for some patients.
The 1960s Amniotic Tank experiments are among the most denounced scientific studies in history.
What began as an artificial womb trial turned into a testing ground to breed different species and attempt to produce viable offspring. No test animal remained viable outside the tank.
Source: lunar caustic and kthypryn on flickr, Wolfmann on Wikimedia.
The Eye of Siracusa.
Urban legends claim some people are able to see an eye looking at them in this image. It shows a family leaving flowers for a dead relative in a catacomb in Sicily in the 1940s.
No processing technique on prints or the negative has ever revealed such an eye.
A new dwarf planet has been discovered in our solar neighbourhood. It was given the provisional name Xipe Totec. It has gone unnoticed due to its small size and complex orbit, but it recently passed close enough for this first image to be captured.
Crystalline Conjunctival Hypertrophy is a rare symptom of heavy metal buildups in the blood, most commonly of cadmium. Small deposits of the metal in the conjunctiva eventually grow into relapsing structures that may protrude out of the eye, such as this advanced case.
A series of pictures taken at the Kola Superdeep Borehole, a 1970 Soviet research project.
Around 11,660 metres of depth, the machinery broke down and a special camera was sent in, taking pictures every 50 m.
This first hole was abandoned soon after.
The project continued through a second hole branching from this initial one, reaching a depth of 12,262 metres in 1989. No other strange reports were made.
Today, the project stands abandoned, and the deepest man-made hole on earth has been welded shut.
Story © Eduardo Valdés-Hevia, Images are CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Sources: Muhammad Bin Naveed.
In 1931, a group of British explorers vanished in the Himalayas.
The last person to see them said their leader, Edmund Holder, quickly took off through an unexpected route after “having an epiphany”.
The bodies were never found, but a camera with this image was recovered in 1976.
This was a collab with Prince Clair, who created the base drawing of the angel.
CC-BY-SA 4.0, Eduardo Valdés-Hevia and Prince Clair.
Sources: Vmenkov on Wikimedia, ETH-Bibliothek Zürich (taken by Arnold Heim), and Sven Anders Hedin.
Tampering with small areas of the human genome can have drastic effects. Inducing the expression of the BAR116 region of the HoxD genes induces body differentiation only seen in the highly specialized mammal limbs of bats and colugos. Examples like this one are rare but notable.
Fragment of a 2007 biology textbook. The photograph appears to be of a strange chicken born in 2002 in a farm in Essex, which had several extra heads and limbs that matured at different rates. It lived for 6 months. There are no other known cases of this rare mutation.
In July 1939, the newly-formed Department of Paranormal and Spiritualistic Studies (DPSS) of the UCR investigates the supposedly haunted Penfield House, Georgia. This manor was abandoned in the 1910s after a series of paranormal events. Its interiors appear to “shift”.
[Read the full thread]
The Ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, represents the cyclical nature of life and death all throughout the world. Some claim seeing it is a sign of things to change.
This image was reportedly taken in Andalucía (Spain) in 1881, before a famine swept through the region.
The famine led to a wave of crime and social unrest, with organizations like the Black Hand (La Mano Negra) allegedly appearing, and harsh government countermeasures taking place.
Many people at the time reported dreaming of the snake biting its tail.
In 2005, a group of friends reportedly got lost in an “empty city” while traveling Europe. Their train to Prague made an unexpected stop, and they got off in a nameless town. Buildings were solid, windowless. “There was a crowd, but no people in it. They moved like clockwork.”
Empty cars drove in synchrony, without need for traffic lights. Streets had no names. Billboard ads showed senseless items. One of them would describe the place as “the idea of a city.” They left after waiting in the station for an entire day, until a real train arrived.
Source: Chee2 on Wikimedia.
Fiji Mermaids used to be popular sideshow attractions. Half of a mummified monkey’s body sewn to the back half of a fish. This uncovered image of what looks like a large specimen tells a different story, and though most stay skeptical, it has breathed new life into the legend.
Valdevia 