We live in a beautiful world, a mysterious world. A world that will leave your heart fluttering or your body shaking with equal ease. Things we accept so painlessly- science, logistics, statistics, don’t always hold a place in a world so full of mystery and wonder. The greatest minds, the wildest imaginations, and the sleekest technology simply cannot find all of the answers, and it’s then that we see hands thrown up in the air, and “I don’t knows” tossed about. Whether it’s the Fire from Heaven in our households, Nature’s fury in the mountains, or a terror of the evening embedded into our minds, there’s mystery everywhere, and this world’s beauty is not without its questions.

The Fire of Jeannie Saffin and Company

            “It’s the most amazing thing I have ever seen. As I review it, the short hairs on my neck bristle with vague fear. Were I living in the Middle Ages I’d mutter something about black magic.” (qtd. in Spontaneous Human Combustion). Jeannie Saffin blew up. Utterly, completely, she was destroyed in this most mysterious way. The story, explained in How Spontaneous Human Combustion Works, goes that the mentally handicapped Saffin was sitting with her 82 year old father at their home in London. According to the father, a flash of light caught his eye. Turning to his daughter, he witnessed her upper body being engulfed by flames. Mr. Saffin and his son-in- law managed to put out the blaze, but Jeannie died from her third degree burns about a week later. According to the son, “the flames were coming from her mouth like a dragon and they were making a roaring noise.” To add to the mystery, there was no smoke or fire damage to the room. (qtd. in Watson). Spontaneous Human Combustion is a phenomenon so out of this world, it’s almost cartoonish. The horror, however, has been recorded enough to where even the greatest of scientists find the need to give it some thought. Its fortunate rarity is only superseded by its profound creepiness.

Spontaneous human combustion is far from a new theory. It is rooted deep in history, and is even thought of by some as a moralistic form of punishment. As stated in the article The Big Burn Theory, the accounts date as far back as 1470, where Polonus Vorstius of Italy drank wine before going to bed, and then promptly erupted into flames that incinerated him to ashes. Ford goes on to say, “this set a moralistic tone that others followed, and alcoholism became accepted as the cause of combustion. Essentially, there was a good portion of history where the condition, although rare, was based solely on hitting the liquor a bit too much. An act of God’s will, it seemed, until on July 1st, 1951, innocent old Mary Reeser fell victim to the fiery doom. In The Big Burn Theory, it is stated that- “...The doorknob of Reeser’s apartment was found to be hot. When police broke in, all they found was a mound of smoking ash with a leg protruding and charred liver attached to the spine” (Ford). Hardly divine.

Naturally, science has a say in regards to these mysterious incidents. Some of the ideas are inventive, to put it one way, while others may have somewhat of a point. One of the interesting theories includes “a build-up of static electricity inside the body,” that would burst at a point and cause combustion, but for this theory to work it would include “a new subatomic particle called a pyroton...” of which there is no scientific proof (Watson). There is also the Wick Effect, which is described in the article “The Enigma of Spontaneous Human Combustion.” In the article, it states:  “There is the...Wick Effect hypothesis, which proposes that the clothing of a victim, having been set alight...splits a portion of the skin, through which there is a release of subcutaneous fat...this ‘fuel’ is absorbed into the clothing, which acts as a wick” (Richard). This explanation is widely accepted, or at least as accepted as a theory about human beings exploding can be. It seems to agree with the temperature gradient theory described in How Spontaneous Human Combustion Works. The theory states that the reason people’s appendages tend to remain intact has to do with the idea that the top half of a seated person is warmer than the bottom. This works just like a match held by the bottom, which will go out if left unfettered due to the bottom of the match being cooler than the top (Watson). These theories are perhaps the closest science has come to matching up a method to this madness, but the idea that human beings are being compared to matches is at least unsettling.

In the face of all this speculation, the question naturally arises: were the cases of Saffin, Vorstius, and Reeser an act of God, a judgment of sorts? Or merely a combination of misfortune and science? In a world so mysterious, it leaves one to wonder just what happened in the Fire of Jeannie Saffin, and of course, why?

The Dyatlov Pass Incident

            “If I had a chance to ask God just one question, it would be, ‘What really happened to my friends that night?’” (qtd. in Mysterious Deaths). The Dyatlov Pass Incident is a monster of a mystery that has left heads turning for years. In an article by The Daily Variety, the scene is synopsized:

A real-life ski incident...February 1959 in Russia’s ural Mountains when nine ski hikers died...The group tore open their tent from the inside and left barefoot in a heavy snow storm. Though there was no sign of a struggle, two victims had fractured skulls, one was missing her tongue and clothing belonging to them contained high levels of radiation. (Lodderhose)

            The overwhelming obfuscation that has been born from this event still remains. A statement by investigators saying that it was  “A compelling unknown force” (qtd. in Mysterious Deaths) has done little to quell the suspicions surrounding the case.

            The details surrounding the incident are more than mysterious, leaving scientists and theorists alike befuddled. As stated in a detailed report by the St. Petersburg Times, the group of experienced skiers was led by 23 year old Igor Dyatlov. The group intended to embark on a skiing expedition to Otoren Mountain and send a telegram once they arrived back at Vizhai from the mountain. Yury Yudin, the tenth of the group, and the only survivor, fell ill near Vizhai on the first trip through, and returned home. The others weren’t so lucky, and a search squad was sent out after they had been late for almost a week. (Mysterious Deaths). Clearly, something had gone down. Several sets of footsteps led toward the forest, away from the tent that had been torn open from the inside, and disappeared after a little more than a quarter mile. The first two bodies, that of Georgy Krivonischenko and Yury Doroshenko were found barefoot, in their underclothes, and with burnt hands  near a large pine tree. Branches from the tree were broken up to 15 feet high, and the remains of a fire lay nearby (Dyatlov Pass). The next three bodies, that of Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova, and Rustem Slobodin, were found between the first two bodies and the camp “The way that the bodies were lying indicated that the three had been trying to return to camp” (Mysterious Deaths). The search effort slowed down considerably from there, taking two months to locate the remaining skiers. In the meantime, “Doctors said the five had died of hypothermia. Slobodin’s skull was fractured...” Additionally, it was reported that the first five had a deep orange tan and uncharacteristically grey hair when seen at their funerals. (Mysterious Deaths). The remaining skiers were discovered under a suffocating 12 feet of snow, about 75 yards away from the pine tree which seemed to be the rendevous point of the other skiers. Nicolas Thibeaux-Brignollel’s skull had been crushed, and he was mystifyingly sporting two wristwatches- one reading 8:14 a.m. and the other saying 8:39 a.m. With him were Ludmila Dubinina, who was absent of her tongue and sported several broken ribs. Alexander Zolotaryov had also died with broken ribs. (Mysterious Deaths). Reported in Osadchuk’s article is a quote from doctor Boris Vozrozhdenny, who said that “no man could have inflicted the injuries because the force of the blows had been too strong and no soft tissue was damaged...It was equal to the effect of a car crash.”  (qtd. in Mysterious Deaths). These nine deaths are surely amongst the most mysterious to have ever been died, and the eery details only further lend to the creepiness behind the deaths of these nine skiers.

            Where there’s a mystery, there’s a thousand theories. While some of them usually lend some light on the situation, some really only make it even more unclear. This is especially true in the case of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, especially due to the fact that the investigation was closed by the end of the month and the case files were sent away to a secret archive. Other skiers or adventures were also barred from the area for the next three years (Dyatlov Pass). What truly happened between the night of February 1st and 2nd of 1959 may always be a mystery, but speculation is forever. A prominent theory in regards to these skiers demise is described in Osadchuk and O’Flynn’s article:

One of the first [theories] to be explored by the original investigators was that the students were killed by the local indigenous people, the Mansi, for trespassing on their holy land...In the 1930’s, Mansi shamans had reportedly drowned a female geologist who had climbed a mountain that the tribe considered forbidden. But in this case, although both mountains are mentioned in Mansi folklore, neither was considered a sacred or taboo site. The chilling coincidence that Otorten, the doomed party’s destination, means “don’t go there” in the Mansi language while Kholat-Syakhyl means “Mountain of the Dead.” (Osadchuk).

Perhaps with titles like “don’t go there” and “Mountain of the Dead,” it’s hard to blame anybody to point fingers at the Mansi tribe in a case that has no other reasonable explanation to date. There is another theory out there though, and it carries considerable weight. It is known broadly as “bright flying spheres” theory. Lev Ivanov, chief investigator of the incident, said of these lights: “I suspected at the time and am almost sure now that these bright flying spheres had a direct connection to the group’s death” (qtd. in Dyatlov Pass). It is described in The Dyatlov Pass Incident that a group of adventurers who had been camping about 30 miles south of the skiers on that same February night reported seeing these lights, described as orange spheres or balls of fire. These were seen floating in the night sky in the direction of the Mountain of the Death the night the intrepid skiers perished. The idea is that one of the skiers may have left during the night and seen the sphere, awaking the others with his cries. From there they fled from the spheres, which apparently had enough influence to send them away without vital gear. The sphere then could have exploded, killing the four who were sporting serious injuries and cracking Slobodin’s skull. The blame for these apparent orange balls of death is spread evenly to aliens and the Russian military. There are other theories too, that deserve a fair chunk of credit. It is explained in Osadchuk and O’Flynn’s article that a surprisingly common conclusion is that the “unexplained compelling force” that sent these skiers to their doom was an abominable snowman, of which there are multiple reports every year. This seems fairly reasonable when compared to the theory involving subterranean-dwelling Russian gnomes (Dyatlov Pass). In a case so dark, so mysterious and out of place in our ordinary lives, one has to wonder just what could have happened to the nine skiers that night on the Mountain of Death.

The Slenderman

            “We didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time...” (Paranormal). It stalks the evening, flexible and terribly long arms protrude from a frighteningly tall and slim figure. The suited figure doesn’t have a face, looking rather like a mannequin. It makes no noise, and spares no souls. Its power is boundless. As the New York Times puts it:  “The Slenderman has been the subject of Internet forum threads, image memes...He appears at the margins of family portraits and class photos, lurking, waiting” (Slender). The Slenderman is undoubtedly a menace among mysteries.

The Slenderman has taken over the Internet and infected people’s minds with fear, spreading his terrible influence here and there with no mercy. Sightings may be rare, but pictures claiming to play host to him are innumerable. In this picture we see him at one of his common habitats, in the backdrop of a school playground. He is depicted as usual, sporting multiple appendages, standing horribly as he transfixes young children in place. Attached to these pictures, which are usually similar to this, are ominous warnings, including- “Early digital analysis indicates tall subject may have no eyes. Anomalies, previously thought to be film errors...now thought to be appendages” (Paranormal). Things don’t end with mere pictures, however. The terror spreads to video as well, especially that of the Marble Hornets Project. Entry #0, the introduction to what has exceeded 66 videos, depicts a black background and white lettering-

The following clips are raw footage from Alex Karlie. A college friend of mine. In 2006, Alex was in the process of shooting his student film, entitled Marble Hornets...Near the end of the shooting, Alex halted production indefinitely and dropped the unfinished project. He told me it was due to the “unworkable conditions” on the set, which was less than a mile away from his house. I asked what he planned to do with the countless numbers of tapes he had filled. “Burn them.” I hated to see all of his work go to waste...I have decided to look through them...the tapes are unnumbered and missing timestamps. Should I find anything in any of them I will upload it to keep as a permanent record. (#0)

These videos are a YouTube sensation, all featuring footage off and on the set of Marble Hornets. An example is #21, which depicts a lot of nervous shuffling about in the woods, culminating in the finding of a bullet riddled red tower. #66, one of the latest to date, depicts a scared looking man in a burned down Insane Asylum, babbling about:

 “They settled on Schizophrenia eventually...One of the problems I was having was hallucinations...Part of me knew they weren't real, but that still didn't make them go away...Whenever they would find me, II would say I was hiding from whatever I was seeing...I was clawing at the walls, screaming for help...When I saw that footage that you got from Alex...and that person in the background,I couldn't help but think, what if that was what I was seeing when I was in here...?

This man’s unease is representative of the feeling that comes with the Slenderman’s presence, he is said to send people into fits of nausea and migraines with the mere thought of him. YouTube comments, forum posts, and even word of mouth whisper words asking about him. The Slenderman has spread his sphere of influence left and right, up and down, here and there. The fear he causes is unlike any other, and it’s in this way that the Slenderman has found a way into the hearts and minds of many people.

The Slenderman may be terrifying, he may be scary looking, he may be murderous, but he is certainly not real. That isn’t a statement to be put in the way that one would shake his head and say “That’s ridiculous, he cannot exist.” He’s fake in the way that he can be traced from the beginning of his existence. It all started in the Something Awful forums, where somebody going by the username “Gerogerigegege” stated it simply: “Creating paranormal images has been a hobby of mine for quite some time...I always wondered if it were possible to get one of my own chops in a book...by leaking it out into the web.” The painfully incriminating evidence is when he describes how to make the pictures so mysterious- “Before I export, I like to open my Levels panel, and slide my blacks and whites inward to lose true whites and true blacks (makes it look more legit, no?)” He goes on to say “Try exporting your image in a very low JPG quality at first...it can ‘add to the effect’” (Paranormal). This Gerogerigegege fellow may have started the idea, but he didn’t create the monster. That falls upon the shoulders of a certain “Victor Surge,” who posted his first picture (depicted above) on February 2nd, 2008. His next few came later, where the creepy omens mentioned above come into play. People began to praise Victor Surge for his well made and scary pictures, one user saying “My God...This could be glorious in book form,” or “Please do more. These are haunting.” A user named ZombieScholar probably put it best as he responded to Victor Surge’s pictures: “You are an amazing and terrible bastard, sir. Well played. Now to look over my shoulder every couple seconds for the rest of my day...” (Paranormal).  Slenderman may be a mere creation, but really, the mystery comes in his absence, something far deeper than any Internet sensation. The terror doesn’t fall on The Slenderman- he himself cannot be what strikes fear into our hearts, because he is far from real. The mortifying monster that leaves people trembling at the sight of playgrounds and black and white pictures  is simply the warp of our own minds. The Slenderman is terrifying because we make him real. In a sense of physical space, he is not beneath that light post, or hidden among those trees, and certainly not under your bed. What is terrifying is how easy it is to put him there yourself, to bring the fear and pain of his presence to life through the twists and turns of your imagination. It is not the Slenderman’s presence that scares us, that makes the mystery: it is the human condition.

This world is one that is full of mystery just as it is full of beauty. Between the Fire of Jeannie Saffin, the compelling force on the Mountain of Death, and the terror in our minds disguised as a terror of the evening, it becomes apparent that our world is not always what it seems. Depending on one’s outlook, these mysteries may be an act of God, or science, or nature, or perhaps it’s all in our heads. In any case, it would be unreasonable to deny that the world, although beautiful, is certainly full of some pretty creepy business.