The Dark Archive

Picture this: its 1994 and you're just a child attending a small private school in the rural town of Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Its mid-morning, around 10 a.m., and you, along with 61 other kids, have just been let out for break. But as you and your friends play, you suddenly see something impossible... Africa is not known for its UFO sightings. Most reports tend to come from the US and alien sightings often feel like a largely Western phenomenon. But, for a few days in 1994 it seemed that whatever these things were had finally turned their attention to Africa. Sightings Across Africa Alien sightings were reported across Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia. In the days preceding the Ariel School Incident, there had been numerous claims of fiery balls of light passing through the night sky. A woman in Zimbabwe reported seeing a mysterious glowing light hovering over her chicken coop and a trucker claimed to have seen a being next to a patch of rural road. Most of this was chalked up to either a ...

The Phenomenon of Liminal Spaces If you’ve ever been online, I’m sure you’ve come across at least one post or image that has a similar look or feel to the ones above. I’ve come across them mostly on TikTok and I always take a minute to kind of marvel at them. Sometimes I even like to imagine what it would be like to actually be inside of it. You might have even experienced these unique spaces in real life. An empty parking garage at night, a deserted playground, a store right before it closes. They’re called liminal spaces and in recent years the internet has become fascinated with the concept of them. The word liminal refers to the general concept of transition or being in between something. It can be an emotional transition , like that feeling right before starting a new job and quitting your old one, or something more physical. Such as a hallway, or a staircase. That’s also why lots of these images depict doorways, roads or pathways All these images though have something in common....

  What if good manners could destroy you? Most people think there are only three trauma responses: fight, flight or freeze . There is however a 'secret' fourth response, fawning . Unlike fighting or running, fawning doesn’t look like fear at first glance. It is a more complex response to trauma and happens when a person tries to avoid harm by trying to appease their aggressor and comply with their wishes. It often looks like kindness, cooperation, patience, or empathy . But beneath that calm exterior lies something far more complicated: an ingrained belief that safety is earned through compliance. Fawning is a form of people pleasing , and often involves the person putting the needs and wants of others first, often to their own detriment. They might appear overly compliant and will minimize their own needs to appease others. They struggle to set boundaries with people and have a hard time saying no.  Fawning is fairly common actually and you yourself might have even done it be...

A Killer legacy  Daisy De Melker is often cited as one of South Africa’s most infamous female serial killers. It seems Daisy’s murderous legacy is as sensational today as it was all those years ago. Even in the modern day, her name is still well known among South Africans, often used a boogeyman and local legend. Many South African’s also claim to either be directly related to her in some way, or to have known or even been family of her victims. Yet, where did this all start? How did she go from a seemingly caring nurse and mother to murdering her own son and almost all of her former husbands? Daisy De Melker after her arrest Image Courtesy of Wikipedia. Early Life on the Frontier  Daisy was born as Daisy Louisa Hancorn-Smith on June 1st, 1886, in Seven Fountains in the former Cape Colonies of South Africa . She was the daughter of William and Fanny Hancorn-Smith and one of 11 children and a further 2 half siblings. (No wonder so many people claim to be related to her.) Even ...

Any horror fan knows who Ed and Lorraine Warren are. Even if you don’t, you’ve probably watched at least one horror movie, series or story based on them.  They’re most well-known for investigating haunted houses, poltergeists and supposed demonic entities. During their lifelong careers, they claimed to have investigated over 10,000 cases including some of the most infamous hauntings across the world. Including Amityville , Annabelle, The Perron family and many others.  Ed was a self-professed, self-taught, demonologist, author and lecturer and artist. Lorraine was a supposed clairvoyant and psychic medium who worked closely with her husband. The Occult Museum In addition to investigating hauntings, the Warrens also collected and contained many supposedly haunted items. They kept them in the back of their house in Monroe, Connecticut where they also founded NESPR, the new England society for psychic research. The museum displays many haunted or cursed items, most famously the ...