lucy.exe
by Ben Frechette, Edan Mejias, Veronica Tay, and David DeSouto
Now, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I consider myself a pretty gifted writer. I would spend hours of my time writing intricate stories about long lost loves, fantastic journeys, and the triumph of humanity above all odds. But, as Halloween was approaching, I felt the need to change my direction. I wanted horror. Descriptions so real that the reader would fear for his own life while reading the story. Little did I know, my first adventure into horror would become my own living nightmare.
This was my first time entering the realm of horror, and I didn’t have a clue as to where I would take my story. So, I decided to take to the internet for some inspiration. I went to Google and searched for “good horror stories” and clicked the Search button. The first result was from a website I had never seen before. Curious as a writer could be, I clicked on the link in hope of finding the perfect springboard for my story. A blank page appeared, and I was moderately confused. After a second or two, a file automatically downloaded on to my computer - “lucy.exe”. Still allowing my curiosity to get the better of me, I opened the file. This is where things started getting… strange.
Upon opening the file, my computer screen went black. A creepy static sound emanated from my speakers. Feeling uneasy, I muted my speakers. The sound persisted. I unplugged my speakers, but the sound continued. A grainy image slowly manifested on the screen. It was horridly disfigured, and I could barely make out the image that was displayed. However, I knew something felt… oddly familiar about it. The image slowly faded away and Microsoft Word appeared on my screen. I was creeped out at first, but then a thought occurred to me – maybe this was the purpose of the program – to elicit fear in hope of sparking inspiration. Well, consider me afraid. I began getting my ideas for my story together, and when I formulated a plot, I decided to call it a night and go to bed.
The following day, I continued work on my story. I was in the middle of typing the second chapter, when static appeared on my screen. Discounting this as my old monitor probably acting up, I kept typing. The screen went black again. The static sound started playing again. Damn, this program really knows how to creep you out. Surely enough, seconds after that thought, another image appeared on screen. This time, the image was less distorted, and I could make out what looked like a graduation photo. The image was not clear enough for me to make out specifics, but again… I couldn’t help but feel it looked familiar, yet I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The image disappeared before I could analyze it further, and my screen returned to Microsoft Word. Fueled with fear, I continued writing my story. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone… something… was watching me write this story, but I discounted that as my nerves being a little shaken. After finishing the third chapter, I closed Word and stopped working on it for that day.
I had taken a day off from writing my story, but I was ready to resume work on it the day after. I was on the second-to-last chapter, where the suspense really begins to ramp up. I was excited to showcase my ability as a horror writer, and this was my opportunity to shine. But sure enough, after I completed the third sentence, the screen becomes static again and goes black. Here we go again. As I expected, another image popped up on screen. It was nearly clear, and I could see what was going on. My heart skipped a beat and I immediately started sweating. This was a picture of me at my brother’s wedding. A million questions raced through my mind, but before any could be answered, the image disappeared and Word reopened. I was legitimately scared now… this program was too much for me to handle. I felt it was best for me to remove it from my hard-drive, which I promptly did after arriving at this conclusion. I felt a huge feeling of relief wash over me, knowing I wouldn’t have to deal with any more random blurry images. I decided it was best for me to get my mind off horror and focus on something else, so I didn’t touch the story for the remainder of the night.
At last, it’s almost done – my horror story is nearly complete, and it was time for me to unleash the killer, who I named Lucifer. I described him as vividly as I could – a misshapen, humanoid stature, with glowing red eyes and a demonic growl. My description was so clear, I actually started feeling fear writing it! As I was approaching the scene where the monster attacks the victim, my screen went to static and subsequently went to black. How is this happening? To my surprise, four images appeared side-by-side this time. The first one looked like the first image I saw, except it was totally clear. It was me, 20 years ago, on my first day of school. In shock, I analyzed the photo carefully, and it seemed legit… except for one minor detail – in a school bus window behind me, there was the silhouette of an older person, but something seemed… off.
I examined the next image, which was the graduation photo… MY graduation photo. Paralyzed with terror, I examined the image and noticed something else was off. There was an odd figure looming in the background – it looked like a person, but at the same time… it didn’t.
I was beginning to feel lightheaded as my eyes drifted to image #3, the wedding. Upon analyzing it, I noticed another figure behind me, humanoid in stature and similar to the other figures I saw. This one, however, was much closer to me, maybe only a few feet behind me in the image. At this point, I could barely breathe.
I looked to face the fourth and final image, and it was a new one I had never seen before. It was a dark hallway with a lone figure standing at the other end. Its silhouette was unhuman, and its eyes glowed in the blackness. Wait a second… this is MY hallway. The figure was standing in MY hallway! At the same time I came to this realization, I heard the door creak open behind me, followed by a low growl.
This was my first time entering the realm of horror, and I didn’t have a clue as to where I would take my story. So, I decided to take to the internet for some inspiration. I went to Google and searched for “good horror stories” and clicked the Search button. The first result was from a website I had never seen before. Curious as a writer could be, I clicked on the link in hope of finding the perfect springboard for my story. A blank page appeared, and I was moderately confused. After a second or two, a file automatically downloaded on to my computer - “lucy.exe”. Still allowing my curiosity to get the better of me, I opened the file. This is where things started getting… strange.
Upon opening the file, my computer screen went black. A creepy static sound emanated from my speakers. Feeling uneasy, I muted my speakers. The sound persisted. I unplugged my speakers, but the sound continued. A grainy image slowly manifested on the screen. It was horridly disfigured, and I could barely make out the image that was displayed. However, I knew something felt… oddly familiar about it. The image slowly faded away and Microsoft Word appeared on my screen. I was creeped out at first, but then a thought occurred to me – maybe this was the purpose of the program – to elicit fear in hope of sparking inspiration. Well, consider me afraid. I began getting my ideas for my story together, and when I formulated a plot, I decided to call it a night and go to bed.
The following day, I continued work on my story. I was in the middle of typing the second chapter, when static appeared on my screen. Discounting this as my old monitor probably acting up, I kept typing. The screen went black again. The static sound started playing again. Damn, this program really knows how to creep you out. Surely enough, seconds after that thought, another image appeared on screen. This time, the image was less distorted, and I could make out what looked like a graduation photo. The image was not clear enough for me to make out specifics, but again… I couldn’t help but feel it looked familiar, yet I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The image disappeared before I could analyze it further, and my screen returned to Microsoft Word. Fueled with fear, I continued writing my story. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone… something… was watching me write this story, but I discounted that as my nerves being a little shaken. After finishing the third chapter, I closed Word and stopped working on it for that day.
I had taken a day off from writing my story, but I was ready to resume work on it the day after. I was on the second-to-last chapter, where the suspense really begins to ramp up. I was excited to showcase my ability as a horror writer, and this was my opportunity to shine. But sure enough, after I completed the third sentence, the screen becomes static again and goes black. Here we go again. As I expected, another image popped up on screen. It was nearly clear, and I could see what was going on. My heart skipped a beat and I immediately started sweating. This was a picture of me at my brother’s wedding. A million questions raced through my mind, but before any could be answered, the image disappeared and Word reopened. I was legitimately scared now… this program was too much for me to handle. I felt it was best for me to remove it from my hard-drive, which I promptly did after arriving at this conclusion. I felt a huge feeling of relief wash over me, knowing I wouldn’t have to deal with any more random blurry images. I decided it was best for me to get my mind off horror and focus on something else, so I didn’t touch the story for the remainder of the night.
At last, it’s almost done – my horror story is nearly complete, and it was time for me to unleash the killer, who I named Lucifer. I described him as vividly as I could – a misshapen, humanoid stature, with glowing red eyes and a demonic growl. My description was so clear, I actually started feeling fear writing it! As I was approaching the scene where the monster attacks the victim, my screen went to static and subsequently went to black. How is this happening? To my surprise, four images appeared side-by-side this time. The first one looked like the first image I saw, except it was totally clear. It was me, 20 years ago, on my first day of school. In shock, I analyzed the photo carefully, and it seemed legit… except for one minor detail – in a school bus window behind me, there was the silhouette of an older person, but something seemed… off.
I examined the next image, which was the graduation photo… MY graduation photo. Paralyzed with terror, I examined the image and noticed something else was off. There was an odd figure looming in the background – it looked like a person, but at the same time… it didn’t.
I was beginning to feel lightheaded as my eyes drifted to image #3, the wedding. Upon analyzing it, I noticed another figure behind me, humanoid in stature and similar to the other figures I saw. This one, however, was much closer to me, maybe only a few feet behind me in the image. At this point, I could barely breathe.
I looked to face the fourth and final image, and it was a new one I had never seen before. It was a dark hallway with a lone figure standing at the other end. Its silhouette was unhuman, and its eyes glowed in the blackness. Wait a second… this is MY hallway. The figure was standing in MY hallway! At the same time I came to this realization, I heard the door creak open behind me, followed by a low growl.
Reflection
In order to illustrate this horror story with photographs, I chose to first photograph a single lit up window on a house, so as to set the mood/scene for the story. I then took a picture of fingers typing on a keyboard as the character in the story searched the web. As the character went bed, I took a picture of the scene outside the very same window I took a picture of. Then, the creature began its approach. Using shadows, I depicted the creature entering the house, coming up on the doorway of the character's bedroom, and finally, the door opening behind our character. My images were more realistic than symbolic. For most of the photos, I ran them through the grayscale and dark strokes filters in Photoshop. If I could do this again, I would probably pick a story that wasn't my own, in order to see another photographers take on illustrating my own work.