As the atmosphere filled with an eerie and chilling ambience, Blank 101 at Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted Phobos, a session based on intriguing ghost stories, true crimes and mind chilling folklore to celebrate the spirit of Halloween. As the talk began, silence hushed the entire seminar hall as the audience listened with fascination and utmost curiosity. The host addressed the audience explaining that Phobos as titled, is known to be the son of Ares and Aphrodite, of war and love, of violence and passion. Supposedly, the ancient Greeks worshipped fear, not to avoid it, but to have control over it.
Teresita Basa
On that note, the first speaker led the audience through the story of Teresita Basa who was found killed with a knife protruding from the center of her chest in February 1977. As the case fell in the hands of a Chicago police detective, things took an unexpected turn as Teresita’s ghost allegedly returned from the grave to identify her killer. The “ghost” inhabited the body of a hospital employee, Remy Chua. However, this case was later taken to court as her apparent killer, Allan Showery, a third Edgewater Hospital employee, who had initially confessed to the murder later told the police that he was “just kidding”.
The next speaker took the audience over a whole other multiverse, video games, ones that play with psychological horror. One of the examples stated was that of “Max Payne 1”. Here, Max is on a mission to get revenge for the death of his wife and child. The game begins as a third person shooter but as it progresses, Max is shown his dead baby in a deep, dark void and in order to surpass this vision, he needs to walk over a single line of blood. The speaker emphasized that this game is mostly based on the aspects of psychological horror, even though there aren’t any jump scares or monsters lurking around. In another example stated, “Firewatch” is a game where the player is on a lookout for fires with the help of Delilah who poses as a character on the radio, although her identity is a complete mystery. However, Delilah knows more than what she leads the player on. Using this example, the speaker brings up existential horror- where an individual expects a certain occurrence, but nothing takes place. And yet another example given was “Doki Doki Literature club”, a game which starts off as a lighthearted dating sim but in reality, it is a psychological horror game disguised as a cute anime romance.
The following speaker talked about how horror doesn’t necessarily have to include ghosts, but it could be anything from opening selfie cameras at night to the sudden realization of having low attendance just before the final examinations. More of such examples were narrated, that the audience could certainly relate to. He also spoke about the power of imagination vested in our minds, connecting any unusual occurrence to something that would possibly be considered as horror or haunted. Sometimes, what we call horror isn’t out there at all, it is all inside our heads. We imagine movement when there is none, whispers when it is just the wind. All of it encompasses what the mind hangs onto the most- anticipation from the brain’s need to explain what it doesn’t understand.
The next speaker began her talk with various superstitions that wake spirits as well as form attachments. She went on to explain the three spiritual entities: The Bhoots, the Prets and the Pisachas. The Bhoots are the spirits of people who died and can be mischievous and vengeful. The Prets are those entities, who because of their sinful lives, have not succeeded in finding closure in their afterlife. They are often described as restless souls who haven’t been properly sent off with funeral rites. She took the example of Betal from Vikram Betal. Betals are far more mischievous and wise and are known to test people through riddles, moral dilemmas or philosophical questions. Another example taken was the Chudels, which is a spirit of a woman who died tragically or unjustly. This spirit usually returns out of anger, betrayal, or unfinished emotions. Lastly, she talked about the Pisachas who are dark and malevolent spirits and represent corruption, violence and untimely death.
Pisachas
The final speaker for this event narrated a chilling story which are said to be based on true events. This incident mainly centers around Balesh, a college student who worked at a call center in order to pay for his tuition fees. One day, Balesh had the most unsettling encounter with the “ghost” of a woman who constantly repeated the same comment. From that day forward, several episodes with the same ghost would take place in Balesh’ s life. After a disturbing scene at Balesh’ s wedding, he sought to detach this spirit and consulted a Tantrik. Now, Balesh along with his wife and two children live a peaceful life. However, he is aware that a presence still lives, that is just not haunting. The session concluded as the hall thundered with a loud applause. These speakers truly proved to be masterful orators that left a lasting impression on the audience.