Zombie Cliche Lookout: Escape in the Dark
People are afraid of the dark. It’s a natural thing, it goes back to the caveman days where there were fearsome predators and hostile tribes out in the dark, and you had little to protect yourself. These days, venturing down in the dark to grab a glass of water isn’t so dangerous, but many of us still quicken our step just a bit. After all, you never know when a saber-tooth cat is going to leap out from the dense underbrush of your kitchen. While we’re soft and safe now, that fear of the dark is likely going to come in pretty handy when we’re trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. If we can’t see into dark places, and the zombies hiding in there are quiet, we’re in a lot of trouble. There’s a lot to be said for bravery, but finding an alternate route might just be the better way to go.
About this Episode:
I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed with my set building here. I intended to carry on the tiled floor, but the curved pieces around the ladder (you can see them in the first panel) and the hole in the floor just weren’t cooperating with the tiles, so it’s back to a studded ground. For some reason, I generally associate studded ground with either grass or carpet, and it seems pretty odd to have a carpeted room to access a maintenance tunnel. Of course, grass would be even weirder.
Discussion Question: What Do You Fear (Apart from Zombies)?
We all have our phobias, so share yours. I’m sure no one will make too much fun.
I’ve got two. The first is pretty common: I’m quite uncomfortable with heights. A few years ago I helped my parents redo their roof, and almost fell off twice. Ever since the thought of getting back up there has filled me with dread. I’m a big guy, and pretty damn clumsy. If I fell off a roof, it’d be bad news.
My other big fear is crowds. I hate them. I suspect it’s a form of claustrophobia, but I’m not sure. There’s just something about being packed in with people and not having a way out that makes my fight or flight instincts kick in.
I’m afraid of failure. That’s it; but it’s significant.
Oh, and drowning. It doesn’t keep me out of the water. I’m just not going cave diving.
I went swimming in an underwater cave in Mexico on my honeymoon. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea, but damn was it cool.
As for going into the dark parking structure, there is no excuse for not carrying a super-bright LED flashlight. They’re too plentiful and too inexpensive, even for a high-performance light.
I keep one in my car and one in my backpack. They’re pretty damn handy.
Best wishes for the new year!
Thinking about it, I don’t really have an enormous fear… I don’t like dentists (who does?) and wasps (who does?), but I think that’s about it.
I really liked the build. If you wanted to use the tiled floor, you could have put a studed plate under the little wall and the first stud of the rounded piece and fill the rest with the tiles (so also under the rest of the rounded plate. (I hope it’s clear what I’m trying to tell :/ )
Ummm, I like wasps. All bugs actually. But then I’m a little odd.
I’m not a fan of wasps either.
Thanks for the build advice, FL!
My biggest phobia (as in, the one I have the least control over) is emetophobia, which is a fear of vomit or vomitting. If someone around me starts gagging, I’m halfway to the nearest exit before I even realize I’m moving, and should I see the actual … erm, material, I start gagging uncontrollably.
My other big phobia is, like Dave, large crowds, but I suspect that has more to do with my anti-social and introverted tendencies than any kind of claustrophobia; I’m fine in small, enclosed spaces, it’s the people aspect that gets me going.
When I was younger I used to have a phobia about zombies, which is why I’m so into them now; I said forget it and just plowed headlong into the genre to face that particular fear and ended up loving it.
I don’t think I’ve ever met someone with emetophobia. Very interesting.
I didn’t know what it was until I looked it up last year, but it’s something I’ve suffered from as long as I can remember.
From the extremely limited amount of research available, it’s usually caused by a severe childhood trauma involving vomit. In my case, I’m pretty sure it’s connected to my extreme dislike of being held upside down as when I was an infant my maternal grandfather thought it’d be funny to flip me upside down by my ankles. As my mother tells it, that scared me so much that I instantly projectile-vomited right into his shirt pocket. I think that because I was so young, my subconscious imprinted vomit with the terror I felt and that’s why I panic around vomit now.
I really don’t scare easily, but I have two rediculous phobias.
1. Making a typo. I know this sounds stupid, but I am always terrified about anything that could make me look like an idiot. That may be why I am a bit of a grammer nazi to myself.
2. You know those stupid double doors that only ONE opens and it could open in, or it could open out. You just never know unless one of those handy stickers tells you what to do. This is my biggest fear other than slenderman. I know it sounds stupid, but my biggest fear is pushing a pull door. Yes. The sharpshooter and workout enthusiest is terrified of pushing a pull door and/or pulling a push door.
I make so many typos I’ll be Brickvoid wonders if English is my first language.
I hate that double door thing.
Um, unless you meant it as pithy irony, Grammar has no ‘e’ 🙂
For me, it’s bees, wasps, hornets, etc. They make my skin crawl. I can overcome it and stand still to do what I may need to do or to let them go away, but it’s a major act of discipline to do so.
I don’t blame you, those things are no fun.
I’m terrified of dolls/clowns. Or worse, clown dolls. With dolls, there’s something about the dead eyes that creep me out. Then I saw a special on the Island of the Dolls, and that finished me off. Clowns, well just look at them. Horrifying.
Ive read before that this fear comes from the uncannyness of a face that doesn’t move, which is pretty interesting.
I like clowns though. Mimes too.
To be fair, Island of the Dolls IS scary as hell, so you can’t be blamed for that.
Happy New Year to Dave and his family, as well as the rest of the zombiephiles here at D Bricks! Looking forward to new die-cast mayhem, devastation and brick-house fun in this new year!
I think you should have raised the curved plates on 1×1 plates, and simply tiled underneath them where they did not intersect a stud connection.
It might look like it sticks out a bit but if you tile it correctly, you can just pretend that they’re not studs, they’re tiles.
It is important, however, to choose a plate’s color underneath a connection so that it looks like either mortar or is the same color as the piece it’s connecting to, so it blends in well.
When building sets always remember you’re not restricted to the height of the plates your floor is built on, you can always add 1 or 2 layers of tiles to get the job done! 😉
You can also try 1×1 round plates for an effect that is a little different but looks like a connection or weld if placed properly.
😀
*curved bricks on 1×1 plates sorry 😀
I have two
Being trapped in EXTREMELY confined spaces.
By extremely I mean so small that I cannot raise my arms from my sides.
Malfunctioning toilets.
Toilets that are clogged, leaking, or not flushing properly terrify me. I know it weird as hell but I can be honest since I will probably never meet any of you.
For the record, Im not scared of clowns, but for some reason they piss me off to no end.
Your fear of malfunctioning toilets should meet my fear of vomiting, they’d be best friends and would hang out together and post selfies to each other’s Facebook pages.
Or, I’m overtired and shouldn’t be commenting.
Water slides. I hate water slides. I’m not claustrophobic, but with the closed one I feel like there will be something stuck at the end and it will flood and I’ll drown. I also don’t like open ones because I feel like I will fly out, and not afraid of heights either. No clue why, I think I’m just wierd.
Fear No. 1 moths/butterflies, either of these get anywhere near me im out of there.
Fear No. 2 realistic/life-like puppet/dolls, creep me right out and give me chills down my spine. If im in a dark place with them the fear is much worse.
Fear No. 3 public toilets. God forbid i have to take a dump in a public bathroom, do any of you know how much bacteria is on the toilet seat alone? And why is there alway so creepy guy in the next stall doing some sort of chant while he craps? Disgusting.
XD you’re last fear and the comments made my day!