Gleeful Gecko » Summer of Fear

Southern Hemisphere Summer of Fear: Witch Doctor Curse Shark Attacks

Brett — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:53:03 +0000

You know the sharks are making a big play for the Southern Hemisphere Summer of Fear contest when you get a story that says one theory for local shark attacks is Witch Doctor rites on the beach. That is killer Southern Hemisphere Summer of Fear material right there. Other theories, loud beach music, and cursed surfers. Witch Doctor Shark Attacks at Cursed Surfer Beach! This needs to be on Syfy as a movie of the week.

Southern Hemisphere Summer Of Fear: Sharks!

Brett — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:57:09 +0000

The Summer of Fear season is still going strong on the bottom of the world as sharks make a run for the title. This story is classic Summer of Fear material, check out the picture of the Shark, that is classic red meat. That is no fish, it is a monster! Run for the hills! Wait, this is Australia, the hills are filled with the world’s deadliest spiders! There is nowhere to run!

You Want to Grab a Bite?

Brett — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:32:44 +0000

So apparently piranhas are talking to each other now. Individually piranhas aren’t great conversationalist, but in a pack they can skeletonize a Thurber in minutes.

Bears, Not Taking Loss Well

Brett — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:48:09 +0000

When I am down I eat pizza. Bears do too. Other bears think they are dogs and gnaw on your ankles. Come on bears, buck up.

Summer of Fear: South American Style

Brett — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:44:25 +0000

So they are heading into summer in South America and it looks like once again Piranhas will be a leading contender. Can they really skeletonize a cow? Don’t know, but they are pretty hard on a duck.

Bears Making My Point

Brett — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:53:22 +0000

So bears are making my point for me now. Bear attack halted by horse wrangler and wonder horse. Face it the bear in this story just doesn’t come off well at all. Nice to see a warhorse used in modern day though.

Summer of Fear Fallout

Brett — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:22:52 +0000

It looks like the tigers are not taking their loss this year well at all. On the other hand this is a great start for my noir novel on the life of tigers, so I guess there is that if nothing else. Still, bad show, poor sportsmanship and all that.

Summer of Fear: I think we have a winner!

Brett — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:36:44 +0000

Ok, this is true Summer of Fear stuff in this article. Pure hysteria with nobody eaten at all. This summer has been all sharks and bears really, sorry cheetahs, but most of the articles have been pretty straight with hysteria coming into play only at the edges of the article. This article which posits that sharks do in fact swim in the ocean so we must stop allowing people in the water is the sort of article that Summer of Fear was meant to celebrate, that it comes from the masters of Fear at the Daily Mail only makes it sweeter. Besides, as David and Hjalti have pointed out, bears get chased off by purple headed hair dressers, and that is just making it much harder to be afraid of them.

So I think we have a winner for the Summer of Fear 2011, congratulations to the Shark, once again the champion of fear in the news. Better luck next year cheetahs, bears, spiders, leopards, hackers, anteaters, tigers and off course, squirrels.

Summer of Fear: Last Minute Attempts By Sharks

Brett — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:46:21 +0000

When someone suggests swimming out to recover a boat at night it might be wise to ask if anyone has a raft or small motor boat that could be used if you are swimming in an area infested with tiger sharks. Even with three quarters making it, the odds are still pretty bad. Plus if you lose you are torn apart by tiger sharks, which most people score as a pretty big negative.

More Bears!

Brett — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:28:37 +0000

More Bears behaving badly stories in the news. First up we have a Smokey Mountain bear that is pushing the limits on neighborliness.

The next story is more of a horror story plot as a young girl phones her mother as she is being eaten by bears. I admit that as a parent the story of that phone call gives me the willies. This is pretty similar to a podcast I linked to in 2007 except that in that podcast you really didn’t feel bad for the guy being eaten.

I didn’t pick a winner for this year’s Summer of Fear, but I have to admit I think bears have it so far.

Second story via Hjalti who clearly will not be surprised by the Bearmageddon.

Summer of Fear: Sharks

Brett — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:10:22 +0000

This is a bit late in the year for it, but this is a classic Summer of Fear type story about a man being killed by a shark. Since the victim was a Frenchman and the paper is English the story is more about the English guy who got killed a couple of weeks ago than it was about the recent victim, but it is filled with Summer of Fear shock value.

Since it is the Mail Online you know they will bring the classy and they do with lots of gory details. Don’t miss the classy celebrity stories down the right side bar as well, we all know celebrities are more dangerous than sharks any day of the week.

Summer of Fear: Polar Bears

Brett — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:09:19 +0000

Polar Bears are what other bears want to be when they grow up. You do not want to meet a hungry polar bear. The only good thing about Polar Bears is that they live where almost nobody else lives. Oh, and their cubs are adorable. I am suspicious about the accuracy of the Coke commercials however, I suspect they would rather eat you than have a cold refreshing coke.

Summer of Fear: Spiders

Brett — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:43:48 +0000

Spiders are pretty good Summer of Fear material, but they rarely manage to get much coverage so it is nice to see them break out a bit with this story of a man dying after being bitten by a Black Widow 19 times. That was one determined spider.

Summer of Fear: Leopard

Brett — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:06:27 +0000

Interesting story about a Leopard attacking people in a village in India, thankfully it doesn’t appear to have killed anyone, but what makes this story stand out are the photos, which are pretty vivid without being gory.

Summer of Fear: Hackers

Brett — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:54:36 +0000

The neighbor from hell story is always a winner and this story of a hacker* abusing his neighbor’s wi-fi is a classic. I am actually surprised this doesn’t happen more often, but the real hero of the story is the victim’s company IT guy. People often forget that everything you do on the internet is in a log file somewhere.

* Sorry Bill, we lost the war for the word hacker a long time ago.