Disturbing the Comfortable to Comfort the Disturbed

Hello friends! 

I’m in the extremely early stages of developing a psychological horror story intended to communicate the experiences of people with all kinds of disabilities. In particular, I’ve been extremely interested in the way that humans use storytelling to share their perspectives, with an emphasis on the language used for antagonists. For context, I’m a mentally ill psychology student with a specialization in developmental psychology (and I have a special interest in memes, video games, role-play games like D&D and education).

“As soon as it had a name, it had a focal point from which to attack it from. And then I was like: If it’s a disease, quote unquote, then it has a cure! You know? But when it was just like this nameless thing hanging over my life it was just really really tough.”

Dan Avidan, (I forget the year)

Now that I have an online space to reach out to people with diverse experiences, I wanted to ask about the monsters you have either made, related to, or found to be most effective to unsettle you. 

What attributes did these monsters have? 

Would you be willing to share some of your experiences if you knew we would do our best to honour the story you’re telling? 

If you would rather your story not be involved but still wanted to participate in the discussion, is there something about your experience you wish people could know but have struggled to translate? 

I would love to invite people who know about the history of folklore and anthropology to participate as well, I’ve really been loving some of the mechanics that legendary creatures open us up to with things like sirens and shapeshifters. I think that by understanding fear and the things that trigger it, we gain more clarity. I want to use this knowledge to find solutions that work for the afraid, the lost and the disturbed. 

Thank you so much for your time!