This is no fantasy. Nothing that you are about to read comes from the realms of science fiction, comic books, or anything else the following stories, all taken from 2019, are real. They happened, and in some cases they are still happening. Do not be afraid! Any worry that you may be feeling is proof that you are, in fact, still sane.
Every now and then, the news team here at SYFY WIRE will get an assignment that sounds so ridiculous and so insane that we feel it has to be a hoax. That, or someone is playing a prank on us. It happens all the time, but 2019 was a real banner year for that kind of occurrence. At almost every turn, there was some kind of real-life danger coming for us, and it was always more bizarre than anything genre fiction could dream up. Real life often is. Whether these moments came from rising technology, the world of nature, or sometimes even genre stories starting to become real themselves ... this was a year of danger and weirdness at every turn.
We are not afraid, however and you shouldn't be, either. Despite the fear-mongering afoot in all of these real-life events, we are still here. Our walls still stand. Scare us all you want, real world! We are NOT afraid. Take your bestand completely weird shot.
As the world around us continually tries to turn itself into an episode of Black Mirror, we remain unafraid. It's trying really, really hard, though.
Who could forget the horror of the episode called "Metalhead" of the aforementioned show? It's a hard one to forget, because it is terrifying. Scientists have apparently learned nothing, because this past year, MIT developed a "Mini cheetah robot" that definitely has more than a little in common with the death-delivering dog drone. Not content to just give robotic animal creations some kind of sentience, another group of scientists went ahead and took us one step closer to The Terminator when they created a cyborg hand that was able to solve a Rubik's Cube puzzle using A.I. Thanks so much for that, everyone. Kindly stand down.
As if robots weren't enough, terror came from above in the form of "unexplained, hypersonic, highly maneuverable UFOs" that were filmed by Navy pilots. If the thought of an alien invasion (without Will Smith) has you ready to hold your loved ones close, then guess what? Some enterprising folk have you covered in case a loved one (or you yourself) is not around. We're full circle back to Black Mirror here, because it is now possible to buy a robot that looks like either you or a loved one.
No, thank you! If we ever bought such a robot, we'd likely push it off a cliff like Hayley Atwell does in that particular episode of that continually haunting show. For some reason it's the robot hand that scares us the most here, but we will not give in to fear.
The natural world and its inhabitants had plenty of drama to spread around this past year, as the animal kingdom refused to be left out of the party. The overall message? Humans should not mess around with nature, because nature will fight back, and life will, uh, find a way.
Case in point: Police in Alabama had to warn the public about flushing their drugs because of and we can't believe we're writing this the danger of creating "meth-gators."A three-eyed python gave the three-eyed ravenfrom Game of Thronesa run for its money, though we don't know if this python contains the whole of human history with in it. Two words you certainly don't want to see put together are "cannibal" and "ants," but unfortunately thatword combo justhappened: This past year, "cannibal ants" built a thriving society within a nuclear bunker in Poland, and then they escaped.
Nuclear cannibal ants vs. meth-gators: Who wins? Trick question the answer is that we all lose. Though, even if we did get attacked by ants or meth-ridden gators, we might not have it as bad as the person who had an actual "monster" living in their brain for 15 years. Hopefully that person did not live in Alabama, because that state didn't only host the meth-gators, they also had an invasion of killer wasps.
Not weird enough for you? All right, did you ever hear the true story of the spider that was found eating a fully grown bat outside someone's home in Texas? What else can that spider eat, we're wondering? Hopefully not a zombie deer, which was deemed a "misnomer"by the CDC (great, thanks), before the truth of the zombie deer turned out to be far worse than the fiction.
Life certainly found a way ... a way to be much, much stranger than genre fiction.
News from theworld of nature wasn't all bad, though. Some of it was adorable, but our defenses are still in place. We will not be fooled.
We won't be fooled by "Narwhal", the10-week-old puppy who has a tail growing between his eyes. A tail isn't the same as a Narwhal horn, but we're sure that puppy can get up to trouble with it, especially if he meets the three-eyed python we already mentioned.
Might the puppy and the python care to have a night out on the town? If they did, then how would they get there? There's only one suitable way that we can think of, something soright and yet so wrong at the same time: For animals on the go, the best travel option would obviously be a tiny car driven by rats. Life has officially turned into something out of a very dark Muppet movie.
Something that everyone enjoys about genre movies is the ability to escape but also the ability to reflectreal life, especially when those parallels are so bizarre they're almost straight out of asci-fi or horror film.
Do you want a phone skin that is ticklish,responds to touch, and looks like somethingfroma David Cronenberg movie? If so, you're sick ... but you're also in luck. Ever take comfort that The Blob was fictional? Meet Le Blob, a "brainless slime with 720 sexes" that was toured by a French zoo. Oh, we almost forgot Le Blob has le healing powers.
One woman got Stephen King's approval when she burned a Pennywise doll after it appeared in her front lawn (we approve as well), but we don't know what he said to the frightened first responders who turned up to help a girl dressed as Carrieafter she had been in a realaccident. We don't know what happened when someone found a giant Freddy Krueger glove in the back of their truck we hope that they burned it as well, but you never know.
At least we can take comfort that Sauron, the dark lieutenant of Morgoth, greatest scourge of the Second and Third Ages of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and one of the most evil entities ever devised, is in no way real.About that guess again: A Texas man was diagnosed with a rare disorder that caused his eyes to glow.
It's almost too much. We're not going to lie, we have never read all of these stories in one go before, and our defenses are weakening. They weaken even more whensomething hits our screen that puts everything else here to shame. What would that story be, you ask? Allow us to welcome you to the Iowa basement that got soaked with a 5-inch flood ...of blood. You never expect to write the words "blood flood" in the course of writing news, but here we are. Is there any hope?
Wouldn't you know it? There is! So many villains and monsters have seemingly come to life, but there was proof that one of humanity's greatest heroes might actually be real. He's the monster that the monsters run from, the one who makes the criminals cry in fear and pain, and with one look from him, even the most severe blood flood would dissipate like snow in the desert.
Batman is real.
On a White House economic report this year, a "super intern" was listed, and the name was none other than Bruce Wayne. Don't tell anyone that Wayne is actually Batman's secret identity, because we need him. Young Master Wayne likely has his hands full doing ... whatever he's doing at the White House, but we'll sleep a little easier just knowing that somewhere, the bat is beginning.
Is that all you have, 2019? Sure, you threw terrors both natural and man-made at us (and even Sauron, that was a low blow), but we've got the bat. We also have an undaunted spirit, and despite our best efforts hope! Our hope for the future remains undaunted, so come and do your worst, 2020. Come and get as strange as you want. We can take it, and we are not afraid.
Read the original:
Stranger than fiction! The weirdest stories of 2019, from zombie deer to blood floods - SYFY WIRE
- The Cranberries' Zombie - the story behind the incendiary song - Louder - April 22nd, 2024
- Chris Riddell on the zombie Tory government falling apart at the seams cartoon - The Guardian - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie grave dating back 4,200 years discovered in Germany, photos show - Miami Herald - April 22nd, 2024
- Steam zombie survival game leaves early access 11 years on, and you've got one week to get it cheap - PCGamesN - April 22nd, 2024
- "Zombie" cicadas with STDs are coming to Virginia - Axios - April 22nd, 2024
- Deathtroopers is the Star Wars zombie horror game I never knew I needed - PC Gamer - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie Army VR Reveals The Story In Latest Trailer - Bleeding Cool News - April 22nd, 2024
- Where Infected "Zombie Cicadas" In The US Will Emerge In 2024 - TheTravel - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie anti-abortion laws are menacing American women - The Hill - April 22nd, 2024
- Joe Manganiello to Zombie It Up in Mountain Man Adaptation - Reactor - Reactor - April 22nd, 2024
- Frozen Soul Covered White Zombie and It Rules - MetalSucks - April 22nd, 2024
- Arizona's abortion ban could bring zombie laws back to life in other states - Fast Company - April 22nd, 2024
- Arizona abortion ban shows the dangers of reviving zombie laws - MSNBC - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie fires smoldering near Canadian oil and gas wells threaten production following 2023 wildfires - WorldOil - April 22nd, 2024
- You'll Never Guess Who Doesn't Want to Repeal a Zombie Abortion Ban - The New Republic - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie Army VR: New trailer gives a glimpse of the gruesome campaign - MIXED Reality News - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie Tests: Is the SAT Back From the Dead? - Fair Observer - April 22nd, 2024
- How likely are you to survive a zombie apocalypse in Connecticut? You may want to travel north - Hartford Courant - April 22nd, 2024
- Missouri Reports 162 New Cases Of Deer 'Zombie' Disease In 2023 - Lake Expo - April 22nd, 2024
- Zombie Fires Pose Looming Threat to Canada's Oil and Gas Infrastructure - OilPrice.com - April 22nd, 2024
- Rob Zombie Presenting House on Haunted Hill Soundtrack on Vinyl - ComicBook.com - April 22nd, 2024
- Take on Zombie Stormtroopers In This Star Wars Fan Game - IGN - April 22nd, 2024
- The Best Zombie Game of 2023 Has a New Expansion Out Now - Esports.net News - April 22nd, 2024
- Frozen Soul Debuts Frosty Rendition of White Zombie's 'Creature of the - Knotfest - April 22nd, 2024
- 'Dawn of the Dead' at 45: A Zombie Love Affair That Never Died - The New York Times - April 12th, 2024
- Hyper-sexual 'zombie cicadas' infected with bizarre STD fungus will emerge in US - New York Post - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie malls and other retail centers getting extreme makeovers to keep up with the times - Chicago Tribune - April 12th, 2024
- 'Zombie' drug xylazine found in cannabis THC vapes in UK - BBC.com - April 12th, 2024
- Taxing health insurance: The Republican zombie that refuses to die - Roll Call - April 12th, 2024
- Fungus-infected Zombie Cicadas with hypersexuality to emerge in the US this year: Expert - Hindustan Times - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie Classic Dawn Of The Dead Coming Back to Theaters for 45th Anniversary - MetalSucks - April 12th, 2024
- E-News | 'Zombie cicadas' infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year in parts of US - WVU ENews - April 12th, 2024
- Deadly Zombie Sedative Penetrating The U.K.s Illicit Drugs Market - Forbes - April 12th, 2024
- Seattle Police warn that base ingredient in 'zombie drug' tranq is being sold as standalone pill - FOX 13 Seattle - April 12th, 2024
- Opinion | Today's Opinions: Haunted by zombie law and thrown into abortion time-travel - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - April 12th, 2024
- Rob Zombie Teases 'House of 1000 Corpses' Book With Rare Photos, Original Script and More! - Bloody Disgusting - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie malls getting extreme makeovers to keep up with the times - Detroit News - April 12th, 2024
- 2000s Horror Fantasy Is One Of The Most Unique Takes On The Zombie Genre - Giant Freakin Robot - April 12th, 2024
- Mysterious 'Zombie Neurons' Unlock Secrets of Learning in The Brain - ScienceAlert - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie SKUs: What They Are, How They Work & Results - JumpFly PPC Advertising News - April 12th, 2024
- Arizona Reviving Its Zombie Abortion Ban Is Trump's Doing - The Cut - April 12th, 2024
- Hyper-sexual "zombie cicadas" that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year - CBS News - April 12th, 2024
- Should we be concerned about zombie cicadas? - WGN Radio - Chicago - April 12th, 2024
- You need to play this underrated zombie shooter before it leaves Xbox Game Pass - Digital Trends - April 12th, 2024
- End the 'zombie' Comstock Act - Star Tribune - April 12th, 2024
- OPINION - Flesh-eating zombie narcotics are on our streets Britain is badly losing its war on drugs - Yahoo News UK - April 12th, 2024
- What Is Xylazine - The Flesh-Eating 'Zombie' Drug Linked To 11 Deaths in The UK? - Times Now - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie Cicadas To Emerge In Virginia: What To Know - Patch - April 12th, 2024
- What Is "Zombie Drug" Gripping The UK? - NDTV - April 12th, 2024
- OJ Simpson's Final Film Will Resurrect His Naked Gun Character - As A Zombie? - Looper - April 12th, 2024
- Flesh-eating 'zombie drug' sweeping US is linked to 11 UK deaths - The Telegraph - April 12th, 2024
- Flesh-rotting 'Zombie drug' tranq raises alarm in UK - The Times of India - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie Cicadas To Emerge In GA: What To Know - Patch - April 12th, 2024
- What was the first-ever zombie movie? - Far Out Magazine - April 12th, 2024
- Even Will Smith Couldnt Save Zombie Survival Game Undawn, Which Flopped Spectacularly - IGN - March 24th, 2024
- Rob Zombie Recommends This Surprisingly Wholesome Comedy - Dread Central - March 24th, 2024
- Army Writing and the Zombie (Noun) Apocalypse - Modern War Institute - United States Military Academy West Point - March 24th, 2024
- Fatal Fury's Mai Shiranui Is In This Zombie Survival Game For Some Reason - Time Extension - March 24th, 2024
- Should you be worried about 'zombie deer'? | College of Public Health - George Mason University - March 24th, 2024
- 'Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island' Scares Its Way to Blu-ray for the First Time This Spring - Collider - March 24th, 2024
- Rob Zombie hates my guts: GWAR's Dave 'Oderus Urungus' Brockie was a genius, and here's an interview that proves it - Louder - March 24th, 2024
- In the fight against gun violence, Rep. Frost Introduces the Destroy Zombie Guns Act - The Apopka Voice - March 24th, 2024
- Elfriede Jelinek's 'The Children of the Dead' is a historical zombie novel - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 24th, 2024
- Germany's Zombie Government Is Fueling the Far Right - The Atlantic - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie Survival Game Undawn Has Crashed And Burned According To A Reuters Report - MMOs.com - March 24th, 2024
- Will Smiths Zombie Game Has Been Hit Harder Than Chris Rock at the Oscars Its Astronomical Budget Was ... - imdb - March 24th, 2024
- Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island / Return to Zombie Island Blu-ray (Warner Archive Collection) - Blu-ray.com - March 24th, 2024
- Registration almost here for Dothans annual Zombie 5K Chase - WDHN - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie magic and gambling club Magic Island will come alive again this summer - Houston Chronicle - March 24th, 2024
- Undawn | The $140m zombie survival game starring Will Smith that bombed while nobody was looking - Filmstories - March 24th, 2024
- After 4 years, a cult classic zombie horror manga from Ga-Rei's creator is finally getting an official English release - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- Will Smith's Zombie Game Has Been Hit Harder Than Chris Rock at the Oscars - Its Astronomical Budget Was ... - FandomWire - March 24th, 2024
- "The game literally no one knew existed": The Will Smith Zombie Survival Game is Reportedly a Big Flop and Fans Are ... - FandomWire - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie-palooza --- Get to the biggest undead music event in the latest Dead Island 2 expansion: SoLA - Gaming Trend - March 24th, 2024
- Bournemouth University medical students treat 'zombie attack' in mass training simulation - The Tab - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie car factories on the rise in China as buyers opt for EVs - Financial Times - March 16th, 2024
- Hey, Remember When Rob Zombie Was Going To Direct THE CROW 3? - FANGORIA - March 16th, 2024
- New Walking Dead Twist Shows How The Zombie Outbreak Will Finally End - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- Candid conversations from death row with The Zombie Hunter - Arizona's Family - March 16th, 2024
- Zombie! The Musical - REVIEW - City Hub Sydney - March 16th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero