Iridescent Insanity is on its way!

Hey y'all!

I am so excited to finally be in the process of launching my blog, Iridescent Insanity. It is technically already live, but I'm not really promoting it yet. I want to be sure I have a good amount of posts ready and rarin' to go for ya, so the plan is for it to REALLY launch in the New Year. The first coincides with a Monday, and that is one of the themed days, so it works out well!

As it says on my About page, this is something I have been thinking about for some time, and again, I am uber excited!

(An unrelated insight: all-time-favorite-pure comfort-happiness show. And yes, my description needs to blend together. R.I.P. Chandler Bing.)

I have been curious about all things true crime, spooky, and weird for almost as long as I can remember. Yes, at one point, I was just a kid and scared of a lot of things: the dark, the idea of my house catching on fire, bugs, and especially spiders.

My fear of spiders was exacerbated by seeing Arachnophobia on a trip to Kentucky when I was 5 or 6. I later made said fear worse when I rented the movie for a sleepover I had for my 12th birthday... I still sometimes wonder if they're going to come out of the shower drain! Ugh.

I also, accidentally, saw part of Cujo around that time. I was again, in Kentucky, and supposed to be sleeping. I snuck out and was watching from behind the couch... oops. It made me nauseous, and I couldn't understand how they were all watching it. I took myself back to bed, took a long time to fall back asleep, and still didn't feel well in the morning. I don't think I even told my parents about it. Sorry Mom! I'm sure that is part of why I was more into ghosts versus crime and gore for some time, but I get there, don't worry.

My interest in the spooky stuff really started to ramp up when I was about 7 or 8. Alvin Schwartz fed the fire with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and In a Dark, Dark Room. "The Girl with the Green Ribbon" is what really sucked me in though. I can picture it to this day, and I haven't seen it or read it in years.

We watched Unsolved Mysteries and Are You Afraid of the Dark on a regular basis so I started becoming intrigued by other "supernatural" things as well: The Bermuda Triangle, aliens, and UFOs, as well as people who have gone missing. Where did they go?

My interest in true crime happened almost all at once, from 8-10, as that's when the OJ Simpson/Nicole Brown trial happened, followed shortly after by the Oklahoma City Bombing, and JonBenet Ramsey. I was intrigued as these cases and news stories were everywhere, but still didn't fully understand any of it. How can you at that age?

While I loved it all - especially the ghost stories - I was still a kid, so I was often "scared" of this fascination. It took me awhile to fall asleep on the nights where I'd spent time reading scary stories, but I still read as many as I could. The Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries, Sweet Valley Twins' Mysteries, and Betty Ren Wright books being the ones I remember most from those younger years.

I think the real turning point with it all happened around 13, when I started watching The Craft, Practical Magic, The Blair Witch Project, and Law & Order: SVU (I don't know why but I've never gotten into the other Law & Orders). It's not surprising to say these are all still heavy in my watch rotation, and are pure comfort for me.

R.L. Stine's Fear Street series and Christopher Pike were the bulk of what I was reading then, and honestly, I would probably still read them if I had them.

I often spent a lot of time with my cousins during my teen years; we had seances, did psychic and tarot readings, played "Light as a feather, stiff as a board", wondered if we were witches, and told so many scary stories. I also visited the first of many haunted houses (real and fake), haunted places, and had my first of MANY paranormal experiences during this time.

I took a trip to Florida with family when I was 14, and went on my first "ghost tour" in St. Augustine. Not only was that whole night intense, there were many things on that trip that contained the spook factor. I loved it so much, I have since been back and done this same tour, in the rain, with just my cousin and the tour guide. Weirdly not as spooky, but just as awesome.

I was gifted a Ouija board for my 15th birthday and my love of all that is strange continued to grow.

(Sidenote... Yes, I know they're bad and eventually I would hate it so much I wouldn't want to use it, let alone have it in my house, but that's a story for another time. As are the details of some of the happenings listed above. Wink, wink.)

My dad is into a lot of the same things as I am, so he was how I was introduced to the "O.G's": Manson, Bundy, and Dahmer being the first ones I really remember.

During his weekends - when we weren't watching Nascar (another unrelated insight lol) - we watched a lot of SVU, documentaries, and scary movies. He also shares my love of reading and therefore, we've shared a lot of books as well. I still have his copies of Fear by Ronald Kelly; It by Stephen King; and Husband, Lover, Spy by Janice Pennington and Carlos de Abreu from back then. I think I also have a Supernatural Mysteries book from Reader's Digest somewhere. Sorry, Dad! Even now when I go over to visit, we often catch a scary movie, SVU reruns, or watch NCIS: Los Angeles.

I've been journaling for almost just as long as I've loved true crime and horror. I've always loved English classes and writing, and always did well with assignments. I was always fascinated with the idea of being a writer because of this. As a hormonal teenager, I started using it as a form of therapy versus just as a way to keep track of memories and my teen crushes. Hey, Casper!!

My love for it grew as the ink poured my feelings upon the pages like paint on a canvas. I decided then that I WAS a writer, and I would write.

The first movie to actually really scare me came out when I was 15. Jeepers Creepers literally made me cry and try to crawl behind one of my cousins on the couch. I. WAS. TERRIFIED. I'll save the story as to why for another day because it's definitely a strange one... but after seeing it a few more times, it ended up becoming a favorite, for a little while anyways; the list changes in a never-ending fashion. The song still gives me goosebumps, but let's be real.... I love that shit.

The Ring came out the following year, and there was absolutely no turning back. Constantly feeling misunderstood - hello teen years - the darkness it radiated made me finally feel seen. It's one of my favorites, and probably always will be.

This was about the time that I discovered and fell in love with CSI, another show I love still. (Note: I prefer the Gil Grissom era over the rest of the show. Just saying. I later found CSI: Miami and love it just as much.)

I tried to watch House of 1000 Corpses shortly after it had gone to DVD, at 17. One of my cousins - the one most like me regarding the weird - was staying at my house for a few days as our spring breaks matched up. Per usual - and we still do this when we're together- we rented some scary movies. Both of us had been totally sucked into all that was strange at that point, yet, we could not make it through this movie. It was nauseating and too much for both of us. We just weren't ready. We laugh about it now as it is towards the top of both of our all-time favorite lists. I watched it so often at one point, I often fell asleep with it on. Does that make me weird?

*R.I.P Captain Spaulding, "All hail the man behind the grease paint." - Captain Spaulding/Sid Haig (Rob Zombie)

The continuous way I've fallen in love with all that is true crime and horror since then is a list that could go on and on, so I won't bore you with it; we'd be here forever. These are simply the first moments and most vivid things to note when it comes to this love. I've become desensitized at this point, am constantly in search of a something that will disturb or scare me, and said love is one of comfort now.

One last important thing to note - that essentially helped bring me here - was discovering the Morbid podcast during Covid Lockdown. It's become yet another addiction to add to the list. Ash and Alaina really know how to tell a tale, and listening is like being with friends. I've fallen in love with true crime all over again, and listener tales always make my day. I love "keeping it weird" with them.

I decided shortly after finding it to start mapping my blog out, and I did. However, I kept putting off actually starting it... Until now. As noted in my about section, it finally came about because of a school assignment. Just one more reason to be thankful to have found my true career path.

I've been to the dark side... too many times to count. I won't get into the nitty gritty of all that, that's not why we're here; but I bring it up because you never know what another person could be dealing with, why they do what they do, or are who they are. That's what always fascinated me about those who commit some of the heinous crimes we'll be discussing, and one of the reasons that I thought about becoming a psychologist for a long time. I was never in a place to be able to mentally or financially go for a Masters degree or Doctorate, and by the time I "was" (Who is ever ready to take on that amount of school and loan debt?), it wasn't something I wanted to do. The best part is that I am now aiming for a Masters in my current degree, Library Sciences, am 3 semesters away from graduating with my Associates in Library Services and Technology, and I've never been more excited for my future.

Life works in mysterious ways.

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de la Fontaine

I've, clearly, always been attracted to the strange, weird, spooky, and dark; or maybe it's always been attracted to me. It's also almost been my ruin, though I've always managed to rip myself out of whatever hole I was in and come back better than ever... Even if only for a little while.

What better way to celebrate my addictions than to share them with the world? Let's tell spooky stories, strange tales, talk about true crime, and hopefully help a few people make it home, or at the very least, get their names back.

The healing is in the messiness. That's where we're found. Insanity is usually hidden, but you see glimpses of it shimmering in the light sometimes. It's often beautiful. That's why we're here; that's where we're going; into the Iridescent Insanity of it all.

Welcome.

(Note: I made this post a little lighter with some gifs and jokes as a lot of what we'll be talking about over time will be dark, sad, and hard to comprehend. Therefore, it's important that we have a little fun sometimes. I will always note a trigger warning for those posts that may be hard to read for some.)