Lore - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Creepy-ness!

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[bilgistic]

I was so excited for this (and Amazon is really promoting it), but it turned out very disappointing. The only story I really liked was the last one, about Robert the Doll. I was familiar with it.

I did like the bits of history interspersed within the "lore". For example, I was horrified to see that beheadings were still happening in France(?) until 1977!

It was odd to see familiar actors (Adam Goldberg, Robert Patrick) among "no-name" actors.

I understand the series originates from a podcast, but I thought the narrator's voice sounded computerized, like a GPS directive. There was no natural cadence.

[2727]

The pitch in my head was probably: it's Unsolved Mysteries for millennials! That show was popular for 20 years!

I made it halfway through the first episode before realizing that reenactments don't add anything to the story for me. I'm fine with just listening. Fine.

In fact, I'd like to go the other way and turn shows like Mysteries at the Museum into podcasts. Don Wildman can still narrate but I wouldn't have to see his perpetually unshaven face. (Hey guys! When your scruff is fully salt and peppered, it's no longer sexy, it's grizzled.)

[Epeolatrix]

It reminded me a lot of a similar old show called "Dark Matters: Twisted But True" with John Noble, only with less science. I really liked the Bridget Cleary episode "Black Stockings", because I've always been interested in changeling stories, but the series wasn't much different from listening to the podcast.  That said, there are people who mostly want to experience stories visually and this lets them be a part of the Lore audience.

[bilgistic]

Speaking of that one, I didn't understand the end of it. The husband says his wife didn't wear black stockings before he killed her/as a reason to kill her, i.e., she wasn't really his wife, but there was a whole scene in the beginning of the episode with her putting on the stockings under the skirt she'd sewn. Was he just out of his mind?

[Epeolatrix]

He was suspicious that something was wrong when she put the stockings on (or even before that) and just became increasingly convinced that she was a changeling. So yeah, out of his mind.

[bosawks]

I still liked it, although not as much as the podcast.

It did have that same way of lullling you into a sense of creepiness.

[bosawks]

I live in South Jersey land of the Jersey Devil and I love to hike and paddle in the Pine Barrens.

I’m not saying I believe in the Jersey Devil buuuuuutttt when you’re out there at dawn or dusk and everything looks the same and you get a little disoriented on the way back to the car, it gets a little creepy.....

[starri]

On 10/20/2017 at 5:05 PM, bilgistic said:

I understand the series originates from a podcast, but I thought the narrator's voice sounded computerized, like a GPS directive. There was no natural cadence.

I saw him do the show life recently, and even with the stories he told being creepy, his voice lulled me to sleep after a while.

[mamadrama]

I've written several books about our local legends. One of the creepiest stories we have is that of the "baby cave." The story goes that a woman gave birth out of wedlock (some say the child was a product of incest). When the baby was born, her father whisked it away to a nearby cave, where he smothered the child in a barrel of feathers. On some clear nights, you can still hear the tiny cries coming from the cave...

Biologists say there are no panthers in our state by all over the mountains you can encounter many people who claim to have heard their cries at night. They sound like a screaming woman. 

A local story goes that a woman of ill repute came down with TB. Several other people came down with it soon afterwards and she was thus accused of being a witch and putting a spell over the town. Fearful both of her and of contracting the disease, a lynch mob marched to her house. The grabbed her in the middle of the night, threw her into a deep hole, and buried her alive. Up in the mountains, on the ridge where she lived, you can still catch a glimpse of her scurrying through the woods, looking for her next victim. She's called the "Tipton Ridge witch."

"Ghostlights" are common around here, too. These flickering balls of fire appear over the treetops in the mountains on summer nights. Like a willow 'o the wisp, they beckon to the curious and lead them on dizzying adventures over the mountainsides, always just a little out of reach. We don't actually know what they are. Scientists have said that they are balls of gas, but nobody around here is going to believe that. 

[millennium]

On 10/20/2017 at 5:05 PM, bilgistic said:

 

I understand the series originates from a podcast, but I thought the narrator's voice sounded computerized, like a GPS directive. There was no natural cadence.

Having grown up with the legend of Mercy Brown, the alleged vampire, I was interested to see that segment.  However the narrator's voice was more than I could bear.   I watched about 8 minutes of the first episode and bailed.   His voice does sound computerized.   I don't know if it's a mixing effect or that's the way he really talks, either way it's distracting as hell.   Not worth the frustration to sit through that.

[AliceWhat1]

On 10/21/2017 at 2:05 AM, bilgistic said:

I was so excited for this (and Amazon is really promoting it), but it turned out very disappointing. The only story I really liked was the last one, about Robert the Doll. I was familiar with it.

I did like the bits of history interspersed within the "lore". For example, I was horrified to see that beheadings were still happening in France(?) until 1977!

It was odd to see familiar actors (Adam Goldberg, Robert Patrick) among "no-name" actors.

I understand the series originates from a podcast, but I thought the narrator's voice sounded computerized, like a GPS directive. There was no natural cadence.

You're so right the whole thing was such a rip off accept that part of Robert and Doll!

[tennisgurl]

I love the Podcast, and I dont mind the guy who runs it. His voice is calm, but I think it works. Talking about creepy stuff in a calm voice always creeps me out more than someone doing a dramatic read. 

This was pretty good, and I liked seeing some of the stories get acted out, although I enjoyed the drawing segments the best. I do wish they had focused on more of the overtly supernatural episodes. Those are my favorites. 

The Mercy Brown case was certainly creepy, but it was mostly sad. After Mr. Brown lost his whole family, its hard to blame him for going to extremes to save his son. 

[Guest]

I watched the second season this weekend.  It seems like they retooled it to make it a different show.

They have dropped the documentary/history lessons completely and I don't think they are really doing the origins  of folklore anymore.  Its all more acting out historic tales of horror/true crime/serial killers. 

I think overall it was better than season 1.  But there were also parts that seemed to take too much liberty with history.  It headed a bit into fan fiction based  on historical events.

Ep 6 was just tonally bizarre.  It was heavily comedic.  I kept having to remind myself that Jack Parsons wasn't Howard Stark and I wasn't watching an Agent Carter episode focusing on the wacky demon summoning, rocket launching sexcapades of Captain America's dad.

[Lila82]

Quote

They have dropped the documentary/history lessons completely and I don't think they are really doing the origins  of folklore anymore.  Its all more acting out historic tales of horror/true crime/serial killers. 

 

I thought season two was awful for these exact reasons.  Burke and Hare had me fooled was an excellent intro, particularly tying in the Punch & Judy shows to demonstrate Hare's increasing unraveling, but it went sharply downhill from there.  Where was the feminist criticism for "Mirror, Mirror", ala "Black Stockings"?   Elizabeth Bathory was a powerful widow with vast wealth and land holdings, both of which played a role how her arrest, trial, and imprisonment were approached.  And yes, most likely the most prolific female killer in history, but still -- the historical context matters.  "The Curse of the Orloj" was so terribly acted and written, that I promptly gave up.  There's so much cool history and lore that went into the making of the clock, and it was pushed aside for a "Man in the High Castle" knock off?  What happened to this show?  What is the point anymore?  Season one was uneven, but cohesive.  We learned about origin stories for vampires and werewolves, and that Candice Bergen's dad was a huge asshole.  "Black Stockings" was hokey, but Bridget Cleary's story is important.  "Ghosts in the Attic" was interesting, but felt more like a History Channel special than part of this series.  There's no historical context, or modern tie-in for the stories told. Whatever this show became isn't the "Lore" of season one and that's a bummer.