Interested in Planescape - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Interested in Planescape

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jul 09, 2005 17:59:30 I recently got interested in Planescape world (don't ask why, youd laugh so much) and I wonder if anybody could give me a piece of advice where should I start? Any books, compediums, anything? Im pretty much interested in the world itself than in rpging in it as there's no chance of finding any settings books in my place, but still, could anyone guide me a bit around the whole thing? Id be most thankful.
#2
ripvanwormer
Jul 09, 2005 19:30:54 The Planescape campaign setting box remains the best introduction to the setting. At rpg now they've got a lot of the books in .pdf form at five bucks each; I'd start with the campaign setting and work from there.

Perhaps before that, I'd browse around the Mimir and Planewalker.

Unless Infinity, A Tiefling's Exultation, The Planescape Index, On the Wings of Mephits, the Scripta Planorum, and Dreams of Dreams are also good sites.
#3
sildatorak
Jul 10, 2005 4:07:01
I recently got interested in Planescape world (don't ask why, youd laugh so much)

It is always worth hearing that sort of story so please tell us. Perhaps Shemmy can give you her O. Henry-esque Hellbound story later on.

As for where to start, I would recommend the Campaign setting in .pdf form or off of e-bay. From there you can see which planes appeal to you and pick up some more .pdf's of Planes of Chaos/Conflict/Law if you want to learn more about the wider planes. If you fall in love with Sigil, pick up Uncaged: Faces of Sigil; it may be the best NPC book ever written for any gaming system anywhere. Stats are secondary in it, so it is just oodles of in-character description and stories about the NPC's described.

I recommend checking out second-hand bookstores in your area. I know that the one in my town has a rack of D&D stuff, and some of it is PS.
#4
zombiegleemax
Jul 10, 2005 14:11:06 Thanks for info everyone :D

Well, frankly that came after I've finnaly finished the crpg Planescape: Torment which remained a big mystery for 6 long years since I got it (Ive got no idea why I kept on stopping playing after 2/3 - maybe cause I wanted to have something to return to). Then I thought - whoa, this world is way better than all those Forgotten Realms, Greyhawks and hell knows what else.

What leads me to the question - why is PS so unpopular? Weird thing, isnt it?
#5
zombiegleemax
Jul 10, 2005 18:06:24 Hmmmmm, it's hard to say anything for sure, but I suspect that PS:T is indeed the reason why many a recent Planescape fan (myself included) first had a look at the setting (alas that we apparently were too few, too late...). For all I know, there may have been more PS:T players who checked out Planescape because of the game than there were players who played the game because they knew of the setting!

As for why the setting has drawn so much ire from some, and never quite became a mega-success... Well, I think the word "elitism" sums up several disparate reasons:

As far as I can tell, such things as Planescape's moments of quirkiness, the Cant and most things Sigil, the existence of a lot of things that a player party could not really hope to alter, the recurring derision of Primes, (heck, likely even DiTerlizzi's art), etc. made Planescape seem like the "Too Cool For You"-setting to some people. I'd say those who feel that way overreact, but to some extent the source material, and likely some fans, did their share to fan this sentiment. Even to those who did not feel that way, I suspect these things at times made the setting inaccessible and hard to play.

Another form of resented "elitism" likely was how fans of other AD&D settings felt that the existence of Planescape would force their settings to move in lockstep with its canon. I'm not sure just to what extent it ever actually did, but the potential was obvious, I suppose.

And, of course, there are the traditionalists who felt that alterations brought about by Planescape (or associated with it, such as the infamous issue of renaming Devils and Demons to Baatezu and Tanar'ri) were sacrilege against the game's spirit. And so on, and so on.

There's more, certainly, (just the other day, this very forum was visited by some joker who read like a sample chart of every lousy argument ever made against Planescape), but from what I've seen that's the basic gist of it.
#6
zombiegleemax
Jul 11, 2005 14:00:55 The biggest complaint I've seen is that it diminishes the whole action-packed good vs. evil idea. It sounds stupid and munchkiny at first, but the point remains that many adventure conclusions (especialy the ones in the "planes of..." books) can feel a bit anticlimatic. And I must agree on this because dnd adventure should be a story about the players doing heroic (or evil) deeds, not a story about NPCs doing the main part of the adventure and some players are also somewhere around sitting there and looking silly

And, of course, there are some people screaming "if a dustman raises a zombi and the others don't complain, they're all evil" or "these NPC-s are too weird, give us some better NPC-s" or "don't do drugs, it's bad for you" or whatever :D
#7
zombiegleemax
Jul 11, 2005 14:04:34
I know that the one in my town has a rack of D&D stuff, and some of it is PS.

I hate you :D
#8
bob_the_efreet
Jul 11, 2005 14:22:05
made Planescape seem like the "Too Cool For You"-setting to some people.

We are too cool for you. *puts on sunglasses*

Okay, so that was mostly a joke. I think it is fairly common among us Planescape fans to feel our setting is the best, and have some level of mockery and/or derision for other settings (especially the Forgotten Realms). So, in that instance, we are a bit elitist. However, I think a lot of us would be happy if we had more people who loved our dear setting, so we're not trying to be exclusive about our setting-elitism. It's more of a 'PS is better than anything you happen to be playing, why don't you come play with us instead?' sentiment.
#9
zombiegleemax
Jul 11, 2005 16:36:48 The funny thing is that if I hadnt encountered PS:T I wouldnt have an idea that any setting like that exists at all... Seems that only dnd made it's way throught here (its an out-of-planes place, I tell you ), and as a long term dnd FR player I find PS more interesting mostly becouse of this quirkness somebody's pointed above. It seems to have a bit in common with the tradiotional dnd just as those planes reffering to FR planes a bit (planes as in general, blood war, those thing), but for me PS develops the most interesting moments in classical dnd and makes them more important. I doubt I will ever have a chance to play PS but at least I can get to know it as much as possible.
#10
zombiegleemax
Jul 14, 2005 14:53:12 Planewalker's handbook is a nice book, fun to read and not as scary as the boxed set :D
#11
old_sage
Jul 14, 2005 20:19:08
Planewalker's handbook is a nice book, fun to read and not as scary as the boxed set :D

The boxed set is scary?
#12
richard_k
Jul 15, 2005 10:53:10 Like many PS:T grabbed me by the hojo's and dragged me in. . The thing is i love this setting. literally i cried when there was no modron in the planar handbook, i was so cut up i couldnt use the modron figure i made (took me 3 hours of glue and fumes and a couple of dice body prototypes) and even worse i have a lot of planescape stuff, old minis and books, but no one wants to play the setting, its all ebberon BS. So all im saying is stick with it...its weirdness, outlandish settings and damn fine "fluff" make it the best DnD setting out there and well if u dont agree with me let me introduce to a nice lady friend of mine, she runs Sigil...sort of.
#13
zombiegleemax
Jul 17, 2005 20:15:19
The boxed set is scary?

As much as i've read, it's mostly being like "the planes are a scary deadly place, one wrong step and you're dead, bwahahahahah" which I think is cool for a setting description, but I actually know some people who find this unsettling
#14
old_sage
Jul 17, 2005 21:30:32
As much as i've read, it's mostly being like "the planes are a scary deadly place, one wrong step and you're dead, bwahahahahah" which I think is cool for a setting description, but I actually know some people who find this unsettling

Hmmm... I had more a feeling of "great mystery in exploring the unknown" when I first read through the boxed set.

Do any other PS products "scare" you?
#15
bob_the_efreet
Jul 18, 2005 5:48:44
Do any other PS products "scare" you?

A Guide to the Ethereal Plane. Most of the book I was okay with, and it showed me how cool a place the ethereal is. But when it said there was an entire demiplane made of living, writhing worms, yeah. I was like OH MY GOD, because that's totally icky.
#16
zombiegleemax
Jul 18, 2005 8:14:44 One great thing about Planescape when it first came out was the setting capacity of annihilate the self-esteem of that arrogant, proud and narrowminded players (and players characters alike :D ) who thinked that Toril was the most important place in The Creation and that The Chosen of Mystra were the greatest invention of man after the wheel... :evillaugh
#17
bran_dawri
Jul 18, 2005 16:58:56
I hate you :D

So do I. Been looking for planescape books all over .

Yeah, I know you can get them online, but I'm one the few people these days who actually enjoys holding a paper-ink-glue book in his hands and smell the aroma before diving in for hours on end while sitting in a comfy chair in our summer garden.
#18
zombiegleemax
Jul 21, 2005 6:15:37
Do any other PS products "scare" you?

None of them "scare" *me*, unfortunately. Now i kinda wish they did. That would actually be pretty cool :D
#19
old_sage
Jul 21, 2005 8:48:29
None of them "scare" *me*, unfortunately. Now i kinda wish they did. That would actually be pretty cool :D

The Hellbound boxed set has its moments... nothing scary, but then it is hardly a pleasant stroll through the battlefields of the Blood War.
#20
zombiegleemax
Jul 25, 2005 9:14:56 So, it's just a stroll then? Hmm
#21
old_sage
Jul 26, 2005 0:05:21
So, it's just a stroll then? Hmm

One would think... But you can never be too sure .
#22
Shemeska_the_Marauder
Jul 27, 2005 21:04:17
Hmmm... I had more a feeling of "great mystery in exploring the unknown" when I first read through the boxed set.

Do any other PS products "scare" you?

The Baern were frightening, and suffice to say I've found inspiration in them since reading 'Faces of Evil' and Hellbound. The detail of the archives below the Tower Arcane with miles upon miles of living petitioners strung up like popcorn necklackes, each branded with contracts like living books, it's just horrific no matter how you look at it.

Then there's Leicester's Gap in 'Guide to the Ethereal' which was Cordell at his best in his entire tenure of writing for DnD (almost enough to forgive him for the 'module that shall not be named').
#23
Shemeska_the_Marauder
Jul 27, 2005 21:10:37
It is always worth hearing that sort of story so please tell us. Perhaps Shemmy can give you her O. Henry-esque Hellbound story later on.

*sigh*

My birthday was coming up and I had some extra money, so I bid on a mint condition, unopened copy of the Hellbound box set on Ebay. Well, one of my players say the same auction and decided to get it for me for my birthday...

Fast forward to my birthday. I walk into said player's apartment with a look of glee on my face and my wallet lighter by a three figure amount.

Me: "Some jack*** kept trying to outbid in the last minute of an auction for Hellbound on ebay. It was a nice copy too. Unopened even. But I beat that son of a... why are you staring at me?"

Player: "What's your screen name on Ebay?"

Me: "..."

Player: *beats head on wall*

Me: "Son of a..."

Player: "I was trying to get it for you for your birthday!"

My friends have since forbid me from buying myself anything within a month of my birthday. Probably a good thing too.
#24
richard_k
Jul 28, 2005 6:14:48 I loves Ebay to though planescape stuff sells better then 50c Crack.Had one bid for $50 then left it for a night, next morn its $250. Hmm groceries or planescape....
#25
zombiegleemax
Jul 28, 2005 10:55:10
So do I. Been looking for planescape books all over .

Yeah, I know you can get them online, but I'm one the few people these days who actually enjoys holding a paper-ink-glue book in his hands and smell the aroma before diving in for hours on end while sitting in a comfy chair in our summer garden.

Or great reading material for the "throne". ;)

I'm obsessed with Planescape to the point where I've been pondering the idea of making paper machet models of each one of the outer planes, starting with Mount Celestia. Sick huh?

Anyway I've not been able to play it much since my friends're all into pure hack-n-slash and are turned off by the RPing aspect of PS. I have tons of books/boxed sets I've gone over and over many times just because it's so dang fascinating to learn about.

I enjoy PS for the philosophical nature of it. As funny as it may sound, they created it with so much detail that it actually seems like it fits the perfect model for our actual universe (and beyond). Heck they even have places for the actual deities of the world, and every phenomenon is explained. It's almost as though we're (Earth) actually one of the many Prime Material worlds which make up this fantastic setting.

I also see it for what it is: master of all settings. Because every other setting out there is merely a building block that makes up Planescape. It's like rock-paper-scissors with the settings...and Planescape beats 'em all. :P

I am running my own Planescape PBMB, and am always looking for a good game to get in to. 2nd Edition of course.
#26
old_sage
Jul 28, 2005 21:01:55
The Baern were frightening, and suffice to say I've found inspiration in them since reading 'Faces of Evil' and Hellbound. The detail of the archives below the Tower Arcane with miles upon miles of living petitioners strung up like popcorn necklackes, each branded with contracts like living books, it's just horrific no matter how you look at it.

I'll agree with that. The detailing of the Tower Arcane wasn't only bizarre, but it may be frightening enough to give one unpleasant nightmares upon reading about it for the first time.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jul 09, 2005 17:59:30	I recently got interested in Planescape world (don't ask why, youd laugh so much) and I wonder if anybody could give me a piece of advice where should I start? Any books, compediums, anything? Im pretty much interested in the world itself than in rpging in it as there's no chance of finding any settings books in my place, but still, could anyone guide me a bit around the whole thing? Id be most thankful.
#2 ripvanwormer Jul 09, 2005 19:30:54	The Planescape campaign setting box remains the best introduction to the setting. At rpg now they've got a lot of the books in .pdf form at five bucks each; I'd start with the campaign setting and work from there. Perhaps before that, I'd browse around the Mimir and Planewalker. Unless Infinity, A Tiefling's Exultation, The Planescape Index, On the Wings of Mephits, the Scripta Planorum, and Dreams of Dreams are also good sites.
#3 sildatorak Jul 10, 2005 4:07:01	I recently got interested in Planescape world (don't ask why, youd laugh so much) It is always worth hearing that sort of story so please tell us. Perhaps Shemmy can give you her O. Henry-esque Hellbound story later on. As for where to start, I would recommend the Campaign setting in .pdf form or off of e-bay. From there you can see which planes appeal to you and pick up some more .pdf's of Planes of Chaos/Conflict/Law if you want to learn more about the wider planes. If you fall in love with Sigil, pick up Uncaged: Faces of Sigil; it may be the best NPC book ever written for any gaming system anywhere. Stats are secondary in it, so it is just oodles of in-character description and stories about the NPC's described. I recommend checking out second-hand bookstores in your area. I know that the one in my town has a rack of D&D stuff, and some of it is PS.
#4 zombiegleemax Jul 10, 2005 14:11:06	Thanks for info everyone :D Well, frankly that came after I've finnaly finished the crpg Planescape: Torment which remained a big mystery for 6 long years since I got it (Ive got no idea why I kept on stopping playing after 2/3 - maybe cause I wanted to have something to return to). Then I thought - whoa, this world is way better than all those Forgotten Realms, Greyhawks and hell knows what else. What leads me to the question - why is PS so unpopular? Weird thing, isnt it?
#5 zombiegleemax Jul 10, 2005 18:06:24	Hmmmmm, it's hard to say anything for sure, but I suspect that PS:T is indeed the reason why many a recent Planescape fan (myself included) first had a look at the setting (alas that we apparently were too few, too late...). For all I know, there may have been more PS:T players who checked out Planescape because of the game than there were players who played the game because they knew of the setting! As for why the setting has drawn so much ire from some, and never quite became a mega-success... Well, I think the word "elitism" sums up several disparate reasons: As far as I can tell, such things as Planescape's moments of quirkiness, the Cant and most things Sigil, the existence of a lot of things that a player party could not really hope to alter, the recurring derision of Primes, (heck, likely even DiTerlizzi's art), etc. made Planescape seem like the "Too Cool For You"-setting to some people. I'd say those who feel that way overreact, but to some extent the source material, and likely some fans, did their share to fan this sentiment. Even to those who did not feel that way, I suspect these things at times made the setting inaccessible and hard to play. Another form of resented "elitism" likely was how fans of other AD&D settings felt that the existence of Planescape would force their settings to move in lockstep with its canon. I'm not sure just to what extent it ever actually did, but the potential was obvious, I suppose. And, of course, there are the traditionalists who felt that alterations brought about by Planescape (or associated with it, such as the infamous issue of renaming Devils and Demons to Baatezu and Tanar'ri) were sacrilege against the game's spirit. And so on, and so on. There's more, certainly, (just the other day, this very forum was visited by some joker who read like a sample chart of every lousy argument ever made against Planescape), but from what I've seen that's the basic gist of it.
#6 zombiegleemax Jul 11, 2005 14:00:55	The biggest complaint I've seen is that it diminishes the whole action-packed good vs. evil idea. It sounds stupid and munchkiny at first, but the point remains that many adventure conclusions (especialy the ones in the "planes of..." books) can feel a bit anticlimatic. And I must agree on this because dnd adventure should be a story about the players doing heroic (or evil) deeds, not a story about NPCs doing the main part of the adventure and some players are also somewhere around sitting there and looking silly And, of course, there are some people screaming "if a dustman raises a zombi and the others don't complain, they're all evil" or "these NPC-s are too weird, give us some better NPC-s" or "don't do drugs, it's bad for you" or whatever :D
#7 zombiegleemax Jul 11, 2005 14:04:34	I know that the one in my town has a rack of D&D stuff, and some of it is PS. I hate you :D
#8 bob_the_efreet Jul 11, 2005 14:22:05	made Planescape seem like the "Too Cool For You"-setting to some people. We are too cool for you. puts on sunglasses Okay, so that was mostly a joke. I think it is fairly common among us Planescape fans to feel our setting is the best, and have some level of mockery and/or derision for other settings (especially the Forgotten Realms). So, in that instance, we are a bit elitist. However, I think a lot of us would be happy if we had more people who loved our dear setting, so we're not trying to be exclusive about our setting-elitism. It's more of a 'PS is better than anything you happen to be playing, why don't you come play with us instead?' sentiment.
#9 zombiegleemax Jul 11, 2005 16:36:48	The funny thing is that if I hadnt encountered PS:T I wouldnt have an idea that any setting like that exists at all... Seems that only dnd made it's way throught here (its an out-of-planes place, I tell you ), and as a long term dnd FR player I find PS more interesting mostly becouse of this quirkness somebody's pointed above. It seems to have a bit in common with the tradiotional dnd just as those planes reffering to FR planes a bit (planes as in general, blood war, those thing), but for me PS develops the most interesting moments in classical dnd and makes them more important. I doubt I will ever have a chance to play PS but at least I can get to know it as much as possible.
#10 zombiegleemax Jul 14, 2005 14:53:12	Planewalker's handbook is a nice book, fun to read and not as scary as the boxed set :D
#11 old_sage Jul 14, 2005 20:19:08	Planewalker's handbook is a nice book, fun to read and not as scary as the boxed set :D The boxed set is scary?
#12 richard_k Jul 15, 2005 10:53:10	Like many PS:T grabbed me by the hojo's and dragged me in. . The thing is i love this setting. literally i cried when there was no modron in the planar handbook, i was so cut up i couldnt use the modron figure i made (took me 3 hours of glue and fumes and a couple of dice body prototypes) and even worse i have a lot of planescape stuff, old minis and books, but no one wants to play the setting, its all ebberon BS. So all im saying is stick with it...its weirdness, outlandish settings and damn fine "fluff" make it the best DnD setting out there and well if u dont agree with me let me introduce to a nice lady friend of mine, she runs Sigil...sort of.
#13 zombiegleemax Jul 17, 2005 20:15:19	The boxed set is scary? As much as i've read, it's mostly being like "the planes are a scary deadly place, one wrong step and you're dead, bwahahahahah" which I think is cool for a setting description, but I actually know some people who find this unsettling
#14 old_sage Jul 17, 2005 21:30:32	As much as i've read, it's mostly being like "the planes are a scary deadly place, one wrong step and you're dead, bwahahahahah" which I think is cool for a setting description, but I actually know some people who find this unsettling Hmmm... I had more a feeling of "great mystery in exploring the unknown" when I first read through the boxed set. Do any other PS products "scare" you?
#15 bob_the_efreet Jul 18, 2005 5:48:44	Do any other PS products "scare" you? A Guide to the Ethereal Plane. Most of the book I was okay with, and it showed me how cool a place the ethereal is. But when it said there was an entire demiplane made of living, writhing worms, yeah. I was like OH MY GOD, because that's totally icky.
#16 zombiegleemax Jul 18, 2005 8:14:44	One great thing about Planescape when it first came out was the setting capacity of annihilate the self-esteem of that arrogant, proud and narrowminded players (and players characters alike :D ) who thinked that Toril was the most important place in The Creation and that The Chosen of Mystra were the greatest invention of man after the wheel... :evillaugh
#17 bran_dawri Jul 18, 2005 16:58:56	I hate you :D So do I. Been looking for planescape books all over . Yeah, I know you can get them online, but I'm one the few people these days who actually enjoys holding a paper-ink-glue book in his hands and smell the aroma before diving in for hours on end while sitting in a comfy chair in our summer garden.
#18 zombiegleemax Jul 21, 2005 6:15:37	Do any other PS products "scare" you? None of them "scare" me, unfortunately. Now i kinda wish they did. That would actually be pretty cool :D
#19 old_sage Jul 21, 2005 8:48:29	None of them "scare" me, unfortunately. Now i kinda wish they did. That would actually be pretty cool :D The Hellbound boxed set has its moments... nothing scary, but then it is hardly a pleasant stroll through the battlefields of the Blood War.
#20 zombiegleemax Jul 25, 2005 9:14:56	So, it's just a stroll then? Hmm
#21 old_sage Jul 26, 2005 0:05:21	So, it's just a stroll then? Hmm One would think... But you can never be too sure .
#22 Shemeska_the_Marauder Jul 27, 2005 21:04:17	Hmmm... I had more a feeling of "great mystery in exploring the unknown" when I first read through the boxed set. Do any other PS products "scare" you? The Baern were frightening, and suffice to say I've found inspiration in them since reading 'Faces of Evil' and Hellbound. The detail of the archives below the Tower Arcane with miles upon miles of living petitioners strung up like popcorn necklackes, each branded with contracts like living books, it's just horrific no matter how you look at it. Then there's Leicester's Gap in 'Guide to the Ethereal' which was Cordell at his best in his entire tenure of writing for DnD (almost enough to forgive him for the 'module that shall not be named').
#23 Shemeska_the_Marauder Jul 27, 2005 21:10:37	It is always worth hearing that sort of story so please tell us. Perhaps Shemmy can give you her O. Henry-esque Hellbound story later on. sigh My birthday was coming up and I had some extra money, so I bid on a mint condition, unopened copy of the Hellbound box set on Ebay. Well, one of my players say the same auction and decided to get it for me for my birthday... Fast forward to my birthday. I walk into said player's apartment with a look of glee on my face and my wallet lighter by a three figure amount. Me: "Some jack*** kept trying to outbid in the last minute of an auction for Hellbound on ebay. It was a nice copy too. Unopened even. But I beat that son of a... why are you staring at me?" Player: "What's your screen name on Ebay?" Me: "..." Player: beats head on wall Me: "Son of a..." Player: "I was trying to get it for you for your birthday!" My friends have since forbid me from buying myself anything within a month of my birthday. Probably a good thing too.
#24 richard_k Jul 28, 2005 6:14:48	I loves Ebay to though planescape stuff sells better then 50c Crack.Had one bid for $50 then left it for a night, next morn its $250. Hmm groceries or planescape....
#25 zombiegleemax Jul 28, 2005 10:55:10	So do I. Been looking for planescape books all over . Yeah, I know you can get them online, but I'm one the few people these days who actually enjoys holding a paper-ink-glue book in his hands and smell the aroma before diving in for hours on end while sitting in a comfy chair in our summer garden. Or great reading material for the "throne". ;) I'm obsessed with Planescape to the point where I've been pondering the idea of making paper machet models of each one of the outer planes, starting with Mount Celestia. Sick huh? Anyway I've not been able to play it much since my friends're all into pure hack-n-slash and are turned off by the RPing aspect of PS. I have tons of books/boxed sets I've gone over and over many times just because it's so dang fascinating to learn about. I enjoy PS for the philosophical nature of it. As funny as it may sound, they created it with so much detail that it actually seems like it fits the perfect model for our actual universe (and beyond). Heck they even have places for the actual deities of the world, and every phenomenon is explained. It's almost as though we're (Earth) actually one of the many Prime Material worlds which make up this fantastic setting. I also see it for what it is: master of all settings. Because every other setting out there is merely a building block that makes up Planescape. It's like rock-paper-scissors with the settings...and Planescape beats 'em all. :P I am running my own Planescape PBMB, and am always looking for a good game to get in to. 2nd Edition of course.
#26 old_sage Jul 28, 2005 21:01:55	The Baern were frightening, and suffice to say I've found inspiration in them since reading 'Faces of Evil' and Hellbound. The detail of the archives below the Tower Arcane with miles upon miles of living petitioners strung up like popcorn necklackes, each branded with contracts like living books, it's just horrific no matter how you look at it. I'll agree with that. The detailing of the Tower Arcane wasn't only bizarre, but it may be frightening enough to give one unpleasant nightmares upon reading about it for the first time.