In a world where everything is shocking, nothing is shocking.. at least not for very long.
Donald Trump posted an image to his Truth Social account early this morning, apparently reposted from another account. The image is grainy, black and white, and shows Trump standing on top of the White House. Above him is a single word: “Soon.”
Donald J. Trump – Truth Social 06:44 AM EST | 01.11.26
Naturally, commentary was immediate. Seeing something like this, it’s impossible not to speculate. What is “soon”? What’s coming? Is it symbolic? Is it a tease? A threat? A joke? Or nothing at all? More ICE raids ? Well yes that’s happening ..
Honestly, the image looks less like a political post and more like a horror movie cover. In fact, I saw it spreading across several horror-focused websites, where it was shared almost respectfully for the genuinely unsettling aura it gives off. Stark lighting. High contrast. A lone figure looming over an iconic building. If you slapped a studio logo on it, no one would question the genre.
What makes it even stranger is the idea of a president or former president leaning into imagery designed to unsettle or intimidate. Whether intentional or not, it flirts with fear as a form of messaging. And that’s the unsettling part. Not just the image itself, but how normalized this kind of thing has become.
But then again, this is the world we live in now—where politics, spectacle, and horror aesthetics blur together until it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
Fans have been watching for breadcrumbs, but at this point it’s clear: there’s no bread at all. Last night, the big Stranger Things documentary aired on Netflix. You can watch it for yourself—and yes, we’re going to spoil it for you. It’s a documentary..
There was one revelation that is just shocking to really think about. The Duffer brothers did not have an ending for the show when they started filming episode 1. Think about that, 400 million and 3 years to film this and that is saying they do the ending for years. But this documentary showcases quite an office at story. But it’s also just a documentary.
That alone spoils a lot for people who were holding out hope for a Wes Craven’s New Nightmare–style twist, or that faint dream that Conformity Gate was finally going to happen. The goalposts keep moving, the dates keep getting reset, but with each passing “event,” Stranger Things continues to conclude itself more definitively. Conformity Gate is starting to feel no different than false prophets claiming different calendar months for the end of the world. I’ve already heard there’s a new date,January 14th, to look forward to. But at this point, it might be time to hop off the train.
Don’t get me wrong.. this has been fun. We were genuinely enticed by the idea that the documentary itself might pull a New Nightmare, that it might blur reality and fiction, that Vecna could still be alive and well in some meta, fourth-wall-breaking way.
And honestly? The hints were there. In the final season, many of the things fans pointed out—plot holes, unresolved threads, lingering imagery—were completely fathomable. It wasn’t crazy to think they could justify some kind of wrap-up, an Episode 9, or at least a tighter conclusion. But the documentary was just that: a documentary. Clean. Straightforward. And to be fair, it was a good one. Strong behind-the-scenes footage, thoughtful perspectives from the cast and crew, and a well-told story about how the show came together.
It just wasn’t what many fans were hoping for. What’s interesting is that the Duffer Brothers have said, multiple times, including in the documentary, that a bad ending can ruin an entire show. And while there’s a group of fans who believe Stranger Things ended exactly the way it should have, there’s also a sizable group who don’t. Even among those who were okay with the ending, plenty still wish it had been handled differently—more cohesively, with fewer dangling threads, or without such strong suggestions that Vecna was still in control.
And if I’m blaming anyone for Conformity Gate, it’s not the fans, and it’s not the Duffers. It’s the social media arms of companies like Netflix. The vague posts. The wink-wink captions. The algorithmic breadcrumbs that felt like confirmation. That’s where the gaslighting happened. Those accounts made it seem like something really was coming, like the prognosticators were onto something, like the Upside Down door was still cracked open. They’re the real villains here.
They took us all into the Upside Down for something that was never going to happen… just to keep us watching a few days longer.
The HOUSEMAID star is getting the last laugh as her film continues strong at the box office, but the mocked Sweeney was slammed for her good jeans in ’25.. and now being laughed at about sharing a ghost story in ’26..
She was interviewed in W Magazine about her career journey and upcoming projects.
Sweeney was asked a light personal question. She was asked whether she believes in ghosts. In response, she shared a memory from her early childhood.
She explained that when she was in preschool, she had an imaginary friend. The childlike figure would appear on the playground. She often talked about him with her mother. Later, her mother learned that the person matched someone who had died before Sweeney was born. The story, she said, unsettled her family at the time.
“I think I’ve seen a ghost,” Sweeney said. “When I was little, I used to have an imaginary friend. He would be on the playground at preschool. I would tell my mom about him. It turns out that he was someone who passed away before I was born. It creeped my mom out.”..
Erich von Däniken was the Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame among paranormal enthusiasts and scorn from the scientific community.. He has died.
He was 90.
Von Däniken’s representatives announced on his website on Sunday that he had died the previous day in a hospital in central Switzerland.
His daughter Cornelia confirmed the information to Swiss news agency SDA.
Von Däniken rose to prominence in 1968 with the publication of his first book “Chariots of the Gods,” in which he claimed that the Mayans and ancient Egyptians were visited by alien astronauts and instructed in advanced technology that allowed them to build giant pyramids.
May he rest in peace.. and may God grant his soul the ability to know the answers he sought on Earth.
James Cameron’s third sci-fi epic has added $65.6 million internationally and $86 million globally in its fourth weekend of release, bringing its overseas tally to $888 million and global total to $1.23 billion. Although a box office juggernaut, “Fire and Ash” is trailing the first two films, 2009’s “Avatar” and 2022’s “The Way of Water,” at this point in its run.
“Zootopia 2” has remained a box office force since Thanksgiving, with $30.8 million overseas and $40.9 million worldwide in its seventh weekend in theaters..
MORE.. Good jeans..
Lionsgate’s psychological thriller “The Housemaid” is about to surpass $200 million globally. The film has generated $25.5 million from 66 overseas territories, including a No. 1 bow in the United Kingdom with $23.7 million. So far, the R-rated film, adapted from Freida McFadden’s popular book and starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has become a breakout hit with $98.3 million internationally and $192.5 million worldwide after four weekends of release.
Bodies are piling up at overwhelmed hospitals in Iran as major protests in the country continue, according to reports. The BBC confirmed that the morgue was overflowing at Poursina Hospital in Rasht city after at least 70 bodies were brought there overnight. Elsewhere, a medic at a Tehran hospital said their staff was in crisis mode after protesters were brought in with “direct shots to the heads” and “to their hearts as well”.
The bloodshed comes as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite US warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God”, a death penalty charge.
The president has been shown potential plans, ranging from possible military strikes to action that doesn’t include the military, according to MS Now and other media outlets, citing U.S. officials. Trump aides are set to brief the president Tuesday on measures, including military, cyber and economic, to follow through on his threats, according to reports.
The federal government’s Boeing E-4B Nightwatch — a military aircraft known, somewhat alarmingly, as the “Doomsday Plane” — touched down at Los Angeles International Airport this week, in what may be the famed aircraft’s first-ever LAX landing.
The plane is equipped to serve as an airborne operations center for the president, the Defense Secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the event of a disaster that wipes out command centers on land.
This week the Canadian government announced health screenings and quarantine of up to seven days for those coming back from the country.
And in December, Spain told its citizens to stay away from Cuba due to a “serious epidemic”.
Known just as “the virus” to many, reports suggest one third of the Cuba’s population has been infected – and the British Medical Journal described the “surge” as the country’s most serious crisis in recent decades.
MORE…
In areas like Camagüey and Holguín, cemeteries have reportedly been overwhelmed.
Three months after the disease spread across the island, the Cuban government recognised the crisis as an epidemic.
But the regime still refused to declare a national health emergency.
The disease has been called a type of “combined arbovirus” – where people are infected with multiple viruses at the same time and it becomes difficult to diagnosis.
Jonathan Gerlach allegedly has an Instagram account by the username “deadshitdaddy” with the subtitle “Ledger of the Dead”. On the page he claims he is a private consultant conducting “provenance & forensic documentation of human remains”
The investigation began in November when people reported missing remains from the cemetery. The investigation gained traction when an anonymous tip gave police info. The tipster claimed to have been inside the home and witnessed dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. The tipster also said that Gerlach traveled as far as Chicago to deliver bones to a customer.
Police set up undercover surveillance at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon and caught Gerlach in the act.
According to court documents, investigators recovered more than 100 human skulls, long bones, and mummified human feet and hands from his basement. Eight corpses, along with body parts, ashes, jewelry and clothing believed to have been taken from graves, were found inside the storage unit.
MORE..
Police say Gerlach targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at the 1855 cemetery. It’s considered the country’s largest abandoned burial ground, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, which helps maintain the 160-acre landmark in Yeadon that’s home to an estimated 150,000 grave sites.
Police say the investigation remains active. Authorities are urging anyone with loved ones buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery who has concerns to contact Yeadon Borough Police.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer icon Sarah Michelle Gellar is opening up a bit more about the long-anticipated new chapter in the Buffyverse..
According to Gellar, this project isn’t a reboot, and it isn’t quite a sequel either. It’s Buffy, but something different.
Officially titled Buffy: New Sunnydale, the series will see Gellar, who starred as the Slayer for seven seasons, return in a guest capacity, passing the stake (so to speak) to a new generation. The new Slayer will be played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, alongside a cast that includes Faly Rakotohavana (Unprisoned, Secret Society of Second Born Royals), Chase Sui Wonders (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Ava Jean (A Week Away, Law & Order: SVU), Sarah Bock (Severance), Daniel di Tomasso (Witches of East End, Major Crimes), and Jack Cutmore-Scott (Oppenheimer, Frasier). Speaking on the Shut Up, Evan podcast where she revealed the official title, Gellar clarified the show’s direction: “It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation.”
She explained that the series will explore where Buffy is now, what kind of world she lives in today, and how that world exists both with her and without her.
New Sunnydale sounds like it’s interested in legacy, in a very changed world since the show aired..
If done right, this could be exactly what fans have hoped for: not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, but a smart evolution of one of television’s heroes .m
But the real question now is will there be a musical.
