Photobombing

Today’s prompt: “Your most treasured photograph”

Spirit photography was this movement where people either thought they were capturing ghosts in photographs, or were pretending that they had done so. It started out in the 1800s with double exposures. Other people tried to claim they had captured ghosts on film in the form of orbs called “ghost lights,” but it’s almost certainly all light reflecting dust particles. Spirit photography to this day is filled with obvious frauds ands overly credulous straw-clutching believers in the paranormal.

The phenomenon of “Eldritch Photos” or “Old One Photos,” on the other hand, was altogether different. Most people were convinced that the grainy, ghostly images of spiny or betentacled elder gods that began showing up in people’s selfies were all photoshopped. And when each and every person who’d had an elder god show up in one of their photos turned up dead or missing 10 days later, most people dismissed it and chalked it up to urban legend.

Maybe if you could reach out to them, they’d believe. But it’s been 12 days since a faded image of Cthulhu photobombed your concert selfie, and 2 since you were sucked into his tentacly maw. You can try to arrange dust motes all you like, or press on planchettes, or hang around mediums or fortunetellers. But for most people these days, not even seeing is believing.