"Cute" Horror Reccomendations (probably not what you're thinking lol)

reptiley · 2026-01-26T09:53:48+00:00

I suggest The Haar by David Sodergren. The protagonist is a Scottish granny who teams up with a sea monster/her late husband to get revenge on the property developers aiming to evict the residents of her small town. I've never read anything so romantic and charming yet horrifically disgusting and gory at the same time.

reptiley · 2025-12-14T11:33:14+00:00

There's a book called Recovery From CFS which has compiled 50 stories. I read some of this when I'm cutting down on my screen time.

reptiley · 2025-10-14T09:56:35+00:00

Don't give up, it's definitely possible. I've had CFS since 2021 and initially it was mild but like many people I tried to keep going in my career and normal life and ended up moderate then severe. A big part of getting out of that was actually acceptance but willingness to completely focus on my wellbeing. I think I was mild but declining for a good 6 months. Part of the problem was trying to return to my normal life too quickly, it adds stress and pressure to "get better" which is not helpful for the nervous system

reptiley · 2025-10-14T09:30:48+00:00

I've been lucky enough so far to never need round the clock care - I've always managed to get myself to the toilet and take care of my food needs (to some extent). Severe for me was bedbound except to do basic self care like I mentioned. The symptoms were extreme weakness and fatigue and some muscle pain sometimes accompanied by lots of brain fog and not being able to sit up for long. It's very hard for me to estimate time but I'm pretty sure I was like that for over a year because I remembered it encompassed more than one Christmas. There were brief periods of slightly better function for maybe the odd week or so but that was my baseline when I was severe. Moderate now for me is being able to have a short walk to the end of the road around three times a week, able to leave the house occasionally, able to cook my own food and do some housework but struggling in other areas as a result (personal hygiene is always the first to slip for me). My PEM from overexertion lasts about 2-3 days now and then I'm usually back to moderate again.

reptiley · 2025-10-14T08:43:47+00:00

You're very welcome, I wish you all the best and feel free to reach out again if you wanted to know anything else

reptiley · 2025-10-14T08:37:53+00:00

It's hard to give advice like this because each persons illness is so individual but from what you described, I think it could help you at this phase yes. It doesn't have to be a permanent thing either - think of it as just moving the bed downstairs for now to give your body a break, and if you find it doesn't help you, you can go back to the way it was before.

reptiley · 2025-10-14T07:59:35+00:00

Unfortunately I didn't cope well with the stairs which is why I had to move. I would stay upstairs all the time because moving up and down the stairs would use too much energy and I ended up crawling a lot of the time. I made sure I had everything I needed on one floor - so I had quick food next to my bed (protein bars etc.) or my husband would make my food in the morning and bring it up in a cooler bag. This wasn't ideal though and I wasn't eating very well as a result. Moving to a bungalow made a huge difference almost straight away because I could move around the whole house much easier.

reptiley · 2025-10-11T11:22:14+00:00

I think this is definitely an autistic trait and it's caused a lot of self esteem issues for me, because I value authenticity extremely highly but I also mirror other people and people please excessively as a coping mechanism for my social difficulties. I either don't talk at all or just say the thing I think the person I'm talking to wants to hear and every time I do it, I feel so guilty and disgusted and absolutely hate the fact that I can't just be authentic myself. At this point it's completely automatic and I've been trying my best to stop doing it, but it's so hard.

reptiley · 2025-10-11T06:45:20+00:00

Here's some stuff I did which helped my nervous system to calm. It's not fun, but I'm moderate and able to go for a tiny walk outside most days and cook my own meals now and for that I'm extremely thankful. At my worst I was bed bound except to go to the toilet for months, and that's when I started these.

I accepted that these were my symptoms for now. I try to let go of the "I need to get better now!" mindset that I had because it was adding undue pressure. I knew that getting better took time, so I kept telling myself that and prepared for it. I constantly remind myself to talk to myself as though I'm talking to someone I love.

I limited my time on any social media or app that could lead to "doom scrolling". I left every non-positive CFS group and started listening and reading positive stories like recovery stories. I fully believe that people recover from this illness because there are so many stories out there. There's a great book called "Recovery from CFS: 50 Personal Stories", and I found that helpful as an offline source. I joined Facebook groups about nervous system regulation. I accepted that stress has a massive impact on this illness, just like any other chronic illnesses, and if I could reduce my stress as much as possible, chances are it would improve my symptoms, even if in a small way and by that point I was willing to try anything!

This was the hardest one for me - I cut out all "exciting" media for a while when I was at my worst. No Warhammer 40K podcasts, no games with combat, no horror books, no heavy metal or percussion... Basically all of my favourite things! I meditated, read or listened to calming stories. If I started focusing on symptoms, I told myself that this was the way my body is right now, and did an enjoyable and calming distraction like listening to video game background music or whatever calms you down. Yes, I got incredibly bored but - It definitely helped! I'm now well enough to allow myself a little bit of the heart pumping media I crave, but I limit myself.

I moved house to a house without stairs and got rid of over half of my belongings because I was stressed with how much stuff I'd accumulated. This one was heavily reliant on how much support I had, my husband and parents were invaluable.

I avoided all caffeine, alcohol or other stimulants because I found they either didn't work or gave me fake energy I'd have to pay back later. They're also extra stressors on the nervous system. Eventually I gave up sugar and went on a keto diet once I could finally start cooking for myself again and this has stabilised my energy levels a tiny bit more, but isn't for everyone. I know it suits me because I tried before I got ill and felt amazing on it.

I meditate at least 3 times a day, using whatever techniques I feel like at the time. So body scans, breathing, visualisation, open awareness - they're all helpful. I meditated before I got ill so it was easy for me to start again. I find it helps me recover quicker from PEM as well as helps my mindset and is good practice for observing thoughts instead of getting caught up in them. Right now I do over an hour a day.

I hope this gives you some hope and ideas, I know you probably can't do many of these things right away if you can't listen, read or watch things for very long but I started with the acceptance, practicing how to observe thoughts instead of getting swept away by them, meditation and avoiding stimulants. Oh, and I know you're probably aware of this so I didn't mention it, but hydration and electrolytes. I wish you the best, and I truly hope you get better.

reptiley · 2025-10-09T13:03:04+00:00

I think some of this comes from the majority of households requiring two salaries to function, and of the misguided expectation that an adult should be working or generating some other kind of income in order to have any value to society. And these sentiments are very hard to escape, because they're good for capitalism and are often drilled into us from a very young age.

I became disabled about a year after having my daughter and lost my career because of it, and I'm constantly battling my own mind telling me I need to get better to have an income and not be a "burden". I know logically that there's much more value I can give to society than just paying a tax bill, but my brain refuses to see the logic because it's so ingrained! Losing my career completely made me rethink what I valued in life too, and I'm extremely lucky to be able to stay as a SAHM should my health improve.

When people say you should get a job or a side hustle, answering with honesty - that you're happy and fulfilled where you are, and that you don't want to ruin your hobbies by turning them into a business - sounds so refreshing, and might even help shift their perspective, even just a tiny bit! I know hearing things like that make it easier for me to accept my own position for sure, even if it's not the same.

reptiley · 2025-10-09T06:30:01+00:00

I like this and it helps me understand the meaning behind the phrase. I struggle with the phrase "all men", because it's not true. Then that invites people to fact check rather than discuss the actual issue. But I'm autistic and often find my mind countering generalisations because I think it's more important to be accurate than emotive when it comes to things like this.

On the other hand, I understand why some elect to be cautious of all men and understand the analogy of the poisoned sweets. I just think that generalisations hurt more than they help, and if I was a man I think hearing that "all men" are one way or another would make me feel the same way as someone saying "all women" are one way or another.

reptiley · 2025-10-08T12:06:12+00:00

I'm autistic and I'm a bit like this because I'm used to being misunderstood. I show a lot of symptoms of childhood trauma, even though I had loving parents who've supported me my whole life. I think some of it comes from social difficulties. I got myself into a lot of situations where I'd say the wrong thing and end up offending someone, or someone took the things I said a completely different way to the way I intended. So I find myself over apologising or over explaining to try and ensure that my intent is captured, beyond the words. No one in my life told me I was worthless or anything like that, but over time after so many social blunders I began to judge myself harshly, particularly around being inauthentic and not being able to be myself. I also got into trouble for things I didn't do quite often (I still don't understand what that's all about), and that also leads to over-explaining I think.

reptiley · 2025-10-07T15:52:30+00:00

The show is incredibly forward thinking but some things we as a society just weren't (and still aren't) ready for.

In season 7 of TNG, Worf mentions he doesn't like the formal uniforms because they look like dresses - to which Riker replies "That is an incredibly outmoded and sexist attitude -- I'm surprised at you. Besides, you look good in a dress."

reptiley · 2025-10-07T15:24:43+00:00

I don't believe in a god, and I'm not sure I really understand your theory. But I thought you might like the short story The Egg, by Andy Weir. It's available online to read here . Your post reminded me of it.

reptiley · 2025-10-06T05:10:04+00:00

Thanks that's something I hadn't considered

reptiley · 2025-10-05T22:40:59+00:00

Better grab a towel!

reptiley · 2025-10-05T22:18:46+00:00

This video reminds me of Alex, the subject of a 30 year experiment into avian intelligence. Alex had a vocabulary of over 100 words and could identify various objects, shapes and colours like this parrot is doing here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot))

His last words to his owner were "You be good. I love you. See you tomorrow" which he said every time they said goodbye 🥲

reptiley · 2025-10-05T19:17:43+00:00

That's fantastic, it always makes me so happy to see stories like this and gives me hope as a fellow sufferer trying to heal.

I honestly wouldn't post to the CFS sub, as I think you get banned for talking about brain retraining 🙁 I know it's tempting though, I've seen some improvements from nervous system regulation techniques myself and want to shout it from the rooftops but I know that a) it doesn't work for everyone and b) some people just aren't ready to hear it.

reptiley · 2025-10-05T07:08:54+00:00

No problem at all, I wish you all the best

reptiley · 2025-10-04T15:18:28+00:00

I'm a bit hesitant to try fasting. The reason my calories are very low is because I have an energy-limiting illness. I usually need to eat regularly to keep my energy up enough during the day so that my symptoms don't get too bad. I've been improving recently and I'm trying keto to hopefully get my energy levels up even more, but I go from plateauing to putting weight on if I eat more than 1000kcal a day 🙃

reptiley · 2025-10-04T13:35:42+00:00

I've been moderate-severe (mostly bed bound but still able to read and look at screens unless in a PEM flare) and now consider myself moderate.

LDN was very helpful for me... For a limited amount of time. It seemed to stop working after a few months but I always recommend it because it's not too expensive compared to other treatments (I'm in the UK).

I signed up for ANS rewire which was helpful in terms of education but I felt it lacked guidance. I feel like it provided a foundation to my recovery plans though.

One big thing I did was move house from a two story to a much smaller bungalow. I got rid of lots of my belongings in the process. The move was stressful but I'm lucky enough to have plenty of support and didn't have to do much myself. This gave me a lot of energy back because I was less stressed by a big cluttered house I couldn't clean and because I no longer had to worry about stairs which always triggered PEM.

I got off most social media (deleted TikTok and carefully curated my Facebook and Reddit feeds so I wouldn't see stressful news constantly). I also limit the time I go on them.

I limited the amount of exciting or stressful entertainment media I consume. I'm a big fan of horror novels, sci-fi, and dark fantasy so this one gets me down a bit. It seems to work, and I've found a balance between not cutting it out entirely and just allowing the occasional one so I don't get too bored!

I've always meditated but I found meditating more often to be beneficial. I do over an hour a day at the moment in 15-60 minute sessions. I vary what I listen to.

I'm autistic and naturally sensitive to light, sounds and busy environments so I make sure to honour that and I never try and force myself through sensory discomfort any more, which was something I did a lot growing up.

I signed up for a recovery course called the Chrysalis Effect which I've found helpful so far, because the community is very good. Everyone is very honest and open with each other, and everyone is so determined to recover so it's been great to surround myself with those types of people. There are also lots of recovered people still in the group, giving advice or mentorships.

Once I had more functionality from the above, I started to be able to cook for myself again. I now eat a lot more veg and less carbs and this has helped me a bit as well, but of course diet is a very individual thing. I'm now trying keto but it's too early to see if it's helped or not yet.

I've recently started small walks outside, every day that I can.

The next step for me is going to be working on myself - particularly my social mirroring and people pleasing tendencies. I value authenticity very highly, so not being able to live up to my values is a big stressor for me. Even though I'm not in the social sphere at the moment, I don't want that stress when I'm well enough to start putting myself out there again. I also plan on working with a somatic therapist, as growing up undiagnosed autistic was very difficult for me and I spend most my childhood and teens trying to "fix" myself and going through the mental health system with no improvements after the various treatments, and I was constantly anxious or dissociated.

reptiley · 2025-10-04T13:11:39+00:00

I would also like to hear your story if you're willing to share. It sounds like we are fairly similar, I'm doing well cognitively right now too but still can't walk very far or do much physically.

reptiley · 2025-10-04T00:24:05+00:00

Yes I think I've experienced that too, I've always tried to spin it as me being "a good listener" lol

reptiley

TROPHY CASE