Tapping the Uncanny Valley.

Man I love Netflix.

They recently made it available to our PS3 without mailing away for a special disk, and I’ve been in love with it ever since.

Most recently becoming re-acquainted with that hidden gem from my childhood: The Dark Crystal.

I was never a huge fan of it…for a rather odd reason. It just tasted wrong. Yes. Tasted. It’s one of those few films that has the unusual effect of leaving me with a taste. I know it sounds odd…and I can’t explain it.

I don’t know, maybe I was unconsciously tasting podling essence.

But, watching it again after many years of it being forgotten made me appreciate it on a whole different level, but it’s still rather disturbing. Trying to pin down WHY, I’m left to consider the Uncanny Valley…

What’s that, you ask?

The ‘Gelfings’ in Dark Crystal can definitely fall into that ‘valley’.

And, that got me thinking…how do we tap this?

First thought came to costumes.

Think of virtually ANY Halloween icon. They are more or less human, yet have some characteristic that makes them just that much ‘off’. I’ve always told people that to make a good, original, scary costume, you’re best bet is pick a feature and enlarge it, while minimizing others.

Larger eyes, mouth, teeth, etc.

But, really, “the valley” can apply to most things. We create certain expectations for any number of situations, and when something is ‘off’, we begin to get uneasy.

One thing I’ve noticed in my 6 years doing this yard haunt, the first thing I did remains one of those things that tends to make the trick or treaters uneasy. There is no one at the door. No candy, no reward for ringing that bell. Groups will go to the door, and then stand wondering what to do as they see other kids heading out into the yard. Is it right? Is it safe?

What other things can we take just left of center? What other things can we take into the valley?

This is going to take some thought…