Dark Sites
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
William Shakespeare
"Macbeth" (4.1.45-6), Second Witch
The word "dark" is one of the most used words in internet addresses. The
word itself conjures up a whole host of preconceptions and meanings that
cloud our perception of the word. So how "dark" is the internet? This month
I take a look at some of the sites were darkness reigns.
One of the things that I immediately found to be true when looking at "dark"
websites is the overuse of the word in the title of gamer, role-player,
Goth, and band name sites. These all tend to be along the same tried genre.
They all claim be the baddest of the bad - the darkest of the dark - and the
most terrifying (yawn). If it is a band name there is the obligatory photo
of a gaggle of guys in black leather jackets and maybe if you are lucky and
inverted pentagram or two (yawn again). If you have seen one if these sites,
you have seen them all. And for that reason I chose not to review any of
them. I went looking for something with more class and intelligence.
The other thing that I found to be true about "dark" sites is that the
Europeans, particularly Germans, are much "darker" than us Americans. They
seemed to have a corner in darkness all their own. Everything from real
estate sales to bondage and fashion sites to personal blogs all contain the
word dark. It seems that "dark culture" is much more openly accepted in
European society than it is here in the US.
Now step this way into the dark side of the internet .
Darkside International
http://www.darkside.com
I am going to start here with a site aptly named Darkside. I have been
visiting this site for years. Here you will find links for a number of
professionally done alternative news publications. This is not the place to
come for a candy-coated version of world events. But if you want a no holds
barred look at current happenings spend some time on the links provided
here. You will find the Daily Rotten - Rotten News - Jerkcity (comics) -
Mugshots.org - and much, much more. You could spend hours cruising the 'net
and still miss some of the classic dark sites that Darkside provides all in
one spot. As is said in the Daily Rotten, this is "News you cannot possibly
use" - but I guarantee you will enjoy it anyhow.
Darklinks
http://darklinks.com
This is another dark links site. But this is just not any dark links site -
it is THE dark links site. The one and only you will ever need. Everything
is here. Where did I go when my computer crashed and I need to find links to
reload my dark fonts? Darklinks. Need to do a little on-line Goth shopping?
Darklinks has links to everything from gifts to voodoo oils and all
varieties of dark clothing. Darklinks has been around for over ten years and
has consistently published the best source of dark websites without the bs
that you see elsewhere. There is dark category here for everything from
vampire groups to dark awards and dark music. This is a site that you will
bookmark and use as a resource for years.
Darkfear Network
http://darkfear.com
Darkfear is one of those sites that gets under your skin. It is about fears
- your personal fears. All those things that go bump in the night and make
the little hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention. Here you will
a Wall of Fears - Horror Movies - Graveyard of Fear and other selections,
all which start you thinking and listening to every sound the night has to
offer. Be sure to visit the sister site at www.darkfear.net
to continue exploring your personal nightmares.
Darkfear doesn't just stop at exploring fear. Darkfear is more - much more.
Presented by our web guru, Darkfear has depth and offers an array of web
resources. Darkfear offers dark music - dark fonts - dark post cards - html
help - the Darkfear Index and other useful info and tools. Darkfear offers
an amazing amount of web resources you cannot find anywhere else. Darkfear
is one of those sites you can't live without exploring. Bookmark this one -
you will be back often.
Darkskies
http://www.dark-skies.org
Darkskies takes you into darkness of a different sort - the literal kind.
Project of a joint commission of the British Astronomical Association and
the International Dark-Sky Association, the aim here is preserving the
beauty of the night sky through reduced light pollution. The pages here show
you what we are missing. What mankind has viewed for millions of years that
now is shrouded in skyglow. They show the beauty and the majesty that is the
night sky. Listed here are solid suggestions and reasons for reducing light
pollution including the economics of wasted light. These guys are quite
serious and the material here is well presented. This site is not about
turning out the lights - it is about reduction of light pollution in the
night environment and giving us all the right to see the heavens in their
full beauty.
Darkmagick
http://www.darkmagick.com
Darkmagick is an on-line arts 'zine with dark edges. The artwork, music and
writings here all have definite darker side. While there is not a great
amount of musical or visual depth here, there is an enormous amount of dark
poetry for you to enjoy. Anyone can submit works to Darkmagick, but there
seems regular group of contributors. My thought is that this was originally
a website for posting the works of a few close friends that grew into
something more. It is really interesting to me though, to see what other
dark 'zines on the web are putting out for creative efforts.
Until next time.
Veritatem dies aperit.
LA. Judge