Afterlife

October 28, 1906

Remanded into custody, State Facility at Cedar Grove: one Johann Blück, clockmaker of Paterson, New Jersey.

Johann’s mania became unbearable to his wife. He would stay in his workshop day and night, neither eating nor sleeping. When asked why he was working so hard, Johann would jabber hysterically or mutter incoherently, his moods either morose or exultant, each extreme becoming more violent as though Joahnn, too, was governed by some wildly swinging internal pendulum.

The hornet’s nest appeared in the window of his room at Cedar Grove a few weeks after his suicide. All efforts to dislodge it failed.

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  1. k rawson

    Sinister little tale. Seems like Johann has stirred up a hornets nest, even from the beyond. Loved especially “…governed by some wildly swinging internal pendulum.”

    The new site looks great!

  2. Dale

    It must be so scary to have to have that non-stop buzz going on in your head and making you go-go-go, slowly losing your mind in the process.
    He may have ended his life but his mania lives on…

  3. Dawn Quyle Landau

    Mystery solved! I couldn’t see that it’s a hornet’s nest, in fact I imagined several other things, not that.Don’t you love seeing what everyone creates from your photo? I love the idea of a buzzing brain, and then the wasp nest showing up. Wonderful!

  4. gahlearner

    It seems the ‘hornet spirit’ that made him so mad now moved into the hornets’ nest. (I took it for a wasps’ nest). Intriguing and dark fun. And thank you for the picture.

  5. 4963andypop

    His torment, whether portrayed as buzzing insects or incessant pendulum swings, is palpable. It makes you feel compassion both for the man driven to suicide and the family who had to put up with hiIm. One would hope his fate might be better today, thanks to pharmaceuticals!

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