Autisticana

a gallery of autistic special/intense interests

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Category: Weird Creatures

  • Our Trip to Spencer’s

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    By Christine Grimaldi

    This past week, the crew at Autisticana visited Spencer’s at the Smithtown Mall. The store is very interesting because it has shirts and clothing based on popular movies, anime, and musicians. It also has paraphernalia relating to weed, occultism, and magic, sex toys, and candy. They even sell manga and cookbooks. We all took pictures relating to our interests there.

    In 1947, Spencer’s started off in Easton, PA, as a mail-order catalog with tons of novelty merch by Max Adler and his brother Harry, the namesake being the former’s middle name Spencer. In 1963, three years after Harry left, Spencer evolved into a brick-and-mortar retail store with its first location in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, at the city’s mall. Since then, Spencer has grown to 650 locations in the US, and Canada within malls, especially on Long Island, such as Hicksville Broadway.

    In 2001, Spencer’s Gifts launched its e-commerce website, allowing customers to shop for its products online. The website has become important to the company’s sales and marketing strategy.

    Today, Spencer’s operates over 600 stores in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, offering a wide range of products, including clothing, accessories, home decor, and novelty items. The company is known for its edgy and irreverent products and is known for catering to a younger, more alternative demographic.

    Despite competing with other retailers in the same space, Spencer’s has continued to grow and expand its business. With a focus on innovation, creativity, and customer engagement, the company has stayed relevant and popular with its target audience.

    Spencer’s has been a must for the newest trends, tees, body jewelry, home décor and more that celebrate our slogan “life is a party”and we are making it fun. Known for being a pioneer in sexual wellness, call us what you want, but we are here for all communities to celebrate. We are committed to our guests’ uniqueness and their desire for rebellious, buzzworthy products that represent a unique lifestyle while offering an escape from the ordinary.

    Spencer’s had opened in 2003 under new management, raising the bar and continuing its untraditional retail journey. The stores have changed, but when they set out on the path of becoming an industry leader in a subtle shift from Spencer Gifts to Spencer’s, this will always be true to the roots of their love for the pride of the effort they put.

    They have done a new and better look, but never forgot the history because some of the trends are as old as time. Spencer’s, which continues to lead the market with one of the oldest continually operating stores in North America and nearly 670 locations throughout the United States and Canada, proudly enshrines the brand as cultural staples. Giving back is a key obligation of Spencer’s, and we have been increasing the commitment over the last few years.

    Since 2020, the whole partnership with the ACLU has generated nearly a million dollars to help protect civil rights for individuals. Additionally, since 2008 our associates have been fierce advocates, joining in on the battle against cancer by fundraising on behalf of three organizations focused on fighting youth cancer through the non-profit Boobies Make Me Smile. They’ve raised more than 10,5 million dollars to support the Young Survival Consortium, Stupid Cancer and Fxck Cancer that are working on prevention, education and help for young people with cancer and showing the reality of helping young women that could possibly have breast cancer and knowing the facts of the support they need when their going through tough times.

    Everyone takes on Spencer’s:

    Scott likes that Spencer’s has cool stuff, especially sex products.

    Danielle didn’t care for Spencer’s Costumes

    Jackson loved Spencer’s having been at that location and Hicksville’s multiple times. He loved taking the Stepbrothers photo with Scott:

  • Mothman Festival

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      By Erich Zuelch

    The Mothman Festival is a festival held in mid to late September in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, based around the myth of the Mothman. Mothman is a cryptid, animal not yet proven to be real, that terrorized the town and surrounding areas from 1966 to 1967. Some speculate that Mothman was responsible for the collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15th, 1967. In recent years, Mothman is believed to have been sighted in Chicago. Some believe it may also be the Black Bird of Chernobyl, a creature seen before the meltdown of the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine in 1986. Sightings have continued on rare occasions into the modern day.

    West Virginia Mothman Festival Postponed Due To Virus Outbreak | WVPB
    A photo of a statue of a silver Mothman. In the background, you can see a street festival

    The festival was started in September 2002, the same year that the film The Mothman Prophecies premiered. The festival draws in crowds that doubles Point Pleasant’s population. Activities include speakers on topics such as cryptozoology, ufology, and ghosts. Food stands and band stands are also present. I went to the festival in 2018, it was great. I got a commemorative t-shirt from the Mothman Museum, I walked around the town, I attended lectures on the Flatwoods Monster, a mysterious being sighted in Central West Virginia; the Skunk Ape, a Bigfoot like creature sighted in Florida; and extraterrestrial life. I asked questions during two of the lectures. During the Skunk Ape lecture, I asked if Bigfoot was capable of speaking or just mimicking human speech. The presenter speculated they just mimic. During the extraterrestrial lecture, I asked if they were harvesting human DNA for cloning purposes, and the presenter thought they were. I even saw two cryptozoologists, Ken Gerhard and Lyle Blackburn, present the pilot of a show they were trying to pitch, American Monster Tour, that has unfortunately not been picked up. I really enjoyed the experience.

    The Mothman Festival is both a street fair and a gathering of the believers in the paranormal. It offers both a fun family activity as well as a chance to learn of what may be out there. I enjoyed attending the lectures and exploring the town. I learned a lot about cryptozoology during that trip. The Mothman Festival is an enjoyable and educational experience.

    Edited by avanicole23

  • My Love for Dinosaurs

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    By Kevin Dwyer

    My love for dinosaurs started when I was about 4 years old. I always wore dinosaur pajamas to bed. I loved learning all the names of all the different dinosaurs. The prehistoric learning was endless. I enjoyed learning the long names and about the history behind the different time periods. There was always more to learn and it kept me very busy. I like to be busy because this when I am at my happiest – these prehistoric animals did the trick for me.

    I am 19 years old now and continue to keep my mind busy with dinosaur activities. My favorite dinosaur is the Tyrannosaurus rex or T-Rex. I love this dinosaur because it is the king of dinosaurs. It is the largest strictly meat-eating land animal. These prehistoric animals are known as theropods (flesh eating animals with feet representing those of birds.)

    Godzilla was my first memory of watching these predators in the movies. Even though it was old fashioned, the gigantic impression of this animal amazed me.

    The following clip is Godzilla (from the 1954 film):

    Video of Godzilla from the 1954 film

    As I started getting older, my passion for dinosaurs grew. I was always excited to visit the dinosaur exhibits at museums such as The Museum of Natural History. It was amazing to see all the original bones and the huge imitation models of these prehistoric species.

    I started collecting and creating “everything dinosaur.” I think I have a collection of over a 1000 dinosaurs, of all shapes and sizes. I continue to collect and love to paint and sketch these animals of fascination.

    I was so excited when Universal pictures put out the Jurassic Park films. I must have watched it over 100 times.

    Trailer for the film Jurassic Park (1993)

    I realized that I was not the only one with a love for these creature productions. Nowadays, I enjoy meeting new friends,with this same special interest. A great platform to make friends with similar interests is Instagram. I have connected with so many people that have a similar passion for dinosaurs.

    One of my favorite Instagram handles is dinosaur.fan.club

    It may seem strange to some people, but this platform keeps me out of isolation, and promotes creative interaction between like minded friends.

    Edited by avanicole23