Scary Livestream

 

I've been neglecting HPANWO Voice lately because of other activities and Halloween is a good day to make a comeback. I've found a seasonal subject for it too. Asell Alm is a young man from Saudi Arabia who keeps a very active vlog which includes call-in livestreams. On one of them a woman joins. She is wearing the traditional black burka, as she would be compelled to in public in that country. To begin with, the mood is light-hearted and the two of them dance to music. She appears normal except that her skin appears to be red, that which you can see above her veil. Her eyes are bright green with heavy eyeliner. When she starts speaking you'll hear she has an unnatural hoarse voice. I can't speak Arabic and there is no subtitle function on the platform, but I can tell that the mood changes radically at that point. Asell recoils from the webcam and looks genuinely afraid. He recovers and begins playing Koran recitations and the being protests. The Islamic holy book is supposed to repulse evil forces. Eventually the call ends. Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPeKZDNjB0u. Commentators wonder if the woman could be one of the djinn, beings from Middle Eastern mythology who are said to be made from smokeless fire and inhabit a parallel world. They are sometimes equated with aliens by Muslims and people from the region. Unlike demons, the djinn can be either good or bad. This is possible. One thing the djinn can do is interact with humans via our technology. They inhabit bottles and other containers and the benevolent ones can grant us wishes. Djinn is where English got the word "genie", as in the Aladdin story. In that narrative the djinni is contained within an oil lamp. It makes sense that they would also use modern technology today, like Asell's internet connection. I'm not rejecting another possibility though, that this video is staged and Asell's caller is just a normal human being. He may have arranged this with her as a stunt. I've had a look at his Instagram and TikTok channels and they do seem to be focused on light-hearted pranks and novelty clips. If I learn more I'll let you know. I'd like to wish all Voice readers a very happy Halloween.