Anyone Else Ready to Be Abducted By Aliens?

This post is for alien afficionados and for those avoiding the news agony avalanche by binge-watching retro shows this past week. The best part of the week for me was memes on social media about alien abductions. My favs were:

At this point, if I get picked up by aliens, I’m just going to go ahead and consider it a rescue mission instead of an abduction.

Dear UFO pilots, I’m packed and ready to relocate. Will bring wine…

Is anyone else out there about ready to be abducted by aliens?

I haven’t watched any abduction scenes lately, but while recently aimlessly channel surfing, I stumbled upon a surprising scene in a movie I didn’t know existed, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull, from 2008. Not only had I not realized there were movies beyond the popular Indiana Jones trilogy of the 1980s, I was shocked to discover, in the ten minutes I viewed, that this one featured aliens.

Perhaps the title’s crystal skull reference would have been a clue, given an episode once seen on the subject in the Ancient Aliens TV series. Mysterious elongated skulls are something I’ve not addressed in my Other Worldly novels, and I probably still won’t in my work in progress,  Alien Origins, but it was nonetheless fun to see extraterrestrial beings featured in a franchise traditionally about archeological—and religious— artifacts. Too bad the aliens are probably pretty much depicted as evil, as tends to be the Hollywood way, but I haven’t watched the entire film.

Meanwhile, for weeks now I’ve been watching a TV series on Tubi not previously viewed when first aired from 2011-2015. It was not at all surprising in season two to see an episode featuring UFO activity, as well as crop circles, amidst all of the other creepy happenings deemed “the troubles” in the eerie Maine town called Haven. Haven is based on the Stephen King novel, The Colorado Kid, after all. It’s often dark and gruesome, but the series is very well done. I’m up to season three of five, so maybe they’ll be more about aliens. Here’s hoping.

I ultimately surprised myself last week by deciding to watch a series that kicked off in the late 90s, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, also currently offered on Tubi. It’s strange to realize the show began more than 25 years ago, but it is definitely entertaining, with excellent acting and interesting story lines. Buffy hasn’t battled any aliens as of the second of seven seasons, but a few of the demonic creatures have kind of resembled those seen in sci fi horror films like Alien.

I don’t plan to write about vampires or demons in Alien Origins, but the often snarky dialog in Buffy is always good to get me going in the same direction when I write. Besides, there’s enough real life demons and bloodsuckers in the news right now as it is.

And finally, a beloved show also popped up on Tubi last week, Highlander. Not only have I seen it more than once (not that I let that stop me from watching it yet again), I used to own videotapes of the entire series of six seasons that began in 1992 featuring an immortal named Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod.

Given the Scottish Highlands connection—book four, Being Alien, is almost entirely set in Scotland and book six, Altogether Alien, features key scenes there—it’s no wonder I’ve already mentioned Highlander in my Other Worldly novels, beginning with book two published in 2020, Feeling Alienated, where a character named Red MacLeod is first introduced.

Protagonist Rowan Layne asks the former MI6 spy and also former US secretary of defense what his real first name is, because Red is a nickname (presumably due to the color of his hair, now mostly white). Red tells Rowan is first name is Colin, and she says, “Oh good. I feared it was Duncan and you might be the Highlander.”

Red responds, “No, but according to the story immortals were aliens from another planet.”

And there you have it. Highlander Duncan MacLeod is an alien very much like those in my novels because he exists in human form. All the more reason it was delightfully uncanny to have this show resurface on Tubi when I’d literally just drafted a chapter once again referencing it in Alien Origins.

Here’s an excerpt as a teaser for where Rowan is headed in the Other Worldly series finale when she gives her big sister a call from the moonship:

“Brace yourself,” I said when G immediately asked how I was doing. “In less than 24 hours I have become a cinematic cliche. First, there’s Highlander—initially a movie but also a cool nineties TV series set in Vancouver, Washington, and also in Europe, where I’m headed soon, coincidentally—and then there’s the highly unexpected and unflattering Mommie Dearest, and aren’t there a bunch of B movies about Thor?”

“What’s Highlander?”

“How can you not know about the Highlander? Connor MacLeod in the movie; Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod in the show. Immortals fighting immortals? There can be only one?” I spilled coffee on my thigh, hissing from the burn.

“Immortal as in timeless? Or do you literally mean immortal?”

“They can’t be killed unless their head is cut off with a sword.” I paused while G gasped. “But that’s not what I mean in terms of my situation…”

That’s all for now, lest I engage in any spoilers. I admit I didn’t get much writing done last week, but now I’m feeling somewhat rejuvenated and ready to go, though I am still only on season one of Highlander.

Rowan may be in a really prickly predicament upon returning to Scotland in Alien Origins, but how cool is it that I now know how all of this ends?

Will there be only one true love for Rowan Layne? Only time will tell.