Variations on a Spooky Black Cube

[CyranoJ]

This series of photographs:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd107/RobertDobolinaEsq/ec7b9faf-1f06-478d-8f38-7d197d9a4cff.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd107/RobertDobolinaEsq/5895f299-ec20-43b8-868e-f19bea770622.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd107/RobertDobolinaEsq/9a5373dd-e4c6-4697-9f5c-db2f5e472398.jpg

... and many more like them, by Julien Coquentin on DeviantArt, have me thinking about a supernatural story.

The spooky black cube is a gateway to somewhere? An alien artifact, like the monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey? A Pandora's Box, literally or figuratively? What would you associate with it and why, Lit readers? Have at it... (EDIT: I have some ideas of my own but I'm just curious as to what might come to others' minds first.)

 

[Hypoxia]

IIRC there's a big black cube balanced on a corner on Astor Place in lower Manhattan, right near 8th St and Broadway. That would make a good pre-existing portal. All those disappearing New Yorkers...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Doctor Who did an episode about billions of little black cubes floating down to earth and just sitting there...for awhile at least.

 

[Carnevil9]

It could be a miniature Borg cube. Or a black-painted Hellraiser Lament Configuration. Or a squared-off killer Sphere from "Phantasm." This hearkens to so many other works that it must count as an archetype!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It could be a miniature Borg cube. Or a black-painted Hellraiser Lament Configuration. Or a squared-off killer Sphere from "Phantasm." This hearkens to so many other works that it must count as an archetype!

Yes many, many films have used a single or multiple black cubes as a point of horror or wonder. In the film adaptations of Arthur C Clarke 2001 and 2010 a elongated cube or monolith was used to entice.

By the way...I happened upon this by accident...

Childhood's End (TV Mini-Series) (novel by - 2 episodes) (novel - 1 episode, 2015)
- The Overlords (2015) ... (novel)
- The Children ... (novel by)
- The Deceivers ... (novel by)

 

[MatthewVett]

Reminds me of Heavy Metal...

 

[Hypoxia]

In the film adaptations of Arthur C Clarke 2001 and 2010 a elongated cube or monolith was used to entice.

How about a rather special monolith -- a giant domino? A double-6 for good news, double-1 for ominous consequences when encountered. And then a whole slew of such come floating into view. Run! Run!

Variant: Other ominous geometrical forms appear. All the regular 3D polyhedrons of course, and fragments thereof, and topological oddities and staples: Moebius strips, Klein bottles, n-plexes, non-trivial knots, whatever. The ominous cube is a place of refuge in comparison. Avoid that continuous-deformation feeling, eh?

 

[Zeb_Carter]

How about a rather special monolith -- a giant domino? A double-6 for good news, double-1 for ominous consequences when encountered. And then a whole slew of such come floating into view. Run! Run!

Variant: Other ominous geometrical forms appear. All the regular 3D polyhedrons of course, and fragments thereof, and topological oddities and staples: Moebius strips, Klein bottles, n-plexes, non-trivial knots, whatever. The ominous cube is a place of refuge in comparison. Avoid that continuous-deformation feeling, eh?

I seem to remember something like that happening on Futurama...

 

[CyranoJ]

Thanks for the contributions so far, everybody!