Joseph Matheny's Blog, page 11
October 20, 2022
Take these eerie, haunted hikes in the Pine Barrens, Jersey Shore
I had a wonderful conversation with Gabriela L. Laracca of Asbury Park Press which was a rather atypical interview about Ong’s Hat because it focused on one of my passions, long-distance hiking.
Here’s a fun article about hiking in Ong’s Hat.
A sand road leading to the Apple Pie Hill fire tower, which is the highest point in the Pine Barrens. The tower is not open to visitors.”Courtesy Of Gabriela L. LaraccaIt’s no question that weird things can be felt in the eerily silent trails in the Pine Barrens.
The cracking of every twig prompts an over-the-shoulder glance for things unknown.
It’s like you’re in a scary movie — or at least getting into the Halloween spirit.
For those not faint of heart, mysterious legends are waiting to be found, hidden along the same trails their subjects once walked (or ran) hundreds of years ago.
One of these is the Batona Trail (short for “back to nature”), which spans from Pemberton to Little Egg Harbor through 50 miles of sand and pitch pines. It has several trailheads, some with grim stories.
The most notorious is the legend of Ong’s Hat. The Ong’s Hat Trailhead is just off of Magnolia Road, which can be reached via Route 70 in Pemberton.
The leaf-covered Batona Trail at the Ong’s Hat trailhead in Pemberton.
This portion of town, once called Ong’s Hat, was believed to be named after a former resident — and he was a bit of a lady’s man. That was until a woman became angry with him and stomped on his hat, prompting him to storm off in a rage, only to throw his hat into the air and get it stuck in a tree. It hung there as an eerie reminder for years.
Visitors began to recognize the town by the hat, and all that’s left today of the small village are ruins of a ghost town that no one seems to be able to find.
Now for the fun part: Some believe it’s a portal to an alternate dimension.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
October 14, 2022
Subliminal Deception: A Conspiracy Theory Podcast- Ep 173: Ong’s Hat and the Birth of Creepy Pasta’s
In this week’s Episode of The Subliminal Deception Podcast, Cody and Phil discuss what has been called the Internets first Viral Creepy Pasta, the legend of Interdimensional Travelers previously based in Ong’s Hat, New Jersey, focusing on the creation of Creepy Pasta’s and what makes them so compelling.
Show page: https://subliminaldecpectionpodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-173-ong-s-hat-and-the-birth-of-creepy-pasta-s/
October 3, 2022
Ong’s Hat: Alternative Reality Games Are Not Games
https://www.ivoox.com/ong-s-hat-alternative-reality-games-are-not-games_md_93239217_wp_1.mp3 Go to download
We discuss an early example of the Alternative Reality Game genre of multimedia participatory “fiction.”
Page for show: https://www.ivoox.com/en/ong-s-hat-alternative-reality-games-are-not-games-audios-mp3_rf_93239217_1.html
The Long Seventies Podcast is an in-depth historical exploration of all things 1970’s, including politics, film, television, literature, music, culture, science and artistic/philosophical movements
September 29, 2022
JOHN TITOR: Soldier from the Future | Can this time traveler save us from destruction? (The Matheny/Ongs Hat Connection)
A rundown of the John Titor legend from one of my favorite Youtube Channels The Why Files. The part about yours truly starts at 23:42 or just watch the entire piece (recommended). As far as the veracity of this claim? I plead the fifth.
The logo is from the following website: http://www.johntitorfoundation.com/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1464463
September 26, 2022
Most People Have Forgotten About this Creepy Abandoned Town in New Jersey
Jake O’Neil/UnsplashNew Jersey is one of the most historic states in the U.S.; because of this, it definitely has its fair share of abandoned and forgotten communities.
The village known as Ong’s Hat in Burlington County can be found within New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. This small community can be seen on many maps throughout history, some of which date back centuries. The earliest findings are on a map made in 1778. According to local legend, the town had just a handful of houses as well as a hotel and thriving dance hall. As industry changed and the landscape of America shifted, the town slowly became completely abandoned.
September 19, 2022
PORTAL EN ONG’S HAT: UN MISTERIOSO SITIO DE “VIAJES INTERDIMENSIONALES”
Muchas teorías sugieren la existencia de realidades alternativas y que, en ocasiones, estas se conectan. En este punto, los viajes interdimensionales también son posibles a través de portales. Una de las historias más conocidas relacionadas con este hecho, es la Ong’s Hat.
PORTAL EN ONG’S HAT: UN MISTERIOSO SITIO DE “VIAJES INTERDIMENSIONALES”Este artículo ha sido copiado del sitio web https://codigooculto.com – Puede leer más en: https://codigooculto.com/enigmas/portal-ongs-hat-misterioso-sitio-viajes-interdimensionales/ – Ningún contenido publicado en CodigoOculto.com puede ser copiado, distribuido, publicado, reescrito o utilizado de ninguna manera, en su totalidad o en parte, sin una autorización previa y por escrito de CodigoOculto.com
Muchas teorías sugieren la existencia de realidades alternativas y que, en ocasiones, estas se conectan. En este punto, los viajes interdimensionales también son posibles a través de portales. Una de las historias más conocidas relacionadas con este hecho, es la Ong’s Hat. Ong’s Hat es una de las muchas ciudades fantasmas que se encuentran en la remota región “The Pines”, New Yersey. Un lugar que alcanzó la prosperidad en 1860, pero que, para mediados de 1930, ya era un pueblo fantasma. Sin embargo, para finales de los 70 y comienzo de los 80, este poblado abandonado se convertiría en la sede principal de un enigmático culto que pretendía incursionar en los viajes interdimensionales…
READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://codigooculto.com/enigmas/portal-ongs-hat-misterioso-sitio-viajes-interdimensionales/
September 15, 2022
Hortus Semioticus 9/2022 – 07 – Ong’s Hat
ONG’S HAT and the construction of a suspicious model readerJorge Flores
[PDF]
Abstract. In the late 1980s, an art collective led by writer Joseph Matheny created a multimedia narrative eventually known as Ong’s Hat about a supposed group of scientists who had achieved interdimensional travel and a subsequent persecution and concealment by of a dark conspiracy. Unfolded through printed documents sent by post, BBS (bulletin board systems) and later blogs, videos and radio, the Ong’s Hat textual complex managed to create a community of believers who discussed and amplified the narrative, appropriating it and disavowing its original creators. This article proposes to approach Ong’s Hat through Umberto Eco’s semiotics of interpretation, particularly his ideas on textual cooperation between reader and text and, starting from there, the textual strategies through which Ong’s Hat created its Model Readers. For this, concepts linked to transmedia are used, as well as the methodology developed by Margrit Schreier to evaluate how certain texts manage to confuse their readers about their reality status.
Keywords: transmedia, interpretation, textual cooperation, textual strategies, Model Reader, BBS, ARG
Entire article: https://www.hortussemioticus.ut.ee/hortus-semioticus-9-2022-07/
[PDF of article]
September 6, 2022
Ong’s Hat: Abandoned Town or Time Portal?
American LoserLP is in Aruba…so Joe Conte keeps his chair warm while KP tells Kahuna and Joe about the mysterious abandoned town of Ong’s Hat, NJ….ghost town, time portal…work of fiction…government cover-up??? You tell us when you need to hop off the train…we all know it’s coming. ENJOY!
Ong’s Hat: Abandoned Town or Time Portal?Page Link: https://player.fm/series/american-loser-podcast/ongs-hat-abandoned-town-or-time-portal
August 10, 2022
The Liminal Cycle (A Trilogy) by Joseph Matheny
It is presented in three acts across multiple mediums.
Part 1Liminal: By Cameron
Liminal by CameronA novella presented as a movie treatment for a movie that was “suppressed.” Written under the pen name, Cameron Whiteside.
Part one of The Liminal Cycle.
Available as a Kindle, print, or audiobook
Archive.org ebook and audio versions.
REVIEWS“This autobiographical novella could easily be compared to some of the best cyber-punk science fiction available to us. Over his journey, throughout this period of his life, Cameron is confronted by symbols from Ancient Mesopotamian and Buddhist theology, goth and punk subcultures, and anarchist traditions, all the while confronted by questions that are both strange and common to us all – “what is going on?”, “what is happening to me?”, “what do I trust as real?”, etc.” – From a review by Julian Langer, author of Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods and other great works
Possibly the best story I’ve ever experienced. (not just read, as it is an Experience}. I tip my hat and bow. –Brent Keala Kekua
“It was a lovely May Day gift receiving this book as part of an email giveaway. A quick enjoyable read with so many literary counter-culture touchstones from Conrad to Burroughs. You can use this book as a shopping list or as a synopsis synchronizing us for the next step.” –Andrew Ceyton, Goodreads
“I made the mistake of reading Liminal before going to bed. It really influenced my dreams = every person and everything has a hidden purpose some of which you are in on and some not. After I had finished the “proposal” I saw my collection of laptops and pads as sinister apertures into a clinging needy system that only wants to do me good (your buying habits indicate that you’d probably like this new Wampus) at an indeterminate price (you’re basically nobody unless you own a Limulus D).
It’s a scary piece of writing. And a nice logo too: reminded me of my early algebra classes — draw a circle of radius R on the Cartesian X-Y plane in such a way that it encloses the origin but is not centered there.
What is the equation for this circle?
Where does this symbol come from?
A preview of a slice of madness.” – Nick Herbert
“Reading this is like learning to write with your non-dominant hand. It opens new pathways in the brain.” – Reader/Winner of the print book giveaway
“I shit you not, I’ve seen that sigil in Glasgow. Probably a few weeks before the quarantine. Plus Cameron is a Scottish name so maybe they’re from here?
I’ll check it out and see it I can get pics of the symbol once lockdown is over, but I’m 100% sure it’s the same one.” – The Weirdnet (@TheWeirdnet) April 28, 2020
All of this is a strange combination of intriguing and silly, but that range is completely dependent on the weather and the time of day. Read those same words at night in a rainstorm, and you end up with a different emotion. That’s true of all fiction… or non-fiction masquerading as fiction… or fiction masquerading as non-fiction masquerading as fiction… My head hurts. – Bots and Bee
Part 2Xen: The Zen of the Other by Ezra Buckley
Xen: The Zen of the OtherXen: The Zen of the Other is a work that confronts the questions of identity, modernity, life, the other, and the place for rites of passage in the modern world.
This audio-play version of Xen includes a fully hyperlinked ebook for reference use. Presented as a series of audio notes left by the protagonist on his phone. Written under the pen name of Ezra Buckley.
Available as an audio drama with ebook accompanment.
Digital Album
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC, and more. Also includes ebook in multiple formats.
“I enjoyed reading Xen: The Zen of the Other, but the audio radio play is even better. Its gusto voice acting, hypnotic musicscapes, and mystical plot all add up to a transporting experience that’s beyond what we normally expect from a book recording.” – Joe Nolan, The Contributor
“…wildly creative experiments with form…through a down-to-earth lens and with a sense of humor. … I felt spoken to many times as Ezra articulated his own frustrations with life and with his own expectations of the world.” –, award-winning Actor. Writer, Producer, Director of Antrum
“This is tantalizing, intriguing, and weird stuff and we recommend it highly.” -Original Falcon Newsletter“What I appreciate about Buckley’s book is the sense of desperate and furious will-to-life/power, coupled with a playfulness that is wonderful.” – Julian LangerPart 3Statio Numero
Statio NumeroStatio Numero: an interdisciplinary media experience.
This limited series is the third and final act of The Liminal Cycle, a meta-trilogy.
Knowledge of Liminal and Xen, which make up the first two parts of the trilogy, will be necessary for understanding this work.
Statio Numero
A story about persona, identity, liminality, and voice.
Coming in the future.
Watch this space or sign up below to be notified.
Sign up to be notified when Statio Numero is released
07-27-2022: If you’d like to read an outline of the work, check this out.
You Can Leave Your Hat On – Joseph Matheny, Ong’s Hat and Alternate Reality Games
Sometimes the fabric of our world thins out, and people slip through – either from another dimension or into one. So some people think, while others claim it happened to them. Come along on a trip through different times and places, visiting 12th century England, 19th century Germany, Spain, Japan, Mormon mythology and, of course, the United States, including Ong’s Hat, New Jersey – site of the very first internet conspiracy theory.
32:13 – You Can Leave Your Hat On – Joseph Matheny, Ong’s Hat and Alternate Reality Games (ARGs)
More info and lots of links can be found in the episode description here: https://conspiracyclearinghouse.podbean.com/e/accidental-tourists-interdimensional-travellers/
