BNNY RBBT TRUNK

The **BNNY RBBT TRUNK** was obtained from solving Jin Song's 13 Levels. It contains background information, pictures and concept art.

## Background

> "*Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.*"
> ― Edgar Allan Poe
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Hello. This is dedicated to the memory and unique collectibles of my mother, Mrs. Betty Monroe. My mom was the kindest most beautiful soul a child could ever want. She taught me to strive to be a good person and to appreciate The Mysterious. She also instilled in me a keen sense of appreciating the whimsical side of life (and death) and to enjoy every day no matter how gray (or brilliant) it might seem.

My whole life my mom (and to a slightly lesser extent my dad) collected what she called "haunt-ibles" -- collectibles with a haunted theme. We had mysterious clocks, dolls, clothes, furniture, artwork, papers, books, scrolls, magic tricks, musical instruments, and strange and wonderful rare pieces of music imported from around the globe. And all of this was in our house. Mom never wanted to part with anything. Still, the plan that my dad had to start an antique mystery and music shop never materialized. This was before the word "hoarder" was even popularized -- and I would never disparage how we lived by labeling it as such. Ours was an organized chaos of the bizarre. And as such, we had many boxes and rooms filled with mom’s haunted treasures and music everywhere throughout the house.

Unfortunately, the lion's share of collectibles (not to mention nearly every material possession in our lives) that I grew up around was lost in a fire in 1994. We were living in Garden Valley, California at the time and the loss of literally thousands of Halloween themed collectibles -- 99.9% of the collection -- devastated our family. After that, mom's twinkle and wonder for life seemed to fade a bit. We eventually moved to Korea to be closer to my father’s side of the family and reluctantly started a second, far less magical chapter there.

My mom died at the young age of 71 in Seoul, Korea. RIP Betty Monroe. I love you eternally until the very heart of forever.

> "*Fire has always been and, seemingly, will always remain, the most terrible of the elements.*"
> ― Harry Houdini
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### Betty Monroe

My mom Betty Monroe was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1945. She never knew her biological father as her mother (my grandmother Vera) got pregnant in a one-night encounter in the military service and had to leave active duty due to the pregnancy. I’m not sure of specifics but for a certain period of her early childhood, Betty was raised by her grandparents. She would later recount those early years -- playing with her grandmother's dolls, hearing her tell amazing ghost tales all set within the backdrop of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression -- as some of her most happy memories. This is likely what kindled her desire for The Mysterious.

Eventually, Betty's mother Vera (my grandmother) returned to the scene with a new husband and whisked her away to live in San Jose, California not too far away from the famed Winchester Mystery House. For reasons I will never understand, Vera spent most of her attention on her new husband -- and subsequently bore more children (my mom’s half-siblings) -- while her first born child, my wonderful mom Betty -- was left by the wayside. I think that’s why my mom retreated into herself as she struggled to figure out her identity and where she fit in the world. She felt like a stranger within her own family. And she told me that she longed to return to the wonder and mystery of those years spent with her grandmother listening to spooky tales told on the porch. It was her only flicker of something less dreary than real life.

In her teen years, Betty started dating her high school crush -- a first generation immigrant boy named Suh Song. He was Korean, yes, but had a keen knack for adapting to American ways and worked extremely hard to learn English. Suh Song (my father) brought an altogether fresh exoticiscm to my mom’s life that -- to hear her put it -- "curled her toes." They were married at the age of 19.

They eventually had two children, me and my sister Lilly Monroe Song. Through the years they built a wonderful life. My father became a well-paid doctor affording my mom the luxury to explore her passion for the macabre and her "hauntibles". Ultimately, my father’s early retirement lead to a quiet and serene forest area near Garden Valley, California when IT happened.

### The fire

In August of 1994, an arson-started forest fire swept through the region surrounding our home. The fire spread so quickly we had to evacuate with mere moments to collect pets, cash, paperwork, et cetera. What was left behind -- mom’s lifelong passion, her hauntible collection -- (all but one small corner of the garage) -- was incinerated.

With our home in charred ruins, her cherished collection almost completely gone, my parents struggled with what to do next. Eventually, we moved to South Korea where we lived with my aunt and uncle and built a new life.

RIP BETTY MONROE SONG
1945 - 2016

My dear mother Betty Monroe Song died peacefully in her sleep in Seoul, South Korea in 2016. Around her was my father, my sister Lilly, myself and a host of extended Korean family.

> "*... the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.*"
> ― Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein*
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During the fire of 1994, nearly all of my mom’s hauntibles were burned. (Only a few trunks in one corner of the two-car garage survived.) Unfortunately, we have almost no pictures nor an itemization of most of mom’s incredible lost collection. Still, with the help of my father and sister, we have compiled this list from memory of some of the items.

* 1000s of books related to magic, poetry and the paranormal
* 100s of haunted dolls (Raggedy-Ann style and other vintage)
* Coffin
* Haunted mirrors
* Antique painted deer skulls
* Artwork with haunted theme
* Circus paraphernalia
* Civil war items (knives, bullets, badges)
* Antique clothes
* Collection of last will and testaments from 1800s
* Collection of suicide notes compiled from 1900s
* Conjurer's chest of drawers filled with buttons and thimbles
* Djinn masks
* Drapes and curtains from 1900s
* Dybbuk boxes
* Furniture
* Handcuffs and chains
* Historic daguerreotypes
* Magic tricks
* Maps
* Musical instruments
* Mysterious clocks
* Native American artifacts
* Original newspaper articles of reported hauntings
* Paintings
* Paranormal furniture
* Rare music imported from around the globe on 8-track, vinyl, cassette and CD
* Rings and necklaces and other jewelry with haunted theme
* Scrolls
* Wedding dresses
* Vintage medical equipment

### The BNNY RBBT music

For work I returned to the United States in 2017 and along the way visited Garden Valley, California to see the old neighborhood. Additionally, I arranged to meet up with some former neighbors (thank you Facebook!) and I was surprised when one of them produced a trunk that survived the fire. The contents of the trunk included all sorts of items related to a musician named BNNY RBBT: an unreleased album entitled "A BNNY NGHTMR II", photographs, and video footage. I telephoned my dad who is still very much alive in Korea about this find. He reminded me that mom had become interested in BNNY RBBT around the time of the fire and had decided to fund (actually bank rolled by my father’s lucrative medical career) a recording and video project to help release his music in the United States. The fire and our unexpected move to Korea changed all those plans of course.

As I sorted through the items, I Googled and quickly found there was an online/underground following for BNNY RBBT. After debating a bit I decided to enlist the help of a post-production house in order to digitize and help me release the music, videos and photos to the world. In honor of my mom I decided to release it with some puzzles to work through as a last homage to the whimsical memories that my mom created for us growing up, dedicating it to her love of mystery, and as a final triumph over the devastation that the fire stole from us. All the music is copyright BNNY RBBT. And some of the videos are "official" videos that were to have been released in conjunction with the album. While other videos are from extra footage that I and the production house dug up after-the-fact and have synched to the music. Thus every piece of music on the album has a corresponding visual element. I hope the BNNY RBBT community enjoys this rare archive.

In honor of Betty Monroe.

Jin Song,

San Jose, California
Sept 2018

## Gallery

*Pulled from "BNNY RBBT TRUNK" Google Drive, Jin Song - September 28, 2018.*