Somberville

**Somberville**, Massachusetts, is a fictional town located in the northeastern United States. It is first mentioned in the entry "Midnight Movie" in the Eventide Media Center series.

## Description

Somberville is located in southwestern Massachusetts, close to the border near Connecticut and Rhode Island. The nearest neighboring town is Eventide Valley; it appears that the two towns, along with the town of Ashenfield, were serviced during the 1970s through to the 1990s by WEVC-TV Station. Somberville is also one of several towns documented by the Eventide Media Center, a media center and library located in Eventide Valley, which collected and archived evidence of anomalous events that occurred across the state.

Judging from a film that had ties to Somberville, the town appears more like a small city with tall buildings, possibly skyscrapers. During either the late 1980s or mid-1990s, the town boasted a local bank, a temporary Halloween supply store and was near to a fast-food restaurant called "Pitstop."

## Fictional History

### 1952-1953: *Attack of the Somberville Spiders*

The earliest event on record for the town of Somberville is the filming of a horror movie, from December 1952 to October 1953. Under the Somber Film Company and directed by Howard A. Jason, the B-movie *Attack of the Somberville Spiders* was released. Based on the final shot of the film, the plot of the movie appeared to focus on an unnamed city or town being attacked and conquered by massive spiders. This final shot displayed one of the giant spiders towering over buildings, spider silk engulfing all surroundings as an unseen person screams out, attempting to keep the creature at bay, to no avail.

However, there appears to be evidence of this film being based on an actual, deadly invasion of gigantic spiders. This is supported by a brief glitch in the credits, replacing the standard disclaimer of the film being a work of fiction with wording that implies the events *might* be real. Another strange aspect of the film credits is that the majority of the cast and crew, save nine people, were reported as having died during the exact time span of filming. Two major cast members, Lawrence Brown and Joyce Harrison, are listed as the earliest of the deceased, having passed in 1952, while all others died in 1953.

### 1976-1979: Local Watch Alert

In 1979, Somberville was put on high alert, along with the towns of Eventide Valley, Old Gothsford and Heavenston, by a Local Watch group due to an unspecified Class S Superentity, stated to have invaded television static in Eventide Valley and other surrounding areas. "[I]nternal footage" from the Local Watch displayed enormous spider webs covering almost all of western Massachusetts; one web is focused upon and labelled as "Danger Zone." Somberville was included on this footage map.

### 1980s-1990s: Misty Point and "Midnight Movie"

On June 27th, likely in 1982 (although 1993 is another possibility), the coast of Massachusetts was beset by a powerful storm, treacherous winds and heavy fog. This centered particularly on the towns of Misty Point, Lucid Cove and Indigo Shoals. However, certain inland towns were impacted by light to moderate rainfall, among them Boston, Ashenfield, Eventide Valley and Somberville, judging from the precipitation and radar screen shown on the local weather forecast that night.

Either during 1989 or 1995, on Friday, September 22nd, an anonymous person had managed to record the ending and credits of *Attack of the Somberville Spiders* on VHS, as the film was being shown as a midnight movie on television. This recording would ultimately be archived at the Eventide Media Center, as would the Local Watch alert.

## Other Possible Links

The Somberville spiders, if assumed to be real, appear to have a background presence throughout the series, although so far this is speculative. Many episodes feature webbing or weblike materials, such as in the nuclear explosion in the entry "Nuclear Safety," the membranous material found in both "Unusual Architecture" and "Oceanview Forecast," and the webs found in the holes/grave in "Deep Night" and "Funeral" respectively. The tendrils found in "Within Static" also look like spider silk in some ways, and the containment map featured in the episode had clear spider webs covering it.

## Known Residents

* Unknown citizen (recorded *Attack of the Somberville Spiders*)

## Possible Residents

* Tia Smith
* Travis Angelo
* Raymond Green
* Daniel Hall
* Dimitri Clark
* Clark Jennings
* Heather Helens
* Ashley Holberg
* Jack Halley
* Lawrence Brown† (deceased 1952)
* Joyce Harrison† (deceased 1952)

The following have all been deceased since 1953:

* Samantha Art†
* Ryan Barett†
* Shelby Bell†
* Tim Boyes†
* Griffin Burns†
* Isabella Cook†
* Jacob del Rio†
* Margo Everett†
* Randy Falke†
* Allison Grey†
* Megahn Heathers†
* Jude Hughes†
* Howard A. Jason†
* Ronie Johnson†
* Leon Kline†
* Anthony Ladder†
* Lauren Lynn†
* Earl Mills†
* Brady Roberts†
* Hailey Seth†
* Fred Silvera†
* Justin Wolcott†
* Xavier Undling†

## Trivia

* The name of the town and its movie production company contain the word "somber," which means gloomy, shady, depressing, serious or dark. The word comes from the Latin "subumbrare," meaning "under shadow" or "to cast a shadow."
* A recurring motif of Somberville are webs and spiders, as seen in the Somberville Bank logo, and several commercials showcasing spider decorations and insect spray (a clear nod to the abovementioned film).