TPA: Horror Stories

This page will live to commemorate the Horror Stories sent in to the podcast The Pen Addict. A suggestion was given by a listener of the show, and on episode 328, both Brad Dowdy and Myke Hurley agreed it would be a good addition going forward.

This page will also be used for the Hall of Fame stories.

Spoiler Alert: The following summaries spoil the 'horrific' nature of the stories.

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Horror Stories

Horror stories have been told across a few episodes of The Pen Addict (Podcast), and a few have been inducted into the 'Hall of Fame' as seen below.

• The Pen Addict 329
  • Junee - Dropped a Lamy 2K, nib-down. They bought another when the nib never wrote the same -- and it happened again.
  • Jonathan - rOtring 600 Newton Copper disappeared, twice. The second time, confusingly, only the clip remained.
  • Patrick - Owned a Pilot Murex that started leaking ink. Later bought a Parker "25" that leaked ink around nib.
  • Gordon - Deep-cleaned a Lamy Vista and broke the feed when re-assembling.
  • Evan - After collecting pens for a little while, bought a more expensive Sailor, the Imperial Black Pro Gear. Upon receiving the 'like new' pen, found it was covered in scratches and a gouge.
  • Emmet - Celebrated a professional achievement with special, scented inks. Smelled one of the inks during a red light while driving, and spilled the red ink all over their car and hands. (Update from episode 336 said the ink still remained in the car).

• The Pen Addict 336
  • David - First fountain pen purchase leads to knocking over the new ink bottle, and staining their foot. (Honored)
  • Richard - Lost a pen case with several nice pens.
  • Jacob - Threw out a Pilot M90 before learning what these were.
  • Andy - Woke up to being stabbed by a fountain pen after accidentally leaving it in bed.
  • Emil - Was packing for a hiking trip and injected ink into their hand. (Honored)
  • Matthew - Architect student bought a set of Koh-I-Noor pens, and on the way to campus it fell out of their bag, and was run over by two cars.

• The Pen Addict 366
  • Kelly - Bought an eye-droppered pen and brought it on a roadtrip. For the trip they stayed with a family they had not met in person. The day after they arrived, Kelly went to write with the pen on the bed, and it spilled black ink on the white bedding.
  • Jim - Bought an Omas 360 and found the nib a little misaligned. When they later decided to sell the pen, they wanted to adjust the nib. In the midst of removing the nib, they broke the converter system and ended up gifting the pen to a friend instead.
  • Anthony - (Gear Geeks Live) - As a public defender, Anthony had a years-long rapport with a client. While they were going through a plea with the court, it was revealed by the judge that the final page in the plea had been graffiti'd with a Pilot Vanishing Point. (Honored)
  • Audrey - Their young kid had gotten into and consumed some Noodler's Black Swan and Australian Roses ink. They called poison control, who asked for ingredients of the ink for dangerous substances. They called Goulet Pens, and their customer service rep passed them contact for Noodler's. Luckily, Noodler's was able to confirm nothing would be harmful, only a colorful end result. They now own a larger bottle of the ink, well out of toddlers' hands.
  • Sara - Sara is a nurse who *used* to bring pens to work. One day helping a patient, their Pilot Acroball pen fell out of their scrubs pocket, and into the bedpan.
  • Rolland - Noodler's Grin Cactus - Bought Noodler's ink via Amazon with same-day delivery. They had plans for a church gathering that evening, but still needed to see the ink, while wearing a new gray suit. Unboxing the ink, they discovered the ink bottle had leaked from a broken cap. The ink got on the ceramic Floor, counter, sink, suit, shirt, cabinets, and stained their hands bright green (for two days). After cleaning up, they arrived late to the church event with green hands. Their suit and shirt were able to be salvaged after many cleanings, and the counter, cabinets, and tile grout remained green for a while. (Honored)

• The Pen Addict 381
  • David - Dispose-able Nib - David had left a nib soaking in a glass when his relatives visited. He realized that dishes had been helpfully cleaned by his relatives, and that his soaking nib was missing. After looking everywhere else, he investigated the kitchen sink's disposal catch, and found a mangled nib inside.
  • Eugene - Horror Stories Plumbing Edition - While repairing a toilet, Eugene dropped a TWSBI Eco out of his pocket into an exposed sewer pipe. After failing to retrieve the pen, Eugene's Field Notes fell onto the pipe and got dirty as well.
  • Sarah - As a high school substitute teacher, Sarah would write letters in class to pass the time. While filling their pen of choice with the shimmery Diamine Purple Pizzazz, the bright purple ink got on their hands. As a water sink was not available, they used alcohol hand-sanitizer, to their detriment. The ink thinned down and completely covered her hands. The pizzazz'd hands lasted the whole day of school, and even through several washings and a shower.
  • Evan - While trying to surprise their wife with a gift of TWSBI Go and J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor, Evan dropped the ink-filled TWSBI in the kitchen. The green-blue ink spilled on the linoleum, cabinets, and even counter top. After cleaning up, the kitchen looked just fine, and only some ink remained on Evan's feet. While Evan could pass off the ink on his feet as merely the usual inkiness of a pen lover, their toddler came in from the kitchen with fresh ink on her. Since that spill, Evan's daughter has emerged from the kitchen with a fresh spot of Chivor on multiple occasions, and Evan can't find the source of the ink.
    "Like a protagonist in an Edgar Allan Poe story...I am haunted by this spill...there is an Emerald curse upon my kitchen. Evermore." (Honored)
  • Ana C. - While borrowing a colleague's desk for a conference call, Ana (sleepy from a large lunch and "mono") went to prime their pen converter -- and fell asleep. They awoke to Organic Studio's Nitrogen ink all over their hands and desk. Ana jumped into action to clean the desk and their now very-blue hands, and since then their colleague has not discovered (or just not mentioned) any remaining ink.
  • Alako - While soaking their Pilot Lady White pen, Alako noticed that the cap of the pen had a discoloration on the beige urushi by the clip. Various non-chemical treatments have not removed the rusting, and they are hesitant to use harsher cleaners, for fear of further harming the urushi. Neither Brad nor Myke could offer legitimate help on what could clean the discoloration.

Hall of Fame

Blue Foot

David, Inducted into Hall of Fame on November 28, 2018 through Episode 336.

With David's first pen-and-ink purchase, accidentally spilled the bottle onto their mom's carpet, and stained their foot blue.

Violet Palm

Emil, Inducted into Hall of Fame on November 28, 2018 through Episode 336.

While packing for a hiking trip, decided to harvest Platinum Violet ink from unused cartridges with a syringe. After taking a break, they reached over their workspace and accidentally stabbed the needle into their palm. The syringe was empty, with the ink injected into their hand.

Signatory

Anthony, Inducted into Hall of Fame on June 26, 2019 through Episode 366.

While walking a client through a plea in court, Anthony left to retrieve a file before continuing. Upon returning and giving documents to the judge, Anthony discovered his client had graffiti'd the documents with expressions of friendship and a heart using Anthony's Vanishing Point. After a stern dressing down by the judge, the client was allowed to refile the proper paperwork without repercussion.

Hulk Hands

Rolland, Inducted into Hall of Fame on June 26, 2019 through Episode 366.

Before a church event he helped organize, Rolland opened a delivery of ink, only to find the cap had cracked in transit. The resulting cleanup still stained the tile grout, his kitchen cabinets, part of his suit, and his hands a bright green color. He attended the church event late, and with Hulk-green hands.

The Emerald Curse

Evan, Inducted into Hall of Fame on October 9, 2019 through Episode 381.

Wanting to surprise their wife with a TWSBI Go filled with Emerald of Chivor ink, Evan accidentally spilled the ink in the kitchen. Despite best efforts to clean the ink, their daughter still later came out of the kitchen with green ink spots -- and has continued to find fresh ink in the kitchen since that initial spill. The source of the ink has not been discovered. "There is an Emerald curse upon my kitchen. Evermore."