That Terrifying But Familiar Glow

The moment I glimpsed that sinister red glow at the bottom of the stairs, I realized I must have stumbled upon yet another magician's laboratory.  It may be that the same kind of occult practices were being carried out in this place;  it very much resembled the last one I found in another derelict building -- even the trail of burn leading into the chamber was the same.

This is just too many times I have come across these places in recent years, to consider them to be coincidences.  Now I have to wonder if I haven't somehow become "contaminated" with the aurae of these occult labs and developed some sort of affinity for them.

 

Related post:  Yet Another Wizard's Laboratory

Yet Another Wizard's Laboratory

It's true! Seoul really must be some kind of wizardry hub -- I'm sure this is yet another of their workshops. I was just randomly ambling along on a postprandial stroll when I happened across a rundown old building in an alley. I thought maybe I could get a photo out of it and took a peek inside -- and look! That sinister red glow pouring out of the doorway -- whatever's going on in there, it must be a particularly powerful and dangerous kind of magic. It even looks like something preternaturally hot was dragged down the stairs (or is it up the stairs? I can't tell), leaving a trail of burned flooring behind. I got out immediately after taking this shot. Smartest thing I ever did.

Related post:  Another Wizard's Workshop

Another Wizard's Workshop

At least I'm almost certain that's what it was.  It was a room at the top of a dim stairway inside a creaky old building, located in a flea market of all places.  It was completely devoid of activity, and curiously quiet despite all the traffic and goings-on just outside.  I accidentally stumbled upon the place while checking out the old East Gate ("DongDaeMun") neighborhood of Seoul, "urban explorer" style.

As I climbed the stairs I smelled incense, and having carefully and quietly wended my way up -- I don't know why, but somehow I was certain that I should try to be as discreet as possible -- I found the door open a crack, but of course I did not dare enter, and all I glimpsed through the opening was the sight of a table with a book and a monitor screen displaying what may have been some sort of geometric diagram (I guess even wizards need to look up references now and then).

I did not see or hear anyone during all this, so how do I know the place was a wizard's laboratory?  Because once past the ground-floor portion of the staircase (top photo), every subsequent shot I took came out looking like this, until I exited the building:

All I can think of by way of an explanation is that the place must be under a protective geas of some kind, to discourage casual curiosity-seekers.  Like me.

Blue Cod? Green Halibut?

It's clearly yet another of those "wizards' lairs" -- one of the many that seem to dot the less-frequented alleyways and back streets of Seoul -- but one with a knowing difference;  that dark doorway at the bottom of the stairs, appropriately spooky and sinister, looks to be the obvious means of gaining access to the mysterious realms beyond;  however, its very obviousness makes me suspect it's actually a ruse, a false lead designed to distract the curious away from the real entrance -- that oddly chopped off-looking "tunnel" above it.

Now for the left turn:  for the life of me I could not recall the snappier, harder-hitting term for 'false lead' that I knew existed.  I wracked my brains all last night, trying to remember, to no avail.  Then this morning I just happened to take down my copy of Charles Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained by Damon Knight, opened it at random, and there it was, in black and white -- "...red herring".