The world's shortest horror story: "The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door." OK, let's modify it: "The last man on earth sat alone in a room. He got spam saying 'Degrees based on life experience from prestigious unaccredited universities. No one is turned down!'"
DL horror stories, as they might be told by a few established horror writers: Ray Bradbury, Three by Five: The proprietor of a fake called Ranger State University wakes up to suddenly find herself in her presidential office on its very real campus, with 4,000 students, cheerleaders, and a football team. The only thing she notices out of the ordinary is that it's always dark. When she attempts to leave the campus, she discovers that this is impossible--because Ranger State University and all of its tiny students and faculty live inside an abandoned rental mailbox. Stephen King, Pomp and Circumstance: A shy loner earns a degree online; the only residency requirement is that he must attend graduation. He finds the tiny school, Bright Oaks College, almost impossible to locate--it's in Bright Oaks, Maine, which does not seem to appear on any map, though a mysterious old woman points him in the right direction. Once he gets there, he discovers the school's dark secret: immediately upon receiving their diplomas, students are ceremoniously slaughtered and eaten, one-by-one, by the cannibalistic faculty. Anne Rice, Sheep Skin: A depressed teenager searches an online auction site and is amazed to discover a Ph.D. for sale in his own name from a university in Eastern Europe that he has never heard of (though the entrancing, sinister university seal looks vaguely familiar). He is the only bidder. He hangs the diploma in his bedroom. Later, his friends begin to notice drastic changes in his personality. Turns out the name on the diploma is not a coincidence... Cheers,
She was as she's been these many years. Change is not her way. Habit is. And habit, what else could it be, draws Laura again to the attic for what does change. In her place, as it were. It wears the years, as parchment aged, parched paper in a frame. Words faded into paper in a frame - Hamilton Ph.D.
The Day The Earth Stood Still - Alien invaders from another civilization invade earth and do away with RA and GAAP. The CHEA is abolished. All unaccredited schools are given ivy league status. Schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton are now spamming millions of folks with online offers for PhDs for only $199.00. Laura Callahan is made the next President of the U.S.A. and John Davy gets his revenge. It reads more like a bad Halloween story, but hey..... how's that for Friday the 13th!!
Aliens from another planet deliver pods to Earth. If you fall asleep then they take over your mind and you become a degree mill apologist and start defending St. Regis, Hamilton University (Wyoming), and Kennedy-Western University.
It's now the 14th in 'paradise', but the exciting news today - via that well known rag 'THE NZ HERALD' - is that local hero John Davy has been appointed the Prime Minister's senior adviser on Maori Affairs!
I'm getting tired, I'm afraid that I'm going to fall asleep. I guess we'll have to see what happens tomorrow.
