Back about twenty years ago I became interested in a phenomena called The Hum. Why? Because of a mysterious, low frequency vibration that I could hear inside my apartment, but which appeared to be coming from somewhere outside. Back then, I roamed my neighborhood in Japan searching for the source of the mysterious vibration, wondering late at night at what was causing the sound. Perhaps it was maintenance at the nearby train station, or perhaps the machines creating instant ramen at the factory up the road. I never found it, but it did inspire this new story, which I originally wrote during the pandemic while living in Chicago.
The hum is a thing, apparently, and even has its own wikipedia page. The hum appears to be regional, and occurs at frequencies between 30-80 Hz, which only a small fraction of people can hear. I don’t really know whether I can hear those super low frequencies or whether I’m just a kook (well that part is probably true), but other people do really appear to be hearing something. The effect is measurable and can be recorded, though microphones are not always tuned to record frequencies outside our normal hearing range, and has been observed in many locations across the world, which many possible explanations. Most are banal, from faulty air conditioning units to tinnitus and even animals such as toadfish. Of course, others have suggested more sinister causes such as ancient gods, aliens, hidden government data servers, and Cthulhu snoring.
The phenomena has even been references in TV shows such as Unsolved Mysteries, The X-Files (indirectly), Criminal Minds, and American Dad… and now my story! Although the “cause” my be different for different people, it has been interesting to research and read about, and to turn into a story. I hope people enjoy it!