Langford's basilisk

English

Alternative forms

• Langford basilisk

Etymology

After an object in David Langford's short story "BLIT".

Noun

Langford's basilisk (plural Langford's basilisks)

1. (science fiction) An image which causes insanity or death on viewing.

   Hypernym: cognitohazard

   • 2002 February 27, Charles Stross, “What to throw in?”, in rec.arts.sf.composition‎^[2] (Usenet), message-ID <slrna7qjct.sdj.charlie@raq981.uk2net.com.antipope.org>:

     Dead easy: the ones who watched it all died. (Invoke Langford's Basilisk if you need a real reason.)

   • 2013 December 29, RecArtsSfPolicyWonk, “What Did You Watch? 2013-12-29 (Saturday)”, in rec.arts.tv‎^[3] (Usenet), message-ID <w3nrp8vuk7cz.m05n26piatio$.dlg@40tude.net>:

     The technical term is "Langford basilisk". I expect the real deal would induce nothing more permanent than an inconveniently-timed reboot, if it can even exist.

Anagrams

• Langford basilisks