Doppelgängers
April 12, 2017 • Los Angeles
I’m working on a plot line where Mason meets his own doppelgänger and interacts with him. The concept is fascinating, and features in a lot of folklore. Unlike many paranormal phenomena, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus in popular culture about how doppelgängers function and what they represent.
My own interest stems from when I saw my own doppelgänger when I was about ten years old. He was performing in a school concert in a neighboring community, and I was dumbfounded at the resemblance. It was like watching myself for half an hour. No one else seemed to think anything unusual was going on, so I didn’t pursue it.
Most people seem to respond to the phenomenon with revulsion and avoidance. A friend of mine ran into her doppelgänger on a dance floor, and said she spun around and headed for the other side of the room. Another person I know stepped off the BART in Oakland and saw himself stepping out of another door; he reacted with anger, saying the feeling was like someone was stealing his style, something akin to identity theft.
Look forward to Mason’s doppelgänger in an upcoming book, and in the meantime, check out some real-life stories of doppelgängers on Reddit.
