GHOST HUNTERS

This 2008 Swedish movie was one I’d heard people referring to, but never considered what it was really about. The name made it sound like some kind of independent film about relationships. Well, it kind of is …and it’s kind of not . Believe it or not, this is a Swedish vampire movie. I didn’t think there was anything about vampire movies that could move me anymore. Been there. Done that. Not true anymore. Apparently, my Swedish relatives are very good at storytelling. The movie is done in the Swedish language with subtitles, but don’t let it put you off at all. Their language sounds as if you can understand it and many of their words correlate with ours so it feels like an English-speaking film in a spooky kind of way. The setting is amazing amongst months of snow and snow and then more endless snow. The perfect backdrop for a housing tenement with a vampire issue. My father described his similar Norwegian childhood and the winters as being very stark, very bleak, and very lon

While working on my newest research into commonalities amongst haunted locations, I can’t help but reflect back on my upbringing at Aspen Grove. It impacted me in more ways than just the experiences of its haunting phenomena. Growing up with formal boxwood mazes, orchards, arbors, surrounding woods, and all the gentle beauty of Northern Virginia, I couldn’t help but be very tied to nature and to the land. There were gentle reminders of the type of potent environment I lived in, but I never knew how to voice it as a child, except to say “ the land knows things .” I became romantic by nature and especially moved by weather and the cycles of the moon. It’s a kind of bonding from an early age that helps to make you more sensitive to earth’s changes, like oncoming earthquakes and tsunami’s, changes in weather patterns, and upcoming tornados. That’s an influence I felt on my own body and spirit, so I can imagine what happens when these earthly conditions occur on a property and affect the c

I’ve started doing my research on the most haunted places, using a 50-place sample in the U.S. I’ve started to compare the actual proof of hauntings ( to give the place a haunted scale ) and then the composition of the earth, the building materials, the presence of running streams/rivers/oceans, and train tracks. In doing so, I’ve come across some common factors that seem to point to the possibility that Atchison, Kansas is a perfect example of a place that HAS to be haunted. Atchison has many reported hauntings and, in fact, has adopted the moniker “Most Haunted City in Kansas.” (Admittedly , I’d say in the U.S. if it had a more traumatic history .) Those familiar with all things ghostly have heard of the Heartland Haunting and Sally the little girl who supposedly tormented a family in their home in Atchison and scratched up the husband quite a bit. There is the Gargoyle Home built by a man who supposedly had a pact with the devil. He put many gargoyles on the home and a future owner

Is there an ideal setting/structure/history for haunted places? I’ve long wanted to sit down when I have free time ( which is when ?) and mark off the most widely accepted haunted sites in the US and find out a bit about the geology/railways/waterways/and the buildings structural materials to see if there are any similarities. This could be helpful in finding out what creates a haunted, sustains it, and what places are worth researching and which are not. Randomly, I put the names of a few dozen of the most reportedly haunted places into a hat and pulled out 10. Here’s the findings: Railroad tracks within a mile: 4 Water within a mile (stream/river/ocean—moving water): 10 Geology (mining land or granite): 6 Building made of stone: 6 Traumatic history: 10 Of course, being logic-minded, I can see correlations, but the question is— chicken or the egg? Do older homes made of stone and placed near waterways for the resources also have train tracks because they were near civilization and o

The psychomantium is a gazing mirror used for making contact with those who have passed on. Dr. Raymond Moody ( of the book "Life After Life" fame ) made this ancient technique popular with his book "Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones." The best description I’ve found of this technique comes from this website’s description: “The initial setup is a little more complex and costly than that of a scrying mirror. A large mirror (4' high by 3-1\2' wide) is attached to a wall with the bottom edge about 3' from the floor. A comfortable, high backed chair is placed about 3' from the mirror. The top of the backrest of the chair should be below the bottom of the mirror. The feet of the chair should be trimmed to allow the chair to slant farther back than is normal. The person sitting in the chair should not be able to see his/her reflection in the mirror. The area around the chair and mirror is surrounded by a black velvet curtai

( photo above; hopefully the only way we'll ever capture Bigfoot--as a plastic doll ) Sure, I hunt ghosts, but I also have a fascination for Bigfoot. I haven’t had a personal encounter with him like I have with ghost phenomenon, but still for some weird unexplainable reason, I have always believed he is out there. It’s a strange feeling, as if I’ve been separated from a twin at birth. I sense he exists, I feel as if my life is being paralleled, and I also know that when I come face-to-face with him, my world will change and I’ll have a sudden sense of peace, as if everyone is accounted for in my family tree. People often say, “if Bigfoot is out there, we should be seeing him, seeing his bones, seeing his hiding places.” I don’t know about them, but I’ve lived in the desert Southwest since 1977 and I’ve tried desperately to see a javelina without success. I guess I could say that until I see one, they don’t exist. It’s kind of like ghosts, until you encounter the unexplained, it doe

I’ve been writing this blog for quite some time about ghost hunting theories and have failed to give the side of the skeptic. As many things as I’ve experienced of an unexplainable nature, it’s hard to believe it, but I really do understand the skeptic’s viewpoint. A skeptic’s viewpoint is based on science that we know . He’s most likely to repeat Occam’s Razor, a theory that basically says that “the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is most likely the correct explanation.” ( Wikipedia simplification ) There is something similar in my industry ( medical field ) that doctors use in making differential diagnoses. It goes like this; “When you see hoof prints, think horses, not zebras.” I use it my work as a transcriptionist every day when a doctor sounds like he’s saying something quite elaborate and important and it ends up being something very simple. For example, my first day on the job in the early 90s, I heard a doctor say “the patient was 100% on room air.” I spent a good half

Last evening, I put a bunch of horror movies in the instant watch queue off of Netflix. I was hoping to have some good background scary movies while I worked on my novel on my laptop. The music and sounds usually help darken the atmosphere. Since I had a long day at work and a 90-minute workout, I was tired, done with my day, and ready to write. Problem is, I got sucked into this movie right away and had to turn the laptop off for the evening. That’s a good sign. This movie is out on video store shelves and for sale, but I was lucky enough to find it on Netflex Instant Watch. This was a satisfying horror movie for a few reasons. The best reason is the atmosphere. Nighttime. Car breaks down on a mountain road. Running deep into the dark woods to escape “Moonface” the serial killer. This was well acted, perhaps not super well scripted, but the idea was a fine one and there were actually elements that creeped the heck out of me and it’s hard to creep me out. The best element is the settin

EVP ( electronic voice phenomenon ) is the supposed capturing of spirit voices on a recorder that aren’t heard by the human ear at the time of the recording. I readily admit that EVP is not an easy thing to gather in the field or evaluate. There are several obstacles to getting good recordings. The most obvious is sound intrusion. Most sites I’ve been to for study have been too noisy to gather EVP because of road/aircraft sounds and the cries of children playing in the street, and other things that could be interfering. It would be nearly impossible to set up an environment for complete clean capture by the simple fact that our airwaves are filled with signals from radios to CB’s, from cell phones to satellite phones. A recording device is a receiver and so therefore we can’t really be certain we’ve captured a ghost’s voice. It would take a scientifically designed special room with shielding to get an accurate record. That’s an experiment I’d like to see someone install in a building w

A chilly nose on an afternoon walk through slippery brown leaves obscuring a partially frozen path, numbed fingers digging into cool pockets in search of warmth The distant smell of chimney smoke and burning leaves overpowered by the sickeningly sweet scent of rotting apples splayed beneath the orchard, long past their prime The tang of hot cider spiked with rum inside a cozy room with a fire while your hands are clutching the sinewy insides of a warm pumpkin, awaiting a moment inspiration The ominous piano notes of "Halloween" playing on a TV set while the laughter and echoing sounds of trick-or-treaters outdoors beat the twilight to enter the dark corridor of Samhain Tendrils of fog obscuring the trickling creek lined with shiny wet stones, a deer poised to drink, startled by the plinking of random acorns dropping on the forest floor Swaying trees dabbled in golds, oranges, reds, and browns, the fluttering descent of a leaf aflame waiting to be pressed into wax paper to be

(Photos: The stained glass at the angle they first saw the shadowperson next to the "altar" thing--my son crouched to show the size of the thing. The second shot is the view they had when it peeked out at them--my son is standing in the shadowperson's spot to reenact it). I definitely got distracted in paranormal research when I heard first-hand from my son his account of having seen a shadowperson. I have seen a couple myself that were person-height, and then finally saw a short one with my son on an investigation about a year ago. Because of this, I've become quite obsessed with what these are and what is occurring. My son is one of those extremely level-headed, logic-minded, socially conscious types and to hear him tell what happened to him intrigued me greatly. He told his story on an audition tape for Ghost Hunters New Generation show and I only wish the tape could have been longer because he had to edit out the second half of the encounter with the shadowperson.

This was a place (old horse ranch) my son found recently and made a short film of his photos he took. We both get inspiration from weather-aged, worn-down, abandoned, and decaying places for our art. This one inspired me so much, I have to get him to take me there soon before the weather gets ungodly hot here in the desert. I look at this disarray and think “ what story does it tell ?” Very cool!

No, it’s really not too early to think about Halloween costumes. You have a long hot summer ahead of you to prepare. I see a lot of people buying store-bought costumes and I’m totally cool with that. But, why not tell a story with the costume that goes beyond just being a pirate or a barmaid? For instance, this year I hope to have a Halloween party with a “Dancing in the Graveyard” theme ( and hopefully hubby’s band p laying). I’m a ghost hunter and folks who want to attend would like to learn more about what I do, so I figured I’d wear the gear and let them play with it. It seems like an easy costume; some cargo shorts, a tank top, some boots, and my equipment belt. It's not telling a story, though. So, how do I take it up a notch? I’m using a Tomb Raider/Resident Evil feel to it. Some leather wrist straps with small flashlights attached, leather garters with more equipment in the holsters, and boom—you have a sort of sexed up hardcore version of a ghost hunter. Here’s three ver

I’m covering just about all the categories within horror movies in upcoming weeks, so I figured I should probably cover erotic horror, especially since I’m in the process of editing my own erotic horror novel, “The Thicket.” We will begin with the more graphic erotic horror movies ( rated XXX ) and pretty much all of them are foreign films. It appears American filmmakers who decide to do X-rated would rather involve plots with pool boys and swing clubs ( rather mundane subjects compared to thirsty vampires and monsters on the hungry prowl for a mate ). There’s not a lot of great stuff out there in this genre. In fact, it’s sadly devoid of substance. On one end of the spectrum, you have more or less rated XXX clinkers like “Erotic Nights of the Living Dead.” I anticipated at least an intriguing plot line with visitors to an exotic location where the zombies were attacking the living in ways that might make one blush. Unfortunately, it ended up being a cheesy X-rated movie in which upon

When you consider the major movie genres, horror is generally relegated to a teen-audience and therefore not usually the most well-made, well-plotted, scripted, or even acted movies. The return is great on these low-budget flicks because teens are the biggest movie-going audience out there. Even considering how meager horror movie fare can be, somehow folks in the industry keep spitting out remakes. I’m not sure whether it’s lack of imagination or simply egos at hand thinking they can do something new with the great original idea. Either way, it’s almost always an insult and I will never go to one on opening night, but wait for it to come out on DVD, order it from Netflix, and sit back on a desperately boring evening and attempt to sit through it without comparing it to the original. Part of the charm of horror movies is that you don’t know what will happen, so remaking one seems rather pointless. It’s like taking more blood out of someone who just donated. The well’s dry, guys! It’s a

I’ve compiled a list of some of what I consider to be the most chilling moments in horror movies that really were disturbing. There are several candidates for each category. I’d love to hear your scariest moments too. Most disturbing torture scene: Saw II: When they throw the woman into the vat of syringes House of Wax: When the man is made into a wax figure while still alive, shaved and then poured with wax and left alive under the wax coating Hills Have Eyes: Dad strapped to a cactus and burning. Most prolonged dramatic death scene : Psycho: Shower scene Halloween: When the babysitter climbs into the car and the windows are steamed up and Michael strangles her as she hits the horn. Best “oh Jeez! The bad guy just saw me” moment” Jeepers Creepers: When the brother and sister see the Creeper throw something down the pipe and drive by slowly. The Creeper comes around the corner of the church and stands there staring them down—aware that now they know his secret. (To me, that one rea

I've been painting for decades, but never used acrylics or done modern art. I had a tall wall in my living room and wanted to draw the eye upwards and at the same time keep a contemporary clean look to it. I wanted something that reminded me of rusted metal/aged boards/copper verdigris, so I did these two panels. I'm pretty pleased with the effect since I have no clue what I'm doing with plain modern pieces or acrylic paints ( I usually use oil ). A recent walk around an abandoned place inspired themes of concrete whitewashed walls soiled with rust stains and copper verdigris striping. It's neat to think ghost hunting isn't just productive in gathering evidence, but can also inspire art. I hope soon to start collecting found items from sites and adding appropriate gemstones to amplify the psychometric qualities of the found pieces. I'll keep you posted as I get moving along with that inspiration.

I’m intrigued by the connection made in the 1960s and 70s movies between witchcraft and devil worship. It does make me laugh, but a lot of folks take this very seriously. Their only introduction to pagan practices is through supposed nighttime ceremonies involving candles and evoking something that isn’t their traditional God. Therefore, it must be Satan they call upon. Okay, whatever ( rolling my eyes and sighing ). I really thought we passed that in the 1600s but I still know pagan practitioners who are terrified to tell people what religion they are. What country do we live in? Well, in respect for those I know who do practice paganism, I thought I’d point out just some of what they’ve had to deal with in the film industry alone. Needless to say the list of negative films is so very long that I couldn’t possibly cover them all, but I have managed to put some of the more prominent ones on the lists. First, we have the “bad.” These films display some very simplistic and naïve views of

This will be the last in the series of haunted senses. I’d put in haunted tastes, but it’s not really a sense that’s used for ghost hunting, ( at least not on my ghost hunts ). Sensations often associated with ghostly appearances are goosebumps, chills, “someone walking over my grave,” hair standing on end, head pressure, nausea, dizziness, light-headedness, and weakness. There is also a huge laundry list of actual medical conditions that can cause these symptoms. There also times that these symptoms suggest something of a paranormal nature. TAPS refers to EMF ( electromagnetic field ) sensitivity as a potential reason for these symptoms. In fact, people living near power lines often report more psychic powers than the average citizen. For me the only time an EMF meter is truly helpful in a ghost hunt is in finding places where the fields might be so high they’re producing some low-level body sensations that cause general unease. If you get symptoms and you don’t seem to have a reason

( photo above: someone's knees--when I look at them, I see cherub faces--their curly short hair, their full cheeks, their eyes and nose... You often hear Grant from TAPS talking about the phenomenon of matrixing which is when the human eye looks for familiar shapes in objects, such as seeing shapes in clouds or faces in photographed window's reflections) The third part of my sensory series is to explore how to go about debunking visual hauntings. The most commonly reported forms of these are full-body apparitions, dark shadows, unexplained lights, something blocking out the light, movement of objects, and mists. Even growing up in one of the most haunted houses in America, I never saw a full-body apparition until I was middle-aged and living in Arizona. These things take just the right combination of elements to be seen. It’s a rare and special phenomenon. There are some people who are more able to discern a figure when it forms than others. A very small percentage of psychics

This is the second in my series about the senses and debunking. Scent is one of the most common reported haunting features. The smell of cigar/pipe smoke, rosewater cologne, and sulfur are three frequently reported scents. People most often report sulfur as the smell of rotten eggs or the scent of a recently lit match. A popular theory is that’s the smell of evil, as in “fire and brimstone.” Biblical themes aside, that is a very offense and distinct smell that makes most people back off real quick. The smell of rosewater is associated with female ghosts and its origins come from the a popular fragrance historically. Cigar and pipe smoke are most associated with male ghosts. The issues I have with scent are that they are very subjective. If you’ve ever had the chance to get a full neurological workup, they actually wave scents under your nose when your eyes are covered. Without the context of being able to see an object and anticipate its scent, it’s actually kind of a weird thing to do

I thought I might type up a few in a series about the senses and some incidents of debunking I’ve had over the past several years. More often than not, when friends, relatives, and their friends and relatives find out what I do, I’m called to someone’s home to check something out. As a person who loves mind puzzles, this is a great practice for me in debunking. I bring my ghost hunting equipment along, but keep it packed up. I don’t go in EMF meter blazing. First, I want a good interview and a really thorough check of the house before I think to look for the supernatural. It can be quite embarrassing to get excited over a phenomenon when it could have been explained with closer trial and error. This woman was a friend of mine (we’ll call her Helen) who admitted that she as afraid to go into the backside of her house. Helen said she heard a rolling sound emanating from the recesses of the house and she had no idea what to attribute it to. Most folks know the common sounds of their icema

As a follow-up to "Graveyard Etiquette," EllaEnchanted gave me a great inspiration--offerings on graves. I remember back East, the cemeteries were pretty standard and the offerings just flowers mostly. Out here in the West, there is a completely different culture influenced by a few things; Hispanic/Catholic customs and the very dreary elements of western cemeteries that are often in the desert and without grass/trees/shade, that makes folks just want to spruce things up. The first photo depicts a grave at the Yuma Cemetery. This is in the Hispanic section of the graveyard where the graves are so elaborate that people appear to try to outbeat the neighbors. People leave slices of cakes for children on their birthdays, toys, more flowers than can be imagined, candles, lots of images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, cherubs and angels, garlands of flowers, rosary beads, seashells, apache tears, goblets, even lawn chairs for visiting. Any interests the beloved losed one had will be