GHOST HUNTERS

As an expert on both horror and romance, I have some very special titles I’d love to share with the female audience ( and male—depending on what you enjoy ) seeking romance, mood, desirable men, and atmosphere, atmosphere, and more atmosphere ( a girl’s favorite thing for foggy moors to darkness and candlelight ). I’ll make it easier for you too by letting you know which mood suits which movie. I know you girls will understand how I hooked up the descriptions of mood with the movie—these are key words that get us going. A cold beach, a lighthouse, a handsome lighthouse keeper, a Scottish village, a background haunting, a lonely cottage, a thick fisherman’s sweater, Celtic wild horses… “Half Light” with Demi Moore. This was a surprising movie that made it under the radar. A woman writer with a failing marriage and a child who drowns, goes off to finish her latest novel in a very isolated Scottish coastline cottage. She’s attracted to the lighthouse out in the water and the lighthouse

Check it out--right around 50 seconds, you should get some chills.

Here's a couple of the dolls I've "operated" on so far. One I call Rosy because she looks like she has bubonic plague. The other is a crackled face one. I made the sores using Elmer's glue in thick globs and let dry for a few days, then peeled it back. The crackled one was made with crackle medium ( found in the craft store near the acrylic paints ). I'm "operating" a bunch more and when they're done and ready to display, I'll show you those too. Hope it's creeping you out. I'm keeping the dolls to store. Some day, when my son moves out and I can have my own office in the house, I hope to have a wall of these dolls staring at me as I write horror and a bunch of rusted farm implements hanging over my head ( like the editor's deadlines )!

I had an unexpected day off yesterday and was able to work on some props in the yard. I'm hoping over the next month they can kind of wear in and get aged. The first is the face of the ghost I place in my huge mulberry tree. He kind of spreads out and greets you as you enter the main cemetery part of the garden. The wind makes him dance like mad. On the night of the party, they'll be lightning behind him which should make it even creepier. There's a full-body shot of him too. There's a cemetery in the corner of the yard where I'll have a lot of rats and dead bouquets of flowers and a huge very sheer, floaty, very creepy ghost overhead hanging by fishing line and dancing in the wind over the graves. The last shot is the doll island area. There's a sheet against the shed and the movie of the Brothers Quay creepy dolls will play on that with the dolls all around it. A bunch of the dolls are in my "workshop" (aka my kitchen, there's not a lot of free

In my teens, I never knew just what my part was in the scheme of things, but I felt like I was from a different time. I had Victorian stiletto boots, lacy anklets, high-necked lacy blouses, and I hid from the sunlight like a vampire. I was a Victorian Goth in the late 70s when it wasn’t “in” yet. I was most excited about the old west Victorian era garments and gadgets like the TV show “The Wild Wild West.” I was fascinated with the gadgetry of the steam-engine era and stopped in every antique store to check them out. My heroes were H.G. Wells and his time machine and Jules Verne and his submarine archetype. I didn’t know it then, but 30 years later a movement would happen that would define the “look” I wanted to achieve. “ Steampunk is described by Jake von Slatt, a designer in Bostom and the proprietor of Steampunk Workshop this way, `To me, it’s essentially the intersection of technology and romance,' That definition is loose enough to accommodate a stew of influences, includin

Today's escape, a wonderful tour of Doll Island in Mexico showcased on "Destination Truth."

I’m making it easy for you. I’ve researched a bunch of cable channels to see what’s out there for the month of October that you might want to record or watch. There’s TONS of stuff and a lot more channels than I’ve listed (many channels won't show their October schedule yet), but I think I’ve given you a good assortment of the things I deem worthy of watching/recording. Mind you, there’s a lot more than I have a listed, but these are the ones I thought were really worthy of catching and ones I thought you might not have seen before or if you have you might want to finally record. NOTE: The times in your area might differ, so check your listings . If you click on the channel's name below, it'll take you to their schedule online. SYFY : This channel is thinking smart. They have “31 days of Halloween” which means any given day in October, you’ll find tons of scary show marathons and scary movies. Every weekend, they’re showing nonstop scary movies. Here’s the ones I think are

For your entertainment, a tongue-in-cheek zombie practical killing guide.

This is why I'm Autumnforest. This is not only where I want to be, but how I want to be...

As a followup to my last post about little creepy things that scare us, I thought I’d cover the most obvious fear— anything bigger than us . My fear of big things comes from my height. That sounds weird for a 5’8” woman, but the truth is, I’m used to being taller than, not shorter than. My 5’1” ghost hunting partner adores horses and large creatures, but then she’s used to everything being taller than her. I, however, don’t like the sensation. Humans are used to being the most powerful, top of the food chain, dominating creatures of the natural world. So, obviously, our greatest fear is something that sees us as a potential food source or so insignificant we’re like ants under their huge feet. There are three really common scenarios for the large and angry creature movies: 1. The Japanese Godzilla genre--monster crushes big city. 2. Dinosaurs. 3. Radiation-induced large versions of earthly creatures. There’s nothing that says “terror” like some gigantic monster trying to make humans i

Sure, it’s easy to be scared of Godzilla and King Kong. They’re enormous and can crush you, but there’s another fear in the spectrum of humankind. Fear of small things. That makes you smile, huh? Don’t believe it? How could I be scared of something tiny? Have you ever watched film of a tarantula, his fuzzy soft legs creeping one after another up someone’s arm? Tickling and crawling, and making its way towards his face. Gives you goosebumps, huh? How many times have you cringed and freaked when you ran into a spider web in a basement or startled a mouse from his corner hiding place? Do bats flying in the night air make you duck? Haven’t had enough of small creepy things? Try these movies: Phantasm: Creepy little shrunken down people in black cloaks. The Brood: A woman’s anger creates little creepy “children” who kill for her. Don’t be Afraid of the Dark: A house with hidden little brownie elves that torment the woman who resides there. It’s Alive: After giving birth to a murderous l

Friday (today) on Travel Channel at 7 pm (check your local time) is "Ghost Adventures: The Beginning" which is the 2-hour hilarious (not intended to be so) documentary that spawned Zak Baggypants and the Scooby-Douche show "Ghost Adventures" (okay, I made up the first name and the second name was used by "The Soup" -- brilliant writers). It has a piece of evidence at the very end that will puzzle you and no doubt, you might want to talk about it on here. Saturday SyFy is doing an all-day "Children of the Corn" series marathon to launch their 10 pm showing of their remake of the original "Children of the Corn." I would have to say this was a brilliantly stupid idea. We really shouldn't be having the original to compare the SyFy level remake with. Yikes! But, it does sound like a fun day of horror. Instead, I'd suggest you turn to History channel Saturday night. Here's the one I'm excited about. On History Channel on Satur

Release Date: November 6, 2009 The movie “The Fourth Kind” is listed as a fact-based thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up. I can’t resist a mystery, so admittedly, I did a little research into the story to find out that since the 1960s a lot of visiting Native Americans going into Nome went missing. In fact, since 1990, 10 have gone missing. No signs of what happened to them, no bodies found. The FBI was called in to find out if there as a serial killer. The FBI pretty much chalked it up to local bars and drinking and either wandering off into the cold and drowning in the river or being preyed upon by opportunists. So, how did a story such as that become a movie about abductions? That had me wondering. When a movie talks about having real footage of actual hypnotherapy sessions with abductees, it smacks of “Blair Wi

Just when you think we know it all about our happy planet, She spits out something new, a beautiful treasure held in her land, waiting to be found. Or does She? The beautiful geoglyph ( above ) named “Marree Man” was found in Australia by a pilot in 1998! No, it’s not an ancient work of art portraying a classic aborigine. This is truly the largest piece of graffiti on the earth. It was created using modern technology—tractors and GPS receivers. But as with the older geoglyphs, no one knows for sure who did it. The lines are as wide as 115 feet and they were made by carving about a foot into the red soil. According to www.itotd.com, " after the site’s accidental discovery, anonymous press releases began showing up giving details about the drawing. The wording of the press releases suggested that they may have been written by an American; this notion was strengthened by the discovery of several objects at the site, including an American flag, a note referencing the Branch Davidian

TODAY'S MY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BLOGGING!!! Thank you, my dear friend, Anadæ, for sending me this video as a gift to his "open-minded" ghost hunting friend. I admit, as ghost hunters go, I'm the agnostic. I've seen a lot of weird stuff I can't explain but I'm not quick to attribute it to the spirits of the dead. That makes me rather unpopular in the ghost hunting world. There's an enormous majority who not only believe they're chasing the souls of the departed, but also know why they haunt "they don't know they're dead," "they have unfinished business," "they're attached to this place..." Yada yada yada... ( Sigh. Roll my eyes ) Although the concept of spirits being the cause of phenomenon is a conclusion I can understand, given that the house I grew up in was an old Civil War Hospital at one time and still had blood stains on the wood floors, it also was atop of a mass of quartz and a wellspring. It also h

The belief in elves in Iceland isn’t talked about amongst the people, but if privately polled, a great deal of them believe. The elves are supposedly associated with the Celtic origins of the people and adapted to their rocky surroundings. In fact, people believed the elves lived in rocky caves and rock outcroppings and in gardens that contain a lot of stones. It is for this reason that they’re hesitant to plow down earth and rock for roadways and new construction. A roadway had even been averted to avoid bothering the homeland of elves. Apparently, efforts to break a large rock for a roadway was met with equipment breaking down constantly. They finally gave up and left it. The country even has mystics and elf communicators when the locals need permission or access to new areas. Such a concept seems quite strange, but remember that in America we have people who burn sage, bless homes, and regularly communicate with the dead through psychics. We also have those who believe they communi

Martha Stewart’s “Halloween” issue and her “Living” issue entitled “The Magic of Fall” are on the newsstands now. I admit to not taking to Martha as a role model or even a personality ( does she have one? ), but as a mogul who wants to sell the seasons, she’s without peer. On my day off, I purchased both magazines and popped in the movie “Ten Little Indians,” pulled back the curtains, and made some hot apple cider. For a few hours, I was soaked in Autumn; steeped in Fall. The Halloween issue had the most genius costumes ( her staff is awesome! ) There were nature-based costumes like a beekeeper, a lady covered in butterflies, and cute little baby bugs. There were spookier more classic costumes including the Gray Lady ( a popular ghost figure--shown above ) which was so brilliant I immediately pulled that page out for my buddy. She wanted a costume that was classically spooky and traditionally "ghostie." On the cover of the Halloween issue, you can see Martha as a ghostly eque

Oh, we have humanoids in our culture such as Bigfoot, the Lizard Man, and the Skunk Ape, but there are magical ones in our folklore. They seem to cover all the ranges of human characteristics, some good, some bad, some indifferent. Here’s an introduction to just some of the humanoids man has designed in his history: Gnomes (German origins) were supposedly named by Paracelsus in the 16th Cenury, a physician and alchemist. He believed these creatures had an occult knowledge of the earth. In the 1800s in Germany they began to make ceramic garden gnomes to protect the creatures and the plants in the garden. It was believed these elemental spirits spread wildflowers, maintaine the garden, and nursed hurt animals, and were a sign of good luck. Trolls (Scandinavian origins) were believed to be tiny creatures that could not be exposed to sunlight or would crack. They came out at night. Rock foundations that looked like faces are said to be trolls that stayed out after sunlight. They had croo

This 13-part series begins October 6th, shown on Tuesdays on Discovery According to channelguidemag.com, "this show is about Brothers Brad and Barry Klinge who investigate the paranormal through their team, Everyday Paranormal, founded in 2007. They have explored more than 70 locations and given a new twist to paranormal research through sophisticated equipment housed in a decked-out traveling “ghost lab.” The 24-foot car hauler is capable of providing 200,000 watts of electricity to power audio, video and photo analysis stations; flat-screen televisions and an interactive touch-screen smartboard. The lab also houses surveillance video cameras capable of shooting 300 feet away in total darkness; temperature, humidity and dew point data loggers; thermal imaging cameras; audio recorders; and more. Some of the locations the Klinge brothers and their team investigate on the show include Tombstone, Arizona; Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, where Elvis got his start; and Granbury Opera

Above: “Drinking by the Moonlight” by Hong Ling Yang Anyone who’s read my blog long enough probably knows I write erotic horror. There’s no way to approach the genre without first becoming fascinated with vampirism. I was in a Halloween shop talking to my friend. We were discussing our fascination with men at Halloween parties who dress as vampires. The sales guy couldn’t help inquiring about why women are so fascinated with vampires and “Twilight” and “all that sh@$!” I thought about it a moment and went over the usual culprits. The concept for women that the man mesmerizes her, forces his will upon her, and she was simply a victim of the encounter, but that’s so Victorian. Women certainly don’t need an excuse for why they had some hanky panky any longer. I looked at my friend as to say, “ should I give away the female secret ?” She bravely nodded. “Well,” I explained to the eager middle-aged man who at this time in his life should have known the secret … “women have a direct line to

I'm testing new templates trying to find the right one. I always seem to find some flaw that's impossible. At least the photos are now no longer see-through. I hope to have it tweaked by the end of the day. I also need to re-add all the blogs I follow (quite a list!) so hang on and blogs I've visited will be added shortly.

My newest endeavor is to give everyone an escape on their Monday--a video short to just make them go into another world. Warning: Today's video is the SCARIEST MUSIC VIDEO OF ALL TIME! I'm not kidding. I have yet to find a better one. This one is extremely scary--hope you're up to it. You're going to get goosebumps... This video is by Aphex Twin "Come to Daddy" Come To Daddy @ Yahoo! Video

Debe Branning of MVD Ghostchasers is doing a benefit for the Pioneer Cemetery Association in downtown Phoenix. On October 25th she's running tours of the historic cemetery with characters who are buried there giving talks at their graves to the tour groups. This is to raise money for the association that handles Arizona graveyards and their maintenance. It's a fantastic event. I did the springtime one as the first mayor's wife. This time, I'm going to assist in the tours and let some others enjoy the speaking parts. She's still looking for males who want to don a period costume and come and be one of these characters ( the theme for this Halloween tour is creepy and weird deaths ): Tom Graham----about 38-40 He was the last man killed in the Pleasant Valley Wars. He was ambushed near the Buttes while taking a load of grain to Hayden Mill in Tempe. W H "RED" Nelson---- about 35 Nelson was a traveling hot air baloonist that fell from the sky during a sho

Makeup I did on my son when he was trick-or-treating years ago: He wore a sweatshirt with black tire marks painted over it and looked like he’d been run over by a car with a windshield wiper sticking out of his shirt. He wouldn’t let me ashen his face, but he was willing to have wounds (early adolescent compromises about wearing "face makeup" versus "wounds"). p.s. I hope to probably redo my template so photos are no longer translucent. To see the picture better, click on it. Zombie looks: Personally, I like a zombie that just zombitized at a strange time. I’ve seen some good ones from ER zombies in scrubs to child zombies with pigtails and lollipop, ones who were mechanics and others who were flight attendants. Some of the better ones I have enjoyed are a 1950s happy housewife in a belted dress with flared skirts and pumps, teased hair, and blood dripping down her V-neck collar, a martini glass in her hand and a Hugh Hefner man in smoking jacket, slippers, cigar

I did a little digging around. I hear from readers that they often times don’t get cable and miss some of the cool shows and awesome horror movies. Some don’t get the chance to sit down when movies are shown, but at your own leisure you can watch movies on your computer. Budgets and drives to the video store aside, if you have a fast Internet connection, these movies and shows for free online might make you feel like Halloween is accessible to us all at any time and cable is well… boring . I picked some favorites, but with a little poking around, you can find all kinds of movies/shows online. If you see any on here you’ve never seen before, please let me know what you thought of them. They’re ones I highly recommend. “ Carnival of Souls ” 1962. This movie is creepy and weird. Women drag racing end up going off the bridge. Surprisingly, one woman emerges. When she recovers she takes a job as the town organist. It appears, however, that some creepy phantom from the abandoned amusement pa

“I want a one-stop place that has links to the latest blog posts on the Internet about the paranormal.” http://alienufoparanormalcasebook.blogspot.com/ “I want a one-stop place that has links to the latest blog posts on the Internet about aliens, UFOs, and paranormal.” http://alienufoparanormal.aliencasebook.com/ “I want a one-stop place that has links to the latest blog posts on alien info” http://aliencasebookfringe.blogspot.com/ “I want a blog for reading great recaps of the latest episodes of paranormal shows” http://syfyghosthunters.blogspot.com/ “I want to read a blog by folks who are totally into urban legends, ghost stories, and all things paranormal with a perspective that’s honest and real.” http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/ “I want to see creepy crafts and people into make spooky art.” http://adelesspookyart.blogspot.com/ http://byrumart.blogspot.com/ http://thecartbeforethehorse.blogspot.com/ http://halloweenartists.blogspot.com/ http://magikalseasons.blogspot.com/ http:

If you are creeped out by movies with little things attacking you liked "It's Alive," "Phantasm," "Chucky," "Leprechaun," and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," this 1979 David Cronenberg movie "The Brood" is not to be missed! I consider myself a real freak for 1970s horror, but somehow I completely missed this one until just recently. How is it possible??? It stars one of my biggest crushes--Oliver Reed, pretty boy of the time, Art Hindle, and the elegant Samantha Eggar. A man must have his wife put away for being insane. While in the hospital she becomes a subject of an egotistical psychiatrist with strange concepts about healing. He encourages her to fester her anger towards everyone who ever wronged her and thus begins to give birth to her own demons. This movie seemed like a slow-moving movie-of-the-week type film until all of a sudden it threw me a curve. Just like it's wrong for dolls to attack people, it's

Photo #1 . Natural . This was taken on an icy night and the suspended ice crystals in the air picked up the light from streetlamps. This was taken in a very cold country, but here in AZ we sometimes get this when there’s a sandstorm. The crystals of sand and particles reflect the lights. Those of you who noted that the lights seemed to extend from existing lights were very perceptive. I usually like to arrive before dark to places to take reference shots. Later, when I’m at home reviewing photos, I can see what’s there in the daylight that might be reflective or objects that appear to be human shapes at night. Photo #2 . Supernatural . This not only couldn’t be explained, but was shot in consecutive shots for about 10 frames before disappearing completely. The shots were all taken with the camera resting in the same spot that I’ve taken shots for many years regularly. This was the first time this particular phenomenon showed up. I’ve gotten lots of strange things in this same area wi

I thought I’d give you all a chance to work your debunking skills with some photos. Please leave a comment stating if it is natural or supernatural and explain what you think it is. ( The answers will be in a post later today ). You might want to click on the photo to see the details. I'm still having fun trying to find out how to keep the written part of my posts not transparent with the background. Photo #1: What could be causing those beams of light into the night sky? Photo #2: What might have caused this pinkish patch? Photo #3: Is that ectoplasm or a spirit forming or something else? Photo #4: Is that a dust or pollen particle or something else? Photo #5: What could that be streaking across the photo?

Next Wednesday looks awesome! Check at this fantastic site ( a great place to read reviews of the shows the following day ) to see the preview for the chilling "Ghost Hunters" on the 23rd. Following that, "Destination Truth" does what no one has been allowed to do before--spend a night doing a study at King Tut's Tomb! You'll have to decide which to record, but at the same time "Destination Truth" is on, The History Channel is showing "Mysterquest" about the Bermuda Triangle. I've also noticed that SyFy is doing 31-days of Halloween which means all of October will be nonstop terror. Hope you're ready to hop on-board the terror train-- no stops until October 31st!

I was sitting at my work desk at home typing up medical reports and feeling sorry for myself because it's my b-day and I should be...I don't know... anything but working. In the middle of another painfully boring report when I went onto Google to look something up and I saw picture of a black cat. I thought to myself, " when was the last time you saw a black cat? " Every time something really awesome happened to me, it was preceded by a black cat wandering along my path. I know people say black cats crossing your path are bad, but for me they're lucky-- as is the #13. Back to my work, my eyes were getting strained, so I did like I'm supposed to, look at objects far away to refocus your eyes. When I looked out the window beside me, a black cat with green eyes stared back. He was in my garden and hiding behind my reaper mannequin I made for Halloween--kinda interesting place to hide. He was peeking out at me as if he knew what the reaper was. Then, this crazy s

Thank you Josh Gates for the day-early birthday gift. I've been hoping since I saw, I believe it was Anthony Bourdain ( of all people ), stopping by the doll island in Mexico, that some brave ghost team would head out that way. Thank you Josh Gates for not only an amazing season as the producer of "Destination Truth" but a team that's is perfection. This creepy little island was set up a place to ward off the spirit of a girl who drowned in the nearby canal. The crazy ( or wise ) man who lived there set up dolls as offerings to keep her spirit happy and eventually his entire little island became doll infested for decades; cracking, decaying, hanging just by a head... The ONLY regrets I have about this amazing episode last night was that they didn't cover the island in daylight so we could see all the dolls fully and that they didn't stay another night! Josh really gets what freaks people out. Yeah, I not only had nightmares, but I decided to expand my creepy d

I thought I'd interject some lighthearted fun and some seasonal atmosphere with this cute little song about witches. In a time when there was no little actual science or good options for health care, a witch was truly the town doctor. The need for magic was important as the people of that time period depended on nature, the seasons, and the land for everything. When all else failed, there was prayer magic and remedies, comfort and belief. I can see where they might have frightened the male species with the mysteries that they possessed and the ability to empathize in a way only a mother can. Today, I'm honoring their traditions and their place in providing comfort and solace to the masses of the poor and those in rural areas when all else had forgotten them. A song by Bonnie Lockhart "Who Were the Witches?" ( lyrics below ) (CHORUS) Who were the witches? Where did they come from? Maybe your great, great grandmother was one. Witches were wise, wise women they say. And