GHOST HUNTERS

If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you probably know that theories are something I love to knock around. You probably also know I adore abandoned buildings—a deep passion! Look at how beautiful these places are (above). When I look at them, I can’t help but think not only of the building but its very architecture, materials, and geology, as well as the history of those who have inhabited it. They come together to make something quite extraordinary. If you look at five elderly people’s faces, you will see five different lives led, from their genetics (good and bad) to the hard times (worry, anger, laughter)to how much they smoked or drank—all etched in their skin. When I look at these buildings, I see a history that is unique. Some have potential to be haunted, but some because of perhaps its human inhabitants, its geology and very feng shui of its rooms and shape, it becomes something so much more sinister.

John at Season of Shadows has a wonderful Halloween Radio where you can listen to samples of Nox Arcana ( I just posted about them recently ) and Raison Detre another fantastic dark-themed musicmaker. Give it a try and see whatcha think. I can't imagine you won't find it wonderful creepy background music--try and turn the light out while you listen. I'd be curious how long you last.

It's a stellar lineup. Hard to believe this many emotionally and mentally crippled people walk the earth, but they do and we keep adding more and more as the decades pass. Seems like nowadays the old-fashioned serial killers who stalked and killed individually and then left BTK or Zodiac-type notes for the police and press are going by way of the lunatics with high-powered rifles hitting a mall at Christmastime. Ironically, it was the former that inspired these bizarre and unnerving movies (below) and the latter whose names you forget a week later, never to be thought of again. It's poetic justice since they probably thought it would immortalize them. It's truly disturbing and yet, in a way, seeing these movies sort of helps one to realize that we should be prepared and live defensively. After all, the killer could be in the apartment next door, beside you on the bus, or stalking you on a quiet country drive. If you enjoy movies based on real life incidents, here's some

Grim of Grimoire of the Hour and I have decided it’s hard to get a good quality horror writing critique group together in our local areas, so we’ve decided to start a writer’s critique group where people can share scenes and get feedback to hone their skills, share info on potential markets for pedaling their work, and generally support and inspire each other. I did consider whether to make it a blog, but realized that writers are private people and the work should stay within the group, so here’s my email: psychic62@hotmail.com. We will work through email to pass on our scenes and do our critiques. Once we’ve set up a group of writers, we will make a group mailing list so that scenes can be sent out to the group and replied all by the group members for feedback. What we’re looking for: People who are not just hobbyists, but expect to be or are already published horror writers People who are willing to give feedback honestly and receive honest tactful feedback People who are actively

In Above the Norm’s chilling account of their trip to Bisbee and the Copper Queen Hotel, Julie reported about Evergreen Cemetery in Bisbee. Her several-part description of their time in Bisbee is definitely worth a reading and just reiterates how predictable activity is in that town. They had what sounds to be a genuine encounter with the unexplained. I had a very odd encounter there in 2004 and was excited to hear they were going. I had gone back since and had strange encounters in that cemetery, but nothing like that night of a blue moon on July 31, 2004. Looking back, that night had radio events, Electron Flux, K4 sudden impulse…a total geomagnetic activity night. The cemetery is planted on top of mine tailings. Mind you, this town is geologically rich and mines a lot of copper, turquoise, silver, as well as gold. You probably know from my theories that this is a ripe environment for activity. My ghost hunting partner, Ginny, and I broke off from the larger group of ghost hunters

You can’t talk about famous ghosts without mentioning the most beloved one in America; Abraham Lincoln. The haunting of the White House by Lincoln is a favorite story amongst historians and romantics in America. After all, when you have a parent that you trust and you believe is a good and honest person, then who replaces them? We have yet to have a president we regard in quite the same one as the man responsible for stitching America back together again. His early loss makes him an likely suspect to malinger ( think of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe ). Perhaps we're not ready to get rid of the ideals that put America on the map. But then, again, perhaps we sense that he really is still amongst us... ( From Wikipedia ) President Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman have all claimed to have heard unexplained knockings on their bedroom doors. What made them think it was Lincoln is unknown. Calvin Coolidge's wife reported seeing on several occasions the ghost of Lincoln

Ever since “Let the Right One In,” “Frostbiten,” and “Sauna,” I’ve become addicted to Scandinavian horror. Maybe its in my Norwegian/Sami/Swedish blood, but I totally get the way they make movies. So, when Netflix Instant Watch popped a new on in the instant watch, I had to put it in my queue on my day off. “Dead Snow” is about a group of Norwegian friends who get the scariest lesson of their lives during a weekend getaway to a snowy town in the mountains where the party is interrupted by throngs of Nazi zombies who once occupied the area. Scandinavian horror and Nazi zombies? Holy heck! The group is actually a nice fresh group of friends who aren’t your usual nubile buxom babes and muscle-bound self-absorbed young men. Instead, they seem like they’d actually be friends in real life. It takes a while to go through the usual establishing of characters and their relationships but it’s actually interesting in such a beautiful setting. Now, once the action begins, it pounds you! The cinema

This documentary was terribly fascinating ( I found it on Netflix Instant Watch ). They cover how researchers learned of the dream types by observing electrical activity in the brain and how our bodies become hypotonic during REM sleep so that we’re paralyzed and can’t act out our dreams. They follow research done on mice that has been extremely helpful. The mouse’s brain activity was recorded as he ran a maze. Then, when he went to sleep, they observed that dreams during his non-REM state were bits of his maze experience in tiny second bursts, very brief, very sporadic. Then, in his REM state he replayed the maze experience like a full-feature film with his body paralyzed to keep him from acting out this very life-like scenario that feels like he’s experiencing this. REM dreams 5 times longer than non-REM dreams. They assume that humans during non-REM are taking their pasts and seeing how it might relate to the future and in REM we are trying to experience and move into the future. Fa

( Another installment of my ventriloquist doll, Dale, reporting from his ever-jaded viewpoint ) I consider myself to be a private ventriloquist’s mouthpiece, but since my present-day owner, Autumnforest, has this nice blog about spooky things, I thought I might tell you a story about my past. Just to scare you humans . You see, I’ve had many different owners over the years. Very few actually used me for my purpose ( i.e. to mouth the very things they’re thinking but are too scared to take credit for saying ). Most just thought I was something to add to a collection. There is nothing about me that screams “collectible” but humans are illogical creatures, so I ended up much of my time on shelves with ( of all the indignities ) baby dolls! All of my owners were very good to me in that they didn't change my clothes constantly, let their babies chew on me, or force me to listen to their 9-year-olds practice the clarinet. However, just before Autumnforest bought me and brought me home, I

( The movie above, “Phasma Ex Machina” promises to be the movie I would have written if I wrote an ideal ghost hunter-themed movie. This looks wickedly cool. I haven’t found a date for release, but it’s gotta be soon ) *See also “The Eclipse” review in my last post being release March 26th. After writing about “The Strangers,” I couldn’t help thinking about how amazingly well directed that movie was. I wondered what the director was up to now. He’s got a fantastic project in the hopper. It’s due out in 2011, but I will be counting the days. “ Alone ” is about woman who, after she suffers a tragedy, becomes a shut-in in a fancy apartment. Trouble is, the place is haunted and she soon finds herself seeing things “ Box of Shadows ” is awaiting release. It centers around a group of college friends, who discover a 15th century coffin that allows them to experience the world as ghosts. While their first adventures in the spirit world are playful and innocent, the "Box of Shadows"

This movie is due out March 26th and I read a review in "Variety." It’s supposed to be a rather haunting ghost story. I’m dying to see it because it’s in picturesque Ireland and because Aidan Quinn stars in it and I think it’s a total dish of yum ( the one with the beard )! Here’s Variety’s review: The Eclipse (Ireland) By JOHN ANDERSON Stars: Michael Farr - Ciaran Hinds Nicholas Holden - Aidan Quinn Lena Morelle - Iben Hjejle Malachy McNeill - Jim Norton Thomas - Eanna Hardwicke Sarah - Hannah Lynch Don't die angry. Such is the lesson of playwright-provocateur Conor McPherson's "The Eclipse," a film of such seductive grace, humor and startling side trips into buttocks-clenching ghastliness that auds won't know what to make of it (although it won't keep them from wanting to visit Ireland immediately). Heavy distributor interest at Tribeca will guarantee the film a respectable theatrical run, as well as bouquets of affection for Ciaran Hinds and Ai

( Above: The Russian film "EVIL" used this Nox Arcana song "Night of the Wolf." YouTube has more Nox Arcana videos to give you a sense of the music. ) Whatever floats your boat … I happen to like dark scary music, it really turns me on. I feel as if I’m in a horror movie with the soundtrack playing as my life is in motion. I was lucky enough to win a contest at Season of Shadows and received a fantastic CD by Nox Arcana. It had me absolutely hooked! Anyone into horror should know about this music. It’s dark, ambient, creepy, sounds like it should be the background sound for a haunted attraction. It’s moody, very atmospheric, and if these sounds don’t make your hairs stand on end, your nerves are dead. As a writer of horror, this is my #1 favorite. I put it on my laptop and listen to it while I write horror in a dark and scary backyard corner near my newly erected cemetery ( pictures will be upcoming as soon as I get the headstones and fencing in ). There’s music

Okay, nothing to get too excited about, but I had this wall behind my sofa and I wanted to incorporate the bare tree limb theme that runs throughout my house with something that's purely decorative art and not art-art, you know? So, I did acrylic (hate them) paint washes on the surface to make it feel kind of like silk fabric and a bit Asian influenced and then I painted bare tree limbs. I'm pleased with the effect in the scheme of the entire room. It's not really a challenging painting--took me 30 minutes, but for its purpose, it'll do. I hope to get some down time to be able to dabble in oils again and start working on a series of my psychic visions. It will be so challenging but exciting.

This documentary ( above is part 1 and YouTube has all the parts ) was on Instant Watch on Netflix and when I had the day off work and it was rainy and chilly, I curled up with my laptop to work on my horror writing but was highly distracted by this documentary about Zombie movies and America’s love of zombies. I put the laptop away and watched it with a big smile on my face! You get to hear from the famous zombie moviemakers and what inspired them. “I Am Legend” and its vampires inspired George Romero’s zombie movies. For “Night of the Living Dead,” he said he never wanted them to be about vampires, he wanted the creatures to be the dead come back to life and be hungry for living flesh. The Romero version of a zombie wasn’t directed by a master as old-time zombies, but simply starved to find live food for itself. For $6000 they rented the farmhouse to make the movie. It was a small “guerilla” filmmaking by folks around the Pittsburgh area willing to join in. The lead actor was a frien

Horror movies based on real-life events are always the most chilling because they are even more preposterous than a writer's license would dare allow. A horror movie I found to be absolutely chillingly scary was “The Strangers” staring Liv Tyler. It was a brilliant film that depended more on sound and the unknown to scare the crap out of you. This is a very hard film to watch alone and in the dark. It’s definitely one of those “ I would do this …” or “ I would do that …” kind of films where you look around the surroundings and come up with plausible defenses should it ever happen to you. That’s the point of how they film is so horrifying – it’s humans at their most vulnerable; in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I admit I can’t camp. I don’t like knowing only nylon comes between me and others who wander at night while I’m fast asleep and no witnesses are nearby. That’s the feel of this film, except the tormenters aren’t swift; they’re slow and unpredictable, creepy, and unseen. I

WARNING: This true story is rather nasty, so if you're squeamish, don't proceed. “Psycho,” “Silence of the Lambs,” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” were all movies inspired by a real-life killer: Ed Gein. What did he do to inspire three of the most dark horror movies of all time? Well, Ed was a very very bad boy… ( Info obtained from Wikipedia ) Edward Theodore Gein “Ed” was born in 1906. In 1957, cops found body parts in his Wisconsin home and thus a dark and disgusting history was exposed. For years he had been robbing graves and using the bones and flesh to make trophies. He confessed to killing two women; Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden; two local shop owners. Their bodies were found in his shed, their heads in his home. He was ultimately found guilty and imprisoned in a mental hospital. It’s always intriguing to learn the background that seemed to plant the seeds for such demented behavior. Ed’s father was an abusive alcoholic. Even though his mother despised his father, they

( Above. That's Loft on the left and Repo on the right ) I’m totally giving away my age when I say, I recall when this made-for-tv horror movie “ The Ghost of Flight 401 ” ( I believe it's easier to find on VHS ) came out in 1978. Starring Ernest Borgnine, Kim Bassinger and many other familiar 70s faces, this movie had a huge urban legend surrounding it. Was there ever a flight 401 that started an airplane haunting? The movie premise: An aircraft crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 103 passengers. After the wreckage is removed, salvageable parts from the plane are used to repair other aircraft. Soon passengers and crew on those aircraft report seeing what they believe to be the ghost of the wrecked airplane's flight engineer. Here’s some info I got on the true story here : On the night of Friday, December 29th, 1972 Eastern Airlines Flight 401 was carrying 176 people as it neared it's destination of the Miami Airport. Flying the L - 1011 jumbo jet were Captain

I like to toot the horn for blogs I enjoy so much that I have to rush to read their newest entries. I’ve got one I can’t wait to share with you. Do you ever see a movie with a friend and afterwards review its points with each other and nod your heads in complete agreement? Reading this blog is much like that. I nod my head the entire time and get nostalgic, as well. If you like the kind of horror movies I gravitate towards; the classics, the 70s stuff, Castle Horror Films, the eccentric, the unusual, and dark, as well as old horror movie posters, then you really have to follow this blog The Bleaux Leaux Reveaux I have yet to ever read a review that I didn’t totally agree with. It’s witty, doesn’t give away too much, and this reviewer seriously knows his horror genre. I’m thrilled every time I see a new entry. When he gives a good review of a movie I have missed somehow, I rush out to find it. He never lets me down. So, if you want to hear a reviewer who will give you movies to see you

Tell me, does my blog seem like it’s run by someone who as a child: At 3 years old, wandered down to the creek where she picked up a snapping turtle and brought it home to show her mom, at which her mother promptly began to scream hysterically. The next day, that toddler brought her mom a black snake and grass snake and the next day, a crayfish. At about 10 years old, the little girl decided to build a hot air balloon by stitching sheets together and then using her brother’s camping stove to heat air to fill it up. Of course, it didn’t work, but she did manage to start a nice little fire, luckily, right beside the creek where she could put it out right away without getting caught. At 11, the girl made a parachute and jumped off the barn, luckily dropping and rolling and managing to get up and walk away just fine. At about the age of 10, after seeing a Bigfoot documentary movie, she promptly came home and put on about 6 shirts and several pairs of pants, work gloves, and a scarf around

Six-thousand pages of UFO-related papers were released in Britain, covering the years of 1994-2000. This is the fifth and largest installment released by the Defense Ministry. These include reports very odd-shaped UFOs, substances being extruded, different colors, different lights and even physical illness. The popular shape today appears to be the triangle and many believe this is a takeoff of people’s knowledge of the Stealth bomber influencing their reports. One man reported his car engulfed in a tube-like light and then dust particles after which he became very ill. Another reported a blue triangle hovering over his garden. Yet more have reported white powdery substances across the countryside and strange mysterious illnesses. Question of the day: “ Is Britain’s release of more UFO reports helpful for proving UFOs exist or does it shed less credibility on witness reports as being outrageous and nonsensical? And if so, was this their goal in releasing them en masse ?”

When I was growing up in Fairfax, my mother was an historian and art teacher. I was practically raised inside of the Fairfax Library. We used to walk to the library a few times a week where I would restlessly search the rows of books and learn about subjects I enjoyed (leading to my insatiable knowledge for things that catch my fancy), while my mother searched the books in the Virginia Room. One summer, I recall, my mother was sitting in her chair in our living room, studying her paperwork as she unraveled the history of Aspen Grove. Bored enough to actually inquire about what she was doing, she gladly spouted a bunch of information about what she thought were fascinating battles fought locally and the use of the house as a hospital. I should have known better than to ask. To me, history was everywhere. It was mundane. I loved going to friend's suburban tract homes where things were modern and chrome and fresh and new. To me, history was dusty and moldy and creaky and (yawn) boring

(The trailer from the original “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark”) Guess what? A remake of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is coming up. In case you didn’t see the 1970s classic with Kim Darby, you will need to see this one. The movie idea is a great one; a home that has little tiny nighttime demons that torment the woman living there. Very freaky, very uncomfortable. No release date yet, but I’ll be all over this one. “Night of the Demons” Remake. In post production. February 2010? Shannon Elizabeth. Angela Feld is throwing the Halloween party to end all Halloween parties at the infamous Broussard Mansion in New Orleans, where dark events transpired almost a century ago. But when the packed party gets busted by the police, Angela and her friends Maddie, Lily, Suzanne, Colin, Dex and Jason are the only ones left behind. Soon Colin and Angela make a grisly discovery in the basement and inexplicable events start to take place. With the mansion gates mysteriously locked, the seven find themselve

This is a subject that really excites me. I hope to do more posts in the future on this as ideas evolve. Let’s think about hundreds of years ago when ghost hunting meant séances or Ouijas and psychic mediums to intercede. Fast forward to the time of Edison and we see the beginnings of the concept of EVPs ( electronic voice phenomenon—voices/sounds caught on tape not hard by the recording individuals ). Along comes the 21st century and we’ve made it to using electrician’s tools and audio/video equipment to try and capture phenomenon and look for commonalities and ways to better predict and determine if a place is haunted. But, we’re certainly still not there yet. Even with shows like “Ghost Hunters” presenting evidence, it cannot be verified, weighed or measured. Our tools today are crude and ineffectual. Voice recorders are apt to pick up all kinds of signals, as it is a receiver and we live in a world filled with satellite signals, radiowaves, cell phone, microwave signals… you name

Maybe it’s the spring-like weather but I had so much fun doing an earlier post on “What Did You Do With Your 1980s?” that I just had to do a prequel and talk about the 70s. 70s started out for me as a little kid ( see above--I was born with a double earlobe on the left side--you can see in my school picture. I was told by a psychic medium as a kid that meant I was psychic--hmm, I noticed Adam Sandler has one too and the Asian lady from "Lost"--wonder if they're psychic? ). You can start to see adolescence encroaching right into full out teen-hood and disco era. I was on the short flag team in high school and was a mean twirler! I was in jazz dance and modeling and pageants, as well as acting (never got parts!) The swimsuit shot were both model poses, one at about 6th grade, the other my senior year. Embarrassing tibit: When we first moved to AZ, I was going into 10th grade. I faked a southern accent ( godawful ) and got more boyfriends than any one girl should ever p

Tuesday A&E: "Psychic Kids: Paranormal Children" (repeat) Alexa, 14, and her family recently abandoned their Florida home because they believe a negative and even dangerous paranormal presence is there. Alexa, who is visited by spirits regularly, is terrified of the house and refuses to return alone. Chip and Lisa introduce Alexa to Hailey, a 12 year-old from Texas who is equally frightened by the spirit of a man she sees on a regular basis, along with a "cursed" mirror she bought at a flea market. In order to confront their fear of the unknown, the girls visit Alexa's house in the most frightening Psychic Kids to date. A&E (following Psychic Kids) Two episodes of “ Paranormal Cops” A homeowner says a guest was choked by a ghost. AND… A night security guard is having ghostly visitor. Wednesday SyFy Channel “Ghost Hunters International” The Duran Sanatorium in Costa Rica is probed; the ghost of a sugar plantation owner is sought in Kingston, Jamaica.

It's spring fever in the SW right now--70s, sunny, and happy plants. My citrus trees (tangerine and pink grapefruit) are budding, my 4 grapevines are bursting with leaves, as is the pomegranate tree. The peach looks about to pop too. Thought you might like to see what I get to do in a t-shirt and shorts this time of year. I've also taken a very dark corner of the yard not used and no grass will grow in and am making a permanent cemetery. No bodies to bury, but there will be hand-crafted headstones made to look old and mossy. I need to moss up the statues that are in there. I added some ivy to climb up a dead grapevine in front of the celtic cross to help add layers of vining along with the cat's claw and bower vine. I put down some ground cover, a couple of heavenly bamboo plants that stay small, and I broke down some extra cinder blocks into chunks and am using them to cobble around the ground to give it an aged and beaten broken look. I hope to put up a wrought iron fenci