GHOST HUNTERS

SyFy tonight! The lineup is "Ghost Hunters" in an episode called "Touched by Evil" in an old mansion. And, hold everything! Another fantastic episode of "Destination Truth" checking out two things I'm extremely curious about; the Jersey Devil and Yeren (Chinese Bigfoot). If you want to get into the mood, read yesterday's post, another of my series of "LAUGH" poking fun at the ghost hunters in imaginary scenarios.

( another in my series poking loving fun at our TV leaders in ghost hunting ) Tonight’s moderator is Josh Gates of “Destination Truth” WARNING: Do not drink while reading this as it is likely it will spew out of your nose! JOSH NARRATION: Tonight, we’re doing something a little different on “Destination Truth.” We’re including some of the leaders in TV ghost hunting. Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Zak Bagans, Ryan Buell, and Barry Klinge. After jumping onto Orbitz.com, we jaunted across the globe to the Himalayas in search of Yeti. JOSH: ( Standing at a Cliffside ) After downing an impressive amount of Yak testicles, Zak says he’s jazzed and ready to take on anything. ( He waves his arm at Zak who is clinging to a rock ledge 50 feet up ) Zak! There’s stair steps, you didn’t have to climb that rock face. ZAK: I’m not scared of this mountain! In fact, I dare it to shake me off! Yeah, let’s see who’s badass now! ( slaps the rock wall ) Slap me! Punch me! Poke me in the eye! Knee me in

The cacti haven't bloomed yet, but I have a huge variety, so when they do bloom, I will be taking shots of those--they make amazing flowers--so exotic! Here's what's going on in the yard right now... ( don't worry, I'm back to the paranormal tomorrow! ) ruby red grapefruit (closed white clusters) tangerine (open white clusters) pomegranate (the huge red flower) red bouganvillea purple bouganvillea aloe (the tall stacked orange flowers)

My son just made this film for his senior year at ASU and also is entering it in a short film contest. His themes in art are all about memories and abandoned places and the blight on old boomtowns. This was taken at Desert Center in California and he used some interesting techniques to get the look. He wanted to do it with his 8mm camera but developing would take too long, so he found out something you often find in art, if you run into a roadblock it can take you to wonderful places. He filmed, edited, and made the sounds for the video. The idea is sort of an old home movie feel of visiting what was supposed to be a huge boomtown and visiting it like a tourist even though it's all dead. It's very haunting and at times I wish I could put my eye to the eyepiece and see it all, but that's part of the charm--it leaves you feeling like you had a strange dream... p.s. He's always fantastic at naming projects. He looked it up and during the dustbowl era, they planted a plant

TV this week--not a real thrill, but I'm very very very excited about Wednesday's "Destination Truth"--two of my favorite subjects; Jersey Devil and Yeren (the China equivalent of Bigfoot and probably his great-great-great-great grandpappy if he truly did take off from China across the Behring Straits thousands of years ago). Monday: Nope. Tuesday: Nope Wednesday: SyFy channel “ Ghost Hunters ” In Jersey followed by “ Destination Truth ” looking for the Jersey Devil and The Yeren Thursday: Nope Friday: Travel Channel: A few showings of “Ghost Adventures” in a row. Keep checking my blog. I’m writing another “ Laugh ” post involving all the ghost hunting favorites and this one will include Josh Gates as the moderator on a hunt for Yeti in the Himalayas. Should make for goofy fun!

Sometimes, I can't help but notice weird shit. Well, I am kinda in the weird world of ghosts and all things paranormal, horror writing and Halloween antics, but the real world is a lot weirder. Take for instance automatic soap dispensers. You seen those on TV advertising how germ-free they are? You don't have to touch the pump to dispense soap--so you stay sanitary. He-ll-o? Technically, as soon as you pump the soap into your hands, you're freakin' washing them, right? Well, just gotta say that advertisers are great at making us need things we don't need. Another freaky but hilarious thing? My son and I for years have detested Sarah Jessica Parker. It probably won't make me any friends, but she has zero talent and is really really hard to look at and her voice is grating. We call her "horse face." Well, the minute you think something, someone else comes along and makes a website . Enjoy! This is going to make you laugh `till ya cry!

There’s a million things that can go wrong on a hunt and I guarantee they will. The most common ones are: Access is denied: Someone didn’t show up with the key. The simple remedy is a reminder just beforehand and a call en route. Forgot important equipment: I avoid this by keeping my equipment in a photography fanny pack around my waist. Each pouch holds a different piece of equipment. Then, if something is missing, I’ll know it before I take off on a hunt and when I leave the hunt site. Also, since I know which thing is in which pouch, I can easily retrieve it in the dark. You can do the same thing with a fishing vest or photography vest. Didn’t bring batteries: I keep some in my bag, but over time they can loose efficacy. I store my batteries in the fridge to last longer and leave my equipment belt near the fridge so I’m reminded to refill the battery pouch. Forgot equipment behind when you left the study spot: This one is hard. You’re in a dark place, setting down equipment and

This is one of my favorite art installations of all time. It's in Grenada and it's an underwater sculpture garden. Human figures are set up and the sea life was left to grow upon them and make them into something alive and different. I think it's the most beautiful and hauntingly creepy thing in the world!

Now that I’m making an effort to hit the road more on trips around to film and photograph abandoned places and haunted sites, I’ve fixated on making the best cruising mix ever. The #1 on my list is my favorite song of all time and what I consider to be the sexiest video ( if I designed a video—it would have been this one—has the elements I adore, dark, abandoned, sexy, and raw ). “Sex is on Fire” by Kings of Leon ( above ). I thought I’d share my dream lineup of songs. We’re happily into springtime and everyone’s getting itchy feet to cruise. It sounds like an insane mix, but every one of them is a dream cruising song. You know how you have a good cruising song? Put the song on and drive on the open road. Look around you. Does everything you see through your eyes seem like you’re shooting a music video that goes perfectly with the song as if your eyes are the camera filming it? Yeah, that’s the feeling, as if you’re inside of a video and the music is moving to your quest. Here’s my fa

I was contemplating it the other night. What if the ghost hunters on TV are really the top of the industry—considered to be our experts? How might a meeting of these ghost hunters go if they had to explain their contributions to the field as a kind of TV personality think tank on the paranormal? Warning: Do not drink while reading this or it will spew out of your nose! Moderator: Calling this meeting. Roll call. Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Zak Bagans, Ryan Buell, Barry Klinge. Please proceed gentlemen and let us know what you’ve contributed to the field of paranormal research since your time ghost hunting for television. Jason: I think I talk for all us guys when I say that me and Grant have probably contributed more than anyone else in the field. As plumbers we really know how to root out a problem (Grant snickers). If the ghost phenomenon is something related to pipes rattling and sinks turning themselves on, you’ll get the straight explanation from us professionals. And, you

Just a little video for ya'all!

( I wrote about this over a year ago, but it still baffles and fascinates me ) I won't count the time I was 10 and taped the sound of the booted footsteps in my childhood home. After all, I was immature enough to leave my father's recorder in my room where mother picked it up and put it back on his desk and he taped a lecture over top of it. This proof, I still have. In fact, it's on a 35 mm negative . It was 2003 and I had just started ghost hunting with camera in hand (no other equipment yet). There wasn't a lot of helpful info on ghost hunting at the time (this was pre-"Ghost Hunters" show), but I did know enough to nix my camera strap. I clipped it right off before the first time we went out a few months before this shot. Because as a kid no one believed my audio recording of the footsteps of the soldier, I was fixated on having the cleanest and most indisputable evidence. I also tied my hair up behind me. I avoided cold, damp, rainy, dusty, windy nights.

Here is what bloody-disgusting.com has about this upcoming movie "So as to gather pieces of evidence for their doctorate thesis, three criminology students go with a camera to the place where a notorious serial killer performed his murderous deeds. But they are about to realize that entering such a sanctuary does not come without consequences."

Today, I sent out for 3 minutes a visual/emotion/words and asked your followers to participate and try to receive anything from the remote encounter. One thing I didn’t mention was that I was going to focus specifically on a few followers hoping to see if there was a correlation with them getting better information because I focused on them; Libby, @eloh, and Devin. I will tell you now what happened during those 3 minutes. I pinched the back of my hand painfully in front of a green plant and said, “ow, that hurts, stop it, dammit!” Libby, naughty girl! The biggest killer of psychic skills is using your logical mind to decide what you should see instead of what you do. On the up side, you were fairly good in your description, as I stared at the green plant and the bright pink place on my hand in the middle of the plant the entire time and couldn't help likening it to a flower on the plant--a painful one. You had the colors and placement right, but your let your logical mind interpre

Yesterday, if you read my post proposing a kind of remote viewing test today--hope you join me today at the times here: (I will send the words, the emotion and the visual for 3 minutes). 11:00 am Mountain Standard time and Pacific Standard Time 1:00 pm Central time 2:00 Eastern Standard Time 6:00 pm in London 8:00 pm in Greece Please comment here, whether you got anything, you got words, you got a feeling, you got a visual and even if you weren't sure about what you got. Don't talk yourself out of anything. Something you receive will be familiar. Even if it seems weird, go ahead and put it out there. One of the things that keeps the average person from accessing their psychic pathways is that they use logic and talk themselves out of things. An example would be if you thought you heard a man's voice but you know a woman, so you say "well, that can't be it." Don't do that! Give me whatever you get--no editing. It may change too, like you start out feeling k

I’ve been knocking around ideas for a mass blog experiment. I have a lot of ideas for future ones, but for this first one I wanted to see just how connected we are and if I could give you all a visual and emotion at the same moment in the day. The experiment is tomorrow, Thursday the 25th. Mark your calendar; leave a post-it note, whatever you need to do (times below depending on your time zone). At the time listed below, I want you to take a couple minutes, study my picture on the blog and think of my name “Autumnforest.” Now, close your eyes, take a deep breath and float until you feel like there’s something identifiable in your mind. Keep my name in mind in your head to help focus on me. I will be staring at and concentrating on something—it could be a scene, a photo, an object—you don’t know. I will be trying to study the details and say the words in my head describing it as well as the associated emotion so that if you are empathic you will feel the emotion, if you are auditory y

Jeez--don't forget to watch SyFy tonight! There's a "Ghost Hunters" episode in Atlantic City and my favorite boy, Josh Gates and his team on "Destination Truth" are hitting the Great Wall of China and looking for an Israeli mermaid--too cool! For those who like the creatures, don't miss History Channel's episode of "Monsterquest" showcasing the Dogman of the Midwest. It's a great night for weird viewing!

There’s probably more embarrassments than truly bright and shining moments of genuine phenomenon. If you’re not good at sitting still for long periods of time, ghost hunting is definitely not for you. A lot of folks fill their minds with other thoughts and daydream, and then they miss the voice in the room and when you shake them and ask “ did you hear that ?” They can only rattle off the grocery list or the chores they have to do tomorrow. You may be physically present, but you also have to be mentally present too. I’ve had a load of stupid and embarrassing situations in ghost hunting. I’m willing to admit, sometimes I’m like Lucille Ball when it comes to doing things. I’m all arms and legs, flying around, spastic and wanting to do 10 things at one time. When the hunt begins, I buckle down and put on my serious adult face, but even so I’m human and often times bumbling. Add to it the darkness of the hunt, and it can be quite hilarious. On a recent hunt that example showed itself well

When it comes to zombies, I always say, “Read it. Watch it. Contemplate it. Ultimately, be it.” Costume? You’ve probably heard me mention that on my bucket list is “join a zombie walk.” I really just want to do it all out and shuffle with the others in some downtown location where people can just gawk at us freaks. The costume idea—not really defined yet, but I’m working it—I’d really love to put together the Resident Evil Apocalypse costume ( above ) with the kackis, strap on leather un holsters and boots. Makeup? I’d start with red lip liner and line my eyes and smudge it up so I look like I have the worst pinkeye in creation. I’d apply some fake skin into a nice ridge going down my cheek and take a pencil and dig a trench into it. Then, take some foundation and mix it with white clown makeup and a touch of green concealer correction. Put that on a nice freshly scrubbed face and then go for the lips. I’d put on the same stuff from my foundation but take some blue eyeshadow and wo

( Another in my series about those who have left a huge impact on the horror genre ) Howard Phillips Lovecraft born in 1890 and died in 1937. A very brief life at 47 years of age, but yet an enormously far-reaching effect on horror. HP Lovecraft followers are nearly a cult that assembles itself to study and analyze every aspect of his horror craft to find greater meaning and more insight in his mythos. If you haven’t read Lovecraft, you’ve surely seen movies based on his stories ( these are only a sampling ): “The Dunwich Horror” “Dagon” “Die Monster Die” “Necronomicon” Lovecraft was born precocious and had an insatiable desire for knowledge and reading. This admitedly endears him to me. He was a lonely boy who often suffered from illnesses of a psychological origin. This seems to often make the setting for creativity when a person is isolated and highly intelligent. I’m starting to see how his life would unfold. Hardships and financial difficulties as a child created a deep depression

Monday: Nope Tuesday: Nope, but SyFy is showing “The Dunwich Horror” ( for lovers of HP Lovecraft ) Wednesday: SyFy Channel: “Ghost Hunters” Reports to be a terrifying episode in Atlantic City “Destination Truth” Josh and his team go near the Great Wall of China and check on an Israeli mermaid. History Channel: “ America’s Wolfman ” in the Midwest Thursday: Discovery Channel : " Monsters and Mysteries in Alaska " looks at monsters and UFOs sightings in Alaska. The show is followed by a show about Alaska, but then a show called “ Bermuda Triangle Exposed ” Travel Channel: A marathon of “ Ghost Adventures ” Friday: Nope, but you might want to try the new show “ Caprica ” on SyFy

The last post got an exciting conversation going which is my favorite thing to ignite. Because I refuse to say that all hauntings are spirit-related, it had me realizing I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about the encounters I’ve had in my life that were very clearly spirit-related. Although I run into a weighty amount of residual hauntings and the explainable, as well as poltergeist activity, it’s the intelligent ones that show human-to-human interaction that truly keep me ghost hunting, even when I can go a whole year without one exciting incident. When they do occur, they’re pure magic. Here’s some incidents: I was awakened from my sleep with a strange alertness. I looked across the room to see what looked like the outline of a person. I didn’t feel any of the fear I should have for seeing a person in my bedroom at night. Instead, I sensed a lot of physical pain related to the head. There was something not right about this figure, as if he were dazed and confused. I was barely a

It’s inevitable. Every one of us out there in the world of paranormal searching runs into a guy from “the other team” who wants to kick sand in our faces and make fat knuckled threats. You have your monster hunters, your UFO folks, your psychic/PSI types, and then you have your ghost hunters. There’s a lot of other variations of this including those into magic and such, but most will adhere to one of these groups if forced to find their “people.” A problem I’ve heard Gummerfan at “ Gummerfan’s Monster Hunters HQ ” blog discuss quite eloquently is the issue of the groups having poor communication ( to say the least ) and refusing to release information that could help the "other" group. I can’t tell you how bizarre some of the conversations can be. One time, talking to a man about why I ghost hunt, he proceeded to laugh arrogantly and tell me “g hosts don’t exist. You really believe that? ” He snorted as he shoved his pants over his pot belly for them to only slip back down th

I’ve looked my entire life for “my people.” They are extremely hard to find. I had to turn to the blog world where I've pleasantly found (through my followers) that I have a tribe! Like a single seeking out a mate, I went in search of my people by taking weird classes like palm reading and Reiki or going to events at local metaphysical shops and more. When I realized I wanted to hunt ghosts in a very conservative southwestern state, I had to seek out “my kind.” What I found was a mixed bag of nuts. You know how someone can like SciFi and go to a convention and get excited to hear about upcoming movies and talk about Star Trek and others have to go in costume and speak Klingon the entire time? Well, the ghost hunting world is the same with great differences in the tiers. Here’s some of the types and grades of ghost hunters I’ve discovered in my search for my “tribe,” but none of these ones were a fit for me: “Big Bad Benny” This guy is likely to be a robust man (that’s being poli

( Another in my series commemorating people who are immortal for changing the horror genre forever ) Abraham (“Bram”) Stoker was born in 1847 and died in 1912. He was an Irish novelist and short story writer. We best know him for his novel “Dracula.” Because he was bed-ridden until the age of seven, he claimed that was why his mind was so active with creative thoughts. He started out as a film critic for the theatre. He wrote many short stories and a non-fiction book. He got married, moved to London and became an acting manager and business manager for the Lyceum Theatre. He was no a flighty man. Stoker did that job for 27 years. It was during this time that he began to write novels, the most famous one being “Dracula” in 1897 at the height of the Victorian Era. Many people don’t realize it, but he was also known for “The Lady of the Shroud” and “The Lair of the White Worm,” other horror novels. As a writer of horror, I am proud to see someone keeping a day job and making a literary p

( This is the first in a series of people who changed the horror genre forever and who are eternally thanked for their contributions.) ) This amazingly talented man passed away in 2008 and the industry seems a bit confused what to do next. He was the go-to man to make horror images become reality. Stan Winston did makeup, special effects and directing. He was a man of many talents and remembered most for the “Terminator” series, “Jurassic Park,” “Aliens,” “Predator,” “Iron Man,” and “Edward Scissorhands.” Stan worked alongside James Cameron a good deal. He was an expert in makeup, puppets, and effects including digital. Not many people know this, but he actually went to Hollywood to become an actor and ended up an apprentice for Disney Studios in makeup artistry. He won four well-deserved Academy awards. As he was working on “Terminator Salvation” upon his death from multiple myeloma, the movie credits him. He had plans to work on “Avatar” for his good friend James Cameron, as well ( a

“Your friends will have your back” (Example: “28 Days Later” Killing off a buddy who’s about to “turn” and keeping your promises.) “It ain't over till it's over.” (Example: “Night of the Living Dead” when the leader makes it through the night, only to be shot in the daylight by the posse. Don’t ever relax your defenses!) “There's strength in numbers” (Example: “Dawn of the Dead” (remake) There were more to construct and protect) "If you can’t beat `em, join `em.” (Example: “Fido” when they decide to domesticate the zombies as servants, they solve the issue of what to do with the dead.) “There’s no place like home.” (Example: “Shaun of the Dead” The Winchester was really the best place to hide and it had unlimited booze and pork rinds!) “Nazis suck, dead or alive.” (Example: “Dead Snow” You can’t kill them even when they’re dead, but it’s oh so fun to try) “Sex is only for the living.” (Example: “Erotic Night of the Living Dead.” They sort of wandered around whi

I find some interesting things on road trips. Admittedly, I'm not the type looking for the landmarks or the popular spots. I'm off the beaten path looking for the unusual and absurd. The road trip us ghost hunting gals did this week included some strange finds. I like this one with the rusted saw stuck in a stump in the yard. Says so much. The faces worn off the two headstones pictures was a tragic loss and ended up appearing like something out of a movie like "The Ring." And, you know me, I always find the clowns and dolls. Hope I unsettled you enough for one post. Off to look for more peculiar things...

My twos sources for upcoming horror movies are www.bloody-disgusting.com and www.upcominghorrormovies.com May 28th: “Survival of the Dead” George Romero’s film is describe as “ The plot involves inhabitants of an isolated island off the North American coast who find their relatives rising from the dead to eat their kin. The leaders of the island feud over whether or not to kill their reanimated relatives or preserve them in hopes of finding a cure. On a small island off North America's coast, the dead rise to menace the living. Yet...the islanders can't bring themselves to exterminate their loved ones, despite the growing danger from those the once held dear. A rebel among them hunts down all the zombies he can find, only to be banished from the island for assassinating his neighbors and friends. On the mainland, bent on revenge, he encounters a small band of survivors in search of an oasis on which to build a new life. Barely surviving an attack from a mass of ravenous flesh