GHOST HUNTERS

I have to say that the open conversations that occur at the end of a post are the best part of blogging. Screw my posts! I want to hear what ya'all have to say! I'm amazed sometimes by the wit, insight, heart and intelligence of the readers. Like an insecure high school girl, I keep wondering what I'm doing right to attract such a crowd, so I can continue to do so. Read these comments out of context and tell me what a freaking weird blog I have that these are the sorts of responses I might receive. See if you can figure out what the heck the posts were about that elicited these beauties below. I love this place, it's awesome! I love ya'all, you're awesome! After all, you wrote these: "You don't scare me, Pinn-dorkio! I've got a bag of termites with your name on it! (Am I really fighting with a doll?)" "hahah, I wonder if the nipple clamp shot will get the vid removed from youtube." "You just posted on my site (for all to see) tha

I love finding new blogs that hit me in the face and I can’t help going back for more, more, more. I found one that is so well written with the writer’s voice (something that impresses me, as if you can imagine the person saying this out loud), so insightful and fun, edgy and urban, dark and creepy that I need to get my daily fill. Yes, it’s become one of my daily hit blogs. You know who you are because you are on the blog list in the lower righthand corner… The Caffeinated Zombie is like the Starbucks of Horror. That’s actually a compliment. It draws in the WiFi plugged in group who also happens to love zombies and all things dark and acerbic. It’s cynical, hip, brilliant and informative. Damn! I think I might make this a coffee cup and horror ritual. This talented writer might have just made a fun new online “café” for our horror types. Check it out. I know you’ll be putting it onto your blog list too. You’ll run into my comments there often and no doubt lively conversations back a

So, Thanksgiving week is over, Holiday season looms. Will this affect our horror watching? Take a look and you judge… ( sigh ) MONDAY: SyFy: “Saw III,” “Saw IV” TUESDAY: Nope. WEDNESDAY: SciFi: “Ghost Hunters” ( yes, the one with the Atlanta Housewives and, yes, I am rolling my eyes right now ). THURSDAY: **SyFy: “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” (Lunar Landing Hoax and a UFO episode) *History Channel: “Ancient Aliens” marathon FRIDAY: AMC: “Independence Day” “The Walking Dead” *Travel Channel: “Ghost Adventures” Ontario’s “Ft. Erie.” SUNDAY: AMC: “The Walking Dead” A&E: “Paranormal State” “Psychic Kids”

Fear of the dark: Ghosts, full moons, dark forests, sleeping at night. Fear of wild animals: Werewolves, vampires, bats. Fear of sexuality: Incubus, Succubus. Fear of death: Ghosts, Frankenstein's monster, demons, zombies. Fear of tight spaces: Being buried alive, coffins, mausoleums. All our basic fears are played out in every paranormal theme. It might be assumed that if we had a fear of money there would be some horror movies and novels based on winning the lottery. Why, then do we expose ourselves to the very things we fear? Sometimes, an easier way to accept death is to see it in the context of fiction instead of in the real world where a loved one passes on. It's admittedly better something happens to someone else instead of ourselves. If we study a ghost, we are looking at our future, but it is with a stranger so there is no sense of loss for us personally. Another thing we often find is that people expose themselves to things they fear, immersing themselves in a make be

To make: Take metal wire hangers and straighten them out or you can get a 20" very heavy gauge wire. Mark it 5" in and bend it at a right angle ( a vice works nice for this or countertop edge ). Make two of these and you now have dowsing rods. How to use: Hold rods lightly in hands, elbows at your waist, arms bent at 90 degree angle so forearms are parallel with ground. Do not place your thumbs over the bend in the handle. Do not grip too tightly. Finding the dead: Walk over the grave. The rods should cross. They should uncross when walking off the gravesite. Determining age: Standing at head of the grave, take a step towards the feet end. Count your steps. If the rods cross after 1 step, it as a baby, 3-4 steps a child, 5 steps an adolescent, 6 or more steps, an adult. Gender of the dead: Stand in the center of the grave, hold one rod over head. If it points to the head of the grave, it is a female. If it points to the feet of the deceased, it is a male. The fun thing

STARTS WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 on A&E Okay, I'm not usually into these things, although the Hollywood Treasures show is a cool idea ( the guy is a total dick, though ) and I like the family in Vegas with the Pawn Shop on that other show, but it's so staged it's not really very comfortable. Ya'all know how I adored abandoned sites and sometimes, well, finding leftover treasures. This show actually intrigues me and perhaps that's the part of me that adored that scene in "Silence of the Lambs" when Agent Starling went into the storage unit and found that car and and other scary items.... Well, I'll give it a try. The only thing I hate about these reality shows is that the pick people with the most abrasive personalities that you would hate in real life if you had to deal with them. I don't know why they do that. Do they think it's just loud and aggressive enough to get our short-attention span focused? Here's A&E's write up about it.

It's Black Friday. You're sick of shopping ( online if you're smart ) and you're just having a nice quiet evening, chilling with your drink and "Ghost Adventures." So, join us as we chat back and forth all evening about anything and everything. It's casual. Come and go as you like. Pose a question. Tell us what you're having for a late snack or drink. Talk about GA. Whatever you want. You may now begin...

In my usual zany way, I got an idea and I couldn't self-edit enough to not do it. I think every idea is worthy of pursuing. In this case, I was SO RIGHT! Friday the 10th, a bunch of us horror bloggers are having a "Blogger Zombie Walk." What the hell is that?? You come onto the blog, there will be a post about zombies. It could be anything about zombies--you have no idea what it might be; a fictional piece, a video, a comedy routine, a survival guide, a movie review-- anything having to do with zombies . There will also be links to all the other bloggers who are doing zombie posts that day. Click a link, go to another blog and see more zombie stuff. That blog will have links to the other ones too. Just keep "walking" from zombie site to zombie site. As well, if you comment on my blog that day and you're one of my followers, you're entered into a contest to win your choice from this series of combos of DVDs. EITHER... "Zombieland" and "Sha

Iron Maiden "Phantom of the Opera" ( the appropriate video for tonight's episode ) It's time for another exciting and entertaining episode of "Ghost Adventures." Drinking game rules: 1. Stay home! 2. Take a sip for every "bro," "dude," "man," every time Zak get touched by the unseen and every time Aaron's mouth drops open in horror. Tonight's drink at the "Day Spa"? Well, I could advise a classic "opera cocktail" which is 3 ingredients; marashino cherry liquid, Dubonnet and gin, but who the hell has that in the cabinets? So, in honor of the season, hot spiced cider with rum will do! Don't forget tonight at 7 pm EST an onward, we're on here commenting back and forth for "Lonely on a Friday Night." Join us if you're bored. We talk about the show as we watch it, flirt, goof off, ask questions, contemplate the paranormal, whatever the heck we want, we're a bunch of dorks on a F

I’ve been asked this question quite a few times. Why does only one person in a family experience haunting issues while others don’t? Logic tells us there are a number of reasons which can include; Location issues —only their room is troubled Qualities —something particular about him/her, his/her sex, age, or sensitivity that is attractive to a spirit Latent psychic qualities coming forth —an emerging psychic medium Purposeful isolation —to keep him/her separated from the others in the family Poor explanatory style —attributing explainable things to ghostly events Mental illness —from paranoia to schizophrenia Attention-seeking behavior —finding a way to get help by having something wrong A great deal of haunting experiences occur when a person is alone. However, in a typical “haunted” house, several members of a family have experienced similar things at different times, on rare occasions together. The case of an isolated haunting particular to one family member is a difficult one to ta

Ben from "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" turned me onto this song. Just love it. Thought I'd share it.

For Christ's sake, just put me out of my misery finally. They picked up GH for another season. It started out with the best of intentions and really did change people's views on what ghost hunting is, made it less embarrassing to be a ghost hunter, and showed that debunking is CRITICAL. Then, like a bad marriage, they got complacent. You know, the moment your spouse starts wearing a dirty shirt and hasn't showered and farts blatantly in front of you. Well, GH seems to be doing that to viewers and to the industry. Honeymoon is over, time to file for divorce. Their cookie cutter explanations of what a ghost is, how it works and the way they drill it into poor Steve and other team members until they can rattle it off over and over again like zombies has spread throughout the country into franchise-like groups that tout the same party line. To top it off, they still do the exact same thing and team up with the same people for every investigation. They don't experiment. They

To be honest, your voice recording device is a receiver and can pick up all kinds of stray signals, not to mention common sounds made by a hand holding a recorder and other ambient sounds. Your camera, like the ones on ghost hunting shows, doesn't capture what you just saw in the hallway. No matter how much as hunters we want to believe an EMF meter might help or clicking off a shot with the camera might capture something, we have yet to gather legitimate evidence with technology. Why is that? I often say that I like to hunt with no equipment. Seems like a waste. What if something happens? How do you prove it? Well, you can't prove it even with a shitload of batteries, cords, DVR and IR cameras. But, how many times do hunters hear and see things they can't capture with tools of the trade? All the freaking time! Of course, you have people wanting to find phenomena and so anything that happens, any change in light and dark, any knocking sound and any chill could be interpre

"The Stone Tape" was a 1972 BBC television play about an electronics research group that sets up in an old manor home to come up with a new recording medium to beat the Japanese's growing market. One of the researchers in this fictional play, a computer programmer, sees an image of a woman running up the steps in the room and falling, apparently to her death. Inquiring with the local villagers, they learn that a young maid died in that room during Victorian times. They realize that somehow the stone in the room has preserved an image of the girl's death – this “stone tape” may be the key to the new recording medium that the team is trying to develop. Since that time, the stone tape theory has been one that involves residual hauntings being recordings held by natural causes. I felt this ever since I was a child where I grew up and noted places that were haunted and common features. I had never heard of the BBC series until I was already into ghost hunting and was pleas

As I was working on all three books at one time ( mind you, there's actually 5 more planned out; 4 for the abandoned series and another one on shadow people ), it dawned on me that ya'all read the blog and know me pretty well by now. Maybe you might let me know if I'm on the right track. Mind you, these are unedited pieces, as written in raw form. Right now, I'm just getting the ideas down. The fun comes with editing later ( something I actually equally enjoy ). "Abandoned Places: Abandoned Memories (Desert Edition)" is at the publisher's right now being pitched by the editor. Fingers crossed. This is a book Julie from Above-The-Norm and I are working on together and part of a 5-book series. She photographs abandoned sites we go to and I do a psychic read on a person who was there in the past and write up a scene. Here's a sample from the chapter on an abandoned motel. Joelle was very adept at shoplifting but her choice of items to steal was like the

This Week in Horror Movies and Paranormal TV Hey, it’s T-giving week, so ya know, it’s likely to be all about “Home Alone” and “Elf” and no new episode of my favorite FoF, so no tank top shot this week. Sorry. Monday: SyFy: “The Reaping,” “Fight Club” Tuesday: Nope Wednesday: *SyFy: “Ghost Hunters” Thursday: Discovery: “Punkin Chunkin 2010” (awesome competition where pumpkins are launched the longest distances) History Channel: “Ancient Aliens” (marathon) Friday: Travel Channel: “Ghost Adventures” (NEW) Sunday: A&E: “Paranormal State” marathon AMC: “The Walking Dead”

As a followup on the earlier post today about digital cameras and orbs, I did want to share this one. It's a 35mm shot with no flash in a cemetery. See to the far left an orb? I was completely alone in the cemetery when I took this. It was no balloon and nothing in the trees. I studied the area carefully as I took shots because when I used to use 35mm, I needed to recall if anything was in the field of vision when taking the pic. Still can't explain it, but I keep it as a reminder that you just never know what the hell you'll get. I've never seen a 35mm get an orb and especially in daytime with no flash, but hey, it's pretty cool.

Okay, new shows on SyFy usually don't get me too excited. I readily admit I am not a Stargate/Battlestar type of gal, but when they do something involving a ghost, a vampire and werewolf living together (no that is not the buildup for a punchline), I am curious. "Being Human" is a re-imagining of the acclaimed BBC original series that follows three 20-something roommates: a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf who are struggling to keep their dark secrets from the world, while also helping each other navigate the complexities of living double lives. I'm definitely going to check it out. It'll probably be cheesy and soap-opera like and poorly written and mediocre acting, but I still have to see something with such an interesting premise. I still watch every Bigfoot movie they pump out, hoping maybe they finally get it. Hope this doesn't have the same result--complete disappointment.

So, what's the deal with the advent of digital cameras, ghost hunting and lots of orb-idge? Most of us are sophisticated enough to know that orbs really are accounted for as pollen, moisture, dust and sometimes bugs. The flash on digital cameras is very near the lens. When you take a shot, you light up anything in front of the lens. You should have seen the pictures Julie and I got on the hayride in the dusty AZ desert this fall. When the camera flash went off, you could see every particulate sparkling in the air in front of the camera. We didn't even have to look at the shots to know it was dust being kicked up. As well, digital cameras take a shot so quickly that if you took a picture of a moving ceiling fan, the blades would be crisp and sharp looking as if it weren't moving at all. Still, I feel compelled to take my camera with me. After all, look at all these shots above that I've accrued over the years. I don't think I have a crapload of evidence up there, but

You’ve seen it in holographic displays in places like Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, but home haunters are now using them for party and horror effects for the kiddies. These are so cool. It’s an interesting illusion that makes a ghostly image appear. I very much wanted to use one for my Halloween party for outside the house so it looked like a ghost inside was banging on the windows to get out and pleading and screaming, but I had no way to build up the necessary addition to house the effects. This article gives you a great explanation of the process. Now, if you haven’t been to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion—enjoy the ride. Someone videotaped it and put it on YouTube.

( stock vintage photo of Sami ) This time of year makes me daydream about snow and icy climates, big trees and open tundras. It must be in the DNA, but I cannot shake the kinship I feel as if my entire molecular structure recognizes the music of the Celts and the Norsemen. My mother was Scottish, my father from Norway and his mother (born in 1900) from Swedish Lapland, milked reindeer when she was growing up. The Sami culture and music goes right to my bones and I feel strangely like I hit some kind of harmonic resonance and I have come home and found my people. Here’s my tribe; the Sami of Lapland found in this music and their heritage in this movie trailer below. If this doesn’t get you in any icy mood, I suggest some fantastic Norse-made horror films like “Dead Snow,” “Sauna” and “Frostbitten.” Vajas “Star Girl” Ande Somby Mari Boine from the movie “The Kautokeino Rebellion" a 2008 film based on the true story of the Kautokeino riots in Kautokeino, Norway in 1852 in response to

It's that time again. From now until everyone hits the hay, we can hang out and comment back and forth, say "hi," talk about our week, the paranormal, the funny "Ghost Adventures" episode of just flirt and be silly. You may begin now. Oh, and on another note... ** I wanted to thank everyone who has been so supportive as I went through my divorce to reclaim my own life and my maiden name. I just wanted you to know that it all paid off. I am free and clear and I am Ms. Day again. It was the bravest and most intelligent thing I've ever done and I never would have thought I could do it or deserved to do it if it weren't for ya'all and your encouragement and belief in me. I am blissfully happy. It was done painlessly and with both our cooperation and without a lawyer. We did it with the friendship and dignity with which we entered our ill-fated romance for two people so different and truly just meant to be friends and not more. Our son is proud of us and

(Today's video Rammstein, the German band, doing "Amerika") Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas is a fort that once held German POWs. Song seemed terribly appropriate for tonight's episode. You know, I have to find a video that suits the subject each week. Also, have to give you the drinking game: Rules: * Stay Home * Take a sip for every "bro," "dude," "man," every time Zak gets touched by the unseen and every time Aaron's mouth becomes unhinged in surprise. Tonight's drink? Something totally appropriate--Shiner Beer. They are an American beer maker that makes German beer. **Don't forget tonight is Lonely on a Friday Night at 7pm EST. Come here and comment back and forth with everyone, chit chat, flirt, discuss the show as you watch it, and I also have a comment to make to everyone about my divorce.**

( Above: FAKED! Debunked with a couple of regular party balloons ) ( Shake weight tested and proven FACT! ) It's my favorite time of the week, when I get to talk about last night's episode of FoF and give ya'all a little quiz to be sure you were watching. The Hawaii Ghost Girl and the Australian Mermaid were the cases they chose. I was a bit surprised by the mermaid one. It smacked of SyFy sensationalism. They have a policy to not pursue a case where they can’t interview the witness and they didn’t talk to the guy who took the film. It seemed like they just wanted to film a sensational case and had to bend their rules to do it. I wanted to hear about this dude who filmed it and maybe a voice analysis or Ben doing his badass FBI interrogation maneuvers. I think the ratings posing came across when they put Jael in a happy purple mermaid suit and had her take a dive. That entire portion of this episode to me felt contrived and reminded me too much of that Gene Simmons show whe

Many people voiced disappointment and discouragement about a few aspects of Halloween last month and also about its downward trend. Many mentioned that they had very few or even no trick-or-treaters, stores had Christmas running up Halloween’s ass on the aisles and TV had only a handful of channels showing horror movies. Has America’s love affair with Halloween died out? We may be a fairly conservative country, but nearly everyone gets a thrill the moment witches and bats, mummies and skeletons begin to show themselves on store shelves. There are some things about Halloween that are unique and must be considered when compared to other holidays. Christmas is red and green, Santa and nativities, pine and lights. Easter is bunnies and eggs, chocolate and mass. Fourth of July is barbecue, flags and fireworks. If you exclude the fact people buy each other gifts at Christmas, Halloween is actually the most profitable holiday. It supports: Horror movies/DVDs/books/music Costumes Party costs a

On an exciting note--a new movie coming out with huge names involved and looks crazy awesome! Wait until you see the names involved in this! Insane premise-wickedly promising!

The winner of Gregg's Birthday Book giveaway: The "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" team heads to the deep blue sea. Jael puts together a suit with a mono-fin to replicate an original video of the appearance of a mermaid while Ben gets the underwater shot. Jael becomes really tired as she can only swim with her arms while trying to emulate the original motion of the mermaid fin with her legs tied together. A task certainly to be seen, so be sure to watch the clip and tune in on Thursday at 10/9c only on Syfy. I'm a psychic and don't consider myself a clairvoyant, per se, but I can predict this episode might have a high rating. Tomorrow morning, expect a new tank top shot along with the review. Please jump in and give me your conclusions.

Perhaps because I work in the medical world using Latin and Greek terms all the time, but I love to make a hobby of coming up with new names for everyday conditions. Here’s some that I’ve come up with in just the past few weeks: “Transient Hispanism” The condition in which an Hispanic reporter suddenly speaks with an Hispanic accent when naming a city in Mexico or the name of another Hispanic person. “Theater Dementia” The condition in which one sits through the trailers for upcoming movies in the theater and then forgets what movie he came to see and has to check his ticket stub. “Phantom Cell Phone” The condition in which one leaves his cell phone at home and yet keeps reaching into his pocket to use it and feels the wistful sadness as if missing a limb. “Visual Floating Virus” The condition in which animated pop-up ads during a TV show that appear (due to placement and timing) to interact with the show and temporarily startle the viewer. “Loading Interruptus” The condition in w

For those of you who might be new to this blog, I'm Dale the Doll, Autumnforest's sidekick. I don't like or trust humans and people might call me a curmudgeon, but the truth is, I'm the brains in this operation. Sometimes, I sneak and use the laptop while the Human is asleep. She was really mad at me this October. You see, I have this curse and every October I get into some mischief. Okay, I seriously fuck up, but hey I can't be held responsible for the dolly porn video or the hiding of the kitchen knives or filming her while she slept , that was all my alter ego. That being said, I'm in her good graces again she said, as soon as I apologize for being a horse's behind during October and stalking many of your blogs and leaving comments. I won't apologize for stalking the pretty lady bloggers. Hell, I am a man; whether I'm plastic and stuffing or not! Okay, so I kind of think this is where I'm suppose to say that I feel sorry about what I did an

Sloss Furnaces: Grant thinks Jason pushes him in the shoulder and Jason is responding to questions Grant isn’t asking. Who or what is pulling these pranks? Is the paranormal trying to communicate? Don’t miss this episode as legendary rocker Meat Loaf also joins the team for an unforgettable hunt in Alabama. *Don't forget, you can still enter the giveaway in honor of Gregg's Birthday. Check out the last Saturday's post and enter to win a book of your choosing from the vast collection he's written.*

An episode of “Destination Truth” prodded me to write more about the subject of the Chilean ( Chile has the largest copper mines in the world ) mummies and aliens, UFOs, and the mining areas. I wrote a post about the connections in heavy mining areas with UFO sightings and alien sightings. A copper mine in Mexico was the place where the “Starchild” skull was discovered by a woman hiding from a storm. This skull has been examined extensively and confused the experts with its alien-like features. An episode of "Monsterquest" pursuing the flying humanoids sightings in Mexico led the public exposure of a small alien-looking creature supposedly killed by a farmer and whose tiny body is being examined by experts who are baffled by its human-like shape and strange cranium and upright posture. Flying humanoids , copper mines, alien creatures hiding in caves, Starchild skull , unusually high percentages of citizens having sleep paralysis … All these features are curiously interwove

It’s another issue of my Tuesday special, trying to open your minds and make you question everything. Today’s subject is Shadow People, those creepy things caught out of the corner of one’s eye at first, then whisk away when they realize they’re being seen. These “beings” are a dense black color, sometimes 4-feet tall and human shaped, other times tall and slender and with a top hat, as well. Here are some theories tossed about: They are noncorporeal beings (having never been in human form) They are evil demons They are spirits having trouble forming They are beings from another dimension They are a projection of our own dark side Okay all these explanations being told, let’s look at some things a bit more unconventional. Today's Mind Fuck: What if shadow people are a being that is always there, thought we couldn’t see them, but are being seen more and more because people use TV and computer screens that refresh so rapidly our eyes are becoming sensitive to things we couldn’t see

Let’s begin with what residual hauntings are. Many people word it differently, but it basically is a phenomenon in which an event from the past is played out in a loop-like fashion without regard to anything happening around it. It is not guided by an intelligent spirit but more like a movie replaying. Honestly, after almost 8 years officially hunting and I still can’t tell you I’ve witnessed an intelligent haunting that I believe meant I was interacting with an actual spirit. That said, I can tell you that if you've experienced a haunting event, the odds are it was residual. How do you know? If the activity occurs in one area and doesn’t seem to leave it, it’s residual. If you saw a full-body apparition but always in the kitchen, it’s residual. If the footsteps you hear are always on the stairs, it’s residual. If you tend to smell pipe smoke in one corner of your den, it’s residual. If it doesn’t react to what is going on or what you say to it, it’s residual. If the sound of voice

*If you missed it, read yesterday's one-on-one interview with Ben Hansen from "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files." Also, you can still enter the book giveaway contest from Saturday's post for Gregg's Birthday. Don't forget!* *(asterisk) means I’m watching it MONDAY: SyFy: “Scare Tactics” marathon TUESDAY: Travel Channel: “Haunted Lighthouses,” “Mysteries of the Museum” “Ghost Adventures” (repeat) WEDNESDAY: AMC: “Aliens” (movie) *SyFy: “Ghost Hunters” History Channel: “Nostradamus Effect,” “Apocalypse Island” THURSDAY: *SyFy: Repeat “Destination Truths” followed by a new “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” (men, Jael will be imitating a mermaid—enjoy!) History Channel: “UFO files,” “Ancient Aliens” FRIDAY: AMC: “Jeepers Creepers,” “The Walking Dead” *Travel Channel: “Most Terrifying Places in America,” “Ghost Adventures” (NEW—at a fort) SUNDAY: A&E: “Paranormal State,” “Psychic Kids” *AMC: “The Walking Dead”