GHOST HUNTERS

I'm a Bigfoot F-R-E-A-K. I like my men tall and hairy, what can I say? My serious BF hangout has become Bigfoot Evidence . The comments that go back and forth are crazy interesting, edgy, angry, and hopeful. I never know what's next on the news reported there or the things people say. I totally love it--very addictive. If you don't follow it, you're missing out a hugely fun place to comment! I am also a huge fan of North American Bigfoot with Cliff Barackman from my new favorite show, "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet. I might have a wee bit of a crush on him. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the Oregonian feel, the wise eyes, the intelligence, the outdoorsy nature.... I am also a werewolf freak and a bit of a closet shaman-type. The blog The Wolf's Eyes has my attention and I never miss a post. This author is highly intelligent, spiritual, and seriously respectful of all things wolves and shapeshifting. Perhaps it's the romantic in me, but this

2011 --the first entire year since I was 21 in which I was not married. What did it bring? 6 books on Kindle and Nook (click Gina Hana books button on the left) Trips to many abandoned places, ghost towns, haunted locations, and ghost hunts Interviews for newspapers A contract signed for a book going to print in April My first dates since I was 16! A TV news interview A blogger virtual zombie walk event online Participating in a zombie walk with 4000 people Loads of new friends - a real tribe of supportive people Growing the blog Doing a radio show online My first Bigfoot hunt A vacation at a resort Lots of new ghost hunting opportunities Oh, hell, this is only a portion of the list! My plans for 2012? To be regularly published in print. I have lots of upcoming books: "They Come Out At Night (A Book To Read By Candlelight)" "Spirit Vessels: Why Some Buildings Are Haunted" "Growing Up With Ghosts" - The story of growing up at Aspen Grove told by me and my f

I'm addicted to Scandinavian horror. I know people who strictly like French or Australian. There is something about a culture's ability to present horror that brings something new and fresh to it. Here's some countries and a sample of their horror films: Scandinavian These are harsh, barren, detached and disturbing-- "Let the Right One In" (my favorite vampire) "Dead Snow" (my fav zombie) "Sauna" (my fav drama/horror/historical) "Troll Hunter" (one of my favs of all time!) Italian These are gothic and atmospheric, sexy and forbidden-- "Demons" "Deep Red" "Black Sabbath" "Suspiria" Japanese These are usually legend-driven and spirit/technology related-- "Infection: "The Ring" "The Grudge" "One Missed Call" Australian These are gritty, rough, psychologically draining, harsh, and repentant. "Wolf Creek" "Roadgames" "Lake Mungo" "

Bats are mammals. They are of a grouping called Chiroptera (hand/wing). Can you believe bats make up about 20% of all mammals? Bats are good for eating insects and for pollinating plants. Even though they are beneficial, they still freak people out, worrying they'll fly into their hair. The smallest bat is about an inch, the largest is about 4 feet. When I was a kid, we had bats behind our shutters outside our windows. The squeaking would keep us up at night. My mom got the brilliant idea to relocate them. She had my brother and I hold a blanket out, she took a broom, lifted the shutter out, swooshed them into the blanket, while they were flopping around, we closed up the blanket and took them to the barn to let them loose again. That is a harrowing experience I do not want to relive, a few times they flopped onto our shirts and heads. We were lucky we didn't get bitten. My mom had lots of great ideas, like burning the trash inside the house in our fireplaces. She once put an a

In the 1970s in Canada, a group of parapsychologists created an unusual experiment ( video here of show about it ). They believed they could make up a fictitious ghost with a story about a life that never existed and concentrate on it enough to produce ghostly results created by expectations and the minds of the people participating, all of whom were not known to be psychic. Here was the story they devised: Philip was an aristocratic Englishman, living in the middle 1600s at the time of Oliver Cromwell. He had been a supporter of the King, and was a Catholic. He was married to a beautiful but cold and frigid wife, Dorothea, the daughter of a neighboring nobleman. One day when out riding on the boundaries of his estates Philip came across a gypsy encampment and saw there a beautiful dark-eyed girl raven-haired gypsy girl, Margo, and fell instantly in love with her. He brought her back secretly to live in the gatehouse, near the stables of Diddington Manor - his family home. For some tim

I used to write romance novels. I never got any published, but the problem with my writing was that I was very fixated on mood and atmosphere and dark and unusual characters. My editor said, "you should write horror," and so I made the transition. And then, years later, paranormal romance became a burgeoning category. I am working on some paranormal romances, but working to get my nonfiction out first. I am not without a lot of reading in the genre and I'm very finicky about what I like. Here are my two favorite authors that I liked so much, I kept them after the divorce ( the other 100 romance novels I had to keep me warm at night, I donated to some other poor woman who needed to believe there were passionate men out there ). Karen Marie Moning " To Tame a Highland Warrior " is just one of a series of Highlander ones she did that are unbelievably raw, sexy, strong, mysterious, and so gratifying that, like mine, you will wear them down until the covers are barel

1966 Ted Serios a bellhop from Chicago claimed to be able to project thoughts onto Polaroid film. Interestingly, some of his best results were when he was drunk. This seemed to open a psychic pathway for him, some believed. By holding a Polaroid camera and focusing on the lens very intently, he was able to produce dreamlike pictures of his thoughts on the film; he referred to these images as "thoughtographs. Sometimes, the photos were all white, other times all black, and occasionally when Ted was drunk, an image would show. The noted mathematician and magician Persi Diaconis was apparently paid to watch Ted Serios perform during which Persi claimed that he caught Serios sneaking a small marble with a photograph on it into the little tube attached to the front of the camera he used. "It was," Persi said, "a trick." When looking at the photos--it seems rather feasible when you see the rounded look of them and the fuzzy edges (below). A psychiatrist named Jule Ei

The book Weird USA: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman is a book that every one of my readers should have on his/her shelf. There are also versions of this for the states, so look for "Weird Arizona" and "Weird Virginia" and all the other states too! If you're hoping to hit the road and see weird, scary, and insane places in your own state when the snow thaws, start planning now. I absolutely love this book series. Did you know that ... In Neptune, NJ on Essex Road, long ago in the late 1800s families of albinos lived there, deep in the woods. The legend has it that they got sick of people coming and looking at them, so they started murdering them in a slaughterhouse. The Melon Heads of Michigan: The story says there was a kid with a huge melon head and he got made fun of. The parents moved to the middle of the woods. They started inbreeding and hated society. They made a breed of huge-headed p

This 2010 movie was described as, " Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden. " I heard so many good things about this movie ahead of time and was anxious to see it. A darling man gave me this video and told me to see it. He and I have the same taste in movies, so I was not surprised that I would like it so much. It had a feel like "The Walking Dead" in some ways and "Jericho." I really appreciated the heartland feel to it, the narration by the teen boy, and the settings. It never felt like a set built to feel like an abandoned world filled with death. It actually felt like it was filmed in such a world. Mostly, I appreciated that it made no apologies. There w

I've talked before about heaven possibly being the fourth dimension and how in our 3-dimensional world, we draw on a piece of paper something we wish to build and then we build that in our 3-dimensional world. It is a prototype, a facsimile missing the extra dimension of depth. A 2-dimensional being, not having that depth perception, does not understand or comprehend our world. If we could pluck him from his 2-dimensional world out to look down upon his world, he would suddenly have a perception that would make his world seem rather shallow and lacking. People in near-death experiences often explain upon returning to life that the other world was the real world and this one was shallow and empty in comparison. In the other world, they had light, colors and a sense of being one with everything that is missing in this scattered and seemingly unrelated world of 3-dimensions. Were these experiencers of NDEs momentarily plucked from our 3-dimensional world and allowed access to that vie

It's hard to believe, but two years ago, my co-author and best friend, Julie , was wondering what she would do with her life. She was blogging, but not sure about the next step. Well, in those 2 years, she's developed her artistic skills and photography, grown her blog, gone on lots of ghost hunts and taken up urban exploration, published 2 books and signed contracts for 2 print books coming out and designed book covers. Here's just some of what she's up to: Her Blog CafePress Designs for Zombie Housewives Her Designs Business---need custom cover art for your ebook? Her designs from her photography on wicked awesome CafePress Items Her Etsy Shop with her crafts inspired by abandoned Arizona sites I'm so proud of her. She is not only the kindest and funniest human being in the world, but super talented and successful. Check out her stuff and see what I mean. My "Sis" is awesome!

You can't be in the paranormal biz without noticing that others in the field can be proprietary, gossipy, backstabbing, and competitive. The same thing happens in the Bigfoot industry and UFO fields. But, when you put the three research groups together, you find something interesting--they often are not helpful to each other, even though they are not outright competitive. Why is that? There's some snobbery in each community. To a ghost hunter, the concept of aliens is ludicrous, Bigfoot would have been found by now. The only true unsolved mystery is the afterlife and phenomena which is reported more than UFO or Bigfoot sightings. To a UFO researcher, craft from outer space has more evidence than any other phenomena and it involves governments covering it up. People are having encounters with researchers from other planets. That is as real as you can get. It is of this world and another world, but not the paranormal one, the universe! Bigfoot researchers see chasing ghosts as a

I love being single, especially because my ex was not a horror person--at all! I can now let little bits of my horror tendencies out, along with other loves like gardens and Celtic/Nordic touches. Around my home, I have little vignettes to remind me of important influences. Here's just a few I put together and how.... Cemeteries I have spent a lot of time in cemeteries and I just adore their beauty and their mournful qualities. I had some garden statues of gargoyles and a cherub and celtic cross, so I put them up atop of a book case with some plants woven into them to make them look established, and I have a nod to cemeteries. "The Birds" The movie "The Birds" was my favorite horror movie of all time as a kid. The scene at the playground with the birds on the monkey bars I thought was the best single impact horror scene ever. I wanted to recreate that in my apartment. I took the old wood screen I found at an abandoned trailer park and put it in the corner of the

Are you looking for a paranormal experience, not necessarily to enter the paranormal research industry? What you need is cheap and simple compared to the hunters. You actually have a better chance of encountering something if you carry just a few items and spend your time concentrating on your arena. Rent a very haunted room at a haunted inn. Be sure you've done your research and heard what others have said, that the room is active. Don't go alone. Bring at least 1-3 other people so that there are plenty of witnesses and different personalities. Some people are simply "weird" magnets. And, some combinations of people are more attractive to activity. You can always count on me to be brutally honest. I do not want to see people financing a bunch of wahoo's who think they have the hottest, latest, most important piece of ghost equipment. Do not buy ghost apps for your phone, ghost boxes, anything that spits out random words or scans radio frequencies. It's entert

According to the urban dictionary, a chalupa-cabra is a chupacabra who has an unnatural infatuation with mexican food, especially chalupas. Get the Tee --hee hee! $16.85. You can always join those hoping to have sightings at the Facebook page . Now, don't you feel properly informed?

Quint from "Jaws" Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean" Miranda from "Devil Wears Prada" Navin from "The Jerk" Carrie from "Carrie" Tell me some of your fav's.

Here's just some creepy real estate. I never have wanted to live in a normal home. I grew up in a Civil War Hospital! I dream of the day when I can buy something not intended to be a home, something with a strange or dark past. Here's just some cool ones to consider if you're of the same odd bend.... A funeral parlor? “ This sale includes two parcels. One is vacant and is used for parking buy zoned residential and is approximately 1362 Sq. Ft. and the other is 2,748 Sq. Ft. with a building on it that is approximately 5,552 Sq. Ft. The larger parcel is zoned C2A. Shown by appointment with the listing agent. Proof of ability to purchase required to showing. HUGE PRICE REDUCTION! SUBMIT AN OFFER! Also in Commercial. $799,000. " A Hospital? Want a church for $45,000 in Pennsylvania? Looking for a funeral home in DC? Scary home? An abandoned fort? Ft. Carroll in the Baltimore area was built in the mid 1800s. It was left abandoned where wildlife took over and urban explorers

I'm finding interesting realities about the way men and women fall in love - A man can fall in love because a woman is beautiful and they had awesome sex and if she has a good personality, that's a bonus. A woman can fall in love with a personality and if there is beauty and awesome sex, that is just a bonus. A man can fall in love because a woman laughs at his jokes. A woman can fall in love because a man can laugh at himself. A woman can tell herself she's in love because she doesn't want to be alone. A man can tell himself he's in love because he wants regular sex. This is all still a mystery. I await falling in love at my ripe age. I still await a New Year's kiss I never got. So many things I missed out on. Mostly, just the romantic notion of having a man look at me with adoration and seeing him light up at the sight of me. I want to know what it's like to have someone tell me he loves me without having to keep saying it until he finally snaps it back at

Everyone starts looking to the year ahead. There are a few ways we project that year. 1. 2012 is an extension of the patterns at the end of 2011. Doomed, continue to be doomed -- perhaps even MORE doomed. 2. 2012 is a clean slate - anything is possible. I've talked about cognitive distortions before and it's true. Your strongest emotions come from cognitive distortions--beliefs set in your mind that are not based on reality, so emotions are not realistic or, in other words, not logical emotions. 1. The cognitive distortion above is "Because it's been this way, it will always be this way." That is obviously not true. If that were true, we would still be in elementary school. Even if you try to have the same day twice, you can't. Something always jumps into the mix and changes it. 2. This is a logical conclusion. Since we do not have the ability of prophecy (at least not with any testable accuracy), we cannot know the future. There is a chance of bad things an

Restaurant Impossible (Food Channel) I love makeover-style shows. In fact, I wish there was a show where someone fat and neglected and feeling a lack of confidence takes control of their work, personal and physical lives and has a dramatic makeover and takes life by the balls and unsettles those who didn't believe in them. In Restaurant Impossible, I really enjoy seeing a restaurant getting a complete makeover from menu to decorating and reopening to happy customers. It makes me happy to see someone take something and make something better out of it. It also makes you realize why a helluva lot of restaurants go under. Big Bang Theory (CBS) This is just fun. I LOVE nerds! I love quick wit and dialogue and quirky people. This show is just everything I adore! Finding Bigfoot (Animal Planet) I know it's not "real" research and it's all edited to hell to fit the time period, but I love going in the woods with this adorable gang and their cranky sourpuss leader. I li

It's quiz time again, my sweeties. Count your a's, b's, c's and d's and see which one you get the most of. 1. When it came to sports when I was younger, I tended to be... a. Fast/sprinter b. Sly/smart c. Sturdy/strong d. Cowardly/quitter 2. My dream vacation... a. Mountains/snow skiing/snowboarding. b. Beach/surfing/parasailing. c. City/museums/culture. d. Summertime/countryside/B&B inn. 3. I am NOT scared of this... a. Tight spaces. b. Water. c. Falling. d. Storms. 4. When it comes to safety, I tend to... a. Follow rules and posted signs. b. I notice things that aren't quite right and trust my instincts. c. Run from anything dangerous. d. I am prepared for emergencies. 5. In the middle of drama and emergency, I tend to... a. React immediately without thinking. b. I evaluate the situation and my resources and then act. c. I stick it out and try to make it better, keep my stand on the matter. d. I run away and don't confront. Now, count your a's, b

(**Don't miss it--the zombie gals have zombie holiday recipes up**) Come on, if we had some omnipotent being at our beck and call, wouldn't we have a thousand questions we've waited to hear the REAL answer to? Here are some of the most asked ones people want to know the answer to. What are yours? Is there a God? Who made God? Is Heaven a location? Where? If someone dies at 99, does he look 99 in Heaven? Is there an afterlife? Are there souls all around us living people, watching us shower and have sex? Is there life on other planets? Are there other dimensions? If I'm married to someone in life, am I stuck with them in the afterlife? Are there pets in Heaven? How did the universe begin? How big is the universe? Does it end? And if it does-what's there? A wall? Why did God design us? Do aliens visit the Earth? If I got one question, I'd have to be very detailed and specific: "Does my consciousness and awareness of myself as a person and all my experiences i

Do you have an extra 6-1/2 million dollars? Do you want 135 acres of Texas real estate complete with a 20-year-old facility built with the future hope of being a particle accelerator but never got completed? There are 8 buildings and 14 miles of underground tunnels. How much did your government spend on this debacle? A cool $2 billion. This from the same government who wants to relocate the Montauk Facility on an island off of Long Island to Kansas--testing chemicals and illnesses on animals that would be right in our heartland. Look what it did for Lyme disease? Oh, what a wonderful and tangled web they weave. If only they spend that money on researching tide power and solar power! At least we'd all still be healthy and have something to show for it!

Did you know that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons interbred? The conclusion has been that Neanderthals were not a different arm of man, but were just another race of man. Europeans are the result of interbreeding and that delightful and special red-haired gene-- It's believed that early 1900s scientists interpreting the fossils of Neanderthal had a very biased and prejudiced interpretation of this version of man, seeing him as ape-like and brutish and a completely different divergence of man. Their stocky bodies were perfect for the cold climate in which they inhabited. It is estimated that 1-4% of modern European and Asian DNA is of Neanderthal origin. Pale skin and red hair might very well be a reminder. Remains found in Gibraltar of a late version of Neanderthal shows the child to look like this - (the new revised version of what Neanderthal looked like) (Obviously, one of his descendants--Techno-viking)