GHOST HUNTERS

I want more paranormal shows. Quality ones. SIGH. ... New is that Travel Channel is going to have a new show produced by none other than Zak Bagans called " Paranormal Paparazzi " starting September 28th. Described as fast-paced entertainment news with reporters criss-crossing the country for the hottest stories in the paranormal. It is to be hosted by Aaron Sagers of Paranormal Pop Culture. I'm not sure that I can conceptualize of how this will differ from Fact or Faked, but I know I'm going to have to watch it and perhaps come up with another drinking game for a Zak Bagans show!

Sure, I grew up in a notoriously haunted house that was used as a Civil War hospital for the North and late for the South ( photo above from the 1860s following the war when the family reclaimed the estate ). I witnessed a lot of phenomena, much of it I assumed as a kid growing up was perfectly normal. Some of it, like poltergeist activity, made me wonder how in the hell such a thing could occur. One time, when I was 10 years old, I stole my father's tape recorder he practiced his speeches on and sat on the stairs all night waiting for those booted footsteps and I captured them on tape only to have the sounds shot down by others saying I simply wore my father's boots and recorded it. I realized at a young age, you cannot disprove a haunting, but you also can't prove it! Jump ahead a few decades, living in a modern and not-haunted home, I had left the ghosts behind me, right? It all changed when my ex ( whom I was married to at the time ) was asked to a work friend's gi...

Whatcha doing October 19-21??? The biggies in the cryptid world are descending upon Jefferson, TX for an awesome event - Cryptopalooza.  It kicks off with an acoustic music concert and BBQ - Texans seriously know their BBQ ! There will be the screening of Bigfoot movies and lots of presentations about cryptids. Tickets are on sale, so hop on board the Texas train and have a stopover at this cryptid event!  I would go in a heartbeat if I didn't work for a sweatshop that has limited my time off. I can't get enough of my cryptids ( and my BBQ ).

A rising star in the horror writing field wrote a book called Quiver .  The book involves a small-town sheriff and a werewolf in Washington State. Happily, that book is being made into a movie and you can help! It's taken into Indiegogo to make this project happen. Some of you might be aware that a recent break-out hit "Letters From the Big Man" was made possible by Indiegogo and is having an amazingly popular run in sales for that unique Bigfoot movie. This new way to launch a project is making it possible for people to be a part of the process and cheer it on. Be sure and check out the blog that covers the progress of the movie. On Facebook, check out the production company - Transmedia Studios . Facebook Transmedia studios

Capuchin monks bone crypt French Catacombs Doll Island Suicide Forest

“Blood Fare” is a Civil War ghost story with a modern twist, by J.A. Steel and Co-Producer Christian K. Koch.  It is the tale of Corporal Henry Trout (S. Edward Meek - “Wild Stallion”), who in 1861 fought valiantly in a forgotten skirmish after the first battle of Bull Run.  150 years later, he will come face to face with his descendants as the battle for blood continues on a haunted battlefield.  Tyler (Brandi Lynn Anderson from the upcoming Syfy original series “ZEROS”) and her brother Chad (Adrian West), Henry's fifth generation grandchildren, will challenge the very legend of Charon the Ferryman, as the lines between the living and the dead become blurred. Admittedly, having grown up in a Civil War hospital and digging up relics my whole child and wandering battlefields, historic sites and reenactments, I am stoked about this movie. They got some amazing special effects folks involved and it promises to be a sleeper hit.

She's goth, she's spooky and she's oh so fun! Kreepy Girl is the design of a dear friend of mine who has a blog devoted to her. If you are goth in any way, streampunk, or just like hot chicks who are a little bit dangerous-you must join his blog. Pick up some Kreepy Girl items for men, women, children, and household items--too fun! Want more references?  He designed this banner and badge for my blog and both these book covers for me - But, wait - there's more! He has a fantastic paranormal blog Strange State from which his book Strange State is based upon and he has a horrifying book about ghost hunting called The Mound. When there's this much talent wrapped up in one package, all I can say is - the package is pretty sweet too--inside and out! Cullan is a nice guy and so talented that I'm terribly envious and also extremely proud!

  What is so creepy about a hand? What if it's a supposed yeti hand? The hand was held by a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. Skeptics say it was not the hand of a yeti, but a fraud.  Tom Slick, the wealthy adventurer and his sidekick, Peter Byrne, the dashing Irish Bigfoot/Yeti hunter, supposedly secreted some of the bones to have analyzed in the 1950s.  The story gets more interesting. Supposedly Peter smuggled them into India where he handed them off to James Stewart, yes, the actor, who smuggled them home in his luggage.  Wikipedia: In the 1950s, William Charles Osman Hill, a primatologist, studied photographs of a relic from the Pangboche monastery in Nepal called the Pangboche Hand, which was claimed to be the hand of a Yeti, and decided that it belonged to an unknown anthropoid. However, after the a few bones from the relic were smuggled out of Nepal and brought to him for examination, he concluded that the bones had belonged to a human. He reportedly changed ...

Used as trophies and for ritual, shrunken heads are not quite what you might assume they are. When I was a kid and first saw a TV special that showed them, I was aghast! I had images of some natives along the Amazon boiling my head until it was a raisin. Here is the recipe for the obscene: The head is severed from the body. A slice is made through the flesh on the back of the head and the skin is peeled from the skull. Seeds are placed under the eyelids and the eyes sewn shut. Pins hold the mouth closed. A wooden ball is used to shape the form. The flesh is boiled, stuffed with herbs, it is dried on hot rocks and sand while being formed. The skin is then rubbed down with ash.   For some time, there was trade in shrunken heads for guns and cash.  Since the 1940s, it has been illegal to trade in shrunken heads, which obviously has made genuine ones even more prized. The great majority of ones you find for sale today are animal hides made to look like shrunken heads which is just...

   A new series leading up to Halloween - "Easy Halloween Costumes." This first one is what to do with a black hooded robe. You know, the monks/druids/wizard gown. - These are all Druid-themed costume concepts from one gown -    Autumnal Druid: This one, I cut big long ovals out of the upper arms, cut a deep V-shape in front, and slits up to the hip in the legs and turned it into an autumnal druid. I got at the craft store autumn leaf garlands that are twisting vines with metal wire inside them so you can shape them. I poked holes in the cloth, ran the vines through the holes and across the opening to another hole, like lacing shoes. I made a necklace of the vine with acorns and acorns rings and such. Stone Druid:   Get a white mask from a craft store (above) Paint it dark gray. Then, take tan and light gray and sponge them onto the mask in a blotchy pattern. You can add some dark thin veins like marbling. Use makeup on your hands to match the effect. Along t...