Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Blog

Review Of Ghost Hunting 101 A Guide For Beginners Revised 2nd Edition (Available In Print And eBook)

2012-03-02T01:19:00.000-05:00

Now Available In Print And eBook Formats

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Review By Barry Huddleston: Ghost Hunting 101: A Guide for Beginners
Publisher: New Image Productions

( 4 stars out of 5 )

"This may be one of the worst covers for a book that I have ever seen and between you and me that’s saying something. You really have to struggle to read the title of the book. But, as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. Ghost Hunting 101 is in its second edition for a reason.

The book is packed with the basic information for the fledgling ghost hunter. I think some of the best information came from his “Twenty Common Ghost Hunting Mistakes.” “Never whisper. Always speak clearly, especially if you’re recording the ghost hunt.” I guess the biggest thing that I took away from this book is the major difference between ghost hunting and paranormal TV ghost hunting.

The book is packed with b/w pictures. The print is large, the fonts are clear, and the content is well-organized. I didn’t like the inclusion of the alleged Rose Hall haunting.

I recommend the book. All in all, it is an excellent book and I give it a solid 4 stars out of 5."

Description:

Ghost Hunting 101: A Guide For Beginners, takes you out of your comfort zone and into the world of ghosts. It explores the process of ghost hunting and all the equipment used and gives beginners a stepping off point. This book is easy to read and has basic instructions for anyone who is ready to cast fear aside and hit a haunted house or cemetery. Included in this book are the subjects of: What Are Ghosts And Spirits, Types Of Ghosts, So You Want To Go Ghost Hunting, Intro To Ghost Hunting, Ghost Related Terminology, Step By Step Procedures, Taking Ghost Pictures, Audio And Video Recording, Forms And Questionnaires, Where To Look For Ghosts, Common Ghost Hunting Mistakes, Science And Ghost Hunting, Famous Ghosts, and more. The question is, do you believe?

Haunted Castles ... Cortachy Castle Ghost

2012-03-02T00:33:00.003-05:00

If you enjoy eerie tales then you are going to love the one centered around Cortachy Castle north of Kirriemuir in Angus, Scotland. The Cortachy Castle is the family seat of the Ogilvy Clan. The ancestors of the Ogilvy clan were the first Earls of Angus after Scotland was a united country. It is believed the Ogilvy family aided William the Lion when he was attacked while hunting, thus William the Lion gave them land and titles.

Over the next four centuries, the Ogilvy Clan grew more prosperous and powerful with each marriage and more land and money was added to their fortune. However, power always attracts enemies and the Ogilvy Clan had many. In the end all of their strongholds were destroyed except for Cortachy Castle.

The Earl of Ogilvy was not a person that took lightly to anyone that sided with the enemy or was a bit too friendly with his wife. Sometime during the medieval times, a drummer was thrown from the highest turret of the tower. Rumors of course floated around about the exact murder and of course the reasons why the murder took place. No one really knows the reasons or the exact way in which the drummer was killed.

Some say that the drummer was stuffed into his drum prior to be thrown over while others say he was just tossed over with his drum. The reasons why are just as many, some believe he was having an affair with Countess of Airlie the Earl’s wife, while other believe he helped the enemy enter the castle, or did not drum the warning sign. Either way, the terrifying murder did not go unpunished. As the drummer was dying, his last words were a curse that he placed on the Ogilvy Clan.

For many years after the death of the drummer, the mysterious and haunting sounds of drumming was heard by many prior to a death in the Ogilvy Clan. In 1844, right around Christmas time a Miss Dalrymple was a guest at Cortachy Castle. While she was dressing for dinner, she heard the drumming sound. During dinner, she asked the host about the drumming and of course, the Lord and Lady Airlie were terrified. They explained the story and stated the last time the drummer was heard the first Lady Arilie passed away within a few days. The very next morning Miss Dalrymple heard the drumming once again, she decided to flee from the castle. Within six months, Lady Airlie committed suicide believing the drummer was foretelling her demise.

On August 19, 1849, an Englishman was there to visit Lord Ogilvy; he heard the drumming as well. The Englishman questioned many while he waited to meet with Lord Ogilvy; however, no one he spoke with had heard the drumming sound. The Englishman was told by the servants, that Lord Ogilvy had to leave quickly to attend the 9th Earl of Airlie because he had become very ill and needed the Lord’s presence. The Earl passed away the next day.

Since, that day, no one else has ever admitted hearing the drumming sound. Maybe the curse placed by the drummer was carried on long enough for the revenge.

And Now ... A Moment Of Zen

2012-03-01T01:16:00.001-05:00

Haunted Hotels ... Goldfield Hotel

2012-03-01T00:18:00.002-05:00

Goldfield Hotel

In Goldfield, Nevada there is a place which psychics say is one of seven existing portals to the other side. It is there, at The Goldfield Hotel, where one terrible thing would happen that would forever change the corridors and one room in particular, Room 109. The hotel was built in 1908 and was considered to be one of the most beautiful and luxurious hotels in Nevada at the time. It was said to have grand mahogany panels, black leather furniture, and champagne that could be found anywhere and was always flowing.

After the hotel was built, it was sold and purchased by George Winfield, who was a very prominent figure and considered to be a great businessman with many political, financial, and otherwise powerful connections. Shortly after he made his large purchase, Winfield started to have a romance with a prostitute. Due to his standing in the community and the career in which she made her living, Winfield wanted the affair to be kept secret. Imagine his surprise then, when the prostitute became pregnant!

Whether or not George Winfield continued on with the affair is not known but it can be told that the prostitute tried desperately hard to remain a part of her lover’s life as she ended up in Room 109 chained to the radiator. She was already very far along in her pregnancy and although it’s thought that Winfield himself put her up there, that story has never been proven. She remained there until she gave birth to her baby, whom moments after its birth was ripped from its mother’s hands to be thrown down the chute, that was the way to the abandoned gold mine that the hotel had been built upon. It’s also unknown whether the prostitute was murdered after having her baby taken away from her or whether she was simply left to die but she did in fact die in Room 109.

The town of Goldfield is now a near ghost town but the buildings, including the hotel, are still owned by private owners and some have plans for restoration. There are currently plans to renovate the Goldfield Hotel, or at least do something with the property, as it was recently purchased, but in the meantime, it is a tourist attraction just like all the other buildings in the abandoned town.

Many tourists have often said they have found that while taking pictures throughout the building, Room 109 was the only room in which their cameras would not work.

Psychics have also investigated the room and found that there was paranormal activity there and that in particular, a woman with long, flowing hair could be seen floating near the ceiling. Perhaps the owner, George Winfield, has a guilty conscience as his spirit can also often be felt around the building. It is in the George Winfield Room that guests have often remarked that they thought they saw his shadow in the room and there are also often fresh ashes found with the smell of fresh cigar smoke. His spirit can also be felt around the giant staircase and so can those of two small children.

Thought Of The Day

2012-02-29T02:42:00.000-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal 3rd Entry ... Something was looking at me

2012-02-29T00:12:00.003-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

For more than 17 years I have written about ghosts and been a paranormal investigator. I believe in the paranormal and the unexplained. I have heard the stories of people who bought houses and remodeled them and stirred up the spirits. I was shocked when recently I bought a 100 hundred year old house and started remodeling. Something woke up.

History:
I bought a house a while back and started remodeling in the last six months. The day I moved in, I had a knock at the door from the former gardener that once worked on the property. He told me how the former owner died. He was the one who found Barbara after she had been dead for several days in the house. Since that point I realised we were not alone in the new house.

Journal Entry 3 ... Something was looking at me!

Over the weeks since we moved in and started remodeling the house, I have become convinced we do not live here alone. Too many weird things have happened and I am convinced one or more of the previous owners is hanging around, and I think I came face to face with one of them.

Work on the houses' library has been long and hard. It was the room of the house that needed the most remodeling. After reconstructing the walls, floors and ceiling, it looked like a different place. As we were getting ready to install the book shelves, we decided to take a couple of days break. I think exhaustion had hit us hard.

So on the first night off, as I went downstairs to go to the kitchen, I walked in the dining room which is parallel to the library and glanced over as I walked by. What I had hoped to see was the great job we had done. What I got was a dark shadow of a person peering around the wall looking back at me.

I am not sure how to explain it. The figure did not scare me and seemed more curious than threatening. I could see through it but it's form was very dark and not solid. It was as if there was a person standing in front of me that was fading. I couldn't really make out details of the persons features because it was dark in the room to begin with. All I knew was, it wanted to get my attention. I'm just not sure if I was ready to acknowledge it.

I left the room and went about my business trying to convince myself I had just seen a shadow and rationalize the whole event. Trouble was when I came back through to return upstairs, it was there again. It seemed to be moving about the room looking at what had been done. After a few minutes, it was gone. It was like it was satisfied and left.

Later the night while watching TV in the Family room on the second floor, I noticed the same feeling of being watched as before. This time it was beginning to freak me out a bit. I got up to looked around and as I did, a white light passed through the edge of the family room and went to the back section of the house. Funny thing is, all the events that have been happening in the house have been in a certain area. The family room is on the second floor directly above the library. Most all of the incidents so far have been isolated to this area.

Next Week: Did you hear that?

Ryan Buell’s Final Episode on Paranormal State

2012-02-28T14:26:00.001-05:00

“After five seasons, PRS has decided to end “Paranormal State.”
I posted a blog to share the reasons why.” – Ryan Buell

Ryan Buell announced he is leaving Paranormal State. I am saddened by the ending of Paranormal State but am glad to read from Ryan's blog entry that PRS will go on in other projects. Thanks Ryan for giving us a chance to see ghost hunting TV at its finest.
Gregg

Ryan's blog entry is included below:
Dear friends,

This is hard to write, because “Paranormal State” has become a defining adventure for my 20s. I started PRS when I was 19, and started developing the show when I was 22, and now here I am at the age of 28. My, how things have changed! For over three years now, we’ve been in the public eye, and we’ve had the time of our lives. We’ve met so many great fans and many have become friends. We’re proud that PS has changed the way the world views the supernatural, and quite honestly you all have changed us.

That is why it is so hard to say goodbye. After very careful thought, discussion with the team, thinking about my future and where my heart needs to go, I’ve come to the decision that I will not be returning for any more seasons of “Paranormal State.” So, after the remainder of this season airs sometime in the spring or summer, that will be it.

We begin filming the last two episodes this weekend, and that is why I am making this announcement. I wanted closure. So, when I step on to the haunted grounds this weekend, it will be for the last time through “Paranormal State.” And yes, my “final director’s log” will truly, indeed be, my final director’s log.

It wasn’t easy coming to this decision. There are a lot of factors involved. The main one, of course, is that I’ve become a different person. I have different goals and views on things. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up investigating. I want to make that very clear. PRS will still remain. In fact, it means I will be able to put more time in to the things that I’ve had to put on hold for the past 5-6 years, such as private research and investigations, UNIV-CON, building the society and more. We put our dreams and aspirations on hold because we believed in the possibility of doing a show about PRS. And like I’ve already said, it has made an impact on many levels. But now it’s time to move on to other possibilities. I have other projects that I’ve had to sit on because I’ve been so preoccupied with “Paranormal State.”

I am incredibly grateful of the time spent on “Paranormal State.” It has opened so many doors for my team and me. Because of it, I got to produce, direct, write books and now move on to fictional properties (next up, a fictional book due out sometime later this year!). It has also put PRS in to the mainstream in ways I never thought possible. And then there are those who are haunted. I’ve received hundreds of thousands of letters and e-mails since the show debuted. Now I will get a chance to catch up and read some of them!

Deciding to do “Paranormal State” was a big commitment. It took over our lives. Friends and family had to take a step back because of our time consuming schedules. But we knew that we were handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not just for the perks, but we knew that we could spread a message to millions of people. That meant a lot to us. Over the course of the five seasons, we’ve refused to cave in and compromise our integrity. We’ve stayed the course, even though it meant losing a few friends along the way. There were victories, and there were casualties. There were triumphs and there were mistakes. But we always picked ourselves back up and fought even harder. “Paranormal State” was never 100% our vision. For anyone who has ever worked in the media, they will understand that it is always collaboration. But we got pretty close at times. There were some remarkable episodes that I personally think redefined the paranormal. Episodes like “I Am Six,” “I Am Six 2,” “Pet Cemetery,” “The Name,” “Sixth Sense,” “First Contact,” “Church of the Damned,” “Ghosts of Gettysburg,” “Darkness Falls,” “Jersey Devil,” “They Come Out At Night,” “Ghosts of the Forgotten,” and even a few episodes that have yet to air, I am personally proud of. Some of the most memorable moments of my life the past ten years have come from working on “Paranormal State.”

I was a junior at Penn State when we began developing the show, which at first was called everything from “Out There” to “Paranormal U.” My senior year we began shooting, and post-graduation we continued onwards. The show evolved, of course. Remember the episode where Sergey and I were cheering on the football team at Beaver Stadium? Or how Sergey had to step away from a case in order to study for his exams? You guys literally got to watch us grow up from just entering adulthood to being full-fledged adults, fast approaching 30.

As we entered the fifth season, we got to change things up and tackle on some very weird subjects. And as we started to get towards the end of the fifth season, I began to realize that I was having a hard time, physically and mentally with everything. And so discussions began to be had, about whether or not it was time to think about wrapping up. The last thing I want to do is go past our prime. It’s always better to end on top with a bang rather than to fickle out. And it became important for us to move on not just creatively, but personally. After all these years, we need to return to ourselves and rediscover who we are. We also want to go back out there and spend some time researching the paranormal on our own terms. In short, we need some freedom to be and to grow.

Do I believe in the paranormal? Yes. I have received much criticism for standing up for what I believe in. People claiming that I’m crazy for believing in ghosts; some investigators thinking I’m crazy for believing in demons; some people who convinced themselves that I faked evidence; some people who just thought I was plain nuts as a whole. To be honest, the detractors were great motivation for us. They never got to us and never knocked us down. We kept on going. I’m proud that “Paranormal State” is so controversial. Why? Because it makes people talk and discuss. And that’s important. And PRS will always be there; ready to make bold statements and stand up for those who are haunted.

Yesterday I informed the producers and the network that I would not be returning. And now I wanted to tell you, my dear friends, because many of you are very much involved with the show and recognize it as more than just a show. I want to thank A&E (particularly Elaine Frontain-Bryant), the executive producers Betsy Schechter and Gary Auerbach for helping us put this show together and for all the support. Also to all the crews who have worked on the show over the years.

To Sergey, Eilfie and Josh, you have been there for a very long time and have never failed to be by my side, no matter how rough or difficult things (or I) got. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I would have made it this far. I would have crashed and burned a long time ago. Thank you for all the years, smiles, tears and triumphs. Thank you also to Katrina and Heather, who went from college students and trainees to even more gifted, bright, strong and beautiful women who will no doubt do great things. To Lorraine, thank you for giving me and my team a chance all those years ago. To Chip Coffey and Michelle Belanger, thank you for some amazing times and truly remarkable investigations. To Chad, you came in at an important time and gave us all energy and laughs, even in the darkest of times. It has been amazing that our friendship became and grew out of our love of investigating and the paranormal and now I count you as one of my best friends. To the rest of PRS, thank you for inspiring me and for devoting a part of your life – no matter how long – to a cause that has changed so many lives. And to my family and friends, thank you for being patient and supporting me all these years. Thank you for understanding and forgiving me for not always being able to return calls or make visits. Now, after all these years, you will be my priority.

And to all of you, my fans, I promise you that I nor PRS will be going anywhere. There are some truly exciting and remarkable projects coming up, so please do not take this as a permanent goodbye. It’s simply time to close one door and enter a new path in life. I hope you will continue to be there and take that journey with us.

Much love,

RYAN

January 6th, 2011

Ryan Buell’s Blog

Ghost Adventures New Season Begins March 2012

2012-02-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Travel Channel has renewed Ghost Adventures for a 6th season to premiere March 9, 2012.

Friday, March 2 at 9 PM – The second of two highlight clip specials – “Wickedest Women, Houses of Terror and Bloodiest Battlefields”

Humor

2012-02-28T01:48:00.001-05:00

The Ghost Monk of the Royal Falcon Hotel

2012-02-28T00:53:00.002-05:00

Terry Meggs, the landlord of the Royal Falcon Hotel in Lowestoft (Suffolk) is believed to have taken out and insurance policy against spirits/ghosts as he fears that his resident poltergeist could harm his customers or staff members.

Terry decided the cover was essential after watching ghost shoot glass after glass along the bar on night after closing.

Other activity includes loud banging, sounds of furniture being moved, bells ringing, the sound of footsteps across the floor, and things mysteriously being moved to different places.

The pub itself is located next to a disused graveyard, and is the second oldest public house in Lowestoft.

Before its recent use, the building was used as an all girls school called "Eastholme". Reports suggest that the ghost may be that of a Monk who was hanged after being found to be having an affair with either a pupil or a teacher at the school.

Kansas Man, Gean Brown Jr., Receives Lost Wallet After 35 Years

2012-02-27T13:57:00.001-05:00

I saw this online and thought it was a cool story and wanted to share with you.

"When Gean Brown Jr. misplaced his wallet while installing pipes in the attic of a Kansas home around 1976-77, he thought it was gone forever.

But more than 35 years later, Brown's wallet has been returned to him, KCTV5.com reports.

Shawn Wyckoff, the current resident of the house, found it while working on an antenna. He called all the numbers in the wallet but they were either disconnected or dead. A quick Internet search helped him find Brown's correct phone number.

"This guy 36 years later he goes up there and looks down -- there it is. Bang. Out in the open," Brown told the news source. "And he was decent enough to look me up and find it. He could have pitched it. I don't know this guy. (But he) gives it back."

In the wallet were Brown's original draft card, a picture of his sweetheart (who is now his wife), and photographs of his service in the Navy. Brown told KCTV5.com that although he can't offer a monetary award to Wyckoff, he'd like to take him out to dinner.

"He's a decent human being," Brown said."

Gregg's Soap Box ... My Gripe Of The Week ... Gas prices keep rising

2012-02-27T01:52:00.002-05:00

This is a new weekly posting every Monday for no better reason than sometimes I like to vent,lol. My dear friend Autumnforest told me I needed to get more personal on my blogs. I don't think she meant to go this far but .... what the hell.

(Gregg approaches the soap box.)

This weeks gripe. Gas prices keep rising

"Rising gasoline prices can become a very big political issue, because it affects everybody every week," says Daniel Yergin, author of "The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World."

Ok, here we go again. I went to get gas the other day and I noticed I was paying about 10 cents more than the week before. And I got to thinking, here lately almost every week the gas price has gone up a few cents every time I fill up. And then it occurred to me ... wait for it ... since the economy is coming up a but, maybe it is time for the oil companies to gouge us again. I mean really, is this the time for this...no.

I read an explanation of this in a news article that I have included below, take a look ... Any way you look at it, we are getting screwed!

"Oil industry observers disagree on why gasoline prices are rising, but they agree on this: You’ll soon be paying more.

Scenarios for how the bad news will come are plentiful:

• Trouble with Iran will disrupt European supplies, especially if there is an attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz.

• Refineries will close on the East Coast, and gasoline will be diverted from Ohio and the rest of the Midwest.

• The economy will spike, increasing gasoline demand and thereby raising prices.

All of these cases would lead to consumers paying more.

Terry Flemming of the Ohio Petroleum Council sees it a little differently.

“The most likely long-term impact on gas prices is not going to be what happens in Iran or the refineries in the East Coast, it’s going to be if we make an economic recovery and how fast that recovery comes,” he said.

Flemming can’t make predictions because he represents refineries and could be accused of price-fixing, but he is confident they will be going up.

Another spike will be the result of the annual switch refiners make to summer-grade fuel, a practice that reduces supply and increases prices.

Flemming said most people would accept the trade-off of a better economy for increased demand for gasoline and higher prices.

“I’d rather have a job and pay a little bit more at the pump,” he said. “I mean, let’s say it goes up 20 cents at the pump — and I’m not saying it should or it’s a good thing. [But] if you have a 10 gallon tank, that’s what? $2. If I’ve been unemployed for some time, I’d rather see the economy rebound.”

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said refineries in Chicago recently increased the wholesale prices from $2.31 per gallon to $2.72. That price does not include taxes or the cost of shipping the fuel.

“Refineries in the Great Lakes are doing very well, especially because they are supplied with this cheap Canadian crude, so they are doing very well,” DeHaan said.

At the end of the supply line are Jeff Brummel and a lot of other area residents.

Brummel, a 58-year-old Tallmadge resident, was pumping regular-grade gasoline into his vehicle at a rate of $3.49 a gallon at an Akron station Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m not one of those who are conspiracy theorists [who] think it’s the oil company,” he said. “It’s all supply and demand.”

His way of fighting back is to scout for prices.

“If it’s a nickel less, I’ll go there,” he said.

TreVon Bayless, 20, was putting in just enough to get from a Tallmadge Avenue station to Akron’s west side.

“By the time summer gets here, I’ll probably be riding a scooter,” he said. “This is ridiculous.”

Inside the station store, clerk John Liska said he has a simple answer when customers complain about the prices.

“I say, ‘We get it from corporate.’ ”"

Next week ... Should people take an intelligence test before getting a Driver's License?

The Bank Giant and The Bank Nun

2012-02-27T00:39:00.004-05:00

The Bank of England is well known for it’s gold bullion stored in it’s vaults. But in 1798 something more unusual was deposited there for safekeeping. The Directors of the institution gave permission for the burial, in an inner courtyard, of the 7'6" body of a former employee William Jenkins

William was disturbed by the thought that his large body would be stolen by body snatchers for use in experiments, or worse.

His giant ghost has been seen walking the corridors of the Bank, although according to the Bank of England Museum there have been no recent sightings.

Outside the Bank of England, near it’s entrance in Threadneedle Street, a woman dressed in heavy mourning clothes (although her face is heavily made up) is occasionally seen in the early hours of the morning.

Her name is Sarah Whitehead, she is known as Bank Nun due to her appearance, she died in 1838 and is still waiting for her brother Philip who worked at the Bank. He had been convicted of forging an acceptance to a bill and hanged. The shock of Philip’s execution effected Sarah's mind and she refused to accept his death.

For twenty-five years she came daily and waited for her brother outside the Bank asking employees for news of Philip as they left for the evening, as she was under the delusion that he was still employed there.

Eventually the bank paid her £50 to stay away (a huge sum in those days) but it seems she only up held her promise during her life time.

Review Of Paranormal World (Available In Hardback / eBook (Kindle / Nook)) By Autumnforest On The Ghost Hunting Theories Blog

2012-02-24T02:15:00.001-05:00

Paranormal World (more than 500 pages print and eBook) available in hardback book and thru eBook from Barnes And Noble "Nook" and Amazon.com "Kindle".

"Paranormal World: Add to Book Collection"

"Paranormal World" by Gregory Branson-Trent

"This is a serious nonfiction book about all things paranormal. I'm keeping it as a reference guide but it's an enthralling read. If you're like me and ghosts are your thing but that doesn't preclude you from seeking info about all things paranormal including Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, Werewolves, UFOs and more, then this is your book.

I was pleased too that added in the end of the ghost stories were tips on how to hunt. What a great idea! It comes in hardback and Nook/Kindle, but honestly I love having the hardback because it's awesome on my shelf and I can grab it up and read about any subject any time I want to. It's broken up into fun easy to read portions so you can just read about one haunt or one incident and then go back later when you have time. Yes, we are all highly distracted these days.

This book is a keeper and reader and re-reader. Let me tell you, I'm very picky what gets to stay on my bookshelf. It has to be something I will refer to often. The last time I added a book to stay on the shelves was a year ago, so I am not a hoarder.

One thing we all know about me is that I like to ride around in the paranormal world, now I can also read about it."

About the book

For centuries people have reported odd occurrences that defy explanation. And a fascination with the mystical still exists today. Movies such as Paranormal Activity and The Haunting In Connecticut and TV shows like Fringe entertain our curiosity with the unexplained. From Bigfoot to Aliens, we strive to know more about these things that are out of the ordinary. Since the beginning of time there have been stories of ghosts and hauntings. From the haunted castles of the United Kingdom to haunted houses in the United States the stories are too many to be ignored. The number of locations around the world said to be haunted by a ghost (or ghosts) is almost infinite. Virtually every city, town, battlefield, or famous building has its associated ghosts and any attempt to describe them all would be futile.

Paranormal World provides a definitive portrait of people who believe in or have experienced such phenomena as ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, psychic phenomena, and the power of the unexplained. However, unlike many books on the paranormal, this volume does not focus on proving or disproving the paranormal, but rather an exploration of generations of stories that span thousands of years.

In Paranormal World you will be offered hundreds of opportunities to enter the world of the unexplained. You will be presented with complete profiles of Haunted Houses, Bermuda Triangle Incidents, Haunted Lighthouses, Haunted Cemeteries, Haunted Hotels, Haunted Castles, Poltergeists, Paranormal Creatures, Alien Visitations, and a complete guide to investigating the world of ghosts.

Brimming with engaging stories and provocative findings, Paranormal World is an entertaining yet authoritative look at a growing segment of American culture. My name Is Gregory Branson-Trent, I am an author and paranormal investigator. My world is filled with these occurrences and I believe. Welcome to my Paranormal World.

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For More Information Visit:
www.GregoryBranson-Trent.com

Paranormal World Blog
http://paranormalwolrdblog.blogspot.com

Gregory Branson-Trent’s Ghost Hunting Blog
http://gregorybransontrentsghosthuntersblog.blogspot.com

The Ghost of Freddy Jackson

2012-02-24T00:12:00.000-05:00

In 1975 a retired R.A.F. officer, Sir Victor Goddard, published a description of a photograph that stood on his desk. It was meant to show the members of his squadron who survived World War I (taken in 1919), who had served in World War I aboard the HMS Daedalus.

However, it included the face of Freddy Jackson, an air mechanic, whose funeral had taken place on the day the photograph was taken; he had been killed by an aircraft propeller two days earlier. Sir Victor suggested that maybe Jackson was unaware of his death and so turned up for the photograph. Others have suggested that the face is actually no more than a blemish on the film, which bears and uncanny resemblance to the dead man’s face.

And Now ... A Moment Of Zen

2012-02-23T02:11:00.002-05:00

Doomed Alley

2012-02-23T00:07:00.001-05:00

The neighborhood of Pisach has always been ground for much controversy and ‘chill thrills’. The spooky and deserted ally is enough to imagine the worst, while shadows play truant on your eyes. However, not all this fear comes from just the way the ally looks or the number of people who keep moving to other localities. Pisach has a house number ‘31’ that is most avoided and has a history that lives on even as the tenants never stay longer than a fortnight.

Number ‘31’ used to be home to the Welsits’ who moved in for peace and quiet. The home was designed for them, even before they moved in. While Mr. and Mrs. Welsits loved the garden and patio, Sam, their eighteen-year-old adopted son, preferred the attic. He spent hours there with his paintings and fresh canvas that kept being painted upon. Sam loved the attic for the peace and quiet it offered him.

All was well, till the 6th of June ’66. Sam came up to the attic to find the fresh canvas that he had set up the previous evening with a portrait of himself! He stared at the features and except for a scar that ran on the forehead of the portrait on the canvas, it was him alright. First, Sam thought that his father had attempted the portrait, Mr. Welsits being a good artist himself. He did question his father but found out that his guess was wrong. Sam felt that this was all part of a big surprise on the 13th of the month and so he decided to probe no further.

The following night, the Welsits were awakened in the middle of the night with sounds of someone moving in the attic. First, Mrs. Welsits heard the sound and woke her husband and son. On walking up to the attic, they were met with a frightful sight. Every painting that Sam had completed had his portrait etched out boldly and superimposed on his work! This had the Welsits completely freaked out. The next morning they called on the parish priest and invited him over. The parish priest visited the Welsits’ home with an assistant, who showed signs of recognition on seeing Sam. However, the assistant could not remember where he had seen Sam before. The priest blessed the home and the attic and led the Welsits’ in prayer.

Two days later, during Mrs. Welsits visit to the community clinic for her treatment of rheumatism, a nurse looked at Sam with fright. The Welsits felt something was amiss and took the nurse Ms. Koe into confidence. She revealed that she had seen the bodies of Sam with his wife in the hospital morgue a few years back and the reason she remembered was that the couple were said to have planned the suicidal car accident they were in. Sam, she said was known to have had debts that he could not get rid of, even as his wife was with child and turned to alcohol for escape. The media coverage of the accident revealed that tired of life, on one sober day, Sam took his wife out on one last drive. As violent as he was, he loved her too much to let her survive the ordeal and debt.

Of course, Ms. Koe had no idea that Sam was not the Mark Svelt she was referring to. On being told the truth, she jumped out of her skin. This also explained to the Welsits why people in Pisach seemed to avoid too much of association with them and just let them be. The grocer, the mailman…. suddenly made sense. They organized a séance with a local medium that further revealed that Mark’s wife Maria’s soul was in a state of unrest on losing her baby because of Mark’s folly and she identified with Sam’s presence strongly.

The Welsits did move away, but only after a car accident that claimed Sam’s life. The people of Pisach still swear to the voices and figures heard and seen in Number ‘31’.

Thought of the day

2012-02-22T02:07:00.001-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal 2nd Entry ... Something Touched Me

2012-02-22T00:20:00.003-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

For more than 17 years I have written about ghosts and been a paranormal investigator. I believe in the paranormal and the unexplained. I have heard the stories of people who bought houses and remodeled them and stirred up the spirits. I was shocked when recently I bought a 100 hundred year old house and started remodeling. Something woke up.

History:
I bought a house a while back and started remodeling in the last six months. The day I moved in, I had a knock at the door from the former gardener that once worked on the property. He told me how the former owner died. He was the one who found Barbara after she had been dead for several days in the house. Since that point I realised we were not alone in the new house.

Journal Entry 2: Something touched me.
Remodeling is going slowly and I have to admit ... I hate it. I think it wouldn't bother me so much if I felt better about the place. When we first moved in, I loved the place. But since the remodeling, I feel the place is changing and I am getting paranoid. I feel like someone is always looking over my shoulder or I am being watched. When we did the walk-through before we bought the place, I didn't get any bad vibes at all off the place. Trust me, I have been in some places that would make my skin crawl. I think we have stirred something up. I don't ever feel like there is anything negative, just curious.

A few days ago I was working in the entry hall and the weirdest thing happened. I was sitting at the base of the stairwell plastering the wall. I decided after moving in that the entry hall needed a major make-over. So I stripped all the paint off the steps and banister and gave them a whole new color. After that I had to plaster before painting the walls around the front door. While sitting on the bottom step and leaning in to plaster, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't scared or anything, I just thought it my family wanted to get by my and go to the lower level. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and started talking to myself.

The incident with the staircase did not end there. Later that evening, I heard what I thought to be footsteps on the second level. Everyone who was in the house was downstairs at the time. Again, the ball bat came out and a sweep of the house was done, but no one was there. It is beginning to seem like the ball bat is being used more in the house than to play ball.

Later that same night I noticed Joey (the Newfoundland) was acting weird and distracted. He kept going into the living room and laying where he could see the steps. It was like he was waiting for something. And I think he finally saw it. Around 8P.M. I noticed he would look at the bottom of the steps and slowly move up step by step as if he was watching someone climbing the steps. Weird thing is, I heard the steps he was looking at creak a couple of times. I think he is seeing something I am not, but he is not growling. It is as if he has made friends with whatever it is.

Next Entry: Something was looking at me!

Humor

2012-02-21T02:51:00.001-05:00

Berlin Castle Hauntings

2012-02-21T00:53:00.002-05:00

The Berlin Castle has a tale all of its own about a ghost of the Hohenzollern family. This ghost would appear to members of the Hohenzollern family when a member of the family was close to death.

As the legend goes, the lady in white or Weisse Frau is Kunigunde von Orlamonde. Her husband built this the Berlin castle in 1443 or at least was one of the prime builders. When her husband passed away, she desired to marry Albrecht von Hohenzollern. He explained that they could not marry with "four eyes between us." He was referring to his parents; however, Kunigunde believed that he was talking about her two children. She devised a way in which to kill her children so it would appear that they died of natural causes using a "golden needle" to pierce their skulls. She was overwhelmed with grief and remorse so she traveled to Rome to ask the Pope for forgiveness. He would only grant her forgiveness if she agreed to devote the rest of her life to monastic work.

She then traveled from Rome to the valley of Berneck walking on her knees to build a monastery. One version claims she died before she completed a monastery and another version claims she found a monastery but died in her early thirties. She is now only known for her hauntings, bad luck, and death, which she bestows upon the Hohenzollern castles and all ancestors of the Hohenzollern family.

Gregg's Soap Box ... My Gripe Of The Week ... Shrinking products and growing prices

2012-02-20T01:00:00.000-05:00

The Haunted Busby Chair

2012-02-20T00:45:00.001-05:00

For over 300 years, mystery and speculation has surrounded the famous Busby Stoop Chair.

Thomas Busby was the original owner of what is now known as the Busby Stoop Inn, which is located in Kirby Wiske, a small village near the town of Thirsk, in North Yorkshire. The death of Busby has been popularly associated with a number of fatalities that occurred later in history, mostly because of the chair itself.

In the year 1702, Busby had a meeting with his father-in-law, Daniel Auty (some historians use the spelling 'Awety'), with whom he had become a partner in petty crime. After a heated argument, Busby returned to the pub to find Auty sitting in his favorite chair. According to the story, Busby, whose reputation as a drunkard was well known throughout the community, ordered Auty to leave, and after a while, went and found him at what was then called Danotty Hall. Here, police say that Busby murdered Auty with a hammer and hid the body in the woods.

The authorities soon located Auty's remains and arrested Busby at the pub. The story goes that as he was being led away to the gallows, Busby screamed out curses to anyone who should ever sit in his chair. Being in a drunken stupor at the time, it is very unlikely that Busby drew much attention to his rantings, although they were documented by several witnesses. Some accounts reported that Busby shouted to onlookers that anyone who sat in his chair would die a horrible death, just as he was about to do. Busby was led across the street and hanged in a makeshift gallows, where his remains were displayed for days afterwards.

Since that time, many people have reported seeing the ghost of Thomas Busby, at or near the hangman's gibbet, with a noose around his neck. But it is the curse of his favorite chair that has become the subject of both folklore and mystical intrigue. There are verified accounts of a good number of people who sat in Busby's "haunted" chair in the years that followed, and meeting with sudden death soon afterwards.

In the late 1800's, a chimney sweep and his friend were sitting in the pub, and the sweep, who apparently had occupied the Busby Stoop Chair, was found dead the next morning, on a gatepost next to the old hangman gibbet.

Later, a certain Mr. Earnshaw, who for a time was landlord of the inn, overheard two RAF pilots talking about the famous chair, and witnessed them take turns sitting in it. On that same day, both pilots were killed when their car struck a tree. There are accounts of serveral motorcyclists and bicyclists who, after stopping at the inn for a drink, were later involved in fatal collisions with automobiles.

One man who sat in the Busby Stoop Chair died of a massive heart attack the following night. A hitchhiker, after spending time at the pub for refreshment, and who presumably occupied the famous chair, was struck and killed by an automobile two days later. The inn itself was becoming more and more famous as these stories became widely circulated, and most folks agreed that it was either the most amazing of coincidences, or an example of actual cursed enchantment.

The pub was later owned by a brewery, and in the 1970's the landlord asked that the chair be removed from the premises. It is now found in the Thirsk Museum and it is, of course, now protected from occupancy. No one has sat in the famous "haunted" Busby Stoop Chair since 1978. And naturally, the Busby Stoop Inn is a favorite stop for inquisitive ghost hunters and curious tourists.

"More Haunted Houses" Available Now In eBook Format For Nook (Barnes And Noble) And Kindle (Amazon.com) And As A Print Book

2012-02-17T01:27:00.002-05:00

Click the links below to visit sales pages.

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The world is filled with so many things that defy explanation. Since the beginning of time there have been stories of ghosts and hauntings. From the haunted castles of the United Kingdom to haunted houses in the United States the stories are too many to be ignored. The number of locations around the world said to be haunted by a ghost (or ghosts) is almost infinite. Virtually every city, town, battlefield, or famous building has its associated ghosts and any attempt to describe them all would be futile.

Haunted houses are often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide—sometimes in the recent or ancient past.

In More Haunted Houses Around The World, you will be offered hundreds of opportunities to enter the world of the paranormal. You will be presented with complete profiles of Haunted Houses, Haunted Hotels, Haunted Castles, Poltergeists, and information that will assist you in investigating the world of ghosts.

Are you brave enough to seek out a ghost? Read through this book and decide for yourself.

More Haunted Houses Around The World is a sequel to the highly successful Haunted Houses Around The World.

Ghosts Of The Abandoned Schoolhouse In Calgary, Alberta

2012-02-17T00:47:00.001-05:00

The abandoned schoolhouse is known for not wanting to be demolished. The legend claims that what remains of this historic schoolhouse is indestructible. While the schoolhouse was in operation, a fire started in a hallway and three children lost their lives. Some people have reported hearing the children laughing, playing and even one falling down.

The mystery goes even farther, around two years after the fire and the death of these three children they tried in vain to tear down the old schoolhouse. The Calgary city workers began what they thought would be an easy feat, just tear down an old abandoned schoolhouse. However, to their astonishment around half of them became very ill and unable to work. The schoolhouse was left intact, which is only about half of it standing after the fire.

A wrecking ball was used in the next attempt. However, the motor just quit. No matter what was tried, the motor would not start and demolition was halted without even one nail or board moved on the schoolhouse. Upon returning to the construction site, the wrecking ball and motor worked perfectly fine.

The third attempt was again with a wrecking ball, this time the ball fell. No one else has tried to tear down the schoolhouse and I guess the children are still laughing and playing in their schoolhouse to this day.

Ghost Hunting TV News 'Ghost Hunters' investigator Grant Wilson is leaving the Syfy series

2012-02-16T15:00:00.003-05:00

From an online News Article:
Don’t go looking for Grant Wilson anymore: The Ghost Hunters co-lead investigator is departing the hit Syfy docu-series. During last night’s episode of Ghost Hunters, Wilson announced that after eight years on the network’s longest-running franchise, he’ll be leaving his days of televised paranormal investigations from the case files of TAPS (the Atlantic Paranormal Society) behind him.

“It is with mixed emotion that I am announcing my departure from the cast of Ghost Hunters. While paranormal investigating has always been and will remain a passion for me, after enjoying nearly eight successful seasons on television, I have made the decision to leave the series in order to focus on other aspects of my personal life,” Wilson said of his departure.

“I will deeply miss working with [co-investigator] Jason [Hawes] and the rest of the dedicated investigators and crew that have become like family, and I wish them all the best as they continue to follow their passion and realize the vision of TAPS. I will also miss interacting with our wonderful fans worldwide. You are all at the heart of what we do on Ghost Hunters, and I’m grateful to have gotten to know many of you over the years,” Wilson continued.

In response to Wilson’s announcement, Hawes said in a statement, “I will miss working with Grant on a daily basis, and am indebted to the level of dedication and expertise he has brought to our field. I can’t imagine having a better partner through it all — both on the show and off. Grant and I, along with our spouses and children, are all like one big family. While I fully support his decision to move on from the series, this longtime friendship — as well as our business partnership — will continue off-camera for years to come.”

And Now ... A Moment Of Zen

2012-02-16T01:22:00.001-05:00

Ghosts Of Dragsholm Castle / Hotel

2012-02-16T00:36:00.001-05:00

Traveling through the beautiful countryside of Denmark, you may wish to take a rest at the majestic Dragsholm Castle, which is now a world famous hotel. However, once you register do not be surprised if you happen to find a few other guests that did not register but are permanent residents of Dragsholm Castle. Many people believe this castle has three ghosts living there and haunting guests. A white lady, a gray lady and The Ghost of Earl of Bothwell are the only known ghosts.

As the story goes, the White lady is the daughter of an old owner; she fell in love with a commoner. The couple along with other family members kept it a secret. Her father soon found out though and stuck her in the wall of the castle, where she died. Today she wonders throughout the corridors. In the 1930s, they were installing new toilets and found a skeleton wearing a white dress in the walls of the castle. Could this have been the bones of the young daughter that was punished for love?

The gray lady was a maiden and one day was in very much pain with her tooth. She was helped, and in return she comes and checks on things as a thank you for aiding her while she was in pain. She is hardly seen at all.

The castle had places for prisoners, and around the 1500’s they captured the great Earl of Bothwell. He remained captive for 5 years then died in the cellar in 1578. Every night, he comes and rides in the courtyard. Several guests and visitors have heard the footsteps of the horse and when they look out no one is there. Dragsholm castle is truly one of the best-known castles in Denmark for ghosts.

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal 1st Entry ... Something Woke Up

2012-02-15T00:56:00.002-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

For more than 17 years I have written about ghosts and been a paranormal investigator. I believe in the paranormal and the unexplained. I have heard the stories of people who bought houses and remodeled them and stirred up the spirits. I was shocked when recently I bought a 100 hundred year old house and started remodeling. Something woke up.

History:
I bought a house a while back and with my busy work schedule and the fact I live in two places (New York City and the house outside the city), I just started remodeling in the last six months.

The day I moved in was the beginning of a huge storm that caused half the town to flood. Fortunately my new house did now.

The night I moved in, I had a knock at the door from the former gardener that once worked on the property. You learn a lot more from people who have been in the house than what a real estate sales person knows. I learned my sales person knew nothing.

I was informed by the gardener that the former owner, who we will call by her first name only, Barbara had died in the house. I was told she was a bit of a recluse and hardly ever left the house. She was a collector of antiques and the walls were covered with shelves when I first did my walk through.

Apparently she liked animals and had 2 dogs, 4 birds and 6 cats. Barbara's only contact with the real world was the gardener, who I suspect may have been a lot more than an employee. He was the one who found her after she had been dead for several days in the house. And no, the real estate sales person told me nothing about her death or the time she was in the house dead. Imagine that!

The beginning of remodeling:
Before we could move in, a few things had to be done around the place. Since I bought the place for less than it was worth, they really didn't bother to do a lot to it before I took possession. Before I moved in, I changed the locks and checked all the windows, pulled down about 100 shelves that had been attached to the walls and began redoing the floors and even tore down a few pieces of wall until I felt I had cleaned the place to a point I wanted to move belonging in. The place felt very calm to me in the few days we were there before moving in. I didn't get any bad feelings around the place and being a person who gets vibes about places, I felt good. Then it was time to move in.

Begin Journal
Journal Entry: Something woke up...
After a couple of days of packing, we arrived at the new house tonight. I have to admit I am exhausted. I have had so much going on recently, I am not even sure if I have the energy to work on the place. Strange thing is, when we arrived, the house was lit up. When we left, we were careful to turn everything off. I wasn't sure of the house's electrical state so I did not want to push my luck. When we pulled up the front porch lights were lit, as well as, the living room lights and a bedroom light upstairs. Naturally, I panicked and thought someone had broken in the place.

Maybe it is the New Yorker in, but I knew exactly where we had packed the baseball bat. So after a bit of digging we entered the house. And like chickens, we sent Joey the 130 lb. Newfoundland in first. After searching every room in the place, no one was there. So how did the lights get turned on?

We set up the basics needed to make it through the first night. And after I had reached the peak of exhaustion, I realized Joey was nowhere to be found. After looking all around downstairs I heard a loud thump upstairs. Sure enough it was Joey but when I went to him I was kind of shocked.

He likes to play a game where if you jump in his direction he will go flat to the floor and have his legs spread out ready to pounce at you. When I reached the top of the steps he was doing this as if someone was playing with him. After spending 8 years with this dog, I know this is not normal. It was as if he saw something I did not.

Next Entry: Something touched me.

Thought Of The Day

2012-02-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentines Day .... Have A Great One

2012-02-14T15:19:00.004-05:00

Humor

2012-02-14T01:05:00.001-05:00

The Fact And Fiction Of Dead Ringers

2012-02-14T00:07:00.002-05:00

"Among the many urban myths circulating on the internet is a document called “Life in the 1500s” that began as an anonymous email message and has since found its way onto countless Web sites that took it as legitimate history. Among other things, this list of alleged facts about Renaissance life purports to give the origins of numerous English expressions, such as “raining cats and dogs,” “chew the fat,” and “dead ringer.” Unfortunately, although there are a few kernels of truth in the message, most of it is completely false. Whether it was an intentional hoax or merely the product of someone with a good imagination and poor research skills, it has misled a lot of people into mistaken etymological beliefs.

Take, for example, the claim that in the 1500s, people were often unintentionally buried alive—as evidenced by scratch marks on the insides of coffins that were later exhumed for some reason. On hearing such stories, public fear of being buried alive allegedly resulted in a new method of burial, in which a string was tied to the wrist of the departed and fed through a hole in the coffin all the way to the surface, where it attached to a bell. Were the person to awaken, the slightest arm movement would ring the bell, alerting someone to dig them up. Hence—so the tale goes—the origin of the expressions “saved by the bell” and “dead ringer.”

That’s a lovely and plausible-sounding story, but it happens to be untrue. The expressions “saved by the bell” and “dead ringer” had entirely different origins (about which more in a moment). And the whole business of coffins being designed with warning bells? That was certainly not part of life in the 1500s. Not at all. Not even close. It didn’t happen until the 1800s.

The Living Dead
Even today, the criteria for determining that someone is dead are not entirely unambiguous. If someone is missing a heart or brain, the diagnosis is relatively straightforward. But there are any number of circumstances under which someone’s pulse and breathing may be indiscernible—or even entirely absent—and yet death has not occurred. Even the absence of brain waves is not always an uncontroversial sign of death. A variety of medical conditions, or perhaps even a deep trance, can render someone cold, motionless, and unresponsive for some period of time. Occasionally you may see stories in the news about people who wake up in a body bag, a morgue, or even a funeral parlor, having been incorrectly pronounced dead. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens.

A few centuries ago, when medical science was much less advanced than it is today, this sort of thing happened considerably more often. History is littered with stories of such occurrences—sometimes with happy endings, but usually not. There have even been cases where coffins were found to have scratch marks inside, and though this is not necessarily proof that the person was buried alive, that surely did happen from time to time, especially considering that in the days before embalming became common, burials tended to happen quite soon after death.

During the Victorian age (roughly the second half of the 19th century), there was, for whatever reason, an unusual amount of public anxiety about the possibility of being buried alive—in England, continental Europe, and even the United States. Edgar Allan Poe tapped into (and exacerbated) this anxiety with a few of his short stories: “The Black Cat” in 1843, “The Cask of Amontillado” in 1846, and “The Premature Burial” in 1850.

Give Me a Sign
Such anxiety is not unique to that time period, but that was when a flurry of inventors set out to solve the problem. Patent records from the period show many designs for so-called safety coffins. Some designs merely contained a signaling apparatus of some kind—and yes, a few of them actually did use a bell with a string fed through a tube into the coffin. Other designs were more elaborate, with motion from the body raising a flag, sending a telegraphic signal, or even shooting off fireworks. There were also some coffins with escape hatches or spring-loaded release mechanisms, though the latter would have been useful only before burial.

A few of the later designs included air inlets that would open if, and only if, the alarm was actually triggered. This was—excuse the expression—a fatal flaw. A full coffin holds very little air; without even taking into account the exertion of calling out for help or pushing on the lid, an average (healthy) person would pass out within an hour or two after a coffin was sealed, and expire shortly thereafter. However, that detail was apparently a moot point. Although some of the safety coffins were in fact manufactured and sold, there is no record from that time period of anyone having been buried in one. And thus, there are also no records of one of these inventions actually saving someone’s life. But still the meme persists. Even within the last decade, there have been several news stories about high-tech safety coffins offered for sale—some of which even include a bottle of oxygen, just in case.

So what about the aforementioned phrases? Well, “saved by the bell” is easy enough: it’s a boxing term, first used in the 1930s. It refers to a boxer who gets a (sometimes temporary) break from being pummeled when the bell rings to signal the end of the round. “Dead ringer” is a bit trickier—though a moment’s reflection will show that it has nothing to do with being buried alive; it refers to a “double,” someone or something that looks just like someone or something else. The “dead” part gives an expression a sense of exactness or completeness, as in “dead even” or “dead wrong.” As for “ringer,” it’s a slang term for a fake or an illicit substitute (as in a sporting competition). My dictionary says this meaning goes back to the 15th century. I’ve read elsewhere that it derives from “ring the changes,” which originally meant to ring a set of church bells in a variety of different sequences, and later took on a metaphorical meaning of varying the way one performs any action. In any case, it clearly predates the use of safety coffins. As for that story about life in the 1500s…some bad ideas just refuse to die."

Starting Feb. 15th Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

2012-02-13T11:45:00.001-05:00

Starting Feb. 15th Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

Haunted Anniston High School, Anniston, Alabama

2012-02-13T00:46:00.002-05:00

Every freshman girl that enters Anniston High School is told the legend by the upper classman, who knows whether it is to frighten the girls as a type of initiation or to forewarn them of impending danger.

The truthful part of the legend goes like this:

A girl at the school forgot a valuable object in her locker and she lets her friend head on to the bus and hold her a seat while she goes back to get the item she forgot. Once at the locker the girl is attacked, however, somehow during the scuffle the man is killed and to this day, no one knows what happened to his body. So every freshman girl is told never to go into the girl’s locker room alone and never leave anyone in there alone.

The legend, which does vary, goes something like this:

P.E. was the last class of the day and two girls (names unknown) were running a bit behind schedule to get dressed back into their normal clothing after class. Instead of the having the normal 5 minutes to undress and re-dress, they only had 2 minutes to get to the gym and wait for their bus to take them home. They hurry and dress and do make it to the bench, however, one girl forgot her purse because she had been in such a hurry. The bell rang for them to head to their bus just as she remembered her purse. She was afraid to allow her friend to go with her back to the locker room because the bus driver may not wait on them. Her friend heads to the bus, so she can get the driver to wait until her friend gets on the bus. The girl runs into the locker room and grabs her purse, as she starts to close her locker she hears the door creak as thought someone came in. She thought it was probably her coach, so she called to them to let them know she was there and not to lock the door. She never got an answer to her call, but she heard footsteps coming closer to her. She began to hear loud breathing and knew someone was behind her. She dropped her purse and started to run, but was grabbed and pulled back toward the lockers. She fought him off even though her clothing was completely torn. He was strangling her and screaming at her to shut up. She did have enough strength to overturn a row of lockers on top of him; he lay there un-moving and un-breathing. The bus driver did not wait and her bus was gone when she got there. She called her mom and asked her to come and get her from school. The police were called; in the girl’s locker room all that was found was the girl’s purse, the pulled down lockers and a large pool of blood. There was no body! The girl so terrified over the experience could not bear to go to school. The family soon moved and no one has talked with them since.

The latest incident occurred in 2001.

Gregg's Soap Box ... My Gripe Of The Week ... Quiet In The Library

2012-02-13T00:45:00.001-05:00

Unexplained Mysteries Volumes 1, 2 and 3 ... Now Available In Print And eBook Formats

2012-02-10T02:03:00.001-05:00

Unexplained Mysteries

There are so many mysteries in the world that cannot be explained. Many have become legends just by their absence. Take for example the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. She was on her way to setting records for women in flight. In the course of one day, she became one of the greatest mysteries in the last 100 years. Today we can speculate her fate but very little else can be said of her and co-pilot Fred Nunan. Just like the many boats, planes and people who have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, Earhart joins the men of Flight 19, who just faded from radar and entered into history. The mysteries of the unexplained don't just surround disappearances; they sometimes surround things we have found. Take for instance the cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion and the Crystal Skulls. Neither is explainable but both have made people search for some way to explain their mere existence. Some mysteries come from legends such as the Yeti, Bigfoot/Sasquatch, Aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, Werewolves and Vampires. Are they legends based in reality, or just creative fiction? One of the most popular mysteries is that of Paranormal Psychology or the research into Ghosts. Why do they exist and why are they still here? Some believe and swear they have seen them; others reject them without even consideration. Like with so many things like Ghosts and Aliens, it simply is a matter of do you believe? Contained in this book are several opportunities for you to look into many mysteries from many different areas and fields. Keep an open mind and see how much you believe might be true and formulate your own ideas of the Unexplained.

Click the link you wish for each format to go to the sales page.

Amazon.com Print Book Version

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Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 2

Paranormal Writer Gregory Branson-Trent returns with his sequel to the Amazon Best Selling title Unexplained Mysteries. In Unexplained Mysteries Volume Two, Branson-Trent explores deeper into the world of the unexplained and comes up with a large collection of unusual and often times unheard of mysteries.

Included in volume two is: Pogo The Clown, Dead Ringers, Odd Cemetery Facts, The Ship of the Dead, 1952 UFOs over Washington DC, Werewolves, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery, Reincarnation , JFK and President Lincoln's Reincarnation, Uruguay Imp, The Grey Man Of Ben Macdhui, Oldest Known North American Mummy, Near Death Experiences, Ghosts Of Dragsholm Castle, Cato The Witch, Blackbeard's Ghost, Abominable Snowman, The Yeti, Oak Island, Doomed Alley, The Devil’s Garden, The Dark Side Of Chicago, Crystallomancy And Spirit Communication, The Grave of Mercy Brown, The Mary Celeste , Marie Laveau's Tomb, The Winchester House, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, and many more.

Click the link you wish for each format to go to the sales page.

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Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 3

Paranormal Writer Gregory Branson-Trent returns with his sequel to the Amazon Best Selling titles Unexplained Mysteries and Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 2.

In Unexplained Mysteries Volume 3, Branson-Trent explores deeper into the world of the unexplained and comes up with a large collection of unusual and often times unheard of mysteries.

Included in volume three is: Reincarnation, Black Dog Omen, The Legend of Wokun, The Bear Lake Monster, The Boggy Creek Monster, Rasnov Citadel, The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria, Mystery Of The Nevada Triangle, Nazca Lines, Ark of the Covenant, Hindenburg Crash Mail, Hope Diamond, Devil's Bible, Legend of The Flying Dutchman, Nazi History Of Alien Contact, Crop Circles, Mercy Brown: The Rhode Island Vampire, Faces Of Belmez, Hatshepsut, Lancaster Castle Pendle Witches, The Truth About The Sleeping Beauty, Roanoke Island The Lost Colony, Haunted Alton Towers, The Dead Of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum Hauntings, The Haunting In Connecticut, Haunted Ohio Reformatory, Muncaster Castle, Gwrych Castle Ghosts, Charleville Castle, and many more.

Click the link for the book format you wish to see a sales page for:

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Haunted Hemingway Home And Museum

2012-02-10T00:50:00.002-05:00

The Hemingway Home and Museum is the home in which Ernest Hemingway lived from 1931 until his suicide in 1961. Today, you will find the direct descendants of the 16 cats that Hemingway had when he lived in the home. There number at the time of this writing is 60. In this museum, you will see the home as it was when Hemingway once resided here. Many people have seen Hemingway in the home and several have even heard the sound of this typewriter inside the main house.

If you talk to locals in the area, you may learn more about the various hauntings throughout Key West. Just remember, on such a small island, there are not that many places to hide. Enjoy your stay, but make sure that you are not falling in love with a spirit of the past, dining with a dead pirate, or conversing with a murderer that was hung for their crimes.

And Now ... A Moment Of Zen

2012-02-09T00:57:00.001-05:00

Ghosts of St James's Palace

2012-02-09T00:33:00.002-05:00

Built by Henry V111, St James's Palace remained one of the principle residences of the Kings and Queens of England for more than three hundred years. Present day St James's Palace is the residence of Prince Charles when he is in London.

Its most famous haunting, however, dates from the first half of the 19th century. In the early hours of May 31st 1810, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and brother to George 1V and William 1V, was awoken from a deep sleep at around 2.30am. The next thing he knew, he was subjected to a ferocious attack, as a sharp bladed weapon began slashing at his padded nightcap and gown. As he attempted to deflect the blows, his hands and wrists were cut, and in desperation he screamed for help. A valet by the name of Cornelius Neale rushed to assist, and found the Duke's saber, covered in blood, lying on the floor by the door.

A doctor was summoned, and as his wounds were being treated, Cumberland asked for his other valet, Joseph Sellis to be sent for. Two servants went to rouse him, but as they approached his room, they were startled by a strange gurgling sound from within. Opening the door, they found Sellis lying dead on his bed. His throat had been cut back to the spine and his head almost severed from his body. A hastily convened inquest concluded that the dead valet had, for reasons unknown, attempted to murder his master, and in remorse had returned to his room to commit suicide.

Court gossip, however, had a different take on the matter, and talk of a cover up was rife. Some said that Cumberland had, in fact, murdered Sellis and pointed out that Sellis's hands were found to be clean and that there was bloodstained water in his wash - basin. Would the valet, the doubters wondered, if he had the time or the inclination to wash his hands, having, apparently, almost cut his head off? Several alternative scenarios were soon circulating as to what had really happened. One version maintained that Sellis had found the Duke in bed with his wife and, in an ensuing struggle, had been killed to stop him exposing Cumberland's adultery; another held that Cumberland had seduced Sellis's daughter who, finding herself with child, had committed suicide. When Sellis confronted his employer, the Duke had silenced him forever to avert a scandal.

It is Joseph Sellis's ghost that now haunts St James Palace, his apparition is often seen propped up in bed jaw hanging open, over a slit throat, other visitors have seen a dark figure walking the corridors. It has been reported that the smell of fresh blood accompanies the ghost.

In the bed chamber where Joseph Sellis died staff at the Palace have complained of the feeling of being watched, cold spots in the room, items being moved and reappearing in strange places. Guests with no knowledge of the buildings history have picked up on the strange atmosphere in the room.

Starting Feb. 15th Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

2012-02-08T02:36:00.000-05:00

Starting Feb. 15th Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal

Thought Of The Day

2012-02-08T00:51:00.001-05:00

St Botolph's Church Ghost

2012-02-08T00:25:00.001-05:00

St Botolph's Church, Aldgate is a Church of England parish church in the City of London standing at the junction of Houndsditch and Aldgate High Street. The current 18th Century church is made of brick with stone quoins and window casings. The tower is square with an obelisk shaped spire.

The first written record of this church appears in 1115 when it was received by the Holy Trinity Aldgate priory but the parochial foundations may very well be pre-1066. The church was rebuilt in the 16th Century and then again between 1741-1744. St Botolph's church was severely bombed during the Second World War and then, after its restoration by Rodney Tatchell, was much damaged by an inexplicable outbreak of fire in 1965. It is also the site of the murder of Catherine Eddowes by Jack the Ripper.

In 1982, photographer Chris Brackley took one of the most famous ghost photos ever inside the historic St Botolph's church. When the photograph was developed he was astonished to see a figure standing in old-fashioned clothes.

High in the church's loft, seen in the upper right-hand corner of his photograph, is the transparent form of what looks like a woman. According to Brackley, to his knowledge there were only three people in the church at the time the photo was taken, and none of them were in that loft.

The negative was subjected to considerable expert analysis, which revealed that there was no double exposure to the film and it was also proved that none of Chris's equipment was faulty. The only explanation for the mysterious figure was that someone must have actually been standing on the balcony when the picture was taken.

A few years later Chris was contacted by a builder who had been employed on restoration work in St Botolph's crypt. He explained that, in knocking down a wall he had inadvertently disturbed a pile of old coffins. One had come open to reveal a reasonably well-preserved body the face of which bore an uncanny resemblance to the figure that had made an uninvited appearance in Chris's photograph.

Humor

2012-02-07T00:44:00.001-05:00

The Death of Mary Reeser

2012-02-07T00:16:00.001-05:00

Mary Reeser, born in 1881, was found almost completely consumed by fire in her Florida home in 1951. The odd thing about the discovery of her body was that part of her left foot was left completely unscathed, and the extremely high temperature required to cremate a human body did not cause damage to the room or objects around the pile of ash which remained.

The FBI investigators called in Professor Krogman from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, in the hopes that he might explain the mystery. He said: “I find it hard to believe that a human body, once ignited, will literally consume itself — burn itself out, as does a candle wick, guttering in the last residual pool of melted wax [...] Just what did happen on the night of July 1, 1951, in St. Petersburg, Florida? We may never know, though this case still haunts me. [...] I cannot conceive of such complete cremation without more burning of the apartment itself. In fact the apartment and everything in it should have been consumed. [...] I regard it as the most amazing thing I have ever seen. As I review it, the short hairs on my neck bristle with vague fear. Were I living in the Middle Ages, I’d mutter something about black magic.” The mystery has never been solved.

Gregg's Soap Box ... My Gripe Of The Week ... Public Bathrooms

2012-02-06T00:21:00.001-05:00

Haunted San Francisco, California.... Alcatraz

2012-02-06T00:12:00.001-05:00

Haunted San Francisco has many a said haunted location from buildings to cemeteries and the most famous hot spot of mystery Alcatraz Prison. The now closed prison ghost are not so quiet, sounds of ghostly footsteps and the real sounds of cell doors opening and closing also echo throughout the empty haunted corridors. Visitors, Tour guides, and paranormal investigators and workers have all reported feeling many localized "cold haunted ghost spots" in certain common areas, and the feeling that they are not alone. EVP’S, ghost photos and ghostly encounters abound.

The prison on Alcatraz Island, a lonely outcropping in the middle of San Francisco Bay, was opened in 1933 as a maximum-security facility for America's most dangerous criminals. Among its most celebrated internees were Chicago crime boss Al Capone and Robert "Birdman" Stroud. Life on Alcatraz was hard: Inmates were lucky to spend one hour a day outside their cells, and those so favored usually spent the time breaking rocks. Violating prison rules could mean months of solitary confinement, sometimes in the Hole, a tiny cell with no light. The prison was shut down in 1963, and Alcatraz Island became a national park site. But the building still stands, and some of the poor souls that served time and died there seem to be locked forever behind its dank walls.

Several visitors have reported hearing moans, agonized cries and chains rattling in cell blocks A, B, and particularly C. A psychic who visited the site claimed to identify the unruly spirit of a man named Butcher inhabiting the place. Prison records confirm that Abie Maldowitz, a mob hit man nicknamed Butcher, was killed by a fellow inmate in the laundry area of cell block C. The D cell block is supposedly haunted as well, with visitors reporting cold spots and the sound of phantom banjo music coming from rooms that once housed Al Capone.

Many a haunted building and locations you to visit. From San Francisco Arts Institute often said to be built on a cemetery in the early 1900's after The great earthquake, it is haunted by more than a few hundred said restless spirits.

"More Haunted Houses" Available Now In eBook Format For Nook (Barnes And Noble) And Kindle (Amazon.com) And As A Print Book.

2012-02-03T02:50:00.001-05:00

"More Haunted Houses" Available Now In eBook Format For Nook (Barnes And Noble) And Kindle (Amazon.com) And As A Print Book.

Click the links below to visit sales pages.

Print Format
Amazon.com

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eBook Format
Amazon Kindle

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The world is filled with so many things that defy explanation. Since the beginning of time there have been stories of ghosts and hauntings. From the haunted castles of the United Kingdom to haunted houses in the United States the stories are too many to be ignored. The number of locations around the world said to be haunted by a ghost (or ghosts) is almost infinite. Virtually every city, town, battlefield, or famous building has its associated ghosts and any attempt to describe them all would be futile.

Haunted houses are often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide—sometimes in the recent or ancient past.

In More Haunted Houses Around The World, you will be offered hundreds of opportunities to enter the world of the paranormal. You will be presented with complete profiles of Haunted Houses, Haunted Hotels, Haunted Castles, Poltergeists, and information that will assist you in investigating the world of ghosts.

Are you brave enough to seek out a ghost? Read through this book and decide for yourself.

More Haunted Houses Around The World is a sequel to the highly successful Haunted Houses Around The World.

The Ghosts Of Lemp Mansion

2012-02-03T00:11:00.002-05:00

When John Adam Lemp arrived in St. Louis from Eschwege, Germany in 1838, he seemed no different from the thousands of other immigrants who poured into the Gateway to the West during the first half of the 19th century. Lemp originally sought his fortune as a grocer. But his store was unique for its ability to supply an item sold by none of his competitors - lager beer. Lemp had learned the art of brewing the effervescent beverage under the tutelage of his father in Eschwege, and the natural cave system under St. Louis provided the perfect temperature for aging beer. Lemp soon realized that the future of lager beer in America was as golden as the brew itself, and in 1840 he abandoned the grocery business to build a modest brewery at 112 S. Second Street. A St. Louis industry was born. The brewery enjoyed marvelous success and John Adam Lemp died a millionaire.

The Lemp Mansion was built in the early 1860's and was subsequently purchased by William J. Lemp as a residence and auxiliary brewery office. Although it was already an impressive structure, Lemp used his massive brewery fortune to turn the thirty-three room house into a Victorian showplace.

The radiator system was installed in 1884, five years after radiant heat was patented. The grand staircase was removed to accommodate an open-air lift that ran the gamut of the house. The decorative iron gates in the basement restaurant are all that remain of the elevator. In 1904 the house was completely renovated. To the left of the main entrance is the former brewery office, where William Jr. committed suicide. The decorative mantle is Italian marble.

And Now ... A Moment Of Zen

2012-02-02T02:46:00.001-05:00

Whatever Happened To Duddleytown? Village of the Damned

2012-02-02T00:08:00.002-05:00

Connecticut's infamous Village of the Damned

The deserted village of Dudleytown, while largely forgotten today, is believed by many to be one of the most haunted places in New England. It is felt that the place could be a concentrated area of negative energy, which may explain why it was abandoned and cursed many years ago. Dudleytown, also known as Owlsbury, is an extinct settlement in Connecticut. A remote extension to the town of Cornwall, it is best known for its "haunted" forest. It is listed in Weird U.S.

Dudleytown was first settled in the mid-1700's as a farming community, despite the fact that the soil was too rocky and that the overhanging hills made the valley too shadowed for anything to grow profitably.

Cornwall itself was never a large settlement, but was inhabited by farmers, millers, blacksmiths and other itinerant workers. Current records show initial settlement at Cornwall to have begun in 1738 by Thomas Griffis, with the incorporation of the surrounding farming community in 1740. All that now remains of this early settlement (located at an elevation of nearly 1500 feet) are some foundations, cellars and remnants of buildings erected over a century after the founders' initial log cabin was established.

Despite the difficult landscape, Griffis soon had neighbors who began to clear the land and to build additional homesteads and stone walls from the abundant stone found in the area. At least two of these neighbors were Abiel and Barzillai Dudley. Abiel is recorded as having bought more land in Cornwall on December 31, 1748.

That there were Dudleys in Cornwall before 1750 is clear, as Abiel was included in the tax list of 1744, and by 1748 Gideon Dudley had been recognized as a taxpayer.

On January 2, 1749 Gideon Dudley was born in Cornwall, the son of Gideon. Abiel Dudley later acquired additional land in Cornwall on October 23, 1753. Joseph Dudley, another son of Gideon, was born in 1755. Barzillai Dudley married Sarah Carter on March 6, 1750 in Cornwall and they raised two children, Sibe and Sarah, born in 1750 in 1752, respectively.

Barzillai Dudley is listed in Captain Lyman's company during the French and Indian War for 14 days in 1757 and is again recorded in the 1758 Cornwall tax records. He seems to have left the area soon afterwards, as no further tax records for him are listed. Along with other early arrivals (the population never exceeded 100), the Dudleys cleared the land, planted buckwheat, hunted deer for the winter store and established their farms on the rough upland plain. Small streams were dammed to supply power for at least three mills, but Dudleytown remained fairly isolated. Ice Age glaciers had removed most of the topsoil from the Dudleytown plateau, leaving an abundance of glacial rock and granite ledges; evidence of this can be seen in the maze of stone walls bounding farm lots, roadways, bridges, fords, and sluiceways.

Abiel Dudley's property was sold to the township in 1771 and Gideon was recorded in the Cornwall tax records for the last time in 1773. He departed the area shortly afterwards, abandoning 30 years of work. By 1766 his sons Gideon and Joseph had died, after their mother, Elisabeth Dudley, in 1765. A plague (probably smallpox) reached Cornwall and Dudleytown during 1774. The cause of this outbreak is not known, but is important in the context of the numerous infant deaths recorded in the small community over the previous decade. Abiel Dudley did survive, to die of old age in November 1799.

Of the various plagues that affected 18th century North America, perhaps none were more devastating than the smallpox outbreaks of 1775 to 1782. An appearance of yellow fever occurred in the United States during 1702. Thirty-five further outbreaks were recorded from this initial event until 1800, with almost annual recurrences between 1800 and 1879.

With no new families moving in to occupy the abandoned homesteads, the houses that had stood for a hundred years crumbled. Their massive hand-cut beams collapsed and decayed beneath protective blankets of wild tiger lilies. Brush and vine now reduce Dark Entry and Dudleytown roads to little more than tangled trails in a permanent gloom.
Due to its "haunted" reputation, the area has attracted many ghost hunters, as well as adolescents willing to cause trouble. They have become such an annoyance to local residents that the Connecticut State Police currently forbids entry to the area and patrols there.

Dudleytown is located on private property. It is not open to the public. The land it rests on is owned by the private interest, "Dark Entry Forest, Inc." and is posted thoroughly with "no trespassing" and "no parking" signs on all roadways leading into the area. The state police vigorously enforce these injunctions. Dudleytown is not located on state property nor in a state forest.

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal Coming Soon To This Blog

2012-02-01T13:21:00.001-05:00

Gregory Branson-Trent's Ghost Hunter's Journal Coming Soon To This Blog

For more than 17 years I have written about ghosts and been a paranormal investigator. I believe in the paranormal and the unexplained. I have heard the stories of people who bought houses and remodeled them and stirred up the spirits. I was shocked when recently I bought a 100 hundred year old house and started remodeling. Something woke up.

Join me weekly as I release excerpts from my journal about living in a haunted house.

Thought Of The Day

2012-02-01T02:41:00.001-05:00

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Haunts (Al Capone)

2012-02-01T00:01:00.004-05:00

Of course, everyone has heard about the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that took place in 1929 on 2212 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. On this day, February 14, 1929, a group of Bugs Moran’s gangsters was at this address awaiting a truckload of stolen liquor. The men in the group were Al Weinshank, Reinhardt Schwimmer, Adam Heyer, James Clark, Pete Gusenburg, Frank Gusenburg, and Johnny May. A police car pulled up outside and five men crawled out of the car, three wearing police officers uniforms. The men inside the garage were all lined up ready for the arrest. These were not in reality police officers but some of Al Capone’s hit men sent there to wipe out Bugs Moran and his gangsters. It could never be proven that Al Capone had anything to do with the vicious murders.

Today, the history may only be found in books or told by others, but the hauntings have never ceased. People have heard on several occasions, men talking, machine gun fire, eerie lights and mists, and screaming. Al Capone, himself claimed he was haunted by Moran's brother-in-law, James Clark. He even tried his best using a medium to send him to his final resting place in 1931, but the hauntings never stopped even during his stay in Alcatraz. As far as anyone knows, he was haunted until death.

Humor

2012-01-31T02:36:00.003-05:00

Evergreen Cemetery ... Midnight Mary

2012-01-31T01:11:00.002-05:00

New Haven, Connecticut. - Home to one of the most legendary ghosts in New England. "The people shall be troubled at midnight and pass away" read the black letters on Mary Hart's huge gravestone. This has been interpreted as a curse to all those who dare visit Miss Hart's grave at the witching hour.

Mary Hart, better known as Midnight Mary apparently died and was buried in October of 1872 at age 47. The next evening, Mary’s aunt had a dream that Mary woke up in her coffin, realized she was buried alive and began screaming and clawing to get out. She alerted her family and they went out to check the grave. Upon uncovering the coffin it was obvious Mary was dead, but her body was in a different position and there were scratches on the inside of the coffin. It is believed that Mary had a sickness that "copied” death and still haunts the cemetery.

There are rumors of people being impaled on the iron gates near her grave and at least 2 reports of college students who set out on dares to spend the night there. One student never returned and another fell down a flight of stairs the next day and was left paralyzed. The cemetery is located on Ella Grasso Blvd in New Haven.

Ghostly Warning ... Montpellier in 1981

2012-01-30T00:53:00.002-05:00

Shortly before midnight a two-door Renault pulled over to pick up a woman. Four people were already inside the car, so the hitchhiker’s unexpected presence necessitated some rearrangement of seating. Eventually, she settled in the rear seat. The car continued on its way, loud music blaring from its cassette player.

As it approached a sharp curve the hitchhiker suddenly shouted, ‘Mind the bend. You are risking your life!’ The driver slowed up and safely negotiated the turn. Then everyone realized that their passenger had vanished!

So shaken were the four that they called at the Montpellier police station and reported their experience. Inspector Lopez was impressed and later told researchers, ‘Their panic wasn’t put on and we soon realized they were genuine. It worried us, ‘But there was little that could be done after the event.

The Woman In Black -- Official Teaser Trailer

2012-01-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the official teaser trailer for the upcoming supernatural thriller "The Woman In Black", starring Daniel Radcliffe and directed by James Watkins that will be released on February 2012.

Ghost Hunting 101: A Guide for Beginners Revised 2nd Edition Now Available In Print Book And eBook Versions

2012-01-27T02:58:00.001-05:00

Ghost Hunting 101: A Guide for Beginners Revised 2nd Edition

Click the link for the book format you wish to see a sales page for:
Amazon.com Printed Book Format
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Ghost stories are probably as old as the human race, and the Greeks and Romans had their fair share of them. Writings from the 1st century AD recount one contemporary haunting.

Every night at a mansion in Athens in Greece, the ghost of an emaciated old man was said to appear, rattling iron chains. The occupants abandoned the place and no one would buy or live in it. Then the philosopher Aethenodorus rented the house. Aethenodorus, sometime tutor to the young Augustus who later became emperor of Rome, was not to be trifled with. Sending his servants away, he lit a lamp and sat down to write.

In the middle of the night the clanking sounds began, but Athenodorus simply ignored them. Then the ghost appeared at the door, but the philosopher merely signalled it to wait. Impatient, the ghost stalked forward and began to rattle its chains over his head. Athenodorus followed it outside, and when the ghost finally disappeared in the courtyard, marked the spot with leaves. The next morning, he called upon the city magistrates to dig up the ground in the place he had marked, and they found the skeleton of a man in chains. When the remains had been given a proper burial, the haunting promptly ceased.

Ghosts and hauntings have been around throughout history but many choose not to believe. Think about what your views are and after reading this book, see if you change your mind.

Ghost Hunting 101: A Guide For Beginners, takes you out of your comfort zone and into the world of ghosts. It explores the process of ghost hunting and all the equipment used and gives beginners a stepping off point. This book is easy to read and has basic instructions for anyone who is ready to cast fear aside and hit a haunted house or cemetery.

Included in this book are the subjects of: What Are Ghosts And Spirits, Types Of Ghosts, So You Want To Go Ghost Hunting, Intro To Ghost Hunting, Ghost Related Terminology, Step By Step Procedures, Taking Ghost Pictures, Audio And Video Recording, Forms And Questionnaires, Where To Look For Ghosts, Common Ghost Hunting Mistakes, Science And Ghost Hunting, Famous Ghosts, and more.

The question is, do you believe?

Gold Brook Bridge ... Emily's Story

2012-01-27T00:41:00.001-05:00

Gold Brook Bridge is now known as Emily's Bridge because that is what it is and whom it truly belongs to.

Conceptualized and built by John Smith in the year 1844 in Stow, Vermont this bridge was meant to convenience people needing to cross a brook when wanting to get around the three villages of Stowe, Vermont.

Now it is abandoned (though still beautifully preserved) by the people who live around it as it is said to be haunted by a severely violent ghost, Emily.

According to the legend, over a hundred and fifty years ago, a girl named Emily lived in the village of Stowe. It has been said that she had been forbidden to marry her lover by her parents and so the couple made plans to elope together. They agreed to meet at the Gold Brook Bridge that night but when night fell Emily found herself alone and abandoned by her lover who never came for her.

Heartbroken and simmering with rage, sadness and despair she was apparently driven mad as the force of this abandonment coupled with her anger against her parents hit her and hanged herself from one of the beams of the bridge.

Since then villagers dare not cross the bridge as her spirit lives on inflicting pain and damage to those that venture onto it. A lady's voice is said to call out occasionally. Ghostly figures have been sighted on the bridge as have mysterious lights. Cars and horses have been viciously clawed by something invisible during the day as well as night. Perhaps the villager’s decision to always keep the bridge clean and beautiful is more of an appeasement to bitter Emily than anything else. After all, who can blame them?

A Moment Of Zen

2012-01-26T01:18:00.001-05:00

Haunted Lighthouses - Seguin Island Light

2012-01-26T00:37:00.001-05:00

Way up in the northeastern corner of the U.S, perched high on its own little barren island made of rock, sits Sequin Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse , located at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Georgetown, Maine, is the second lighthouse that was ever built in Maine and is one of the oldest in the U.S. The little island of rock, located in an area that is frequently shrouded in fog -- an average of 2,734 hours of fog every year -- and hammered with cold, high winds, seemed almost designed by nature to harbor a lighthouse.

Merchants submitted the petition for the lighthouse in 1786, but the government didn't order the lighthouse built until 1795. Once President George Washington gave the order, the lighthouse construction began and the project was completed in 1797 at a cost of $6,300.

Sequin Island Lighthouse holds the title as the highest elevated lighthouse in Maine, standing just over 180 feet above sea level. The fixed, non-flashing light is visible to ships as far out as 40 miles. Due to the high occurance of fog in this area, the light house is equipped with one of the most powerful fog horns ever made. The original structure was replaced in 1820, and again in 1857 when the present structure was erected. The light was continued to be manually monitored until it was fully automated in 1985.

The history of Seguin Island Light Station is filled with strange and tragic stories.

One is that of the first lightkeeper who died penniless and boatless on the island. Some say his ghost has haunted the keepers who came after him. There have been sightings of a ghost who has been named the "Old Captain". He is usally seen climbing the staircase of the tower as if heading upstairs to tend to the light.

One night the old furnishings were being removed from the premesis. Apparently the man in charge of the crew moving the furniture was awakened in the middle of the night by the "Old Captain" who asked him not to take the furniture and to leave his home alone. The man didn't grant the request and the next day after the furniture had been loaded onto a boat and was being lowered into the water, the cable mysteriously snapped. The boat and everything in it fell onto the rocks below and were smashed into pieces. It appears the "Old Captain" got his way afterall.

Another frequent sighting is that of a young girl running up and down the stairs and waving to those who see her. She has also been heard laughing and bouncing a ball in a room upstairs. History shows that a young girl died on the island and was buried near the lighthouse.

Perhaps the most tragic incident that occured on the island is that of a former caretaker in the mid 1800's who was driven insane and murdered his wife, then took his own life. Legend states the caretaker brought his wife to live with him at the lighthouse shortly after they were married. As time went by, she became depressed and sullen and he bought her a piano to help cheer her up.

Unfortunately, she didn't memorize music and had to play from sheet music. Since she had only had one piece of sheet music on the island, she played the same song over and over until her husband finally took an axe to the piano and to her, and then killed himself.

Passing ships have reported that the sound of faint piano music coming from the island can be heard floating out over the waves on still, calm evenings.

Additional accounts of the paranormal include doors opening and closing by themselves, mysterous cold spots, coats being thrown onto the floor, tools disappearing and reappearing at random, and coughing from an unseen source.

The Sequin Island Lighthouse is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and is accessible by boat from Bath, Popham Beach, or Boothbay Harbor.

Thought Of The Day

2012-01-25T01:11:00.002-05:00

Reverend Byles' Hole

2012-01-25T00:35:00.001-05:00

In a letter to a magazine in 1974, the Reverend Alfred Byles told of an extremely strange event he was witness to.

In 1947 the Reverend Byles was serving as the Vicar of St. Bartholomew's Church in Yealmpton, South Devon, England. One Saturday afternoon while walking in the churchyard, he discovered a large hole in the path near a door into the church; the hole spanned across the path, was of irregular shape and about a yard across.

Guessing it was a bad case of subsidence, he went into the church and talked to his wife... when he walked back out he discovered that, in the short time he was away, the hole had greatly expanded in size. He called his wife out to look at it. the Reverend at first thought of climbing down into the hole to explore it, but neither he nor his wife could determine if it had a bottom. He threw a stone into it, and it hit stonework... looking at this, the Reverend said that it looked like a wall.

Being a practical man, the Reverend was mostly concerned that someone would fall into the hole, so he went into the village to fetch some boards to put over it. While in town Reverend Byles met Mr. Knight, the local builder and undertaker, and invited him to come see the hole.

When they arrived at the church the hole was gone. The path and grass where the hole had been located now looked as if nothing had ever happened to it. As the Reverend puzzled over the matter, Mr. Knight excused himself and left; he never mentioned the incident again. Reverend Byles remained perplexed. He knew that both he and his wife had witnessed the hole, and so knew it was there... yet he had no explanation for what seemingly occurred.

High Strangeness

In the vast world of anomalies, curiosities, and mysteries, there are many repeating types of strangeness reported. These stories are often grouped together into larger catagories -- such as "UFOs" or "psychic powers" -- based on apparent similarities or relationships between the various individual reports of bizarre phenomena. There are, however, reports of strange occurences that appear to be totally unique unto themselves; I like to feature these when I find them, in the hopes that one of my readers out there may have heard of anything similar to these extemely odd events. The case of Reverend Byles' hole currently falls into this catagory.

As far as I know, this event was first reported in the Reports and Transaction of the Devonshire Association in 1975, when Reverend Byles sent a letter to the magazine describing the occurrence. Ten years later, Reverend Byles was interviewed for the British TV series Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers. For some reason, the television account of his story did not include the detail of him throwing a rock into the hole and hitting some stonework; but when the companion book to the TV series was published in 1987, the account given in it was essentially the same as the Reverend's original letter to the Devonshire Association.

The first presentation of the event was written in the Reverend's own words, and the second presentation was an interview with the Reverend, both of which show that he was willing to stick to the story and to take ownership of it... which speaks towards credibility. On the other hand, the fact that it was nearly thirty years after the event before Reverend Byles reported it, and the fact that only the Reverend and his wife saw the occurrence and his wife's testimony never seems to have been recorded, all put a suspicious tone over the matter. In the end, researchers are left with only two responses: take the Reverend's word that the event happened, or accuse him of lying. The choice is yours.

Humor

2012-01-24T01:07:00.001-05:00

The Haunted Castle of Oldenburg Princess

2012-01-24T00:27:00.002-05:00

The right for long-term rent of Castle of Oldenburg Princess of the 19th century – one of the main sightseeing sites of the Voronezh Region of Russia – has been put out for tender.

According to psychics and ufologists, the Castle of Oldenburg Princess is not only a sightseeing site but also an anomalous zone with strong paranormal activity: it is known that here people often fall down in a faint; rats, mice, and flies do not dwell in the castle, and besides, tourists mark sudden and frequent camera breakages.

In 1879 this estate near the Russian city of Voronezh was a wedding present of the emperor Alexander II to granddaughter of Nicolas I Grand Duchess Eugenya Romanova (married name Oldenburg). The Princess used to visit the castle very often.

After 1917 the castle’s owner migrated to France. The new Russian authorities used the building as a school, then as hospital and library. 30 years ago the building was admitted to be no longer suitable for exploitation.

Now the region’s administration hopes that a new investor will restore the castle and the nearby park and make it the main sightseeing of the Voronezh Region.

Earlier the press wrote that Prince Michael of Kent (great grandson of the Russian Tsar Alexander II) wanted to purchase the castle while being on their visit to Voronezh in spring 2007. However, Prince was refused as the local authorities explained that the castle was registered as federal property and therefore could not be sold.

The Clapham Wood Mystery

2012-01-23T00:21:00.001-05:00

The Clapham Wood Mystery is the name given to a collection of unusual events which are associated with the Clapham Wood, West Sussex, England, resulting in the area developing its own lore in popular culture. Events have included reports of people making unusual sights or experiencing unusual phenomena, and of family pets disappearing or sickening. There have also been several human deaths associated with the location. Since the 1960s the area has experienced a rash of UFO sighting, reports of people, experiencing nausea or the sensation of being pushed by unseen forces, or of witnessing patches of strange grey mist developing suddenly on pathways through the woods. Some people have also reported a strong sense of being followed. Studies with a gieger counter have revealed slightly elevated levels of background radiation in the area, which is surprising since the area is situated on chalk which is normally low in radiation. Early photographs of the wood appear to show a large crater or depression somewhere in the wood, though now the area is highly wooded and difficult to search.

Four deaths have occurred either in or close to the woods and have since become part of the lore surrounding it. The first death was in June 1972 when police officer Peter Goldsmith disappeared while hiking in the region. His body was discovered 6 months later. The second death was that of Leon Foster whose body was discovered in August 1975. He had been missing for 3 weeks. The third death was of Reverend Harry Neil Snelling, the former vicar of Clapham. He disappeared in October 1978 and his body was not found until 3 years later. English coroners ruled open verdicts in all three cases.

Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 3 Now Available In Print Book And eBook Versions

2012-01-20T03:01:00.001-05:00

Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 3 Now Available In Print Book And eBook Versions

Click the link for the book format you wish to see a sales page for:

Amazon.com Printed Book Format

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Paranormal Writer Gregory Branson-Trent returns with his sequel to the Amazon Best Selling titles Unexplained Mysteries and Unexplained Mysteries Vol. 2.

In Unexplained Mysteries Volume 3 (print and eBook format), Branson-Trent explores deeper into the world of the unexplained and comes up with a large collection of unusual and often times unheard of mysteries.

Included in volume three is: Reincarnation, Black Dog Omen, The Legend of Wokun, The Bear Lake Monster, The Boggy Creek Monster, Rasnov Citadel, The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria, Mystery Of The Nevada Triangle, Nazca Lines, Ark of the Covenant, Hindenburg Crash Mail, Hope Diamond, Devil's Bible, Legend of The Flying Dutchman, Nazi History Of Alien Contact, Crop Circles, Mercy Brown: The Rhode Island Vampire, Faces Of Belmez, Hatshepsut, Lancaster Castle Pendle Witches, The Truth About The Sleeping Beauty, Roanoke Island The Lost Colony, Haunted Alton Towers, The Dead Of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum Hauntings, The Haunting In Connecticut, Haunted Ohio Reformatory, Muncaster Castle, Gwrych Castle Ghosts, Charleville Castle, and many more.

Mandy The Haunted Doll

2012-01-20T01:17:00.000-05:00

Mandy was donated to the museum in 1991. At that time her clothing was dirty, her body was ripped and her head was full of cracks. At that time she was estimated to be over ninety years old. The saying around the museum is, “She may seem like an ordinary antique doll, but she is much more than that.”

The woman who donated Mandy, also called Mereanda, told the museum curator that she would wake up in the middle of the night hearing a baby crying from the basement. When she investigated, she would find a window near the doll open where it had previously been closed and the curtains blowing in the breeze. The donor later told the curator that after the doll was given to the museum, she was no longer disturbed by the sounds of a baby crying in the night.

Some say Mandy has unusual powers. Many speculate that the doll has acquired these powers over the years, but since little is known of the doll’s history nothing can be said for certain. What is certain is the unusual effect she seems to have on everyone around her.

As soon as Mandy arrived at the museum, staff and volunteers began to have weird and unexplainable experiences. Lunches would disappear from the refrigerator and later be found tucked away in a drawer; footsteps were heard when no one was around; pens, books, photos and many other small items would go missing – some were never found and some turned up later. The staff passed these events off as absent-mindedness, but this did not account for everything.

Mandy did not have a permanent “home” inside the museum when she first arrived. She was placed in the museum entranceway, facing the public, and visitors would stare and talk about the doll with the cracked and broken face and sinister smile. Eventually, Mandy was moved to another part of the museum where she was carefully placed alone in a display case because museum staff had been told that she should not be placed with other dolls because she would harm them.

Since her permanent placement there have been many stories about encounters with the haunted doll. One visitor was videotaping Mandy only to have the camera light go on and off every 5 seconds. When the visitor’s camera was turned on another exhibit, it functioned just fine. (It is interesting to note that the same thing often happens when visitors try to photograph Robert the Doll in his Key West museum home.)

Some visitors are very disturbed by the doll’s eyes, which they say appear to follow them around the room. Others claim to have seen the doll actually blink, and still others say they have seen the doll in one position and minutes later she will appear to have moved.

Although they’re used to it by now, museum staff and volunteers still prefer not to be the last one working or locking up the museum at the end of the day.

Ghost Planes of Longdendale

2012-01-19T03:15:00.001-05:00

Of all the modern-day phantoms to haunt the Longdendale Valley, perhaps the most well-known are the Phantom Bombers of the High Peak.

The moor-tops are scattered with the wreckages of dozens of World War II aircraft and reports of 'phantom' planes flying low over the valley are frequent. The most recent sighting, March 1997, when Maria France and a companion had ventured up onto the moors at about 10pm to view the Hale-Bopp comet in the clear night sky. What they saw instead was a low flying plane. It was also seen by a farmer who was close by and he instinctively ducked, so convinced was he of the actuality of what he was seeing.

A short time after these sightings, a local couple heard the sound of a crash and saw an orange glow light up the sky. For fifteen hours, hundreds of emergency service personnel, tracker dogs and two helicopters searched the moorland for the stricken craft.

No trace was ever found and there were never any reports of a missing aircraft.

A Moment Of Zen

2012-01-19T02:47:00.001-05:00

The Borley Rectory (The Most Haunted House In England)

2012-01-18T03:11:00.002-05:00

When I began to research ghosts, there certainly was no shortage of haunted tales from Borley Rectory. This surely, is one of the most well documented cases of paranormal activity. Borley Rectory has well earned the title of the most haunted House in England. The poltergeist activity here at Borley, has become world renown.

The church itself, across the street from the rectory, was built during the fourteenth century and it was also located on the same spot where another church stood before 1066. The church is listed in a census in England during the eleventh century called the Doomsday Book. The rectory, which served as the residence of the priests and pastors of the church was built here in 1863, in Essex and frequented by ghoulish apparitions ever since. Actually, the strange happenings here precede the construction of this rectory. Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull, built Borely rectory on the site where the Benedictine Monastery once stood. He was not disturbed in the least about the hauntings. Henry served as the reverend here from 1862 to 1892. The monastery however, was already full of its own ghostly tales. In fact, it has been suggested that the very ground may be what has caused the activity within each of the structures on this site.

It seems that back in the 1300s, a nun had fallen deeply in love with a monk from the monastery. The couple ran away in an attempt to marry. The monk and the nun were captured, and executed for their deeds. The nun was said to have been dragged down a tunnel underneath the monastery and buried alive inside a wall in the cellar , the monk was hanged and the coachman beheaded. Brick tunnels that have been discovered beneath the rectory, prove this story is more than just a legend. Sightings of their ghosts have been well documented since before the construction of the rectory. A ghost of a nun has been seen drifting through the house and the gardens, with her head bent in anguish. Phantom coaches and monks have also been reported.

Borley Manor, owned by Sir Edward Waldegrave, was at the center of this area. The Waldegrave family’s money funded Borley for over three hundred years. Edward was executed in the Tower Of London in 1561 for not agreeing to take an oath of supremacy. His body is interred in an elaborate monument inside Borley church. There are eerie tales surrounding the tomb itself, including incidents similar to the Chase Vault in Barbados, where the coffins inside the Waldegrave tomb have shifted around inside the sealed vault without explanation. Paranormal investigators have noted a coldness near the tomb. Ghostly figures have been captured on film, kneeling at the tomb and the alter.

The first cases of paranormal activity here were reported in around 1885 and began with the sounds of footsteps. Soon after, came the sightings of the nun, dressed in black. In July of 1900, the Rector’s four daughters reported a twilight sighting of the spectral nun.

Harry Bull inherited the rectory in 1892 when his father passed away. Unlike his father, Harry did not appreciate the ghostly company. Reverend Bull ordered that the dining room area be bricked off because the apparition of the nun had appeared before the priests hundreds of times as they dined. Legend also tells a strange tale which does seem to contradict Reverend Bull’s squeamish nature. He is said to have carried on an affair with his mistress, whom he strangled inside the rectory in 1888. Many visitors have reported hearing a woman begging for her life, followed by screaming.

Legend says that Borely rectory was built upon a mass grave, containing the remains of those who succumbed to a plague. There are those of course, who deny this, but human bones have been found on the property, which are not from the churchyard.

Reverend Bull died in 1927, oddly enough in the same room of the rectory where his father died and he was replaced by Guy Eric Smith in 1928. Harry Bull and his family were buried in the courtyard of Borley church which is across the street from the infamous rectory. Apparitions have been well documented and even photographed floating over the Bull family graves. The Blue Room, as it was called, where the Reverends Bull both died, has come to be known as the most haunted room within the rectory.

Reverend Smith’s wife found a human skull inside a cabinet. They were tormented by the sound of phantom bells, windows shattering for no apparent reason, ghostly lights and many sightings of a coach pulled by demonic looking black horses. Needless to say, the Smith’s did not fare well at Borely. Reverend Smith served as Reverend here for only one year. However, the Smith’s invited famed paranormal investigator Harry Price to come to Borley in 1929. Price however, was relatively unknown at the time. His investigations of the Borley case was what made him famous. He was accompanied by a reporter from the Dailey Mirror which lead to the first published account of the goings on at Borley. Thus began a media circus and hordes of ghost hunters soon began to flock to this area. After Mister Price’s first visit, poltergeist activity began to manifest. One of the most common occurrences were rocks and bricks flying throughout the property! A month later, Reverend Smith resigned and he and his wife left the rectory.

Finding a replacement was not easy, given all the media attention. However, the position was filled by Reverend Lionel Foyster in October of 1930. Reverend Foyster was a first cousin of the Bull family. The Foyster’s called Borley home for five years and during that time, over two-thousand ghostly incidents were documented. Reverend Foyster was the first to conduct an exorcism here. The first exorcism was successful at temporarily halting the activity of the poltergeist. However, Borley saw an increase in all other paranormal activity. With the exorcism also came new activity such as phantom organ music emanating from inside a locked church and the communion wine would turn to a black sludge. There were sightings of nuns, monks, a headless man, a girl in a white gown, flying objects, bizarre lights, phantom voices, laughing, weeping, sounds of heavy creaky door were recorded near the alter, pounding, footsteps, bells, writing that would mysteriously appear on the walls and cold spots just to name a few.

Reverend Foyster’s wife, Marianne claimed to have experienced terrifying encounters with a poltergeist, including being thrown from her bed. Marianne’s daughter also reported being physically attacked by an evil entity. It us unclear why the spirits seemed to gravitate toward Marianne. Most likely because she did possess the gift of being able to communicate with them. The spirits would communicate to Marianne, most often in the form of eerie writings on the walls, which were addressed specifically to her. Reverend Foyster attempted to conduct a second exorcism but was forced to stop when a malevolent spirit struck him in the shoulder with a heavy rock. The Reverend and his family had enough and were literally chased away by the phantoms. Although there had been other Reverends to follow, no one would agree to reside here again.

Harry Price had a renewed interest in this place with all the recent and new activity. He decided to rent the rectory in 1937 in order to further investigate the property. Mister Price utilized a Ouija Board in hopes of getting some answers. A spirit had contacted him, claiming to have been a nun who was murdered here but not at least in the manner that had been previously believed. This nun said that she had in fact left her convent to elope but not to a priest from Borley Monastery. The spirit of the nun said she left to marry none other than Henry Waldegrave, who had murdered her shortly thereafter by burying her alive in the cellar. This elicited Price to assembled a crew of about fifty mediums and paranormal researchers and conducted a séance in 1938. The result of the séance was a ghostly warning that went unheeded. The spirit who made contact with them that evening told of a great fire that would destroy the rectory and that the remains of the nun who had been buried alive in the cellar would be found in the rubble.

William Gregson, who had purchased the rectory when Mister Price’s lease ran out, was working in the library one night in 1939. An oil lamp had tipped over on its own and set the books ablaze. The fire spread quickly and could not be extinguished. Witnesses say that the ghostly faces they saw in the rectory windows had manifested themselves from the flames. Many of these witnesses reported seeing the spectral nun and hearing unearthly sounds as the building was engulfed in flames.

In 1943, Mister Price unearthed a skull that was missing one of the jawbones. The skull was given a respectable burial in the churchyard. The ghostly prophesy had been fulfilled! It is believed that this skull was that of the nun who died such a horrendous death on this very spot six centuries ago.

There was nothing left of the rectory after the fire and it was leveled in 1944. Life Magazine was on hand for the demolition and captured on film, a brick rising from the rubble and hovering in mid-air. Mister Price believed that all the evil would die with it. Although there has been no further documented haunting activity on the spot where the rectory once stood, the entities had moved across the street to the church.

One of the most common occurrences is phantom organ music and the occasional sightings of apparitions. The last known exorcism took place at the church in 1999 and activity has slowed considerably since then.

There was a recent story that appeared in Sudbury Today in 2004, that told of a forensic investigation into a human skeleton which was found underneath a barn which sits next to Borley church. A crew had found it while converting the old barn into a house. The skeleton is believed to be many centuries old and since no skull was found, it may be linked to the skull that was discovered here in 1943. It was hoped that the activity here would cease with the burial of the skull, but strange occurrences are still reported at the church and the churchyard. Modern technology may be able to finally unlock the secrets of Borley and the many restless souls that dwelled within may at last rest in peace.

Where The Borley Rectory Once Stood.

Thought Of The Day

2012-01-18T02:44:00.001-05:00

A Haunting At Elvaston Castle

2012-01-17T03:08:00.001-05:00

History

The full history of the Elvaston Estate can be traced back to the 11th Century and earlier. It's thought that the some members of the family were involved in the infamous Hell Fire Club. In the 'Boudoir' there are stairs up to the Valet's Quarters - it's also speculated that this may have been a handy way for the masters of the house to sneak up to the servant's quarters. The Anselin family were lords of the manor then the Bardolphs before it was granted to Sir Walter Blount in 1420. The estate then passed through several families until it came into the hands of the Stanhope family. John Stanhope of Elvaston and Shelford was knighted in 1603. He died in 1610 and his elaborate tomb can still be seen at Elvaston Church. During the Civil War Sir John Gell led his troops of roundheads against Elvaston, they ransacked the manor and stormed the church, thrusting swords into the family coffins. Although Sir John's tomb was restored it still shows some of the original damage as does the wall of the church where you can still see the marks left by Musket balls. Charles Stanhope, the 3rd Earl was a popular man and known as quite a character. He carried out the work on the house making it the house we see today, including adding the gothic facades, a new Great Hall to the west and a new wing to the North West. Charles's eldest son, The Fourth Earl of Harrington, Viscount Petersham inherited the title and estate in 1829 when he was nearly 50. He was renowned for his stylish dress, he was tall and handsome and was well known for his charming personality and way with the ladies. He married in 1831, Maria Foote, a Covent Garden actress 17 years younger than him. Their affair had caused a lot of gossip in London and Derbyshire and was frowned upon by the previous Earl and other members of the family. The couple moved into Elvaston shortly after their wedding.

After this the Earl wouldn't let Maria out of the grounds or let visitors in - so strong was his love and obsession for his wife. He set about creating a beautiful oasis for himself and his wife, as a 'shrine to their undying passion', he employed the William Barron to design and create the amazing gardens. Leicester Stanhope succeeded his brother as 5th Earl followed in the family tradition and went into the army and political life. In 1823 he went to Missolonghi in Greece. Lord Byron joined him but they didn't get on. Even so, after Byron's death, it was Leicester who brought his body and papers back to England. Leicester died in 1862 and was succeeded by his 16 year old son, Seymour, who only survived for 4 more years. The title then passed to his cousin Charles (the son of Fitzroy Stanhope) who was in his late 50's. He was addicted to playing and making violins.

Paranormal Activity

The 9th Earl, Dudley Stanhope was known as 'Old Whiskers' because of his busy white beard. He was a popular man and was once described as 'the best loved man in the Midlands'. He loved horses and when he died he left instructions in his will that his hounds were to hunt on the first suitable day after his death. When they were let out they ran straight to the tree (directly next to the Earl's grave) and refused to leave. The hunt was called off. The ghost of a white/grey lady has frequently been seen looking through a window, rocking as if sitting on a rocking chair. A scullery maid has been seen in various rooms of the castle, particularly in the kitchen - she allegedly became pregnant by a friend of the Earl of Harrington and committed suicide. What sounded like raindrops have been heard in the kitchen, though no water was falling at the time. The ghost of a man has been seen in the upper floor atrium. He's thought to be Jim Booth, the old gamekeeper.

Humor

2012-01-17T02:11:00.001-05:00

Haunted Temple Newsam

2012-01-16T14:06:00.000-05:00

Temple Newsam is reported to be the most haunted house in Yorkshire, with the most famous ghost being Mary Ingram, commonly known as "the Blue lady", who in her life became deranged after an attack by highwaymen. Ghosts linked with the more famous residents of Temple Newsam include "the White lady": this is said to be the ghost of the "nine days queen", the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. She was executed by Mary I.

Tales Of The Weird And Bizarre Now Available In Print Book And eBook Versions

2012-01-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

Tales Of The Weird And Bizarre Now Available In Print Book And eBook Versions

Click to order Print Version and Kindle eBook Version From Amazon

Click for Barnes And Noble Nook Version

The world is filled with tales of weird and bizarre happenings. Some based on truth others are just folk lore. Some tales have been passed down through generations as mythology. Whatever the case, they fill our history and are the stuff dreams are made of. Included in this book is a huge collection of the best of these tales. Included here are: Curse Of The Crying Boy Painting, The Story Of “Robert”, The White Screamer, The Ghost In Skinflint’s Mine, Lizzie Borden...Girl Next Door, Or Ax Murderer?..You Decide, Cato The Witch, The Witch’s Grave, The Skulls of Culgrath, The Chase Vault, Haunted Sheriff’s House And Jail In Crown Point, Indiana, The Devil’s Garden, Diana of the Dunes, Doomed Alley, Dudleytown, Connecticut, Effie, The Flying Dutchman, Haunted Eastern State Penitentiary, Haunted Alcatraz, The Mysterious Glowing Horseshoe, The Goddess of Death, Summerwind, Holy Water, Corpse Lights, Hospitable Ghosts, Haunted Hotels in America, The Goldfield Hotel, The Ghost of Charlotte Dymond - Camelford, Cornwall, Dorcas of Polbreen Mine, The Monk of the Royal Falcon Hotel, Odd Cemetery Facts, Bartonville State Hospital, Bucksport, Maine...Gravestone of Col. John Buck, Howard Street Cemetery, Salem, Massachusetts, Chestnut Hill Cemetery - Haunted Exeter, Rhode Island, Stull Cemetery Gateway To Hell, The story of 112 Ocean Avenue: The Amityville Horror, The Fact And Fiction Of Dead Ringers, The Curse of Tutankhamen, The Bank Giant and The Bank Nun, Garden of Hope Cemetery Haunted Gautier, Mississippi....Children Of The Dead Play Among The Tombstones, Hauntings On The USS Constellation, The Hope Diamond, Cursed Car Of James Dean, Jamestown Underpass, Decapitation Of Joe Baldwin, Kaka'ako Fire Station, Kasteel Hoensbroek, The Hard Rock Café And Captain Tony’s Saloon, King House, Lemp Mansion, Leonis Adobe, Lewes Terminal, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Llancaiach Fawr Manor, Llorona, Melt Shop Ghost, McCarthy's Publican, Restaurant & Undertaker, Myrtles Plantation, The Natatorium, The Navajo County Courthouse, The New London Ledge Lighthouse, Octagon House, Pogo The Clown, Edgar Allen Poe’s House, The Screaming Tunnel In Ontario, Shirley Plantation, The White Lady Of St. Andrews Cathedral, The Storm Hag Of Lake Erie, Vase Of Death, The Victim Of The Beast, and more.

Humor

2012-01-11T20:33:00.001-05:00

The Dark Side Of Chicago

2012-01-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

Chicago may be a large fast moving city but behind the scenes, there are many ghostly apparitions that just dare you to explore.

Here are just a few of the most popular:

The Biograph Theater is haunted or at least the alley behind the theater is. This is where John Dillinger was killed and it has been reported that he can be seen running down the alley away from the theater.

The Givens Castle was built just outside of Chicago in the small town of Beverly. An Irish man by the name of Given built the castle for his wife while she was still living in Ireland. She passed away without ever getting to see the wonderful castle that her husband built for her. Today, many people have seen her walking up the hill that leads to the castle door. Even after death, he gave his wife her castle.

Graceland Cemetery is one of Chicago’s oldest and therefore has many stories. The most popular ghost is that of Inez Clark. She was only seven years old when at a family picnic was struck by lightning and died. Her parents had life size statue created of her and placed at her gravesite. Her image is encased in glass for the world to see their beautiful little girl and to protect it from weather. The legend tells that on rainy nights, her statue disappears but a little girl in her likeness is seen walking the cemetery grounds.

Here is one of the strangest haunts in Chicago – Harpo, Inc. Today, Harpo is the main studio of Oprah Winfrey. Everyone refuses to stay in the building after dark and there are different stories as to the ghosts that haunt this historic building. The latest is probably closer to the actual facts. In 1915, the Eastland Ship Disaster occurred. During this time in 1915, Harpo Studios was an Armory but was also used as a temporary morgue for the 830 that perished in the shipwreck. Oprah talks about these ghosts and shows no fear!

The Chapel Of The Cross

2012-01-08T21:02:00.001-05:00

Chapel of the Cross can be found on Highway 16 in Madison County, Mississippi about halfway between the towns of Flora and Madison. This old 1852 Gothic style chapel has been the story of manifestations for several years.

Mrs. Margaret Johnston built the unique and exquisite chapel in memory of her husband. Even though construction began in 1852, the complete building was not completed until 1858. Along with the unique design, there was a French stained glass window, a baptismal font created with only one stone, an altar, a communion rail, and of course a pipe organ. Today, the church is still the place for those of the Christian community to serve God.

However, this chapel has more than just those wishing to pray and learn more about the bible. At 6 P.M. sharp, the doors to the chapel and the gate to graveyard are securely locked to allow the ghosts that reside there to have their time.

By the grave of Henry Vick, a young woman stands and cries, however, if anyone tries to come close, she vanishes. The story of this love is a tragic one. Mrs. Margaret Johnston had a young daughter that was in deep love with Henry Vick. In 1857, the daughter was engaged to the Henry. The wedding never occurred as Henry was killed just a few days prior to the wedding in a duel. After his death, she would stay beside his grave and cry day after day. She finally made it through her grief and after a trip to Europe married a minister. It is believed that it is her ghost that still stays close to Henry’s grave to this day.

The original pipe organ will play music with unseen hands late at night after all is locked up tight. Among other strange occurrences mad giggling will fill the air, blood stains appear and disappear on the stone floor, a ghost has been seen walking through the front wooden door. Some of these are believed to be the spirit of a caretaker that twisted and cut off the head of his wife who was mentally unbalanced.

After cleaning up the gory mess, he then hung himself.

To this day, the Chapel of the Cross remains locked in the twilight hours to give this ghosts free reign of the property.

The Ghosts of Flag Stop Mississippi

2012-01-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Located near the Mississippi town of Beauregard is a train crossing that has become known as simply "Flag Stop" over the years by the men who work the Illinois Central Railroad. During the 1920's, engineers along this route were plagued by a phantom lantern which would stop the trains as they were making their runs along this stretch of line. It became so bad that railroad detectives finally came into investigate.... and you'll be surprised with what they found. It's the first time that I know of that Illinois Central detectives ever confirmed the existence of a ghost!

The problems began in 1926. One night, an engineer was guiding his train through Beauregard when he saw a lantern swinging back and forth down the tracks ahead of him. The brakeman yelled for his attention and said that it looked as though someone was trying to flag them down. The engineer began slowing down and came to a stop, never taking his eyes off the swinging lantern. Once the train was brought to a halt, he called out to the person who had been signaling him. There was no one there! The engineer and the brakeman climbed off the train and searched the area. The light had vanished and no one was around. They stared off into the darkness for a few moments, hoping to see or hear something... but there was nothing.

When the men reached McComb, they reported the incident to their supervisor, who was skeptical and laughed about the story..... and he would continue to laugh when the same engineer reported seeing the "ghostly" lantern again the next evening. He wouldn't take the story seriously until a few nights later, when another crew reported seeing the light along the same stretch of tracks. Instead of laughing, his supervisors turned the information over to two railroad detectives who promised to look into what was going on.

The detectives began interviewing everyone who had seen the lantern and found the reports to be remarkably similar. They realized that every account came from the exact same location.... near an old house on the edge of town. They learned that the house had belonged to a local doctor named Rowan, who had been killed several years before. The house remained furnished, although it was abandoned.... and it also had a very strange reputation.

To explore the haunted history of the house... we have to back up a few years. On a Sunday afternoon in 1883, a cyclone hit Beauregard and wiped out most of the town. It swept away the saloons, the churches, the hotel, the post office, the town hall, two schools and 35 houses. There were only three houses in town that escaped serious damage and one of them belonged to Dr. Elias Alford Rowan. When he had built his three-story, 23 room house a few years before, Dr. Rowan had envisioned turning it into a hospital one day... and for those few days in April 1883, he did just that.

Dr. Rowan was greatly respected and admired around town, for his medical and church work and his various achievements on behalf of the local people. Although he hardly seems the person to be involved in a haunting... he may have been the sole reason for it.

After Dr. Rowan's death, the house earned a reputation as the local haunted house and people began reporting "strange" things and hearing eerie noises there. It would be years before anyone would dare venture into the structure, despite the fact that the doctor's furniture and belongings had been left behind. But what became of Dr. Rowan?

According to what the Illinois Central detectives learned, Dr. Rowan was killed around 1912.... by an Illinois Central train. It had been late one night when the doctor went to meet the train and collect a passenger who was also one of his patients. He was walking down the tracks, with his back to the engine. Dr. Rowan had been quite elderly by this time and some have speculated that he may not have heard the approaching train. Regardless, even though the engineer blew the whistle at him. he walked right in front of the engine. Just before it hit him, he turned and saw it coming. He waved his lantern wildly and yelled "stop".... but it was too late.

For years after, the light continued to appear alongside the tracks, flagging down the approaching trains. The detectives were never able to find any other source for the light, save a supernatural one, and eventually the case was closed, and Dr. Rowan's ghost was allowed to rest in peace.

Have You Ever Seen A Ghost? If So, Share Your Story With Us, Just Comment Below So Others Can Read.

2012-01-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

Why The Dead Want Our Attention

It's not easy because we are all used to talking to people that have a physical form and an audible voice-so for people to suddenly go from that kind of communication to the kind of communication with a deceased person is very difficult. That's why it's more likely to come through people who have developed that ability.

There are different ways our loved ones will try to communicate with us. For example, if we have their picture on the mantle they'll move the picture or try to tip it over. Maybe they'll come into the room and they'll have a scent on them like the smell of Old Spice which reminds you of Grandpa or a bunch of peonies [like] Grandma had in her garden. They will think of a smell that you would associate with them, and they will actually project that smell to us.

They will think, "I really need to communicate with my granddaughter or my daughter or my son and let them know that I'm really doing great and that I'm here visiting them." And they can get very creative.

The one way it's easiest to communicate to us is through dreams. At night when we're sleeping, our soul will come out of our body and communicate, and our deceased loved ones will come and communicate with our soul. And then it comes through our conscious mind, but we just think it's a dream. But most people will wake up from those kind of experiences and they'll say, "Holy smokes, I just feel like I had a conversation with my grandma!" People will say "That dream felt so real to me" and that was a real conversation that took place.

I think that people who lose loved ones really want to communicate with their deceased loved ones. Here's the problem with grief: it opens people up to do things like the Ouija board, or they'll look around to see if they can go to a séance, or they'll start going to a lot of different psychics. It doesn't necessarily mean that any of it is going to work. So being in grief doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to open up psychically, it just means you're going to want to.

There are a lot of earth-bound spirits, souls that have chosen not to go on to the other side. Those are the souls that haunt people's houses. The thing about a lot of ghosts is that they're not evil but they can be tricksters, they can be people who like to mess with your head just because they think it's funny. So a lot of the earth-bound souls, they're just not nice people. They're immature, they're self-centered-it's more about them being entertained than it is about helping people who are looking for answers from their deceased loved ones.

I advise people to give it six months before you start to communicate, in order to let the other person get used to their life on the other side and you get used to your new life here. Don't start doing it right away, like after the funeral go home and just sit and wait for a sign, because you're both really raw and you're both going through your own changes. At some point when you're feeling better and they're feeling better, then the two of you can try to communicate with each other.

First of all, there's probably a lot of them that don't even know that they're deceased yet. They don't quite get what's going on. Then there's probably a lot of them that are staying earth-bound because they want their families to find their bodies in order to find peace. There are some that want to hang around to let their families know that they are OK. They might see their families looking all over the place going, "I'm sure she's alive someplace we'll just wait," and she may be saying "No, I'm dead but I'm OK, don't worry about me." So a lot of the souls could just be staying here until they see a [resolution] coming for their families, and then they'll move on to the other side.

I've seen spirits that are not nice, and I've told people, "Don't invite these spirits into your home." Some people will encourage negative spirits to come around their home by playing the Ouija board, having séances and calling them in. They think it's fun and entertaining. But I've said, "Don't do this."

If you think there's a spirit in the room take a tape recorder and put it in that room and turn the tape recorder on and walk away. And then go back later and see if you can hear voices. We would get voices on the tape recorder. EVP does work, spirits can communicate with us electronically. They can manipulate energy because they are made of energy. That's the easiest way for them to communicate with us, through electrical energy. So using TVs, radios, computers, they'll play with energy. They'll play with lights, lights will go on and off. I don't know how they do it, but it's probably the easiest way to get our attention.

Have You Ever Seen A Ghost? If So, Share Your Story With Us, Just Comment Below So Others Can Read.

Swamp of Satan

2012-01-03T17:09:00.000-05:00

While some may joke that Ohio is hell on Earth, local lore suggests that the Devil may have once taken up residence in the Buckeye state. If this really is the Devil's stomping grounds, it looks like hell has finally frozen over.

Did the Prince of Darkness once reside in northwest Ohio? If local history has anything to say about it, there might be a strong case for that claim. Although you won’t find Lucifer’s exact street address in the local telephone book nowadays, there are a few historical speculations that he might have had a swamp settlement.

Before Ohio became a state in 1803, the northwestern part of the state was completely covered by a low, wet swamp, later referred to by white settlers as The Great Black Swamp, due to the dark murky waters. The area, 40 miles wide by 120 miles long, was made 20,000 years ago by a migrating glacier and was a true hassle for the early pioneers. Living in the area was impossible, and traveling through the area was extremely risky for those brave enough to face wolves, snakes, and biting flies that carried cholera, typhoid and malaria. Even local Ottawa and Shawnee Indians did not even reside in the swamp and only used it to hunt. Although no human could tolerate the swamps deadly elements, it might have been the dreadful yet ideal place for the likes of Satan.

According to the Pioneer Scrap-book of Wood County Ohio, originally printed in 1910, an area of swamp known as the "Devil’s Hole" was the suspected location of these mysterious happenings. In 1811, as General and later president William Henry Harrison and his troops made their way from Sandusky to Ft. Meigs in what is now the present town of Perrysburg, they were stopped in their tracks near present day Bowling Green Ohio by the impassible swamp. Harrison, very aware of the dangers of getting stuck in the swamp, sent an unnamed scout to survey as much as he could and report back to him. The scout then set out and after a few hours became lost in the swamp. After a full day of fearfully struggling through this "man-trap", he eventually found his way back to his original trail. When asked of his whereabouts, the fearful scout said he had got lost in the "Devil’s Hole". Although the name was born, the legend of Devil's Hole was far from finished.

In 1859, the Ohio General Assembly passed a law that required citizens of Northwest Ohio to participate in draining this great swamp of standing, disease-infested water. However, with the Civil War looming in the southern states, little progress came to draining this deadly area. It wasn’t until the late 1860s that Northern civil war soldiers were commissioned to survey the area and find the most sensible routes to create crude wood plank roads to aid in the massive overhaul expected for the landscape.

According to local lore, a survey team of six men was commissioned to survey and document an area 11 miles north of Bowling Green, Ohio presently known as "Devils Hole Road". The men were adequately prepared for the uncertain journey with compasses, tents, and survival equipment and the best medicine for the swamp’s many diseases. However after what should have been a 3-day round trip journey, the men were never heard from again. Obviously very concerned for the survey team, the general in charge commissioned another smaller team to find the whereabouts of the first survey team. The second team was dealt the same fate. Gone, without a trace. Could both teams have got stuck in the "Devil’s Hole" and were unable to escape?

Another incident of the mysterious area appeared in the September 1872 issue of Bowling Green’s Sentinel newspaper. According to the article, a group of marauders on the run from the law might have hid out near Devil's Hole. The article says that "Buried in the heart of the dense woods some miles to the northwest of this place, known as 'Devil’s Hole', two men recently discovered a small, low built shanty, covered with bark and entirely obscure from the vision of man or beast by the dense undergrowth, at no greater distance than ten paces. It is off from any road and there is a single path leading to and from it. Just behind it, a hole had been dug for water, and near it are troughs cut in a log as if for the purpose of feeding horses." "…Everything about it denotes that the utmost precautions of secrecy have been taken. From its location and other circumstances, persons living nearest the locality are suspicious that it is a rendezvous or stopping place for horse thieves." However, no human was ever found to be actually living there. Was it simply a horse thief drop spot or a drainage ditch to hell?

Finally, in the fall of 1992, I was driving home one early evening from my freshman classes at Bowling Green State University to Perrysburg, when I spontaneously decided to take the alternative to I-75 and drive down Route 199. The drive was going just fine until I reached the intersection of Route 199 and Devil's Hole Road. Suddenly without any warning, a quick flash and a loud bang in front of me made me jump out of my seat. I almost flipped the jeep into the 15-foot deep drainage ditch next to the road. I brought the Jeep to a stop and got out to investigate. I was amazed at what I saw. A piston from my engine had actually shot through the hood of the car and went flying into the deep ditch beside me. The Jeep engine was smoking and the car was completely ruined. It took a good 10 minutes before a passerby stopped and promised to notify someone to come out with a tow truck and rescue my car and me. Was this the work of a crummy mechanic that helped me work on my Jeep, or was it something much more evil?

Coincidence? Maybe. Regardless, Devil's Hole Road might be noted as the Great Black Swamp’s version of the Bermuda Triangle. Even local history professors at B.G.S.U were unaware of any history of Devil's Hole Road. Tina Amos, secretary of the History Department, said that although the professors are unaware of any stories about Devil's Hole Road, it is a bit noteworthy. "The only thing I know about Devil's Hole Road is that they have a very difficult time keeping the road signs up -- they're a popular item for dorm rooms, etc. Apparently they have now painted the name onto the bridge abutments," she said. Needless to say, Devil's Hole Road still remains a local legend niched in local history as an unexplained phenomenon.

Thought Of The Day

2012-01-03T17:04:00.000-05:00

Holiday Humor

2012-01-03T17:02:00.001-05:00

The Different Types of Hauntings ... Difference Between Ghost, Spirit,and Apparition

2012-01-02T21:01:00.002-05:00

Difference Between Ghost, Spirit,and Apparition

Apparitions are the super-normal manifestations of people, objects, and spirits. Apparitions of the dead are sometimes called ghosts. Spirits are the observable energy of a person who has died in the physical sense, whereas a ghost may or may not be the actual conscious energy.

What is a Haunting?

A haunting is any activity that is considered to be unexplainable paranormal phenomena. Among the total reported cases of hauntings, of those investigated, only 10% turn out to be genuine. The other 90% can be explained away by reasonable factors. Both people and places can be haunted, though the majority of the cases are places, be it land, buildings, ships, airplanes, or furniture. There are different types of hauntings that can occur.

The Different Types of Hauntings:

1. Residual Haunting
2. Spirit Haunting (Interactive or Intelligent)
3. Portal Haunting
4. Thought Forms
5. Poltergeist

1. Residual Haunting: A residual haunting is like seeing the same scene play out repeatedly as if on a video tape recorder. This usually occurs in an area where intense emotions have left an imprint in the earth’s magnetic field. These emotions can include either love, fear, hate, anger, or any emotion that is strongly emitted. Ghosts found on battlefields are usually contained in this category. The ghost seen as transparent instead of as a solid figure of the person can also be considered a residual haunting. There is no interaction between the ghosts and the observer. These are not actual spirits that the observer is seeing, but the situation and/or environment that the person experienced just before transpiring.

2. Spirit Haunting (Interactive or Intelligent): A spirit haunting is called interactive because it is how most people view a haunting. It is called intelligent when the spirit is actually interacting with the living in a conscious manner. The latter type of haunting is much less common, yet is usually how most people will identify it. These entities can either appear solid or transparent, or sometimes invisible, when their presence can only be sensed. Many times their presence will be accompanied by a distinct odor, abrupt temperature change, or inexplicable noises.

3. Portal Haunting: A portal haunting occurs at a specific location. It can be considered the opening of a doorway, where spirits from different dimensions pass through. This could pose at the local of a common field or cave, hallway or closet.

4. Thought Forms: A thought form is not an actual haunting because there are no intelligent spirits involved or active residual energy left behind. Thought forms are created by residual mental or emotional debris left over in an environment. These can be either positive or negative. This could occur where excessive drug, alcohol, or physical abuse is prevalent. Mental illness can also generate these thought forms. This is not the same thing as poltergeist energy.

5. Poltergeist: Poltergeist is a German word meaning “angry ghost”. Anytime there is a physical activity it is called poltergeist. It is usually residual energy, and can range from the harmless hiding of an object to more deviant behavior that inflicts physical harm.* There is controversy over what poltergeist energy actually is. Some say it comes from people, and others that it comes from ghosts. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Certain researchers including myself agree that it can come from both. Each poltergeist case must be analyzed individually based on its own merits to formulate an educated conclusion.

In Search Of... Ghosts

2012-01-02T20:56:00.002-05:00

Can you feel the presence of a ghost? Why?

2012-01-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

How do you feel the presence of ghosts around you? I mean do you just feel cold spots or do you get shivers up your spine? Read on...

Different people feel different things around ghosts. Some people get goosebumps—other people feel cold spots, or hot spots, or increased heartbeat. Some people feel like they are being watched. Others feel a strong, dense-ness of energy. Meanwhile, some people feel nothing at all.

Everyone responds a bit differently. Want to see how you respond? Spend some time in a location that is known to be haunted. Be careful though — how you respond in one situation may be different from how you respond in another situation.

A "bad vibe" feeling (in the form of goosebumps, increased heartbeat) is commonly felt in areas where negative emotionally-charged events have happened—such as death, car accidents, battle wounds, or suicide. The human body—and the surrounding electromagnetic field—is remarkably sensitive to changes in the external environment, and will respond to these changes. Of course, it's also possible that *fear* of a car wreck could cause goosebumps, increased heartbeat, and difficulty breathing.

Why Do Some People Respond with Physical Symptoms in the Presence of Ghosts & Paranormal Activity?

No one knows why some people respond physically (i.e. goosebumps) to ghosts and paranormal activity. As mentioned earlier, the human body is remarkably sensitive and can sense changes in the external environment. So, when things feel "unusual" (due to paranormal activity) your body is alerted. This is an instinctive, biological response. It may also be connected to the strong electromagnetic fields that appear in the presence of paranormal activity.

So, why do some people feel nothing in the presence of paranormal activity? The number of people who feel absolutely nothing in the presence of strong paranormal activity is very, very small—however, factors such as your physical health, your mental and emotional state, your intelligence/awareness, and your belief system could all play a role in how you respond.

So what do you think, can you feel the presence of a ghost? Tell me why you feel as you do.

Welcome to 2012 everyone, I wish you the best.

2012-01-01T20:56:00.001-05:00

Unexplained Mysteries Volumes 1, 2 and 3 ... Now Available In Print And eBook Formats

2011-12-29T14:48:00.000-05:00

Haunted Aston Hall

2011-12-29T14:29:00.000-05:00

Aston Hall is located in the inner city area of Birmingham, built between 1618 and 1635 by the local squire Thomas Holte (1571-1654) and is of Jacobean style. Holte, one of the richest men in the country, had been knighted by King James I in 1603 and bought the title of baronet when James was raising funds to keep Ireland under control. Aston Hall was built to reflect the rank wealth and influence of Thomas at the time.

Thomas was a personal friend of King Charles I and allowed the king to stay at Aston on the evening of 18th October 1642, just before he lost the Battle of Edgehill during the English Civil War. Support for the king resulted in a three day siege when Parliamentarians attacked the Royalist garrison stationed there, and the hall was badly damaged. Some of this damage can still be seen on the balustrade of the Great Stairs. There is a hole in the staircase where a cannonball went through a window, an open door and into the banister. The Civil War impoverished the estate, which was inherited by Sir Robert Holte (MP for Warwickshire) who was the son of Edward Holte and grandson of Thomas Holte.

In 1817 it was leased to the eldest son of James Watt, and, following his death in 1848 the property was sold to The Corporation of Birmingham. It has since been renovated externally and internally - even though most original furniture is not there any more.

It is thought that Aston Hall is the most haunted building in Birmingham, paranormal activity at the hall has been documented over tha past century. The most active ghost at Aston Hall is the grey lady who is thought to be Holte's daughter. It is said that she, chose to elope and marry the man she loved rather than the man he picked out for her to marry, but her father found out about her plan and put a stop to it by locking her up for 16 years in a room on the upper floor. Loneliness took its toll and when she died 16 years later, she had gone insane. Her ghost is seen at least twice a year, and people often mistake her for staff dressed in period costume.

Mrs. Walker, a housekeeper of Sir Thomas Hilt is known as the green lady of Aston Hall. Her apparition is often seen wearing a long green dress, sitting in a chair in the Housekeepers Room or in the Great Hall. She never says anything, and usually will disappear shortly after being noticed.

The entrance to the central tower and servants quarters is made via a long corridor on the roof. It is known as Dick's 'Garret' after a servant boy hung himself there after being accused of stealing from his employers. It is recorded that his ghost was seen very often about the hall, but over the course of time his appearances have become few and far between.

Ghosts of Charleville Castle

2011-12-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

Charleville Forest Castle is one of the many places in Ireland with ghosts as permanent residents. Built in 1798, for the first Earl of Charleville Charles William Bury and his family, this castle is said to be finest Gothic Revival building in Ireland. The castle remained in the hands of the Charleville family until 1963 when Colonel Charles Howard-Bury suddenly dropped dead.

Today, Bridget Vance owns the property and is restoring the castle to its original beauty. Workers there believe that they have awakened the spirits of those who remain here. Ghostly voices and classical music have been heard throughout the castle. Often the sounds of children playing can be heard coming from the room that was once the nursery. A young girl named Harriet died tragically while playing in the stairwell many years ago. Her apparition has been seen in the stairwell and people have also felt a cold spot brushing past them as they descend the steps. The castle was built on land that was once an ancient druid burial ground. Hooded figures have been seen by members of the Vance family.

This castle has been investigated by many paranormal investigators from around the world and they agree that this is one of the "spookiest castles" in Ireland.

Near Death Experiences

2011-12-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

A near-death experience (NDE) is an experience reported by a person who nearly died, or who experienced clinical death and then revived. NDEs include one or more of the following experiences: a sense of being dead; an out-of-body experience; a sensation of floating above one's body and seeing the surrounding area; a sense of overwhelming love and peace; a sensation of moving upwards through a tunnel or narrow passageway; meeting deceased relatives or spiritual figures; encountering a being of light, or a light; experiencing a life review; reaching a border or boundary; and a feeling of being returned to the body, often accompanied by reluctance.

Interest in the NDE was originally spurred by the research of psychiatrists Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, George Ritchie, and Raymond Moody Jr. In 1998, Moody was appointed chair in "consciousness studies" at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS) was founded in 1978 to meet the needs of early researchers and experiencers within this field of research. Later researchers, such as psychiatrist Bruce Greyson, psychologist Kenneth Ring, and cardiologist Michael Sabom, introduced the study of near-death experiences to the academic setting.

Some researchers, including Dr. Rick Strassman, believe that near death experiences may be related to the chemical DMT's (Dimethyltryptamine) release from the pineal gland. The chemical is released naturally during sleep, is thought to have an effect on dream content, and is used as a recreational drug. Strassman sees the chemical as a mediator for hyperdimensional experiences, and points out that experiences with the drug are comparable to NDE's.

Anomalous Psychology

A number of studies conducted in the American, European, and Australasian continents have found that a majority of people surveyed report having had experiences that could be interpreted as telepathy, precognition, and similar phenomena. Variables that have been associated with reports of psi-phenomena include belief in the reality of psi; the tendency to have hypnotic, dissociative, and other alterations of consciousness; and, less reliably so, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience. Although psi-related experiences can occur in the context of such psychopathologies as schizotypal personality, dissociative, and other disorders, most individuals who endorse a belief in psi are well-adjusted, lack serious pathology, and are not intellectually deficient or lacking critical abilities.

Criticism

Scientists who are critical of parapsychology begin with the assertion that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. Proponents of hypotheses that contradict centuries of scientific research must provide extraordinary evidence if their hypotheses are to be taken seriously. Many analysts of parapsychology hold that the entire body of evidence to date is of poor quality and not adequately controlled. In their view, the entire field of parapsychology has produced no conclusive results whatsoever. They cite instances of fraud, flawed studies, a psychological need for mysticism, and cognitive biases (such as clustering illusion, availability error, confirmation bias, illusion of control, and the bias blind spot) as ways to explain parapsychological results. Skeptics have also contended that people's desire to believe in paranormal phenomena causes them to discount strong evidence that it does not exist.

The reality of parapsychological phenomena and the scientific validity of parapsychological research is disputed by independent evaluators and researchers. In 1988, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences gave a report on the subject that concluded that "no scientific justification from research conducted over a period of 130 years for the existence of parapsychological phenomena." In the same report, however, they also recommended monitoring some parapsychological research, such as psychokinesis on random number generators and Ganzfeld effects, for possible future studies. The studies at the PEAR lab, recommended for monitoring by the report, have since concluded. These studies likewise failed to elicit a positive response by the scientific community despite numerous trials. A 2008 study using fMRI showed no detectable psi effect.

Additionally, the methods of parapsychologists are regarded by some critics, including those who wrote the science standards for the California State Board of Education, to be pseudoscientific. Some of the more specific criticisms state that parapsychology does not have a clearly defined subject matter, an easily repeatable experiment that can demonstrate a psi effect on demand, nor an underlying theory to explain the paranormal transfer of information. James E. Alcock, Professor of Psychology at York University, said that few of parapsychology's experimental results have prompted interdisciplinary research with more mainstream sciences such as physics or biology. Alcock states that parapsychology remains an isolated science to such an extent that its very legitimacy is questionable, and as a whole is not justified in being labeled "scientific".

Fraud

There have been instances of fraud in the history of parapsychology research. The Soal-Goldney experiments of 1941–43 (suggesting precognitive ability in subjects) were long regarded as some of the best in the field because they relied upon independent checking and witnesses to prevent fraud. However, many years later, suspicions of fraud were confirmed when statistical evidence, uncovered and published by other parapsychologists in the field, indicated that Dr. Soal had cheated by altering the raw data.

Walter J. Levy, director of the Institute for Parapsychology, reported on a series of successful ESP experiments involving computer-controlled manipulation of non-human subjects, including eggs and rats. His experiments showed very high positive results. Because the subjects were non-human, and because the experimental environment was mostly automated, his successful experiments avoided criticism concerning experimenter effects, and removed the question of the subject's belief as an influence on the outcome. However, Levy's fellow researchers became suspicious about his methods. They found that Levy interfered with data-recording equipment, manually creating fraudulent strings of positive results. Rhine fired Levy and reported the fraud in a number of articles.

Many spiritualist mediums used fraud, and some were exposed by early psychical researchers such as Richard Hodgson and Harry Price. In the 1920s, magician and escapologist Harry Houdini said that researchers and observers had not created experimental procedures which absolutely preclude fraud. In 1979, magician and debunker James Randi perpetrated a hoax, now referred to as Project Alpha. Randi recruited two young magicians and sent them under cover to Washington University's McDonnell Laboratory with the specific aim of exposing poor experimental methods and the credulity thought to be common in parapsychology. Although no formal statements or publications from the McDonnell laboratory supported the likelihood that the effects demonstrated by the two magicians were genuine, both of Randi's recruits repeatedly tried but failed to deceive experimenters over a period of four years with demonstrations of supposedly telekinetic metal bending. Such methodological failures have been cited as evidence that most, if not all, extraordinary results in parapsychology derive from error or fraud.

Criticism of Experimental Results

Although some critical analysts feel that parapsychological study is scientific, they are not satisfied with its experimental results. Skeptical reviewers contend that apparently successful experimental results in psi research are more likely due to sloppy procedures, poorly trained researchers, or methodological flaws than to genuine psi effects. For example, the data from the PEAR laboratory has been criticized by researchers such as statistics professor Jessica Utts and psychologist Ray Hyman. Utts has stated that these experiments suffered numerous problems with regard to randomization, statistical baselines and the application of statistical models, and concluded that the significance values quoted in the experiments were meaningless due to defects in experimental and statistical procedures of the studies.

Because psi is a negatively defined concept, a typical measure of the evidence for such phenomena in parapsychological experiments is statistical deviation from chance expectation. However, critics point out that statistical deviation from chance is, strictly speaking, only evidence of a statistical anomaly, or that some unknown variable was causing the deviation from chance. Hyman contends that even if experiments could be made to reproduce the findings of certain parapsychological studies under specific conditions, this would be a far cry from concluding that psychic functioning has been demonstrated. It has also been stated that assuming psi exists is affirming the consequent or begging the question. Reasoning that (1) if a person is psychic, then that individual will do better than chance in experiments, and (2) since that person does better than chance, then, (3) that person must be psychic, would be considered the fallacy of affirming the consequent.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-22T23:42:00.000-05:00

Hauntings At The The Bell Inn Hotel

2011-12-22T23:40:00.001-05:00

The Bell Inn Hotel, historically an important stop on the Great North Road between London and York, is one of the finest surviving examples of a 17th century Coach House in the country. Renowned as the birthplace of Stilton Cheese and situated in the village of Stilton, The Bell Inn has stood on its present site since 1500, though earlier incarnations, (as long as 1437) have been recorded. Today's building dates from 1642, the date marked on the southern gable, and the year in which the Civil War began. It was originally built of oolitic limestone and slates of Colleyweston stone.

Records at Huntingdonshire show that Dick Turpin stayed at the Bell Inn for several days, shortly before his capture. Dick Turpin's spirit is believed to be one of the several ghosts that haunt the Bell Inn Hotel.

In 1962 a new landlord moved into the Bell Inn, after just several days he was complaining to locals of the atmosphere in one of the bedrooms. On one occasion in the bedroom, a fire that had been laid in the grate earlier that day suddenly burst into flames. The locals informed the landlord that the bedroom in question, was the one in which Dick Turpin is reputed to have slept in.
A year later in 1963 the landlord acquired a large dog which began howling soon after midnight and always on a Wednesday. It is said that Turpin's spirit at the Inn is more active on Wednesdays and that his spirits wanders the winding passages of the Inn.

Several guests over the years have reported seeing the apparition of a dark figure on horseback outside the Inn, other guests have reported been woken early in the morning to see a dark figure standing at the bottom of their bed. Several customers when settling the bill have asked after a woman dressed in period clothes whom they passed in the corridor and presumed worked for the Hotel.

Staff regularly report equipment being moved or disappearing from the bar area and kitchen only to reappear several days later. Staff also report the feeling of being watched and seeing shadowy figures in their peripheral vision.

Ghosts at Sea

2011-12-22T22:57:00.001-05:00

Tales of phantom ships that sail long after sinking, ships that vanish into thin air, haunted ships, and ships that have mysteriously lost their crew.

The Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman is without a doubt the most well-known of all ghost ships. Although much of its story is legend, it is based on fact - a vessel captained by Hendrick Vanderdecken who set sail in 1680 from Ams0terdam to Batavia, a port in Dutch East India. According to the legend, Vanderdecken's ship encountered a severe storm as is was rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Vanderdecken ignored the dangers of the storm - thought by the crew to be a warning from God - and pressed on. Battered by the tempest, the ship foundered, sending all aboard to their deaths. As punishment, they say, Vanderdecken and his ship were doomed to ply the waters near the Cape for eternity. What has perpetuated this romantic legend is the fact that several people claim to have actually seen The Flying Dutchman - even into the 20th century. One of the first recorded sightings was by the captain and crew of a British ship in 1835. They recorded that they saw the phantom ship approaching in the shroud of a terrible storm. It came so close that the British crew feared the two ships might collide, but then the ghost ship suddenly vanished. The Flying Dutchman was again seen by two crewmen of the H.M.S. Bacchante in 1881. The following day, one of those men fell from the rigging to his death. As recently as March, 1939, the ghost ship was seen off the coast of South Africa by dozens of bathers who provided detailed descriptions of the ship, although most had probably never seen a 17th century merchantman. The British South Africa Annual of 1939 included the story, derived from newspaper reports: "With uncanny volition, the ship sailed steadily on as the Glencairn beachfolk stood about keenly discussing the whys and wherefores of the vessel. Just as the excitement reached its climax, however, the mystery ship vanished into thin air as strangely as it had come." The last recorded sighting was in 1942 off the coast of Cape Town. Four witnesses saw the Dutchman sail into Table Bay... and disappear.

Ghosts of the Great Lakes

• The Great Lakes are not without their ghost ships either. In September of 1678, the Griffon left Lake Michigan's Green Bay... and vanished. Yet in following years, several sailors claimed to have seen the Griffon afloat on the lake.
• The famed Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore freighter which sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 losing all 26 of its crew, was sighted by a commercial vessel 10 years later.
• A recreational diver exploring the depths of Lake Superior in 1988 came upon the wreckage of the steamer Emperor. Swimming inside the old wreck, the diver swears he saw the ghost of a crewman lying on a bunk who turned and looked at him.

Faces in the Water

James Courtney and Michael Meehan, crew members of the S.S. Watertown, were cleaning a cargo tank of the oil tanker as it sailed toward the Panama Canal from New York City in December of 1924. Through a freak accident, the two men were overcome by gas fumes and killed. As was the custom of the time, the sailors were buried at sea. But this was not the last the remaining crew members were to see of their unfortunate shipmates. The next day, and for several days thereafter, the phantom-like faces of the sailors were seen in the water following the ship. This tale might be easy to dismiss as maritime legend if it weren't for the photographic evidence. When the ship's captain, Keith Tracy, reported the strange events to his employers, the Cities Service Company, they suggested he try to photograph the eerie faces - which he did. One of those photos is shown above.

River of Death

It's understandable how a ship could be lost in the vast, deep, and volatile oceans, but how could a ship completely disappear without a trace in a river? In June, 1872, the S.S. Iron Mountain steamed out of Vicksburg, Mississippi with an on-deck cargo of bailed cotton and barrels of molasses. Heading up the Mississippi River toward its ultimate destination of Pittsburgh, the ship was also towing a line of barges. Later that day, another steamship, the Iroquois Chief, found the barges floating freely downriver. The towline had been cut. The crew of the Iroquois Chief secured the barges and waited for the Iron Mountain to arrive and recover them. But it never did. The Iron Mountain, nor any member of its crew, were ever seen again. Not one trace of a wreck or any piece of its cargo ever surfaced or floated to shore. It simply vanished.

The Queen Mary

One of the most famous of all cruise ships, the Queen Mary - now a hotel and tourist attraction - is said to be host to several ghosts. One may be the spirit of John Pedder, a 17-year-old crewman who was crushed to death by a watertight door in 1966 during a routine drill. Unexplained knocking has been heard around this door, and a tour guide reported that she saw a darkly dressed figure as she was leaving the area where Pedder had been killed. She saw his face and recognized that it was Pedder from his photographs. A mysterious woman in white has been sighted near the front desk. Typically, she disappears behind a pillar and does not reappear. Another ghost, dressed in blue-gray overalls and sporting a long beard, has been spotted in the shaft alley of the engine room. Ghostly voices and laughter have been heard by the ship's swimming pool. One employee saw the wet footprints of a child appearing on the pool deck... with no one there.

The Admiral Returns

On June 22, 1899, at exactly 3:34 p.m., the Royal Navy flagship Victoria was rammed by another ship and sank. Most of the crew was killed, including its commander, Admiral Sir George Tryon. The accident, subsequent reports determined, was caused by mistaken orders by Sir George. As the ship was sinking, he was heard by survivors to say, "It is all my fault." At the very moment of the tragic accident, Sir George's wife was hosting a party at her home in London. Not long after 3:30 p.m., several guests swore that they saw the distinguished figure of Sir George walk across the drawing room.

The Ghost of the Great Eastern

The Great Eastern was the Titanic of its day. Built in 1857, at 100,000 tons it was six times larger than any ship ever built and, like the Titanic, seemed destined for trouble. When its builders tried to launch it on January 30, 1858, it was so heavy that it jammed the launch mechanism and stopped dead. Even though it was eventually put afloat, it lay in harbor for about a year because the money had run out to finish it. The Great Eastern was then bought by the Great Ship Company, which finished it and put it out to sea. But during its sea trials, a huge ventilator explosion killed at least one man and scalded several others with boiling water. One month later, its builder, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, died of a stroke. Despite its size, the cursed ship never carried a full complement of passengers, not even on its maiden voyage. On her fourth voyage, it was badly damaged in a storm, necessitating costly repairs. In 1862, while carrying its record number of passengers - 1,500 - it sailed over an uncharted area and tore open its bottom... saved from sinking only by its double hull. On several occasions, a strange hammering noise of an unknown source could be heard far below decks. The crew said it could be heard even above the gale of a storm and sometimes woke sailors from their sleep. The ship continued to lose money for its owners, but was successful in helping lay a transatlantic cable in 1865. Better ships built for the purpose soon replaced the Great Eastern, however, and for 12 years it sat rusting until it was eventually sold for scrap metal. As it was being taken apart, the source of the ship's bad luck, perhaps (and the phantom hammering), was discovered: within the double hull was the skeleton of the master shipwright who had mysteriously disappeared during construction.

There was no sign of a struggle, violence, storm, or any other kind of disturbance. Yet its captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, his wife, his daughter, and the ship's crew of seven were gone.

The Ship That Sailed Itself

The tale of the Mary Celeste could be an article in itself, as it is one of the most famous, intriguing, and still unsolved mysteries of the sea. On December 3, 1872, the crew of the Dei Gratia, sailing from New York to Gibraltar, found the Mary Celeste floating unmanned about 600 miles west of Portugal. The ship was in perfect condition. The sails were set, its cargo of 1,700 barrels of commercial alcohol were untouched (except for one barrel, which had been opened), a breakfast meal looked as though it been abandoned in the middle of being eaten, and all of the crew's belongings remained onboard. Yet its captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, his wife, his daughter, and the ship's crew of seven were gone. Some versions of the story say that the ship's lifeboat was missing, while others say it was still in place on deck. All that seemed to be missing was the ship's chronometer, the sextant, and the cargo documents. There was no sign of a struggle, violence, storm, or any other kind of disturbance. The last entry in the ship's log was made on November 24, and made no indication of any trouble. If this ship had been abandoned soon after this entry, the Mary Celeste would have been adrift for a week and a half. But this was impossible, according to the crew of the Dei Gratia, considering the ship's position and the way its sails had been set. Someone - or something - must have worked the ship for at least several days after the final log entry. The fate of the crew of the Mary Celeste remains a mystery.

The Cursed Ship

Some ships just seem cursed with bad luck. The Amazon was christened in 1861 at Spencer Island, Nova Scotia, and just 48 hours after taking command of the ship, its captain suddenly died. On its maiden voyage, the Amazon struck a fishing weir (a fence), leaving a gash in its hull. While being repaired, the ship suffered a fire which broke out on board. Not long after, during its third Atlantic crossing, the Amazon collided with another ship. Finally, in 1867, the ill-fated ship was wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland and abandoned for salvagers. But the ship had one last date with destiny. It was raised and restored by an American company who sailed it south for sale. It was purchased in 1872 by Captain Benjamin S. Briggs who raised its sails and headed out to sea toward the Mediterranean with his family... only now the ship was renamed the Mary Celeste!

Shadow People

2011-12-20T23:54:00.002-05:00

Shadow people (also known as shadow men, shadow folk, or shadow beings) are supernatural shadow-like creatures of both modern folklore and traditional Native American beliefs. According to folklore, they appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed.

Reports of shadow people occupy a similar position in the popular consciousness to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features, wearing modern/period clothing, or attempting to communicate. Witnesses also do not report the same feelings of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Some individuals have described being menaced, chased, or in some rare instances, attacked by shadow people. There have also been reports of shadow people appearing in front of witnesses, of whom they stay there or lingering for several seconds before disappearing. Witnesses report that encounters are typically accompanied by a feeling of dread.

Appearance

Accounts of shadow people typically describe them as being black humanoid silhouettes with no discernible mouths, noses, or facial expressions, though accounts also exist of them being child-sized humanoids or shapeless masses that sometimes change to a more human like form. The eyes are usually not described as being discernible but in some reports glowing eyes are mentioned. The color of the eyes, if any, is typically given as red. Their specific form is described variously as two-dimensional shadow to a vaporous or distorted three-dimensional body (as though made out of smoke or steam). Movement is often described as being very quick and disjointed. Some witnesses describe this movement as though the shadow entities they have seen "danced" from one wall to the next, or as moving around the room "as if they were on a specific track". Rarely, they are seen "standing" in the middle of doorways or off the wall. Often they are described as being seen staring at the floor. Some accounts describe what appears to be the outline of a cloak and in some instances the outline of a 1930s style fedora hat. This last type is referred as the "hat-man".

Paranormal

A number of paranormal beliefs for shadow people have been drawn from various religions, parapsychology, metaphysics, demonology, and the occult.

Specters

One proposal is that Shadow People represent a Thoughtform (egregore), ghost or demon that was created by events in which extreme physical/emotional stress/trauma has taken place, or which have been purposefully created through black magic or other occult practices. It has also been claimed that they are unattended shadows or shades, said in some cultures to be similar to that of a ghost: a flicker of a life unable to end for some reason.

Inter Dimensional

A second belief is that they are creatures from another reality whose "dimension" occasionally overlaps with ours, allowing them to be partially visible, or that they represent creatures that exist on a separate plane of existence.

UFO

A third belief is that they are in some way related to Grey aliens, or to the Reptilian humanoids found in conspiracy beliefs such as those promoted by David Icke.

Scientific Explanations

Several scientific hypotheses have been proposed to explain sightings of shadow people, including optical illusions or hallucinations brought on by the physiological/psychological circumstances of the witnesses, drug use, and the interaction of external agents on the human body.

Pareidolia

In most instances, witnesses report seeing shadow people in the peripheral areas of their vision. This area of vision is linked to the areas of the brain that recognizes patterns, however it provides less detail to the brain than macular (center-forward) vision. This can lead to a condition known as pareidolia, in which the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns of light/shadow or texture as being familiar patterns such as faces and human forms. The same condition can also be observed in macular vision in low light conditions, or when viewing a complex but random image. A common example would be perceiving a shadow, thrown by an item of furniture in a darkened room, as being a person.

Hypnagogia

Also known as waking-sleep, hypnagogia is a documented physiological condition in which a person is part-way between sleeping and waking. During hypnogogia, a person can be conscious and aware of their environment, but also in a dream-like state where they can perceive images from their subconscious. People experiencing waking-sleep commonly report the sensation of lights or shadows moving around them, as well as other visual hallucinations. A feeling of dread is also a sensation that occurs when experiencing hypnogogia. Hypnogogia is sometimes known as 'the faces in the dark phenomenon' because those who experience this state commonly report seeing faces while experiencing waking-sleep. Similar hypotheses have been put forward linking this condition to a number of other apparent paranormal experiences, including alien abductions paranormal nocturnal visitations, and religious experiences such as contact with angels or demons.

Chemical Agents

The use of narcotics and psychotropic agents, including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (Ecstasy) and LSD, can produce shadow human shaped hallucinations. Dopaminergic drugs such as pramipexole can sometimes cause these hallucinations. Common over-the-counter medication can also have a similar effect if taken in sufficient quantity.

Electromagnetic Fields

Demonstrated in laboratory conditions, electromagnetic fields have been demonstrated to interfere with the functions of the temporal lobe; creating altered states of perception in which auditory and visual hallucinations can occur.

A second example of recreating this phenomenon in a laboratory setting, researchers used electromagnetic fields to recreate many of the experiences reported during paranormal encounters including those of shadow people. Researchers have also documented correlations between variances in naturally-occurring magnetic fields and areas where paranormal events have been reported.

Neurological Conditions

Certain neurological conditions, such as photosensitive complex partial seizures, have also been shown to cause sufferers to see shadow people.

Thought Of The Day

2011-12-20T23:04:00.003-05:00

Holiday Humor

2011-12-20T11:59:00.000-05:00

Abraham Lincoln and the Doppelgänger

2011-12-19T09:21:00.001-05:00

Doppelgänger, or "Fetch", is the ghostly double of a living person, a sinister form of bilocation.

In the vernacular, "Doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance.

Spelling

The word "doppelgänger" is a German loanword. It derives from Doppel (double) and Gänger (goer), although the German part word -gänger only occurs in compound nouns. As is true for all other common nouns in German, the word is written with an initial capital letter; English usage varies.

In English, the word is conventionally uncapitalized (doppelgänger). It is also common to drop the diacritic umlaut, writing "doppelganger." The correct alternative German spelling is "Doppelgänger."

A Famous Case

Abraham Lincoln

Carl Sandburg's biography contains the following:

A dream or illusion had haunted Lincoln at times through the winter. On the evening of his election he had thrown himself on one of the haircloth sofas at home, just after the first telegrams of November 6 had told him he was elected President, and looking into a bureau mirror across the room he saw himself full length, but with two faces.

It bothered him; he got up; the illusion vanished; but when he lay down again there in the glass again were two faces, one paler than the other. He got up again, mixed in the election excitement, forgot about it; but it came back, and haunted him. He told his wife about it; she worried too.

A few days later he tried it once more and the illusion of the two faces again registered to his eyes. But that was the last; the ghost since then wouldn't come back, he told his wife, who said it was a sign he would be elected to a second term, and the death pallor of one face meant he wouldn't live through his second term.

This is adapted from Washington in Lincoln's Time (1895) by Noah Brooks, who claimed that he had heard it from Lincoln himself on 9 November 1864, at the time of his re-election, and that he had printed an account "directly after." He also claimed that the story was confirmed by Mary Todd Lincoln, and partially confirmed by Private Secretary John Hay (who thought it dated from Lincoln's nomination, not his election). Brook’s version is as follows (in Lincoln's own words):

It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in thick and fast all day and there had been a great "hurrah, boys," so that I was well tired out, and went home to rest, throwing myself down on a lounge in my chamber. Opposite where I lay was a bureau with a swinging glass upon it (and here he got up and placed furniture to illustrate the position), and looking in that glass I saw myself reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed had two separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose of one being about three inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered, perhaps startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illusion vanished. On lying down again, I saw it a second time, plainer, if possible, than before; and then I noticed that one of the faces was a little paler — say five shades — than the other. I got up, and the thing melted away, and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about it — nearly, but not quite, for the thing would once in a while come up, and give me a little pang as if something uncomfortable had happened. When I went home again that night I told my wife about it, and a few days afterward I made the experiment again, when (with a laugh), sure enough! The thing came back again; but I never succeeded in bringing the ghost back after that, though I once tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was somewhat worried about it. She thought it was a "sign" that I was to be elected to a second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces was an omen that I should not see life through the last term.

Lincoln was known to be superstitious, and old mirrors will occasionally produce double images; whether this Janus illusion can be counted as a doppelgänger is perhaps debatable, though probably no more than other such claims of doppelgängers. An alternate consideration, however, suggests that Lincoln suffered vertical strabismus in his left eye, a disorder which could induce visions of a vertically-displaced image.