Ghost Hunting Theories

Season of Shadows Blogger's Last Post

2012-01-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Please read this post.

John is the most beloved Blogger ever. I have known him all my blogging years. I have followed his blog and called him a very dear friend. There is no one like him in the world with his love of Halloween and his huge kind heart. Please read his final post.

Thank you.

Creepy Abandoned Building With Faces

2012-01-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

In the town of Yarnell, AZ, Julie and I came across a crazy little abandoned building that looked like it was once owned by an eccentric artist.

The front door was fascinating.

While staring at the place, I looked at the vines on the window and startled and gasped when I saw a ghost-like face looking back (what whimsy!)

Then, as I studied it closer, I noticed that at the ends of the struts holding up the eaves were little wooden carved faces dried out and aged by the desert sun...

I've never had a reason to desire to live in an abandoned abode, but this would be the one I would choose. I can't explain how the place felt, except it called to me and I kept coming back and just wanting to stand there. Happy, creative energy and whimsy and a bit of spooky lingering mystery....

Just my kind of place!

Seriously, They Sell These Things!

2012-01-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

Leave it to clever Japanese to invent the gadget you never knew you needed --

Pupeko
Searching for that youthful look? Forget expensive surgery or dangerous therapies! Japan has the answer and it is as simple as it is, well, unusual. Just pop the colorful Pupeko gently into your mouth, clench your jaw and breath in and out. This will then start training and tightening your cheek and jaw muscles, helping to offset the signs of aging and bringing a fresher, youthful look back again to your cheeks!

I don't know about you, gals, but I'm thinking some smart Japanese men telling their ladies, "honey, you don't need this device. Why pay $40 bucks when we can do facial retraining for free and we both benefit from the experience?"

Road Trips With Me Are...Weird

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

So, gal pal road trips include haunted locales, stopping at every single absolutely terrifyingly creepy and abandoned place we can find. I think Julie and I beat our record this time with perhaps 50 abandoned sites we photographed. We stop anywhere and everywhere and always eat at a local diner.

When we were in Kirkland, I reached into my toiletries bag and dug the tip of my finger into a razor. Yeah, OW!!!! I was bleeding like crazy and the place had no Band-Aids. So, I did like I normally do, I rigged something. I tore a panty liner down the middle and wrapped it around my finger and to keep it on all night, I took a hair scrunchy and wrapped it around that a few times. It worked like a charm.

The next morning, we decided to go to Skull Valley...because it was there. We heard it was 7 miles down the road and when you have a place with that name, you must go investigate...We ended up finding that the town was much more organized than other towns we had passed through. It not only had a grocery, gas station and diner, but the citizens kept the place in flawless shape. It was the most charming find ever on a road trip. Oh, and the diner breakfast--SUPREME! (and the coffee was good too)Well, like every trip, we happened upon, well SQUATCH!!!Oh, and a giant frog (just a typical trip)....

Scary Place: Haunted Desert Location

2012-01-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Julie and I went to a wicked out-of-the-way historic locale for a little impromptu ghost hunt and urban exploration road trek.

We went to a location called Kirkland, AZ and a particular historic building called the Kirkland Bar and Steakhouse. (This is actually up for sale, folks)

This old site had the top floor burn down long ago. It was a bordello and a Well's Fargo stop. In fact, the safe is still inside a concrete room from 1880.

In one of the dining halls, the 18-20 foot high ceiling had finger prints and dragging finger marks show up on the ceiling.

A madam named Mary had her throat slit in 1916. She is seen in the dance floor area. Here's the charming and creepy story... The restaurant bought some wood from a chicken coup in nearby Skull Valley. It was put onto the walls of the dance floor area and over time, Mary's face showed up on the wood and gets darker and more prominent over time --

People have reported photographic anomalies. I got one myself. I take meticulous steps when photographing and I cannot explain it. I took the shot again just to be sure and it was gone.

We did some EVP sessions that I have yet to listen to -- so many photos and videos! One room supposedly had a man ghost seen there and even photographed. I didn't get anything, but we did hear music a few times during the night that we were warned about. Considering the place is in the middle of nowhere and there are no TVs or music in the rooms--very rustic, and we were the only guests--it was pretty impressive.The place was amazing and what a history and active feeling site. I hope to go back and do a full study there. It warrants further investigation.

At one point, I put some music on the jukebox -

I sat down on the sofa and talked to the bartender and Julie when I kept looking behind me. I had an image in my mind of a tall, slender, gaunt-looking cowboy, thumbs in his back pockets of his jeans, leaning forward, stoop shouldered, to listen to us talk. I could see in my mind a light gray hat, thick hair and mustache of a light color and sunken cheeks, weatherworn skin. I don't know why I got such a strong visual, but I kept looking to see if he was there. The place is double thumbs up for an amazing AZ historic haunted find.

God Shine

2012-01-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Just finished an INSANE road trip that I can't wait to share the vids and pics from - a very out of the way crazy haunted location out in the middle of nowhere in the desert and tons of abandoned sites.

Here's a teaser. I took pics of churches with the suns rays on them in a bunch of nowhere towns.

I call it God Shine. Enjoy!

Earth 2: Best Short-Run SciFi Show

2012-01-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

I admit, I love 1950s SciFi, perhaps because it usually involved things coming to Earth and causing problems, but I rarely have gotten into space travel SciFi because it often gets so high-tech it loses all organic nuances that are part of the human condition.

My son was little when a SciFi show came on called "Earth 2" and after seeing one episode, we were hooked. Sort of imagine "Lost" with a space theme and a large cast of name actors. It was on a rough planet, very apocalyptic and super creepy/scary.

It ran for less than a year, 22 episodes, in 94/95.

Here was the plot per Wikipedia's good description:

In 2192,most of the human population had fled Earth to live on large orbiting space stations. Only a small number of humans remain on the Earth’s surface as the Earth had become mostly uninhabitable.

Billionaire Devon Adair's eight-year-old son, Ulysses Adair, had contracted a rare but fatal disease called "the syndrome",a condition whose existence is not acknowledged by the government and medical community. It is theorized that this disease, which affects only children, is somehow caused by the lack of an Earth-like environment. Most children who are born with the disease do not live past the age of nine.

Desperate to save her son, Devon puts together a group who will pioneer the effort to settle a planet 22 light-years away from Earth, on which other families with members thus afflicted can settle. The eventual colonization of the planet, however, is opposed by the government. Secret monitoring and agent infiltration threaten the creation of the colony of New Pacifica. Hours before Adair's group intends to leave, a bomb is discovered, set to explode the hour the ship would leave. The Eden Project leaves immediately, jettisoning the bomb before detonation. In "The Church of Morgan", it is revealed this bomb was planted by the Council to stop the ship from leaving.

Twenty-two years later, the ship arrives at G889, but it crash lands^[16] shortly after arrival on the side of the planet opposite of the original plan. With her group scattered on the planet and supplies missing, Devon begins heading west to the planned site of New Pacifica.
During their travels, Adair and her companions learn that the Council—a government group that seems to wield most of the power on the space stations—wants to gain control of G889 for resettlement. But through their various experiments, they have learned that they cannot remove one of the planet's native species—a race called the Terrians—without killing the planet itself. (This is a nod to the Gaia hypothesis.) This complicates matters, because Devon's son, who has been healed by the Terrians and who had begun to exhibit some of their unique characteristics, has become the key to the Council's plan for the planet.

Here's some samples below of the show. I really miss it!

Cemetery Safety Bells & Death Mementos

2012-01-26T02:30:00.000-08:00

During the cholera epidemic in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, people feared being buried when they weren't completely dead. Many reported digging up graves of loved ones to find signs they fought inside the coffin to get out. As this would nearly be an impossibility with the weight of the earth on the coffin and lack of oxygen, the rumors did start hysteria. Patents were put out for these bells that would allow the newly awakened buried person to pull a string, ring a bell above ground that the groundskeeper could hear. Imagine how freaking chilling that would be to actually hear one go off? I had an idea for a zombie story about that but never got around to it.

The first recorded safety coffin was constructed on the orders of Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick before his death in 1792. He had a window installed to allow light in, an air tube to provide a supply of fresh air, and instead of having the lid nailed down he had a lock fitted. In a special pocket of his shroud he had two keys, one for the coffin lid and a second for the tomb door.

Glendale, CA: GLENDALE - For sale: 123-year-old, padlocked cemetery with overgrown weeds and the remains of 40,000. Fire Department says it's a hazard, city says it's a public nuisance. Fixer-upper. Owner must sell. $1 million, or best offer. Any takers? State officials are forcing the sale of embattled Grand View Memorial Park after finding that late owner Marsha Howard resold grave plots, improperly disposed of the cremated remains of thousands of people and left the once-sparkling mausoleum and its surrounding property in shambles. David Baum, attorney for principal owner Moshe Goldsman, said his client has sent out fliers and hired a real estate attorney to sell the cemetery. But so far, nothing.

Want something super creepy? How about gruesome embalming and mortuary pics?

Want to buy a piece of a cemetery? How about popular architectural salvage stores like Relics in Phoenix where they often times get headstones from cemeteries.

How about a vintage wheelchair like the one in "The Changeling"?

Hair wreaths from the 1800s were popular mementos. Hair from the deceased was woven and put into a picture frame.

From headstones to rusted gates, old stone statues and mortuary tools, from coffins you can make into coffin tables to old gurneys that can be turned into buffet tables, there are a lot of inspiring and creepy cemetery-related items one can collect. Oh, and if you're into magic spells, don't forget your coffin nails and graveyard dirt!

Tonight on Syfy

2012-01-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

"Ghost Hunters" and "Face Off" are on Syfy tonight!In Ghost Hunters, TAPS takes their cameras under water in Tennessee to search a graveyard that’s said to be cursed by a fallen Indian Chief. Jason and Grant are seen traveling by boat to a mausoleum the Indian Chief is said to cause disturbance. The team places their camera in a water proof container and gets as close to entrance as possible when all of a sudden to see something pop out from down under. Watch the all new sneak peek and tune in to a new episode Wednesday, January 25the to find out what it could be!In Face Off, the competition heats up as the final 12 contestants vie for rock album cover at immorality. While some are well on their way to finishing their pieces, Tara and Brea face some unexpected challenges with theirs. With only a few minutes left on the clock, these contestants are left having to think fast about how to handle their situations.

"Dark Minds" Investigation Discovery Channel

2012-01-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

A new show on Investigation Discovery Channel called "Dark Minds" is a crazy catch-a-killer show. In one episode, a profiler uses a serial killer in a Hannibal Lecter-like scenario to figure out who a killer is. In another episode, a man who is a mystery writer wants to solve his sister-in-law's real life murder.

Tonight's episode is crime author M. William Phelps and Criminal Profiler John Kelly revisit unsolved homicides believed to be the work of serial killers. Joining them in the hunt for answers is an unlikely and anonymous source, a killer.

What Is That Wacky Redhead Up To Now?

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

So, let me update you ...

Things have been very hectic, but I am somehow keeping up with it all.

"Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse" is being released in April in print. In April, Julie and I begin shooting the 1960s version of it (the first one was a 50s version). The premise is so over the top that you would roar with laughter if I confessed it. Perhaps I will share it sometime soon. Suffice to say, I will be Colleen, the groovy Nancy Sinatra gal and Julie will be Blossom the hippie gal.

My book "Growing Up With Ghosts" with my own and my family's accounts of the haunting incidents at Aspen Grove is very close to being done -- about 10 more pages. Then, I begin the edit. I have enjoyed writing this book more than any other, trying to bring these incidents to life for the reader and to show what it's like to grow up in a haunted home from baby-age to teens. You will understand a lot about my drive behind investigating the paranormal.

Also plotted out --

"Pararnormal Geeks" Please contact me if you want to anonymously be interviewed for this book. It's about all degrees and types of people into paranormal subjects.

"Spirit Vessels: Why Some Buildings Are Haunted" This has been on hold a while until Julie and I can find the means to get to West Virginia since the book is based on Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.

"They Come Out At Night" About all things that are nighttime from lunacy to nightmares, fear of the dark to specters, vampires to werewolves...

"Seance In An Abandoned House" A book that combines beautiful photography in abandoned places at night with posed vignettes and ghostly images and short stories to accompany them.

I have joined a local ghost hunting team that I respect the hell out of, API (Arizona Paranormal Investigations) I will not share house call cases, but I would like to share the experiments we will be doing at some public haunted locales from jails to B&Bs and more.

Expect very soon on the blog to see a slew of photos and videos done on a recent road trip. I hope to blow your minds.

How is my love life? Well, I don't lack males wanting to hang with me, but I am keeping myself too busy to concentrate on that aspect right now. It doesn't mean I don't have a delicious crush from afar...

"Maximum Overdrive" Reviewed

2012-01-25T02:30:00.000-08:00

"Maximum Overdrive" is a 1986 movie with an impressive cast; Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Yeardley Smith, and more faces you will recognize.

This technology-goes-awry theme is played out nicely. Like most movies, it sets up the characters who will be trapped together--a nice mix that doesn't mix nicely (think of "The Mist" or "Langoliers").

Stephen King actually directed this one himself. I understand as a writer that desire. I would love to direct a movie made from "Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse" because as I worked on it, I saw how it would play out; however, someone without technical know-how about cameras and editing, this can be rough. Still, the premise of this movie makes it totally rock. We all wonder what would happen if technology went after us and nowadays with out technology being much more advanced than 25 years ago, it would be fun to see this redone and I normally am not into remakes--but definitely worth it in this case because the original movie was not a beautifully done one and an update would make it oh so creepy!

I would like to thank Mr. King for the usage of the AC/DC tune "Who Made Who." You know how pretty women and puppies sell on commercials? Well, movies just have more impact with a kicking soundtrack!If you enjoyed "Joy Ride," "Duel," "Tremors," or "Hitcher," you will enjoy this one. It's just a fun watch!

666 Followers!

2012-01-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

I just made the magical 666 followers!

My "family" thanks you for the 666th follower!

Iron Maiden

Scapeghosts

2012-01-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

I talked extensively in my book, "Was That a Ghost?" about the use of a ghost as a scapegoat within a trouble family dynamic. The "scapeghost" as I like to call it, is blamed for everything that no one wants to deal with in their relationships. A trouble rebellious teen suddenly is on the parents' team as a cohesive group for the first time since the social issues began, simply because they are up against a ghost and that ghost is responsible for all the bad feelings in the home.

It is human nature when one feels nervous or angry or sad to want to explain it. We struggle to look around us for the reason for that feeling. Here's an example from the fantastic book "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns:

A man has a girlfriend. She wants to go to her high school region. He has to stay home and study. He says "go ahead, have a good time." She leaves and instead of recognizing his feelings of insecurity at her meeting her old boyfriends, he focuses on a bruise on his skin. Then, he starts to focus on his body signals and pretty soon he's convinced he has AIDs, even though he has no risk factors. He needed a reason for the feelings of doom. Now, he has a "legitimate" reason for feeling poorly instead of the real issue--jealousy.

Here's an extreme case of scapeghost:

(From this article) JANUARY 20--A Wisconsin man charged with domestic abuse told cops that a “ghost” was actually responsible for injuries suffered by his wife, according to police.
The bizarre claim by Michael West, 41, did not prevent the Fond du Lac man’s arrest for strangulation, battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. West is pictured in the mug shot at right.

According to a January 18 criminal complaint, West and his spouse got into an argument Sunday that turned violent. The victim told cops that West twice strangled her, and that he punched her in the face when she tried to dial 911.

When cops arrived at the couple’s home, the crying woman was bleeding from the nose and had blood on her Packers jersey.

During police questioning, West claimed his wife sustained her injuries to her face and neck during several falls. When pressed by a cop--who pointed to marks on the woman’s neck--the intoxicated West shifted his story. “A ghost did it,” he said.

When working on a house-call case, investigators have to first and foremost determine if it is only one family member who is either witnessing the phenomena (and what context-like sleep) and how the others in the family are reacting to that situation--are they rallying around that member to support them and feel lots of empathy or is it causing a rift? These are very telling signs.

Attention-seeking is probably present in about 85% of the cases I've dealt with. Sometimes, it comes in the form of hoping they get on a paranormal TV show or wanting to have bragging rights or attention from family and friends who say "oh, poor you" and sympathize. Some also enjoy thinking that something has its attention focused on them when others around them ignore them. These folks do not want to get rid of the activity, but they want someone to confirm its existence so they can continue the histrionics and get sympathy from others who are skeptical.

These human dynamics are tricky in ghost hunting cases, especially since humans are the main interpreters of ghostly phenomena with all the limits of our 5 senses and the unpracticed confusion of using the 6th sense.

Scapeghosts are a phenomena that hunters the world over know and recognize. We have to deal with it daily. Wading through those murky waters to find out if there is a genuine haunting is complicated. Sometimes, a genuine haunting is overshadowed by the gains certain family members get blaming the ghost for everything from lost car keys to arguments and changes in the son's behavior.

Welcome to the true reality of paranormal investigation and the very real part that scapeghosts play in the investigations.

What Makes a Good Werewolf Story?

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Location and Legend!

I’m writing an erotic horror novella dealing with werewolves. It came to my mind as I wrote a werewolf story that this subject never seems to run out of steam. It’s like zombies and vampires, except that both of them are undead. A werewolf is technically man and beast.

This concept compels me even more.

The animal side of man has the needs to eat, sleep, drink, seek protection from the elements and mate. In his human state and being reasonable and with conscience, he gets a job to pay for the things he needs, finds someone to marry, decides how many children to create, what to eat for supper.

The werewolf, however, has these needs and has no conscience about gaining them by killing, stealing and raping.

Like the “is Bigfoot man or ape?” dilemma, we have to wonder; is a werewolf more wolf or more man? It walks on two feet but it looks like a wolf. Hmm… Which takes precedence for him?

They are most often portrayed as more wolf than man. There is a man host and it walks on two legs, but all else man-like qualities are overridden by the wolf. What if a werewolf were portrayed as having a conscience? Showing intelligence? Or able to hold out on instant gratification?

A good and inventive werewolf story should give us an element we haven’t seen yet.

For my novel, I used the angle of Scottish Pagans settling a mountaintop in West Virginia in the early 1800s, choosing the location because the rock within the mountain; limestone, quartz, and granite; all ideal for enhancing their magic. But, what happened if someone got bit by a wolf in the woods seeped with centuries of spellbinding amplified by the rock?

Sound familiar? Yes! I use a lot of my ghost hunting theories in my writing. I’ve often associated good geology with haunted locations, as in my haunted formula I invented the summer if 2009.

Now, my story has a new element—magic and there becomes an issue of magical woods becoming corrupted by this beast that’s killing within, shedding blood on the stones and forever changing the rock’s magic steeped by the clans.

I’ve established a location; the magical thicket and a legend about how the wolf came to be. If I do a good job tying those two important features together with atmosphere and gore, I've achieved the right balance.

Location and legend appear to be the two elements most critical to a good wolf story. A werewolf is an amazingly hard to believe creature, but if you were to drop him in the city where a wild animal wouldn’t normally be, you’ve now asked the audience to suspend their belief system two times over. (Remember when they did a movie putting “Predator” in the city—godawful! Or when they brought the dinosaurs from to our shores in the second “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” installment?) I’m not cool with city werewolves, though I’m sure it could be done in an interesting urban way, it just doesn’t scare me to think of a wolf running around with pushers and pimps, robbers and prostitutes. There’s no contrast between evil and evil-er.

I admittedly liked certain werewolf movies purely for location, such as “The Howling” with the camp in the California mountains that leant itself to the concept of a commune of wolf-people. The wolf itself looked rather comical and tazmanian-devilish, but the location was prime! I also enjoyed “The Howling V” but that was because it took place in a castle. Not a bad location to lock up a wolf and let him feast in the corridors and hidden rooms. Ultimately, the woods are the wolf’s domain. Part of what scares us the most about werewolf stories is that people feel vulnerable in the woods to predators, but to have one that can run on two feet and is powerful—that’s really frightening. You’re in his territory, no help available, and he’s giving chase.

The legend of the werewolf is critical too. “Blood and Chocolate” did a neat job of giving us some background on a culture of people/wolves. Too many werewolf stories and movies have a simple bite turning into a full-moon maniac scenario. It has no cultural or mythological basis to seep it in generations of fear and cult-like fervor. We really want to believe this is possible and we really need the cult and the legend to mystify it for us.

It’s the loss of humanity in a werewolf who still looks rather human and sometimes by daylight is still human, that truly fascinates us. The werewolf is the conscienceless Michael Meyers but with teeth instead of a knife and actually more feasible than a dude who can’t be killed but is mortal…(never understood that one)

When going to movie form, I admit that I prefer my werewolf to mechanically transform. If you have to show full-frontal morphing, please do it like “An American Werewolf in London.” It should look organic and technically difficult. If a moviemaker wants to CGI the transformation, they’ve lost me. It’s too smooth and slick and too cartoonish. I want to hear agony and crunching and cracking sounds. To grow a snout—it can’t be easy.

I believe it comes down to the cult and legend of the werewolf and the location in which he is let loose to prowl that ultimately make the werewolf story.

Oh, and another thing, forget the full moon bullshit. I don’t want my werewolf coming out once every month!

Autumnforest Crush: Elon Musk

2012-01-24T02:30:00.000-08:00

(Wikipedia) Elon Musk (born June 28, 1971) is an American engineer and entrepreneur best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity. Musk is best known for having created the first viable production electric car of the modern era (Tesla Roadster), for designing a private successor to the Space Shuttle (F9/Dragon) and creating the world's largest Internet payment system (PayPal).

I really appreciate people who see the way the world could go and leads it, even if the world isn't ready. I suspect he's not an innovator for purely humanitarian reasons, Elon just gets that our needs are changing, like the online PayPal needs and the needs for alternative powered vehicles. He's articulate, innovative, assertive, and rather cute (though I'm not big on baby-faced guys). I'm admittedly curious what he will come up with next... a Bigfoot trap? a car engine that turns off if someone uses their cell phone inside? Hmmm.....

What Makes a Good Haunted House Movie?

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

There are some great haunted house movies out there (not enough if you ask me). As someone who grew up in an active home, I know that I have to set aside my experience and not ridicule movies that don't seem to accurately portray the reality. Instead, I focus on the elements that are critical for the movie to be on my top fav list.

Here's 5 elements I find crucial to a great haunted house movie -

Setting For a haunted house movie to make it, it's going to have to seem like a haunted house. In other words, no ultra-modern loft in New York, but perhaps some farmhouse or Victorian era home with quirks and unusual architecture. Some movies like "Rose Red," the remake of "The Haunting," and "The Nesting" had wicked awesome homes, but the movies just didn't carry the setting. You can't expect a house alone to carry the plot. The movie "13 Ghosts" remake had the house as part of the mechanism that kept the 13 ghosts locked in and when it wasn't guarding them any longer, they were free to terrorize the occupants. It's not what you know about the house that gets you, it's the secret it holds....

Mood You cannot have a truly good haunted house movie in daylight continuously, bright lights and cheeriness. The scariest times and places for a haunted house are stormy/darkness/nightfall, and those forbidden nooks and crannies from closets, like "Poltergeist" and attics and basements. Music is vital to horror movies in general, but haunted house movies need a good building background of sounds that enhance the mood even more. Those moments of silence contrast and cause us to hold our breath....

Characters A haunted house happens to a family, sometimes to someone moving in alone, but generally there should be enough varied characters that there is a skeptic among them, one who is vulnerable, one who is a brave idiot who rushes in to be the hero. It never matters so much what happens to the people living in the haunted house, it's how each character handles it that makes us relate. When the character has that "I admit the place is haunted" moment, we take their side on the quest for answers and resolution. Think of the character of John Russell in "The Changeling." He set out to right a wrong made long ago in the hopes of representing a ghost and creating peace in his home. His stubborn desire had him getting into lots of trouble with a senator and with the law as he sneaked into a home to dig through the floorboards. A man who was once grieving the loss of his wife and child, was now on a mission with consuming passion and bravery.

History Haunted houses don't just happen. They have a history. Making that history enough to create a lack of resolution is key. Movies like "Amityville Horror" missed the boat with their explanations. They threw a lot of ideas out there and hoped one would stick--was it Indian land, the portal to hell, and the site of a mass murder? One of those surely must have created the havoc. Instead, it left the watcher ambivalent about who was the enemy.

Battles Homeowners don't just walk away from a haunted house or else you have, well, no story. So, why do they stay? What do they do to try to fix things? What is the solution? In "Legend of Hell House" the scientist tried a machine to drive away spirits. In "Poltergeist" they brought in a ghost hunting team and then a psychic medium. There are little battles, those moments when someone catches a glimpse of a figure, a voice, an object movies, but the degree of assault by the unseen forces escalates. These different battles and then attempts at resolution are what keeps the audience curled up in their seats, feet tucked under, waiting to see what it takes to make the owners go on the attack.

My top list in no particular order below. You will probably notice some big-name haunted house movies aren't on here such as "Paranormal Activity," "Amityville Horror" and "Poltergeist." Although these movies were entertaining, they did miss an element of believability or clarity about what they were fighting, the mood, setting or characters were not enticing enough. The ones I list here on my top favs are based on the overall quality of those five elements.

Insidious

The Haunting

The Legend of Hell House

The Changeling

Paranormal News: Autumnforest Views

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Chinese tourists taking video through glass into a cathedral in Scotland got what they think is the image of Princess Di's ghost.

Well, as an investigator, I can tell you that pariedolia (seeing shapes and interpreting them as an object) is so common, it can make you cross-eyed dealing with it. Here's a great example. Do you see the head of Jesus on this photo below?

Look closer. It's a couple holding a baby on the father's lap. The baby is wearing a bonnet which makes what looks like Jesus's forehead and the baby's shadowed face is what looks like Jesus's eye socket.

Baby Bigfoot swinging in a tree? Look at the tree's response to the "swinging baby ape?" A black trash bag from the campground caught in the tree--the tree does not move. It is obviously caught on a branch and fluttering. It catches the breeze easily like a lightweight sail.

Finding Bigfoot Reviewed

2012-01-23T02:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, Patty in the picture above is giving you the finger. She's still staying nice and hidden and taunting us, causing us all to curse, "F'ing Bigfoot!"

Well, last night I did live blogging at Bigfoot Evidence. Holy smokes! The blogger, Shawn, gave commentary of what was occurring during the episode and he let me just have at it for poking fun of the show while taking a sip of beer for every "Squatch" they say.

Squatch count? 47 (that's 6 more than last week and I am going to blame Matt-in one sentence, he can say it 4 times!)

This was a gorgeous setting and I so enjoyed the Native American portion of it, I wish they'd do a BF show with them as the characters using a spiritual-tracking-at-one-with-nature approach but not like that granola-eating, sandal-wearing Todd Standing. If you're intrigued by his "standing" on Bigfoot, you gotta check out his entertaining site. It's a hoot! I'm calling him the David Koresh of the BF world. I think he believes he's building a cult amongst the BFs.

The location was so damn cold and snowy in the "warm" season that it seemed like they should have left BF a nice huge fur coat and then he might have shown himself. The witnesses weren't too exciting, but the one who said he was camping and BF whizzed on his tent was pretty convincing. It's good to know too that the stream was heavy and steady--healthy prostate.

It didn't have a lot of convincing anything in this episode, but I seriously don't care if they study a strip of woods behind a subdivision in Cleveland. I'm happy to see these guys on the road being who they are, saying hilarious assumptions about the habits of BF, trying new tricks like the mechanical deer, and screaming like a bunch of wusses riding a zipline.

Finding Bigfoot Tonight on Travel Channel

2012-01-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of F'ing Bigfoot on Animal Planet takes us to the Canadian Rockies! Eh?

As I have been doing every week, I will be doing live blogging on "Bigfoot Evidence" with Shawn from the blog giving commentary on the action of the show while I, well, make some smartass comments and goofy remarks. I also have to take a sip of beer for every "squatch." Last week they said it 41 times! Yikes! Don't worry if y'all are in the east and it's 1 a.m. when we're doing this--it will be on his site to read tomorrow.

Here's tonight's snack recipe -

Pinwheels & Pickles
Flour TortillasCream cheeseBuffalo sauceThin slices of turkeyshredded carrotgherkin picklesSpread cream cheese on a tortilla,sprinkle with buffalo sauce, lay down a few slices thin turkey, sprinkle with shredded carrot.Roll this up firmly and wrap in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Take off plastic wrap and slice into 1" thick slices and place on plate with pickles.Tomorrow expect me to have a review of the show.

10 Creepy Abandoned Towns

2012-01-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that we leave towns abandoned, but the majority of abandoned towns are because of either destruction by radiation, volcanoes, or toxicity or they were once mining towns gone bust. Here's 10 intriguing ones from around the world.

Hashima Island, Japan This island was used for coal mining and closed down in 1974 with everyone moving away to find jobs and resources.

Centralia, PennsylvaniaDue to fires in the coal mines beneath the ground being toxic, the residents had to move. It has been burning for 40 years and will continue to burn for the foreseeable future.

Kolmanskop, Namibia AfricaThis diamond mining town was run by Germans and built into a little German-looking village. It was abandoned in 1954. Destination Truth did a cool episode here.

Humberstone and Santa Laura, ChileBoth of these desert mining towns were shut down in 1960. A fantastic episode of Destination Truth was done in these neighboring towns.

Prypiat, Ukraine (Chernobyl)Abandoned after the meltdown at Chernobyl in the 1980s. Destination Truth did a great episode here.

Varosha, Cyprus This tourist town was abandoned during an invasion by Turkey in the mid 1970s.

Balaklava Submarine Base, RussiaThis sub based was closed in 1996.

Pyramiden, SwedenAn abandoned Russian coal mining town and closed in 1998.

Sewell, Chile This mining town shut down around 1977.

Ruby, ArizonaThis mining town closed down in 1941

Is Bigfoot Flesh and Blood?

2012-01-22T02:30:00.002-08:00

A lot of people complain, "why don't we have physical evidence of the cryptid if it exists?" The very elusiveness of the Sasquatch has brought about some intriguing theories to satisfy those who believe but cannot provide proof:

UFOs are also sighted where BF is seen, so he must be a visiting alien.

He is interdimensional, which is why he can show up and then vanish.

He is a Native American shapeshifter/wendigo.

He is the residual ghostly image of a being that once lived in America but is extinct now.

There is a lack of open-mindedness and a bit of downright snobbery amongst the Bigfoot enthusiasts. Sure, it's fine to believe in a (as of now) mythical creature in the woods that we haven't yet captured, but they draw the line at other explanations for these sightings. No one should cast stones in the field of research because tossing out theories is one way we learn to discern what something is by excluding what it probably is not.

Given that there are footprints and odors associated with BF sightings often, the concept of a residual ghost is less likely.

Now, if a spaceship is stopping and dropping off BFs so they can have a roadside potty break, I'd think we wouldn't just have people reporting UFOs in the area, we'd have them reporting them landing in the woods or hovering over them. Since this is a rather extraordinary explanation that involves enormous travel across the galaxy, aliens and biological creatures being dropped into the woods, I'd say this doesn't follow Occam's Razor, i.e. the easiest explanation is the most likely.

So far as Wendigos and Shapeshifters, you have my attention there because we are talking about a creature seen most often in conjunction with Reservation land, but still the concept that a human can add so much mass upon transforming is rather mystical. If one were to follow this belief, he would have to include that these shapeshifters can skew our perceptions so that we think we are seeing something they are imitating.

Given that it appears to have hair it leaves behind, footprints, odor, screams, and tree limb breaks, we must assume this is a biological life form and the odors are good old bacteria and musk that all creatures in the wild are susceptible to (as well as humans).

I am of the "it's a real cryptid" camp, but I am not going to shoot down anyone who has other takes on it. Sometimes, to believe in something, you must change around the explanation so it fits your style, kind of like billions of people believing in God, but having many religions. All things lead to Him, but by different avenues of perception.

Quiz: Which Horror Monster Could Be Your Best Buddy

2012-01-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

(**Tonight on Travel Channel is "Legends of the Ozarks" at 7 pm Central Time--a show about the legendary and creepy creatures reported there)

It's that time again for another quiz, my dearies! Count your a's, b's, c's and d's and see which one you have the most of, scroll down and find out which movie monster would make a great sidekick for you.

1. In school, I tended to hang with....
a. Goths/artists
b. Outdoorsy types/jocks.
c. The outcasts.
d. The leaders.

2. My sense of humor expresses itself....
a. Sexual in nature, bawdy stuff makes me laugh.
b. Hysterical, doubled over easily.
c. Light chuckle or smile, mildly amused.
d. I tend to laugh when it's humor making fun of others stupidity.

3. I prefer social gatherings where....
a. People can talk one on one.
b. There is an activity or sport involved.
c. Watching a game or movie.
d. Someone is leading the agenda so it's organized.

4. Music I like best....
a. Sexy, moody.
b. Rock, fast hard beat.
c. Heavy metal, thrasher.
d. Symphony.

5. My idea of fun involves....
a. Hanging out at night, bars, clubs.
b. Outdoorsy stuff, camping, fishing, hiking.
c. Watching TV.
d. Going places,road trips.

Now, count your a's, b's, c's and d's and see what you get the most of. If you get a tie of say 2 a's 2 b's and 1 c, then look at the "c" answer and figure out whether your second choice is a or b. Scroll down and find out what horror monster would make a great companion and sidekick for you....

a. Vampire.
b. Werewolf.
c. Frankenstein.
d. Godzilla.

Fear of the Dark

2012-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Nyctophobia- Fear of darkness or night

We have it when we are usually 2-3 years old and possess an imagination at that point, but too young to understand that imagination isn't real.

Still, as adults, those who love horror movies know something else that ties back to those years of fear of the dark, that we can imagine something scary and react to it, heart beating, palms sweating, jumping and hiding.

Technically, do we ever learn to distinguish imagination from real threat? Here's just some movies about the dark that might make you wonder....

"Darkness Falls"

"Pitch Black"

"30 Days of Night"

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"

Oily Man: Orang Minyak

2012-01-21T02:30:00.000-08:00

(1976 "The Oily Maniac")

A rural district in Malaysia has a legend of the oily man (aka Orang Minyak).

For some locals, he is considered a supernatural creature and for others he is a warlock who coats himself in oil to be impossible to catch.

He is said to leave an oily trail.

What does he do? Sometimes, he steals items from villagers, and he is most notably associated with the rape of village virgins.

The citizens actually take turns with machetes guarding their village and the virgins.

Kampung Laksamana has reported continual problems with orang minyaks. Citizens report, "one is tall, stocky and bald while the other is thin and curly haired."

"I saw the bald orang minyak hiding behind the water tank of a house at about two in the morning. It was breathing really loudly, like a cow." A resident, Aslam Khan reported. "It was black and shiny. When I shone my light on it, the thing stuck out its head to look back at me. Before I could do anything, it climbed up the roof and disappeared."

Khan reported they also found the possible spot where the orang minyak conducts its ritual of reciting jampi (mantra) and having an oil bath. The villagers stumbled across the spot after chasing the orang minyak into some bushes next to the flat [...] The residents have been carrying out patrols from midnight to dawn. Every now and then, a team of youngsters can be seen riding their motorbikes in a convoy around the neighborhood.

If this is an urban legend, it is really creative and creepy!

Blast From the Past: Fast Food Freaks

2012-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah, this commercial was in the 80s, before McDonald's got known as MickeyD's and had a huge ball bin crowd. I wonder how Wayne Newton felt about this?

 Colon

This is back when they actually called themselves Kentucky Fried Chicken instead of KFC

Burger King 1982They used to run our Saturday morning cartoon viewing with sponsors of lots of fast food places.

Life Philosophy

2012-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Everyone has rules they play by in life, whether they realize it or not. Here's mine:

Threefold rule: What you send out, comes back three times over.

The World: The world was here before I arrived and will be here long after I am gone. It is not up to the world and the people in it to adjust to my needs or my expectations, it is for me to adjust to it.

Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Ride of Life: You cannot smooth out the surf, but you can learn to ride the waves.

Zen: The way you do anything is the way you do everything.

I have these posted and every time I have an issue in my life, I refer to these. Someone wasn't being nice to me - "The World" is fitting. No, people will not do the nice thing, the considerate thing, or the sane thing, at least as how I see sane, nice, or considerate.

I had a crazy day and got tons of phone calls while trying to work, the apartment is a mess, I'm behind on my writing goal -- the "Ride of Life" rule. I just take the crazy chaos of the day and realize that I might have set out to do one kind of day, but now I have a different one to work with. Those who adapt to change live the longest and happiest lives. Don't fight it, just look at it like McGuyver and dive in to the new reality.

I hope this post helps you look at your own lives and what rules you would like to live by and which ones you actually use and aren't aware of. These guiding forces will give you a happy and productive life.

It results in this delicious prize called karma. It tastes sweet to those who use their rules to guide their decisions, and bitter to those who do not.

Freaky Friday: Lawn Gnomes

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Lawn gnomes are cheerful and yet...creepy. They are garden dwarfs whose origin was in 19th Century Germany. Even though they are best known as happy little garden statues that are protectors of our prize begonias and daisies, they are also considered the object of pranking or "gnoming" someone.

I even devoted a horror short story in my anthology, "Don't Go There! A Flash Horror Anthology" because, well, you never know what they're doing at night while you're sleeping....

Paraphilias: Fetish Lifestyles

2012-01-20T02:30:00.002-08:00

In looking into the human condition and the many ways in which we can exist from extreme religion to extreme liberalism, from communism to buddhism, from outgoing to introverted, from dark and goth to bright and perky, there are so many other subtleties of our ways of being that it does not surprise me at all that there are hauntings and residuals of the emotions and the conditions in which people have lived in an environment. Sometimes our anguish is held inside, sometimes our joy is exuberant, but no matter what our emotions, our obsessions are equally intense and leave a residual. Just imagine the kinds of things the house would say if the walls could talk for paraphiliacs....

Paraphilias: (Wikipedia) Biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her. A paraphilia involves sexual arousal and gratification towards sexual behavior that is atypical or extreme.

Diaper fetish. This can be part of sexual masochism and punishment of wearing a diaper. For some, it is playacting helplessness and dependence. For some it is infantilism. For others, it can be a rubber or plastic fetish, as in wearing rubber or plastic bottoms. Sometimes, it is a part of a bondage and submission scenario played out by two willing partners. This also can include the spectrum of those who like to watch urination or be urinated upon.

Looners. These are the unique individuals who like to pop balloons. They find that the anxiety and loud sound and dangerous feeling actually stimulate their arousal.

Plushophilia "Furries": (Wikipedia) Pornography and sexual activity involving animal anthropomorphism (including plushophilia and paraphilias involving fursuits and cartoon animals) is known in the furry fandom community as "yiff" (and sexual acts as "yiffing")Feet

Paranormal Trauma

2012-01-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Bio Channel

For many, having a paranormal or unexplained experience can be intriguing and exciting. For others, it can be traumatizing... sometimes to a debilitating point in their lives. Issues such as fears/phobias, nightmares, insomnia, withdrawal/isolative behaviors, difficulties at work or at home, disconnect from family/friends can result. As with any trauma, the effects can take an emotional and sometimes physical toll. But with therapeutic assistance, you don’t have to let the effects overwhelm your life. You can overcome it. This documentary-type show is aimed at helping those who’ve been traumatized by a past paranormal or supernatural encounter. The program will be driven by the personal stories of individuals who are struggling to cope with the emotional and unsettling aftermath of their experience(s). They will have an opportunity to work one-on-one with a therapist specialized in trauma in working through their fears and anxiety.

Here's a link to see it online.

Blast From the Past: Characters & Icons

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

One of those commercial actors who made the transition to pop culture in the 80s. Joe Isuzu

Chuck Barris "Gong Show"

Mama "Carol Burnett Show"

The Jackson 5 in 1970s

Zen Hilarity

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

This is in honor of all the New Age people out there who make my day!

Possession and Exorcisms: The Reality

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Some people fear the concept of possession. What if they become possessed? What if someone they love become possessed? Well, if you do believe in possession, and the thought crossed your mind--here's how your odds look:

There are 1.18 billion Catholics in the world and the Catholic Church performs 600-700 exorcisms a year. Apparently, this possession thing is not so easy to do.

Here are just some possession-related movies that colored people's fears and worry about such an event.The ExorcistThe Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Rite

The reality is that, every year, dozens of youths are killed during exorcisms by fundamentalists and others who are uneducated, fearful, or otherwise trying to discipline a youth who is acting up.

Here is one such storyGuyana — A 15-year-old girl has died after neighbors and a local pastor tried to treat her convulsions with an exorcism at a church, and Guyanese police said Friday they are investigating.Sangeeta Persaud began to convulse Sunday as she drank tea for breakfast at her grandmother's home in Canal Number Two, a farming village west of the capital, Georgetown, the grandmother told The Associated Press.

Chaitranie Ramotar said she became worried and called the girl's mother, who brought the pastor to the house."I experienced the same thing at age 12," Nankumarie Jaikissoon, the teen's mother, told the AP. "That is why I did not rush her to the hospital. My heart did not tell me to rush her to the hospital."

The pastor, Ewart Cummings, said he decided to take the girl to his small, concrete church, where he and several elders spent five hours praying for her as they pressed on her stomach and head. They also made her drink an anointing oil, he told the AP.At times, the teen would bark and make other strange noises, Cummings said."I did nothing wrong," he said. "I just responded as pastor of the church. ... Ungodly people would not understand certain things like driving out spirits."

Cummings said he drove the girl to the hospital around 5 p.m. because she had calmed down but was weak. She died at 10 p.m.

What religions have possession and exorcisms? Catholic, Islamic, Church of England, some Protestant sects ("deliverance"), Scientology (Scientology believes that foreign beings known as Body Thetans have clustered themselves around a person and cause them confusion. It is the goal of Scientology to remove these beings from a person).

In general, if there is a belief in a higher power and evil entities, as well, the answer to ridding oneself of evil is to pray to the higher power, sometimes in conjunction with ritual and ceremony.

Next to the concept of dead people coming to life and eating our flesh in the form of zombies, the concept of being possessed is equally horrifying. Who wants to lose their will and have their body inhabited by something hell bent on getting in trouble? It is a chilling concept, but rest assured if such a thing exists, it is highly improbable. In fact, I'd advise you buy a lottery ticket--you have a better chance of winning a jackpot.

Mysterious Unexplained Incidents Around the World

2012-01-19T02:30:00.000-08:00

There are mysteries that seriously haunt me. I adore mysteries and these are seriously bizarre...

Blast From the Past: 70s Commercials

2012-01-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

Top 5 "Destination Truth" Episodes

2012-01-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

"Ghosts of Antarctica" Episode 13, Season 4. This was my favorite and I think it was a combination of things. It was filmed to feel a lot like the movie "The Thing" and was one location for an entire episode which I really appreciate to get into the mood, it's a place rarely filmed, and surely haunted. It was unsettling, creepy, and just plain amazingly beautiful and isolated.

After traveling from Los Angeles all the way south to Argentina (and surviving Ryder's taunts about his new beard), Josh packs the team into a van and drives 200 kilometers south, to the departure point for most Antarctic expeditions. But first, they must buy suitable attire so they can withstand the freezing temperatures to come.

After stocking up on sub-zero clothing, the team conducts their first interview with a local historian. Even though the historian warns Josh that the area he's headed to is, "not a friendly place," he presses on, hiring a 54 foot sailboat to ferry the team over to Antarctica. Course, Murphy's Law rears its head and a blown transmission keeps Team Truth stuck at the pier for five whole days.Josh soon discovers that the treacherous Drake Passage is no picnic either. From icebergs to violent waves, the trip is far from Josh's easiest one.

After arriving at Antarctica, which is larger than the United States, they conduct their next few interviews with a group of visiting Russian scientists. Next stop? Deception Island, an active volcano not too far away. Since the sun doesn't set this time of year, they set up base camp under the sun, a new experience for the team.

The "night" investigation yields a glimpse of something on an infrared camera, a strange light, a massive bone, and some unmarked graves, among other oddities. Later, Josh and Ryder get a fright when they hear thumping sounds. The next day, Josh moves on to the next area for supernatural study, Wordie Hut, which is still several days away. Once they get into the vicinity, the team stops by a local watering hole where Ryder and Josh make an interesting contribution to the bar's ambiance. Afterwards, it's time to set up base camp. After hearing more strange noises, Josh sets up multiple paranormal isolation sessions that yield some very interesting results.

"Island of the Dolls/Lusca" Episode 2, Season 3. Josh and his team head to just south of Mexico City to an island of reportedly haunted dolls. Then they journey to the Caribbean island of the Bahamas, looking for the Lusca monster, a giant octopus said to live beneath Andros Island.

"Haunted Forest/Alux" Episode 1, Season 3. Josh travels to Transylvania to investigate claims of mysterious occurrences coming from the Hoia-Baciu Forest. Next up, a trip to Mexico looking for a pygmy monster.

"Haunted Forest/Aswang" Episode 11. Season 2. Josh and his team search for Bigfoot-like creatures with mystical powers near a haunted Filipino church and the haunted Aokigahara forest in the shadow of Mount Fuji where campers have often committed suicide.

"Mining Towns" Episode 13, Season 3. First, Josh and the team travel to the Atacama Desert of Chile, where they investigate a two towns reputed to be haunted with the assistance of Allison Scagliotti of Warehouse 13. Then, Josh and Team Truth fly to New Zealand in search of the Taniwha, a sea serpent out of Maori legend.

Runners up: Chernobyl, Yeti, Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island, King Tut's Tomb, Chilean mine alien

Must-See Ghost Movies

2012-01-18T02:30:00.002-08:00

Halleluah and Amen! That's all I gotta say to moviemakers who finally figured out horror lovers don't want to see any more evisceration of large-breasted bimbos. We want creepy atmospheric, urban legend-feeling, haunting movies! Here's some to look forward to--

Thanks Ghost Theory!

2012-01-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

I want to thank the amazing site, Ghost Theory, for showing a post of mine about debunking photos. Basically, if you want to know whazzup with all things paranormal, bookmark the page. It's a fantastic and very professional site.

Dale the Doll: Not Another Road Trip!

2012-01-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

It would appear that The Human wants to make another road trip sometime soon. So long as Miss Julie is going along, I don't mind at all. Problem is, they buckle me in the back seat. I can't see a damn thing. I'm too short. Doesn't stop me from gazing at the sky.

No doubt, The Human has something scary planned. Why does she feel compelled to take me to haunted places? I do not like it!

On the up side, Skittles the Clown doll and I came up with a plan. This plan might just make it possible for me to blog more often and be the boss of things. No doubt, coming up soon, all of you admirers of Dale the Doll will see my plan in action. I really am a freaking genius!

Don't any of you give away that I'm planning something to The Human! I know your blogs. I'll follow you home to them.

Blast From the Past: Max Headroom

2012-01-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

The 80s were filled with everything synthetic from music to clothing, hair styles to computer-related technology. Max was just one of a million awesome showcases of the coolness of computer animation! He actually had a music video tv show in the mid 80s. I do recall a few people dressing up as him on Halloween in 85. For those of you who recall the 80s, you might recognize the face and voice of the actor who was Max Headroom."Frank" from "Dawn of the Dead" might refresh your memory. The father who was bitten and had to be shot....

Writing Horror: Psychology

2012-01-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

If you're going to write horror, you better know (drum roll)...Psychology!

It doesn't matter technically how much you understand dismemberment or how a zombie works, you need to know psychology because horror is based on fear and fear is an emotion based on our greatest insecurities about ourselves. Fear of heights? What if your child's life depended on you scaling a mountain rock face? Fear of social situations? What if a hillbilly gang picked you up and made you live in their cabin with them? Fear of the dark? What if your car breaks down on a mountain pass?

Let's look at some examples that the story line isn't nearly as important as how people handle the situation when under stress--

"The Mist" There was a division in the people trapped in the grocery store. Roles played on the outside became more pronounced. In the end, the hero had to make a heinous decision, showing that sometimes we panic.

"Halloween" Showed that the studious and responsible babysitter wins. The teen who made the best decisions along the way showed that "the way you do anything, is the way you do everything.

"The Shining" Showed us that a woman who is weak and meek can become a regular mama bear when her child's life is at stake. Who would have thought she could rise to the occasion?

How do people act in stressful and terrifying situations? There is no pat answer to that one.

Some people joke when they feel nervous.

Some people blank out, can't make a decision and are frozen in place.

Some people want to take charge and mechanically do what needs to get done because having tasks takes away from the gravity of the situation.

Some people look to others to make the decisions and want to be protected.

Think of horror as a written nightmare. In your dreams, depending on how you feel about your coping skills, you react differently to scary situations. It goes the same for horror. A terrible plot is unfolding and the best stories are driven by someone whose way of handling fear creates both roadblocks and opportunities to eventually prevail. He has to adapt.

But, first he should start out with some great character flaw or weakness that makes him an unlikely hero. Mr. Perfect, strong and stable makes for a boring hero. But, you take a drunken lazy character and make him sobered up by the experience and the reader is completely engaged in the story.Ultimately, the message is "there is a hero inside the common man."

And that, my writer friends, is how the reader identifies by inserting himself in that situation with the equally flawed hero.

Autumnforest Crushes: Josh Gates

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Those of you who read my blog during last season of "Destination Truth" know a couple of things: 1. I have a crush on Josh Gates. 2. I am Photoshop challenged. Every week, in honor of the show being on, I wrote adolescent Bieber-crush-like diary entries about Josh and the show that night, along with a Photoshopped pic of him that suited the episode that night. I plan to do it again this upcoming season.

What is it that earns my adoration? I am thrilled when I find people who are living up to their influences and their potential. Josh is gregarious and funny, smart and adventurous. He had influences like his deep sea diving father and travel at a young age around the globe. He studied archaeology (my first major in college) and acting (my major in high school). He looks freaking awesome in Khakis--my favorite thing on men other than jeans and a black tee. The thing is, using your talents and your influences to come together in that magic that is success. He found his groove and he is grooving it so nicely.

I adore his new book "Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter" is an amazingly fun book about the background of the show and his adventures and his thoughts on those adventures. I love my nerds and khaki-wearing adventurers, but especially those with a sense of humor. Without humor, intelligence is dull.

Doll Island: Creepy Past, Creepier Present

2012-01-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

An island on Teshuilo Lake in Mexico is in a quiet out of the way place, but perhaps not all that quiet. Let me tell you all a tale....

In the late 1950s, Don Julian Santana Barrera moved his family to the island and it was a lonely isolated place which was just what he liked.

It was said that 30 years previously, 3 girls were playing on the island and one drowned. Her spirit supposedly told the man to give her dolls as an offering.

Now, the backstory on Don is that where he previously lived, the locals thought of him as the town drunk (you know, like Otis on "Andy Griffith Show"). He moved far away to the isolated island farm to be left alone.

Over the decades, he filled the island with doll offerings. Supposedly many years later he died of heart failure in the same spot the girl had died. Now, that sounds more like legend. But, here is some of the factors to consider before dismissing the supernatural...

Even if this is a romantic local legend, apparently the girl did drown there and whether he was a drunk who was imaging conversations, he filled the island with dolls, many of them contributed and filled with the energy of each owner, on an island where a girl died. A lonely little girl, found objects of delight, and a drunken man with a mindset that perhaps made the whole conjuring easier.

This is a tale played out by Josh Gates who did an episode of "Destination Truth" on the island. Just when he stared at it, a doll's eyes opened!

Blast From the Past: Euell Gibbons

2012-01-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

"Parts of a pine cone are edible" (very popular repeated line from one of his Grape Nuts commercials)

Paranormal News: Autumnforest Views

2012-01-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

This is a new series, y'all. It's the paranormal news every Monday, but my views on it. I'm going to be snarky, skeptical, ridiculous and hopefully, witty. Enjoy!

MSNBC.com – An ocean exploration team led by Swedish researcher Peter Lindberg has found what some are suggesting is a crashed flying saucer. Lindberg explained to local media that his crew discovered, on the 300-foot-deep ocean floor between Finland and Sweden, “a large circle, about 60 feet in diameter. You see a lot of weird stuff in this job, but during my 18 years as a professional I have never seen anything like this. The shape is completely round.”

Autumnforest: Well, well, well, a circular shape in nature... When does that happen? It wouldn't happen in say, an underwater volcano???

From my favorite paranormal news site, Cryptomundo, is a post about a Yowie (Australian Bigfoot) supposedly killing a local dog.

In the Darwin area of Australia, a couple's puppy was found with its head torn from its body. Apparently, this isn't the first time an animal has been found with its head torn from its body.

Autumnforest: Now, we have a saying in the medical field "if you see hoofprints, think horses not zebras." This might be applied in this situation since there is a fair dingo population in the region.

Tasmanian Tiger: Doyle Footage 1973

2012-01-16T09:00:00.001-08:00

"Doyle Footage"In Southern Australia in 1973, a couple captured on film what everyone thought was a thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) thought to be extinct since the 1930s.

This creature was seen within a one mile radius several times that year and appeared to have stripes on its hind quarters. It was said that because it's hindquarters were strong and its tail was long, it had the right proportions to be a Tasmanian Tiger. This is one I'd like to see Josh Gates go looking for on "Destination Truth."

I think there is a very good possibility the thylacine still exists. There are plenty of places in the wild of Tasmania/New Guinea and Australia for residuals ones to reside.

There is an awesome site ("Where Light Meets Dark") that did a great analysis of the video frame by frame. After observing the frames against a thylacine's photos, knowing the body characteristics and movements, they came to the conclusion it they could not conclude it could only be a thylacine, but it did meet the requirements.

I am not sure why I am so fascinated with thylacines, perhaps it's because that part of the world houses such exotic and intriguing creatures. Perhaps it's the dog-like appearance, marsupial posture, strange stripes, long snout. It is a very odd creature in every way as if it were cobbled together by Dr. Frankenstein. I certainly hope they do still exist because their reported extinction was caused by man. Perhaps letting them breed in the wild and attack cattleman's livestock is not a good thing, but to have a few to observe and, now that we had DNA sequencing, understand their relationship with other animals, would be a boon to science.

"Finding Bigfoot" Reviewed

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

You know "F'ing Bigfoot" (my abbreviation) is my favorite show now, so y'all knew I'd have to make a tank top. It's kind of my thing. You might notice that Patty the BF is giving the finger as she passes by... She's basically saying "just try and find me!"

Best line from BoBo this episode: "Come on big 9-footer. Show yourself. Come on baby. Just give us one good knock." He also screamed, "Come on you hairy bastard!" (But I'm pretty sure he was talking to Matt)

I had a sip of beer for every "squatch" and by the 15-minute break, 14 count. Nothing like seeing Cliff giddy killing trees, Matt being paranoid about broken branches, and BoBo having his usual one-man party in the dark waiting for his big buddy to come out and play.

I think the show needs a theme song. Something like Gilligan's island. Or perhaps The Munsters"

Or perhaps "Cheers" is more appropriate--

I love this show! I have determined that Ranae is painfully logical and may not have an imagination, but she does have a sense of humor and can keep up with the boys--she's got my double thumbs up. Cliff is a big enthusiastic puppy dog, intelligent and well spoken. BoBo is like that mountain hermit who names the critters in his territory. He's marching to his own drummer. Matt is paranoid and a curmudgeon, but who better to keep the kids in line? It's pretty funny. I love the chemistry.

Do I think Minnesota has BF's? I think it's very likely. If you go anywhere west of the Mississippi and further north, the chances go up. The west is soooo vast still. People back east don't get it until they come out here and drive for hours without seeing signs of habitation.

I love this show! Don't miss my live blogging I did on Bigfoot Evidence last night while the show was running. I got to make remarks about it while it was on and also get pretty damn buzzed--took one sip of beer for every "squatch" said. The final squatch count was -- 41. I'm a lightweight--it about did me in!

"Finding Bigfoot" Tonight on Animal Planet!

2012-01-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot" is on tonight.

Expect me to replace these foot pics with a new special "Finding Bigfoot" shot each week starting next week.

Remember, I will be live blogging on Bigfoot Evidence. Shawn, the site's host will be giving the commentary about what is occurring during the episode while I get to MST3000 it. I will also be doing the F'ing Bigfoot drinking game--one swallow of beer for every "squatch" term used. Man, I'm gonna feel bad tomorrow! Expect on the review for me to tell you how many hits I took.

I love F'ing Bigfoot!

History Repeating Itself?

2012-01-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

(Me on the left at 20, maternal grandma on the right at 20)

(above; my two sisters, brother and me as a baby and below that my father, his 3 sisters from Norway at Ellis Island)

As a paranormal investigator and, more importantly, as someone who witnessed "ghostly" activity as a child, the question has always come to mind whether history sort of repeats a loop of limited scenarios that record themselves and replay, even in the DNA. Interesting how my paternal grandmother had two daughters, a son and then another daughter. My mother did the same. It's strange how much I look like my maternal grandmother, even being slightly wider on the right side of my face from the eye to the temple--like her. DNA might account for the looks, but the repetition of birthing patterns, even down to one sister being light, the other dark and being close in age, is quite amazing.

I inherited a clock from my father's childhood home in Norway. When I was growing up, he kept it on his dresser with a photo inside of his family in Norway when he was little. He would sometimes open the clock, pick up the picture and look at it and put it back inside and close the door. when my mother passed away, I inherited the clock. I found the photo in her belongings and put it back inside where it belonged. Then, I looked at the cord and wondered--can it still work? So, I plugged it in and it ticked! I opened the window, pulled out the picture and looked up and for a moment, I didn't see the room I was in. I saw a huge cavernous room with high ceilings and velvet drapes and portraits set atop of other portraits on the high wall. I looked down at the picture as if I might be dreaming and looked up again and the room was gone. I was back in my room. I set the picture inside, unplugged the clock for safety's sake, and went about my business. Later, more items arrived from her estate including the photos from my father's parent's wedding in Norway at the family home. My hand trembled when I lifted the photo and realized that was the exact room I saw when I turned on the clock and looked at the family photo.

So, does history somehow repeat itself one way or the other?

Choosing a Paranormal Book: Which One Is For You?

2012-01-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

You like creepy cases that sound amazing, might be real, might not be real, but keep you wondering....

The World Of Ted Serios by Jule Eisenbud, M.D.This intriguing book chronicles a Chicago bellhop who supposedly could get quite drunk and manage to put his psychic images onto Polaroid camera film. The psychiatrist (author) found him to be authentic. The imagines are intriguing, the story convoluted. Whether this was true or not, it makes for interesting reading and supposition and one may draw their own assumptions.

You want to know what it's like to ghost hunt and do things that might be a little dark and dangerous....

Ghost by Katherine RamslandThis book has a woman investigator communicating with a vampire whose lover had died. She had the lover's ring and felt he was communicating with her. She goes on a dangerous venture while learning how to ghost hunt and dealing with a vampire who might be rather deadly.

You want to read something based on reported events that is so scary that reading it in the dark is pushing your limits of bravery....

Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp

You want all things paranormal in one book....
Paranormal World by Gregory Branson-Trent

This book is a compilation of all things paranormal in one big fat juicy book. Great reference, great quick reads to cover everything from UFOs to Bigfoot, ghosts to werewolves.You love cemeteries, photography, and all things dark and goth....Beautiful Death by David Robinson This is the most beautiful picture book ever, showing cemeteries and creepy statues from around the world. Perfect goth coffee table book.

You love cryptids....

"Bigfoot: The True Story of Apes in America" by Loren Coleman
I consider Loren Coleman to be the folklorist of Bigfoot in America. He is the keeper of the stories and the legend. His stories are beautifully written and totally engaging and you can find him writing regularly for Cryptomundo (I consider them to be one of my top news feeds).

Orbs Faces

2012-01-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

"Eyes Without a Face" Billy Idol

In honor of the ongoing desire by some to see faces in orbs, I dedicate these adorable little lovelies as proof that some of their faces are just downright goofy....

Personally, I like the ones that are smiling (above)

This documentary "Invasion of the Dark Stars" is totally ridiculous, but at the same time strangely creepy as hell. It actually gave me nightmares after seeing it which says that I was able to suspend my reality enough to be sucked into this demented world of looking for the unseen in photographs and video. This particular scene is about a man who sees faces and things insides of orbs. Enjoy--his chart with sketches of the types of orbs is priceless. Go right to 5:20 on the video and, well, keep a straight face. (You can find the documentary in parts on YouTube "Invasion of the Dark Stars" and it's actually a pretty fun watch).

Debunking Photographic Evidence

2012-01-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

Let's talk more about photographic evidence when it comes to haunted locations. The advent of the digital camera was a blessing for some, a curse for others. It allowed us to see and print photos on our own and even preview them and delete them on the camera, but it also meant that we didn't get around to making hard copies for our photo albums quite so much.

The other unexpected curse is the placement of a flash right in front of a lens, creating the ability to have that light shine on every particle that goes by the lens. You walk through a room to investigate and take photos, and every step you take is making the dust on shelves and pollen in clothing and hair, and particles in the carpet stir up. Sure enough most of your indoor dust photos are taken after walking int a room and taking a shot. Photographic evidence is very hard to come by. Nearly everything taken at night can be explained by the flash on glass ceiling light domes, photographs on the wall in glass picture frames, window reflections... Let's look at some explainables and I suggest you take these sorts of pics with your own camera to see how they come out. I have a friend with an Olympus and her camera's orbs are pentagon shaped.

Above we have a classic dust orb shot taken as I walked into the room, stopped and started taking pics.

This shot above shows hairs. Hairs often come across as translucent tubes with what sometimes looks like little round balls inside of them and they are very often a pale version of one's own hair color.

This shot above shows what happens with a slow shutter speed, or moving the camera where there are lights.

This next shot above is cold breath on a chilly night.

So, what the heck is this ball-shaped object above? A reflection on window glass as the shot was taken of the outside from inside.

This is a dust shot, but notice the moth at the center top of the pic?

This next one above is a classic--camera strap which often times is braided. It will come off the bottom of the shot more often than not as the person is holding the camera. I simply removed mine from my cameras--one less thing to fret over.

See what happens above, taking a shot in a cemetery when the sprinklers are on?

This one above shows what happens if while shooting, your finger moves in front of the lens. Looks mystical, huh?

Ectoplasm? Nope, just cold breath again.

Upon occasion you get one that baffles you. This one bothered me the first couple years of ghost hunting because the orb looks to be behind a fencing that is 12 feet away. Later, on other shots, I realized that when the dust particle is picked up by the flash, it can be far enough away from the lens that it appears quite translucent. When it is this translucent, you do not see the part that goes in front of the object very well. It takes some zooming and contrast to realize that it is in front of the fencing, not behind.

Photographic Evidence of Ghosts: Bushes

2012-01-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

This is a new series revealing a photo and allowing the readers to debunk it or support it. Today's photo was taken on a ghost hunt at a haunted battlefield at night. The owners of the photos saw a glittery thing in the center of the top picture. It's vital to always zoom in on these things and consider the context in which they were taken--damp night outdoors and some bushes. When zoomed in, you get what looks like a little fairy. Could this be something paranormal or might it be something explainable?

You Can't Make This Shit Up: Most Ridiculous Tabloid Headlines

2012-01-13T19:57:00.000-08:00

ALIEN MUMMY GOES ON RAMPAGE!

BOY TURNS BELOVED AUNT INTO ROBOT!

ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS PLANET MADE ENTIRELY OF NOODLES

SCIENTIST PROVES... EARTH IS GOING THROUGH MENOPAUSE!

DRUNK GHOST RUINS OWN FUNERAL

CHICKENS EAT FARMER

RACE OF SCARECROWS LIVING IN KANSAS!

I WAS ATTACKED BY MONGOLIAN DEATHWORM!

CIRCUS ELEPHANT GIVES BIRTH TO HUMAN BABY!

SURFING CHIMP SAVES DROWNING CHILD!

LOCH NESS MONSTER IS A GIANT DUCK

CONCRETE ENEMAS A BAD IDEA, DOCS WARN

Excerpt from "Growing Up With Ghosts"

2012-01-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working furiously on my upcoming book "Growing Up With Ghosts." It's the accounts by my family members and myself of what happened when I was growing up at Aspen Grove. The stories are best read in the dark, in your room, before bedtime....

Here's an excerpt from a quote of mine at the beginning of a chapter.

“Voices with no one there, footfalls in an empty space; all normal physics for a child who grows up in an actively haunted house. There is nothing to fear. The home is filled with family, events, sleepovers, visitors, holidays, and in between all that, there are occasional glimpses of more than just the usual. When you grow up in it, it's the house being quirky, just like any loved one who is eccentric, unpredictable, and prone to occasional outbursts.” (Author, Sharon Day)

***Tonight is a marathon of Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel, and since I'm dateless, I guess I'm spending it with Zak and the Boyz. I will not do the drinking game, as they will be showing back-to-back episodes and alcohol poisoning is not the way I want to go. I was sort of hoping of dying in bed--but not in my sleep (wink) ***

Ebook Cover Artist

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Julie, who did the cover for our Kickin' Up Dust! (Getting Lost To Find Ourselves) book - is doing the redo cover for our "Abandoned Places: Abandoned Memories (Desert Edition)" book which we plan to put out in print.

She did a bunch of novel ideas for the cover and we are milling them over. It's a hard decision. If you need art for your ebooks, definitely check out her site.

She is also a fantastic artisan with her urban exploration inspired pieces in her Etsy shop and is a photographer with an extensive supply of stock photos to use for projects.

Friday the 13th: The Missing 13th Floor!

2012-01-13T02:30:00.000-08:00

Today's Friday the 13th, but I am not going to mess around with the cliche Jason Voorhes movie pics or the history behind why 13 is bad luck or even phobias for the number 13. Not me. I just want to talk about something that has fascinated me to no end since I was a kid...

The missing 13th floor!

That missing 13th floor is such a common part of our daily lives, that we enter buildings with no designated 13th floor and yet we don't stop to think how very archaic and unusual that is.

Here's is what Wikipedia says about the 13th floor. "Reasons for omitting a thirteenth floor include triskaidekaphobia on the part of the building's owner or builder, or a desire by the building owner or landlord to prevent problems that may arise with superstitious tenants, occupants, or customers. Based on an internal review of records, Dilip Rangnekar of Otis Elevators estimates that 85% of the buildings with elevators did not have a floor named the 13th floor. Future building designers, fearing a fire on the 13th floor, or fearing tenants' superstitions about the rumor, decided to omit having a 13th floor listed on their elevator numbering. This practice became commonplace, and eventually found its way into mainstream culture and building design."

I always fantasized that there was a 13th floor, one that it took the right conditions to stop at and in which one would find a strange "other" world. There was a pretty cool movie called "Nightmare on the 13th Floor." It was about a reporter learning about people missing in a hotel and comes across an unmarked 13th floor. It ends up with some kind of satanic group and a killer on the 13th floor that they send people to. I really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind owning that one. Anything having to do with the 13th floor has my interest.

Nightmare On The 13th Floor Custom Trailer

Nightmare On The 13th Floor | Myspace Video

If any of you happen to work or live in a building that has a marked 13th floor, please take a picture! They are very hard to find!

My Bigfoot Sighting

2012-01-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

It was the mid 1980s. I was living in Redondo Beach, CA. My husband at the time and I went hiking in the Sierras with friends from his work place. We were heading up from about 8000 feet to 11,000 feet to a place called Baboon Lake, a very cool minty blue/green lake with a glacier feeding into it. We were taking some switchbacks to a small lake area, probably around 9500 feet (best guess). Everyone slowed down to take pictures in the woods and take a water break.

I came to the edge of a clearing where I could see the distant mountains and waterfalls spilling down their sides from thaws. It was gorgeous. I had my sketch book tucked under my arm, hoping to sketch at the next stop, but I was half tempted to start drawing. I scanned the trees and tried to remember the look of it for my drawing and a potential oil painting when I got home again.

Down below me on the nearby mountain, I saw a clearing between trees of about 20 feet wide. I started to turn away, but a movement made me keep my eyes on it and I saw something dark seem to come out of the brush on the right of the clearing as if it were going from squatting to standing and then it loped across the clearing on two legs in a loose-limbed gait, large strides, long arms, and very dark brown but some of it seemed medium brown where the light hit the part facing me. It disappeared in only several steps into the woods on the left of the clearing.

My very first instinct when it stood up was that a camper/hiker was on the other hillside. When it stood erect and walked, it did so comfortably. I knew it wasn't a hiker because there was no outline or definition of clothing or backpack and the head was the same color. This thing was dark and appeared to be all the same color. For a flash of a second, I thought "bear" but the shape was completely wrong and the gait went on for several large strides through the clearing.

I took a step back, puzzled, my mind racing to explain it. My knowledge of Bigfoot at this point was the films from childhood in the early 70s and I always assumed he existed only in Washington State. I didn't know California had sightings and even though I had seen film on TV of the Patterson-Gimlin film, I did not recall hearing where it was taken. We didn't have internet then and Bigfoot was not "in" at the time, so no one was putting on specials or documentaries on TV about it.

I baffled a few minutes, afraid to look away from the clearing, wishing it to come back and also scared it would come back.if I yelled to the group, there would be nothing to tell them except a very weird story. The feelings that came to me were like if you walked outside and saw your hairy fat neighbor leaning over for the newspaper with his boxers on, like I wasn't supposed to be seeing this and I felt shy and kind of guilty for witnessing it.

At the time, my (now ex-) husband was not a person who believed in a single thing that wasn't already in scientific manuals and I had not even shared my psychic talent or the stories of the things that happened in my childhood haunted home. I knew better. The group was all engineer nerds and I knew not a one of them would believe me and ask me to show them something that had already left my view.

I just held it in, figuring that I could eventually explain it to myself somehow.We continued on up to Baboon Lake (ironic name now that I think of it) and we camped out, but I didn't sleep. I kept thinking about that "thing" and if it could make it to 11,000 feet and if it had friends.

It wasn't until years later that I let myself use the term "Bigfoot" for it. There simply was no other way to explain what was a very organic, natural, fur-covered, upright walking creature. It was definitely not a man. It was absolutely not a bear. It left me few options. I still recall the weird fluttering in my stomach when I saw it as if I had witnessed something that even I couldn't believe, much less others. I held this in for decades, not wanting to sound like a quack, but finally admitting I ghost hunt in search of answers for unexplained occurrences and being resolved that I have some crazy weird skills in the PSI realm, I had to finally realize; what is one more amazing occurrence in an otherwise serendipitous life?

If you ever wonder why I run a ghost hunting theories blog, then you must not read the blog. I am hounded by my very logic-minded side and the witness I have been to some extraordinary things. Still, I am not one to jump right to the woo-woo or spiritual realm. These things launch themselves in our physical world for us to see, hear, smell, feel and so they work in the natural world. It is that natural realm I hope to pursue answers that ring true.

Hope you continue with me as I make more theories and test them.

Paranormal Geeks--Be In My Book!

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

(Yeah, me and my team on a Bigfoot hunt)

I am writing a book "Paranormal Geeks." This is a book interviewing (anonymously) geeks who are into paranormal subjects of all types, from furries to SciFi convention nerds, from ghost hunters to Bigfoot freaks, from avid horror fans to Goths. If it's unexplainable and you are into it from any degree, whether it's books and movies or actually indulging in a lifestyle, I want to hear from you!

Here are my questions. Please send answers to ghosthuntingtheories@gmail.com

1. Was there anything about your upbringing that influenced your love of paranormal subjects?
2. Do you read books on the subject, actively pursue encounters, go to famous places involved in your favorite subject, or collect items related to it? Be specific. I'd like to hear favorite titles, places, items you collect, costumes, et cetera.
3. What is it about this subject that appeals so much to you?
4. Have you ever felt you had to hide your interest in paranormal subjects?
5. Do you have anyone in the realm of movies, writing, anime, cartoons, poetry, art, or research that you admire in the paranormal category?
6. Have you ever considered writing about a paranormal subject?
7. Have your interests influenced your favorite music, fashion, decorating or other self-expression means?
8. What would your paranormal nickname be (this will be your name in the book)?

Thanks y'all!

Carnivals Are Awesome!

2012-01-12T02:30:00.001-08:00

I am such a carnival freak that my favorite date is a roadside carnival.

My dream writing office? Decorated as a carnival with a Zoltar machine!

Want to find a carnival? Look here.

Consider just staying home and having some carnival food and a carnival movie --

Best carnival foods? Cotton candy, corn dog, deep fried twinkie.

Ingredients

6 Twinkies
Popsicle sticks
4 cups vegetable oil
Flour for dusting
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 Tablespoon oil
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Chill or freeze Twinkies for several hours or overnight.
2. Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in deep fryer to about 375 degrees.
3. Mix together milk, vinegar and oil.
4. In another bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Whisk wet ingredients into dry and continue mixing until smooth. Refrigerate while oil heats.
6. Push stick into Twinkie lengthwise, leaving about 2 inches to use as a handle, dust with flour and dip into the batter. Rotate Twinkie until batter covers entire cake.
7. Place carefully in hot oil. The Twinkie will float, so hold it under with a utensil to ensure even browning. It should turn golden in 3 to 4 minutes. Depending on the size of your deep fryer, you might be able to fry only one at a time, two at the most.
8. Remove Twinkie to paper towel and let drain. Remove stick and allow Twinkie to sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6.

Movies with carnivals:

"The Jerk" (1979)

"Big" (1988)

"Freaks" (1932)

"The Funhouse" (1981)

"Face Off" and "Ghost Hunters" New Seasons on Syfy!

2012-01-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

I really loved "Face Off" last season and I am thrilled it's coming back. This show pits special effects makeup artists against each other for the ultimate horror makeup skills.

Oh, and it's another season of "Ghost Hunters" too.

Why Do We Seek Ghostly Encounters?

2012-01-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Every person is different when it comes to their motivation to experience ghostly encounters.

Those of us who have had it happen, want to somehow verify it in our mind that it wasn't a fluke and then perhaps encounter it enough to come to some conclusions about what is occurring.

Others who have not encountered the unknown yet, wish to make a decision about whether it exists or not. They want to believe but they need to see.

I have known people who describe themselves as sensitives psychically and who seek out paranormal activity in order to work their skills of communication and to see if perhaps they are able to attract such energy.

Sometimes, a person seeks a thrill. He wants to have something happen to him that makes him feel fear, the startle reaction, and a moment of the unknown.

Many investigators are into the encounters as an opportunity to get evidence and to prove to others that this exists.

Here's some scenarios I know if from people who have shared with me:

"I have had weird things happen to me all my life. Everywhere I've lived, I've had activity. I now want to know why me? What is this activity? Is it following me or do I just attract it? If I do attract it, what can I do to make contact?"

"I've always liked dark stuff. I like to put myself in scary places and situations and see how I handle it. I'm always wanting to see how much I can take."

"I want to know if there's a Heaven, an afterlife. I think if I came across a ghost, I could believe there is more than just this world."

"Something happened when I was a kid in my old house I grew up in. I would like to see if I just imagined that or if such things really happen."

"I keep hoping that the more I run into this stuff, the more comfortable I'll get with the concept."

So, what reasons do you seek the unknown?

Plan for 2012: Missile Silos For Sale!

2012-01-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, you're interested in getting a new property but maybe want something ready for December 21, 2012? Hey, you might want to shop around--the country has plenty of missile silos for sale --

Want a Titan silo near Denver? 210 total acres. Very rare piece of history – only 18 built. Massive 45,000 + sq. ft. of underground floor-space. Many unique possibilities for commercial or private usage. Serious and capable buyers only. Price: $2,800,000.

How about a missile site in Southeastern Indiana (near Cincinnati)?14 + acres. 45 min drive to the Cincinnati airport. Has three underground missile magazines 5,000 sq. ft. each. One missile magazine is converted to residential with a kitchen, 4 BR, 2 bath, exercise room, jacuzzi and indoor swimming pool. Another is converted into a shop and garage. High security fencing, paved access and 4 stall horse barn. Price $1.5 million

How about a silo with landing strip in Upstate New York Adirondack State Park area? Most highly developed Atlas F site, part of exclusive airport subdivision on (FAA approved) 2050' runway. Low taxes, privacy, security, and unlimited possibilities. No other like it anywhere. Home and Silo only. More than 20 acres of adjoining land available as an additional purchase. Price $800,000

Scary Awesome Bands

2012-01-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

Slipknot

Lordi

Insane Clown Posse

Misfits

Rob Zombie

Ghost Hunting: Debunking

2012-01-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

Debunking has 3 categories:

1. Physical.
2. Psychological
3. Mental.

When we go to debunk a case of supposed haunting, these three areas of explanation must be addressed.

In the category of "physical" we confront the potential mechanisms in the environment that could explain activity. This can be anything from street sounds filtering through the duct work, plumbing, loose hinges and more.

The only way an investigator can understand what is going on in a location is to go around and test out the sounds the witnesses described to find out what the ice maker sounds like, the door opening and closing, the floorboards being stepped upon, and the window being open. I can't tell you how many times someone has contacted me who was experiencing a tree limb on a window, a cat hiding under the bed or a door that closed when one walked down the hall and applied pressure on the floorboards. The same goes for visuals. There are many conditions in a home involving car lights, reflective prisms and shadows being cast that help to recreate the scenario.

In the category of "psychological" we bring into the mix such things as religious background, belief in ghosts and demon, hauntings and possession. We need to know the ongoing conflicts and emotions in the home and with each occupant to see the dynamics. I have seen people who lost a loved one often believe when they hear sounds or see things in their home and that their relative is visiting. I also run into a lot of people who need their home to be haunted simply to explain why things at home are uncomfortable.

A ghost is the greatest scapegoat because you don't need to blame a bad marriage or a troubled child for ongoing tension and anxiety, you can turn to the unseen, bringing a family that was fractured and not addressing problems to coming together to deal with what they see as the real issue.

Some people, either because of attention-seeking or other issues in their lives like anger, grief or sadness, need to be in a haunted place. It provides them something they are missing and perhaps makes them feel special.

In the category of "mental" we have a person's explanatory style. One time, I was walking into a very creepy old abandoned dome-shaped building. It looked like a good hangout for squatters. My mind was filled with fear of "what if I run into a squatter?" I had run into one there the prior time I'd gone to the location. I was ready for something scary to happen. I was talking with a friend and entered the dome and I heard a loud racquet that scared me so much, I turned and rushed out. It ended up being that my voice echoed in the hard building so loudly that it sounded like gunfire. If I hadn't have gone back to see if who might be in there, I wouldn't have realized the sound issue and explained the situation.

If we don't got a step further in figuring something out and jump to a conclusion based on our belief system or the setting or the scary movie we just watched, then we have arrested our mental debunking skills. It happens to the best of us from time to time. The persistent, though, go back and try not to assume anything.

Ultimately, an effective debunking is to try and yield explanations. If there are none, then an investigation is going to expose possibly true haunting features.

Autumnforest Crushes: Cliff Barackman

2012-01-10T03:30:00.000-08:00

It's another in my weekly series about the "nerds" I adore in the fields of science, discovery, paranormal, adventure, and spirituality.

Today, I want to talk about Cliff Barackman. I've had my eye on the Bigfoot world for some time and every now and then a voice in the field comes forward that chimes in with my feelings about the subject. I first noticed Cliff in some shows that he popped up in and some things he said in the BF field that made me think, "okay, this guy is good people." Then, he got himself a position on the team for the fabulous Animal Planet show, "Finding Bigfoot" (I affectionately abbreviate it F'ing Bigfoot). I came to find him a logical, enthusiastic, humorous, big-hearted, outdoorsy kind of guy and rather easy on the eyes too (yes, Autumnforest is batting her lashes furiously).

In a field fraught with big egos and pompous asses, it is so refreshing to find someone who is not jaded by the process of searching for something so elusive, is kind and respectful, as well as just plain goofy and fun. I seriously would like to hear his Bigfoot calls in the shower. (yes, Autumnforest is batting her eyelashes furiously again). He admittedly looks very nice in those Eddie Bauer type of outdoorsy clothes I love to see men in. (No, the lashes haven't stopped batting)

There are few voices in the field that are reasonable and that I listen to with the respect they deserve. Men like Mike Rugg, Loren Coleman, Jeff Meldrum and Cliff Barackman have my full attention. I want to hear what they think. I put value and weight in their perspective. Good men are hard to come by, but good men in the Bigfoot industry, are as precious as gold.

You know what I'm doing Sunday nights--watching "F'ing Bigfoot" on Animal Planet (and perhaps sighing dreamily). You will also find me live blogging during the show on Bigfoot Evidence blog -- doing a kind of MST3000 commentary, having fun with my favorite show!

So Bad They're Good Bigfoot Movies

2012-01-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

"Shriek of the Sasquatch"

"The Legend of Boggy Creek"

"Little Bigfoot"

"The Capture of Bigfoot"

"Legend of Boggy Creek 2"

"Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon"

Munsters Vs Addam's Family: VOTE!

2012-01-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

"The Munsters" This 1960s show was about a family of friendly monsters have misadventures never quite realizing why people react to them so strangely.

Herman Munster (father)Fred Gwynne
Lily Munster (mother) Yvonne De Carlo
Grandpa Al Lewis
Eddie Munster (son) Butch Patrick
Marilyn Munster (niece) Pat Priest

"The Addams Family" 1960s (IMDB)The Addams Family is not your typical family: They take delight in most of the things that "normal" people would be terrified of. Gomez Adams is an extremely wealthy man, and is able to indulge his wife Morticia's every desire: be it cultivation of poisonous plants, or a candlelit dinner in a graveyard. People visiting the Addams Family just don't seem to appreciate the 7 foot tall butler "Lurch" or the helping hand (which is just a disembodied hand named "Thing."

Morticia Addams (mother) Caroline Jones
Gomez Addams (father) John Astin
Lurch (servant) Ted Cassidy
Uncle Fester (uncle) Jackie Coogan
Pugsly Addams (son) Ken Weatherwax
Wednesday (daughter) Lisa Loring
Grandma Addams (grandma) Marie Blake

This is a sign of the passion--someone recreated the Munsters' home....

Time to put in your votes--

Which one had the scariest stuff? (I pick "The Adaam's Family")
Which one had the best house? (I pick "The Munsters" - love the dragon)
Which one had the best characters? (I pick "The Munsters")
Which show had the best opening (above vids)? (I pick "The Addams Family" because of the finger snapping.
Which one did you watch the most? (I pick "The Munsters")

Sex and the Single Ghost Hunter: Bad Moves Boys!

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Boys, let's look at this scenario: You hook up with someone that gets you all worked up and bothered. You tell her right off, she's beautiful, sexy, and you are totally into her. She smiles, giggles, flirts. You try a little move on her. She's receptive. You hook up. Wham! Within 24-48 hours you have her in bed.

Fast forward a few months/years down the road and you go in with the same moves on your girl and she's angry, snappy, standoffish, and annoyed.

What happened?

I'm going to tell you a little secret about girls. Yeah, we're freaking insecure about our looks, especially as long as you boys are looking Playboy and oogling Angelina Jolie and the Victoria's Secret models. We are as susceptible to compliments as anyone. In fact, we figure that real love means the man loses his head, he adores us so much, he cannot control himself. To us, romance means being swept off our feet, but reality shows us that just means we land on flat on our backs with our panties around our ankles.

It's to our detriment to make a relationship with any man who came on hot and fast, got us into bed quickly and showered us with compliments and talked about sex right away. We know that later on. In fact, we freaking resent it.

There's no surprise to the woman why you picked her. It wasn't because you'd gotten to know each other and adored each other's company. It's because she had breasts just the way you like them and hair just the way you want it and wore cute little lingerie. That woman later on builds up anger that the only time you approach her is for the reason you picked her, which wasn't her brain, her quirky love of all things leopard skin, or the way she chews on her lip when she's reading. Women who started in a relationship like that, they silently resent knowing that it was never about them, but about their form.

A secret single women talk about all the time is that the men who go right for the sex talk and naughty stuff right away make all our warning bell go off. Sure, maybe a guy to jump into bed with, never a man to try to make a relationship with. Who would trust a man who pushes sex right away? He's obviously making choices with his dick. Which means he's impulsive and full of his own needs first and the first guy to cheat on us. So, those gals who stay in those relationships and try to make something of it, resent the hell out of the men.

So, guys, if your gal is ever annoyed when you start the sex dance, snappy, withholding, or distracted, you might want to review how you first approached her because you are continuing to approach her the same way and she is now feeling like an object and not a woman who is precious and worthy of your time or effort.

She's hating that she was so easy and she's hating you for realizing that.

"Finding Bigfoot" Reviewed

2012-01-09T02:30:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank Bigfoot Evidence for thinking I'm witty enough and enough of a geek to live comment on the show. Anyone who knows me well, knows I love to play MST3000 for bad movies and I love to make commentary during reality shows. It really was a blast!

The Finding Bigfoot team went to Rhode Island (not a typo--they went to the smallest state in the crowded NE waterfront)

Some women filmed a supposed BF while driving down the road, camera aimed out the window at the things passing them in a blur and the team asked, "why was that film blurry?" Hmm...makes no sense to me. hee hee

I've decided this show needs a "squatch" drinking game, but I think that with a work day tomorrow, it could be dangerous. Fifteen minutes into the show, the word "squatch" or "squatchy" was used about 15 times.

Some of the town stories were rather unusual, like a white gorilla chasing a dude on a bike. There's a story to tell your buddies over some beers.

People balk "F'ing Bigfoot" because they impatiently want the show to expose BF and do something monumental and groundbreaking, but this is just like ghost hunting. It involves tons and tons of hours of nothing at all happening and then it's edited down to those moments there was something questionable that occurred. It's not a science lab. It's real life. This is what real investigators go through, although most don't get access to so many witnesses and have a film crew and money backing them. Most investigators are pissing off their wives spending money on FLIR cameras and going camping on the weekends. When I was ghost hunting and "Ghost Hunters" came on TV, my first thought was, "how can you make this boooooring hobby interesting?" Then, when it was popular, I realized that it was doing something cool--showing people what we go through in our search for answers.

I'm pleased that the team tries new things. They don't do the same methods every time. I like too that they're willing to have people camp out or go in there alone. I would love to see an episode where they have so much activity, they set up a camp and sit there and listen to the forest come alive. I think most people are scared of the sounds of the woods at night -- hence the popularity of "Blair Witch Project."

Keep up the good work, team! Thanks Animal Planet for the best reason to stay up until midnight on a Sunday night!

Favorite Moments: Dude on a bike being chased by a white gorilla. Ranae up a tree in a ghillie suit with a parabolic on a deer stand. Cliff is so stoked when he encounters a barred owl, that he says excitedly "I love bigfooting!" I agree, Cliff! Be sure to see tomorrow's post about Autumnforest's Crush--you might like the subject of one of my crushes....

"Finding Bigfoot" tonight on Animal Planet!

2012-01-08T13:15:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new episode of F'ing Bigfoot on Animal Planet has an almost preposterous location--the smallest state in The Union--Rhode Island. How is that possible? Well, you know that geeky me is going to be avidly watching tonight to see. I love these guys. You can have this Scooby Doo gang of BF hunting going to the desert of Nevada and I'm all over it.

Tonight's snack?

Bigfoot Trail Mix

Mini Marshmallows
Honey Teddy Graham cookies
Reece's Pieces
Mini Pretzels
Raisinets

Talk to y'all tomorrow about it!

4th Dimension Psychic Retrieval?

2012-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

If a spirit is a being in a 4D world, then the explanation of a ghost being "stuck" in a space makes sense if you listen to the video above and the ability for a 4D being to exist in the same space. This also explains the sense of being watched, catching an apparition (seeing only the part of the entity we can perceive in the 3-D world), and even manipulation of 3D objects in our world by unseen forces. It would also explain those haunted locales that feel as though something new is passing in and out of it all the time, like a "portal" or "gateway."

I'm not going to delve into the ghostly possibilities of a 4D world in this post, but I will take this concept and discuss retrieval of psychic information. I have discussed before the synesthetic way I store time and information in a sort of 3D space around me. This retrieval method is a hard one to explain. By looking with my eyes in certain positions and certain distance from my body, "files" in my mind open up to give me information. It feels very much like a safe cracker listening and feeling for that little click that tells him "this is the one!"

This system had me wondering if the often referred to Akashic Records where supposedly all knowledge is held, is actually the 4th dimension and by accessing this space, one is able to gather information we shouldn't otherwise know but that those in the 4th dimension do know because they have full access to the 3-dimensional world as we have full access to 2-dimensional images.

There are times that it would appear that man is able to pass through the 3D to the 4D and that time would be near-death experiences. The places, colors, textures, feels of that plane to them feel so real that coming back to this 3-dimensional world suddenly feels false and flat. It's hard for us to imagine the fourth dimension, but it is likely something in which they can be in the same space as us as we are able to watch a television screen in our 3-dimensional world. We can't go into the TV and be 2D with the images, but we can view them and get all the visceral and emotional responses that make it possible to stare at the box endlessly on our days off.

If photographs and drawings represent things in our 3D world on a 2D plane, then is it possible that we represent that which is in the 4D world, a kind of facsimile that is missing that other dimension that makes us interrelate-able with that dimension? We can look at a picture of our loved one and smile, but we cannot make love to that picture (well, not without a decidedly lacking luster).

This is all an intriguing voyage as I work to understand my psychic skills, being a person who is logic-minded and doesn't think things are truly magical, even if they may appear so. Magic is really something explainable of which we don't know the explanation yet.

The Cult of Bigfoot

2012-01-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

The field of Bigfoot "research," "hunting," "exploration," "conservation," "investigation," is exploding with zealotry.

Here's the dividing camps:

Believers (theists) Motto: Everything is a `squatch!

Nonbelievers (atheists) Motto: There is absolutely no such thing as a `squatch!

Skeptics (agnostics) Motto: Prove there's a `squatch and then I'll believe!

We have the same thing in the ghost hunting world; "everything is a ghost," "there are no ghosts," and "I'll believe in ghosts when I see one."

Here's our dilemma:

You cannot make a believer stop believing. Try it to a Catholic or a Jew some time and see what happens. Nada. Once someone believes in something, it becomes a part of their explanatory style. To a New Ager, if a butterfly lands on her, it is surely a sign of a visit from a dear friend. If a Catholic sees a human shape in a tree trunk, it becomes the Mother Mary. So long as belief is a part of how we explain our world, every death of a loved one is God's will and to the Bigfooters, every acorn dropping in a forest is a distant wood knocking.

You think believers are immovable? Try a nonbeliever. Their intellectual ego is invested in there being no unknowns in the world that could have passed their detection. They have said quite vehemently that these things CANNOT exist. To believe in it, would be to ruin the order of this person's "logical" world in which all things that are, have been explained already. When he declares something, this declaration become his reality and his intellect is at stake!

Next, we have the noncommitals. This is perhaps where the largest grouping of our population lies, in that most folks don't give Bigfoot a thought but suppose that if one shows up and is captured, they will then know Bigfoot exists (not believe, but know).

The most vocal people in the world of religion are the theists and the atheists and the agnostics stay quiet as neither their belief system nor their intellectual ego is threatened by the determination of whether there is or is not a God.

Sometimes, we lose the object of this search for proof of Bigfoot because we become driven by belief systems and egos. A lot of the ugliest infighting and insanity-making going on in the BF arena right now is based on the egos involved and the cult of the believers.

Within those believers, you also have your figureheads from self-purported BF hunters and pseudo-celebs and camo-wearing/gun-wielding good ol' boys. It's a lot like your reverends and ministers, pastors and priests. Everyone has a cult they've joined, and belief system under that figurehead that they adhere to, even when some of the doctrines are ridiculous. Teams are pitted against each other, catty name-calling and petty fighting has broken out in the ranks and creating even more fervor for their leader. You see, their identities are now now affiliated with that team and the collective's message.

Personally, I have seen this creature. I have heard this creature. I don't believe in Bigfoot. I know.

So, those of us who do not believe, do not disbelieve, and are not ambiguous about Bigfoot's existence, those of us who know of it can sit back and observe without involving our ego or our belief system and therefore never risk losing ourselves in the ever evolving holy war.

Perhaps it's time for all those of the Cult of Bigfoot and the ego-driven naysayers to just sit back for a moment and have a listen...

Badass Pop Culture Creatures!

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Bat Boy
(Wikipedia) Bat Boy is a fictional creature who made several appearances in the defunct American supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The Weekly World News published patently fabricated stories which were purported to be factual. Within the pages of the paper, Bat Boy is described as a creature who is 'half human and half bat'. His pursuers, according to Weekly World News are scientists and United States government officials; he is frequently captured, then later makes a daring escape. The original scientist who found him was named Dr. Ron Dillon. Matthew Daemon, S.O.S. (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals) crossed paths with him on several occasions. Bat Boy was created by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa. He debuted as a cover story on June 23, 1992. The original front-page photo of Bat Boy, showing his grotesque screaming face, was the second-best selling issue in the tabloid's history, and he has since evolved into a pop-culture icon. He became the tabloid's de facto mascot of sorts. The story of Bat Boy was turned into an Off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical.

Jackalope: (Wikipedia) The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called "fearsome critter") described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail (and often hind legs). The word jackalope is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of antelope. It is possible that the tales of jackalopes were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit's head and body. However, the concept of an animal hybrid occurs in many cultures, for example as the griffin and the chimera. Indeed, the term chimera has become the categorical term for such composites within the English language. A common southwestern U.S. species of jackrabbit is called the antelope jackrabbit, because of its ability to run quickly like an antelope. It is easily imagined that this species might be humorously misconstrued to possess horns and represent a jackrabbit-antelope cross.

Mothman: (Wikipedia) The Mothman is a cryptid reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from November 12, 1966, to December 1967. Most observers describe the Mothman as a man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large wings. The creature was sometimes reported as having no head, with its eyes set into its chest. A number of hypotheses have been presented to explain eyewitness accounts, ranging from misidentification and coincidence, to paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories.

Jersey Devil: (Wikipedia) Most accounts of the Jersey Devil legend attribute the creature to a "Mother Leeds", a supposed whore although the tale has many variations. According to one version, she invoked the devil by saying "let it be the devil" while giving birth to her 13th child, and when the baby was born, it either immediately or soon afterward transformed into a devil like creature and flew off into the surrounding pines.

Mermaid: (Wikipedia) Much like sirens, mermaids will sing to people or to gods to enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing people to walk off a ship's deck or to run their ship aground. Other stories depict mermaids squeezing the life out of drowning men while attempting to rescue them. They are also said to carry humans down to their underwater kingdoms. In Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it is said that mermaids forget that humans cannot breathe underwater, while other stories say they drown men out of spite, while still other fables portray mermaids as benevolent toward men.

Which one do you most wish actually existed??

Blogs To Add

2012-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Looking for a horror blog to follow? Try Horror Web Blog.

Want something quirky and unusual to make you chuckle? Try A Beer for the Shower.

Love the show "F'ing Bigfoot" (Finding Bigfoot--I have to shorten it for fun). Try North American Bigfoot. Cliff tells the insider scoop of the show and is a gracious and adorable host.

Looking to make a trip to a haunted locale? Try Haunt Jaunts.

Want to read reviews of awesome gothic, steampunk and occult books? Try Gnostalgia.

Do you you like hilarious artistic portrayals of pop culture figures and rock videos? Try Max Evel.

For an awesome southwestern crafts/arts/home/living/lifestyle blog, try My Southwestern Life.

Want to be in on the most freaking awesome ongoing posts and up-to-the-minute posts where the commenters take over in amazing debates? Try Bigfoot Evidence. You will find me there a LOT.

Best news feed to put on your Google homepage-Cryptomundo.

And, keep your eyes on my blog list in the bottom left--it might give you an idea of what I check in on daily.

Scariest Characters From Children's Movie

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Chitty Chitty Bang! Bang!" The Childcatcher

Seriously-this is every childhood horror in one children's musical demon!

"Wizard of Oz" Wicked Witch of the West

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" Slugworth

So, who scared you?

Urban Exploration: Why?

2012-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Why not?

There is something about walking around the hollow interior of a gutted out building that brings peace and mystery at the same time, much like cemeteries. They make you stop and think about the people who are buried there and their lives, but at the same time, it is so tranquil and quiet that it is like a memorial.

Those who enjoy urban exploration (URBEX) appreciate both the statement of what the place once was when it was filled with the living, but also revere the quiet afterlife of occupants, rusted hinges, peeling signs, broken furnishings, vines clinging to window frames and bits of handwritten papers curled up on the floorboards. Sometimes, the remnants left inside are more fascinating because they are surreal in that they remain, but with no one to give them purpose anymore. It is that forgotten aspect we most love to photograph.

Sometimes, you look at something that was once a big attraction in its heyday and now just a sloppy ignored roadside sign and reminder of a time when babyboomers were hitting the road and making car trips. These places stir nostalgia.

Upon occasion, these places are humbling, like silent cathedrals to man's influence on the earth. It was a shelter once for the living, now for the creatures and the homeless.

To one generation, these places represented dreams. To another generation, scars up on the land. You can't help but wonder what they were like in their heyday.

Sometimes, I go to cemeteries and read the names out loud of people whose name has not been uttered in a hundred years. When I go to an abandoned place I have the sense that the building for just a few moments when I'm inside of it, exists again while I make use of it for its original purpose.

Why do we urban explore? How can we not when we see magnificent buildings beckoning us in? It is truly modern day archaeology.

Please Support Intelligence

2012-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Are you into fringe science, lost history, spirituality or the paranormal?

By now, y'all know I thrive on these subjects.

There's a site specifically for this kind of thing that I am quite excited about called Project Archivist. This is a very smart online podcast that I wholeheartedly support. In fact, they have a "Donate" button to help support the show and if you want a kind of PBS for us fringe nerds and paranormal geeks (remember, I'm writing a book "Paranormal Geeks"--I love them), then please consider making this a 2012 donation that makes you feel good about keeping the smarties around instead of letting vapid empty-headed people like the Kardashians profit from being self-centered, egotistical and vain.

So, support the smart stuff and they will support your brain cells and your sense of wonder for our universe!

Backroads Treasures & Zombie Housewives

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Julie's Etsy shop, Backroads Treasures, now has beautiful Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse necklaces, along with all of her western inspired pieces from our backroads trips. Check it out, from an adventurer's necklaces to bolo ties and art.

And, don't forget our CafePress shop filled with Zombie Housewife wares from cups to shirts, bags to shot glasses.

We are beginning the photo shoot in April for the next in the Zombie Housewives book series--the 1960s wives this time (the first book was the 1950s). The premise is over the top and expect to see new items based on that groovy generation!

Cohost For a Ghost?

2012-01-06T02:30:00.000-08:00

I believe that ghostly phenomena follows humans. I'm not saying a particular ghosts follows a person around the globe, but I have found that very often someone experiencing a haunting has had this happen in other locations.

We are either attracting it, feeding it, or a necessary part of its ability to show itself or be perceived.

You know the old puzzle, "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to pick up the sound waves and process it in their brain, does that mean it makes a sound?" Well, do we need humans to perceive ghostly activity? If a human is not around, does the activity occur?

The house I grew up in was more active for some families than others. We can't say the haunting went away, we can simply say that either there were not people who could discern it or they were not of a psychophysiology of the residents to affect it and allow it to play out.

I talk often of how without equipment we can detect ghosts better than any meter or recording device because we use our senses in real time in a 3-dimensional situation and extend to our sixth sense.

It is that sixth sense that I believe is the passageway by which these unexplained things can make themselves be known.

Without the right people in a building or a place, it is devoid of activity. In other words, you cannot have a haunting without first having a living person in that location. I have seen those infamous ghost cams with supposed apparitions showing up when no one is there, but the truth about video/photographic evidence is that it's so impossible to interpret and does not pick up what for humans is an interpretive process. As I would not expect a viewer of the Food Channel to be able to accurately tell me about the taste and smell of a meal prepared on Bobby Flay's show, I would not expect a person viewing a photograph to have an understanding of the situation unless they were present when it was taken.

I went to an historic cemetery once as a kid. People had reported seeing a woman's figure in a white gown weaving in and out of the headstones. Of the thousands that went there every year and narrowed down to the dozens who were there as it got dark, only two or three might have experienced seeing her. We can say the lady is tied to the land, but perhaps this visual cannot be seen without the right cohost for a ghost.

Haunted: Underwater Sculpture

2012-01-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

I love art. I also love the ocean. And, I happen to love urban exploration and haunted places. What if you could put those all together into something that moves you emotionally and leaves you haunted by the images? I have never said that any artist was my favorite. I know that my tastes in art change over time, but no matter what I go through in my life in phases, Jason deCaires Taylor (click his name and go to the most amazing website - it will blow your mind) is my favorite artist EVER.

Yes, he's easy on the eyes and the soul--but look at this work:

Dale the Doll: If Presidents Are Puppets--Sign Me Up!

2012-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm contemplating this presidential election thing. I think I could make a pretty good president. If presidents are puppets, then I am overqualified and, what's more, no one will ever complain about me being a puppet going in because I've been real upfront about that.

Whoever has the dough to grease my wheels, I'll move my mouth and their voice will come out. I think this is an ideal gig for me. Plus, I always wanted to sleep in Lincoln's Bedroom.

I don't mind someone pulling my strings, so no conscience troubles there. I was made for this kind of game.

Yup, consider Dale the Doll in 2012. At least I'm honest about whose lap I'm sitting on.

Oh, and if you nominate me, I will have Skittles the Clown as my running mate. Every president should have a clown at this side.

Abandoned Places On the Sea

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hashima Island, Japan

La Cite du Petrole

North Brother Island, NY

Photographing Spooky Places: Mood/Contrasts

2012-01-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

This abandoned jail was creepy, but coming up the stairs into the women's section, the light coming in the window at sunset, I thought about how crazy it must have felt to be there imprisoned. That one word "crazy" made me think of a funhouse and I tilted the camera to capture this as I walked up the stairs. Now, it looks like how it actually felt standing there--just kind of wrong and weird.

Ask yourself - What is the mood of this place? Accentuate it! If it feels dark and mysterious - accentuate that. If it feels intrusive and overpowering - accentuate that.

The same jail. I stopped to read some neo-nazi ridiculousness on a cell wall and got distracted by the shadow of a bar that made a cross atop of it. Now, it wasn't just the rambling writings, but the cross which obliterated parts of the dialogue.

Ask yourself - are there more ways to look at this? Walk around it and look at it from many angles and perspectives, below, above, the side, angled, paralleled, through an opening, from the point of view of someone in a chair, on a bed... Too many people just shoot a place from standing eye level. But, the shot from the bed, looking toward the door tells a story more than someone standing in the doorway shooting the bed.

The only thing worse than being buried in a vast desert? To be part of an anonymous bunch of burials with nothing more than wood stakes, anonymous, expansive, bleak. This shot captured how I feel about being buried in hell on earth.

Ask yourself - how do I feel personally about this subject? Accentuate it! If you find it charming and idyllic - accentuate that. If you find it disgusting and dismal - accentuate that.

Most people would consider this shot a mistake--into the setting sun! But, look at the effect it creates. By over or underexposing something, you make us able to see enough details to know the subject but a huge amount of mystery as to the details.

Ask yourself - how can I take advantage of the lighting? Over-indulge or under-indulge in the existing light and leave a lot of mystery.

The graveyard was creepy because it was beautifully green and maintained and picturesque, but a lady came at twilight to feed the tons of stray cats. Soon, the graveyard filled with cats and taking advantage of the twilight, I was able to photograph them and get eye shine. It really showed the scary mood of the prowling cats taking over the headstones and lawns.

Ask yourself - how can I create contrasts? Find that one thing that is ugly in the beauty, one thing that is beauty in the ugly.

Hope you learned a few things about looking at the world as potentially spooky. Even the most mundane things looks scarier if you do them in black and white, get below them looking up to show proportions that look enormous, capturing deep shadows, and letting the scene be obscured by tree limbs, or even letting a human shadow cast over a scene. Just like in a haunted house, it isn't what you can see that scares you, it's what you can't see that might be lurking... keep that in mind.

What Ice Cream Flavor Are You?

2012-01-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know why wintertime makes me crave the very thing I've never had cravings for in my life - ice cream. It had me wondering what flavor I would be.

I think it'd go something like this -- ginger, cherries and nuts. I'd call it "Autumnforest Offerings" with a kind of Christmas Yule Gift theme. A holiday tradition.

Although, I'm more of a Halloween person, so perhaps it would go something like this --
Pumpkin, chocolate nibs and nuts - "Autumnforest's Halloween Eve."

I just know nuts have to be in there somewhere....

What would your flavor be?

Strange Prankster In My Apartment?

2012-01-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Oh, and this wasn't on the video, but after this filming, I propped the doll back up, looked around the room to take note of everything, turned out the light, left. I came in the morning to start work and turned on the light and went to my desk to turn on the power strip and then saw the doll again--same position face down! I made an extra effort last night to put the doll back so her heavy head was back and the face could not want to fall forward.

No explanations, yet.

Extreme Vision: ParaVlog

2012-01-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Extreme Vision Parnormal (EVP) is a team in Northern Illinois that not only seriously investigates, but they are smart about social media to know how to spread new views and thoughts about the world of paranormal investigation. Research means nothing if people don't open discussions and share their findings. I like these guys. I'll be watching them and you should too.

Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Blog

Bigfoot Community: You Can't Make This Shit Up!

2012-01-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of characters in the growing Bigfoot industry. Remember the old days when you could name the big guys and count them on one hand? You know, Peter Byrne (charming chap with a UK dialect and Khaki clothing) John Green (a gentle-spirited Canadian), Grover Krantz (the intellectual professor)?

The closest even-keeled characters we have today are folks like Jeff Meldrum, Cliff Barackman, and Mike Rugg.

Today, the industry is different. Sort of like an inbred family--you don't know what you're gonna get.

Why? Social Media? Television? Radio? Newspapers? Magazines? It seems that BF is not just for Jack Link ads and Steve Austin to wrestle nowadays. He is the most sought after commodity for everything from gun-wielding conservative rednecks to survivalist outcasts, from publicity seekers to money-grubbing circus ringmasters. You want to know some of the cast of colorful characters?

These people are real (well as real as reality TV attention-seekers):

Tom Biscardi: This circus ringleader has been rushing around the country throwing money at hoaxed pieces of Bigfoot. You can thank him for this press conference about the gorilla suit in a freezer--

Rick Dyer: Remember the Bigfoot is actually a gorilla suit in a refrigerator fiasco? Thank this guy and his buddy. He could have crawled under a rock, but he came out and admitted that the Men in Black `dun stole his Bigfoot.

Jim LeBus: This delightful-in-camo dude is a hoot--I like him, but then I love my nerds and, yes, nerds even happen in the survivalist world, especially there.

Justin Smeja" This hunter confessed he shot a BF. No, he didn't just shoot a BF in the back with its hands in the air while he had a perfectly safe truck to get back into and leave, he also went after its kid and shot and killed it. He claims to have taken a hunk of the "steak" with him and gave it to a scientist (this gets better and better by the minute) who is doing DNA testing on it.

No, wait, it gets better--Russia has video of a captured BF in a cage.... (sorry, I'm laughing so hard, I can't type)

All I have to say is cue the music---

Dr. Persinger's God Helmet

2012-01-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Did Dr. Persinger create a near-death experience in a lab?

Wikipedia: The apparatus, placed on the head of an experimental subject, generates weak fluctuating (i.e. "complex") magnetic fields. These fields are approximately as strong as those generated by a land line telephone handset or an ordinary hair dryer, but far weaker than that of an ordinary fridge magnet. It is used extensively by Michael Persinger, a neuroscientist at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Persinger has published extensively about the effects on the human brain of the "complex" magnetic fields generated by the God helmet and other similar devices. Many subjects have reported "mystical experiences and altered states" while wearing the God Helmet. Although demonstrated to journalists and documentarists, these effects await the publication of independent replications in formal peer-reviewed scientific journals. The only attempt at replication published in the scientific literature reported a failure to replicate Persinger's effects. Persinger claims the replication was flawed. The Swedish group disagrees. Persinger reports that at least 80 percent of his participants experience a presence beside them in the room, which ranges from a simple 'sensed presence' to visions of God. About one percent experienced God, while many more had less evocative, but still significant experiences of "another consciousness or sentient being". The God Helmet has received attention from the media and theologians because of the challenge it appears to present to traditional beliefs in God. Although only a small number (on the order of 1%) of the experimental subjects saw God in the laboratory,[self-published source?] their experiences can be interpreted as meaning that God is the subjective experience of an unusual kind of brain function. In contrast, most of the subjects had the experience of 'sensing' a 'presence'.

To some, this experiment verified that the God experience and near-death come from action in the temporal lobe. To others, this test is flawed, as people do not have the profound life changes and specific details others have during a near-death experience.

My issue with this test is that none of these people in the experiment had flat brainwave activity, but those who have had NDE's do. A famous documented case was Pam Reynolds, a woman who had to have her body taken down to 60 degrees and her brain and heart activity stopped for a "standstill" procedure that allowed doctors to go into her brain and repair an aneurysm.

Site: Pam reported that she felt herself "pop" outside her body and hover above the operating table. Then she watched the doctors working on her lifeless body for awhile. From her out-of-body position, she observed the doctor sawing into her skull with what looked to her like an electric toothbrush. Pam heard and reported later what the nurses in the operating room had said and exactly what was happening during the operation. At this time, every monitor attached to Pam's body registered "no life" whatsoever. At some point, Pam's consciousness floated out of the operating room and traveled down a tunnel which had a light at the end of it where her deceased relatives and friends were waiting including her long-dead grandmother. Pam's NDE ended when her deceased uncle led her back to her body for her to reentered it. Pam compared the feeling of reentering her dead body to "plunging into a pool of ice."

In this test, just because activating the temporal lobe can bring about sense of not being alone or seeing a light, does not mean that is the only time these sensations come about and the only way. That is a big jump in logic. I can be nauseous and want to throw up or someone can press the back of my throat and activate my gag reflex. Just because you can produce vomiting by gagging doesn't mean that there's a genuine cause, only a reflex being stimulated.

Empaths: Trying Not To Drown

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

As a psychic, I run into more "empaths" than any other kind of psychic. In fact, in my lifetime, I've only known one other psychometrist. I have been on plenty of ghost hunts with empaths and I have seen many of them let emotions overcome them so much that they flee in hysterics. As someone who has sponsored dozens of people over 20 years with anxiety disorder, phobias and panic attacks, I can tell you that if your head isn't on straight, you can give yourself so much undue emotion.

How do we get emotions? From our thoughts. They do not come up from some paranormal well inside of us, there is no Keebler elf shoveling hormones into our bodies to produce joy or angst, and there is no obvious emotion for any situation, as some people will laugh, others will cry.

We have to first have a thought to have an emotion. Empaths tend to be highly suggestible to any images or thoughts they feed themselves. If I tell you to close your eyes, imagine picking a lemon and feeling the waxy dimpled surface and then biting into it, you might produce saliva. To an empath, it isn't just the mouth watering, she might also feel juice squirt her in the eye. She has a vivid ability to imagine and also can get so caught up in it, it becomes reality.

So, an empath sitting in a torture chamber that hadn't been using in a hundred years might sense some of the heavier emotions once felt there, as I do when I read an object. But then, it is also human nature that, when we feel bad, we want to know why. We seek the reason. For the empath, this reason might include reviewing the history of the building and the things that were done there. She is feeding a wellspring of internal imagery which amplifies that feeling even more, just like a person in a battle reenactment might begin to hyperventilate. Thoughts like, "this was so horrible," "how could anyone endure this?" will bring even more emotion on top of the initial "reading" that was done.

I have connected with the thoughts of serial killers and many other such aberrations in our world. I've read objects with tragic histories, buildings with awful events, and never once have I shed a tear, become frightened, run away or wanted to stop. I have a clear logical understanding that I am observing and not being. I am taking note of events, not joining the events. This is now. That was then.

All participants are no longer suffering.

Look at it this way: If you are drowning, would you want a person who is in a safe and sturdy position on board a ship to pull you out or a fellow swimmer floundering beside you? This is the difference between empathizing and sympathizing. If you show empathy, you understand why someone feels the way they do, but you do not become what they are feeling. If you sympathize, you join them in a good cry fest.

An empath can have a very valid place in an investigation, but they will do no good at all if they let their thoughts and mental images take over and begin to believe that this event is threatening them right here and now and that they are a part of that history. An empath must remain grounded in the present. "Here I am standing in an empty jail cell with other investigators. It is 2012. No one has been harmed in this building in decades. Everything that has been is over." Like a news reporter, observe the emotions that had been in that place, describe them, focus on the task of being an investigator and not a participant. If you feel you must become the feelings that have been there, understand that for what it is, a witnessing in your body of someone else's event long since passed. That person no longer exists, is not experiencing that feeling again, and you are just channeling it, but not having a reason in the here and now to feel it.

In fact, it is best to describe for someone taking notes, just what it is you are sensing which takes it from the victim stance to the witness stance.

What is the role of an empath on a team?

If used properly, and empath might be your best communicator with the other side because they can read the emotional content of those who held that space. By picking up that stream of emotion that might have been part of the ties to that location, they can ask the right questions, be a compassionate and caring parent-like person to turn to. However, the moment the empath takes on that emotion, they are likely to scare anything away simply because an angry person does not want to confide in another angry person, a sad person does not go to another sad person for solace. It is best to approach a spirit energy with empathy and comfort. If someone was mad there, take the stance of letting them know they had reason to be mad.

That is true empathy--letting someone have their own emotion while validating its right to be.

Understanding the emotion and being an ideal calm communication conduit can make an empath an irreplaceable paranormal investigator. Every team should have one, but like any other skilled member, they need to learn to use the tool properly to take the investigations to a new level.

Autumnforest Crushes: Dean Radin, PhD

2012-01-03T02:30:00.001-08:00

I'm starting a new series on my blog "Autumnforest Crushes" dealing with nerds in the field of paranormal/science/exploration who make my heart pitter patter and my mind happily occupied with their intelligence and wit, curiosity and perseverance. As an alpha female, I appreciate men who blaze trails not taken, adventurers of the mind, body and soul. Expect to see lots of variety in this series!

The first in this series is Dean Radin, PhD. He studied electrical engineering and psychology and, if higher degrees in complicated arenas wasn't enough, he cofounded the Boundary Institute. You might recall me discussing the online PSI testing site I like to utilize to learn how my mind and body feel when I choose a correct answer and to work my skills. This is hosted by the Boundary Institute at this site. In fact, yesterday on the card draw test, I got a 50.6 to 1 ratio and was in the #1 slot. The next person closest to me had 23.7 to 1. Cool, huh?

Radin now is Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University. His books include "The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena", "Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality," and "The Noetic Universe."

You can find him extensively on programs that discuss things like psychic skills and the paranormal world. He is well spoken, thoughtful, and I love the way his mind works. I could swear he is also spatial/time synesthetic as I am. Okay, a girl can dream that she and her crush have something in common!

Holy hell! Y'all know how I often talk about "intent" and how we feel someone watching us and turn and stare right at the person. He uses that example in this discussion on the video below. Are we linked or what? (pitter patter, pitter patter) He is dreamy, but even more important, he is working in a field I need to know more about having been born with this blessed/cursed ability that still baffles my logical mind.

Succubus and Incubus Movies

2012-01-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

The incubus (male) and succubus (female) are supposed spirits of an earthy nature who seek to have sex with unsuspecting people. It is reported that when they have sex with you, it can cost you your health and even your life.

Ah, but what a way to go!

Here's just some movies based on these sexual demons.

The Incubus (1982)

A supernatural source is discovered to be behind a series of violent sex crimes in a small town. I really liked this one, but that era of movies were just totally cool and it has this awesome sexy and scary music.

"Succubus: Hell Bent"

Sometimes what happens at Spring Break doesn't stay at Spring Break... it follows you home.

"Incubus" (2006)

Stranded after a car accident, a medical school student and her friends try to find shelter - only to cross paths with a deranged killer.

Okay, I know y'all are thinking--yeah, but where's the SEX? Here you go--

Succubus XXX

A mind-blowing, erotic horror, Evil Motion's Succubus stars Raven Riley and Liz Vicious as good and evil adversaries whose origin stems from a very ancient tale. Lilith (Liz Vicious), the fabled first wife of Adam, has been awoken from her slumber with a renewed lust for blood. Due to her defiance of God, Lilith was damned to eternal punishment by having to walk the Earth as a succubus demon feeding on the strength and lust of innocent people. Legend tells that only the eldest daughter in the bloodline of Eve herself has the power to stop Lilith. That chosen one is Raven Riley. She is the one who bears the mark and she will not be able to come to peace until she has slain the succubus.

Ghost Experiment: Silent EVP

2012-01-02T05:45:00.000-08:00

For quite some time now, I've been restless about the field of paranormal investigation. Why, you may ask? Because I really want to do more to question assumptions about how we hunt for ghosts.

Assumptions?

There are some popular assumptions that make me have to perform mental gymnastics to accept and y'all know how I like to question things - it's why I started Ghost Hunting Theories. Here's the myth I want to tackle first -

Myth: We must call out questions during an EVP session.

Do ghosts have auditory canals? Is it necessary to create sound waves?

Problems: Here's our ghost hunting issue--a lot of times during EVP sessions, the questions asked are not answered. We listen to a word or two and say "huh?" Is it entirely possible that a spirit voice would be reacting to the thoughts inside of someone in the room's head? We ask "What is your name?" and one of the investigators is thinking about his empty stomach and what to eat later on and the spirit voice recorded says "hamburger." So, how do we: 1. Prove that you don't need to speak out loud, you can simply think a question and 2. Be sure everyone in the room is thinking the same thing so the answer is definitely to the only question being focused on?

Experiment: Place the recording devices around the room, set the team down at a table in a controlled EVP session in which all sounds are tagged (stomach grumbling, someone coughing, air conditioner turning on) and have a leader at the table. The leader will regard a watch. He will begin with "start" and when he says start, everyone looks at a piece of paper that has a question on it. They read the question over and over silently and focus on it in their minds for 30 seconds when the leader says "next" and they go to the next paper and think and read in their minds that question. The team does this until 10 questions for 30 seconds each are focused upon in 5 minutes' time. Session is over.

What can we surmise from this experiment? Well, the first 30 seconds until the leader says "next" we know that the question was "is there anyone here?" If there is a reply on a recorder, they can correlate that answer with the question thought.

If there is a voice recorded and the word(s) are unrelated to the question, we can try this experiment many times to be sure that wasn't an aberration. Then eventually, if the same things keeps happening, we can assume that these voices captured do not need us for interaction, are not answering us, are just as random if we are silent as if we speak out loud.

But, should we get an answer that is appropriate within that time period of asking that question, we can make an assumption that the way of communicating is not necessary with voice, but with thoughts. This also expands the concept of using a psychic or spiritual means such as seance to communicate. It also means that the very hunters in a room could make an EVP session difficult with blending a lot of separate thoughts, so perhaps either having a lone person doing EVP with a camera on him to record his interaction or another controlled session of pre-planned focus questions is going to be more effective.

Y'all know that when I did the haunted formula in the summer of 2009 and then did so much questioning of methodology amongst hunters and assumptions about ghosts and their habits, that I would eventually get restless. Well, restless has turned into action. Expect 2012 for me to be a year of lots of interesting books being released, but also lots of interesting tests being performed. I will report the findings back to you once this test has been performed. I know a team of professionals who would be ideal to try this one out.

"F'ing Bigfoot" Reviewed: Season 2 Begins!

2012-01-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! New season of my favorite new show "Finding Bigfoot," or as I affectionately refer to it, "F'ing Bigfoot" since "FB" means Facebook. And, with all the frustration hunting after an animal that doesn't want to be found, I'm sure the team often uses that curse. I love the show so much, I've done two comedy pieces about it (Laugh/Comedy button above).

You know I love this show because I was up until midnight watching it. WTF - Cox cable? I find the video to be wrong--something about it just doesn't jive and perhaps it's the concept that an upright ape swings in trees. Perhaps it's the fact the tree doesn't move, just the branch. If you swing from a limb on a tree, especially the gymnastics that looked like--the tree should move. It wasn't moving.

I did appreciate Ranae being brave and wanting to tent up and see what happens. I'd like to see the team trek through woods and camp out in more episodes. I want that scary around the campfire feel, them waking up at night with their IR camera talking to us about hearing something outside and going to investigate. Give me some Blair Witch!

As always, I adore the show. It works just right for me. Not too soft, not too hard, just right. I appreciated the concept of putting an ape out there and see what happens. Why not? I'm all about testing theories, trying new things, attacking stuff through the side door instead of the front door.

I appreciated this high-energy episode and Cliff, honey, I'm glad you survived the stand-in as the chimp in the tree. You are the heart and soul of the show, cutie.

Finding Bigfoot--New Season!

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Expect me to go crazy over the new season of "Finding Bigfoot." Y'all know my obsession with our furry cousin, but I also really love the team, even the cranky curmudgeon windbag tool called Moneymaker. Expect me to be inspired for yet another episode of "Laugh." Click on the tab above for the previous 2 episodes I wrote based on the show.

For FoF, I did tank top shots. For Ghost Adventures, I do a drinking game. I think the appropriate accompaniment to "Finding Bigfoot" would be foot shots. Oh, don't worry, I will also do suggestions for the best "Finding Bigfoot" snack ideas. Tonight, I'm sharing with you my secret weapon for any party. I've become so famous for this damn dip that every time I go somewhere, people expect me to be packing it. Always double this recipe--it will be gone in the snap of your fingers:

White Pizza Dip

1 envelope of Knorr’s garlic and herb pasta mix (in dried seasoning section near dried spaghetti mixes and such)
½ lb (8 oz) sour cream
½ lb ricotta cheese (8 oz)
1 oz pepperoni chopped
1 c. shredded mozzarella
1 loaf of french bread or italian or baguette bread torn into chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Combine seasoning packet with sour cream, ricotta, pepperoni, 3/4 c. mozzarella and put into a casserole dish. Sprinkle rest of mozzarella (1/4 c) on top. Cook for 30 mins. Serve with bread dippers.

Here's some of my favorite lines from the series:

“We are clearly in a squatchy area”
“Maybe it was a dumb squatch”
“We've got squatch”
“I do think there is a squatch in these woods.”
“Some people sing in their cars, I do Bigfoot screams.”
“I went off the deep end of squatch after that.”

Tonight's episode takes the team to New York to investigate a supposed baby Bigfoot swinging in a tree. I do not believe for one second that was what was captured in the video, but like most outings, they will go into the woods at night and that's always when the fun begins!

(My peepers as requested by Guy from Bigfoot Lunch Club)

Juice Fasting

2012-01-01T02:30:00.000-08:00

It's the new year, let me introduce you to my recent life change - juice fasting. This documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead so motivated me, I decided this was the right plan for me and the reset button I wanted to activate. I have learned much from it, but mostly that if you tend to have stomach acid, you may be quite queasy the first day unless you take Zantac or periodic Tums or Maalox. If you can't do just juices, consider doing a salad as a meal during the day at eat the fruits/veggies instead of juicing them.

The benefits of this are enormous. Do not be surprised to find that your skin the first day feels flushed and warm. Getting actual supernutrients from what you digest instead of spending all your bodies energies digesting processed crap, you get immediate benefits of blood flow and even arousal. Yeah, seriously. Your intestines too will clean out completely as if you had a freaking coffee enema. It's pretty impressive how clean you feel inside and out. Something happens as you clean and peel and juice fruits and vegetables of lots of colors and tastes. You start to look at food as nourishment and not entertainment. Your body actually begins to crave more of the good stuff and less of the greasy stuff that makes you feel groggy. These juices keep your energy levels up, but they also make you feel so peppy because you are not spending tons of energy trying to break down and digest junk food. Your sleep is better and easier. You have a better tolerance for exercise. Your skin becomes glowing. You find yourself wanting to exercise your body more because you know you are running on super fuels.

Some people do the juice fasting diet for a few days, others for weeks. My goal was to do 3 days, then if I make that, go for a week total. If I made that, go for 10 days. If I made that, go for the 2-week point. Now the the holidays are over and I have this down to a rhythm, I expect to be on the juice fast faithfully. To get to my goal weight, I would probably need to do it for a month, but of course life gets in the way, a birthday, an invite to supper, a gathering with friends, but you just get right back into it. The main thing is just to retrain yourself to feel the benefits of good nutrients and to be conscious when you eat.

We all have goals for 2012, mine is to fuel my body more efficiently and to move it as often as possible since my work life and writing life are both very sedentary. Good luck with your goals. Perhaps we can check in with each other and be supportive.

Happy 2012--Y'all!

2011-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

The answer is "no, I have not received a kiss on New Year's." Perhaps that is why I do not celebrate. Too many disappointments. I'd rather go to bed and just make the new year roll in without any promise of romance.

I wish y'all a happy celebration, as I realize many people stay up and get drunk and go out and party and such, so please make it home safely and get that kiss--but make it count. Not just anyone will do. Kiss the person you hope to have throughout 2012 with you.

Talk to you in 2012.

The Birds

2011-12-31T09:30:00.001-08:00

(My homage to "The Birds" in my home)

Life is a weird chain of events.

In 1961, man started a housing boom in Monterrey, California and in his hastiness, there were leaky septic tanks that infected plankton that fed the fish that birds caught and ate. This created a toxic situation in which the birds were dying and disoriented and flying into buildings. This set of circumstances, along with Alfred Hitchcock wanting to top his last film, "Psycho" and having read a story by Daphne du Maurier about birds attacking a Cornish family, he saw an ideal vehicle for a new movie that would become one of the best thrillers of all time and I put it in my top 5 movies of all time, "The Birds."

At first, Hitchcock tried mechanized birds, like remote control planes, but these looked very fake. After much work with optics specialists, new techniques were utilized, awards were won, and the movie came across surprisingly real for an early 60s film. The mechanical birds were used in a few small pieces in the film, like when the birds swayed inside their cage on the car ride, but otherwise, filming techniques and real birds made this amazing movie graphically real. They also had to subdue the happy sunny colors of Bodega Bay to get the proper atmosphere. There is something to be said about Hitchcock's tenacity and desire to suspend reality and give the proper amount of mood and atmosphere.

So, had man not been in a rush to build new housing in Monterrey California and had Daphne du Maurier not written a story of birds attacking an isolated farm, and had Hitchcock not have done a super hit in "Psycho" and wanted to top it, none of this would have come together.

So, the next time your day gives you nothing but bad shit, just remember--from shit comes compost--from compost comes healthy robust growth.

Blogs That Caught My Attention in 2011

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a Bigfoot F-R-E-A-K. I like my men tall and hairy, what can I say?

My serious BF hangout has become Bigfoot Evidence. The comments that go back and forth are crazy interesting, edgy, angry, and hopeful. I never know what's next on the news reported there or the things people say. I totally love it--very addictive. If you don't follow it, you're missing out a hugely fun place to comment!

I am also a huge fan of North American Bigfoot with Cliff Barackman from my new favorite show, "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet. I might have a wee bit of a crush on him. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the Oregonian feel, the wise eyes, the intelligence, the outdoorsy nature....

I am also a werewolf freak and a bit of a closet shaman-type. The blog The Wolf's Eyes has my attention and I never miss a post. This author is highly intelligent, spiritual, and seriously respectful of all things wolves and shapeshifting. Perhaps it's the romantic in me, but this blogger seriously knows how to create a world I'd love to occupy.

I was an English major and can write everything, except poetry, but that doesn't stop me from admiring the hell out of those who can write it and the most exceptional new poet I follow is at Memento Mori. You cannot read any of her poetry without walking away feeling like someone peeked into your soul.

This photography blog, Cory Piehowicz is just as odd and quirky as my mind. I might have a blogger crush from afar.

I enjoy peering into someone's world, especially when they have a great sense of humor. My Own Private Idaho is hilarious and a beautiful insight into a wise old soul's life when he is thrust into Idaho after being raised in California. He's so out of place and yet making it work.

It's been a zombie year for me and I really found a fun place in Zombies Everywhere. In fact, after hosting the Blogger Virtual Zombie Walk this year, I handed it over to him to manage and I know it's in great hands!

Another zombie freak who makes the most amazing items and soap (the hemp is awesome) that I totally adore, is the blog "It's on Random." She's adorable, fun, fresh, and gives me lots of stuff I didn't see coming! I'm just a big fan!

Dr. Heckle is a great getaway. He puts up hilarious pictures several times a day and lets the commenters just have at it with their wittiest caption.

"Bubba's Place" has cool photographs and witty poetry. He's a gracious host and you really feel welcome there. I love being part of the tribe.

Now, I follow the maximum, 300 blogs, and the ones I really go to daily are on my blog list on the bottom left of the blog. Check them out, I obviously recommend them all.

2011 Recap

2011-12-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

2011--the first entire year since I was 21 in which I was not married. What did it bring?

6 books on Kindle and Nook (click Sharon Day books button on the left)
Trips to many abandoned places, ghost towns, haunted locations, and ghost hunts
Interviews for newspapers
A contract signed for a book going to print in April
My first dates since I was 16!
A TV news interview
A blogger virtual zombie walk event online
Participating in a zombie walk with 4000 people
Loads of new friends - a real tribe of supportive people
Growing the blog
Doing a radio show online
My first Bigfoot hunt
A vacation at a resort
Lots of new ghost hunting opportunities

Oh, hell, this is only a portion of the list!

My plans for 2012?

To be regularly published in print. I have lots of upcoming books:

"They Come Out At Night (A Book To Read By Candlelight)"
"Spirit Vessels: Why Some Buildings Are Haunted"
"Growing Up With Ghosts" - The story of growing up at Aspen Grove told by me and my family members.
"Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse (1960s)"
"Paranormal Geeks" (check out the button on the right hand side of the blog if you want to help me by letting me interview you anonymously for the book)
*Several fiction books including a SciFi and paranormal romances

I expect to grow the blog with a lot more news in the field and new research, some humorous pieces as always, adding in a lot more video taken on trips and in crazy places you may never want to visit in person. I'd like to try my hand at some 5-minute documentaries. I also would like to grow other paranormal realms on the blog from PSI to horror, Bigfoot to UFOs. I hope to conduct some interesting studies in 2012 in the realm of the paranormal and I will be sharing those regularly. Generally, I've come to know that you can't predict what I'll do next. Even I don't know! So, hold on tight and continue to be the best damn tribe of friends and inquisitive minds a woman could ever know.

Thanks for always being with me. The voyage is crazy and wild, scary and exciting, but I always feel safe knowing that y'all wish me the best. I promise to continue to pay that forward.