Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

Baby Monitor Hauntings

2012-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

Baby monitors are often depicted as portals to the other worldly. In films such as Insidious, they pick up the voices of the ghosts haunting their house. In movies like Signs, they pick up Alien voices as the aliens plan an invasion.   Baby monitors are natural receivers and many believe they pick up more than the sweet voices of the babies they are designed to monitor.

Last night I tucked my baby in early. I turned on the baby monitor and in my exhaustion, I fell asleep beside him.   I didn't notice my husband come home late. He didn't notice the monitor was still on. He sat down in the den next to the other end of the monitor and began working on his dictations.   Suddenly, the baby monitor exploded in a cacophony of noise and chaos. He turned it off, but it got me thinking about baby monitors.

A quick search of the Internet will reveal thousands of stories of hauntings and baby monitors. In one single forum, I found hundreds of stories of people who heard ghosts through a baby's monitor. Phantom voices drift over the monitors and video baby monitors expose strange black fogs wandering through nurseries. One woman described hearing her dead father-in-laws voice over the monitor. He was softly comforting her weeping baby.   Many stories are like this. They hear the ghost comforting weeping babies or see the ghosts hovering over the baby's crib.

Most theorists believe that baby monitors act in the same way EVP recorders do. EVPs or electronic voice phenomena are voices picked up over recording devices. Phantom voices that aren't heard with the naked ear are recorded and heard on playback.   Those who believe, think that baby monitors receive in the same way other EVPs are recorded. EVPs are heard on the receiving end of the baby monitor.   The voices of ghosts can be heard the same way audio playback reveals EVPs.

Other theorists believe that children and animals are more open to the spirit world. Animals and young children can see and feel ghosts in the ways that adults can not. According to these theories, baby nurseries would draw ghosts who want to interact with the living. Most of the stories about nurseries and ghosts are pleasant. People hear the ghosts of loved ones whispering to the babies.   It is away for the deceased to interact with their family when they are gone.

So it is possible that the baby monitor beside my son's bassinet picked up something unworldly. Maybe my mother-in-law came to sing to her grandson or my father-in-law came by to whisper to him in French.   Perhaps when my son looks behind me and laughs at the darkness over my shoulder he is seeing the friendly face of someone who has gone before us.   Of course, there is no way to be sure and much of this could just be attributed to electronic glitches that quickly resolve.   Either way, I'm bringing my baby monitor with me on my next over night at a haunted hotel.

A Pact with The Devil

2012-01-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

This story came to me by way of people I know. It is a story with a loop. It looped back to a story I have blogged about before. It was a true story about a young man involved with Satanism who ended up hurting his family. I am not going to say any names here to protect the confidentiality of those involved, but I couldn't help but write about it. The story was too sad and seemed like it needed to be told.

Some time ago, on a Friday 13th, a man walked into his living room with his wife and daughter. He shot himself.   This was devastating for his family in every way imaginable. It was tragic and wrong.   The man had been depressed and his behavior had been increasingly more erratic since his father has passed away two years earlier, but no one had imagined he would hurt himself.

In time, the family moved on. Wounds healed, but were never forgotten. Sorrow remained part of life. One day, the wife was told a story about her husband. She found out that he had been best friends with an infamous Satanist. A Satanist that had ended up committing terrible atrocities. This made the wife remember a story her husband had told her. Her husband has told her that when he was a teen he had loved a girl more than anything. Sadly, she hadn't even know he existed.   He told his wife he made a pact. He had made a pact that he would give something up is he could just have this girl.  The wife hadn't asked for details about who the pact was with, but the man had said he had made the pact on Friday the 13th.   The pact was made and the man got the girl.   She dated him and for a while it seemed worthwhile.   Ten years later, his father died on Friday the 13th. After that, the man was never the same. He steadily became worse and worse until his suicide on the same day.

It is now the wife's belief that the pact the man made was with the devil.   It could be argued that the devil gave him what he wanted in exchange for his father's life and his own soul.   That is certainly an aura that hangs around the case. It could also be said that the man attributed his father's death to the devil and thus was driven mad by his own belief.   Either way, it was that pact that lead to his decline and demise and the story will haunt his family.

Mylings: The Ghosts of Lost Children

2012-01-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

The Myling is a Scandinavian ghost. It is the ghost of an unbaptized child that is seeking solace. The old Catholics used to say that unbaptized children couldn't be buried in holy ground and couldn't find solace in heaven. This belief seems to have given birth to the folklore that the Myling springs from. The Myling is the spirit of an unbaptized child that is trying to find a living soul to bring it to hollowed ground. The usually hunt for their victims amongst those who wander in the woods. Their faces are the name for terror in the dark places of old forests.

The Myling is also known as utburd, which means "that which is taken outside." Mylings are most often the ghosts of children that were taken to the forest to die. Like Hansel and Gretel in the old fairy tale, Mylings were drug into the forest and left to starve in the dark. They grew lost and angry and often suffered terrible deaths. They were unwanted and unbaptized. The ghosts of such children are angry and large and they are said to grow larger as the unfortunate soul they have latched onto comes closer to the graveyard. The myling attacks wanders and grabs onto their backs. They force the wanderer to take them to a cemetery where the myling might find peace. However, they grow so heavy as the wanderer approaches the graveyard that the wanderer often can't continue carrying the myling or sinks into the soil. If the wanderer can't get the myling to its goal, the myling devours the wanderer. The myling is considered to be one of the most terrifying ghosts in Scandinavian folklore.

The Unlucky History of Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

This post has become an annual tradition for me. Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will recognize this post from past Friday the 13ths. I like Friday the 13th and this is my way of celebrating the 13th and its long history. Friday the 13ths is considered the most unlucky day of the year. Most people aren't entirely sure where this bad luck comes from, but fear of Friday the 13th can affect as many as 1 in 4 people. The fear of Friday the 13th is known as triskaidekaphobia.

"It's been estimated that [U.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do," said Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.

So where does this fear that can cripple a nation come from? There really seems to be no consensus on the origin of Friday the 13th. Everyone has a story, but most of them are different. The fear comes from an unknown source. Here's a look at a few of the Friday the 13th origin stories I've found.

One folklorist traces the origins back to Norse mythology. There were 12 gods who had a dinner party in Valhalla. A 13th guest, Loki, was uninvited. Always the trickster, Loki tricked the god of darkness, Hoder, into shooting Balder, the god of joy. Balder died and darkness descended on the earth. Joy was lost to man and from then on 13 was considered unlucky.

In 1307, on October 13, 1307, King Phillip IV of France ordered every member of the order of the Knights Templar executed on charges of high treason and heresy. King Phillip owed the Templar's a good deal of money and they had amassed an enormous amount of wealth on their crusades. It is thought that the order was actually to strip the Templar's of their wealth. The Templar's were tortured horribly and forced to confess to crimes they didn't commit. They all died, but as the grandmaster died he cursed King Phillip and the day making Friday the 13th unlucky for future generations to come.

Many believe the fear comes from the number 13 itself. According to numerologist, the number 12 is associated with completeness. There are 12 months in a year, 12 zodiac signs, 12 apostles, 12 Olympian gods, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 hours in the clock, 12 labors of Hercules. The list goes on and on. The addition of the 13 ruins perfection is utterly bad and unlucky. In many stories, the 13th guest is always a bad sign. Think Judas at the last supper and Loki in the above story. It is the number 13 that lends the curse to Friday the 13th. Combine that with the unlucky Friday, when Jesus was crucifies and Adam tempted Eve and you have a recipe for an unlucky day.

It is clear there are many reasons to fear the dreaded Friday the 13th, but for me Friday the 13ths have always been lucky. So have a happy Friday the 13th, watch one of the 12 million Friday the 13th movies (I like the one in space), and wish me luck on my lucky day

The Ghosts of Roosevelt Island

2012-01-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. The island, now filled with towering high rise housing complexes, was once largely secluded from the rest of the city. Originally called Blackwell island, the island belonged to the Blackwell family for most of the 18th century and part of the 19th until it was bought by the state of New York as a location for charitable and corrective hospitals.

The first such institution established on the island was a prison which was the source of much scandal. It was built in 1825. The second institution established on the island was The New York Lunatic Asylum that was used from 1837-1894 whose buildings included the Octagon which still stands today. Over 1700 patients were housed in this asylum, twice the suggested occupancy, and these patients were supervised by convicts from the neighboring prison. Charles Dickens was one of the more famous people to have visited this asylum and he described it as horrible and "very painful." A famous reporter, Nellie Bly, disguised herself as an inpatient and spent time in the asylum as well and she described the asylum a "human rat trap."

In addition to the horrible asylum and prison that marred Blackwell island, the island was also the site of a Smallpox Hospital, which housed small pox patients from 1856 until 1886. The intense suffering that went on in this building added to it's ruined state have built numerous rumors about it's ghostly activity. The ruined hospital is now known as the Renwick Ruin and is brightly lit at night giving it a ghostly glow that only adds to stories.

These two facilities are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Blackwell, later turned Welfare, later turned Roosevelt Island's dark history, but these facilities ruins are the most notoriously haunted. The Octagon has been renovated and turned into an apartment building. The residents of the building have reported numerous unexplainable incidents. Ghost hunters have taken pictures of ghosts lurking in the hallways of this building and even the pets refuse to walk up the stairs of this once "human rat-trap"

I have been lucky enough to stay with my aunt several times in her lovely apartment on Roosevelt Island. She lives in one the large high rises that have consumed the once forlorn landscape of this island. She reports that she felt ill at ease when she visited the octagon and that it's atmosphere conveyed a sense of old sorrow. It is easy to forget, however, that the island was once filled with such mass suffering and sorrow. The island's atmosphere has been completely changed, but the ruins of the old hospital remain, reminding visitors that it wasn't so long ago that the island belonged to the tortured souls of the dying, the mad, the forgotten, and the imprisoned. To learn more about Roosevelt Island please visit: http://nyc10044.com/timeln/timeline.html

Indian Burial Grounds

2012-01-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Today I welcome blogger Emily Matthews, who examines the lore associated with hauntings and Native American burial grounds and hauntings from a skeptics perspective:

It’s the stuff of legend. Do you have a poltergeist in your house? It was probably built over a Native American burial site. The legend goes that by disturbing the souls of the dead, a veritable Pandora’s Box is opened, ushering forth the angry spirits of Chippewa shamans, Cherokees soldiers, and Iroquois chiefs, back for revenge. But where did this legend come from? Why does it persist, and why does it continue to frighten us?

The origins of the “Indian burial ground” legend come from sightings of Native American ghosts near areas rumored, or even proven, to be the final resting place of a local tribe. Such areas can be an old farmhouse in a Midwestern town or even a multimillion-dollar mansion in the Hollywood Hills.

In fact, the remains of the dead were blamed for the vacancy of the Hollywood mansion on Solar Drive, and a murder was rumored to have occurred there. It was deemed uninhabitable after squatters, drug dealers, and thrill-seeking teenagers ravaged the place. But, in the case of the house, the existence of Native American graves was unproven, and it becomes a perfect example of the power and potency of the lore.

Strange occurrences are attributed to burial grounds automatically, without even needing to research the history of the area. It doesn’t take a master’s degree in anthropology to see that this stems from our fascination with a mystical and highly spiritual culture and religion perceived of the American Indian. Instead of the body resting and the soul rising, the soul lingers, especially when disturbed.

So, why does this legend still capture our imagination and frighten us today? Even a skeptic can be spooked by visiting one of the many burial grounds in the United States at dark. Thousands are drawn, for example, to a suburb in Long Island, New York to see the actual house featured in the movie The Amityville Horror. The house, purported to be built over Native American remains, was the place of the horrific murder of six people. Even after the murders, strange noises and footsteps, foul odors, and foreign substances were reported when new owners took over.

Although the experiences of the new owners were dismissed as false, the site still brings visitors hoping for a paranormal experience. These visitors are drawn the experience of the supernatural; something abnormal and other-worldly. Perhaps they are there to confront not only the fear of death, but the possibility of life after the death, and the power that a bodiless spirit could retain.
Whatever the reason, the legend of the Native American burial ground still fascinates us today. We seem to be drawn to the power and possibility of life after death as well as the potential the “spirit world” has to disrupt our own lives. Perhaps we are also drawn to the mystical religion of the Native Americans that seems both foreign and palpable. Regardless, there are many legends and ghost stories to explore and enjoy.

Kwaidan: Japanese Ghost Stories

2012-01-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

It was a good Christmas for me this last year. I was under the weather, recovering from surgery, but my family filled my stocking with enough haunting books to keep my spirits up. The first book I got was from my baby sister, Rose. It is a collection of Japanese ghost stories by Lafcadio Hearn. The book is absolutely beautiful, filled with Japanese depictions of ghosts and monsters from folklore in rare color. Just flipping through the book is a visual journey into the dark world of Japanese folklore and it is a beautiful one. The stories are very different from American ghost stories. The book is called Kwaidan, which is translated as meaning ghost story.

My favorite story was a story of a Rokuorkubi. According to Wikipedia, Rokourkubi "look like normal human being by day, but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths. They can also change their faces to those of terrifying oni to better scare mortals." The depiction of Rokuorkubi in Hearn's book is an original translation and is different from Wikipedia's depiction and a little more terrifying. The story in the book tells of a wandering priest who was once a Samurai. He is sleeping in a forest known to be haunted by horrible ghosts and demons when a kind man comes upon him He was taken in by the kind man and given a bed only to wake up in the middle of the night to find the bodies of the residents of the house lying on the floor in front o his room without a their heads. At first, he assumes some dreadful spirit has killed everyone and taken their heads, but upon careful examination he discovers that the bodies are the bodies of Rokuro-Kubi. The heads of the Rokuro-Kubi had separated from their bodies to do evil in the night. The Samari hides the bodies from the heads and battles the Rokuro-Kubi only to have one of them attach itself to his sleeve. He is almost executed because people assume the head is a souvenir he has taken of a someone he has slaughtered, but at the last minute a wise judge sees the markings on the neck of the Rokuo-Kubi and knows the demon for what it is.

This is just one of the tales gathered by Hearn who was a translator and scholar of Japanese folklore from the turn of the last century. Although the book I was given was subtitled Japanese Ghost Stories, I have seen the book in other places called, Kwaidan, Stories: Studies of Strange Things. Other stories include tales of murdered birds that haunt the murderer and a young woman who makes her betrothed wait for her after death. They are a beautiful glimpse into another world of death and I enjoyed them all. This book was made into a Japanese film in 1965 which I am definitely going to try to see.

The Ghosts of Chichen Itza and The 2012 Apocalypse

2012-01-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

It is now officially 2012 and much has been made about this year. Many books, blogs, and papers have been written about the Mayan prophecies regarding 2012 and the end of the world. Many believe that, according to the Mayan prophecies, the world will end on December 21, 2012. This is special fun for me since this is the day before my birthday. It is also the solstice. I love Mayan history and have been lucky enough to travel to some old Mayan ruins and talk to some Mayan people about their history and mythology. Since today marks the beginning of the end, I thought it would be an excellent time to revisit my trip to Chichen Itza. During this trip, our amazing guide spoke to us about the 2012 prophecies and about the ghosts that haunt these awe inspiring ruins.

Chichen Itza is one of the most monumental of a series of Mayan ruins in the Yucatan area. My fascination with the Mayan culture began with my trip to Chichen Itza. We were lead through the sprawling ruins of the fallen city by an amazingly knowledgeable Mayan guide that explained to us that Mayan history came in phases and that the ruins were in layers depending on their period of origin. There were the Olmec, Toltec, and Classical Mayan phases, none of which were surviving when the first Europeans set foot on the shores of the New World.

One of the most fascinating things our guide explained to us about the Mayans had to do with the 2012 prophecy. At the time we travelled, the 2012 prophecy was far less well known. Our guide told us that the Mayan calender was cyclical and that the Mayan's believed that the world was born and died many times. He talked about the last apocalypse. He said that it was an apocalypse of water and that the earth was covered in a great flood. He said that when that age, the age of water, was brought to an end by the flood a new age was born, an age of fire. We are now in the age of fire. In 2012 our age of fire will end in fire and an age of ether will be born. The end of the world will also be the beginning of a new world. This is interesting to me because so much is said of the end of the world in 2012 and so few people discuss the possibility of a rebirth. The Mayans viewed death as a rebirth and ends as a new beginning. So, if their calender ends and something does happen in December it seems probable it may be something wonderful. The end to the bad things and the world of fire that has come before and the birth of a new age could be something very positive.

The history of Chichen Itza itself is bathed in blood. The Mayan's were deeply religious and believed that it was a great honor to die for the gods. In the Popul Vuh, the Mayan Bible, the Mayan's lay out their faith in sometimes tedious details. Their faith was deep and long and they were willing to die for it. In fact, some of the best athletes that competed in the famous ball courts were sacrificed. The Mayan's didn't fear death and see sacrifice with dread and horror. They saw death as a passage to the next world. Chichen Itza was the site of mass sacra fices. Chichen Itza may have also died in violence. Some archaeological evidence shows that in 1221 a great civil war may have contributed to the disappearance of Mayan Culture in the great cities at the time. By the time the Europeans saw Chichen Itza, it was already a ghost city.

What is most interesting about the ghosts that are said to wander these old ruins is that it is not the great pyramids that are haunted. The places where the sacrifices went on and where the stone was stained with blood remain quiet. It is the old observatory that is said to be haunted by the specters of old priests and Mayan men. Many tourists and guides have described seeing specters wandering this site. The Mayans were brilliant astronomers and were able to compute the circumference of the earth long before Europeans. They mapped the stars and predicted astrological events so perfectly that we can still count on their astrological predictions to come true. The observatory was in many ways the most important place to them as their religion was deeply connected to the movement of the stars. It therefore seems appropriate that it is this place that the ghosts cling too. The ghosts of the sacrificed have gone to the embrace of the gods, but those that searched for knowledge in the light of the stars are still lingering, searching for answers in the night sky.

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight, the year closes. 2011 will fade away and the apocalyptic year 2012 will be born from 2011's ashes.   I'm sad to see 2011 go, and not just because the world is supposed to end in 2012. It has been an amazing year for me and as this year closes, I think I should look back on all the wonderful things that happened in 2011.   Here's a short list of the things that have made this year memorable for me. These are the haunting highlights of my best year yet for Ghost Stories and Haunted Places.

1. I've read some amazing ghost books and have been lucky enough to have some of these books sent to me by their authors and editors. Some of my favorite ghostly reads have been Wichita Haunts by Beth Cooper, True Ghost Stories by Echo Bodine, The White Devil by Justin Evans , and Fringeology by Steve Volt. Books are some of my favorite things and discovering new haunts through reading has made my year an unending adventure.

2. I've found new blogs and enjoyed old blogs.   Connecting with bloggers and reading blogs has always been one of my favorite parts of blogging. In 2011, I've discovered a lot of new and wonderful blogs and been exited to find my old favorite bloggers covering new ground and taking me to new places.
3. I've published three books. This was a big year for writing for me.  This year, Circe, Death's Dream Kingdom, and Haunted Chattanooga were all published and in print.   I've done numerous book signings and talks.   I've found my voice and gotten good reviews. Circe has been my best reviewed book and Haunted Chattanooga is my best seller of the year.   For making all my dark a ghostly books possible in print, I have to thank my hard working agent, Sharon Belecastro, who is always finding new homes for my dark books. I'm especially happy to see Circe in print this year.   This horror novel took me two years to write and years to publish.   It inspired my blog and the haunted location it is based on began my interest in haunted places.

4. I just signed a two book contract on my new Fantasy series, The Twilight Saint. I'm looking forward to finish writing this series and seeing my new books published.

5. I traveled to some amazing haunting places.   My favorite haunts this year were The Ohio State Reformatory, The Haunted Bissman Building, Fort Morgan, The Chattanooga Underground, and Cloudland Canyon. My trip to Mansfield, Ohio was by far my most interesting this year and I was lucky enough to visit some amazing historical haunts and have shivers sent down my spine at some truly terrifying locations.

6. I got pregnant, had a baby, and quit my day job. Of course, these things had the most impact on my real life, but the least on the ghost stories you find in my writing.   However, they have certainly slowed down my ghost stories and made my life brighter so I can't forget to mention them.   My new little bundle of joy is by far the best thing to happen to me this year.

So as I enter into 2012, I have to be thankful for everything that happened in 2011.   It has been an amazing year filled with ghosts and wonder.   I'm hoping 2012 will be just as exciting and wonderful.

The Riverhaven Cabin

2011-12-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

Most ghost stories are creepy. They hint at some unhappy soul lurking just beyond reality waiting to do us harm. The Riverhaven cabin is haunted, but the ghosts there seem pleasant and inviting.

Riverhaven is a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. It is described by the reality company as pleasant and comfortable. This historic log home is an antique Chestnut log approx. 200 years old built in 1800. It has unique wormy Chestnut paneling inside. The cabin was constructed in the National Park and was moved in the 1930's to its current location in downtown Gatlinburg. The Realtors website shows many pretty pictures of the cabin and if you rent it, when you enter you'll be pleasantly surprised by its comfort and warmth.

Every cabin in Gatlinburg has a log or journal for visitors to share their experiences in. Typically, these logs are filled with stories of family vacations. Every page has the same bland pleasantries. It is as if they came from a script. Guests tell about their family, what they did, and the great time they had in the cabin. Riverhaven's journal is different. Each guest tells about flickering lights, moving objects, vanishing items, and odd noises. Not every resident there concludes the cabin is haunted, but every page indicated there is something odd about this pleasant cabin nestled by the river.

I only stayed at Riverhaven for three nights and for the most part it was quiet. I stayed with my family and we complained to each other about the lack of linens in the cabin. We searched it from top to bottom, pulling it apart in a futile quest for a table cloth or anything to cover the splintery, ancient dining table. Finally, on the first night we gave up and ate on our laps. We went to bed and dead bolted the door and locked the door with the sliding lock that even someone with a key couldn't open. In the morning, we awoke to find every table set with table cloths and silverware. The cabin was clean and pretty and we certainly hadn't left it that way when we went to sleep. We often laugh about this cabin as we flounder to explain our experiences there, but when I think of the strange journal there and the consistency of all the stories, I have to assume it was haunted by ghosts that liked us.

I’ve posted this ghost story before and interestingly I was contacted by the new owners of this lovely little cabin to tell us more about it. They loved the blog and invited us to return to the cabin, which they have completely renovated and made even more lovely. Sadly, we couldn’t return to the cabin because it isn’t pet friendly, but it was nice to hear the cabin is being loved and is even nicer. I’m sure the ghosts are happy to see the improvements

Merry Christmas to All and To All a Good Night

2011-12-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Omen of the Night Owls

2011-12-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Owls are important symbolically in many cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were linked to Athena and considered symbols of knowledge and wisdom. In Arthurian legend, Merlin is often depicted with an owl on his shoulder and again, the owl is linked to wisdom. In Japan, owl statues are said to ward off plague and illness. In some Native American cultures owls are linked to knowledge and magic. I knew all these things when I chose owls as the decorative theme for my new baby's nursery.   I didn't know the darker side of owls. In many cultures, especially the Apache culture, owls portend death and are associated with the dead. The Apaches are not alone. Many other cultures see owls as linked death. Of course, I choose to ignore all the cultures that see owls as ill omens in the same way I have ignored the ill omens associated with black dogs and cats. Some of my favorite pets have been black dogs and cats and they've only brought good luck to me.

Therefore, as I sat in my owl themed nursery late at night just before my son was born,   I saw owls only as good omens. They have become a symbol of my baby boy.   They are wise and beautiful creatures of the night.

My neighborhood and my house have no trees.   So birds of any sort are a rare commodity in my neighborhood. The lake brings geese and goose poop, but owls are never seen in my neck of the woods.   However, the night before my baby was born,   as I sat in the nursery, unable to sleep and very pregnant, the call of three owls filled the night air. I sat up and listened to them hoot back and forth to each other with their distinct calls for over an hour before I drifted off to sleep. The next day I held my baby in my arms, making owls forever a good omen for me. I'm not sure if there was any real significance to the presence of the owls, but to me there was something mystical to their presence that night. They were omens of life to come.

The Naming of Lucien

2011-12-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

Naming a child is always a challenge. It involves months of debate and reviewing long lists of names. There are fights with family members and long discussions. Usually, this is not a very haunting process. It can be tedious, but rarely haunting. When you find that perfect name, it is like a revelation. The name feels right. When we named our son, Lucien, we went through all these things and I felt that moment of revelation while I laid in my bed listening to my husband recite names from some Internet site about naming your child. Lucien was right and I couldn't say why. My husband and I were set. The name spoke to us. Everyone else thought the name was odd. Many people said we were weird for choosing it, but the name called to us and it was ours and there was no changing it.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time know that my mother-in- law died over a year ago. Since that time, we have felt haunted by her. It isn't a negative haunting. We just feel her sometimes. Shadows move and the children hear her calling their names. There are quiet whispers in the dark. My mother-in-law was French and she died in France. We keep her ashes on our fireplace. Some time after we decided on naming Lucien, we cleaned out some old things and found my mother-in-law's favorite movie with her favorite name in it. I had never heard of the movie before and my husband had completely forgotten about it. The movie was Lacombe Lucien. So, as I hold my little boy in my arms, I can't help but wonder if it wasn't her ghost whispering in our ear as we named our little boy. I have to wonder if she didn't find a way of making sure her last grandson would know her even if he never knew her.

Contest Winners and Other Announcements

2011-12-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I had a contest to celebrate the release of my new novel, Circe. I was giving away 2 amazon.com gift cards to those that helped me spread the word about my book. I was happy and excited by all those who participated. Janice and Chris were the winners of the Amazon.com cards and I'm happy to send them their gifts. I thank everyone who helped with this contest.

On a side note, I may be slow in getting the prizes out and in blogging over the next few weeks. I am recovering from a particularly difficult delivery and c-section and am not able to keep up with my blogging or blog related duties. I would like to thank all the wonderful guest bloggers and writers that have helped me keep the blog up and running through all of this. Despite my physical problems, I have a beautiful baby boy and am enjoying reading everyone else's blogs in bed. I couldn't be happier I hope you all have a ghostly week and look forward to catching up soon.

Writer Izzy Woods Talks about The Haunting of Winchester House

2011-12-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
This bizarre, sprawling folly in San Jose, California, has ghosts and spirits aplenty, so much so that it has become a tourist attraction. It was built due to the influence and fear of ghosts, was added to in order to keep them at bay, and now, by all accounts is inhabited by them.

Sarah Winchester, wife of the multimillionaire Winchester gun inventor, William Wirt Winchester, attended a séance after his death, and the death of her daughter. Distraught by their loss, and mindful also about all those who had met their death by means of her husband’s deadly invention, she was in abject terror by the time of the séance.

The house is beautifully decorated and fascinating to visit today. Sarah had exquisite taste. But don’t expect to see berkline chairs and televisions. It has been preserved just as Sarah would have had it, making it even spookier.

As with all good ghost stories, the exact details are disputed. What we do know is that Sarah moved from Boston to California and began building the mansion, and according to one story she was told to do so by the spirit of William Wichester, via a medium. He told her that if only their marital home had not been finished he would still be alive, and that she was to build a new home, but never let it be finished, or she too would die. Another story of the séance is that a medium warned her about the spirits of people who had been killed with her husband’s rifles, who would come to haunt her now he was gone. The only way to stop them was to build a house and never stop building.

Whatever the truth of it, building work began in 1884. Sarah bought a farm in the Santa Clara valley, and hired workmen from the surrounding area who began work on the old farmhouse, and didn’t stop until it towered at seven stories. Sarah believed that a ghost would not stay in an unfinished house, although her fear of them was such that she had ghost baffling features built into the very fabric of the house, just in case. There are stairways that lead to nowhere, and strange arrangements of windows which simply look into other parts of the house. The sprawling tangle of corridors is designed to confuse.

Sarah was able to indulge this fearful building urge because of the legacy her husband left her. She had inherited his fortune, which amounted to roughly $20 million, which, along with her remaining 50% share of the gun company, made her staggeringly wealthy for those times. She could do what she wanted to the house, and the hammering and sawing noises literally went on for years, round the clock, from 1884 until Sarah’s death in 1922.

The building still stands on 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, and is now a tourist attraction. It’s Queen Anne Style Victorian design seems all the stranger for its seeming lack of planning or overall design coherence. Sarah Winchester liked to walk through the house in a ‘roundabout’ fashion which was meant to make it harder for ghosts to follow her. There are secret doorway leading from corridors, into other secret passageways, in case of the need to escape. Sarah became obsessed with ghosts and spirits, and had her own Séance Room in the house, which she would visit every night. She would wend through the passages, trying to confuse any following ghosts, darting into doorways and doubling back on herself. The Winchester Mystery House website provides this description from a newspaper article, which takes up the story, “…suddenly she would push a button, a panel would fly back and she would step quickly from one apartment into another, and unless the pursuing ghost was watchful and quick, he would lose her. Then she opened a window in that apartment and climbed out, not into the open air, but onto the top of a flight of steps that took her down one story only to meet another flight that brought her right back up to the same level again, all inside the house. This was supposed to be very discomforting to evil spirits who are said to be naturally suspicious of traps”

Today, mysterious sightings, noises and apparitions are not infrequent amongst visitors, who are encouraged to leave details of any occurrences during their tour. Some of the stories are terrifying. Who knows if it is the spirits of Winchester’s gunshot victims after all, come to stay now the building work has finally stopped…

Ravenhurst Manor - Joss Ackles Shares a True Story

2011-12-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome Guest Blogger Joss Ackles! Today he shares a true story with us.

This story was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me—I swear! I believe in ghosts, demons, and everything else that might be considered paranormal. So this is an account of my story, which happened about five years ago.

My buddy Ryan and I, along with three of our friends: Jared, Sunday, and Erik decided to check out Ravenhurst Manor in Whispering Pines, California. (The estate was creepy and it has always reminded me of Amityville Horror Story or the Murder House in Los Angeles.)

One of the town’s most famous haunted houses was this three-story building christened, Ravenhurst Manor, which served as a school for disturbed teens in the 1800s and was said to be haunted by the ghost of its former headmistress. It was purchased in the 1960s by Maxwell Donovan who hoped to restore it, and it was during the reconstruction that a lot of the supernatural phenomena began to occur. At one point during construction, a portion of the second-story collapsed, killing three of the workers. Other construction-workers claimed they heard voices and footsteps whenever they were alone, and that pieces of construction equipment would often be thrown across the room. Even spookier, the workmen said they often spotted a Shadow Man staring at them from inside the mansion. I’ve heard that innumerable exorcisms and investigations have taken place at the mansion since, but the presence that haunts it is said to still remain there today.

So, getting back to my story, one of my buddies, Ryan had done some research on Ravenhurst and wanted to go see the mansion. I used to live in Whispering Pines and during my childhood, the insidious house was vacant, with barren, gnarled trees, and twisted weeds protecting the sparse yard where birds never lingered. I hadn’t been back to my hometown in years, not since I’d gone away to college. And I wasn’t that eager to go back…

Ryan talked me into it and we left late one sweltering, August afternoon on route to Ravenhurst. We had just gotten onto to Highway 101, which leads you to the road that Ravenhurst was on when I got an eerie chill. As we are driving, my friends claimed that they were also getting this feeling as if something bad was going to happen. Still, we didn’t turn back.

We drove through town and into the more affluent neighborhoods on Pine Street and Acorn Avenue. It was a warm day, but in Whispering Pines, it was muggy. Thick ground fog swaddled the town, the drizzling mist softening the streets. I drank in the brisk air, welcoming the chill on my flushed cheeks. Acorn Avenue appeared uninhabited, the houses strange and reticent. The estates had curving driveways, high gates, and spacious lawns. The neighborhood was bathed in an eerie mist. Not a good sign.

As we neared Ravenhurst, we noticed that the property had a gate around it about 6 feet tall. We parked in front of the gates and just stared at first. No one said anything. I gotta tell ya, it is an unusual Gothic mansion, and its perimeters are barricaded with a wrought-iron gate. Beyond it was this dense, thick wooded area that the locals call, “Deadwood Grove” which is also considered haunted. Crickets sang and dragonflies buzzed the entrance. Grass grew wild and tall in the yard, sprouting through the cracks in the cement path leading to the porch. The huge mansion was vast, rambling, and wilting. It consumed the sky and blotted out the weak sun. Harsh seasons had torn shingles off the roof. Windows were randomly boarded shut. Tall, thorny weeds grew rampant and towering trees threatened to overtake, overwhelm, and engulf the grounds. Wind rustling between the oaks whispered of an ageless fear. Ground fog swirled above the terrain like ghostly vapors. A crooked No Trespassing sign hung from the newel post.

A prickling sensation glided over my body then settled in my stomach.

Two of the people in our group, Ryan and Jared decided that they were going to hop the gate and go inside the mansion. They were nuts! The other three of us were resolute to stay inside the safety of the car. We watched, Ryan and Jared hop the gate and walk toward Ravenhurst. It had a long driveway and the mansion sat back about thirty yards from the entrance.

After Ryan and Jared departed, the three of us, Sunday, Erik, and I stayed in the car talking. Sunday confessed that she’d been to Ravenhurst before about two years ago with her old boyfriend and they had seen this dark figure, like a tall, super dark shadow near the back of the house. It freaked them out so bad that they had immediately left. She said the shadow was so scary that she had goosebumps. Just talking about it was making her voice go high and shrill.

All of a sudden, Sunday pointed and whispered that she saw the same black figure—and when we looked; there was this big black shadow by an oak tree. The shadow hung heavily, like a spatter of crude oil, pulsating and swirling until it nearly touched the higher branches. Then it freaking moved! It was only about 15 feet away from us. My heart was thundering in my chest. My palms were sweaty and my throat felt dry. Breathing out desperate little choking noises, I shook my head, hoping the image would fade. The headshake didn’t make a difference. Only reinforced my worst nightmare.

Shadow People were “real.” It was like the thing was standing very still and just staring at us.

The three of us freaked out and ducked down in the car. My gut twisted on the lump of fear anchoring me to the seat. Erik’s face paled and Sunday started to cry. At that moment, Ryan called on my cell and asked if we okay, and I replied yes.

Suddenly, the phone went dead. At this point, I am freaking out, so I try to call Ryan back, but he doesn’t pick up.

And then we heard this blood-curdling scream, and we see Ryan and Jared sprinting toward the gate. They climb over it so fast that Ryan rips his jeans but doesn’t care, and they jump back in the car and we drive off.

As we were driving back toward the freeway, we asked them what happened.

Ryan told us in a shaky voice that as they stepped onto the porch, they saw two yellow eyes staring at them from out of a black shadowed area on their left, so dark it looked “wrong.” Too dark to be a shadow. Then Jared felt something touch his arm. It gave his shoulder a “hard” shake and then they felt an icy blast of air hit them. That was enough to spook the guys and make them run back to the car.

I told them to stop the car before we got on the freeway, because we are all freaking out by then. When we pulled over at a gas station, Jared opened the door and said he felt sick to his stomach. He went into the restroom to splash cold water on his face. I glanced at Sunday sitting in the backseat sitting between Erik and I, she had her head tipped back, and her whole body was trembling. She could barely talk, except to mutter that she didn’t feel well either. Her skin was ashen and her hands were shaking. She felt really cold too and it was about 90 degrees that day.

When Ryan returned to his car, we turned back onto the highway and headed toward Castro Valley, which was about a 45-minute drive from where we were to drop Sunday off at home. As we are driving, I noticed that Sunday still had her head resting on the back of the seat, her eyes closed, and she was still shivering pretty badly. She got really freaked out when the phone went dead, so I figured she was just having some kind of a panic attack.

I put my hand on her’s and was about to tell her that it would be okay, when she opened her eyes really wide and started screaming, “It’s coming to get us! It followed us! The shadow—it’s a demon—it’s coming!”

Sunday told Ryan to drive faster because the dark figure that had been watching us from the Deadwood Grove was going to follow us home. I tried to calm her down, but she kept crying and whimpering incoherently. She was really scaring us, so Ryan took her home first.

Later that night after we dropped Sunday off at home, I tried to call her to make sure she was okay, but she never answered her cell. When I went over to her house the next morning, her mom explained that Sunday had a terrible nightmare, and when she woke up, a tall dark shadow in the shape of a man stood over her bed, and it whispered her name. Sunday was so upset that she went to stay with her grandfather who is a priest in Dublin, and I never saw or spoke to Sunday again.

So the events of this afternoon are a little unexplainable but once again, it was the scariest thing ever to happen to my friends and I. This event is what got me started in the ghost hunting business with my buddy Ryan.

Please visit my blog and learn more my ghost hunting experiences at the Bay Area Paranormal Researchers Group: http://paranormalresearchersgroup.blogspot.com/

Members of the Paranormal Research Society, Bay Area Paranormal Researchers Group, Ghost Hunters & Paranormal Investigators, Paranormal Research Association of California, and the Supernatural Studies Alliance. We strive to prove the existence of ghosts using scientific methods and to educate the public on the paranormal. We are primarily interested in hauntings and investigate instances of paranormal activity in homes. Group formed in 2000. No charge for investigations.

It's Krampus Time Again!

2011-11-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Last year, I was thrilled to discover Krampus Day. I wasn't thrilled enough to celebrate this holiday, but I loved learning about it Now, Krampus Dy seems to be a day I'll remember for a long time to come. In America, we embrace all cultures and pull their traditions into our own culture and make it our own. I believe we should do the same for Krampus Day. It is time to begin our Krampus Day Celebrations! According to Wikipedia, "Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching – by Krampus, especially of young girls" This year, this time frame is oddly meaningful to me as I'm due December 1st and if I don't have a baby boy by the 5th, we'll be taking him by force. As a mother of two other boys who like to chase each other with bells and other nonsense, this holiday also seems oddly appropriate this year. All I have to do is add horns and my boys will be set for Krampus day. This is very convenient because they already have horns from their various Halloween costumes from years passed. So this year, I'm celebrating Krampus day. Here's some more background information for all those that missed Krampus Day last year.

Krampus is part of Austrian and Hungarian folklore and is associated with Christmas. His name, taken from the Germanic Krampen means claw. Krampus looks like and acts like the devil. He is a demon that travels with Saint Nickolas on Christmas Eve and while Santa delivers candies and treats to the good little children, Krampus delivers corporal punishment and horror to the bad little children. He provides a little extra incentive for the children to be good. Apparently in Austria, not getting presents wasn't enough to motivate children. Satan himself had to beat the children with willow branches and carry them off to hell. I think it would take about this much incentive to get my boys to stop fighting on a nightly basis, so they might be on to something.

Krampus became so popular that his story and legends spread throughout Europe and became especially popular in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and northern Italy. He became so popular that he earned his own holiday. Dec 5 is Krampus day. It is almost like a prolonged Devil's Night in Detroit, without the fire. On Krampus day and the days around it, young men take to the streets dressed in their most fearful Krampus costumes. They roam the streets scaring children with loud rusty bells and chains. They chase down young girls and hit them with birch branches. I feel like this would add some spice to our Christmas preparations. Who wouldn't want to be terrified by a large devil in these days leading up to Christmas? I have to say that it would make shopping a little bit less painful and it certainly sounds like more fun than black Friday! So get out your rusty chains and bells an find your ugliest mask and take to the streets. It is almost Krampus Day.

My Black Friday Sale and Giveaway!

2011-11-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

I hate Black Friday. I hate the idea of fighting crowds to buy things on sale. I hate the idea of consumerism gone completely insane. Most days, I would pay money not to have to fight crowds to shop. More and more, I shop online. I like amazon.com and ebay. They make my life easy and I can shop from home and even from my car on my iphone. I guess that is why I really appreciate the online Black Friday Sales. I can get a discount, but I don't have to leave the comfort of the chair I'm sitting in right now.

That is why I'm really thrilled my publisher gave me the opportunity to do a sale of my own this week for Black Friday and the week following. My book, Circe, has been released in print and if you go to http://www.lachesispublishing.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CircePrint and enter the code RevolvingBook123111 you can get it for 25% off. So, despite my hatred of Black Friday, I am participating today. I am doing my own little Black Friday sale and I'm already feeling a little better about this dark holiday. Also, I'm giving away two amazon.com gift cards to any of you who help me spread the word about my sale. So if you tweet, blog, or facebook about my sale, comment below and tell me and I will do a drawing next week to decide who will get one of the two $25 amazon.com gift cards! Help me spread the word and celebrate Black Friday and maybe this year I will learn to love my least favorite day of the year.

Visions of Hell

2011-11-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

My husband never stops surprising me.   There is so much he doesn't tell me and I suppose that is a good thing. It is nice to have surprises and to still find out new things about someone you've been with for many years. It is nice to hear new stories and know there will always be mystery.   My husband is a doctor, a medical director, and he has spent much of his life at work. It is these parts of his life that I don't know and that still hold shadows and stories I have yet to hear.   He told me one of these stories this morning.

My husband told me about a code he was running on a man who was dying. The man died. They lost him. He slipped away into that realm that people go to after your last breath has passed your lips and your heart beat fades away. The man died and they brought him back.   On his return, the man started screaming. He screamed that he had been on fire. There was fire everywhere. His yells were like the shrieks of the damned and then he faded from this world again.   My husband and his team kept working and brought the man back to life again. Again, the man screamed about fire and burning. Three times the man died and came back screaming about fire. Finally, he slipped away from this world.

The nurses all believed that the man was going to hell every time he died. They believed his visions of fire were visions of his own damnation. They were shaken by what they saw and heard coding that man.   My husband isn't sure what was happening, but he says the event certainly made him think. He hopes the man wasn't going to hell. He says that the very idea of that is almost too terrifying, but the mans screams have stayed with him and he wishes he could have saved him.

Guest Blogger Heather Green Talks About Ghost Hunting

2011-11-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ghosthunting Equipment – Learn From Experienced Ghosthunters

Have you ever wondered how ghosthunters detect paranormal activity? Do they rely on tingling senses, or do they really gather evidence of interactions with the supernatural? Is it possible to record such interactions? Lisa Landolfi of Visions Investigative Paranormal (VIP) in Eastern Pennsylvania is a seasoned ghosthunter and medium who has written about her many experiences. Lisa is often called in to support other paranormal teams for difficult cases, where her gifts as a spiritual medium act as a tool to support a team in discovering answers for a client experiencing unusual experiences within a home or business. This article was one such case and not a case conducted by the VIP team.

She is also the author of an upcoming book titled “My Journey Through The Veil”. The following is an excerpt from her book. Read on to learn how ghosthunters detect paranormal activity, distinguish this activity from human or animal activity, and record such experiences.

Excerpt from “My Journey Through The Veil” by Lis Landolfi:

“The night sky was clear and filled with stars. The air hot and humid; there was no breeze to lend comfort to the Paranormal team as we prepared for another investigation of a private residence. The home was situated far off of a winding country road; lending itself to the isolation of the property. This house was an old country home full of the past and the present. The homeowners called in the team to help them to understand the strange occurrences the family had experienced within the home. They were frightened and needed reassurance.

A child within the home had an interest in the paranormal. She began to explore the home on her own using a K2 meter and an audio recorder. The K2 meter, also known as an electromagnetic field (EMF) detector, is often used by paranormal investigators to detect a magnetic field within an environment. It is believed that spirits manipulate the magnetic field causing fluctuations within the meter allowing the 5 LED scale to light up. Often this will occur in response to a question asked by an investigator.

The child explored her home in earnest and began to receive responses using the K2 meter. As she continued to explore the spirit world other strange things began to happen within the home. The family began to see shadows moving across the floor. An apparition of woman appeared within the doorway between the living area and the dining room. Upstairs in an attic bedroom, an apparition of a child spirit was seen within a closet. The house felt different, it sounded different and the family wanted to know that evil was not lurking within its walls.

As the team began to place an electronic net over the entire property; I began to explore the home in search of possible ‘hot spots’ where activity was occurring. Being a psychic-medium has given me sensitivity that allows me to receive images visually, sounds aurally, and physical sensations to electromagnetic changes within an environment.

I received many visions of past experiences within the home. I saw the death of an elderly man within the office area. I saw the shadow of a woman within the doorway of the living area. At the top of the stairwell, I was met with the vision of a thin balding man wearing a gray suit jacket and gray pants. The air pressure within that area was tight and thick. Within one bedroom I watched shadows quickly come in and out of a window and out into the hall. In the attic bedroom, the vision of a young girl with long dark hair, sat in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her legs while her head lay upon her knees. As I shared this information with the family, they confirmed that indeed my visions were correct and these were the exact experiences that the family had endured.

I was informed that central command was ready. The computer screens held live visual feeds of various rooms throughout the home. Outside the Stealth Camera was put in place near the outer spring house in hopes of capturing any unusual anomalies. The Stealth Camera uses infrared night vision with a movement detector. This camera is activated by movement and will take a series of pictures a few seconds apart.

As the Stealth Camera was being put into place, I walked the grounds with our lead investigator to see if I could sense any activity. Just beyond the property were railroad tracks and beyond the tracks stood a State Mental Hospital that had been in operation since 1891. The train that ran on the tracks brought the chronically insane patients to the hospital. These same tracks were also responsible for the deaths of many of the patients who escaped the hospital walls. They took their own lives by standing in front of a moving train. Our concern was that the young girl who toyed with the paranormal somehow opened a portal that allowed these tortured souls to enter the property.

As we walked, the first lead investigator held a K2 meter and began to ask a series of questions to see if any spirits were present. He began to receive some hits on the meter and we watched as it would light up to a 3 on the light scale. It was not long after, that I received a mental vision of people within the corner of the yard just beyond the right of the Spring House. As the vision became clearer, I saw eight people. At first I thought they were a family, but I was quickly corrected by the woman who stood in the front. She told me they were traveling together. The woman wore a long dress and a hat. Her hair was pulled back tightly giving her a stern expression. A young girl stood beside her. As the investigator, began to speak and send them a greeting, the girl became frightened and stood behind the woman.

I also saw a man of smaller stature wearing a white work shirt, suspenders and wool pants. He had dirt on his face. A younger male was also there. He appeared to be in his teenage years. He had brown ‘mussed up’ hair. He looked pale and confused. The other four people stood behind. There appearance was difficult for me to determine as they appeared blurred and less distinct than the four people who stood in the front. The investigator decided to remain outdoors to investigate further.

I was asked by the co-founder of the Paranormal team to go outside again to take digital pictures of the spring house. The spring house held a no trespassing sign and according to the homeowners, no one had entered the property for years. Looking into the windows it held every paranormal investigators dream of creepy places. It was filled with spider webs, spiders and an assortment of other insects.

I decided to take a few pictures from the outside looking into the window. As I began snapping pictures, I began to make small talk with our co-founder. I could feel her breath on my cheek as she leaned in from behind me. As I turned to say something else to her, I realized she was not behind me at all. She was standing more than 10 feet from me, taking pictures of the spring house. Someone had been with me and it was not her.

We went inside to begin investigating within the home with another lead investigator. Other team members also made their way towards their destination elsewhere on the property. The founder, and another investigator in training, set up inside of the spring house, in hopes of awakening spirit world. Our first lead investigator remained outdoors with our tech manager in an attempt to capture evidence of the vision I had received earlier in the evening.

Within the home itself, all was very quiet and uneventful. We had no hits on the K2 meter or any other equipment set up to capture evidence of a haunting. The only sounds heard within the home were a few bumps and the sound of rustling, scratching noises that could be attributed to the settling of an old home and mice within the walls.

However, outside the Stealth Camera was pushed down by an unseen hand. After being replaced back to an upright position, it began to take pictures with earnest. Inside the Spring House, strange sounds were heard with no particular natural cause. And our founder suddenly fell down the stairs.

Days later upon review of audio and visual data, evidence was captured on audio and on the Stealth Camera. The Stealth Camera captured a curved anomaly in the same location that I had seen the eight people earlier in the evening. At the time the picture was taken, no one was outside and all of the team was accounted for. After careful review of the photograph, no natural earthly explanation could be found.

Two EVP’s, electronic voice phenomena was found imprinted on equipment from the investigation of the spring house. In one, an investigator had just announced that she was coming down the stairs when a male voice unheard by human ears says, ‘Wait’. Our Founder and the investigator were the only people in the spring house at that time.

The second EVP was caught within the house when our founder was explaining how he had fallen down the steps in the Spring House. A male voice is heard saying, ‘I had to’. Was he pushed down the stairs intentionally by a spirit? Maybe, but only those on the other side know for sure.”

More about Ghosthunting Excursions

You can follow Lisa’s investigations by following Visions Investigative Paranormal (VIP) online. As Lisa says, “VIP's goal is to help both the living and the deceased find comfort once again. Our team respectfully serves our client's with honesty, dignity, and truth. The VIP team's center base is centrally located in Eastern Pennsylvania.” If you live in the area, check out the local events open to the public or call for an investigation if you suspect you have paranormal activity on your property.
Bio:

Born and raised in North Carolina, Heather Green has worked as a fashion and beauty consultant as well as freelancing for various wedding, fashion, and health publications. She currently acts as the resident blogger for Online Nursing Degrees where she’s been researching online healthcare admin programs as well as health care admin degrees.

Free Book Days!

2011-11-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

I am blogging more slowly these days. My mind is muddled and I feel that I probably wouldn't make much sense today if I did a real blog post. I haven't slept in several days and I may begin seeing ghosts where there are none soon. Despite my sleep deprivation, muddled mind, aching back, and fatigue, I have a lot to celebrate. My horror novel, Circe, came out on Kindle. I have 300 followers on my blog and I will be having a baby any moment, hopefully soon. So rather than torture you with the ramblings of an addled woman, I am going to give away books to celebrate all the good things in life. Today and Tomorrow, I will give away free copies of Circe and Death's Dream Kingdom to anyone who asks. If you want one, email me at jessica.penot@gmail.com or comment below with your email address and I will send you a copy. I have several wonderful guest bloggers lined up for after I have my baby, so ya'll may notice that I may not be writing, but that is a good thing. Also, I apologize to all the wonderful bloggers out there who I am not following as well because my brain seems to have left the building. I appreciate everyone who reads this blog. Ya'll keep me writing and keep me inspired and I have learned so much from you that I can't say. So, happy free book day!

A Brief History of Ley Lines

2011-11-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

In the 1920s, a man named Alfred Watkins claimed to have discovered a grid of straight lines which he called leys from the Saxon word for meadow. He believed that many of the archaeological sites of the ancient world, particularly the megalithic stone monuments of the ancients, were connected by a series of man made tracks or lines.   He said that "a fairy chain stretched from mountain peak to mountain peak as for as the eye could reach."   Watkins put his beliefs about ley lines in two books "Early British Trackways" and "The Old Straight Track." Both of these books were almost completely ignored by serious archaeologists.

Yet, Watkins was not alone. Other historians and archaeologists had proposed similar theories.   An American tracked the alignment of Native American mounds and burial sites across the Americas using the same technique as Watkins. A German named Heinsh tracked the alignment of holy hills and ancient churches across German. In the Andes, the Nazca lines were shown to follow the similar pattern of lines by a British explorer named Morrison. Driven by theses linking theories, in the 1960s, new voices in ley research proposed a radical new theory. They suggested that leys carry a mysterious earth energy that was know to the ancients but forgotten by us. They believed that ley lines represent lines on the earth where mystical energies are aligned and amplifies and where the ancients found their spiritual centers.

Those who believe in ley lines report increase psychic activity along these lines. They also report increased paranormal activity and increases in ghost sitings and hauntings.    Believers say that leys are located on channels of geophysical power and that intersections of leys form nodes.   Many famous hauntings occur and have occurred along leys and on nodes. The famous Phantom Army at Loe Bar was sited at a particularly active node. Many say poltergeist activity increases along these famous lines.  I have read some theorists who believe that Ley Lines might serve as pathways or roads for the dead.

There are many theories about ley lines and their paranormal and historical significance. Whether or not you believe in their paranormal power, the theories regarding them are fascinating and numerous.   Is there some energy connection that ancients saw that we have become blind too? Are we lost in the modern world or did the ancients just use particularly reliable astronomical signs to build their sites on? To me, either way, it is worth reading about and studying because the slightly mysterious always is and anything that connects the ancients to ghost stories certainly is.

Visiting The Haunted Ohio State Reformatory

2011-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Ohio State Reformatory is one of the most haunted places I have ever traveled to. It is considered to be one of the most haunted places in the nation. Even as you walk up to this old building, the cold seeps out of it and chills you to the bone. Inside the castle like structure, it was so cold I had to put my coat on. Outside it was lovely. This cold seems to come from more than the old stone. It seems to drift from the very core of the building where haunting and terrible histories clog the structure with sorrow and ghosts.

The Ohio State Reformatory is a thing of rare beauty. In the states, structures of such epic beauty are as uncommon as snow in the South. The reformatory was designed by architect Levi Tucker Scofield. His work was visionary. He had designed insane asylums and orphanages and penitentiaries all with the belief that beauty could bring peace to lost souls and help heal them. The original reformatory was build on progressive ideals. The philosophy was that by separating young men from hardened criminal and giving them the opportunity to grow while in prison they could become better people and would be less likely to continue in a life of crime upon their release. This idea actually worked for a time. Recidivism rates for those leaving reformatory were amazingly low. Almost 90% of those leaving never committed another crime. Later figures show recidivism as close to 60% returning to a life of crime, but when the Reformatory was built in 1896 it was a shinning ideal and a monument to the beauty of progressive philosophy.

As with many such things I have written about in the United States, these lovely turn of the century progressive ideals eroded with time. Finances became more important than people and The Ohio State Reformatory slowly became nothing more than a prison. Horror stories drifted out of the prison and became part of its mortar. Guards were murdered in solitary. One story told of a man who was put in solitary confinement with another man and killed him and hid him under the bed. Men were accidentally pushed over the five story cell block guard rail to their deaths. Men hung themselves. In 1933, overcrowding created more and more problems in the reformatory by 1986 The Council of Human dignity was in the process of completing a lawsuit to shut the reformatory down because of the “brutalizing and inhumane” conditions found in the walls of the once idealic reformatory.

I can’t even begin to describe all the hauntings and horrors that have been seen in the Ohio State Reformatory here. I was in the reformatory for a brief period of time and I could feel the history seeping out of the walls. Those that work in the reformatory embrace its history and believe that the building is made more beautiful by it. It whispers secrets and calls to others to come explore them. The beauty and uniqueness of the structure has called to many since its closing. The Shawshank Redemption, Airforce One, Tango and Cash, and many other movies have been filmed there. People come from all over to tour the facility. Tours run daily. Famous ghost hunting teams from all the big televisions shows have locked themselves in the reformatory to see its ghosts and they are not disappointed. The ghosts in the reformatory are thick.

My guide said that paranormal occurrences are common in the reformatory in almost ever section of the structure. Objects fly about on their own. Doors open and close and lights flickers. Strange shadows creep up on you from quiet corners. The stories from the reformatory are numerous. A Guard named Frank Hanger was injured and later died during an escape attempt from solitary. It is said that his ghost and the ghosts of those hung for his murder still linger in solitary. Clear EVPs from this section of the prison have captured the voices of all these men. The Warden’s quarters where the warden and his family used to live is said to be haunted by the ghost of a warden and his wife who were both mortally injured in the warden’s quarters. One employee described seeing four phantoms walk straight towards her and then vanish in the warden‘s quarters. Another saw an orb moving in the shadows in the warden’s quarters. Full body apparitions have been seen in the administration wing, the wardens quarters, and the east cell block.. People have described being punched, pushed and hit. The list goes on and on. There are so many ghost stories that Sherri Brake was able to fill an entire book with stories just from The Ohio State Reformatory. I won’t try to tell them all here, but I will say that if you are ever in Ohio the reformatory is worth the visit. Its ghostly beauty will stay with me for a long time and its ghosts have made believers out of the most hardened skeptics.

Passing on the IDig Your Blog Award

2011-11-10T10:47:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago the lovely Little Gothic Horrors stopped by my blog and gave me an award. I'm always thrilled to get awards because it is nice to be thought of, but also because it gives me a chance to pass the award on to other amazing blogs out here.   Little Gothic Horrors is one of my favorite blogs and if you haven't seen this blog yet you should stop by http://littlegothichorrors.blogspot.com/.   Here are the conditions of the awesome award I was presented.

iDig Your Blog Award Protocol:

1 ) Gratefully accept this award.

2 ) Link to the person you received it from.

3 ) Post 3 interesting facts about yourself.

4 ) Pass this award around to at least 5 blogs you dig.

5 ) Notify them.

I'm not too interesting lately, but here are some new interesting facts about myself and also some notifications:

1.   I'm now nine months pregnant and will probably be taking a brief break from blogging for a week or two once I have my little bundle of joy.

2. I love to travel and am glad that blogging gives me another excuse to go to dark places and learn about their histories. My next blog post will be the end of my series about my trip to Haunted Mansfield and I'll be writing about the Ohio Reformatory.

3. I recently quit my job as a therapist on the psychiatric unit of a hospital. Although I will probably return to psychology,   I'm enjoying staying home and working on my books right now. It is nice to be focused on one thing. It is nice to not have to get dressed up and professional every day. Nothing like a day of t-shirts and leggings.

Five Blogs I Dig that are awesome and deserve this award are:

1. Justine's Halloween http://justineshalloween.blogspot.com/
2. Something Wicked This Way Comes http://wickedwaysproductions.blogspot.com/
3. Scary True http://scarytruestory.blogspot.com/
4. Voodoo Ghoul http://voodoo-ghoul.blogspot.com/
5. Notes to a Ghost http://jefferyr.blogspot.com/

There are a lot more blogs I Dig and would add to this list, but I tried to include blogs I haven't given awards to before or are newer additions to my regular reading list. My regular favorite blogs like Haunt Jaunts, Above the Norm, The Heart Centered Psychic, Ghost Stories, Southern Spirit Guide, and Frog on a Pumpkin I've given awards to before and know how much I love their blogs, but these are some of my recent additions or blogs I've been reading for a while, but haven't included before.   Thanks again to the fabulous Little Gothic Horrors!

The Haunted Bissman Building

2011-11-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

The Bissman Building is an impressive structure. It looms over downtown Mansfield, Ohio with historic grace. Its façade is slightly chipped, but the beauty of the building remains unmarred by the scars of time and weather. These scars only add to the haunting beauty of the building. Inside, the building is equally as impressive. The two front rooms are paneled in a rare style. Eastlake paneling is testaments to the unique style of the original builders of the building as is are the engravings around the fireplace.

The owner of the building is one of a long line of Bissmans who have owned this historic building. His people came over from Germany over a century ago and founded a wholesale grocery in his family building. Now, Mr. Bissman runs a successful printing company out of the structure. Mr. Bissman is a friendly man who is happy to talk about all aspects of his family business and history. He is happy to talk about the paintings of his ancestors that line the walls and he is happy to talk about the roll he and the building played in the filming of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. He is also happy to talk about the darker history of the Bissman Building.

The Bissman Building does have a dark and tragic history. That history is the history of a little girl named Ruthie. Little Ruthie’s photograph still sits on the mantle of the building She is photographed with her family. The poor little girl was murdered in the building and stuffed in a pickle barrel in the basement. She was raped and killed with particular cruelty and her ghost still wanders the building looking for the justice. One interesting story I was told in the building says her ghost found justice in the building. Apparently, one of the employees of the building was suspected of committing the crimes against little Ruthie. He was asked to leave and as he was saying goodbye from the elevator it malfunctioned and he was decapitated by the elevator. It is said that Ruthie had her revenge at that moment. She killed the man that killed her, but she also left another ghost behind, an angry dark ghost that ghost hunters and explorers have come to fear.

The Bissman Building has been featured on many ghost hunting shows and been explored by many paranormal investigators. My Ghost Stories on biography is the most recent to feature the building. I watched this show on Saturday night and listened to two ghost hunters tell their terrifying experiences in the building. One of the women was possessed by a malevolent spirit while in the building and showed angry red marks where this spirit had attacked her. The Bissman building’s haunting has produced numerous pictures and EVPs. The Bissman Building website has these photographs and recordings available for everyone to see at http://www.bissmanbuilding.com/ .