The Hunts Are Done!

(Julie and I's shadows against the jail house, wearing our dorky ghost hunting vests--they work so well and keep our hands free).

Our team POE just finished a double hunt--at a haunted schoolhouse B&B in a mining town and the mining town's abandoned jail that we got to have alone for a hunt. It was truly amazing and we did lots of experiments and lots of troubleshooting, thrills, chills, and some chuckles (hey, I was involved).

Expect this week to see videos, pics, and stories of some cool stuff. Also, tomorrow morning is a post with a video of me doing a psychic read and Julie then verifying the history of the item she gave me to read.

Thanks for being patient. I should be back on reading your blogs soon!

Easy Ways to Spruce Up a Halloween Costume

**Tomorrow, a post with a video of me doing a psychic read is going up. I always wanted to share this with y'all the process and expect more videotaped psychic reads in the the future. This week will be insanely full of the outcome of a 2-night/2-place ghost hunt by team POE.


Only two things are necessary to take a costume from "prisoner" or "barmaid," "Viking" or "nurse," to Halloween awesomeness!

Those two things are: Vampire bites and Zombie Makeup.

Vampire bite: I wore the French maid costume above because, well, it was a singles Halloween party and, even though I was a married gal and my husband at the time was playing drums in the band, I wanted to look like I could fit into a singles group. I also wanted, however, to still carry a bit of a creepy story about me, so I put a very real-looking vampire bite on my neck. Now, you could almost imagine me dusting off some creepy old castle and having the Lord of the Manor take a chunk out of my flesh.

Supplies: Elmer's glue, black eyeliner pencil, white-face makeup, fake blood, purple, yellow and green eyeshadow.

What you want to do first is take the Elmer's glue. Put it on your finger and rub it onto your neck in a patch about 1 inch x 1 inch. Let it dry. Put another layer atop that. Let it dry. When you get to the third time, now take the bottle and title it, letting a fat globule come out and do two globules about fang-marks apart. Let them dry. When this is dry, you can now poke into each globule with the black eyeliner pencil to make deep dark holes. When you're satisfied with the effect, you will now begin bruising. Take a sponge or a cottonball and pat on some purple eyeshadow close in around the glued patch. Further out, do a circle of green. Further out still, do a patch of yellow. This gives an old bruised look about it. Use the white face makeup on your face to look rather ghastly anemic. Now, drip some blood from the holes and let it go down your neck and dry.



Zombie Face: You can take any costume and make it more creepy with a zombie face. In fact, if you wear your pajamas and carry a torn teddy bear, you can be downright creepy.

Supplies: Elmer's glue, white face, black eyeliner pencil, fake blood, purple, green and yellow eyeshadows.

To make this zombie face, I began with my Elmer's glue. I put it on in big gooey blotches everywhere and let it dry. It can take a while. Feel free to use a cool dryer if you want. I took purple eyeshadow and patted it around like big small pox blobs around my face, then took a sponge and patted on white face atop of it so I looked mottled like a dead body. I put purple under my eyes too. Then, I began to peel back some of the Elmer's glue to expose "wounds" and inside of those, I colored them with black eyeliner pencil to make them look deep and nasty. I put a little bruising purple, green, and yellow around the wounds like on the vampire bite. I then dripped blood from the wounds and my mouth.

Imagine a zombie viking or a nurse with a vampire bite? Tells a story, huh? With these two simple things, you can amp up your costume to "serious Halloweenie" status.

Skeleton Cave Massacre

Skeleton Cave

Wikipedia: On December 28, 1872 Crook's men encountered the Yavapai and Apache stronghold at Skeleton Cave located in Salt River Canyon. Crook's force composed of 130 troopers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment led by Captain William H. Brown and another thirty Apache Scouts. The army took up a position around the mouth of Skeleton Cave and surprised the natives when they tried to leave. Surrounded, the warriors refused to surrender and the soldiers opened fire[2]. Some of Brown's men aimed for the roof of the cave to deflect the bullets and rock fragments towards the defenders. This tactic led to the unintended deaths of women and children within the cave. Others, who were personally accompanied by Crook, rolled rocks and boulders down from the cliffs above[2]. Seventy-six dead were found in the cave afterward. A few who managed to surrender were taken to Camp Grant. Among the dead within the cave was Chief Nanni-chaddi, who had claimed that no soldier would ever find his stronghold there[1]. Crook followed up this victory with another at Turret Peak several weeks later. The Apaches soon made peace at Camp Verde in 1873.

You wonder a dream place to do a hunt? I'd love to do a study here because for a long time I've wanted to do a study in a place of mass murder, never studied for spirit activity before and also wanted to do a cave study because I believe the very geology of it would help retain a haunting phenomena. So, this would be right at the top of my list.

Hint 3

POE team

Sexiest Horror Movies

"Bram Stoker's Dracula"


"Wicker Man"


"The Hunger"


"Embrace of the Vampire"


"The Covenant"


"Ginger Snaps"


What would you add to the list?

Hint 2

(Num num)


(aka as Adam Sandler?)





(It's fucking hot and humid. We're idiots.)

Labyrinths

I am a labyrinth freak. Some day, when I'm a successful writer, I dream of having a little cottage in a green state like Oregon, where I would have a few acres around me for space to have orchards and organic gardens, but also a giant labyrinth. If you can't meditate, your mind is too active, try and walk a labyrinth and you'll find instant meditation. It works every time.

Where's a labyrinth around you? You'd be surprised to find that many hospitals around the country now have them on the grounds. Here is a good source for locating them in your area.

Here's just some examples:
Michigan: St. John's Cancer Center, Mercy Hospital, Sparrow Hospital.
Pennsylvania: Charles Cole Memorial Hospital, Gettysburg Holistic Health Center, Peter Becker Community Hospital
North Carolina: Catawaba Valley Medical Center, Presbyterian Hospital Charlotte.
Texas: Seton Northwest Hospital, Cook Children's Medical Center.
California: St. Mary Medical Center, Redwood Memorial Hospital.

You want to design one? Try here.

HINT

No Lonely on a Friday Night, duh.

The Best of "The Army of Darkness"

The 1992 movie "Army of Darkness" starring Bruce Campbell, was a classic!

Description:

A man is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

Best one-liners by the main character, Ash:

Ash: Alright you Primitive Screwheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my boomstick! The twelve-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about a hundred and nine, ninety five. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You got that?

Ash: Well hello Mister Fancypants. Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and shit... and Jack left town.

Ash: First you wanna kill me, now you wanna kiss me. Blow.

Ash: Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and things with... molecular structures.

Would You Buy a Haunted House?

When my parents bought our house, they didn't know it was haunted. They did know, however, that it was very very old (mid 1700s). They also knew that it must have seen the Civil War. My mother being an art teacher and an aspiring historian, was thrilled at the idea of uncovering a history that was rather vague upon the purchase. As she learned more about its history, she began to realize the potential relics that were on the grounds and so a metal detector was purchased. My siblings and I spent our childhood digging up relics with as much regularity as taking out the trash. But, it was almost the moment we moved in that my parents noticed something not quite right. Visits from past residents brought up stories of the ghosts that jived with what my parents and older siblings were noting. I grew up in it from the time I was a baby. It was never something I thought of as "ghosts" but as "the house." It was "the house" that made noises. It was "the house" that showed glimpses of figures. The only ghosts I knew of were Casper and he was a floating white sheet and we definitely had none of those!

My parents loved the house, us kids thought the haunting action was perfectly normal. No one felt threatened. We felt as if we simply had "extra" family members.

But, would you buy a house that you knew was haunted? One where people had died? One that the owners had to divulge they had some "issues"?

I'm going to give you three scenarios. Tell me if any of the you would buy and which ones you would not buy?

1. An elderly man died in his bed in the back of the house. The family members selling the house upon occasion smelled his pipe smoke and sometimes objects in the kitchen moved from one place to another when they set them down. They suspect he would never leave the home because he built it and it was his life-time pride and joy. They also have no idea how he would receive non-family members.

2. A man shot and killed his wife and then himself 30 years ago in the home. Two other families had lived there since then and all reported a sense of someone sitting on the edge of the master room bed and sometimes a sense of being stared at. Upon occasion, the children saw a man walking down the hall.

3. A teenager hung himself in the house 5 years ago. One family moved in after that and had to relocate so they're selling the place. They do admit that they don't like the guest room downstairs. It makes people very uneasy. Their teenager felt very depressed in that room. A few people reported the door to that room slamming and it having cold spots.

**I'm always supporting new paranormal groups. There's one to check out in Northern Alabama called Moonlight Shadows. Check it out.**

AMITY ISLAND CONTEST!

My dear buddy, writer in my critique group, and co-conspirator to write a Syfy Original Movie that beats them all, is having a contest at his blog. If you haven't been to Scott's blog, "Anything Horror Central," you are seriously missing the best horror movie reviews and news in the industry of horror. He's also about to become a published author of the best damn zombie novel ever!

Scott's running an awesome summertime contest. Y'all know how "Jaws" is my favorite movie of all time. No other movie even gets close to having it all like that one! Well, his contest is inspired by it.

It's a simple short story contest portraying how the movie "Jaws" affected someone who watched it. Check out the details. It's freaking brilliant!

I can't wait to hear what y'all do! Good luck!

The Wicker Tree: OH MY GOSH!!!

This 1973 gem is one of my cult favorite movies of all time!


Here's a trailer (above) of the new movie that has much of the same elements and feel of "Wicker Man." If you saw the godawful Nicholas Cage version, consider yourself a Wicker Man virgin! Please, see the original. It's well worth it.

I highly suggest this longer and more saucy trailer. Wow! Why didn't they let me know about casting calls for this one? Damn!

I saw it for free online here, but not sure how it loads. I know I'm going to want to own this one, no doubt about it!

QUIZ: Which Horror Killer Would You Be?

It's quiz time again, my darlings. You know the drill. Count your a's, b's and c's and see which one you get the most of. If you end up with 2, 2 and 1, look at that 1 and pick your second choice on that question so you can tip the scales.

1. In high school, I tended to be...
a. Easily overlooked, going under the radar.
b. Intelligent and ahead of the game.
c. Simmering angry and an outcast.

2. In bed, I like to...
a. Stay focused and hit it hard for that orgasm.
b. Tease and taunt, draw it out until my partner is begging.
c. It's usually pretty awkward. I don't think I'm all that talented.

3. If I got a new dog, I'd probably choose...
a. A rottweiler.
b. A German Shepherd.
c. A Chihuahua.

4. At a haunted attraction, I most like...
a. Being chased by a guy with a chainsaw.
b. Finding my way through the maze in the dark.
c. Things jumping out at me unexpectedly.

5. If I were going to kill someone, I'd probably...
a. Come right at them with my weapon.
b. Find a way to stage an accident.
c. Lash out in an angry moment and go berserk.

Okay, now count your a's, b's and c's and scroll down to find out which horror killer you could be...














a. Michael Myers
b. Jigsaw
c. Carrie

Life Lessons: Living with Ghostly Chaos

This is a new series. In my book "Was That a Ghost?" I discuss a good deal about how, with the right life skills tools, we can deal with the unknown and how we can use those tools for our everyday life and relationships. I'm going to apply some of those in this series.

Today's lesson is how to live with chaos from the spirit world and the living world.

At any given time, a person living in a haunted house is going to be dealing with the unpredictable. In fact, every single moment he lives in a haunted house, he will be dealing with a degree of uncertainty. Shit happens, but in a haunted house, shit happens any time of the day, day of the week, week of the month, month of the year... In fact, part of what I'm striving for on my team, POE, is to figure out what might trigger it to activate and conversely, what might quiet it down. For now, there are little, if any patterns, we can discern.

So, you live in a home in which a dish can break, a painting can fall, a door can slam, a voice can moan, a chair can creak from the weight of a body that isn't visible. When living in a place where it's unpredictable, it's easy to become keyed up all the time, edgy, nervous, anxious because your world seems to have no rhyme or reason.

If we look at your life amongst humans, it can be much the same. Humans are like ghosts (wonder why? hee hee) and living with them you discover that you don't know what mood or drama they bring to the table on any given day. They do things when you don't expect it, they blow up when you weren't seeing it coming, they create drama by becoming demanding or controlling or even manipulatively weepy.

Now, we use the same principles with these incidents (ghostly and human) to decide how to proceed. If you are living with ghostly activity that has not shown a tendency to be harmful to you and you have been in a living relationship that is not abusive, then you make a decision to not add to the drama. You don't feed the human's rants by getting angry back and pushing and pressing and demanding and escalating the emotions. The same goes with ghostly phenomena. You don't respond with anger, demands, and high emotion. Both instances call for old-fashioned assertion skills. The process goes like this: No name calling. You simply say "when you do (this) it makes me feel (this) and so I would like it if you would do (this) instead."

Here's how you might approach the ghostly phenomena:

"I understand that you feel the need to remain in my home, but my husband and I are living here and this is where we are raising our children. When you slam doors and tug at our blankets, you frighten us. We would like it if you would move on and find your own family, then we can all be happier."

In a living relationship, it might go like this:

"When you come at me with accusations, it makes me feel like you don't trust me. I'd like it if next time you feel I'm doing something wrong, you let me know. It's difficult for me to clear up the thoughts in your head if you don't express them out loud."

Ghosts and the living are unpredictable elements in our world. I grew up as the youngest of five children and my elders were quite difficult growing up. I learned early on that people create their own drama. I was not a drama creator, but those around me spun out of control. I could do nothing to stop their own process, but I did have to share their space. This not only taught me compassion for how others must learn life's lessons, but also made me thankful that I didn't need to make the mistakes I saw them making. The secret to my survival was to not get sucked into the drama. It was about their own issues and not mine, but they would have become my issues if I jumped into the fray and demanded they do things the way I want them done.

The key here is that there is no "right" way to do things or "smart way." There is only the way that people with certain personalities and life experiences, egos and issues do things and that is not always the "sensible" way. When you give up expecting everyone doing things the "right" way and let the do it "their" way, you no longer get sucked into the drama.

Lastly, it goes without saying that a relationship that is downright abusive, whether ghostly or living, is a deal breaker.

My favorite local ghost team wrote a fantastic post about what it takes to be a good paranormal investigator--very insightful!

**On a happy note, apparently my blog is #9 on top paranormal sites. Very cool! Thanks y'all for being such a supportive family.

Soap! Soap! Not Just Any Soap!

Random Girl at It's On Random has a soap shop now. Wahoo! I ordered some up right away! I'm not only a hemp soap freak, but a chai freak too--I make my own chai tea mix. When I saw she had a natural chai hemp soap, I thought--I love this gal! I even ordered some for my son's fiancee's birthday. She is a natural soap nut too.

You wonder why I look younger than my considerable years--it's from using natural soaps (and being vegetarian). I used to make my own soaps, but I don't have the time anymore, so I'm letting a talented person make it. Her prices are ridiculously awesome! She also has honey hemp, magic brownie soap, and more! I'm giddy! Thanks blog world for showcasing talented and honestly hard working and brilliant folks. I'm always promoting in-breeding consumerism within the blog community, sort of like shopping local. Definitely give this gal's shop a look-see and give some lucky gal some soap that'll make her toes curl.

Lifestyles: Interview With a Vampire

This is a new series on the blog about alternative lifestyles. You know how I'm always trying to get y'all to think outside the box? Well, sometimes, I want you to throw away the notion that boxes even exist! This is one of those times.

This series on alternative lifestyles is to keep us from doing the typically human cringing thing that says "bad/good" when we encounter things because basically that equates to "unfamiliar/familiar." We can't make gains without the brawn of our builders, the brains of our scientists, the sensitivity of our artists. Every person has a path and a calling, every person has a strength and a gift to the world. Every person has a way to live their life or their undead state. So, fears and insecurities aside, let's look at the first alternative lifestyle that I'm interviewing, that of vampires.

Autumnforest: Do you consider yourself a vampire or a vampire enthusiast?

Adam: I'm a Vampire. There is no question about it. I have friends who are as you say "vampire enthusiasts" but there is a big difference between the two.

AF: What is your earliest memory of being interesting vampires, what influences?

Adam: I never really obsessed over it, as a kid I played Dracula games and suchlike but I never dreamed of becoming a Vampire; it wasn't my all-consuming thought as I know it is for some. My first knowledge of real Vampires was at 16 when I met this woman, Nicola. She was beautiful: not the classic Vampiress at all, rather she had dark, almost black skin and it made her teeth and the whites of her eyes startlingly sharp. This made her look wild and continuously alert. I fell for her but she insisted, she told me that I loved her so often, in such an intoxicating manner that eventually I believed her. I'm not convinced about Vampire "powers" or influence as the media seem so fixated on, but Nicola would be the best way of convincing me otherwise. She was truly evil.

AF: As you see it, has the "Twilight" series created a popularity in vampirism that has corrupted the practice and brought in wannabe teen posers?

Adam: Without a doubt, yes. I'm actually writing this with a human friend of mine who's helping me (I'm not that fantastic with writing) and she loves Vampire fiction. I'm not even going to ask her to help my phrasing on this one because I'll get another 2 hour lecture on how since "Twilight" Vampire fiction has been cheapened. But on to the question. The amount of times I've had girls no more than 11 ask me to bite them. Really? You want to be pre-pubescent and stupid forever. I'm not going to fall in love with you if you wear tight jeans and call me Edward. Another thing, nibbling on your boyfriend does not make you a Vampire. You can't be part of our society just because you've read "Twilight" and think you're a hardcore fan. I've spoken to my mate (girlfriend) Victoria about this and she said it was the same with the Anne Rice novels, but at least they were more accurate. Stephanie Meyer's books were written for the majority and the majority adopted it.

AF: If you practice vampirism, is it a spiritual or sexual motivation or both?

Adam: I wouldn't say it's spiritual but sex comes into it a lot. The first time me and Victoria got together it was all about the blood. I can't explain the rush. I'm not a masochist, I don't get off on pain. But feeling the penetration of teeth through the skin of my neck, it's more intense than any drug. The only better thing in the world is feeling hot blood run down my throat. We seldom have sex without feeding, but sometimes we feed without having sex. I find it impossible not to get hard whilst feeding, seeing fresh blood sends shivers down my spine.

AF: Within a vampire community, are there "donors" and "feeders" or do most vampires perform both functions?

Adam: It's not really shared through a community, mainly in pairs. In my first relationship with a Vampire, it was incredibly abusive and I was the "donor" though it wasn't exactly willing. With Victoria it's much more equal but most pairs have a subservient one and a dominant one. If you're single you'd feed on a subservient partner of a friend or a human who wants in.

AF: Is there anything you'd like to clear up about the image of vampires carried by the public that frustrates you?

Adam: That's what my blog's for. My boss is making me tell everyone everything, though some will be fictional to disguise our community. Any questions you or your readers have please ask at fanged-facts because, with all the Vampire fiction out there, we don't really know what one person thinks from the next. But yeah one thing: we don't glitter.

Autumnforest: I'd like to thank Adam for being so candid and sharing his experience with us. As I like to emphasize, we all have our own worlds, our own realities, and our own ways of taking in the process of motivation, inspiration, connection and gratification. His confidence about being a vampire helps us all to be more confident in even the smallest things that set us apart, whether it's atheism or libertarian views.

Lu-cy! What's That Redhead Up To?

It's not my intention to cause problems and get into trouble. I'm just a "galloping puppy," as many of my friends refer to me. We can be driving along the roadway and make a joke about something and I stop and turn around and go back to the location to do the very thing we kidded about. I figure, "why just think it, when you can do it?"



Sure, I got my son and I locked in a cemetery once, got myself trapped in one with a couple of drinking boys parked near my car, explored some abandoned places and the woods in the dark alone and got myself into sticky situations. I've been chased by bees and squatters and coyotes, but those are the things you remember, right?



A friend dared me to do a video in my belly dancing scarf and I have trouble ignoring dares made by boys (it's a tomboy throwback), so I did it--but on my terms--no belly dancing music!



I've wandered a hotel in my tiny bitty pajamas in search of a room I saw in a psychic vision and got found by an elevator filled with men getting off on that floor. I've gotten caught in a cemetery after dark by the guard and had to find a sneaky excuse to go fetch my recording device left on a grave. I've had to come up with excuses on the spot for just about anything I get caught doing that I shouldn't be doing. To my credit, I normally have a camera handy to capture my insanity and I end up looking like a curious look-see tourist.



Somehow, my dear friend, sidekick and co-author Julie puts up with me, kind of being an Ethel to my Lucy.

Oh, and on a very cool note--we have an upcoming ghost hunt. Our team will be getting an abandoned prison to ourselves for a study. Expect some amazing things. The last time I was there, I saw a full-body apparition.

In fact, we have some upcoming antics that we'll be posting about as we prepare for the release of our book "Kickin' Up Dust (Getting Lost to Find Ourselves)" about how we made a blogging friendship a real-life friendship, changed our lives 180 degrees, went ghost hunting, had insane experiences, and explored our state's creepiest and most forbidden places.

We refer to ourselves as the Thelma and Louise of the Paranormal World, but personally, I think we're more like the Lucy and Ethel!

Whazzup on the Ghost Front?

Damn! Too much to talk about in one short post. I don't want to give y'all too much to read. Suffice to say, next week you will likely be inundated with lots of results of a helluva lot of tests on a ghost hunt that will amaze and amuse, stupefy and intrigue.

Our research team, POE (Paranormal Observation & Experimentation--see tab at the top of page) has laid out some plans for a series of unusual tests and experiments. I will be keeping close notes, photos, and nightvision.

I also plan to do a nightvision VLOG entry for the blog on the hunt, to take you with me inside a creepy haunted location in which we are doing a study. I'm anxious to learn how to edit with the damn new camera (shitty software Vivitar), but I am determined. One thing about me, when I want to do something--I'm freaking stubborn (Irish/Scottish blood). I am also logic-minded and excessively curious (Norwegian/Swedish blood).

I'd like to start doing some under 5-minute documentaries that sort of condense a ghost hunt or an abandoned location into something totally watchable without snoring. To this end, I am going to likely start a new YouTube Channel just for Ghost Hunting Theories since my old channel had a mix of blog/personal vids.

The blog is going to be getting insanely creative and unusual and spooky and fun as we're heading towards the hallowed month of October, so stay with me, hold onto your hats, and lift your arms in the air instead of grabbing the bar on the first hill of this rollercoaster ride called Ghost Hunting Theories.


**Tomorrow, I start a new series called "Lifestyle" with interviews with people who have alternative and unusual lifestyles--I kick off the series with an interview with a vampire.**

Spontaneous Human Combustion: The Real Firestarter

Wikipedia: Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is a name used to describe cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition. There is speculation and controversy regarding SHC - some regard it as a unique and currently unexplained phenomenon, while others feel that cases described as SHC can be understood using current generally-accepted scientific principles. There have been about 200 cited cases[1] worldwide over a period of around 300 years.

A case described from Wikipedia: On the night of July 1 – July 2, 1951 she burned to death in her apartment[1] and the nickname "The Cinder Lady" was given to her posthumously by the local media.

The alarm was raised at about 8 a.m. July 2 when Reeser's landlady, Pansy Carpenter, arrived at her door with a telegram. Trying the door, she found the metal doorknob to be uncomfortably warm to the touch and called the police.

Reeser's remains, which were largely ashes, were found among the remains of a chair in which she had been sitting. Only part of her left foot (which was wearing a slipper) remained.[1] Plastic household objects at a distance from the seat of the fire were softened and had lost their shapes.

Reeser's skull had survived and was found among the ashes, but was 'shrunken' (sometimes with the added descriptive flourish of 'to the size of a teacup').[1] The extent of this shrinkage was enough to be remarked on by official investigators and was not an illusion caused by the removal of all facial features (ears, nose, lips, etc). The shrinking of the skull is not a regular feature of alleged cases of SHC, although the 'shrunken skull' claim has become a regular feature of anecdotal accounts of other SHC cases and numerous apocryphal stories. However, this is not the only case in which the remains featured a shrunken skull.

On 7 July 1951, St. Petersburg police chief J.R. Reichert sent a box of evidence from the scene to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. He included glass fragments found in the ashes, six "small objects thought to be teeth," a section of the carpet, and the surviving shoe.

Even though the body was almost totally cremated, requiring very high temperatures, the room in which it occurred showed little evidence of the fire.
Reichert included a note saying: "We request any information or theories that could explain how a human body could be so destroyed and the fire confined to such a small area and so little damage done to the structure of the building and the furniture in the room not even scorched or damaged by smoke."

The FBI eventually declared that Reeser had been incinerated by the wick effect. A known user of sleeping pills, they hypothesized that she had fallen unconscious while smoking and set fire to her nightclothes. "Once the body starts to burn," the FBI wrote in its report, "there is enough fat and other inflammable substances to permit varying amounts of destruction to take place. Sometimes this destruction by burning will proceed to a degree which results in almost complete combustion of the body."

Because much of the information and stories are quite detailed, here is an entry from Unexplained-Mysteries about a case that’s very intriguing “61 year old Jeannie Saffin, with a mental age of 6 years old, was terrified of open flames. In 1982, at her home in England while sitting in the kitchen at about 4pm she suddenly bust into flames with her father, Jack, sitting nearby at the table.
He saw a sudden flash and when he turned to ask Jeannie if she had seen it he noticed she was surrounded by flames, mostly around her face and hands. According to Mr Saffin. his daughter did not move or cry, but simply sat there with her hands in her lap.

In an effort to save Jeannie's life, her father disfigured his own hands while pulling her to the kitchen sink. Putting out the flames surrounding Jeannie, her father began calling for his son-in-law Donald to help, screaming “Jeannie's burning!” Donald stated that he ran into the kitchen seeing Jeannie with roaring flames around her face and abdomen while contacting EMS.

When the flames were extinguished, Jeannie began to whimper. Upon an inquest, it was found that due to her mental condition, shock, and endorphins that resulted from the incident her pain was minimized. The EMS personnel who escorted Jeannie to the hospital testified that the kitchen and its contents were unharmed. Both Donald and Jack testified that the flames coming from Jeannie displayed a roaring sound.

In the reports from the incident, Jeannie's injuries were listed as facial burns as well as burns to the chest, neck, shoulders, left arm, abdomen, thighs and left buttock along with both sides of both hands. Some of these were full thickness burns in which the skin is destroyed down to fat tissue. Jeannie's face afterward was described as horribly disfigured. Soon after, she went into a coma and died from pneumonia due to burns.

PC Marsden from the Edmonton Police Station, in a report to the coroner's office, stated that no cause for the flames had been found. This report also states that the chair and walls of the kitchen were undamaged by fire and smoke, that the closest source of ignition (a gas stove) was at least 5 feet away and that Jeannie was still burning when he got to the residence. He helped put out the flames with a towel. In conclusion of his report, which was accepted by the coroner, Jeannie was a victim of spontaneous human combustion.

In 1995, Marsden reiterated his belief in the cause of death and that years after the incident he had been questioned by a senior officer. In John E. Heymer's 1996 book titled “The Entrancing Flame”, Jeannie Saffin's case is discussed among others who may have been victims of spontaneous human combustion. Upon examining these cases, familiarities include that the victims do not seem to struggle, show no signs of awareness, do not cry out and survivors such as Jack Angel and Wilfred Gowthorp, have no memory of the event which leads researchers to believe they are not conscious while they are burning.

Heymer alleges that defective mitochondria are to blame, insisting that they allow hydrogen to build in the cell. This allows the cell to burst into flames due to the 0.225 volts of electricity that is generated across the inner membrane which sets off a chain reaction in other cells of the body.”



I admit that I am a child of the 70s and so spontaneous human combustion was a popular and favorite subject often talked about in the press. When I was a kid and I first heard of it, I was horrified by the thought that I might just spontaneously go up in flames. Even though as I got older, I realized I'd more likely be hit by lightning, I still found the subject a curiously interesting puzzle. Who hasn't gotten "hot under the collar" and wondered if they might pop a vessel or ignite?



The last story above had me wondering. I do recall endorphins rushing in during times of extreme physical danger and I was completely unable to feel pain or even react properly. The fact that these people aren’t rushing to put the fire out could be an endorphin rush, but that doesn’t explain why the usual person (like Michael Jackson) has a primitive desire to run away in a rush when on fire. Is there something else going on chemically in the body that makes the mind believe something that isn’t real or perhaps tempers reaction times?

The fact that entire rooms aren’t taken down to ash by the process is really unusual. As well, the remaining body parts unburned are puzzling. However, the fact that legs and arms (the most often left behind parts—see pictures above) don’t burn is not that surprising to me. In fact, the legs and arms are very muscular and have little body fat. The core of the body would be most likely to burn if this were a wick effect fueled by body fat. Fat, as well all know, burns at a very hot temperature. If you ever saw the “Myth Busters” episode about pouring water on a pot of boiling oil and the huge flash of fire, you’d understand what your body moisture and fat might do in combination. That these bodies burn at higher temperatures than many crematoriums is unusual too. The body fat should fuel a cremation as much as an SHC.



Do I think this is some kind of wacky supernatural occurrence? Nope. It's how I view the paranormal too. These things affect our physical world so they are part of nature, as well. It would appear that some amazing set of circumstances must exist to make this condition occur, as there have been very few cases of it. It’s not something we are likely to ever witness and measure while it’s occurring, so all we can do is the forensics. Luckily, with forensics making such a leap in the past few decades, we’re more capable of looking at the events and breaking down the “crime scene” evidence to figure out how it all happened. The body’s fat acting like a wick with lamp oil was a very astute proclamation by researchers and I agree; however, the question still remains…what special conditions must happen for this extremely rare occurrence to happen? The mystery still continues.


**Tomorrow, I start a new series called "Lifestyle" with interviews with people who have alternative and unusual lifestyles--I kick off the series with an interview with a vampire.**

Eye Positioning

Not that anything about me is particularly "normal," but one thing I do know and I took note of in recent years is that when I do psychic reads, I always look to the right. This is interesting because, according to this eye chart above, the right side is "remembered" things and the left side is "constructed" things.

You can use this knowledge of eye positioning to read people and their truthfulness.

For example, if you look to the right upper position, you are accessing visual memory as it pertains to the conversation. If someone said, "what color are Uncle Lou's eyes?" You'd more than likely recall that looking to your upper right.

You'll see people often look down right during conversations, that shows that they are considering what they are going to say next. If you ask someone how their talk with their boss went, they'll more than likely look down right. When I give a reading, I get information usually from the middle right but when I relay it to someone, I look down right because I am cautiously deciding how to word my interpretation accurately.

If you look upper left, you are accessing your visual imagination. If I were to ask you to picture a dog with no hair, you'd probably look to your upper left.

If they look to their middle left, they are in the auditory range again. Here, they are likely to do things like make up a song, or even imaging what their dream man's voice might sound like.

The last position is probably the most telling. The lower left is where a person has their feelings. If someone asks you how you feel about something, you're likely to access it there. That would be a more genuine place to look to give one's real feelings.

As I also suffer from a spatial/time synesthesia, I not only store psychic reads in a 3-D grid outside my body, but also time, such as hours of the day, days of the week, months of the year, in a strange zig-zagging multi-leveled time line outside my body. In fact, if you ask me to think about August, my mind goes to the level of my left shoulder but about 7 feet out from my body. Yeah, it's that funky. In fact, I can't ever remember the actual date because I have no storage system for it within my grid and my mind does not think like wall calendars. In fact, those things mess with my mind every time because to me, time is 3D and not 2D.

Some time, try to recall a song's lyrics by looking to the right middle, you are likely to have more luck.

We may not think about eye positioning, but there are psychologists who specialize in it and are able to use it as a kind of lie detector test. Intriguing, huh?

**Tomorrow, I start a new series called "Lifestyle" with interviews with people who have alternative and unusual lifestyles--I kick off the series with an interview with a vampire.**

Dinner is Served: One-Paragraph Flash Horror Short Story

Leaning over the table, the diner grabbed the bone and gnawed on the meat. The flesh was tender and tasty, satisfying and absolute perfection. Had a meal ever tasted this good? Been this satisfying? He dropped the bone, licked each finger greedily for every tangy bit that remained. Then, the zombie, pleased with his wife's ribs, went after her other set with equal gusto.

Don't Be a Dork: You Tube Poops

I haven't done a "Don't Be a Dork" post in a long while. This should help you stay up to speed on some of life's new trends...

You Tube Poops: Random clips put together into something that stutters and jumps, makes no sense and generally is an abomination of the original films from which it borrowed.

I am so proud of my son's poops. No, You tube poops, that is!

Here's some examples he's done:

What Are Your Post-Apocalyptic Plans?

How many of you bought plastic and duct tape during the Bush regime?
How many microwaved your mail during the anthrax scare?
How many of you stored supplies during Y2K?
How many of you wonder if you should store water? Dried foods? Medicines? Iodine and chloride tablets?

So, just what are your plans for the post-apocalypse? Would you go to the country? Secure yourself into a high rise with some supplies? Would you go to an island? A cave?

I think an ideal situation would be a group with a good range of talents from strength to medical knowledge, building and rigging power, survivalist skills and mercenary skills, but not such a large group you'd be easy to spot or have too many people to support with limited resources.

My dream clan?

A chinese herbalist who turned doctor.
A martial arts, ancient weapons expert.
A building contractor/carpenter.
An electrical engineer with solar experience.
An outdoorsman with survivalist training.
A hunter/trapper.
An ex green beret.

Where I live, survival is not easy. My plans have to include going up to the eastern mountains where there are lakes, woods, and rain/snow. Each vehicle in our caravan would have to carry motorcycles and bicycles so we're ready for any kind of transport, should one break down and for when we reach our final place and run out of gas, we will still have motorcycles for a time and then bicycles for transport.

Have you ever sat down and really thought about what you'd do?

Chilling 70s Crimes!

What the hell was it about the 70s? Some of the freakiest psychos ever!


DB Cooper: In 1971, a man hijacked a Boeing 727 between Portland Oregon and Seattle Washington. He got $200,000 assembled by the FBI. They landed in Seattle, let the passengers out and took off with him and the cash giving instructions. He then proceeded to parachute from the plane. No one has identified the man and it is considered unsolved to this day and, in fact, the only unsolved hijacking. In 1980, a boy found packets of money along the Columbia River. There are many suspects, but the case has not been officially closed and people often refer to DB Cooper like a cult hero for getting away with it.


Zodiac Killer: In the late 60s and early 70s, a serial killer tormented Northern Californians. He sent taunting letters to the press claiming to have killed 37. The case has remained open.


Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping:
It was 1976. In Chowchilla, California, a bus was rolling along the roadway with 26 kids on board. The bus was intercepted by masked men who overtook the driver and took off with them all on board. The hostage-takers then put the kids and the bus driver into a buried moving van. The driver and kids managed to stack up mattresses and work their way out of the heavy earth atop of the van and got to safety. The people who performed the kidnapping were caught.


John Wayne Gacy: This man raped and killed 33 boys in the 70s. He buried 26 of them in his basement crawlspace. He worked as a fundraising clown. He was caught and ultimately executed.


Ted Bundy: Assaulted and killed 30 women in the 1970s. This nice looking "boy-next-door" approached women in public and pretended to be an authority figure to lure them away to their deaths. He was caught and executed.


Son of Sam: David Berkowitz terrorized New York in the mid 70s. In 8 shootings he killed 6 people. Near one of the shootings a police officer found this note with many misspellings: I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "Son of Sam." I am a little "brat". When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kill" commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young — raped and slaughtered — their blood drained — just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic, too. I can't get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wave length then everybody else — programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first — shoot to kill or else. Keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. Too many heart attacks. "Ugh, me hoot it urts sonny boy." I miss my pretty princess most of all. She's resting in our ladies house but I'll see her soon. I am the "Monster" — "Beelzebub" — the "Chubby Behemouth." I love to hunt. Prowling the streets looking for fair game — tasty meat. The wemon of Queens are z prettyist of all. I must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt — my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I dont want to kill anymore no sir, no more but I must, "honour thy father." I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on Earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I wa want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next and for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police — Let me haunt you with these words; I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interrpretedas — bang, bang, bang, bank, bang — ugh!! Yours in murder Mr. Monster. He claims in his prison time that he is born again and so far has been denied every parole hearing.



Hillside Strangler: In the 70s, women were raped, tortured and killed by what was termed "Hillside Strangler." The cousins (Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, Jr) who did these crimes were caught. Bianchi is still serving a life sentence and Buono died of a heart attack in jail.


Dean Corll: "The Candy Man" worked for his mother's candy company. In the early 70s, he tortured and killed 28 boys in Houston. At the time, he was the worst serial killer known. He was convicted for life.


Gary Gilmore: This man was in trouble with the law a lot and in jail, but in 1976 he robbed and murdered a gas station attendant, then he robbed and murdered a motel employee the next night. In January of 77, he was executed and he chose a firing squad. They sat him in a chair with sandbags behind him to absorb the bullets and 5 shooters were behind a curtain with their barrels sticking out of holes. His last words, "Let's do it!"

I look back at the 70s (yes, I can look back at them) and I recall skateboarding and rollerskating, "Charlies Angels" and KC and the Sunshine Band. I also recall a constant fear about crime from the Charles Manson era and 60s Hippies/LSD/cults, the Studio 54/cocaine/disco/swingers era of the 70s. The cautionary tales from the 50s era revisited us in the 70s about all the scariness of parking in cars, doing drugs, stranger danger and more.

I think the 70s had some fine points including environmental movements, but it was also a very tragic decade, not just for the growing crime rate and addictions, but the gas shortage and recession. We were so ready for the prosperous and superficial 80s.

Psychic Perspective on Time

How do psychics read the past, present and future? Well, here's what it's like:

A woman is driving in a car to the store to get some milk. A man stands along the roadway and sees her car coming. So far, she hasn't arrived yet and will be part of his future. As she passes him, she is in his present. As she drives away, she is in his past.

As the driver in the car, she can look into her rear view mirror and see where she was, look out the windshield and see where she is going, but the entire event is present-time to her perspective. It is one event; she is going to the store.

As a psychic, my perspective is like the driver of the car. To most people, their past, present and future are separated by mental walls that neatly (like a photo album) cut their lives into pieces that must be retrieved. The man on the roadside looked down the road and sees no car yet (his future) and watches it pass (his present) and when the car is out of sight (his past); it is gone to “another place” and is now tucked in his memories.

To a psychic, it's all present, all here, all part of the experience, constantly right there in the glass and the mirror and within the car. The sense of time during a reading is not relevant in the least.

Cryptid Creepies: Tasmanian Tiger

This is a new series about cryptid creatures.



Today, we're going to cover the Tazmanian Tiger. This is one of my favorites and one cryptid I think has a very excellent chance of existing.

The Tasmanian Tiger is categorized as a "thylacine." The Tasmanian Tiger actually existed in Australia, the island of Tasmania and New Guinea. This was the largest marsupial (pouched creature).

It was believed to be extinct or nearly extinct on the continent of Australia by the time Europeans settled there. On the Island of Tasmania; however, it lasted much longer. Bounties on their dead bodies, as well as domestic dogs might have helped to obliterate this population.

The last thylacine died in 1936, officially extinct in 1986.

Even to this day, people often report seeing it. It's seen so often, that there has to be something to it. A breeding population would have learned to hide from man who was pursuing him and thylacine had bred extensively before the citizens began killing off their population to get rid of the "troublemakers." If a cryptid does walk this earth, this is the one I would put all my money into. It is the most likely and the most witnessed. In fact, there are plenty of videos on YouTube people have taken of potential thylacines. They're pretty badass and seriously, I hope the marsupials survived the slaughter because they are just magnificent wild creatures.

Here's one such film taken of potential thylacine:



When I saw this film of a supposed chupacabra taken by a police dashboard camera, I couldn't help thinking of thylacines. Strange, huh? It reminded me of the archived video (above).

Akashic Records

(Wikipedia) The akashic records (akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "aether") is a term used in theosophy (and Anthroposophy) to describe a compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. These records are described as containing all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos. They are metaphorically described as a library; other analogies commonly found in discourse on the subject include a "universal supercomputer" and the "Mind of God". People who describe the records assert that they are constantly updated automatically and that they can be accessed through astral projection[1] or when someone is placed under deep hypnosis. The concept was popularized in the theosophical movements of the 19th century and is derived from Hindu philosophy of Samkhya. It is promulgated in the Samkhya philosophy that the Akashic records are automatically recorded in the atoms of akasha (the equivalent of what Aristotle called "aether"), one of the five types of atoms visualized as existing in the atomic theory of Ancient India, called Mahabhuta. In Buddhism it is taught one reason that people knew Gautama Buddha had attained enlightenment as a Buddha was because he was able to remember all of the details of all of his past lives by accessing them on the akashic records. The term akashic records is frequently used in New Age discourse.

Those of you who have been following my blog for a time know that two things hound me; what is paranormal phenomena and why does it occur? And, why am I able to have such accurate psychic reads? As a logic-minded Virgo and a here-and-now kind of gal, I am baffled by these things. I'm not certain I can say they are of a spiritual nature because, as someone who has experienced both, I believe them to be more accurately of the scientific world, but perhaps a realm of which have fleeting or intermittent contact with.

I've come to understand the easier items for me to read with my hands as a psychic, noting density (easier to read) versus porousness (harder to read), even realizing I couldn't read a sterile charcoal burned-down home. I search for ways to narrow it down further and understand how information is transmitted.

Some people refer to the Akashic records at the universal information that is out there and accessed by people like Edgar Cayce and perhaps Nostradamus and other psychics and prophets. It is a very visual way for us to imagine free floating information, as if everything that ever was and ever will be in the universe are around us all the time, but tuning into them is not a consistent process unless you've developed psychic talents or astral projection capabilities.

Have you ever been driving down the road and suddenly get a deep shiver and goosebumps for not reason at all? You look around you and realize that there is nothing to have set it off, but some stimulus had to exist. How about deja vu? There's a sensation we all get, but why? Why is something so familiar that if we concentrate on it, we can actually predict what to do next based on a sense of having happened before?

When I do a psychic read, it goes something like this:

I take the object, usually with my left hand and hold it. I then, take my focus from the here and now and shift my eyes to the right and slightly downward, sometimes searching around the area until my eyes lock onto the "tuning" of this item by staring at a very specific place in the 3-dimensional world around me, a kind of invisible grid or filing system. It's a sense of familiarity, like when you put your fingers on your keyboard and know where the "w" is without looking.

I then get a sense of a person usually first, their sex is the first thing that comes to mind; a male or female presence. Then, I might envision a field or a room, a box or a chair, a color or a season. It's like a recollection. If a psychic is good, she has a wide base of life experience and knowledge to be able to realize this place in which she has been dropped in a context which is unknown. Emotions, relationships, personality, and other things come forth as if you're vaguely recalling your Late Uncle Pete and his looks and personality and what he did for a living and how he laughed at inopportune moments. I receive these bits of information but without the context, it's like finding someone's trash alongside a roadway and trying to understand why they dumped it there and what they do with their daily lives based upon the remnants.

So, the concept of Akashic records is one that has not gone unnoticed by me. I don't consider myself a new-ager type, but I am also open-minded enough to know that having a concept like universal omnipotent information accessible under the right conditions is perhaps one of the best explanations for the process of prophets and psychics. I'm not a believer in the existence of time and so being a psychic, I do understand that there is no "now and then," but more like a series of events that occur throughout our civilization and they are neither past or present but "done" deals. When I get a psychic read about the future, clairvoyance, I feel it in my body and mind to be "already happened and fact" even if it will not occur until tomorrow.

Psychics? We are simply radios with a fine tuner compared to a broad band sweep. The broad band sweep might have caught the goosebumps out of the blue or the deja vu, but us fine tuners, well, we get the details, locking onto the exact station and some of its content.

I absolutely believe in the Akashic records in that all past, present and future knowledge is in the universe simultaneously, just accessible occasionally by those of us who understand things aren't linear but coexisting.

I would love to hear your take on Akashic records. It is a subject I've been very much into since I first learned of Edgar Cayce and his readings. I feel an enormous kinship with the man and what a finely tuned vessel he was.

Beware of Twitter Scams!

There's a shitload of scams on Twitter to access your log-in info. You get a message that says either "is this a picture of you?" "is this you in the video?" or "someone said something nasty about you on this blog" and then if you click on the address they provide, there's a log-in for what looks like Twitter. Always be suspicious when people you don't know are giving you anything to click on, even a friend whose account could have been tapped into. Contact that friend and see if they actually send you the link. Never give log-in info.

Vampires or Werewolves?

Screw "Twilight"'s tween-aged version of vampires and werewolves and the actors who played them.

Let's get down to the important stuff: Which is better, vampire or werewolf?

I hate sunlight. No, seriously. When a cloud goes by and blots out the sun, I sigh with relief. I don't go out in the sun except on a road trip and that's purely because my night vision is for-shit. I like nighttime. My dream bedroom is pitch black, very cool, and humid; cave-like.

On the other hand, I am Autumnforest. I live for the woods and running like a wild thing, being one of the creatures of the glade. Streams, moss, lichens, ferns, and a canopy overhead are my bliss.

Rocks, paper, scissors.

Now, if a vampire has the ability to mesmerize, he could technically take down a werewolf by disabling him and draining him. If, however, he can't mesmerize another undead creature, the werewolf would tear him to pieces.

The vampire is more man-related; we see a vampire in a crowd and we think "ah, one of my own species," yet a werewolf seems to be more a part of the animal realm.

Some movies to compare:
"Wolf Man" versus "Bram Stoker's Dracula"
"The Howling" versus "The Hunger"
"Underworld" (has both) versus "Twilight" (has both)



My favorite vampire movies would include "Fright Night" and "Salem's Lot" but then I'm retro when it comes to vampires, but not so retro I really dig the romantic renditions of men who sneaked into women's bedrooms and drank from them and mesmerized. Other than the idea of a man biting my neck (anything involving the neck turns me on), I don't see the romance in vampires. They seem rather self-absorbed and vain.

Another thing that isn't as attractive about vampires is that there is little or not transformation. They can approach you as a human-looking person and so there is no suspense. A werewolf, however, must transform and the real terror comes when you see what you will be up against materializing before your eyes. Here's an example, Nick Swardson's hilarious standup about being stabbed which reminds me of what being attacked by a werewolf be like:






My favorite werewolf movies are the original "Wolf Man" but I also like the remake (the plot was a convoluted mess) but the effects were stunning. I adore "The Howling" and "Wolf," as well. "An American Werewolf in London" was excellent, too. Honestly, any monster who resides in the woods and runs with the creatures of the night is going to get my attention.

This is what I want to know:

Who is more powerful--werewolf or vampire?
Who is more sexy--werewolf or vampire?
If you had to be one--which one?

Tunguska

It's hard to believe it's been 103 years since the Tunguska event. My grandparents lived through that era. Oh hell, my parents and grandparents were so old that my grandparents were all born in the 1800s. No kidding!

What was the Tunguska event? Something that puzzled scientists for a century and that has intrigued me since I was a child and first heard of it.

In 1908, was a flash event in Siberia in which forests were flattened completely and those 40 miles away from the event were thrown from their chairs and felt the fire of it. Eight hundred square miles were flattened.

Here's a witness's account:
Suddenly in the north sky… the sky was split in two, and high above the forest the whole northern part of the sky appeared covered with fire… At that moment there was a bang in the sky and a mighty crash… The crash was followed by a noise like stones falling from the sky, or of guns firing. The earth trembled.

The massive explosion packed a wallop. The resulting seismic shockwave registered with sensitive barometers as far away as England. Dense clouds formed over the region at high altitudes which reflected sunlight from beyond the horizon. Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight. Locally, hundreds of reindeer, the livelihood of local herders, were killed, but there was no direct evidence that any person perished in the blast.

There have been amazing theories about Tunguska including the use of one of Tesla's mega-weapon inventions, an atomic bomb introduced by aliens, and the most popularly accepted one--an asteroid. It was nearly 20 years before scientists were allowed into the remote area to study the devastation. Moisture/ice debris from the comet's blast created strangely bright skies all the way to England where it seemed to glow strangely. The blast was heard 1000 miles away.

It's hard to comprehend that such an event occurred on the earth while man was walking about, but I suppose we can all be relieved it happened in Siberia of all places. Had it been the ocean or a major populated area, the earth and its population would be devastated.

Lonely on a Friday Night? Join Us Here!

Hey, I'm here, hanging out. Come on and say "hi," any time.
I'm knocking around the idea of getting hypnotized to see that alien I saw when I was hypnotized last time but this time learn more about why it showed up in my childhood memories. If I do it, I'll do an audio recording and write about it for the blog. Let me know if you think this might be an interesting thing to pursue. I'm curious by nature and just because I don't believe in aliens doesn't mean I shouldn't find out what the heck one with a decorative head piece was doing in my childhood bedroom memories. Oh, and tonight Zak is doing another Paranormal Challenge--this time at Waverly Hills. The show is super lame-o, but the location is awesome.

Taphophiles: Cemetery Tales

(shot taken at the cemetery--no camera strap, clear warm night)

Let me give you a few cemetery tales.



There's a big old Catholic cemetery in a sketchy part of town. It's a sprawling beautiful place that has stained glass, huge walls for crematories, tons of wild cats some local person feeds. The nuns and priests are all buried there from the area. It's green and has plenty of trees (rarity in the desert) and a fantastically old feel to it.



I went there with a friend once. It was just the two of us around twilight. Her batteries on her camera died instantly, so she went back to the car for more. I stood there in a long outdoor corridor where cremated remains were stored and it had arched doorways leading to the cemetery grounds. I heard a man speaking in Latin very clearly. I hid behind the wall, thinking that I might be interrupting a funeral. He continued on in a singsong voice and I heard many Latin words I recognized including benedicamus domino. I peeked through the arch, but no one was there. I stepped out into the yard and there wasn't a soul anywhere in sight. I rushed to the other side and looked and there was no one. My friend came up to me and looked at my bewildered face. "What?" I asked, "Is there someone else here besides us?" She shook her head. "Nope. We're the only car, the only people. I just walked up to here and there's only you."



Another time, I came with my son and we stayed until sunset. When we went to leave at dark, the gates were locked with my car just inside the gate. So, we had to climb over the tall fencing and walk through a bad part of town to find a phone.



The scariest tale of all from the cemetery came from my son, a year after it occurred.

My intention when I began avidly ghost hunting and officially ghost hunting back in early 2003 was to learn more through trial and error and also to enjoy the art and beauty of cemeteries and their headstones. I often took my teenaged son, Alex, along with me to cemeteries. He found it morbidly interesting and mostly just liked to read the headstones. He never gave any thought to what became of their souls or whether their families visited them often. He was mostly appreciative of the park-like setting. He was a very analytical type and hoped to maybe become a computer programmer at the time. Mind you, my son was in gifted programs all his life with genius level IQ and also a typical "German engineer" type in that he was very straightforward, pure logic. He didn't believe in anything at all of any unknown nature.

He did, however, decide one boring night when he was 17 to talk his best friend into entering this Catholic Cemetery at nighttime to see if he was brave enough to go in. My son was fascinated by how people were superstitious and spooked by such things. He doubted his friend would go through with it.

In the end, that night changed his life so entirely that it affected his friendship--they grew apart quickly, but also it left him with a giant question mark in his mind when it comes to the world of the paranormal that he always assumed was total hooey.

So, to begin the story, I was riding in the car with my son when he was 18. I said, "you wouldn't understand why I look for answers about ghosts. You have to have something happen to you that no logic can explain and then you seek answers." He went kind of pale and quiet. I thought maybe I chastised him too much for asking me why I hunt ghosts. I didn't realize he was probing me for a conversation starter.

He said, "Yeah, well, actually I know exactly what you mean. I never told you this, but last year, me and (we'll call him Bud) Bud went to St. Francis around midnight. I never told you because you were adamant with me not to go to closed cemeteries. Something happened that I still can't explain and I never will." He shivered and his voice actually quavered. My son is so logic-minded his emotions are all logical too, so when he did this, my alarm bells went off. He proceeded to tell me of this experience and I felt my hairs standing on end. He was not only an excellent witness but he debunked by the methods he learned from me. His findings were, to me, irrefutable that there is something unknown, something interactive, something out there that deserves further observation.

Here's his story...



The boys were walking through the grounds of the cemetery in the dark when they stopped about 25' away from a large altar at the outdoor crematory vaults. My son saw something very dark and dense-looking next to the altar (see above picture). His first thought was, a homeless person. His friend next to him said, "do you see that?" and my son nodded. They proceeded to approach the altar until they were perhaps 10-15 feet away. My son held up his digital camera, clicked on the red light that helps him to target what he wants to photograph and figured it might alert the person to leave. The red target sat atop of this dark definitely solid mass. It did not shine through it. It also frightened it and the dark mass unfolded to the same height as the altar (3' tall) and scurried behind it.

My son's heart was pounding and his friend was horrified. My son rushed to the altar, beamed his flashlight on it and realized that the altar was attacked to the solid concrete wall. There was no behind to it.

Feeling a heavy sense of dread and doom, they both rushed away to the side of the altar some 20 feet away and looked back. When they looked back, this 3' tall black thing peered out from behind the altar and looked at them. They ran off to the far end of the cemetery. They gave the altar wide berth and took off out the far side of the cemetery where they saw it move between headstones and hide.

My son shook his head as he explained it. He had absolutely no idea what it was but it was nothing he could explain. It wasn't a creature. It wasn't a person. It was person-shaped but not detailed. It was definitely aware of them, as it startled and hid and then curiously peeked out at them.

In fact, he was so confused by the experience that he put in an audition tape to Ghost Hunters Academy's first season. He got a call-back interview from the producer, but then thought about it and realized he wanted to continue his college without interruption, but he often wondered what would have happened if he had followed that path and experienced more of the paranormal.

I say in my book, "Was That a Ghost?" and it's true. It takes only one incident to change a nonbeliever into a believer and it's nearly impossible to ever make someone not believe once they do. There are incidents that can happen that are completely life altering and the paranormal is one of those because it does not fit neatly into our view of how the world works. This is why we call it the unexplained.

On a last note, as a southern gal and a cemetery lover (taphophile), I appreciate that one of the best southern historians and writers I know has started a blog just for the lovers of precious southern resting places. Check out Southern Taphophile. Lewis has become a kind of keeper of our southern tales of ghostly happens, history, and graveyards. He has my respect and my avid following!

**Tonight is Lonely on a Friday Night. I'll be on to chat with y'all from 7 pm EST onward.**