In 1735, it was the first mention of a cryptid being that was evil, scary, and otherworldly looking. This being came to be referred to as the Jersey Devil and thought to inhabit the pine barrens of the State of New Jersey in the eastern US.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Jersey Devil: The Legend That Won't Die
In 1735, it was the first mention of a cryptid being that was evil, scary, and otherworldly looking. This being came to be referred to as the Jersey Devil and thought to inhabit the pine barrens of the State of New Jersey in the eastern US.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
The Stalker Between the Worlds: Caught on Camera!
*Warning: Photographs and information in this ongoing series might be upsetting to some readers. Discretion advised.*
This will be an ongoing series chronicling a couple years' worth of encounters with bizarre, horrific, and taunting interplay between one innocent citizen and a stalker that defies description (at least in our known world).
This was an exceptionally well-documented series of events that may at times be too graphic or horrifying for some readers, but it is our hope that by sharing this experience, someone out there might recognize a set of circumstances that are similar.
We have advice to be given to anyone encountering what I am at a lack of words to accurately describe, so henceforth refer to it as…the stalker between the worlds.
Prior Installments -
Installment #1 "Walking Dead"
Installment #2 "Dem Bones"
Installment #3 "Too Close To Home"
Installment 4: "Encounter"
Installment #5: "Roadside Horror"
Installment #6: "Baffling Kills"
Installment #7: "Not By a Long Shot"
Installment #8: "There Is No End"
Installment #9: "Chaos Theory"
Installment #10: "Claiming Territory in the Weird Vortex"
Installment #11 "Get Out!"
Late Winter 2016
The passenger door was open and the Walker looked around, wondering if his wife had gone to get something and left it open. It wasn't like her to do that.
He approached the car, studying the empty interior as he came around to the passenger side open door, a sinking feeling took over. He remembered the last time the Stalker had been in his jeep, trying to fit into the driver's side and knocking the visor and mat around on the floor.
He gave his vehicle a cursory looking over, with nothing out of place. He lifted his head and looked over at the other car in the driveway and noticed its passenger door looked open.
The Walker came around and checked the car and, yup, the door was ajar. Nothing was messed up or missing inside from what he could tell.
The Walker stood up and looked around and pondered the Stalker. At least IT had learned it couldn't fit into the driver's side. The Walker tried to find some humor in a situation that was truly frightening. This thing had way too much focus on him and getting much too close to home. Considering IT had every opportunity to pick up a rock and break a window but had not, was his only comfort.
Living in the country, locking one's car doors seemed hardly relevant and now it felt like a priority. With a set of his jaw, the Walker thought to go over to the shed, the other place the Stalker was known to root around.
The door was open.
He eagerly studied all the tools on his bench and solvents, items that he was working on. Nope, nothing was gone.
His eyes trailed along to the tool bench and he plugged in the grinder which startled him by starting up immediately. One thing the Walker never did was unplug a running machine. Someone had hit the switch, but didn't know to plug it in?
Rattled, but determined, the Walker went about his day, pushing it aside, but feeling a gnawing desire to secure his home from...who?...what?
The Walker and his wife went out for supper and came back one day soon after. They approached the back door where they parked the cars and went to grab the doorknob to find it was dislodged somehow. The Walker went to try the knob, but if fell to the ground, showing obvious signs of having been snapped almost completely off.
What kind of force could do that?
He had another to-do on the list to put on a new knob, but as he held the broken knob in his hand, the Walker studied the darkness outside of the circle of light provided by motion detector floods at the back door. Someone not only messed with the cars nearby, but tried to break into the house while the floodlights were blazing. That was rather brave. Although with a car missing from the driveway and perhaps the Stalker studying his comings and goings, IT likely knew they were gone for the evening.
That realization produced a shudder of fear.
There was only one way to see what was going on at his property and the Walker felt confident that a game cam aimed at the back door might show the culprit if he decided to come back.
The Walker took to the roadway on his daily hike, pleased by the sun and the early springtime feel to the air. He kept up a brisk pace until he reached the area where the dogs had been displayed long ago.
He came to a halt in front of a body.
Leaning over it, the Walker distinguished it was a beaver. A very large dead beaver. And it was rotting well. It wasn't there the day before. He would have stepped right on it. So, someone dropped it off in the rotted state.
Hmmm....
The Walker snapped his head back up and looked down the roadway, recalling the baby boar offerings across the road from this spot. They were almost to the day, the same time of the year. Springtime offerings?
He turned, sped away down the country road, mind buzzing, thoughts far ahead at his home, but he wasn't about to act like this upset him or that he was going to rush back home. He would finish the circuit and when he got home - he'd check the game cam!
Breathless and a bit sweatier than usual, the Walker approached the game cam. He had fixed it up on a high post facing the back door with vines all around it to keep it a bit less noticeable. One of the cars parked near the door was also in the field of vision, just in case IT tried to get into the cars again.
The vines had been moved, the camera wasn't just how he recalled it.
The Walker carried it inside and looked around a bit before entering the house. The car doors were closed. The back doorknob was fine. No footprints on the ground.
Good Lord, I'm getting paranoid
The camera had taken shots. He took a breath before he clicked the mouse on the computer. He wanted to see, he didn't want to see, but he needed to see, but he didn't want to see....
The Walker leaned back in the chair for a moment and studied the ceiling. What if it was a neighbor? That would mean he lived near some kind of maniac. But, what if it was a Bigfoot or some other sort of cryptid being? How would he get rid of it now that it was fixated on his home and his walk? You couldn't just talk to one and reason with it.
He closed his eyes tightly and rubbed pinched the bridge of his nose, took a breath, and punched the mouse button, determined to just handle it one step at a time.
The first shots showed what looked like lens flare perhaps...
He didn't know what triggered the camera, but it seemed explainable. The sun was shining at an angle to create light refraction.
And, then, the Walker fell back in his seat and stared as he opened the next shots. There were four frames of something very tall triggering the camera. His hands trembled as he gathered them together into a single gif to animate the movement. His mind rushed with details about this thing.
It was obvious this thing was in profile, facing the left side of the frame, its head turned toward the camera. Its neck and head were of equal width. It seemed as if there might be the hint of a beard on the left side as the head turned a bit. And, it appeared to be hair covered.
The Walker had seen shots of himself near a game cam and you could see clothing and details of a human shape.
He rushed outside to take note of the fact its head extended above the lens. It had to be in the upper part of 7 feet tall!
The Walker got a shot of himself in front of the camera for reference. He pulled out the shots of IT and shook his head. The Walker's head was so low in the lens and his head almost even looking with the rakes against the wall. IT, however, made the car and rakes look like dwarfs.
The Walker studied the height of the camera and if It had been standing near the camera, it was surely the upper side of 7 feet! If it had been standing some distance away, even taller!
The Walker was still reeling from what he found on the camera. It was one thing to consider all the possibilities, but another to see something so massive and tall wandering so close to his back door. He needed some space. He needed to think.
He took the dog for a walk and as he reached the quarry road, he heard a very distinct tree knock.
He stopped.
He eagerly studied all the tools on his bench and solvents, items that he was working on. Nope, nothing was gone.
His eyes trailed along to the tool bench and he plugged in the grinder which startled him by starting up immediately. One thing the Walker never did was unplug a running machine. Someone had hit the switch, but didn't know to plug it in?
Rattled, but determined, the Walker went about his day, pushing it aside, but feeling a gnawing desire to secure his home from...who?...what?
*
The Walker and his wife went out for supper and came back one day soon after. They approached the back door where they parked the cars and went to grab the doorknob to find it was dislodged somehow. The Walker went to try the knob, but if fell to the ground, showing obvious signs of having been snapped almost completely off.
What kind of force could do that?
He had another to-do on the list to put on a new knob, but as he held the broken knob in his hand, the Walker studied the darkness outside of the circle of light provided by motion detector floods at the back door. Someone not only messed with the cars nearby, but tried to break into the house while the floodlights were blazing. That was rather brave. Although with a car missing from the driveway and perhaps the Stalker studying his comings and goings, IT likely knew they were gone for the evening.
That realization produced a shudder of fear.
*
There was only one way to see what was going on at his property and the Walker felt confident that a game cam aimed at the back door might show the culprit if he decided to come back.
The Walker took to the roadway on his daily hike, pleased by the sun and the early springtime feel to the air. He kept up a brisk pace until he reached the area where the dogs had been displayed long ago.
He came to a halt in front of a body.
Leaning over it, the Walker distinguished it was a beaver. A very large dead beaver. And it was rotting well. It wasn't there the day before. He would have stepped right on it. So, someone dropped it off in the rotted state.
Hmmm....
The Walker snapped his head back up and looked down the roadway, recalling the baby boar offerings across the road from this spot. They were almost to the day, the same time of the year. Springtime offerings?
He turned, sped away down the country road, mind buzzing, thoughts far ahead at his home, but he wasn't about to act like this upset him or that he was going to rush back home. He would finish the circuit and when he got home - he'd check the game cam!
Breathless and a bit sweatier than usual, the Walker approached the game cam. He had fixed it up on a high post facing the back door with vines all around it to keep it a bit less noticeable. One of the cars parked near the door was also in the field of vision, just in case IT tried to get into the cars again.
The vines had been moved, the camera wasn't just how he recalled it.
The Walker carried it inside and looked around a bit before entering the house. The car doors were closed. The back doorknob was fine. No footprints on the ground.
Good Lord, I'm getting paranoid
The camera had taken shots. He took a breath before he clicked the mouse on the computer. He wanted to see, he didn't want to see, but he needed to see, but he didn't want to see....
The Walker leaned back in the chair for a moment and studied the ceiling. What if it was a neighbor? That would mean he lived near some kind of maniac. But, what if it was a Bigfoot or some other sort of cryptid being? How would he get rid of it now that it was fixated on his home and his walk? You couldn't just talk to one and reason with it.
He closed his eyes tightly and rubbed pinched the bridge of his nose, took a breath, and punched the mouse button, determined to just handle it one step at a time.
The first shots showed what looked like lens flare perhaps...
He didn't know what triggered the camera, but it seemed explainable. The sun was shining at an angle to create light refraction.
And, then, the Walker fell back in his seat and stared as he opened the next shots. There were four frames of something very tall triggering the camera. His hands trembled as he gathered them together into a single gif to animate the movement. His mind rushed with details about this thing.
It was obvious this thing was in profile, facing the left side of the frame, its head turned toward the camera. Its neck and head were of equal width. It seemed as if there might be the hint of a beard on the left side as the head turned a bit. And, it appeared to be hair covered.
The Walker had seen shots of himself near a game cam and you could see clothing and details of a human shape.
He rushed outside to take note of the fact its head extended above the lens. It had to be in the upper part of 7 feet tall!
The Walker got a shot of himself in front of the camera for reference. He pulled out the shots of IT and shook his head. The Walker's head was so low in the lens and his head almost even looking with the rakes against the wall. IT, however, made the car and rakes look like dwarfs.
The Walker studied the height of the camera and if It had been standing near the camera, it was surely the upper side of 7 feet! If it had been standing some distance away, even taller!
*
The Walker was still reeling from what he found on the camera. It was one thing to consider all the possibilities, but another to see something so massive and tall wandering so close to his back door. He needed some space. He needed to think.
He took the dog for a walk and as he reached the quarry road, he heard a very distinct tree knock.
He stopped.
The dog looked up at him.
He looked back as if to say, "did you hear that?"
When he got home, the dog rushed back into the bedroom behind the bed and settled in a place that was not his usual spot.
*
The Walker went about the motions of things being normal, but he had found a opossum tail in the driveway near the cars. It had been ripped off. The body, thankfully, was nowhere in sight. But the tail reminded him of the baby boars' tails left in the roadway after they were tossed alongside the road, years ago, when all this began.
In fact, on the walk he couldn't help noticing the dead beaver that had been left days ago. The buzzards had crowded around it at first, but then flew away. And never came back. And never even took one peck out of it. That was decidedly not buzzard behavior.
There were so many weird variables at play that the Walker had to wonder if this Stalker had become a full-time player in his existence. He was taking up a lot of his head space. For that reason, the Walker decided a few days of leisure was called for. If he could just exhale and get a perspective, he could see it all in a new light and maybe one that wasn't so scary....
*
It wasn't a week later when a dead opossum showed up. The Walker's dog let its nose take it to a spot in the grass way off the roadway where an opossum lay, spread eagle face up, genitalia...bitten off! It didn't seem like enough injury to kill it, but there it lay, quite dead. He studied the body. The tail was still there, so it was no the tail he had seen in his driveway recently.
*
The Walker came home, thoughts of mutilation of a wide variety of animals running through his mind like one of those old time movie projectors, flipping image after image of snake spines, deer skulls, headless rabbits, disemboweled boars, a beaver, strangled dogs....
All the Walker knew was, at this point, he did not want to either attract this entity or piss it off, so continuing to pretend to ignore was the best method, as was maintaining the game cam in the hopes of a second glimpse to compare with the first.
*
The neighbor approached the Walker as he was out on his daily jaunt.
"Someone broke into my barn and took my ATV."
The Walker frowned, his mind settling back on the repeated break-ins on his cars in his driveway.
"Seen a stranger walking around here, someone real tall." The neighbor added as if in warning.
The Walker studied the woods, his mind going to the time long ago when he saw the unusually tall silhouetted human form in a driveway on his walk. It was the driveway of the long abandoned house in the center of all the strangeness.
The Walker had given the stranger an odd wave, arm tucked up to his body tightly and lower arm making an awkward arc. He had done this instinctively, but he wasn't sure what instinct told him to do that. The sunset silhouetted tall figure tucked his arm into his body and did the same wave back. Not a natural wave. An imitation. And it wasn't the only time the Walker had seen a tall figure there, darting in and out...
*
The Walker appreciated the springtime walk. He marched right up to the opossum area and at the last moment, reflexively stopped, turned, and trudged over to see if it was there.
It was there, only something had taken it by the tail and tore the spine out. It looked like it took the tail in one hand and the body in another and just.... split!
The Walker left the area at a fast pace, but then his wandering mind got the best of him and he had to investigate. He walked over to an old cistern, wondering about how many place the Stalker might be doing things that he never noticed because he never left his beaten path.
He peered into the cistern to find a 15-20 foot long stick in it (11 o'clock position), used to probe around, only it was pretty far down. The Walker knew he couldn't reach it himself, but then he was an average height.
The Walker studied the nearby woods, shook his head as he battled his sensible self, and plunged forward into the tree line. There, he saw a dirt circle on the ground and then an antique pot wedged between two trees, having obviously been moved from an upside down position and placed there. Animals did not move objects like this. Someone with hands did!
As the Walker made his way home, it became apparent that there were some things about the Stalker that he could only attribute to someone walking on two legs. And that a human either carried a folding chair with him or was exceedingly tall!
The Stalker had removed the industrial magnet that held open the shed door and sat on the wall 7 feet up. It had also lifted his windchimes and moved them to the hook where the hummingbird feeder sat at around 7 feet up, too high for even the Walker to reach without the porch chair. The neighbor mentioned seeing the very tall man walking around and the Walker, himself, had seen that figure. Then, there were the shots taken by the game cam....
The Walker let out a long breath as he prepared to enter his home, realizing he was back to square one - either this was a troubled human or a troubled Sasquatch. Any otherworldly explanations would have to be cast aside, as it was hard enough proving that he was being stalked, much less by something alien.
He fetched some water from the sink, but out of the corner of his eye saw a shadow outside from the windows on the back door. He looked out to realize the clouds were rolling in and he was being way too cautious.
He walked over and stared out. He used to see his property and the beauty of nature, changing weather, and the peace. Now, he just saw open access to an invader. And not a damn thing the Walker could do that wouldn't either encourage or anger it....
He would, however, keep the game cam in place. He wanted comparisons and one thing he knew about the Stalker, he'd be back in the yard. Again and again....
*
He didn't want to know, but he was compelled to look as he took his walk. The Walker went to check on the opossum only to find it had been ripped apart, limb by limb, each strewn in a different area. None of it was eaten, just torn and tossed about like an unwanted rag doll.
He backed out of the area, pivoted on his heels, continued his circuit, wondering what feral being would kill so many animals and not eat them?
When he got back to his home, he checked to see the camera was in place and walked into his home, jaw set tightly as he imagined in his own way getting one up on this killer. He'd get another picture or several of it. He would compare them. And, soon he'd have a real sense of what IT was.
It wasn't a great consolation that he might sneak one up on the Stalker, but it did make the Walker feel a sense of pious justification inside his trembling gut.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Urban Sasquatch Journal: Twigs and Balls
This is the reporting by a Bigfoot researcher of an ongoing study in the Southern part of the United States in a very large park area near homes and urban setting.
Prior Installments
#1 What is Urban Sasquatch?
#2 "The Original Experiment"
# 3 The Urban Study Begins"
#4 "Signatures and Signs"
#5 "Mixing It Up"
#6 "Neglected and Discouraged"
#7 "Adding Complexities"
#8 "Stunning Interactions"
#9 "Showing My Intent"
#10 "I'm Being Directed"
#11 "New Team Member"
#12 "Working It Vigorously"
#13 "Curious Interactions"
#14 "New Season Begins"
#15 "Answering My Thoughts?"
#16 Trail Cam Sham
#17 Training for Cameras
#18 Weather, Birds and Unexplained Sights
#19 More Preparation For Filming
#20 Revealing the Urban Research Site
#21 Research Considerations
#22 Making Signs
#23 Footprint Found
#24 Testing Animal Versus Sasquatch
#25 Enticing With Food and Curiosity
#26 Amping up the Exchange
#27 Opening Communication
#28 Extended Visit
#29 Pillaged and Moved
#30 Feather Gift
#31 Disarray
#32 Evolving
#33 Flooding and Chaos
#34 After the Floods
#35 Lots of Changes
#36 Hair Samples
#37 Lots of Tinkering
#38 Shocking Find
#39 Between Storms
#40 Are They Understanding?
#41 Amping up the Challenges
Monday, March 28, 2016
The Bridgewater Triangle: A History of Weirdness
A lot of my paranormal studies end up crisscrossing each other. You think you are investigating a Bigfoot situation and find UFOs and strange lights in the woods or perhaps you go out in search of ghosts and find there are missing people and creepy cryptids being seen locally.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Abandoned Amusement Parks
A drone found this abandoned renaissance festival land in rural Virginia. You just never know what is out there. I personally would love to buy this place to live in and renovate and rent out the buildings to artists and make an art colony that opens up during the seasons for visitors.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Believe: Movie Theme Marathons
Running a marathon of movies with a similar theme on a day off, that is my ideal. Here's just some marathons I put together - depending on my mood.
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Appeal of Ghost Towns
Bodie, California
Ghost towns began with a boom and ended with a crash. They were usually based upon an industry, such as mining or railroads, that eventually played out and people moved on to the next hot enterprise.
They have become shells of their former selves, sometimes as little as just foundations on the ground, other times, intact buildings. Photographically, they are inspiring places! I highly suggest you take to the road this summer and photograph one. And, don't worry, every state has them, so you don't have to think about driving west!
Some states with a great deal of ghost towns include Colorado, Montana, West Virginia, and Alaska.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Atlas Obscura and Weird US: Visiting the Oddest Places
"The Thing" roadside attraction in Dragoon, Arizona
Summer comes and you want to enjoy a getaway. Beaches and mountain cabin vacations aside, consider incorporating a few unusual destinations into the road trip and you might just impress your family and give yourself the most crazy memories ever!
There are two great sources to find the oddest and creepiest places in your destination location - Atlas Obscura and Weird US.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Newly Released Findings Might Prove Denisovans Were the Ancient Giants!
*A special thanks to Don Monroe, researcher, and MK Davis, researcher and film/video specialist. Don took photos in a museum in Nevada where in the 1970s they had stored some skulls from Lovelock Cave - the infamous site of the battle between Paiute people and the
red-haired giants. He released those photos to MK Davis to present to the world.*
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
The Urban Sasquatch Journal: 2015 Year in Review and 2016 Begins!
This is the reporting by a Bigfoot researcher of an ongoing study in the Southern part of the United States in a very large park area near homes and urban setting.
Prior Installments
#12 "Working It Vigorously"
#22 Making Signs
Monday, March 21, 2016
Haunted Lighthouses and Haunted Beaches
Haunted Lighthouses
Lighthouses are lonely beacons, isolated, sometimes in rugged locations, associated with shipwrecks and isolated keepers, so they seem a natural romantic feature in ghost stories. But, is there a very real reason so many lighthouses are haunted?
The logistics and Feng Shui of a lighthouse seem to make it an ideal candidate to amplify anything that happened there, even become a sort of recording device. You have constantly moving water on rocks, a building usually made of stone, circular in shape with a great power source at the top, often times, metal railing circling within, a keeper who trudged up and down the stairs in daily duties repeatedly, and a round shape that holds energy within, trapping it. Then, you add to that tragedy, loneliness, and no medical help so people often died there.
I guess the question becomes; why wouldn't lighthouses be haunted?
Let's have a look at some famously haunted lighthouses -
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Haunted Hiking Trails!
me in the middle, in the Sierras 1985
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Believe: A Twilight Ghost of My Childhood
Today's Believe installment is going to be about one of the many hauntings upon the property I grew up on. The estate was built in the 1700s but in the time of the Civil War, taken over by the North for a field hospital and later by the South for the same purpose. As I am doing outdoors para month, this seemed an appropriate subject - (for more stories about the hauntings from the perspective of me and my family - read my award-winning book Growing Up With Ghosts)
Friday, March 18, 2016
What Did King Tut Really Look Like?
Image by David Claerr
**This is a special guest post by one of my favorite researchers and artists in the field of ancients and Bigfoot, David Claerr**
In the past decade, the mummy of the boy Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, commonly referred to as King Tut was exhumed and scanned using medical imaging equipment that gives a detailed virtual 3d image. The data from the scan was be used to make solid resin casts of the mummified skull in one-to-one scaled dimensions.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
The Forgotten Race of Little People
Happy St. Patty's Day!
I thought today I should write about the wee folk, or little people associated with legends of magical qualities. Not the elves or the leprechauns, the Tommyknockers or the fairies, but the race of little people believed to have lived around the world in the distant past.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Face Off on Syfy Tonight!
Tonight on Syfy, "Face Off" has five remaining competitors and the concept is a unique Cyclops!
9 pm EST Syfy!
This is going to be awesome!
Urban Exploration
Urban exploration is the exploring of buildings and structures made for man, but long since abandoned. Some call it "UrbEx" for short.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The Urban Sasquatch Journal: Smelling Something Close
This is the reporting by a Bigfoot researcher of an ongoing study in the Southern part of the United States in a very large park area near homes and urban setting.
Prior Installments
#12 "Working It Vigorously"
#22 Making Signs
Monday, March 14, 2016
How Psychic Investigators Can Benefit From Psychic Mediums
*This is a guest post written by Danielle of Psychic Waters*
Paranormal investigators specialise in investigating buildings and locations that have witnessed supernatural activity. They have been able to find ghosts and solve unusual mysteries. Paranormal investigators would benefit from the assistance of psychic mediums.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: Is It Possible?
Admittedly, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (the 1959 version based on the Jules Verne novel), is one of my favorite movies of all time. As a kid, I could watch it every time it came on and now I own it on disk, so I can see it endlessly!
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Camping With Bigfoot: Great Event in May!
With spring and summer coming, lots of outdoor events are proving that, even if you aren't a Bigfoot hunter, ghost hunter, or UFO hunter, there are ways to enjoy it for a weekend.
If you wonder about Bigfoot in Pennsylvania (one of their favorite stomping grounds), this is your opportunity to get outdoors, meet like-minded outdoors people and also learn about Bigfoot from those who have experienced encounters and do the real leg work and research.
May 6th, 7th and 8th this event will offer workshops and speakers to inform you on the subject of Bigfoot, as well as camping in a campground (or if you like a nearby hotel).
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Spiritual and Healing Consultants: Finding What You Need
Finding the right spiritualist for your particular needs is critical to becoming whole. The next step is finding the practitioner who suits you, who feels right. I'd like to discuss a bit about finding the type of guide you need and where you might them.
Friday, March 11, 2016
UFO Hot Spots Around the World
UFO hotspots
the bigger the circle, the more witnesses
Above is a map of just the UFO sightings in the US. But what about sightings around the world? What can we learn from these hot spots and where might you plan a trip just to have a chance to see one?
Thursday, March 10, 2016
I'm on the Radio Tonight
Tonight at 6 pm EST/5 pm Central/4 pm Mountain/3 pm Pacific time, I will be on the Kev Baker show, talking paranormal. LINK HERE
Wilderness Horror Movies
If you're a horror lover and a nature lover, the two converge into a fantastic genre - wilderness horror.
Let me recommend some good watches depending on the type of wilderness you want to experience -
(**Description thanks to IMDB**)
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Face Off - Tonight on Syfy
Tonight on Syfy at 7 pm EST -
"Bottled Up"
Unique vessels provide the inspiration when the artists face the challenge of creating mischievous genie characters.
Oh, this is going to be good!
Haunted Caves and Scary Cave Finds
Caves are more than the sites of mines and ancient hieroglyphs, the burial places of giants, and homes for bats. They can also be haunted. And, why not? In desperate times, caves were utilized for sanctuary and sometimes standoffs and, given the geology, they seem like ideal vessels in a feng shui sort of way, to retain and hold a kind of amplified haunting that is held captive in a cul-du-sac formation. I am utterly fascinated with the haunted cave phenomena. I cannot think of a better spirit vessel.
Let's have a look at some more infamous haunted caves....
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
The Urban Sasquatch Journal: Narrowing the Locations
This is the reporting by a Bigfoot researcher of an ongoing study in the Southern part of the United States in a very large park area near homes and urban setting.
#12 "Working It Vigorously"
#22 Making Signs
Field Report #40
December 20, 2015
I arrived at the parking area at 2:10 PM. The temperature was 73. It was also cloudy, overcast and breezy. I did my initial close by bike ride.
I was back at my car by 2:28 PM. I geared up with my backpack, etc. I left the parking for the P.R.O.W around 2:35 PM. I arrived at the P.R.O.W approximately 3:03 PM.
During this visit I took 27 photos. My observations are the following with the photos:
@ the P.R.O.W: after arriving I use my survival whistle and blow several times to announce my arrival. I also do a few whoops.
During this visit I took 27 photos. My observations are the following with the photos:
@ the P.R.O.W: after arriving I use my survival whistle and blow several times to announce my arrival. I also do a few whoops.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Outdoor Thrills!
Sometimes, the biggest scares outdoors involve chills and thrills of the daredevil variety.
There are some pretty inventive ways to get your scare on. Let's look at some places with insane challenges.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Ghost Ships
My ghost ship painting "Thor's Quest"
I am and always have been utterly fascinated by ghost ships. This post hopefully will bring your sense of adventure and horror together on the sea for several minutes of reading fascination....
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Believe: Enjoying the Sea Anywhere
I'm in the process of making a series of sea-inspired paintings and every springtime, I get spring fever and it always resolves around the ocean.
Friday, March 4, 2016
How to Tell the Best Bonfire Tales
There is something primitively satisfying about a campfire. We like to gather around the warmth and light, warding off the chill and darkness behind us. But what does that darkness hold? That is the age old fear.
Once the campfire is constructed, it is good to let your group get comfy, satisfied with some drinks and perhaps some s'mores or hot dogs.
You need to get people relaxed, comfortable and unsuspecting before you decide to wind up a tale that will make them afraid to leave the circle.
Smores: Graham crackers, Hershey's bars, marshmallows, fire-resistant skewers. Lay out your graham cracker, place a Hershey's bar to fit. Heat the marshmallows over the fire until golden, but don't get to close or they burn. Hold the hot marshmallows to the Hershey's bar and place another graham cracker on top of the marshmallows and squeeze it closed while you pull the skewer from the marshmallows. Squeeze and let the chocolate start to melt. Consider keeping a kit on hand
Campfire Tales
1. Identifying with characters and/or location.
2. Imparting primal fear and theatrics to make the listeners feel this story could happen to them.
The objective is to make that circle of campfire safe, but what is behind them in the dark, the great scary unknown. The listeners' vulnerability must be showcased.
Begin with characters who reflect the same makeup of the group around the fire, such as "a family," "a group of campers," "a few couples," or "some teens." Now, you have the listeners identifying with the group.
Utilize a primal fear most folks have, fear of the dark, fear of being attacked by a wild animal or monster, coming up against some dark unknown force, an angry ghost, or a maniacal killer.
Legend making: All good tales tell a legend. A legend is a discretionary tale. It teaches us things like - don't go into the woods alone, or behavior so you won't be punished or perhaps listen to your elders and stay within your safe parameters. This is the basis for what we call urban legends. In ancient times such tales kept children from wandering into dangerous places.
To make a legend stick, one has to create characters who push past warned boundaries, like parking on lover's lane, going down a wooded path that was not allowed, or doing something wrong they must be punished for.
Vulnerability equals personal challenge and learning a lesson is the purpose of the legend. In other words, legends basically say "I told you so!"
Telling the Tale
Dramatics - Stand up at the beginning of the story and walk around the circle of people, taking a stick and drawing a circle around the entire group in the dirt. With a flourish, tell them that it is to protect them from what's in the dark behind them and they must not break the circle (nice reminder to them that their backs are to the dark). Toss the stick on the fire for flare.
Now begin the tale. Pace yourself, speak slowly, be sure to make eye contact with each person so they feel you are telling it to them specifically.
To make everyone identify with the victims, you can have characters who are a jock, an outcast, a nerd and a cheerleader. Or you can do a ship's captain, a first mate, a lighthouse keeper, and a lost woman. Perhaps "a short guy," "an old timer," "the young woman" and the "ditsy teen." Whatever the characters are, make them characters and not names. It will make it easy to recall who they are and also give them listeners someone to identify with.
For the villain, you will want to use things that conjure up images immediately; a scientific experiment chimera creature part bear/part wolf or perhaps a lunatic from the asylum, a killer maniac, an angry ghost, a trouble recluse, a magical monster created by the mind of a wizard.
That villain's objective must be something the people in the group relate to like; "the killer maniac inhabits the dark forest at night and caves by day. He is so troubled by light, it makes him go berserk. When he wanders the woods, even the fireflies are his victims and anyone stupid enough to use a flashlight or campfire, feels his wrath in a painful and agonizing way!" (At this point, you might want to add some wood to the fire for unsettling effect before you tell of people who were dumb enough to use a light in the woods.) Crane your head and say something like; "did you hear that agonizing scream?"
Other than back story about the villain, keep what he is doing in the present tense so it sounds like not something that just happened long ago, but is happening now.
"The lunatic escaped the asylum and even today lives in the woods nearby. In fact, it could be these very woods. There is an asylum on the edge of them. He slaughters animals and leaves their messy carcasses on the pathways. Hikers come across them all the time, like the dead gutted deer they cleared from the path we took in here (incorporating your groups trek in). That was just two days ago when the forest service removed that. You know that bend after the creek we passed earlier? That's where they found it. He's probably feeding close by. The smell of hot dogs cooking might just draw him in. Maybe we should stop cooking food right now?" (raise an eyebrow)
You will lead into graphic and tense descriptions of prior killings and then lead into the fact he/it is still on the loose, looking for more to add to the unlucky collection.
"By the time the ranger shot at him, he was already bounding through the woods, the wet blood of his victim spread all over his face and arms in a bloodthirsty ritual of ecstasy. The ranger never did find sign of him anywhere and the maniac was still on the loose in the woods, somewhere near a tall rock outcropping (nod your head toward the rocks behind you) and was awaiting the next victim who walked into the woods alone." (add more theatrics here, by saying "should we take a break right now in case anyone needs to use the bathroom?" - if they dare!)
When you leave the story open-ended that we don't know what happened to the monster/maniac, you can also point out something to give them lingering doubt. An example would be to say that they don't need to worry, you can tell if the killer is coming because the tree tops shake. Most people think it's the wind and pay it no mind, but it's really the monster/maniac who shakes the trees in his frustration. (now your audience will listen for trees swooshing all evening).
Details: Remember details sell the story. Add things that make it here and now "did you see that tree over our path on the way up? They say he knocks trees down to mark his killing area." Or, "watch out for any rock stacks. Those are his favorite way of marking where he is planning to hunt." (having put up rock stacks earlier on the trail the bathroom, your listeners will now look for them and find them!)
Alternative: Another popular technique for campfire tales is the urban legend or Native legend. An historical event retold can only have a terrifying effect if the villain were immortal and still at large. Then, it could be along the lines of Jeepers Creepers or Gargoyles where the villain only emerges every (any odd number) of years and that lines up with today's date or is of a supernatural nature that cannot be killed.
A little research of lesser known local legends can produce scenarios like the Bunnyman , the unexplained pagan, or the witch who was said to kill some boy scouts.
One of my favorites I did for a group was based on a legend from where I grew up. It was about a man who had a wife that drank and kids that were noisy. He had enough of it and moved to the woods where he built a shack and proceeded to get lonely over the years, so he would steal people to make a makeshift family. The only people he would not steal in the woods were noisy ones, so if a person were to whistle, sing, or laugh going through the woods, he would leave them alone. Later, after the story was done, people were whistling to the bathroom.
- Movies with campfire tales and legends -
Meatballs
The Fog
The Final Terror
Campfire Tales (1997)
The Blair Witch Project
If you notice in this opening to 1980 John Carpenter's "The Fog," the storyteller uses a specific time and date so that the listeners realize "it's the anniversary right now!"
Happy storytelling and bonfires, smores, and thrills!
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