GHOST HUNTING THEORIES

Friday, October 23, 2026

Cave Monsters

Sure, we imagine the creatures on other planets and the ones deep in the oceans, but what about the ones in the dark and forgotten caverns of earth? Let's explore the monsters in the caves -

If you hit saturation with the horror movies you have access to, either ones you own, rent, or are on a paid-for streaming service, it might be time to see the refreshing possibilities on free streaming channels right now -

Halloween Night Movie Marathons by Theme

There is nothing like sitting down for a series of movies with the same theme. Halloween can bring about an appetite for certain themes. Here, I line up ideas for thematic choices for three movies to marathon on a dark and cool evening -

The Best of Halloween Home Yard Haunts!

I used to enjoy at Christmastime when local papers and sources listed homes that were magnificently decorated. Then, over the decades, Halloween became a holiday we decorate and, oh boy, did all us closet horror fans have a blast! Today, they list the best houses decorated for Halloween, Spirit Halloween stores show up on every corner, and Haunted House attractions are more popular than roadside carnivals! Let's look at some of the magnificence that is Yard Haunts!

Why Are Bedrooms Stages for Unexplained Encounters?

my investigation gear Hummer vest

As an investigator, I have to say, bedrooms are where the most people encounter unexplained, horrifying, unsettling things. There's many reasons that make the bedroom the most likely time to encounter something scary -

I grew up on an abandoned cemetery. Sounds creepy, huh? Aspen Grove was a historic Civil War hospital in Northern Virginia. At one point it was used by both the North and South as a place to treat wounded soldiers. The wood floors had the stains of their blood. The property was filled with artifacts of war in the ground, and everywhere ghosts wandered the halls and the hillsides. I wrote about this in my book Growing Up With Ghosts, where I conveyed my own and my family's encounters.

All of this made me fascinated with abandoned sites and graveyards. Let me share some autumnal abandoned cemeteries -

Fear of Dolls

It's intriguing how we humans react to facsimiles. I suppose on some level, it's rather like a dog reacting to a stuffed dog animal. Let's examine dolls to such a level that even the most phobic might be over their creepy crawlies -

Nearly every town has some legend of a hitchhiker getting into a car and then revealing they are a ghost. The Haunted Mansion theme in Disneyland aside, this is a real reported incident, over and over again.

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Everywhere! Here's some surprising and fun things to do with them!

Entrances to Hell?

Caves and entrances to Hell, they seem to be inextricably connected. Hell Cave (Jama Pekel) in Slovenia is one such supposed entrance to the underworld. Many locations have been called the entrance to Hell. Let's check some out -

Gigantic Halloween Props

12-foot skeleton

I noticed at Spirit Halloween store that they embraced the gigantic animatronics even more than the previous year. The previous year, local stores mentioned that the gigantic clown sold the first day they were open and they needed more.

Does size matter when it comes to Halloween figures?

Abraham Lincoln

It may seem morbid today to think of people making a mask from a dead body's face or taking photos of the dead in caskets, but in the Victorian Era, perhaps influenced by the Civil War and the rise of manufacturing work, and city living, it seems that folks got kind of, well, focused on death.

How to Make a Variety of Halloween Ghosts

If you want to amp your Halloween themes, consider some DIY ghost projects -

Hollywood is bulimic. It has a way of regurgitating established films because of inbreeding among its gang, resulting in short-sighted creativity.

In Tinseltown, they eat their young.

Here's some great horror movies for you Halloween season, but be sure and see the original versions cause....sloppy seconds ain't your style.

The Haunting - 1963
Suspiria - 1977
The Thing From Another World - 1951
The Fog - 1980
Halloween - 1978
The Wolf Man - 1941
Prom Night - 1980
Mummy 4 - 1932
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956
Friday the 13th - 1980
The Wicker Man - 1973
Poltergeist - 1982
Psycho - 1960
BTW, it's freakin' groundhog day. I looked up the upcoming horror movies being pooped out of the film collective capital -
Scream 7
Insidious: Out of the Further
Resident Evil
Wolf Creek: Legacy
The Revenge of La Llarona
The Exorcist: Martyrs
Parnormal Activity 8
A Quiet Place Part III
The Blair Witch Project 4
Evil Dead Burn
The Conjuring: First Communion
Amityville
The Blair Witch Project Reboot
28 Years Later
Fall 2: Deadpoint
Scary Movie 6

There have been 8 episodes of "Child's Play." Need I say more? At this point, it should have been a streaming series for the sad saps from the 90s who iss their fix, `cause none of the rest of us want to revisit this crap!

The truth is, a little fresh minds in the field of filmmaking and original and unique, transcending, and classic offerings for horror would revive the genre.

In the 70s, horror involved a lot of vulnerable minds and insanity.

In the 80s, slashers game was on! They couldn't make teens getting killed in more unique ways.

In the 90s, serial killers were showcased, but this time with some mental challenge instead of mindless teen killings, i.e. "Silence of the Lambs." And twist endings like "Sixth Sense" gave some breath to the corpse.

Then, with the start of the 21st Century, it seems horror has been circling the drain with remakes and new installment reboots. It is rare something unique comes to our attention.

As I am in the final edit of my horror screenplay, I have spent a lifetime studying horror, studying screenplays and scripts, going out on ghost investigations, wandering dark forests, exploring abandoned sites and cemeteries. I grew up in a very haunted Civil War hospital in Fairfax, Virginia.

I have trained my whole life to give horror films some CPR. I am reviving the genre with a film that is what everyone has ached for - all audiences, not just teens, but everyone.

There will be updates as I am allowed to talk about this film, but right now I am gaining my inspiration from the time of year, the location, the possibilities. This is field research, not done over oat milk lattes like the Hollywood types who want to spend the budget to go to St. Barts with their young girlfriends, and hand it off to a hack writer who does version #9.

More and more, Hollywood is becoming a stain and not a landmark. It is becoming redundant, corrupt, and, well, redundant.

Keep watching - film is getting a revival in 2027 that will shock and awe!

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Curating a Halloween Decor Theme

One year when I was downsizing my life, I had to go through everything I owned and sold or donated 4/5ths of what I owned so I could fit in a one bedroom size space. It was then that I had to confront my Halloween addiction and really rethink it.

It's a rainy October night. Curl up to candlelight, a glass of red wine, and get ready to watch classic and classy horror movies that fit the atmospheric mood.

No-Gore Horror Movies

For those who aren't into slasher gore and shock factor, but enjoy the dark, atmospheric, storytelling of a good gothic horror movie, I have a list for you!

Having been officially investigating hauntings since the early 2000s, I can say that I find patterns in homeowners and their haunting issues. They seem to go in categories. Here's some examples -

Sleepy Hollow Fans

When I was a child and our librarian during reading corner time read us Washington Irving's tale of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," I was perpetually in Halloween in my mind.

It is a tale that is so full of autumnal vibe and spooky haunts that it pops up in a lot of haunted attractions.

If you love the legend, here's some great versions to watch, music to listen to, and ways to put that vibe into your Halloween home -

Halloween time comes and we hit the usual few horror movies that satisfy every time, but then our minds go blank trying to recall other ones that might fit the season beautifully. Never fear! I have 31 choices that might jog your memory and some you may never have seen, but should. Here's my 31 choices for Halloween month. I've separated them into categories so there is something for every kind of viewer!

How-To Use Pumpkins

Real pumpkins and plastic pumpkins both - they abound this time of year. Start thinking about new ways to use them this Halloween.

If you are inspired and love to save money and work with your hands, there are some fantastic decor you can invent for Halloween that will satisfy! Here's a lot of possibilities -

Vintage Halloween Creepiness

We are all a little fascinated and also creeped out by vintage Halloween pics. Maybe it's the black and white vagueness, the unposed subjects, the rustic costuming, or the overall vaguary of the storylines.

Samhain (pronounced "sow-win" or "sah-win") is an ancient Gaelic festival that marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, celebrated from sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1.

Cloven Footprints: Cryptids in America

"Devil's Footprints"

"It appears on Thursday night last, there was a very heavy snowfall in the neighbourhood of Exeter and the South of Devon. On the following morning the inhabitants of the above towns were surprised at discovering the footmarks of some strange and mysterious animal endowed with the power of ubiquity, as the footprints were to be seen in all kinds of unaccountable places – on the tops of houses and narrow walls, in gardens and court-yards, enclosed by high walls and pailings, as well in open fields." (from newspaper clipping)

Top 10 Most Cursed Locations in America

Whether you believe in curses or not, there are some locations in America that seem to be rife with death, missing folks, ancient curses that coincide with tragedy. Here are 10 of the most cursed locations in America - in no particular order.

Cheap and Easy Halloween Decor Using Cardboard

Continuing my focus on recycling, repurposing, upcycling items that are readily available, found, or bought for very little, today I want to show the amazing potential of cardboard and paper!

We are in luck that it seems Halloween decor manufacturers have finally taken on the gothic design instead of sparkles, clowns, and modern horror movie themes. There is something classy and Victorian Era about the gothic Halloween design. Let's talk about the elements.

Scariest Finds in the Forest

With shorter days and longer nights, it's in the human DNA to begin to imagine such things as twisted trees bared of their falling leaves and forests that take on a dark underworld feel.

The Baby Boomers and Gen-X'ers were heavily influenced by paranormal-themed TV in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s. Let's revisit why we are so into the unknown.

The Mysterious Monsters (1975 documentary)
Hosted by Peter Graves. This documentary seems outdated nowadays, but honestly the Bigfoot segments were the best and the witness reports are lost to today's research. The music is cool. The reenactments are fun. And Graves brought a bit of class to a subject that in 1975 made people nervously giggle.

The X-Files (series 1993-2002)
Starring David Dichovny and Gillian Anderson.
The government having a paranormal records keepers? I loved this series. My favorite was "Darkness Falls." It was amazing to see the two of them butt heads on belief versus skepticism, but the music, the settings, the things that they stalked were unsettling. As long as they stuck to paranormal and monsters, it was amazing, but the government episodes dragged it down.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (series 1974)
Starring Darren McGavin.
This was a must-see show! A bumbling reporter for a Chicago newspaper and a cranky boss. Kolchak had a knack for finding crimes that were odd and spooky. His natural curiosity brought him into dangerous encounter with zombies, werewolves, vampires, and more.

In Search Of (series 1976-1982)
Hosted by Leonard Nemoy.
This was really the one show that launched us paranormal geeks into ecstasy. Each epiosode handled a different subject of the unexplained like psychics, do plants think, Bigfoot, and more.

Scariest Places in the World (series 2000--2006) Hosted by Linda Blair.
Imagine creepy music scoring, Linda Blair hosting, and Zelda Rubinstein (the psychic with the scary voice on "Poltergeist) narrating. Families are sent to haunted locations and castles to spend a night in the dark exploring and ghost hunting.

Night Gallery (series 1970-1973)
Hosted by Rod Serling
A painting started each episode into the unexplained. They appeared to be harbingers or hints of what was to come. It was in typical Rod Serling creepiness.

Outer Limits (series 1963-1965)
This series had creepy scoring and terrifying episodes. I remember, as a wee tot, I watched reruns and the episode with the monster made of electricity had me behind the sofa crying and terrified.

Twilight Zone (Series 1959-1964)
Hosted by Rod Serling.
Rod Serling's series is the be-all and end-all of scary anthologies with twist endings. The music alone sets our hearts pounding, even decades and decades later.

The Sixth Sense (series 1972)
Hosted by Gary Collins
A slightly more updated version of the Twilight Zone vibe. It had some unique and spooky episodes.

Unsolved Mysteries (series 1987-1988)
Hosted by Robert Stack
Stack made this series classy for having some scary and unexplained episodes. This included reenactments about crimes and unsolved unexplained subjects.

Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (series 1997-2002)
Hosted by James Brolin and later hosted by Jonathan Frakes. This anthology series reenacted episodes based on supposed real events.

That's Incredible! (series 1980-1984)
Hosted by John Davidson, Fran Tarkenton, and Cathy Lee Crosby. This star-studded series had short anthology episodes involving all kinds of things that are mystifying and incredible.

Circle of Fear aka Ghost Story
Hosted by Sebastian Cabot designed by Richard Matheson.
Another horror anthology. With the delightful British actor, Sebastian Cabot hosting, it was engaging.

Lost in Space (series 1965-1968)
June Lockhart, Angela Cartwright, Bill Mummy, Guy Williams, Jonathan Harris. A space adventure with a family and robot shot out into space and crash land on a planet, finding they have a pesky stowaway.

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Other fun vintage shows with paranormal themes -

My Favorite Martian

The Addams Family

The Munsters

Bewitched

Jennifer Slept Here

Out of This World

Rentaghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost

Goober and the Ghost Chasers

Milton the Monster

Beetlejuice

The Invaders

Scooby Doo: Where Are You?

Topper

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir

My Mother the Car

It's About Time

My Brother the Angel

I Dream of Jeannie

Mr. Ed

Six Million Dollar Man (Bigfoot episodes)

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If you check out YouTube, you are likely to find many of these episodes available. They are worth chasing down. Nothing will bring back that creeping excitement like the music scoring and hosts from childhood.