Bloody Mary

A Tale of Bloody Mary, as requested by my daughter for Halloween.

Have a Happy Halloween from Prairie Specters!

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.

Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.

Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.

The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.

The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.

As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.

From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

Talking with your Child about Ghosts

Talking with your Child about Ghosts: Do's and Don'ts

By: Dawn Colclasure (dawn@theshadowlands.net)

Parents everywhere often hear this from their children: “I saw a ghost.” For the parent unaware of exactly how to handle such a delicate situation, the following do’s and don’ts might come in handy.

DO ask the child to explain what he is seeing/hearing.  

Getting the whole story will help you understand the situation better and how to approach it. Odds are your child is about to unravel a story or reveal an imaginary friend. Never try to pressure your child for details, however; he might clam up instead of telling you what he feels comfortable in sharing.

DO sit down and listen attentively. 

Giving your child your complete attention says you think this is important and are willing to take the time to listen. 

DO calm your child's fears and anxieties. 

Chances are your child thinks all ghosts are "bad" or that he/she is afraid the ghost will hurt them. Before you can help your child out with this matter, it's important to spend a few minutes trying to calm him down. Offer him some water or sit in a favorite chair. Cuddle up, get comfortable and ask him if he feels okay talking about it.

DON'T tell the child ghosts are make-believe or that they don't exist. 

This only tells the child he can't believe what he sees and will confuse him. It will also be confusing if he hears ghost stories or if he starts to witness strange things happening (voices in a closet, furniture moving, etc.)

DON'T get nervous, frustrated, upset or hysterical over your child's confiding in you. 

Children are very sensitive to what their parents are feeling and can pick up on anxiety, fear and doubt. Try to remain calm and only listen to what your child has to say.

DON'T encourage improper activity like séances or Ouija board sessions. 

These things can only make a situation worst and they foster improper habits. Some activities require an experienced host and your child may see these things as a "cure-all" to the situation then lose hope when they don't work.

DO tell the child that you will help him/her deal with the situation. 

Parents are a child's first defense. Thank your child for sharing this with you and assure them that you will help them out. Let them know they aren't alone and that you will do what you can to make the problem go away.

DO ask the child how the situation makes them feel. 

It's important to understand how the child feels about their new "friend." Even if a child is not afraid and feels even happy to have a "friend" to "play" with, keep a close eye on the situation and stay apprised on how your child feels about it. Talk to them the minute they start to feel stressed, anxious or afraid.

DON'T put down or discourage your child for telling you this. 

Kids take a big leap of faith when it comes to confiding in their parents. Be sure to remain objective about the situation and never express doubt of your child's perceptions or tell them they have an overactive imagination. If they feel you don't believe them, they'll start to clam up and you could miss out on learning of something worse happening later on.

DON'T rely on everything people tell you about ghosts and hauntings or things you read on the Internet. 

Family members suggesting you get rid of a TV in your child's room because ghosts are coming out of it or friends encouraging you to move away are only trying to help in whatever way they know how. Trust your instincts and do only what you feel comfortable with. An expert group or investigator can offer more experienced advice on what to do.

If you’re still not sure of how to handle this situation, contact a legitimate paranormal research organization or a local minister for advice.

World's Scariest Ghosts Caught on Tape

Hey all, here is an oldie for you to enjoy this weekend. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Part Two

Part Three

Death and the Twentieth Century

Death has become one of the great taboos of the twentieth century. At the most basic level, the level of sustenance, we do our best to hide from ourselves (and certainly from our children) the harsh facts about fried chicken, hamburgers, and bacon. A pet, too old and frail to live much longer, is "put to sleep." At the human level, we are even more isolated from the one final act that we must all experience. Few people die at home. Funeral "homes" turn the act of mourning a "departed" loved one into a sanitized reunion of family and friends. The deceased are not "dead," they have merely "passed on." Euphemisms proliferate.

It has not always been so. Our forebears, young and old alike, frequently witnessed the slaughter of animals (or their capture by predators), and they were not spared the reality of human death. They could not avoid this reality, but they could laugh at it.
Laughter is one of humankind's most basic defense mechanisms. Even in the face of death, we can show our resolve and demonstrate our last bastion of control by doing the unexpected: laughing. Gallows humor, in one form or another, permeates pre-industrial European folklore, even making its way into children's nursery tales and rhymes. Indeed, some critics have claimed that traditional nursery rhymes are preoccupied with death and violence and have hence urged that they be rewritten for a more humane and enlightened era. Consider the following catalog of horrors ostensibly found in traditional children's rhymes by Geoffrey Handley-Taylor, writing in 1952:

The average collection of 200 traditional nursery rhymes contains approximately 100 rhymes which personify all that is glorious and ideal for the child. Unfortunately, the remaining 100 rhymes harbor unsavory elements. The incidents listed below occur in the average collection and may be accepted as a reasonably conservative estimate based on a general survey of this type of literature.

• 8 allusions to murder (unclassified),
• 2 cases of choking to death,
• 1 case of cutting a human being in half,
• 1 case of decapitation,
• 1 case of death by squeezing,
• 1 case of death by shriveling,
• 1 case of death by starvation,
• 1 case of boiling to death,
• 1 case of death by hanging,
• 1 case of death by drowning,
• 4 cases of killing domestic animals,
• 1 case of body snatching,
• 21 cases of death (unclassified),
• 7 cases relating to the severing of limbs,
• 1 case of the desire to have a limb severed,
• 2 cases of self-inflicted injury,
• 4 cases relating to the breaking of limbs,
• 1 allusion to a bleeding heart,
• 1 case of devouring human flesh,
• 5 threats of death,
• 1 case of kidnapping,
• 12 cases of torment and cruelty to human beings and animals,
• 8 cases of whipping and lashing,
• 3 allusions to blood,
• 14 cases of stealing and general dishonesty,
• 15 allusions to maimed human beings and animals,
• 1 allusion to undertakers,
• 2 allusions to graves,
• 23 cases of physical violence (unclassified),
• 1 case of lunacy,
• 16 allusions to misery and sorrow,
• 1 case of drunkenness,
• 4 cases of cursing,
• 1 allusion to marriage as a form of death,
• 1 case of scorning the blind,
• 1 case of scorning prayer,
• 9 cases of children being lost or abandoned,
• 2 cases of house burning,
• 9 allusions to poverty and want,
• 5 allusions to quarreling,
• 2 cases of unlawful imprisonment,
• 2 cases of racial discrimination.
• Expressions of fear, weeping, moans of anguish, biting, pain and evidence of supreme selfishness may be found in almost every other page.

Halloween Time is upon us again.

Hello folks, sorry for the long delay in posting. Again I had problems with my login information for the Blogger site so that kept me from updating the site. I seemed to have fixed it ... so on with the posts!

Paranormal with Malcolm Robinson: Ghosts are not always what they seem

 Let’s look at some other explanations that may explain ‘some’ ghostly sightings.

HYPNAGOGIA AND SLEEP PARALYSIS

At the end of the day anyone who researches the subject of ghosts should not believe that all ghostly sightings and experiences can be put down to the paranormal, far from it, most can be easily explained away. One of the things that is a strong candidate to explain ‘some’ ghostly encounters is something called hypnagogia.

It’s a state between asleep and waking up from sleep. Scientific study of this subject more or less began in the 19th century. Basically during this type of sleep many people have experienced visions and hallucinations which they sometimes find hard to distinguish from reality! Having said that, the hypnagogia imagery is different from the dream state in so far as the imagery from hypnagogia is very bland and plain. However what is notably different is the auditory aspect of hypnagogia. Crashes, bangs, and rappings are features of this state as is the hearing of that person’s name being called (which is a common feature of the ghost experience).

Sleep paralysis is slightly different to hypnagogia in the sense that it’s slightly like tinnitus. The individual will hear buzzing roaring and hissing sounds, however other individuals may experience more traumatic effects like a feeling of being crushed, they’ll get electric tingles all over their body and feel that there is someone else within the room with them.

Feelings of floating and being out of one’s body can also be an effect of hypnagogia and to some degree sleep paralysis although with sleep paralysis one does not have control of one’s own body for a period of time. Perhaps in these states some people have been misled into thinking that they have witnessed a ghost when in point of fact it’s all been down to a medical condition.

THE STONE TAPE THEORY

I mentioned in my previous article about Stone Tape Ghosts. Basically what this means is that sometimes in some locations, ghosts are seen doing the same things time and time again, it’s as if they are on some kind of a video replay, a recording if you like.

Some researchers have felt that perhaps in some of those very old houses where a tragic or horrible death or murder has occurred, the scene of this tragedy is someone impregnated into the very fabric of the stones that make up the building, a fanciful theory for sure, but one which does perhaps have some substance, take for instance the Kenfig pub case.

Back in 1982, a pub in the small town of Kenfig Mid-Glamorgan (The Prince of Wales) started to have bouts of paranormal occurrences from the sound of an organ being played at night (no organ was in the pub) to sounds of merriment, the clinking of glasses and loud talking in an old Welsh dialect. Anyway, two people got to hear about this, John Marke an electrical engineer and Allan Jenkins an industrial chemist and what they decided to do was something which may well have never been tried before and that was to connect some electrodes into the stones of the pub after closing time one night.

These electrodes (which has been stated were around 20,000 volts) were fed into some audio tape recorders, the room was then re-locked and everyone went home. The following day upon playing play on their audio recorders, they were astonished to hear the sound of organ music, they heard a clock ticking (there was no clock in that room) but more amazingly they distinctly heard the sound of people speaking in an old Welsh dialect.

So what these researchers felt was happening, was that the very fabric of these old stones somehow had managed to store sounds like a magnetic video tape, of yesteryear and for some reason (unbeknown to us at present) somehow managed to impregnate themselves onto their audio tape. Now I have actually listened to this tape and heard these sounds myself and believe you me they are indeed astonishing (if we believe that this was indeed a ‘controlled experiment’) Now whilst the theory is fine in principle, it does beg the question how can the sounds be heard but the ghosts not seen!

It’s more the sounds that have been heard in this pub than actual ghosts themselves. Why on some occasions do we only see the ghost and NOT THEIR SURROUNDINGS?

Think about it. It’s like recording a programme on video tape from the television you’ll get everything, the people, the furniture and all the surroundings you don’t just get the person as you do in ghostly visions. So again we have a function of ghostly apparitions that seem to ask the question.
Dr Melvyn Willin who has a doctorate in Parapsychology and who himself has researcher ghostly tales said a few years ago that some technicians at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop (which is no longer in use) stated that the sounds that were heard on the audio tape from the Prince of Wales pub were maybe caused by the presence nearby of a large transformer?

Then we have another theory which might explain ghosts and that is that perhaps due to the movements of the Earth’s Crust, bursts of electro-magnetic energy may at certain points on a fault line may affect ‘certain people’s perception’ In other words, could this form of electro magnetism affect our brain’s, make us see things that are not there?

The Stone Tape Theory is an interesting one that the very fabric that surrounds us may, in some instances, be replayed back to us like some massive video machine where we can see events and people from yester-year.

In a sense we can liken the ‘Stone Tape Theory’ to this. Have you ever walked into a room where only moments before a couple have been arguing? You might not know that they have been arguing but there is something in the room, an energy that you can almost feel and taste.

This is what’s known as Cumulative Energy. So if for instance you had walked into a room that had been the scene of intense tragedy maybe even murder, its like the very fabric of that room has ‘soaked up’ those horrible images and energies and, under certain conditions, or, to certain people, can replay those energies back to you.

Not all people of course can ‘sense this energy’ normally it goes unseen or un felt, but as I say under certain conditions and to certain people these energies unleash themselves and provide a rich tapestry of emotion, pain and visual stimuli which can in some cases prove very distressing.

Malcolm Robinson (c)

Gary Galka creates ghost hunting devices to speak to his dead daughter

Hey everybody! Here is an article that you may find interesting. The video is also interesting.

Gary Galka's devices made for paranormal research

He records a "spirits voice" on TV show

Researcher thinks devices could be suspect

A FATHER has created a "ghost hunting" device to communicate with his dead daughter.

Gary Galka, from Connecticut in the US, appeared on the TV show Ghost Adventures to demonstrate how the device can record the voice of a spirit.

Mr Galka lost his daughter, Melissa, eight years ago in a car crash but said he constantly feels her presence, FoxNews.com reports.

He said it was this connection that made him design over 30 different products for paranormal research, and has named them after his daughter.

Mr Galka demonstrated one of his devices on the show by playing a recorded voice believed to be a spirit saying:

"Hi Daddy, I love you."

 

"No one was making products for these people," Mr Galka said.

His devices are sold through the Professional Measurement website and range from $79 to about $350.

The device used to capture the voice on Ghost Adventures is the Mel-8704-SB7-EMF meter, which is said to detect a range of electromagnetic and temperature changes. It also has an AM/FM scanner, includes glow-in-the-dark buttons, and includes an "exclusive P-SB7 Integrated Sprit Box".

However, paranormal researcher Joe Nickell at the Center for Inquiry said such electromagnetic frequency readings are suspect.

"They're surprised that they're getting results in an old house, when in fact there are all sorts of non-ghost sources such as faulty wiring, nearby microwave towers, sunspot activity and so on,” Mr Nickell told radio company NPR

He also said the electronic equipment being carried around by the TV crew has electromagnetic fields.

heraldsun.com

Demolition workers photograph ‘ghost of former guesthouse worker'

Demolition workers were given a fright after photographing a ghostly figure peering through the window of a derelict Victorian guesthouse in Kendal, Cumbria.The image is said to bear an eerie resemblance of Frances Grimshaw, who worked at the guesthouse and stood for hours at the same window taking bookings.
David Grimshaw, a former resident at the property, said he was convinced the figure is the ghost of his mother, who died nearly a year ago aged 87.
He believes her spirit may have appeared to protest at the demolition of Meadowbank House, which she adored.
“That is my mother. I’m totally convinced – no one else looks like that. She had glasses and big earrings and she used to wear a dress with a bow at the front,” he said.
“She used to stand in that room for hours on the phone – it was the guesthouse reception and she took bookings from there.”

Mr Grimshaw, 59, a managing director, who now lives in Bedford, said: “She would have been horrified if she had known the house was being demolished because it was beautiful, so maybe that is why she’s turned up.”
Demolition supervisor Robert Johnson, 38, of Heysham, took the photograph of the house shortly before it was knocked down, earlier this week but it was only later that he noticed the ghostly figure.
“It wasn’t until I got home and showed my wife that we spotted the woman,” he said.
“You can see the jewellery on her and everything. I’ve always been a sceptic but I’ll have to believe in ghosts now.”
Colleague Stuart Shan, 34, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: “The day before we took the photo we were stripping the building inside and I noticed the chandelier swinging on its own.
“We said at the time the place felt strange. My hairs were standing on end when I saw the photo. I believe it is a ghost.”
Dave Armstrong, of Kendal contractors Cox and Allen, said the five-gabled building, which was originally a dentist’s in the early 1900s, has been taken down to be replaced with a new commercial property.
He said he could not explain the image of the woman. “There was only a black wall behind the window, we had taken everything out – there were no visible features or anything with a skin colour.”

Source : Telegraph UK

Heayweights of the Paranormal - Alcatraz Island

San Francisco has many a said haunted location from buildings to cemeteries and the most famous hot spot of mystery is Alcatraz Prison. The now closed prison the ghosts are not so quiet, sounds of ghostly footsteps and the real sounds of cell doors opening and closing also echo throughout the empty haunted corridors. Visitors, Tour guides, and paranormal investigators and workers have all reported feeling many localized "cold haunted ghost spots" in certain common areas, and the feeling that they are not alone.

The prison on Alcatraz Island, a lonely outcropping in the middle of San Francisco Bay, was opened in 1933 as a maximum-security facility for America's most dangerous criminals. Among its most celebrated internees were Chicago crime boss Al Capone and Robert "Birdman" Stroud. Life on Alcatraz was hard: Inmates were lucky to spend one hour a day outside their cells, and those so favored usually spent the time breaking rocks.

 Violating prison rules could mean months of solitary confinement, sometimes in the Hole, a tiny cell with no light. The prison was shut down in 1963, and Alcatraz Island became a national park site. But the building still stands, and some of the poor souls that served time and died there seem to be locked forever behind its dank walls.

Several visitors have reported hearing moans, agonized cries and chains rattling in cell blocks A, B, and particularly C. A psychic who visited the site claimed to identify the unruly spirit of a man named Butcher inhabiting the place. Prison records confirm that Abie Maldowitz, a mob hit man nicknamed Butcher, was killed by a fellow inmate in the laundry area of cell block C. The D cell block is supposedly haunted as well, with visitors reporting cold spots and the sound of phantom banjo music coming from rooms that once housed Al Capone.

What is DOP (disappearing object phenomenon)?

DOP - disappearing object phenomenon - is a relatively common phenomenon in which an object disappears from view and later inexplicably returns. For example, a person puts their car keys on a kitchen counter, where they are always kept. When the person goes to get them, they are gone. A thorough search turns up nothing. Later, the keys are found on the counter where they were originally put (or some other obvious place.

 

It's difficult to document a genuine DOP occurrence because people can be careless, simply misplace things or be forgetful. But there are many compelling stories from people who are certain they looked for the object in the place that it later appears. In some cases, people audibly call out for the object to be returned - and it is. In some rare cases, the missing object has actually been seen materializing out of thin air. It is also known as the "borrower" phenomenon. It may be related to poltergeist phenomena.

Unexplained Noises heard from the Sky!

Weird. I wonder if it has something to do with the magnetic storm we are having today.

http://www.cjme.com/story/video-unexplained-noises-heard-sky-north-battleford/40843