Ghost Stories

Don't get this German vampire mixed up with the Doppelganger. They are very much different. Doppelsauger is German for "double sucker". Consider it's obsession with breasts, the name seems to fit. He is believed to be the revenant of a child who sucked his mother's breasts after being weaned onto solid food. If this particular type of child dies, they would consume the flesh from their breasts while in their graves. Then it preys a member of their family, draining the life from them and eats their breasts. There are certain preventative measures you can take. Place a coin between the teeth of the corpse. Place a semi-circular board under the chin of the corpse. Then, make sure the burial garments are as far from the lips of the corpse as possible. Source: Monstropedia and VampGirl.com

The Liderc may appeal to the sexual interests of readers. This vampire-like being share a similar quality with the Succubus or Incubus. They tend to "love someone to death" with sexual activities. According to Hungarian folklore, there are three varieties of Liderc. The first and more traditional form is that of the csodacsirke. One hatches from the first egg of a black hen kept warm under the arm of a human (there are variations of this). It can take form of a chicken or human but always has one goose foot. The Lidérc attaches themselves to people and becomes their lover. If the owner happens to be a woman, they will morph into a man. However, it doesn't have the desire to pleasure the woman. Instead, it fondles her, sits on her body and sucks her blood, making her sick and weak. It also carries out tasks to find treasure. This generous gesture would soon become annoying as it demands more work constantly. There are two ways to rid yourself of this Liderc. You can giv...

The interesting thing about how this vampire-like creature in Australian Aborigine lore is not his appearance. Sure a four-feet tall red, hairy man-like creature with a rather large head, no teeth and octopus-like suckers on its fingers toes may turn a few heads, but I think its eating habits are a bit more strange. A Yara-Ma-Yha-Who doesn't hunt for food. He patiently waits in a fig tree for food comes to him. He pounces on a person when they walk under the tree and sucks most of their blood with his suckers, leaving just enough to keep them alive. But this is only the beginning of its torturous methods. After a little workout, he returns to his victim and lies on the ground, facing them. Then, he crawls to them and swallows them whole like a snake and does a little dance to jiggle the body down to his stomach. The Yara-Ma-Yha-Who regurgitates his victim who is usually still alive. At this point it would be best if you just played dead. He'll test to see if his victim is s...

In Haiti, it is the Loogaroo that inhabitants fear the most. These vampire-like witches are humans, especially old women, who make a deal with the Devil. They are to deliver large amounts of blood to a Devil Tree in exchange for magical powers. During the day they appear as humans, but when night falls, they make their way to a silk-cotton tree a.k.a. the Devil Tree. They they removed their skin, carefully folding it up, and turn into a ball of fire and speed off doing their "business" until dawn. While the Longaroo can slip through the tiniest hole, there is a way to defend yourself. They don't care for dogs which is probably why they tend molest animals. If you hear a dog barking, one might be near. Scatter rice and sand before a cabin and the Longaroo must stay and count every grain. Dawn will surprise them while doing such a task. If you happen to find their skin hidden in the bushes under a silk-cotton tree, you should pound it in a mortar with pepper and salt s...

What vampire is closely related to a wendigo and sasquatch? According to Choctaw folklore, a Shampe. Coming across a bear in the woods is the least of your worries. Shampes are described as being giant, grotesque beasts seen with or without hair who live in the deepest part of the woods. They can't stand bright sunshine or open air and have a horrible foul scent much like a skunk. These vampire-beasts were known to follow hunters carrying their kills. The sent of blood attracts them to you. Their keen sense of smell helps them track any person or animal which makes up for their terrible vision. Considering who it is kin to, the Shampe gives off certain warning signs that lets you know it is near. Their foul smell is a huge one. It is believed that many people have died from this scent. Another giveaway is the whistling sound they make as they stalk their prey. If you ever hear and/or smell these two warnings, drop whatever wounded/dead animal you have and run as fast as you can...

Ghost Hunters live Halloween special is on Wednesday. It'll be a 6 hour investigation of The Waverly Hills Sanatorium beginning at 8pm Central. They will be joined by Josh Gates from Destination Truth, Elijah Burke from ECW and the three finalists from the Ghost Hunters contest. Waverly is a pretty active place so it should be an interesting night. If you missed the premiere of Ghost Adventures, don't worry you'll get another chance to see it. Ghost Adventures will air again on Wednesday at 1pm Central. It's that time again. Horrorfest will be on November 9th to 18th. Eight new films released by After Dark Films will be shown in over 350 theaters. This years films are: The Deaths of Ian Stone, Nightmare Man, Crazy Eights, Unearthed, Borderland, Mulberry Street, Tooth and Nail and Lake Dead. Go to HorrorFest Onlin e to purchase your tickets. There won't be a question this week. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't have the chance to post as many vamp...

It's a bright sunny day and you are walking about minding your own business. You have no regard for your fellow men and women's plans or motives, but you should that is if you lived during Ancient Rome. A commonly known vampire-witch called Strix or striges wandered about during those times. During the day, they appeared as a human and could walk in the sunlight with no consequences. When night fell, she transformed into a screech owl or crow described has having huge talons, misshapen heads and breasts full of poisonous milk. Once her transformation was complete, she began her hunt for fresh new victims to satisfy her cravings for blood, livers and internal organs. Her preferred target.....children. She would lure them into her trap by offering them the poisoned milk. Of course, men weren't safe from her wrath either. It is believed a Strix would transform into a woman and have sexual intercourse with sleeping men to drain them of their life-force. How do you keep the ...

A story sent to me from Christopher at Death By Children : June. It's like 3 in the morning. It's ink dark in the house. I'm knocked out of a deep sleep by a scream. This isn't the normal screaming I'm used to. This isn't "oh dear, I've stabbed myself with this kitchen implement!," Nor was it "Good Lord, that fecal expurgation was distressingly large and I fear that I may have torn something loose down there!" It was real fear. It was "I just saw a freaking ghost." I ran downstairs, my mind blank with concern, and found Connor standing in the dining room, all the lights on, wailing. I grabbed him, asking what was wrong, checking him for blood, automatically adding up his extremities. He was perfectly fine--and white as a sheet. I asked him what happened. "I saw a ghost." Now my kids hate my inflexible stance on the paranormal, a stance immovable and fixed: it's one rung below noodling and NASCAR on the ru...

We can agree the supernatural has been apart of our culture for thousands of years. This statement is the subject of Graham Hancock's new novel Supernatural . But who is Graham Hancock? Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hancock spent most of his younger years in India. Later, he went to school and university in the northern English city of Durham and graduated from Durham University in 1973 with First Class Honors in Sociology and pursued a career in journalism. He wrote for newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian and The Independent and was co-editor of New Internationalist magazine from 1976-1979. He is known for asking legitimate questions and challenging popular views of orthodox scholars. Hancock is the author of the major international bestsellers The Sign and The Seal , Fingerprints of the Gods and Heaven's Mirror . I believe his latest novel will fall in that category as well. When I first read a synopsis of Supernatural, I was excited. I love learning new things and i...

Many have offered millions of dollars as a grand prize for proof of the paranormal. Do you think these incentives really offer any help in this field or just bring out the greedy side of people?

It was 1967 when Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an alleged Sasquatch at Bluff Creek. After 40 years, the Bigfoot footage is still regarded as the most popular and controversial. Was it a hoax? Quite possibly. While Gimlin had his doubts, Patterson was a believer. Many who knew him say he wasn't the most reliable. You add that to inconsistencies in stories (interviews printed in various magazines) and the fuzziness in the film could convince any skeptic of its invalidity. This wasn't some random outing where they just happen to spot the mythic creature. Patterson was filming a Bigfoot documentary. According to Grover Krantz, the two even agreed they should have shot the creature not just to silence naysayers, but also for financial gain. So, what would have stopped them from staging the whole thing? New species of animals are discovered all the time. I believe it is possible some mythical creatures really do exist. Do you think the Patterson-Gimlin footage is proo...

I know I haven't posted much lately. I planned on writing something yesterday but it was a very bad day. My step-grandfather died from respiratory failure. It was quite unexpected. I didn't really know him. Never had a chance to meet him. All I know is what I've been told and what I've been told weren't so nice. Whether you like your parent(s) or not, it still hurts to some degree when they die. If that wasn't bad enough, we had two severe thunderstorms pass through. The last one left as quickly as it came but it still left its mark. A somewhat large tree in our front yard was blown completely over. It missed our house by a few feet. No one was hurt except for our picnic table or rather the umbrella. It took my mom forever to find one large and cheap enough for it. Now, she'll have to find another one. I've always been deathly afraid of tornadoes, not so much now since we moved into a house and have a storm cellar. Obviously, there's a real reason to...

What is the scariest Halloween game you've every played?

It is a Chinese belief that everyone possesses two souls, a superior or rational soul an an inferior irrational soul. The superior soul can leave a sleeping body and roams about as the body's double. It can also possess and speak through the body of another. An inferior soul can inhabit the body of a fetus and linger in the bodies of the dead. It is believed that the mythology of the Chiang-Shih or hopping corpse came from the folklore practice of "Traveling a Corpse over a Thousand Li". A traveling companion or family members who could not afford a wagon or had very little money would hire a Tao priests to transport the corpses of friends/family members who died far from home over long distances by teaching to hop on their own feet back to their hometown for a proper burial. Other think they were smugglers in disguise who wanted to scare off law enforcement. A Chiang-Shih is said to be created when a person's soul fails to leave the decease's body, usually aft...

The last day to vote for your favorite blog in the Blogger Choice Awards is October 19th. Be sure and get those votes in. Do you think there is a connection between the old folk beliefs about fairy abductions and alien abductions?

I didn't mention this in the previous post, but allow me to do so now. Forget every cliche Hollywood has taught you about vampires, including wooden stakes, holy water, crucifixes, etc. Some or possibly most vampires you will read here won't fit completely in that mold. Having said that, lets continue with the next stop on our "tour". The first documented story of vampires possibly came from Ancient Greek lore. One kind believed to roam the lands of Greece and Macedonia is the Vrykolaka. There are several ways to become a Vrykolaka: suicide, violent death, improper burial, cursed by a priest, and excommunicated from the church. Their method of killing is quite unique. A Vrykolaka would request entry into a person's household possibly someone they once knew. Next, they would call out the victims name before sitting on their chests and suffocating them. There are those who have survived these so called "attacks". But those who didn't were believed ...

Last night was an interesting episode. Below is a short synopsis of each location they investigated along with a clip, revealing the evidence they collected. The Presidio TAPS investigated the Presidio in San Francisco, California. In the 1770s, it was a Spanish fort until Mexico seized it. Twenty-four years later, it switched hands again and became a military base for the U.S. Army for over 148 years. Now, The Presidio is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. One of the claims TAPS went in to investigate was that of a Spanish woman. Witnesses reported seeing and smelling her in a couple areas. Jason and Grant possibly traced the floral phantom smell associated with her to a janitor's closet. As for the visual reports, watch the clip and see if you think it's her. Lullaby Lane The second stop in San Francisco was a baby store called Lullaby Lane. Most of the claims were audio except for a chair in their office moving on its own. The owners were less interested in having...

I'm declaring October Vampire Month here at Ghost Stories! Throughout the next four weeks, I will be writing about various vampire folklore and myths across the globe. The first vampire story is that of America's most well-known and last North American "vampire", Mercy Brown. New England was the center of vampire folklore in the United States, especially Rhode Island. During the 1800s, consumption or pulmonary tuberculosis plagued the townspeople of Exeter. One out of four people died from it. Unfortunately, the Brown family didn't escape it. The disease first took Mercy's mother, Mary Brown. The next victim was her sister, Mary Olive. Edwin was the next to contract consumption, but fearing for his only son's life, George Brown sent him to live in Colorado, to stop or slow the disease. He returned in late 1891 because it had progressed. However, Edwin wasn't the next the person in the Brown family to die. Mercy had the "galloping" variet...

The idea is to highlight 5 links that you feel would be new to other readers. They can be daily reads, or personal favorites. They may even just be something fun or freaky or just plain fascinating that you stumbled into recently. If you want to “play along” make a list on your site and link to it in 2 Witches Blog comments. They'd also appreciate a link back. 1. Encounters with the Unknown - If you love my blog, you will love hers. 2. The Shadowlands 3. NaNoWriMo - This one is for the writers. I'm participating. Are you? 4. The Paranormal Site at BellaOnline - A site somewhat similar to About.com, but for women. 5. Swansea Paranormal Research Group - A group located in Britain.

I received Graham Hancock's new book Supernatural today. I'll have a review posted in about two weeks. Be on the lookout for that. Do you think there is such a thing as a psychic animal?