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Showing posts from October, 2012

Happy Halloween

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Be Safe and Have Fun!!

Reader Submission - "The Anguished Man"

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This story was submitted by Sean Robinson: Over twenty five years ago a friend of my Grandmother gave her an old oil painting called "The Anguished Man". She told my Grandmother that the artist used his own blood mixed in with the oils and committed suicide shortly after finishing the painting. I have no way of confirming if this story is true or not but my Grandmother passed the story down to me when she gave me the painting. I really liked the painting but because my wife didn’t like it, I kept it in the cellar. After our cellar was flooded during a prolonged period of heavy rain I moved the contents of the cellar to my parent’s garage while the cellar dried out. When I got the painting back, I decided to keep it in our spare bedroom on the third floor of our house. Shortly after getting the painting back, we started to hear strange noises, loud unexplainable bangs and an odd scraping noise like someone scratching their nails on fabric. When the painting was in th

Aokigahara Suicide Forest

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Aokigahara Forest At the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan sits a dense forest. To those who are unfamiliar with it's reputation, Aokigahara would appear like a run-of-the-mill forest. However, venturing inside would reveal the weight it bares. Any unexpected hiker will likely find more than trees, caverns and the lack of wild animals in this forest. Personal items, such as credit cards, wallets and rail passes are often found as well as a decomposing body hanging from a tree limb. Aokigahara is the second most popular suicide location, ranking under the Golden Gate Bridge. There is an average of 50 to 100 suicides bodies found each year. Signs posted throughout the forest telling people to seek professional has saved a few lives but still lack the power to deter all suicides. Why would so many choose this forest as a place to take their own lives? There area a couple of possible reasons for the high number of suicides. Seichō Matsumoto wrote a book in 1960 called Kuroi Kaiju (Black

Sneak Peek Tuesday - Ghost Hunters/Paranormal Witness

TAPS investigates a local factory turned bar in Claremont, New Hampshire that serves patrons from the other side. Ghost Hunters Wednesday at 9/8c. The season finale of Paranormal Witness reexamines the story of Chicagoans Ed and Marsha Becker whose haunted Northwest Side home led to the first nationally televised exorcism in the US broadcasted by NBC in April 1971. The exorcism was conducted by nationally known psychic Joseph DeLouise and Rev. William Derl-Davis.Watch Wednesday at 10/9c to see what happened.

Rialto Square Theatre

Ghost Hunters next stop is the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Illinois. After two years, it opened on May 24, 1926 as a vaudeville movie palace costing nearly $2 million to build. The first talking picture show premiered on October 9, 1928. Despite being one of the finest theaters in the United States, time and the weather took a toll on the building and in the 1970s, it came close to be demolished. After the Rialto Square Arts Association launched a campaign to save it, the theatre went through extensive restoration in the 1980s. It has seen it's share of notable performers over the years including B. B. King, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, The Three Stooges, and Taylor Swift. It is believed a few former visitors may have never left. There are many stories about a couple of ghosts often seen in the theatre. One talks of a little boy named "Colin". He is known to be a bit of a prankster. Another common ghost is a young woman in her 20s seen dressed in white. Her true ident

Gardette-LaPrete House

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In the French Quarter, you'll find a four story Greek Revival house unlike any other. It's not the architecture or wrought-iron laced balcony that sets it apart from the rest. Gruesome murders turned a wealthy vacation home in to legend. Gardette-LePrete House in 1937 The house was built in 1836 for a dentist from Philadelphia named Joseph Coulton Gardette who later sold it to Jean Baptiste LaPrete, a Creole and wealthy plantation owner, who bought the pink house as a vacation home. LaPrete invested a lot of time and money, transforming the residence in to a suitable place for his family. LaPrete decided to rent it for extra money when he began to fall on hard times after the Civil War. LaPrete would later lose the house to the bank. A mysterious young man allegedly from Turkey approached LaPrete inquiring about renting his residence. An agreement was made and the man moved in with his treasure, harem of women and eunuchs. No one knows for sure who the man was, but he c

Mount Misery

Mount Misery is a vast 854 acre wooded area in Huntington, NY. It's name doesn't derive from the many legends attached to the property. In 1653, local Indians sold the land to the settlers. The Indians sold them what they believed to be cursed land. They claimed evil spirits roamed the land. There were rumors of strange lights and sightings of a "man beast" or hell hound like creature with glowing red eyes. The settlers soon realized the land was no good for growing crops. It was used mainly as a trade route. The rough terrain and steep hill made it difficult for wagons to pass. Thus, it became known as Mount Misery. In 1840, a hospital was built for the insane, but not long after, a fire burned it down to the foundation, killing many of the patients. The hospital was rebuilt about 15 years later. New patients and staff began reporting the smell of something burning and unexplained screams heard during the night. The new hospital burned down 5 months after being bu