Ghost Stories

AOL News did their own version of the Top 10 Weird Webpages list which included sites dedicated to men with long hair, a rapping dentist and toilet seat art. Another one that made the list is a webcam site called GhostWatcher. 37 webcams constantly monitor selected hidden spaces in a New York City apartment. On the website, it states that the purpose of the ghost cams are to help the inhabitant June sleep better at night. Personally, I don't see how knowing your apartment is haunted is going to help you sleep at night except giving you knowledge of what causes the abnormal sounds. I guess that can give you some peace of mind but it doesn't make the sounds go away. I reviewed some of the reports that have been already made and some are quite interesting. With others, I couldn't see what the reporter was claiming to see in the webshots. Maybe you all can. I'm curious. For those who watch ghost cams, have you ever actually spotted something unusual worthy enough to rep

You Have Fantastic Karma You are a kind, sensitive, and giving person. And all your good deeds will pay off - if they haven't already. But you're not so concerned with what you get in return anyway. You have an innate caring nature - and nothing can change that! How's Your Karma?

If you check the Ghost Newswire on my blog then you probably know about this already. The Maury show is doing a show about families who live in haunted houses. Plus Western New York Paranormal will be featured on the episode. I'm not an avid watcher of The Maury Show. The episodes I've seen have been about overweight kids, teens having sex to get pregnant, and drag queens. I guess this may be something new they are trying. I don't hear about talk shows doing paranormal related episodes on any other day than Halloween. I checked my TV guide and it airs at 2 pm here in Oklahoma (Central Time) today. It seems I'll probably miss it.

What is the weirdest dream you have ever had? My Answer: Read my latest weird dream . Wanna find out what your dreams mean? Try the Dream Moods .

Last week, I spoke of a nice lady who asked to remain anonymous. She share one of her experiences with us. It seems her father had quite a few ghost tales of his own. She kindly emailed one to me: "The story takes place right in the area I live in now. The story probably happened when he was a little boy because he said it happened to his father. That would be about the l920's. My grandfather and a group of his hunting friends set out one night with their hunting dogs to go "coon hunting". The group went hunting in a completely isolated stretch of woods that he said was located about l0 miles away from civilization, people, or homes. After a while in the woods the dogs started barking loudly and excitedly. The dogs had gathered around a tree where they looked up, barking ferociously. Thinking the dogs had "treed a coon", the hunters ran to the spot with their lanterns. They didn't have flashlights then; they carried lanterns. The hunters lifted thei

Prosecutors took more than 2 years to to take Annaliese's case to court, using that time to sort through the bizarre facts. Anneliese's parents and the two exorcists were accused of negligent homicide. The evidence pointed to her starving to death. Specialists claimed that if the accused would have begun with forced feeding one week before her death, Anneliese's life would have been saved. However, according to her sister, Anneliese did not want to go to a mental home where she would be sedated and forced to eat. To prove the presences of demons, the exorcists played tape recordings of the exorcism. None of those present during the exorcisms doubted her possession. The psychiatrists, whom had been ordered to testify by the court, spoke about the "Doctrinaire Induction". They said that the priests had provided Anneliese with the contents of her psychotic behavior. Therefore, accepting her behavior as possession. They also offered that Anneliese's unsettled sexu

Since the Question of the Week is about her and quite a few responses brought up the movie, I thought why not do a post about what happened. I've seen the Exorcism of Emily Rose and I have to say it is an interesting story. The real Emily Rose is Anneliese Michel from Klingenberg, Germany. Anneliese was a normal, religiously nurtured girl born on September 21st, 1952. It wasn't until 1968 when everything began to change. Out of the blue, she began shaking and was unable to control her body. She couldn't call out to her parents, Josef and Anna or three sisters. She was diagnosed with "Grand Mal" epilepsy by a neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic Wurzburg, and admitted to the hospital for treatment. Soon after, Anneliese began seeing devilish grimaces during prayer and believed she was possessed. There seemed to be no other explanations for what she was seeing. The images followed by voices who were giving her orders all of which she mentioned only once to the doct

Would you hold a priest liable for an exorcism gone wrong where the result was death? Why or why not? My Answer: I think it depends on the situation. Whether or not the person is truly possessed or not is irrelevant. If the person needs medical attention, you need to get them medical attention. What's the point in doing an exorcism if the person is going to die in the process. I think the only time I would put the blame on the priest is if he worried more about the demons than the person they possess.

I received an email from a very nice lady who has asked to remain anonymous. She has shared two of her experiences with the paranormal. Below is one: Before my daughter was born and about 1970, I was spending two weeks with my husband's great-aunt. My husband was a drill sergeant in the Army and was away for summer camp. Her large, red-brick two-story home was custom decorated, and upstairs in the bedroom where I was to sleep, large furniture filled the room. The room was very large and the whole room was totally unlike anything I had ever been in, much less spent the night in! His aunt was wealthy and her life was unlike the way I had been raised. We were poor, didn't have big beautiful things, and life in my childhood home didn't leave much to one's imagination. One night while I thought I was asleep in the room, my eyes suddenly opened. I looked toward the doorway and saw a beautiful woman dressed in white. She appeared to be holding something in her

As promised, a deeper look into the differences between Hoodoo and Voodoo. Some believe that the terms may have a common etymology . The simplest explanation is that Voodoo is a religion and Hoodoo isn't. With the religious persecution and suppression of the Voodoo religion in America, hoodoo is what remains. Hoodoo is the "folk magic" of the common people in West Africa that has been passed from one generation to the next. Most of what could be said as "legitimate" Voodoo in books, Hollywood movies and popular culture, is actually the magicobotanical practice of Hoodoo. As I said yesterday, Thursday's episode of Supernatural dealt with Hoodoo as well as the movie The Skeleton Key. In the U.S. Hoodoo is not a religion. It is spiritual and magical in nature, but it does not have an established theology, clergy, laity, or order of liturgical services. Hoodoo shows obvious links to the practices and beliefs of all African folk magic-religious culture. The Hoodo

I was watching tonight's episode of Supernatural about a haunted hotel and Hoodoo. At first, I thought they were saying Voodoo but no it was Hoodoo. If you don't know the difference between the two, I'll tell you but not in this post. This post is about how to make a Hoodoo charm called a Gris Gris bag. I'm sure they are used for many different reasons but I was able to find a couple of recipes at Fullmoon Magic . Below are three: Home Protection Red flannel or chamois bag Tablespoon of Five Finger Grass Tablespoon Bay Leaf Large Clove of Garlic Small piece of Mandrake Root Iron nail Protection oil to anoint bag Stopping Gossip Red Flannel or chamois bag A piece of cloth with a face drawn on it Some hair from the person who will wear the bag A piece of High John the Conqueror root Tablespoon of Slippery Elm 1/2 Tablespoon Gag root A needle and black thread Gris Gris Faible Incense to burn while preparing the bag During the ritual preparing the bag you will use the threa

I have a new renter this week from The Blue Panther Experience and Other Things . I'm excited because he's a fellow writer and a Nano winner. In case you don't know, Nano or NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write an entire novel in 30 days. A totally doable task if you are dedicated enough. It's a step I haven't taken yet but I admire those who have. His blog is basically personal with a special treat on Sundays called Blog Your Blessings. You blog about the good things that your thankful for. It's an interesting concept. Maybe one I'll take up. I know I have a lot to be thankful for. We all do compared to some people out there that don't have what we have. His latest entry is about a very familiar topic here: Superstitions. I'm not a very superstitious person. I don't really see any point in them. However, the one he strongly believes in and claims that really works for him is: "If you see a vessel filled up

I received an email about a week ago about a new documentary available now. The documentary is called A Christmas Family Tragedy. The story about the Lawson Family I guess in some ways is similar to the Amityville murders. Charlie Lawson, a 43-year-old tobacco farmer, killed his wife, six of his seven children and then committed suicide on Christmas Day 1929 in Stokes County, North Carolina. Many people were quite baffled about how this man could do such a thing and possibly that question may have been answered by now or someone has come close to answering it. However, it has a continuing effect on the community 'til this day. Now, as tragic as this is, I'm sure you are wondering how it qualifies as a ghost story. Well, from what I was told, a house that is now The Squires Inn Bed & Breakfast is said to be haunted by members of the Lawson family. The owners claim they have seen seven year old Maybell and two year old Raymond Lawson peering into windows of the front door a

While browsing one day, I found an article at OhMyNews.com called Ghost Stories from Korea . One paragraph about how sometimes Westerners use Koreans' fear of ghosts for their own personal gain. So, it got me thinking. Would you use a person's fear to manipulate them into doing what you want? My Answer: If I was SERIOUSLY desperate, I might consider it but otherwise no. I think it's cruel to do something like that unless you really really really have to.

In May I posted about the Romanian government returning Dracula's Castle to its' former owners. It seems now the family has decided to sell it for $78 million. Dominic Habsburg, the owner, insisted his family had honorable intentions for wanting to sell the castle. "We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran." After the restitution, concerns were raised that the family could sell the castle to a hotel chain and that the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside some 105 miles north of Bucharest. Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved. Lia Trandafir, an attorney for Habsburg, said local authorities are interested in buying it. "They'd like to see it comin

This week is National Delurking Week. The idea is to get readers to stop lurking and commenting. I figure I would take this time to see how I'm doing and to also give you a chance to suggest any topics you would like to learn more about that haven't been featured here yet. Vote in the poll and/or leave a comment with your suggestions. Happy National Delurking Week! How am I doing? Great! Good Not too bad Could be better Don't care Free polls from Pollhost.com Don't forget to stop by my renter's blog New York Nitty Gritty and wish him a Happy National Delurking Week also.

Every once in a while, I browse the video clips at YouTube; I can't help seeing what ridiculous things people post there. Anyways, I found a few clips on supposedly ghost footage and decided to share them here and get your opinions. They are all pretty short clips except for the last one. So, if you have dial-up like me it won't take very long to load. Clip 1 : This one is of a "ghost" crossing the road. I don't know if it's fake. It doesn't really look like a fake to me. Clip 2 : This clip I've seen a couple times. First one was on the Montell Williams show. He had Sylvia Brown as a guest and she claimed that the woman in the video had recently died from a car accident and since moved on. Now, I watched a different show (can't remember the name) that easily re-created it with a toy tied to a string, swinging it around in front of the camera. This time it is being shown on ABC news along with a testimonial from the witness who supposedly first saw

I first heard about this piece of ghost hunting equipment from the TV show Celebrity Paranormal Project. The idea behind a Ghost Catcher a.k.a. Spirit Wind Chime is that the spirit will pass by and cause it to chime much like a wind chime does in the wind. You strategically place Ghost Catchers throughout the house away from drafts and wind. Of course, you can use a regular wind chime from a store, but try and get the ones made of the lightest material. If the arms are too heavy, it will not be affective outside or in any area where a breeze or wind is blowing. You can make Ghost Catchers yourself. Take about 8 to 10 very thin strips of metal (about one inch wide and about 6 to 8 inches long). Put a hole in one end of each strip. Tie seperate strings to each strip. Leave about 6 inches of slack in the string and tie the other end of the strings to a pole or something that keeps the strips hanging down. Tie them about one half inch apart on the pole. The strips shouldn't touch each

What paranormal predictions do you have for the year 2007?

First of all, I'm shocked about this. A woman named Mariama Alidu from Gambaga, Ghana was cast out as a witch from her village by her own family even though she swears she has never cast a spell. Rough way to start the new year out. The mere suspicion of witchcraft was enough to see her and 80 other suspected witches expelled to a scruffy camp of mud huts on the fringes of the town of Gambaga. "It is the work of the devil. I can't say I have ever practiced it myself," says Mariama, who has lived in the camp for about 10 years. Hundreds more women accused of witchcraft live in similar camps in the cocoa- and gold-producing West African country. Belief in witchcraft remains widespread in Africa, the world's poorest continent, where Christianity and Islam rub shoulders with animist religions, and where witch doctors wield great power in tribal societies. Like the Salem Witch Trials, all it takes is a quarrel with a daughter-in-law or that they have passed child-beari

Necromancy is a form of divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon the spirits of the dead, called "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, like spiritual protection or wisdom. There are two noted kinds of necromancy: the raising of the corpse itself, and the most common kind, the conjuring or summoning of the spirit of the corpse. Since the Middle Ages, necromancy has come to be associated more with black magic and demon summoning in general, losing its earlier, more specialized meaning. It was condemned by the Catholic Church as "the agency of evil spirits," and in Elizabethan England was outlawed by the Witchcraft Act of 1604. Early necromancy was possibly related to shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans. It was widespread amo

I'm not referring to the Laurence Fishburne character in The Matrix. Instead, think more like the Sandman. In Greek mythology, Morpheus ("he who forms or molds") was the god of dreams and the greatest of all his siblings. His father was Hypnos, God of sleep and his mother was Aglia (or Pasithea) Brightness, one of the three Graces. Morpheus is spoken of in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. He probably was the Dream God which Zeus sent to visit Agamemnon in the Illiad. He sleeps on an ebony bed in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by poppy. Ovid suggests that Morpheus had a special talent for mimicking human form in dreams. Dreams were sent out to man passing through one of two gates: a gate of horn from which true dreams came; and a gate of ivory, from which false dreams passed through. According to Ovid, Morpheus concentrated on the human elements of dreams, his brothers Phobetor and Phantasos being responsible for birds or beasts and inanimate objects. Morpheus sent images of

There's another blog awards. The 2007 Bloggies are now open for nominations until Jan. 10th. I've decided to nominated four of my favorite blogs: The Paranormal Blog (you didn't make the finals for The Weblog Awards but y'all are still great and deserve the honor ), Blog from the Darkside , At Home Writing and (Lima) Beans and Delhi Cha(a)t . Good luck. Of course, I didn't forget my new renter. He's rented here before but with a different blog. This particular one is called YouTube Karaoke . If you are a music lover, this is the place for you. All videos are obviously from YouTube . Posts began with a blurb. You may learn something about your favorite songs that you didn't know. You press play, scroll to the lyrics and sing along. I think I prefer this type of karaoke instead of going to a bar or whatever. I can humiliate myself in the privacy of my own home. When you are finished making your Bloggies nominations, go to YouTube Karaoke and sing your hear