Ghost Stories

Generally, an exorcism consists of a priest, with the permission of the church, expelling demons out of a child, using the word of God, holy water, etc. A 49-year-old man name Ronald Marquez from Phoenix, Arizona decided to take matters into his own hands. The only problem is his 3-year-old granddaughter wasn't possessed. After receiving a phone call from a relative, Officers responded to a report of an exorcism and found Marquez choking the young bloodied girl. A bed was pushed up against the door and they were only able to get it opened a few inches. However, it was enough to subdue the man with stun guns and get the girl and her bloody, naked 19-year-old mother, who was chanting something religious, out. According to the same relative who called the police, this wasn't the first time Marquez performed an exorcism on his granddaughter. Marquez was placed in handcuffs after a struggle with officers and initially appeared normal, but then stopped breathing. They attempted to re

Do you think fluctuating magnetic fields mess with our minds causing us to think we've seen a ghost when we really haven't?

These days it seems like everything you do there's a risk of causing cancer. The American Cancer Society surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. adults who have never been diagnosed with cancer. They compiled a list of 12 common cancer myths that have yet to be scientifically proven: The risk of dying from cancer in the United States is increasing. - 67.7 percent true, 22.5 percent false and 9.8% don't know Living in a polluted city is a greater risk for lung cancer than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. - 38.7% true, 42.5% false and 18.8% don't know Some injuries can cause cancer later in life. - 37.2% true, 41.9% false, 20.9 don't know Electronic devices, like cell phones, can cause cancer in the people who use them. - 29.7% true, 45.6% false, 24.7% don't know What someone does as a young adult has little effect on their chance of getting cancer later in life. - 24.8% true, 68.1% false, 7.1% don't know Long-time smokers cannot reduce their cancer risk by quitting smoking

The Blog-a-thon will begin at 6:00 a.m. Pacific. Four bloggers from Write Stuff will be blogging for 24 hours straight. My shift is between 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. Central. I'll be giving away R. L. Stine's The Girlfriend and The Pocket Size Writer's Companion. Stop by and keep us company and support a worthy cause. I hope to see you there.

Filmmakers Zak Bagans and Nick Groff along with Aaron Goodwin investigated, I use that word loosely, various locations in Virginia City, Nevada and the Goldfield Hotel. FoxNews states it's "...The Best Proof Caught on Tape!" I'm not sure it's the best proof of all times, but it's some compelling footage. Think a real life version of the Blair Witch Project except they were hunting ghosts and not a witch. Most of the evidence caught was EVPs and orbs minus personal experiences. However, there are three video clips that might send chills up your spine. They captured on camera a full bodied apparition in the Washoe Club. Nick walked out of the room and it appeared the ghost followed right behind him. The second piece of footage was that of a shadowy figure filmed in the Goldfield Hotel. It's believed to be a gunslinger who has often been seen in that particular area. The last evidence caught on tape scared the filmmakers so much they jumped out a second story

The first depictions of The Northern Lights were cave drawings made by Cro-Magnons in 20,000 B.C. Can you imagine what they thought the lights were? Many civilizations had their explanations. The east Greenland Eskimos thought that the northern lights were the spirits of children who died at birth. The Makah Indians from Washington believed the lights were fires in the Far North where a tribe of dwarfs boiled blubber. In ancient Finnish folklore, an Arctic fox that started fires by running on the snow, spraying up the crystals so that sparks flew off into the sky with its brush-like tail, was to blame. Northern lights were the spirits of the dead playing football with human skulls over the sky according to Inuit stories. Today, we know that when a solar flare erupts on the sun charged gas molecules crash into the magnetized poles of the earth producing ten million megawatts of electrical power. The result is dancing vertical lights that circle the north and south polar regions. Colors

Is it possible that a teenage girl's psychic abilities or need for attention are responsible for poltergeist cases?

When you hear the word "Brownie", you may picture a chocolate bake good, a little girl scout or a camera commonly used in the early to mid 1900s. However, the one in which I'm referring to is a nature spirit from Scottish and English folklore. They were given the name "Brownie" because they were little, always wore brown clothing with brown hair and were said to have derived from acorns, pine cones, river stones, mosses, clover, or mushrooms. Brownies were considered good in nature, helping families with domestic chores only at night as well as playing a few innocent pranks. Only those gifted with second sight, mostly old women, could catch a glimpse of them from time to time. Brownies made their homes in an unused part of the house. If the owners misuse their gifts, they turned into Boggarts, poltergeist-like, mischievous spirits. They were considered guardians of dragons and keepers the Feather of Hope, which is the means by which all hope on Earth is repl

In South Africa, inhabitants have a real fear of a dwarf-like creature called the Tokoloshe or Hili. Some people won't even speak of it to keep this evil spirit from their homes. So, what exactly is the Tokoloshe? Many describe it as a water sprite with one arm, one leg, the face of an old man on a boy's body, and a penis so large it has to be slung over his shoulder. It becomes invisible by swallowing a pebble and allows children to see him. However, according to Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa, the above description is not quite accurate. He says the Tokoloshe is a nasty teddy bear-like humanoid with a thick, sharp bony ridge on top of its head. While his appearance is unclear, his motives are not. According to Zulu mythology, Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. It is believed he was created from dead bodies of shamans to rape women and sometimes attacks, abducts, or in other ways does harm to children. It terrorizes children by scratching

There's a common theory which states that children are more open to ghostly activity than adults. Kids at a school in the eastern state of Bihar, India may be proof of that. What is known is that scores of students are having recurring nightmares of ghosts which may not be unusual considering their school is located in a Muslim graveyard. Hundreds of students were forced to study in the makeshift school after authorities refused to donate land for a school in Kohari village. Now, parents are demanding it be moved to a new location stating their children's sleep and health is being affected by these dreams. Ram Yash Singh, a village council official, says they are looking into the matter of supplying new land for the school. Unfortunately, they may have to make due with the current accommodations seeing that the nearest other school is about four hours away. Would you jeopardize your child's well being to give him/her an education in such conditions? Source: Reuters via Yaho

Do you think ghosts are afraid of us?

Fyvie Castle is located in Aberdeen, Scotland and has had quite a bit of bad luck in years past. Not only is it the home of a few restless spirits but it also houses weeping stones. That's right. An actual piece of rock that leaks water, but first things first. Fyvie Castle was built in 1390, following the Battle of Otterburn by 5 families (Gordon, Leith, Meldrum, Preston and Seton, each constructing one of the five towers) originally as a Royal hunting seat. It has been visited by Robert the Bruce, Edward the 1st of England, The Marquis of Montrose and William the Lyon. The castle has passed from one family to the next, but is currently owned by The National Trust for Scotland, who took ownership in 1984. While it is the perfect romantic setting for weddings, you may experience some unforeseen problems. A prophet named Thomas the Rhymer a.k.a. True Thomas announced that he would be visiting Fyvie Castle and told the residents to keep the door open for him. They kindly obliged

I was going through the different paranormal related pages on Myspace and came across Jason Hawes' from Ghost Hunters. I saw a blog entry that was kind of interesting. It was published in February 2007. So, this news is a bit old, but still needs to be addressed. Alison Smith of the Skeptics Analysis of the Paranormal Society launched an investigation against TAPS for fraud after receiving complaints from several “interested parties” who claimed that TAPS was intentionally misleading the public into believing that it was a non-profit organization. Two others, MondoSkeptics and TAPS Tattler also launched their own investigations, but Alison really dug deep to find proof of these allegations. They were being accused of promoting themselves as a non-profit organization for years when they did not register as a non-profit agency with the state of Rhode Island. If they had registered their company, the records of all donations would have been available to the public and held accountabl

In a past week, I asked if water ghosts were possible. Some think that the spirits of 300 slaves are responsible for some ship disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. Agree or Disagree?

I know this is a bit off topic, but it's for a good cause. It's blogathon time again where participants update their websites every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight, collecting sponsorships. While Ghost Stories won't be participating, I am helping out Write Stuff, group blog for writers and will be sponsoring the charity First Book . It'll begin at 6:00 a.m. Pacific time July 28th and will run until 6:00 a.m. July 29th. If you would like to donate/pledge some money this is what you do: 1. Visit the Blog-a-thon site . 2. Go to the list of bloggers, and when you find someone you'd like to support, click the sponsor this blogger link. 3. Choose how much you'd like to sponsor for, and whether it's a lump sum, or an hourly amount. 4. Decide how you'd like to appear on the site, and to your blogger. You can be completely open, or completely anonymous. Either way, your email address is never published on the site. See our privacy policy for details. 5. After t

The Gold Brook Bridge was built in 1844 by John W. Smith to allow safe passage over the brook when traveling around the three villages of Stowe, Vermont. However, it wasn't until about 150 years ago did it acquire it's infamous nickname, Emily's Bridge. Supposedly, a young girl name Emily was denied permission to marry the man of her dreams. So, what do forbidden lovers do? They elope. The plan was for her lover to meet her on the Gold Brook Bridge and they would run away together. There was a problem though. Her soul mate never showed. Out of anger and depression, she hung herself from a beam within the bridge. Since that night, it is believed that she haunts the bridge. Like any ghost story, there are different versions of this legend. You would think with such a sad story that Emily's spirit would be harmless, more sad than vengeful. According to many witness reports, that's not the case. Some experiences associated with the bridge include the scratching of p

What better way to celebrate the fourth than revealing the truth of some common American independence myths. 1.) Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July. Wrong! Independence was declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. This is the day according to a letter written by John Adams to his wife Abigail that "will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival." So, why do we celebrate the fourth? First of all, the Declaration of Independence was adopted on the fourth which is indicated on the document itself. It is believed that is where some of the confusion lies. Basically, the day the document was announced has overshadowed the event itself. Americans first celebrated independence on July 8th with a big party including a parade and firing of guns in Philadelphia. Secondly, to add to the confusion, a scholar in the nineteenth century came across the letter mentioned above and quietly "corrected" it. So, Adams festival p

An interview with DaEl Walker, Director of the Crystal Awareness Institute, Spiritual teacher, healer and author of "The Crystal Book Series".

You've probably heard the stories about the lost city of Atlantis. Do you think an entire continent, also known as Lemuria, of highly advanced beings could have been lost too?