Monday, February 24, 2014

The true ghost story of the movie The Changeling

Writer and playwright Russell Hunter said in a 1980 interview that he based many elements from The Changeling on experiences from his first months in Denver in 1968, while living in a large house at 1739 East 13th Avenue—the north edge of Cheesman Park. The house was razed in the 1970s and a condominium building now stands on the site.

This house was the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion. Hunter rented it for the "unbelievable price of $200 per month, because no one else wanted to live there," Hunter relates. A little more than a week after moving in, strange things began to happen, he said. Banging and crashing were heard regularly, coming from the direction of a bedroom fireplace. One morning, Hunter yelled "Stop it!" and never heard the noise again, he said later. Next, doors mysteriously began to open and close unaided, while walls vibrated and threw paintings to the floor.

A woman he met at a bridge game told Hunter that undoubtedly a poltergeist was in the house. At another social gathering, he said, he met a man whom no one later could identify. The man told him the house had a third floor which could be accessed through a secret stairway concealed at the back of a second-floor closet. With help, he broke open the back closet wall revealing a narrow stairway, covered with a thick layer of dust. In the attic, Hunter discovered a child's trunk that contained the diary of a 9-year-old boy whose family had hidden him in the attic because they were ashamed that he had been born a cripple. The journal mentioned that the boy's favorite toy was a red rubber ball.

At the suggestion of friends, Hunter reportedly called a well-known medium to conduct a seance in the
house. The medium told him the crippled child would have inherited a large fortune from his grandfather, but the child died before he could inherit it. He was buried secretly, and the family adopted a similar-looking boy from an orphanage and played him off as their own in order to collect the inheritance. The second boy graduated from a leading university and became a successful industrialist, said the medium.


The spirit of the crippled boy would not rest, according to Hunter. The medium said his body had been buried in south Denver, at a spot that was now under a closet sill of a bedroom in a designated house. The medium said they would know it was him, because they would find a gold medal inscribed with his birthday. The medium also said the spirit threatened harm to the children of the house where he was buried if the owners of the house would not give permission for the search. After a couple of warning incidents affecting their children, the owners of the house gave permission for the excavation under the bedroom floor, and the gold medal was found.

Disturbances at the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion continued, however. Some glass doors blew up as Hunter approached them and shards of glass cut an artery, he said. Some bedroom walls shook. Not long afterward in the 1970s, the house was demolished on order and, during the work, walls of a bedroom exploded and crushed a man operating the bulldozer, said Hunter.

Hunter moved into a house on Kearney Street, but the poltergeist moved with him, he said, and the disturbances continued. At the urging of friends, Hunter called in a priest from Denver's Epiphany Episcopal Church to perform the rites of exorcism at the house. The priest, who asked not to be named, said of Hunter: "He did seem to have a problem. We performed the rites of exorcism in his second house, on Kearney Street." The priest said it apparently worked — at least, he heard no more from Hunter.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Ghost caught on video in one of Englands oldest pubs (video)

Spooked staff at one of Britain's oldest pubs believe they have caught a ghost on CCTV.

The freaky footage, which appears to show a shadowy figure flickering into view by the bar, was filmed at Ye Olde Man and Scythe in Bolton.

Manager Tony Dooley spotted the spectre when he checked the cameras on Friday morning and found they had mysteriously stopped recording at 6.18am.

"I came down and saw a glass smashed on the floor so I was instantly suspicious and went to check the CCTV and found it has stopped working," he said.

"We checked the footage and it revealed this figure.

"To be honest I was a bit concerned - I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to ghosts but you become more of a believer when you see things like that."

The pub, which dates from 1251, is the fourth-oldest pub in Britain and is reputedly haunted by the Seventh Earl of Derby, James Stanley.


Read Story: Manchester Evening News

Friday, February 14, 2014

The Paranormal Activity Lab at University of Virginia

The market for stories of paranormal academe is a rich one. There’s Heidi Julavits’s widely acclaimed 2012 novel The Vanishers, which takes place at a New England college for aspiring Sylvia Brownes. And, of course, there’s Professor X’s School for Gifted Youngsters—Marvel’s take on Andover or Choate—where teachers read minds and students pass like ghosts through ivy-covered walls.

The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine is decidedly less fantastic than either Julavits’s or Marvel’s creations, but it's nevertheless a fascinating place. Founded in 1967 by Dr. Ian Stevenson—originally as the Division of Personality Studies—its mission is “the scientific empirical investigation of phenomena that suggest that currently accepted scientific assumptions and theories about the nature of mind or consciousness, and its relation to matter, may be incomplete.”

What sorts of “phenomena” qualify? Largely your typical catalog of Forteana: ESP, poltergeists, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, “claimed memories of past lives.” So yes: In 2014, there is a center for paranormal research at a totally legitimate (and respected) American institution of higher learning. But unlike the X-Mansion, or other fictional psy-schools, DOPS doesn’t employ any practicing psychics. The teachers can’t read minds, and the students don’t walk through walls. DOPS is home to a small group of hardworking, impressively credentialed scientists with minds for stats and figures.

Read Full Story: The Atlantic.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania horror house is 100% haunted claims ghost hunter

Known as Pennsylvania's own  Amityville horror house, 46 South Welles Street was widely reported in the 70's as being a more dangerous haunting than Amityville.

After living in the house for a month in 2013 and being face to face with extreme paranormal and demonic activity, Tim Wood [LiveSciFi creator and lead ghost hunter] decided to buy it last December. This weekend, he and his team will be back at the haunted house practicing their unique brand of live ghost hunting and streaming it online for all to see.

While performing his extreme paranormal investigation techniques, Wood will be cataloging any new conclusive evidence or sightings that occur in order to be featured alongside the proof of paranormal activity he encountered during his previous stay. The paranormal evidence will be featured in an upcoming documentary about the Welles House and its history of true evil. Paranormal Evidence clip.

Welles House timeline as reported by the Times Leader and Citizens Voice -
Info about the haunted house on Welles St.

-1976 Bennett Family Moves into house - would later be forced to leave with only their clothes on their backs, in 1978.

-Unexplained bangs, and scurrying noises from one end of the house to the other.

-Nightly visits from a well-dressed phantom man and the appearance of a ghost of a young girl who walks through doors.

-Shrieks, moans, and crying that seemed to be coming from the attic and within the house’s walls.

-Bloody spots appearing on walls and floors in the living room.

Read Full Story: PR Web.com

Is a Florida radio station haunted ? (video)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- Does Big Moose have a new ghost friend?

The WTXL ABC27 Sunrise Traffic Anchor and 103.1 The Wolf on air personality first shared his story Tuesday morning about hearing strange voices of a little girl asking him "Can you hear me?".

This happened, Moose says, while he was alone at his radio studio preparing for his television traffic cut-in. The strange happenings continued. Doors opening and closing.

Computers turning on and off by themselves. Then came what was first noticed by floor director Liston Davis. Could we see Big Moose's new ghostly friend? It appeared to be an orb that appeared during Moose's traffic hit.

Big Moose explains "As legend has it, the Fresh Country 103.1 The Wolf studios are haunted. Years ago, this was a residential house. The bedroom, that is now the actual Wolf studio, had a brother and sister jumping on the bed. The Brother pushed the sister and she went head first thru the window eventually dying.

Read Full Story: WTXL.com