Haunted Dolls: The Creep Factor

I was watching an episode of Destination Truth last night and they covered this haunted island full of super creepy dolls. I know I have talked about Robert, the Haunted Doll in the past, but this episode got me thinking about dolls and their penchant for getting all hauntified.

The island from Destination Truth was in Mexico, and the story went that a young girl had drowned there, and people began leaving dolls to comfort her. Of course, these dolls are now all battered and decapitated, leading to a spectacular vision of “Yikes.” The “Truth” team did experience some possible paranormal experiences there, including a doll opening her eye. Follow this link to watch the episode about the Haunted Isle of the Dolls.

Robert the Haunted Doll is a creepy tale of a man and his personal doll fixation, blending a traditional haunting with tales of voodoo, and is covered ad nauseam on the internet. Mandy, the haunted doll, however, may be a new story for you.

Mandy is a 100 year old doll that was donated to the Quesnel Museum in British Columbia. A typical tattered doll, the woman who donated her told the museum curator that she was often awoken at night to the sounds of a baby crying. She had no baby, and tracked the sound to the room the doll was in. The noise stopped once she got rid of the doll.

Museum staff have claimed that since the dolls arrival poltergeist type activity has occurred including objects being moved, as well as electronic disturbances, like people’s camera batteries draining. Some even claim that the doll moves and changes positions.

No reason for this dolls haunting has been discovered, so is it just the “old doll creepy factor” or is it the spirit of a past owner come to play with the living? Do you have a creepy haunted doll story? Share it here!

Back to School Special: Haunted Schools

I’ve written articles about haunted places all over the world and they all have one thing in common. Every place I have ever written about has had at least one haunted school.

Be it grade school, high school or college, nearly every state in the US and other places abroad has a haunted school. It’s no wonder why. Schools, like hospitals, are jam packed with residual energy, and if the school has been home to a particular tragedy, spirit students may feel most comfortable in their old school setting. Psychics have no trouble hearing the residual energies in a school, the ringing of bells, the laughter of children, the opening of doors and thrumming of feet in the halls, but ghost hunters really enjoy the more active intelligent haunting that occur in many old schools. Here are some particularly infamous haunted schools for your consideration.

Lourdes High School, Chicago IL

This active school has no shortage of reports from teachers and students about eerie music, disembodied voices and footsteps in empty hallways. No particular reason for the spirit activity is identified.

Eastern Illinois University – Charleston, IL

A female ghost lovingly referred to as “Mary” seems to reside in the female dormitory called Pemberton Hall. Lots of poltergeist activity is reported including electronic equipment being turned on or off and the rattling of doorknobs. The hauntings are attributed to a legend of a dorm counselor named Mary who was supposedly killed at the school by a custodian in the early 1920’s.

Metz Elementary School in Austin, Texas

This building that was built in the early 1900’s was scheduled to be torn down due to age and size and apparently didn't agree with the ruling. Construction workers reported hearing children’s laughter, having equipment failures and odd writing appearing on forgotten chalk boards. Eventually the building was leveled, but the events that occurred there and the documentation by early journalists in the area make it one of the most well known school hauntings written about.

Got a haunted school story to share? Please tell us your tale in the comments area. Meanwhile, check out these haunted school YouTube links:
Chester Haunted School
George Wright Haunted School

Photo by www.flickr.com/photos/joelf/430142535/

I've Got Your Number

Numerology is the belief that our lives are intertwined with the universal language of numbers. Numbers are thought to generate our life path and are determined by the number of letters in our names or our birth dates. An easy and fun way to get a horoscope style reading, there are plenty of places online for you to investigate the basis of your personality, past and future. Here are a few to check out.
Go to: http://www.sanatansociety.org to get your psychic number based upon Indian beliefs. You input your birth date and it will automatically calculate your numbers. Meanings for your unique numeric identity are listed there as well.

Next,check out the Psychic Numerology-Master Numbers web site and with a few calculations you will be on your way. This is a pretty comprehensive web site with plenty of information that may inspire you to take an even closer look at numerology.

If you want one more opinion, check out stargaze.com. A more traditional approach, you put in the month you were born then browse to find your exact date. Comparing all the numerology sites may give you a good overview of your motivations in life and what the future might hold.

Image by: www.flickr.com/photos/valeriebb

Preston Castle and The Ghost Adventure Team

Ghost Adventures, the Travel Channel series I love to hate is back with new episodes. All set to be irritated, I sat down for the season premiere waiting with bated breath for the rude antics of Zak Bagans and crew. I have to say, they must have mellowed since last season.

Sure, Zak still carried a leather whipping strap around with him and threatened the Juvenile delinquents and young criminals with his "new supervisor"y techniques, but all in all, I would have expected worse from him.

The location was great.

Preston Castle in California, an old abandoned and decrepit facility had plenty of personality and the prerequisite shady past. Not only were young offenders apparently mistreated and some died under mysterious circumstances, one of the most active spirits haunting the place is said to be the spirit of a house keeper whose brutal murder on this site was never solved.

After a tour by a local ghost hunting leader, the team unnecessarily "locked" themselves into the establishment and began collecting evidence of both auditory and physical manifestations.

There were some scratches, and some really far fetched EVP translations, but the creepiest thing about this episode was the supposed possession of Zak himself.

I have to say, I liked the kinder, gentler more possessed Zak, who inexplicably began to hum, smirk and communicate with the female housekeeper from the past. Eerie and yet not fully developed in the episode, we never see him actually come out of the trance like state, but obviously later we see him donning his trademark dumbass hat, so apparently he's back to normal.

All in all this episode was worth watching for both the fruitful location and the apparent possession. If you missed the premiere episode check out highlights online at the Ghost Adventures website or watch your travel channel listings for repeated episodes.
You can make arrangements to do your own ghost hunt at Preston. Click here for more information about Preston Castle.

Photo by atomicpuppy68 FLickr.com

Zak is Back

If you have been missing (missing hating that is) Ghost Adventures, the Travel Channel has been posting a mini series following a Bob Mackey ghost hunt the guys did with some other ghost hunting enthusiasts.
During their original go-round with this famous haunted location, Zak suffered a well deserved back scratch from what he deemed was a "demon." In the web-episodes the gang invites along a man-of-the-cloth to help with the demonic presence. Predictably, the Reverend or priest gets into the act of calling out the spirit and suffers a little reminder that one should always mind their manners when dealing with those on the other side. The ghost hunting tag-alongs seemed to get their money's worth on this adventure as I am sure you'll agree.
Love em or hate em, they are entertaining during the mid season drought of ghost hunting shows. Check out the broadcast here. Ghost Adventures Web Episode

Ghost Photography

Ghost photography is the practice of attempting to catch ecto-plasm or ghostly apparitions on film. Whether you believe they are dust particles in the air, faulty camera lenses or true spirits caught on film, the Internet has hundreds of these images online for your judgement.

Ghoststudy.com has a large group of ghost images online plus some handy tips on how to take your own ghost photography. Follow this link to check them out for yourself and learn how to create your own.
Ghoststudy.com

Got any ghost photos of your own? Email me and I will post them here!

The Spirit in the Machine:Ghosts on YouTube

YouTube has made stars of everyday folk by allowing all of us to post our home made videos online for others to enjoy. Ghost hunters and of course hoaxsters also take advantage of this format to spread the word about their own hauntings, or to pull the leg of their cyber audience. Sometimes cheesy and obvious in their trickery, sometimes intriquing and mesmerizeing, ghost recordings can at the very least be entertaining for YouTube fans. Got some time to kill and want to see some spooky videos, here are some to check out.

Ghost in the closet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTihjLCBww
Looks superimposed to me, but see if it gives you a shiver.

Amityville Ghost video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk79cV4sHKQ
Interesting clip from a History Channel show about the Warren's and their video from the Amityville house. Worth watching.

Ghost photo montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6trH81xpko
Nice montage of some classic ghost photos.

Ghosthunters TV show montage of evidence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gjtvx2UfIc
Nice grouping of evidence from TAPS investigations.

Got a favorite YouTube ghost video? Share the link here!