A Review of the Short Story Best Ghost

 

I received a copy of this short story via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The novelette follows two YouTube ghost hunting creators who run the "Best Ghost Hunters" paranormal channel and their encounter with an actual haunted house. The Old Mayor's Mansion is located in a town called Cemetery in the Hudson Valley. Hudson Valley really does have a reputation as a paranormal hotspot so it was a nice added touch to have the story unfold there. The story reminded me of the many ghost hunting shows that are on television and Youtube, which I am not really fan. But the story is well written and I'm happy I decided to give this one a read. I would recommend it to anyone who likes ghost hunters or the paranormal in general and would read the expanded collection of short stories especially during the spooky season.

Best Ghost By C.J. Daley  Published June 2024  My rating on GoodReads is 4 stars

#NetGalley #eBook #Paranormal 

Brockport New York Poltergeist

Artist conception of poltergeist activity as reported by Therese Selles, a 14-year-old domestic servant of the Todescini family at Cheragas, Algeria. From the French magazine La Vie Mysterieuse in 1911.

From the case files of Susan Demeter  

Brockport New York Poltergeist

 

Poltergeist phenomena are often very physically and psychologically destructive. It has been attributed to troubled ghosts of our dead or inhuman spirits and sometimes emotional turmoil and stress are suspected of creating PSI phenomenon as is suggested in the report that I investigated below. Or perhaps it is a combination of all of these factors? Is our beloved dead restless and responding to our emotional pain? Or is this an inhuman interaction? I’ll let you decide. 

The witness writes: 

"For nearly two years from 1991 to 1992 I went to live with my parents in Brockport New York. I was 24-25 at the time and was experiencing a great amount of emotional turmoil because of a recent arrest and lengthy court appearances. In addition I had a falling out with my wife at the time because of said arrest.

 

While at my parent's home I would on occasion hear loud explosions sometimes so violently loud that they would shake the house. My mother would hear them too, one time knocking on my bedroom door to inquire if I had been lighting off fireworks. My father had experienced these explosions too, but refused to discuss such (I think it unnerved him). I came out of my room one day to hear something like chains jingling in the small linen closet in front of me. Upon opening the closet the only thing I could find that could possibly make such a noise was a box of family silverware. However this was secured in a large wooden box which would have muffled the noise to the point that I doubt it could have been heard as clearly as I heard this.

 

The occurrences climaxed one day while I was home alone. I was upstairs in the loft when I heard something that sounded like a 300lb. safe being dropped below me in the kitchen. I proceeded to grab my father's 32  (rifle) from the adjoining bedroom as I thought someone may have kicked in the door downstairs. As I swept the house and began to descend the staircase I felt and heard pounding directly under my feet and then I felt something pass through me from my feet to my head, like a chill (it made me tingle). I checked the house inside and outside and from top to bottom, nothing was amiss.

 

I did not know what to do or who to turn to. I called a local psychic bookstore and talked to the person there. I explained the situation to them and told them that it was a brand new home that my parents had just built and that we had even had the builder come to inspect the home because of the occurrences, but he had no explanation. 

The woman I was talking to suggested that we could have built over an old grave site and to tell the presence to go to the light. So after getting off the phone with her I told this presence out loud several times to go to the light. Later that night while lying in my bed I heard directly over top of me, and only for a split second, a piercing scream so loud that it reverberated off of the walls. I lay in awe, and actually began to question if I had really heard what I had heard. The interesting thing was that we never had any further occurrences after this event.

 

I believe that I may have been unconsciously manifesting these happenings or that it could have been a manifestation of energy caused by disturbing the site the house was built on. From what I have studied over the years concerning poltergeists, the severe turmoil and uncertainty in my life may have very well been the catalyst that precipitated the happenings."

 

My thanks goes out to the witness for sharing these experiences with me.  It is interesting to note that when the witness took charge of the situation by speaking out loud and therefore empowering himself that the phenomena ceased. This is very much in keeping with my own findings and will often work to calm down a haunting.

The Rochester Poltergeist

 

Artist conception of poltergeist activity claimed by Therese Selles, a 14-year-old domestic servant of the Todescini family at Cheragas, Algeria. From the French magazine La Vie Mysterieuse in 1911.

Sometimes emotional turmoil and stress are suspected of creating PSI phenomena such as is suggested in the report that I investigated below.

"For nearly two years from 1991 to 1992 I went to live with my parents in Brockport NY. I was 24-25 at the time and was experiencing a great amount of emotional turmoil because of a recent arrest and lengthy court appearances. In addition I had a falling out with my wife at the time because of said arrest.

While at my parent's home I would on occasion hear loud explosions sometimes so violently loud that they would shake the house. My mother would hear them too, one time knocking on my bedroom door to inquire if I had been lighting off fireworks. My father had experienced these explosions too, but refused to discuss such (I think it unnerved him). I came out of my room one day to hear something like chains jingling in the small linen closet in front of me. upon opening the closet the only thing I could find that could possibly make such a noise was a box of family silverware. However this was secured in a large wooden box which would have muffled the noise to the point that I doubt it could have been heard as clearly as I heard this.

The occurrences climaxed one day while I was home alone. I was upstairs in the loft when I heard something that sounded like a 300lb. safe being dropped below me in the kitchen. I proceeded to grab my father's 32 auto from the adjoining bedroom as I thought someone may have kicked in the door downstairs. As I swept the house and began to descend the staircase I felt and heard pounding directly under my feet and then I felt something pass through me from my feet to my head, like a chill(it made me tingle). I checked the house inside and outside and from top to bottom, nothing was amiss.

I did not know what to do so I called this psychic bookstore and talked to the person there. I explained the situation to them and told them that it was a brand new home that my parents had just built and that we had even had the builder come to inspect the home because of the occurrences, but he had no explanation. The woman I was talking to suggested that we could have built over an old grave site and to tell the presence to go to the light. So after getting off the phone with her I told this presence out loud several times to go to the light. Later that night while lying in my bed I heard directly over top of me, and only for a split second, a piercing scream so loud that it reverberated off of the walls. I lay in awe, and actually began to question if I had really heard what I had heard. The interesting thing was that we never had any further occurrences after this event.

I believe that I may have been unconsciously manifesting these happenings or that it could have been a manifestation of energy caused by disturbing the site the house was built on (old burial ground, etc.). From what I have studied over the years concerning poltergeists, the severe turmoil and uncertainty in my life may have very well been the catalyst that precipitated the happenings."

Much appreciation and gratitude goes to the witness for sharing these experiences with me.  It is interesting to note that when the witness took charge of the situation by speaking out loud and therefore empowering himself that the phenomena ceased. This is very much in keeping with my own findings to date, and is usually the case.

Pandemic note: During 2020-21 numerous reports of loud explosions, and phantom fireworks have been reported first in North America and then Europe. Some of these reports I'm certain have mundane explanations, but others such as the poltergeist report above do not. I do not doubt that in these times of extreme anxiety, stress, and death the world is experiencing increased poltergeist phenomena. We are living in haunted times. 

Originally published to PSICAN Paranormal Studies and Inquiry Canada

Have you had a similar experience? If so please feel free to connect with me here or through social media I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Synchronicity, Terror, Technology, and Angela

Our world has been plunged into a very liminal state during these last six months, and as a consequence the veil is much thinner so to speak. I was discussing this with a friend from New York who is a professional psychic, and she agrees with me that these strange times are producing many more stranger experiences. UFOs are flying, ghosts are appearing, and I am noticing synchronicities more often than I usually do, and I am a person who sees the symbolic dream-like language of our collective reality quite readily.

In the last couple of weeks we've experienced a number of odd things here in our mountain village, which I wanted to write down before their memory becomes blurry. 

On July 20th we decided to attempt to photograph comet Neowise. It was not easy to do as the comet was very faint, and while awaiting for it to get sufficiently dark enough I downloaded the Randonautica app. This is something I wanted to try out for a while and for me the timing seemed good. I have linked to the Ranonaut homepage for those who are unfamiliar with it and want to learn more, but in a nutshell it is an app that gives geo-cords based on intentions you set. The idea is to venture to potentially new and random places where synchronicities may be produced with your own intention.

This is our comet photo. 

My intention that night was to see UFOs, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me. The co-ords given were somewhere in the middle of a forest close to where we live. It was very late, and at night the forest here is populated by wild boars, and wolves, and other creatures I prefer to avoid while giving all due respect IE: no way were we going at night. 

So, we waited until going home and used Google Earth to check out where this place is, and make a plan to visit there during the day. What we saw surprised us because right at that location exists the ruins of a large church that we had no idea was there. You literally have to hike into this location to find it, and you can bet we will do so when the weather is a little cooler. The photo below was found on the internet and has the photographer's name below.

Photo: Francesco Marucci

I tried using the Randonautica app the next two nights in a row with the same UFO intention and it sent us first to our local cemetery, and then a bakery! What to take away from that, but the UFOs are related to the hungry dead?!!  

I haven't used the Randonautica app since, but it is a lot of fun, and if you are into synchronicities, and random adventuring its worth trying out in my opinion.

High strangeness and the paranormal and synchronicities tend to manifest spontaneously and when you least expect them. Therefore it was not too surprising to me when a few days after the randonaut, comet chasing adventure, we had a very strange event in our car while out doing some morning errands. 

We had just finished grocery shopping, something that really ranks high up there in the mundane, and routine. When we opened the car doors to put our purchases inside we were both assaulted by an extreme smell of perfume. It was so strong it was as if someone broke an entire bottle of the stuff in the car! I could literally taste it. 

Neither Massimo or I could come up with a reasonable explanation for it, and as the car began airing out the scent was clearly identifiable as roses.

This type of paranormal smell is not new to me. I had a similar occurrence in a house I lived in during the 1990s. The appearance of the rose scent at that time heralded the beginning of a three period of intense high strangeness that at times was frightening for me and my children, and others who came to our house and witnessed these weird things. 

I have to wonder if this new out of place rose smell will spark the beginning of similar cycle of high strangeness... 

The mysterious smell of roses is associated with Catholic Saints, so when it happened I immediately thought of Saint Catherine of Bologna. She was a mystic, artist and visionary and so her life story, and shrine intrigued me. 

I visited this incorruptible saint twice in 2018, and the photo above is one I took of her.  You can read about her and my visit here.  

Later that day I received a DM from an American friend who said she had a very vivid and highly symbolic dream about me, which would have roughly coincided with the timing of the mysterious perfume in our car. Her first name along with 5 generations of women in her family is a variation of the name Rose. Was she bi-locating to me with the scent of roses? 

And even later that night, we were sitting outside and I kept hearing what I thought was church bells. This might not be so unusual, but the bells which started out melodic turned more and more into a cacophony, AND it was 9 pm on a Tuesday night! Of course I thought of the nearby abandoned church and wondered if what I was hearing was coming from some other reality. Massimo who was sitting with me did not hear them the way I did. 

Riding the weirdness wave, I decided to try a little impromptu ghost hunting. After a few minutes of quiet meditation I turned on the GhostTube app, which was created by my favourite ghostly Youtubers at Amy's Crypt, and is free to download.  Almost immediately it  said the name Angela. It repeated the name Angela a few times, also the words peaceful, and sailor. I had no idea what this might have meant. The only Angela that both my husband I know is the lady at the cat shelter where we adopted Pixie and Merry, and she seems to be alive and well.

After getting ready for bed I opened up my phone for one last check of messages and news and this was the first image that popped up. It startled me so much I got Massimo to take a pic of my phone screen with his. This is what we saw....

The article is about the worst terror attack in the history of Italy. On the morning of 2 August 1980, Fascist terrorists planted a bomb in the waiting area of the Bologna Centrale railway station resulting in the death of  85 people and wounding over 200 more. It is known as the Bologna massacre. The poignant image above depicts a memorial at the station and a hand touching the name of one of those victims... Angela. 

My husband had been scheduled to arrive at the train station 2 hours after the bombing occurred. He had been visiting his sweetheart in Finland and was taking the train from Milan's airport to his home in Bologna. In those days there were no mobile phones, no social media, and no easy way to communicate, so at the time his family were in anguish not knowing if Massimo had been caught up in the horrific events of that day. I can only imagine my husband's horror when he was able to get back to Bologna.

The synchronicity between the Ghost Tube session, and the photo of the memorial is striking to me.  Angela's full name was Maria Angela Marangon and she was 22 years old when she died, almost the exact same age as my husband was in 1980 at the time of the bombing. 

Clearly my husband is tied to that event, as are all the people of Bologna within living memory, and this is our home. Along with the name Angela the word peaceful came up more than once in my session. I hope that she and her loved ones, and all those who have suffered such an immense and senseless tragedy have found some peace. I honestly don't know if I ever could, and I plan to bring a flower for Maria Angela to the train station memorial the next time I am there. 

I cannot with 100% confidence say this was a message from the other side, or know how deeply inter-connected these strange experiences over the last couple of weeks are to each other. But I do strongly suspect they are connected on some deeper level. 

My take away from the Angela synchronicity is that this was a reminder of the preciousness and fragility of all of our lives. 

Be well and good to each other. ❤

Signs Your House Is Haunted

Many years ago I used to live in a very haunted house, and one of the lessons that experience taught me was how to recognize the signs of a haunting. In hindsight most of the houses I have lived in were probably haunted, but in general the ghostly phenomenon was so subtle, and so rare, that had I not been very observant, or a believer in strange things, I may have just written them off as something mundane, and likely forgotten about it.

Most of us live busy and exhausting lives that take us away from where we live for the majority of our waking hours. The corona virus pandemic has changed all of that. Almost all of us are now either willingly or forcibly locked inside our homes, for who knows how long. These are anxious and turbulent times.  And now, as we are spending almost all of our time inside our houses, and apartments, and rooms I wonder how many people might be experiencing odd happenings that they may have not noticed before?

The following are some signs that your home may be haunted that I have learned through my personal experiences with ghosts, and through my many years of investigating hauntings. Its important to remember that since we are all living with a lot of anxiety and our routines have been upended a lot of what we may perceive as a haunting could have a natural explanation.

Strange Sounds: Are you hearing unusual sounds? Many hauntings do start out with strange sounds, knocks, loud bangs with no explanation, phantom footsteps, scratching sounds, disembodied voices, whispers, and even growls. Some sounds such as the house settling are normal, and you just might not be used to hearing them. If you can investigate the source of the sound you may be able to explain it.

Unusual Feelings and Sensations: Do you ever feel like you’re being watched when there is no one with you in the room? Have you ever had the sensation of being touched by unseen hands, or felt the temperature suddenly drop with no apparent explanation?  All of these have been reported by people who live in haunted homes, including myself.

Strange Dreams and Night Terrors: I think right now we are all experiencing these, but in normal circumstances people living with ghosts occasionally report having nightmares, and sleep paralysis.

My girls Pixie and Merry

Pets Acting Strangely:  Right now our pets are likely feeling the anxiety we have due to the pandemic. My own cats Pixie and Merry are very clingy lately and seem to know something is not quite right. But in general animals might react to spirits and ghosts in ways that are unusual such as barking at something only perceptible to them,  or not willing to enter certain rooms.

Objects Disappearing: When I lived in that very haunted house I would routinely have objects moved around, disappear, and sometimes reappear in places I knew I never put them. Ghosts are definitely tricksters. If this is happening a lot and your not in general absent minded you may have a ghost in the house.

Poltergeist Phenomena and PK or Psychokinesis:  This is more rare, but would include things like unexplained water puddles, fires, furniture moving, doors slamming, lights turning off and on etc. Electronic disturbances including strange interference with radio, tv, internet, and phone calls, and batteries draining are another sign that a place may be haunted.

Unexplained Shadows: Do you see shadows lurking out of the corner of your eye that are not there when you look around? Do you see shadows where one should not be? Shadow people are a newer phenomenon, but masses or balls of black shadow date back for centuries in the ghost literature. If you experience any of these unexplained shadows your house could be haunted.

Light anomaly or reflection? Taken at a place that was reputedly very haunted. 

Balls of Light and other Light Anomalies: I am not talking about "orb" photos which are mostly explained, but visually seeing balls of light with your own eyes. These are frequently associated with hauntings and are described in many different colours.

Apparitions: These include shadow people or human shaped shadows, but often they are described as fully solid looking 3D people or animals that witnesses would never have guessed were a ghost until they did something freaky like vanish or appear to walk through a wall.

An abandoned cabin in the woods near my home, that has a dark, and tragic past. 

Haunted History: Many haunted houses have a tragic or violent past or are perhaps built on land that has a history of turmoil. The home itself may have a long history of ghostly activity This is not true with all haunted houses. I have investigated ghosts in brand new buildings with no history nor the land they were built on. In those cases it seemed the people were haunted and not the place.

If you are worried that you may be living in a haunted house please keep in mind that hauntings are never like they are portrayed in the movies or horror fiction. When I investigated haunted houses one of the main things I took away from talking with people is that they were more afraid of what might happen than what had actually happened ie: their imagination was driving their fear more than the ghosts were.

Most hauntings end as swiftly and mysteriously as they begin with no lasting harm, but there are some tried a true methods to either live with ghosts or send them on their way.  In a few days I will write about some of the methods I've personally used and found success with.

Are you living in a haunted house? Can you add something to these signs of a haunting? If so, please leave a comment. 

Some of the suggestions I've been given in addition to the signs listed in the blog:

* A history of addictions or tenants with a addictive personalities
* Religious Iconography and or an overtly religious household
*Location --- near a cemetery, church, ravine, wood...
*History of Trauma --- either in the home or on the land
*Ratio of females to males living on the property
*Objects appearing and disappearing
*Strange smells that cannot be accounted for

These came from members of the Paranormal Experiences and the Pandemic Facebook group. Thanks so much to everyone who added to this post and please feel free to join the group.

Ghosts of Griffith Park Los Angeles

Detail from the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round

In November 2016 I took a trip to Southern California with my Sisters and niece. While there I was fortunate to visit a few places that are either reported to be haunted, and have a history or legend that is paranormal in nature. Of all the places my Sisters and I went we only encountered one definite cold spot that was very weird. I should note we were not ghost hunting, but just worked in the paranormal, magical, unique and interesting when possible.

On Sunday November 13th we visited Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and it was near the old, long abandoned LA Zoo that we had the odd happening. The old Zoo is located on a hiking trail off Fire Road, Los Angeles, 90027

Here is a brief history:

"The Griffith Park Zoo was originally opened in 1912, amusingly built on the former location of Griffith J. Griffith's old ostrich farm. It was opened with 15 animals, and due to lack of funding, it opened without any cages, simply stockades to keep the animals in, which was inadequate for several of the species kept on site.

Stories claim that the history of the zoo was rocky, and it was always struggling. For example, in 1916, the zoo was apparently leaking sewage into the L.A. River, and later during World War I, a meat shortage made it hard to properly care for the animals, forcing the zoo to substitute horse meat for beef, leading to the deaths of many of the meat eating animals, particularly the big cats. Luckily the zoo was free which kept visitors coming.

In the mid 1920s, with the failure of the Selig Zoo, William Nicholas Selig donated several of his animals to the Griffith Park Zoo. Selig had owned Selig Polyscope, which post closure of the film studio, led the movie producer to take all the animals he had gathered for his films and try his hand at opening up a zoo in East Los Angeles. A zoo he had plans to mix with a large amusement park. Selig had grandiose plans involving a large zoo, rides, restaurants, a hotel, and even a giant swimming pool complete with a beach and wave making machine. None of his plans ever saw fruition however, and although the Selig Zoo was occasionally rented out to film a few movies, such as the 1918 Tarzan, the zoo ultimately failed, leading Selig to donate the animals to the Griffith Park Zoo.

By May 1958, people had had enough of the Griffith Park Zoo and its condition, leading voters to vote for the establishment of a brand new zoo. An $8 million dollar bond was approved for construction, and by November 1966 the new Los Angeles Zoo opened a few miles north of the Griffith Park Zoo. All the animals were relocated there, thus ending the career of the Griffith Park Zoo."

History Source Weird California

We arrived at the head of the trail after several hours of exploring the Griffith Observatory and taking in a show at their Planetarium, which I highly recommend! There were quite a few people including families near the parking area who were picnicking, it was getting close to dusk, but still fairly early in the day and quite warm. As we hiked up to the abandoned zoo enclosures there were fewer and fewer people and no one on the trail giving us a chance to thoroughly check it out.

There is an eerie atmosphere there that can definitely be related to the history of how people used to believe it was OK to treat animals, and in some cases still do. A definite sadness in the air, and the scenery lends itself to a horror movie vibe.

After climbing into some of the enclosures and snapping a few photos we started back up the path away from the parking towards the trails. I was looking for some rocks to bring home from the location when my Sister called out to me to come over to where she was standing. Right in that spot there was a definite "cold spot" with absolutely no identifiable source. The temperature if I had to guess was at least 15 degrees colder and felt like standing beside air conditioner's vent. 

Here is a photo of the location of the cold spot.

This is another angle from near where the cold spot was encountered. 

Cold spots are considered to be part of a PSI or paranormal experience. Maurice Townsend of ASSAP describes them thusly:

"People often report 'cold spots' in haunted locations. These are small areas (usually a lot smaller than a room) that feel significantly colder than the surrounding area. They are considered by some to be a sign of a ghost in the area. Some cold spots are always felt in the same place while others seem to appear and disappear at different locations." 

Full article on cold spots here

I have encountered cold spots before while visiting reportedly haunted sites, but usually not so drastic a change, and never one outdoors before. An unusual and unexpected highlight of our visit to Griffith Park. 

For more on the Griffith Park hauntings please have a look Weird California's Curse of Griffith Park page which includes the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round which we visited after the the hike up to the Zoo. 

This Merry Go Round was the inspiration in part for Walt Disney to build his theme park. There is information and a history on the site. It is definitely beautiful with its own creepy long ago fairground vibe and vintage calliope music.

Creepy clown and devils lead the way!

Naturally we just had to take a ride! 

Merry Go Round Selfie!  

According to Weird California "a ghost lurks near the Merry Go Round, having been seen descending steps nearby and disappearing as he reaches the last step." I can believe it! And while we did not encounter that ghost I would love to hear from anyone who has had a first hand encounter or an interesting story from Griffith Park. Will definitely go back when in L.A.

Snack tip: Popcorn is free at the Merry Go Round at the end of day 😀

Visitations

Sauble Beach, Ontario, Canada - My photo

It has been 11 years since my Mother passed away after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. She is forever in my heart, and my mind, and I still miss her very much.

I have been going through some of my older posts from other blogs and websites that I have contributed to, and came across this one earlier today. It reminds me of how fleeting and precious our lives are, and I wanted to reshare it in honour of my Mom.

My Mother held no specific religious beliefs beyond that she would tell us that she believed in the stars, and the Sun, and our Earth. She was very much a Pagan in spirit if not in a self identifying label. She was a very spiritual woman in part due to a near death experience she had after falling into a river when she was 9 years old. And she was very interested in my research into exceptional human experiences.

A couple of weeks after her diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer with a very grim prognosis we had a long talk about death. She assured me that she had no fear of death itself, but was scared of the process of dying. Her illness came as a shock to all of us, including herself. A few weeks before she collapsed at home, and had to be rushed to the hospital we had taken a long walk on shores of Lake Ontario for her birthday. She loved the beach and she lived close to the lake. We had ice cream cones, and joked about stuff, and nothing seemed unusual or wrong on that warm Summer day. It was three weeks before we knew she was seriously ill.

When my Mom got her diagnosis she was in shock, and grief, and she told me she had no idea how she would be able to fall asleep for all of the anxiety.

Weeks later she told me that when she did go to her bedroom that first night, and climbed into bed with her book, something odd happened. She felt as if someone unseen to the eye had sat down on the bed right beside her. She could feel their weight, and mass as if someone was right there! She said it was like a larger person was sitting there, but she could not see them despite the lights being on.

A ghost?

She was not frightened, in fact she said she felt a great calm come over her, and she felt protected. She knew everything would be ok no matter what happened. And soon afterwards she was able to fall asleep.

Surely, she said to me, "this must have been my guardian angel come to comfort me." Everybody has a guardian angel isn't that right, Susan?" She told me about this strange experience a couple of weeks after it had happened, and as she, and we as a family began processing the knowledge that her life was coming to a close.

The day after the horrific diagnosis my Mom asked me to break the news to my younger sister. She couldn't bear to do it herself knowing it would break my sister's heart. I waited until my sister got off of work, and I told her our Mother was dying, and had very little time left. This was one of the hardest moment's of my life.

Before the end of the evening and as the news began sinking in for both of us, my sister said she had to tell me something, and it couldn't wait. She said she did not want to forget to tell me, knowing that I'm "into weird stuff" and that I'd find it interesting, and needed something else to occupy my thoughts even if only briefly.

Three days prior to the diagnosis of our Mom with terminal cancer my sister, and her partner were in the small town of Sauble, Ontario, Canada, that coincidentally was the same place our parents had first met during the 1950s. My Sis and her partner had stayed in the Sauble Beach area later than they had planned, and so they decided to rent a motel room for the night, and drive back to Toronto in the morning.

After watching a movie, my sister and her partner fell asleep. At some point during the night she was woken up by what she initially thought was her partner sitting down on the bed beside her. She felt it was a bigger person, and she turned around only to realize her partner was snoring, fast asleep on the other side of the bed!

She said she was a little startled by this because she could feel the indentation where this "bigger body" felt as if sitting right beside her, however she told me she was not scared.

The light was very dim, and she could not see this "person" only felt the sensation of someone being right beside you.

She then said it felt like a hand began stroking her head, and she felt comforted, as if the intention of this "unseen hand" was to soothe her, and she turned over and went to sleep.

She said she had no idea what the experience had been all about. In fact she said she probably just dreamed it all, but since she knew I collected "weird stories" she wanted to tell me, and give me the name of the motel so I could post an anonymous report about it to my ParaResearchers of Ontario website. Just in case someone else experienced something similar there or if there was a history of the place being haunted.

Bear in mind that at this point I did not know about my Mom's strange experience, and I had not been able to connect the two encounters yet.

So a couple of weeks later when my Mom began telling me of her "guardian angel" I was bursting, and almost leaping off my chair. And I believe the first thing I said to her was did you talk to Diana?!!!!

My mother and sister had not shared these experiences with each other yet. And both were amazed by this synchronicity. The descriptions of their separate encounters were nearly identical!

I did not have a similar encounter, and I'm not certain how I would have felt about it if I had. I did have several synchronicities leading up to my Mom's diagnosis, but I was only able to decipher them much later on.

There have been thousands of similar experiences reported over the centuries, and probably occurring since the beginning of human history. We are certainly not alone. I hope that somehow in the telling of our family's encounter this will help someone in some way.

Ghosts Are A Trickster

Video clip taken at Fort George. Both the security staff and I felt something brush past us in the dark room. This particular building is proclaimed the “most haunted” site in Kyle Upton's book on the ghosts of Fort George.

Ghosts are a Trickster

In the early 2ks I worked as a segment producer on a television show called Creepy Canada. The attached video clip was filmed by me (very poorly, sorry) after a day of shooting in Fort George, Niagara-on-the-lake, Canada. This particular building I was in is proclaimed the “most haunted” site in Kyle Upton's book on the ghosts of Fort George.

That evening after the production crew was wrapping up I was called into a room where another producer from Los Angeles had heard what he believed to be the sound of a child's spirit playing with some wooden toy blocks. I recall that he was super unnerved and when I heard the weird noises I grabbed one of the security guards who worked at the Fort to accompany me in trying to find the source of the sound.

We walked through the large barracks style building with only a flashlight and my camera to light our way until we got to the other end, down some stairs and to where the sound was coming loudest. At the source it had the very distinctive sound of an animal (maybe a squirrel or mouse that was in between the wooden panels and outer stone wall. Our walk to looking for the sound's source was a bit tense and so naturally we started laughing, and thinking of how we were going to tell the producer from LA that the "child ghost" which freaked him out so much was an animal scratching on the wall. I remember hoping the poor thing was not trapped and would find his or her way out.

The video clip begins where we started walking back. Still feeling satisfied at debunking the sound I all of a sudden felt a chill. The air literally shifted and changed. As we walked into the upper space I felt someone from behind push past me very quickly and brush my shoulder. I could see a figure a very dark a little taller than myself out of my peripheral vision. I should add here that the security guard and I were completely alone at this point.

On the video you hear me gasp, then the security guard and I ask him if he is ok? He answers yes, and I tell him we are not alone there. He also felt the figure move past us only he saw directly in front what he described as solid legs move through the door ahead.

A television production which is a fictionalized reality, a debunking, and a true encounter all in the same day in a very haunted place.

As I say, Ghosts Are A Trickster

My Life Is An 80's Horror Movie

Vintage Ouija Board and Hans Holzer's Haunted Houses First Edition

There must be something spooky in the cold November air tonight! I have been having this vision over the last couple months of finding a Ouija board at the local thrift store, and on the third visit there it was sitting exactly on the very shelf that I pictured it would be. Even the box looked exactly as I had in my mind's eye. I'm only half kidding when I say I had a little shiver along my back and arms when I saw it.

This is a vintage board from the Canadian Games Company, and in perfect condition, for the mere price of only $2.99 and perhaps my eternal soul ... kidding, but, yeah I realise every 80's horror movie begins out something like this.

The instructions come with some hilarious and very dated questions. Here's a sample :

1. Is there a single man present?
2. Is he in love?
3. Spell his sweetheart's name.
4. Does he love her? ( this might be a fun one for the cosmic pixies to answer)
5. How many years before they get married? 
6. Does he kiss other girls? ( This might have bearing on the previous question) 
7. How old Is Miss So-and-So?
8. What street does she live on?
9. What number? (This is getting stalker-ish) 
10. Which gentleman would she prefer to walk her home? 
11. Does she flirt?

Ouija thinks it might be a good dating tool I guess. Like I said, very dated questions, and it warns if you get an incorrect answer to remember that Ouija has its humorous side.

Along with the board I had a bonus find that was not part of my visions, but very welcome, and completely suiting the theme of my other purchase.

I found a first edition hardcover Hans Holzer's Haunted Houses, with some super atmospheric vintage pics of infamous ghost houses. This even more than the Ouija made my day. I love Holzer's stuff and there has never been another ghost hunter like him since.

Definitely a good day thrifty shopping for the girl who loves all things spooky! I will let you know what mischief I get up to with the board.