blackwood

Lullaby For Diane Arbus

2012-02-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

On February 6, 1971 photographer Diane Arbus, ended her life by slitting her wrists and taking sleeping pills - it is rumored that she photographed the whole thing.

To date, she remains my favorite portrait photographer. She saw and captured beauty in dark places - in ones others look rapidly away from or mock or pretend not to see...

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. - Diane Arbus

http://diane-arbus-photography.com/

Tag In A Haunted Parlor

2012-02-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

The lovely Lady M, whose blog of macabre goodness, Lady M's Haunted Parlor, was kind enough to think of me when it came to playing a bit of tag. I always equate the game of tag with this scene from El Orfanto, so how could I possibly refuse?

First up, there are rules. Here they are:

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 3 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you have tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah blah blah, you legitimately have to tag 3 people!

Things of random pertaining to me. They may or may not be true. Here you go:

1. I know how to dispel most types of evil using common household kitchen implements.  
2. I am currently studying Parapsychology at the Rhine Research Center out of Duke University. 
3. I watch Picnic At Hanging Rock each year, on Valentine's Day.  

4. I authored a book on modern music in primitive societies. 
5. I am hoping to teach a puppetry workshop at Dragon Con this year.
6. In The Goonies, Corey Feldman's character is wearing a Purple Rain shirt because I happen to adore Prince.
7. I have more comic books than you. 
8. Currently, my favorite shows on TV are Korean Dramas. How can you not love shows with titles like, "Pretty Lady ChitChat" or "Mom's Dead Upset?" Impossible. 
9. At my last job, my colleagues were all convinced, (all unbeknownst to me), that I was a regular in an 80's TV show as a child and that I was, indeed, Punky Brewster.
 10. They were partly right. 

The following are Lady M's queries for me:

1. If you had only one day in your life you could live again, what would it be? Would you change anything?

If you had asked me this question a little over two weeks ago, I would have provided a very different answer. On Saturday, January 21st we arrived home to discover our beloved little dog had been killed, (which is why I haven't been updating). Someone entered our yard (we suspect the meter reader?), who did not lock the gate and she got out and was hit by a car. The driver did not stop.
The mailman heard it happen, grabbed a couple neighbors and went to inspect. Luckily, the neighbors took her to an animal hospital a block away from us where they assured us she was made as comfortable and pain free as possible but she only lasted an hour.

Right now, that is the day I want a do-over for. There are a number of things I could change and I think about it all the time….

2. Who are the five people you would most like to dine with - dead or alive?

Shirley Jackson, The Fox sisters, J.B Rhine, Stephen Sondheim

3. What is your favorite way to spend a totally free Saturday?

Living in LA there are always amazing events and things going on. Off the top of my head let's say brunch at The Raymond in South Pasadena with a quick visit to The Curio Emporium and Gold Bug. The afternoon is spent at The Museum Of Jurassic Technology with tea in the Tula Tea Room, (if I'm really lucky Tula the Borzoi will be there). Maybe a show at Largo after grabbing the best hot dog ever at Chili Addiction next door, and finally a midnight showing of The Room.    

Stuff for a Saturday -

The Raymond - originally the caretakers cottage of an opulent hotel which burned to the ground. The food is amazing and the patio, especially in Spring, is exceedingly beautiful.
http://www.theraymond.com/

Chili Addiction - Seriously, the best hot dogs ever and great service. http://www.chiliaddiction.com/

Gold Bug - an upscale cabinet of curiosities. http://goldbugpasadena.com/

The Curio Emporium - Check out my earlier post about this wonderful oddities shop! http://www.thecurioemporium.com/

The Museum Of Jurassic Technology - my favorite place in all of Los Angeles. http://www.mjt.org/

Largo - I guess I would describe Largo like it's kinda my idea of "church." It isn't the same since they moved from the original location on Fairfax but, much of the magic still carries over to this legendary place. For a glimpse of the history making that has gone down in Largo's walls, check out the doc trailer http://www.largo-la.com/

The Room - Most of you are probably already familiar with the adjective defying brainchild of Tommy Wiseu. In LA we do it up right every month in what can only be described as a new generation's version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So much fun you'll want to go every month.

And...of course please visit Lady M's Haunted Parlor - http://ladymhauntedparlor.blogspot.com/

Ghost Golf

2012-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Just heard the following from parapsychologist, Loyd Auerbach:

"Okay, here's a weird thing that's going to be controversial: Ghost Golf in Concord, CA, an indoor mini-golf course set in an effects-laden cemetery, is actually haunted. Owned by a friend of mine (who also designed the effects) who'd reported odd goings on in 2010 when he was building the place out. Activity not accounted for by the effects (neither the mechanisms or the programming) has been going on. A recent investigation -- video soon to be on the web -- with psychic Maria Lagana yielded some interesting info, an apparent contact, and most impressively some cooperation from the apparition (which we got on camera). When the video's ready to go, I'll post the links and an article on my website. In the meantime, real ghost or not, it's a cool place to visit (and play a round)."

http://www.ghostgolfconcord.com/home.html

Ada Rainwater, Corpse Bride

2012-01-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

I was researching something else and stumbled across the story of Ada Rainwater in a 1907 Nevada State Journal paper.

HER BRIDAL GOWN WILL BE HER BURIAL SHROUD

"The beautiful gown that was to have been her bridal gown became her burial robe. The most beautiful of happy days has faded and tears of joy, by the inexorable irony of fate, became bitter tears of sadness."

January -The Season Of The Witch

2012-01-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

In many parts of Europe, witches are a common and popular figure of the Christmas season. Prior to the Christian church taking over January 6th as Epiphany or Three Kings night, this was the holy night of Berchta, goddess of winter, witchcraft and animals. Many countries have adapted Berchta to their own cultures and she goes by many different names and personas, but the further you go back in history, the more fearsome she gets.

In more modern times, she is associated with the fairy tale figure of Mother Holle, with her enormous teeth, doling out punishments for the lazy and responsible for making it snow upon the earth by shaking out her feather beds and pillows. In Italy she is known as La Befana and in Russia, Baboushka. In these incarnations the old woman is the epitome of a type A personality. She is overly obsessed with order and cleanliness, so when the three kings pass by on their way to visit the christ child and invite her to come along, she declines the offer as she hasn't finished her sweeping. Soon after they leave, Baboushka comes to her senses, packs a basket of freshly baked cookies and goes out to find them, but they are too far ahead for her to catch up. Now, come each January 6th, like some sort of residual haunting, she packs up her cookies and sets off on a broomstick to find them. She looks in the house of every child and leaves a cookie behind.

Urbania has laid claims to the home of the original Befana. Here, they hold a great festival where hundreds of women dress in stereotypical witchy garb and flood the streets, juggling, dancing, singing and greeting all the children.

In Italy, you can catch a glimpse of witches in storefronts everywhere and even see her "flying" on her broom from the tops of the tallest church towers, throwing candies and treats to excited children below.

The traditional centerpiece of a goose for Christmas dinner is even tied to witchcraft. Berchta is often referred to as Perchta, a sinister figure appearing as a half witch woman half demon with a goose or swan's foot. It was believed that witches rubbed their bodies with goose fat, which enabled them to fly. People left the fat in a pot outside as an offering to witches on Christmas night where they would take nightly flights, called grease flights, over the twelve days of Christmas.

Perchta roams the earth this January night, rewarding those who are hard working and generous and punishing the idle, greedy and (oh dear) the curious. Children and adults alike are vulnerable to Perchta's wrath. Her punishment of choice involves slashing open your stomach so she may violently rip out your intestines, which are then replaced by straw, rocks and garbage. Being an adept seamstress she'd sew you right back up again and then be on to the next victim. In many places Perchta rides with a throng of demonic looking helpers, who love to partake of the feast offerings left out for them by people hoping for Perchta's blessings of wealth and health in the new year.

Perchta and one of her helpers.

In Switzerland Perchta's demon sidekicks, straggele, get to dole out the punishments themselves and aren't terribly discerning as they "...rob all bad children and tear them to pieces in the air." That must make quite a mess - I doubt La Befana would approve.

On The Tenth Day Of Creepmas...

2012-01-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

What...did you think Creepmas was over? Silly...it's only the 10th day! We have a couple more days to go before Epipahny, the final day of the season.

First, allow me to wish you, Gentle Readers, a very happy new year.

The Wild Feast Of Sylvester

2011-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

Profound and powerful magical charm that gets us drunk
in the present on the restored past!

Baudelaire - The Flowers Of Evil

A day originally named for pagan Sun-God or Forest Father, Silvanus and like so many other things, was usurped by Christians and stamped with the name of St. Sylvester, is celebrated on December 31st.

The word, sylvan comes from the Latin meaning "wood" or "wooded." Sylvester is also known as the Keeper Of The Woods. It is in his honor that a feast is celebrated with wild partying, drunkeness and the more magical aspects of protection and fertility rituals.

Branches are cut and woven into large circles to be placed on homes to protect the structure from fires in the coming year. Differing varieties of corn are mixed together with wild clover and fed to the animals to ward off witches. Stolen cabbages are fed to horses to ensure their good health in the new year. Finally, in hopes of making the fruit trees fertile, little sacks of peas are made to beat the trees with.

To maintain your own family's heath or predict it, numerous things can be done. Precisely at midnight if you put a broth made of wild pears on the threshold, death cannot enter your home. Plant oracles could reveal what the year will hold as well -"During Sylvester night, you put an evergreen leaf on a plate filled with water. If it remained green the following night, health could be expected the following year. But stains prophesied illness - and blackness - death itself." - Hiller 1989

Even in these modern times, all over the world with the first stroke of midnight, bringing in the new year, the air is filled with a cacaphony of noise from fireworks, to pot banging to gun shots. This is all done in order to frighten away the bad spirits, ghosts, demons and witches away. The noise was also expected to "wake up" the sleeping seeds below the earth.

I found this charming video created by some German youths, celebrating the "resurrection of the sylvan god!" in rituals, feasting (are those furry apples?!), and it even includes some stop motion animation - enjoy!

Die Auferstehung des Silvanus from Illusionen on Vimeo.

Photo by Andreas Praefcke

The Curio Emporium

2011-12-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

There is a place I know of, where you can time travel.

Located in a lovely suburb of Los Angeles, in a little portion of a beautiful, old house is The Curio Emporium.

Purveyors of curiosities, antiques, oddities, steampunk accessories, taxidermy and militaria, the Curio Emporium is small, but thoughtfully and lovingly curated by it's proprietors, Jenna Macabre and David Constantine. The couple run the shop themselves and contribute to the overall atmosphere by dressing in various period costumes and could not be kinder hosts.

I went to the store expecting not to be able to afford much of anything however, I found the prices so reasonable I was able to bring home a number of bones, photos and a new Jar Pal - a darling little mouse.

The Emporium has branched out and is rapidly becoming a community fixture by hosting a variety of events including picnics, a hearse car show, steampunk themed days and this coming weekend, a special Christmas event featuring a puppet show, vintage clothing as well as booths with other artisans.

1020 Fair Oaks Ave,
South Pasadena, CA 91030

626.399.0417

http://www.thecurioemporium.com

Hours
Wed - Fri: 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Sat - Sun: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Christmas Windows

2011-12-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

Another well loved American Christmas tradition are the incredible window displays for the holidays in New York. This year, Bergdorf Goodman has created a Carnivale Of The Animals display and has made beautiful use of many taxidermy-like pieces.

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them.

Photos 1 and 2 were taken by Ricky Zehavi, 3, 4 and 5 by Julia Chesky at http://www.modelizing.us/ , 6 and 7 by Heather Clawson at http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/

Beans Are Banned For Christmas!

2011-12-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

"I want a feast...I want a bean feast!" Veruca Salt

No doubt, American fans of Willy Wonka recall Veruca Salt's outgrageous demands and have asked themselves, what exactly is a bean feast?

The Bean Feast, like so many other Christmastime traditions had it's roots in ancient magic and spells.

Beans, which were considered to be heavily influenced by Saturn, played a large role in Saturnalia celebrations and various ancient mystery cults in ancient Rome. These traditions were carried to other countries and cultures around Europe throughout the centuries. Practices reached their height during the Medieval era on the 12th day of Christmas, Epiphany - January 6th. During rituals to recognize the coming reawakening of nature, "Erotic Bean Feasts" were held, where there was an abundance of drinking, partying and sexing. Beans were considered so erotic and so strong an aphrodisiac they were outlawed in some places during the seventeenth century:

"Bean soup had a reputation for being so erotic that it was forbidden in the convent of San Jeronimo in order to prevent conditions that might result in indecent arousal. But that order no longer stands, since the nuns gave up that habit." - Allende, 1988

In the book, Beans, A History, (yes, seriously), author Ken Albala relates how beans were regarded as just big troublemakers all around and that Aristotle himself spoke out frequently against The Evils Of Beans. Aristotle wrote that beans are just like testicles and that they are, a gateway to Hades. The proof? It is the only plant that has no joints.

It didn't help matters when Porphyry went around telling everyone about that time Pythagoras did that magic trick where he planted some beans in a pot and ninety days later they looked exactly like a ladies' downstairs mixup....which then transformed into a human head that was for sure someone's poor soul caught in transit.

There are so many crazy claims attached the the poor bean - such as, if you bite a bean and leave it in the sun it will smell exactly like the blood of a murdered person, (there's a difference?) Or the belief in it's magical powers of warding off ghosts - in some places around the time of the winter solstice the male head of household would emerge from the home, barefoot and toss beans around the house while repeating nine times, "Shades of my ancestors, depart," while they rest of the family banged on pots and pans and stomped on the ground. This was all done to protect the family from ghosts who were there to snatch the souls of the living. The beans were believed to hold souls and were thrown out as a decoy in hopes the soul hungry ghosts would be satisfied with the beans and leave the family alone.

The modern day bean feast has transformed quite a bit. Although plenty of drinking and revelry is a hallmark, the bean really only plays into the feast by way of being baked into a cake. A cake is made for the feast containing a single bean. Whoever in the party gets the piece of cake containing the bean is awarded the title of "Bean King" and must preside over the evenings festivities.

This painting by Jakob Jordaens created around 1645 shows a bean feast in full swing - note the exposed chesticle of one guest and the guy vomiting on the left. Clearly, the bean feat was a good time.

Merricat's Creepmas Wish List II - Haunted Air

2011-12-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

While looking up something on Amazon, a book called Haunted Air showed up. A collection of anonymous Halloween photographs from 1875 to 1955 collected from flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales. The collection is described as follows:

The photographs in Haunted Air provide an extraordinary glimpse into the traditions of this macabre festival from ages past, and form an important document of photographic history. These are the pictures of the dead: family portraits, mementos of the treasured, now unrecognizable, and others. The roots of Halloween lie in the ancient pre–Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, a feast to mark the death of the old year and the birth of the new. It was believed that on this night the veil separating the worlds of the living and the dead grew thin and ruptured, allowing spirits to pass through and walk unseen but not unheard amongst men. The advent of Christianity saw the pagan festival subsumed in All Souls' Day, when across Europe the dead were mourned and venerated. Children and the poor, often masked or in outlandish costume, wandered the night begging "soul cakes" in exchange for prayers, and fires burned to keep malevolent phantoms at bay. From Europe, the haunted tradition would quickly take root and flourish in the fertile soil of the New World. Feeding hungrily on fresh lore, consuming half–remembered tales of its own shadowy origins and rituals, Halloween was reborn in America. The pumpkin supplanted the carved turnip; costumes grew ever stranger, and celebrants both rural and urban seized gleefully on the festival's intoxicating, lawless spirit. For one wild night, the dead stared into the faces of the living, and the living, ghoulishly masked and clad in tattered backwoods baroque, stared back.

The collector, Ossian Brown speaks of his collection, "For almost ten years I worked on Haunted Air, and as each new photograph appeared I wondered just how many more there could be. One after another they came, cold on each others tails, like an endless phantom carriage of skeletons and spectres, all of them shaking their death rattles at me. And in their monstrous and demented number there's a deep melancholy, each photograph ripped from a family album, sometimes with no care at all. Torn and crumpled, long-forgotten, sold in house clearances after the owners had died. Or sold in markets, discarded in junk shops by unsentimental family members, ending up thousands of miles away. All of them lost now, stranded, severed from anything that could connect them to home, to the faces behind the masks. In these photographs, normality has been dissolved. No longer a human being hiding behind a mask, but a phantasmagorical manifestation, mutated in the moment, seen through a torn veil... faces peering out from a kindergarten Qliphoth."

Krampus' Revenge?

2011-12-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings Gentle Readers,

Apologies for blackwood's appearance. I found the site "broken" this morning and cannot fathom how to fix it or revert it back. Nevertheless, the content is still here and although this is, indeed the 13th day of Creepmas - the macabre observance of the winter holiday will continue here - in fact we've just gotten started...

Creepmas Gifting

2011-12-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

Since most of you gentle readers have an avid interest in "the paranormal," the following documentary on DVD, may make an ideal gift for a number of people on your list..or even you.

NIGHT STALKERS - Southern California Paranormal Investigators

Filmmaker, Wayne Poe harbored a childhood interest in the paranormal cultivated during the heyday of shows like Unsolved Mysteries and In Search Of. As he grew up he says, “I pretty much thought it was all nuttiness,” that is until a childhood friend began to have his own paranormal experiences. Unable to dismiss his friend’s typically grounded and rational views, Poe then spent the next year immersing himself in the culture of Southern California paranormal investigation.

Poe got a lot more than he bargained for. “I was intrigued by their methods and philosophies on ghost hunting,” he says. “I was escorted to well known haunted locations in Southern California, as well as residences the ghost hunters attempted to rid of their own spirits.”

The first residential investigation is documentary gold, akin to something out of American Movie. The first team arrives at the home of a client, where the two lead investigators inform her that the spirits are watching them. Poe cuts to an interview with the team post investigation where the lead investigator informs us she “Knew exactly what to do,” since she and her colleague astral projected to the house prior to their physical arrival. Cutting back to the investigation, the encounter gets more and more incredible with tales of a dead woman in the closet, a ruthless killer in the basement, vortexes, a disembodied attack and the requisite demons. As if that weren’t enough, Poe is pulled aside and asked to turn off his camera so they can reveal this shocker – one of them is not entirely human! “I thought I was being pranked,” he says. Through it all, everything is caught deftly on camera, evoking the feeling that you are right there - in the center ring of this circus.

Of course, not all of the film is populated by “investigators” or psychics of this ilk. If you watch any of the para shows on TV regularly, you will surely see a number of familiar faces. In the many interviews that appear throughout the film there is an undercurrent of sincerity and longing for understanding. One investigator even goes so far as to state “People need to be ready to accept that what we are doing is not proof of anything.” Others passionately state they know paranormal occurrences “are real.” Poe’s chosen subjects thoughtfully address the topics of frauds, fakery and admit to a lack of understanding.

The viewer is given the opportunity to go inside real investigations in historical locales, businesses and private residences with teams and individuals that display a wide variety of techniques and philosophies, from high tech to low teach. Maybe most importantly, Night Stalkers provides far more interesting and compelling occurrences and possible paranormal accounts than you’ll ever see on TV. Of course, there’s a paranormal themed conference or two, one of which ends up being the foundation for a story arc within Night Stalkers, when the local team of skeptics from the Center For Inquiry infiltrate an event called So Cal Para Con. Mark Edward, a performing mentalist and skeptic says, “Let’s say you could talk to a dead spirit – which is ridiculous…it would rend the fabric of reality in two and its just not happening.”

Its not only interesting to watch these small stories unfold during the course of the film but, for me the most compelling is that of Poe’s, who as I mentioned began this venture with the opinion that “..it was all nuttiness.” Yet, toward the close of the film things begin to pull him into the investigations he’s filming…even when he’s not there.

Thought provoking, funny, poignant and entertaining, Night Stalkers gives you what the TV shows won’t.

THE NIGHT STALKERS DVD IS NOW AVAILABLE. $15.00 + $4.00 S/H
Send your shipping name and address to: mrwpoe@gmail.com

Night Of 1,0000 Krampus

2011-12-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the absence of Creepmas posts over the weekend - Krampus brought the flu virus to my house.

Admittedly, the title of this post is a bit inflammatory however, I am sure you will greatly enjoy this video of a Krampus parade in Austria.

Creepmas Cartoon Break

2011-12-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Wintry fun and cuteness reign, until he comes to life.

This 1932 cartoon is like a version of Frankenstein On Ice.

A review of the piece by James Francis Crow in a Hollywood Citizen News entertainment column appeared on August 24, 1933:

Ted Eshbaugh, touted as the first worthy competitor to Walt Disney, has completed the first color cartoon of The Wizard of Oz series, and it will be released soon by a major studio, this column hears.

Another of Eshbaugh's creations, called The Snow Man, in an Arctic locale, applies the Frankenstein theme to cartoon comics. The snow man builded by the little Eskimo hero and his animal pals comes to life and spreads havoc in the north country. But our hero runs to the North Pole Power Plant, turns on the Aurora Borealis, and melts Mr. Snow Man.

A fish the icy Frankenstein has swallowed is found swimming in the placid lake formed at his demise.

The Christmas Spectre of Clarence Street

2011-12-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

Humphrey Brooke, a fifty year old, well respected physician and life long bachelor was not what most would find physically appealing. He was shorter than average and his extremely stooped shoulders didn't help. At the end of his long, crooked nose sat a pair of spectacles and to add to these he was asthmatic and quite socially awkward.

Dr. Brooke was the opposite of twenty year old Felicia Clayton. Felicia was the belle of Liverpool - a stunningly beautiful, kind and charming young daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate. It could be said that Felicia was the Scarlett O'Hara of Liverpool - she could have the heart of any man and was inundated with love letters, gentlemen suitors and proposals of marriage.

The pair first met at a funeral, when Dr. Brooke was introduced to Felicia. He was overwhelmed by her beauty and kissed her hand. He stared at her during the rest of the funeral and she responded by smiling at him a couple times.

Dr. Brooke caught sight of Felicia around town a couple times after this, once when she was coming out of a carriage and again as she walked down the street with a suitor. This second time, while in a suitor's company, she saw Dr. Brooke and waved to him, but not only did she wave but looked back over her shoulder twice to smile at him. The suitor became jealous and reprimanded her.

Dr. Brooke's infatuation with Felicia was now at it's peak. He hurried home and began to keep a journal of his feelings for her and detailing in it, his plans to win her heart.

When the Christmas season came around and Dr. Brooke received an invitation to a lavish Christmas Eve ball, he took the opportunity and lovingly crafted a letter to his beloved Felicia, asking her to attend the ball with him.

She accepted.

Some days later, a friend of Dr. Brooke's, well known womanizer Charles Wilson, came to visit him. During their visit, Wilson asked if Dr. Brooke had any plans for Christmas Eve as he wanted company at a local pub for that evening. He was certain his awkward and unattractive companion would be alone, as usual. To his surprise, Dr. Brooke informed him that he did indeed have plans, ones that involved the most sought after woman in the city.

Wilson was not only shocked but also very jealous. He, too had tried his charms on Felicia - to no avail. Wilson expressed his disbelief and was trying to talk Dr. Brooke out of what he called his "fantasies" when a woman burst in informing the doctor of a medical emergency and it necessitated his immediate attention. On the way out the door, Dr. Brooke produced Felicia's letter of acceptance to the ball and handed it to Wilson.

Angry and more jealous than ever, Wilson started going through Dr. Brooke's belongings and discovered the journal wherein his "friend" had disclosed all his feelings, hopes and dreams for a future with Felicia Clayton. Vindictive and nasty Wilson went home and proceeded to author a letter to Felicia's father. In it, he disclosed their plans for the ball and made his "friend" look as bad as possible, including implications that Dr. Brooke was not only old, unhealthy and a bad catch for any woman let alone the most eligible girl in town, but that he was also mentally unstable.

Mr. Clayton received Wilson's letter, and wrote one of his own to Dr. Brooke.

Come that Christmas Eve of 1910, Dr. Brooke dressed in an expensive and elegant long, purple velvet coat and embroidered waistcoat and fashionably long, narrow trousers. He smoked a pipe and waited until the time finally came to see his dearest when a knock came at the door with a boy delivering the letter from Mr. Clayton. In it, Clayton lied and said Felicia had accepted his invitation out of pity and that she wanted nothing to do with Brooke. The letter closed with the following:
"It is of utmost impropriety for a man of fifty to be indulging in romantic delusions about a girl thirty years his junior. I warn you to cease annoying my daughter and act with the dignity befitting your age and station. If you persist in trying to win her attentions, it will be at great social and professional cost to you."

Following the reading of the letter Dr. Brooke, devastated and completely distraught died of a heart attack hours later. As he fell to the floor, he took down a clock on the mantelpiece with him. When the clock crashed to the floor it broke and stopped at Dr. Brooke's time of death - 10:50 P.M. I guess you could say he quite literally died of a broken heart.

It is said that Felicia ignored her father's commands and went to the ball to look for Dr. Brooke anyway. It seems she was quite touched by his letter. When she could not find him, she left the ball - much to the dismay of the males in attendance.

Since then, it is believed that the spirit of Humphrey Brooke haunts the house on Clarence Street each Christmas Eve. There are strange rappings, an angry voice that curses and cries out from within. Many a passerby has claimed to have seen a man, around fifty years old dressed in Victorian era clothing wandering on the street outside the house.

Mari Lwyd - The Zombie Christmas Horse

2011-12-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

Mari Lwyd, Horse of Frost, Star-horse, and White Horse of the Sea, is carried to us.

The Dead return.

They strain against the door.
They strain towards the fire which fosters and warms the Living.

The Living, who have cast them out, from their own fear, from their own fear of themselves, into the outer loneliness of death, rejected them, and cast them out for ever:
The Living cringe and warm themselves at the fire, shrinking from that loneliness, that singleness of heart.

The Living are defended by the rich warmth of the flames which keeps that loneliness out.
Terrified, they hear the Dead tapping at the panes; then they rise up, armed with the warmth of firelight, and the condition of scorn.

Midnight is burning like a taper. In an hour, in less than an hour, it will be blown out.

It is the moment of conscience.

The living moment.

The dead moment.

Listen.

~ Vernon Watkins

No Christmas tradition bears more resemblance to Halloween than that of the Welsh celebration of Mari Lwyd. There are costumes, trick or treating and a macabre skeleton mare that has risen from the dead and wanders the streets with her attendants with one goal in mind - to get into your house. To keep them out, you must engage in a battle of wits...in rhyme no less.

An ancient practice, Mari Lwyd or Grey Mare/Holy Mary is typically celebrated on New Year's Eve. Since these ancient times, people have celebrated festivals of light - signifying rebirth and hope in times of darkness. In the festival of Mari Lwyd, we have the rebirth of a dead horse. A horse skull is affixed to a pole with a white cloth to hide the puppeteer. Mari Lwyd is sometimes decorated with festive ribbons and bells or winter greens and accompanied by costumed, wassailing revelers, who are representative of the dead who have risen to remind the living of their existence.

Mari Lwyd and her group, knock on doors asking, in song, to be let in. The song is sung in Welsh and is pretty much the same with a few variations. You can listen to it here: http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/songs/yfarilwyd.mp3

Once the traditional opening verses are sung, Mari Lwyd and company are answered by those inside with challenges and insults. A battle of wits known as a pwnco ensues, where riddles, challenges and insults must be exchanged in rhyme. If Mari's party wins the pwnco, which can be as long as the creativity of the two parties endures, the Mari party enters with another song and is given drinks and treats.

* Mari Lwyd piece by Laurence G. Tilley http://www.lgtilley.co.uk/gallery.html

* Mari Lwyd artwork by Paul Woodford http://www.artmatters.org.uk/

Merricat's Creepmas Gifting List - Item No. 1

2011-12-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

A Conjoined Gingerbread Men Cookie Cutter from the Mutter Museum.

My little black heart is longing for this. I could leave an appropriate cookie out for Krampus now, who will surely be delighted. A Mütter Museum exclusive that comes complete with a gingerbread cookie recipe.

http://www.muttermuseumstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MutterMuseumStore&Product_Code=000023&Category_Code=SEAGFT

Christmas Cannibalism

2011-12-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

What would Christmas be without chocolate? I, for one, like to begin my Christmas morning seeking out my favorite chocolates from the numerous Sees Candy boxes lying around my parents' house, for breakfast. Don't tell my parents.

The word chocolate originates from the Aztec cacahuatl, "black nut." The species name, cacao, from the Mayan language, is a reference to the tree, fruit and drink that was made from it. The Mayans regarded the cacao as a holy tree, both life sustaining but also as a portal to death.

The Aztecs often called cocolate yollotl, eztil - "heart, blood." In turn they called the still beating hearts ripped from the chests of their live human sacrifices cacahuatl - "cocoa fruit" or "Gods' food."

Just before a victim was actually sacrificed they were given a drink called itzpacaltl, "water with which obsidian blades are washed." It was used to intoxicate the victim into an ecstatic state.

Shamans or sacrificial priests took the sacrificial knives and washed off the blood from the last victim in water. They then combined it with chocolate and pumpkin. It is said that the drink had the following effect: "He became nearly unconscious and forgot what was said to him. Then his good mood came back and he started to dance agaain. It is believed that, bewitched by the drink, he gave himself, full of joy and happiness before death." - Diego de Duran

Our first Christmas-centric chocolates were produced in the guise of Father Christmas. Even if its only symbolic one could argue this practice still amounts to a sort of ritualistic cannibalism.

Keep all this in mind next time you gleefully decapitate and devour your chocolate Santa.

As long as we are on the subject of chocolate and after all, it is the Creepmas season - let's take a look at chocolate gifts with a creepy twist.

Famed parapsychologist, Loyd Auerbach has recently taken up another title - chocolatier. His new venture named appropriately enough, Haunted By Chocolate, features Ghost Drops. They come in various familiar flavors but also gourmet ones like dark chocolate with saigon cinnamon and dark chocolate with black sesame. http://www.hauntedbychocolate.com/index.html

Also, don't forget our friends at Cryptocurium http://www.cryptocurium.com/ who I posted about ealier this year - http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2011/09/call-ofchocolate-yes-rlyeh.html They've promised a debut of a new candy today, December 5th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a chocolate Krampus!

Creepmas Carols

2011-12-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

A hallmark of Christmas is the music of the season. We are all too familiar with the thematic elements of the overly cute, romantic, sentimental and of course, sacred songs of the holiday season.

When you think about it, it isn't terribly difficult to find curiously macabre songs and carols among the pack. After all, even by Christian standards, this is the celebration of a figure who was always been linked to death, beginning with a king provoked to slaughter every infant male in his realm. All of this then crowned with magical and mysterious pagan rites.

1) Down In Yon Forest

Down under that bed there runs a flood
Bells of heaven I hear them ring
Half run in water
Half run in blood

There are a number of different versions of this song, passed down through various cultures through the years. Like so many songs an early version was carried over to the US from Europe and for the most part, passed on and preserved by the people of the Appalachians, where a particularly disturbing version was collected, believed to reference the ancient custom of every few years draining the blood out of one's king onto the soil to ensure its continuing fertility.

2) Death Might Be Your Santa Claus

A recording that begins with a sermon from Reverend J.M Gates, informing adults who tell children the legend of Santa Claus are bringing Death into their homes, some nonsense about car maitenance is in there, too. Not sure what that has to do with death or Santa but according to the Reverend, it surely will seal your fate. The sermon segues into a sort of gospel type rant.

3) The Santa Claus Crave

Originally crafted by bluesman Elzadie Robinson in 1927. It contains threats of murder - to both either a Mother or Wife/Girlfriend and Santa.

You know I loved you baby, that is why we could not get along
But someday you gon' be sorry that you ever done me wrong

Oh Lord it's near Christmas time and I want to see Santa Claus
If you don't bring my baby, swear I'll break all the laws

You can hear an original version here: http://dusttodigital.bandcamp.com/track/santa-claus

4) The Coventry Carol

This carol was originally contained within a mystery play, retelling the Christmas story. This song is sung by the mothers of the little boys under the age of two, who are destined to be brutally murdered by King Herod's men. In the last lines, they say goodbye to their children.

A haunting and heartbreaking piece, sure to bring you close to tears if you happen to be a mother.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

5) The Holly and the Ivy

By far one of the most popular Christmas songs, The Holly and the Ivy, although burdened with the stamp of Christianity, maintains it's pagan fertility imagery - so obvious, there is no need to explain. We'll talk more on the significance of holly and ivy plants in the coming weeks.

Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower...

Oh, how I do love Maddy Prior.

6) I Wonder as I Wander

Composer and ethnomusicologist, John Jacob Niles, was a in attendance at fundraising meeting held by evangelicals who had been ordered out of town by the police, most likely to collect songs. In his autobiography, he writes the following:

A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievably dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins.... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.

It was from this fragment that Niles composed I Wonder As I Wander.

7) Christmas With The Devil

I cannot resist including this cover of Spinal Tap's Christmas With The Devil from Judith Owen. It's been a favorite for years. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. The lyrics are great.

The elves are dressed in leather
And the angels are in chains
The sugar plums are rancid
And the stockings are in flames
There's a demon in my belly
And a gremlin in my brain
There's someone up the chimney hole
And Satan is his name

8) Bethlehem Down

Composer Peter Warlock was experiencing financial difficulties. He had recently befriended poet and party boy Bruce Blunt. The first account of their mutual company was from a press report detailing their arrests for being "drunk and disorderly." Lack of funds to fuel the party life prompted their collaboration on Bethlehem Down, which, in turn, won them the Daily Telegraph's annual christmas carol writing contest. The prize money funded an "immoral carouse" on Christmas Eve in 1927.

When he is King they will clothe him in grave-sheets,
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown,
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary,
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down.

Above image from The Frantic Meercat - http://www.etsy.com/shop/franticmeerkat

He Sees You When You're Sleeping...

2011-12-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice.

In Santa’s earlier incarnation, the jolly old elf brought something just as good as presents to your house. He brought along a demonic sidekick, Krampus.

Krampus carries with him a sack – to stuff naughty little children like you into, as well as the original rod of punishment. The rod is hazel wood and is believed to hold magical properties – it can ward off evil spirits, the Devil and protect one from lightning. There is even a legend associated with Mary and the infant Jesus taking refuge under a hazel bush during a violent thunder storm. Other legends depict witches beating lakes with a hazel rod in an effort to create thunder clouds, which materialize overhead and do their bidding.

The hazel rod was considered the great rod of life. With this phallic symbol, women and animals were beaten “with gusto” in hopes of them becoming fertile. It was also considered a wishing rod, used to find hidden treasure. Sometimes, a human countenance would be carved upon it. Indeed, it looks just as disturbing as it sounds.

In some countries, males don Krampus costumes and run wild through the streets whipping and punishing anyone and everyone they come across. While in Austraia and Bavaria he roams the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells.

Finally, on the night of St. Nicholas Eve, it’s Junior Judgement Day! Children polish their shoes, a representation of the soul, and set them on the hearth, along with a treat for St. Nicholas’ horse, or reindeer, depending on the country’s custom. Nicholas enters and fills the shoes with small gifts – perhaps a little orange, a golden walnut and a honey cake and reads aloud from his golden book, all of the child’s good deeds from the past year. However, if you were bad, Krampus is given leave to beat you mercilessly, shove you in his sack and carry you promptly to Hell.

He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake!

Christmas - The Other Halloween

2011-11-29T11:24:00.000-08:00

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for roasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago

Wait a minute... There'll be scary ghost stories? On Christmas?

That's right, Virginia.

Most of us Halloween enthusiasts spend the large part of the holiday season packing up our graveyards and snuggling the spiders back into their webs for the year, followed by a period of mourning that "it's all over" and we shall have to wait another year for October to finally weave it's magic again.

When those sneaky Christian reformers started in on the transformation of Pagan observances, traditions and rituals they left a great deal intact. Much of it has been forgotten by mainstream society but, if you look into the origins of the symbols and traditions practiced today you'll be delighted to know the season is rife with everything we love - supernatural goings on, monsters, spellcasting, ghosts, witches and magic...

Starting December 1st here at blackwood I'll be showcasing the more macabre aspects of the season, profile some great gifts and movies, the best in creepy, small, independent shopping in Los Angeles.

...and of course, there'll be scary ghost stories.

*Photograph by Addison Geary

Singlehandedly Ruining The Neighborhood

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Twiggy and Emily had a delightful Halloween

I went out to get my mail this morning and discovered among the Christmas ads, (seriously?) and bills a handwritten, two page note from a Jehova's Witness. It opened with, "You've probably never seen a handwritten note before..." to which Mr. Blackwood replied, "Not one not written in blood anyway." The letter of concern addressed the Halloween decor which adorns the outside of my house and that I am a tool of The Devil. I'm flattered. Who knew he was paying so much attention to me? Clearly, I am special! I was also warned about the "dangers of The Occult!"

Oh my. What would they say if they could see the everyday decor inside my house?

Mr. Blackwood has composed the following reply:

Those Old Timey Nightmares

2011-11-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Mr. Blackwood directed my attention to this piece on Cracked.com and I thought you, gentle reader, would very much enjoy this collection of bizarre and creepy vintage photos.

José Ortiz Echagüe, Vintage Photography
A Semana Santa procession in 1940, Spain.

Getty Images
Halloween, 1905

Franz Fiedler
Franz Fiedler did a series of these necrophilia shots - Narre Tod Mein Spielgesell (Fool Death, My Playmate) in 1922

You can view the entire piece here: http://www.cracked.com/article_19512_16-real-old-timey-photographs-that-will-give-you-nightmares.html

Spellcasting Music

2011-10-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

A few more songs you possibly are not familiar with to add to your playlist for All Hallows.

1) Twink - Theme From Rosemary's Baby
Yes, I'm sure you are familiar with the theme from Rosemary's Baby, but if you haven't heard Twink before you will surely be delighted. This version couldn't be any creepier.

2) Paris Motel - Mr. Spiltfoot
A reference to the Fox Sisters. You can read more about them here:
http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2011/02/little-foxes-part-1.html

3) The Fibonaccis - Leroy
I adore The Bad Seed and the exchanges between Rhoda and Leroy are the most delicious parts.
http://youtu.be/MgpZ5-yDzhk

4) The Darklings - The Grave
I am a sucker for the theremin.

5) Sarah Jaroz - Shankill Butchers
I know, you know this one too, but Sarah's bluegrassy wail is worth another listen to this boogeyman story. "They're waiting 'til the dead of night..."

6) Kate Bush - Under Ice
Bush's Hounds Of Love is a treasure trove of scary songs. This one is f'ing terrifying. I shall say no more. Just listen...closely.

7) Nickel Creek - House Carpenter
Shirley jackson referred to him as James Harris and he makes an appearence in many of her unsettling tales. However, he is better known as The Daemon Lover who seduces women with passion, riches and adventure. The house carpenter's wife in this tale, rapidly dumps her dull life of caring for the needs of husband and babies to journey on a magnificent ship...things go downhill rapidly, especially when "She spied his cloven foot."

8) GreensKeepers - Lotion
"It puts the lotion on it's skin, or it gets the hose again." Oh dear.

9) Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground
Who knew Godzilla was so damn funky? Rawr. "I know I'm still better off standin' in the shadows far from humans with guns. But now, it's too late, there's no escape from what they have done."

10) Modest Mouse - Satin In A Coffin
"Are you dead or are you sleeping? God, I sure hope you are dead..."

11) Red Molly - Caleb Meyer
I was first exposed to the tale of Caleb Meyer by Sara and Sean Watkins who often played the song at their live shows. The song depicts every woman's fear.

Listen to all the songs here: http://8tracks.com/cabinetofcuriosities/spellcasting-on-all-hallows

Diagnosis: Ouija Madness

2011-10-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

Inhabitants of California town, El Cerrito were diagnosed by numerous physicians as having a case of "Ouija Madness," in March of 1920.

What started in an Italian colony and involving four families in separate households using Ouija boards and spread to a case of mass hysteria of an entire town and resulting in, well...a lot of nakedness. A fifteen year old girl, who with three other women and three men were committed to an insane asylum after stripping naked to better communicate with the spirits. This was followed by a police officer, sans uniform or any other clothing for that matter, running through a local bank and numerous instances of town wide orgies - kind of like The Wicker Man, just without the singing.

This is when ministers and physicians "declare war" against Ouija boards with warnings to the public and government officials that "The Ouija produces hysteria and sometimes insanity," say the physicians and the psychologists. "It is an instrument of evil," say the ministers.

El Cerrito residents were forced to be examined by a team of physicians to determine if they were either insane or possessed, while lawmakers enacted a ban on Ouija Board use and possession in the town.

The reputation of Ouija boards opening portals, allowing demons and evil spirits a foothold on us and our world has perhaps been misinterpreted and a far more disturbing possibility has emerged. Consider that perhaps the door that you keep locked in the dark recesses of yourself can be opened. That the worst of yourself - all the dark and depraved things that evoke fear and hate and shame that lurk within are released and it is you that is unleashed on the world...

Creepy Cakes

2011-10-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I know...I've been getting a bit carried away with the number of posts concerning sweets. I wouldn't show you if it wasn't worth it though. After all, candy and sweets are one of the best parts of halloween...

Most the the cakes you see on the plethora of cake design, competition-y type shows are not only ugly but cheesey. They look like they were both imagined and created by someone who collects Precious Moments figures or some similarly hideous knicknack. However, these cakes are beautifully executued and the subject matter is right down our dark and menacing alley.

You can see more of Debbie Goard's work at
http://www.debbiedoescakes.net/
or http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbiedoescakesnet/

Poltergeist chicken with maggots

"Marty won't be coming back..."

Eraserhead baby

Split dog from "Return Of The Living Dead"

Blanche's lunch. "But you are in that chair!"

A wedding cake

Everyone Is A Moon And Has A Dark Side

2011-10-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

For some people Halloween is all about the costumes. Something either went very wrong...or very right in the following examples, depending on your pov.

So, that last one was doubtfully Halloween related, but it was awesome and therefore necessitated inclusion.

Apologies for not citing sources, but most of these are from multiple sites and I could not track down the proper "owner" - if it's yours or you know whose it is - please, do let me know so I can credit accordingly.

The title is a partial quote of Mark Twain's - "Everyone is a moon and has a dark side, which he never shows to anybody."

Dia De Los Muertos

2011-10-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

The wind gently chills the air, which is redolent and heavy with things unique to this day...one for the dead. Autumn leaves, wild roses, smoke from the occasional cigar smoker or tequila drinker. A bouquet of bright chrysanthemums and marigolds and hovering above it all while the copalli burns, carrying prayers and messages through the veil.

All photographs by Merricat, from Dia De Los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery - October 22, 2011

Creepy Cocktails

2011-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Music that is just right for your Halloween cocktail party - skeletons, ghosts and witches included. I brought the music, you supply the martinis.

http://8tracks.com/cabinetofcuriosities/creepy-cocktails

Artwork by Mr. Blackwood. Yes, that's me - clearly, the perfect hostess.

School Pictures

2011-10-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Close encounters with violence, abnormal psychology and a lot of blood. It's just a normal day at school.

Studies in spatter which we get to create ourselves. Weapon of choice? We are given an option of baseball bat, hammer and crow bar. Let the blood fly.

Spatter and tire tread pattern analysis.

Crime scene lab. True crime scenes are often recreated. Most people got tripped up determining the murder weapon, which can be seen in this photo. It was originally left behind a door. Poor girl.

These models are especially helpful when discerning what a possible passerby/witness may have seen. We can look right through from "outside" to get their perspectives. Very helpful in cases like Lizzie Borden's. I did an earlier post on the "inventor" of this aspect of forensic science and the fantastic documentary Of Dolls And Murder.

Imprinting my Docs for an exercise in evidence retrieval.

Miscellaneous.

Diet Coke is on the Most Wanted list.

Galvanic Reanimation - It's Alive!

2011-10-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Currently, I am obsessed with the history of galvanization experiments and research - which means you'll be reading about it here sooner or...sooner. For now, I'll let the following pictures speak their dark, macabre words...

The last two images come from the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University.

Apocalypse Cakes: Recipes for The End

2011-10-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

...because The End should be delicious.

"Inexplicable" Blackbird Pie.

Raining Blood Red Velvet - perfect for your American Horror Story party.

The simple, yet elegant Fallen Angel Angel Food Cake.

The website - http://apocalypsecakes.wordpress.com/about/

The book - http://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Cakes-Recipes-Shannon-OMalley/dp/0762441062/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284838276&sr=1-1

First State Asylum For The Insane

2011-10-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Opened in 1900, just outside of Minneapolis, MN. This facility was the first in the state created exclusively for the "care" and housing of "the insane."

Architect, Warren B. Dunnell, designed the gothic, brick "cottages" in light of the fires which claimed 18 lives at nearby St. Peter State Hospital. A vast system of underground tunnels connect the many cottages, used by the staff to conduct the day to day workings of the asylum. There are many stories of patients who tried to escape via the tunnel system. Finding themselves lost, confused and scared they would often commit suicide by hanging themselves from the pipes overhead.

It is no wonder that reports of unexplained noises, whispers and laughter have been reported in the tunnels. Footsteps are heard when there is no one there and cold spots are often felt.

The asylum is still in use today, although much of it is abandoned. A lush and idyllic spot with woods surrounding one area and a river running along the rear of the facility, the property also has it's own cemetery, to bury it's unclaimed and unwanted, which Mr. Blackwood and I searched in vain for. We did venture around the rear of a cottage near the outskirts of the facility and ran into a number of inmates sitting outside in a fully enclosed, cage-like patio. We rapidly turned back, unnoticed.

Stories like this one about a Lady In Red also pop up often from both ex-inmates and workers there: "I use to work at the state hospital, and let me tell you, the mystery of the women in red in the tunnels is so true. We use to walk pt's. thru the tunnels to get to the other buildings when the weather was bad, and lights would flicker and yes you could hear moaning at times, and in your peripheral vision, you would see some woman running and could only catch a glimpse of her. Ask anyone who ever worked there years ago..."

Pictured above is one of the many entrances to the underground tunnels.

Spotted on the 3rd floor of a cottage - not what you'd want to see in a patient's room.

The Haunted Portrait

2011-10-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Midsummer of this year I received an email from a dear friend of mine who explained that a possibly haunted portrait had come into her possession and did I want it? Um...yes.

She explains; "A client brought it to me thinking I could exorcise it and keep it for my office as decor. She had said that it "gave her the creeps" and that she and other people had felt a spirit connected to the portrait. At first I was inwardly skeptical, but I set the portrait down against the wall about 2 feet away from me at foot to knee level and began talking about something else. I began feeling what I can only describe as electrical emanations coming from the picture - it was like being near a tesla coil and your hair standing up - warm and electrical. I knew it was coming from the portrait and it was only hitting me from my feet to knees - at the exact level of the portrait. So, although I have worked with friendly spirits in the past, I don't want to mess with this one, not that it feels "bad" or scary necessarily, but I just have a feeling of being a little out of my league."

She left it outside her office door for me to pick up as she didn't want it inside. A couple weeks passed and Mr. Blackwood, who knew none of this and was simply asked to retrieve it on his way home from work, which he did. However, he had a very strange story for me when he arrived home with it. When he picked it up, at the moment of contact he said he felt an immediate electrical charge in his hand which continued up his arm. A kind of tingling sensation, akin to when a limb "falls asleep."

A couple days later we attended a paranormal conference where we had a booth and brought the portrait along. We hadn't told anyone about it yet but asked a psychic/medium friend of ours, Kathryn Wilson, if she would take a look at it. After contemplating it for a while she said she felt that it had quite a lot of energy attached to it belonging not to the little boy pictured, but to his mother. She was quite a stubborn lady and this being her prized possession, she didn't want to let go of it. Kathryn also stated that the thought the boy's name was Charles and that his mother didn't understand that her child had grown up and had passed on. When Kathryn tried communicating this to her, the mother was as tenacious as ever.

Hours later, another friend of ours was visiting with us at the booth and I pulled the portrait out and said, "Hey, take a look at this." Nothing more, nothing less. He had no prior knowledge of us having the portrait nor of Kathryn's comments. He immediately exclaimed that the object was giving off "tons of energy," and that a female, the mother of the child was very strongly attached to it. He also stated that the child's name was...Charlie.

Charlie currently occupies a place in my house in the living room, above the fireplace. In the next couple weeks or so, I plan on taking the portrait out of the frame in hopes something - the child's name? A date? Will be written on the back. I also am looking for a local expert in Victorian era portraiture to date it and tell me more.

I also plan on speaking to her via ITC and EVP work...hopefully, someone will respond.

Kathryn Wilson: http://web.me.com/ufojoe/psychickathryn/Kathryn_Wilson.html

The Midnight Archive

2011-10-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am smitten, twitterpated even with a new webseries, The Midnight Archive , from filmmaker and writer Ronni Thomas. Thomas sets out "To document the exotic, the strange, the eccentric and the truly unique. Often dark and always on the fringe..." Inspired by the fascinating array of people that pass through the Brooklyn Observatory both to teach/lecture and to learn, The Midnight Archives' first three installments feature pet mummification, Mitch Horowitz's Occult New York tour and anthropomorphic taxidermy.

I have often said I would love to move to New York for a year simply to partake of the classes and lectures offered at the Observatory. This sates me...for now. Perhaps I should just start an LA Observatory?

The Midnight Archive: http://www.themidnightarchive.com/

The Observatory: http://observatoryroom.org/

Mitch Horowitz: http://www.mitchhorowitz.com/

Countdown To Halloween - Greetings and Salutations

2011-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Gentle Readers. Welcome to Blackwood. Since this is likely to be our first meeting, an introduction is certainly in order...

We used to live in a duplex when I was little. My mother's parents lived on one side of the structure and my father on the other side. My bedroom was in the middle of the two houses. While my father was out at work, which was every weekday twelve to eighteen hours a day, my grandparents were my primary caretakers. So, at bedtime if my father was still at work, I would be put to bed at the proper time by my grandmother.

On this particular night I had been put to bed and my father, just arriving home from work, came in to see me and tell me goodnight. I remember his silhouette moving across the room in the dark, around the bed and kissing me whilst reaching over to turn on the light.

Turning on the light was a mistake.

As the light from my little lamp flooded the room and my eyes adjusted, I saw my father standing over me, covered, from head to foot, in blood.

I was told I screamed and cried. I don't remember that, (I was slightly more than a toddler and my family is amazed I can remember anything at all), but I do remember the feeling of fear. It took him a few moments to understand my reaction as he had forgotten all about his appearance.

My father had just come home from filming the famous pig blood scene in the movie Carrie.

As a child, and even now as an adult I have grown up among the most amusing images. Some tangible, some pictorial. There is a series of photographs, (my father has a couple of them and I know some of the others appeared in magazines), of my father and Sissy Spacek, covered in blood, arms around one another, big smiles, looking as though they are posing for their prom picture.

I am told that the following day, I begged to be taken to the set. So began the macabre fancies of a little girl, now grown, living in LA. Today, I hunt down evidence of things paranormal, take classes in forensic science at the Hertzbeg-Davis Forensic Science Center and have just been accepted into the Parapsychology program at the Rhine Research Center. Mostly, I long for a place where its always Halloween.

Feel free to roam about as you like or you can select something from the list to your right, The Best Of Blackwood. You'll find stories from paranormal investigations I have done, macabre historical pieces, strange stories of "old" Hollywood and LA, plenty of ghost stories, creepy music for your playlist, and various oddities.

- Merricat

Original artwork by Steve Troop

Paperself - Eyelash Art

2011-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

On a rare shopping expedition with a dear friend to the dreaded mall, we stopped in at Sephora where I fell in deep adoration of Paperself's eyelashes. Not exactly eyelashes, but beautiful, paper cuttings designed by Ting yu Wang.

They had a variety of designs, some full and some partial, as pictured above. My favorite were the deer ones, (below), as I admittedly have a bit of a deer obsession. These could easily make a great addition to a Halloween costume, but special occasion wear is even better. Full lashes run around $19.95 and I believe, are reusable.

Paperself: http://www.paperself.com/

Through The Weeping Glass

2011-09-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

"No child ever imagines the unimaginable. That he will end up as a skeleton."

A romance of two worlds has emerged – the Mutter Museum, a medical museum which showcases medical oddities, and filmmakers, the Quay brothers – who, if you are not familiar with, I urge you to rectify this misfortune straightaway – have produced a new film, arguably a “documentary,” Through The Weeping Glass: On The Consolations Of Life Everlasting.

I had the immense pleasure of attending a screening of the film last night, hosted by David Wilson, the man/genius behind the Museum Of Jurassic Technology and the Quay’s themselves.

All three men discussed how their work influenced one another. The Quay’s were working with Michael Penn at the time on a music video for his song, Long Way Down (Look What The Cat Drug In), when one day Penn took the brothers to the Museum Of Jurassic Technology. As it is for most, it was a life altering visit. Wilson tells the story of how he was leading a double life of sorts – working in the entertainment industry and curating the museum – when he was invited by a friend to watch what was “probably bootleg VHS tapes,” of the Quay’s work. This single, influential event caused Wilson to undergo an epiphany, inspiring him to finally extricate himself from the film industry and devote himself entirely to a work that he was passionately compelled to do. Thank goodness for us he did.

Although American born identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay, “fled” to Europe, citing the ominous commercial beast of Disney as a reason, where they have created all of their work until now. Weeping Glass marks their first film made in the US.

The film, only about thirty minutes, is quite like a private tour of the Mutter, seen through the Quay brother’s unique and distinctive point of view. As they do with their puppetry, the Quay’s ensoul the objects at the Mutter and allow them to tell their story - the skeleton of Harry Eastlack, who broke a bone in childhood, triggering fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva – a disease that basically causes a secondary skeleton to grow in and around the first, the skulls of the Hyrtl Collection including this gentleman, “Giza Hermenyi. Reformist herdsman. At age 70 attempted suicide by cutting his throat. Wound not fatal because of ossified larynx. Lived until 80 without melancholy,” an exquisite “flap book” of human anatomy, and various medical instruments which even caused me to wince. One of them, used to extract gall stones through the penis, another, a 3 in 1 economy tool – a drill like end to enter through the birth canal to crush the skull of an infant/fetus and forceps on the other to extract it in order to save the mother’s life. I was so disturbed I am quite certain I have blocked out the third usage of this horrific tool.

We were also treated to a viewing of Edward Waisnis' companion piece, Behind the Scenes with the Quay Brothers . Their "accidental" manner of filming this piece, how they worked with museum staff, (who play all the "parts" in the film), and some of their beautiful lighting techniques are shown.

Through The Weeping Glass will be available on DVD shortly.

The Mutter Museum: http://www.collphyphil.org/site/mutter_museum.html

Museum of Jurassic Technology: http://www.mjt.org/

All photos are from Quay Brothers' work.

The Awakening

2011-09-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Awakening, set to be released in November of 2011, is a post WWI era period piece, that features a female paranormal investigator straight out of the School For Skeptics. Needless to say, I'll be watching.

Photo of Rebecca Hall in The Awakening - by ORIGIN PICTURES

The Call Of...Chocolate? Yes, R'lyeh.

2011-09-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

I want candy. Not just any candy but something...anything from Cryptocurium. A new candy company hailing from New Jersey that creates "handmade edible art," inspired by the strange and macabre.

We are heartbroken to see the Giant Cthulhu Candy Bars are no longer available. However, we are hoping the Great Pumpkin brings us an Edible Vampire Hunter Kit, which includes a hard candy holy water bottle, a dark chocolate crucifix, a red milk chocolate miniature Bible, a hard candy bottle of holy oil, a white chocolate clove of garlic and three milk chocolate wooden stakes, or at least an absinthe skull lolly. Please?

Visit Cryptocurium here http://www.cryptocurium.com/

Dolores Hope - RIP - Repost: The Vile Vial

2011-09-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

I am sad to learn of Dolores Hope's passing today, but have little doubt that in her 102 years here, she very much enjoyed herself and blessed many with her presence...including me. I am grateful. Here is a repost of a little memory I had of her:

http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2010/01/vile-vial.html

Haunted Dollhouse

2011-09-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

I have always longed to create a haunted dollhouse, however on the few occasions I have been offered one said offer is quickly rescinded when the giver learns what I plan to do with it. Ah, well...I can live vicariously though jennythebloggess.

jenny says, "I started building a haunted dollhouse dedicated to all the horror and fantasy books that inspired me. I've been building it for 10 years and it's still not finished."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebloggess/sets/72157627520056330/with/6081626982/

Thanks so much to my dear friend Emily, for finding it.

Miss Blackwood's Neighborhood Tales - Update

2011-08-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time leaving things alone and subjects I research and write about are no different. In my continuing research of the Hope Development School fire case I was able to locate a memorial marker, over a mass grave for the victims. It is located in a cemetery in Inglewood in an older, rarely visited section of the cemetery. I will visit them soon, with a flower for each of the girls.

To read the complete story: http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2010/01/miss-blackwoods-neighborhood-tales.html

Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm?

2011-08-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

In the midland of England there is a place called Hagley Wood. An isolated spot that sits in the country, shadowed by the Clent Hills.

One day in 1943 four young boys from nearby Stourbridge set out to take advantage of the sunny day that April was offering them.

Boys of the era engaged in a variety of interesting pastimes, now long forgotten. The most common or popular manuals of the day included such inspired options, complete with detailed instructions for making kites, traps, guns, taxidermy and insect collection and decorative displays.

Today the boys set out to do some bird nesting so that they might expand their collections of preserved eggs and nests. Along the way the boys crossed over into Hagley Wood. There they happened upon a large hazel tree, mistaken for a wytch elm, an unusual but aptly named tree, for the sight of it’s twisted and gnarled branches, evoked something both sinister and mysterious.

The oldest of the boys, Bob, climbed up onto the tree to search for a nest in a deep hole. Bob looked into the hole which provided a view of the hollowed out trunk. Seeing something he suspects is an old animal skull he reaches within and pulls out instead a human skull.

There is still a small patch of of rotting flesh attached to the forehead…as well as some hair. The two front teeth are crooked.

Shocked and horrified at their discovery while trespassing on private land, the boys replace the skull in the tree and agree to tell no one.

However, as in all good fairy tales the youngest child always represents the conscience. Tommy Willetts cannot carry the burden of such a terrible secret for long and tells his father what they had fond.

Tommy’s father informs the Worchestershire County Police Force. When they arrive at the wych elm the following morning they find not only the skull but a nearly complete skeleton, fragments of clothing, a pair of crepe shoes and a gold wedding ring.

Another alarming discovery was made upon an extensive search of the area and surrounding undergrowth – a severed hand that had clearly been buried.

Professor James Webster, head of forensics at the home office forensic science lab in the west midlands, took over the task of examining the body and other evidence collected at the scene.

Webster’s examination suggested that the remains belonged to a woman, approximately 35 years old. She was mother to at least one child. She also had been dead for 18 months prior to the boys discovery – which would place the incident in the month of October of 1941.

The coroner officially declared the cause of death, murder by asphyxiation. You see, her mouth had been stuffed with taffeta – a fabric most commonly used for party dresses. She had been put in the hole while her body was still warm.

Then , there was still the unusual matter of the severed hand. What motive or intent would cause such an act? Speculation immediately turned to black magic and the possibility of the desire to create a hand of glory. Potter fans will remember Draco obtaining one of these from Bourgin and Burkes to help smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwats. But enough about my fandoms.

Bella, a popular name in Black Country, was being used by some to describe the unknown victim. The name stuck when Margaret Murray, a professor at University College in London pressed the idea that the severed hand was evidence of a black magic execution. The wych hazel tree, belladonna and even Hagley Wood itself were all rumored to be associated with witchcraft. Had Bella perhaps been executed for crimes against a coven – or even her own coven?

The forensics team was able to recreate a description for the evidence culled. An exhaustive search of missing persons files and dental records were fruitless. Then, in December the words began to appear.

First in nearby old hill, another in Birmingham, all seemingly written by the same hand asking “Who put Bella in the wych elm?"

Who indeed?

The years went on with no new information on the case. The writing and the question persisted, however, there was the implication that maybe, just maybe the hand behind the writing knew…something. Pleas to the writer to contact the police went unanswered. Then, in 1953, Anna arrived on the scene, bringing with her a new theory.

The Wolverhamption Express and Star ran a piece about the case. The journalist responsible for the piece was contacted by someone calling themselves “Anna.”

Anna had claimed that Bella had been playing the role of the spy who knew too much and had been murdered for what she knew, about a pro Nazi spy ring that included a Dutchman, a British officer that had gone insane and died and a trapeze artist. The police investigated Anna’s claims, and some of them were verified, lending aid to the rumors that two German parachutists had landed and vanished in the surrounding area in 1941. They were supposedly helping to guide bombers to munitions factories in surrounding areas.

Things were beginning to look promising and then, came the news that Bella’s remains had suddenly gone missing from Birmingham Medical University School where they were housed. This prompted an onslaught of suspicion that information was being suppressed to protect persons of some importance. No one ever suggested who was being protected, or exactly why and the trails laid out by Anna seemed to lead…nowhere. No arrests were ever made.

Many subsequent theories have been put forth over the years but none of them seem likely. Perhaps Bella’s child had been fathered by a GI who wanted to get rid of her. But then, what happened to the child and why the wedding ring? Or, maybe Bella was a local woman who fled and hid in the woods during an air raid and fell victim to someone. If so, why would she not come up in a missing persons report, especially being married and having a child? Perhaps a prostitute that had been killed and dumped? This doesn’t quite make sense either.

To this day, the police will not allow anyone access to the case files, citing that Bella’s case is still open.

Locals claim Bella haunts the wood.

The sound of a woman crying and screaming is often heard and strange lights are seen.
In Wychbury Hill, located opposite Hagley Wood, there is a pub that used to be called The Gypsy’s Tent – so named for the Gypsies common to the area. As the legend goes, a number of Gypsies who were camping near Bella’s tree were brutally murdered there. The pub has been renamed The Badger’s Set. Both patrons and employees tell stories of doors opening of their own accord, cold spots and objects being moved. Some think it might be Bella. If it is, she might have some company.

An account from a Detective Constable Roger Ryder, ran in the Black Country Bugle in 2007. One summer night around 2 o’clock in the morning, Detective Ryder was driving past the pub. Out of the corner of his eye he sees that the Badger’s Set is all lit up and glowing brightly. As his car gets closer, the figure of a man emerges in the parking lot area. He is dressed like an old cavalier soldier - in boots, big hat, the red uniform and a sword. Logically, he assumed there is what the Brits call a “Fancy Dress Party” going down. The man runs right into the road and their eyes meet. At this point Ryder thinks to himself, “If this guy keeps running, I will never be able to stop the car in time.” Of course, the uniformed man does just that.

Ryder had been going sixty miles an hour but he slams on his breaks anyway, knowing it is too late. The car screeches to a halt, whilst spinning on it’s axis – a full 180. It finally came to a stop facing the opposite direction. He sits there, stunned. Knowing he has just killed a man. Ryder finally exists the car and goes to find the body. There is nothing there. He checks the nearby field, the hedges and under the car itself. There is no sign of the uniformed man nor that he has hit anything. He also notices that it is eerily quiet. Ryder looks over toward The Badger’s Set and finds it in total darkness.

Haunted Houses

2011-07-11T08:52:00.001-07:00

Corrine May Botz's body of work is fascinating. I've posted about her Nutshell Studies Of Unexplained Death earlier this year. She is a storyteller, of sorts - through her photography, film and in this case oral collection of ghost stories. Of the collection, Botz says:

The series was inspired by turn of the century spirit photographs and Victorian ghost stories written by women as a means of articulating domestic discontents. In being the medium through which the spirit of these houses was recorded, I continued the tradition of female sensitivity to the supernatural.

Haunted Houses provides a unique way of understanding our relationship to the spaces we inhabit, and reflects romantic and dystopian notions of the domestic realm. The notion of hauntedness activates and highlights the home, revealing the hidden narratives and possibilities of everyday life.

Haunted Houses includes an archive of first-hand ghost stories. The stories were collected on location and over the phone. They range in length from a few minutes to an hour. The voice is captured much like the space. Both image and text are haunted by absence, history, memory, and the possibility of never being seen or heard. Unlike the majority of horror films where the ghosts arrive as a result of an inopportune death, or to right a wrong, the inhabitants of these houses are often at a loss for why the ghosts are there, and in some cases the ghost is considered a source of comfort.

The photographs: http://www.corinnebotz.com/Corinne_May_Botz/Haunted_1.html

The stories: http://www.corinnebotz.com/Corinne_May_Botz/Stories.html

Inside The Box

2011-07-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

Across the street from my grandmother's house, just behind the train tracks, is ABC Caskets Factory. Opened in 1933 ABC is now the oldest casket factory in California.

They boast the unusual feature of a showroom, where those in need can select from the variety of models displayed in lieu of a catalog. Unusual requests come in, of course - fake fur, all-american, a 900 pound relative? No problem. Of course, Hollywood comes calling frequently. ABC's coffins are frequently seen on television and film.

A few shots from my visit:

The Devil's Weed

2011-06-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Colonists arrived on the shores of Jamestown Island in 1607. At first look, this was an ideal location. No native inhabitants, prefect visibility to watch for any Spanish ships approaching. A safe, insulated place. As we all know, looks are so often deceiving.

In reality, a lack of any vegetative sustenance, no wildlife for hunting, a filthy water supply and a voracious mosquito population made the island a very poor home, indeed. It was however, overrun with a particularly attractive weed, that sported pretty, trumpetlike flowers which some of the settlers took the chance with by adding them to their food and drink.

The weed took hold of them quickly causing convulsions, hallucinations and failure of their respiratory systems resulting in death.

Seventy years later when British soldiers arrived, descendants of the original settlers remembered their history well and placed the plant into the soldier's food. They did not die, but instead went mad - for eleven days. ."..the effect of which was a very pleasant comedy, for they turned natural fools upon it for several days: one would blow up a feather in the air; another would dart straws at it with much fury; and another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner like a monkey, grinning and making mows [grimaces] at them; a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll.

In this frantic condition they were confined, lest they should, in their folly, destroy themselves — though it was observed that all their actions were full of innocence and good nature. Indeed, they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallowed in their own excrements, if they had not been prevented. A thousand such simple tricks they played, and after eleven days returned themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed." - The History and Present State of Virginia, 1705

It's Two, Two, Two Dogs In One!

2011-06-16T18:55:00.001-07:00

The work of Russian surgeon, Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov, known as the grandfather of what he called "transplantology," revolutionized the medical world and through his work organ transplant became possible. Um, not before some crazy experimenting with animal heads, first.

http://youtu.be/uvZThr3POlQ

Medicinal Cannibalism

2011-06-07T18:44:00.001-07:00

'The human body has been widely used as a therapeutic agent with the most popular treatments involving flesh, bone or blood."
- Dr. Sugg

Necronomidog

2011-06-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Intellectually endowed Robert Cornish, who earned a doctorate by the age of 22, put together the following formula:
1 recently deceased organism + 1 teeter totter + doses of epinephrine and anticoagulants = RESURRECTION!

In 1933 he tested this formula on heart attack, drowning and electrocution victims, with no success. He finally decided to test it on animals in lieu of humans and he was actually able to resurrect two dogs who were clinically put to death. He see sawed them back to life. Really.

More, from Time magazine: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,747260,00.html

Historic Houses Trust

2011-05-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Body of a woman in a print dress lying on the floor in front of a Singer treadle sewing machine. Probably late 1930s, early 1940s. Details unknown.

http://collection.hht.net.au/firsthhtpictures/fullRecordPicture.jsp?recnoListAttr=recnoList&recno=31297

Walpurgisnacht

2011-04-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

"This was Walpurgis Night!"- 'Dracula's Guest', Bram Stoker, 1914.

Walpurgisnacht, (April 30th), is the night when witches, demons and spirits hold a party, much like the images accompanying the Night on Bald Mountain suite. It is celebrated in a similar manner to Halloween, with tricks being played on unsuspecting people. Children dress as witches or monsters, bells are pealed and there may even be ritual blessings with holy water and the like. Blessed sprigs can be found hanging over the doors of homes and barns to ward off evil. Many offer a slice of bread spread with butter and honey, called Ankenschnitt, for the phantom hounds who roam.

Tonight the veil thins and party crashing is on my agenda...

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire - March 25, 1911

2011-03-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

On March 25th 1911, now a century ago, just one block north of Washington Square at the corner of Greene street and Waverly, Mrs. Lena Goldman was sweeping the sidewalk in front of her little restaurant – it would soon be time for the dinner rush.

Dr. Winterbottom, who lived nearby, looked out over the square to observe people running toward Washington place. Moments later with his medical bag in hand, he too joined the fray racing across the square.

Dominick Cardiane was pushing a wheelbarrow down Greene Street when he heard a sound like “a big puff” followed by the sound of breaking glass. The noises spook a horse, who rears up and proceeds to run down the street, the cart it was pulling bouncing wildly behind.

William Shepherd, a reporter for the United Press, was crossing over to Washington Place when he saw smoke pouring out of a window on the 8th floor of the Asch building. Shepherd was soon standing among many others on the street below.

They all saw what looked like a bundle of fabric from the garment factory come out of the window. “He’s trying to save the best cloth," remarked a man, thinking that the factory owners were tossing out their fabric in an attempt to save it.

Halfway down, the wind caught it and the bundle opened. It was not a bundle – it was a girl.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, manufactured shirtwaists for ladies – located on the 8th and 9th floors of the Asch building the factory employed approximately 100 men who mainly filled supervisory positions and 500 women and young girls. The majority of the girls were immigrants. Pauline Newman, who came from Lithuania and worked at the factory stated, “It resembled a kindergarten: we were all youngsters. The day's work was supposed to end at six in the afternoon. But, during most of the year we youngsters worked overtime until 9 p.m. every night except Fridays and Saturdays. No, we did not get additional pay for overtime. I will never forget the sign which on Saturday afternoons was posted on the wall near the elevator stating -- "if you don't come in on Sunday you need not come in on Monday!"

They were the kind of employers who didn’t recognize anyone working for them as a human being. You were not allowed to sing. You were not allowed to talk to each other. They would sneak up behind you, and if you were found talking to your next colleague you were admonished. If you’d keep on, you’d be fired. If you went to the toilet, and you were there more than the forelady or foreman thought you should be, you were threatened to be laid off for a half a day, and sent home, and that meant, of course, no pay, you know? You were watched every minute of the day by the foreman, forelady."

The girls started work at 7:30 in the morning and were given a single half an hour for lunch. Another employee of the Triangle factory described their conditions as “unsanitary - that's the word that is generally used, but there ought to be a worse one used. Whenever we tear or damage any of the goods we sew on, or whenever it is found damaged after we are through with it, whether we have done it or not, we are charged for the piece and sometimes for a whole yard of the material.
At the beginning of every slow season, $2 is deducted from our salaries. We have never been able to find out what this is for.”

There was an area of the factory called “the children’s corner” which housed large cases that were were high and deep enough for the children to hide in, so that when a factory inspector came he found no violation of the child labor law, because he did not see any children at work, for they were all hidden in the cases and covered with shirt waists.

It had been a Saturday that day and most of the women and men employed at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory had been kept working until just before 5 o’clock, by factory owners Max Blanck and Issac Harris. Just before quitting time, as the girls were gathering up their belongings to leave someone yelled “FIRE!”

Someone had carelessly discarded a still burning match or cigarette. With piles of fabric everywhere and completed shirtwaists hanging from lines just overhead, within a few short minutes the fire had turned into an inferno, flames and smoke pouring out of the 8th, 9th and 10th floors.

Since the building was considered fireproof there was only a single, flimsy fire escape, one working elevator and all the doors, which opened inward, were kept locked in an effort to prevent theft. All of the Triangle factory employees were subject to searches when they exited at the close of the work day.

The foreman and a number of the male employees did their best to douse the flames with the available water buckets, alas, it was to no avail.

A few were able to escape via the narrow stairwell. Some 200, including Blanck and Harris were able to get to safety by making their way up to the roof – a means of escape not widely known.

Heroic elevator operators were able to save some of the girls by making as many trips as they could before the elevator broke down. The picture of smoldering, terror stricken girls - crying, screaming, scratching would haunt them always.

When the elevator finally ceased operation a number of people tried to escape by sliding down the elevator cables but instead, fell to their deaths, while others simply jumped. Some 25 bodies were later recovered from the bottom of the elevator shaft – only two survived. It is believed that the dead bodies of their fellow co-workers cushioned their fall, allowing them to survive. On the final trip, elevator operator Joseph Zitto would later testify that he could hear the bodies falling, hitting the top of the car – then the blood and the coins from pockets and purses began to rain on them.

Outside, if you remember, was United Press reporter William Shepherd. It was through his eyes that most of the nation experienced the next eighteen minutes. Shepherd phoned in details while watching the horrific events unfold, while young Roy Howard telegraphed his story to the nation's newspapers.

Shepherd begins – “I saw every feature of the tragedy visible from outside the building. I learned a new sound--a more horrible sound than description can picture. It was the thud of a speeding, living body on a stone sidewalk.

I looked up-saw that there were scores of girls at the windows. The flames from the floor below were beating in their faces. There was a living picture in each window- screaming heads of girls waving their arms. We cried to them not to jump. We heard the siren of a fire engine in the distance. The other sirens sounded from several directions.”

However, when the fire trucks arrived their ladders only reached between the 6th and 7th floors and the water from the fire hoses not past the 7th floor.

They took out fire nets to catch the falling girls but their bodies only broke through the nets, crashing to the sidewalk.

Shepherd continues: “I looked up to see whether those above watched those who fell. I noticed that they did; they watched them every inch of the way down and probably heard the roaring thuds that we heard.
It seemed to me that the thuds were so loud that they might have been heard all over the city.

As I looked up I saw a love affair in the midst of all the horror. A young man helped a girl to the window sill. Then he held her out, deliberately away from the building and let her drop. He seemed cool and calculating. He held out a second girl the same way and let her drop. Then he held out a third girl who did not resist. They were as unresisting as if he were helping them onto a streetcar instead of into eternity. Undoubtedly he saw that a terrible death awaited them in the flames, and his was only a terrible chivalry.

Then came the love amid the flames. He brought another girl to the window. Those of us who were looking, saw her put her arms about him and kiss him. Then he held her out into space and dropped her. But quick as a flash he was on the window sill himself. I saw his face before they covered it. You could see in it that he was a real man. He had done his best.

We found out later that, in the room in which he stood, many girls were being burned to death by the flames and were screaming in an inferno of flame and heat. He chose the easiest way and was brave enough to even help the girl he loved to a quicker death, after she had given him a goodbye kiss. He leaped with an energy as if to arrive first in that mysterious land of eternity.

Up in the [ninth] floor girls were burning to death before our very eyes. They were jammed in the windows. No one was lucky enough to be able to jump, it seemed. But, one by one, the jams broke. Down came the bodies in a shower, burning, smoking-flaming bodies, with disheveled hair trailing upward. They had fought each other to die by jumping instead of by fire.”

Rescue efforts were happening all over –
Across the way at New York University’s Law School building several law students led by Charles Kremer and Elias Kanter tied two short ladders together so the factory workers could climb across to their building’s roof. Kremer went over to the 10th floor to look for survivors and found a single girl, her hair on fire, running toward him. He caught her in his arms where she fainted as he put out the fire with his hands. They were able to save some 150 men, women and girls that day. Shockingly, a number of law students reported witnessing men kicking, biting and beating the women and girls so they could escape to safety first.

Forewoman, Fannie Lansner was a calm presence, speaking both Yiddish and English to the girls who were huddled about her, all crying and screaming, Lansner guided some of them down the stairways and kept others waiting for the elevator Trip after trip the elevator made and Miss Lansner remained on the floor, and though several girls begged her to go with them down, Miss Lansner said she would be ‘all right,’ and told them to go out as quickly as possible. She would lose her life in the fire.

Dr. Ralph Fralick did want he could from the street, checking everyone he could after they struck the pavement, attempting to administer first aid or injections for pain when possible. He later told officials that he was not able to save anyone, but he felt he had helped a few young girls to pass with a bit less pain.

Three male cutters formed a human chain from the 8th floor window to an adjacent window next door. Some girls were able to cross over on the backs of the three men. But the men lost their balance and all three fell - to join the already growing number on the pavement.

Meanwhile, the girls kept jumping….

Five young women on the Greene street side embraced each other and jumped. Thay crashed right through the sidewalk and into the basement, their clothes and hair burning as they fell. Another group of girls grabbed onto an electric cable which could not hold them – it snapped and they all fell to the sidewalk below.

One girl jumped holding a fire bucket. Another one tossed her purse, her hat and then herself. Some jumped together, holding fast to one another, while others lept alone.

Broken, twisted bodies lay in heaps on the sidewalks and by now there were thousands of spectators behind the police lines unable to believe what they were witnessing.

The firemen were now able to enter the building with their hoses to extinguish the flames. The steel and concrete structure was undamaged -- for the Triangle Building itself did indeed prove to be fireproof. Firemen would later say that they found 19 bodies melted against the locked door. 25 were found huddled in death in the cloakroom trying to escape the flames, some with their hands covering their faces in death. Another group of girls was discovered in a small room and would not move to safety so in shock they were the rescuers had to beat them to safety.

As night began to fall, search lights were directed to the upper floors creating a chilling effect to the already grim sight. Using nets, the firemen lowered the bodies, out the window to the waiting police below. The nets were soon exhausted and blankets from the driver's seats the horses were used. The bodies were spread in a row on the east side of Greene Street, many of them in coffins. Only 65 coffins were available so the steamship, The Bronx, was sent to Blackwell's Island to bring down a supply of 200 additional coffins.

Throughout the night ambulances transported the dead bodies to Bellevue Morgue on 26th Street and to the adjoining pier on the East River.

A reporter from the new york times remarked – that the “remains of the dead, it is hardly possible to call them bodies because that would suggest something human, and there was nothing human about most of these, were being taken in a steady stream to the morgue for identification.

Police estimates of 200,000 people - family and friends as well as the curious entered the makeshift morgues to file past the coffins. Authorities were completely unprepared by the new horrors to come next – a growing number of victims loves ones became hysterical and suicidal and a makeshift hospital was created to attend to these poor people.

Unbelievable stories of anguish were shared by families – a mother identified her daughter by what remained of her hand stitched stocking; a girl was identified by a family ring burned into her flesh; a father who, after waiting in the line for five hours identified all three of his daughters and, grief stricken attempted suicide on the spot. A lady identified her fiancée by his ring. When she asked if a pocket watch had been found with his remains the watch was produced. When she opened it she gazed upon her very own portrait and became hysterical. Their engagement had taken place just the night before.

Then there was the nightmare for those who did survive - Rose Cohen having escaped the fire and made her way home said, "I couldn't stop crying for hours, for days. Afterwards, I used to dream I was falling from a window, screaming. I remember I would holler to my mother in the dark, waking everybody up, 'Mama! I just jumped out of a window!' Then I would start crying and I couldn't stop."

Isidore Wegodner escaped from the ninth floor, where he and his father had come to work four months earlier as sleeve setters. He was near an exit when he heard the first cry of fire and had no difficulties reaching the street. Unaware of the extent of the disaster, he had left his father behind. Only when he emerged into the body-littered street did he realize what was happening. The firemen stopped him when he tried to rush back into the building.

He raced home but his father was not there. He began to make his way back to the Asch building to find out where the morgue was located. He missed a train by seconds and stood on the platform breathing hard, watching another pull in on the opposite platform.

"I saw him come out of the train, my dear father who was a quiet man, a dignified man. He looked battered. His pants were torn and in places his flesh showed through. His hat was gone, his face was dirty and bloody. On top of it all he wore a fancy, clean jacket that someone had thrown around his shoulders because his shirt had been ripped off. He stood on the platform dazed and the people walked around him."

"I remember," says Isidore Wegodner, "how with my last strength I shouted to him, how I went tearing over the little bridge that connected the two platforms, how we fell into each other's arms and how the people stopped to look while sobbing he embraced me and kissed me."

An entire nation grieved over the 148 deaths, so easily preventable. Their collective outrage changed labor laws and to the adoption of fire safety measures. Many call it the day the New Deal was born.

The factory owners, Blanck and Harris were brought to trial and were found not guilty by a jury of their all male peers. They made some $60,000 off the tragedy. Some of the families rallied together and sued the pair, in the end they were compensated $75 a piece in exchange for their dear, loved ones.

Just two years later, Blanck was caught violating the fire codes – he had been locking the factory doors. He was fined $20.00.

The Asch Building is now The Brown Building and houses the science department at NYU – it is said to be haunted not only by the memories of that day but by the spirits of those who perished there.

People have frequently reported the smell of smoke lingering in the hallways as well as the odor of what can only be described as burning flesh. Doors which have just moments ago been locked are found unlocked. One wonders if spirits are trying to protect others from the horrific fate they suffered? Apparitions have been reported by some and out of the corner of people’s eyes they sometimes see something large fall past the windows. When they rush to the windows and look outward and downward, there is nothing there.

One story was related by a secretary who had worked in the building for a number of years. She had been working late one evening and as she walked out of the building she saw a young girl stagger past her, a dazed look on her face. The girl was dirty and her clothing seemed to be singed. The secretary called out to her but the girl turned the corner. Rounding the corner in an effort to help what she believed was an injured girl, the secretary found no one. The girl had vanished.

Rest in peace dear ones – you have not been forgotten, not even in the passing of a hundred years. Blessings on your way.

Haunted Slumber Party

2011-03-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

A slumber party in one of the most iconic, historically haunted locations on the west coast is going down, and you're invited.

Its the Los Angeles Paranormal Pow-Wow, hosted by the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project . We'll start the evening off with an array of paranormally themed speakers including Syd Schultz, (Ghost Hunters International), Brandon Alvis (APRA - creators of the EFP and Haunted Discoveries) and plenty of surprise guests.

Dinner will be served and then, to your rooms for an unprecedented all night investigation at Linda Vista Hospital. The hospital has been increasingly active with unexplained events of late - hair pulling, mysterious shadows and an unfortunate scratching of an investigator.

Further information and info on how to obtain tickets can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153471091380370

Photo by Eddie Ruvalcaba

Supernatural Scenes....Sort Of

2011-03-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

A photo that appeared in Life Magazine of Colin Evans, "an amatuer medium." As the article states, because of the blurred feet, it is clear he just jumped into the air and clicked the button attached the wire he held in his hand triggering the camera to take a photo at the right moment. Of course, it was dark and an IR camera was used as "Infrared light does not disturb psychic vibrations."

A medium, in shackles.

Seance slide featuring a "ghostly manifestation."

Ming Mummy

2011-03-10T17:01:00.001-08:00

While doing some road work related construction in China, workers discovered a fully dressed, 5-foot-long body buried with luxury items, including a jade ring, a silver hairpin, and more than 20 pieces of Ming-dynasty clothing.

In ancient China, it was believed that the newly dead would appear before supernatural judges.

"If you were found to be morally worthy," explains Timothy Brook, a historian at the University of British Columbia's Institute of Asian Research, "you would be sent off for reincarnation—as a deity if you were fantastic, as a human being if you were good, as an animal if you were less good, and as a bug or a worm if you'd been really bad."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110310-wet-mummy-china-ming-science-mummies-tomb-chinese-road/#/china-ming-dynasty-mummy-found-removing_33097_600x450.jpg

Messages From Abe?

2011-02-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

A year, or so, later I am realizing I never did post the video that went along with the Haunted Homework story. Here is the story in case you missed it: http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2010/02/haunted-homework-part-iii.html and the video from one of our cameras, to boot!

Of Dolls And Murder

2011-02-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

The headline sums it up, really - "Heiress created perfect mini replicas of crime scenes." Frances Glessner Lee, a volunteer police officer with an honorary captain's rank, created 19 dollhouse rooms during the 1940's culled from real cases.

Corinne May Botz, "The Nutshell Studies"

Forensic report: On April 11, 1944, an aproned Robin Barnes is found dead in her kitchen, midcuisine. The gas jets on the stove are open, her rosy hue indicates carbon monoxide poisoning, and the doors to the kitchen are locked, barring escape for a murderer. But would a suicidal housewife take the time to bake a cake? And why is the ironing board tagged "50¢"? A beverage on the table and ice trays on the floor suggest that Mrs. Barnes could have had company.
- New York Times

Lee called her miniatures the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, after a saying she had heard from detectives: "Convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth in a nutshell."

Of Dolls And Murder is a documentary that closely examines Lee's work and our fascination with murder.

http://www.ofdollsandmurder.com/

http://www.corinnebotz.com/Corinne_May_Botz/project_index.html

The Fox Sisters - Part II

2011-02-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

Spiritualism was now at its height. With its guiding principals of equality of souls - regardless of gender, race, wealth or religion, it allowed these Victorian women a place to speak out – so what if they were in a trance? Women became influential, powerful and financially independent for the first time in America. In the Spring of 1854 the Spiritualist movement in America had grown so much that it received the attention of congress. Senators from Illinois and Massachusetts presented a petition requesting the appointment of a scientific commission to study spiritualist phenomena.

Meanwhile, the three Fox sisters were holding onto the foundations of their familial relationship by their fingertips. Leah distanced herself from her younger sisters to become a medium in her own right. Margaret fell deeply in love with famous Arctic explorer Dr. Elisha Kane, who held a deep disdain for the Spiritualist movement and forbid her to continue in it. She then became a Catholic. Kate married and moved away to England. She continued to conduct séances, but refused payment for them.

As the years went on Leah dug her heels into her celebrity and society and authored a book. Margaret’s beloved Dr. was lost on an expedition, and Kate’s husband died too, leaving both sisters devastated. They sought comfort in the other kind of spirits now, and often appeared drunk in public. Embarrassed by her now poor and drunken siblings, Leah began to make trouble for them, going so far as to even report Kate to child welfare services.

On October 21st 1888, a now 54 year old Margaret Fox was paid a large sum of money to take out the Spiritualist movement and her sister Leah with it. In front of an audience of 2,000 paying customers, including Kate, at the New York Academy Of Music, Margaret took the stage and delivered what has been referred to as the historic “Death Blow To Spiritualism.” As reported in the NY Times, she “seated herself and a committee of physicians called by Dr. Richmond from the audience who examined her to see that no deception was practiced.” She then proceeded to slip off one of her shoes, her feet covered in a plain, black stockings which then emitted a series of raps, loud enough to be heard by everyone.

Margaret further explained that as young girls the sisters had set out to frighten their mother, first thorough little knocks and noises but then by more creative means of tying a length of twine around an apple, allowing it to thump across the floor and ricochet off the walls and furniture. Margaret continued, saying “My sister Katie was the first to observe that by swishing her fingers she could produce certain noises with her knuckles and joints and the same effect could be made with her toes. Finding that we could make raps with our feet – first with one foot and then both – we practiced until we could do this easily when the room was dark. A great many people, when they hear the rapping imagine at once that spirits are touching them. It is a very common delusion.” Sounds are difficult to place in space and let’s face it, people will believe anything if they want to bad enough.

The critics took up the mantle of I told you so, others were disillusioned and the rest, refused to believe.

Just before she died Margaret Fox took it all back and recanted her confession – saying she did it for the money and that everything she and Kate did was indeed real and true.

In 1904, the Fox family’s house in Hydesville, where it all began, was being torn down. In one of the walls near Margaret and Kate’s bedroom the skeleton of a man was discovered along with a suitcase full of salesman samples and a family Bible, he appeared to have been murdered just a few years before the Fox family moved in.

Isn't It Necromantic?

2011-02-14T15:41:00.001-08:00

Normally, I detest Valentine's Day, save for my annual viewing of Picnic At Hanging Rock. Although, I had quite a good time making you this Valentine - won't you be mine?

http://www.melonpool.com/Sarah/CabinetOfCuriosities004.mp3

The Fox Sisters - Part 1

2011-02-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

The rappings and strange noises seemed to be completely mysterious in nature. It was especially unnerving to Mrs. Fox, who had moved into the little house in Hydesville, New York with her previously estranged husband and three children only weeks prior – it was the winter of 1848.

The rappings continued, with more frequency. First at night, then, spilling over into the waking hours, from the floor, the walls, the furniture – or anywhere the Fox girls happened to be.

14 year old Margaret and her sister, 11 year old Kate began to engage in a discourse...with the dead.

One night in March, Kate called out “Here Mr. Splitfoot, do as I do,” and knocked a number of times on the floor. Mr. Splitfoot obliged by responding with the same number of raps. It wasn’t long before the Fox’s had devised a method of communication with the “spirits.” And soon, a horrible story was revealed – that of a salesman who was murdered by having his throat cut with a knife then, buried in the cellar of the house.

Neighbors were invited in, people fishing at the nearby creek and all of them heard the same series of questions and answers. Many more came throughout the night, for word spread fast in the little town.

Mrs Fox composed an affidavit recounting the story of the rappings, saying: ” I am not a believer in haunted houses or supernatural appearances. I am very sorry that there has been so much excitement about it. It has been a great deal of trouble to us. It was our misfortune to live here at this time; but I am will and anxious that the truth should be known, and that a true statement be made. I cannot account for these noises; all that I know is that they have been heard repeatedly, as I have stated. I have heard this rapping again this morning, April 4th. My children also hear it.”

Mr. and Mrs Fox were frightened. They and the people who witnessed these rappings and exchanges were all convinced the Fox girls possessed an incredible power – they were also convinced there was a ghost in their house. So, Margaret and Kate were sent to live with their older sister, Leah, a 33 year old single mother who lived in Rochester, New York. Leah had just read The Divine Principles Of Nature – a book wherein the author claimed the dead were in daily contact with the living and predicted that someday the truth would be known to us through a living demonstration. Leah had just found her “living demonstration.”

Under Leah’s management, Margaret and Kate were soon in high demand to conduct séances. Once guests arrived they would seat themselves around a table, recite a prayer, sing a bit then, either Margaret or Kate would fall into a trance.

On November 14th, Rochester’s largest Hall, seating 400, was rented out. The local paper, the Daily Democrat, reported that those in attendance were in the best possible humor, ready to be entertained and watch Fox sisters be exposed for perpetrating a fraud. This was not the case and, in fact, the paper later reported that the “ghost” was indeed there.

There was some who refused to let it go and demanded an investigation. In result, Over the next few nights at the live demonstrations, the girls were subjected to being placed on glass, on pillows, their feet placed in shackles and probed by a subcommittee of ladies to search their bodies for concealed machinery. Of course, nothing even remotely suspicious was ever discovered. On the final night of performances a barrel of hot tar that had been hidden was discovered and removed, the non- believers lit fireworks inside and attempted to storm the stage – the Foxes were taken to safety by the police.

All this publicity ensured that theaters showcasing the Fox sisters were sold out. They began receiving invitations from some of New York’s most illustrious citizens to hold these – “conversations through the veil” for them. The girls were bone fide celebrities – there was even Fox Sisters merchandise! People would wait in line for hours for a chance to see these two young mediums. For a chance to hear something, anything from a loved one who had left them behind.

The Cabinet Of Curiosities Podcast

2011-01-25T15:50:00.001-08:00

Just before 2011 hit I was invited by Conversations Through The Veil hosts Joe Mendoza (3 AM Paranormal) and Matthew Goldman (The Paranormal Stu) to do my very own show. I accepted.

The Cabinet Of Curiosities Podcast will curate an audio collection of the extraordinary and the mysterious. The 15 - 20 minute show will be featured weekly, during the live broadcast of Conversations Through The Veil (Tuesdays at 7 PM pst) on
http://www.paraquestradionetwork.com/
The show will be complimentary to much of the material featured here on Blackwood. I am very grateful to have been given this little opportunity and so much freedom to indulge in the discourse of dark things. I hope you will enjoy it.

http://www.cabinetofcuriositiespodcast.com

Helping, Hoaxing Or Hollywood Whoring?

2011-01-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

This story is currently making the rounds in the para-community. LA Ghost Patrol, who claim to be a team of three paranormal investigators in the Los Angeles area, have a page on their website dedicated to their reality show. On it reads the following:

Last summer we announced that the LAGP was shooting a paranormal reality television pilot. Despite all our preparations, we had to abandon the production during the first night of shooting due to unforeseen, and ultimately tragic, circumstances.

Since then, many rumors and half-truths about what really happened that night have cropped up. Due to various reasons, we cannot reveal all the details of what occurred. We are working with our producer to find a way to get the footage that was shot during the investigation into a form we can show everyone.

In the meantime, we have posted a few facts concerning the shoot and will update this page with new information when allowed to do so.

The "ultimately tragic circumstances" they refer to is listed at the bottom of the page:

Around 3:00am the house lost power and an “event” occurred forcing us to stop the shoot.
During the resulting confusion, the seven year old girl daughter of the client, Maddie, went missing.

Here is a link to the page so you can view it yourself: http://laghostpatrol.com/reality-show/

The Scifake site relates that there was a website set up for the missing child, www.maddieismissing.com, which has since been removed. They also claim the domain was purchased three months prior to the time LA Ghost Patrol's site referred to it.

I've viewed some of their video "evidence," which I find ridiculous, in my opinion. The team of three seem to be false in their reactions, "Acting!" and nothing shown would be viewed as actual evidence by anyone who actually is a paranormal investigator. Also, there are plenty of edits.

I think something is rotten in Denmark. This has Blair Witchiness written all over it. Mind you, I'm not at all calling these folks out to be liars and anyone who does should be backing up the claims with a lot of research and yes, evidence. After all, that is what a real investigator does.

There is a lot more to the story, which you can find at http://scifake.com/?p=3925

Work Safety - Rob Zombie Style

2011-01-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

The Little Houses

2011-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

The Cajun grave houses remain a cultural mystery. Relics from days when a community cared for their dead has been overshadowed by corporate care. Where once many little houses stood, sheltering the now long forgotten, there remain only three dating back to the early 1900's in Istre Cemetery in Louisiana.

There is doc about the houses, appropriately titled Little Houses. You can find a trailer for it on the website or check out a book that is a companion piece featuring the photographs used here by Gwen Aucoin.

Little Houses doc: http://www.thelittlehouses.com/

Grave House Legends book: http://gravehouselegends.com/

Gwen Aucoin, photographer: http://gwenaucoin.com/

Venice's House Of Horrors

2011-01-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

If I said my bedtime prayers, I'd surely be thanking the Powers That Be for Kim Cooper, curator of all things incredible in Hell A. Listen to Kim tell a horrible tale of two old ladies, their menagerie and the poor, poor orphans on KVB.FM -

http://kvb.fm/podcasts.html

To sate that insatiable appetite for more stories like that, take a ride with Esotouric http://www.esotouric.com/

One Misty Moisty Morning

2011-01-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Denise Grünstein
http://cameralink.com/photographers/denise-grunstein

The Phantom Coach

2010-12-29T15:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to friend, Kathryn Wilson, for sharing this with me.
http://web.me.com/ufojoe/psychickathryn/Kathryn_Wilson.html

The Haunted

2010-12-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

Joseph Stefano, most well known for authoring the iconic Psycho screenplay and many Outer Limits episodes, will have the pilot for his series, The Haunted, deemed "too frightening" for the American public, shown at the UCLA Film And Television Archive. In it, Martin Landau stars as a Los Angeles-based architect-cum-paranormal investigator who specializes in assessing and exorcising old homes. Stefano here weaves together vengeance, hallucinogens and a “bleeding ghost” in a gothic telefilm that was deemed too terrifying to air by network executives. Stefano's only directorial effort, this extremely rare pilot never aired in the U.S.

February 25, 2011 at 7:30
Billy Wilder Theater
Courtyard Level, Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/index.html

Walk Among The Dead

2010-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is your chance to get inside the 100 year old historical landmark - normally closed to the public. The property is considered one of the most haunted locations in the world and has been the featured subject on a plethora of paranormal related TV shows.

Join the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project for a lecture on the fascinating history of Linda Vista Community Hospital hospital- of course we'll be including the site's paranormal history. We'll even play you some of the EVPs that have been captured here. Guests will then be led on a tour of Linda Vista by some of the most well known and respected paranormal researchers in the Los Angeles area. Along the way they will demonstrate various tools and techniques paranormal investigators use and you will get a chance to participate! You will also get to hear first hand the experiences from the investigators who have spent countless hours in Linda Vista's darkend hallways.

There will be the obvious rules and regulations if you are intoxicated in any manner you will be bounced by security, plain and simple. You may bring your cameras, however, there will not be any video/filming permitted unless you use your cell phone to do so.

$20.00 per person - arrive promptly - bring a small flashlight -dress warmly - no one under the age of 18 will be admitted. NO SNAPPERS.

Linda Vista Community Hospital
610 S. St. Louis St.
Boyle Heights, CA. 90023
Saturday, December 18th 2010
7:30 PM
$20 per person

*Photo by Ransom Riggs from the Mental Floss blog.

Scary Christmas

2010-11-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Hmm...maybe I can get excited about Christmas this year...

Cinefamily, (who went from #1 on my love LA list and fell from grace to the untouchable list for various customer service related reasons - so it pains me to throw them business but, I'm making an exception), is offering a free screening of Rare Exports:

It’s almost impossible to shake the old-timey Norman Rockwell-esque image of a jolly, roly-poly man with white hair in a big red suit, whenever the name of “Santa Claus” is invoked -- but Rare Exports, the brand-new Finnish fantasy film based upon the popular short of the same name, shows you that the secret history of Father Christmas is far darker, far creepier and waaaaaay cooler. It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and a mysterious "archeological" dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. When all the local children begin disappearing, a young boy, his father and their reindeer hunter friends capture the mythological being -- but Santa's elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. A wild, nightmarish cross between The Goonies, Gremlins and Let The Right One In, Rare Exports is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing!

To attend one must RSVP. One RSVP per person. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Your RSVP does not guarantee you a seat. You will receive a confirmation email about your RSVP 24-48 hours before showtime. Early arrival is highly recommended. Doors will open 30 minutes before showtime. No one will be admitted after the film has begun.
http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/events.html#rareexports

Oddities

2010-11-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Discovery Channel has a new show, Oddities, centering on New York shop, Obscura - which seems almost like a sister store to Los Angeles' Necromance on Melrose. The pilot episode features a decomposed cat, an enormous gall stone, a coffin and a two headed calf, yet they almost serve as a supporting cast to the customers - none of them more fascinating then Edgar - who is not to be missed.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/oddities-is-that-a-straightjacket.html

Many thanks to Morbid Anatomy for featuring Obscura and Oddities.

Photo from the Obscura blog - http://www.ObscuraAntiques.Blogspot.com/

And The Winner Is.....

2010-10-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

WENDY!

Congratulations to Wendy, who will soon be the owner of the new documentary, The Haunted Boy - which examines the case The Exorcist was based on.

American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural

2010-10-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this episode of the Backstory:The American History Guys I thought I'd share.

Halloween – despite its solemn Celtic roots – has become a safe way for Americans to transgress social norms and toy with the idea of ghosts in a family-friendly fashion. But for some, spirits from another plane have always been a very real part of life on this plane.
http://backstoryradio.org/2010/10/american-spirit-a-history-of-the-supernatural/

You get to hear a partial story about the Fox sisters, but you can listen to the entire story on one of my favorite podcasts, The Memory Palace, right here:
http://thememorypalace.us/2010/03/episode-27-the-sisters-fox/

Museum Of Mystery

2010-10-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Mystery is a collection of odd items that Pat Wheelock, (an electronics engineer that has always been interested in the paranormal. Pat founded Beyond Investigation Magazine to investigate claims of paranormal activity and to publish those investigations and associated research). Pat has displayed the collection at various venues over the years.

Life casts of horror film's most notable actors, haunted portraits, fortune teller machines, a reportedly haunted doll, a Bigfoot footprint casting from the Patterson film, Harry Houdini’s death certificate, macabre medical devices including a shock therapy device, the historic live radio broadcast of the JFK assassination, death certificates of Titanic survivors, and letters sent to Scotland Yard by Jack the Ripper are just the few of the displayed items.

I conducted an EVP session with the doll alas, as the placard states - she doesn't like to talk to paranormal investigators

Murder Ballads

2010-10-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Not many are familiar with the genre of murder ballads. Musical tabloids of the day recounting true crime stories of serial killers, horrific butcherings and of course...the supernatural.

He stabbed her in her heart till her heart's blood did flow
Down into the grave pretty Polly did go

They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
Then something went horribly askew.
Now killing is their only source of joy...

Of course, here at Blackwood, we have to give a nod to Shirley Jackson's character James Harris - The Daemon Lover - inspired by the Scottish poem -who is referenced in The House Carpenter.

There are many great covers of this song - Bob Dylan, Pentangle, Judy Collins and my favorite, Nickel Creek - also, this guy (whose name is unknown to me).

Tonight, at the Echoplex, the dark side of folk music is celebrated.

October 26, 2010, 8:00pm, $8
Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 413-8200

Greetings

2010-10-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings, dear guests of our favorite pagan house goddess. Welcome to Blackwood. Since we are meeting for the first time, an introduction is certainly in order...

We used to live in a duplex when I was little. My mother's parents lived on one side of the structure and my father on the other side. My bedroom was in the middle of the two houses. While my father was out at work, which was every weekday twelve to eighteen hours a day, my grandparents were my primary caretakers. So, at bedtime if my father was still at work, I would be put to bed at the proper time by my grandmother.

On this particular night I had been put to bed and my father, just arriving home from work, came in to see me and tell me goodnight. I remember his silhouette moving across the room in the dark, around the bed and kissing me whilst reaching over to turn on the light. Turning on the light was a mistake.

As the light from my little lamp flooded the room and my eyes adjusted, I saw my father standing over me, covered , from head to foot, in blood.

I was told I screamed and cried. I don't remember that, (I was slightly more than a toddler and my family is amazed I can remember anything at all), but I do remember the feeling of fear. It took him a few moments to understand my reaction as he had forgotten all about his appearance.

My father had just come home from filming the famous pig blood scene in the movie Carrie .

As a child, and even now as an adult I have grown up among the most amusing images. Some tangible, some pictorial. There is a series of photographs, (my father has a couple of them and I know some of the others appeared in magazines), of my father and Sissy Spacek, covered in blood, arms around one another, big smiles, looking as though they are posing for their prom picture.

I am told that the following day, I begged to be taken to the set. So began the macabre fancies of a little girl, now grown, living in LA. Today, I hunt down evidence of things paranormal, and long for a place where its always Halloween.

Feel free to roam about as you like or you can select something from the list to your right, The Best Of Blackwood.

I also have a treat to offer. For those of you who leave a comment on this post before the day of Halloween, I will draw a name on the 31st. The winner will get a copy of the new documentary, The Haunted Boy. You can see the trailer below.

Happy Halloween!

Stay Human

2010-10-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

UDAZ-DO is a system created by Gidmo Taylor, of the Taylor zombie wrangling dynasty, especially focused on self-preservation in a worst case scenario (unarmed encounter) with the walking, carnivorous dead. Seminars will be available in Los Angeles throughout October.

http://mma-losangeles.com/Zombie_Training.html

Dear Los Angeles, I love you.

M.B.

Hometown Haunt - The Haunted

2010-10-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

There have been numerous weeks this year where I have spent more hours at Linda Vista than I have in my own home. We are friendly now, she and I and like all close friends we know each others secrets. As soon as I enter I know when she is agitated and when she is at peace. We still have plenty more to share...

Unexplained shadows, whispering, voices, full and partial body apparitions, growling, shuffling and walking are common experiences to those who venture inside these walls.

There are three entities most commonly experienced here - they are:

The Doctor(s) - most commonly referred to as "Dr. Edwards" In 1981 this doctor had a patient that was a gang member who was critically injured and because he wasn't able to save the man's life, members of his gang killed Dr. Edwards in the parking lot. One psychic told me that there was also an older, male doctor and that some workers called him Dr. Frank behind his back. He was nicknamed Dr. Frank because he had a habit of saying things like "Let me be frank with you," and "Be frank with me," a lot. He was generally disliked, or more precisely, feared. He sometimes touches people or "chases" people.

The Female Patient - A female patient is seen and heard wringing her hands and repeatedly asking for help, she is dressed in a hospital gown. She has been seen in numerous locations in the main hospital.

The Little Girl - The voice of a little girl can often be heard laughing, humming or talking on the first floor. People believe that she wanders the hallways and the surgical suite areas searching for her mother.

My favorite story involving the little girl comes from a local team. Two female investigators were walking around the the surgical suite and coming around a corner going from one room to the next and there was a small room off to the side and one of the women put her hand on the doorknob, and just as she did they started hearing a little girl humming. At this same moment the doorknob was forcibly pulled from her hand and slammed against the back wall. As the door was bouncing back toward them, the woman that had put her hand on the doorknob saw a shadow figure in the room. Both women say it then felt like an energy or force moved past them. At first they thought the other two male members of their team had played a trick on them but when, after hearing the women scream they came racing down the hallway toward them it was evident they had not. The entire thing, including, very clearly, the voice of a little girl humming was all caught on audio.

There are few locations in the hospital that do not have a story attached to them, however, this is a blog and not a book, so I am choosing to relate a few.

The Fourth Floor - There have been reports of people hearing water splashing on this floor. I have checked every single faucet, toilet, sink, bathtub or suspect water source on this floor myself and none of them run water. During one investigation. my team's boss was relating this information to some investigators and we captured an EVP of someone saying over him "water, water..."

While on the 4th floor one night, in a wing that looks like it is a radiology room myself, Mr. Blackwood and a fellow teammate conducted numerous EVP sessions throughout the night in this locale. Each time we would leave and walk a few feet into the hallway, we would hear a distinct shuffling/walking sound behind us as though something were trying to follow us. There was no evidence of movement, and we tried repeatedly to recreate the sound from where we heard it. We only did so when I walked very slowly, directly in front of the doorway into the radiation room allowing my too long pants to drag on the floor, (I'm a shortish girl so most of my pants drag).

We were here helping to facilitate an investigation a couple weeks ago. During the investigation of the 4th floor I was told by the lead investigator that everyone was hearing disembodied voices, shadows, that he saw a huge apparition starting to manifest in front of him and others saw it too, that there were very intense cold spots, and an empath in their group got so overcome near the nurse's station and was crying uncontrollably and had to be taken out.

Mental Ward – It wasn't always a mental ward. For periods of time this wing of the property was used to house family members of long term care patients. There is a little unattached staircase in the basement where members of my team have seen a little girl manifest.

A friend saw an apparition of a man walking down the stairway of the mental services building. Seconds after he saw it he and my boss ran onto the hallway and no one was there. The custodians were in their rooms and I was outside with everyone else on the premises and can account for everyone's whereabouts.

Friends from another team had placed an audio recorder on a little table that stands in the hallway of the third floor and have seen it move.

The Main Floor Lobby - One night, when we were conducting an investigation I had left some equipment up on the 4th floor and was on my way up to go retrieve it. As we were approaching the elevator to go up, something with a male voice audibly called my name at the end of the opposite hallway leading to the solarium.

During another investigation as we were rotating teams from the main building into the mental ward, a dear friend and investigator, along with members of the team that had the experience with the little girl, caught an incredible EVP of what sounds like a woman's voice saying, "Get me some medicine." as though she is standing right there.

While mopping up the main lobby, my team's boss saw the half apparition of a man, from the lower back up to the back of his head in the pink room, just off the lobby. He was the only person there at the moment so he ran to head it off at the doorway and when he got there, which was seconds after he saw the apparition, it was gone.

Another one captured just a couple weeks ago when we were here - two well known and seasoned investigators were leading a group that night and they were in the hall waiting for a couple people to come out of the bathroom. They had only gone into the hospital for a few minutes when the lead investigator was trying to prime everyone in the group for what they were going to encounter - and he got an answer from one of the "residents" who says, "I Could Tell You That!" This is one of my favorite EVPs.

Earlier that night, I had escorted a psychic to the bathroom who was visibly shaken. As she emerged, she told me that an entity was in the room with her and was watching her.

Although most likely not paranormal in nature, it disturbs me greatly. There is a resident clown in the form of a pinata. Every single time we go to Linda vista - which can be several days in a row sometimes, that horrid clown is not where it was last seen. The thought that it is moving around of its own accord is not something I like to think about.

This last story was told to us by the current caretaker - 22 years ago, the caretaker, Francis, while in the office, knowing he was alone at the time save for a single security guard - saw a woman dressed as a nurse walking by on the third floor and go into a copy room. As he listened he could hear the sounds of the old copy machine as if it were making copies. He called out to the security guard and as they arrived, they both could see a light on in the copy room and hear the sounds of the machine. The guard reached out to turn the door handle and all of a sudden the light turned off and the sounds stopped. When they entered the room it was empty.

Sadly, the scariest story I have to tell about Linda Vista is one I cannot yet tell. It will probably be many years before I do. My friend, who was also there at the time, just told me today that, months later, she is still having nightmares....

The Haunted Haunt

2010-10-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

A roaring fire in the fireplace, a blanket, a small, warm dog and a cup of hot chocolate with the sounds of rain outside, while Sam is terrorizing Mr. Creeg on my TV again...this was supposed to be my night.

Instead I'll be investigating a haunted....haunt?

The haunt is operated out of a vacant lot that used to be home to an apartment complex..one with a history of suicides. Then, it being California and all, an earthquake hit demolishing the building.

Haunt actors and employees report hearing voices, footsteps and have seen shadow figures.

I hope the clowns have the night off!

Image from http://hallowzing.com/

Hometown Haunt - The History

2010-10-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

See the old smoke rising 'round the bend,
I reckon that she knows she's gonna meet a friend,
Folks around these parts get the time o' day
From the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.

In 1900 a piece of property covering nearly four acres on the east side of Hollenbeck Park was purchased by the The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, to construct a full service hospital for their employees or anyone suffering an injury due to their railroad.

Boyle Heights was one of Los Angeles’ first suburbs, first being developed in the late 1870s, populated mainly by Russian, Jewish and Japanese immigrants. With the construction of a horse car line, a cable car line, and finally, electric street car lines, it became a desirable place to build large mansions, with fresh air and a great view of Los Angeles from the heights above the east bank of the Los Angeles River. The development of picturesque Hollenbeck Park with its lake made that area especially attractive.

In December of 1905 the beautiful new hospital was completed - built and equipped at an expense of $147,000.

"So complete and unique are the automatic features of the new hospital that it will not be strange if all who enter therein for treatment are healed automatically," announced a 1904 newspaper article.

From a newspaper article that appeared in 1916 - I suggest you read it carefully:

Making a most beautiful home for those who are sick and injured while in the service, with the privilege of a fine park to be enjoyed by convalescents. Amid such delightful surroundings, and with every care and attention by skilled hands, no wonder the occupants of the various wards cheerfully battle back to health and strength. In February, 1914, an annex to the hospital was completed. This contains a laundry in the basement, beautiful recreation rooms on the first floor and a dormitory on the second floor for the help. An exceptionally well appointed operating room, complete in every detail, is a feature of the Los Angeles Hospital, and the layout of the building, as to the location of the Wards, nurses' quarters, dining-room, etc. is excellent. One section of the building is devoted to Mexicans, who receive the same tender care as do their English speaking co-laborers. They have attractive quarters with a pleasing outlook, and there usually is a full quota around the table in their private dining-room.

Unbelieveable..and yet, not.

Near the hospital one spies a number of tents, heated, lighted and furnished for the comfort of those suffering from tuberculosis. And then we notice that the hospital has its own Jersey cows, a nice flock of chickens and a well cultivated gardens, so that patients may be assured of the freshest milk, butter, eggs, poultry and vegetables. Attached to the staff of the hospital association is a full corps of specialists in every line, which enables members to secure the very best medical and surgical skill without extra expense. This staff is selected from the most prominent physicians and surgeons in the City of Los Angeles

The hospital remained quite unchanged, save for a complete remodeling in 1937, until the advent of the postwar freeway building frenzy. The Santa Ana Freeway cut through the Heights above the Los Angeles River, while the Golden State Freeway cut right through Boyle Heights. Hollenbeck Park was no longer picturesque or peaceful and its lake was a place to dump corpses. It was, however, a great place for gangs to hang out and for people to shoot up drugs. Santa Fe Hospital Association members began to complain about having to go to the hospital on St. Louis Street. 1969, the Santa Fe Memorial Hospital Corporation was formed as a non-profit entity and purchased the hospital from the Santa Fe Coast Lines Hospital Association. It was about this time that the hospital got a name change - to Linda Vista Community Hospital.

An account from an employee who worked as a nurse in the mid to late 70’s stated that much of the main hospital was unused and had restricted access by this time. She said sometimes when it was slow she would coax a security guard to take her into these areas of the hospital and described them as resembling something out of a mad scientist, Boris Karloff movie. Filthy, aged and falling to ruins with tons of apothecary type jars containing bizarre samples and preserved body parts. She also said that during this era and into the 80’s the Mental Health Services building had been converted into temporary housing for families of long term stay patients.

Early on in the 80's the emergency room was shut down - contrary to rumors, mostly propagated by a popular TV show, Linda Vista did not get a lot of gang victims dying here for this reason, they were taken to another hospital. It is much more likely the most frequently seen patients here were from the massive nursing home facility, Hollenbeck Palms.

I found another unverified account from a gentleman who claimed to be the Associate Administrator of Linda Vista in the late 80's just prior to its closing. He said that, "...many of the deaths were caused by ineptness of the staff. I recall one instance when an elderly patient died between shifts and was just placed in a dirty linen closet until she turned very ripe and the smell made them take her out." Of course this is all heresay...for now. We have keys to the records room and will be looking for verification of this person's employment in the coming weeks.

Next up - The "Ghosts" Of Linda Vista

********

Please note - If you are researching this location I have a great deal of information that would be quite relevant, including photographs, that I have omitted from this entry. I have also made a documentary on the subject that regularly screens at Linda Vista. Feel free to contact me if you are interested. If you use any of my research, please, PLEASE credit - I am the Official Historian for Linda Vista - thank you.

To Do List

2010-10-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

1) Haunted Films In Haunted Places
Date: October 17 -Sunday at 7:30
Movie: "House on Haunted Hill" (1999)
Location: A real Haunted Hospital

I'll be there to talk about the history and "ghosts" of this reputedly haunted location! Come bring me some candy! Please?

GHOULA is working with the EPFC's Filmmobile to present a series of free outdoor screenings every Sunday in October at a different haunted site. Each evening will consist of a "haunted" movie, guest speaker, a discussion of the location's ghost(s), and maybe some other activities. (Don't forget to bring a chair.)

(Note: GHOULA and the EPFC Filmmobile will only disclose the actual location 24 hours before showtime. So, just check out the GHOULA site the day before.)
http://ghoula.blogspot.com/

2)Wicked Literature: A Halloween Theatre Festival

This looks like a great alternative to the incredible productions they used to do each Halloween at the Huntington Library!
The annual event features world premiere stage adaptations of classic gothic literature performed in alternative venues. This year’s festival will take place October 21-30, 2010 (7 performances only) at the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, CA (2400 Fair Oaks Avenue). The evening of short works will be comprised of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, H. P. Lovecraft’s The Unnamable and Charles Dickens’ The Chimes.

http://www.wickedlit.org/index.html

3) River Cities Paranormal Society - Southern California's Paranormal Dinner At Hunter Steakhouse
Saturday, October 30 at 9:30pm - October 31 at 4:30am - $50
Meal seating to begin 9:30 PM. There will be a 4 course dinner, champagne and wine.
RCPS Southern California paranormal team will take you through how they investigate the haunted Hunter Steakhouse and tell you the chilling history of the location.

4) Nightmare Before Christmas - in 4D!
El Capitan Theatre October 21-31st and Danny Elfman will be introducing the film on the 21st
So what does the 4D movie experience involve? According to FirstShowing.net, “they’ll have special effects in the theater itself, such as wind and fog” to coordinate with scenes in the movie.
This makes me a little giddy.

5) Walk Among The Dead - Tour Of Linda Vista Hospital
Boyle Heights Paranormal Project brings you yet another great event inside historic, haunted hospital Linda Vista.
Friday, October 29 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm - $25 donation
RSVP on their Facebook page

6) Seeing Things : Ghost Polaroids
drkrm gallery
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm; Sunday 1pm - 4pm & by appointment
Special Halloween hours Oct 31 - 7 p.m. - Midnight
http://www.drkrm.com/ghost.html
Most paranormal enthusiasts know the story behind the series of polaroids taken at the house in Mt. Washington and most recently profiled (and deemed probably authentic), on Fact Or Faked . Here is your chance to see them in person.

7)Haunts of Angelino Heights Scavenger Hunt
October 23 and 24th, 4pm to 6:30 $30
Are you familiar with the "evil of the thriller" house? Perhaps you prefer to be "charmed" by the ghosts of this Victorian neighborhood. Grab some friends and a flashlight and join us for some spooky fun (and prizes) in one of Los Angeles' oldest neighborhoods.
http://www.laconservancy.org/events/events_main.php4

8)All Hallows Eve Ball at The Edison
108 W. Second St. #101
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Edison presents goblins, phantoms, apparitions and demons at their finest. Helios Jive, Stilt Circus, contortionists and dancers on hand for your entertainment.
https://www.edisondowntown.com/

9)Haunted Midnights at The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store has been long renown for being one of the most Haunted places in Hollywood. This October, get a behind the scenes look at all the creepy stuff that has happened at the Comedy Store. See the results of our paranormal researchers, see a live seance to draw out the spirits that may reside in The Store, hear first hand accounts from Comedy Store staff of hauntings by "Gus" and "The Lady In White". We will also screen rare documentary footage about the hauntings in the Comedy Store and we will culminate the evening with a super scary flashlight tour of The Comedy Store with a visit to our notorious basement the blue door and other haunted spots. This is an opportunity for a ghostly tour unlike anything available in Los Angeles or this in this life.
http://www.thecomedystore.com/BuyTickets.htm?Page=http://www.ticketbiscuit.com/ComedyStore/EventPage.aspx?EID=75468&

The House That Drips Blood. On Alex.

2010-10-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, hai Tommy.

Writer, director and star of cult favorite, (favorite for all the wrong reasons), The Room stars in The House That Drips Blood On Alex - premiering tonight on Comedy Central at 3 A.M. PST.

I know you have a lot of questions like, "What kind of blood, Merricat?!" and "What kind of house?!" and will there be scotchkas? You'll have to see for yourself....

Many thanks to fellow spooky bloggers
http://spookylittlegirllikeyou.blogspot.com/ and http://blog.magnetsdelosmuertos.com/ who introduced me to the man who resembles a hunk of spam.

Ghost Stories

2010-10-12T07:53:00.001-07:00

Grab a blanket and a cup of something warm Gentle Readers, and cozy up to the glow of your computer - tonight on Conversations Through The Veil paranormal investigators are telling their own, true "ghost stories" for your enjoyment. Of course, I'll be telling a tale myself.

Tonight - 7:00 P.M. PST
Just click on the Listen Live button
http://web.me.com/ufojoe/spectral_radio/The_Veil.html

Evil Children, Monsters and Ghosts - Oh My!

2010-10-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Just then a young boar came dashing by, and the huntsman stabbed it to death. He took out the lungs and liver and brought them to the queen as proof that the child was dead. The cook was ordered to boil them in salt, and the wicked woman ate them and thought that she had eaten Snow White’s lungs and liver.

Singing mice and poofy dresses are surprisingly absent in real fairy tales. Instead they are rife with monsters, deceit, cannibalism, murder. Real fairy tales belong to the horror genre.

*****

About four years ago I was aimlessly channel surfing. Of course, with hundreds of choices I couldn't find anything worth watching. I would often scan past the Korean channels, noting the curious titles of the programs - Mom's Dead Upset, The Coffee Prince, Pretty Lady Chit Chat, My Precious You. This day I finally settled on some program called Mom's Dead Upset and found it to be far better than anything on American television. So began my adoration of Korean tv.

Fast forward to the now. I'm not sure how I found it - maybe it was this trailer commercial on KBS or perhaps I just turned it on one day this past summer. Either way, Grudge: Revolt Of Gumiho mini-series, is currently consuming my life.

A traditional Korean fairy tale concerning a Gumiho, (or Kumiho) is the foundation for this historical drama. Propelling the story is the nine year old daughter of nobility, who is described as being cursed and suffers a "strange disease." The father is told the only cure to save his beloved child, Cho Ok, is to "... find the child born the same year, same month, same day." When this child turns ten years old, his daughter must eat the liver of the child in order to live.

Evil children, monsters, ghosts, zombies, cannibalism, possession - Grudge: Revolt Of Gumiho has it all , against a lush backdrop of period costumes, beautiful scenery, wonderful FX, an unforgettable soundtrack and some of the greatest acting I've ever seen anywhere.

This show and the horrific, yet achingly beautiful imagery depicted in Gumiho is something American tv or film would never touch, and even if we attempted it, it would not be done with so much depth and beauty. There are so many moments of visual horror in this series that will haunt me for years to come - not to mention the emotional horror evoked. I do not get emotional easily - there are only three film moments that can elicit tears from me, yet I was sobbing on my couch and clutching at poor Mr. Blackwood during more than one episode.

We were like children during our Gumiho viewing marathon yesterday, gasping and yelling out loud - jumping up on the couch and yelling "OHMYGOD!!!" - Mr. Blackwood says he can only compare it to Lost or Star Wars in it's epic storytelling style and I have to agree. We have two episodes left - I cannot bear for it to end.

The Great Million Dollar Ghost Hunt

2010-10-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

If you are up for the challenge, come be a part of the biggest "ecto-experiment" ever attempted in Los Angeles (and possibly the world).

On Halloween (Oct. 31st) @ 2:30pm, the doors to the historic, haunted Million Dollar Theater will open, and everyone will have exactly two and a half hours (til 5:00pm), to document anything "out of the ordinary." From electro-magnetic anomalies to shivers down your spine, if you feel it, witness it, or record it, we want to hear about it, and we want to know exactly where it happened. So bring your EMF meters, your EVP recorders, your cameras, or just yourself.

Each participant will receive their own individual map, which will be used to record the location of any "activity." Please keep your info confidential until after the experiment, to discourage copy-cat contamination. The maps will then be returned at the end of the event to GHOULA (The Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles). Based on everyone's data, "hot spots" will be determined and posted online with the actual stories associated with this location's ghost(s). Those that have devices that need time to be reviewed (i.e. digital recorders, infra-red video, etc.) will have one week (til Nov. 7) to report any additional "places of interest" to be included before our big reveal at GHOULA's monthly "Spirits with Spirits" mixer.

http://www.lavatransforms.org/million

Photo by Robert Berger from The Last Remaining Seats: Movie Palaces of Tinseltown
http://bergerconser.com/theatre/BOOK.htm

Vacancy

2010-10-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

I am seriously considering employment opportunities in St. Louis, Missouri, just so I can live here, at Castle Park Apartments - the asylum formerly known as Saint Vincent's Institution for the Insane.

The asylum was in operation through the 1980's by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. When they sold the property one of the conditions the Sisters insisted upon was that the fifth floor was never, ever to be inhabited. Rumor has it that the boy who was the "real life" subject of the Exorcist stayed here for a time....his room was located on the fifth floor.

According to an interview from the recently released documentary, The Haunted Boy,former apartment manager, Judy Perry states that during her employment there, three gentlemen paid her a visit - one of them was Father Halloran. They requested a tour of the building, specifically the fifth floor. Perry obliged.

While on the fifth floor Halloran showed her a room and told her that it used to house a metal bed frame and a desk and that this was, indeed, the room he assisted and witnessed Father Bowdern carry out repeated exorcisms on the thirteen year old boy.

Perry cites frequent and unusual complaints from the tenants who often "Come flying out of their apartments." Drawers and cabinets open of their own accord, faucets run randomly, dishes break, people come home to find someone sitting on their couches and sometimes awake to "something" sitting on their beds....leaving a distinct imprint behind.

Now, those are the amenities I'm looking for...

For Man And Beast

2010-10-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

While researching a story on a beauty product marketed and used to murder numerous husbands and beaus, (which I will share with you shortly), I discovered these...

Bottle photographs are from http://www.stickymice.com/

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

2010-09-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

Or, rather I invite you to follow me.

Short notice yes, but, little imps like us love spontaneity. I saw Nicole Strickland's talk last weekend at Ghost Fest Expo 4 and her collection of Queen Mary EVPs are wonderful. Louis Gonzalez is a joy to hear speak, especially when it is about EVP work and the rich history of this field of work. Then there's me - Merricat. I'll be happily sharing my research on the history of Linda Vista Hospital. Following all this chatter, we get down to business and investigate the historic Aztec Hotel. We'll have a time.

http://web.me.com/ufojoe/3amparanormal/Home.html

So Cal Para Con - October 2nd - mark your calendars. Look for more details in the coming days.
http://socalparacon.com/Welcome.html

Silent, Secret Deeds

2010-09-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

With their solemn, mournful gait, their melancholy litters, their bat-winged, black hats flapping, their black masks, their sunken eyelids like the visionless sockets of skeletons, their long, shroud-like draperies concealing alike figures and faces, their black stockings, ascetic rosaries, and leather purses at their girdles, in short their entire paraphernalia of death and disease as they go noiselessly through the busy streets, the spectators making way for them and standing aside with hat in hand as they pass.

James Jackson Jarves for The New York Times - February 8, 1880

As penance for their sins or to fulfill a vow, the mysteriously shrouded figures—who belonged to the Brethren of the Misericordia—carried the sick to hospitals, buried the dead. The society was so secret that members hid their identities even from each other.

Photograph by G. G. Hubbard, circa 1910

She'll Get You

2010-09-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

"Be home when the street lights come on!" Was an often heard directive during many of our childhoods, as we anxiously ran out into the world to play. However, in my neighborhood and for most of us who lived out our childhoods on the East Side of Los Angeles, we also heard, "Or, she'll get you."

Six year old me would warily begin to eye the diminishing light and sneak glances at the streetlights between games of tag and our cherished game of "circus." When the lights turned on I was running up the stairs and into the house at full speed. Sometimes, I would dare to look back half hoping to see her - a woman all in white, her long, dark hair wild and blowing out behind her. She would be clutching a claw hammer and you would hear her coming for you, screeching like an owl, her countenance contorted in a mask of insanity and looking for children...to kill.

The stories vary. Some say a local woman in the 20's or 30'd had gone mad and killed her children with a hammer. They caught her up in the hills around my neighborhood, (El Sereno). As stories so often go, the woman escaped and is still roaming the hills looking for her next pint sized victims.

As we grew up, we obviously recognized it as a cautionary tale, but, as I am sure you know, sometimes - the truth can be found in our elder's stories.

In the 1920's, Clara "Tiger Girl" Phillips, a 14 year old chorus girl was wed to Armour Phillips. She was a suspicious and jealous girl who frequently accused her husband of infidelity. Her suspicion turned to Alberta Meadows, a 20 year old widow who she considered a "love rival." Clara set her plans in motion.

Clara, along with her friend, Peggy Caffee, convinced Alberta to give them a ride. At some point during the drive Clara asked Alberta to pull over so that they might converse privately and proceeded to brutally beat her with a claw hammer and then a rock. With her rival now out of the way, Clara returned home to her husband, where she informed him that she would make him the best dinner he'd ever had.

Thanks to Kim Cooper - who first proposed the possible link to this urban legend - http://www.1947project.com/

Let The Right One In

2010-09-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

The supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen. - The Haunting (1963)

These compelling photographs were taken by artist Shannon Taggert. Her body of work focuses on fascinating subjects, including voodoo, exorcism and the spiritualist movement.
http://www.shannontaggart.com/index.html

Dolls - Possessed - Part II

2010-08-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ralph: I can remember every toy I had as a kid.
Gabriel: And they remember you, Ralph.

I've always hated dolls. My first doll was a monstrosity called Baby Beans, which I continuously rejected by "losing" it on outings, tossing it under my bed to whatever ghoulies lurked there after goodnight kisses were exchanged, and repeatedly placing it in the kitchen garbage can. Much to my dismay, I'd discover it, sitting on my bed the following day. It was unnerving to say the least. Of the very few photographs in existence of myself as a child, there is one, wonderful black and white shot of me chocking that doll. To this day, I consider it to be the best photograph of me ever taken.

Like most little girls, (although, I was certainly not at all like "most little girls" ), I, too had a Raggedy Anne doll, like the one pictured in Lorainne Warren's arms. Annabelle was a gift to one of two nurses who resided together. According to the women the doll began to move on its own. First, arms and legs would change position, soon after, it could be found in different places all together. It even began leaving them notes, written in pencil, in handwriting that looked like a young child's. This was even more odd, as the women claimed there were no pencils in the house or the type of parchment paper the notes were composed on.

”It sounds like someone had a key to your apartment and was playing a sick joke on you,” Ed Warren concluded. “That’s exactly what we thought,” said Donna. “So we did little things like put marks on the windows and doors or arrange the rugs so that anyone who came in here would leave a trace that we could see. But never once did it turn out that there was a real outside intruder.”

Then one night they returned home to find the doll sitting on a bed with what appeared to be blood on the back of it's hand and on it's chest.

A psychic was called in, who told the women that the spirit of a little girl named Annabelle, who used to live where their apartment now stood, was the one moving the doll. Annabelle liked the women and wanted to know if she could stay with them and "move into the doll."

The nurses said yes. From then on they called the doll, Annabelle.

One night, Lou, a friend of the ladies, was with Angie, (one of the two nurses), at the apartment." It was about ten or eleven o’clock at night, and we were reading over maps because I was going off on a trip the next day. Everything was quiet at the time. Suddenly, we both heard sounds in Donna’s room that made us think that someone had broken into the apartment. I quietly got up and tip-toed to the bedroom door, which was closed. I waited until the noises stopped, then I carefully opened the door and reached in and switched on the light. Nobody was in there! Except, the Annabelle doll was tossed on the floor in a corner. I went in alone and walked over to the thing to see if anything unusual had happened. But as I got close to the doll, I got the distinct impression that somebody was behind me. I swung around instantly and, well….”

“He won’t talk about that part,” Angie said. “When Lou turned around there wasn’t anybody there, but he suddenly yelled and grabbed for his chest. He was doubled over, cut and bleeding when I got to him. Blood was all over his shirt. Lou was shaking and scared and we went back out into the living room. We then opened his shirt and there on his chest was what looked to be sort a of claw mark!”

Annabelle's story continues to get stranger. You can read more about this case on the Warren's site:
http://edandlorrainewarren.com/?p=6

EVP specialists, Mark and Debby Constantino have caught some interesting EVPs from haunted dolls. You can hear the EVPs, and some of the history behind the dolls right here on Altered States Para Radio -
http://www.tomyd.com/as_ep203_web.mp3

Sweet dreams, gentle readers.

Possessed - Part I

2010-08-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Each year around this time I begin work on what is probably my favorite feature of the transformation our house makes every Halloween, The Museum Of Haunted Objects. New haunted objects are added every year, necklaces that choke the wearer, paintings that emit whispers and cries, stolen idols that bring bad fortune.

Our pop culture is littered with such references. "Living Doll" and "The Dummy" are two of the most recalled Twilight Zone episodes. On film, there's Chucky and Christine and of course, one of my greatest guilty pleasures, The Puppet Master series.

With the advent of Ebay, one can even buy and sell supposedly haunted objects, the sale of which often make headlines.

Although fascinating, this subject is not relegated to books and movies - it may be all too real.

John Zaffis has been involved in the paranormal community for 35 years. During this time he has amassed a collection of hundreds of haunted objects and placed them in a Museum - Museum Of The Paranormal http://www.johnzaffisparanormalmuseum.com/
In addition, he's made a film about the museum and the stories behind the objects themselves.

Listen to Altered States Para Radio's episode with John Zaffis as he tells the stories behind some of the objects in the collection and the very inherent dangers involved.
http://www.tomyd.com/as_ep204_web.mp3

********

With the release of the film, The Last Exorcism, capturing our attention, Blackwood will be focusing on stories of possession this week.

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

2010-08-18T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hell A, Boyle Heights in particular, is serving up some deliciously twisted fare for your enjoyment.

1) Fright Night In The Heights - hosted by the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project

Join BHPP to watch everyone's favorite ghost film, The Haunting (1963), in very abandoned, certainly haunted Linda Vista Hospital, in Boyle Heights. Following the screening, guests will have an opportunity to tour both the main hospital as well as the mental ward, which is not open to the public.

The event is co-hosted by:
Ghost Hunters Of Urban Los Angeles
3AM Paranormal
Antelope Valley Haunts

Saturday, August 21st at 8:00 - doors open at 7:45
Suggested donation for the movie - $5 - $20 per person for the tour

610 S. St Louis St.
Boyle Heights, CA, 90023

Although the event is SOLD OUT - I am offering two Blackwood readers a space on the guest list. Comment before Midnight on Friday, August 20th, leaving your name and an email addy I can send you instructions to.

2)25th Anniversary Of The Night Stalker Capture Tour

To commemorate the 1985 capture of the infamous Los Angeles serial killer Richard Ramirez, Eastside Desmadre Tours will conduct a guided walking/public bus tour to explore the downtown L.A. haunts and dwellings of the “The Night Stalker.” Included in the tour is a visit to the East L.A. street where he was captured, as well as interviews with local witnesses involved in his apprehension. Hosted by Crimebo The Clown.

$25
August 29th, 12:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Hubbard Avenue
Los Angeles, CA, 90023

http://nightstalkertour.blogspot.com/
http://crimebo.com/

3) All About The Hollywood Pantages Theatre

The Pantages is a beautiful, historic theatre, more importantly, it is reportedly haunted. This tour covers it all, behind the scenes, art deco magnificence, history.

August 28th, 10:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M.
6233 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA, 90028

http://www.lahtf.org/

4) Maja's Magic School : Electricity, Ectoplasm & Spirit Rapping

September is here yet again and that means its time to go back to school - Magic School!

September 12th, 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
Annie Besant Lodge
2560 N. Beachwood Drive
Los Angeles, CA, 90068

http://www.godismyboyfriend.com/

5)The Hotel Horrors And Main Street Vice - Esotouric

I cannot say enough regarding my adoration of Esotouric. If you haven't yet adventured with them - better put it on your list.
The Hotel Horrors portion is a true crime and oddities tour featuring some of the wildest, weirdest, goriest and most memorable happenings in historic hotels.The Main Street Vice portion is a social history tour celebrating the ribald, racy, raunchy old promenade where the better people simply did not travel, but kicks were had by all who did.

$58
September 11th 12:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Cafe Metropole
923 E 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA, 90013

http://esotouric.com/mainhotel

Was That You?

2010-07-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

It started about six months ago, in a small, church and private school located in the San Fernando Valley. It started by pulling the clothing and hair of the fourth grade teacher who would arrive in the mornings to prepare for her class earlier than her colleagues. It would creep in the stairwell, (see photo above) and in the little hallway area outside of the girls' restroom, sometimes slamming the stall doors shut or making other knocking or scratching noises on the walls. Her classroom was at the top of the stairs and she could hear it sometimes during class...so could the children.

It's attention turned to a couple of the fourth grade girls in the class, pulling at their clothes and hair. One girl even said it "chased" her up the stairs, but would go no further than the fourth or fifth step.

In June, a visitor, who claims to be sensitive, was going through this area on a tour of the campus. He said there was something there and described it as being "prickly," that whatever it was, wasn't very nice.

Every evening, when the little school isn't in session, two churches inhabit the buildings. One of them, could be described as...intense. On Friday nights, they hold service which includes a great deal of screaming, wailing, crying and writhing on the ground, even an occasional snake.

A couple of the teachers offered it flowers and a blessing one morning. They say it's presence is much weaker now. I wanted to find out.

Mr. Blackwood and I ventured over a couple weeks ago at night. The buildings and grounds were completely empty. We set up a camera outfitted with an external IR illuminator and a couple of digital voice recorders with the new mics. Set out the Mel Meter, the Natural Tri Field Meter, settled onto the floor and talked to it.

About half an hour into our vigil, Mr. Blackwood, who was sitting to my left, poked me and pointed toward the stairs, his eyes wide. Something was breathing in the darkness, a few feet away. We inched up the stairs, clutching a temp gague and an EMF detector...nothing.

We resumed our place on the floor. Minutes after, we distinctly heard footsteps followed by a shuffling sound near the doorway that opens up into this area from an anteroom. We ventured toward the doorway, into the empty anteroom. Again we sat, asking, "Was that you? Could you please do it again?" Whatever it was, granted our request.

A few days later I saw the teacher and told her about the footsteps and the shuffling. "Oh, the kids say that is what they hear. Footsteps and that walking/shuffling sound. They think its coming after them."

So what exactly is there? Why did it manifest only six months ago? Did someone bring it with them or manifest it? Maybe we will never know, but for now, I'm rather determined to get some answers.

All Hail The Queen

2010-05-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

I recently watched some footage captured by a paranormal research organization I highly regard, the American Paranormal Research Association. It has been one of those few pieces of possible evidence that I cannot explain away, nor can I forget about it.

A.P.R.A founder, Brandon Alvis, was kind enough to elaborate on the story behind this footage., captured on the RMS Queen Mary, in Long Beach, California. "The video was collected by myself and my wife in the winter of 2008. We were conducting an EMF sweep of the changing stalls, when the footage was taken. The only people present in the First Class Pool was Melissa, a security guard and myself." It was almost three months before they discovered the footage.

Alvis' constant striving to adhere to a policy of presenting the, "cold hard facts, to prove or disprove," of course led him to look for an explanation from experts in various fields. “Upon reviewing the video I sent a copy to multiple Engineers, Medial Doctors and other various professionals from technical industries, given the situation could not explain the footage presented. One Medical Doctor did mention the way the "eye" of the figure is reflecting should not react in that manner, if it was a living person. He said the way the human eye reacts to IR light is in two ways...the pupil and the cornea. The reflection of the "eye" of the figure is reacting in only one way ... the pupil, he said when the human body dies that the pupil becomes completely dilated... this is how the "eye" of the figure seems to be reflecting.”

________________________

You can visit A.P.R.A at http://www.apraparanormal.com/homepage.html or visit their You Tube channel to watch their new documentary series, A View From The Other Side http://www.youtube.com/user/apraparanormal

You can do your part to help support continued paranormal research on the historical Queen Mary by signing this petition, graciously spearheaded by Bob Davis, founder of Planet Paranormal Investigations

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/queenmary

Hollyweird

2010-05-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Ghost Hunters Of Urban Los Angeles organization, I participated in an investigation of the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood. The building itself houses the theatre, the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Snow White Cafe, all of which have their own fascinating stories to tell, paranormal and otherwise.

This building has been home to a variety of businesses over the years. Before the Wax Museum moved in, the building was home to a luggage company, and the museum's current Operations Manager, was told that the luggage company might have been a front for organized crime. "And during the 1920s," he said, "the basement of the building was used as a speakeasy, so who's to say who might be buried beneath us that we're not aware of."

The Embassy Club was opened in February of 1930. A new, exclusive club where the celebrities would not be mobbed by unruly fans. The Embassy featured a rooftop promenade and a glass enclosed lounge with a sweeping view of the Hollywood Hills.

Membership was restricted to 300 of the proprieter’s closest friends including Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and Sid Grauman. As the years went on the Embassy was run by Bruce Cabot who brought in Delores Del Rio and David O Selznick and Mary Pickford hosted all of the Motion Picture Relief Fund dinners here. Soon after, Embassy owner Brandstatter allowed the public entry ensuring it’s failure.

The Stella Adler Theatre moved into the location in 1993. Students, teachers, staff and guests have claimed to experience numerous, possibly paranormal phenomena.

In Studio C a smoking man wearing highwater pants and suspenders has been spotted numerous times, especially during classes. They say he looks a lot like a waiter, on his break. People report finding him upon entering the theatre. Fearing they have taken him by surprise they apologize and say "...I didn't know anyone was in here." The man does not respond but instead, vanishes. Apparently, the man isn't always quiet. In a small hallway that runs alongside Studio C, the man was spotted again and informed passerby, "I've got to find the Freedman party."

In the back hallway, near the freight elevator unexplained banging is often heard as well as footsteps when there is no one around. The freight elevator call button also goes off when no one is present to push it.

In the front main theatre, the Gilbert, which used to house the old ballroom, there is frequent knocking on set walls, the crying of a child has been hard many times not just in this room but in many places in the theatre complex. At one point so many things were going on that a psychic was brought in, who stated that the spirit of a little girl as well as an evil spirit could be found in the two dressing rooms to the rear of this main theatre. People have also said the dressing rooms evoke a feeling of "bad energy."

A few years ago some renovations took place. At this time a wall was knocked down to reveal what could be considered the crown jewel of the building, a hidden speakeasy, frozen in time, as it were. It is a small room, complete with bar and a revolving secret bookcase that, when spun, reveals an escape ladder. In here, visitors have experienced unexplained severe drops in temperature and have described a variety of "weird feelings."

Real Ghost Among Reel Ghosts?

2010-03-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Tess, who I've mentioned before, came across an interesting discovery while viewing The Innocents.

This is a marvelous film, and I like it all the more because during my second viewing, I noticed a Glowing Thing!

It's in the scene where Miss Giddens goes upstairs in a nightdress with her hair down, hearing spooky noises. Just after she comes past a square pillar with her candelabra, there's a loud echoing clatter. Then the camera angle changes to a long shot down a hallway, to an open area at the end. I don't know what it's called in architecture -- it's the area where a hallway or passage widens out into a sort of landing, with balustrades. And there is indirect light coming from off-camera on the right side.

Very quickly, on the right, there's a small white glowing area that moves and then disappears. If you slow it down and zoom way in, you will realize it's a human head, which glows whitely, catching the light that comes from off-camera. Some shadowy facial features are faintly visible, but only very faintly -- my guess is that it's a man from the development of the chin, but I can't really see anything else distinguishing.

The motion of the head is of someone bent slightly forward who straightens up, and then moves back out of sight. It's very creepy, in part because it looks so furtive and unintentional. In fact it reminds me of blurry film footage of "real ghosts" that you might see on a TV show about the supernatural, the kind of thing captured unintentionally while people are filming something else altogether.

Since it's so difficult to see this thing -- even to see that it is in fact a person's face -- without zooming in and slowing down, which of course one couldn't do in 1961, I wonder whether it was a crew member adjusting something on the set rather than an intentional ghostly actor.

Perhaps the filmmakers saw it later, but left it in because it added to the ghostliness. Or, maybe it really *was* intentional. But I'd be surprised if so -- it's just so small, and goes by so quickly, unless you view the scene with technological enhancement!

What would be the most fun is if it's neither an actor nor a crew member, and is apparently a Real Ghost™! Maybe I just started a rumor...

At any rate, it's a Glowing Thing and it's completely awesome.

After she told me this, I immediately got myself a copy of the film and watched Tess' Glowing Thing. There is something there.

Pay attention to the area slightly left to the center of the screen.

Screen shots from youshotandywarhol.

Tess is the proprietress of a magical store - please visit - http://www.midnight-muse.com/