My Little Shirtwait Fire - 101 Years - A Remembrance

"Yes, we're burning can you help us please?
Yes, we're begging, we're on bended knees
Oh, My Little Shirtwaist Fire."

It is March 25th again, one hundred one years have passed. Never forget the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Creepmas Gifting

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

First State Asylum For The Insane

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 Awakening

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

Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm?

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.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire - March 25, 1911

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.

Messages From Abe?

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!

The Fox Sisters - Part II

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.

Museum Of Mystery

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

Hometown Haunt - The Haunted

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....

Hometown Haunt - The History

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.

Ghost Stories

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

Vacancy

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...

Dolls - Possessed - Part II

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

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.

Was That You?

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

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

Real Ghost Among Reel Ghosts?

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/