Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
August 25th, 2010 | 
Author: by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
I’m kind of a geek. Or maybe that’s a dork or a nerd. From what I hear, there are different definitions for each, but I have yet to sort through which is which or know which one applies to me.
Anyhooo….regardless of my classification on the whole geek/dork/nerd spectrum, I really like to contemplate things that just flat out blow. My. Mind. The more trippy, the better as far as I’m concerned. As a kid I would lay awake at night and try to contemplate how big infinity was – and how far that meant the universe went on if, indeed, it was infinite. As my mind would trip outward farther and farther probing the boundaries of infinity, I would get to a point where I’d realize that I had no concept for what it meant. And even if the universe wasn’t infinite, I further reasoned, surely there had to be something outside of the universe. Was it just a huge ball suspended in a vacuum? Pretty heady stuff for a six year old, let me tell you.
Even today as a 44 year old, it is hard to envision – what lies outside of the realms that we understand – the realms of time and space that we know either experientially, experimentally or theoretically. But it doesn’t stop my far less agile brain from still tripping along, just as I did when I was a six year old lying in bed and contemplating something I could barely understand.
That’s why I love articles and news items that really challenge the universe that I know perceptually. Things that make me wonder if we do, indeed, move only forward through time or question the nature of what our mutual perceived reality is as human beings.
An article in the Huffington Post on August 18 caught my eye. In the article, scientist and theoretician Robert Lanza takes a look at experimental findings that seem to indicate that time is not what we perceive it to be. Instead, the findings on experiments with photons indicate that the causal relationship between the past and the present (where the past affects and leads to the present but the present doesn’t affect and lead to the past) may not exactly be what we perceive. Instead, it appears that the present may just affect the past as much as the past affects the present.
I’ll pause a moment to let you ponder that and then use your best Bill and Ted voice to say, “Whoaaaaaa……..”
If the present can – not just theoretically, but experimentally – affect the past, then what does that say about what we believe we know about the nature of time?
Time as we understand it is divided into three distinct parts – past, present, future. What we know of the past is affected by a few factors – including recorded histories and personal memories. Brain science has shown, however, that what we think we remember about our own individual histories is highly subjective and highly flawed, because we filter personal history through our own world-view, education, perceptions, experiences, self-concept and more. It is why several different people can have several different memories of the exact same event in a shared history. What it comes down to is that there is no true shared history, because each of us perceptually filters our experience and memory of history through our own highly subjective filters. Even in the case of recorded history, these subjective filters come into play. That’s because the person recording the history is still subject to the same biases that we all have. Since history is usually written by the victors, the versions of recorded history that become part of the collective consciousness are still, at their very core, incomplete histories based on the biases and filters of the observers who recorded them.
In other words, in a very real sense, history as we know and understand it is a bunch of hogwash.
The future, on the other hand, is the vague unknown. I don’t care how psychic you are, there is no way of projecting a future with 100% certainty. Too many random factors come into play that affect outcomes. The future can’t be real because we just don’t know how each of the millions of random bits will come together.
That leaves us with the present. Something we can surely rely on, right? Unfortunately, we can’t even really rely on the present as much of a yardstick for reality, because those same subjective filters that come into play as we narrate our histories also affect how we experience our current realities. If we could shut our minds up and merely be in the moments of pure experience, we might come closer to approximating an experience of objective reality, but the second that pure moment of experience had past, our individual filters would immediately kick into spin mode once again, and we’re left with an inaccurate memory of that moment of pure experience.
As I think about this stuff, I become the six year old kid again – unable to wrap my mind around what is real, what is perceived and what is purely illusory. And for me, it leaves me in an interesting place. While I elect to buy into my perception of what is real most of the time in order to keep my bearings, the truth is that I have no clue what reality is. For all I know, everything that I am experiencing right now is merely a projection of my mind – this keyboard, this chair in which I am sitting, the noisy ankle-biter dogs who are running rampant through the house playing – it could all just be some huge illusory mind @#$% that I am creating in order to give myself a solid sense of reality.
It’s a concept that not only boggles my mind – it excites it. Because within all of this, I can see endless possibility. What I don’t know can fill up that big, infinite universe I used to try to envision when I was a kid, and I’m pretty sure that you could fit what I do, actually know 100% without hesitation on one of the many angels that fits on the head of a pin.
Enjoy Karen’s blog? Karen’s new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington> is now available. Click here to buy.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
Movie: Inception
Genre: SciFi
Rating 4-1/2 stars out of 5
If you haven’t seen Inception yet, then get ready to have your mind boggled. While the movie isn’t difficult to follow, it does take a while to sort out, and I’m still sifting through it this morning after seeing it last night.
Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a man with a dark past which is slowly revealed throughout the movie. He works in dream corporate espionage – obtaining corporate secrets through the experience of shared dreaming. He is also a fugitive expat, unable to return to the United States without facing charges for killing his wife.
Cobb meets Saito (Ken Watanabe), a powerful and wealthy Japanese businessman who wants Cobb to use his gifts in a different way – inception, or the process of implanting an idea through shared dreaming. Saito promises that if Cobb can plant an idea in the subconscious of the son of his chief business rival, he will make sure that all of Cobb’s problems in the US will disappear and Cobb will be able to return home to his children.
Cobb and Saito assemble a team and begin to plan the process of inception by creating a three level dream within a dream within a dream scenario in order to plant Saito’s idea.
At its heart, Inception centers on a theme common in movies – the long con. Where it is brilliant, however, is in its implementation. It weaves together multiple layers into a single, complex story line that will leave you thinking about it long after you’re done watching the movie.
The movie is well acted by a terrific cast – Ellen Page, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe and Dileep Rao play the inception team convincingly, and each moves the action forward well.
Inception isn’t mindless escapism. There is a lot here that will leave you wondering about the nature of dreams and the nature of reality. It is well worth the price of admission, however. Inception will keep your mind spinning, long after you leave the theater.
Enjoy Karen’s reviews? Karen’s new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington> is now available. Click here to buy.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
This has been posted for a while, but is definitely interesting evidence and I’m feeling lazy today. Take a look.
These two EVPs are both from Wellington. The first was captured in late July on the overlook. We were on the overlook setting up a toy train for the child ghost (that is the clicking you hear in the background). We had a video recorder running at the same time, and it doesn’t show up on the video – only on this audio recorder. We had three other audio recorders running at the same time, and it isn’t on any of those, either.
The song you hear has been around since the 1830s. The avalanche at Wellington was in 1910, and the town disappeared off of the map in 1930.
The next audio anomaly was captured in the parking lot. One of the reports at Wellington is the sound of singing in the parking lot.
And finally, a video clip that sounds like a disembodied laugh from when we were with the kids at Wellington in July. You may need headphones to hear the laugh.
Enjoy the Wellington evidence? Karen’s new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington> is now available. Click here to buy.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
The world can be a pretty negative place, that’s for sure. While I notice it in the paranormal community, the truth is that it is out there everywhere. It isn’t unique to the paranormal. Heck – there’s a whole bulletin board devoted to trolling and negativity (the infamous /b/ board at 4chan). It’s pretty easy to hide behind an avatar and a bad attitude where you don’t have to look into the eyes of another and see the hurt you may be causing with your words and actions.
And yet, it’s easy to get swept up in the negativity. The minute someone behaves like a total douchebag, I can fully understand the instinct to go into full-on defensive mode. Especially when you notice that others agree with your assessment of the situation – the temptation is there to join up like a gang of playground bullies who band together to pick on the offensive turd who set you off in the first place. There are a few times when I’ve had to pull myself back from the almost overwhelming desire to join the mob with my own pitchfork and torch to chase down a monster.
If it stayed on the Internet, that would be one thing. After all, we all have our choice of the material we look at when we surf the Net. In most forums, if we don’t like a troll we can ignore them. We can choose not to read blogs by people we find offensive. We can choose not to engage in flame wars. We can walk away with the click of a browser button.
The problem that I see is that the trolling and negativity seems to be seeping over into real life. It’s not staying on the interwebz. Maybe it’s just that I’m an adult now and not under the protection of my rather sunny and naive view of the world any longer, but it seems like real-world encounters with hostile jerks are becoming more common. In the past year, I’ve witnessed people screaming at others with no provocation, people hideously mistreating the poor unfortunate saps who are forced to serve them in the course of their jobs, and some of the most vicious backstabbing behaviors I have ever encountered. I personally have been screamed at in a failed attempt at bullying and intimidation, had lies spread about me, and had to step away from people I thought were my friends because of constant negativity and attacking behaviors. It makes it tough for a girl to keep her rose-colored glasses perched firmly on her nose.
I don’t remember that the world was always this unkind. Or maybe I was better at ignoring it and avoiding the negative people out there. It’s hard to know. It is also discouraging. After all, I’m raising a teen-ager who will soon become an adult in a world that seems to be peopled with an awful lot of individuals who have somehow checked their humanity at the door. Or maybe it is just that the planet has gotten smaller with the advent of the Internet, and that we are now in communication with people we would never have met in days gone by.
Whatever the reason, here’s the one thing I do know. I have zero control over all of the negativity that exists in the world. I can’t control the trolls, the douches and the a-pipes. I have no control over what is said on the Internet, and I have no control over how others behave or treat anyone else (including me). There is only one thing in this universe that I control, and that is myself. Therefore, in my world it is entirely up to me to eliminate the negativity.
How? By not participating. By walking away. By trying to do what I learned as a child – treat others the way that I’d like to be treated. I can step away from relationships that are negative. I can not take my bad day out on other people. And when other people decide to take their bad days out on me, I can decide whether or not I let it affect me.
It’s the only thing I can come up with, this humble plan of mine. I can only combat negativity in my own life, in my own attitude and in my own interactions with other people. What everyone else chooses to do is up to them.
Enjoy Karen’s blog? Karen’s new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington> is now available. Click here to buy.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
I recently came across something in a shout box on a paranormal group’s website. The group is one that has a regular haunted hangout, and they’ve become somewhat associated with the place even though many other groups investigate the location as well. The message in the shout box was along these lines:
“You’re wasting your time there. The souls there have been released.”
And yet – the groups who go there, psychics who visit there and even visitors to the location not seeking out paranormal activity all continue to have experiences that suggest that the spirits haven’t gone anywhere.
It’s actually an experience I’ve had firsthand. I was once following several paranormal groups all involved in a large group investigation of a location. My job was the same one I’ve had many times before – follow people around and ask questions like a perennial three-year-old. It’s my calling in life, really.
Many of the teams had psychics with them, but one psychic in particular was very theatrical. Derek Acorah theatrical, if you know what I’m saying. She swept through the rooms of the location one after the other telling all of the spirits that as soon as she was done talking with them, she would release them. Then she would proceed to have a one-sided conversation (or at least it sounded one-sided to us) before dramatically sweeping her hands out in front of her in a whooshing motion, when she would dramatically declare that the spirits had been RELEASED!
Taa daa!!!!!
Last I checked, that location has just as much haunting activity as it ever did. Either it’s a fresh new batch of spirits, or there may be a glitch in the whole releasing of spirits system.
Do we humans even have the “power” to release spirits? And if we do, is it our job to do so? I’ve mentioned this before, and it is always a controversial subject. There are many who will tell you that it is absolutely, 100% the responsibility of someone who comes across a spirit to try to help that spirit get to the other side because that spirit is trapped. Others take on a more Prime Directive type of approach – observe, report, don’t interfere.
It’s something I struggled with myself when I first started to encounter what I thought were the souls of the dead. What was my responsibility? Did their communication with me mean that they needed me to do something? Was it my responsibility to help them find the Light and get to it like Jennifer Love Hewitt on that ghost show?
I arrived at my own philosophy in this regard, which I am comfortable with, but which I have been told many times is a cop out. For the record, I don’t feel it is. Want to hear about it? Here’s how it goes….
1. When we encounter something paranormal, we’re not entirely certain what it is that we are dealing with. We have theories, certainly. It definitely could be a human soul. It could be residual energy. It could be a piece of residual energy. Bottom line – while we think we have a definition of “ghost,” it is a working definition at best. I’ve yet to see an infallible scientific explanation that proves that what we experience as ghosts are indeed human souls.
2. Let’s pretend for the sake of argument that ghosts are, indeed, human souls. The entire soul – every piece of the human consciousness that once existed in a body is now floating around in soul form as a ghost. Even if we knew that 100%, would we have a responsibility to “release” that soul? I believe that it is the height of arrogance to say that I know what is best for any soul – ever. I believe that each soul has a path that is unique to that soul. I also believe that I can’t know what another soul’s path is. Hell – I barely know what my soul’s path is. I stumble and thrash around in the dark daily trying to figure that out. So how can I say what the path of another soul is? And if I can’t know another’s path, then how do I know what is best for that soul? How do I know that the soul should be released? I can’t insert my beliefs and will on another soul. To do so is a brashly arrogant way of asserting my belief system onto another.
3. Say that, in spite of the above, I still decide to “release” a soul because I’m feeling an insouciant touch of brash arrogance one day. How do I know how to release the spirit? How do I know that if I do a little soul releasing magic, I won’t actually inadvertently send the soul somewhere else (or send it anywhere for that matter?)
4. This one isn’t mine. My friend, Bert Coates of NWPIA talks about it, and it makes sense to me. How do we even know that the Light is good? It could be a trick! We. Have. No. Clue.
And so – clueless as I am, I’m not comfortable in attempting to try and release a soul or even suggesting that a soul needs to find a way to release itself.
Before those of you who regularly assist souls to the Light get your dander up, please understand this. I know that you do what you do with the best of intentions. If you feel that what you are doing is clearly the right thing for you to do, then by all means get to it. We each have to develop our own personal belief systems and philosophies, and you are just as entitled to yours as I am to mine. I’m merely explaining mine, and I feel that FOR ME to attempt to release a soul, it would be irresponsible and ultimately selfish and arrogant. That doesn’t mean that if you do it you are those things. It means you’ve developed your own way of doing things that works for you.
I was having a conversation with a gentleman just this past weekend. He has some psychic intuition, and I asked him about his philosophy of sending spirits to the Light.
“I would never presume to do something like that,” he told me. “Maybe if a spirit asked me to help them in that way, I would try to see what I could do. But in all my years of doing this, I’ve never had one ask.”
If you enjoy Karen’s blogs, then check out her new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington, which is now available from Amazon.com.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
As EVPs go, this one is pretty quiet. It’s a class B at best, most likely a class C. It’s a whisper, and I’m not fond of whispers unless they are very clear. Good headphones are suggested.
So why am I sharing it with you? For starters, I captured it just last night at Wellington. We spent the evening there with NWPIA and a team from West Coast Ghost Hunters. The guys from WCGH had never been to Wellington before, and it is always a joy to watch others discover what an amazing place Wellington is.
In the EVP, you will hear Jayme ask something about a child and then a whisper. The name that I hear in the whisper is one that has been captured more than once at Wellington – often in conjunction with kids. I’ll post my EVP from last night, and then I’ll post the other EVP I have with the name in it – actually the very first EVP I ever captured at Wellington.
So here’s the whisper from last night:
childname
First Wellington EVP I ever captured with the same name in it:
Do you hear the same name in both? Other investigators have also captured the same name in EVP.
Here’s my question. Did I hear that name in the EVP from last night because I’ve heard it before? Am I recognizing a pattern rather than actually hearing the name? Or is there something to it?
I’d love to hear what you guys think. As always, post your thoughts in comments.
Enjoy Karen’s evidence from Wellington? Check out her book Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington, which is available from Amazon.com.
Posted in Blog, Evidence of the Week | 
Tags: electronic voice phenomena, electronic voice phenomenon, EVP, Wellington | 
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by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
Watch out, folks. There’s a new breed in town and they’re called para-jerks. Nope – I’m not talking about a new class of paranormal evidence like jacket tugs. I’m also not talking about ghosts, cryptids or aliens with attitude problems. Instead, I’m talking about those groups and individuals in the paranormal field who feel as if they must cast aspersions on everyone who is not them.
I spend a lot of my time meeting paranormal investigators from various groups and I’ve got to tell you – most of you are amazing people. Kind, open, friendly and passionate about what you do. You’re all eager to share your methodologies, hear what other people do, share stories and experiences, share evidence – all of it. Some of you are even screamingly funny – and there is a special place in my heart for people who can make me laugh so hard that I cry. Or wet myself. Perhaps I’ve shared too much…
What I’m trying to say to many, many, many of you wonderful paranormal investigators that I’ve met is this: I love you man! While I may not always agree with your theories and methods, while you may not always agree with mine, you are the salt of the earth – people after my own heart who have a passion for what it is that you do and a willingness to share it with a rather chunky paranormal reporter/neophyte investigator who never lost a three-year-old’s propensity for asking questions. You all have taught me so much by sharing your world with me, and I am eternally grateful.
Alas, this is not the feel good blog of the year. I’d love to end it there and I probably should, but I think I’ve got a little something to say.
There’s another type out there who I’ve deemed the para-jerks. Okay – that’s not quite true. In my head, the language is a little bit harsher, but this is a family website. These are the groups who seem to lack the confidence to stand on their own theories, beliefs, methods and accomplishments. Instead, in a rather misdirected attempt to make themselves look better, they spend a great deal of time slamming other groups and individuals. They do it on their websites. They do it in their investigations. They tell anyone who will listen how much everyone else sucks.
Hey – I understand marketing. I am a former marketing guru who spent nearly 20 years marketing people’s stuff. It’s perfectly okay to highlight what makes your group special and unique. It’s perfectly okay to show how great you are. It’s even okay to distinguish yourself from the pack. That’s marketing. But when your efforts to this end start to resemble political attack ads, then maybe, just maybe you might want to tone it down a little.
*Cue spooky music and snarkastic (it’s a word I made up combining snarky and sarcastic – like it??) man’s voice:*
Paranormal Donkeys of Upper Chicago End (Para-DoUChE) believe they saw a ghost. They think they’ve captured EVPS. But what Para-DoUChE didn’t tell you is that they once used a Ouija board. Can you trust a group with members that played with Ouija boards when they were 13? Are these the people that you want in your homes interacting with your ghosts? Come on, Para-DoUChE, surely you can do better than that.
*spoken quickly* Paid for by Citizens for Paranormal Association of South Southampton (Para-ASS).
I kid the para-jerks. Sort of.
Here’s the deal, folks. When we turn to petty infighting, when we slam others in the field in a misguided attempt to make ourselves look better, when we talk about how much everyone else sucks because they are not us, it diminishes all of us. And I’m not just talking about the people you are slamming. It diminishes you, as well. It diminishes the field as a whole and makes the entire paranormal community look like a bunch of squirrelly, mean-spirited a-pipes who can’t get our crap together. To outsiders, it looks like a train wreck – a paranormal version of the Jerry Springer show. Since a true passion for the paranormal is already considered a rather fringe belief anyway, is this the impression that we want to make on the world? That we’re all a bunch of backstabbing jerks? Let’s leave that to the politicians.
I get that I’m starting to sound a little negative here, so I have a challenge for everyone. Take a look at the information you’re putting out there into the world. Take a look at ALL of your communications. Your websites, your literature, your blogs, your tweets, your Facebook status updates, the way that you communicate about other groups when you are out in the world representing not only yourselves, but the paranormal community at large. Now ask yourself this: Are we talking ourselves up, or are we putting others down? The two are not necessarily conjoined twins. It’s very possible to share how terrific you are without ever once mentioning how much the other guys suck. And in doing so, you’ll be doing yourself and everyone else in the paranormal community a huge favor.
Paranormal research isn’t a competition. It is different things for different people: a hobby, a personal journey, a passion, a means of exploring the universe, a way to alleviate fears, a way to explore the unknown, a thrill ride. There are as many reasons for exploring the paranormal as their are people who explore it. I know because I’ve asked almost everyone I’ve met in this field why it is that they do what they do. I’ve never gotten the same answer twice. So whatever it is to you, it’s all good – but here’s what it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t have to be a mean-spirited way to make yourself look better than everyone else. It doesn’t have to be the Springer-esque cat fight that diminishes everyone.
Take a step back. Look around. Are you contributing to progress, or are you contributing to drama? If the answer is drama, is that why you wanted to get into paranormal research in the first place? If it is, then carry on. If it isn’t, then you just might want to find a way to reconnect with that initial passion without the drama.
Here’s something that I love about the universe. There’s only one thing that we can control in this world, and it isn’t the other guy. So if we can’t control the other guy, why worry so much about what it is he’s doing? Instead, why not share your passion with the world? Let your light shine – because there is no doubt that there is something about you that is unique and amazing. In the end, the entire community (you included) will be better off for it.
If you enjoy Karen’s blogs, then check out her latest book Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington which is available from Amazon.com.
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
I’ve always considered myself just a little bit of a Renaissance gal. I have a genuine enjoyment of many of the finer things in life. For instance, I have enough knowledge and appreciation of fine wines that I am a wine editor in one of my other jobs. I love to cook gourmet foods with ingredients like truffles and foie gras. I’ve read and enjoyed many of the classics. I write poetry. I have a genuine appreciation for the arts – classical music (I am a classical musician myself), opera, the theater and the visual arts. I love to decorate and my home is a nod to traditional styles of interior design. Some might suggest from these interests that I might even be the tiniest bit of a snob.
And yet…..
I also like redneck stuff. It’s its own kind of fun. For instance, I’m a sucker for a great demolition derby. I’ve recently discovered that I rather love to shoot guns. I’ve been known to enjoy less refined foods, as well – you know the kind – where the meat comes on the bone and the other main ingredients are white flour and salt. I have a profound love for cold Spaghetti-Os with sliced up franks that extends way back to college when I was broke and that was what I could afford. And now, we’ve got the latest redneck accoutrement. A giant, full-sized 4 x 4 with a quad cab.
It’s not our truck. Jim was involved in an accident in our Mitsubishi the other day with a student driver who apparently had a Jim shaped rubber stamp she was dying to use. She rounded a corner and sort of forgot to stop turning so that her 90 degree turn became a 120 degree turn straight into Jim. When we showed up to drop the Mitsubishi off for body work, the only vehicle in the stable was this big old American 4×4. Now I have the urge to adorn it with a gun rack, get dressed in a tube top, mini skirt and cowboy boots and drive through the streets of town shooting out the window and screaming, “Yeeeeeee Hawwwwww,” with a fried chicken drumstick in one hand and a beer between my knees.
This is the dichotomy that lives inside of me – Renaissance and redneck all at once. And I own it completely. Apparently who I am is a Renaissance redneck who enjoys not necessarily the finer things in life, but just life itself in all of its glorious variety. After all, who needs labels when we’ve got something even better – life – with all of its messy complexity. Maybe next I’ll discover I’m a little bit emo.
If you enjoy Karen’s blog, then check out her book Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington which is available for sale from Amazon.com.
www.paranormalunderground.net
This week’s Evidence of the Week comes from Wichita Paranormal Research Society (www.wichitaparanormal.com). This EVP was captured during an investigation of the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, Kansas.
This EVP was captured under “interesting” circumstances. The WPRS investigator left his recorder going while taking a bathroom break, and captured the following EVP after leaving the bathroom and going to change over the team’s DVD.
So, keep your recorders on folks! You never know what you might capture . . .
Let us know what you think of this EVP. At first you’ll hear footsteps of the investigators on the floor. But keep listening. What do you hear?
WPRS cowtown Class A EVP . . .
Posted in Blog, Evidence of the Week |
Tags: cowtown, EVP, Wichita paranormal research society |
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This year the intrepid traveler embarked on his early July jaunt south in the wee hours of the morning…the expressway traffic was light yet still spotted with cars and trucks as are all of the highways that skirt the Chicago periphery…despite the absence of congestion and aggravated commuters this early on, the alleviation of urban angst was every bit as tangible the farther from the metro core I drove… and the closer to the Illinois/Indiana border I motored, the greater the volume of “Krazy Kaplin’s Fireworks” roadside adverts I noticed especially so closely following the 4th of July where you always get “more bang for the buck” and “pyrotechnics for the price”…in addition to constant the roadside reminders of this fireworks emporium, there are the assorted salacious signs and lubricious billboards to also remind us that The Shangrila, Deja-Vu, Club O, Pole Katz, Showgirls and Atlantis gentlemen’s clubs were just an off ramp away and these prurient signposts continued well past Gary Indiana recurring only on the outskirts of Indy, Louisville and at times in close approximation to the larger truck plazas… the neighborhood homes along part of this economically challenged stretch of road was also the scene of a surrealistic two story house inferno that illuminated the surrounding night scape on the final leg of my journey home…
The seedier side of interstate travel advertisements was quickly annulled by the sprawling farmlands south of Merrillville, Indiana and replaced by a sense of tranquility and quietude that to some is the unequivocal panacea to the hypertensive stress of the daily grind only a drive in the country can provide…the wind generator farms that are now popping up along
the rural horizons do not detract from the heartland skylines as I feared, they actually broke the emerging, featureless monotony with a futuristic abstract surrealism as their enormous blades slowly turned in unison against the orange tinted, predawn glow of the eastern sky like the props of a giants sky ship or the propellers of a fleet of ocean liners that floating eerily above the patches of morning fog that blanketed the ground below….
The emergent mountain region that is always a such a spectacle to us Midwestern Flat-landers is probably taken for granted by those that see it every day much the way the city sky scrapers that define the Chicago skyline eventually fade from our notice but astounds Out-Of-Towners … even the iron rich, red dirt of the Appellations proved to be a renewed source of amazement to me when a freshly bulldozed plot of crimson colored, roadside property burned past my speed blurred periphery again invoking the equation of a Martian landscape …The composition of the soil in conjunction with the crystalline base of this mountain mantle has been theorized to be a catalyst for supernatural activity by many …
This trip included return visits to a couple of sites that yielded some interesting photos last time around in addition to several new locations that have raised the ire of the locals more sensitive or adept at detecting potential supernatural activity or spiritual presence…there were a couple of old houses that radiated a familiar resonance that regional or geographical diversity seldom diminishes or amplifies but at times can exude a distinct energy signature that is innate to certain areas …and this particular variable seems to be specifically engendered to distance as opposed to the history inherent to a certain site …perhaps this is related to the iron rich, crystal quarts abundant mountain base in this case …
One aspect of this excursion that deviated from my usual quixotic quests was the moral conflict I had to wrestle with in regard to chronicling the investigation of the crash site that claimed the life of a popular High School athlete as the result of apparent speeding and or reckless driving by the vehicle’s driver (whom survived the crash) and perhaps to a degree his own negligence as his failure to wear a seat contributed to his tragically premature death as the young man was ejected from the car … from the looks of the crash site, damage to the trees and Googled news photo of the car it was a horribly violent wreck… and apparently these abruptly curving and dipping mountain back roads have claimed many lives judging from the preponderance of makeshift memorials I noticed within the radius of this particular grid of notoriously dangerous cris-crossing roads …a grid that claimed 2 seniors from the same HS weeks apart and so close to graduation …
When I arrived at the site that has generated reports of strange, inexplicable activity in the wake of the accident, the first thing I noticed was the graffiti spray painted all over the street by classmates, family and friends…a permanent looking memorial was erected on the exact spot where the car came to rest complete with a cross and an accompanying inscribed stone…beyond the marker and bent or broken tree limbs was a medium sized tree trunk with a bark bare spot marked with a red X…a few feet below and away from the base, red spray paint was still visible despite the efforts of the amber colored earth sprinkled liberally over that specific spot to deliberately conceal the markings on the ground were this young man evidently perished after being thrown from the cartwheeling car…
The personal conflict I was experiencing over including photos and commentary was immediately replaced with a moment of clarity and the decision to include these photos in hopes of instilling a cautionary reminder of the consequences of reckless driving, drag racing, DUI or neglecting the simple snap of a seat belt that spared the driver albeit his flagrant carelessness and perhaps a momentary lapse in judgment that will haunt him and others for life…there is no mention of the specific circumstances that precipitated this tragedy only that a seat-belt may have saved the life of teen with so much promise. And as I decided to include the still shots of the crash site, I also decided not to analyze those photos for anomalous features….
There was always an attraction felt for a certain old house along one of the main stretches of road the last few times I made my way through this part of the mountains as it was perched so precariously atop a hill, irresistibly curious in all of it’s run down ruminations…across the street it’s yellow colored vacant counterpart must have finally succumbed to seeming uninhabitability as one of the back window was broken out and the previous occupant’s possessions were stacked haphazardly on the front porch and strewn about the front lawn as the probable result of rummaging looters… my passing observation of the two odd homesteads from the past year’s visit to this area included the presence of assorted vehicles parked in front and this to me was the initial deterrent from pulling off of the main thoroughfare for a closer look last time around and now none were to be found…
The gray, fading pallor of the old single story house may have instilled a sort of nostalgic charm if the stained imprint of generational oppression had not so inexorably permeated the very grain this of the structure itself and the hilltop for which it at one time was so majestically perched…a number of old rusty paint cans lined the railing of a front porch
that creaked with each step closer I took to the unhinging wooded screen door …the tinny twang of an old spring affixed to the inside of the door seemed to herald my final crossing of the threshold to the interior… the musty, dank air was to be expected as the ambiance of the dim light filtering through the dirt and dust opaqued windows confirmed the long absence of occupation…the creaking recrimination of the aging floorboards threatened to introduce me to the crawlspace below with each increasingly cautious footfall as if it was voicing in opposition for my non verbal expression of disdain for the state of disrepair the house looked to have been in prior to abandonment…
A lone Christmas wreath sat on an old folded up throw rug draped across a number of window screens leaning against the wall next to a window …the growing discomfort I was feeling intensified as the nascent nausea I experienced upon entry overwhelmed me with the added component of equilibrium instability and I knew I needed to get out of there as this was either a portal to hell or a bio hazardous, former meth lab (or both) but persevered the instinctual need to flee in favor of a few more photos …as I made my way to the partially opened window facing north and glanced outside through the frame of another screen door placed crookedly over it, I noticed a gleaming white Ford F250 “dualie” rolling down the gravel driveway from an impeccably neat ranch style homestead atop an even higher vantage point overlooking the two ramshackle shacks (and me) …fearing an unpleasant confrontation with a shotgun wielding
southern gentleman charged with the deed of overseeing the now vacant 2 homes that were already the objects of indiscriminate looting, I bolted for the front door and sprinted to my faithful Chevrolet steed, lighting up the tires in a hasty, cliche’d departure as the shining chrome grill of the white truck glinted in my rear view mirror rounding the turn from the steep driveway less than a half a block behind …the fortuitous lull in traffic at the intersection provided an ample window for me to jump on the main road and slam the accelerator to the floor forcing the powerful V-8 to lunge forward in a surge of unbridled exaltation…several darting mirror checks could not locate the pursuing pickup and I even mad a few fast head checks to be sure but there was no sign of Pale Horse to be found …in retrospection I couldn’t resist citing the symbolic equation of my metaphoric Guardian Angel descending from above in a giant white pick-up to chase me out of that house on the hill…
The other house that I tracked down acting on a tip was even more dilapidated and in a state of perpetual collapse…rumor has it that shadowy figures milling around outside on front stoop, faint laughter and odd lights were spotted shining from the interior in the middle of the night and the vigilant neighbors would never be able to catch anyone inside or nearby…and based on it’s current state of structural instability that I observed, the thick overgrowth, boarded rear windows, and general inaccessibility, I find it highly unlikely the lights were in realty; mischievous neighborhood kids exploring the old spooky house …a litany of complaints and concern over a certain group of incorrigible local hooligans placed them at the top of the neighboring resident’s list as the culprits for the disturbances reported there considering that one of these hardened young delinquents had in the past committed the unconscionable act of riding his bicycle through his back yard (gasp )…A carefully plotted climb over everything (including a kitchen sink) from a bathtub, wooden cabinets, old tires, pallets and other miscellaneous debris permitted me a glimpse through the darkened front window and aside from a haphazard stack of old mattresses, boxed junk and assorted end tables, what I did notice was that the dust on the inside was extremely thick and undisturbed thus lessening the likelihood of the anomalous lights being the surreptitious shenanigans perpetrated by flashlight wielding whelps as theorized by the 2 sets of adjacent neighbors I interviewed …the rear of the house is completely overgrown and borders a vacant lot that incidentally ends at the rear of a small cemetery and church…pushing my way through a small opening in the thorned thicket to try a photo of a small window that looked to be nailed shut, covered from within and undisturbed proved to only further confirm my doubts that the anomalous night lights spotted by several witnesses were resultant of young explorers on yet another nocturnal adventure…as I backed out of the thatch heavy patch and admired the new scratches running up the length of both forearms while I surgically extracted the burrs now embedded in my shoelaces, I suddenly heard dogs barking off in the distance and many dogs at that …I imagined some old codger running behind a leashed team of bloodhounds searching for some lost hikers or worse; a suspicious, unadvised neighbor “releasing the hounds to chase away them trespassers”…the barking became louder and more frenzied as I rounded the front of the house and once again darted for the car …I expected my protégée to be semi panicked and already in the car waving at me to get in but seemed startled by my harried demeanor as I reached the front yard were she was nonchalantly admiring a twisted old oak tree …I realized then that I no longer heard the dogs and she claimed to have heard nothing ( we left anyway ) …
Another location that I considered a prospect for exploration was again related by word of mouth and involved an old building that was a combination antiques mall and storage facility…
reports of a full blown apparition milling about the store after hours has been reported by several witnesses (leaving a nearby drinking establishment) but the store owners themselves have complained of certain objects constantly falling from shelves or tables regardless of the concerted efforts made to keep them stationary or even locate them to different tables, shelves or display cases … I have not examined all of those photos yet either but again found myself enamored by the efforts made to preserved this area’s small town charm while the economically unaffected continuing growth of this region threatens this main street economy with obsolescence in the face of progress….
There was an new (old) Baptist Church/Cemetery added to the itinerary this time around and was well worth the added travel as I did in fact capture some very “interesting” night photos there …there has been mention on the net of supernatural activity associated with this location but I have elected to not name the site keeping with policy when I venture out of my own realm to visit less known or unknown locations nationally …the progressive additions and remodeling projects over the years did not seem to detract from quaintness of the church and grounds … the old original church stands in it’s revered pristine state and even looked to be the recent recipient of a fresh coat of white paint …the cemetery is very old and many of the monuments closest to the buildings either collapsed or are partially disintegrated …one of the more recent new additions looked almost like a residence or perhaps retreat housing and is literally mere feet from the closest tombstone in the rear of the structure …the cool, jeweled full moon peeking over the pine line where the property ends provided an added combined element of preternatural glow to the already strange jaded emerald colored streetlight that stood at the cemeteries edge…as I made my way over the small incline to the bordering shrubbery that separates the church from what looked to be the large backyard of a private residence, I was stopped in my tracks by a horrible moaning ”ooooooooooooooooooohhhhh”…then a second time “oooooooooooooooohhhhhhh”
it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was being “punked” by a valiant effort made by some kids in the yard next door that must have noticed the occasional intermittent shots I was taking with a flash and decided to try and spook us…I have to compliment the youngster making the moaning sounds as he exhibited almost operatic vibrato skills in the effort …
I was fortunate enough to make it to one return site with an encroaching thunderstorm rolling in from the west and could almost taste the ionic static charge in the air…the base photos alone from that afternoon are quite amazing really and I plan to afford all of the data collected from this trip extensive examination as some of my recent evidential analysis has been either hastened or distracted, but I have recently pledged to shift my focus back to the research and study of the sites from this trip or the ones I will be exploring in the future and the data acquired …I will no longer permit myself deviation from my objectives regardless of the morbid fascination I occasionally entertain with the devolution of certain elements of the paranormal community ….b
Here are the unedited (compressed to 1 MB) photos from Road Trip 2010 (389 total)….b
http://s890.photobucket.com/albums/ac105/HalfhandParanormalChicago/Road%20Trip%202010/
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