Alcatraz escape: 50 years later, still a mystery

Alcatraz escape: 50 years later, still a mystery

The Haunted Mansion Project: More Photos!

Get your own copy of The Haunted Mansion Project and read all about the creepy terrifying events that you don't see in the pictures.

Find out about the Black Mass that lurked in my room every night.

Learn about the voices that answered the tarot readers' questions.

Understand the interpretation of strange and unusual events by professional ghost hunters.

Read terrifying and mysterious fiction inspired by a weekend spent creeping through the house and writing. 

The Haunted Mansion Project Can Be Yours!

Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, Fall River, Mass.

I've had the creepy pleasure of staying overnight at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast a couple of times over the years.

Most of the photographs in this video were taken in 2008, but there are also a few from previous years. I included a few from the renovations that were being done one year.

Pictures from Alcatraz 2010

After my adventures in Alcatraz, I spent four days in a haunted mansion with other writers and paranormal investigators.

We documented our findings in both fiction and non-fiction accounts in

The Haunted Mansion Project: Horror writers spend a weekend in a haunted house with cameras, dvrs, laptops and their imaginations. Read the chilling truth about what really lurks in the house.

 

What do the stars have in store for you this month?

Find out your forecast for June 2012 in this short video.

Sèphera uses a combination of tarot and astrology to give each sign a quick, unique overview of the energies surround him or her this month.

See what your horoscope says about you...if you dare!

Haunted Mansion Project

Have you ever spent a weekend in a Haunted House?

Have you ever spent a weekend in a Haunted House with HORROR WRITERS?

In the fall of 2010, ten horror writers met at a haunted mansion to spend four days together. 

Joining them was a team of paranormal investigators who studied the house and reported their findings. 

The Haunted Mansion Project is a collection of the fiction, poetry, journals, real impressions, and investigative conclusions inspired by that weekend. 

E.S. Magill, Rain Graves, Nikki Boscia, Loren Rhoads, Sephera Giron, Kim Richards, Yvonne Navarro, Weston Ochse, Christian Colvin, Dan Weidman, and S.G. Browne share their secret fears, desires and the disembodied voices of those from beyond. 

Remember the book, FRANKENSTEIN: THE MODERN PROMETHEUS by Mary Shelley? That book was inspired by a horror writers weekend.

Will any of us go on to write a classic like FRANKENSTEIN from our own experiences?

Only time will tell. 

In the meantime, we have a fabulously creepy book filled with fearful investigations, surreal incidents, and bonding through terror.

Haunted Mansion Project

Check out this great review about the Haunted Mansion Project: Haunted Mansion Project Review by Paranormality.com



Here are pictures from my own personal collection from the HAUNTED MANSION PROJECT!

The hallways were creepy, ghosts or not!

Rain Graves writing a scary story!

Sephera Giron self-portrait looking for orbs. Hey, there's one on her eye!

Rain Graves and Sephera Giron share the room from hell!

One of the third floor rooms where NO ONE dared to sleep!

Writers writing. Never looks as exciting as it is!

Writers writing...

Bring it!

"Why do these batteries drain so quickly?" wonders Yvonne Navarro!

Everyone present and accounted for?

What the * was that?

This is my favorite spot to write at The Haunted Mansion

Me and the Ghost Girls!



Buy The Haunted Mansion Project Today! Read the spooky accounts of what really happened that weekend!

Victorian Seance in Niagara!

Are you curious about paranormal investigations?

Have you always wanted to go to one but felt you didn't have enough experience to blend in with the others?

Here's a fabulous group you can join comprised of seasoned professionals and people who have "never done this kind of thing before."

Paranormal Investigative Society of Toronto has just started up for the summer ghost hunting season!

Paranormal 101 Events

If you want to go to a Victorian Seance and also ghost hunt, check out the event at Blythewood Manor in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

June 2, 2012  at 7:30 pm


June 9, 2012  at 7:30 pm

From the MeetUp Group:

The Event

Set in this historic victorian manor, you will participate in an intimate seance along with only 5 people.

Arrival, introductions and history

Group 1 (6 people) - Seance

Group 2 (6 people) - Tarot/EVP/Communications/Photo 2nd level,most haunted location

Refreshments (Coffee/Tea)

Group 1 (6 people) - Tarot/EVP/Communications/Photo 2nd level,most haunted location

Group 2 (6 people) - Seance

Wrap Up

Please allow up to 4 hours for this event.

Location:

Just off the parkway & 5 minutes from Clifton Hill, Blythewood Manor is very accessible. This location should not pose too many problems due to the weather. (main roads all the way)

History & Happenings

Located just off the Niagara Parkway sits Blythewood Manor. In 1872 this house was built on what was Clifton Avenue, later changed to Zimmerman after the man who designed the house.

The same man, Zimmerman, also designed the Niagara Falls train station, located on Bridge Street.

The Zimmerman house was owned and built by James Bampfield in 1872. The house was built for his wife Margaret Bampfield.

There were a number of deaths in the house on Zimmerman. Ida Bampfield had a stroke but it was not fatal but did restrict her to the house. She was cared for by her daughters who moved her bedroom to the dining room of the house where she stayed until her death.

During this time her son came to visit her and became quite ill, in fact dying in the house of a sudden heart attack brought about by a coughing fit during that visit.

During a paranormal investigation of the house in September 2009 two mediums, on two separate times picked up a woman who fell down the stairs and subsequently died of her injuries. (This claim was not substantiated). We were also informed of a boy named Derek who fell from the middle bedroom on the second floor on the south side of the house. He was not a Bampfield, but a relative.

There is also some paranormal evidence that suggests a woman was killed accidently in the basement of the home, a name of Ruth has come to light both times and through two different mediums. Numerous orbs have been filmed in the house, mostly on the second floor. These orbs would actually respond to verbal commands, getting bigger or smaller, coming closer or entering or leaving rooms on command.

Some common haunting occurrences in the home.

The distinct sound of walking on the main staircase and in the old servants room, which is located over the kitchen. The smell of a floral perfume in the first floor hallway that leads to the kitchen. The appearance of light anomalies in the front bedroom on the second floor. The visual appearance of a little girl, Anne Bampfield on the second floor. Anne did grow to be an adult but we have been told she enjoyed her childhood here at the house so much that when she returns to the house she does so as a child of about 8-10 years.

The current owners have seen the shadow shape of a woman move through the kitchen from where the old servant staircase used to be, towards where the old pantry used to be located.

The image of a gentleman aged about mid 40’s with a trim beard is often seen in the mirror of the middle bedroom on the second floor. Sneezing can be heard on the second floor when no one is upstairs.

The sound of a woman’s voice, with a British accent can be heard responding to conversation that will be taking place among people in or around the house. You will often not feel alone when standing at the top of the main staircase.

The aroma of cigar or pipe smoke can be smelt in the living room and on the veranda. The scent of floral perfume can also be smelt on the upper floors and in the narrow hall to the kitchen.

"The spirits come and go and seem genuinely happy and content. The house will feel very quite when they’re not home, then suddenly, you will feel that others are home with you, but not in a bad way. I akin it with when your children leave home, the house feels empty." - Wayne. The Owner

Ghost Hunting on a Date?

Ghost Hunting on a DATE?

Whether it's the first date or the fiftieth, finding a new adventure can be a brain-racking time-consuming experience. Sure a dinner and a movie can seem like a treat, especially once the kids come along but sometimes there's a yearning and curiosity to try something else.

But what?

What About Paranormal Romance?

No,  I don't mean curl up with a romance novel on a Saturday night, alone again. I was thinking of adventure combined with spooky along with ample opportunity to cling together in the dark in a haunted house or other establishment.

Thanks to the popularity of paranormal investigation shows, ghost hunting groups are popping up all over the place.

See if there's a local group conducting hauntings in your town. With the nice weather, there are groups popping up all about Toronto. You can check meet-up groups and other such blogs for more information about what paranormal activity might be going on in your town.

Even if you can't find any groups in your town, or if there aren't any conducting any paranormal investigations on the night in question, you can figure out your own paranormal activity.

Ways to Enjoy a Paranormal Evening

•     book a night in a haunted hotel
•     find the local paranormal investigation group and book them for an evening
•     walk through a cemetary or other haunted property, with permission of course
•     organize a ghost hunt with several friends at a local haunted establishment
•     go on one of the local ghost walk tours that are often offered to tourists
•     read about haunted places in your city then organize your own ghost walk
•     visit a pet cemetary
•     have a seance in a haunted establishment
•     take pictures and make recordings of your date.

Paranormal Equipment List

Here are a few ideas for tools to take on your paranormal investigation depending on your goals and location:

•     Flashlights and batteries
•     Camera: digital, film, video, movie, still
•     Batteries, lots of batteries: Bring your charger. Paranormal activity and cold spots have a habit of draining batteries
•     Recorder: digital, tape
•     Notepad and pens
•     K2 meter
•     themometer
•     laser grid
•     infra red camera
•     extension cords
•     duct tape
•     string
•     scissors
•     cell phone apps such as Ghost Radar
•     sweater
•     blanket
•     tarot cards
•     ouija board
•     pendulum
•     coat hangers (for dowsing)
•     any augury device such as runes
•     ghost box

Open Your Mind

Choosing a paranormal activity for a date would work well for most types of people who have an open mind. After all, though communication with the spirits should be conducted in reverence, the appeal of spending a dark night together with adrenaline racing can open the portals to a memorable bonding adventure.

You will have stories for years about how scared you were or weren't, how the equipment worked, what happened at midnight, what the orbs in the photographs really could have been, if the medium was a fake, and so on.

The point is that this is a shared experience where no one had a vested interest in the outcome and you may have learned something new about each other. It also is quite safe even if you do scare yourself.

Here's a link that might be helpful:


Ghost Hunting Gear