A few weeks back, either Bio or the History Channel (I forget which now) reran Haunted History: Caribbean. I DVRed it because I was curious if they would mention any haunts on Nassau, one of the ports of call on the Haunt Jaunts Halloween in the Bermuda Triangle Cruise.

Nope.

I had seen this documentary before. I knew they covered what’s become Jamaica’s favorite haunted mansion and ghost story: The White Witch of Rose Hall. However, it had been a while. I’d forgotten the two most haunted Caribbean islands they focused on were Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

I also hadn’t realized how many neat ghost stories they shared, such as:

1. The Devil’s Turret at Castillo de San Cristobal.This watchtower at a fort in Puerto Rico is where it is rumored guards on night duty disappeared and were never seen again once the sun rose. That’s why it got the reputation as being a portal to Hell.
   

   Devil's Guerite - photo from Wikipedia

2. Mermaids. Some Jamaicans believe mermaids reside in some of the waterfalls on their island. Not quite a ghost story, but an unusual one. It piqued my interest.
3. The Haunted Firefly Estate. Some have reported close encounters with pirate ghosts who haunt the Firefly Estate, what was Noel Coward’s mountaintop home in Jamaica. (Some will tell you he now haunts the place too.)
4. Lewis Hutchinson, the Jamaican Serial Killer. In the 1700s, Lewis Hutchinson, of Scottish descent, immigrated to Jamaica. He built Edinburgh Castle near St. Ann, Jamaica. This was the only inhabited spot for travelers to rest at on the way to and from St. Ann’s Bay. When people started disappearing along this route, it was eventually discovered that Hutchinson took great pleasure in shooting people just for fun. The castle is but ruins now, however, it is said his victims restless spirits still roam the land.

Even though Haunted History: Caribbean didn’t talk about Nassau at all, it was interesting to hear some of the other ghost stories from the region. I also discovered that there is a program devoted just to the Bermuda Triangle that I have not seen, but which I will have to check out: Decoding the Past – Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle (History Channel).

Supermoon Rising

According to a Visionary Living, Inc. article by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, full moons may “dampen” paranormal activity.

The earth expands 1/16 of an inch during the full moon’s gravitational pull. The expansion is caused by the movement of magma chambers below the earth’s surface. These movements affect the earth’s magnetic fields. Many paranormal hot spots are in areas of negative magnetic anomalies. Thus, an increase in magnetic fields is likely to have an adverse impact on paranormal activity.

Actually, neither the precise full moon nor new moon may be the best times for the paranormal.

Therefore, I guess it stands to reason that paranormal activity is probably not affected anymore by a supermoon than a regular full moon.

I’d be really curious to hear from paranormal investigators who tend to investigate the same places over and over. Do they notice any difference in paranormal activity during various lunar cycles? And what about investigators in general, whether they investigate the same place or not. Do they notice investigations are more quiet during full moons?

I would have thought a full moon, and definitely a supermoon, would be a great time for increased paranormal activity. Although, I tend to believe full moons affect people’s behaviors. And since ghosts were once people, their spirits would still be susceptible to the moon’s influence.

However, I read a great ABCnews.com article called Moon Myths and Madness: Why Do We Believe? It referenced a study that showed even though nurses and police report more chaos and aggressive behavior during full moons, research doesn’t bear that out. There’s really not evidence to support the claim that people get more nuts during a full moon.

I find it very hard to believe. Even without looking at the sky, I can usually tell when a full moon is approaching based on the way people start driving. Or, rather, forgetting how to drive properly.

What do you think? Do you believe full moons influence people too? Are you an investigator? Have you investigated during a full moon? What’s been your experience with that? And what did you think of May 2012′s supermoon? Were you able to see it and enjoy it?

The other day I got an email from a Researcher/Booker with the show My Ghost Story. I was pretty excited because I’m a ham and would love to be on TV. I’ve often thought I’d like to tell about my experience at the Shilo Inn. I’m biased, but I think as far as true ghost stories go, it’s a pretty good one.

Alas, he wasn’t asking me to be on the show. Rather, he was passing on info about how one goes about applying to get on the show.

Which, if I could fulfill the three criteria, I could apply to tell my Shiloh Inn tale. However, I don’t meet it. I don’t have compelling visual evidence, nor do I have anyone to corroborate my story. Bummer.

I then thought of when I went to Old South Pittsburgh Hospital with Ghost Eyes Paranormal. We sure had experiences there, especially on the third floor. I have photos and people to corroborate my story, but…the people who live in that haunted hospital have already told their tale on My Ghost Story. Mine isn’t going to be interesting after that!

So…I won’t be sharing any true ghost stories on My Ghost Story. (I do have some other ones involving my husband. We don’t exactly have photos though, so that’s one strike. The other is he said he’s not about to go on TV and talk about our experiences. So there goes my corroboration!)

However, I asked the Researcher/Booker if it’d be okay if I share their guidelines. That way anyone reading this will know how to apply and share any true ghost stories they may have. (And be sure to leave me a comment if you get on. I want to know and be sure to watch you. I’ll live the TV experience vicariously through you!)

HOW TO BE CONSIDERED FOR MY GHOST STORY

In order to be considered for My Ghost Story, we need the following three things from you:

1. Evidence – Since My Ghost Story is a television show, we require some compelling visual evidence. Videos and photos are best, along with things like visual proof of being touched or marked by a spirit, and any tangible evidence. EVPs (audio recordings) are helpful as well. Understandably some people can feel protective of the evidence they’ve collected, but please know that we cannot use your evidence without your express written permission. There are lots of ways to get your evidence to us: Email, File sharing services, FedEx, etc.

2. Casting Videos – Videos of you and at least one other person who shared your experience (ore than 2 is OK). They can be done together or separately. You’ll go on camera and tell us your story. If your ghost story happened alone, you can get someone affiliated with the location where your ghost story took place. At the bottom of this e-mail I have attached a series of questions. Please use these as a guideline so as to ensure that you hit every topic we need in order for your story to be considered for production.

The Casting Videos should be 5-10 minutes long, can be shot on a webcam, camcorder, or your phone. They are just a way for us to get familiar with you and your story. Since these are personal stories, we’re much more interested in the emotional parts rather than the scientific, investigative parts. Have fun and the more energy you can put into it, the better!

3. Location Information – Where did your ghost story take place? Some pictures would be great. We’ll need the contact information for the location and location owner, so we can get permission to film My Ghost Story there. If your ghost story took place in the house you own, then we just need you. But if your ghost story took place, for example, at a hotel or museum, we’ll need to contact that place directly.

FURTHER CASTING VIDEO SPECIFICS

Each casting video (one for each storyteller) should be between 5 and 10 minutes long. Think of it like telling a spooky story around a campfire. Ideally, it should be fun and scary all at the same time!

· State and spell your name.

· Tell me in your own words, beginning to end, about your ghost story.

· Location:

o Please describe the location where your ghost story occurred and your relation to that location.

o Is there any interesting history to the location? Does it have any historical relevance? Was it the scene of a murder/suicide? Who were the previous owners?

o Do you have, or can you get, any photos, newspaper clippings, death certifications, etc., that illustrate the location’s history or its previous residents?

· Ghost Experience:

o Did you experience anything physically? Cold spots? Chills? Etc…?

o Why do you think it happened to you?

o Have you seen or experienced anything else at the location of your ghost story?

o Has anyone else seen or experienced anything else

o Are they/it still there?

o If the experience or ghost is gone, where do you think it went and why?

o Why do you think this activity is happening in this particular location?

o How has this experience affected you?

· How do you know the other storyteller?

· Evidence:

o If there are multiple pieces of evidence for the story, please describe each one.

§ When did you first see the photo or video / hear the EVPs?

§ Describe what you saw.

§ When you first saw what you had captured, how did you feel? Scared? Surprised? Disbelief?

§ Describe how the photo/video/EVP was captured.

§ Explain what you saw.

· How has this experience affected your view of the world? Of the afterlife?

· Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

Once you’ve completed your casting video, the easiest thing to do is post it to YouTube as “unlisted” (not “private”). That way, only those who you send the link to can watch it. Then, simply send us the link and we can get started.

Hello! My name is Emma Rae Curtis, and I’m a huge fan of Halloween. I blame it completely on my wonderfully active imagination. I’ve had it ever since I was a little girl, and there’s been no looking back. It is a big part of who I am. Halloween has always been the holiday I look forward to the most, which I suppose is unusual. But that’s just who I am! Typically people are more mushy gooey about family holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Me, though, well I’ve always been a bit different. Pretty much from October 1^st on around my house it’s 100% Halloween (sometimes I cheat and start earlier!). My husband and family are good sports and not only put up with it but are actually supportive, for which I’m extremely grateful. I’m one lucky lady.

My love affair with Halloween started almost before I can even remember. There’s just something magical (and supernatural!) about the whole season. The crispness in the air, the smell of leaves on the ground, the spooky stories and costumes, the energy of knowing it’s the final days before winter. I honestly can barely put into words the excitement I feel around Halloween. It feels as if the whole world comes alive. It as if, during this season, the supernatural isn’t so implausible! I’ve always had this attraction to the supernatural, ever since I can remember. And there’s no better time of the year to celebrate and enjoy the paranormal than Halloween.

I love all the fun spooky stories told and broadcasted around Halloween. I remember the excitement I felt as a little girl hearing all the magical tales and chilling ghost stories. Ichabod Crane in the Legend of Sleepy Hallow was my first love! Then, as I grew up, I became famous for my Halloween bashes. I love going all out, throwing as big and interesting a Halloween party as I can. I’m well known on my block by the local children as the must visit house on Halloween. I have all the decorations, costumes, and special effects. They absolutely love it.

Since my kids have left home, and me and my husband officially became empty nesters, I’ve started a Halloween blog. My friends and family urged me to start it for years. You can come over and visit me at www.emmaraeshalloween.com. I love chatting about all things Halloween (or paranormal) and welcome guest writers.

Since finding hauntjaunts.com I’ve really enjoyed reading all about fabulous haunted sites. I’ve been planning all sorts of fun and spooky holiday travels. I think any travels I do will really be a great addition to my own blog (not to mention hauntjaunts!). I can’t wait to get out into the wide world and see some paranormal sites. It’s really opened my eyes to the broader world of the paranormal that naturally goes along with Halloween.

I’ll be writing more about Halloween and the paranormal here in the future. Now that you know who I am I hope you keep your eyes out for me and enjoy my guest posts. Thanks so much to Courtney Mroch for her welcoming me to write on hauntjaunts.com! Leave a comment if you’d like to hear anything in particular about Halloween or a request on a paranormal story. Thanks for reading!

Last week my friend Cheryl asked if I knew about Ghocial. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but leave it to serendipity to change that. No sooner did she share their Facebook page link with me than I also saw a Facebook ad for them.

I clicked the ad and was taken to the Ghocial YouTube channel. That’s where I found their just over 11 minute “ghost hunting documentary.”

I finally had a chance to watch it. The trouble is, I’m not sure what they’re trying to accomplish. They’re trying to promote something, but what? I guess their film, but is it really a documentary or a mockumentary?

WHAT’S GHOCIAL?

They’ve listed their Facebook page in the Entertainment category. For me this is a key clue. Are these actors trying to pass themselves off as paranormal investigators? (Wouldn’t be the first time….)

But the description on their documentary reads:

It’s one thing when a person sees a ghost while alone, at night, in a deserted building. It’s an entirely different thing when 20 people see a ghost during a mid-afternoon videoconference in a brightly lit room. Ghocial is a documentary that follows two unlikely ghost hunters—a drug company executive and his intern—as they attempt to catch a poltergeist.

I don’t know why they had cameras rolling during a scene where they were in a conference-like setting and something happened. Something moved I guess.

That was the trouble I had all during the film. I never knew quite what was going on. Where were they? Not only during that conference, but where is this allegedly haunted building they’ve been investigating for over a year? And what was that conference all about? That’s never addressed.

Maybe their About page on Facebook holds some clues? Nope. All it says is “Have you ever seen a ghost?”

During their movie, they’re having a conversation involving this very question. One guy asks the other, “How many magic tricks have you seen in your life?”

“Lots.”

“Have you ever seen a ghost?”

“None.”

“Then the simplest explanation is usually the right one.”

It’s an interesting point. Yet, then the rest of their movie goes on to show…what? Tricks? Again, they’re trying to accomplish something, but there is so little information it’s not really clear what their goal is.

Last week their About page on Facebook had more information. It said something about Ghocial was an attempt to let others analyze their data and help them search for answers, or something like that. As of this writing today, all that’s on there is “Have you  ever seen a ghost?”

THE GHOCIAL GHOST HUNTING DOCUMENTARY

If you make it to the end, you might be amused by the “ghost” activity. I was not impressed.

The movie is dry, you don’t know where the building is, and there’s no explanation about how exactly this ghost detector they’ve supposedly created works. (I’m not that dumb. Yes, I get that it’s supposed to move if a ghost is present. But you could make a whole lot less elaborate contraption to show that.)

Supposedly they’ve been investigating wherever it is for over a year. Which, kudos to them for that at least. I always wish there was more of an attempt to actually study haunted places rather than just take one weekend specimen samples as most investigators do.

Except, these guys are far from paranormal researchers.

The one guy (I’m guessing the intern) decides to fast forward through 36-hours of footage. He misses the racoons setting off the ghost detector and at first thinks he’s caught a ghost on camera. Then  when he stops to really look, he sees it’s raccoons.

At one point, they’re watching footage taken during the daytime and trying to analyze the shadows. This will prove comical to most investigators. One of them makes a comment about they need to set up for nighttime shoots because that’s when ghosts come out. Luckily his one friend questions that, but still. It doesn’t make them look like the brightest bulbs in the box.

Even worse is when they’re trying to decide if they caught evidence of  a ghost or a bug. They guesstimate the hallway the footage is caught in to be 30 or 40 feet long. Then they guesstimate that the orb-like ghost object they’ve caught is moving 27 miles an hour. They haven’t measured that in any way, but they’re convinced that’s how fast the thing is moving and no bug can travel 27 miles an hour.

It ends with them showing their ghost detectors going off and shadows moving and I guess we’re supposed to think it’s all real. Looks like cheap optical illusions to me.

They need to stick to pharmaceutical sales. Maybe they’re not just selling them but using them to think this is entertainment. It’s not. At least not to me.

Yet, they’ve got over 27,000 views as of this post. At the end of last week when I first checked them out, they were just at 20,000. So in less than a week they’ve racked up another 7,000 views.

Clearly the Ghocial gang is doing something right. It’s called publicity, though, not research.

My restless spirit never feels more at peace than when my jaunts take me outdoors. Maybe because growing up my family was only inside when we had to be. If we could get out and experience nature, we did. If we couldn’t get away for the weekend or a day trip as we often did, we’d inevitably jaunt to one of Denver’s abundant parks.

For Earth Day, I thought it’d be fun to reminisce about two haunted parks from my youth: Cheeseman Park and Washington Park. I didn’t know then that either was haunted, though I had my suspicions…

CHEESEMAN PARK

As a kid, this was one of my favorite places in the park to come to.

As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in Denver, Colorado and attended a small private school called Cheeseman Academy. It sat on the edge of Cheeseman Park.

Of all Denver haunted parks, Cheeseman may be the best known. One of it’s claims to fame is being inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist.

There used to be a cemetery where part of the park now stands. In fact, if I understand the logistics right, the pavilion pictured above is on a section where the cemetery once was.

When the city decided to re-zone and move the cemetery, the bodies were relocated. Except, not all of them were treated properly. In 1893, an investigation into the unscrupulous practices of the man hired to move the bodies discovered he was chopping them up and putting them in child coffins to make more money. (He got paid on the amount of coffins he moved.) He was shut down (and I believe jailed). No one else was ever hired to pick up where he left off. The city simply didn’t move the other bodies.

The ones that remained were vagrants, paupers, and criminals. Their families and loved ones either could not afford to, or did not want to, claim them and pay for their transfer. It’s long been thought their restless spirits still roam the park –and the neighboring areas, such as the mansions (much like the one Cheeseman Academy was once housed in), apartments, and even the Denver Botanical Gardens (which backs up to the part of the park where the pavilion is located).

WASHINGTON PARK

One of the flower gardens in Wash Park

Another of Denver’s haunted parks that I frequented in my youth was Washington Park, or Wash Park as it’s more commonly known. Wash Park will always hold a special place in my heart. We didn’t go there as much in the cold months, but during summer? We enjoyed evening concert picnics, took flashlights after the sun had set to hunt for night crawlers (worms we’d use on our fishing trips), and during my dad’s metal detector phase days, we’d hunt for treasure.

One of my fondest memories is from when I was 10 years old, mere days before my 11th birthday. I desperately wanted a 10-speed bike (I know, I’m dating myself). Unfortunately, this was after my parent’s divorce. Neither of them had money to buy me one.

My dad took me to Huck Finn Days, though. The American Legion sponsored it every year. It was a fishing contest for kids. They’d stock the creek that runs through Washington Park with trout, then let the kids fish. But you had to use an old-fashioned pole, meaning one you made from a stick, string, and a hook. Parents could help with that, but not with the fishing part. And you were only allowed to catch so many fish. When you caught your quota, you were done.

The first fish I caught that day would end up winning me the grand prize –a red ten-speed bike. It almost also nearly pulled me in the creek. But I was a feisty little booger. It pulled hard, but after I got my bearings (I vaguely remember with some assistance from a nearby adult who grabbed the back of my shorts before I fell in face first), I pulled back harder and landed that sucker. Much to the jealousy of all the boys around me. They all knew a winning fish when they saw one. I was definitely getting a prize that day, but we had to wait all day to see if it was the bike. Luckily, it was.

Me with my 1st place winning catch.

Do ghosts roam Wash Park? There are two “lakes” (for lack of a better word) in the park: Smith Lake and Grasmere Lake. There’s also the Lilly Pond.

I always felt the boathouse on Smith Lake must be haunted. In winter, when it got cold enough to freeze the lake, that’s where you could rent skates. It always had an eerie feeling to it. Actually, even to this day I feel uneasy when I walk by it.

The boathouse on Smith Lake in Washington Park.

However, in an article about the Haunts of Washington Park, I learned the island in Wash Park’s Grasmere Lake is said to be haunted by “the ghost of of a misbehaving young woman.”

I’ll have to dig deeper to find out if a young woman ever really did die there or who she might be. (There’s a book about the area called Haunts of Washington Park: Vol. 2 of the History of South Denver that might tell me more about it.)

WASHINGTON PARK’S CONNECTION TO TITANIC

You know how most everything is connected by six degrees of separation? I guess because it’s Titanic’s 100 year anniversary, I keep coming across connections to the disaster. Like the marble statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod in Washington Park.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod Statue in Wash Park.

I don’t remember it from my youth. Not surprising. It’s not something I would’ve paid any mind to then. I did on our last visit, though. It enchanted me.

In double-checking some of my facts for this post, I learned it was created by a woman from Colorado, Mabel Landrum Torrey. At one point the marble statue had been in the Children’s Fountain in the park. Later it was moved near the home of the man who wrote over 500 children’s poems, including “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” Eugene Field, also a Denver resident.

According to the Denver History Tours Blog:

When his modest home was threatened with demolition along West Colfax, Molly Brown had it preserved by moving it to the park.

Yep, as in Denver’s famous Unsinkable Molly Brown who survived the Titanic disaster.

IF I COULD HAUNT SOMEPLACE…

I do believe if my spirit was restless and prone to wandering instead of crossing over to wherever we go after death, I’d hope to haunt a park. Not just on Earth Day, but like I do now. Whenever I can get out and appreciate the awesome wonder of nature’s beauty.

What about you? Do you find peace in nature too? If so, what are some of your favorite places to jaunt? Are any of them haunted parks?

Did you know some cameras might be better at catching orbs in photos than others? Actually, “catching” isn’t the best word choice. “Manufacturing” may be a better one.

My good friend Phil Creighton from New York Shadow Chasers is the Muse behind this post. He’s a tech geek who definitely knows way more than I do about all kinds of equipment used in paranormal investigating. (If you want to learn more about such things, Phil reviews and demos equipment on their YouTube channel, then posts the link to the latest review on the New York Shadow Chasers Facebook page for their Para Tech Wednesday installments.)

He saw that I had posted the specs on the new digital camera I bought on my personal FB page. He shared a link with me called “Fujifilm X10: The White Orbs Machine.” He wanted to give me a heads up about a possible hiccup I might encounter with my new camera.

I bought a Fujifilm FinePix S2950 14 MP Digital Camera. It’s manufactured by the same company mentioned in the article, but it’s a different model. Will it be more prone to creating “orbs”?

Gawd, I hope not. But it would serve me right for picking a camera that had such a quirk given how much I hate orbs.

Not that I have anything against orbs personally. If I saw a real orb, I’d probably be thrilled.

But that’s the trouble. Do you know how many people have shown me examples of orbs in photos? If they took a little more time to understand that it’s not a matter of them having a knack for catching orbs in photos, but for having a knack shooting under circumstances where it’s more likely to catch an orb, they wouldn’t be so offended when I burst their bubble that what they think is an orb is usually either dust or a bug.

However, Phil has made me realize it could also be their camera. Not that there’s literally a ghost in their machine, but their machine is predisposed to creating orb-like images.

But which cameras are best at creating orbs in photos?

According to the article Phil shared with me, the Fujifilm X10 isn’t the only Fujifilm camera to do this. So does the X-S1. Something both have in common is a CMOS sensor, something the article references as the most likely culprit for causing white orbs in photos.

I only received my camera a couple of days ago. I haven’t had a chance to play with it enough yet to know if I’ll be picking up orbs in photos more than before or not. However, if I’m reading the specs on mine correctly, it doesn’t come with the CMOS sensor. I might be okay.

Although, one of the other cameras I was considering did have it. I opted not to go for it, because with it the price was more. I decided I could live without the CMOS sensor feature. Maybe my frugal ways paid off this time in the form of saving me from wondering why I’m all of a sudden catching more orbs than I ever used to.

However, if CMOS sensors are one of the reasons people do catch orbs in photos, here’s some other cameras that have such a feature:

Sony HDR-FX7 3-CMOS Sensor HDV High-Definition Handycam Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom

Fujifilm FinePix F505 16 MP CMOS Sensor and 15x Optical Zoom Digital Camera with 4 GB Class 10 SD Memory Card (Black)

Panasonic DMC-FZ150K 12.1 MP Digital Camera with CMOS Sensor and 24x Optical Zoom (Black)

Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm IS II Lens and EOS HD Movie Mode (Black)

Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Sensor DIGIC 4 Image Processor Full-HD Movie Mode Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-inch LCD and and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR 16 MP Digital Camera with CMOS Sensor and 15x Optical Zoom (Black)

Fujifilm FinePix HS20 16 MP Digital Camera with EXR BSI CMOS High Speed Sensor and Fujinon 30x Wide Angle Optical Zoom Lens

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX10 16.2 MP Waterproof Digital Still Camera with Exmor R CMOS Sensor, 3D Sweep Panorama, and Full HD 1080/60i Video (Silver)

Sony DSCWX9/BBDL 16.2 MP CMOS Sensor with 5 x Optical Zoom Digital Camera Bundle Black

Sony TX Series DSC-TX9/H 12.2MP Digital Still Camera with “Exmor R” CMOS Sensor and 3D Sweep Panorama

Olympus PEN E-PL3 14-42mm 12.3 MP Interchangeable Lens Camera with CMOS Sensor and 3x Optical Zoom (Black)

Philips CAM110BL/37 10 MP Digital Camera with CMOS Sensor and 4 x Optical Zoom (Black)

Sony Alpha SLT-A57K 16.1 MP Exmor APS HD CMOS Sensor DSLR with Translucent Mirror Technology, 3D Sweep Panorama and 18-55mm Zoom Lens

Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens

Nikon D800 36.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS 16.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom 24mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full HD Video Recording (Black)

Sony DSC-WX5/B WX Series, 3D Sweep Panorama, Exmor R CMOS Sensor

Do you own one of the cameras listed above? Do you own a camera with a CMOS sensor? Do you catch a high amount of orbs in your photos?

WHAT THE HECK IS A CMOS SENSOR ANYWAY?

Unlike Phil, most tech specs on equipment are Greek to me. If you’re like me and want to better understand what a CMOS sensor is and how it impacts photos (be it orbs in them or not), here’s some links to articles that are very informative.

• What is the difference between CCD and CMOS image sensors in a digital camera?
• CCD vs. CMOS
• What is CMOS camera. What is it different from CCD camera.
• CMOS Is Winning the Camera Sensor Battle, and Here’s Why

This is a guest blog by Pamela K. Kinney. I asked if she’d want to write a sort of In Memoriam post after she posted a link to an article about how Professor Cline’s Haunted Monster Museum burnt down. I knew the place meant a lot to Pamela. Not only was the museum featured in one of her books, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths, and True Tales, a picture of it graced the cover. I hope this helps her, as well as pays tribute to, the museum. R.I.P. Professor Cline’s Haunted Monster Museum.

I’m devastated. A great attraction in Natural Bridge, Virginia burned down earlier this week. That’s Professor Cline’s Haunted Monster Museum.

A part of Natural Bridge, artist Mark Cline, now 51, bought the Victorian house after the warehouse that housed his Enchanted Castle attraction burned on April 9, 2001. That had been more terrible for him, as it had housed his collection of childhood art, along with about $30, 000 of work he was creating at the time.

He said that fire was suspicious, just as he believes this one is too. But he said that people should not feel sorry for him. “No lives were lost,” he said. Firefighters at the scene Monday say the fire likely started in a stage structure in front of the main house, but as Mark said, all of the electrical power had been turned off at the museum while closed for the season ahead of its Memorial Day opening.

I’ve been to this attraction, when my husband, Bill and I traveled there in August 28, 2008 to visit the Natural Bridge (it has a Native American legend about its forming), Natural Bridge Caverns (deepest caverns in Virginia, it also has a screaming woman legend attached to it) and Natural Bridge Hotel (it is haunted—we stayed there overnight) for my second nonfiction ghost book, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths and True Tales.

Mark Cline wasn’t there the day we went to the Haunted Monster Museum, but those who were there let us do the haunted house attraction and afterwards we walked the trail through the Dinosaur Kingdom in the woods that surrounded the house, both for free. I admit I felt uncomfortable at the time when we did the house.

Later, in an interview back at the hotel, Amy Kasdan, who worked at the Fox Lounge in the Natural Bridge Hotel, said her husband and she had been inside the place before Mark bought it and it had given her the “willies.” She made him leave.

A waitress at the Colonial Dining Room in the hotel told me the next day that there had been some ghost stories and legends circulating about the house. I didn’t learn much, except that before Mr. Cline bought it for the Haunted Monster Museum, people say they heard weird sounds and saw something inside the place.

I always wondered how many of those doing the haunted house or walking past the dinosaurs battling Confederate and WWI soldiers felt something out of place, or even maybe saw something or caught something by their camera or video camera?

Still, I had hoped to go back, maybe this summer, just to visit the whole Natural Bridge attraction. Now if I do—with the house no longer there—it will feel incomplete. Sad that there will be no more monster museum for people to dare to walk through.

What this shows is most things are fleeting. I know many who have never been to Natural Bridge and they’ve lived in Virginia since their birth, and now they will never see the Haunted Monster Museum that I got to know and talked about in my book. This is one reason why at my signings I tell people to visit these places with their families, as you never know. Something might closed for good, others may change or charge prices when before it was free, while others like this place may be destroyed due to natural disasters of fire, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Nothing is forever, no matter what we think. Only life after death, and who knows—maybe that might not be infinite.

So when you read about some place near you in a regional ghost book, or a bizarre attraction in some travel guide, get out there and visit it the next time you finally decide to go, as it might not be there.

Natural Bridge Hotel - Image courtesy of Pamela K. Kinney

Cowboy Riding a Dinosaur in front of Natural Bridge Gift Shop. Photo courtesy of Pamela K. Kinney.

Pamela K. Kinney’s Bio:

Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Two of her nonfiction ghost books have been nominated in the past for Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Coming this fall from Schiffer Publishing is her fourth nonfiction ghost book, Haunted Richmond II, plus she just had Virginia‘s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations released from Schiffer July 2011 and a short story, “Donating” in Inhuman Magazine, Issue 5. Her short horror story, “Bottled Spirits” accepted for BuzzyMag and “Azathoth is Here” will be reprinted in Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4 in Kindle and ePub formats. And of course, she has her horror and dark fantasy tales collected in one book, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations.

Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to Being Familiar With a Witch, A Familiar Tangle With Hell was released June 2011 from Phaze Books and both eBooks will be combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar to be release April 24, 2012.

She also has done acting on stage and in films. And is a Master Costumer, costuming since 1972. She has even done paranormal investigating.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!

Find out more about Pamela K. Kinney at http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com and about Sapphire Phelan at http://www.SapphirePhelan.com.

I came by my love of mysteries and the paranormal (and maybe even haunted travels?) honestly: via TV in the form of a lovable little cartoon called Scooby Doo.  I wondered what Scooby Doo characters might say about the Haunt Jaunts Halloween in the Bermuda Triangle Cruise.

I found a way to put words in their mouths, so…I did!

Who are your favorite Scooby Doo characters? What part of the Halloween cruise sounds the most fun to you?

Halifax, Nova Scotia was one of our ports when we took our Canada/New England cruise. I was stoked because I had Nova Scotia on my bucket list. (This was before I understood Nova Scotia was one of Canada’s provinces, not a city. That’s one thing our jaunts to Canada have helped teach me: what exactly the different Canadian provinces and territories are!)

Prior to arriving, I knew of Halifax’s involvement with Titanic. However, while we were there I learned what an interesting history Halifax has, and what a haunted port city it is.

HALIFAX’S TITANIC CONNECTION

Halifax was among the places I wrote about that Titanic’s legacy still haunts.  In that post I had written that two ships from Halifax responded to the Titanic tragedy. According to a history put together by Novia Scotia’s government, three ships from Halifax actually responded. (Although, four Canadian ships total were dispatched to recover Titanic’s dead.)

The ships involved in retrieving the bodies were:

1. Mackay-Bennett, a Halifax-based Cable Steamer. Number of bodies recovered: 306. (Except it only brought back 190 because 116 had to be buried at sea.)
2. The Minia. Number of bodies recovered: 17. (But it only brought back 15 because two had to be buried at sea.)
3. CGS Montmagny, a Canadian government vessel. Number of bodies recovered: four. (Returning with three, as one was buried at sea.)
4. The SS Algerine. (The only ship to sail from St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.) Number of bodies recovered: one. (Which was  taken to Halifax by way of the SS Florizel.)

A temporary morgue was set up in the Mayflower Curling Rink. Of the 209 bodies recovered, only 59 were sent to their families. The rest were buried in three of the city’s cemeteries. Fairview Lawn interred the most of Titanic’s recovered dead, 121. Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery laid to rest 19. Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery interred 10.

Visitors are allowed to tour the graves. Fairview Lawn is the most popular, with the grave of the unknown child perhaps being the most heart-wrenching.

However, thanks to the marvels of modern science, the unknown child’s remains were DNA tested. It is now known that he was Sidney Goodwin, 19-months-old. His whole family –parents and five siblings– died the night Titanic sunk. May their souls rest in peace.

THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION

Caught on film: The Halifax Explosion right after it happened. Source: Wikipedia.

A piece of Halifax’s history that immediately caught my attention was the Halifax Explosion. Many places seemed to have signs referencing the event. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I finally asked someone. That’s when I learned in 1917 the SS Mont Blanc, a cargo ship carrying wartime explosives, collided with the SS Imo in a section of the Halifax Harbour known as “The Narrows.” 2,000 people died (1,500 of them instantly), with estimates of 9,000 being injured.

It was the largest man-made explosion until they started testing atomic bombs. But to get an idea of just how devastating it was, I’m using Wikipedia’s description of it, since it sums it up so succinctly.

Every building within a 16-mile radius, over 12,000 total, was destroyed or badly damaged.[38] Hundreds of people who had been watching the fire from their homes were blinded when the blast wave shattered the windows in front of them.[40] Stoves and lamps overturned by the force of the blast sparked fires throughout Halifax,[41] particularly in the North End where entire city blocks were caught up in the inferno, trapping residents inside their houses.

Even before the explosion, ghost stories about various people and places within the city circulated. After the explosion, new ones quickly cropped up.

THE FIVE FISHERMAN: HALIFAX’S MOST EERIE EATERY?

One building of note that has connections to both Titanic’s dead as well as the Halifax Explosion’s is the building that houses The Five Fisherman restaurant.

In 1912, the business in that location was John Snow & Co. Funeral Home. The Titanic’s wealthier dead, like John Jacob Astor IV and Charles M. Hayes, president of Grand Trunk Railway, temporarily stayed in Snow Funeral Home until their bodies could be shipped to their loved ones.

Then, five years later in 1917, Snow Funeral Home was among those that handled the hundreds of bodies of the Halifax Explosion. There’s a photo on The Five Fisherman’s site, under the Halifax Explosion tab on the History page that shows row after row of coffins stacked atop one another outside the building. It’s a very disturbing and sobering image and really drives home the devastation that city experienced as a result of this tragedy.

Also under the History link, The Five Fisherman include something I always appreciate businesses being willing to talk about: their Hauntings. The paranormal activity reported by staff includes everything from objects moving to sinks turning on and off to apparitions to being touched and hearing voices –right smack in the middle of the day.

HALIFAX: PART OF A PROVINCE THAT PROMOTES ITS PARANORMAL TOURISM

Speaking of sites that list hauntings, I love, love, LOVE (did I mention love?) when I come across visitor bureau’s that promote their city or region’s paranormal tourism. Nova Scotia most certainly does. Under the Things to See & Do tab on NovaScotia.com, there is a Haunted Nova Scotia section that lists some of Halifax’s popular haunted places, as well as the province’s overall.

I was shocked that one of the places it didn’t mention was one that conducts ghost tours: The Halifax Citadel.

Guard outside Halifax's Citadel

We had a big time touring Halifax’s haunted Citadel when we visited. I wish our ship had been docked overnight so we could’ve signed up to do the ghost tour. It looked neat.

However, one of the places the Haunted Nova Scotia page did mention was one I was curious if it had reports of paranormal activity or not: The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

As happens in many haunted museums, lights turn on and off inexplicably in this one too. Staff claims activity surrounds “two exhibits in particular: the light from the historic Sambro Lighthouse, and the marble statue of Captain James Farquar.” Interesting.

Overall, I was smitten with Halifax, and not just because it was absolutely loaded with stories of the paranormal. It was a great walking city, the locals were friendly, and there was tons to see and check out.

I’m just kicking myself I didn’t take a picture of this one church we passed as we headed back to the ship. My feet were done (this is back when I was struggling with a bad case of plantar fasciitis), it had started raining, and I was hungry. However, I distinctly remember thinking, “That church definitely has ghost stories.”

Come to find out, it was St. Paul’s Church. There’s a stained glass window that has apparently been replaced over and over again since the explosion. Not because it keeps getting broken, but because the impression of man’s head keeps appearing there.

Rumor has it it’s a man who was inside the church during the explosion and was beheaded due to the force of shattering glass. Another theory has it it’s a reverend who served in the church. I’m so mad I didn’t stop now. (However, I remember how miserable I was back then due to the pain in my heel. I forgive myself.)

IMAGES FROM HALIFAX

I enjoyed strolling through this picturesque park.

I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a replica of Titanic in the Public Garden's pond or not.

A quiet place for a couple of travel-weary souls to stop and rest and catch their breath for a moment.

Even a dreary day couldn't drain the colors exploding throughout the park.

This was a charming little place to explore.

A taste of what Halifax looked like once upon a time perhaps?

What was I thinking letting my husband out once I had him in there?