Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

Can you predict the future in remote blind Zener card draw?
by Chris Laursen

An Oklahoma City parapsychologist, Ron Cross, is leading a remote international clairvoyancy test online in the coming month. It is to test people’s abilities to predict future events via a staple of extra-sensory perception testing, Zener cards. Although the test officially commenced on Monday, participants are still welcomed and the project runs until June 26. Each night at 3 a.m. GMT (11 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m. Pacific time), Mr. Cross will draw a Zener card. Each Zener card has a symbol on it: square, star, waves, plus sign or circle. It is very simple: you guess what symbol will been drawn on each of the 30 days, starting on May 28, complete the list and e-mail it to Mr. Cross before the end of the experiment on June 26.

Here's the twist! “I will not look at the cards until the end of the experiment to see what card was drawn on a particular day,” Mr. Cross wrote on International Paranormal Investigators message board. “The reason for not looking is to reduce the chances of telepathy giving away the identity of the card on a daily basis.” Thus, this will test people's ability to clairvoyantly predict the future drawing of the cards.

Mr. Cross recommends participants predict what the cards will be for the coming seven days, write that down, put the list away and don’t look at it until they are ready to submit all of their lists. By the end, they will have completed four lists in total (the last of which will have two additional days added onto it). Then they should submit their results prior to June 26.

If you have any questions or if you wish to submit your list before the end of Mr. Cross’s experiment, you can reach him at prosghosthunters@yahoo.com.

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Historian Chris Laursen reflects on one of his favourite investigations of poltergeist-type activity... if it was indeed RSPK! The case of inexplicable flashing lights focused on a 19-year-old North Carolina waitress in 1962, and remains to this day completely unexplained.

When Clayton, N.C. entered the Twilight Zone
by Chris Laursen

Surely one of the books that anyone with a serious interest in the paranormal must read is parapsychologist Dr. William G. Roll's book The Poltergeist (1972). In the last half century of poltergeist research, Dr. Roll has investigated among the most fascinating cases of them all.

Poltergeists have little to do with the 1982 Tobe Hooper film of the same name. The word derives from the German "knocking spirit" because many early cases involved inexplicable rapping noises. Aside from knocks and raps, poltergeists cases commonly include spontaneous, often rambunctious incidents of objects flying about with no explainable cause, defying the laws of physics not only by flying across rooms, but also floating, climbing vertical surfaces, turning corners in mid-air, teleporting themselves from other locations, disappearing and later reappearing out of nowhere. Often, those afflicted by this phenomenon seek trickery to explain what is happening, but extensive research on this over the decades has shown that there is something far from trickery or the traditional explanations of ghosts at work.

Dr. Roll termed the phenomenon "recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis" or RSPK. It is an apt description based on his and others' research. It seems that in most poltergeist cases there is a person at the center of all of the activity, referred to as the agent by parapsychologists. This agent may be subconsciously prompting psychokinesis to occur, often randomly. In many cases, adolescents have been central to this phenomenon, most often girls. That is by no means the rule, as boys and adults have also been central to these strange happenings. Dr. Roll and others theorize that there is some pent up force that is repressed by the agent is causing them to psychically wreak havoc without consciously doing anything.

In 1984, Dr. Roll famously investigated the case of Tina Resch, which resulted in much media attention and even James Randi trying to expose the case as a hoax. Working with writer Valerie Storey, Dr. Roll gave the Resch case extraordinary detail in his 2004 book Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder, the Curious Case of Tina Resch. He was among the earliest investigators of poltergeists in the United States, starting with a case of caps popping off of various bottles by themselves at a house on Long Island in 1958. His continuing investigations along with those of other researchers around the world have shown poltergeist phenomenon to be a complex beast, beyond rapping sounds and objects being thrown about by invisible force. They can involve disembodied voices, apparitions and, as Dr. Roll investigated early in his career and wrote about in The Poltergeist, mysterious bursts of light. He starts his chapter on the case: "For about two hours during a July night in 1962, I was lying in a flower bed in the small town of Clayton, North Carolina, looking for some strange lights which had stirred up the whole town."

Dr. William G. Roll

The flashes of light were originating inside of the white-frame home that had been occupied by the widowed Pearl Howell and her two children, Frances, 19, and Bobby, 22. "The flashes came very rapidly and looked like those a neon tube sometimes gives off when it is turned on," Roll described. The parapsychologist decided to personally investigate after reading about the strange lights and interviewing witnesses by phone.

Like many of these cases, people were seeking natural explanations. The unnerved Mrs. Howell was concerned that a prowler was trying to intimidate her and her children by shining a bright light into their house. Two weeks after the flashes started and were publicized in local media, threatening phone calls were being made. The unknown person on the line sometimes implied that he caused the lights. She had called the police in to investigate.

Police chief Charles D. Allen told Dr. Roll that the lights seemed to follow Mrs. Howell's daughter Frances around, but only after dark and when the house lights were off. Witnesses had seen flashes coming from the bathroom when Frances walked by it. A heavy curtain over the window excluded the source as coming from outside of the house. It even occurred on a few occasions outside, when Frances was in her car. Often, witnesses clearly saw Frances in relation to the flashes of light, and she was doing nothing that seemed to cause the strange phenomenon.

A freelance photographer, Charles Barden, called Dr. Roll on June 27. He had been taking photographs connected to the case for the local newspaper, and saw for himself several of the mysterious flashes in the house the night before. "They seemed faster than flashbulbs," the photographer told Roll, "having more the speed of electronic flashes."

In his investigation, the parapsychologist found out that the flashes were significantly stronger in intensity than the house lights would be. One electrician who witnessed the lights estimated it to be equivalent to 200 watts, though they were witnessed to be at different luminosities at different times. They were not at all blinding. Each bright yellow, pinkish or white flash seemed to start at its most brilliant luminosity, and then quickly dim, with several flashes following in succession within a second or two.

Dr. Roll found out from Mrs. Howell that the lights would flash no matter whether the blinds were open or closed, suggesting that they originated inside of the house. After consulting with electrical engineers on what they cause might be, police had searched the house for any remote flash devices that may have been causing the phenomenon, but found nothing. Dr. Roll wrote that it was "difficult to suppose that Frances was igniting some chemical that would produce them" since the flashes of light occurred so quickly and spontaneously, often with Frances in plain view.

Strange lights silently flashing, prank phone calls, prowlers, the whole neighbourhood and police on alert: it was if monsters were soon due to arrive. Clayton, North Carolina, had entered the Twilight Zone.

After an electrician claimed to have pinpointed the problem being due to faulty wiring, everything seemed to calm down and become quiet for a few nights. But on the evening on June 29, the mysterious caller phoned and said, "Lights will be on tonight - better not have police." At 1 a.m., Charles Barden phoned Dr. Roll and told him the lights were flashing again in the house. Two policemen witnessed it from different locations, one stationed in the house, the other on the street. This continued for several nights, with police and neighbours keeping an eye out for a prowler that never seemed to show himself, or for any potential electrical problems - anything that might explain what was going on.

In the early hours of July 4, police saw a suspicious man flee when spotted. He simply disappeared in the chase. They suspected the man might live in a nearby house. Later that morning, another officer received a phone call from someone who just laughed at him. Despite these oddities, Dr. Roll was building a case that "the lights were not due to any known source, either inside or outside of the house," and he was certain Frances was the focal point, just as every poltergeist case had an agent.

Further investigation by electricians turned up nothing. Wiring was disconnected from Frances's room, and the landlord was talking about condemning the house. Dr. Roll was given free reign in the investigation since no conventional explanations could be found despite the thorough work by police and electricians. The flashing lights continued to be witnessed by people, though Dr. Roll himself felt like he was hexing the lights whenever he was present (as was the case in many of his poltergeist investigations).

On July 10, the case took some strange turns. The Howell's neighbour was awakened by two light flashes in her bedroom. She and her husband watched five or ten minutes later as lights flashed in the Howell house. Mrs. Howell called the police, and neighbours, anxious that the prowler was about, grabbed their guns and went out looking for him. An officer responding to the call witnessed a pinkish light come through the kitchen window as he was checking around the outside of the house. All three family members including Frances were standing outside talking about the incidents when this occurred - so the house was actually empty. After that, Frances moved into her mother's bedroom to escape the lights, but they continued there as well.

A few nights later, Dr. Roll decided to observe from the neighbour's house while Officer Robert Davis stayed inside of the Howell residence. Davis reported flashes from the bathroom while Frances was in there and could clearly see her holding a glass of water, her other hand on the spigot of the sink. Dr. Roll saw no lights from his position at the neighbour's. It was only the next night that Dr. Roll finally saw the lights himself while lying in the flowerbed outside of Frances's bedroom window. As it turned out, that would be one of the last of the mysterious flashes to plague the Howell family and the community of Clayton.

Both Pearl Howell and her daughter worked at a local restaurant as waitresses, and the restaurant's owner was becoming impatient with them coming into work exhausted from sleepless nights and ignoring his suggestions that they just move to a new house. So he flat out fired them. "This convinced Mrs. Howell that they had to move. Another house was found and on July 16 they moved," Dr. Roll wrote. Never again did the strange lights flash.

Faulty electrics, prowlers, trickery - none of these possibilities added up to explain the flashes. The Howells declined to participate in further testing at Duke University to try and determine if Frances had some type of energy in her that caused the lights. "Electricity in your body don't make phone calls," Mrs. Howell bluntly told Dr. Roll. To this day, it remains a truly inexplicable case.

Further reading:

William Roll. The Poltergeist. With a foreword by J.B. Rhine. Re-released by Paraview Books, 2004.

Iris Owen and Margaret Sparrow. Conjuring Up Philip. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1976.

The famous "face" on the surface of Mars!

"In July, 1976, Viking Orbiter 1 was acquiring images of the Cydonia region of Mars as part of the search for potential landing sites for Viking Lander 2. On 25 July, 1976, it photographed a region of buttes and mesas along the escarpment that separates heavily cratered highlands to the south from low lying, relatively crater-free, lowland plains to the north. Among the hills was one that, to the Viking investigators scrutinizing the images for likely landing sites, resembled a face. Owing to the importance of the landing site search, and with a desire to provide the public with at least one familiar-looking landform amid the craters and exotic terrains found all over Mars, an image including the face-like hill was released as part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's public relations effort."

And this image has been hotly debated ever since. So what do you guys think. Alien structure? Or just shadows giving the illusion of a face?

Happy Wordless Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Blurtit is a website that you can join, and add questions or give answers (share opinions) to questions already asked, on a wide variety of topics including some paranormal related ones.

Today while surfing around the website I came across this question: Why do people still believe in ghosts? It is an age old question in that seemingly enlightened people have been asking it for centuries now. And this ghost related question has already received two answers from different Blurtit users.

In my own opinion I believe that a belief in the existence of ghosts ties in directly with a person's own life experiences, and personal; philosophies on life after death.

I was raised an Atheist, which as a philosophy does not include a belief in an afterlife. After becoming very interested in the topic of ghosts, studying it, researching it, investigating ghost cases, and reports, interviewing witnesses, and then sharing in some experiences not readily explained I am now an Agnostic when it comes to this subject.

In other words I believe in "ghostly phenomenon," but have not made up my own mind 100% as to it's true cause.

Like I've stated above, there are other topics of interest in the paranormal over on Blurtit that you can participate in. Surf on over, and check it out!

Cheers!
Sue

My thanks to our sponsor!

It's been a while since we have given some props to our fave paranormal blogs on this site, so I thought I'd blog a bit about Ghost Stories!

Andrea presents us with a collection of stories about ghosts, urban legends, mythology, haunted places and other paranormal phenomena. There are questions of the week, and a tag board that make Ghost Stories a fun, and interactive site to visit!

Go check out, Ghost Stories, and don't forget to give the site a vote over at the BCA awards where it is nominated.

Cheers!
Sue

Ok. This topic came up on a forum I occasionally frequent, basically a user was asking whether or not a home owner would need to disclose to their insurer if they suspected their home was haunted. I'm serious. My thoughts, and by no means am I an insurance expert were no. The only things that must be disclosed as far as I know are what is asked for directly by the insurance company.

With that being said I did look up some information recently on different Insurance policies.

Good insurance coverage particularly on a home is an absolute must to maintain financial security for both an individual and/or a family now, and in the future. And with the above topic in mind I read through an article on risk assessment for home insurance policies, and no it does not go into ethereal topics such as possible ghosts, but things such as identifying bad plumbing to location near a possible safety hazard.

If you are looking for information on insurance or insurance providers do have a look at SecureInsuranceQuotes.com which is a good resource, and contains many helpful articles on various types of policies for everything from home insurance to life insurance products.

Our thanks to our sponsor!

The following video clips comprise an interesteing four part series of an interview conducted a few years back with Michael Roll on his views on the topic of life after death.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The interview outlines the scientific and rationalist case for life after death as set forth by Mr Roll. Whether you agree with him or not he does provide much interesting food for thought. And anyone who challenges the main stream thoughts of both the "when you're dead, you're dead," and the "we are all just resting in peace in the ground waiting for a Judgement Day" philosophies is worth at least giving a listen to for a different perspective.

It is really a shame that Mr Coleman has decided to name his dead horse, and keep this going. Apparently he has misread yet again, my statements below, and even mislabelled the title of the entry as Smackdown Sunday all of which, in my eyes, speaks volumes of his reading and comprehensive skills.

As much as I feel that I am now defending myself (which is odd,) at least I know (as do the readers here) that no one really needed defending... not myself, not Mr. Noory, and certainly not Mr. Coleman... but for some odd reason, he feels the need to continue to pour water on a fire that never truly existed... now causing a flood or irrelevance.

Much as some think I should continue to "defend" myself (which I don't understand,) or "attack" Mr. Coleman (which I really didn't do in the first place and I'm not going to start now,) I don't think I'll do either.

In many posts on this blog, we speak about those who cannot expand their own horizons and see possible answers and solutions to problems and mysteries because they will not break with their treasured personal philosophies and treasured beliefs... and normally this is about those who stick to either a hypothesis about the paranormal or the passionate disbelief in it... I never thought that here, on this blog, I'd come to see someone so unwilling to read and understand and make such an issue out of a non-situation that was outside the studies we delve into.

Sadly, although there may be "mocking" and "arguments" from the other camp, my time is too precious to invest in trying to get people to examine the facts and the truths when they already have not only made their minds up... but have gone that extra step and adopted their "thoughts" and supposition as their own quasi-truth that is, at least to them and a handful of their followers, self-evident facts.

Very slim difference between dealing with this nonsense and those who are devout followers of The Church of Non-Belief.

There comes a time that we have to assess our time and resource allocation and say enough. This nonsense helps no one and teaches nothing... and furthers the field and the discussion on the topics that we say we hold so dear to our heart in absolutely no way.

In essence, we're done. To be truthful we have better things to occupy our time. We do not concede defeat in this, nor claim a victory, we really don't know why we are still discussing this.

But hey you dear readers get a twofer today ... :)

To paraphrase the Bard, " The gentleman doth protest too much, me thinks."

Last week our Smackdown entitled, Male Chauvinism Within Cryptozoology? brought much consternation to Mr Loren Coleman. He blogs about it here.

Nowhere did I state that I thought Mr Noory was a chauvinist as Loren Coleman charges. I merely mentioned that he was the radio host of the program where Loren Coleman made his remarks. Apparently Mr Coleman misread that part.

Nor did I say Loren Coleman is a chauvinist. I have no clue if he is or isn't as I've never met the man. Only that I found statements made during the program to sound, "a bit chauvinistic."

And I did link directly to his own article on his appearance on that show for interested readers to formulate their own opinion based on his words, and not just my or Robin's interpretation of them.

Robin had this to say on the matter in an email sent directly to Loren Coleman:

"I was sorry to hear you were upset by my comment. I did not say you were a chauvanist--I simply said that one remark was chauvinistic. I stand by that opinion.

I did find it remarkable that you were so enraged. We're (Sue and I) such a small fish in the big pond I would hardly think our opinions would count so heavily. Perhaps if you had brought this to my attention rather than blogging it I could have had a chance to clarify that it was the STATEMENT not the person I objected to.

Im very VERY new in the crypto field. My role is primarily administrative at this point, at least until my book goes to press, and I rely on your work quite heavily as I learn. I will admit to having only a cursory interest in Bigfoot--Im more enthralled with birds and water "monsters" to be honest, with a possible study of cryptoentemology at some point. So all of my opinions" are based solely on the work of others; largely you.

If you and Sue Darroch want to battle this out, I'd like to be kept out of it. I admire you both very much, for different reasons, and it was never my intent to insult you. I wasn't upset when I made the statement. I simply felt that one remark was a bit off the mark and sexist. Surely you've taken stronger criticism from better sources *grin*.

If you'd like to discuss further, I'm certainly available for that.
Otherwise I consider this matter closed as far as I'm concerned."

Frankly it was way over blown in my opinion ... but if Mr Coleman feels that harmed, and wrong done by because I had the audacity to state my opinion on his words on my own blog then so be it. I'm sorry.

However, if I was in his position I would be thankful that someone took the time to state how my words were taken by at least two listeners if not more, so that I could address the issue. After all not all Coast To Coast listeners are going to be fans of his books, or aware of his website, and previous works. Therefore Robin, and I were probably not alone in thinking the statement sounded a "bit chauvinistic."

I will point out that Mr Coleman could have posted his concerns or asked for clarification on the original entry, we only filter for spam, not moderate every comment for opinion etc. Every comment received here is published, and only removed if it is racist, sexist etc. In the history of this blog that has only been done once, and there are some here that are highly critical of us. Our email addresses are not exactly hidden either.

Heck, all he had to do was ask, and I would have been happy to amend the entry to state this is how it sounded to us, but Coleman states it is in no way how it was intended.

Oh and thanks for pointing out the typo in the original entry. It has been corrected. Apparently this is a very huge deal for those in the "I've Never Made A Typo Club" ... ;)

As Robin said above, I too believe the issue to now be closed.

Cheers!
Sue

Celebrity Paranormal Project is coming to Canada via Alliance Atlantis, and we were asked to be part of the official press junket to promote the show!

Celebrity Paranormal Project, is a reality show which debuted on VH1 in the United States on October 22, 2006, and was last aired on December 16, 2006 with the season one finale. The show will now start running on Canadian television. Except for a different title, and usage of celebrities, the VH1 show is identical to MTV's Fear.

Our very own Robin Bellamy is being flown out this coming week to Louisville, Kentucky to take part in an overnight investigation of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. It housed TB victims in the days before penicillin, and over 63,000 people died there, including a nurse who hung herself. A handful of these folks had mental problems, but the general population was afflicted with TB. The facility was a nursing home later, which was shut down due to patient abuse.

More info on the location, and it's history here: http://www.whshistory.com/

The show's episode features actor Gary Bussey, and Robin is the first Canadian investigator to spend the night at this notorious location! Details of Robin's trip will be posted after she returns!

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

A Ghostly Apparition At The River Street Junk Yard, Toronto Canada

Hide-N-Seek, or Hango-Seek as we called it, was definitely our favorite outdoor summer game, and we had many great places to play it, but the best place was "The Junk Yard". It wasn't really a junk yard, it was a fenced in place on River Street with a couple of dilapidated old wooden buildings full of holes that housed giant bales of cloth that were soon to be turned into felt. It was a busy place and the bales were changed regularly creating an always changing maze of tunnels and holes to hide in. After the workers left it was our turn.

One day George, Gary, Jimmy, Ricky and I were playing there. George was a small kid with bright red hair and there was no mistaking him for anybody else. In hide-and-seek, if you spied someone and identified them wrongly it was called a false spy and you were "IT" again. We all spied George at least once when we were it and he'd pop up somewhere else yelling "false spy, you're it again". So after four or five false spies on George we decided something funny was going on. It was pretty dark in there except for a few beams of light coming through the holes in the walls. We now started to get a bit scared and decided to get out quick. We all scrambled for the exit hole trying to be the first one out.

Unfortunately, the hole was very small and we had to exit one at a time in single file. Gary was behind me and I heard him say "Come on George, hurry up". So I turned around and noticed that George was crawling along behind us but quite a bit back. However, when I got to the hole and looked out I saw George standing outside. Well let me tell you, I almost tore the skin right off my back getting out that hole. Gary popped out next and just about dropped dead when he saw George there. We took off like scared cats. Later at Gary's house we told his mother about this and she told us a young kid with red hair suffocated there years before.

Well, I leave it up to you. Was it a ghostly apparition or some kid that had a lot of moxie? If it was another kid, he was pretty slippery because after the first few false spies we'd all rush over to where the phony George was and he would simply not be there. Needless to say, we didn't go in there too much after that.

Our thanks to the witness for sharing this report with us. Please note that the image used is not of this particular location.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

The Ghosts and Hauntings Research Societies has hosted several large events for the public over the years, and I can tell you it's not easy to plan nor pull off no matter how organized you are, and I really do give credit to professional event co-ordinators that can work magic, and make an event a success!

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The following just made me sick to my stomach, and I had to get it out here...

Yesterday I watched an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show that was a follow-up to an earlier episode on spouse abuse that originally aired May 8th, 2007.

Did anyone watch the May 8th show? It featured a videotape of a woman by the name of Susan Still being brutalised both physically, and emotionally by her then husband. It was absolutely sickening! The tape was made by their son who was forced into filming it. You can read more on this via Oprah.com.

Why you maybe asking am I blogging my frustration here, and not on my family blog the Urban Zoo where it would seemingly be more appropriate?

Well, yesterday during the follow-up show Oprah read a letter from the victim's former husband that was sent from the prison where he is incarcerated for 30+ years. And in that letter he blamed the "GHOSTS" for what he had done...yes, I said the ghosts or evil spirits he claims was haunting their home.

My reaction was to SCREAM!

NEVER in all my years of researching ghosts & hauntings have I come across a person being forced to commit violent acts against their loved ones by a ghost. This is just Hollywood nonsense! Fine for a horror movie, but in no way reality.

Granted this idiot is not the first to try the demons/ghosts/aliens made me do it crap, but I guess because my emotions were already so heightened by the absolute revulsion I felt towards that video, and my admiration for Susan for escaping, ending this abuse, and publicly coming forward in order to help other women that I just needed to verbally scream my utter frustration at this pitiful excuse for such horrendous behaviour. And in the process make a further mockery of those who have witnessed ghostly phenomena.

CREEP!!!

Thanks for letting me vent!

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Recent news stories of human trafficking and foreign maids being held prisoner pale in comparison to the horrific legend of a sixteenth century noblewoman who not only enslaved her servants, but brutally and sadistically tortured him. But how much of the bloody tale of "Countess Dracula" is historically accurate?

The horror of the Bloody Countess
by Chris Laursen

Last week in Laval, Québec, Canada, a couple were arrested for human trafficking after neighbours took notice that their Ethiopian maid rarely ever left the home where she worked. The couple had reportedly confiscated her personal documents and they threatened to deport her if she left their home. "She was essentially a prisoner," the Canadian Press quoted RCMP Const. Magdala Turpin as saying.

Not far to the south, in the Long Island community of Central Islip, New York, another couple were arrested for forcing their two Indonesian maids from leaving the house except to take trash to the curb. The Associated Press reported that "prosecutors said the women were subject to beatings, had scalding water thrown on them and were forced to repeatedly climb stairs and take as many as 30 showers in three hours as punishment for misdeeds." The enslavement was uncovered when one of the women escaped and "was found wandering outside a doughnut shop wearing nothing more than pants and a towel."

These two cases of strange enslavement over the past week harken back to a far darker case of a noblewoman from what is now the Hungarian, Austrian and Romanian borderlands. Not only did Erzsébet (Elisabeth) Báthory keep her maids prisoner, she brutally and sadistically tortured and murdered them. Báthory remains infamous as the "Bloody Countess" who obsessively would lure and then brutally murder young women who she hired as her servants, especially in her older years.

There are some parallels between the horrific legend of Báthory and the Wallachian prince Vlad Tepes (who I wrote about in the 17 January 2007 Weird Wednesday). Although they lived two hundred years apart, both are reputed to have influenced Bram Stoker in writing his famed novel, Dracula, however there is no evidence from the writer's notes to support these theories. Báthory nonetheless, just like Vlad, continues to have her image connected to utterly bloody and horrifying behaviour, glorified in popular culture for instance in the 1971 Hammer film Countess Dracula starring Ingrid Pitt, and even in waxwork museums.

Journalist Sean Thomas wrote of the controversy surrounding Báthory in the latest Fortean Times which celebrates 50 years of Britain's Hammer horror films (think of Peter Cushing playing The Mummy, Christopher Lee as Dracula, and even sexploitation cinema such as Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.). Countess Dracula was certainly the kind of bloody tale that the studio relished.

In his article, Thomas personally retraced Báthory's steps, visiting the many castles she occupied through to her arrest by the Palatine of Hungary, Count György Thurzó, in 1610. The violent legends of the Countess and her family began when she was only 10 years old and witnessed firsthand how a gypsy thief was sewn alive into a stomach of a rotting horse. This was one of many incidents throughout her life that apparently influenced her own violent behaviour.

Married to the notorious soldier and count Ferenc Nádasdy of Fogesforald at the age of 15, the couple moved in to one of her husband's castles, Sárvár. There, according to witnesses at her 1610 trial, her reputation for torturing her maids became well known. Witnesses testified that she, encouraged by her husband, would jab pins under their fingernails, thrash them with stinging nettles, and have them stripped and covered with honey to be let loose on the grounds and stung by insects. But these stories paled in comparison to the terrors that gave Báthory the title "The Bloody Countess."

According to Thomas, historical records clearly suggest that the couple were quite interested in witchcraft, and as a result, Báthory surrounded herself with an unusual cast of characters including her bisexual sorceress aunt, a lesbian witch and a servant dwarf - certainly the offbeat types who would make any Hammer horror film complete. Travelling from castle to castle, Báthory reputedly attracted new young maids to torture in increasingly brutal ways. "According to the allegations, one of Báthory's favourite tricks was to press red-hot coins into the hands of the girls she accused of stealing," Thomas wrote. She was also accused of putting a hot iron on her maids' bare feet, torturing them in the ironically named iron maiden, even ripping the jaws on one maid open with her bare hands.

After the death of her husband, Báthory's sadistic behaviour was said to become even more extreme. One of the terrifying tales is of a woman stripped naked and sent out into the snow to be splashed with water until she turned into a pillar of ice. Famously, Báthory is said to have ordered her bath to be filled with maids' blood "as a cosmetic remedy for her fading beauty," Thomas wrote.

Young Elisabeth Báthory was without a doubt a beautiful woman from this and other portraits made of her. Did she, as legend has it, sadistically torture and kill her maids?

It is hard to determine how true these claims are. Hungarian scholars have long suspected that Báthory was the victim of the politics of the time, and feminist historians theorized that Báthory was actually a "smart and spirited woman condemned by a misogynist patriarchy," Thomas wrote. This view is being put forth in an upcoming dramatization of Báthory's life by Slovakian filmmaker Juro Jakubisko.

Again, here you see a parallel between the opposing historical views of Vlad Tepes as brutal mass murderer and national hero. Likewise, many believe Báthory has been given a bad rap through fabricated accusations documented in her trial and the sorcery angle. Essentially, these historians believe that she was demonized to "cleanse the national record" which was fraught with brutal wartime violence.

Yet, there remain historians who view Báthory as "the quintessence of female evil," Thomas wrote in the Fortean Times, "a cannibalistic lesbian who slaughtered hundreds of virgins."

Although Thomas's own journey through Báthory's life may not shed more light on whether or not she committed these heinous acts, it does serve as a reminder that people love a good horror story, moreso when they believe it actually happened.

Further reading:

"The Secret of the Bloody Countess" by Sean Thomas in the July 2007 issue of Fortean Times. Website: http://www.forteantimes.com/

Tony Thorne, Countess Dracula: The Life and Times of the Blood Countess, Elisabeth Báthory, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1997.

BBC article on Erzsébet Báthory: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593084

Website by Dennis Báthory-Kitsz, an ancestor of Erzsébet Báthory who composed an opera about her life: http://bathory.org/

Wordless Wednesday Visitors Please See Below For An Image Of Countess Bathory's Former Home.

If you are in need of some extra motivation you might want to check out this motivation software I came across today! It is free to download (and free is always the best price), and easy to configure.

Basically what it does is gives you motivational messages from your computer, in my case as I try to quit smoking these messages could be a positive reinforcement of my goals.

At first I was worried that spyware may be attached, but in their FAQ they guarantee that the software is free from malware, spyware etc. And the company provides full support for their product.

It's actually really cool, and if you'd like to download a copy of this motivation software, and try it out just follow the links provided in this entry, and visit the Motivator site.

I think it's a really great concept based on a proven method that has now been brought into the computer age.

Cheers!
Sue

Our thanks to our sponsor!

Welcome To Castle Cachtice

Cachtice Hrad - The Castle of Elizabeth Bathory as it looks in ruin today.

And below:

Castle Cachtice as it appeared in the time of the Blood Countess

Those familiar with vampire lore, know the name of Elizabeth Bathory. I have even seen her billed as the "real" Dracula. However, how much about her actual life jibes with the horrific crimes she was accused of? For those interested, please see above entry where historian Chris Laursen takes the helm, and discusses the "Blood Countess".....

Happy Wordless Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce to you gentle readers this terrific opportunity on obtaining a motor insurance quote. By clicking on the link you will be taken to the CIS Motor Insurance website, which is offering affordable insurance rates for motorists.

Right now they are offering two different bargains to motorists with a No Claim Discount and an Introductory Discount. And if you shop with them online through their website you will receive a further 10% discount! Now that in my humble opinion is a very good deal on a financial service that we all need.

Go have a look!

Our thanks to our sponsors!

Mississauga ON Canada 1970's

"For what it's worth....It was sometime in the late seventies, sorry the exact date or even year I forget.

I was living in Mississauga Ontario (Fieldgate and Bloor) on the ninth floor. It was sometime after midnight, while lying in bed through my open window I heard a faint hum. I thought to myself what is that a UFO? The hum got a little louder I then thought if you are a UFO come take me, I want to know. I then felt a warmth cast over me and the hum got very loud. I then got very scared and thought, no I don't want to go. Well the hum instantly just disappeared. At this time I would like to mention my eyes were closed the entire time. I finally fell asleep and in the morning I thought about the events and surmised I must have been dreaming. I didn't tell anyone about this and the day went by normally. The day after that however I was reading a newspaper (The Toronto Sun) I couldn't believe what I was reading. The small 1 paragraph article simply stated "Two girls claim to have spotted a low hovering UFO around 1am in the Fielgate and Bloor area." It made me a believer and until now I have told this story only to my family. My son is a non believer and simply sums it up to a coincidence...but after reading that article I knew it was real."

Our thanks to the witness for sharing their experience with us. We will attempt to locate the original article.

Everybody it seems uses a credit card these days, especially with the popularity, and convenience of online shopping. Most online shops tend to want a credit card to pay for purchases. With that said, there are so many different types out there it can be confusing trying to pick the right credit card for one's own needs, and financial circumstances.

I was just reading about the Smile Credit Card (I like the name), of which there are two options for consumers to choose from. You might want to check them out too. Apparently they have won the Guardian Consumer Finance Awards best credit card award four years in a row, based on popular vote! Sounds pretty good to me!

If you are interested in obtaining more information, please do click on the links provided.

Our thanks to our sponsors!

A Special Two Hour Broadcast on CFRB 1010

Vatican Insider Leaks Information about an ET Presence.

Exopolitics Toronto’s Director of Media Relations on The Richard Syrett Show - CFRB 1010 AM.

On Wednesday May 23 at 11:00 pm DST Richard Syrett and Victor Viggiani will interview Italian journalist Luca Scantamburlo.

Scantamburlo has written extensively about an interview conducted between Cristoforo Barbato and an unnamed Vatican Jesuit priest who has confidentially disclosed inside information about a clandestine meeting in 1954 at California’s Muroc Air Force Base (later named Edwards AFB) involving President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Los Angeles Bishop James Francis McIntyre and an extraterrestrial delegation.

As a result of this meeting the Vatican established and maintains to this day a secret organization – the S.I.V. – that studies and catalogues information relating to ET contact. Hear how a Catholic Bishop was threatened by an American Secret Service agent to maintain silence about this event and more.

Join host Richard Syrett and Victor Viggiani as they explore what might be considered the third indication that a geo-political movement towards disclosing UFO information, initiated recently by France and the United Kingdom, is fully underway.

This program can be heard locally on radio station CFRB 1010 AM News Talk Radio this Wednesday May 23 at 11:00 pm DST or on the live streamed audio at Listen Live at www.cfrb.com

Media outlets and journalists may access the text of the Barbato – Vatican Jesuit interview or obtain pre-program briefings by using the contact information below:

Contact information:

Exopolitics Toronto

Victor Viggiani B.A. M.Ed.

Director of Media Relations

Toronto Ontario Canada

(905) 278 5628

zland@sympatico.ca

As many of you readers already know both Matthew, and I enjoy online games including backgammon, which is offered by Backgammon Masters. Backgammon Masters for those who may not know are the world leaders in backgammon online, and if you haven't played you might just want to check them out!

Our regular readers may just recall an entry I did on the very cute animated mascot Jean-Claude, and his video series! Yep, same people that bring us Jean-Claude.

Anyway I was reading a press release put out by this online backgammon company that states they are opening up in the Latin American gaming market. And they are doing so by introducing a Spanish dice game called perudo! This is in addition to backgammon, poker, and soon black jack!

Interest in the Latin American community has been so exceptional that Backgammon Masters is now opening branch offices in Central America. Very cool for them!

I'm certainly not surprised by their continuing success. Their software package for gaming really is terrific with state of the art play, and really cool graphics. Go have a look by clicking on the link.

I first learned about them via Jean-Claude, and since that time have watched as they've grown, and expanded. Definitely the place to be for online gamers!

Thanks to our sponsors!

Today in Canada we are celebrating Her Majesty Queen Victoria's birthday, with a well earned long weekend, backyard BBQ's, and of course fireworks!

We would have loved to have related to you a spooky tale of Victoria's spirit haunting some ancient castle, but...there are none...

However, the ghost of Queen Victoria's trusted friend John Brown is reportedly haunting Balmoral castle in Scotland our current Queen Elizabeth II favourite summer home...well ok more like palace.

John Brown was rumoured to be the lover of Queen Victoria, and perhaps he is still waiting for her? His apparition, said to be dressed in Scottish Highland attire, has reportedly been witnessed by no less than our current Queen herself!

Speaking of Queen Victoria, and the paranormal, historians note that she was interested in spiritualism, and reportedly participated in several seances during her reign.

Wishing ALL of our Canadian readers a very happy, and safe Queen Victoria Day!

Famed Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman was recently interviewed on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, and one of the topics that was brought up is one that we've been tossing around on our paranormal message forums lately....women in Cryptozoology. Something that appears at least on the surface to be too far, and too few between...and I thought there was an "old boys" network in UFOlogy .. huh!

Mr Coleman had made an interesting point about women in the field though. Could Bigfoot or a Sasquatch find a woman less threatening or more attractive in the field? Would this give her an advantage in the study? You can read more on Loren Coleman's thoughts on this subject here.

Frankly, our own Director of Cryptozoology, Robin Bellamy who is a woman found this a bit chauvinistic, and so did I. More likely women in the field would do well because of their SKILLS and METHOD than their hormones!

However, they're talking about women in the field and that's a good thing. Right! Right?

The 1973 film The Exorcist is a horror movie classic, and yes, my all-time favourite film of it's genre. Have a look at the original trailer below...it still gives me chills....

Yet, in all honesty I have to date not come across a similar case within my own research of approximately 10 years...and I do admit in a strange way, that yes, if it were possible I'd want to.....I would want to see it with my own eyes, and study hands on the phenomenon.

What I have found so far within in the topic of "demonic possession" is much ritualistic abuse, and in many case leading to the death of those said by certain individuals to be possessed by otherworldly forces. It is far more sad, than frightening....

I have heard of the supernatural occurrences that were reported during the making of this film, but you would be very hard pressed to find any film or tv show of this type where similar claims were not made.

While based around a real case, this film is nothing more then an interesting bit of entertainment, designed to disturb, and nothing more....at least that is what I quietly tell myself after each time I view it...and that dear reader is exactly the reaction a good horror film should invoke....

What is your favourite horror film?

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

Private Residence Milford Haven Drive, Scarborough, Ontario CA

The following was submitted by one of our readers:

"I have wanted to share my story with everyone. I remember the incident as if it were yesterday. I know it wasn't a figment of my imagination. It is as follows:

In the fall of 1999, my older brother moved into a house on Milford Haven Drive. He moved into the house with his wife and son. My brother had a job as a security guard. He worked late shifts, and would come home past midnight. He told me a few times that when came home he would hear strange noises. I was skeptical at the time and thought that it was all in his head. But he told me that he kept hearing these noises coming from the basement. But still, I did not listen to him.

About one year later, I moved in with my brother and I was staying upstairs temporarily until the basement was done. While I was staying there, I helped him do work, like putting up drywall and painting. Basically, the handy stuff. We managed to finish the basement 2 months later. It was time for me to move downstairs.

I had settled into the basement. I remember what my brother told me about the noises in the basement, but again I thought it was nonsense. As soon as I settled in, several hours went by and then it was about 2 am. I was doing some exercise, since I couldn't sleep. As soon as I was done, I attempted to try to sleep and I turned off the lights.

This is when the strange thing happened. I heard someone laughing. The laughing sounded like it was close by. So I looked outside my window to see if it was the neighbor, but no one was there. I went outside to see if there was anyone on the sidewalk, and still there was nothing. I went upstairs and my sister-in-law, and nephew were sound asleep, and my brother was still at work. I was confused, and I wanted to know what this could be. I went to bed and about a half an hour later, not only did I hear laughing, but I heard a radio. This was beginning to get really weird. I stayed awake, and waited for my brother to come home.

When my brother finally came home I told him about what was going on in the basement. He told me he heard the exact same thing before. We were both puzzled by this. In the morning, my sister-in-law confirmed that she heard the same noises in the past too. All three of us believed that this house could be haunted, but we had nothing concrete to back that up.

About a month later, my brother w