Ouija Boards

My, oh my! One topic that to this day STILL makes me shiver. And know that never, EVER again, will I go near one.

Back in the late 1990's, I was at a friend's house. We were talking and goofing around. Then, they had pulled out a Ouija Board. After delegating who was going to do what (be a witness to the letters, spell on paper, and who would control the planchette, being that there were enough of us together to cover with three people on the board), we started the session.

Simple questions of like, "Is anyone there?", and once we got something, we asked general questions such as gender, age, date of death. Finally, we found out that it was a man in his mid to late 20's (forgot the exact age) and that he died in an accident. We found out he was never married, nor had kids, and he lived in the late 1800's. Then, we asked where he was from and he said...H-E-L-L.

Of course, then we heard creakings and other odd sounds we had not heard before the 'game' was started. Suddenly, the planchette started to go erratic and bounce to all kinds of letters and numbers. Then to YES and to NO.

Finally, we got the triangle moved to GOODBYE and vocally said so.

Ever since then, I have never touched another Ouija Board 'game' again. And don't plan to do so in the future, either.

Here is a good article to read about the subject of Ouija Boards by Max Rodegher
-Author of Studies of the Paranormal... Dangers of the Ouija Board

Now, here is a video of someone warning AGAINST the usage of a Ouija Board...

America's Most Haunted Places (video, documentary)

I'd lived and visited my fair share of haunted places. And I have visited my fair share of various "supposedly haunted" places as well. Homes, abandoned buildings, busy stores, tourist towns.

I've never truly gone "looking for trouble" or for ghosts. But I had been attracted to certain places and sometimes, the ghosts happened to be attracted to me.

There are not many true-blue videos out there that TRULY do document REAL hauntings. There are many that are "chop shopped" to just post something and draw attention to the one that supposedly "caught" something.

Then, there are those videos that REALLY do capture something truly out of the ordinary and is honestly unexplainable.

EVP's (or Electronic Voice Phenomenon) are some of the most fascinating and mysterious of videos I have ever laid my eyes upon. Or my ears, for that matter.

And I just love documentaries about different places that claim they are haunted. I love hearing about the history of each place, seeing what things might have been like "back in the day" when the "haunters" were still a part of our realm, as to why they feel that they must remain today.

Enjoy this forty-six minute documentary and feel free to discuss it in the comments. I have come to enjoy this show's YouTube Channel.

To the Overly-Righteous, Pious Christians...

Do me a favor, would you?

Don't come to *MY* blog page here at ParanorMel and say "You are invited to my blog". Especially when all you do is spout uber-religiousity on *YOUR* blog. YOUR page, YOUR beliefs, YOUR blog.

I don't go to YOUR blog and "invite" you to mine. Especially when it is NOWHERE near the content of the subject matter that mine is.

To me, that is just plain, all-out RUDE. You invite me to your "place", but don't have the courtesy to even comment on the blog post at hand.

I'm not one to play the "you follow mine, I'll follow yours" comment/blog reading game.

You follow/comment on my blog. Or you don't. And I will do (or not do, be it the case) the same. Out of RESPECT, as well as COMMON COURTESY.

Now, my readers, have a great day and I hope you DO like the content I have been posting. While I do admit, I wish more people would comment on the posts, as to let me know what they think of the subjects, I'm okay with you all at least READING the content.

Peace out.

Skidding on the floor. Nic Cage style.

It will be four years since we moved in to our current home, at the end of August.

At that time, the kids were starting school that week, as we were moving things from one place to the other. Before us, my brother-in-law and his brood lived here. And before them, it was their parent's rented residence.

Needless to say, it's jokingly become a "family tradition" that someone in the immediate family lives in this house.

While my husband's parents were here, I always felt a bit 'uneased' downstairs, in the basement. And it was set up pretty much then, how we have it now. Our bedroom is down there in the addition (kids are upstairs in the two actual bedrooms), our family area, and the kid's play area (which was then the sewing area for my mother-in-law).

From the moment the house became "ours", I felt something was off. But not just in the basement any longer. It extended in to the attic and even the main portion of the house. Primarily my son's room (that was the "junk room" when my in-law's had the place).

For the life of me, I couldn't place my finger on why I had these feelings of dread, only to have my son almost immediately after moving in, tell me that he saw the "Bearded Man" that looked like he was from "a long time ago".

Every so often, either myself or my son would hear what sounded like footsteps in the attic. Both day and night. And even to this day, I feel "watched" if I'm up there, with or without someone being with me.

Less than a week after shipping our boxes to our new home, I was seriously hurt. All the times over the years I had gone up and down those steps that led to the basement, never once did I take a tumble. That is, until THAT day.

My kids were on their way home from their first full week at their new school. At this point, I still had my youngest daughter home with me, being she was too young for Pre-K.

Of course, for security reasons, and to keep the wee one from slipping out the door, I kept the basement door locked tight. But I would go down to unlock it so the kids could come in from the school bus.

With Skyler watching TV (back then upstairs in the living room), I proceeded to start my decent down to the basement.

No more than three steps down, I felt like I had been shoved. I clearly felt what seemed to be like a hand on my back. Down I went the rest of the way on those stairs.

I literally rolled down. Not in a "tumbling" manner, or on my butt. If I had slipped, I would have fell on to my tail and backwards. Not go forwards, face-first and in a rolling motion (like tumbling in gym).

But I didn't stop there.

No sooner that I hit (and I mean HARD) the landing to the steps, I literally flew off. Only to skid across my carpeted basement floor. As if someone kicked me off of the bottom portion of the staircase.

If you have ever seen 'Ghost Rider', with Nicolas Cage (which is one of my favorite movies of his!), you will know what I'm talking about with the "skidding" on the floor. When 'Johnny Blaze' (Nic's character) is thrown from his now-alive motorcycle, on to the pavement of the Police Station's towing area, he skids across the cement a good number of feet before stopping and his hands start catching fire to begin transforming in to 'Ghost Rider' for the first time.

To put it basically, I was 'Johnny Blaze' for a brief moment in time. Only I had shag carpet, on top of cement flooring under my belly.

After being drug by some unforeseeable force of gravitational pull towards the basement door, I stopped short of getting my face slammed in to it. Only to pull myself up, via the doorknob and unlock both locks right as the kids were pulling up on the school bus.

For three or four days after the incident, I was so very sore. I had a few bruises, a scratch, I had muscle aches EVERYWHERE. I felt like I got ran over, then back-up on, only to be hit again. And when I told my husband about it, he (the skeptic he is, but not as bad now, as back then) said that I must have tripped over myself. Or that I slipped on a step.

But, even if I did either of those things, as my husband felt that I must have, I should NEVER have had any of the above happen.

And never again have I endured another experience in this home on those stairs as I had done that day. And it is a day, as well as an experience I will NEVER forget.

Paranormal Television Shows (The good, the bad, and the non-worthy)

Some aren't even worth my time. Such as Paranormal State and Ghost Adventures. They only delve in to the "bad side" of ghostly phenomenon. And it makes me sick to see the FEAR that the shows instill in their viewers. Especially for those that believe, but have yet to truly experience a haunting themselves.

Then, you have Paranormal Cops. While those guys may have the detective skills, they certainly don't seem all that much to be taking the Paranormal Investigator job all that seriously.

Ghostly Encounters, while at times intriguing, can seem too "dramatized" for my taste. Tell the story, don't embellish it.

Now as for those that I like, Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International for me, ranks right up there at the top of the heap. They are genuine and walk in as skeptics. Not out of malice towards those that they are helping, but to get a better overall view of the places that they are investigating and come to a level-headed decision about each site. And their work ethic is exceptional in how they carry themselves on their jobs with each client that they serve.

Also, I like the new (in it's second season) Celebrity Ghost Stories. Just because they are celebrities, it doesn't mean that they aren't human and can't experience ghostly happenings as well. And the way that some of the stories are told, it's just mind blowing and if you have been through a similar experience, you feel that you can TRULY relate to that particular celeb. Although, I am glad that they no longer do that white noise/face thing in between stories as they go to commercial. It not only scared my kids (who like the show, too), but myself as well. Made me jump EVERY time.

My new favorite to add to my list, that I missed the Pilot Episode of LAST WEEK is My Ghost Story. It features three or four different stories from everyday, ordinary, average people such as you and I. They tell their story and as it's being told, video and picture evidence is being provided, as well as a re-enactment by the story-teller(s) themselves. I love that about this show. There are REAL people telling THEIR stories and showing it playing out on THEIR OWN TERMS.

Psychic Kids, with Psychic/Medium Chip Coffey is another good show. And I love how he and his Psychologist friend help these kids through what can be a very scary, life altering, and embarrassing (as well as shunning) thing in their lives. They have the compassion, understanding and drive to TRULY help these kids that have the ability to see, hear, and sense spirits feel not so isolated, and help them get a better handle on their abilities.

Understandably, this is only the tip of the ice burg. There are many more ghost/haunting-related shows out there. Too many to name or talk about in fact. But these, for myself anyways, stands out from the crowd. Do you have any paranormal shows that you like or dislike? Tell us and the reason(s) why.

Queen Mary...

Many people (of my generation and back) have heard of the ship RMS Queen Mary. At one time, she sailed the ocean, carrying her cruise passengers as they sipped their tea, ate off the fine china, and played Croquet. She was one of the most exquisite ocean liners of her time.

She was built by John Brown and Company, in Clydebank, Scotland. She was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York. And was one of the super liners of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Today though, the RMS Queen Mary rests in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel. She is also registered on the National Register of Historic Places. And now Queen Mary is a tourist attraction, and also houses hotel guests.

It wasn't until the ship was permanent spot that the reports of haunting happenings of the paranormal type came to pass.

There have been reports of hearing children crying in the nursery room, a mysterious splash noise in the drained first-class swimming pool, sightings of John Pedder, who was an engineer that was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill. And those are just a few of the stories passed along to the employees of the old gal.

Supposedly, the ghostly image of a young girl named Jackie Korin who drowned in the second class pool. And the young woman by the name of Sarah was said to have been murdered in the first class women's change rooms by an unknown man and haunts the first class pool with Jackie.

Some guests aboard the massive ship also claim to hear men screaming and the sound of metal crushing against metal can be heard below decks at the extreme front end of the bow.

RMS Queen Mary hold DAILY Ghost Tours to it's guests. Plus, they have a haunted maze and expands to multiple mazes during the Halloween season.

The "livliest" 'Ghost Town' you will ever step in to...

Let's take a small trip. Back in to another time. Another realm. Another way of life. To the past.

For a few years in my teens, I had lived in the Reno/Carson City area of Nevada. It was quite nice, to tell the truth. Barely any humidity. Air quality was nice, too.

Back in the 1960's on television, there was a Western "shoot 'em up" show called 'Bonanza'. It centered around a man and his three sons back in the late 1800's, during the Gold Rush days in the Sierra Nevada's. Including a city called Virginia City.

Yes, there REALLY IS a town named Virginia City in Nevada, out in the hills of the Reno/Carson basin. And it's still lively today, as it was in it's hay day. Although it is considered a tourist attraction these days. But many upon many of the ORIGINAL structures (including their "birth" names) are still up and in use today in our modern age.

And it is said to be a Ghost Town. Not in the abandoned since. Not in the least bit. But in the literal since. As in the ghostly realm and hauntings since.

Including the town primary cemetery. And the town's cathedral. Oh, and don't forget the Art School that was once a hospital for the wounded and dying Civil War Soldiers. Then, there are a couple of haunted Saloons and restaurants. Pretty much anywhere you go in Virginia City, you will hear tales of the Spirit kind.

Now, sit back and relax. Watch a few videos from my old "home town" of Virginia City and gawk at a few pictures. Take that trip back in time. Where the West was wild and the women were fast (not necessarily easy).









***This is a 4-part-series, and I am providing the first two. If you wish to view more, then go over to YouTube and type in Haunted Nevada. Virginia City *IS* covered in this show's episode. Just watch and keep an eye out for it.

I've been inside many of the places, including the church and the cemetery when I lived there, and visited on trips back home. I've also on more than one occasion felt eyes peering at me when no one (living) was around. I felt presences. I've heard voices and things while in certain buildings that shouldn't be there. Even in broad daylight. Especially in areas where it was not allowed for (living) people to go. They were restricted, cordoned off areas.

Maybe one day soon, I will tell my tales of all I have seen and heard. But for now, just relish on the trip you had taken back in to another time. And maybe even watch a bit of 'Bonanza'. Gotta love Little Joe!