Vampirism

The following is provided by... Wikipedia.

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times", the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

While even folkloric vampires of the Balkans and Eastern Europe had a wide range of appearance ranging from nearly human to bloated rotting corpses, it was the success of John Polidori's 1819 novella The Vampyre that established the archetype of charismatic and sophisticated vampire; it is arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century, inspiring such works as Varney the Vampire and eventually Dracula.

However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and which provided the basis of modern vampire fiction. Dracula drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late Victorian patriarchy". The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, video games, and television shows. The vampire is such a dominant figure in the horror genre that literary historian Susan Sellers places the current vampire myth in the "comparative safety of nightmare fantasy".

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Personally, I have always been fascinated by the subject of Vampirism. There is something truly magical and tantalizing about the possibility of ever-lasting immortality, such as is portrayed by Bram Stoker's novel.

But also, let's not forget where Mr. Stoker had originated his idea of a "walking dead guy" that had the need to feed off of the blood of the living...

And that would be in regards to Vlad The Impaler (Vlad's Story). He was a ruthless, dark, murderous ruler who had those he had captured staked *ALIVE* and then captured their blood in a cup and drank of it. Hence the true origin of Stoker's 'Dracula' character.

Although Vlad The Impaler dies, his alter ego, Dracula lives on in novels, movies, cartoons and even in CEREAL (Count Chocula).

                                   Mr. Bram Stoker, author of "Dracula" (1897)

               One of the most modern Television shows of my generation, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (based off of movie of the same name, featuring Kristy Swanson)

                               The most infamous "Dracula" portrayal of all time.. Bella Lugosi.

                              Vlad The Impaler, original ideal for Stoker's novel.

               
                                  Depiction of impaling prisoners of Vlad's. As you can see, Vlad would DINE at the impalings of his victims and drink of their blood that is collected.

       

                              Personally, I have never tried this cereal. Surprising, I know (lol)! But maybe one day I will. After all, I would kill for chocolate. (=

Who has a HAUNTING read?? (Blog Hop/link up)

With the holidays now past us, I can once more concentrate on BOTH blogs. It was looking like a ghost town around here...Get it? "Ghost" town?? Yeah...That went well.

Apparently, we are still having odd things happening. Mainly where the attic is concerned. My oldest was kept up a good portion of the night by what she said was "something" being dragged, steps and the "rolling" noises I have mentioned before in a previous post.

But enough with that {for now}...

Below I will be placing a LINKY TOOL for others that write about the Paranormal *ONLY*, as to gain exposure, readers/followers and to add to our reading lists.

As long as it is Paranormal in nature, you can add your link to the link up tool (below).

If I see a NON-Paranormal blog linked up, it will be DELETED from the blog roll. Only PARANORMAL blogs are permitted for this blog linking.

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week.

Haunted History Tour... Lizzie Borden Home

"Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks.
When she realized what she done, she gave her father forty-one."

Remember that little saying? I certainly do! I used to repeat that diddy all of the time as a child. I never knew the truth and history behind the poem. But now that I am an adult and have watched documentaries, as well as have read the history behind the condemnation, I have "seen the light" as to why and how the rhyme came about.

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in New England on July 19, 1860. A "spinster" of sorts, who later on in her adult years would be pegged as the prime suspect in the double homicide of her mother and her father. They were killed on August 4, 1892. This would have placed Lizzie to be age forty-two at the time. Plenty old enough to "know better", if you get my drift.

When all was said and done, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the heinous murders. And no other people were ever brought forth for the crimes. To this day, the murders are unsolved.

What led to the murders of Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby? Could have been very well over the fact that arguments often ensued over property and possessions that were to be divided amongst her and Lizzie's sister, Emma, BEFORE their father's demise? Or could it be that they were mad that Mr. Borden planned on having the the homestead sold to their stepmother's (Abby) relatives, and were afraid that they would literally be left out in the cold?

Whatever the true intention was for the killings, the stage had apparently long been set. Between anger, jealousy and the "not knowing" of what will happen after their Daddy keeled over, it made a perfect recipe for murder.

On August 4, 1892, Andrew left the house and went in to town, in to Fall River, Massachusetts to the bank. And then the old boy went to the post office. Which all were of his normal activities. Mr. Borden returned home at approximately 10:45 that morning, only to have Lizzie "find" her father dead upon the couch.

During the court trial for Lizzie, it was told, by the family's maid, Bridget Sullivan that she was laying in bed, within the confines of her room at around eleven, she heard Lizzie call up to her and stated that someone had killed her father.

Not long after the doctor and some neighbors had come to the home to help Lizzie, the gruesome discovery of her stepmother, Abby was made by the unsuspecting maid. Abby had died in the geust bedroom upstairs.

Abby and Andrew both had suffered a very brutal end to their lives. Both of them had skull-crushing blows to the head with a hatchet. Mr. Borden's left eyeball was literally split in two.

It came to light later, that not too long before the murders, all in the home became ill. Knowing her husband was a tight-fisted, not too well liked man, she feared that someone was out to seek revenge upon her husband, and take his entire family with him. They suspected poisoned  milk. After the murders, right there in the home, the autopsies were performed. With it, the stomachs of the couple were removed and set on the table to seek out their contents. The contents were then sent for "tox screenings" over at Harvard Medical School.

Lizzie Borden was arrested for the double killing. She was placed in a cell on August twelfth. With her stories determined to be inconsistent through various interviews, she became the town's prime suspect.

On November 7, 1892, a Grand Jury trial was under way. A Bill of Indictment came down on her on December second, almost a month after her arrest. The trial its self didn't start in New Bedford, Massachusetts until June of 1893!

Lizzie's Defending Attorneys were Governor George D. Robinson and Andrew V. Jennings. One "rising star" Prosecutor at the trial happened to be William H. Moody, who would later become a United States Attorney General and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the investigation, a hatchet was found within the basement, and assumed to have been the murder weapon. It was clean, but the handle had gone missing. Later in the trial, by word of the Forensics Specialist, there was no time to have cleaned the hatchet after the murders had taken place.

Also on Lizzie's side was the fact that no blood-stained clothing was ever found. Although, there was a blue dress that was torn apart and thrown in to the stove. Lizzie claimed that the dress had fresh paint that was smeared on it, after she accidentally brushed up against a baseboard.

Lizzie was finally acquitted for the crimes on June 20, 1893, after deliberations by the jury that took them a mere hour and a half of their time.

After the dust had settled, Lizzie and her sister Emma had moved and named their new home "Maplecroft".  It is located on French Street , which at that time, was within a posh neighborhood of Fall River. The home included all of the (then) latest amenities a home of it's stature could have. Including indoor plumbing.

Later on though, Emma and Lizzie began to develop a strained relationship. Their lifestyles did not mesh and were apparently like night and day. Complete opposites. So, twelve years after hell had reined upon them, the sisters had parted ways. Emma moved from the home in June of 1905.

On June 1, 1927, Lizzie Andrew Borden had passed away. She required gallbladder removal surgery and she was pretty sick for the last year of her life. She had died basically alone, with only her staff as her 'comfort' in those final hours. Her cause of death was Pneumonia.

The details of her funeral were never brought to light to the public, and only a handful of people attended the services for her. Lizzie is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River.

Nine days later, Emma too passed. She contracted Nephritis.

Today, the home in which the murders had occurred is now a Bed And Breakfast. As far as the hauntings go, there have been reports of a woman's voice softly crying, seeing ghostly shoes appear, and even an older woman in period dress for Lizzie's time show.

Also, it seems that video equipment messes up, lights have been known to flicker on and off, and Andrew and Abby supposedly wander the home.

Links...

Haunted Hamilton 

History of Lizzie Borden

Haunted History... The Towers of London

The Towers were erected in 1078. It stands out from all of the surrounding landscape. It's creator was William the Conqueror. And it is more than likely the most haunted place in England to date.

The Wakefield Tower houses Henry VI. He was murdered, after people became enraged over his weakness to rule in the manner that they felt that a king should "take charge". It happened on May 21, 1471, as he knelt in prayer. On the king's anniversary of death, Henry VI is said to appear as the clock strikes midnight, which is said to be the hour of his killing. He paces back and forth up until the last stroke of midnight, then just fades.

Within the White Tower is the oldest of all of the Towers of London. It also houses the "White Lady", who at some point of time stood at a corridor and waved to children that were in an opposing tower adjacent to the one that the spectral was spotted. In the gallery, Henry VIII's armor is on exhibition. Many guards have stated that they get a feeling of crushing in their chest as they enter the armor's area, but leaves them almost as sudden after leaving the room.

Over on the Tower Green, there is a memorial, that remembers those that were executed on the grounds. It is said that an Anne Boleyn and a Lady Jane Grey both come back from their ethereal realm. Where as Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury returns to the spot where her life ended in a very uh... attention-grabbing way.

Speaking of Margaret, her mother/son relationship was strained, to say the least. See, her boy, Cardinal Pole was on a major power trip. He sealed the king's claim to rule. And in the end, got the King Henry VIII to place Pole's mother's head upon the chopping block. She was executed on May 27, 1541. When told to kneel, dear old Mom refused. “So should traitors do and I am none” were Margaret's last words...The executioner raised up his axe, hacked her head off as she ran around the scaffold like a chicken trying to save it's head. Since her death, the residual haunting, replaying the scene over and over like a broken record has been witnessed many times since on the anniversary of her demise.

Now, let's go a CUT above the rest, where names are concerned. How about we travel to the Bloody Tower? Edward IV had died suddenly in April of 1483. Due to his death, his son, who was twelve years old at the time was to succeed him as Edward V. But before Edward V could take the reigns his younger brother had been declared to be an illegitimate child by the Parliament. So instead, their uncle, Duke of Gloucester had succeeded and taken to the throne as Richard III. In the end, the two boys were placed in the Tower of London. They could more often than not be spotted playing on the grounds.

Around June of 1483, the boys just suddenly vanished. Nowhere to be found. It is believed that Richard III had them killed and buried in an unspecified place. Two skeletons were found many, many years later. They were located beneath the White Tower's staircase in 1674. They were believed to be the remains of the two young princes that never got to see a day of ruling upon their father's throne. After the discovery, their bodies were interned in at Westminster Abbey with a Royal Burial.

Once in a while, there will be sounds of crying and whimpering of two children, dressed in period clothing from the days of the Fifteenth Century. They are shown to be extremely frightened and cling on to one another in terror. Most people that get to see this scene are mostly with pity and sorrow for the children that never got to grow up and rule in succession of their father. Some even go as far as to literally reach out to them, as to take them in to their bosom and console the frightened boys, only to have them slowly back away from their mournful witnesses and fade in to the wall.

To read more, please visit Towers of London.

Haunted History...The Winchester Mystery House

 I personally have been fortunate to take a tour at the following home. It does indeed live up to the name of "Mystery House". There have been reports from staff and visitors alike, especially after the sun has gone down to hearing strange noises, seeing things from the corner of your eye to only take a full look and the apparition is gone.

Personally, I had seen (during the daytime tour) what I had thought was an indentation in one of the beds. In fact, it was supposedly in the same room that Sarah Winchester was said to have passed away in. I also had feelings of being watched and followed. Also, there were cold spots. Especially in the Blue Room.

Come and take a virtual tour with me through the history of one of the most famous, and reportedly haunted places in the United States... The Winchester Mystery House, in Santa Clara, California (the area that I originally hail from).

The Winchester Rifle. One of the first rifles to be mass produced in the United States. And one of the deadliest of its kind as well. The gun had made it's way in to America's hands in 1866. It's creator, Oliver Winchester.

After Mr. Winchester's death in 1881, as well as the death of their only daughter, Annie, in 1866, Sarah Winchester had set out to see a Psychic Medium in Boston. This Medium, preying on Sarah's grief, claimed that the deaths of her only child and one and only husband were brought upon by a curse from the spirits of the dead American Indians that were shot to death during the Civil War.

What was the only way to appease these poor souls? Why, to build a home, of course! And to NEVER stop building. For if Sarah Winchester stopped construction, then her death was surely to happen. But, if she kept on building for all time, twenty-four hours a day, every single day, with not a single break, then death would not touch her. But, this home of the spirits was to be built out West.

After moving West, as told, Sarah Winchester had found a beautiful spot of land in Santa Clara, California. She knew then, that this would be where her great mansion was to sit.

By the time that the 1900's came around, already, the eight-room home became a sprawling seven-story mansion. Her monetary status was unscathed, seeing as she had unlimited amounts of money from the on-going sales of the Winchester Rifles at her late husband's company to spend to make the spirits happy. What began as an unfinished farmhouse, that came along with the land, was completed to be one of the grandest Mansions of our time.

 For thirty-eight years straight, twenty-four hours a day, with not a single break in the construction, Mrs. Winchester made the spirits happy. She would go nightly to the "Blue Room", which was her Seance Room to converse with the ghosts and to ensure that what was being done was up to par with them.

There were also stair cases and doors that were built in the oddest of places. Stairs that lead to the ceiling. Doors that opened to a wall behind it, or to a hole where if you step through, you either end up on the pavement, after falling from two stories up, or you land in the kitchen sink.

Also, Sarah had an odd fascination with the number 13. Everything from the window panes, to the holes in the sink drains had no more than thirteen pieces to it. Even the chandelier glass.

Sadly, Mrs. Winchester's promise of eternal life never came to pass. After suffering with ailing arthritis for several years, on September 22, 1922, having had heart failure. She passed away peacefully in her sleep. At the time of her death, the home had engulfed six acres of land.

Construction ended with... 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens. The carpenters had even left nails half driven when they learned of Mrs. Winchester’s death.

All of the original furnishings were sold off, via auction, through a niece. Today, with turn-of-the-century-like furnishings in place to show the beauty of what it once was, the Winchester Mystery House is now a museum dedicated to the life and legacy of Sarah Winchester. As well as to her devoted servants and employed construction workers.

                                           (The door that leads to a two-story drop, outside)

                                                         (Front view of the mansion)


Links...

The Sarah Winchester Mystery House

The Winchester Rifle

The Bell Witch Legend

Again, we are touching upon the subject of witches. This one seems to be the true basis behind the movie, "The Blair Witch Project" (1999), which is a fake documentary about three teens that go in search of the Blair Witch and her "haunted cave" in Blair, Maryland. Needless to say, in the movie, the kids got more than they had bargained for.

This time, we are traveling to the Red River, which is located over by Adams, Tennessee. And this story is also the ground-base story for the movies "An American Haunting" (2006) and "The Bell Witch Haunting" (2004).

In the year 1817, John William Bell, Sr. had reported that he had come in to contact with an animal that was not of "normal nature", so to speak. This had happened in a cornfield on his farm in Robertson County. The animal that the older Bell had described was as follows..

It had the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit. Mr. Bell had claimed to have shot at it.

Later on after this strange creature happened upon the Bell's land, the family had started to hear strange rapping and gnawing outside of their home. At one point, these noises moved to within the home.

Eventually, the youngest daughter of the Bell family, Betsy, had started to claim that she was assaulted by something unseen.

As time went on, other things supposedly took place within the confines of the Bell Family's abode. Including poltergeist activity. Things like spirits moving various objects, their (the ghosts) speaking with and having conversations with the family and guest alike.

John Bell, Sr. had died on December 20, 1820, after suffering for a while after being inflicted by facial seizures, which rendered him unable to speak. Laying beside him, was a vial filled with a liquid that no one knew its contents. This liquid was fed to the family's cat by force, killing it.

In the latter 1800's, the Bell Family's home was torn down. The cave is said to be haunted by the witch that supposedly haunted, taunted and tormented Betsy Bell for years. Those walking through it's hollow passages have reported different sounds coming from within the cave's depths, such as laughter and footsteps. Also, there were reports of eyes watching it's visitors and just plain "creeped out" feelings.

Who is this Bell Witch, though?? She is reported to be (thanks to folklore) the spirit of a woman named Kate Batts. She was supposedly a tyrannical, mean-spirited old lady, and the Bell Family's neighbor. Miss Batts came to believe that John Bell, Sr. had cheated the old lady out of some land when he made his purchase.

As she had laid on her deathbed, she cursed Bell and swore that she would haunt him, his family, and the future generations of the Bell's descendants.

Is any of the legend true? Maybe so. Does Kate Batts still haunt the cave where the Bell Family's home once stood? It's possible indeed. I guess the only way to find out is to take a trip to Adams, Tennessee and find out for yourself.

Reference links to read more about The Bell Witch are as followed...

The Bell Witch Cave

Bell Witch History

Skeptic?

The Bell Witch Haunting

Bell Witch the Movie

Reader Request... The Blair Witch

The following delves in to two different categories of the paranormal. One of course being of a haunting/ghostly type nature. The other being of Black Magic and Witchery.

Most of my generation has at least heard of, if not have actually watched a movie from 1999 called "The Blair Witch Project", where three students make a fake documentary about the Blair Witch of Blair, Maryland.

According to legend, this ghostly 'witch', who's real name was Elly Kedward, was pegged to be a witch who had cast evil spells amongst the townspeople of the 1780's.

Elly was found guilty and was banned to the deep forest in the middle of winter. About a year later, many children just simply went missing. Of course, the witch, Elly Kedward was the first suspect.

The following are some excerpts from "The Blair Witch - The Facts"...

"In the 1820s, the abandoned property of Blair, MD was brought to the attention of a man by the name of Burkitt.  He purchased the property from the government, renovated the abandoned buildings, and rechristened the town after himself.  Burkittsville was founded in 1824, and still stands in Maryland today.

Just four years after the founding of Burkittsville, there was an incident involving a young child named Eileen Traecle.  This small child was wading in a very shallow stream.  Allegedly, before the eyes of at least a dozen eyewitnesses, a ghostly white hand reached up from underneath the water and pulled Eileen Traecle into it.  The water was reportedly less than a foot deep, yet the body of the little girl was never found.   For weeks afterward, several wooden stick figures mysteriously appeared in the creek bed, and the water itself became oily and contaminated for several months...."

"...However, after the little girl returned alone, the search party that had gone out after her had not returned.  So a second search party was organized to find them.  Their search ended at Coffin Rock, near the creek where Eileen Traecle had met her death less than fifty years before.

The second search party claimed they found the first search party stripped of all their clothes and belongings, and their bodies were tied to Coffin Rock.  Their intestines had been removed and their reproductive organs had been mutiliated.  On their chests, hands, feet, and foreheads, strange cryptic symbols had been painstakingly carved into their skin...."

"...Outside the shack and a small distance away they found seven graves marked with piles of stones.  When the graves were dug up, the children's bodies were recovered.  Their bodies had been treated in much the same way as the accounts of the victims at Coffin Rock.  Symbols had been cut into their faces, chests, hands and feet.  They had been disembowled...."

"...Rustin Parr, it was reported, admitted to the murders, saying the voice of an old woman told him to do these horrible deeds.  After the seventh death, the old woman's voice told him he was finally free.  He was sentenced to death by hanging, and his house was burned to the ground...."

To read all of the article in it's entirety, please scroll back up and click on the provided (highlighted) link from which these excerpts were obtained. The Blair Witch is an intriguing legend, to say the least. Some people still go to Coffin Rock and step inside the cave.

Those that dare to tread within, both during the daylight hours, as well as in the still of the night, claim to at times hear odd noises no sooner that they set foot on the grounds at the mouth of Coffin Rock. Some even tell of hearing an elderly woman's disembodied voice come from the depths of the seemingly endless cave dwellings. Sometimes, even a manic chuckling or all-out maniacal laughter.

This legend, and it's legendary namesake is of a story where you, the reader must decide for yourself. Is this a tale of a woman of the 1780's done wrong, and wrongly accused, as was the case back in the period of witchcraft, only to pay for the town's mistake and bring forth her wrath to following generations for eternity to come? Did a man claim insanity and admit to murders that he himself committed, only to blame it on a dark fairytale?

Or is The Blair Witch legend just that, a legend? Maybe it is a story to tell around the campfire and make all the children run to their tents and hide in fear of the possibility of something coming to get them?

Only Elly Kedward and Rustin Parr know the REAL truth behind whatever fiction lies behind the story.