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A coworker told me this story.  He has never been quite sure what to make of it, but it still bothers him.  A long time ago, he had a home in the rural portions of South Alabama.  The house was one of those old houses that groans complaintively at night as if it is protesting its age.   The sounds of old pipes and old wood fill the house and make it easy to ignore small noises and sounds that might be out of place in another house.

However, one night he saw something he couldn’t ignore.  It was late at night and my coworker was in bed. His children and wife were out of town so the house was quiet.  Something woke him from his sleep and he opened his eyes to see a dark figure standing in the corner staring at him.  At first, he assumed the figure was of natural origins.  Being a proper Southerner, he reached for his gun to drive the intruder from his home.  Upon careful inspection, he knew the figure wasn’t anything that could be driven away by a gun.  He blinked and pinched himself trying to make sure he wasn’t trapped in some bad dream.  The figure remained.  Finally, the figure left.  He never told his family about the event.  He didn’t want to scare them, but he’ll never forget the shadowy figure that lived in the old house, deep in South Alabama. 

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Owls have been a reaccuring symbol in my life. In folklore and mythology, owls are seen as creatures that can travel between worlds.  In Egyptian, Celtic and Hindu cultures owls are the guardians of the spirits of the dead and they guide spirits from one world to the next.  They are symbols of wisdom, intuition, and the ability to see the beyond.

A few weeks ago, I had another amazing encounter with an owl.  An owl fell onto my car from a tree branch.  I didn’t know what had hit my car at first, but I turned around to find out.  I found the owl looking almost dead in the tall grass beside the road.  I wrapped the owl in my sweater and drove it to my vet.  On the way there, the owl awoke and sat up.  It didn’t open its eyes.  It just sat quietly, wrapped in my sweater.   I carried the bird in and it fell down and seemed dead again.  Finally, it got up and opened its eyes.   Fortunately, Wheeler Wildlife refuge has a raptor recovery program and my vet was able to contact them.  The bird was taken to the Wildlife refuge for rehabilitation, but I was left slightly stunned by the beauty and the power of the bird I had actually held in my arms.  It was a barred owl and it was beautiful.  I have to wonder why owls keep coming into my life sometimes, but I am always grateful.

Here is another post I wrote about owls: 

Owls are important symbolically in many cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were linked to Athena and considered symbols of knowledge and wisdom.  In Arthurian legend,  Merlin is often depicted with an owl on his shoulder and again, the owl is linked to wisdom.  In Japan,  owl statues are said to ward off plague and illness.  In some Native American cultures owls are linked to knowledge and magic.  I knew all these things when I chose owls as the decorative theme for my new baby’s nursery.   I didn’t know the darker side of owls.  In many cultures, especially the Apache culture, owls portend death and are associated with the dead.  The Apaches are not alone.  Many other cultures see owls as linked death.    Of course, I choose to ignore all the cultures that see owls as ill omens in the same way I have ignored the ill omens associated with black dogs and cats.  Some of my favorite pets have been black dogs and cats and they’ve only brought good luck to me.

Therefore, as I sat in my owl themed nursery late at night just before my son was born,   I saw owls only as good omens.  They have become a symbol of my baby boy.   They are wise and beautiful creatures of the night.

My neighborhood and my house have no trees.   So birds of any sort are a rare commodity in my neighborhood.  The lake brings geese and goose poop, but owls are never seen in my neck of the woods.   However,  the night before my baby was born,   as I sat in the nursery, unable to sleep and very pregnant, the call of three owls filled the night air.  I sat up and listened to them hoot back and forth to each other with their distinct calls for over an hour before I drifted off to sleep.  The next day I held my baby in my arms, making owls forever a good omen for me.  I’m not sure if there was any real significance to the presence of the owls, but to me there was something mystical to their presence that night.  They were omens of life to come.

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This week I found out my new book, The Monster Hunter’s Manual, is going to be released in June.  The book is a middle grade novel set in a haunted castle in the Loire Valley in France.   In order to celebrate my new release date, I’m reposting the blog I wrote about Chateau Larcher.  This castle will always be one of my favorite places and a source of inspiration for me.  

I love to travel and I love to rent houses when I travel.  I avoid hotels when possible and look for rare and interesting places to stay.  When I went to France, I found an old medieval castle that had been broken up into 4 town houses. I was able to rent one portion of this castle.   The castle, Chateau Larcher, was a bit of a mystery and still is.   I travelled during the off season and the small village’s tourist information center had been closed, so I was never able to learn much about the history of the castle.  I read the plaque by the Cathedral which dated the Cathedral built into the church at around 980 and the castle itself wasn’t finished until 1070.   Outside of this,  I found nothing to denote the castle’s origins.  It was located in the Poiters region of France just South of the Loire valley and would have been in Aquitane during it’s highest uses.  The location of the castle must have been a sacred place at one time because the area is also known for it’s dolmen.  Dolmen are large, neolithic stones arrangements that are usually placed over tombs.  The dolmen in Chateau Larcher are placed over a vast necropolis of more than 100 graves.  They are usually places in a sacred or important location.

Staying in the castle was wonderful.  I loved it and I snuck away every evening to walk in the dark.   One time I enlisted help to break into a roped off section of the castle and sneak around.   The castle was mostly ruins and in the night as I wandered alone,  I found myself chilled.  There is nothing tangible I can use to prove that this castle was haunted.  There was only a profound feeling that I was not alone.  As I have little else to offer,  I have posted pictures of the castle.

Reposted from Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles | Go to Original Post

(Artwork by Jose Cabrera)

GHOULA and LA Hauntings Ghost Tours
Present…
The HAUNTED HOUDINI TOUR!

Come join us on the eve of his 140th birthday as we travel across our city and explore the super-natural sites connected to the famous magician’s life (and after-life)…

Harry Houdini is generally thought of as the greatest showman that ever practiced the craft. Additionally, because of his knowledge of the art of illusion and his work exposing the tricks of fraudulent mediums during the age of Spiritualism, he has become the poster boy for generations of skeptics and debunkers of paranormal phenomena. However, despite dozens of books and biographies, the man’s personal views on the occult are still an enigma, with experts debating to what degree did he actually BELIEVE. Ironically, to this day, Houdini is the only historical figure whose ghost people across the country routinely try to contact, usually on Halloween (the date of his death).

Although Houdini did not spend much of his life in Los Angeles, the time he did spend under our palm trees were moments that defined his life, career, and possibly his views on the spirit realm. Indeed, not only did he leave his mark on this town, it may have also left its mark on him… Even all these decades after his death, the great escape artist just can’t seem to get away from LA.

Seating for this bus tour is limited. (12 guests per tour. 3 tours. 1 Day)

DATE: March 23, 2014
TIME: 10:30am, 1:30pm, or 4:30pm (tours run 1 1/2 to 2 hours each)
PRICE: $35.00 (plus a handling fee)
MEET-UP LOCATION: The Hollywood Heritage Museum (The Lasky-DeMille Barn)
2100 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (map)

TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
For the 10:30am bus tour… (click here)
For the 1:30pm bus tour… (click here)
For the 4:30pm bus tour… (click here)

NOTE: Your ticket also includes free entry into the museum, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. So please plan to spend an extra hour with their historical exhibits either before or after the tour.

Reposted from Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles | Go to Original Post

(Artwork by Jose Cabrera)

GHOULA and LA Hauntings Ghost Tours
Present…
The HAUNTED HOUDINI TOUR!

Come join us on the eve of his 140th birthday as we travel across our city and explore the super-natural sites connected to the famous magician’s life (and after-life)…

Harry Houdini is generally thought of as the greatest showman that ever practiced the craft. Additionally, because of his knowledge of the art of illusion and his work exposing the tricks of fraudulent mediums during the age of Spiritualism, he has become the poster boy for generations of skeptics and debunkers of paranormal phenomena. However, despite dozens of books and biographies, the man’s personal views on the occult are still an enigma, with experts debating to what degree did he actually BELIEVE. Ironically, to this day, Houdini is the only historical figure whose ghost people across the country routinely try to contact, usually on Halloween (the date of his death).

Although Houdini did not spend much of his life in Los Angeles, the time he did spend under our palm trees were moments that defined his life, career, and possibly his views on the spirit realm. Indeed, not only did he leave his mark on this town, it may have also left its mark on him… Even all these decades after his death, the great escape artist just can’t seem to get away from LA.

Seating for this tour is limited. (12 guests per tour. 3 tours. 1 Day)

DATE: March 23, 2014
TIME: 10:30am, 1:30pm, or 4:30pm (tours run 1 1/2 to 2 hours each)
PRICE: $35.00 (plus a handling fee)
MEET-UP LOCATION: The Hollywood Heritage Museum (The Lasky-DeMille Barn)
2100 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (map)

NOTE: Your ticket also includes free entry into the museum, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. So please plan to spend an extra hour with their historical exhibits either before or after the tour.

TICKETS GO ON SALE TOMORROW!

Reposted from Ghost Stories and Haunted Places | Go to Original Post

Faith Serafin, the director of  Alabama Paranormal Research Team, posted this awesome video on her facebook page.  Thanks to Faith for sharing this interesting ghost footage!

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My aunt sent me this creepy Zillow listing because she knew that this would be my dream house.  I wish I was house hunting in Dumore, Pennsylvania because I would definitely put in an offer on this Victorian beauty that Zillow describes as “slightly haunted.”  The listing describes this house as: 

“Built in 1901, this Victorian home in the Hollywood section of Dunmore features 1850 sf of living space with an additional 1350 sf of partially finished space. Original hardwood floors throughout entire home. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. Off-street parking. Freshly painted. New moulding throughout entire first floor. Slightly haunted. Nothing serious, though. e.g. The sounds of phantom footsteps. A strange knocking sound followed by a very quiet (hardly noticeable, even) scream at 3:13am, maybe once a week. Twice a week, tops. And the occasional ghastly visage lurking behind you in the bathroom mirror. Even still, this occurs very rarely and only in the second floor bathroom.
First floor features:
Large living room with an open staircase, stainglass window and a large picture window.
Large dining room with bay windows.
A study/library with another stainglass window and a secret door behind a moving bookcase which leads into a small office.
Kitchen features gas stove top, built-in oven and built-in dishwasher, tile counter top. Stairs leading to basement and a rear staircase leading upstairs. Also has enclosed porch/mudroom.
Full 1st floor bath, very nice tile work and fixtures.
9 foot ceilings throughout 1st floor.
Second floor features:
4 bedrooms. The 2 front bedrooms are separated by double louvered doors. Perfect for a Master Bedroom/Nursery set-up. 3 tall windows in each of the 4 bedrooms.
Huge 2nd Floor full bath with large Victorian bathtub and very large closet.
Large unfinished crawl space behind concealed door hidden in bedroom closet. Very strange area, but perfect for storage.
Rear stairs leading down to kitchen.
Stairs leading up to huge attic.
Huge walk-up attic is partially finished. Spray-foam insulation, wired and three quarters of the way drywalled. Can easily be completed for an additional 400sf of living space. Very tall vaulted ceiling, dormers, 4 windows and rounded turret section (one of the coolest features in the whole house.)
Basement features very large wet bar. Has sink and built-in tap system. Very large space and high ceilings. Basement has nice layout and can also be converted into living space. Also features a half bath.
All around a beautiful home with lots of updates and tons of charm. “

So if you are house hunting in Dunmore and you don’t mind the random, phantom scream at 3:13am this is probably the house for you!  You can get all of this for the price of  $144,000.00. 
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1217-Marion-St-Dunmore-PA-18509/9559446_zpid/

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I have taken a little break from blogging this month, but an interesting news story inspired me today.  The news story can be found at http://www.waff.com/story/24544477/mystery-of-work-near-mysterious-grave-site-solved and discusses one of North Alabama’s most interesting and notorious local ghost stories.  The ghost story is the tale of the mysterious black widow.   The black widow was a Hazel Green resident named Elizabeth Routt who managed to go through six  husbands in her lifetime.  According to local legend, none of her husbands met a natural death.  They all died at the hands of the beautiful Elizabeth Routt.  Elizabeth was originally named Elizabeth Dale and if the tales are true her home was built on an old Indian Burial Mound.  Her home was haunted by more than the ghosts of her husbands and those who whisper of the black widow haunting say that the ghosts that wander this area are many.  

Those who talk of the grim remains of Routt’s house and the grave sites where her ill fated husbands rest in peace speak of the area being wrapped in a shroud of darkness that chills you to the bones even on the warmest of days.  There isn’t too much left to see of Routt’s house and the grave sites aren’t in the best of states, but I’ve heard that you know you’ve arrived at the graves because you can feel the presences of something dark in the air.   One local blogger described her son’s experiences at the grave sites eloquently.  Katherine Boone describes the encounter on her blog http://okaylistenhere.blogspot.com/2010/10/dead-husbands-tell-no-tells.html.  

“Time has ravaged the once pristine antebellum mansion. Locals believe the area to be haunted. My own son and his friend visited the site one night and came back shaken to the core. When asked what they’d seen, they replied their flashlight revealed glowing eyes 5 ft. off the ground and a dark mass which threatened to approach through the trees if they ventured closer. Imagine a 17 year old literally shaking all over as he told this horrifying tale. Something scared him, there was no mistaking that.”

Elizabeth’s true story remains a point of controversy as some still claim she was just unlucky in love, however, those who have experienced the ghosts of the black widow won’t ever believe she was unlucky.  They claim she was a black widow who killed her all of her husbands. 

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The Detroit Institute of Arts(DIA) is one of my favorite places.  I was an art major at Wayne State University and several of our projects involved going to the museum and studying the art there.  My favorite painting was by Jean Leon Gerome and it was called Solitude.  It depicted a lonely lion laying in the middle of a deserted beach.  The lion appeared to be at at peace.  It’s tan main shone in the sunlight against the brilliant azure sky.  Something about that painting, and that place spoke to me.   The DIA echoed the atmosphere in that painting.  It was a quiet museum.  It was not crowded with throngs of people and during the day, when I visited,  I felt like I was the only one there.  I went there in between classes and wandered the lonely halls.  The DIA like the rest of Detroit,  was often abadoned.

Entering the museum, the first thing you see is a room painted with massive murals by Diego Rivera.  Rivera did these paintings when the museum was founded in 1927.   The museum was built as cultural center for the then beautiful city and the art within the museum reflects the time and effort that was put into the collections.   The Rivera paintings alone are worth a visit.   However, like many places in Detroit,  the DIA is haunted.

Security gaurds who have worked at the DIA at night report seeing all kinds of strange activity in this museum at night.   Loud thuds echo throught the halls of the empty museum and there are sounds that seem like people are dragging the paintings from room to room.  When the noises are investigated,  all the paintings are where they are supposed to be and the rooms are empty.   Much of the haunting activity seems to surround a statue in the African art gallary called the Nail Figure.  It is the statue of a man impaled with spikes and many gaurds report seeing this statue moving or even dancing alone in the dark.

Reposted from Ghost Stories and Haunted Places | Go to Original Post

The Detroit Institute of Arts(DIA) is one of my favorite places.  I was an art major at Wayne State University and several of our projects involved going to the museum and studying the art there.  My favorite painting was by Jean Leon Gerome and it was called Solitude.  It depicted a lonely lion laying in the middle of a deserted beach.  The lion appeared to be at at peace.  It’s tan main shone in the sunlight against the brilliant azure sky.  Something about that painting, and that place spoke to me.   The DIA echoed the atmosphere in that painting.  It was a quiet museum.  It was not crowded with throngs of people and during the day, when I visited,  I felt like I was the only one there.  I went there in between classes and wandered the lonely halls.  The DIA like the rest of Detroit,  was often abadoned.

Entering the museum, the first thing you see is a room painted with massive murals by Diego Rivera.  Rivera did these paintings when the museum was founded in 1927.   The museum was built as cultural center for the then beautiful city and the art within the museum reflects the time and effort that was put into the collections.   The Rivera paintings alone are worth a visit.   However, like many places in Detroit,  the DIA is haunted.

Security gaurds who have worked at the DIA at night report seeing all kinds of strange activity in this museum at night.   Loud thuds echo throught the halls of the empty museum and there are sounds that seem like people are dragging the paintings from room to room.  When the noises are investigated,  all the paintings are where they are supposed to be and the rooms are empty.   Much of the haunting activity seems to surround a statue in the African art gallary called the Nail Figure.  It is the statue of a man impaled with spikes and many gaurds report seeing this statue moving or even dancing alone in the dark.