Ghosts & Hauntings – Page 3 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on July 7, 2014 by MOTW Admin

The Haunted, Alien Hotspot, Dimensional Portal Forest of Hoia-Baciu

Right off the bat, I’ve got to give full credit to a website called “Travel Creepster”. You gotta give props for that as a concept. It was through one of their posts that I first discovered the bizarre forest of Hoia-Baciu in Romania where for the paranormal, it’s always business time.

This small 1 square mile forest located to the west of the city of Cluj-Napoca has a lovely biking trail and facilities for paintball, airsoft and archery. It’s also thought to be absolutely terrifying and filled with all manner of bogeymen, time distortions, ghostly visitors, ufos, etc, etc. While the locals have traditionally been wary of the place, which has had its share of urban legends associated with it, not until relatively recently a story was reported widely that created infamy for the woods.

In the 1960’s a biologist named Alexandru Sift started investigating the very odd trees that fill the forest.

He never did find an explanation for the shape of the trees, but after a series of scientific surveys, Alexandru claimed that he constantly felt the ‘shadows’ were watching him, and experienced mysterious sound phenomena, such as giggling female voices, rustling, and chattering teeth. His experiences have been shared by many, many visitors to the strange forest, especially the experience of ‘living’ shadows.

Later in 1968, a ufo was photographed above the forest, which has been held up by Ufologists since as one of the more plausible pieces of photographic evidence. Visitors reporting strange lights and floating orbs here is relatively commonplace, as is the strange effect reported by hundreds of people upon entering the forest of experiencing extreme nausea, panic attacks, headaches, and even skin burns. Is this UFO radiation? Geiger Counter wielding visitors say no, but what’s causing these unpleasant symptoms?

There are TONS of stories relating any number of other bizarre things associated with the woods, my personal favorite being the little girl who entered the forest, disappeared for years, and eventually exited with no awareness any time had passed and who hadn’t aged a day. Stories such as this have led to conjecture that a time or dimensional portal lies within the woods. Regardless of WHICH paranormal thingee is goin’ on in them thare woods, I’d imagine it’d make a great destination location for anybody interested in the otherworldly.

Posted on July 4, 2014July 29, 2024 by MOTW Admin

The Most Dangerous Museum in the World

Ed and Lorraine Warren: two of the most controversial and famous figures in the history of the paranormal. Haven’t heard of them? Well, of course you have. Indirectly, maybe. The 2013 film “The Conjuring” had Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson playing the two adventuresome occultists as they tried to save a family from their severely haunted home in Rhode Island. But did you know that “The Haunting in Connecticut” and “The Amityville Horror” were also based (loosely) on some famous hauntings that they were involved in? And that’s far from all, as many of the most infamous haunted locations in the 20th century were investigated and reported on by the couple, who claim to have looked into over 10,000 cases over the length of their career.

Of course, there’s been no end of skeptics of the pair over the years. The Amityville Case was pretty much entirely debunked point by point and the pair’s claims on cases such as their exorcism of a ‘werewolf demon” got them more than a few sharp looks. But that has never stopped the legions of fans from following their exploits.

Recently with the exposure to their history that came with “The Conjuring” Lorraine (sadly now widowed) has appeared in lots of media to talk about their experiences and give tours of the museum they built below their home in Connecticut, filled with some of the creepiest artifacts ever collected in one place. Not the least of which, and certainly the biggest lure to seekers of the creepy, is their rag doll named “Annabelle”.

A creepier looking version of the doll was featured in “The Conjuring” but the actual doll’s story is just as frightening: bought in the 1970’s the doll would move about on its own and leave handwritten notes for the family who bought it. When it started spontaneously leaking blood, they thought it was time to get professional help and called in a medium who claimed the doll had been possessed by the spirit of a girl named Annabelle who had died under mysterious circumstances on their property, and just wanted a family to be loved by. Welcoming the spirit in their home, the family learned the most important rule about dealing with the dead: they lie.

After several of their friends were attacked by the doll (seriously), the fam got clued in that something was rotten in Denmark, and it probably wasn’t the ghost of Hamlet. Cue the Warrens who got called in by a priest who realized the case was beyond his abilities. Ed and Lorraine concluded it was an inhuman demonic spirit inhabiting the doll that was given power when attention was paid to it by the medium. They had an exorcism performed and took the doll with them when they left.

It didn’t take. Even on the way home with the doll in the car, their vehicle was buffeted about the highway dangerously. The doll would spontaneously levitate and move about their residence. Many people, especially those who verbally doubted the veracity of Annabelle’s power, were hurt and killed over the years while it took up residence in their home. Eventually they moved her into the basement and put her in a specially made locked case with warnings all over it. But even then, one loud doubter died on his way back from the museum.

You can still go to Lorraine’s home and take the tour, where you can see voodoo dolls, cursed mirrors, and any number of reportedly paranormally infested items that all have stories behind them and with some, fatalities. But Annabelle seems to be the one to be polite to. Or steer clear of entirely.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Posted on July 2, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Cursed Church saved by spooky art exhibit

No, this isn’t a scene from “Insidious 2” (although it sure looks like it). What you’ve actually got here is an art installation inside of an abandoned church in the Czech village of Lukova. Locals had abandoned the medieval church believing it cursed after the ceiling fell in during a funeral service in 1968, which artist Jakub Hadrava thought was a shame.

“I wanted to install the sculptures on the benches to remind people the church had a history and a past,” said the artist. Using plaster and creepy lighting, Jakob gave the ancient building an unearthly feel and it’s been attracting tons of tourists who are now donating their cash to keep the building open. Mission accomplished…but damn….just these pictures are gonna freak me out for awhile. I don’t so much feel filled with the holy spirit as wanting to run out while screaming, “Holy S#%t!”

Posted on June 25, 2014 by MOTW Admin

The Ghost of Alcatraz Poses for a Tourist Pic

Alcatraz. The most notorious prison in the world. Sure, largely because of movies like “The Rock” and “Escape From Alcatraz”, but still, the island has housed some pretty vicious criminals, such as Al Capone, Machine-Gun Kelly, Mickey Cohen, Whitey Bulger, and many more. Part of its legend and lasting appeal in the imagination of its 1.5 million yearly tourists is due to the claim that during its 29 years running, no one ever successfully escaped.

Note: I said “successfully”. Multiple felons died during the attempts which is probably part of why so many supernatural legends have sprung up around the location. The other part being the Native Americans who used to deport and bury their criminals and psychologically unstable tribe members there who claimed it was full of evil spirits. Either way, serious fodder for ghost stories.

Despite officials claiming the place is all just brick and mortar with nary a trace of ectoplasm in sight, there have been no shortage of ‘ghostly’ experiences reported over the years by rangers, prisoners, and tourists. Claims of strange occurrences run into the hundreds; the tales of spectral whispering, floating lights, cold spots, glowing red eyes in the dark and many more will almost certainly send a chill or two down your spine. But no one has gotten a snap-shot of any spectral visitors…until now.

Sheila Sillery-Walsh, a British tourist visiting the island with her partner, was snapping shots inside the prison (as ya do). When she took a shot of the empty visitation window, this (above) is what showed up on her camera. “When I glanced at the photo on my mobile, I saw this dark female figure in the picture. I looked at the window again and there was no-one in the room. I knew straight away that the woman in the photo was a ghost and showed the snap to Paul. From that point onwards, I wasn’t interested in the Alcatraz tour anymore. I just kept looking at the picture over and over again!”

Of course. my first instinct was to say it was just her own reflection. But that was her friend’s reaction as well, “When I first saw the photo, I tried to rationalize the female figure away by saying it was just Sheila’s reflection. But with closer inspection, it’s obvious that this is not the case at all. The woman’s hair and clothing is from a different era – it looks like she’s from the 1930s or 40s. I have no logical explanation for the girl in the picture – I’m baffled by her! It’s funny because she’s staring right at the camera, with a knowing look. I was really skeptical about ghosts before but I’m a bit more of a believer now. I do think that the woman in the photo is a ghost.”

Add this pic and story to the many ghost photographs that have surfaced over the years. Even the Museum of the Weird has had its own ghost pic that was taken over the skeleton of a young woman, which you can see displayed during our ghoulish tour. Whether or not these images display evidence of spirits is an argument that won’t be solved anytime soon. But there’s no question they fuel the imagination.

Posted on October 26, 2013 by MOTW Admin

HILARIOUS: FLYING GRIM REAPER TERRORIZES JOGGERS

Let’s take a break from my super-important, nail-biting Facebook countdown to gather our composure, sit back, and have a little laugh (at other people’s expense). If you haven’t seen this video yet (it’s gotten over a million hits), stop what you’re doing and take a minute to watch.

Prankster Tom Mabe sent joggers running for their lives with his latest Halloween-themed contraption.

You’d be forgiven for being more than a little concerned at the sight of the grim reaper wailing and flying towards you, but that’s exactly what happened to several passers-by at an otherwise ideallic park in Louisville, Kentucky.

Taking advantage of the Halloween season as a chance to engage in some paranormal-themed japery, serial prankster Tom Mabe dressed up a remote control helicopter like the grim reaper and filmed people’s reactions as he chased them around with it.

“We have had a lot of fun making this,” he said. “It’s taken some work to make it happen, but it’s great fun. It flies with the help of a remote control helicopter but you rig it up in a really brilliant way. It has to be quiet so people don’t hear it.”

A video of the prank shows joggers and other park visitors fleeing in horror as the contraption flies after them while emitting a wailing noise. “The best bit is when you sneak up on people. We fly it about 200ft in the air and then drop it down so it’s right behind them,” Mabe added.

SOURCE: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/256797/flying-grim-reaper-chases-people-in-park

Posted on October 13, 2013 by MOTW Admin

GHOST GIRL SHOWS UP IN PHOTO OF HAUNTED HOUSE

The photo snapped by Ms. Sicuro's son that shows the ghostly girl. — The photo snapped by Ms. Sicuro’s son that shows the ghostly girl.

Why do all ghost kids look so creepy? Couldn’t they ever be playing, laughing or smiling?

RAVENNA, Ohio – A local ghost story is getting new attention.

Lu Ann Sicuro has lived in her Ravenna home for 20 years. She says she’s experienced some strange and frightening paranormal activity.

She hears voices, noises in the closets and door knobs jiggling.

She claims the proof is in a photo taken by her son a few years ago. It shows a little girl’s image in the window.

Lu Ann said what was captured on camera is quite disturbing and very bizarre.

“I feel that this image is a very good photo of something paranormal caught on camera,” she said

Lu Ann thinks the girl is roaming her halls at night.

“A very disturbing photo. It appears to be an image of a child. I believe the image in the photograph shows what is in our home,” she said. “I’ve heard giggling, I’ve heard little footsteps.”

Two teams of paranormal investigators checked out the house and have confirmed a presence.

Posted on September 7, 2013 by MOTW Admin

GHOSTLY IMAGE IN FACEBOOK PHOTO

Ghost shows up in Facebook photo — The ghostly image of a young woman can be seen in the door window.

Here’s an interesting and creepy photo. You can see through the door window what appears to be a young woman peering in. Supposedly taken by the woman’s husband, they claimed there was no one else in the room at the time. So if it isn’t a reflection, what could it be?

A New Hampshire man noticed an unexpected guest in one of his friend’s Facebook photos recently. He posted the odd image of his friend and her dog onReddit last week.

On August 20, 2013, Daniel Tanner noticed a ghostly figure in one of his friend’s Facebook photos. In the photo, Tanner’s friend is seen kneeling with her dog posing for a photo, and in the reflection of the door behind her, a ghost of a young woman is seen peering at them.

“My friend has been claiming for months that her house is haunted. Her husband took this pic a few days ago,” Tanner said in the post with the attached image under his MulberryPlacebo screen name.

According to Tanner, the only people in the house at the time the photo was taken was the woman and her husband.

A few Redditors weighed in with opinions. Most of them thought it was fake or edited. Some thought the figure was a reflection in the glass.

“I believe it’s just a reflection, of what, I can’t say, could be a living person, could be a statue, could be a painting. In my opinion, this is not paranormal. Rule of thumb is never trust something seen in a mirror or piece of glass. Reflections can be absolutely anything. If I had to speculate, I’d go with a living person standing to the right of the photographer,” User Jack Shid said.

One Redditor even analyzed the photo for editing by uploading it to FotoForensics. According to him the photo is genuine.

“Other than the bar that was put over the friend’s eyes, the photo doesn’t seem to be edited. Either it’s a reflection or there is indeed a ghost,” User Kyranmat posted after he uploaded the image to FotoForensics.

User Ariandre pointed out that the ghostly woman can still be seen in the inverted image, only the figure was behind the woman instead of a reflection in the window.

“The creepy thing is the second one you did now makes it look like the girl is in front of the door instead of a reflection. You can almost make out an outline of her whole body,” Ariandre said.

An expert photo analyst with over 15 years of experience ran a detailed analysis of the image.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by MOTW Admin

HAUNTING IMAGES OF THE PAST

Scott McMan, a staff writer for the prominent paranormal website Ghost Theory, has put together an impressive collection of eerie photos claiming to have captured images of ghosts and other phenomenon.

Scott states in his article, “The following pictorial is a gallery of nothing but (alleged) ghosts. Yes, you may have seen some of them and of course, a couple have been maligned as being hoaxes, but there are plenty which are unexplained to this day.”

He doesn’t point out which ones have been labeled truth or fiction, but they all are incredibly eerie. I’ve posted one example below.

To check out the rest of the images visit http://www.ghosttheory.com/2013/05/10/some-of-the-most-hair-raising-photos-youve-ever-seen.

Posted on January 5, 2013 by MOTW Admin

SENATOR HAS ANGELIC VISITATION FOLLOWING STROKE

Senator Mark Kirk claims he was visited by angels while in the hospital.

Each year, millions of people worldwide report what has commonly become known as Near-Death Experiences, or NDEs. Add Illinois Senator Mark Kirk to that growing list of people who claim to have had an otherworldly experience with what they can only describe as angels.

For Mark Kirk, there was no white light, no tunnel.

What Illinois’ junior U.S. senator experienced was three angels standing at the foot of his bed.

“You want to come with us?” Kirk was asked.

“No,” he told them. “I’ll hold off.”

The Highland Park Republican, who plans to return to the Senate when Congress convenes Thursday, recounted the story in his first in-depth interview since he suffered a massive stroke nearly a year ago.

Awakening from what he says might have been a dream, a side effect of medication or a near-death experience, Kirk found himself lying in a hospital bed in Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, hooked up to monitors and tubes.

He had no way of immediately knowing what had transpired in the days after he suffered an ischemic stroke on Jan. 21, 2012; that doctors had put him in a coma and performed several surgeries, temporarily removing a 4-by-8 inch portion of skull to allow his brain to swell and heal.

What Kirk did know was how close he had been to death.

“A thing goes off in your head that this is the end,” he remembered.

Kirk’s life and outlook would be dramatically changed, the stroke serving as a defining moment that he said deepened his faith and altered his sense of purpose.

Sitting at the dining room table of his suburban townhouse, his left arm slack, Kirk gestures emphatically with his right hand as he says the experience made him resolve “to never, ever give up.”

He is determined “to just keep going, even when things feel like we’re at the end here. Which is what the ICU was like for me.”

What do you think? Did Senator Kirk actually have a visitation by three angels as he lay semi-concious in his hospital bed? Or could this have been merely a hallucination created by his brain due to the drugs he was being administered? Or perhaps it was a combination of both? Maybe our brain isn’t a transmitter, but rather a receiver, and when certain factors affect our brain function, we are actually able to perceive things that normally we would not?

Have you ever had a Near Death Experience of your own? If so, please feel free to share your experience here.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE: Senator Kirk speaks for the first time about his stroke

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Guest Blogger

BOY SAYS LAST WORDS AT HIS OWN FUNERAL

Funerals are terrible, this one was terrifying!

While usually a somber and quiet affair, funerals give us a chance to say one last goodbye… you just never expect the person the funeral is for to say something too!

Daily Mail writes:

A two-year-old boy sat up in his coffin and asked for water before laying back down again lifeless, according to a Brazilian news website.

In a case that seems almost too incredible to be true, ORM claimed that Kelvin Santos stopped breathing during treatment for pneumonia at a hospital in Belem, northern Brazil. He was declared dead at 7.40pm on Friday and his body was handed over to his family in a plastic bag.

The child’s devastated family took him home where grieving relatives held a wake throughout the night, with the boy’s body laid in an open coffin.

But an hour before his funeral was due to take place on Saturday the boy apparently sat up in his coffin and said: ‘Daddy, can I have some water?’ The boy’s father, Antonio Santos, said: ‘Everybody started to scream, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Then we thought a miracle had taken place and our boy had come back to life.

‘Then Kelvin just laid back down, the way he was. We couldn’t wake him. He was dead again. Mr Santos rushed his son back to the Aberlardo Santos hospital in Belem,where the doctors reexamined the boy and confirmed that he had no signs of life.

He said: ‘They assured me that he really was dead and gave me no explanation for what we had just seen and heard.’