A number of critics have been very unkind to the all female cast .. I am looking forward to it. . Normally remakes are not favorable to viewing habits. In this situation an exception will be made.
It has been a wild few months since Art Bell abruptly left MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT. Since that time, current host Heather Wade has been forced into a muddy position of fighting with members of the message board she was frequented, BellGab.Com.
Even more, Bell himself used Facebook to disavow himself of the message board, calling it a meaner place filled with trolls. Wade and Steve Warner, Bateman on Bellgab, even had a very public fight in which Warner accused Wade of repeatedly calling him begging him to do MIDNIGHT. Wade countered back that she was trying to prove Warner wouldn't do it. Public airing of laundry.. whether dirty or not..
Wild indeed.
And now even more wild given the news that Bell himself will appear on the Gabcast this coming Thursday February 4, 2016.
I said I would do the Gab Cast and I will, however if it is filled with people attacking my Family or truly foul stuff I won't be there long. I hope this can be done in a adult way and I hope that is not to much to ask. I don't mind hard questions but I do ask that people be civil.
Undoubtedly it will be an open and honest conversation with the emotions of fans who feel scorned and a host who, at this point, may or may not return to the air//
Visit UFOShip.com/chat to listen live. Visit UFOShip.com to download the show after it airs. Call the show at 623-242-CAST(2278).
Excitement has been building for....oh my God, about four years now? The primary season is upon us.. the groundhog says an early spring. Donald Trump's hair saw its shadow in Iowa. And despite Ted Cruz's inability to score a kiss from his daughter, he won in a surprise victory. Trump down for the count? Probably not.. he surged late in Iowa and banked more on New Hampshire and South Carolina. And really, Iowa hasn't picked a winner in more than 8 years (Santorum 12 and Huckabee 08) ...
That is not stopping the media pile on. They propped him up for ratings for months.. and now they are going to try to take him down. New York papers first.
The stunning headline and photo from the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS is amazing.. it's really not journalism, but it is showcasing a vibrant style that only the UK papers have made their own.
But what may be an even bigger and stranger story was captured by the Drudge Report today with its headline: AMERICA ON A COIN TOSS.
There is apparently a rule in Iowa.. when a caucus is deadlocked, you toss a coin. In this election, Bernie Sanders and Hillary were tied in 6 -- SIX -- deadlocked voted.. Coins were tossed. Each time, all 6, Hillary Clinton won.
The race between the Democrat presidential hopefuls was so tight in the Iowa caucus Monday that in at least six precincts, the decision on awarding a county delegate came down to a coin toss. And Clinton won all six, media reports said. The situation came about in precincts where Sanders and Clinton were running neck-and-neck, but there were an odd number of delegates, so they couldn’t be evenly split between the two. That was the case in precincts in Ames, Newton, West Branch, Davenport and two in Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reported.
The media reports may all be focusing on the perceived DownFall of Trump (it will not happen, at least not yet) but the real story should be the nearly 50+% that Bernie Sanders acquired. And get this amazing stat that was reported by MSNBC, anchored by Brian Williams (he's back and will live to tell the tall tale about it): Apparently exit polls showed a stunning near 90% of voters under the age of 30 went for Sanders. Stop and think about that number for a second.. 91% to be exact. A crotchety old white-haired Senator. And 90% of people younger are ditching Hillary and the 20th century to ride his wave.. THAT my friends is the real story.
Enough politics for now.
Back to the news. As NOT reported by the fine journalists at the DAILY NEWS.
In May of 2015, I posted a photograph of my son Ayden in a store that was closing in my mall. In the article, I mentioned how similar the photo looked to one taken of me, when I was three years old, in Centralia Pennsylvania. I have the photograph of myself. I did not publish it due to copyright issues. It was from a book called SLOW BURN, a 1980s photodocumentary with pictures taken by Renée Jacobs.
For those who don't know much about Centralia, an underground mine fire started decades ago. A series of bad missteps from officials and twists and turns of neighborly breakdowns occurred, and the town went from 2000 people to ... just about zero. The town has also become a tourist attraction, it's home to the famed graffiti highway, and the movie SILENT HILL was based on it. An upcoming project promises a television series based on the town.
THIRTY YEARS LATER.
I constantly peruse through historical documents, not only of life itself but of my own personal existence. I can be nostalgic when unneeded.. but I also believe a bit of self recollection helps maturity.
In that regard, I reached out to photographer Renée Jacobs. It's funny. I was pictured in the book on page 13 standing next to a borehole in my back yard, and my parents were both quoted. I actually recall it .. Vaguely at best. But I recall the moment! I remember the exact time it was taken. It was warm.. I recall the smells.. The picture is in black and white, but I have it in my mind in vivid color.. That is probably how most of your lives are too, you can think back and pinpoint a single action during your early toddler or childhood years. Just a brief moment in time, one captured with a feeling. My feeling at the time the picture was taken: Confusion and sadness. Friends were vanishing. Houses were too.. I loved watching demolition teams come in and destroy entire blocks of row homes.. it wasn't until I grew up more that I realized they were destroying my hometown from top to bottom.
After my contact to Ms. Jacobs, I received something in the mail, and I could not be more ecstatic.
THANK YOU!
Renée Jacobs sent my an autographed print of page 13, featuring the young me with wide eyes and a future to come, along with a note.
The work on Jacobs' website is stunning and beautiful. It may not be for the WORK atmosphere. A link to her page, http://www.reneejacobs.com/, comes perhaps with a bit of caution..
Jacobs' work has been exhibited and celebrated around the world. She also received the prestigious International Photography Award for Fine Art Nude. Her 2009 & 2010 photo calendars went to #1 on Amazon. She had work as a photojournalist. Just recently, an announcement came from Duke University:
The Archive of Documentary Arts, a part of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University, is pleased to announce its recent acquisition of Renée Jacobs' archive of her project Slow Burn: A Photodocument of Centralia, Pennslyvania. Slow Burn, first published in 1986 by University of Pennsylvania Press, chronicles Centralia’s demise from an underground coal mine fire and depicts a singular epic event in Pennsylvania history, representing the confluence of environmental, scientific, bureaucratic, and emotional tragedies
I love this part of her bio: "Her first book, Slow Burn: A Photodocument of Centralia, Pennsylvania was originally published in 1986 and re-issued in 2010 to favorable reviews in The New York Times Review of Books and photo-eye. After a 15 year detour as a civil rights lawyer, Renée returned to photography. "
A detour in life! One that takes you away from your passion and zeal..your Zest for life and creative spirit.
I am sure she was a fine attorney. Looking at her photos, I am glad she returned back from the detour.
And Renée, I couldn't be more appreciate and ecstatic over the personal note and photo.
In case you have not heard, there has been cauliflower found in Mars. Well not really. But rest assured, before you listen to people are using this SMITHSONIAN article as 'proof' of aliens, there is some interesting scientific theory behind what the SPIRIT ROVER found in 2008. Or maybe proof that the movie THE MARTIAN was actually a documentary..
Nonetheless here is the news from the red planet. Arizona University scientists Jack Farmer and Steven Ruff say that we my be on to evidence of past ice on the planet. (Maybe ice now too, people?!) The cauliflowerish stuff looks a it like structures formed around geysers on the planet Earth. These deposits on Mars are called opaine silica, and they were noticed on the planet in the Gustev crater. Wonder what Martians called that crater. Wonder what Martians called their planet...? Nonetheless... The layers ok Ike heads of cauliflower coming out of the ground. In this case the very red Martian ground.
The prospects are enormous.. This could prove past life. IT could also turn lots of scientific data on its head. Trouble on that: It does get difficult to study such things so many millions of miles away..However it could make the hunt and excitement for life more exciting. Except to those who have already long ago decided that life on Mars did exist. Or does.
As evidence? The rodent on Mars. MUCH MORE conclusive that cauliflower.
But then something even weirder happened: He tried to kiss his daughter on the campaign trial. This ensued:
The video is tough to watch--a little disconcerting? A little creepy? She flicks her fingers at him before he tries a number of times to score a kiss in front of cameras. It did not go well.
The same reaction from Iowa voters may talk place tomorrow night.
There are a few hopeful movies to redeem horror in 2016--2015's cauldron of BABADOOK and IT FOLLOWS were all stars. Will anything make waves in this calendar year worth while?
A brief look at what is coming for your horror viewing delight:
In theaters now: THE BOY. Every time I hear 'THE BOY' I recall one of my favorite movies, Larry the Health Inspector, when he kept calling his female co-inspector 'the boy' by mistake. But there is trouble with this boy.. It's getting awful, horrid, terrible reviews. And not just from reviewers who hate horror, but people who love it.. The BOY is about is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, only to discover that the family's 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that the parents care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their actual son 20 years prior. You can imagine the rest. The scary part is it's only getting a 19% rating on ROTTEN TOMATOES. Reviews in most major publications have been even worse than negative..
THE WITCH. This actually looks promising. It is released in theaters February 19 2916.. Simple premise: it's about a family in the 1630s beset by the darkness of witchcraft and black magic. It has received a ton of praise from film festivals who saw it.. from fans who are boasting about it.. The trailers look dark and foreboding. I think this may be a movie worth seeing.
CLOVERFELD LANE Mixed reviews on this one. Most people who watched it already saw it say that it has nothing to do with the original CLOVERFIELD. Maybe they are banking on enough initial viewers not knowing that, hoping to capitalize off of a pretty good movie from a few years back.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR March 11 2016 The Other Side of the Door sees her playing a grieving mother who will do anything to say goodbye to her dead son one last time.. This is not getting a wide release, which maybe is too bad. The movie looks good. Watch for it at a REDBOX near you..
AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING. Yes.. more AMITYVILLE horror coming April 1 2016. And despite the April Fool's release, this is really happening. Sadly. I think the entire AMITYVILLE genre has gone down hill, terribly. The original was fine, though the footing on it being inspired by 'true events' is yet being debated. I think this newest incarnation from Franck Khalfoun from Blumhouse Pictures probably, more than anything else, will be a waste of time.. Watch the OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR on video instead.
FLIGHT 7500 Planes scare me... Especially this movie's premise: Flight 7500 departs Los Angeles International Airport bound for Tokyo. As the overnight flight makes its way over the Pacific Ocean during its ten-hour course, the passengers encounter what appears to be a supernatural force in the cabin.. It's only going to be a direct to video release.. but that's fine. I think it's worth it--though some are asking if the movie's release is evening happening. If it does it's set for April 5, 2016.
THE CONJURING 2 It's happening again. This June 10th movie is a follow up to the 2013 movie of the same name. This time: paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) travel to 1977 England to help single mom Peggy Hodgson and her four children, particularly daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe).. James Wan is back for it. Recent trailers for the movie attached to other movies look inspired. Time will tell.. This comes out June 10 2016.
LIGHTS OUT Fine, this is beyond 6 months.. And yes PURGE 3 and GHOSTBUSTERS get releases before it. But I am just writing about this July 22 2016 movie now because of how amazed I am that it was filmed and how excited I am that it's coming out. This may be, in my opinion, the best horror movie of the year if it is done well. David F. Sandberg directs.. Eric A. Heisserer writes. Gabriel Bateman stars. The story centers on a supernatural entity attacking a family, with one of the members required to step up to protect them from a threat that can be seen only when the lights go out. And yes it is also based on the 2013 short film of the same name. Inspiring further news: James Wan is producing. You can's Wan more than that. # # #
The cold corn fields if Iowa are going to be lit up tomorrow with the fire of presidential zeal.. it's here: The caucusing.
While the HORROR REPORT steers normally clear of political footballs or policy debate, we still do pay attention and like to point out some of the stranger aspects of the news cycle.. I am also, personally, a bit of a political junkie. However, I have sense: Most if not all of it is a useless gamble on the future, with players on a stage who normally act out a role. This year's acting is spectacular, though.. Ratings high. And they will edge higher. Tomorrow night's Caucus coverage will be a victory for the networks..
But as the Iowa caucuses loom on Monday — the first votes after 1,500 candidate rallies, 60,000 TV ads and a nail-biting tightening of the polls here — the state’s voters are poised to play their most significant role ever in both parties’ nominating contests. And their embrace of candidates on the ideological fringes has amplified a national grass-roots rebellion against establishment politicians.
Both Democrats and Republicans have seen their presumptive nominees of a year ago — deeply experienced, proven political leaders — brushed aside by Iowans in favor of idol-smashing outsiders.
There is hardly any excitement for Hillary.. nothing for JEB, despite his exclamation point. Rand Paul flopped as much as his hair.. the bigger they are the harder they fall, as exemplified by Christie... who emerges? An old messy haired socialist who flaunts populist ideals and an orange billionaire who flaunts his wealth. The choice is stark. It's amazing.. it's a ratings bonanza. It's also going to be a wild year.
Even Bubba is looking old as of late.. The times are getting to people.
Predictions for tomorrow: Bernie wins Iowa, but not by much. On the elephant's side; Trump wins by a sound margin, Cruz and Rubio fight for second. Rubio makes a jump and Cruz's bruisin begins.
That's the most pre-game you'll get from me.
I hope you're mentally preparing yourself for the onslaught of political advertising yet to come.
Blasts and booms have been sounding since January 1 2011.. And this January, 2016, it's going wild.
New Jersey. New York. California.. Florida.. Pennsylvania.. most recently Connecticut. and other countries as well..
At the end of the week, the Navy said it was responsible for sonic booms of the Jersey coastline--those booms were felt so far and wide that the USGS asking for people to report information to them about the situation..
Uhhhh there was a sonic boom in Charleston Tuesday.
Nothing to see here, though, right?
I looked up the sonic boom story from Charleston and found an article from January 27 from WYFF:
Reports of a loud noise and shaking houses like the ones that have poured in across the Lowcountry are indicative of a sonic boom generated by an aircraft, according to a release from the College of Charleston.
I suppose this is all just ...'normal.'
Frost quakes! Yea!! Frost quakes. Makes sense. Right?
Frost quakes in Charleston with a high temp of 62 for the past few weeks..
The earth was shaking.
Cause the walls start shaking. The earth was quaking. My mind was aching. And we were making it and you. Shook me all night long
Old photos have always caused me to pause and stare.. I so often wonder what the often expressionless faces in the photo-documentation of time were thinking.. But the story of the Siberian phantom girl sort of takes the cake in the creepy department..
Museum workers in Krasnoyarsk were astonished when they digitalized local photos from the early 1900s only to find an identical figure in all of them – a solemn girl, dressed in all white, striking an identical pose.
So far, the mystery girl has been found in at least 20 photos and four glass negatives, which researchers at the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore believe were taken between 1906 and 1908, judging from the state of the buildings in the photos.
And if those two paragraphs don't systematically creep out your system and give you chills, I don't really know what will ..
THE LOGICAL IDEA.
As the story goes, she plays no obvious role in most of the shots she is in.. almost a background bystander, someone who is just there at the right place and the right time.. The museum studying and asking questions thinks the girl is related to the photographer in some way. That makes some logical sense.. the picture taker bringing his kin with him to go do photoshoots in old century Russia.
RT again:
The most logical start would be identifying the name of the photographer. However, most photos have no identifying text, while a few are marked with the initials F.E.A. Photography was only practiced by a select few at the time, but that signature does not match up with any of the city’s well-known professionals or hobbyists.
No one has come forward to explain anything about this girl.. no one has claimed credit or family history of knowledge of who she is..
Some came to the museum from a collection of Nikolai Grigorovskiy, owner of a Krasnoyarsk bookshop before the Communist revolution.
A glass negative featuring the girl also came from renowned photographer Ludwig Yulyevich Wonago. Might he be the mystery photograher? Yet then why the initials F. E. A.? The feeling is that the photographer for whom the girl posed is an amateur - at a time when this was a hobby of the well-to-do - rather than a professional, but who was the hidden star?
'We think that the girl could be the photographer's daughter, or his neice, but we do not know for sure, as we do not even know the photographer's name,' said Ilya Kuklinsky.
# # #
THE MYSTERY
This is a mystery--and it is amplified by the creepy factor..
There seems to be a common thread in her garb: There is wealth. She is from wealth.. there are riches when she stands next to others who are dressed in garb of dire circumstances.. She obviously was 'seeing the world' in a sense just by the fact she ended up in so many places. One theory is that she may have been from a rich local family, which could have escaped eastward from the advancing Communist tyranny, and that the answer to the intriguing secret of her identity may lie abroad in Europe or America.
Being the internet and such, some are actually claiming the images are 'photoshopped.' Photoshop, being a useful product of recent times, was tougher way back before the 1917 revolution. Nonetheless, I suppose things like this are possible during the reign of Nicholas. And there are paranormal theories, too.. she is a ghost.. she is a haunting figure because, well, she's not real! Maybe a time traveler!? Maybe not.
THE TRUTH MAY BE SIMPLE AND SAD.
Maybe the truth is even sadder and more hopeless than any theory.. maybe the truth is this: She, and her family and whoever took these photos, were destroyed in time by the revolution that killed so many about ten years after the pictures were taken..? Maybe that's it. Period and done.
And the only thing left are stark reminders of innocence prior to bloodbaths.
But those eyes.. There is something seemingly haunting in those eyes. Like a 'knowing' of the misery to come..
Do dolls give you a bit of the creeps? Do their piecing eyes sort of delve deep into your soul? Does the expressionless face haunt you when you least want it to?
If the answer was yes to any of the above, avoid Thailand for a while.
According to media reports, the anxiety of economic despair and ruination after a coup in the country has caused an influx of enthusiasm for lifelike dolls. Reuters reports that the doll craze is sweeping the nation..
Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and has been modernizing rapidly over the past two or three decades but many people are highly superstitious, their beliefs co-existing with notions of animism, astrology and "black magic."
"I can see it in other people's eyes," said Natsuda Janbtim, 45, who has been raising her doll Nong Ruay Jung, or Pretty Rich in Thai, for 8 months. "I know some of them must be wondering why I am carrying a doll but I just don't care."
The plastic dolls, about the size of a real baby or an American Girl doll, are called "look thep", or "child angel" and cost between $40 and $800 USD.
But this part perhaps is the most chilling..
Devotees of the dolls lavish attention on them, often treating them like real babies, even taking them to be blessed by monks in the hope that benevolent spirits will possess them and bring good luck.
"My life has changed a lot, for the better," said Jantabtim, who lives with her daughter and owns a beauty salon. "When I hug her, I know it's love. I tell her I love her all the time."
A mental health expert quoted by the news agency blames the economic conditions of the country..
Mental health issues indeed.. The struggle in the country has brought out previous strange addictions to trinkets and charms. People attempt to find luck where ever they can get it, especially when times are rough. But tough times are bringing forth strange crazes..
Get this snippet from Reuters:
Some businesses are cashing in on the trend.
Thai Smile, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Thai Airways, said it would charge passengers who bring dolls on board and would serve them snacks.
But the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said it would stop airlines selling tickets for dolls over concern they could be used to smuggle drugs.
That plus sonic booms in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. And stories making their way across the net about the ramifications of a big New Madrid fault zone quake...
Worldwide fears are increasing that the Zika virus, one that primarily hits newborn children, will become a major pandemic over the coming months..
And this tonight developing in New York City:
RSOE EDIS Event Report - A third case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in the Big Apple - in a pregnant woman who contracted the mosquito-borne infection while traveling overseas. City health officials, after revealing the new case Thursday, sought to calm fears by emphasizing that there's no risk of acquiring the virus in the five boroughs. The sickened New Yorkers all returned from countries in the Caribbean and Latin America struggling to contend with the rapidly escalating Zika outbreak. The mosquitoes suspected of carrying the disease are not found in New York, officials said.
This wll undoubtedly be a wild year of political strangeness.. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are toppling the norms and powers that be wtih big audiences, lots of attention, and potential victories in upcoming primaries..
But as usual with the HORROR REPORT, we like to point out the more bizarre and odd..
The odd can be found in Iowa, where a lone protester is making headlines for following Ted Cruz around and holding up a sign saying he likes Nickelback..
It's weird. And really, who likes Nickelback? Ted Cruz? Maybe.. but not the protester.
As Joshua Fetcher writes, pointing out that the protester did not reveal his name to media at this point,
However, the band took the protester's jabs in stride in a Jan. 11 tweet, "NICKELBACK Employee of the Month. January 2016. #Election2016 #Nickelback4President"
But, when asked about his favorite Nickelback song, the protester told the Post, "I don't like Nickelback."
I posted what I thought was an amazing story today about where I have been over the last month.. I discovered after posting it that it never actually posted..
THE HORROR REPORT is not going anywhere .. We never did.
We are here...
stay tuned..
THIS IS THE END OF NOTHING BUT THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING
My son got sick this morning, right before his final day of day care for the year..
As I write this, he’s watching Netflix on the couch and relaxing. I am home from work and blogging in between worried looks each time he makes a move, just in case I have to rush back to couchside to ensure the garbage can is secure while his body’s natural state does its deed to rid itself of whatever virus is running its course.
It somehow seems fitting. Ending the year with a few projectile dispatches.
Think about it.. New years is about cleaning out the mind, body, and soul. While a four and a half year old may not get the ramifications and meaning of calendar changes or balls dropping in Times Square, it’s almost like his little body decided to take part in a ritualistic cleanse..
Yes, maybe I am being over dramatic. But my over-drama has improved since my son was born. I fondly–sarcasm there–recall the very first time my son had a flu. He was about 2, and the vomit started occurring around 3am. And a lot of it.. in the midst of the cleaning, it almost immediately began happening to me. It was gruesome, actually. A mixture of awfulness. My wife got sick, too.. but not to the extent of dad and son. The air was so bad we wanted to just move out.
Each time he got sick since, I was calmer each time. That calmness may not last forever, but the years of training my mind to accept sickness as a part of life, and a part of the body’s actual defense mechanism to heal, has culminated with amazing senses. Like this…. This morning when my son sat up, he looked funny. I was sitting next to him and saw something in his expression.. I knew. I said, “You okay?” A nod ‘yes’ occurred.. I didn’t believe it. I immediately held up the garbage can and, like an amazing 1990s Michael Jordan basketball shot, he projected refuse into the can. 3 points! Live action dad hero. Maybe the one time only in life that will happen.. but moms and dads get to be keenly aware of what each expression on their child’s face means. I knew this morning what the worried look meant. “It” was coming..
My wife and I have dinner plans tonight with friends for new years eve. That may be called off now due to unforeseen bodily circumstances. The first mission of the day is to effectively utilize Febreeze and Lysol where it needs it most. Already, every door handle was disinfected. Waiting on the current room until the dust settles.. The Twilight Zone marathon is on, too. Not sure if my son will give a break from Netflix, or fall asleep for a bit, in time for me to tune in to a few amazing Twilight Zones on SYFY, but that’s life. Life happens when you least expect it.
When you have dinner plans.. When the calendar changes..
So in the spirit of my son at this moment: Cleanse yourself of the trials, tribulations, and pains of 2015. Sixteen is a brand new chance to get something right that has been going wrong for some time. Only YOU know what is wrong. Or your body. And if it’s internal, get ready with a garbage can and some Gatorade.
May your travels be safe and your new years eve be the last day you to worry about the things you worried about in 2015.
I like today’s Drudge Report headline. Good touch ole sparky.
The story linked above his fold is well to do with weather–it’s some weird weather this year actually. The temperature this Christmas Eve as I write this at 7:15am outside my Pennsylvania abode is nearing 60. It’s going to edge towards 70 as the day persists.. by nightfall, Santa’s sleigh will trudge through mud as it attempts to gain entry to all East Coast cities and towns.
This is going to be a warm one.. Actually a hot one.
All records in various places may be broken today.. There will be no white Christmas.. the Heat Miser is winning.
From ACCUWEATHER:
It is a strange moment, walking out into the December air and being greeted with the warmth of a spring or summer morning.. And even more, explain the Santa’s sleigh issue to a nearly 5 year old child who analysis things way too much for his own good at his age. My son told me he could not wait to build a snow man Christmas day. I had to break the bad news of weather. . while he did not seem to care too much after a few months, it was an intense line of questions hurled at me all about why pictures show snow and he was under the impression that Santa needed it.
This is my original artwork.. it’s my nostalgic Christmas postcard to you.
The scene I drew in this picture, several years ago actually, is gone now. It is of the former St. Ignatius Church in Centralia, PA, a place I attended Christmas midnight mass for several years when my life began. The road signs are indicating that a highway was closed, most likely because of the Christmas blanket of snow causing mine fire fumes to overtake the highway.. The footsteps? Could be mine walking around .. could be my father, as he was the caretaker of the property for 20 years..
But it’s all gone now. So often, we are greeted yearly with cards of this nature–places that are now gone or changed for good.
My Christmas memories hold this scene in high esteem. They always will. Times were simpler then–even though my hometown was being bulldozed over and people were being forced out. Still simple. A quiet blanket of snow.. This year, 2015, it’s about 60 or so degrees outside of my house. This scene is a memory. As is the town and all buildings that were in it.
The title of this post is a line from a famous Christmas song that you undoubtedly have heard *(maybe too much?*) yet again this year..
Andy Williams’ classic IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR has a series of nostalgic verses about the season our calenders currently inhabit.. The most wonderful time of year, he concludes with his melody.. But that one line, that ‘scary ghost stories’ reference, has often been overlooked and ignored..
Some may think Williams is talking about Charles Dickens and his CHRISTMAS CAROL, Scrooge’s ghosts of the past present and future coming to haunt in the dead of night..
But the story goes much deeper. That one line in a song lyric has much more meaning for the season than anyone really understands.
On this website, I talked a lot about Krampus, that pesky demonic figure who scares the goodness into kids this time of year. This year he’s the star of a movie. And we also focused on those scary ghost stories..
For those who think the paranormal notions take a break after Halloween winds down, think again.. It just begins. And Christmas was the season of high strangeness, spooky occurrences, and bumps in the night that could not be attributed to elves or Santa’s quest to find a chimney..
It’s pagan origins–the Yule log, the evergreen, the lit candle in a window–are all documented. Santa and Krampus used to travel as good cop and bad cop.. Even before Fox News declared that there is a ‘war on Christmas,’ many puritans in America did not even want Christmas to be celebrated. They did not like burning human sacrifices .. they did not log the phallic image of the Yule log. They did not appreciate fearing the ghosts of the night as winter’s brutal chill set in…
But as time went on, the Puritans lost. Some may say the pagans eventually won, despite the Nativity scene and idea that Christmas is the time to celebrate Christ’s birthday, most of the ‘bad’ stuff from the pre Catholic era stuck around.
Roger Clarke authored a book titled A NATURAL HISTORY OF GHOSTS: 500 YEARS OF HUNTING FOR PROOF.. He detailed why the Victorian age became the prime time for paranormal tales to be woven by people around the holiday season..
The popularity of ghost stories was strongly related to economic changes. The industrial revolution had led people to migrate from rural villages into towns and cities, and created a new middle class. They moved into houses that often had servants, says Clarke, many taken on around October or November, when the nights were drawing in early – and new staff found themselves “in a completely foreign house, seeing things everywhere, jumping at every creak”. Robbins says servants were “expected to be seen and not heard – actually, probably not even seen, to be honest. If you go to a stately home like Harewood House, you see the concealed doorways and servant’s corridors. You would actually have people popping in and out without you really knowing they were there, which could be quite a freaky experience. You’ve got these ghostly figures who actually inhabit the house.”
Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories. Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about specters.
The idea of ghost stories was common–very common as a matter of fact.. the relics of that time still haunt, to a degree. But any memory has been tamed and watered down through the ages..
And think of this: Even if you keep the Christ in Christmas, that is paranormal just in itself.. Imagine the notion of a woman going about business, being told by an entity from beyond this world that she will give birth to a paranormal savior who will eventually die but rise from the dead and open the door to another realm.. If you believe in the Christian idea of Christmas, you must conclude that you wholeheartedly have faith in the paranormal and believe in it..
The Victorian age was in itself quite scary–the problems which manifested themselves often went unexplained. Science was beginning to explain some, but not all events.. Those shadows Clarke described were common.. The ghost tales that Jerome wrote about were frightening. Krampus would also show up from time to time, beating children with a stick for unruly behavior throughout the year..
Christmas time is a modern occasion of joy..
Slurping eggnog spiked with rum and eating until you’re unable to move? That’s the American pasttime around the holiday season—and then the New Years guilt and resolutions to lose your new found weight is an annual tradition.
Kira Cochrane of the UK GUARDIAN writes this to describe humanity’s long love of telling ghost stories around this time of year:
Christmas has long been associated with ghosts, says Roger Clarke, author of A Natural History of Ghosts: 500 Years of Hunting for Proof. Just before Christmas 1642, for instance, shepherds were said to have seen ghostly civil war soldiers battling in the skies. This connection continued in the Victorian era through Dickens’s story, and through the ghost stories he later published at Christmas in his periodical All the Year Round, with contributors including Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell. It would also continue in the tradition started by MR James, the provost of King’s College, Cambridge, who would invite a select few students and friends to his rooms each year on Christmas Eve, where he’d read one of the ghost stories he had written, which are still popular today. They include Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book (1895), in which an ancient holy book brings forth a demonic presence, first announced by a hand covered in “coarse black hairs, longer than ever grew on a human hand; nails rising from the ends of the fingers and curving sharply down and forward, grey, horny and wrinkled”.
The popularity of ghost stories was strongly related to economic changes. The industrial revolution had led people to migrate from rural villages into towns and cities, and created a new middle class. They moved into houses that often had servants, says Clarke, many taken on around October or November, when the nights were drawing in early – and new staff found themselves “in a completely foreign house, seeing things everywhere, jumping at every creak”. Robbins says servants were “expected to be seen and not heard – actually, probably not even seen, to be honest. If you go to a stately home like Harewood House, you see the concealed doorways and servant’s corridors. You would actually have people popping in and out without you really knowing they were there, which could be quite a freaky experience. You’ve got these ghostly figures who actually inhabit the house.”
We have lost so much with the disappearance of this tradition! I call for a renaissance!
Telling ghost stories around this time of year appears to be a lost tradition. These days, we trample each other at malls and break glass doors for expensive Air Jordans that we cannot afford. But that aside, it would be sacrilegious in modern times to tell such haunting tales around the Christmas dinner table.. 50% of us celebrate the birth of Christ (though it probably would not have even happened this time of year) and the other 50% celebrate the modern rituals of present buying and giving. Ghost stories aren’t found within that celebration.. No time for the paranormal with those numbers.
We did borrow the Christmas tree and SO MUCH MORE from the pagans.. but for some reason, we ended the tales of horror in our newer centuries..
Now it’s all about fun, joy, peace, and harmony. Little thrown in of scary or weird….paranormal or other-worldly. And it seems we miss out on so much with the absence of the paranormal..
Fascinating it is that a number of mystics through the centuries have cited Christmas Day — not All Souls’ Day, or any other time — as when the greatest number of souls are released from purgatory. This was stated, we are informed, by the great doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of Avila
While I do not contend my theories or ‘feelings’ are ever correct or a representation of anything but bizarre mental manifestations, I have long felt that two times of year were always filled with mystery: One being Halloween, and the other being Christmas. I recall nights when I was a child, especially Christmas Eve night, where I felt something mysterious in the air..something strange around me. Something like a presence—not necessarily a negative entity, but just another ‘element’ that I could not understand with my five senses. Did the pagans and others get it right.. does the veil thing? Those old ghost stories are not without purpose, they were just a way for people to express their fears of the darkness without shining light. You could argue that such ghost stories in the Victorian Age being popular was because they simply lived in scary times—gas lamps that lit the way for some with prestige and money, but darkness at night for the rest of the troubled lot.
Joy and love and peace could not be found on radio stations, and often so many younger children died from pestilence and disease, Santa Claus was not as busy as he is now.
But I still say there is something else to the story. I think there is a deeper and more profound reason that so many tall tales were expressed this time of year in centuries past. And maybe it’s because we, as humans, have a connection to a sixth sense.. maybe we have a deep affinity for the unexplained because we as humans are a PART of that unexplained.
Why are we here? Ghost tales make sense of our existence in some way, because it gives credence to an afterlife. Yes, maybe spirits get trapped here, but at least we ‘go somewhere.’
Though we have an absence of the fireside chats during Victorian times, there are a few paranormal tales that withstood the test of time. Charles Dickens’ classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL is one of them, with a series of ghosts coming back to haunt a living man to scare him into being nice.. Some of the past film adaptations of CHRISTMAS CAROL were downright scary, and even the black and white versions of the story haunted me as a child,such as SCROOGE from 1935.
Some other stories from my lifetime that still keep the ‘creepy’ in Christmas: The GREMLINS was able to successfully utilize horror and holiday music, grounding up gremlins while DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR played .. that scene shaped my childhood dreams.. There were also some other badly made seasonal horror flicks, like SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT, and CHRISTMAS EVIL.
Even IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE has a paranormal theme. An angel coming to save a suicidal man before he ends it all.. This year add KRAMPUS to that mix of bizarre tales.
Even the GRINCH THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS was scary.. and the idea that an ever-knowing Santa watches children when they sleep doesn’t really give me a deep down calm feeling either.
And finally, there could be something else scary about this time of year. Besides the ‘veil thinning’ and the pagan acknowledgement of death during winter, it’s just a scary time altogether! .. New years is coming—one calender year over, of course calenders are man made but that doesn’t make them any less foreboding. Aging is scary.. not knowing what the next year will bring is also scary. We become victims to our paranoia and fear…and maybe that is why the Victorian Age was filled with so much of it..
There is, after all, lots to be actually scared of. Yes, then it was sickness and darkness, but what really has changed? The news media informs us almost daily that a big accident may soon happen to our entire grid, leaving parts of the United States dark for ‘years.’ We are equally warned about diseases that are not being killed off anymore by antibiotics. While we don’t dress with Victorian attire, we can attest that our fears are often the same as they were during our past. That’s the common bond in the human race. We surely don’t all get happy about the same things but that’s not true about fear. Deep down, we all fear the same things.. and ghosts represent the mystery and high strangeness that humans cannot explain.
So I say we bring back ghost stories! Let’s get the fire warm, open some gifts..drink up some spirits, and tell some tales about weird creatures and sounds bumping in the night.
Keep the Christ in Christmas. And keep the creepy, too.
If not, Santa may not stop by this year, but instead give us the ghost of CHRISTMAS FUTURE—and if you recall that was the scariest spirit of them all..
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When I was a child, I fondly recall a few traditions that, at the time, seemed a bit bizarre and other-worldly. We had and still somewhat maintain a Christmas eve ‘Holy Supper,’ a Ukrainian traditional dinner of seven fishes. Before dinner began, the youngest of the family–at that time me–would have to knock on the door of the house with a candle and a statue of the baby Jesus and ask if there was room in the inn. The lights of the house would be off. Those inside would allow entrance and I’d slowly walk in a dark passage with the lit candle and statue.. After dinner, my family would attend a midnight mass. I always recall a large crowd of people.. I also recall being very short at that age, and mostly sitting in the rear of the church. That ensured I would not see a priest, but instead as a young child, I thought the voice was coming from the rafters itself. It probably did not help much that this Church, Saint Ignatius in Centralia, PA, was the location of my first paranormal moment as a young child when I heard whispers coming from an empty confessional during a very dark night.
All of this said, I think there is something innate in humans to recognize Christmas as a paranormal time, a moment when we are close to the spirit world and the thin veil shreds into non existence for a time..
Santa Claus is even paranormal–he can sweep across the globe and enter homes across the planet, sparing enough time to throw down some presents and even eat about 25 million cookies and glasses of milk. Even the reindeer have time for carrots. We tell our children at an early age to believe in something paranormal, to put faith in something hopeful. Adults who laugh at the notion of Santa then go to church on Christmas morning and sing about another paranormal moment when an angel impregnated a women with God’s son.. Even more, the whole notion of December 25th being chosen is under the guise that it was a pagan celebration..
It’s all connected. It’s all paranormal.. This is the time of year to suspend logic and happily comply with the other realm… Just not Krampus. He’s the one to avoid during the darkest night of the year…..
The final few days of shopping are here.. The last chances to wrap gifts..
Tis the season for small annoyances, like bad traffic or office Christmas parties where someone you never expected would get a bit too tipsy, or offensive. I have often thought that often co-workers (sometimes family, too), aren’t people you pick. They aren’t friends. They are necessary. You may like some.. but chances are, if you’re at a party of 50, you’ll really want to associate with just four or five.
Nonetheless, at a gathering just days ago of people, I noted several conversations were about attempts to get better health in the new year, be happier, eat right, and cut down on the luxuries and lushness of life. All this being said while food was in one hand and alcohol in the other..
I am perplexed yearly by this notion that December 31 into January 1 will suddenly equal a burst of health, weight loss, and better moods. By the second week of January, when the bills start coming in and researchers say “Blue Monday” hits, we are already ditching the yearly get rich or well quick schemes, and replacing them with the bad habits all over again.
But maybe that is because the actual attempts are wrong to begin with.
The end of a year and the beginning of a new one is sort of the same as how parts of the earth feel this time of year, as well. The cyclical nature of seasons and time—we are one with the planet and quite possibly one with the feelings of the season. Sorry to go pagan, but maybe even the natural phases of the moon and sun, along with the Solstices, deserve a party! Minus the human sacrifices of ancient Yule time.
My point is, trying to change habits at this time of year is fine. It’s the end of a year. Again. Another 12 months, 525,600 minutes behind us, and a whole new 12 months of anarchy on the way..
But what habits are you trying to break? And why..?
“I want to be healthier.” Fine and cool. It is not bad to be healthy.. But think before you drink. I love the idea that “wine may be good for my heart.” I’m no doctor, but I know the dangers of alcohol when used in excess. And while the skin of grapes could have benefits, so does dark chocolate. Oh, and skin of grapes—meaning you can actually eat grapes as opposed to drinking fermented versions of the product..
“I want to lose weight.” So quick diets and fad trends are imposed on your body. You don’t react as you’d expect in two weeks, and you give it. Weight loss takes time. It took a while to gain it, you surely won’t lose it faster. So if you’re serious about losing weight, just realize you may get a quick hit of ten pounds if you’re really overweight, then it will become stagnant. If you’re closer to normal, you may lose very weight at all but could gain muscle if done the right way…and muscle has weight, so your scale could stay the same.
“I want a new job.”
Don’t we all sometimes? Before you get on a new job bandwagon, make a “why I hate my job list.” Then make a “why I have it okay at my job list.” And be honest, include everything, like 401K or pension, free parking, health insurance. See which list has more. Afterwards critically think about what you put. If hatred of your co-workers made the “Why I hate my job list,” go back and read some Yoda. Fear equal hate. Hate equals war. Be brave and be honest. Trying to get a better job is not a bad thing. But never do something simply based off of hate. You’ll make the wrong decision every time.
My advice for this time of year.. Use the force. It’s all around you. Close your eyes…wait…I saw STAR WARS too many times. or did I? The ‘force’ may not only be strong for the Jedi, but it could be real.. You could be a part of something far greater than yourself. A universe that goes on forever and somehow is connected in strange ways by invisible math and physics. It’s a great time to be alive, with advanced discoveries that are beautiful and making life better. Yes there is loathsome fear and terror, as we talked about on here several times over the past few weeks, but don’t give into it. Do not let fear guide you. Embrace fear.
A few years ago when I had to give a public speech to a group of 700 people, I did something remarkable. It changed me forever. Up until that point I Was scared to death of public speaking. It’s when I realized that my entire life was made up of public speaking that the fear started to dwindle. I was a waiter since 16. I addressed crowds of 8 to 50 people on a regular basis, even made an open mic speech to a wedding party of 200 naming dessert choices. So public speaking was the simple part.. the hard part was figuring out that if you just do it and stop thinking so much, you’ll be fine. I embraced the fear and actually let it consume me for a moment, I purposely even tried making myself more fearful of the event. At that point, it left me. Was I still a bit nervous? Yes. Was I filled with trembling fear anymore? Not even close..
Fear about the future is a strange thing, after all. Consider this: The future is not real, it did not happen, and there is no proof of what is coming. The only thing real is now. Even the past may not be real anymore since it stopped existing. The second of time you stand in, however, is undeniable. So fearing the future is insane. You’re fearing something that did not occur, that is not here, and that is not year coming to fruition. Stop fearing.
And on that note, the real new years’ resolution you should strictly maintain: Be you. Stop hating. Your hating is equaling worse things. It’s creating a worse world. It’s making things bleak. It’s ruining children’s futures. It’s stopping progress. And it’s forcing you to be cemented in ideologies that are failed and ones that should be long gone.
Believe me, I have never been accused of being an optimist. But I equally have never defined myself as a pessimist. I am a realistic, sometimes nervous and paranoid, conspiracy-theory loving (not always believing) observer of society. From my own personal circle of friends and family to the world as a whole, I sit back and often watch.
My resolution: in 2016 I plan on watching less and doing more.. The next time a fight breaks out at a mall, and I know who is at fault, I will make sure I speak up. Fear is not an option. In 2016, neither is silence.
The famed talk show host put a message on Facebook tonight: Help me find the stalker who pushed me off the air..
Bell wrote,
I will offer $20,000.00 to anybody providing information leading to the Arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the Stalking Terror resulting in my Leaving the air from MITD.
Art Bell
The talk show legend left MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT last week after multiple incidents pushed him from the program.
Since then, Heather Wade has been hosting the program and received mixed reviews..
…I’m going to institute a self imposed ban on reviewing the film or giving any personal thoughts on it for at least 24-48 hours.. Much to digest. Much to contemplate.. Much to consider .. Expect something from your friendly neighborhood Coal Speaker.. Just not yet.
Ticket prices back in the 1970s were .. oh.. a wee bit lower than the wallet bursting prices that greet consumers today.. on average then: $2.23. ON average now? A lot more than that..
So STAR WARS got $512 mil in ticket sales in 1977 and 1978 (theaters in some cities actually played the movie daily for two years) .. I saw a number today that approximately 230 million Americans saw STAR WARS A NEW HOPE..
Here is a good graph from BLOOMBERG today on how inflation has impacted STAR WARS’ release:
Yes the force will awaken. It will be gigantic. But it will not be the new hope .. nothing quite will ever be the new hope..
For a story that takes place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” a great deal of the technology in the “Star Wars” series actually has parallels today on planet Earth. Part of the reason is, ironically, how long the franchise has been around. Concepts and ideas that were the stuff of science fiction when the first “Star Wars” movie came out in 1977 have had almost four decades of science to become real.
I went to a viewing last night for a friend.. I will skip the details, they are very personal and I wouldn’t want to exchange thoughts on such an instance to the world at large.. I wish I could write down most of what I am saying but if I do so, it will not be in a public forum. It will be kept private intentionally. There are some parts of the modern age of websites, Tweets, Facebooks, and blogs that I still don’t embrace. One of those parts is the emergence of saying everything and anything for all to read.
I will simply say this.. one of the saddest things to watch is a son stare at his mother in a casket—when that young man is not even of an age to understand what he is seeing.. When a child is so young that he cannot care for himself.. when a boy is just starting to mature and already his father and mother are both gone.. that is remarkably sad..
I cannot get the image out of my mind.. a well-dressed young man.. staring at his now at rest mother.. regardless of what anyone may say about the deceased—tacky as it may be, people don’t stop preachy gossip when someone dies—that young man has still lost a pillar, a rock of strength, and potentially the last remaining vestige of security he had..
You may not find this post much of help in your life.. but I ask you only to stop before you say something cruel. Cease your words before something vile comes from your mouth.. judgmental people abound. Dare to be different. Accept.
Because that grown adult you’re talking to today may have been the boy of yesterday who stared at his mother in a casket as his world changed.
Mankind may only have a brief window to set foot on Mars before a disaster such as a third World War makes it no longer possible, Elon Musk has warned.
The founder of SpaceX, which was the first private company to resupply the International Space Station, fears such a war could set back technological advancements.
His company is preparing to announce its ambitious plans for rocket and space exploration..
A lot of people are laughing at Musk and his fear.. But consider what he is saying. Consider the chances.. And yes, it could become likely that a war to end all wars could also end all progress and humanity on this planet.
In the 21st century, it’s strange to think we fear a return to the Stone Age..
I want this election to be over as soon as possible. Maybe it’s the most important in history (though we hear that every four years) but it certainly will be the most divisive and potentially unhealthy for the nation..
