In Pure Spirit

For open minds

Subway bans Ouija boards

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The management of this Subway found reason to put up a rather strange sign. It makes you wonder what might have happened here that made printing such a sign necessary in the first place.

Do you agree with the owners? Are they entitled to ban paying customers from using Ouija boards in the building? Or do you think the sign will backfire and if anyone wanted to stir up trouble for them that they will anyway?

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What’s the strangest sign you’ve ever seen posted in public?

Via Reddit uploads.

Did this Snapchat faceswap capture a spirit?

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Snapchat is more than just an app that allows you to send messages that self-destruct after they’ve been read. Today’s version of the app is focused around video messaging and pioneered clever visual filters to spice up those messages.

Want to see what you look like with puppy ears, or as a pirate or with glamour make-up on? Snapchat has a filter for that. One of Snapchat’s most popular filters is the faceswap. Look into the camera with a friend and Snapchat will swap your faces around and you’ll get to send a hilariously weird message to friends.

It’s become common to hold up items with faces for Snapchat’s faceswap filter to use. The effect is funny and allows you to faceswap by yourself.

But what if Snapchat finds a face in the picture that you weren’t expecting? That’s what has appeared here! This picture, uploaded to Reddit shows a young woman trying to faceswap with a Care Bear… except, the computer’s algorithm has seen another face. Snapchat’s camera has looked into the darkness behind the woman and seen the contours of a face!

The result? Both weird and spooky at the same time!

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What do you think might have caused this? A patch of shadow that just happened to look like a face?

What about the Highgate Vampire?

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In the 60s a group of youngsters with a growing interest in the occult began to explore Highgate Cemetery in London. One of them, David Farrant, spent a night there. He mentions this in the book he wrote on the subject in 1991.

A few months later, in February 1970, Farrant wrote to the local newspaper to describe a figure in grey he had seen while passing the cemetery. By the 13th of that month, several other people had responded to the newspaper piece, with differing accounts but tails of ghosts in the cemetery or the nearby Swains Lane. The ghosts included a tall man, a cyclist, a white lady, a white form drifting between the graves and a shadowy figure wading into the pond.

Sean Manchester, also a local, revealed that local Satanists had awoken a Wallachian vampire who had been carried from Europe to Highgate in his coffin. He cited reports of dead foxes, with no clear cause of death, in the Highgate cemetery as proof.

The two men were not friends and competed on theories and media attention. Farrant and Manchester both claimed they would lead a vampire hunt and dismiss the vampire.

On the 1st of August, 1970 a headless and burnt body was found not far from a catacomb. Police suspected the body had been used in a black magic ritual. Shortly afterwards Farrant was found by police by the churchyard carrying a crucifix and wooden stake, he was arrested but later released when court dismissed the case.

Manchester claims that a sleep walking psychic woman led him through the graveyard, to (perhaps the same) catacomb. They couldn’t open the door, so climbed down through a hole in the roof and placed garlic and holy water in the empty coffins they found there.

The story of the Highgate Vampire is now a fairly common one for in books. It is even suggested that the Hammer Horror film Dracula AD 1972 was inspired by the Highgate Vampire.

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Do you believe there was ever a vampire or a mystery in Highgate Cemetery or has the whole drama been created by the feud between Farrant and Manchester? This December will be the 43th anniversary of Farrant’s first, reported, sighting.

The ghost at the Lower Buck Inn, Waddington, shows its face to photographer

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The Lower Buck Inn is a very old English inn. It’s been the village of Waddington, right at its heart, since 1760. Nearby is the church of St Helen which was has parts – still in use – that date back to 1501.

Local legend has it that inn was haunted and so a group of staff decided to raise money for the charity North West Ambulance Service by staging a sleep over.

Jenny Barnsley, who works behind the bar, explains what happened;

“We decided to have a sleepover and seance to find out for ourselves if the pub really is haunted as everyone says. First, we lit candles and asked if anyone was present and we immediately heard scratching and banging noises coming from upstairs.”

Barnsley goes on to explain the first sighting of a ghost;

“Chloé then saw a man in the doorway of the front bar and shortly afterwards, we took a picture as the room had gone cold. We were amazed to see what looked like separate images of a man and a girl in two different pictures.”

The photograph taken by the group has been released to press. Here it is.

If you’re curious about the inn itself, here’s a creative commons picture of the outside. You can also check out the Inn’s website.

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Do you think the charity sleep over actually encountered a ghost? Did they get spooked, encounter a common camera defect and now think it was a ghost? Or is this all part of a PR stunt?

Photograph of ghostly child taken in Redhill, Surrey

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Does this photograph show a ghostly child?

The photograph was taken by the mother of the boy in red. Sirus Walsh is five, lives in Redhill Surrey and lives in a house alongside several ghosts. The family is relaxed about the supernatural presence and denies the photograph, which was taken on a mobile phone, is doctored.

Sirus’s grandmother, Julie Smith, 52, told press;

My daughter was just taking pictures of her children larking about with her new phone, when she saw that the first photo of her two boys had a halo over both of them.

“She thought, “This isn’t right” and deleted it – and it was when she took the next picture that we noticed Sirus’s little playmate.

What was quite strange is she put it on to Facebook, and within an hour it must have had about 20 comments – but then it disappeared off the site.”

In the Metro, Ms Smith also explained a family friend has “the Gift” and can see lots of “people from the other side” in the house.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Does the family have the technical skills to mashup a ghostly image? Is the Facebook claim a little dodgy or do we think ghosts can hack the social network’s database now?

Picture credit: Newsteam.

Psychic buried alive at Dudley Castle

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Update: If it’s before April 9th, 2011 you can watch Ian Lawman live via this web cam feed.

Entertainment and ghost hunting company Fright Nights knows what to do with the TV exorcist and psychic Ian Lawman. They’re going to bury him for a whole week at the haunted Dudley Castle.

Lawman, who comes from a small steel down in the North East of England, gives the impression he’s up to the physical nature of the challenge. His official bio says;

Ian takes no prisoners with his hard-man looks and approach to the spirit world that comes very naturally, he can bridge the gap within the two planes of existence to prove that life goes on after death via detailed messages of past, present and future.

He’ll have to be tough. He’ll be buried in a coffin, six foot underground, covered with two tonnes of soil and be fed just four tablets a day. These tablets sound like heavy hitting stuff – providing him 2,000 calories. There’s been no mention of what Lawman will do for toilet breaks.

We’re told there will be a “web feed” which Ian will use to communicate with the outside world. Neither Fright Nights nor Lawman have made details of this feed available yet but the psychic’s official website makes mention of this Twitter account, worryingly, however, the user name is still to be registered. Anyone could sweep in and take it.

There is, however, a Facebook page for Ian Lawman: Buried Alive.

While Lawman endures this punishment of earth, Fright Nights and Dudley Castle will be holding a “Buried Alive Festival”. For a fee, visitors can get access to the castle’s most haunted areas, join the team’s regular mediums for ghost hunting and vigils, go on ghost walks with storytellers, speak to clairvoyants and psychics at the craft fayre and grab food from the cafe.

Why is Ian Lawman being buried at Dudley Castle?

It’s worth noting that this is all for charity and you can sponsor Ian Lawman in this challenge via his JustGiving page.

Lawman also gave an interview to EGL Magazine where they asked him the question “Why did you decide to be buried alive for seven days?”. This was his answer;

I want to take the paranormal to the next level. I wanted to get as close to death as I could without dying, so I thought if I was buried in a battlefield over a week I would get closer to spirit.

Is Dudley Castle haunted?

Fright Nights have run ghost hunting trips at Dudley Castle before. Their site talks about a grey lady and a black monk. They also say that they’ve encountered poltergeist activity.

Indeed, there are plenty of reports of ghosts and sightings at the castle. The black monk is reported most often near the Castle’s Chapel. Dudley Castle is quite near the ruins of St James Priory, which was used by the black robe wearing Benedictine monks.

Some suggest that the grey lady could be Mrs Dorothy Beaumont. Beaumont was the life of the Second in Command of the Royalist forces during the siege of May 1646 by Parliamentary forces. She died of natural causes, her body and funeral cortege were allowed to pass out of the Castle to the Church at the other end of the town by the besieging troops but her husband was not given the same permission. He had to stay inside Dudley Castle and missed the funeral.

Dudley Zoo has been involved in reporting some of the paranormal incidents. Chris Round, the zoo curator, has spoken about some of the encounters the keepers have had while doing their 8pm to 10pm round.

First you had to lean over the tiger enclosure and shine your torch around the pit, which seemed bottomless. It was dug from old limestone caves, and you remembered that in 1961 the skeleton of a woman of 40 was found in a nearby cave. The Police discovered very little about her, not who she was, nor why she died here. Nearby a miner was buried alive under a rockfall and the sound of a pickaxe on rock can sometimes be heard. Perhaps it is the same miner who appears in the bear dens next door then disappears through a wall.”

Dudley Castle ghost video

Richard Flex, from Most Haunted, features in a four part “Ghosts of Dudley Castle” video series on YouTube. Here’s the first one.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think about Ian Lawman’s charity stunt? Do you think he appreciates how tough this will be? Do you think he can complete it? If he starts to sense, or even see things, will that be due to sleep deprivation or because he’s closer to “spirit”?

So many possible questions here. Do share what you think and consider sponsoring him.

Coventry ghost caught on camera – is Lilley Close haunted?

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Lisa Mannging, partner and two children moved into the end-terrace house in Lilley Close six months ago. Now their dog is dead, their landlords, Whitefriars, have had a priest bless the house, have been told by a medium that their home is a portal and a priest is encouraging the family to wear crucifixes.

There’s more. The family have managed to film what appears to be paranormal activity going on in their Coventry house. Their local newspaper has the exclusive but we’re allowed to share it here.

It seems that the visiting medium and the priest are willing to believe that something is wrong with the house. Whitefriars Housing, a social housing unit in Coventry, is also taking the family’s concerns very serious. Speaking to the Coventry Telegraph, the service manager for the area – David Round – said;

“We first met with Miss Manning in January and our staff have listened to her concerns in a sensitive manner.

“In February, after detailed discussions between Miss Manning and our staff, we agreed to arrange for a priest to attend the property, at her request.

“We have offered advice and support to Miss Manning on the options available to her for applying to move home and we are happy to continue to do this.”

I want to go back to the poor dog. Lisa found the injured dog at the bottom of their steps, took it to the vet but unfortunately the pet died later. The vet believes the dog’s injures show it had been shoved.

Someone shoved the dog down the stairs and it died. That’s horrible.

I wonder if it’s horrible enough to make up a story of a ghost and a haunting? Could you fake the video? Sure. We never see the bottom of the chair that moves. The chair moves in the same direction as the cupboard door opens as well. There will certainly be sceptics watching the video who will believe there’s someone to the right of the camera pulling an unseen string.

The end-terrace building looks relatively new. Too new for a ghost? The area the terrace is built in is interesting. It’s right beside Foleshill Park.

About 20 minutes walk from Lillely Close, on Foleshill Road there’s a pub called the Prince William Henry. There’s been reports of phantom music, a shadowy figure and unexplained laughter coming from the the basement there.

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What’s your view? Did one of people in the house push the dog down the stairs, create the ghost story and watch as the whole thing got out of hand? Or do you think the video shows something that can’t be so easily explained?

Is Mossley Mill haunted?

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The North Belfast Paranormal Research Group made local news when they approached Newtownabbey Borough Council seeking permission to begin a ghost hunt. In particular, NBPRG needed permission to have night-time access to the buildings and the grounds.

The site of Mossley Mill has had large industrial buildings on it since the 1700s due to the textile industry. That presence grew in size due to the Grimshaw family who introduced flax spinning of cotton and ordered the 1834 construction of the mill dam and chimney. The mill was purchased by the Campbell family in 1859, then sold to the Hanson Trust in 1978, to Herdmans in 1993 and then to Newtonabbey Council in 1996. The council stepped in to prevent the destruction of the historic buildings and began a major conversation and restoration project.

The first part of that project finished in 2000 and was opened by Prince Charles. The second part of the project, which was valued at around £15m, included the production of a theatre.

The theatre has been home for performances of Henrik Ibsen‘s Ghosts play. This is certainly responsible some of the causal mentions of ghosts at Mossley Mill. The council has also used Mossley Mill as alternative parking during Halloween celebrations, providing a shuttle bus between the mill and Ballyearl.

NBPRG’s co-founder, Carl Wetton, who emailed the council seems to be being a sensible as he can about investigating the hill for the paranormal. He told local press;

We expect this to be a dry run for future coordination of professional research and will also establish base readings so that we may more ably gauge when future readings are anomalous.


Hauntings

The renovated Mill has housed the emotionally charged Anne Frank (+ you) exhibition. The exhibition included photographs of Anne Frank, famous for the powerful and compelling diary she penned while hiding for her life from the Nazis in World War II, chilling film footage and graphic recreations. Although the exhibit only used relics it was been suggested by some researchers than exhibits and the like which spark off large amounts of emotional energy from visitors can seed the energy required for paranormal occurrences to begin.

In one Facebook wall post a local, Lynne, describes being alone in one part Mossley Mill after the first phase of the renovation. The temperature dropped suddenly and she could hear a scratching sound coming from in front of her, towards the ground, but no matter how far she walked forward the scratching sound seemed ahead of her.

Another poster reports simply seeing strange lights one night over the Mill building, near the chimney.

The Times Steps Living History group has run ghost tours in the Mill in previous years.

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Do you have any first hand accounts of the paranormal in or near Mossley Mill? Is the lack of

Picture credit: MJordan.

Vanessa Hudgens teased by playful ghost

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The 3D movie Journey to the Center of the Earth was a $100 million success. I don’t mind admitting that I rather enjoyed it.

When there’s a $100 million hit movie there’s a sequel. The second film is “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island“. The cast is a little different. Josh Hutcherson stays on to play Sean Anderson but there’s no Brendan Fraser as Travor Anderson. The new cast includes Michael Caine, Luis Guzman, Kristin Davis and the action star will be Dwayne Johnson. Vanessa Hudgens has the role as the lead starlet.

Filming is going on North Carolina. It seems Vanessa Hudgen’s over night stays has involved some rather cheeky entertainment from a local ghost.

This is what she told local press;

I kept on hearing a creak in my hallway and I was, like, ‘I have to figure out what this sound is…’

“I walk over and I hear a creak to my right and I thought it was, like, rainfall or a leak, so I step over to the right… and I look down and I hear it to the left, so I step over to the left, look up, look down, step over to the right, look up, look down… It kept moving around.

“Finally, I was like, ‘You know what ghost, thanks for having me here. You do your thing; I’m gonna go.’ I was so terrified.”

Vanessa Hudgens and cast on set for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

In Pure Spirit

Are you a Vanessa Hudgens fan? Looking forward to the movie?

What do you make of Vanessa’s spooky encounter? Something for the journalists, did she manage to spook herself or do you think actually had an encounter?

Two captured ghosts sell for nearly £1,500

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Here’s an interesting auction item on New Zealand site TradeMe.co.nz; two captured ghosts.

The seller, melvin_s has 98.4% positive feedback on the auction site, put the two captured ghosts up with a reserve price of $1.00.

They sold for $2,830.00 NZD.

The spirits are said to have been trapped by an exorsist from a spiritualist church. One if a man called Les Graham who died in the haunted house in 1920.

The other spirit is said to have been summoned when Melvin and partner tried their hands at a Oujia Board. They suggest it is a little girl who likes to turn lights off – a spirit that will get more powerful over time.

Melvin told bidders that to revive either spirit, the water must be poured into a dish and left to evaporate in the house.

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Do you think $3,000 NZ dollars (about £1,400) is too much or too little to pay for these bottles which may contain ghosts?

Was Melvin clever in putting the two bottles up for auction – a ploy to make money or did he really just want rid of them?

Disclosure

This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth and history combine here. In Pure Spirit covers stories from elsewhere on the web and may make fair use clippings and quotations from the original source.