Haunted Dolls

Few things in the world of the paranormal creep me out more than haunted dolls. Granted, giant killer rabbits are actually my number one fear, but haunted dolls are a close second. Maybe it’s their lifeless eyes. Perhaps it’s their creepy little hands. Whatever it is, whenever I read stories of haunted dolls I get the Heebie-jeebies. So I thought I would share my anxiety with you guys as we explore some of the more famous, or notorious, cases of haunted dolls. Perhaps this will be a cathartic experience for me? At the very least, it’s a chance to share some creepy stories. I leave it to you to decide the validity of these accounts as always.

Robert the Doll

Any discussion of haunted dolls is almost required to mention the most famous example in the United States; Robert the Doll. In the late 19th century, a wealthy family, surnamed Otto, moved with their children to Key West Florida. Their youngest child, named Robert Eugene Otto, was born in 1900. He was better known by his nickname, ‘Gene’. Gene serves as the focus of our tale.  The story goes that this family had many servants who looked after the house and the children. Mr. and Mrs. Otto were said to have been abusive towards the servants, particularly a Bahamian girl who was alleged to practice all manner of dark arts including Voodoo. For Gene’s 6th birthday, this Bahamian girl is said to have hand-made the doll pictured above and given it as a gift. After she placed a curse upon the doll as retribution for his parents mistreatment of her. Gene dubbed the doll “Robert” and began carrying the doll around with him wherever he went.  

It was said that Gene would often be found talking with Robert. Far stranger than this, his parents were supposed to have heard Gene’s voice and another slightly different voice answering. This was believed to have been Gene playing pretend. Or was it? Not long after receiving the doll, Gene began waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in fright. His parents would rush into Gene’s room in order to check on their son. They would generally discover all of the furniture in his room had been turned over and the room was in disarray.  Robert the Doll was said to have been at the foot of Gene’s bed, sitting upright. The parents naturally accused Gene of messing up his room, Gene maintained his innocence. He claimed that it was Robert the Doll who was making a mess of the bedroom.

This would became a pattern throughout Gene’s childhood. Whenever something bad was done around the house, Robert was to blame. As Gene grew, his relationship with Robert never changed. When his parents passed away, Gene was left his childhood home in Key West. Gene moved back into this house with his wife Annette. By this time, or perhaps a bit before, Gene had become known locally as an artist. In reality both he and his wife were involved in the Key West art movement; he as an artist/painter and her as a jazz musician.

Even as an adult, Gene was said to keep Robert around as a constant companion, much to the consternation of his wife. Gene was also said work alone on his paintings with Robert as his sole companion. It’s not hard to imagine that the relationship between Gene and Robert was a source of conflict between Gene and Annette. Annette reportedly felt uneasy around Robert. Really, who could blame her?

Eventually Annette would have enough of Robert. She put her foot down, Robert was to be resigned to the attic, in his own “room”. They lived this way for a time. After a number of years, Gene began to complain saying that Robert was mad. Robert didn’t like being in the attic, Gene would tell Annette. He should have his own room. The guest room overlooking the street was the perfect place.  

It was in this room where Robert would come to rest for the remainder of Gene’s life. As time wore on, Annette and Gene’s marriage slowly began to unravel. Gene would scream and shout at his wife. At the end of these episodes, Gene would apologize and blame the behavior on Robert. By the 1970’s Gene became ill and locked himself away with Robert in Robert’s “room”. Gene finally passed away in 1972, with Robert by his side. Annette sold the house and left not too long after Gene’s death. She left Robert behind and never looked back.

A few years later, a new family moved into the house. After they were there for only a  few weeks, the stumbled across Robert. Robert had apparently been “buried” beneath a number of boxes in the basement. The couple who moved into this home had a little girl who fell in love with Robert immediately. She soon added him to her large doll collection and all seemed well. Until, much like Gene so many years before her, she started waking up screaming in the middle of the night. The girl told her parents that she had seen Robert running around her bedroom and that it was trying to harm her. The family eventually got rid of Robert the Doll by donating him to a local museum where he resides to this day.

A blogger by the name of Timothy Clax did a great write-up of this case. Clax has the following to say about Robert’s current residence, the Martello Museum:

Robert is still at the museum, in his little sailor suit, holding a little stuffed lion that he,  appears to be attached too. Employees always remember to introduce new recruits of the museum to Robert. Some visitors laugh at the stupidity of being afraid of a stupid doll, but many change their mind....when they see Robert's angry look staring back at them.

Others try to take pictures of Robert in his case, and there cameras will not turn on. They replace the batteries thinking that was the solution, but the new batteries are not working either! When they leave the museum, there cameras turn on and the batteries fully charged.

One male visitor, who didn't believe the curse was true, videotaped his entire day at the museum. When they got to the area were Robert was, the sound on the camera turned off and couldn't be turned back on! He turned around to talk to an employee close by, and the sound on the camera was turned up all the way. Blaring in his ears.

There are a number of websites devoted to this case. If you’re feeling brave enough, you can even spend the night with Robert. I’ll personally be sitting out on that one. What are we to make of this tale? I honestly can say. The psych student in me thinks that perhaps it was Gene who had the issues rather than did Robert the Doll. It is interesting that the little girl would report the same kind of strange behavior from Robert that Gene had done. Assuming she had never heard the stories I have to wonder how she would have come up with similar stories.

Further reading on Robert the Doll:

True Tales of Haunted Dolls

http://www.robertthedoll.org/

Robert The Doll

Annabelle

Our next example of a haunted doll was made famous last year on the big screen. The Conjuring, a story based on the files of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, opened with a 10 or 15 minute scene involving a haunted doll named Annabelle. In typical Hollywood fashion, the producers of the film decided to hollywood-ify the doll to make it scarier. I’d argue the original Raggedy Ann doll was plenty creepy as it was. In fact, the doll from the film looks a little silly in my opinion.

In 1970 a woman was searching for a birthday present for her daughter, Donna, who was a nursing student at the time.Donna lived in an apartment with a roommate named Annie who was also a nursing student. Donna was apparently happy with the present and placed it in her room as a decorations. The Warren’s website tells us what happened next:

With in that time both Donna and Angie noticed that there appeared to be something very strange and creepy about the doll. The doll apparently moved on its own, relatively unnoticeable movements at first, like a change in position, but as time passed the movement became more noticeable. Donna and Angie would come home to find the doll in a completely different room from which they had left it . 

Sometimes the doll would be found crossed legged on the couch with its arms folded , other times it was found upright, standing on its feet, leaning against a chair in the dining room. Several times Donna, placing the doll on the couch before leaving for work, would return home to find the doll back in her room on the bed with the door closed.  

I’m going to be honest, if I was having these experiences I probably wouldn’t have kept the doll for much longer. Present or not. Although I suppose it’s possible that Donna and Annie simply rationalized the experiences away. It would probably be easier to assume that they had moved the doll and just forgotten about it. Rather than the doll acting under it’s own volition. The doll’s activity persisted and began to manifest in new, and in my opinion much creepier, ways. From the Warren’s website:

About a month into their experiences Donna and Angie began to find penciled messages on parchment paper that read "Help Us" and "Help Lou". The hand writing looked to belong to that of a small child.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the Warren’s website relates another event which seem to have been the final straw for the girls:

One night Donna came home to find the doll had moved again, this time it was on her bed. Donna had come to find that this was typical of the doll but some how she knew this time it was different, something wasn't right. A sense of fear came over her when she inspected the doll and saw what looked like blood drops on the back of its hands and its chest. Seemingly, from no where, a liquidy red substance had appeared on the doll.

It was at this point in their experiences that Donna and Angie sought for help. Not knowing what else to do, they turned to a medium. The Warren’s website tells us:

Not knowing where to turn they contacted a medium and a seance was held. Donna was then introduced to the spirit of Annabelle Higgins. The medium related the story of Annabelle to both Donna and Angie. Annabelle was a young girl that resided on the property before the apartments were built, they were "happy times". She was a young girl of only seven years old when her lifeless body was found in the field upon which the apartment complex now stands.

The spirit related to the medium that she felt comfort with Donna and Angie and wanted to stay with them and be loved. Feeling compassion for Annabelle and her story Donna gave her permission to inhabit the doll and stay with them.

A friend of the girls, named Lou, had been with them since the doll arrived. From the beginning Lou had been against Donna keeping the doll, believing it to be evil. Lou had his own experiences in the apartment, though honestly to me they sound like examples of the “old hag” syndrome. The Warren’s website relates Lou’s experiences:

Lou awoke one night from a deep sleep and in panic. Once again he had a recurring bad dream. Only this time somehow, something seemed different. It was as though he was awake but couldn't move. He looked around the room but couldn't discern anything out of the ordinary and then it happened. Looking down toward his feet he saw the doll, Annabelle.

It began to slowly glide up his leg, moved over his chest and then stopped. Within seconds the doll was strangling him. Paralyzed and gasping for breath Lou, at the point of asphyxiation, blacked out. Lou awoke the next morning, certain it wasn't a dream, Lou was determined to rid himself of that doll and the spirit that possessed it.

At this point, Donna decided that they must not be dealing with a human spirit. Instead, “Annabelle” must have been a demonic entity of some kind. Enter the Warrens. Donna contacted an Episcopal Priest who in turn notified the Warrens of the activity. Ed and Lorraine were very interested in working on the case and agreed to assist Donna and her friends in ridding themselves of Annabelle.

Ed and Lorraine were also convinced that what was occurring in this situation was the beginning stages of demonic possession. Accordingly, the website states:

This spirit manipulated the doll and created the illusion of it being alive in order to get recognition. Truly, the spirit was not looking to stay attached to the doll, it was looking to posses a human host.

The spirit or in this case an inhuman demonic spirit, was essentially in the infestation stage of the phenomenon. It first began moving the doll around the apartment by means of teleportation to arouse the occupants curiosity in hopes that they would give it recognition.Then predictably the mistake of bringing a medium into the apartment to communicate with it.

The inhuman spirit now able to communicate through the medium, preyed on the girls emotional vulnerabilities by pretending to be a rather harmless, lost young girl with which during the seance, was allowed permission from Donna to haunt the apartment. Insofar as demonic is a negative spirit, it then set about causing patently negative phenomena to occur; it aroused fear through the weird movements of that doll, it brought about the materialization of disturbing handwritten notes, the symbolic drops of blood on the doll, and ultimately it even attacked Lou leaving behind the symbolic mark of the beast.

The next stage of the infestation phenomenon would have been complete human possession. Had these experiences lasted another 2 or 3 more weeks the spirit would have completely possessed, if not harmed or killed one or all of the occupants in the house.

Satisfied with their explanation of the phenomenon, Ed decided that it would be best to have the Exorcism Rite performed in order to cleanse the house of the activity. The priest who performed the ritual, Father Cooke, didn’t seem all too eager to exorcise an apartment. Upon the insistence of Ed and Lorraine, he relented and exorcised the ladies apartment. Donna insisted that Ed and Lorraine take the doll with them. That seems to have been the end of Donna, Angie, and Lou’s troubles. Though, apparently, Annabelle continued to lash out at the Warrens. You can read more about that at the Warren’s site.

What in the world are we to make of this story? Annabelle certainly produced far more activity than Robert the Doll did. Yet he’s the one with the museum! Where’s the justice in that? Seriously though, the Annabelle story is interesting and very creepy. I don’t know that I’m as convinced as the Warrens were that they were dealing with a demonic spirit. But to be fair, I didn’t investigate the doll so who am I to say?

A Haunted Doll of Your Own

If the two stories above weren’t enough to convince that haunted dolls are not great items to own, you can purchase one of your very own! First up is the Haunted Dolls Paranormal Research Group. The group, based out of England, says that they “offer free help and advice to people worried about unexplained activity in their home or workplace.” On top of this, the group offers the chance for you to own a piece of their paranormal collection. Here is one of the dolls that they have available for sale at the moment:

Spirited Doll Julia

From the website:

Very active lady, In her 40's. Fond of classical music and singing. Very laid back. Would suit a variety of homes as is very adaptable and friendly.

Julia could be yours for the low, low price of £55.00. If you’re in the market for a wider variety of paranormal dolls, AJ’s Haunted Doll Shop is your destination. Everything from haunted clown dolls to spirit children can be yours, for a reasonable price of course. It’s a bit of an understatement to say that I’m skeptical of these items and their validity. Of course, if I ever have the disposable income I’ll certainly try to pick one of these up.

Haunted dolls, while being super creepy and keeping me up at night, exist in that fringe part of the paranormal for me. I’m not entirely sure what to make of these stories. With Robert the Doll it would be easy to explain that as a combination of a child with an overactive imagination and an obsessive / anti-social personality disorder. Of course, I never meet Gene so all I can do is go based off of the accounts of his actions in childhood and later in adulthood.

Annabelle on the other hand is a bit of a different beast. If we assume that Donna, Angie, and Lou are telling the truth about the activity which they experienced, it’s a lot harder to chalk up handwritten messages as being indicative of an “overactive imagination”.  

At the end of the day all I can do is keep an open-mind about these kinds of stories. Haunted dolls will probably always creep me out. Yet they also fascinate me. Who knows? Maybe one of these days I’ll break down and buy one of my very own.

The Bigfoot Hunter: Still Searching - review

Paranormal documentaries are just about a dime a dozen in todays world and finding a good one can be quite difficult. Luckily I had the opportunity recently to check out an early screening of the excellent film The Bigfoot Hunter: Still Searching. The documentary tells the story of Timothy Holmes founder of Southern Tier Bigfoot Watch and the Who Forted? Gang, in an earlier incarnation known as GHI or Ghost Hunters Incorporated, who joined him in the woods of southern New York in order to hunt the elusive cryptid.

Official movie poster

When the group first meets Mr. Holmes they are more than a little skeptical of him. Its pretty funny the first time one of them sees that Holmes is carrying a gun, and seems genuinely frightened of this prospect. But to Holmes, the gun is a safety measure to protect you from an angry Bigfoot. Also early on the viewer is introduced to Holmes's sometimes partner Becky Sawer of Searching for Bigfoot, who joins GHI and Holmes as they head up to the area known as Connecticut Hill.

It's at this area that Sawer and Holmes have had the majority of their Bigfoot encounters, so much so that Holmes believes the area is a paranormal hot spot. The Who Forted? gang spend quite sometime with Holmes and Sawer but ultimately end up empty handed in the evidence department. But that's not really what this movie is about.

Holmes is clearly the main subject of this film and as well he should be, he is a very entertaining individual. And often in the paranormal field, the personalities that are in it are just as, if not more so, fascinating than the mysteries themselves. The film is ultimately about one man's never ending quest to find the elusive Bigfoot, whether or not the evidence is out there to be found; Timothy Holmes will always be “Still Searching”

I can't recommend this film enough, it's so rare to find a documentary in the paranormal field that isn't either trying to debunk the subject entirely or worse looking for evidence under every rock and tree. The film strikes a happy balance between the two. Below is the official trailer for the film.

For more information about the documentary, such as release date and where to see it, please check out the Who Forted? Website. You can also follow them over at the Twitter.

Weekend Recommendations

Good evening dear readers. If you are anything at all like me, then you enjoy watching documentaries about Fortean topics. With this in mind I wanted to recommend two very fascinating and entertaining films for you to check out this weekend(or when you can get a chance to).

First up is Bob Wilkinson's Shades of Gray, below is the trailer.

The film tells the story of Gray Barker, an early Ufologist that is perhaps most famous for his involvement in the Albert K Bender saga and for his work on the Mothman sightings in West Virginia. The film is a fascinating look at his life both inside and outside of the Ufological field. Featured in the film are those that knew Barker; Jim Moseley, Jerome Clark, and Stan Friedman (among others).  They story is sad and also enlightening, especially if like me you enjoy learning more about the early days of Ufology. The movie is available for rent through Netflix or Blockbuster. Follow this link to head to the documentaries website.  Really I can't recommend this film highly enough. Also to hear an interview with the film maker, check out this episode of the Paracast.

Speaking of the Mothman events in West Virginia the next film I would recommend you checking out, is Eyes of the Mothman. The trailer is below.

 

This film takes the reader on a whirlwind ride through the events leading up to and surrounding the Mothman sightings that occurred in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in the late 1960's. The film makers actually spend a lot of time in the town talking to townsfolk who were alive during the events about what they remember hearing and seeing. If you know nothing about the Mothman legend, or if you think you know everything, you will still likely learn a thing or two by watching this documentary. I did (I had never heard of the Curse of Chief Cornstalk before as an example). This film is available on Netflix instantly if you have the streaming option. Be sure to check out the website for the film. Also the film makers were interviewed on Tim Binnall's Binnall of America podcast, you can find the episode here.

Well that's all for tonight, until next time remember to keep your eyes to the skies

Working on a 'secret' project tonight

Sorry folks no new post tonight, I am busy working on a Super Secret project with the people over at WhoForted? Speaking of which check out their site. Just to give you an idea of their shenanigans, here is a youtube video of their work.

Meaning of life?

Bill Hicks was an amazingly profound comedian who, like everyone who was really on to something, was taken away at a very young age. I highly recommend that you check out his work. Here he is on the ever elusive 'Meaning of Life'. Also if you happen to have a Netflix account, you can check out an awesome documentary on Bill Hicks called Bill Hicks an American Story.

No post tonight!

Sorry guys and gals, there will be no posting tonight. Had a pretty long day. Ashley and I saw Transformers Dark of the Moon, and all things considered it wasn't a terrible movie. It definitely is a summer movie and a fairly decent one at that. Go see it if you liked the other ones or if you just enjoy watching silly summer action movies. Finally started reading DMT The Spirit Molecule, so expect a review up soon. Speaking of which, look for a review of Ivan T. Sanderson's Invisible Residents as well. That's all for tonight, be sure to check back tomorrow for more!

For those that don't like to read

I'm excited to read the book first, but I was pretty happy that I stumbled upon this earlier tonight. For more information check out the movie's website.

Lazy Sunday take 2

Today was yet another lazy Sunday for your friendly neighborhood Fortean philosopher. I got a late start to the day, waking around 11:30 am, and had to get ready to take Ashley to work. We were able to spend about an hour together before she actually had to to go in, so after stopping at Sonic for some drinks (her a root beer with some vanilla flavor, and me with a Sonic Oreo Blast) we headed to the shopping area where she works. 

Our first stop was to the Best Buy, where I purchased the kick-ass net book that I am still typing on at this moment (First mentioned in this post). We were hoping to find some cases for some of our electronic equipment; above mentioned net book, and Ashley's drawing tablet for her laptop. Unfortunately we had no such luck. The next store we went to is one I can never seem to get away from. Pet Smart. For whatever reason Ashley, and I assume most women as well, seem to be drawn to pet stores. While inside I was witness to some PG-13 actions by two lizards. (see picture below)

It's hard to see but those lizards are totally making out!

After this it was time for Ashley to go to work. When I dropped her I off, I made my way to my regular haunt for these Sunday afternoons where I don't really have anything better to do. Panera Bread. Great place, great food, and for the most part they leave you alone even if you sit all day without actually ordering anything to eat. So for a while I did my usual thing of browsing my favorite sites (check this post for my recommended daily visits). 

I finished with those sites fairly quickly, mostly because (unlike this dumb guy) they post the majority of their stuff Monday through Saturday (you know like smart people). So I moved onto funny YouTube videos. I can't remember what spurred this on exactly, but I would like to share with you the best one of the bunch. It's from the musical comedy group The Lonely Island, here is the video.

Seriously do yourself a favor and check that video out, it's hilarious. Anyway this led me to start searching on ATS (Above Top Secret) for videos. They have a somewhat decent media section and so I was hoping to find something interesting. Or at the very least, entertaining. I was definitely not wrong. What I stumbled upon was a really cool crowd-sourced film called Zenith.

It tells the story of 'Dumb' Jack, a failed neurosurgeon from the year 2040. In this dystopian world all people have been genetically engineered to constantly be in a happy state, but because of this they have become so numb that they now seek out ways to inflict pain. After dropping out of medical school, Jack finds his niche as a drug dealer. Literally selling people old prescription drugs that are no longer made so that they can feel the pain caused by the side effects of the drugs. All of this changes for Jack when he stumbles upon tapes made by his father that warn of an all reaching group called Zenith. Unless this group could be stopped, the world would end up in exactly the state that Jack lives in.

It's an excellent movie and I literally just got finished watching it. The best thing about it is that the producers have given it out for free, as a torrent download. Follow this link here in order to obtain the film for yourself.  I highly recommend you check it out, especially if you enjoy Science Fiction. Well that about raps up my second lazy Sunday, regular posting will resume tomorrow night. Until then enjoy the music video and check out the movie.

Alien Resistance Movement?

Short post tonight Fortean fans. I will be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled posting stuffs. In the meantime please show your support for Beyond Best Evidence giving what you can. Also I will leave this here for your enjoyment.

Alien Resistance Movement

Words can't begin to describe this group. Just do yourself a favor and check it out. OK well until next time this is your friendly neighborhood Fortean Philosopher saying, do your part to help fund the greatest UFO movie ever!

Put your money where your mouth is! I did.

It is likely painfully clear to any regular reader of Forteania, that I am not the world's biggest fan of so called, with no apparent sense of irony, 'mainstream' Ufology. I mean one only has to look at literally any of the posts I have made on this blog to figure that much out. Along those lines I am constantly on the lookout for anything that can offer a sliver of hope for the quagmire that is Ufology. As I have pointed out ad nauseum, we need to move past the "UFOs=aliens" paradigm we have been saddled with for the past 60 plus years.

With all of this in mind, I was extremely happy to hear that Paul Kimball was working with Tim Binnall in order to produce a 'sequel' to his amazing Best Evidence documentary which, as I have pointed out a number of times on Twitter, is one of the best UFO documentaries that I have ever seen. Best Evidence, which Paul Kimball has put up for free on Vimeo (find it here, seriously watch it then come back and finish this post), is an excellent film that through ten amazing UFO cases does a superb job of demonstrating that there is, in fact, an objective (hah that's not a loaded word) reality to the UFO phenomena.

Once we understand that there is a reality to the UFO subject, which probably most of you reading this have come to that conclusion already, where do we take it from there? The main answer for years has been the ETH, which contrary to what I may sometime indicate on this blog, is a valid hypothesis. But it is not the only one, and this is the problem that the newest project that Kimball and Binnall are working on seeks to solve. In Beyond Best Evidence, they seek to give the viewer all of the different options for what is behind the UFO enigma. ETs? Yep they are gonna be in the film with the respective ETH guys, like Kevin Randle and Stan Friedman. Ultraterrestrials/Interdimensionals? You bet. Hell even the Cryptoterrestrials will make an appearance.

Essentially the hope is that this documentary will allow you the viewer, to understand that the UFO problem is far more complicated (in an exciting way) than just alien visitor's from Zeta Reticuli. So what can you do, oh loyal readers of Forteania? I'm glad that you asked. As it stands Paul Kimball and Tim Binnall are trying to raised $25,000 in order to help fund this project. As of this posting they have only reached $1580, but you can help. If you, like me, are ready to make a change for the positive in Ufology or just to get people to be more open to a myriad of possibilities, please support this cause in anyway you can. Unfortunately the fund-raising part only has 3 days left at this moment, but I think we could do it if we all pitch in.

So like the title says, I put my money where my mouth is will you? If so head to the Indie GoGo page for the film to donate whatever you can! For more information on the project from the gentleman running it, check out the latest Binnall of America podcast up now to learn more about this film. And after that seriously go watch Best Evidence. Hopefully together we can make this documentary a reality, sooner rather than later. Well that's all I have for now, check back later for more Fortean shenanigans.

Short posts coming throughout the night

I have my first test in my Religion class on Monday. As such I have to do some studying this weekend. So tonight and tomorrow will have some short posts throughout the day and nights. The first one tonight is about Eyes of the Mothman. I mentioned on Twitter how  I finally got a chance to check it out. Heres the Trailer.

I highly recommend that you check out this movie. Its a great introduction to the Mothman mythos that John Keel and Gray Barker had made famous in the 60's. Even if you think you know all about the Mothman events of Point Pleasant, the movie does a great job of introducing you to some really cool facts. Definitely recommend you check it out. Also as I mentioned on Twitter, you can find an interview that Tim Binnall did with the producers of the film here. Well that's all for now, I should be back a little later with more Fortean goodness. Until then check this film out and enjoy yourselves.

News, a Review (may contain spoilers of the movie), and some Fortean stuff

Allrighty here we are at day 6 of my almost daily blogging (damn you Blogger maintenance issues). I’m back with another review and some news. Although I have only been writing for Binnall’s website with my ‘Fortean Ramblings’ column for just over two months  and seriously blogging for the past week, upon the encouragement of my girlfriend I decided to send some of my samples to a UFO magazine in the hopes of possibly getting published. I’m not holding my breath but who knows maybe they will end up liking my stuff and let me occasionally write an article or two for them. Obviously I won’t name who the magazine is until I have heard from them which will hopefully be soon.

OK now that the news is over we can get into the review. Earlier today my girlfriend and I went to go, as I call it, lolly gagging all over town. (Check my earlier tweets for photos) But basically we went to the mall and just generally wasted gas that we didn’t really have. Towards the middle of the afternoon we decided to go see what movies were playing. When we arrived we were a little surprised to see that the movie Insidious was still being shown. We had wanted to see that movie so we picked it, and at matinee prices we only had to slightly go into debt to do so. (Warning the below may contain spoilers)

Insidious is a horror/thriller movie by the guys who made Saw/Paranormal Activity. It is genuinely good movie that has some decent bits of ‘jumpyness’ which is definitely something that I look for in a scary movie. The movie tells the story of a boy who has slipped into a coma and of the paranormal happenings that are going on around him at the same time. Through the course of the movie it is revealed that the child isn’t actually in a coma but has used astral projection and simply lost his way back. Because of this the family experiences ghosts/entities that are attempting to cross over to our realm by possessing the child’s body. I won’t ruin the ending but suffice it to say the movie is really decent. If you can I suggest going to see it in the theaters, but if not getting in on DVD (or using Netflix because this is 2011 after all) simply turn off the lights and prepared to be scared.

Seeing this movie today reminded me of my childhood fascination with astral projection. Astral projection is the theory that practitioners are able to through some means leave their bodies in spiritual form. Through this they are able to travel to different dimensions and other realms. Ostensibly of course I suppose they could go forward or backwards into time. As a child I had read about this ability and longed to be able to do it. Unfortunately if the ability is real I apparently don’t have it, because no matter how long I tried some of the exercises I was never able to leave my body. A closely related phenomenon is known as OBE or out of body experience, however most ‘psychics’ seem to believe that OBE’s tend to be involuntary whereas Astral Projection is taken to be a voluntary action. As with most of the Fortean topics that I have discussed and will discuss in the future, this seems to be one that I won’t be able to experience firsthand. Well that’s all for now (possibly a post may come a little later) so until next time this is Tony, your friendly Fortean Philosopher, saying have a good one.

PS If anyone reading this has had any experience with astral projection or with OBE’s please email me and let me know. I would love to hear your stories.