Now That's What I Call Haunted by Dead Good Publishing Ltd

03 EDITORIAL 04 ANNABELLE THE CURSED DOLL 06

THE TRUTH ABOUT CURSES

10 COUNTESS BATHORY 12 THE PALMER TRAIN WRECK 17 PARIS UNDERGROUND 21 EASTERHOUSE 26

SIR TERRY PRATCHETT

THE TRUTH ABOUT POLTERGEISTS

YOU AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG

THE HARRISVILLE HAUNTING

INTERVIEW WITH GUY LYON PLAYFAIR

HIGHWAY TO HELL

3 GIRLS IN THE DARK

50 JOHN CARPENTER’S LOST THEMES

THOMAS EDISON AND THE GHOST MACHINE

THE OUIJA BOARD

Now That’s What I Call HAUNTED

Happy Happy New New Year… Year… Happy Happy New New Scare… Scare… DON’T FEAR THE REAPER!! So, 2016 has been and gone and boy wasn’t the Grim Reaper busy? Never has the Reality TV Show ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get me out of here” rang so true. But with every passing comes a new beginning and as Mr G.Reaper bagged his last notch on his scythe with Old Father Time v2016 along comes bouncing new Baby Time v2017 and with it a new year for Haunted Magazine, ahem sorry I meant to say award winning Haunted Magazine, that’s right you heard it correctly, the WE WON AN AWARD, best paranormal magazine of that say To ntion. Conve UK rce Parafo the year 2016 at d we were chuffed would be an understatement. It cappe by for voted was it as off an amazing year for us, and members of the public it means that much more to us. a Here at Haunted Magazine HQ we always see us ing, chang ever zine, ‘Work in Progress’ kind of maga ever evolving, ever the need for improvement. Every time we publish an issue, with days we are like “ooh it’s good, but I wish we’d done that, and I wish we’d done this”, it’s the way we are, I guess we are like the Paranormal, no rule book and certainly not afraid to be different from one day to the next. bull Last year Issue 16 of HM broke more records than a oads downl / online reads 0 100,00 in HMV, it had over and the support and love for it now comes from people who a) aren’t members of our family and b) names that we haven’t made up, only joking Carmichael Spatchcock is a real person. It’s all haunted hands to the pump and paranormally onwards and upwards here and 2017 is going to be a massive year for Haunted Magazine as we are going to be available in both digital on and print formats from Issue 17, every issue available your of palm the in and s, your kindles, laptops, iphone paranormal loving hands. Issue 17 is taking shape, it’s sort of a paranormal perpendicular parallelogram at the moment but we are getting there, in the meantime we’ve gone all Paul Daniels on you (another one of the Reaper’s 2016 victims by the way) and conjured up this Haunted Magazine special, think of it as Issue 16 and three quarters or Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed or Something for You and as Mr. Daniels liked to say…. “you’re gonna like this, not a lot, but you’ll like it” Bring on 2017, we can’t wait to entertain you……= Paul Editor-in-Chief

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Annabelle T H E

C U R S E D

D O L L

By Von Callaghan In 1970, a student nurse named Donna was given an antique Raggedy Ann doll as a birthday gift from her mother. At that time Donna was living in a small apartment which she shared with fellow student Angie. Donna placed the doll on her bed without a second thought until a few days later when she and Angie noticed that there appeared to be something very strange about the doll; it seemed to be moving on its own. At first the movements were subtle, such as a change in her sitting position. As days went by she seemed to become fully mobile. Donna and Angie would return home to find Annabelle in a totally different room from where they had left her, and in different positions. Several times upon leaving for work Donna placed the doll on the sofa, only to return home to find it back on her bed with the door closed. 04

Lou was a friend to both Donna and Angie, and had never liked the doll. On several occasions Lou warned Donna that it was evil and advised on getting rid of it, but Donna refused as she had become emotionally attached to Annabelle. It was from this point that things became sinister. They started to find messages that were written in pencil on parchment paper. The messages read ‘Help Us or ‘Help Lou. The strangest thing about this was that there was no parchment paper kept in the apartment. The events escalated, and one night Donna returned home to find Annabelle in her bed with what seemed to be blood on her hands and chest. It was at this point that Donna agreed that they needed help, and so they called in a medium and they held a séance. The medium related the story of Annabelle to them. Apparently, Annabelle was a 7 year old girl who was named Annabelle Higgins, whom was found dead on the field upon which the apartment block had been built.

Her spirit had remained on site, and when the doll was brought into the apartment she latched onto it. Reportedly Annabelle liked both Donna and Angie and just wanted to stay safe with them. Feeling compassionate, Donna allowed Annabelle to stay with them while inhabiting the doll. This was the worst decision she could’ve made. Lou had been having reoccurring nightmares, and one night he reported to have woken up in total panic. This time it somehow felt different. It was as though he was awake but unable to move. Looking down towards his feet he saw Annabelle. She slowly began to move up his leg to his chest and then stopped. Within seconds the doll had her hands around his throat and was choking him. Lou was gasping for breath, and at the point of asphyxiation he blacked out. Upon waking the next morning Lou was convinced it was not a dream and feared for Donna and Angie. The next day Angie and Lou (who were home alone) were

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reading maps in preparation for a road trip when they heard someone moving around in Donnas room. Thinking that they had an intruder Lou went into Donnas room to find that the only thing out of place was Annabelle who was sitting in the corner of the room. As Lou approached the doll he got the distinct impression that someone was behind him, turning around he saw that no one was there. He felt a sudden pain in his chest and doubled over clutching it, his shirt was covered with blood. He opened his shirt to see what looked like seven distinct claw marks, three vertical and four horizontal, but all of which felt like burns. The claw marks began healing almost immediately and were totally gone within 2 days. Donna now acknowledged that the spirit in the apartment could not be that of a young girl but something inhuman. They sought expert advice from an Episcopal priest named

Father Hegan, who in turn contacted a higher authority within the church, Father Cooke, who immediately contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are experts on the subject of demonology. After hearing all about the doll and events surrounding it, the Warrens came to the conclusion that it was a demon that was attached to the doll. Spirits cannot possess inanimate objects but only people. An inhuman spirit/ demon can attach itself to a place or object which is what had happened in this case. The demonic spirit used the doll in order to give the impression that the doll was alive when in fact it was looking for a human host in which to possess. If help had not been sought at this time within 2 or 3 weeks the demonic spirit would have possessed one of them and maybe harmed or killed them all. Father Cooke performed an exorcism on the apartment in order to cleanse it. The Warrens then took the doll back home with them. Ed placed the doll on the back seat and agreed that he would not take the interstate in case the inhuman spirit still resided within the doll. It turned out to be a wise decision to make, because upon their drive home the car stalled several times, there were problems with the brakes and the power steering. In order to stop this from happening Ed reached into his bag, produced a vial of holy water and doused the doll making the sign of the cross over it. They arrived home safely without any further incident.

When they got home Ed placed Annabelle on a chair next to his desk, the doll levitated a few times and then fell still. However during the following weeks it began to show up in different rooms of the house, the cycle had begun again. Having locked the doll up in the outer office building they went out and upon their return they found the doll sitting in Ed’s chair. The Warrens called in a catholic priest, Father Jason Bradford, to perform an exorcism upon the doll. The priest didn’t take things seriously; he picked the doll up, said You re just a rag doll Annabelle, you can t hurt anyone and threw her back on the chair. Ed told him that he shouldn’t have done that and upon leaving Lorraine told him to drive careful and to call her when he returned home. A few hours later Father Jason rang to report that he had been involved in a near fatal accident that had destroyed his car, fortunately he had survived. The Warrens had a glass case made for Annabelle and placed her in their occult museum, where visitors can view her to this day. If you

should visit her, please be careful not to mock or laugh at her, or there could be tragic circumstances to follow, such was that of a young man and his girlfriend. On their visit after hearing about Annabelle the young man went up to the case, began banging on it and saying that if the doll could put scratches on people then to scratch him. He was told to leave immediately. On the way home, he and his girlfriend were laughing about the doll when he lost control of his motorbike and went head on into a tree. The young man died instantly but the girlfriend survived, and was hospitalised for over a year.

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It would seem that whatever inhuman spirit had inhabited Annabelle is still there waiting for such a time that she can be free and again cause havoc on some other innocent victims. 05

THE TRUTH ABOUT

CURSES FROM A REAL-LIFE EXORCIST “Father Graham is an Anglican priest who has experience working in different countries and in different sectors of ministry as well as being a parish priest. I met Father Graham filming for a TV programme and found his insight into the world of spirit to be fascinating.” Andy

The Haunted Guy

In both the Roman Catholic often sensational and prone to church and in Anglicanism publicity or even in some very rare cases, interest comes in (of which the Church of England is part), it is a malevolent form from Satanists normal for every diocese to etc., you will find it hard to find out have at least one exorcist. who the bishop’s exorcists are in an The chief exorcist in a diocese is the diocesan bishop and he will usually appoint a priest or priests to act on his behalf for matters of deliverance and exorcism. Any individual seeking help with respect to this healing ministry of the church, would normally contact the office of the diocesan bishop asking to be referred. The main role of the bishop’s minister(s) of deliverance is to determine whether the problem is psychological, imaginary or (in rare cases) one of demonic possession or some other malevolent influence. In view of the fact that interest in these matters in the secular world is

area. This is a ministry that is not so much secret but rather discreet for all concerned. The editor of this magazine, in an interview with Fr Graham, who he met on location at a recent filming for the show, posed a number of questions.

What is a curse? A curse is a way of harming someone else by means of demonic intervention and can cause an innocent person to be attacked by demons. How common are curses? This is difficult to ascertain because many people do not realise that they are living under a curse.

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Where do curses predominantly originate from and what objects are used for curses? This can come in different forms and from different places e.g. black magic, curses, spells etc. The first form, black magic can include specifically Satanic forces and/or witchcraft. It often involves ritual and prayers that call upon Satan and so the person doing this frequently becomes a slave to Satan themselves through a deliberateact. Curses also call evil upon someone; ironically the most frequent example of this is within a family e.g. a parent or grandparent invoking a curse on a marriage of which they do not approve of one of their children. This curse can be carried on from generation to generation and no doubt has happened to people we know. Spells are very common too: usually taking some physical form. An example

“One of the most cursed and dangerous things to do is become involved in any way with an Ouija board or fortune telling objects such as tarot cards - they might seem innocent but they are gateways for the Devil.” - Father Graham

would be a poison or adding some unpleasant object to someone’s food or drink. Again though, the entry point of the evil is the ritual invoking the devil: this creates a soul tie with evil and Satan himself. Sometimes dolls are used as in voodoo and the object becomes a sort of proxy for the individual upon whom is cast the spell. Again this is evil. Sometimes these objects are maliciously hidden in people’s houses e.g. in pillows or sofas etc. or elsewhere. Often people innocently buy such objects when travelling abroad and bring them into their houses. Small statuettes or evil eyes or really any other “foreign” object can be used for the purpose of casting spells.

(for example) EBay that could potentially have been cursed?

Are cursed objects generally purchased from travelling or are there instances of objects purchased through

What is the worst experience you have had in relation to a curse and how difficult was it for you to overcome it?

I think generally it is from travelling overseas - I have not come across other things although it does happen from time to time. One of the most cursed and dangerous things to do is become involved in any way with an Ouija board or fortune telling objects such as tarot cards - they might seem innocent but they are gateways for the Devil. Horoscopes, witchcraft, voodoo - there are hundreds of entry points for evil. These are not fun and they are not harmless. Indeed often they are utterly detestable and dangerous practices.

I was parish priest of a church in Perth, Western Australia a few years ago and there was a highly malevolent spirit of discord in the congregation and a feeling of coldness in the church building regardless of the weather. I called upon a

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priest exorcist in the diocese to come to my church and within minutes he asked me about a rather large and rather ugly aspidistra that was in the Blessed Sacrament chapel between the altar and the aumbry where the reserved

Blessed Sacrament was kept. He asked me why it was there. Having only been there a few months I turned to one of the holy ladies from the congregation who was with me and she said that she wasn’t sure and that it sort of just appeared some time ago without anyone noticing. The priest was in no two minds: the object was cursed and had to be destroyed and removed. This was done, the building was blessed with prayers and holy water and almost immediately the problem with the malevolent spirit of discord as well as the coldness in the church went. Good always triumphs over evil. How can someone identify if they have a cursed object or are indeed themselves cursed? If things are going wrong in your life and/or in your home and you think there might be a problem get in touch with your parish priest and ask them to come to visit you. I am a great believer in the power of house blessings; that said if matters continue it might well be a good idea later, and via your parish priest, to ask to see a diocesan minister of deliverance. Do you have to believe in curses to be affected by them? This is a very interesting question. “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.” Proverbs 26:2. Self-hatred and selfrejection are common causes. However, if we are affected by a curse then it must be real. A parent telling a child that they “were a mistake” can be a form of curse. If we are strong in our faith then we cannot be affected by a

curse - fear though can let it in. Satan is the father of lies - we must not embrace these lies which often come into us through fear. Are curses only targeted to one individual or anyone that comes into possession of an artefact/cursed object? No. “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” Exodus 20:5f. Sinful patterns can be carried on from one generation to another e.g. sexual abuse, alcoholism, physical abuse etc. We have freedom in Christ and need not be bound by family sin any more. Culture can also have a negative influence on us. Sometimes whole nations can be cursed. Jesus can set us free from all of these things. Are there any steps to prevent curses from taking place and how do you know when a curse has been lifted? People are so often looking for a quick fix - this is a waste of time. Healing and wholeness takes time to complete and can only be done with Christ. Satan is the father of lies - he will come back into the person if at all possible and will do so by deception. The person might be told that their deliverance was not complete and that the Devil is still present - this is a suggestive deception. Remember that the Devil can imitate everything except humility and obedience. Once you are freed you will know it and you will remain free if you do not allow the Devil to re-enter. The meaning of the word Satan is accuser - the Devil will try to make the person feel guilty and tempt

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the individual to dwell too much on their past and on themselves rather than on Jesus Christ. Focus on Jesus. Do not fear - fear reopens wounds. Concentrate on the future and the glory to be revealed - don’t be nostalgic about the past but rather “take the land and occupy it.” So what practical things can we do in our own lives to be free of curses? First, confession and repentance. Second, forgiveness - failure to forgive those who have done wrong to us blocks us from being forgiven. Renunciation of evil. Attending church and receiving the Eucharist/Holy Communion frequently. Praying - especially the Lord’s Prayer. Pray constantly as St Paul says. However, there is no more powerful prayer than the Lord’s Prayer. Bible reading. Asking for the Holy Spirit to be open in our hearts and to give us inspiration. Living in the Holy Spirit and inviting Jesus to be in our lives and to be our personal Saviour.The most powerful form of spiritual armour is to pray to be covered in the precious blood of Jesus. Pray that this might happen. Mary, mother of Jesus, must be in our lives too - the Devil and demons hate Mary but her prayers are a strong defence and protection for us. Also don’t forget the angels and saints - St Benedict is the Patron Saint of Exorcists. In short, holy living and living in the Holy Spirit as well as avoiding the common entry points for the Devil into our lives, are ways of securing a peaceful life free of curses and all other evil. Good always triumphs over evil as long as you to believe and live this. We have the free will to decide.

IN-BREEDING, TORTURE, BATHING IN BLOOD, MUTILATION

By Von Callaghan

ountess Elizabeth Bathory, (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian) was born on her family estate Esced Castle on 7th August 1560, a time when Hungary saw many battles between the Ottoman Empire and Habsburg Austria for control of the region.

er parents were both Bathorys by birth. Her father was George Bathory of the Ecsed branch of the family. His brother was the brother of Andrew Bonaventura Bathory, Prince of Transylvania. Her mother was Anna Bathory, daughter of Stephen Bathory of Somlyo, (another prince of Transylvania of the somlyo branch), also cousin of the Hungarian noble Stefan Bathory, King of Poland and duke of Transylvania. Such inbreeding was not uncommon in the aristocracy

of 16th century Europe, as the purity of the bloodline was seen as paramount. In fact the Spanish branch of the Habsburg Royal family inbred themselves out of existence. Besides the usual problems that can occur with inbreeding, some extraordinary difficulties arose. Having hideous psychosis, the notorious and sadistic Elizabeth was the most prominent of them all. As a child, she suffered seizures accompanied by intense rage, and uncontrollable behaviour.

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It has been suggested that she may have been insane since early childhood. As a young woman Elizabeth was promiscuous and got pregnant at the age of fourteen, by her peasant lover, and was segregated to avoid scandal. A daughter was born and given to a peasant foster family. At the age of fifteen she married Count Ferencz Nadasay. Ferencz, being great and established warrior, he was often away from home. It was a politically arranged marriage in which Ferencz

took Elizabeth’s’ surname, thus giving her a full title of Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasday. They had five children, two of which died in infancy. Elizabeth became lady of the castle of Cachtice in Slovakia. It was a joining of two political families with strains of madness running through them, and both were also renowned for their sadistic behaviour. With her husband away at war, it was up to Elizabeth to manage the business and affairs of the estate. It was here that her career of true evil began, with

the disciplining of household staff, in particularly the young girls. Although the cruelty bestowed was due to her own nature, her husband is said to have shown her some of his own ways of punishing servants. One time after punishment, the blood of a servant girl landed on Elizabeth’s hand, and when she removed the blood her skin seemed younger and more beautiful than before. This led to the legend that she bathed in blood. Comparisons were made between herself and ‘Vlad the Impaler’, on whom Bram

Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ was based. Elizabeth became known as either the Blood Countess, or Countess Dracula. They both had a thirst for blood, and both lived in Transylvania. Elizabeth became obsessed with the idea of blood giving her eternal beauty and it gave her the perfect excuse to vent her sadistic streak on local teenage and peasant women. She was known to torture her victims before bathing in their blood. Her instruments of torture included knives, pincers,

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needles, razors and red hot pokers. The atrocities described consistently were severe beatings, burning or mutilation of hands, biting flesh off faces, arms and other body parts. She would stick pins into sensitive body parts such as under the finger nails. In winter she would have them stripped and led out into the snow and doused with water until frozen. Bathory’s husband taught his wife new varieties of punishment. For example a summertime version of the freezing method by having a

woman stripped, covered in honey and left outside to be bitten by numerous insects. She is reputed to have ordered the construction of an iron cage called the “Iron Virgin”. It was shaped like a woman and fitted with blades similar to that of the Iron Maiden. The countess is believed to be responsible for over six hundred deaths of young women aided in her crimes by servants, in particular Dorka Scentes, Iloona Joo, Johannes Ujuviary, Anna Darvulai and Damien Thorka. Her initial victims are said to be that of adolescent daughters of local peasants who were lured

bathory bore Witness to executions, including one where a gypsy, convicted of selling his children was sewn up into the belly of a horse and left to die with the animal.

to the castle by offers of well paid work as maid servants. Later these extended to daughters of lesser-gentry who were sent to her by their parents to learn courtly etiquette. After her husband’s death (an illness sustained during battle in 1604) she continued with the torture. Elizabeth moved to their castle in Vienna where she had more of a social life, but would also return at times to her castle in Hungary where she had more privacy to carry out her torture sessions. Reports of these atrocities soon spread and were publicly complained about by a minister by the name of Istvan Magyari. The Hungarian authorities took their time to respond but finally in 1610 King Matthias II of Hungary sent a party of men to Castle Csejthe to investigate. The men had to be careful as the beautiful mistress was of royal blood and well

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connected. Her husband had been a warrior count now known as the Black Hero for his bravery in battle against the Turks. She was also related to princes, kings, bishops and cardinals. Elizabeth was also cousin to the Prime Minister Thurzoa, who was a member of the very party that approached her castle that night with such stealth and trepidation. If rumours proved to be unfounded she would become a dangerous political enemy. The men had to be careful as the beautiful mistress was of royal blood and well connected. Her husband had been a warrior count now known as the Black Hero for his bravery in battle against the Turks. She was also related to princes, kings, bishops and cardinals. Elizabeth was also cousin to the Prime Minister Thurzoa, who was a member of the very party that approached her castle that night with such stealth and trepidation. If rumours

proved to be unfounded she would become a dangerous political enemy. Rumours proved to be true… As Elizabeth waited for a trial, officials searched her castle for evidence. Bones, other human remains, clothing and personal effects of missing girls were found. The men came upon the dead bodies of young girls seemingly everywhere they looked. Many had no arms or eyes. One blackened body was found in the fireplace not fully burned. Bodies of some of the girls were found pale as if drained of blood, either lying on the floor or chained to a post. They showed signs of having been beaten, whipped, stabbed or burnt. It was clear that whatever had happened to them was related to some kind of blood ceremony. All around the castle they could smell the foul odour of decomposition. The trial took place in January of 1611. Twenty one judges resided over the proceedings. Although Bathory did not appear at the trial in person, her accomplices’ did, and were found guilty, three of whom were condemned to death, and the sentence was to be carried out immediately. Numerous witnesses were called including families of girls who had gone missing and victims who had survived. The principal testimony against Elizabeth was offered by her servants and people who had assisted her in her torture. Among those was Elizabeth’s childhood nurse who admitted to killing about fifty girls, and that she had applied red hot pokers from the fire, shoving them into the mouth, or up their noses. The mistress herself, she testified, had placed her fingers into the mouth of one girl and pulled so hard that the sides split open. She had also stabbed them all over with needles, making them bleed or had torn open their flesh with sharp pincers.

the countess Craved knowledge and meanings for words such as buggery which required not only a definition, but a display of the term.

Testimonies also revealed that she had kidnapped girls, chained them to the wall and fattened them up as the countess believed this would increase the amount of blood in their bodies. They were also forced into deviant sexual acts with her. If they reacted with displeasure they received torture or possibly death. Elizabeth claimed that she was innocent of all charges, saying that the peasant girls died of many different things ranging from contagious diseases to blood poisoning, and that she should not be held responsible for whims of nature. Even during an age where torture was commonplace, the judges were appalled by the accounts they heard, especially by those survivors who recounted their stories. Although a register containing the names and details of several hundred females written in Elizabeth’s writing was produced as evidence, the deaths could not be proven. Final charges were made based upon

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the eighty skeletons and other body parts as well as eyewitness reports. The judges had to be careful when considering her fate, because for an execution to take place it would mean obtaining a special document to strip her of her royal title. The pressure was on to keep her fortune in the family so in the end Elizabeth Bathory was imprisoned for life within her own castle. She was confined to a small set of rooms, walled up except for tiny slits through which to allow food and air. She remained incarcerated for three and a half years until her death in 1614. Elizabeth was buried in the church of Csejte, but later exhumed due to public outcry to her birthplace at Ecsed, where she was interred in the Bathory crypt. Whether she either consumed or bathed in the blood of her victims, Countess Elizabeth Bathory remains to be one of the extremely rare females throughout history who have displayed vampiric, or cannibalistic appetites. 13

THE PALMER

TRAIN WRECK B Y T A M MIL A K. WRIGHT

“I

was on the treadmill working out at the brand new gym in my small town. Our little town has come so far, a state-of-art gym! I was humming to a tune when I noticed a woman out of the corner of my eye, just standing there. When I looked at her fully, I was surprised because she was dressed as a Victorian young woman light coloured blouse with a slight poof on the upper sleeve, hair up with a small hat, long skirt. She looked at me with such sad eyes. The woman went to each window looking out like she was searching for something. I looked around at the other people working out but they didn’t seem to notice the woman. How could they not see her? The woman returned from the windows and started scrutinizing each person’s face in the room. Who was she looking for? She gave me one last glance, returned to looking out the windows and started fading to the point I couldn’t see her anymore.” This was a story a teacher told me during a break at a presentation we were giving to a High School class on Paranormal Investigating. She went on to say that she heard there had been a train wreck over by Palmer Lake back in the late 1800’s and wondered if the woman was from the wreck? As soon as possible, I dove into researching the wreck. Was the

woman a passenger on the ill-fated train? If the entity was from the wreck, why was she showing up 10 Km from Palmer Lake, the wreck site? No women worked on the trains at the time of the steam trains, our pioneer days, right? It didn’t take me very long to find newspaper articles surrounding the wreck. On, July 17, 1895 at 11:00am, a freight steam train with 20 cars heading southbound, started crossing a large trestle or wood bridge in Monument, (not Palmer Lake which is located only 3/4 Km from the gym where the entity was seen). The bridge was 91.5M long by 15.2M high and a crew had been repairing the wood. The 90,000 Kg engine made the crossing but the timbers started giving away and the freight cars started plunging into the ravine pulling the rest of the train with it. Mrs Anna Cooper, wife of the engineer in charge of the repair work on the bridge, had brought her husband lunch and was sitting nearby watching the workers. As the train started falling, a Mr Jim Childers, foreman of the bridge gang, tried to jump and save Mrs Cooper. They both were buried under the falling engine. Mr Albert Cooper stayed at the wreck for 3 days till his wife’s body was removed. The wreckage was over 9M high, leaving six dead and 15 injured.

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Some from the deadly steam of the engine which basically boiled them as it was released. I had found the identity of the Victorian woman but were any of the other dead haunting around the area too? One of my team members, JB, works for a property management company and they were having a heck of a time renting a particular house. Potential renters would view the home and immediately leave saying, “it’s nice but I just don’t feel right in there”. Guess what? The home was located in Monument! My husband, JB, and I, went there with just a few pieces of paranormal equipment; K2 s, flashlights, an App that receives varied frequencies and converts it to audio words. We had no problem contacting an entity with the name of Thomas down in the basement workshop. I asked him if he was part of the train wreck that occurred in 1898. He corrected me by replying, “five”. Oops, he was right. The wreck happened in 189”five” not 1898! He went on to tell us he worked for the railroad, Spanish, his mom’s name is Maria, and I happened to look like her. I went on to explain that it would be appreciated if he would allow a few people to share the home but only if he liked them. The home was rented the following week with no further problems. Now

Tammila K. Wright has been a paranormal investigator for 26 years and producer of Para-historical documentary series called “Walking History”.

understand, this house is located 6.44Km from the wreck site, built in the 1970’s. Upon further research of the names of the dead and injured, I found two with the first name of “Thomas” but neither sounded Spanish. A group of seven workmen, known as tramps, had boarded the empty freight cars in Denver to hookup for work further south. One of these seven died in the crash, wasn’t ever identified and buried by the coroner as “unknown”. On the 116th anniversary of the wreck, I located the exact location of the original bridge. It was easy to imagine the same beautiful vivid Colorado day, just like this one, but what was harder was envisioning the tangled mountain of metal that required 150 men and days to remove. Now, the bridge is replaced with built up earth but the drop off is heart wrenching. I surveyed the surrounding area. The gym is located directly across from the wreck site. “Why go to the gym, Mrs Cooper?” I was thinking. So, many questions. Just as I turned to leave, a modern train, on the new track, about a block away, whistled at me and kept on moving.

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Written by A. D. Callaghan It is important to note that this article is not just about the Catacombs of Paris, but the underground network of tunnels as a whole. The subterranean landscape below Paris was created by intensive mining, and although many people refer to these tunnels as the Catacombs, they only take up 1.7km of the 280km of the mines that run beneath the city. The name ‘Catacombs’ was given in reference to the Catacombs of Rome, which was originally the name of an ancient graveyard not far from the old Roman Road in Italy, the Appian Way. The Romans were the first to quarry limestone from the area in 60 BC, but these quarries were of the open-air variety. Later in France’s history, King Philip II became the advocate of tunnelling underground for the necessary raw materials to build fortifications to protect his seat of power. It was under Philip’s rule that the mines as we know them today came into being. The Romans were the first to quarry limestone from the area in 60 BC, but these quarries were of the open-air variety. Later in France’s history, King Philip II became the advocate of tunnelling underground for the necessary raw materials to build fortifications to protect his seat of power. It was under Philip’s rule

that the mines as we know them today came into being around Paris’ churches. By the 10th century, many parish cemeteries were located well within the city limits, and due to increased urbanisation the Parisian Council were unable to expand their cemeteries, and they soon became overcrowded as a result. To remedy this predicament, mass burial grounds were opened in the 12th century for the poor to be buried in. These ‘chariers’ rose ten feet above the ground in order to accommodate the over-abundance of corpses. The technique of mass burial was an innovation of the St. Opportune church near Paris’ central Les Halles district, whose cemetery consisted of over thirty generations of Parisian dead.

Eventually Paris’ other churches adopted the technique of mass inhumation, but before long problems arose, and another solution had to be sort out. By the 17th century, the sanitary conditions around the Saints Innocents church had become intolerable, due to the clergy continuing to bury the dead even when the graveyards were overcrowded, and in most cases overflowing. For the people who lived close to these cemeteries, the smell of the rotting corpses became unbearable. The problem was exacerbated when several of the chariers broke, spilling the decaying corpses onto nearby roads. Also, the decaying process of the dead created a residue which entered directly into the earth, which then began

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On exploring Paris many people have discovered hidden entrances to the city’s underground network, though it is illegal to explore these out-of-bounds areas of the mines unsupervised. to corrupt Paris’s wells, which was at this time the city’s predominant source of water. Soon disease began to spread among the living; Parisians began to drop dead from the contagion spread by their buried compatriots and loved ones. Nearly a century later, and after several ineffective decrees, the Council of State made the decision on 9th November 1785 to unearth the dead from the cemeteries. Coincidentally, the French government had been searching for long abandoned quarries beneath Paris since 1777, and it was Alexandre Lenoir, the Police Lieutenant General overseeing renovations, who developed the idea to use the empty underground pits to fill with the dead. Lenoir’s successor, Thiroux de Crosne, chose a location south of Paris’ Barriere d’Enfer city gate, now today’s Place Denfert-Rochereau, to rebury the dead. The exhumation and transfer of all of Paris’ deceased to the underground sepulture began on 7th April 1786, after the Catacombs had been blessed by priests. It took a further two years to complete this transaction of corpses, and approximately 6 million bodies were transported to their final resting place: The Catacombs of Paris. The transaction itself was eerie. A procession of chanting priests were followed by a parade of black veiled, bone-laden, horse-drawn

carts that continued every night for the two year period. The bones were deposited under the supervision of Charles-Axel Guillaumot, the Inspector General of Quarries. The bones were placed in the Parisian underground and distributed throughout the caverns by hundreds of workers. In their early years, the Catacombs were merely a bone repository, but in 1810 Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, Guillaumot’s successor, oversaw the renovations that would transform the Catacombs into a real and accessible sepulture, similar to any contemporary mausoleum. It was Thury who innovated the Catacombs decor by arranging the bones into patterns and shapes. This caused great curiosity, and the Catacombs have had some very important people visit over the centuries since their incarnation as an ossuary. In 1787, Lord d’Artois, the future King Charles X of France, visited the Catacombs with ladies of his court. In 1815, Austrian Emperor Francois I visited them, and in 1860 Napoleon III, nephew of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, went down into the Catacombs with his son. Also, the Catacombs of Paris has seen warfare, too. During World War II, the French Resistance used the tunnels in their fight against their Nazi oppressors, and back in 1871 the French Communards killed a group

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of French Monarchists in one of the underground chambers during a civil war. On visiting the Catacombs, one first descends a spiral stairwell 19m into the dark and damp. You are met with silence, broken everyso-often by spring water running through the earth. After travelling through a long twisted hallway of plastered stone you find yourself before a sculpture that has been present long before this part of the mines became an ossuary. The sculpture is a model of the Port-Mahon fortress, located on Minorca, and created by a former Quarry Inspector who had fought for France in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1708. After travelling further you will find yourself standing before the stone entrance to the ossuary with the inscription ‘Arrete! C’est ici l’empire de la Mort’ (Stop! Here lies the Empire of Death). Beyond this point begins Thury’s bone arrangements, which are creative and appeasing to the eye, though macabre. Some bones are set in the shape of a heart, and in one particular room of the Catacombs there is a central pillar that has been built only out of bones. It is important to note that there are many rusted iron gates that block passages leading to parts of the underground labyrinth that is strictly off-limits to the public. As mentioned early: only 1.7km of the 200km of the Parisian underground is the Catacombs of Paris; so these iron gates are in place to stop the public from exploring the remaining 198.3km of passages.

On exploring Paris many people have discovered hidden entrances to the city’s underground network, though it is illegal to explore these outof-bounds areas of the mines unsupervised. The knowledge of these entrances was used by Victor Hugo in his ‘Les Misérables’, in which the protagonist Jean Valjean rescues the wounded Marius Pontmercy, and escapes with him through the mines. A wide array of paranormal activity is said to occur regularly in the Catacombs of Paris, ranging from ghost manifestations and spectral light, to orbs, mists of ectoplasm, and shadowy spectres that walk along the corridors. There have been numerous Electronic Voice Phenomenon recordings that are apparently disturbing to listen to, and photographs have been taken that have captured ghostly faces. Visitors to the Catacombs have often reported an ‘eerie’ feeling during their exploration. Some visitors have also had their clothes tugged, or have felt someone touching them down in the ossuary, and some have even passed out from fear after being overwhelmed by the presence of the dead. Tours have actually been cut short due to this, and the growing sense of unease felt by tour groups. Groups of shadows have been reported in various, but specific areas of the Catacombs, and it has been claimed that as the living wander through the network of underground passages, the dead follow in a complete haunting silence. Cold spots have been felt in the Catacombs during tours, and some very unfortunate people have had the horror to be strangled during tours,

whilst others have hysterical breakdowns as a result of their experiences down in the depths of the earth. It is also claimed that ancient cults and bizarre creatures patrol the deepest parts of the mines, and furthermore, if one travels deep enough they will reach the gates of hell. Disturbing the dead is a taboo held by many cultures around the world, and it is often understood that one should leave the dead alone, and many go through great care to perform rituals to see their dead loved ones travel to the afterlife in peace. However, in most if not all cases of living versus the dead, the living takes precedence, and the Catacombs of Paris is the result of this. The disturbance of the dead could be the reason for the overwhelming amount of paranormal activity and presence in the Catacombs, but there is another danger present too. In the restricted sections of subterranean Paris there are perils that are chanced by adrenaline junkies in the city. Passages can be overly narrow, or flooded, whilst others have sheer-drops that go down hundreds of feet, not to mention that the underground is unmapped and consists of many dead ends. There have been many reports of missing individuals, who risked everything by exploring the mines alone, and have never been seen again. The story of a survivor, who escaped miraculously, is one of the eeriest tales. In an off-limits area of the mines a group of enthusiasts ventured down into the network of tunnels. One enthusiast became separated from the group after seeing a flashlight down a tunnel which branched off from the one they were travelling in. She followed the light under the impression

that someone was lost, but no matter how close she seemed to get to the light, it would simply float away around a corner. Soon, she became lost and called out to the rest of the group, but all she could her was the echoes of her own shouts. She continued to follow the light through the tunnels until she realised that she could only hear her own footsteps, and that she could not hear the footsteps of whoever she was pursuing. She ran to catch up with the light, but ended up running into a dead end, in which she made a terrifying discovery. A skeleton was sitting down on the ground wearing ragged clothes which still adorned its figure. However, on closer inspection she noticed that the skeleton was wearing a pair of trainers from the 1990s, and she turned and ran away in a panic. Her torch light began to dim and fail, and she was extremely lucky to escape with her life as she was forced to navigate her way through the maze of shafts to safety. Clearly, Paris’ underground world is horrifying in many aspects. The bones of six million people line the walls of the Catacombs, and their ghosts haunt the mines beneath the City of Light, bringing fear to visitors. In addition; to wander off on your own into the restricted areas will nearly always end in tragedy. Perhaps it’s both of these fear factors that make Paris’ underground so frightening. Paris is literally a city built upon death, and any adrenaline-junkie, who wishes to make their own way through the mines, should proceed with great care, and always consider their safety.

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By MJ Steel Collins To quite a few in the city, Easterhouse is well known for its problematic history. It was one of many new housing estates built to rehouse those being moved from Glasgow’s inner-city slum tenements earmarked for demolition.

away from The Fort shopping centre, sits Provan Hall and Blochairn House, dating from at least the 15th century. Originally, Provan Hall was a fortified country house, with Blochairn House, a single storey house lying adjacent.

By the 1960s, it had a severe gang problem, which prompted the singer Frankie Vaughan to step in and negotiate between rival gang members in an attempt to curb the violence. The area has an unfavourable reputation that precedes it. But if you take the time to scratch beneath the surface, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised to discover the hidden gems of Easterhouse. For instance, not many people in Glasgow seem to know that, tucked away in the corner of Easterhouse’s Auchinlea Park, a few streets

It’s believed that Blochairn House originates from an earlier building. The practice back then was that if a property was damaged, instead of repairing it, the entire building was levelled and a new one built on the same spot, reusing the materials from the older building. Whilst Provan Hall from the start was quite a house of note, Blochairn House had an extra storey added as time went on. Both houses underwent changes befitting the eras down the centuries. These days, Provan Hall has been restored back to what it might

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have been in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, but is run by Glasgow City Council and open to the public. A variety of exhibitions is held there. Architecture buffs might be interested to learn that Provan Hall’s barrel vaulted ceilings on its ground floor were built using techniques dating back to the Romans, and are considered the best of their kind in Scotland. Blochairn House, which was eventually modelled on the style of a Jamaican Plantation House, serves as an administrative building for the Provan Hall site, accommodating an office. Provan Hall is probably the oldest house in Glasgow, predating the ‘official’ oldest house in Glasgow, Provand’s Lordship, by a few years.

The history of these buildings is quite colourful. The land around Provan Hall, known as the prebend of Barlanark, was one of 32 Prebendsowned by Glasgow Cathedral, which were given to Canons of the Cathedral for theirfinancial upkeep. Barlanark was the biggest of the lot, with around 5000 acres of land and Provan Hall as its Manse house. It was also the only prebend not linked to a Parish, and was something of a catch thanks to its excellent hunting and fishing. The lands teemed with all kinds of game, attracting keen hunters from all over. A lot of the income on the land came from this. The appointment of the Barlanark Prebendary had much to do with the kudos of power. The appointee, who only had to work three months of the year for the church, could keep money obtained from the living. Incidentally, the name Provan derives from Prebend. Notable people to hold the Prebendary of Lanark include King James IV of Scotland, who obtained it in 1491. James IV was an enthusiastic hunter, using Provan Hall as his hunting lodge. A highly intelligent man, speaking several languages, and a very effective monarch, James IV was only 15 when he took the throne. His death in the Battle of Flodden threw up quite a few mysteries: as he had been excommunicated from the Church, his body couldn’t be buried in consecrated ground, resulting in something of a mystery as to where he wound up being laid to rest.

His granddaughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, apparently visited Provan Hall on a number of occasions. From James IV, the Prebendary passed down generations of the Bailie family, who rented the land out (though technically they weren’t meant to). Eventually, it ended up as private property belonging to Dr John Buchanan, the man responsible for Blochairn House resembling a Jamaican plantation house. His grandsons, William and Reston Mather, were the last in the family to own the property. They remained bachelors, and both died within a month of each other in 1934. With no one to inherit the houses, a group of locals purchased them at auction, who donated the property to the National Trust of Scotland. Without this, it was very likely that the Glasgow Corporation would have demolished Provan Hall and Blochairn House; thank goodness for small mercies! Of the ghosts said to haunt the buildings, the Provan Hall website gives three – an elderly man haunting Blochairn House, and a mother and child in Provan Hall, but there appears to be more. There’s certainly enough activity to keep paranormal groups and psychics visiting the property in droves. The Ghost Club, the venerable old man of psychic investigation has visited approximately four times, which isn’t something they’ve done for other haunted locations. Several other groups have visited, but it seems that the results of the Ghost Club

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investigations are the most notable for bringing Provan Hall and Blochairn House to the attention of others as a prime haunted location. Caretaker, Stevie Allan, who took both my Dad and me on a tour of Provan Hall, knows the ghosts rather well. In the kitchen, Stevie described the tough life of servants back in the 15th century, who were seen as disposable. The kitchen has a huge fireplace, in which half an ox could be roasted. A ‘spit boy’, a young lad of 11 to 12 years, would have turned this on its spit. The lifespan of these boys in general wasn’t more than six months on the job, as the effects of the extreme heat and smoke quickly killed them. Stevie mentioned that the spirit of at least one spit boy had been detected in the kitchen. A medium visiting the houses one day said that she could see the spirit of an elderly man walk through reception in Blochairn House. He had spent his entire life there, from birth to death, and loved the place, which was the only reason why he lingered on. Stevie felt a shiver up his spine when the medium described the spirit she communicated with as an old man with white hair, a full white beard, wearing a black suit and bowler hat. This matched a photograph of Reston Mather taken in 1934 Stevie had seen only a few days before, which he gave me a copy of. Reston Mather is believed to be the ghost haunting Blochairn House.

The ghosts in Provan Hall are a slightly more mixed bunch. The Master Bedroom is regarded by Stevie as the most haunted room in the building. He told us that the man who lived there, a few hundred years ago had only been married a month, when on a regular night out to the pub, he decided to take ‘the King’s Shilling’ and left to serve in the army for four years. He left his wife, who stayed on at Provan Hall. On his return, he discovered his wife now had a two year old son, who definitely wasn’t his own child as he hadn’t been back to visit during his time serving. Given to violence and alcoholism, the ex-soldier went out and got drunk. On his way home, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen, went up to the Master Bedroom, dragged his wife from the bed and stabbed her over twenty times. The young boy woke up just after his mother was killed; the irate soldier grabbed the child and slit his throat. The authorities caught up with the soldier, who hanged at Glasgow Green with approximately 700 people watching. There are records of such a murder taking place in the building. 24

e mother rs, the ghost of th Since the murde use ho e tting around th has been seen fli ere, a th so al murderer is and grounds. Her sets up rly la tity, who regu rather malign en e th of . The energy people in the room ring the e itself known du ad m ly in ta r ce room ring the e Ghost Club. Du th of ns io at ig st inve ed the 2005, Stevie show in n io at ig st ve in first en ver y e had already be er Th . nd ou ar team hich had in the kitchen, w ity tiv ac g in st re inte rr y out rly in order to ca been sealed off ea s. ct trigger obje experiments with

This is where certain items are placed in flour or marked out carefully by pencil or chalk in a room that is locked off from the investigation to see if any ghosts or energies move them. Stevie said when he and the investigators returned to the kitchen, all the trigger objects were out of their original position – and no one had been able to get into the kitchen. He had the keys, and it certainly wasn’t him! During the séance held in the Master Bedroom, Stevie sat off to one side watching. He got very, very cold, shivering. Those participating in the séance reported seeing a dark shadow stand just behind him. At the same time, the room temperature dropped dramatically. The séance was brought to a close. As it wrapped up, the heavy door leading to an outside entrance to the room flew open with force and knocked the table over. Stevie noted wryly that everyone was very keen to run out the opposite door leading to the rest of the building after that! During a later investigation by the Ghost Club, Stevie was again on hand to supervise as they walked around the building, but didn’t want to participate after what happened the previous time. However, it appears the ghosts weren’t happy to accommodate the investigators, without Stevie’s presence. Stevie has worked in the building for a quarter of a century, and the resident spirits had taken a liking to him. So off he went.

This time, he was asked to take part in the séance held in the Master bedroom. Stevie joined the circle and doesn’t remember what happened next. It appears he was possessed, talking in a strange language and crushing the hands of the women next to him so hard that they were crying. Following that, Stevie was unable to sleep for three nights and became ill at work. The mediums made a return visit and carried out a closing ceremony. After that Stevie was alright, and able to move about the buildings quite freely without any harm from the ghosts. During my own visit, some interesting things happened in the Master Bedroom. Stevie pointed out that although he keeps a heater on constantly, the room never heats up. It was particularly chilly. My Dad, who is rather sensitive to spirits, immediately noticed the strange atmosphere in the room – and he knew nothing of the murders. He said on entering that he felt it was ‘full of tears’. He also stood where the bed of the murder victim once stood and felt as if something was trying to pull him back. Then, after Stevie rounded off his discussion of Provan Hall’s history, Dad noticed a female spirit, cowering in the corner behind Stevie, describing her as having dark hair. Stevie confirmed that other mediums had described this ghost in the same way. The Ghost Club investigation reports also mention a young woman with black hair.

Meanwhile, I was beginning to feel extremely cold, although I was standing next to the radiator. Things felt a little intense behind me, so I moved to another spot to err on the side of caution. The cold remained for a little longer, and then soon faded. I remained in the upstairs section of the room to take some photos, whilst the others went back to the office in Blochairn House. I have to admitted, I got to the door of the Master Bedroom, peered in and decided not to bother going in, as it felt just a bit too spooky. Dad told me on the drive home that the negative energy of the murderer entered the Bedroom just as we left. So I was rather glad I didn’t go in. The investigation reports of the Ghost Club make frequent mention of a male entity being picked up during séances and experiments held in the Master Bedroom – whether or not it’s the murderous soldier, who knows? The mediums accompanying the Ghost Club also detected other spirits, who appeared to date from the various eras of Provan Hall’s history. The names given later were backed up by the house’s history, none of which the mediums knew. Who knows the number of ghosts that walk Provan Hall and Blochairn House? With a history so colourful and long, it is a safe bet that the buildings are rather packed...

Further reading visit: www.ghostclub.org.uk/provanhall.htm Now That’s What I Call HAUNTED

“Death isn’t cruel, merely terribly, terribly good at his job.”

HIS EXCLUSIVE FINAL INTERVIEW Shortly before his death in 2015, Haunted Magazine was very fortunate to be invited to interview Sir Terry Pratchett. For all involved, the interview remains one of our favourites; charming, enigmatic and everything you would expect from such a special and revered author. Sir Terry Pratchett was a true genius and his trademark wit is sincerely missed. Hi Terry, welcome to our humble magazine! Please introduce yourself in the manner of a traveling salesman who has had enough with his job! *Laughs* that’s impossible; I don’t know how I could do that. What I’m being asked to do is something negative, I love writing. Your first novel, The Carpet People was published in 1971. You then rewrote it and the revised edition was published in 1992. What made you feel it needed a rewrite? Can you tell me more please? Carpet People was my first book and the first one to be sold. It did

earn me some money which was wonderful I thought at the time, but when I became more well-known after the Discworld books took off I realised that fans were still finding the book. When my Publisher asked me if they could bring it out again, I said I thought it was a bit juvenile and I was not as young as I once was. I told them to let me play around with it, just a little bit. Amazingly I’d do it again now. The writing comes out differently with age. It would be better at this age; I would’ve found more nuances and a slightly different perspective. Discworld has an amazing 40 volumes and counting. It’s loved by people all over the world. How do you keep writing new volumes? Well I’m an author and I like being author so I’m always working on future books. At the moment I have one nearly finished, one half-finished and a couple of ideas that are jumping up and down a bit. I suspect one of them will have jumped higher by the time I need to deal with it. What you have to understand is that I get really down when I haven’t got a book to write. So I go out for a long walk and generally Narrativia smiles on me.

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“It is believed that 1% of all the books sold in England are penned by Terry Pratchett”

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You were knighted for services to literature in 2009. What was it like to meet The Queen? Was it scary? I have to say I’d gone to Buckingham Palace before for my OBE which was quite useful as it meant when I went in for my Knighthood I knew the drill, where the toilets were etc! I think at the time when the Queen knighted me my thoughts were ‘Oh hell I hope my trousers don’t find the opportunity to fall down now!’ What impressed me both times was that in a way it’s all very democratic because after me and another knight, various people were getting their medals and honours and they’d come from everywhere in the country and the look on their faces when they met the Queen made me think Monarchy is very useful as we’ve come to know. After receiving your knighthood you made yourself a sword. How fun was this to do and how long did the process take? Does the sword work? It was extremely good fun right down to making the kiln in which the iron ore, that I’d personally dug out the ground, could be fired. I did have two good friends who helped me get things right. It took about five / six days at least to smelt the iron and steel down to what is called bar stock. So that I could present that to the sword smith. I worked with him for another five days and he was an expert and I was not. But since the basics consist of hitting something red hot at just the right time, I managed to be not entirely bad at sword-smithing. It took a good edge is all I can say. I haven’t gone around looking for someone to kill! And I actually keep it blunt.

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Since this is fantasy how about a cure for cancer? I don’t have it but you never know. At least it will be useful for somebody. If two of the elephants that help balance Discworld sneezed, what would happen to Discworld? That’s what the Wizards are for. If you are to be remembered for anything you have achieved in life, what would you like it to be and why?

How long have you had a love for Orang-utans? Is your love for them the reason why the Librarian of the Unseen University is one? When I was dreaming up the Librarian I had the idea that he might be an Orangutan. I liked Orang-utans as they often seemed ignored when you went to the Zoo. There’s your lion and monkey bouncing up and down, and you look up and there’s this great big Orang-utan holding a leaf over its head and I thought these guys don’t get enough publicity. That was the Librarian. Quite a long time afterwards I phoned up the lady who ran The Orang-utan Foundation and I said to her I seem to have a lot of money would you like some? There was a short silence until she said ‘yes please’. I became a trustee and invited to Borneo where I saw my first real Orang-utan in the wild. I still support the Foundation

I went to New Zealand, after all the book signings my Publishers took me to a nice little beach that had a great big rock on it. I mean bigger than house high. It seemed to have been dropped there and it was black and there were puddles all the way around it. What kept me riveted was I’d had exactly that scene in my head three days beforehand. I can’t of possibly seen it as I’d never been to New Zealand before. It could’ve been a coincidence or as I rather suspect, my head programming itself backwards.

You’re a keen astronomer. How long have you been one? Ever since my Mum and Dad took me out when I was quite small and showed me a comet. I’ve never been able to track down which one it was as I’ve never had the time. That led me to an interest in Astronomy and from that an interest in Science Fiction and out of the SF came an interest in Fantasy and that’s the way it goes. If I could buy you one item, what would it be and why?

I would like to say it would be for helping to get a lot of people to enjoy reading and I say that because I’ve lost the number of times at signing tours where people have come up to me and said ‘my boy never wanted to read a book in his life until he picked up “The Colour od Magic” and now he’s Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge.’ Well possibly not Cambridge but people do come up and thank me for giving them books that started them reading and in my heart of hearts I hope they go on to read better books than mine. Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed today. It has been an honour and a pleasure.

‘It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.’ The Last Continent

Have you ever had a paranormal experience? Do you believe in ghosts? No and no. But I sometimes feel that there can be some kind of resonance in a certain place and I’ll give you an example of this. The first time Now That’s What I Call HAUNTED

Saturday August 13th. I take my dog Lucifer (Louie) for his early 7am walk, I get the morning rolls and a paper, the sun is out and looks to be the start of a good day. Back at the house I sit on one of our garden benches and throw the hens some grain. I lean back and observe the football page on the back then see the headlines on the front. It’s here front page screams out to me….

BY LEONARD LOW - AUTHOR OF THE WEEM WITCH

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read more, ”Senior Police are struggling to make sense of an apparent haunting at a house in Rutherglen Glasgow” they were called and witnessed clothes flying across the room in front of them, doors flying open with no one near, lights being played with-shutting on an off and the lampshades being thrown upside down back on the lamps. “The poor dog a Chihuahua obviously terrified by the action was let outside to get out of the house, and next thing it’s found on the top of a seven-foot-high hedge barking in fear!” My first thoughts are “This is another Enfield case!” In 1978 Enfield, the Harper family living at 84 Wood lane, a single woman with three children started to hear strange noises coming from the two-girl’s bedroom, furniture started moving on its own, bed covers flew off and loud banging occurred with no one there to make them. They in fear retreated to neighbours who phoned the police, two constables turned up to witness the actions themselves, a chair moved across the floor by four feet. But with no crime apparent there was nothing else the police could do bar take notes of the incident for record. The whole case was investigated and reported by the tabloids, it lasted nearly a year and a half till the ghost stopped. Maurice Goss was the investigator who documented the proceedings with help from a writer who had experience with a Poltergeist case in Brazil, Guy Lyon Playfair. It’s to their thankless documentation that we today have such a wealth of knowledge to the Poltergeist. But let’s have a bit of History to Poltergeist activity, the first recorded case was ... 858 BC - A Farm house on the Rhine (Binges) recorded in the Annales Fuldenses.

1759 - Cocklane London Stone throwing, recorded in broadsheet papers. 1821 - The Bell Witch,North Carolina. John Bell hounded to death by a spirit taunting and general violence witnessed by dozens of people. 1929 - The Borley Rectory Harry Price documents this haunting, his book becomes a best seller. 1960 - The Sauchie Poltergeist centred around an Irish immigrant to Scotland 11-year-old Virginia Campbell took the spirit to School with her, terrifying her class and teachers. 1978 - The Enfield Case Background History of the property sometimes gives a clue to why the violence and mischievous behaviour is occurring. The Enfield case was due to a past resident who died in the house previously not too happy with the present occupiers.” It’s my house!” With this recent case in Rutherglen the family a mother and child have left the property and don’t seem in a hurry to come back. The media is hounding the poor frightened family and now all the wannabe Scooby doo teams that have been brought up on Hollywood horror films and the latest trend of ghost busting programmes are lining up with mediums and the latest gadgets - that on its own to me is horrifying. The area of Stone law road where the house is once had a 15th century castle where the land the house rests on, they would have paid taxes and rents to the castle owners. The last owners were the Spence family in 1929, it has since been reduced and built over. A battle was fought near here in 1568 between Mary Queen of Scots and her half-brother Moray. It would

be her last stand in Scotland and her last defeat where her soldiers loyal to her were well beaten at the battle of Lang side. The grounds the house is on would have had Queen Marys beaten troops running through it being cut down by the victors on horseback. Could this be reasons to the disturbance? Time will only tell. But a seasoned investigator needs to examine the building, it’s fair to see the family won’t be back, maybe it (the spirit) left with them? But what we don’t need is self-titled mediums coming here spouting the best parts of “most haunted “reducing what could be a rare chance to study as the Enfield case was, into utter farce sending what good investigators have spent lifetimes to gain clarity and reputation to childish nonsense. I was lucky enough to meet Maurice Goss when I was living in London, he was interested in a photo I took in the old Archway hospital in 2005. I caught in the old leper area of the 14th century hospice a sequence of photos showing a young boy appear. It had gone in 30 major newspapers where he had seen it, we met and talked, I found him a gentle but frail old man, but still alert and as curious about my photos as he had first time in the Enfield house with the Poltergeist. He said he wished he had never brought mediums into the house, all his hard work up till then had clarity and witnesses, once a medium turned up and the press got on to her results, it got out of control with nothing but “food for the doubters and critics” and no proof to back up the mediums ravings! Ten years on I have had a further 6 photos make the newspapers on hauntings I have studied, I have had over 60 mediums one after the other come in the Haunted 15th century tower I have…all but one

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talked nothing but rubbish… that ratio doesn’t work if you want reason and clarity to a haunting! I was asked to go on two Radio programmes to talk about the latest Glasgow Poltergeist…BBC SCOTLAND and then BBC COVENTRY. The Coventry show found the proceeding extremely funny as at one stage as the Police came to the Rutherglen house and things got violent, they put the wee Chihuahua outside for him to end up on top of a huge hedge. Victoria Minett the BBC interviewer found the whole thing a bit of a laugh, she listened as I gave the story so far and then my views on it…But Victoria lost her humour as I explained further the history of Poltergeists…. in fact unknown to me she was scared witless! When I was halfway through my story a strange scream was heard live on radio coming from my phone! it happened twice till Victoria commented “Lenny are you on your own?” I said yes to hear her further silence! then I said by the way you might have just heard “Bertie Chinbags” my wee Scottish Dumpy cockerel in the background. He comes up the front stairs to crow heartily till I feed him, as he wears a crow collar his crow these days are like a strangled scream! the laughter and relief from Victoria carried on after the 15-minute interview and again after the news. She was genuinely terrified! It goes to show an investigator needs reason and his wits and loads of bloody patience if you want results, and I hope whoever gets in the Rutherglen house gets the peace to do a proper study of the potential haunting… it’s a bit like fishing, a herd of ghostbusters is not the way of research….it scares the fish away too! 31

“You ain’t nothing but a Hound Dog,

spooking

all the time!” By Philip Solomon If you believe there are ghostly shades of human beings, then surely there must be spirits and ghosts of animals too? Throughout ancient history people have told stories of huge black dogs that walk beside them, usually in scary, dark, desolate places and the creature has been given many names. In the village of Appletreewick, he is known as the phantom hound, Barghest and either it brings terror to the people of the Yorkshire Dales or comfort, depending upon your constitution! This huge black dog is said to also roam the streets of Old York. If you go to the Isle of Man and visit Peel Castle, a similar terrifying looking creature known as Moddey Dhoo has allegedly been seen in the area and is said to even enter people’s homes. Another similar animal is supposed to roam the area of Norfolk and is known as Old Snarleyow and although it appears all around that particular area, it is said to be particularly fond of the sand dunes of the Norfolk coast. Some of the older Norfolk people call this hound Shuck or Galley Trot and the creature is said to run through churches snarling and growling on occasions. The same animal is said to also visit Suffolk and is not opposed to leaving his sign upon the northern door of religious buildings in deeply clawed scratch marks.

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In Devon the dog is known as the Black Hound of Torrington and has been described as being the size of a small donkey. Devonian folk will tell you that if you see the black hound, “You are welladvised to keep it secret, for if you tell of your vision he will come back to you in a most unfriendly manner, yet if his secret is kept, one day when you are in need, your protector and guardian he shall be.” Some people have put forward the view that the so-called Beast of Exmoor and other large cats may well be phantom black dogs. Manycountry folk believe if you hear the sound of ghostly hounds baying in the night-time hours, disaster may be imminent for some poor person or family nearby. In some parts of England and Wales there is the legend of a phantom group of dogs called The Yelpers, who are said to fly

through the sky supported on huge, demonictype black wings. In some parts of Yorkshire they are also known as the Hounds of Gabriel. Yet again, the people of the Cornish coast know them as Dandy Dogs and in other parts of the country as the Pack of Yeth Hounds, or the extremely sinister and savage Wisht Hounds. The Yeth Hounds are said to have been the inspiration for the famous Spiritualist and writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and his book the Hound of The Baskervilles. There are many people who will tell you that ghost dogs and black spectral hounds do not really exist, but as a medium and investigator of the paranormal, with forty year’s experience, I can assure you that I have been told numerous stories of their existence, sometimes terrifying an individual, yet on other occasions seeming

to come to the aid of people in need, such as in the case of the Black Dog of Wordsley near Stourbridge, that suddenly appeared to a young lady and escorted a young lady home, whilst she was being followed by a man whom she felt quite certain was about to attack her, or maybe do much worse. Some people also claim that the answer to flying black hounds and dogs is nothing more than Canada Geese flying high above you in the dark making a sound that could be interpreted by those of an imaginative nature, as hound-like calls and yelps. Of course there are others who will also tell you that our old friend the barn owl is another creature that might mistakenly be responsible for the unusual sounds and shapes that may flit by you at night, almost completely silent but then suddenly punctuating the night air with a hoot or scream. And then there are those who

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will say that people have seen nothing more than an extremely large domestic dog running wild, set free by its owners at night, or one that has perhaps chosen to live in the wild. But far too many stories have been told of black dogs over the years for them not to have some ghostly truth. So the next time you are joined by such a hound, maybe I can give you a little tip as to their other-worldliness. There has long been a legend, that whether from heaven or hell, if they are not of this world they will usually be wearing a studded collar of jewels, and you would be wise to try to make a friend of them rather than a foe. And never, ever try to collar them or lead them where they do not wish to go, for if you do, you will surely regret such an action!

Phillip Solomon

THE TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED “THE CONJURING”

By Rita Scott In December 1970 Roger and Carolyn Perron purchased a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Following events at their previous address, Carolyn decided she did not want to rear her children there and felt a house in the country would be a more suitable location for her 5 young girls to grow up. What Carolyn thought would be her dream home turned into a living nightmare.

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In 1952, the Ed and Lorraine Warren founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, the oldest ghost hunting groups in New England, and opened the Occult Museum. They are the authors of numerous books about the paranormal and their own private investigations into various hauntings. They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 hauntings during their career. The Warrens are best knownfor their involvement in the Amityville Horror case in which New York couple George and Kathy Lutz claimed that their house was haunted by a violent, demonic presence so intense that it eventually drove them out of their home. The Amityville Horror Conspiracy authors Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan characterized the case as a “hoax”. Lorraine Warren told a reporter for The ExpressTimes newspaper that the Amityville Horror was not a hoax. The reported haunting was the basis for the 1977 book The Amityville Horror and 1979 and 2005 movies of the same name.

The house they purchased was the old Arnold farm which was over two centuries old. Eight generations of families had lived and died in that house and some of these spirits never left. Previous residents of the farmhouse included Mrs John Arnold who at the age of 93 hung herself in the barn and Bathsheba Sherman who had an extremely hard life. She lost all of her children before the age of four. When she was a young woman, Bathsheba had a young child in her care (it is uncertain if this was her child or if she was caring for the child for a friend) that died. Upon examination of the baby’s body it was found that a needle had been impaled into its skull and the baby had died from convulsions. Bathsheba was charged with manslaughter but due to lack of evidence the case was dropped. However, in the

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court of public opinion she was found guilty. She was a very beautiful woman whom men loved and women envied. Following the death of the baby rumours began to swirl that Bathsheba had sacrificed this baby as an offering to the devil for eternal beauty. Due to the belief of the locals that she was a witch she lived a life of solitude. Eventually she married and it is unsure if she lived all her days at the Arnold farm or the adjacent Sherman farm. She died in 1885 and the coroner made a note in his report stating that he had never seen anything like it that it was like her body had turned to stone. The Perron family spoke to a man who knew Bathsheba and he said she was a very angry and bitter woman who would beat and starve her farmhands.

From the very first day the Perron family moved into the farmhouse the paranormal activity began. When the family first arrived at the house the old tenants were packing up the last of their things. As they did so a man stood in the corner watching them. Three of the five girls seen this man but the parents did not. It was an apparition. The family continued to see spirits some of which did not even notice the family were there, they were the quiet ones who lived peacefully at the farmhouse and did not bother the family. One of the girls made friends with a spirit whom she called Manny. He was a sympathetic soul whom the Perrons believed was the spirit of Johnny Arnold who had committed suicide in the house in the 1700’s. He would watch over the family. He would appear to the children but as soon as they made eye contact he would disappear. Many peaceful souls resided at the farmhouse but there was also dark forces. Every time the father was home machinery in the house began to breakdown that he would have to go and fix. All of this machinery was located in the cellar for example the boiler and the heating. When he would go to the cellar he would be approached by a spirit who seemed very attracted to him. She would touch him on the back of the neck and run her hands across his back. Over time he developed a kinship with this spirit and this was the spirit who caused most of the problems in the house. It is believed this was Bathsheba (although it is possible it could have been one of the many other spirits) and that she seen herself as the mistress of the house and Roger and the kids were hers which led her to put Carolyn Perron through what her daughter Andrea describes as ‘Something no human being should endure’. She wanted to drive Carolyn from the house and when this did not work she tried to claim her from within and this is when the true terror of Harrisville began. One of the children, Cindy, one day decided with her friend that they would try to drive the spirits from the house which resulted in a brutal attack on the two children and

then Cindy began to suffer at the hands of the evil spirits also. After four years of living in the house a family friend decided that an intervention was needed and Ed and Lorraine Warren the original paranormal investigators were called in to help. Unfortunately this only made matters worse and even with all their experience they could not free the family of this haunting. In the end the father kicked the Warrens out of the farmhouse. Their relationship did not end well. The Warrens have stated that in their 50 years of paranormal investigations that this was the worst and most significant case they had come across.

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“The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.” - Ed Warren

The family remained in the house for ten years. Every time the mother would suggest leaving the children would get so upset as they loved this house despite of the activity and they would cry and beg her not to leave. Also, during this time there was a recession and the family were not in a financial position to move to a new house. Everyone who has lived in this farmhouse both before and after the Perrons have reported paranormal activity in the house and the current residents claim there is always activity in the house but not to the extent the Perrons endured. The eldest daughter Andrea always knew that one day she would tell this story and she waited 30 years to do so. Andrea has written a trilogy of books entitled ‘House of Darkness, House of Light’ volumes 1, 2 and 3. When I asked Andrea why she waited so long she stated that there was a number of reasons.

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Her family had to process what they had been through and also she did not feel the world was ready yet for this tale of terror at a farmhouse in Harrisville. The books are a collective memoir of the family’s memories and reactions. Hollywood also became interested in the story and New Line Cinema have made a movie named The Conjuring directed by James Wan (Insidious) which tells the tale of Harrisville from the point of view of Ed and Lorraine Warren using their personal files. This movie opens in the states on July 19th and stars Lili Taylor, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. The movie was given an R rating, not because of sexual content or bad language but because it is that scary. Andrea stated in my interview with her that they are extremely happy with the way their story was conveyed and that the movie although it has some fiction is a quite accurate account.

elcome to the strange, yet unique world of Dr Quentin Weir Phd, aka Dr Queer, not forgetting his ever faithful man-servant, Mr Herbert Oddfellow. Set within a Victorian/gothic society, our protagonists wander the eerie fog-filled city streets at the dead of night in search of supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, witches and ghosts, and that only covers a small section of them. Produced with a wonderful creative mixture of adventure and lots of dark humour, the strip could only be described as Hammer Horror meets Carry On. For what other comic strip could involve such terrors as mummies and...killer pigeons from Hull? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly not to be missed.

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i n t e rv i e w

with

Guy Lyon

Playfair by

pau l s t e v e ns o n

What first attracted you to the field of parapsychology?

Guy Lyon Playfair was born on April 5th 1935 in India. After moving to the UK and obtaining education at Cambridge university he travelled to Brazil to begin what has become one of the most revealing journeys into parapsychology ever undertook by a single human being. His expertise is unmatched in its field, and with an impressive compendium of books under his belt, Playfair is certainly an authority to be reckoned with. Many people are blissfully unaware of the contribution GLP has made to the field of psychical research and many people have only heard his name mentioned with reference to The Enfield Poltergeist and the subsequent Sky Living three part drama The Enfield Haunting. Haunted Magazine felt that whilst we were covering Sky’s new foray into the dark world of poltergeists, we wanted to interview people who were actually caught up in the original case back in 1977. Now 80 years old BUT as sharp and straight to the point as ever we had the massive honour of catching up with one of the original investigators.

I suppose I grew up with it. My mother was a member of the Society for Psychical Research so I used to read its journal along with my comics and jazz magazines. I couldn’t understand all of it, but I liked the articles about ghosts and poltergeists. What was it like working with Maurice Grosse? From my recollection of it whilst Maurice was a lot older than you, he was not as experienced as you in the world of the paranormal, would that be fair to say? This may have been his first case, but he handled it very tactfully and competently. He was great to work with and we remained good friends to the end of his life. The Enfield Haunting is based on your 1980 book “This House is Haunted”, where you consulted / involved the screenplay / writing of this new drama? No. When you sell film rights, you don’t have any control over what is done with them. Why do you think that this case made the national press? Was it the era? You don’t get much national press coverage of the paranormal these days, and I think the one before The Enfield Poltergeist was back in 1929. That was thanks to the Daily Mirror. Then LBC and the BBC followed up its story and it just went on from there and is still going. You worked in Brazil in the late 1960s / early 1970s and worked in Brazil’s first (and only) serious physical research organisation, what made Brazil set such an organisation up? That’s all in my first book The Flying Cow (1975). It was a small group of friends who were inspired by our Society for Psychical Research.

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I’ve become more convinced that some phenomena are real (especially poltergeists) and some probably aren’t. How did it happen that you and Maurice got to investigate The Enfield Poltergeist? The Mirror reporter, George Fallows, kindly phoned the SPR and asked them to send someone, so they did. Not many reporters would have bothered. He just wanted to help the family, and he did. What’s the strangest case that you have had to investigate? Talking about your book The Flying Cow, you present many compelling cases from your time spent in Brazil in the early 1970s. Of these cases, some of the most interesting are those that involve psychic surgery. What is psychic surgery? Psychic surgery is what we call operations performed by unqualified ‘surgeons’ using either their bare hands or conventional scalpels and things, but with no kind of anaesthetics or sterilisation. I saw several of them in action and was able to get to know one of them quite well and watch him at close range. A lot of them are frauds; their tricks are easy to spot if you know what to look for. But some of them do things that I have yet to hear explained.

The Paranormal is as popular as ever, there are more paranormal events companies than ever before, giving members of the public the chance to pay to go ghost hunting, do you think that this is a good thing or takes away some kind of work that private paranormal investigators are doing?

They are all strange, or they wouldn’t be ‘paranormal’. The Enfield case was the longest,

We didn’t have a SCC then. It was founded later by Maurice. Cases were assigned to whoever was available. So, Maurice appealed for help and you offered? No, not really, it was a series of coincidences. I’d been to the monthly SPR lecture in September 1977 which happened to be on poltergeists. I was sitting right in front of a fellow named Maurice Grosse, whom I hardly knew, and at question

The more interest the better. Some of it leads to irresponsible sensationalism, but luckily there are serious researchers around. Maurice Grosse was one of the best. Do you believe in ghosts? I believe in the paranormal. Have your views changed over the years?

With so many computers and ghost gadgets available for the ghost hunter these days, what was the standard ghost hunting research equipment / kit in 1977?

time he jumped up and said he was investigating a case right now and would like some help. Nobody volunteered, including me. I had just finished a long book and felt like a holiday. The next day, a Friday, I planned to go to the Romanian embassy to get a visa. After waiting half an hour for the 74 bus I gave up and went home, deciding to try again on Monday. Then on the Sunday lunchtime news I heard Maurice describing the time he had just spent in the Enfield house, and knew I had to forget my holiday and get up there which I did.

Mine was just a tape recorder and camera. I never bothered with anything else.

Are you still in contact with Janet and other members of the Hodgson family?

so the one I remember best. Luckily I managed to describe it from start to finish, which hadn’t been done before. Nearly 40 years after it occurred have your views, opinions and thoughts changed on what you saw, witnessed and heard back in 1977? Not much except as I just said - I’m more convinced that the real stuff is real.

In 1977 how many cases was the SPR getting, and where they assigned to various departments like the Spontaneous Cases Committee dependant on certain criteria?

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Only with Janet, who has made it very clear that she just wants to be left alone by the media. Whilst there is hardly any press coverage of “poltergeist” activity in the newspapers do you believe that there’s lots of paranormal happenings going unreported? The SPR has started an archive of poltergeist reports and we now have about 160 including several from recent years. They tend to be reported, if at all, in obscure local papers, and if the national press/radio don’t pick them up we don’t get to hear about them. They are more common all over the world than many seem to think. Do you think modern gadgets, cameras and equipment like there is today would’ve made any difference to you back in 1977? Possibly. We did have some good gear - best being Graham Morris’s motor-drive Nikon (then quite new) which got at least three sequences showing objects in movement and several of Janet in mid-air, some showing her bedclothes have not been turned back. We also recorded numerous raps which have now been analysed with technology we didn’t have access to at the time.

of them on tape, and without those tapes I don’t think I’d believe today what I saw then. And is there a specific event that made you realise that this case was the real deal? I suppose the best one was seeing a heavy armchair slide backwards and fall over when there was nobody near it. You actually saw that? I’ve also done some research on the case and there were reports of levitation (and I am not talking about the pics of the girls jumping from bed to bed), what are your thoughts on that? Yes I saw that but I didn’t witness the levitation directly, but the lollipop lady right across the road did, and said so very clearly several times to the media. And the

Going back to The Enfield case, can you recall the very first things you witnessed at the house? The first thing that struck me was the atmosphere in the house. The family were absolutely terrified. They were sleeping all in the same room with the light on all night, and they wouldn’t go anywhere in the house on their own. Why would they be faking that? Then things started flying around, sometimes more than I could record in my notebook. Luckily I could and did record a great many

This House is Haunted is the source material for Sky Living’s excellent dramatisation The Enfield Haunting

girl didn’t just levitate - she went through the wall into the house next door and left a book there. There was no normal way either she or it could have got there as there was nobody in the house at the time. It was absolutely impossible, but it happened. This is what psychical research is all about. I have heard the audio tapes of Janet speaking in a gruff, throaty voice, can you remember much about it and what’s your take on it? Yes, that’s the kind of thing you don’t forget. I was there, and taped the whole session. It was an extraordinary noise for a young girl to make and we even got hold of a speech therapist later who was totally freaked out and wouldn’t even give me a statement. People’s reactions to these things are almost as interesting as the phenomena. You remained on the case for 18 months so, was it as intense for the whole duration or was there a natural ending to the case? It was far more intense early on. Once I managed to record ten incidents in a single minute. The ending was quite abrupt and followed the visit by a Dutch medium who said he was going to stop things and apparently did without seeming to do anything. It may have been a case of indirect suggestion, which any hypnotist knows can be

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as powerful as the direct kind. Whatever it was, it worked. He was the fifth medium to get involved at various stages, and they were all helpful in various ways. Do you think that if the press or the SPR hadn’t got involved then this would’ve just disappeared into the ether and we’d have never heard about this? No. More than once, Maurice and I deliberately stayed away to see if things would calm down, and they didn’t and we were begged to come back. Nobody else was willing or able to at least try to help, so what were we supposed to do? Just abandon them? Thanks to Guy for taking the time to speak with us and to answer the questions, having watched The Enfield Haunting and been blown away by it, I do wish I had been there back in 1977, sadly I was 8 and I don’t think my Mum would’ve allowed it. Joking apart it does show what a crazy world the paranormal is, there’s a fine line between reality and drama and an even finer line between fact and fiction.

On the highway to

HELL!

It’s a famous song, isn’t it - We’re On the Highway To Hell by ACDC? But some people believe the UK’s longest Motorway the M6 is just such a road. For sure, not leading to hell as we know it, but it’s had it’s fair share of ghosts and haunting that has caused many an accident and the deaths of far too many people!

sometimes with a lead rider on a black horse, others as just foot soldiers.

The road itself runs right from the heart of the English Midlands, almost to the Scottish Borders, and people have reported some pretty amazing visions over the years that have included soldiers marching alongside it and actually on the road itself that could be described as Roman Legionnaires,

Some expert psychologists, etc., of course would suggest that most of these experiences are to do with over-tired drivers or tricks of the mind and of course this must be considered. However, recently I have been asked to investigate a stretch of road between Walsall and Wolverhampton in one of the

There have also been reports of a woman who suddenly runs out into the road causing vehicles to swerve, and even a large lorry hurtling towards traffic on the wrong side of the carriageway. I’m sure that would be a hellish vision for anyone to suffer!

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old Black Country’s most haunted towns, Willenhall in the West Midlands, that regularly seems to have accidents that happen in the same spot just outside a very famous a la carte restaurant called Ye Olde Toll House, visited by many celebrities and with a history that goes back many years as being a haunted building. But it is outside the restaurant that one certainly has to wonder what is going on. One particular instance a few years ago saw two international footballers just about surviving a terrible crash, while a third person in the car lost their life. More recently the present owner and chef, Trevor Greenway, has seen numerous minor accidents and even

more strangely, three times in just a few months vehicles have crashed into the wall of the car park just to the right of his restaurant. The Olde Toll House itself has a long history of being haunted by both adult male and female ghost or spirits, children and even a cat and people have often spoken of the ghost of a blacksmith who operated in the building many years ago to the left of Trevor’s restaurant where people have described bright flashing lights like those produced by welding equipment, and a pounding noise that sounds like a hammer crashing against steel. Other people travelling that road say they have seen ghostly car lights on the wrong side of the road or unusual shimmering mists that suddenly seem to be in their car’s pathway and there is also the

tale of a runaway box van that moves at very fast speed but then suddenly vanishes just short of the entrance to the car park. I do know from research and other snippets of information, that it is possible people may have been buried nearby during the time of the cholera epidemic that blighted the ancient town of Willenhall, and this could be creating the energy that have caused these visions to be seen by those sensitive to such things. There are many other roads that are said to be haunted highways too. If you are up in Scotland you are advised to take care on the A9, for this road has its fair share of all sorts of spooks and unexplained happenings, and if you are the other side of the country and drive along the B3314 close to Tintagel, the place claimed by many to

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be the ancient home of King Arthur, then watch out for the figures of warriors and men in armour. When in Wales the B4293 near Devauden is a place locals say it is best to be careful on when driving, especially at night, for this is a time when those from the other world might unintentionally - or otherwise as the case may be - interfere with your driving. It is believed that simply sprinkling these places with salt water and saying a prayer for balance can help such highways to become safer areas, so if you are of an empathetic nature, perhaps it would be worth giving it a try. But please be very careful if you feel so drawn, we certainly wouldn’t want anything to happen to you on the UK’s haunted highways to hell!

Philip Solomon

Whereabouts are you girls from then?

But I’m sure I can see seven of them? ow don’t go getting your panties in a bunch, these broads are the real deal! They have tackled everything from half sunken show boats to dilapidated brothels, and of course, your classic haunted hotel. They’re taking on their biggest challenge to date, by agreeing to write regularly for the magazine. So what better way to start then to find out more about 3GITD.

We’re centrally located in the Midwest, right out of St. Louis – We’re not far from many notorious haunts, and can handle a decent road trip when duty calls. You can get a taste of our investigation style and evidence findings from our website 3GirlsintheDark. com. But because we have girly parts, we’re all over social media! Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Vine, you name it, so if you can’t find us you might want to check up on your investigation skills. So, come on, we need the lowdown, who are 3 Girls in the Dark? Well I am Emily (the Boss lady), a semi-sceptic logical

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thinker who’s scared of the dark, and then we have Gina a no Bull Shittin’, how the hell does this happen go getter, and there’s Christy the sweet soul stealing empath. We each have 3 completely different views on the paranormal, you think this would work against us, yet that is one of the best parts about us. We are constantly pushing each other to see things in a new way. It also makes the perfect situation for heated debates! I (Emily) am the Scully*, Gina believes in energy and Christy relies on her abilities for answers. Between the 3 of us, there is no ghost butt left unsniffed! We also have 3 Crew members! Shona, our Case manager, Rob, our Para gadget Guru / Tech guy and Jeff our EVP/Research Specialist. These three are

the heart and souls of base camp, which is why we call them our base camp bitches! Shona is a highly professional woman with the mouth of a sailor! She handles emails, calls, scheduling and clerical tasks that we don’t have the patience for. She also runs base camp (has been dubbed queen of the base camp bitches). Being an empath as well, Shona helps Christy when cleansings are needed. Where do we get our toys (ahem) your PARANORMAL toys from? From our Para Gadget Guru - Rob of course. Watch out for this tech monster! Rob is always making sure us girls are on top of our tech game with the latest gadgets. He is building

new, original equipment, as well as tweaking the old for some very interesting toys to play with. For example he made our sonic detector, data logger, modified K2, handmade REM pods, oh and don’t forget our Johnny-5! The Johnny5 is our P.R.E.N.I.S lighting platform. It stands for Paranormal Radiant Energy Night-time Infrared System. But let’s not give away all our secrets… Well actually we like to, everyone on this team is all about the “Para Power”, we believe in sharing information, helping out other teams and making friends. Now that’s weird! The more information you share with others, the better the research and closer everyone gets to finding answers. Speaking of research, this is where our Cougar Killer, Jeff,

comes in. Jeff is our Research Specialist. He is a people person, especially if they’re older women! He interviews clients onsite covering each claim documented, as well as mapping the building and property for equipment setup purposes. Rob also gets to shoot his research load by thorough Internet stalking to gather historical facts and information for our cases. Jeff is also our EVP specialist that reviews recordings instantly at base camp during investigations. He’s using his noodle to develop more efficient ways to review recordings and analyse unidentified sounds. He comes in really handy when setting up equipment too. Nothing wrong with a background crew AND I guess 4 Girls & 2 Guys in

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the Dark doesn’t have the same ring to it? Exactly, let me explain clearer. We 3 girls are the ones who investigate. We do, however, send in some of the crew members during investigations if we need to shake it up a bit. The other equally valued crew members help with equipment set up and tear down, hold down base camp by keeping an eye on their live feed DVR cameras, evidence review, editing mini documentaries, and everything else it takes to run a successful paranormal group! And as for successful, check out the evidence portion of our website. I recommend “This fog consumes me” EVP from the “Whisper House” case. 49

JOHN CARPENTER’S

AVA I L A B L E FROM SACRED BONES RECORDS

REVIEW BY THG

“JOHN CARPENTER HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE HORROR GENRE’S MOST STRIKING SOUNDTRACK WORK IN THE FIFTEEN MOVIES HE’S BOTH DIRECTED AND SCORED. THE THEMES CAN INSTANTLY FLOOD HIS FANS’ MUSICAL MEMORY WITH IMAGERY OF A MENACING SHAPE STALKING A BABYSITTER, A RELENTLESS WALL OF GHOST-FILLED FOG, LIGHTNING-FISTED KUNG-FU FIGHTERS, OR A MIRROR HOLDING THE GATEWAY TO HELL. THE ALL-NEW MUSIC ON LOST THEMES ASKS CARPENTER’S ACOLYTES TO VISUALIZE THEIR OWN NIGHTMARES.”

“Lost Themes was all about having fun,” Carpenter says. “It can be both great and bad to score over images, which is what I’m used to. Here there were no pressures. No actors asking me what they’re supposed to do. No crew waiting. No cutting room to go to. No release pending. It’s just fun. And I couldn’t have a better setup at my house, where I depended on (collaborators) Cody (Carpenter, of the band Ludrium) and Daniel (Davies, who wrote the songs for I, Frankenstein) to bring me ideas as we began improvising. The plan was to make my music more complete and fuller, because we had unlimited tracks. I wasn’t dealing with just analogue anymore. It’s a brand new world. And there was nothing in any of our heads when we started other than to make it moody.” As is Carpenter’s style, repetition is the key to the thundering power of these tracks, their energy swirling with shredding chords, soaring organs, unnerving pianos and captivating percussion. Horror fans will be reminded of Carpenter’s past works, as well as ancestors like Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells and Goblin’s Suspiria. Growing up in the 70s/80s was a halcyon period for horror. Whilst we had “The Nasties” to contend with, burning our retinas with their grisly

genre defining movies, his later shocks and harrowing death sequences, more often than work (“Memoirs of an Invisible not it was the soundtrack that Man” onwards) really didn’t was often the instrument that cut it, often feeling laboured in truly terrified. Whether it was comparison to his early work. a sound effect, no sound at Kicking off with “Vortex”, I all, or the dizzying sequential needn’t have worried! There’s early synth riffs of the time, it changed the horror soundtrack a confidence and clarity here from Hammer’s – orchestral that echoes that early work. blueprint to the eerie piano And throughout the rest of the motif of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular same colour palette of sounds, Bells (The Exorcist). Indeed, sequences and sample-free Lalo Schifrin’s original score sequences help define the was rejected in favour of Tubular Bells “THEY’RE LITTLE MOMENTS OF – a decision SCORE FROM MOVIES MADE IN OUR that changed the way IMAGINATIONS, NOW I HOPE IT soundtrack INSPIRES PEOPLE TO CREATE FILMS THAT would be COULD BE SCORED WITH THIS MUSIC.” used forever. Step forward John Carpenter. Not only putting on screen what he wanted you to see, but also a score that he wanted you to hear. “Dark Star” and “Assault on Precinct 13” were the starting point of what followed in a halcyon period of classic horrors. Every time you watch the opening scenes for “Halloween” and “The Fog”, it’s the dizzying synth riffs that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. So in early 2015, with the announcement that Carpenter was about to release a “Lost Themes” CD, the interest in the office piqued. In the knowledge that whilst the early Carpenter forms the backbone of some of Horror’s classic

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JOHN CARPENTER experience. “Obsidian” is next up – an 8 minute mesmerizing mash up of individual themes to create it’s own adventure from intimate to epic. It echoes the period of work where Carpenter recruited Alan Howarth, but more polished and updated. Highlights are “Vortex”, “Domain”, “Abyss” and rounding the portmanteau off properly “Night” – pure Carpenter and pure class! “Lost Themes” isn’t perfect, but it’s a bloody good reminder of how good Carpenter can be when he’s on his game!

T H E G R E AT I N V E N T O R ’ S Q U E S T T O C O M M U N I C AT E W I T H T H E D E A D

GHOST OF A MACHINE

“I have been at work for some time building an apparatus to see if it is possible for personalities which have left this earth to communicate with us.”

THOSE ARE THE words of the great inventor Thomas Edison in an interview in the October, 1920 issue of The American Magazine. And in those days, when Edison spoke, people listened. By any measurement, Thomas Edison was a superstar in his time, a brilliant inventor during the height of the Industrial Revolution when man was mastering machine. Called “The Wizard of Menlo Park” (which has since been renamed Edison, New Jersey); he was one of history’s most prolific inventors, holding 1,093 U.S. patents. He and his workshop were responsible for the creation or development of many devices that changed the way people lived, including the electric light bulb, the motion picture camera and projector, and the phonograph.

But did Edison invent a ghost box – a machine to talk to the dead? It has long been speculated in paranormal circles that Edison did indeed create such a device, though it must have been somehow lost. No prototypes or schematics have ever been found. So did he build it or not? Another interview with Edison, published in the same month and year, this time by Scientific American, quotes him as saying, “I have been thinking for some time of a machine or apparatus which could be operated by personalities which have passed on to

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another existence or sphere.” (Emphasis mine.) So in two interviews conducted around the same time we have two very similar quotes, one in which he says that he has been at work “building” the device, and in the other that he has merely been “thinking” about it. Somewhat contradictorily, the Scientific American article says, despite Edison’s quote, that “the apparatus which he is reported to be building is still in the experimental stage…” as if there is a prototype. However, since we have no evidence of such a device having been constructed or even designed by Edison, we

have to conclude that it was an idea that never materialized. Although Edison seems to have gotten ahead of himself with this idea in The American Magazine interview, it’s quite clear that he had a genuine interest in the idea. While the Industrial Revolution was rolling along with a full head of steam, the Western world was also entertaining another movement of a very different sort– the Spiritualist movement. Operating at opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum – the logical, scientific, and mechanical versus the spiritual and ephemeral – the two movements were perhaps counterweights to each other.

methods now purported to be the only means of communication.” Edison’s was a scientist’s approach: If there was a popular need or desire, an invention might be able to fill it. “I believe that if we are to make any real progress in psychic investigation,” he said, “we must do it with scientific apparatus and in a scientific manner, just as we do in medicine, electricity, chemistry, and other fields.”

WHAT DID EDISON HAVE IN MIND?

Edison revealed very few details about the device he intended to build. We can only FILLING A NEED speculate that he was either being a cautious businessman So why would Edison the who didn’t want to say too scientist be interested in such much about his invention to a thing? Psychic mediums potential rivals or he didn’t were all the rage, and they really have many concrete were conducting séances and ideas. “This apparatus,” he spewing ectoplasm faster told Scientific American, “is than Harry Houdini could in the nature of a valve, so debunk them. Phony mediums to speak. That is to say, the notwithstanding, it was slightest conceivable effort becoming increasing popular to is made to exert many times think that it might be possible its initial power for indicative to communicate with the dead. purposes.” He then likened And if it was at all possible, it to the mere turning of a Edison reasoned that it could be valve that starts a huge steam accomplished through scientific turbine. In the same way, the means – a device that could do the job that mediums advertised.

barest whisper of effort from a spirit could influence the highly sensitive valve, and that action would be greatly magnified “to give us whatever form of record we desire for the purposes of investigation.” He refused to divulge any more than that, but clearly Edison had in mind a ghost hunting tool. He went on to say that one of his employees who was working on the device recently died and

that if the invention worked, “he ought to be the first to use it if he is able to do so.” Again, we have no evidence for the device having been built, yet it is possible that it was constructed and then destroyed along with all the paperwork perhaps because it didn’t work and Edison wanted to avoid embarrassment after his proclamations in the interviews.

“I don’t claim that our personalities pass on to another existence or sphere,” he told Scientific American. “I don’t claim anything because I don’t know anything about the subject. For that matter, no human being knows. But I do claim that it is possible to construct an apparatus which will be so delicate that if there are personalities in another existence or sphere who wish to get in touch with us in this existence or sphere, the apparatus will at least give them a better opportunity to express themselves than the tilting tables and raps and Ouija boards and mediums and the other crude Now That’s What I Call HAUNTED

NOT LIKE FRANK’S BOX The machine that Edison describes sounds nothing like today’s “ghost boxes,” and it is a mistake to assume that devices such as Frank’s Box were derived from Edison’s work. In fact, Frank Sumption, the inventor of Frank’s box, has made no such claim. In 2007, he told Rosemary Ellen Guiley in an interview for TAPS Paramagazine that he was inspired by an article about EVP in Popular Electronics magazine. According to Sumption, his device is a simple of method of “supplying ‘raw’ audio that spirits and other entities can use to form voices.” It does so with a specially modified radio that sweeps its tuning across AM, FM, or shortwave bands. “The sweep can be random, linear or even done by hand,” Sumption says. The theory is that the spirits piece together words and phrases from these broadcasts to relay messages. Ghost hunting groups from all over are creating and using their own ghost boxes, called Shack Hacks (because they employ modified Radio Shack portable radios), that work in the same way. (I have one, but have had very little success with it.) Although some respected researchers, including Guiley, seem convinced of the reality of this phenomenon, the jury is still out, as far as I am concerned, regarding the authenticity of the communication. Although I have heard interesting bits and pieces from ghost boxes, I’ve yet to experience or hear recordings of ghost box sessions that are unambiguous and thoroughly convincing. Virtually everything that is heard (like many low-grade EVP) is open to interpretation.

EDISON AND LIFE AFTER DEATH As revealed in these interviews, Edison did not subscribe to conventional notions of life after death. He surmised that life was indestructible and that “our bodies are composed of myriads and myriads of infinitesimal entities, each in itself a unit of life.” Moreover, he saw the interconnectedness of all living things: “There are many indications that we human beings act as a community or ensemble rather than as units. That is why I believe that each of us comprises millions upon millions of entities, and that our body and our mind represent the vote or voice, whichever you wish to call it, of our entities.... The entities live forever.... Death is simply the departure of the entities from our body.” “I do hope that our personality survives,” Edison said. “If it does, then my apparatus ought to be of some use. That is why I am now at work on the most sensitive apparatus I have ever undertaken to build, and I await the results with the keenest interest.” Considering the remarkable track record of this incredible mind, we can only wonder how the world would be different had Edison succeeded. 54

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DANGEROUS PRACTICE OR JUST SERIOUSLY MISUNDERSTOOD? Now Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s What I Call HAUNTED

When I was growing up talks of ghost and demons were fun campfire stories and Halloween costumes. The haunted world was not taken very seriously amongst the general public; the information just wasn’t there. There were no reality shows about ghost hunting. You could however most likely catch an article about demon possession if you read (and my mother had a subscription to all of them) those bizarre weird-news tabloids. Back then no one really understood about the possible dangers when you dabble in the spirit world. I have fond memories of sneaking into my mother’s bedroom and rummaging through her closet to find the mysterious occult board game… Ouija. I heard from other kids in school that you can talk to a real ghost and it can even predict your future! The only thing about my future that I cared about was who in my school I was going to marry, when I grew up. The Ouija board could tell me that? Of course I tried it! I would ask “Ouija will I marry Alex or Mike or gross Brian?” Unfortunately Ouija wasn’t very helpful, it said “yes” to all of them, even cootie ridden Brian! And I’m not positive that my playfully irritating little sister didn’t move the planchette with her tiny fingers.

But how do we know for sure it wasn’t the work of someone from beyond the grave? Could it be possible that a spirit was actually trying to communicate with two little kids? Ouija was mass produced in the late 1800’s and was considered a parlor game (or one you play on the floor of your own closet with your annoying eager little sister). It then became a popular occult tool and the simply crafted game (cardboard and plastic, selling in used condition for $9 on eBay) became a gateway to the devil himself. Mostly non-believers feel it is a fun game to fool your friends. Others feel it’s a way to open the door between us and the spirit world or even hell. There have also been studies on the ideomotor effect. This refers to the influence of suggestions of involuntary and unconscious motor behaviour. So, right there we have three Ouija theories. It’s not real, it’s very real, or we only think it’s real. With all that in mind, let’s now move to what prompted me to write this post. A young friend of mine asked if I thought it was safe to use a Ouija board. I wasn’t sure what to tell her. My knee-jerk reaction was heck no it’s dangerous. But I had to pause because I realized I had this fear of the Ouija without real proof or personal experiences to back it up. Then I thought back to when I was a kid and played it countless times and nothing bad ever happened.

So maybe my friend would be safe if they perhaps (just for precaution of course) said a protective prayer or announce that they are not accepting any spirits with harmful intentions to join this vintage chat line. While I was having this inner argument with myself, my friend read up about it on the Internet and determined that she was not going to mess around it. I felt so relieved. I didn’t want to be held responsible for possibly letting a demon reek havoc on their lovely home (they are disruptive characters) or a sudden haunting by a ghost. Her mom would be soooo mad at me. But it did kick up some curiosity. So I asked for feedback regarding the safety of the game on Facebook and Twitter and found my paranormal friends were against it. Only a few commented that if used properly, it is a great tool for the art of divination. Upon further research, I came across an ad with a young girl looking absolutely excited about her new pink Ouija board. Yes folks Ouija is now available in BUBBLEGUM PINK!!!!! I’ll admit it is quite pretty. (If I could have all my paranormal equipment pink I would. Yes I really did just say that.) And you can get it with a pretty carrying case. Sleep over anyone? Anyway, I was stunned. I mean I had to dig under piles and piles of shoe boxes to find the game my

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mother intentionally hid from us in her closet. This is not something she wanted her daughters to play with. But now they seem to be geared towards young girls (ages 8+). The Barbie inspired color and child friendly artwork can be very alluring for young girls. It’s very clear that the makers of this game do not believe nor are worried about it being possibly dangerous. Now that I have a much better grasp of the complicated and dangerous side of the paranormal, I don’t feel it is a good idea to sell it to children. Since we are not certain of the true possibilities of this now described TOY, why take the risk on naïve defenseless children? There is no possible demon possession when playing Chutes & Ladders, just lots of smiles and giggles. I can only hope there are smart parents out there and that they do not buy this game for their little girls. I do have better knowledge of this controversial game, but I may be even more confused then ever. I guess this is going to be one of those little projects that I will continue to research and try to understand. I mean, if it is truly a harmless game, it is definitely less stressful, in my opinion, then the nail-biting, breath-holding, towering game of Janga or the hair-pulling, tantrum-throwing UNO game. Draw 4 and skip a turn?! Ahhhhhhh!

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Credits: Haunted Magazine -The BONUS Issue

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL HAUNTED MAGAZINE “Ouija boards, they’re only a board game AREN’T THEY?”

Editor-in-Chief: Paul Stevenson @hauntedmagazine paul@hauntedmagazine.co.uk Designer: Andy Soar @thehauntedguy andy@hauntedmagazine.co.uk Writing Talent: Von Callaghan, Father Graham, Tamilla K Wright, A.D. Callaghan, MJ Steel Collins, Leonard Low, Philip Solomon, Rita Scott Thanks to: Guy Lyon Playfair, 3 Girls in the Dark and posthumously Sir Terry pratchett Haunted Magazine on the web: www.hauntedmagazine.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/HauntedDigitalMagazine www.facebook.com/HauntedDigitalMagazine Haunted Magazine is a Dead Good Publishing Ltd Production Company Number: 08446465

www.deadgoodpublishing.com Haunted Magazine Issue 17 out soon (Para)normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. IN DIGITAL. IN PRINT.

2017 THE YEAR OF THE PARANORMAL PRINT IS GOING TO GET A WHOLE LOT SCARIER