What scares scares you you the the most most What
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a horror fan ’ s favorite magazine
REVEALED haunted house of the month
volume 1 june 2016 horror enthusiast magazine
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EDITOR’S LETTER I was born in Pelham, NY, which is a town right outside of New York City. I grew up in Pelham, where my father was a prominent contemporary art dealer and his mother an art historian. He wasn’t a childhood film fanatic but was drawn to the movie industry as a way to be involved in creative work that was more accessible than the rarefied art world. I was is a producer whose career took off when the low-budget horror film “Paranormal Activity,” which he played a key role bringing to the big screen, became a surprise hit in 2009 and spawned a new Hollywood franchise with annual sequels. After spending most of my career in the independent film world, the 42-year-old has reshaped his business around the “Paranormal” model, aiming to make inexpensive movies with mass audience appeal. He produced April’s hit horror film “Insidious,” is working on more “Paranormal” sequels for Paramount Pictures and is developing projects under a newly signed deal with Universal Pictures. I am now applying that same mantra to movies. Based on the millions of dollars he has made off of “Paranormal,” Blum eschews significant upfront producing fees in exchange for a large share of profit if his films succeed. I advises aspiring producers to do the same: “Don’t keep your eye on what gets you the most money; keep your eye on what gets your movie made.”
Vincent Mazzaro
CONTENTS 3
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Editor’s Letter A Letter from the Editor
I was born in Pelham, NY, which is a town right outside of New York City. I grew up in Pelham, where my father was a prominent contemporary art dealer and his mother an art historian.
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Haunted House of the Month
Ohio State Reformatory Man
More than 4,000 soldiers were trained for action in the Civil War at a camp which stood on the present site of the Mansfield Reformatory.
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Fright Night Collection of Haun ted Hot Spots
Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, originally known as the haunted Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned hospital located in Beechworth, a town of Victoria, Australia.
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Behind the Screams
A Horror Enthusiasts Free Pass Behind the Scenes Lighting is HUGE for horror movies. A cloaking darkness makes for grander reveals and bigger scares. Darkness is a horror movie filmmaker’s best friend.
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Horror Movie of the Month The Shining
One of the most puzzling questions in The Shining has always been; what happened to Jack at the end of the movie? In Stephen King’s novel he dies in a boiler explosion inside The Overlook.
20 Fear the Unexpected A horror game or tool of the devil?
The(wee-jah, or wee-jee), also known as a spirit board or talking board is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words “yes”, “no”, “hello.”
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Finally, just a few seconds before I shut down m recorder to move on, she can be heard a short distance down the hall inbefore a sing-song voice nally, just a few seconds I shut down my saying, “I’m in this corder todown move on, sheroom.” can be heard a short istance down the hallbefore in a sing-song voice ly, just a few seconds I shut down my ying, “I’m down in this room.” rder to move on, she can be heard a short nce down the hall in a sing-song voice g, “I’m down in this room.”
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a few nds before I shut n my moveseco on, she can be hear adow shor t wn the in a sing -songdvoic e own inhall this room.”
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More than 4,000 soldiers were trained for action in the Civil War at a camp which stood on the present site of the Mansfield Reformatory. Opened in August 1861, the training center was known as Camp Mordecai Bartley. It was named in honor of the Mansfield man who served as governor of Ohio in the 1840’s. The camp was established on rolling land just north of the present main reformatory building and near the Tingley family home. A large spring at the site probably accounted for the selection of that spot as a training center since fresh water supply was a necessity. The spring has since been covered. The 32nd Regiment under Col. T.H. Ford was the first outfit to train at Camp Bartley. Seven hundred and 50 men had arrived here by late August 1861, and when the unit left for Camp Dennison in southern Ohio it took 16 railroad cars to transport the men. Stone walls and iron bars they’re still here, but what of the humanity, if you can call it that, of the old Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield. What of the 154,000 inmates who passed through it’s gates in it’s 94 years as a working prison. Not to mention their keepers, the Wardens, and the Guards, the gravediggers, and the rest, what of them remains? As it turns out, more than you might think. No matter what their crime, some sent to Mansfield have never left. They rest unclaimed in a cheerless graveyard just outside the fence. 215 numbered markers laid out row on row. Most were victims of disease, influenza, tuberculosis, but some died of less natural causes; From the violence, that is all to common inside any prison and was far from unknown in this one. And the worst of it occurred well away from the main cell block with their rows of cages stacked tier on tier, and inmates, one or two to a cell. There were too many eyes, too many witnesses here, no the worst of it was reserved for a far lonelier place, deep beneath the prison ground. A place called local control, or solitary, by some, known by everyone else as the hole. Near total isolation can crack all but the toughest of
cons, but none was so alone that there wasn’t room for death. At least one inmate managed to hang himself, another set himself on fire, once two men left too long in a single tomb like cell, only one walked out, leaving his cellmate’s body behind, stuffed beneath a bunk. Could there be other similar surprises? Or words left over from the days before the prison closed? Even when they’re empty, some swear something walks these halls. It isn’t enough for contemporary visitors not to wonder off alone while sight seeing, what‘s become one of Mansfield’s more popular tourist horror scary attractions at home. But the bloodiest single incident in the old prison’s history occurred outside it’s walls. In July 1948, when the Reformatory’s farm boss, his wife and daughter were kidnapped and shot to death by two parolees bent on revenge. A six state manhunt for the so called mad-dog killers ended in a shootout that left Robert Daniels of Columbus in custody and his partner, James West dead. “I’ll get the Chair” Daniels told police as he signed the confession. And on January 3rd, 1949, he did. A year later in 1950 disaster struck again and again. This time, here in the living quarters of the Warden himself. The Warden’s wife, removing a jewelry box from a closet shelf dislodged a pistol from it’s hiding place. When it hit the floor, the gun went off inflicting a fatal wound. And within the decade, even more bad luck. The Warden, hard at work in his office, suffered a heart attack and died. All this was nearly 40 years ago and more, how then to explain the voices shaken tour guides swear they hear today? Man and woman talking, to faint to understand, to persistent to ignore and chilling to listeners who think they’re alone, only to find themselves apparently eavesdropping on the warden and his wife locked forever in an endless conversation from beyond the grave.
Haunted house of the month
by John Mimms 07/09/2014
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Fright Night Fright Night Fright Night right Fright Night Night ght ght Fright Night Night Night right Fright Night NighT Fright Night right Night Fright Night ight Night Fright Night Fright Night
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Fright Night Fright Nigh Fright Night Fright Night Fright Night collection of haunted hot spots written by Rob Zombie images by Vincent Mazzaro
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Blood Manor, 3179 Erie Blvd E, Syracuse, NY 13214 haunted by a female ghost who goes by the name ‘Claire’ or ‘Clarissa’, and reportedly committed suicide by throwing herself off of a balcony.
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Most haunted place in the world The Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Australia
The inverted pentacle represents the carnal and ‘ungodly’ side of mankind rather than the spiritual. Various authors have concurred with this theme, although here our main concern is with the doctrine of the Church of Satan. The inverted pentacle is a materialistic, human-centered symbol that like Satan represents a rejection of spiritual pipe-dreams such as heaven, and an embrace of the carnal and real elements of life. In the 19th century Eliphas Levi taught “that with two points down it was the T h e i n v e r t e d p e n t a c l e represents It is the official symbol of the Church of Satan. Inside the pentacle is the image of a goat, its horns filling the upper two points, its ears filling the two lateral ones, and its mouth filling the lower one. This is Satan. The goat and pentacle theme is very old, and has its origins in alchemy. The pentacle is
Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, originally known as the haunted Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned hospital located in Beechworth, a town of Victoria, Australia. Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum was the fourth such Hospital to be built in Victoria, being one of the three largest. Mayday Hills Hospital closed in 1995 after 128 years of operation. The vast hospital housed as many as 1200 patients — 600 men and 600 women. The asylum was surrounded by almost 106 hectares of farmland, making the hospital self-sufficient with its own piggery, orchards, kitchen gardens, fields, stables and barn. For recreation, the asylum included tennis courts, an oval and cricket pavilion, kiosk and theatre. People could be admitted to the asylum as a lunatic patient by a number of means: At the request of a friend, relative or acquaintance, medical.
In a span of 128 years, it is believed that over 9,000 patients died here.
certificates written by two medical practitioners. This method was amended by The Mental Health Act 1959 which stated a person could be admitted upon the recommendation of a medical practitioner who had examined the person. As soon as possible after admission the superintendent of the hospital was required to examine the patient and either approve the recommended admission or discharge the patient. Any (lunatic) person found wandering at large or not under proper care and control could be brought before two justices who could order the person’s removal to an asylum. The police were usually responsible for bringing the person before the two justices. Any prisoner of the Crown thought to be a lunatic could be removed from a gaol to an asylum by order of the Chief Secretary. To be admitted, only two signatures were required. To be discharged, eight signatures were required, thus it was a lot harder.
of the country. One day the princess, 18 years of age, went shopping with her friends and was buying Ittar (scent). The wizard saw this and replaced the scent with a love potion in order to ensnare the princess. He offered the potion to her so that she would take a liking to him and marry him. [8][9] However, the princess saw through the wizard’s trickery, and when he offered her the bowl of potion, she threw it onto a big boulder nearby. As a result, the boulder started rolling down towards the wizard and crushed him. Before he died, he cursed that Bhangarh would be destroyed soon and no one would be able to live within its precincts. Subsequently, Bhangarh Fort was invaded by the Mughals from the north and the city was surrounded and sacked; 10,000 people lived in the fort city at that time.
Clockwise, from top to bottom top 3 international hot spots: Iulia Hasdeu Castle, Romani, The Bhanghar Fort, India, and The Princess Theatre, Australia.
The Iulia Hasdeu Castle is a folly house built in the form of small castle by historian and politician Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu in the city of Câmpina, Romania. Work on it began in 1893, after Hasdeu’s daughter, Iulia Hasdeu, died at the age of 19, an event that dramatically shook and changed Hasdeu’s life. He claimed that his belated daughter provided the plans for building the castle during sessions of spiritism. The building was completed in 1896. The castle was affected again by the Second World War and it kept its state till 1955, when its name was written in the Listing of Historical Monuments. The Bhangarh Fort (Hindi/Rajasthani) is a 17th-century fort built in the Rajasthan state of India.[1] It was built by Man Singh I (one of the navratans of Akbar’s court) for
his younger brother Madho Singh I. It was named by Madho Singh after his grandfather Man Singh or Bhan Singh.A new village of Bhangarh with a population of 1,306 in 200 households has developed outside the limits of the fort as there is fear of ghosts haunting the old city. The fort and its precincts are well preserved. One version of the legend is that a sadhu named Baba Balak Nath lived within the fort area. It was his injunction that any houses built in the precincts of the fort should not be taller than his house, and if the shadow of any such house fell on his house, it would result in destruction of the fort town. In another version, N.K. SINHAI, the wizard who was adept in black magic fell in love with Ratnavati, the princess of Bhangarh who was very beautiful and had suitors to marry her from many royal families
The Princess Theatre opened its doors in 1854 and is famous as Melbourne’s home for international musical productions. As with many great performance venues, the Princess plays host to its own resident ghost. The spirit of the actor Frederick Federici has been haunting the theatre enthusiastically since 1888. Jesse, the theatre’s business development manager, gives us the lowdown on Federici’s fabulous fate.
Jesse explains that the spirit has been encountered many more times over the years He had actually suffered a heart attack and died at that exact moment. For an actor, he had a very good sense of timing!” In what must be one of the more extreme manifestations of the adage “the show must go on”, Federici had immediately returned from the dead so as not to miss the adulation of the crowd. Jesse explains that the spirit has been encountered many more times over the years. ert Newton, Marina Prior, Lisa McCune and many of the venue’s everyday staff have also reported experiences. While this all might seem pretty creepy, Jesse insists that Federici is not a threatening spirit.
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Behind the scream Brace yourselves for a look at who and how these creepy horror movies of the 21st century were made. A horror enthusiasts free pass behind the scenes exposing directors secrets and special effects.
Written by: Vincent Mazzaro Photography: Colin Raffio
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ms by Stanley Kubric 07/09/2014
HORROR DIRECTORS
Tobe Hooper Writer Texas Chainsaw Massacre Honored with many awards for his films and achievement in the horror genre, Tobe Hooper is truly one of the Masters of Horror. He spent the 1960s as a college teacher and documentary cameraman. He organized a small cast of students and made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). It changed the horror film industry and became an instant classic.
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pecial effects are more practical to use now a days becuase they exist. Now you can do anything digitally, but what some movies mistakenly think is that practical effects aren’t needed because computers can just add the gore in post-production. Digital animation is great for touching up practical effects, but when used incorrectly, really takes away from
John Carpenter Director Halloween He attended Western Kentucky University and then USC film school in Los Angeles. He began making short films in 1962, and won an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Subject in 1970. Since the 1970s, he has had numerous roles in the film industry including writer, actor, composer, producer, and director. he has helmed the classic horror film Halloween (1978).
George A. Romero Writer Night of the Living Dead After graduation, he began shooting mostly short films. He and his friends formed the late 1960s and they all chipped in roughly US$10,000 a piece to produce one of the most celebrated American horror films of all time: Night of the Living Dead (1968). It was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress of the United States in 1999.
Scenes from Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre
the fun of squeamish practical effects. To get the most realistic result, a blend of practical and digital effects have to work harmoniously together – or just go all (well, MOSTLY) practical like Fede Alvarez did for his Evil Dead remake and create the most gruesome effects imaginable. Lighting is HUGE for horror movies. A cloaking darkness makes for grander reveals and bigger scares. Darkness is a horror movie filmmaker’s best friend, and with found footage movies we now have even more ways to play with darkness via night vision mode, only making our fears of the dark that much more sensible. I know in horror movies there are a lot of “splatter” sounds
when someone cracks into a zombie’s head or something of that nature, and a popular method for achieving that sound is actually smashing rotten fruits and vegetables. Makeup artists are tasked with transforming an actor into a character so that we forget there’s a person under that heavy coating of makeup. A horror character’s look is equally as important as the actor’s performance, because in order to become a monster, you first have to look the part. Lighting is HUGE for horror movies. Think back to when you were a small child – I’m sure you owned a nightlight, right? Everyone is afraid of the dark at some point because that’s where the meanest, nastiest monsters can hide
without being seen. Horror movies love manipulating darkness because they can hide creatures and have them emerge in the most dramatic fashion. How many times has a horror villain burst from the shadows and scared the daylights out of viewers? A cloaking darkness makes for grander reveals and bigger scares. Darkness is a horror movie filmmaker’s best friend, and with found footage movies we now have even more ways to play with darkness via night vision mode, only making our fears of the dark that much more sensible. The importance of these elements is pretty basic – in order to fear something, you have to believe it. Makeup artists are tasked with
transforming an actor into a character so that we forget there’s a person under that heavy coating of makeup. If Freddy Krueger didn’t look the part, all his nightmare dwelling antics would have been pretty forgettable, and he certainly never would have achieved his iconic status. A horror character’s look is equally as important as the actor’s performance, because in order to become a monster, you first have to look the part. There’s one simple constant that makes a good horror movie – fear. The whole reason I watch horror movies is to get a good scare. No matter what method a horror movie might choose, whether it be a zombie movie, creature feature, vampire flick – anything – if there’s no fear present, then something is wrong. A good horror movie has to be smart, respectful of its audience, atmospherically tense, original, and everything else, but most importantly, it’s got to be scary. The good thing is directors are finding more and more ways to achieve scares, be it found footage filmmaking or wild monster creations, as technological advancements are opening doors that lead to entirely new realms of horror. Show me something fierce, confident, spine-tingling and fresh. Horror movie effects are tricky beasts these days because new developments in animation are starting to be used just as frequently as old-school practical effects, but it’s also a very exciting time for filmmakers. Directors didn’t always have this option, as practical effects were all that existed. This would simply entail special effects warehouses being called upon to create whatever prop a scene called for, be it an exploding corpse or graphic zombie bite, and the director would have to figure out a filming method that wouldn’t obviously reveal the prop’s fake nature. Now filmmakers have the option to go into a scene and digitally remove things or cover up imperfections.
Lighting plays a big part in setting the mood in horror movies. Lighting is HUGE for horror movies. Everyone is afraid of the dark at some point because that’s where the meanest, nastiest monsters can hide without being seen. Horror movies love manipulating darkness because they can hide creatures and have them emerge in the most dramatic fashion. A cloaking darkness makes for grander reveals and bigger scares. Darkness is a horror movie filmmaker’s best friend.
Elements Behind Making a Quality Horror Movie
Makeup and costumes are vital to creating scary characters such as Freddy Kruger. The importance of these elements is pretty basic – in order to fear something, you have to believe it. Makeup artists are tasked with transforming an actor into a character so that we forget there’s a person under that heavy coating of makeup. If Freddy Krueger didn’t look the part, all his nightmare dwelling antics would have been pretty forgettable, and he certainly never would have achieved his iconic status.
Sound effects are typical for a horror movie and how are they created? These guys and gals are tasked with recreating sounds for the film through any means necessary, playing around with different materials in order to do so. In horror movies there are a lot of “splatter” sounds when someone cracks into a zombie’s head or something of that nature, and a popular method for achieving that sound is actually smashing rotten fruits and vegetables. Yup, someone is dropping rotten cantaloupes and water mellons.
How Has Technology Evolved
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For better or worse, horror movies have evolved to become much sleeker with new advancements in special effects. If you look back at some older slasher movies, you’ll notice how much rougher of a cut filmmakers settled upon because practical effects could only go so far. There’s also a lovable characteristic to cheesy character effects though, looking back on movies like Night Of The Creeps and laughing coyly off at obvious shots of mannequins with alien slugs crawling out their mouths. Practical effects have an undeniable charm, but technological advancements have made it easier to perfect practical effects in the digital stage, coming together in a way that creates a picturesque experience. If anything, the CGI work is a post-production safety blanket, but it’s a shame that some see terrible animation as a clear replacement for practical effects. Going the CGI rout can sometimes be cheaper, but there’s a reason for that – practical effects will ever be replaces, only improved upon.
From top to bottom Jared Leto, Rob Zombie, Walking Dead, Orce, and Golem from Lord of the Rings
What is the importance of CGI in Horror Films CGI has been doing wonderful things for the monster movie genre. I don’t think CGI helps as far as details are concerned, because I’ll again say that 1982’s The Thing still stands up against mainstream horror movies with today’s technical advantages. What CGI has done is give filmmakers easier methods of creating these gigantic creature movies like Cloverfield, and really scale the monster against tiny ant-sized people. Watching Cloverfield in theaters, you could really appreciate just how large the monster was,
and holy cow did it look amazing. Movies like Trollhunter and Godzilla do the exact same thing, crafting massive beasts that make us feel wholly insignificant. CGI allows for monsters to be bigger without much effort, as Toho’s method of putting a man in a Godzilla costume can’t exactly pass as acceptable these days.
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by John Mimms 07/09/2014
by Stanley Kubric 07/09/2014
The Shining The Shining The Shining The Shining The Shining The Shining
The Shining The Shining The Shining The Shining One of the most puzzling questions in The Shining has always been; what happened to Jack at the end of the movie? In Stephen King’s novel he dies in a boiler explosion inside The Overlook, but nothing that simple happens here. In another undeniable Kubrickian reversal of the source novel at the end of the movie we see him frozen solid outside of The Overlook. But what may have been also included in the first directors cut, and later removed, is that his body couldn’t be found by the police. This is very important. His body just disappears and to answer the question we should look at something else first; was Jack ever in the hotel before? What would lead us to believe Jack’s been to The Overlook before as he definitely wasn’t there before in Stephen King’s novel? Early on he says this to Wendy, “It was as though I had been here before” but this statement doesn’t really prove anything. Grady’s famous line, “I’m sorry to differ with you, sir, but you are the caretaker. You have always been the caretaker, I should know, sir. I’ve always been here” cannot be used as proof that Jack’s returned because his visions of Grady are a product of his own imagination, combined with his growing madness `coupled with his ability to “Shine”. If The Overlook is speaking to him through Grady it can’t be believed because as Danny states in Stephen King’s novel, “The house always lies”. Then we see it! Jack appears standing in The Overlook in the last picture of the movie dated July 4th 1921. Ask anybody who’s seen “The Shining” if Jack Torrance has ever been there before and they will all use this picture as the one irrefutable example of it. Stanley Kubrick has added yet another brilliant twist to this movie (maybe the greatest hidden twist in movie history); In the end as the camera zooms in on the center picture we, the audience, are the only ones there in the lobby, and we become an integral part of the movie. Jack was never in The Overlook in 1921 but we, never realizing that it’s us doing it, “Shine” him to the spot on the wall where we believe he was and belongs; back into the Overlook’s
past. In the end he doesn’t exist anymore. Nothing more, nothing less. We’ve turned him into just a picture on a wall. Now he’s where he belongs, in the Overlook, frozen for all time, “for ever and ever and ever”. Throughout this entire movie we’ve been guided by the art of Stanley Kubrick’s simple suggestions and are unshakenly positive in our belief that Jack Torrance was in a past life, Grady, The Overlook’s caretaker. In the end, again, we’re seeing a reflection of what we thought was real. Anyone who erroneously tries to explain why this picture, the most enigmatic prop in movie history, isn’t there for 99% of the movie as a movie mistake or continuity error is insulting Mr. Kubrick’s intelligence, and just doesn’t get this movie. This must have a valid and plausible explanation. No one would go through the trouble of finding an authentic picture from 1921, as stated in his interview with Michel Ciment, and then forget to hang it up till the end of the movie. Come on, get real. Jack was never there before, but he sure is now, “for ever and ever and ever”; and you did it. This perplexing picture is the final vision in a movie that’s full of visions. It’s by someone who has the exact same ability to “Shine” and see visions as The Overlook’s previous guests, the Torrences and Dick Hallorann who we know in the end are all either dead or like Elvis have “left the building”. The hotel is now empty except for us, the audience. Just think of how brilliantly this was put across in Stanley Kubrick’s script by Dick Hallorann, the only expert on “Shining” we know of; “But there are other folks, though mostly they don’t know it, or don’t believe it”. That may be you he’s talking about, think about it; you are the other folks that don’t know it, or don’t believe it. What an unbelievable twist! The power of this one image. The unbelief of realizing that it might not be what it seems. It turns out in the end Stanley Kubrick has taken Stephen King’s story about a little boy who possesses the power to “Shine” and in the end reverses that power by giving it to the audience. Now, in this last crazy turn of perplexing shot as John Lennon once sang.
I always got the sense that someone there was (and is) watching me. I never saw anything. there some mysterious happenings IHowever, always thewere sense that ense thatgot someone there wassomeone there was (and is) watching me. I never saw anything. me. I never saw anything. got the sense that someone there was However, there were some mysterious happenings talways the sense that someone there ere some mysterious happenings. (and is) watching me. I never sawwas anything. ching me. I never saw anything. However, were some mysterious here were there some mysterious happenings.happenings.
Horror Movie of the month
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Fear the un A board game or tool of the devil?
O
uija (wee-jah, or wee-jee), also known as a spirit board or talking board is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words “yes”, “no”, “hello” (occasionally), and “goodbye”, along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic called a planchette. Participants place their fingers on the planchette, and it is moved about the board to spell out words. Following its commercial introduction by businessman Elijah Bond on July 1, 1890,[1] the Ouija board was regarded as a parlor game unrelated to the occult until American Spiritualist Pearl Curran popularized its use as a divining tool during World War I.[2]Spiritualists believed that the dead were able to contact the living and reportedly used a talking board very similar to a modern Ouija board at their camps in Ohio in 1886 to ostensibly enable faster communication with spirits. Ouija board was regarded as a parlor game unrelated to the occult until American Spiritualist Pearl Curran popularized its use as a divining tool during World War I.[2]Spiritualists believed that the dead were able to contact the living and reportedly used a talking board very similar to a modern Ouija board at their camps in Ohio in 1886 to ostensibly enable faster communication with spirits.
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The idea was that two or more people would sit around the board, place their finger tips on the planchette, pose a question, and watch, dumbfounded, as the planchette moved from letter to letter, spelling out the answers seemingly of its own accord. The biggest difference is in the materials; the board is now usually cardboard, rather than wood, and the planchette is plastic. Though truth in advertising is hard to come by, especially in products from the 19th century, the Ouija board was “interesting and mysterious”; it actually had been “proven” to work at the Patent Office before its patent was allowed to proceed; and today, even psychologists believe that it may offer a
link between the known and the unknown. The real history of the Ouija board is just about as mysterious as how the “game” works. Ouija historian Robert Murch has been researching the story of the board since 1992; when he started his research, he says, no one really knew anything about its origins, which struck him as odd: “For such an iconic thing that strikes both fear and wonder in American culture, how can no one know where it came from?” The Ouija board, in fact, came straight out of the American 19th century obsession with spiritualism, the belief that the dead are able to communicate with the living. Spiritualism, which had been around for years in Europe,
hit America hard in 1848 with the sudden prominence of the Fox sisters of upstate New York; the Foxes claimed to receive messages from spirits who rapped on the walls in answer to questions, recreating this feat of channeling in parlors across the state. Aided by the stories about the celebrity sisters and other spiritualists in the new national press, spiritualism reached millions of adherents at its peak in the second half of the 19th century. Spiritualism worked for Americans: it was compatible with Christian dogma, meaning one could hold a séance on Saturday night and have no qualms about going to church the next day. It was an acceptable, even wholesome activity.
Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board Contacintg spirits automatic writing, or table turning parties, in which participants would place their hands on a small table and watch it begin shake and rattle, while they all declared that they weren’t moving it. The movement also offered solace in an era when the average lifespan was less than 50: Women died in childbirth; children died of disease; and men died in war. Even Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the venerable president, conducted séances in the White House after their 11-year-old son died of a fever in 1862; during the Civil War, spiritualism gained adherents in droves, people desperate to connect with loved ones who’d gone away to war and never According to Murch’s interviews with the descendants of the Ouija founders and the original Ouija patent file itself, which he’s seen, the story of the board’s patent request was true: Knowing that if they couldn’t prove that the board worked, they wouldn’t get their patent, Bond brought the indispensible Peters to the patent office in Washington with him when he filed his application. There, the chief patent officer demanded a demonstration—if the board was ready to
In a span of 128 years, it is believed that over 10,000 people had spiritual encounters boomed a Pittsburgh toy and novelty shop, describing a magical device that answered questions “about the past, present and future with marvelous accuracy” and promised “never-failing amusement and recreation for all the classes,” a link “between the known and unknown, the material and immaterial.” Another advertisement in a New York newspaper declared it “interesting and mysterious” and testified, “as Proven at Patent Office before it was allowed. Price, $1.50.”This mysterious talking board was basically what’s sold.
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come home. ccording to Murch’s interviews with the descendants of the Ouija founders and the original Ouija patent file itself, which he’s seen, the story of the board’s patent request was true: Knowing that if they couldn’t prove that the board worked, they wouldn’t get their patent, Bond brought the indispensible Peters to the patent office in Washington with him when he filed his application. if the board could accurately spell out his name, which was supposed to be unknown. to Bond and Peters, he’d allow the patent application to proceed.
Charles Kennard, in 1890, he pulled together a group of four other investors—including Elijah Bond, a local attorney, and Col. Washington Bowie, a surveyor—to start the Kennard Novelty Company to exclusively make and market these new talking boards. None of the men were spiritualists, really, but they were all of them keen businessmen and they’d identified a niche. But they didn’t have the Ouija board yet—the Kennard talking board lacked a name. Contrary to popular belief, “Ouija” is not a combination of the French for “yes,” oui, and the German ja. Murch says, based on his research, it was Bond’s sister-in-law, Helen Peters (who was, Bond said, a “strong medium”), who supplied the now instantly recognizable handle. luck.” Eerie and cryptic—but for the fact that Peters acknowledged that she was wearing a locket bearing the picture of a woman, the name “Ouija” above her head.
Elijiah Bond, a Baltimore attorney was one of the first to patent the Ouija Board. “Communicating with the dead was common, it wasn’t seen as bizarre or weird,” explains Murch. “It’s hard to imagine that now, we look at that and think, ‘Why are you opening the gates of hell?’” But opening the gates of hell wasn’t on anyone’s mind when they started the Kennard Novelty Company, the first producers of the Ouija board; in fact, they were mostly looking to open Americans’ wallets. As spiritualism had grown in American culture, so too did frustration with how long it took to get any meaningful message out of the spirits, says Brandon Hodge, Spiritualism historian. Calling out the alphabet and waiting for a knock at the right letter, for example, was deeply boring. People were desperate for methods of communication that would be quicker—and while several entrepreneurs realized that, it was the Kennard Novelty Company that really nailed it. Another advertisement in a New York newspaper declared it “interesting and mysterious” and testified, “as sProven at Patent Office before it was allowed. Price, $1.50.” This mysterious talking board was basically what’s sold in board game aisles today: A flat board with the letters of the alphabet arrayed in two semi-circles above the numbers 0 through 9; the words “yes” and “no” in the uppermost corners, “goodbye” at the bottom; accompanied by a “planchette,” a teardrop-shaped device, usually with a small window in the