World's Most Haunted Places

On our way to Wilmington a few weeks ago, my husband and I stopped at a Books-a-Million in Myrtle Beach, and when I saw a magazine called World's Most Haunted Places, of course I had to buy it.  The magazine costs $9.99 and is 131 pages, and it's one of the most interesting magazines I've ever read.  The magazine is divided into 11 sections: Mystery Mansions and Paranormal Plantations, Haunted Hotels and Sinister Inns, Haunted American History, Sacred Grounds, Ghost Towns, Earthly Prisons, Military Murders, Watery Graves, Creepy Castles, Terrifying Territories, and Imprisoned Forever.  A few of the stories stood out to me, such as the story of LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, which is really disturbing (fun fact: Nicholas Cage lived there at one point).  I knew that the Queen Mary (which I'd never heard of until Arrested Development, even though it's a very famous ship) was haunted, but I didn't realize that it's haunted by more than 130 spirits and that cabin B340 has had so much paranormal activity that guests are no longer permitted to stay there.  Most people know that the Stanley Hotel in Colorado inspired Stephen King to write The Shining; while he was staying there in 1973, he saw spirits of children playing in the hallway and several ghosts in the ballroom.  Good news for anyone who would like to stay there or go on a ghost tour: all of the ghosts are friendly.

Apparently The White House is incredibly haunted; the spirits of Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson, Dolly Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, and Abigail Adams have all been spotted there.  Lincoln is the most frequently seen ghost, and the Lincoln Bedroom has had more paranormal activity than any other room in the house.  Mary Todd Lincoln used to hold seances at the White House to try to contact her deceased sons.

I had never heard of the Island of the Dolls (which is in Xochimico, Mexico), an island that's full of dolls hanging from trees.  Some believe that the dolls are possessed, and the pictures in the magazine really creeped me out.  Here's a link to the island's website, so you can have nightmares too. ; )

http://www.isladelasmunecas.com/Island-of-the-dolls-pictures.html

The front of the magazine says that it should only be on display until November 11th, so hopefully that means a new issue will be coming out soon.  If you really want to read this issue though, you can still buy it from the publisher's website:

http://engagedmediamags.com/sports-entertainment/magazines/special-issues?product_id=67691677

Possessed Possessions

Yesterday I watched a 2005 TLC special called Possessed Possessions (which the Destination America channel re-aired a few weeks ago).  It was hosted by James van Praagh and his impressive mustache, and on the show, people brought objects they believed to be haunted to the Queen Mary, where experts would examine them without knowing anything about them in advance.   The "experts" were psychic/clairvoyant Karyn Reece, psychic/angel medium (I didn't know that was a thing, but apparently it involves communicating with guardian angels and deceased loved ones) Laura Lee, historian/professor Ed Okonowicz, and scientist/ghost hunter Joshua P.Warren.  Here are some of the haunted objects that were featured on the show:

-Antique surgical instruments: These were used in a prison in the 1800s, and the owner says that the instruments move to different shelves when no one has been in the room.  Karyn feels like someone who did autopsies used to own the tools and senses a baby, saying that perhaps the owner did autopsies on infants.  The owner decides to sell the surgical instruments, and I don't blame him...because, really, who needs surgical instruments with a mind of their own lying around the house?

-Musical cake dish that plays by itself: The dish used to belong to the owner’s great-grandmother, and she says that she never winds it up to make it play.  Karyn senses an old man (grandfather) attached to the dish and twinkling (musical notes, for example).

-Skeleton: This is a strange thing for someone to own, which could be why the owner sent his sister to get it checked out instead of being on national TV himself.  The skeleton was found near a Mayan temple around 600 A.D., and Karyn senses a male and something ritualistic.  The owner told his sister that sometimes the object gives off a smell like old blood, and Ed says that maybe it needs to be put to rest.

-Marionettes from Brazil: These were given to the owner as a child, and he says he feels like the female marionette guides him and watches over him.  Laura says that the maker made the marionettes out of love and joy and that the energy is inspiring Nicholas, who reveals that he is hoping to be a toy designer.

-World War I bayonet: The bayonet still has bloodstains on it; Laura senses Irish lineage and a past life, saying that maybe the owner has been reunited with this bayonet.  The owner says that she keeps the bayonet in the bedroom, and that everyone who goes in there gets an uneasy feeling; she also says that a few days before, she was in there alone and heard a male voice right next to her.

- Perfume set from the mid-1800s:  The owner bought the set on Ebay and started having strange dreams the day it arrived; she dreamt about a well-to-do woman from the mid-1900s who was upset that her brother had died in a car accident and that she had to break the news to his girlfriend.  The next day, she felt a presence behind her in the kitchen, which was where the perfume set was sitting.   Laura senses that there was only one owner before and that it was given as a gift and she didn’t use it (the owner wonders if it was a gift from the brother of the woman in her dream), and the owner decides to get rid of the set.

-Antique mirror: The owner's husband brought the mirror when he moved in with her after his house caught on fire; she felt like she was being watched, so she took it down, and when it was on the floor, an alarm clock flew across the room and a hat drifted from the couch to the floor.  Laura asks if the owner has seen other people in the mirror, and when she says she has, Laura says those are all the people that have come in contact with it; she sees a huge house, which the owner says is her husband’s former house.  Laura suggests that the owner keep the mirror on the wall because she doesn’t feel any negative energy associated with it

-Plaster cast of Bigfoot’s footprint: This was made by the owner's archeologist father in Oregon in the late 1970s; the family had strange dreams (and his brother started sleepwalking) that his father traced to the plaster cast, so he put it away.  The owner picked the cast up in Oregon the day before he met with the show and spent the night at his girlfriend’s house, where they both had strange dreams; Laura feels like it is genuine and that the owner of the footprint is still alive.

-Painting of a little girl: This painting used to be at Hank’s Hotel and now hangs at the photo studio at Calico Ghost Town in California; people have felt a child hold their hands or hug them in that room.  A psychic was holding a reading on the painting when a flame from a lit candle started moving across the room by itself; the psychic said that the girl had been run over and killed.  Ed asks if this is a painting over a photograph and the owner says it is; Ed wonders it if’s a “mourning picture” that may have been displayed at the little girl’s funeral.  James says there is a chill next to the painting; Karyn says there’s an aura around the painting, and she senses an older woman who has an odd relationship with the girl.  Karyn and James also agree that the girl didn’t want to die when she did (duh).

-Vanity mirror: One Christmas after her father and aunt had died, the owner asked them to show her a sign that they were still with her...after she took a shower, she turned the blowdryer on the mirror to unfog it, and a man’s handprint and a drawing of a rose (which was her aunt’s name) appeared.  Ed says that mirrors are considered “a portal to the other side” and thinks that the owner communicated with her dead relatives through the mirror.  Karyn senses the face of a deceased woman showing up in the mirror; she also senses palm trees and Florida, and the owner says that her father was a professional dancer and used to go to Florida frequently.

-Doll from the 1930s: This creepy-ass doll was sold on the Queen Mary, and the owner bought it for $1 on Ebay, but it made her feel uneasy, so she took it to work.  Her coworkers told her that the doll’s eyes moved and that the doll itself moved on its own, so she has been keeping it in storage.  Laura feels like the doll may be associated with someone in the military and that it has sentimental value for someone; she gets a warm feeling from the doll, so the owner decides to display it instead of keeping it in storage.  (Is she crazy? The doll MOVES ON ITS OWN...has she never seen Child's Play?!)

-1980 Cadillac hearse: The owner bought the hearse from a funeral director and says that after he dropped off some friends once, he started hearing a whistling in the back of the hearse when he was alone.  Joshua detected some electromagnetic waves and pulsating sounds, and Laura tells the owner  that when he drives it alone, he isn’t really alone.

-Japanese teacup: The teacup was given to the owner by her great-grandmother; she feels negative energy from the cup and says that the teacup makes people uneasy and friends don't want to be near it when they visit.  Laura says the great-grandmother’s presence is in the teacup.  (Don't drink from it!  You'll have an old lady ghost inside you!)

-Typewriter: This typewriter was bought online, and the listing said it was haunted.  “Scary” is the only word that is legible when typed; Karyn senses headaches and a strange energy, and James recommends that the owner get rid of it.

-African tribal mask: The owner tried to buy the mask in Africa, but the original owner refused to sell it; a few years later, it ended up in his mailbox, and he found out the owner had died, but he still doesn’t know how it got there.  Since he has been in possession of the mask, thirty people close to him have died, and the owner has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  (Get rid of the mask...IT KILLS PEOPLE!)   Karyn senses a spirit associated with the mask and that the mask wants to talk to her; she also senses a death connotation.

Unlike most of the paranormal shows I've watched, Possessed Possessions wasn't scary at all...it was kind of like Antiques Roadshow.  I'm not sure how accurate the psychics were, but I will say that Karyn was more believable and specific than Laura, and it was annoying how Laura kept asking “Do you understand?” or “Does this make sense?” every time she did a reading.   The owners of each of the objects talked about how great the readings went, even though the psychics basically told them nothing they didn’t already know.

 My rating: 6.5/10