Book Spotlight: More Than Ghosts by Alex Matsuo

When I went to AtomaCon last November, I attended two panels by Alex Matsuo, founder and director of the Association of Paranormal Study. Her panels on haunted theaters and demonology were so interesting that it really made me want to read her books, so I started with More Than Ghosts: A Guide to Working Residential Cases in the Paranormal Field, which was published in 2015. In the book, Matsuo teaches the correct way for paranormal investigators to effectively handle residential cases, touching on things such as the differences between investigating residential locations and public locations, researching a property's history before an investigation, equipment you'll need, and how to protect yourself during an investigation.

Though I don't actually want to take part in a paranormal investigation, I find the subject fascinating, and Matsuo clearly knows her stuff. More Than Ghosts is very in-depth and informative, and Matsuo gives the information in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. If you've ever thought about getting involved in paranormal investigation, you should really read this book. : )

My rating: 10/10 

http://alexmatsuo.com/
http://associationofparanormalstudy.com/

AtomaCon 2016

AtomaCon passes for 2016 are on sale, and you can attend all three days for $25 (or $10 for teenagers) if you get your passes by January 1st.  This is a great deal, and there's so much to do at AtomaCon that you'll probably want to go all three days anyway, so you might as well get your 2016 membership while it's on sale! AtomaCon is a convention that celebrates sci-fi, fantasy, science, the paranormal, and other fun stuff, and it will take place November 18th-20th at the Radisson Charleston Airport hotel in North Charleston, SC.

http://atomacon.org/

AtomaCon Panel: Demonology: Is it real?

Of all the panels I attended at last weekend's AtomaCon, I have to say the Demonology: Is it real? panel was my favorite. It was led by Alex Matsuo, founder and director of the Association for Paranormal Study and author of The Haunting of the Tenth Avenue Theater, The Haunted Actor, and More Than Ghosts. A demon is a malevolent entity (or a fallen angel according to religion), and I never gave them much thought until I found out that The Exorcist was inspired by a true story. Alex said that she specializes in residential cases in her paranormal investigations and has come across a few demonic cases. According to The Bible, only Jesus can deal with demons, but he's not around to help out, so instead Catholic priests/clergy or pastors are called upon to exorcise a demon once they decide that someone is possessed. In order to get to this point, the individual in question must be evaluated by a priest, who assesses whether the person is suffering from mental illness or demonic possession (they have similar signs).

Signs of possession:

-anger

-hysterical laughter

-talking gibberish, speaking in languages the individual doesn't know, or speaking in tongues

-knowledge of things the individual has no way of knowing

-shifts in bone structure and body contortions

-aversion to holy objects/holy water

-changes in voice, personality, and appearance

-self-harm

Characteristics of demonic activity:

-foul odors

-banging/knocking

-oppressive feeling

-shadow figures

-growling

-reaction to religious objects/prayers

-heavy objects moving on their own

Stages of demonic possession:
1. Manifestation: when the demon is invited in (either directly or indirectly)
2. Infestation: when the demon makes itself known (growling, whispers, etc.)
3. Oppression: when the demon oppresses an individual physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually
4. Possession: when the demon has access to the body
5. Perfect Possession: when the individual accepts the demon, and an exorcism is no longer possible

In order to act on behalf of Christ, the priest must do an act of contrition before he performs the exorcism. Before the exorcism begins, the possessed person will be restrained so they can't hurt themselves or anyone else, then the exorcist will recite prayers both in English and Latin, which takes 35-40 minutes when read non-stop. The exorcist will also attempt to get the name of the demon and ask for the time and date of the demon's departure.

During the panel, we watched videos of exorcisms from other religions, which was pretty interesting, and Alex played an audio recording from one of the 67 exorcisms performed on Anneliese Michel (who was the inspiration for The Exorcism of Emily Rose), which really creeped me out. Anneliese died from malnutrition and dehydration at the age of 23, and her parents, a priest, and a pastor were all charged with negligent manslaughter. (You can find out more about Anneliese here: http://www.demonicpedia.com/exorcism/the-exorcism-of-anneliese-michel/)

I've watched a bunch of movies about demons/possession and read a few books on the subject, so I thought I knew almost everything there was to know about it...but the Demonology panel was fascinating, and I learned a lot. I didn't really enjoy riding home in the dark afterward or trying to fall asleep that night though. ; )

http://alexmatsuo.com/

AtomaCon Panel: Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp and Other SC Cryptids

Last weekend I attended the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp and Other SC Cryptids panel, which was led by Tally Johnson and Tina R. McSwain, at AtomaCon; Tally is the author of Ghosts of the South Carolina Upcountry, Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands, Ghosts of the Pee Dee, and Civil War Ghosts of South Carolina, and Tina is the founder and director of the Charlotte Area Paranormal Society. For anyone who doesn't know, a cryptid is an animal whose existence has not been proven or accepted by science...some well-known examples are Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Jersey Devil. There aren't many SC cryptids besides the Lizard Man, but we did learn in the panel that there have been reports of a river monster in the Broad River, and people have seen two women, one blonde and one dark-haired, both dressed in white gowns, in the Scape Ore Swamp.

If you grew up in South Carolina, you've probably heard of the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp (aka the Lee County Lizard Man), who was first reported in July 1988 when 17-year-old Christopher Davis claimed that he hit a "Bigfoot-like" creature with his mother's car. It was pointed out in the panel that this far-fetched claim was the product of a teenager who didn't want to get in trouble for wrecking his mom's car, but that didn't stop hundreds of people (including the national media) from descending on Bishopville to try to catch a glimpse of the Lizard Man.  Two years later, a mother who was driving with her five kids reported seeing the Lizard Man in the woods as she was driving over a bridge. For a decade or so, there weren't any reported sightings, but in August 2015, a woman claimed that she saw the Lizard Man as she was leaving church, and she took a picture with her cell phone...most people assumed it was a hoax because whatever is in the picture looks like someone wearing a rubber lizard suit. I'm pretty open-minded, but I hope that the Lizard Man is a hoax...I'm not crazy about regular lizards, so I don't want to live in a world where human-sized lizards exist. ; )

You can find more information about the Lizard Man here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Man_of_Scape_Ore_Swamp

Tina R. McSwain:
http://www.charlotteareaparanormal.org/

Tally Johnson:
https://sites.google.com/site/scghostlore/Home

AtomaCon Panel: Haunted Theaters

I had a great time at my third AtomaCon...I went to a bunch of informative panels and met some really cool people. Since I have a paranormal blog and am also a playwright, it should be no surprise that I attended Alex Matsuo's Haunted Theaters panel. Alex is an actress, playwright, director, and author (of The Haunting of the Tenth Avenue Theater, The Haunted Actor, and More Than Ghosts), and she is the founder and director of the Association for Paranormal Study, which is based in San Diego and Raleigh. The first theater she covered in the panel was the Tenth Avenue Theater in San Diego, which was originally a Baptist chapel. The building is haunted by a British lieutenant (church members heard a British voice giving military orders and would sometimes see him standing in the chapel), a preteen girl named Missy who fell down the stairs and split her head open (Missy's spirit likes to talk to people, turn lights on, and follow people around), a pastor who hung himself in the chapel because he felt guilty about Missy's death, and a former church member named Carol LaRoche, who haunts the bathrooms.

A few of the other theaters covered in the panel:

-Theatre Royal in London: haunted by "The Man in Grey," who wears 18th-century clothing; seeing him is considered a sign of good luck

-New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City: haunted by Olive Thomas, who died of mercury poisoning at 25; her ghost is usually spotted by men and is wearing her Ziegfeld Follies costume and holding a blue bottle (which is what held the mercury that caused her death)

-Palace Theatre in New York City: haunted by more than 100 spirits, including Judy Garland

Alex told us about some of her own experiences, like feeling hands grabbing her dress and ankles during a Civil War reenactment at Gettysburg and once seeing a shadow figure mimicking an actor onstage during a performance. She said that spirits need energy in order to manifest, and theaters are full of energy (from everyone in the theater, lighting, electricity, etc.), which may explain why so many theaters seem to be haunted. The Haunted Theaters panel was really interesting and made me want to read all of Alex's books to find out more about her paranormal experiences. I'm going to a haunted theater (Dock Street) to see my favorite band next month, and I've never seen a ghost there, but I'll keep an eye out this time. : )

http://alexmatsuo.com/
http://associationofparanormalstudy.com/

One week until AtomaCon!

AtomaCon (All Types of Media Arts Convention) takes place November 13th-15th at the Charleston Plaza Hotel  (4770 Goer Drive) in North Charleston, SC. This will be the convention's third year and my third time attending...I had a lot of fun at AtomaCon in  2013 and 2014, so I've been looking forward to it all year. 

AtomaCon focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, science, technology, and gaming, and this year I'm planning on attending panels on Ghostbusters, crowdfunding, haunted theaters,  music, video editing, and demonology. There's something for everyone, so if you live in or near Charleston, you should check it out. : )

Visit the AtomaCon website for more information:

http://www.atomacon.org/

AtomaCon 2015

AtomaCon passes for 2015 are on sale, and you can attend all three days for $20 (or $10 for teenagers) if you get your passes by December 31st.  This is a great deal, and there's so much to do at AtomaCon that you'll probably want to go all three days anyway, so you might as well get your 2015 membership while it's on sale!  AtomaCon is a convention that celebrates sci-fi, fantasy, science, and the paranormal, and it will take place November 13th-15th at the Charleston Plaza Hotel in North Charleston, SC.

http://atomacon.org/member.html

AtomaCon Panel: Bigfoot Hunting

On Saturday, November 15th, I attended the Bigfoot Hunting panel at AtomaCon in North Charleston, SC.  It was led by Cheralyn Lambeth and M. Doc Geressy (who are both members of the Carolina Ghostbusters), and it was a fun and entertaining discussion.  Doc stated that just because we haven't found something doesn't mean it's not there and that if Bigfoot doesn't want to be found, it wouldn't be that hard for him to evade everyone.  Cheralyn pointed out that every major civilization has stories about a Bigfoot-like creature.  They talked about the famous 1964 Bigfoot documentary made by David Patterson, and Cheralyn said that a line going down the back of Bigfoot looks like it could be a zipper and that it wouldn't be that difficult to make a fake Bigfoot film.  As for why someone would fake it, she said that professional filmmakers do things all the time to amuse themselves, such as giving Bigfoot breasts in the Patterson film.  Doc said that if the film was a hoax, it was a very good one and wondered why, if it's easy to fake, more people don't make Bigfoot films?  He also noted that generally the people who have claimed to see Bigfoot don't seem like intelligent or credible people and that if someone like Bill Nye claimed to have seen him, then people would probably believe in Bigfoot.  Cheralyn said that you can't prove that something doesn't exist, and I'd never thought of it that way, but it's so true...you can prove that most things do exist, but if no one has proven the existence of something like Bigfoot, it might just mean we haven't found it yet.  And, really, don't we all secretly hope that Bigfoot exists?

I really enjoyed this panel, and I thought about Bigfoot more than I ever have in my entire life.  I even ended up writing about Bigfoot later that night...I've had a lot of fun writing paranormal jokes and haiku for this blog (which are all going into a book I'm publishing next year), so here's a haiku I wrote after the Bigfoot panel:

Bigfoot, how we wish

You’d reveal your existence,

But we understand

Why you stay hidden.

Steer clear of rednecks with guns,

Or you might become

A Bigfoot-skin rug

Or head mounted on a wall.

Stay safe, furry one.

Also, if you're interested in Bigfoot, check out Graham Roumieu's Bigfoot books (Me Write Book and I Not Dead)...they're hilarious!

http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-spotlight-bigfoot-books-by-graham.html 

Carolina Ghostbusters:
http://carolinaghostbusters.com/

M. Doc Geressy:
https://batdoc.wordpress.com/

Cheralyn Lambeth:
http://www.galleryquest.webs.com/

AtomaCon Panel: Haunted Carolinas

Last year I didn't find out about AtomaCon (All Types of Media Arts Convention) until two days before it began, so I just went the last day and attended one panel (Ghost Hunting Tech); this time I bought a three-day pass as soon as they went on sale last November, so I was prepared to spend all weekend there and learn more about some of the things I'm interested in. On Saturday, November 15th, I attended the Haunted Carolinas panel, so I could hear Tally Johnson, Cheralyn Lambeth, Rebel Sinclair, Pamela Nance, and Ashley Field talk about haunted places in North and South Carolina.

Lavinia Fisher might be Charleston's most notorious ghost, and Rebel Sinclair said that she may have been buried in a potter's field (under what is now The Citadel's football field) since that's where executed prisoners were buried back when Lavinia Fisher was executed.  The panelists talked more about the Old City Jail later; Rebel said that the ghosts of jailers have been seen there, and Pamela Nance and Ashley Field (who make up the paranormal investigation group Spirit Hunters of the South) talked about an investigation they did in 2010.  They said that in a replica of a jail cell, Pamela took pictures while Ashley acted like a jailer, and when they looked at the pictures they took, a ghostly face could be seen between the bars of the cell.  In the morgue area, they heard footsteps running toward Ashley, which then knocked her into Pamela, and when they listened to the recording, they heard a male voice say "That shook 'em" and a female voice say "F**k them."  They believe that the female voice belonged to Lavinia Fisher since it was the voice of a white woman, and she was the only white woman ever held in the jail.  At one point, a cameraman forgot Ashley's name, and a spirit supplied it for him (creepy!).  This story sounded familiar to me, and I was pretty sure I must've seen Pamela and Ashley on a show I wrote about for my blog, and I was right:
http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-ghost-story-caught-on-camera.html

It's not uncommon to hear about spirits of soldiers killed in battle, especially in the Carolinas.  Cheralyn Lambeth said that at Kings Mountain Battlefield, two soldiers were killed by American troops and have haunted the road they died on ever since.  She also showed us a picture of a flag in the Fort Sumter museum that has a ghostly face in it. The flag was shot down and retrieved by a Confederate soldier, and the Union army was so impressed by his bravery that they saluted him; during the 100-gun salute, a Union soldier was killed, and many believe that his face is the one in the flag.

Other hauntings the panelists discussed include:

-14 Legare Street: The house is said to be cursed, and Rebel believes that she and her now-husband were passed by Ruth Lowndes' coach while walking on Legare Street; they smelled horse-hide, but there were no horses around.  They realized that they had just passed #14, the house where Ruth's husband lived alone during their marriage.

-1914 Chester County Jail: Tally Johnson said that six ghosts haunt the jail, and one of them (the spirit of a man imprisoned for slitting his wife's throat, putting her in a trashcan, and setting it on fire) possessed the leader of the paranormal group Tally was investigating with. Tally and his fellow paranormal investigators did a ghost box session at the jail, and the spirit they communicated with knew the names of all three of the investigators; when they ended the session, the cell door slammed shut.  There is also a Victrola at the jail that plays by itself.

-Southend Brewery: Rebel told us that the building is haunted by a man who hanged himself, and sometimes people walking by can see his ghost.

-Cheralyn said her scariest moment was when she arrived at the hotel she was staying at during a paranormal investigation at Waverly Hills Sanitarium (All former sanitariums are haunted, aren't they?) and discovered that the hotel was hosting a Toddlers and Tiaras convention. (That does sound terrifying...I'd rather run into a ghost than a pageant mom.)

-Rebel said that sometimes the FBI holds EVP sessions after a murder because the sound waves from the event might still be there.

-Pamela and Ashley played an EVP recording where a spirit answered questions and told them his name.  They decided to do an EVP session after Ashley's leg started burning all of a sudden, and they found out that the spirit of a man who had been shot in the leg was present.

-Tally said that the ghost of his great-grandfather appeared in his house the night before his wedding and tipped his hat to him...then Tally realized that he was no longer worried about getting married.

The Haunted Carolinas panel was really interesting, and I'm glad I got to go to it.  The panelists were very knowledgeable about hauntings and paranormal investigations and told some fascinating stories.


AtomaCon:
http://www.atomacon.org/

Tally Johnson:
http://tallyjohnson.wix.com/sc-ghost-talker





Cheralyn Lambeth:
http://www.galleryquest.webs.com/


Rebel Sinclair:
http://www.blackcattours.com/RebelSinclair.html



Pamela Nance and Ashley Field
http://spirithunter.us/

Pictures from AtomaCon 2014

AtomaCon was held at the Charleston Plaza Hotel in North Charleston, SC on November 14th-16th, and I had even more fun than I did last year since I went all three days instead of just one.  Here are some pictures from the convention:

Me with Ecto-1

Me with Ecto-1 again

My husband with KITT

Me with a replica of the Vigo painting from Ghostbusters 2

Kyle and me with our Ghostbusters gear

Posing with Jimmy Woody of the Carolina Ghostbusters

Me with some Carolina Ghostbusters and South Carolina Ghostbusters
(Randi Jackson, Jeffrey Lewis, John Arledge, Cheralyn Lambeth, and Scott Freeman)

Kyle with something from Star Wars
(Can you tell I don't know much about Star Wars?)

http://www.atomacon.org/

http://carolinaghostbusters.com/

http://www.scghostbusters.com/

Mark your calendars for AtomaCon!

AtomaCon (All Types of Media Arts Convention) is a fairly new convention, and it takes place November 14th-16th at the Charleston Plaza Hotel  (4770 Goer Drive) in North Charleston, SC.  Last year I didn't find out about Atomacon until two days before it began, so I only went the last day and attended the Ghost Hunting Tech panel (http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2013/11/so-you-want-to-be-ghost-hunter.html).  This year I'm prepared...I bought my three-day pass back in December and am planning on attending a bunch of panels and writing about them for the blog.  I'm especially excited about the Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary Meetup...I'm dressing up as a Ghostbuster for Halloween, so this will give me another excuse to wear my costume! If you're a fan of Star Wars, Dr. Who, Sherlock, The Walking Dead, Godzilla, Lost, or Star Trek, or if you'd like to learn more about ghost hunting, Charleston's haunted history, cosplay, building props, designing video games, or searching for Bigfoot, there's something at AtomaCon for you!  Check out the AtomaCon website for more information:

http://www.atomacon.org/

So You Want to be a Ghost Hunter...

On Sunday, November 10th, I attended a convention called ATOMACON (All Types of Media Arts Convention), which was a three-day convention in Charleston, SC devoted to sci-fi, fantasy, and science.  I attended the Ghost Hunting Tech panel (led by the Carolina Ghostbusters) because I thought it would be a great thing to write about for the blog; paranormal investigators Chuck Carte, Cheralyn Lambeth, M. Doc Geressy, and Tally Johnson talked about the different types of equipment they use on investigations, so if you want to be a ghost hunter, here are some of the things you'll need:

-EMF detector/K-2 meter: measures electromagnetic fields
-flashlight with 3 settings: regular, blacklight, and laser pointer
-temperature gun: measures the temperature using a laser pointer
-video and audio recording devices
-seismograph: measures vibrations
-laser grid: detects shadows and other visual disturbances
-Geiger counter: measures radiation

The Carolina Ghostbusters also offered some ghost hunting tips:

-Always research the place you're investigating in the daylight, so you can identify environmental factors (animals in the attic, etc.) before you walk into a dark house at night.
-Before you begin investigating, walk around the house/building with the EMF meter to see what sets it off; almost anything electrical can cause the EMF detector to go off, so this will prevent you from getting false readings.
-If you want to use a ghost box in your investigations, you can make one yourself with a radio instead of paying a lot for one you find online (and this website tells you how to do it:
 http://angelsghosts.com/ghost_box_how_to_make)
-A "ghost camera" is the same thing as a regular camera, so don't be fooled by ads for expensive cameras claiming to be specifically for ghost hunting.

Ghost Hunting Tech was a very interesting panel, and though I don't want to do any paranormal investigating myself (I get creeped out enough just watching paranormal TV shows), I'm glad I learned more about it from the very informative and entertaining Carolina Ghostbusters.  If you think your house might be haunted or you just want to know more about the Carolina Ghostbusters, check out their website!

http://carolinaghostbusters.com/