UPDATE! EVPS HAUNT SHOW HOST AND GUEST!

Can the dead really speak to us? Can these disembodied voices imprint themselves and be captured on electronic devices?

Imagine the surprise for both radio show host Norene Balovich of "Do You Believe" (LiveSciFi.TV) and myself as her guest on her live SKYPE show last Sunday night (May 18th) when during the broad cast we were alerted by listeners that spectral voices (EVPS) were being heard over me as I was being interviewed!!!! 


Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings which resemble speech, but are reportedly not the result of intentional recording or rendering. EVP'S are commonly found in recordings with static, stray radio transmissions, and background
noise. Recordings of EVP are often produced by increasing the gain (i.e. sensitivity) of the recording equipment.

Paranormal explanations for the origin of EVP include living humans imprinting thoughts directly on an electronic medium through psychokinesis and communication by entities such as spirits, nature energies, beings from other dimensions, or extraterrestrials. Portable digital voice recorders are currently the technology of choice for EVP investigators.

Interest in EVP surrounds claims that they are of paranormal origin,although a number of natural explanations have been offered including apophenia (finding significance in insignificant phenomena), auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in one's own language), equipment artifacts, and hoaxes. 

                         
Investigators today, equipped with electronic gear—like EMF meters, video cameras, and audio recorders—scour reportedly haunted venues, trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of ghosts. Many use portable recording devices in an attempt to capture EVP. (Some EVP enthusiasts describe hearing the words in EVP as an ability, much like learning a new language. Skeptics suggest that the claimed instances may be misinterpretations of natural phenomena, inadvertent influence of the electronic equipment by researchers, or deliberate influencing of the researchers and the equipment by third parties).

The concept of EVP has had an impact on popular culture. It is popular as an entertaining pursuit, as in ghost hunting, and as a means of dealing with grief. It has influenced literature,radio, film, and television.
Many "Paranormal" radio shows and Podcasts on the internet deal directly with the subject of EVP'S on a weekly basis by hosting people who are ghost investigators, authors and psychics who explore this topic and inform their audience with their sometimes shocking and terrifying recorded evidence. HOW IRONIC! READ ON!

SO- what exactly was going on during the live broad cast radio show hosted Norene Balovich of "Do You Believe" ?

As I was talking to Norene and answering her questions, the audio noise was crazy! Norene's fan going on and off on her computer (which never happened before) her mike had interference of bangs and knocks on it and then foul language and threats aimed at me were spoken in both German and English. This evidence during the live show of the paranormal EVP phenomenon just blew the audience away! It went on for the entire 52 minute show! 

After the show I received some transcripts of what was said and there were horrific comments: about me, my book, the Holocaust and telling me I should not say anything else about the book and I should not have shown the artifacts I found at my deceased friend's house! Example: Nazi pins and German coins.

The next day I gave the show link to my son, Chris who many of you know is highly psychic, and he listened to the show on his cell phone-having it right up to his ear. He proceeded to write down what he heard-not knowing what the other people had listed of what they heard. The results were incredible. He wrote down 70 incidents of anomalies and EVPS from the broad cast. The man and woman were speaking with German Accents! Many of the words and phrases were the same as the other people had reported listening to the show when I compared the lists. Also, my son was physically and mentally drained after doing this! He said it was very hard listening to the awful EVPS.

Here is the Link to the show if you missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJWimc9-1qE&feature=share

(Note: The chat room was filled with posts written in the German language! Norene sent a draft of some of the EVPs and what they said after translation and I were horrified how directly they related to the haunting I had experienced 5 years go at the real Estate of Horror!! There was direct spectral interaction with our whole conversation during the show.

Here is another true encounter with one very disturbing EVP I captured in the basement of my house in February 2010. This is only a small sample of the continued evidence my family and I have collected while being on a long 5 year journey of living a paranormal life.

Home Aud 08.aup is the file name. It was only 9:13 minutes long.

Here is the sequence:

00-6:30- from the beginning I asked a series of questions to my deceased friend and members of his family about the things missing in our house and what we took out of his home, etc.

at 6:30-  heard static and there are bumps or taps

7:02-  suddenly the audio gets louder although I did not put up the volume-I had put the recorder down on a box the whole time and never touched it-something tuned up the volume dial.

8:34- I mention that the heater turned on

8:37- I say, "That's going to make noise"

8:40- (This is it) large area on the audio a Horrible raspy voice saying (we think)

"SHUT OFF THE RECORDER" It scared the Hell out of me.

8:42-9:13- I don't react at all as I didn't hear the voice and just goes to the end as I go back upstairs.

I can't include include the whole audio clip because of privacy issues.  If you would like me to e-mail the 10 second Sound Wave clip to you (you can play it on your Windows Media player) of that horrific EVP voice please contact me: 
http://www.anitajointenzo.com/Contact_Anita.html  

When you hear this- it will give you nightmares!

You know I was warned not to publish my book Estate of Horror. Guess what ghosts? Heads up! I'm writing the sequel!

Now you know why I'm called the Haunted Author!

UPDATE: For those loyal readers who have made this blog one of then most read with over 7900 views please stay tuned for more on this phenomena and my continued haunted experiences in my sequel Dark Transference coming out in September 2016!  You can visit my Facebook page for more information. www.facebook.com/darktransference

ARE YOU COMMUNICATING WITH SPIRITS?

Is there such a thing as a sixth sense?
Is it possible to communicate with the spirit world? Previous popular TV shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer and psychic mediums like John Edwards and Theresa Caputo (Long Island Medium) all seem to suggest that talking to the dead and communication with spirits is quite possible.

Communicating with the dead is not new. In all cultures from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to the Victorian Era and to modern times its been a practice to use different means to contact the "other world". The intense desire to communicate and connect with spirits is taught in the Egyptian "Book of the Dead". "Seers" like the Greek Oracle of Delphi were people who possessed the gift of "communicating with the other side" and were sought out for their guidance, prophetic warnings and to give validation to important decisions made that could have life and death consequences to the community.

                    Egyptian Book of the Dead

                           Oracle of Delphi

In the Victorian era the "Spiritualist" movement was started in 1848 by the Fox sisters (they lived in New York) who claimed they were visited by an intelligent entity that gave them messages of things they could not known on their own. They were a sensation throughout the Eastern U.S. and the movement to contact the dead became very fashionable and popular. Many educated people of middle class and wealthy means held seances in the evening in the quest of serious scientific research but also in an era without radio, movies or TV it was also a form of entertainment and thrills. There were cases of fraud, as you can well imagine, as gullible people so anxious to contact to a loved one were taken over for large sums of money by charlatans, and the same holds true today.

There has been much controversy recently that the claims made by John Edwards and Theresa Caputo of their psychic abilities are not valid but fraudulent. Indeed, many of their "readings" are done on Television with emphasis on its entertainment value. I am not taking a stand on this one way or the other. Truth is in the substance of what they are really revealing with some results that seem quite astonishing. Its up to you what you believe about them.

I want to write about what I know to be a truth in this whole subject of communication with spirits. You see I have a psychic son, who is a Medium for the dead who talk to him, even when they are speaking a foreign language! Christopher is a unique person, and not because he is my son. He is a very talented Warhammer model maker: painter and builder, and graphic artist.

Chris with his created and designed Ghostbusters Army which won best in show at a recent gaming tournament. www.Facebook.com/MiniatureMen

He is funny- children adore him- honest and a loving husband with many friends.
He is also a very reluctant psychic. He wishes he didn't have dead people coming to him in the middle of the night giving him messages for hours that leave him tired and drained of energy in the morning. But its been happening since 2009 when we first started working on cleaning out my deceased friend's estate. 

It started out with a dream my son Chris had of my deceased friend only a few weeks after his sudden death. 
From sources on reading ways people communicate with the dead,it seems when we are dreaming we are very open to communication from deceased loved ones and from the other side in general. This is because we're already in the astral plane, which is a non-physical place that we visit when we're asleep. It easier for the deceased "to meet us half-way energetically speaking, by visiting us there. This is what seems to have happened with my son.

         Excerpt from Estate of Horror: Chapter 5

That same Sunday night Chris had a chilling dream. He came downstairs the next morning, said he wasn’t hungry, went directly to his worktable in the living room, and stood over a model miniature he’d been painting and began to work on it again. He had been painting Warhammer models for over twelve years and was an excellent model builder and painter.

I was at the dining room table paying some bills.

“It’s not a good idea to skip breakfast,” I said.

Chris looked at me. “I’ll have an early lunch.”

“I have to look through all of Paul’s bills that are being forwarded to me and I don’t know where to start." I became lost in concentration but glanced over to my son once or twice.  I knew my son too well; he was being unusually quiet.  Something was bothering him.

“Is something wrong, Chris?”

Chris didn’t look up. He was silent for a moment and then, as if trying to find the right phrasing he said, “By the way, Paul* says ‘Hi.’”

Surprised, I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him. “What are you talking about?”

My son still had his head bent over the model and was deep in concentration. “I saw Paul last night in a dream that really didn’t feel like a dream. It was very vivid. He was sitting on the recliner in our living room across from me dressed in a red hoodie and dark brown pants. He told me he was at the memorial service and that you’d done a great job. He really liked it.”

I just stared at Chris. I was stunned. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not kidding, Mom. Paul’s face looked gray and he told me that he’d been a bit scattered lately and it had taken a while for him to get his energy back.”

       I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because it sounded just like Paul to use a pun like ‘being scattered’ when he knew full well that his last wishes were to have his ashes scattered on a mountain top,as they had been only days earlier. 

I guess I was feeling a little hurt that my friend hadn’t come to me.  “I wonder why he came to you and not me,” I said.

“He came to me because he knows how mad you are at him. He figured you didn’t want to see him.”

I put my hand to my mouth.  “Oh my God!” 

Chris continued, “He seemed to think like there was nothing wrong in his mind, and that it was business as usual and that he was going home after our visit. Then, he said, ‘I’ll see you again,’ and I told him, ‘Dude, you’re dead.’ He didn’t say anything; he just got up from the chair and walked right through the wall.”

My jaw dropped.

“Mom, I feel so drained this morning, like I didn’t get any sleep at all last night.” 
“I don’t know what to say, Chris,” I said, as chills ran up my spine. Then I had a creepy thought. Of course, Paul’s complexion looked gray; he had been cremated, hadn’t he?

  End of Excerpt from Chapter 5: Estate of Horror

There is no doubt in my mind that my son's long time connection to my friend Paul* and him helping me clean out Paul's house somehow triggered and brought a dormant psychic ability that was always present in my son to the surface. Looking back I remember Chris telling me of an "imaginary friend" that played with him in his bedroom. He never told me of any unusual dreams but he went though a period of time when he was about 6 and would awake in the middle of the night, come into my bedroom frightened and tell me, "the lady was looking at me". I thought at the time it was an Renaissance woman's portrait I had painted in art school hanging near his bedroom, so I removed it thinking that was the cause of his terror. I know now it was something else. Perhaps what they say in the old song,"I'll see you in my dreams" is really true.
* name has been changed

Please read Part 2 of this blog: My Son, The Reluctant Psychic, about some of my son's unusual and astonishing dreams. I can only relate a few as I am writing a sequel to my first book and his remarkable communications with deceased people and the astonishing accuracy of the information they have related to him will be fascinating reading.  

SHROUD OF TURIN -FAKE OR FACT?

Just in time for Easter. The Intriguing mysteries surrounding the Shroud of Turin.

The positive and negative aspects on the shroud are reversed. The first photo is what the average person sees and its very flat and hard to read, the second image is the negative of that other image but you see more detail and its more like a positive image. This unusual aspect of the"3D coding" in the shroud was not seen until late 1800's when it was first photographed. 

                   
Years ago I worked for a photographic company as a photo restoration artist. While I worked at the company in 1979 in Philly they were commissioned to do reprints of hundreds of photos that were being distributed by the The Shroud of Turin Society for their large membership. These photos were part of the recent evidence that had been brought out by a commission who had unprecedented access to study the Shroud (historically recorded as the actual burial shroud of Jesus Christ) in 1978.                     

                           
The actual size of the cloth is 15 feet in length and from the painting you can see how the body was wrapped in it.                   
                                
So it was with great interest that I saw a posting of a recent show on George Noory's Coast to Coast AM radio show when he hosted a Dr. Andrew Silverman, an expert on the Shroud of Turin, who discussed the various studies which have been done on the enigmatic holy relic.
                             
This is a front and back view of the body's imprint on the cloth of the shroud, again seen better in a negative.

"I don't look at the Shroud from a religious perspective," Silverman explained, "I look at it to try to understand the evidence that is on the cloth and all the empirical studies that have been done." 
Check out his website and you will read further on the remarkable facts presented about the shroud.  
http://www.lightoftheshroud.com/

He recalled how, in 1978, a group of scientists were given unprecedented access to the Shroud in an attempt to determine the origins of the image. While they expected to find an explanation for its source, Silverman noted that they determined "there's no way that they could account for it having been manufactured."

Studies into the cloth, itself, he said, have revealed that the image rests within only a tiny layer of the fabric and, therefore, precludes the possibility that the picture was a painting and a fraud. If someone scraped it with a knife the image would disappear.


                       

This was a huge controversy for years, if you remember, all over the media and TV over the idea that someone in medieval times painted the image on the fabric. Given at the early time that the study of anatomy wasn't allowed or sanctioned by the Catholic Church (physicians forbidden to preform autopsies, because the Church believed it corrupted the body, and artists forbidden to paint from nude subjects)  so this was nearly impossible to recreate.


Then there was a new theory:  Because the image of the body on the shroud was in such perfect proportions it was suggested that it was painted by no other than the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci and used himself as the face of Christ! Holy Mona Lisa!

 
I got so sick and tired of hearing these pronouncements over the years that the cloth was painted "It's a fake!" "It's a forgery!" on repeated shows and interviews without proof of how it was done.  As an artist who uses watercolors and oil paints I could see on the close up photos that the image was not produced by painting the cloth. Paint, either watercolor/tempera base-which soaks right through cloth or oil paint- which will leave a filmy, spreading residue through the cloth-if the cloth isn't treated with a vapor barrier and primer like our commercial canvases are made today. (The Venetians invented the method in the 1500's of sealing their canvases before applying paint just for that reason because the paint will bleed through and rot the fabric linen or cotton canvas cloth over time). None of this was present on the cloth. 

Additionally, Silverman detailed how experiments with ultraviolet pulse lasers allowed for the creation of an image with the same general thinness of the Shroud picture. These findings, he said, are "consistent with the notion that there may have been a momentary flash of radiant energy from the body that was once wrapped in the Shroud.
" If this is the means by which the image was created, Silverman pointed out that, based on the position of the body in the picture, it would have actually been levitating* at the time when it occurred.
(*the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact).

                           

This was actually stated and brought to the attention of the world before by a Italian woman physicist in early 2010 who said that the body in the shroud did levitate (by her calculations) at the time of the image's creation by something called an "event horizon" (a term used in general relativity), an event horizon is a boundary in space-time (that combines space and time into a single interwoven continuum) beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. In layman's terms, it is defined as "the point of no return".

In 2010 a more intensive study was conducted of how the image may have been formed by the "burst of radiation" theory taken further. Instead of a one directional burst of energy (which testing shows leaves a distorted image) they concluded the only way the 3 D (encoding) effect was achieved on the cloth was a scanning of intense light that traveled from one end of the body to the other-just as we scan a photo or an object today in digital imaging-and it left the image.
I find this a very plausible answer as a person who has been involved with scanning in the photographic field for 18 years out of my 35 years in photo-restoration and digital imaging, and agree with the findings.

3 views: The mysterious(positive) image on the shroud, the digital representation done in 2010 (considered one of the most accurate to date) and the painting by Armenian artist Pasquale Ariel Agemian, inspired by a positive image of the Shroud of Turin.

So, Is this the face of Jesus of Nazareth—the ingenious work of an artist, or the true shroud of Christ?
For those who don't believe it there will never be enough scientific evidence to prove this to be the real burial shroud of Jesus.
For those who believe it is-it requires a leap of faith over unanswered questions  and for them no definitive proof is necessary.

       HAPPY EASTER! 

HAUNTINGS, GHOSTS AND E.T.S

In an earlier blog I talked about what an inter-dimensional being was- a type of theoretical or fictional entity existing in a dimension beyond our own. Entities able to travel between dimensions (such as via inter- dimensional doorways or portals). Are we seeing something outside our reasoning and our galaxy? Are we being mislead to doubt ourselves with the confusing messages we have been told to believe by government officials that UFOs and E.T.s don't exist?

This week I'd like to talk about how inter-dimensional beings can possible play a part in a haunting. It seems that these possible E.T.s , ghosts and paranormal activity can have a connection!

A possibility exists that ghosts and UFO's are a related phenomenon. There are certain characteristic of both that suggest that there may be some common ground.


1. UFO's and ghosts both have been noted to appear out of nowhere, and then suddenly disappear. Where do they go?This gives credence that there is indeed other dimensions from where they are coming and going.

Example: Once you seen an object like I did, in this case a crystal snowflake pendent, at my deceased friend's house, and literally appear out of thin air and fall from the ceiling and drop on my head you want to ask- From WHAT dimension did it drop out of?

         Gorham silver and crystal pendant that dropped on my head from the ceiling.

2. UFO's and ghosts seem to have a matrix of energy surrounding the area where they are present.

Example: We have used our camera with full charged batteries(6 hours of life) in my deceased friend's house and seen the batteries drain within an 45 minutes to an 1 1/2, 2 hours tops while into the investigation. We then would have to a hook up a long extension cord to the camera to walk around and continue the taping. Sometimes the camera would vibrate and shake on its own when it was resting on a table. No explanation for that. 

3. Spatial distortion may occur near the ghost or UFO.

Eample: We have captured on our video camera, waves of disruptive energy ripple through our viewing lens at my deceased friend's basement (which was highly active and told later a large portal was there). The first part of the tape was fine-then the next 3 minutes the tape rippled and waved in patterns and jumped with no audio recorded every 10 seconds until it just stopped. We felt there was something wrong with the tape or camera but the rest of the 9 minutes we captured on tape was fine. Then the tape went blank and we had to replace the tape!

4. Do UFO's and spirits come from some other realm of existence, and able to transcend the time/space continuum? When this occurs, is the spirit or UFO within an area of space/time distortion, and will manifest within a pocket of energy?

Example: That's why we have such frequent reports of lights going out, camera equipment failing and video tape batteries draining from paranormal investigators when they seem to be near a "haunted location" and when a spirit is trying to communicate. Cold spots are prime indications that a spirit is near and sucking the energy surrounding it to manifest. 

In our stay at the "Estate of Horror" for 10 months we witnessed all these phenomena first hand and can attest to its validity.

On outside investigations people report of highway lights going out in a pattern, car batteries dying suddenly and then restart later like nothing was wrong and energy power plants shutting down without warning that seem to happen when a sighting of a UFO has flown overhead. 

              

Do UFO's, spirits, and otherworldly beings utilize an energy vortex field as a means of travel?

This energy vortex may consist of a inter-dimensional portal and this perhaps becomes like a super highway.  A vortex field may be the preferred means of transit for UFOs, spirits, and other celestial beings. Entering the portal into the vortex field would likely transform all matter into streaming energy,(theory) and at this higher state of being,transference to other levels of existence would likely be instantaneous.

So Have you seen an inter-dimensional being?

Yes, we captured something at the Estate of Horror in the late months of cleaning out the house.There were 2 incidents that at the time seemed unrelated but later realized they were the same visitation.

August 2009: Our friend/s son came with his high end camera to take some photos at the house with our permission.He walked around the rooms and suddenly stopped at the spare room which we called the "Cat Room" in my book, Estate of Horror. Bill F.Jr. said he heard a scratching and other weird noises coming near a closet in that room and snapped some photos. Later he sent me the photo and told me it was a really strange image captured in front of the portable T.V. (right near the closet) but the "thing" wasn't reflected on the screen in was in front of it!

Here it is: In our opinion it looks like a small creature hunched over and you can see it's ear? overlaps the left side of the TV-so it's not a reflection. In fact there is a refection over top of the image-and the creature is in back of the reflection!

Later in October 2009, when Laurie Hull, well respected psychic medium and her team came to help us with the haunting at the house and try to "cross over" my deceased friend, she was quite shaken up and taken aback when she saw an inter-dimensional being in the dining room. She said what she saw "scared the hell out of her!" She described it as a small grayish 2 foot tall creature scurrying around the dining room. She instantly felt it was not human but an inter-dimensional or ET being. Later I showed her the photo that Bill Jr. had taken in August and she said it looked like the same creature.

Photo on left is the original color image cropped. I added warmer tones (sepia to see what could be brought out from a cooler tones.) There is different details on the sepia color photo.

 We have never seen anything like this before but our medium wasn't too surprised as she told us by having an active open portal at my deceased friend's house all types of spirits and outer worldly beings can come through.

This was further explored in our TV episode shown on Destination America's "A Haunting". Here is the link to our episode if you missed it that aired on Sunday night ,Dec. 28th 2014) Our episode was called appropriately, "Portal of Doom"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pUZ_GFnYLM

You can also read my book, Estate of Horror and find out what happened next!
Amazon  http://amzn.to/1drPw49
KINDLE   http://amzn.to/1hMElnz

FYI: I am currently writing the sequel- DARK TRANSFERENCE- hopefully to be published by this summer.

WHAT ARE INTER-DIMENSIONAL BEINGS?

An inter-dimensional being or intelligence is a type of theoretical or fictional entity existing in a dimension beyond our own. Such beings are common in science fiction, and are discussed in theoretical physics and ufology. Entities able to travel between dimensions (such as via inter- dimensional doorways or portals) and are sometimes referred to as sliders. 

Nonfictional Theory
A more accurate, or appropriate term, would be alternate universe, or parallel worlds. Theoretical physics discusses several theories of dimensions.

Ufology discusses scientific theories of dimensions, beings, and intelligence, and may consider the paranormal. Scientists attempting to ascertain the nature of UFOs and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) consider known physics and theoretical physics; and when no prosaic explanation can be found, discussions of another dimension, of "manifestations of nature from perhaps another dimension".

Because modern science on Earth does not have a real concept of multiple dimensions beyond quantum mechanics and the many worlds interpretation, bending or changing space-time itself to achieve faster-than-light travel appears to be the real-world equivalent of jumping through dimensional doorways in fiction.


"Beam me up Scottie!"
In the Star Trek universe, wormhole theory states that if a section in the fabric of space-time joins together with another section of space-time, a direct connection can be made between the two, allowing speedy travel between the two (normally unrelated) space-time coordinates. Black holes are one such way of stretching the fabric of space-time; so it's theoretically possible to create wormholes using a pair of singularities, at least in the fictional universe of Star Trek.
                

The NASA Website has a somewhat dated article called "The Science of Star Trek", by physicist David Allen Batchelor (5 May 2009), which considers some of the implementations in Star Trek. He says it's "the only science fiction series crafted with such respect for real science and intelligent writing", with some "imaginary science" mixed in; and considers it to be the "only science fiction series that many scientists watch regularly", like himself. He says it's "more faithful to science than any other science fiction series ever shown on television". STAR TREK FOREVER!

Were Inter-Dimensional Beings Considered Gods?

I have always been a huge fan of the writer Graham Hancock and his theories of lost ancient civilizations and their writings reflect connections of higher intelligence in the Universe. He talks about this in his thought provoking documentary: (abbreviated version)

Graham Hancock's "Inter Dimensional Beings" Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0XRDBoWbrA

Hancock says that are different levels of reality and dimensions. He believes that UFO's are not coming from across the galaxies and Universe by interstellar travel to visiting our planet but from other planes of existence or crossing dimensions. There have been records dating thousands of years old in many ancient cultures including: Babylonian, Sumerian, and the ancient Egyptians mentioning about the knowledge they received from the gods or "Guardians of the Sky" (non-human entities) and now scientists are taking a fresh approach with that information and taking it seriously.

Native American tribes throughout the United States describe in many oral traditions of their ancestors being visited by "Star People".  It is a term used to describe human beings who believe they originated as extraterrestrial life from other worlds or planets, and arrived to Earth through birth or as a walk-in to an existing human body. Traveling throughout the Southwest I've seen many of these  impressive "picture stories" and they continue to fascinate me. Many rock walls and caves in the desert Southwest show depictions in their petroglyphs of strange and unusual humanoids that looks like our modern conceptions and images of Extraterrestrials.

Next week's blog: I'd like to talk about how inter-dimensional beings can possible play a part in a haunting. It seems these E.T.s and paranormal activity can have a connection!
   

HAUNTED DOLLS REVISITED

Do previous owners of objects such as: dolls, toys, or other sentimental items attach themselves to it after they pass away? Or do "lost" spirits find the host item through their journey in our world?

I’d like to address one of my favorite subjects that are one of the most loved and feared of childhood toys-Dolls!  I found so much about this subject online plus combined with my life long association with dolls and their history, I had to break it down to 2 Parts: Haunted Dolls this week next week and Cursed Dolls next week.

What is a doll? Dolls are defined as a representative of the human figure to be played with as a toy by a child. They can be simple-shape objects to life-like human representations (and made of any type of material) that a child would accept as a companion.

Dolls have long been a source of amusement for both children and adults. Dating from the ancient Egyptians to present day, dolls mirror or reflect our human history and past. They have been objects of comfort, adoration, and have brought joy to their owners. However, they can also bring terror as well as joy. For some reasons unknown, dolls seem to attract ghosts or spirits. It is hard to find any scholarly reading on the subject- but here is what I found.

Haunted dolls- are real life spirits that are attached to a certain host doll. Nobody really knows if the spirit picks that host doll, or if they are just drawn there, but we do know it happens. More troubling, dolls seem to become easily imbued with the spirit of the child to whom it most closely connected. And there is ample evidence by reading and listening to people tell their personal stories involving dolls to at least provoke suspicion that some dolls stay connected via this childhood link for years, even generations after their childhood playmate has grown to adulthood or succumbed to early death.

(Victorian) Deceased Child with her Cherished Dolls

You might even have a haunted doll in your home, and not even know it.

Have you seen the Ghost Hunters episode that featured a private home of a woman who declared that she had ghosts which among her big pile of stuff included a creepy pile of dolls on the bed? Throughout history, we have heard many stories in connection with a doll whose eyes will follow you across the room or has moved. Others claim they hear the doll talking. Is there any truth to all of this?

What is true is that Pediophobia, also known as the fear of dolls (or humanoid figure) is a relatively common kind of phobia. It is an anxiety disorder that can be associated with a range of dolls from old-fashioned china dolls and porcelain dolls to more modern plastic dolls that talk and move. This can be the result of a traumatic experience in someone’s past associated with dolls that has a lasting effect throughout their lives.

Dolls seem to provoke a visceral response with people. Either you love them or hate them. I personally think dolls have gotten a bad rap. There is no doubt that dolls were well loved and the emotional connection with their owner intense. It’s that psychological connection that has been vastly exploited in many ways by Hollywood and TV shows. They have had a big hand in perpetuating the theme of haunted dolls by creating some of the scariest TV shows and movies that portray dolls as sinister characters.

Growing up in the 1960’s one of my favorite shows was The Twilight Zone. There was one unnerving episode where a little girl and her pretty new Talky Tina doll are at odds with her mean step-father. Soon the step-father discovers the doll has a mind of its own, moves and talks, and seems to love and protect the little girl but drives the step-father crazy. He tries to destroy the doll in different ways but in the end he has an “accident” and falls to his death. As the mother picks up the doll, lying near her dead husband the doll opens its eyes and says, “My name is Talky Tina and you better be nice to me!” This was a chilling effect as the doll looked normal like any doll you can purchase at a toy store, yet it was evil to the extent it protected the little girl but threatened the girl’s parents. I had started to collect dolls at a young age and never gave it a thought that some of my dolls, that were similar to Talky Tina, were creepy or evil.

Another memorable and chilling Twilight Zone episode I remember featured a ventriloquist named Jerry  and his creepy looking dummy Willie. Jerry tells Frank, his agent, that Willie is alive and frequently talks to him. Jerry feels he is being controlled by Willie and tells the agent that he is at the mercy of the dummy. Frank does not believe Jerry and thinks he might need psychiatric help. Eventually Willy wins control of Jerry and later you see them onstage and you see the chilling outcome. They have switched roles! The dark mood lighting of the show added to the weird story. This time the dummy looked ugly and creepy but, was it only evil and possessed only in the mind of the unbalanced ventriloquist?

The Clown Doll in the horror film Poltergeist (1982) is remembered as being one of the more frightening entities in the film (in part due to many people fearing clowns). A poltergeist spirit most likely has inhabited the doll. There is the scary scene where Robbie sees his clown missing and as he is looking for it gets grabbed from behind and the clown starts to choke and drag him under the bed.  Every kid’s worse nightmare-something under the bed! The clown continues to choke Robbie until he fights back, ripping the clown doll's stuffing out and continues to attack it before finally stopping. You know that had to leave an indelible impression on many kids watching that movie that I’ll bet clowns were not on their Christmas Wish Lists for many years to come.

The Annabelle Doll from The Conjuring Movie is one of the most recent dolls to make the Hit list of Haunted Dolls from the movie The Conjuring based on a true story. In the movie, Director James Wan has redesigned the evil possessed doll Annabelle, giving her a much more disturbing appearance, but in real life Annabelle was just your run of the mill Raggedy Ann doll. This doll resides in and makes up the cornerstone of Ed and Lorraine Warren's (the demon hunters trying to save the haunted family) spooky museum of trophies. To read more on this real life story that happened 30 years ago, and about Annabelle, go to this link: http://badassdigest.com/2013/07/23/the-true-story-of-annabelle-the-haunted-doll-from-the-conjuring/

The doll collector is always on the hunt for that special doll that “speaks” to them (hopefully not literally. Any avid doll collector will tell you that it can be hard to pass up the opportunity to purchase or obtain a beautiful, desirable doll and rare doll. Some people go out of their way to buy a possessed or haunted doll such as on auction sites like Ebay and there are actual websites where you can adopt and buy such a doll.  I don’t know the reason people would knowingly invite something like that into their lives. Are they asking for trouble?  I can only say good luck to them!

As an artist who restores old photos, paintings, and antique dolls I never was aware of any dolls being brought to me for repair carried any type of residual or spirit energy or felt I was dealing with a possessed doll. These objects of a client’s past childhood had been well loved and carried unique and special histories for their owners and families. I was only too happy to be involved with restoring these precious heirlooms so they could be passed down to the next generation.

                      Author with some of her early china and bisque dolls that have been restored.

I've always loved dolls especially the wonderful little souvenir dolls my parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends have brought back from their world travels and gave to me as gifts, plus my beautiful antique china and bisque doll collection that represent a comprehensive range of early doll making by the Germans and French. I've had the privilege to restore and research these dolls and be a steward for them for a short time.

I've never feared my dolls, and consider myself fortunate after reading some of the harrowing stories people have reported. Although there was one incident of a small antique Welsh doll a client’s aunt left her and brought in for repair. She was dressed by the way in traditional costume along with her “witch style” high black hat. I had some paranormal activity while fixing her with a few items jumped off my shelf to the floor in my art studio. But was it because of the doll and a spirit attached to it?

Right now I have several old dolls sitting on a shelf in my studio waiting for repair as I write this blog. They seem and look innocent enough and I don’t think they will give me any trouble. Wait, did one just wink at me?