Thriller
Happy Friday the 13th!
May 13, 2011 | 
Author 
I’m always amused with days like this, the trepidations, the superstitions. There are several people I know who would rather hide at home and wait for the day to pass then venture outside and tempt fate. But I will indulge in and live up to every cliché by watching scary movies and chasing around ghosts. I’m sure I can find a ladder and some cracks in the sidewalk if I’m feeling particularly adventurous.
So where did this legend come from anyway? Some says it’s just a modern creation. Some day it dates back to the Templars. Even the Templar connection may be a very recent one and may have more to do with Dan Brown than anything else. But the mystery of the legend just adds to the allure.
And this is an usual day since this is in fact the only Friday the 13th for 2011. We only had one last year as well. Clearly celebrations of some sort are in order.
Let’s also not forget that there’s a new Ghost Adventures episode this evening where the team investigates the Kentucky Slave House. That should be interesting!
So, has anyone actually had bad luck befall them on a Friday the 13th? I can’t say I’ve ever had anything usual happen. In fact, I tempted fate and got married on Friday the 13th. Happy Anniversary to me! 
Paranormal Activity – Movie Review
First off, the jittery camera work and swinging camera motions made me somewhat motion sick. About halfway through the movie I felt queasy and light headed. Just fair warning if you’re susceptible to motion sickness you need to prepare yourself.
I went and saw this movie last night and for a low budget film this kicks ass! To get a sense of what you’re in for it’s a movie length episode of Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures. Toss in a little Blair Witch action and you’re good to go.
I won’t go into any of the details of the movie since that would spoil it, but the premise is simple: Micah and Kate are experiencing something odd in their home and Micah goes out and buys a video camera to document what’s going on. He puts the camera on a tripod lets it run through the night. We are watching the footage that has been found after all the events have taken place.
It starts off mostly as a game, Micah wanting to capture something and make his girlfriend feel better about living with him. But something is happening, and the lack of sleep and helplessness starts to take its toll and soon the couple is tired, scared and desperate. They begin to lash out at each other which seems to feed this entity and soon it’s all spiraling out of control.
We’ll leave it there for the details of the movie. Half the experience is seeing it all unfold. I had a great time watching this, despite the motion sickness caused by the jerky camera motions. I’m not thrilled with the ending though, I thought it would have been done better. We won’t go into the details, at least not yet, but I think it went a little too Hollywood and broke with the spirit of the rest of the movie. But that aside this is good stuff and it shows that if you have a worthwhile story you don’t need $100 million in special effects.
If you have any interest in the paranormal, enjoy Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures or thought The Blair Witch Project was good then you’ll have a fun time with this one. Lots of bizarre things going on and you’re constantly scanning the screen to see what’s coming.
Definitely worth seeing!
Posted in Halloween, Horror, Movies, Paranormal, Suspense, Thriller | 
Tags: Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, investigation, Paranormal, spirits | 
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Ghost Hunters Halloween Live 2008
In case you missed the live Halloween episode of Ghost Hunters at Fort Deleware, here it is in 4 parts. There are a few audio and video quirks, but that is due more to live television than the file itself – at least I hope so. The quality is good and there is plenty of fun to be had watching this massive 7 hour event.
I haven’t watched the entire thing yet, but in a similar vein as last year, there is a little too much goofing around and trying to be amusing rather than investigating the Fort. Again, I’m disappointed in Kristen and her antics of trying to showcase the ECW wrestle “The Miz” rather than focusing her attention on the investigation. I had the same complaint for the Halloween episode last year where she seemed to spend more time trying to show how smart she was and belittling the “Hunt for the Hunter” contestants than doing her job as an investigator.
Josh is great as usual as host, adapting to the live scenario with good humor and clever wit. I’m glad they got him again; he keeps everything moving and keeps it interesting in the quiet times.
It’s fun stuff to watch, so if you missed it live the other night now is your chance to get you downloadable copy.
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.1of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.2of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.3of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.4of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Technorati Tags: ghost hunters, halloween, josh gates, haunted house, scifi
Ghost Hunters – Waverly Hills Sanatorium
It’s about time this damnable DVD came out. It was supposed to be released on Sept. 2nd, but I haven’t actually seen it available until this weekend. Which is of course why I bought a copy.
For Halloween last year, Jay, Grant and the team went out to the Waverly Hill Sanatorium for a 6-hour Live broadcast of the show. The DVD is only 3 hours from the program with Josh Gates and the host and presenter.
For mood and ambiance the show is great. They crawl around in the dark in a location that couldn’t have a more turbulent past. As a tuberculosis hospital the death count is as high as 63,000 with dozens of stories about sick patients, employees would couldn’t take the strain and of course the infamous “body chute”; a tunnel which was the main route of taking the deceased patients out of the hospital and to the crematorium. With 50 or more people passing away each day, the chute was used hourly and the turmoil is easily understood.
As far as activity goes, it’s a little more hit and miss than the Stanley Hotel. They have plenty of personal experiences, but there isn’t that much tangible evidence. Everyone sees shadows and figures moving, as well as hearing noises, but they aren’t caught on tape for the rest of us to see. In fact, The Reveal is only a few seconds long as they have almost no evidence to show after all the time they spent. So it is haunted? The raw data says no, since nothing was captured, but the personal experiences make the place seem active with unrest. Hard to say on this one.
On the whole this extended episode is fun and entertaining. There is plenty to see and look for and just the general atmosphere makes the place creepy and unnerving. There are only two segments which threw me off.
This Hunt for the Hunter contest is something I was completely lost on. Where did these people come from? I didn’t see a single episode that related to this contest in anyway. Confusing, but not that big a deal. A few new faces on an investigation on that size is fine. But the little segment of Kristyn and Heather interrogating this guy Patrick was just plain awful. They are rude, and condescending and turn the investigation in a childish bout of Sorority hazing. They don’t even know who this guy is and they start talking crap to him about how he only wants to be on TV and he doesn’t even understand the paranormal. When he does make a slight mistake with the video camera, they mock him and treat him like a complete idiot. Even though it only goes on for about 5 minutes it’s so distracting I wish they would have left it out.
Overall the show is pretty entertaining even if there isn’t that much paranormal activity. I’m sure I’ll be watching it again as we get closer to Halloween.
Technorati Tags: Ghost Hunters, paranormal, halloween
