V/H/S, which ranked high on our list of the Best Found Footage Movies of all time as well as the Best Horror Movies of 2012 list, revealed to us the full depth of the uncharted waters of the found footage horror genre. It’s the chandelier-breaking rebel of horror films. V/H/S 2 is better–scarier, more entertaining, and shorter (or at least it feels shorter).

As found footage genre enthusiasts, we saw elements in this newest anthology of interconnected short horror films that have never been pulled off before, at least not with such unapologetic brutality.

*SPOILER ALERT….really nothing major, some elements of the plot are addressed

Tape 49 – Frame Narrative

The setup is similar in terms of having a frame narrative in which both the audience and characters are watching the tapes. V/H/S 2 opens with Tape 49, the frame narrative, and two characters, private investigators it seems, who are looking for a missing college kid. They end up at the last house he was seen at, in a room full of monitors and VHS tapes. As one character begins to explore the creepy house, the female private investigator, Ayesha begins to watch the tapes. As do we…

Phase I Clinical Trials

The first film opens with a bird’s eye view of a doctor finishing the surgical implantation of a camera into an accident victim’s eye. In a horrifying blend of biomedical technology and NSA paranoia, (one can always suppose an eye patch would stop Big Brother from peeping in) we proceed back to the man’s home to find a dead person laying in his bed. Who is this person? Well, let’s just say this movie is like The Sixth Sense for the surveillance age.

A woman comes over who says she’s having similar paranormal problems with her cochlear implants, which allow her to hear strange voices crying. She says they must have sex in order to distract themselves from “them”. He obliges. “Uh, yeah, NSA–I’m gonna want a copy of that tape.”

Oh, if only you could imagine what our hero must finally resort to….

A Ride in the Park

Excluding Diary of the Dead (which isn’t entirely consistent with the FF pov), the second tape, A Ride In The Park, is the first real found footage zombie movie. And, boy oh boy, is it amazing! Eventually we’ll be working this short onto our Best Zombie Movies Ever list, but for now, let’s suffice it to say that this little gem affords us some never-before-seen-footage of zombies reanimating and feeding.

This film also features one of the creepiest butt dialing scenes ever.

Safe Haven

Safe Haven is about a documentary film crew that infiltrates an Indonesian cult run by the “father”, a psychotic despot who “purifies” children in order to prepare them for entry into paradise. This film is sheer brilliance and is probably the most disturbing and violent of the anthology.

Let’s just say that even when you think you have the purpose of this cult figured out, there’s more to see. And it brings “drinking the Kool Aid” to a whole new realm of existence.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction

This is the funniest of the bunch, as evidenced by the campy title, but it gets extraordinarily disturbing. Left alone while their parents go on vacation, a brother and sister have a summer house party that involves drinking, skateboarding, and spying on each other with cameras attached to the family dog’s head.

Since we can’t ruin the film for you any worse than the poorly chosen title does, we’ll go ahead and say that this short features one of the loudest, weirdest, creepiest alien abductions ever. Imagine the droning sounds from War of the Worlds and the zombie mad scientist from the basement in Quarantine except there’s lots of them and they have some kind of machine at their disposal.

Summer fun.

Back to Tape 49

We do return to the narrative frame in between these films, and the ending is a bit better than the original anthology’s closer. We still wish they had tied the films together better. There is a hint of this when the missing boy shows up on tape and mentions something about the “correct sequence”. What this could possibly mean is drowned out by the maker of the tapes making his grand sinister appearance.

Ahead of this summer’s World War Z zombie extravaganza, we now present to you the finale of the Best Zombie Movies Ever Made – Part 1. There will be disagreement, there will be rancor, but most importantly, there will be blood and brains. Put on your goggles–here they are: the top 20 zombie movies of all time:

20) Thriller

Michael Jackson teamed up with Jack London, (director of American Werewolf in London) to create the most elaborate music video ever made. The video’s budget was a whopping $800,000 and the result was Thriller: a 14 minute hip-grinding homage to horror cinema, featuring dancing zombies and mind blowing undead makeup by Academy Award winner Rick Baker. Add horror actor Vincent Price as narrator and one of the catchiest pop songs in history–no mere mortal could resist it. Thriller is the ultimate document of the 1980s…a time when the only craze bigger than horror movies was the music video.

19) Wild Zero

This Japanese punk rock zombie film was destined for B movie greatness. I honestly loved every single second of this movie, from its outrageous dialogue to its over the top bad special effects. Just imagine a combination of Rock N Roll High School mixed with Dawn of the Dead sprinkled with Plan 9 from Outer Space. This film simply cannot be described with words alone; you have to experience it for yourself.

18) Wake Wood

Indebted to Robin Hardy’s horror classic, The Wicker Man, Wake Wood adds an interesting spin on the zombie genre. After a couple loses their only daughter in a horrible accident, desperation leads them to a cult who can bring her back from the dead. Unfortunately, things don’t go according to plan. Wake Wood is tremendously unsettling atmospheric creeper that relies more on filling viewers with a sense of dread as opposed to in your face scares. It’s subtly eerie and the acting is top notch. It’s also one of the best supernatural zombie thrillers in existence.

17) Rammbock

The German film Rammbock is a mini-masterpiece of horror cinema. At a mere one hour in length, Rammbock gets right under your skin and leaves you floored. It tells the story of a young man who decides to visit his ex-girlfriend in an attempt to win her back when a horrific zombie outbreak occurs. Now trapped in a vacant flat in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, all he can think about is tracking down his ex-girlfriend. Rammbock is not only effectively creepy but it’s also a zombie movie with heart. It uses the zombie apocalypse as a metaphor for love, loss, and betrayal. You’ll also notice some visual similarities between this movie and Rear Window, in terms of how the characters interact with each other in the apartment complex. One thing’s for sure …it will leave you wanting more.

16) Cemetery man

The one and only art house zombie movie. If you like artsy thought provoking movies, look no further. Cemetery Man is one of the most visually elegant horror movies ever made. It was directed by Michele Soavi, who got his start as an assistant director to horror master Dario Argento. This films tells the story of a cemetery caretaker whose daily duties include killing zombies that perpetually rise from their graves. Things change, however, when the caretaker falls in love with a woman who turns into a zombie. This dark surrealist comedy is intelligent, playful, beautifully-shot, and intellectually perplexing.

15) Planet terror

The keyword here is fun. Planet Terror is a first rate homage to the sleazy B-movies of decades past. Loaded with gore, zombies, cliches, and self-referential influences from the likes of John Carpenter, George A. Romero, and Lucio Fulci, it’s so good it’s bad. This film is a loving ode to a lost film experience, when watching movies on the silver screen had meaningful imperfections like blips and scratches on the film. Now that digital projectors have completely taken over… this cinematic experience is long gone. Robert Rodriguez knows there’s a certain magic to the trashy movies from the days of yore and this film beckons us to return to our roots…in the best possible way.

14) Zombieland

Zombieland pulled off what few other zombie movies have: it created interesting characters you actually admire. This film works because it pokes fun at the zombie genre while also providing some impressive apocalyptic visuals and creepy atmosphere. It’s also wickedly funny. Throw in some witty banter and a surprise appearance starring Bill Murray playing himself…And what more could you ask for?

13) Rec 2

REC 2 is a shockingly inventive sequel that takes the basic premise of the original film and cleverly expands upon it, offering a much more in-depth explanation for the zombie outbreak, and multiple camera perspectives and narratives that connect together. This is all flawlessly integrated into the story. The film follows a SWAT team as they head into the original quarantined complex in search of a blood samples for an antidote. Slowly, the SWAT team learns there’s far more going on than just your garden variety zombie outbreak. REC 2 is a scary good time with more mayhem and creepiness than most horror fare…especially when the characters’ cameras run low, and the screen goes black. That’s the scariest thing of all, being alone in the dark with nothing to keep us company but our imaginations. Some hardcore zombie fans will argue this isn’t a zombie movie due to it’s quasi-Exorcist elements, but we think it fits into the genre swimmingly.

12) Land of the dead

Although not as groundbreaking as Romero’s early zombie films, Land of the Dead delivers the zombie-flesh-eating-action on nearly every level. We wholeheartedly welcome this film as an instant classic. Land of the Dead feels like an 80s movie somehow. Perhaps because it feels a bit like John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. The film portrays a slowly decaying world which is used as a metaphor for consumerism and the bleakness of the human condition. There’s also plenty of social commentary about how corrupted governments use fear in order to leverage power. Romero explores new concepts with the zombies too (they’re smarter) that many fans will not like, but we loved them. George Romero’s proves with Land of the Dead that he has lost none of the talent that made him one of the most important directors in the history of horror movies.

11) The Crazies

This skillfully crafted remake follows Romero’s 1973 original and adds a zombie-like twist. It’s actually hard to tell if the infected are zombies in the vein of 28 Days Laters or just rabid homicidal maniacs. Either way, The Crazies is a rip-roaring fright fest that would fit perfectly in any horror fans wet dream. The story takes place in a small town in Iowa, where the inhabitants have contracted a severely contagious virus that turns people into murderous sickos. There are very few horror movies that execute timing and mood as well as The Crazies. This film just works, plain and simple. It makes you wonder why more horror movies cannot deliver the scares on this level.

10) 28 weeks later

28 Weeks Later is an exercise in visceral terror. Its use of horrific imagery and apocalyptic despair makes it one of the scariest and most realistic zombie movies ever made. 28 Weeks Later opens with one of the most chilling opening scenes in the history of horror cinema. From that moment on, like the Aliens sequel, the action strikes thick and fast, culminating in a terrifying take-no-prisoners descent into an apocalyptic nightmare.

9) Shaun of the dead

The first time we saw this movie we were floored. Shaun of the Dead has it all. It’s a perfect blend of horror and witty satire. The film works because it’s a loving homage to Romero’s dead series. Like Romero’s best efforts, the story cleverly builds around the characters world inch by inch until the real nightmare dawns on them. Simply put, this film has something for everyone, horror fan or not. Romero was so pleased by the film that he had the creators appear in one of his own Dead flicks, Land of the Dead.

8) Dead alive

The Citizen Kane of gore movies, Dead Alive saw Peter Jackson taking his over-the-top horror style to the next level. Technically, this was Jackson’s best to date, with state of the art creature and gore effects that far surpassed Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles. Filled with rivers of blood, a woman nursing a zombie baby, hordes of flesh eaters, and a grandmother who swallows a cat whole. Sick. Twisted. Brilliant.

7) Re-animator

Possibly the only cult horror film that rivals Evil Dead. Based loosely on a series of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, the filmmakers famously changed track on their “supposed horror film” when they realized it just wasn’t scary. They instead took their zombie movie and turned it into a twisted and goofy B-horror movie opus. The Re-Animator is sick and demented with some of the weirdest special effects ever created. Just when you think it can’t get any more over-the-top, it does. It’s not often you see a decapitated zombie head going down on a girl and still want to rave about it. One of the greatest movies ever made. Period. A word of caution–make sure you are renting the unrated version.

6) Return of the Living Dead

We’re still waiting for a zombie film where bath salts are the cause for the zombie outbreak, but in the mean we have this cult gem. If you’re looking for an 80s punk rock zombie fest, look no further than Return of the Living Dead. Starring an abundance of cult actors, this film strives and succeeds admirably in being equal parts funny and horrifying. Dan O’Bannon, the writer of Alien, stepped behind the camera to direct this loving homage to the zombie genre. The undead in this film are also different from the George Romero zombies. To start, they’re smarter and they crave brains rather than just human flesh. We’re pretty sure this was the first film to debut the appearance of the “fast” zombies too. Backed by a stellar soundtrack by the likes of The Cramps and The Damned this is as punk rock as cinema gets. A bloody good time from start to finish. For my money, I’d choose this film any day over the untouchable Romero trilogy.

5) Rec

It doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, it’s truly a cause for celebration. A horror film that’s actually scary. In fact, it’s one of the scariest. Watching this film snowball into a seething siren of panic and dread is the most thrilling film experience we’ve had in the last 10 years. Rec takes the found footage Blair Witch Project style of filmmaking to the next level. The real scares come from what’s framed off the camera. There’s never a moment when sheer terror isn’t lurking around the corner. The staging in Rec is equally as brilliant. Rec also has the creepiest kid zombie ever. One things for certain, the last few minutes of Rec will truly mess with your psyche, sticking with you long after the credits roll. Note: make sure not to watch the dubbed version!

4) 28 days later

28 Days Later came out of nowhere and completely reinvented the zombie genre. Though zombie purists will say they are not technically zombies, the virus infected monsters with blood spilling from every orifice still kill humans as zombies do–they just do it much faster. Let’s face it, fast zombies are just way scarier. After watching 28 Days Later for the first time it made the zombies in the Romero films seem comical by comparison.

Although the Dawn of the Dead remake paved the way for the “fast” zombies, this film drove the idea home in a much more realistically creepy way. This film was a shining beacon at creating a juxtaposition of creepy atmosphere. When the zombies appear out of nowhere, the suddenness is beyond horrific. It also brings a sense of dread to the table that seems unnervingly contemporary, as being wiped out by a virus could theoretically happen. We’d say 28 Days Later has done more then any other film in the 2000s to bring zombies back into the limelight.

3) Dawn of the Dead Remake

Quite honestly, this is hands down our favorite zombie movie of all time. We think it more than surpasses the original, but you have to pay credit where credits due, to the originals. The remake is a pitch perfect horror movie that has every thing you could ever want in a zombie movie. It’s bloody scary, stylish, creepy, wickedly smart, edgy, darkly pessimistic and yet inflected with sick humor. Its sole aim, is to simultaneously scare and enchant you; to make you as terrified to look at the screen as to look away from it; to fill you with such a mix of horror and guilty pleasure that you can’t tell the two emotions apart. Plus, the opening credits playing to Johnny Cash is as good as it gets. Hollywood take note, this is how zombie movies should be made.

2) Night of the Living Dead

What more can be said about Night of the Living Dead? It’s been on more horror movie lists than a bong gets passed around at Burning Man. Despite a shoestring budget, homemade special effects, cheap grainy 16mm film, and unknown actors, this little zombie movie has turned out to be the most influential horror film since Psycho. It’s also a time capsule of the late 1960s–the era of the Vietnam War and civil unrest–in which good does not triumph over evil, and likable characters die just as brutally as the villains. The violence, which was shocking in its day, reflects the horrors Americans were seeing each night on the television. Mysterious dread is cast onto every frame pitch perfectly. The horror movie would never be the same again. In fact, you can argue that this film is a horror movie in it’s purest form… Night of the Living Dead is a force to be reckoned with that still holds up today even under the harshest scrutiny. We’d give anything to see this movie for first time in the 1960s, being completely ignorant of anything zombie.

1) Dawn of the Dead

“What are they doing? Why do they come here?” ….”Some kind of instinct. Memory, of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.”

They were talking about a mall, of course. Even as kids, we recognized the critique that Romero was making on consumer culture even if we didn’t fully understand it. It abandoned the murky imagery from Night of the Living Dead in favor of a darkly satirical assault on rampant consumerism and bourgeoisie culture, that was bigger and bloodier. It took gore and turned it into an art form.

The film was collaboration between George Romero and Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. He consulted with Romero on the script and provided an original score performed and composed by Goblin. The incredible climax features some of the greatest zombie mayhem ever put on film. Dawn of the Dead is quite simply the zombie movie to end all zombie movies. It single-handedly put the zombie genre back on course for all of us zombie lovers to enjoy today.

Part one here

The premise in The Purge is a pretty original one: For twelve hours in one day of the year, all crime is legal. Because of this, all Americans have the opportunity to purge their sins without legal repercussion and violent crime is at an all-time low. Things are going well for America. Unemployment sits at only 1%. People have it better than anyone in just about any era in human history. The premise allows for a million original plots that could arise, so it’s a shame that the plot the filmmakers settled for was a standard home invasion one.

The Purge tries to be both a political allegory and a taut, horrifying thriller, but unfortunately doesn’t really reach either high point. Any political point made is sort of rendered irrelevant because the politics involved are pretty dumb. The horror-thriller elements are a little too neutered, a little too sanitized by playing it too safe with the goings on.

The Purge was written and directed by James DeMonaco, who had written the remake of Assault on Precinct 13, also starring Ethan Hawke. He also wrote the screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola’s most amazing misfire in his entire filmography: Jack. The Purge at least represents his most original and probably best-written script, though it’s awfully derivative. Much of it plays out like a watered-down version of Straw Dogs.

Whereas in Straw Dogs, the moral line between good and evil is blurred and made ambiguous, The Purge presents a plot where the good guys are good and remain good and the bad guys are so cartoonish in their evil that it’s sort of hilarious. The main villain played by Tony Oller does little more than smile creepily at the camera and make bad decisions regarding the longevity of his crew in order to send a message to the family trapped inside their home. The rest of the crew wears masks, obscuring their faces, while sporting sweater vests and other typical yuppie gear (reminding the viewer of other, better movies like The Strangers and Funny Games).

In a movie where all crime is legal and the most dangerous villain may be someone closest to you, it was a strange decision to reduce the home invaders to masked aggression, little more than sentient zombies—though the decisions they make along the way doesn’t put their intelligence on a scale much higher than that of a mindless corpse.

Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey as the husband/wife, father/mother duo of the family are actually quite good in their roles. Maybe it was intentional to give their characters such standard names like James and Mary because they basically represent “the good” while the nameless strangers are “the bad.” Their performances are not necessarily spectacular, but certainly rise above the movie that they had been cast in.

The two children in the movie, Zoey and Charlie (played by Adelaide Kane and Max Burkholder), are two of the dumbest characters in any movie I’ve seen in a long time. Whenever something important is about to happen, they’re god knows where and their parents have to spend time looking for them. Just stay in one place! Stay where your parents know you are! If something as slight as an unexpected moth lands on one of their shoulders, they’ll disappear in one of the house’s seemingly endless bedrooms, cowering for fifteen minutes until they pop out in order to yell “boo!” at the camera in an unexpected jump scare that this movie absolutely relishes.

In one of the funniest scenes, Mary asks James where Zoey is and with such exhaustion in his voice and just not caring anymore, he responds with, “Ehhh…She ran off somewhere!” A movie like this should pride itself on establishing tension and suspense, but no such tension really exists in The Purge. There must have been a dozen moments where there is silence, silence, silence and then BOO!, and the audience screams not because they’re scared, but because the deafening noise of the scare chords (which work to let you know when to be scared; it’s like the horror version of a sitcom’s laugh track) blurting out suddenly. The audience is only recoiling in pain.

I counted no less than four scenes where someone was about to be killed, but their deaths were delayed by the killers taking their time to ready their gun/axe/machete/whatever and make a grand display of the death. This is a common trope you see in just about every movie, and I tend not to nit-pick certain clichés that have already been picked apart to death, but the sheer number of instances where a bad guy had to stop to pose or stop to monologue was staggering.

There was one moment where a neighbor is commenting on James and Mary’s house, how it had been paid for by the whole neighborhood, basically, because he’d sold everyone a new security system to keep them safe during the annual purge. The neighbor says it with such acidic, barely-concealed bitterness, the little political statement on selfishness and opposition to social services felt sort of like being bonked on the head with a frying pan.

Given that The Purge was a Platinum Dunes and Blumhouse production and Michael Bay served as a producer, the actual direction and editing of the picture was actually quite restrained and slick. There were moments of chaotic editing, but for the most part I appreciated how it had been handled. The direction was sure of itself and the cinematography was pleasing to look at. I was definitely reminded, though, that I was watching a movie that Michael Bay had a hand in when the daughter, Zoey, had to traipse through the plot wearing a fetishistic Catholic School Girl outfit and many shots lingered on her legs…despite the fact that her character is supposed to be underage.

Something involving the audience’s uneasy sexual attraction to a young, pretty girl would have been an interesting direction for the movie to have gone in. In a world where all crime is legal for 12 hours, it would have been interesting to comment on what sick, twisted perversions would rise up in some of the most seemingly normal people, but the movie never felt confident enough to do that. Even though it was Rated-R, I felt that it was pretty clearly geared toward an immature audience and didn’t have the nerve to plumb the depths that would have given it a better, nastier edge. Most everything that unfolded in the The Purge felt like a safe bet and most of it was remarkably predictable.

I feel like not much thought had gone into the actual purge that the movie is named after. The purge seemed like little more than an excuse to put a family in danger and have an easy answer for why the cops aren’t coming. Questions came to mind like: How can you really confirm a murder occurred during the purge? Stealing may be legal during those 12 hours but possession of stolen property is a crime…would those stolen goods be repossessed? If everything is going so well for the economy, why are so many homeless people still around to be murdered in this world?

This is a fun movie to watch with an audience. As much as I’ve bitched about The Purge, I’m still giving it a passing grade because I was never bored. I laughed a lot and during a few moments I found myself guiltily entertained by the out-of-place violence that should have been gruesome and totally un-sexualized. It was a movie I absolutely should not have liked, but…what the hell, I had a fun time and I didn’t feel like my money had been wasted.

Near the beginning of the movie Zoey is with her boyfriend (a forbidden love!) and she tells him, “I love you.” The audience groaned. He then, instead of saying that he loves her in return, says that saying that is lame and that they should growl at each other as their own communicative method for love. GRR!! GRR!! It was one of the most surreally lame moments in any movie and it was hilarious. Whether or not that was the director’s intention, I was still entertained.

I would recommend The Purge in that it’s mindless—though it’s really trying not to be—and dumb entertainment with a political message that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The muddled political statement works in its advantage; no one will be offended because liberals and conservatives alike will think it’s equally stupid. This may just be a movie that can bring this country together.

Anyone who tells you that he or she is a “paranormal expert” should probably not be trusted. This might be a strange way to start a series of posts on The Ghost Diaries about my own paranormal work and research. Call me way too traditional, but I do not consider myself an expert on anything I don’t have a degree in – so while I can say easily that I am an expert on music (in which I hold a Ph.D.), and Botany, in which I hold an undergraduate degree, my paranormal “street cred” stems from other things – what they call in professorial job descriptions “equivalent professional experience.”

First, I grew up in a house built in the 19th century, in a town founded in the 17th century. This house, where members of my family still live, was a great early training ground for me as a child sensitive and energy healer. As you might imagine, the house and many of the places I hung out as a kid were haunted. I couldn’t always see dead people, but I could hear them (musician, what do you expect) and I always knew when they were around. I talked to them because they sometimes seemed to be the most sane folk around me (see more on that below).

Many decades later, after traveling the world (literally and figuratively through my music and scholarship), I began to research paranormal media. My music scholarship stretched to encompass all aspects of music and culture, and I was fascinated by the explosion of paranormal television just after the turn of the millennium. I am working on a book on sound in paranormal media, and have published articles in journals and given papers at conferences in Asia, Europe and the U.S. on the culture of paranormal reality television (or what I like to call, “surreality TV”).

So trained as a scientist, artist, performer and an academic (I’ve been a professor of music for decades) I have a more than “rigorous” approach to what I believe and what I don’t. I can tell you flatly and outright that spirits exist beyond the physical body. How do I know this? Because I have experienced them (not Djinn, not Demons, not the Fay, not Wraiths, not Aliens, not “the Devil,” Shadow people, the Old Hag or Hat Man, not Angels, not Death, not even Jesus in disguise, Yahweh in dark glasses, Buddha wearing a mustache or Allah in drag) I’ve experienced all of these as well and they are, well, quite different.

I am probably one of the only people I know who watches paranormal media like an athlete watches sport matches. I shout at the television (“HOW can you be so stupid to do that?” “How can you NOT know what is standing next to you??” “I really, really wouldn’t go THERE and I’ve been to hell and back…”) particularly when I see inexperienced researchers with telegenic faces create massive drama out of a couple of taps and a few blobs of light.

Helping the dead, you ask?

Yes.

Most researchers into the paranormal who are NOT mediums or sensitives cannot actually DO anything except document the noises, cries, shadows or light emanations of spirit. They don’t ask the right questions, and therefore don’t help anything. Many cultures have ancient practices in honoring the dead – shrines in homes, festivals in temples, rituals for burial and care of the dead long after they pass. Heck, in small villages in Peru the mummified bones of your ancestors occupy nooks in the wall of your home, and are paraded around during certain religious festivals as a way of demonstrating that you belong to this land and it belongs to you – think, bones of your ancestors as a three-dimensional deeds to the land! In the United States mainstream culture, we have lost much of this awareness, and wiped out or otherwise silenced the populations that could tell us how to honor the land and the ancestors (most likely because the population already here in North America wasn’t interested in unbridled capitalism, and thought the gifts of the land were plenty for all).

Sadly, it is hard to get this information from the people you wiped out with blankets soaked in Small Pox years before the Mayflower even landed (look it up). It is also hard to get such information out of chattel slaves that became the subject of the worst human trafficking in history – yes, America, I’m talking about SLAVES. In the spirit world, slavery isn’t over. In the spirit world, the trail of tears is still being tread. In the spirit world, these things are still happening – time is irrelevant.The massive stench of Auschwitz and Buchenwald is still rising from chimneys. So when one provokes spirits to get a response, instead of honoring our dead, we are poking them with a pointy stick – decades or centuries after they were killed with that VERY SAME stick.

I don’t mean this to sound dismissive, it is just that much of this media “research” rattles my scientist brain. Growing up in that old house, living in dorms and apartments on campuses that were hundreds of years old – even living in France from 1984 to 1985 in a house built in the 17th century (!), I could tell the difference between bugs, dust, random crap floating through the air and actual spirit lights (orbs). I can also tell the difference between taps created by changes in humidity, temperature, seismic shifts (thank you, California!), and those made by spirits trying to reach out.

I don’t believe anything I cannot either document, touch/see/hear/smell/taste or experience. Nonetheless, I also don’t dismiss anything out of hand. Something weird happens? I’m the first girl rushing in to figure out whether it is truly WEIRD, or just unusual and explainable. I realize that many researchers without their own shows on Syfy or the Travel Channel would agree with me, so I’m not unusual in that regard. But I notice there are some major gaps in many approaches. Blind spots that are especially apparent in the media produced for mass consumption in the United States. This is especially true of those who are documenting the paranormal for their own purposes, their own curiosities, their own questions, those who cannot actually help the dead.

So, in fear of spending too much time on this soapbox, I will offer in this introductory blog post some actual advice to help. Ignore it if you wish (most do), but if you embrace it, you might find that your life changes for the better. The advice is to never think about the land you walk as NEW – there is NO NEW LAND on the planet. Someone was there, at some point. So know ‘who’ as much as you can – about who they were, who they are, and act appropriately. If you are anywhere on the North or South American continent, then be prepared to honor the native ancestors who still guard the land.

When I am called out to a house or land to clear it from negative energies, I generally begin flat on my face in the dirt. Yes, I mean that. I lay myself out on the earth face down, facing North, and thank the Earth and the guardians of the land for their service. I ask them humbly, beg them, to accept my offerings – generally many species of dried sage, sweet grass, tobacco, and other medicinal herbs. I bring gifts of water to slake their thirst, and food to feed their spirit bellies. I come “proper.” While I know I, myself, am a spiritual potency, the place to begin is often apologizing for my white European ancestors (I am a mix of French Canadian, Indigenous Canadian and whatever my mother is – but she is an orphan so we can only guess).

I let my tears soak down into the earth, and rub the dirt into my skin in deep gratitude and humility. Apologizing for white people?? I am sure that makes many shudder as we profess something called “manifest destiny” or our right to screw up everything in any way we want as long as we end up rich. Happily, no one gets away with murder, or violence, or incest, or abuse, or racism, sexism, homophobia, gender hegemony, whatever… these things generate the most negative entities and energies I have ever met. They soak into the land and poison it for centuries – until the right sensitive comes along (usually in solitude) and quietly heals the energies, returning balance (often with her own tears).

I am simply willing to experience their pain, to channel it out of them in back into the earth where it can be transformed into something that nourishes instead of harms. I am not afraid of evil, I grew up with it in my crib – I know what it is capable of, and I know that compassion conquers ALL. I know I have healed a place, land, or person when the pain passes and compassion fills me, spilling out onto the earth, the body, the air, the space, the planet, etc. I never look for how I am different from the energies around me, but how they resonate in me.

A few guidelines before we start:

1) Yes, we understand that by traveling through the space you are inherently traveling through time–don’t get stuck up on the semantics.
2) In both cases, you are restricted to a normal human lifespan…unless of course you merge with the AI overlords or charm the alien gods at the heart of a distant galaxy.
3) If you pick time travel, you will be Earth-bound. This means if you travel to the future and die in an asteroid apocalypse, well, you’re screwed. It also means you may be able to live in virtual environments in which travels through space are perfectly simulated.
4) If you pick space travel, you get to bring a couple friends. But you CAN’T return to Earth–ever! And if you fly straight into a black hole you’re, well, screwed. Also assume you will have the right exoskeleton/spacesuit necessary to withstand another planet’s atmospheric and gravitational peculiarities.
5) If you pick space travel you can assume light speed travel and wormholes to other galaxies, though these wormholes will be hard to find. In other words, you will spend a lot of time flying through the emptiness of space but will see thousands of cosmic treasures and visit thousands of planets…and if you find the wormholes you might well be able to galaxy-crawl across the universe.
6) In the case of time travel, assume you will be able to observe the past and future and interact marginally with the people and objects there. Assume the integrity of the space-time continuum prevents you from paradox inducement. No, if you time travel to the future when humans all live off-world–guess what, you can’t go…how about them apples?

Alright, so time travel vs space travel. Let’s weigh the pros of each….

Time Travel

Few people could deny that witnessing the entire history of Earth firsthand would be one of the most incredible things ever. And, yes, while the past is a barbaric, more difficult place, imagine having at your disposal the knowledge of the future and the resulting wealth and accessories you would be able to utilize.

Nor could one deny how tantalizing a prospect it is to imagine seeing the distant future. Let’s imagine a hypothetical morning itinerary: you wake up at dawn and watch the sun rise over the best views Pangea had to offer; breakfast in 19th century France, then a boundless morning jog over Mount Everest via an altitude/terrain-defying exoskeleton procured from the future; quick mid-morning nap in a future sensory deprivation/virtual reality machine; lunch over-looking Monet’s lily pads….

Other pros:

~Three words: Roman orgy feast
~Hang out with robots in the future
~Instagram dinosaurs
~Sample the very best of advanced virtual reality later this century–travel through simulated space in the comfort of your own dream-space…
~Attend a Gatsby-like roaring 20s gala
~Get an exoskeleton from the future and dominate the Olympics
~Make a fortune off the stock market and live like royalty in any time period you want
~Discover the truth behind history’s greatest mysteries: Jesus, the Great Pyramids, 80s dance clubs…
~Overhead view of epic medieval battles
~Gather some facts from the future and then come back and blow minds with your psychic abilities
~60s LSD

But remember, you could also die in the plague, or be burned as a witch (especially with your inherent arrogant powers of prophecy and your futuristic tools), or be imprisoned for life for heresy.

Space travel

You have selected option 2: exploring the universe. You will be afforded the very best starship, plucked right from the minds of Einstein, Carl Sagan, and Stephen Hawking. This ship will act as a kind of mentor/supercomputer, guiding you among the stars with as much precision as possible. You have a couple friends with you and together you will explore the cosmos for as long as your bodies can hold up.

Pros:

~Ice fishing on Europa
~Scope a Supernova explosion…from a safe distance
~Watch a Magnetar, dying star heavier than the sun, collapse into a lump of matter just a dozen miles in diameter
~Visit 164,250 planets (90 years, hitting 5 planets a day; bear in mind that’s including a bunch of crazy sunsets)
~Traveling at light speed, for God’s sake
~Traveling through a wormhole–think Jodie Foster in Contact
~Meeting and joining an advanced alien race
~Populating other Earth-like planets with your spawn (remember, you brought friends); leave a kind of Bible buried somewhere so that future generations will worship you as a God
~Swan diving into a black hole

But remember, you could also be smashed and killed by meteor, or eaten by the aforementioned aliens, or simply freak out and kill your passengers and then go mad from loneliness and die screaming in the emptiness of space.

Alright, which is it going to be: time travel or space travel? Before you make your decision, take a look at a slightly more in depth comparison above…

40) Dance of the dead

We went into this film not expecting much and were pleasantly surprised. Dance of the Dead is a nice combination of low budget horror and teen angst comedy. Just think of John Hughes mixed with Return of the Living Dead. Although the film has its flaws–as virtually all zombie movies do–it’s non-stop fun.

39) Nightmare City

There are brilliant zombie films (Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later), and then there are zombie films that are so cheesy and ridiculous that you can’t help but love them. This film is one of the latter. Nightmare City, which was Eli Roth’s inspiration for Planet Terror, has to be one of the cheesiest movies ever made. Yet somehow, it is every bit as entertaining as anything that Romero ever directed. The best part is: the zombies in this movie are radioactive, which means they are capable of piloting planes and wielding weapons of mass destruction. Sound familiar? Nightmare City has to be seen to be believed. If you’re a zombie gorehound who who appreciates campy horror movies that transcend bad…order yourself a pizza, pop open a cold brew, and press play.

38) The Horde

Influenced by the gritty crime movies of the 70s, this French zombie gore-fest doesn’t let up from the moment the film begins. Unfortunately, due to the unappealing characters, an underdeveloped storyline, and the “let’s get out of the building” plot, this film is a far cry from a classic horror film. But if you love zombie-mayhem and violent action packed gore this film will make a perfect Friday night viewing for any hardcore zombie fan.

37) PontyPool

This Canadian zombie flick takes place in a small radio station during a snow storm. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the radio studio is where this film builds its psychological creepiness. The true horror comes from what we hear and not what we see. The plot revolves around the idea that words can travel like a virus into our subconscious (memes anyone?) and turn people into zombies. Many people will be disappointed by this movie because there is very little zombie action until the last 20 minutes. If you want an apocalyptic zombie movie with desperate survivors fighting off hordes of the undead, this may not be the best zombie movie for you. But it’s still a cool watch.

36) Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

One of the better zombies shockers of the 70s, this artfully made zombie movie fills in the missing link of the early Romero films and the Italian zombie movies that would later come. Although the majority of this film may be too slowly paced for the average film viewer, there are some nice payoffs at the 50 minute mark of the movie. We think we counted maybe 10 zombies in the entire movie. That being said, these are some seriously sinister zombies.

35) Dog House

For fans of Shaun of the Dead comes the outrageous and inventive zombie comedy Doghouse. First off, this film is by no means a masterpiece. But it’s definitely one of the most enthusiastically hilarious zombie gore movies we’ve ever seen. The plot is as simple as it gets: a group of immature men leave town for a crazy weekend of boozing and womanizing — but when they show up at their intended destination, it becomes clear that a horde of zombies are on the loose. Unfortunately for the boys, these zombies turn out to be man-hating feminist zombies intent on killing all men. This movie is perfect for a boys night. In other words, your girlfriend will most likely hate this movie. FYI, this movie is much better than the Lesbian Vampire Killers.

34) White Zombie

White Zombie is generally believed to be the first Hollywood picture that featured zombies. It’s not a horror film by today’s standards but more of a dark atmospheric visual poem about the consequences of obsession. The film has a surreal, gothic, and other-worldly tone to it. If you’re a fan of the original Universal monster movies than you’ll find that White Zombie fits in nicely with the classics. Plus, Bela Lugosi is absolutely mesmerizing as the Haitian voodoo master who brainwashes hoards of zombies to assist his sinister deeds. This movie is not for the average film viewer but for true horror fans who are interested in the history of horror cinema.

33) The Dead (2010)

The Dead is a refreshing tribute to the early Romero films, building suspense and atmosphere rather than overusing the shaky cam gimmick and CGI gore that we have grown so accustomed to. It doesn’t offer anything new to the genre but its cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. And despite its low budget, the effects are incredibly well done. Filmed in West Africa, this superbly crafted film uses bleak and desolate settings to portray the dread and fear of the zombie apocalypse.

32) The Beyond

Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond has amassed a large cult following over the years. Many hardcore horror fans believe it to be one of the best Italian horror films ever released. The story takes place in an old New Orleans hotel built upon one of the seven gateways to hell. Unfortunately, the gateway is accidentally opened by a plumber, who unwittingly unleashes a sinister force. If you have the patience for it this movie will stay with you long after the credits roll. The Beyond is a supernatural nightmare with plenty of retro-styled gore and zombies to make most hardcore horror fan smile.

31) Dead and Buried

This underrated 80s horror gem mixes zombies, witchcraft, and murder mystery all into one movie. The story revolves around a string of grisly murders in the small town of Porters Bluff, where the victims are mysteriously coming back to life. Without giving away too much of the plot, Dead & Buried is one creepy film viewing experience–haunting, imaginative, and highly recommended if you enjoy 80s horror movies!

30) Night of the Comet

Another excellent cult classic zombie gem is Night of the Comet. We’re not sure we’ve seen another movie that encapsulates Reagan era nostalgia. This movie is a must see. Let’s put it this way, you’ve got zombies, a cheerleader, some Uzis, a shopping mall, and evil scientists–what more could you ask for? If you’re seeking an brilliantly 80s cheesy zombie romp this Bud’s for you.

29) Night of the creeps

This certifiable zombie classic pays homage to the B-horror movies from the 1950s atomic age. Low-budget and highly entertaining, this film effortlessly throws in aliens, axe-wielding murderers, flesh-eating zombies, nudity, drunken frat boys, and rolls them all into a campy horror movie burrito. There’s plenty of witty one-liners and references to dozens of other horror movies sprinkled into the mix as well. So tip yours hats to one of the funniest, most entertaining B-flicks of the 80s and prepare yourself to enter horror movie nerd-vanna.

28) Night of Living Dead Remake

Yes, this is how remakes should be done, thoughtfully re-imagined and done with the highest respect to the original. Directed by special effects wizard Tom Savini, the horror genius responsible for the zombie effects in Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Savini does a respectable job of bringing Romero’s masterpiece to life and adds enough new twists and turns to make the movie worth watching. Our only real complaint is that although the film is sharp and suspenseful, it fails to be truly scary. That being said, there’s plenty here to whet the appetite of any zombie lover.

27) Dead Snow

This Norwegian Nazi-zombie effort became a cult classic sensation after it was released on DVD and you can currently stream it on Netflix’s Instant Watch. Dead Snow tells the story of a group of Norwegian medical students who head into the mountains for a winter holiday. After only a short while, an evil Nazi zombie curse is unleashed and all hell breaks loose. Dead Snow doesn’t bring anything new to the table but it’s wickedly funny, outrageously gory, and it offers all the over-the-top zombie mayhem you could ask for. There’s even a few scares thrown into the mix for good measure. Highly recommended for any fan of the zomcom genre.

26) Resident evil

If you’re looking for highly stylized zombie mayhem, in-your-face scares, gory animatronics, a good workout for your home stereo system, and model Milla Jovovich in a torn mini-skirt drop kicking zombie dogs…well friends, look no further than the first Resident Evil! Yes, it’s derivative, mindless, and kind of cheesy, but it’s also incredibly entertaining.

25) The Serpent and the rainbow

Horror master Wes Craven departed from the slasher genre in the 80s to bring us this creepy thriller zombie movie, which was filmed on location in Haiti. The movie was inspired by a book by Wade Davis, “a Harvard scientist who investigated the voodoo society of Haiti and identified two of the drugs used for “zombification” – drugs that lower the metabolic rate of their victims so much that they appear dead, and are buried, only to be dug up later and revived.” Craven’s depictions of the Haitian voodoo rituals are bone chilling. In one of the film’s scariest scenes, Bill Pullman’s character is drugged and then buried alive with a tarantula. The Serpent and the Rainbow is a superbly crafted horror film, both eerily atmospheric and visually stunning. It’s a must-see for Wes Craven fans and zombie hounds alike.

24) Zombi

Lucio Fulci’s Zombi is an over the top gorefest that has amassed a huge cult following among zombie fans over the years. Featuring some of the most gruesome looking zombies ever to be seen on film and plenty of memorable scenes to boot (including the infamous splinter in the eye scene and the beautifully shot but ridiculous battle between a shark and a zombie). Sure the plot is horrendous and the acting is cheesy, but but for fans of cheap Italian gore films this is a dream come true.

23) Blood Creek

Blood Creek is a top-notch zombie-esque horror film that has inexplicably gone completely under-the-radar. Slickly shot, creepy, and highly entertaining. There’s even a zombie horse in the movie–yes, a zombie horse that pulls a victim through a window with its zombie horse teeth. Directed by Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, Flatliners), this movie tells the story of two brothers who fight for their lives on a remote farm against a satanic Nazi-zombie. In a nutshell, Blood Creek is a solid B-horror movie that moves at breakneck pace, providing wall to wall horror action. There’s also some legit scares in it that will please even the most rock-steady horror fans.

22) Day of the dead

The third and final entry into Romero’s “dead series” has aged remarkably well compared to other zombie movies from the 80s. Although it’s a little too bleak and depressing for our taste, it has enough scares, stunning zombie effects, and thought provoking social commentary to make it a minor classic.

21) Flight Of the Living Dead

This straight to video oddity is an instant classic that is beyond entertaining. The set up for the plot is along the same lines as Snakes on a Plane. A bunch of passengers in the air don’t realize that below the plane, there’s “special cargo” that is being shipped with a zombie in it. During the flight the zombie runs amok and the undead infection spreads. Simply put, this film rocks! My hat goes off to whoever green lighted this gem of a zombie movie. In an industry full of cheaply made cash-in zombie flicks, Flight of the Living Dead is one of the most entertaining zomcoms out there. As zombie aficionados, we highly recommend this film.

READY FOR PART 2 AND THE TOP 20 ZOMBIE MOVIES OF ALL TIME….? CLICK HERE

If you were to compare one extreme (a masterwork of subtlety and nuance) to another (an abomination of special effects and sound effects used to assault the senses), I’d choose The Haunting. For both. The Haunting (1963) is in no hurry to divulge any of its macabre secrets and takes great pleasure in exploring the ambiguity of its horrors. The Haunting (1999) quickly flies off the rails at breakneck speed and throws in a ludicrous plot and scheme involving an evil entity that must collect souls. One is a prideful work of darkness and mystery; the other is an awesome failure that’s as funny as some of the best comedies without meaning to be.

The Changeling (1980) is a great movie. It’s surprising to me with the many lists put out each year about the greatest horror movies or the greatest specific sub-genre of horror, it’s rarely ever mentioned. Martin Scorsese did put it on his list of the 11 Scariest Movies, but outside of his recommendation and a loving cult viewership online, it’s largely unknown by mainstream audiences.

The Changeling should be held in high regard among other classics of the genre, along titles such as, say, Poltergeist or The Sixth Sense or The Haunting (1963, of course). It has influenced numerous contemporary horror films such as Insidious with its nail-biting séance sequence that, if not influenced directly, must have been a subconscious shout-out, and Alejandro Amenábar directly cited The Changeling as an inspiration for The Others.

On Roger Ebert’s audio commentary for Dark City, he—paraphrasing a similar statement from Howard Hawks—defines a “great film” in simple terms. A great film has three great scenes, and no bad ones. When thinking of any movie you consider to be great or one of your personal favorites, you’ll easily be able to think of three absolutely, pitch-perfect scenes… and no bad scenes. The Changeling’s three great scenes are: the chilling opening, the scene where our hero discovers the hidden room, and the oft-copied séance scene.

Like all great gothic melodramas, The Changeling begins with tragedy. The word “melodrama” seems to rub people the wrong way, as if it’s an inherent statement on an overwrought story with cheesy inspirations. A melodrama is only a genre that utilizes exaggerated plot developments in order to explore themes and emotions. “Melodramatic” is often a denotative statement used to decry a story, but many stories are both masterpieces and melodramas—Guillermo del Toro is a master of modern melodrama.

John Russell, played magnificently by George C. Scott, is with his wife and daughter in upstate New York when their car breaks down. The movie begins with them pushing the vehicle to safety off the side of the road. As he goes to use a telephone to call for assistance, a semi-truck, spooked by another car swerving for control on the icy roads, comes barreling down on his wife and daughter who are making snow angels by the broken down vehicle, and kills them instantly. John is trapped inside the payphone, helplessly watching his entire family destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Many movies have opened similarly, but this movie does something to really put you ill-at-ease as you watch the goings on. It is absolutely terrifying. The direction, editing and acting all work together to create a scene that is just heart-wrenching. It defines the actions that follow later and you can’t help but call back to it and remember it whenever the character of John Russell makes a decision. The scene lasts only a few minutes on the screen but makes a lasting effect.

George C. Scott, who won his much deserved Oscar for Patton had been sometimes criticized for accepting roles that are much in line for what made him famous in the first place and actively worked as a self-parody, similar to Robert Stack or Adam West. When you look at his performances in Doctor Strangelove and in this, you begin to appreciate his effortless range. In one scene in the movie, after he seemingly comes to terms with the tragedy he survived, he awakes early in the morning and begins to cry deep, mourning sobs. In that moment, I was drawn to the plot and immediately forgot that I was watching a performance. It played out so naturally and realistically, it felt like I was a fly on the wall, watching a heartbroken man try to make sense of his life.

John Russell, in the aftermath of what had happened to his wife and daughter, relocates to Seattle. As a professor of advanced musical theory, he begins teaching a class at the local university and begins composing music as a means of coping. In need of living in a place of his own, he settles on an historical house in town that is quite possibly the most haunted-looking house on the market. It is a large mansion that has been unoccupied for 12 years. His purchase seemed to make sense on a symbolic level, something that could provide him with housing, a comfortable bed but still allow him to continue to be lonely in such a large, empty space.

Once there, within days, he begins to realize that he is sharing his abode with the spirit of a soul who had been tragically killed. What I liked best about his investigation is that he researches the house and finds out that the child of a previous occupant had died in a freak accident. He accepts this to be the soul that is haunting the house, but as the plot moves along, his initial suspicion is proved to be incorrect. In most movies, when the main character makes a discovery, that had to be the one, absolute truth… because the main character discovered it. How can it be wrong? In a twist and subversion of story development, John’s theory is proven to be incorrect and we discover the truth, the real meaning of the titular changeling.

How does a movie manage the ever-mounting scares of a ghost story without becoming a ridiculous spectacle? It needs a plot to match. A horror movie’s scares are only as good as its plot. The scares in The Changeling remain subtle throughout. It never really attempts to out-do itself. It’s confidently helmed by Peter Medak, a director with a solid career, consisting of some 60 movies and television episodes, but never has he been as on-point as with this film. The Changeling is surely his masterpiece. I want to write, in detail, about the expertly crafted scares because they were phenomenal, but I want to entice anyone and everyone to see this movie.

At one point, John cries out to the house, “You goddamn son of a bitch. What is it you want?” and we begin to realize the motivation of the spirit. It’s revenge. Without ever having to say directly so to the audience, we realize that the vengeful spirit is a childish one, because it died when it was a child for selfish purposes. Aside from a few brief glimpses, we never see it, but we know that it scorned and it is selfish because it’s the ghost of a little boy.

The movie is not without its faults. In one scene in particular, in a mostly devoid-of-bloodshed chiller, the spirit of the mansion may have, though not explicitly (but heavily insinuated), kills a problem-character to the plot who might bring down or add conflict the story. The resolution felt rushed. It felt out of place. In the scene where John first witnesses, first hand, the spooky specter he’s housemates with reflected in a bathtub filled with water, the scenes cuts to him calmly explaining his situation the following morning. Had I been the main character, the scene would have cut to me, thousands of miles away in a hotel room, with a squirt gun filled with holy water under my pillow.

The ending, too, felt out of place. In such a sure and confident movie, the destructive finale seemed like it would have benefitted a dumber, blunter plot. Here, it seemed like maybe it was studio interference wanting some fireworks at the end to wake up anyone who didn’t want to follow along with the serpentine plot and fell asleep. As much as I wished the ending had been subtler, the last shot before the final credit crawl is amazing.

The Changeling may be a good way to fill the void until The Conjuring is released this summer. Both are movies that have been Rated R by the MPAA without featuring any gore, nudity or foul language, but restricted to a mature audience for simply being too scary. The Changeling is mostly free of bloodshed, has only limited swearing (no F-words, S-words) and no sexuality whatsoever. If rated today, I imagine it would secure a PG-13 rating.

Guest post by Billy Russell

Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym’

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym tells the tale of four shipwreck survivors who are stranded at sea and finally decide to kill and eat the cabin boy, named Richard Parker.

A few years later, in 1884, a real ship by the name of the Mignonette experienced the same fate: the officers on board, starving to death and losing their minds, killed and ate the cabin boy, who’s actual name was….wait for it…Richard Parker.

You Will Die By This Bullet

In 1883, Henry Ziegland broke off his relationship to a longtime girlfriend who then killed herself in sorrow. The woman’s brother devoted his life to hunting Ziegland down and murdering him. And he did so, shooting Ziegland before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide. But Ziegland was not dead; the bullet had grazed his face and then lodged itself into a tree, leaving Henry injured but alive.

Years later, Ziegland decided to cut down the very same tree that had the bullet lodged in it. But when the trunk proved too bulky for his landscaping capabilities, Ziegland used dynamite. The blast sent the bullet air-born once more and, as fate would decree, straight into Henry’s head. This time it stuck.

JFK predicted his own death

You could fill a library with all of the conspiracies, anomalies and coincidences swirling around the date of November 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. But this is not about the Lone Gunmen theory or the grassy knoll. Rather, this coincidence concerns something you may have never heard of: the fact that JFK actually predicted his own death, hours before it happened.

While reassuring wife Jacqueline Kennedy, who was severely disturbed by a funereal anti-Kennedy ad posted in the Dallas Morning News, John reportedly said: “Jackie, if somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it, so why worry about it?”

If that’s not enough, read the list of similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy. Brace your head for some spinning.

The Curse of James Dean’s car

Forever cementing the phrase “It’s better to burn out than fade away” into the pantheon of American counterculture, James Dean died in 1955 when his Porsche sports car crashed virtually head-on into a Turnipseed Ford at speeds of 70-75 mph. What you might not have heard is the strange epilogue of death that haunted his car afterwards.

When the car was towed away from accident scene, the engine slipped out and shattered a mechanic’s legs. Later, the engine was bought by a doctor, who used it in his own racing car. This doctor was killed in a racing accident shortly thereafter. Another racing driver was killed in his car during that same race; his car happened to be fitted with James Dean’s driveshaft. The garage that housed James Dean’s Porsche while it was repaired was destroyed in a fire and, while on display in Sacramento, the car fell off its mount and shattered a kid’s hip.

Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet

Celebrated satirist and author Mark Twain was born in 1835 on the day of the appearance of Halley’s Comet. In 1909, Twin predicted he would die the day the comet returned, and he did. Perhaps Twain, knowing he was near death, pushed himself along so that his demise would coincide so fantastically with Halley’s arrival. Or, perhaps his fate was irrevocably linked with a rock hurtling through space.

Lightning Strikes…Four Times

In 1918, a bolt of lightning struck the battlefield of Flanders, knocking British officer Major Summerford off his horse and paralyzing him from the waist down. Six years later, a retired Summerford was fishing alongside a river when another lightning bolt struck a nearby tree. The tree landed on him, severely injuring him once again. Two years later, when Summerford had finally recovered from his injuries and could walk, he took a stroll in a park, where he was struck once more by a lightning bolt. This time, he was permanently paralyzed. Summerford died two years later.

End of crazy story right? Wrong! Four years later, a lightning bolt struck the cemetery where Summerford was buried, destroying a single tombstone: that’s right, Summerford’s.

The Dark Knight and Domestic Terrorism

In 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside an Aurora movie theater during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. The shooter, James Holmes, who believed he was the Joker character from the Batman series, armed himself in tactical gear and killed 12 people before surrendering to police. Five months later another shooter, Adam Lanza, killed 26 people, including 20 children, at the Sandy Hook elementary school. On April 15, 2013, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev detonated two bombs at the Boston marathon, killing 3 and wounding 264.

The coincidence? The Dark Knight Rises contains a shot of a map featuring Sandy Hook. And the Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar…his name is pronounced Jo-kar, or Joker.

9/11, the Simpsons, and Predictive Programming

Above is the original cover for a Coup album, designed in June of 2001.

Like the JFK assassination, the events of 9/11 are festooned with eerie coincidences and anomalies, enough to make any conspiracy theorist feel like he’s losing his mind. And he probably is. But what many people don’t know is that some of the strangest 9/11 symbolism took place before the attack ever occurred, in the form of coincidental media images that seemed to prophesize the biggest terrorist attack on American soil.

Is it sheer coincidence, or evidence of predictive programming? Perhaps it goes even further: what if the secret cabals that plan these events communicate to one another through the media, planting details of false flag attacks and other conspiracies right under our noses.

Got some coincidences creepier than these? What about the psychic that predicted John Lennon’s death or the novel that foresaw that sinking of the Titanic? Personal, historical, conspiratorial, controversial–we’d love to hear about it.

Sheer coincidence, synchronicity of evil, predictive programming, or all of the above…?

In the last decade, there has been a stunning number of claims of reincarnated children–or, children whose demonstrably arcane powers of recollection suggest past lives. One of the most notable cases of a ‘reincarnated child’ is that of James Leininger, whose mind-blowing story exploded onto the scene in 2005.

James Leininger loved toy planes. In fact, according to his parents, Bruce and Andrea, James was obsessed with planes and frequently performed creative diagnostic inspections on his toys, using terminology he couldn’t possibly have absorbed in any kind of formal educational context. This terminology included seemingly random references to his plane’s auxiliary fuel drop tank.

At the age of five, James began having nightmares. Vivid nightmares of a fighter plane going down in flames. On more than one occasion, he woke up screaming from these nightmares. When his mom asked him what he had seen, he replied: “Airplane crash on fire, little man can’t get out.” James began to draw these images in crayon, signing them ‘James 3′. They depicted a World War 2 plane consumed by fire, hurtling toward the ocean.

James’ father Bruce became disturbed by his son’s illustrations and began to research. Because, you see, James was having more than just nightmares: he was recalling specific information from events that occurred approximately six decades earlier. He knew the type of plane: a Corsaire. He knew the warship his plane took off from: the Natoma.

And James even seemed to know the name of his co-pilot: Jack Larson. In his research, Bruce learned that there had indeed been a Natoma warship in WW2; there had also been a pilot by the name of Jack Larson, a friend of James M. Huston Jr., who was a pilot killed at Iwo Jima when enemy fire detonated his plane’s drop tank.

Fighter pilot James’ code name was ‘Little Man’.

This is just one of thousands of stories of children who seem to be able to recall specific memories from past lives. Another story, featured on the show Extraordinary People, introduces us to Cameron Macauley, who, from the age of two, has talked at length about his life on the island of Barra. Cameron lives with his mum, Norma, in Glasgow. They have never been to Barra.

On a daily basis Cameron recounts the minute details of his alter-ego past life in Barra: his house, his brothers and sisters, his dog, his mum and dad. He misses his family there, his life in Barra, his old identity….

Other stories involve kids who recall specific events and impressions from the point of view of firefighters who rushed into the burning World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. One story comes from a confounded mom, who says her four year old believes he is a firefighter. Though she claims her son has never been exposed to the images of 9/11, he speaks of planes crashing into buildings and people jumping to their deaths.

Another mother, who was featured on the Coast to Coast AM radio show, claims her son, who was only a year and a half at the time and had only just begun speaking, recalled specific memories of rescuing people from buildings. He also told his mom that he had picked her to be his mom.

One of the most chilling of these 9/11 stories came from a mom whose son claims he was a businessman in New York City on the day the towers collapsed. One day, the kid saw a photo of the WTC towers in a National Geographic and excitedly pointed to a window, exclaiming, “That’s where I used to work!” The kid went on to recall the feel of the building falling and then being buried in rock and rubble. He says he is still buried there.

So what are we to make of this? Are these kids truly reincarnated souls remembering their past lives? Or have certain pictures, videos and facts somehow slipped into their minds from the media or the Internet? Perhaps there is a middle ground, a subconscious human repository of ideas and images, a flowing river of collective archetypes that deposits our minds into an ocean of shared experience?

Carol Bowman, past life therapist and researcher, has been studying the phenomenon of reincarnated children and past life regression for decades and says reconciling past lives can lead to profound psychological benefits. Past life memories, which she calls “the autobiography of the soul”, are particularly strong in children, who do not have the mediating bells and whistles that restrict adults from understanding the eternal energy that binds all things.

Perhaps this is why a child who was consoling his mother in the hospital, once said: “Honey, I’ve been around this earth at least 189 times now and you know what? It’s always OK in the end.” Of course, that kid could have also just been trying to horribly freak his mom out. Kids are honest…they are also very weird.

If, like us, you can’t get enough of this subject, you may be happy to know that a reality TV show on the subject of reincarnated children is slated to air on the Bio Channel later this year. Surely this venerable piece of programming, titled “Ghost Inside My Child,” won’t be cheesy or exploitative.

The following post was submitted to us by a Ghost Diaries reader. It concerns an experience with a possible shapeshifter.

“I am now 56 years old and living in British Columbia Canada. About 30 years ago I was coming home from work…as a welder…during the summer. It was a lovely clear peaceful bright summers evening downtown and I was standing waiting for my bus to take me home. It would have been about 5—6:00pm and the streets of Aberdeen Scotland were busy with people moving around and going home. I am originally from Glasgow but so many of us in those days were lured by oil and offshore rig romance.

“I watched as it finally turned a corner and only then could I move again. I did tell some people close to me at the time…of course there was some ridicule but nothing serious and for whatever reasons that day just hid away in the back of my mind. Just lately, in the past two years, I have been relating my experience. It is still as clear today as it was then.

“Wondering if anyone else may have had the same or similar happening. I am just a hardworking bloke…older and looking forward to a peaceful retirement…but…some things need to be shared. Thank you for your time spent on this regardless..”

Thanks for sharing! It sounds as if the entity was shocked at having been discovered and was forced to use some kind of power on you while he made his getaway.

Has anyone else had an experience like this?