Flying The Ghostly Skies

A friend's cousin, who has long believed she is targeted by spirits, both friendly and otherwise, snapped some photos out the window of the plane she was in, I suppose at the colors of the dawn or something. She saw nothing unusual when taking the pic but here is what she had on review:

And let's zoom in on deep-in-thought dude there:

I'm sure she was glad to have a slightly apprehensive and a bit frustrated looking spirit here instead of an angry one. Although I think it is a fun picture, which is why I'm sharing it with y'all, here's what I think she has:

You know those little lights above you in the plane that you can adjust the direction of? I think whatever direction they were in caused a reflection off of a photo inside plastic in a planner or wallet type item open on the tray table or the girls lap. The reflection combined with the camera flash caused this guy to look like he was hanging out in space.

Also, it looks like he is wearing a dress-blues military style hat that has a point in front, a white dress shirt with dark tie, and dark jacket with plain epaulets. Meaning, this looks like a graduation photo for military or police training. Also, the facial expression is that of a newbie......determined but not super confident quite yet.

Anyway, just a neat pic.

Well then *ahem*

I finally remembered my password after not posting for so long. Admittedly, I've become jaded on paranormal events as, always eager to be logical before being a believer, I've learned more about what can cause "hauntings," and I'll do a post on that in the future. What hasn't changed, and I'm pretty sure won't, is how I feel about cemeteries and graveyards. The mixture of emotions and history they hold, centuries of stories they tell, will always fascinate me. Therefore, it is likely you will find me skulking around them until I find myself in one permanently. I also still have a great interest in Victorian post-mortem photography, an art lost long ago. I believe my next visit will be to a cemetery or graveyard (don't recall if there is a chapel there or not) in Moncks Corner, SC, near the Mepkin Abbey. Not the Strawberry Chapel cemetery, which I have prowled through before, but another I have seen on the way that looks quite old and interesting. The heat is quite cumbersome here, but I am going to try to get some history info on it and make a visit within the next two weeks.....stay tuned!

The Jessie Blue Crying Grave

Legend read on Shadowlands.net

Location of investigation: Parks cemetery, Hwy alt.17, Summerville, South Carolina

The Story: A toddler-age child is buried here. When you get to his grave, you hear crying. If you leave a toy on the grave, the crying stops.

Date of investigation: Nov. 27, 2010

Verdict: Peace and quiet

This is the grave stone in question for young Jessie Blue Hyatt:
I stood still for several moments, and even left and came back. I didn't hear a thing but traffic out on the nearby road. Also, unlike many other young children's graves, there were not toys all around it. You can see a small faded Xmas decroation toppled over on the right, and a small confederate flag stuck into the ground on the left, and that is all that was there. I sensed nothing out of whack, it was as peaceful as any other part of the cemetery.

I'm not in the realm of haunting, I swear....

I just haven't been anywhere morbidly interesting in awhile, and yes, I am itchy for some action of that subject.

I recently read about a local legend I had not heard of; apparently in a nearby cemetery there is a relatively new (2002 I believe) tombstone of a young boy. Apparently if you go near it, you hear a child crying, but if you then place a toy or other offering on the grave the crying ceases.

I'll check on this one, possibly tomorrow, and hopefully it will be a fruitful adventure.

Thank you to those following my blog, I'm not an exaggerator or over-reactor like the guys who have their own ghost hunting shows, my M.O. is honest and skeptical investigation and I appreciate you reading about my endeavors.

Hanging Around (literally) in Chucktown

The most macabre story on our downtown Charleston (SC) ghost & dungeon tour concerned a tall and wide building that on the bottom floor now runs a popular eatery and bar called Charleston Brewing Company....or something like that. The above floors are not used, but on a slow night you can get someone to take you up to the third and most feared floor, and I intend to.

You see, in the 1800's Charleston was a huge shipping port for everything, including humans of course. A merchant had recently sailed in to pick up a fortune's worth of merchandise from the man who owned and ran the aforementioned large building, I believe it dealt in cloth and silk and those types of goods.

The merchant was staying behind for a reason I have forgotten, while his ship of goods sailed to it's destination. I remember he was very down on his luck, a recent widow, down to his last ship, and poured his last monies into this cargo intended to revitalize his business back home.

The owner of the building told the man he was welcome to go to the top floor and watch his ship sail safely out of the harbor, but to let someone know before he went up there so he wouldn't end up forgotten and locked in.

The man said that wasn't necessary, but in a short time changed his mind. He went up to the top floor without alerting anyone. He stood at one of the large windows and could see his ship passing out of the harbor. His last ship, his last hope. Suddenly, the ship burst into flames, ruining his inventory and his transport.

Hysterical and grief-stricken, the man grabbed the nearest things in the sparse area where he stood. An old chair, and some bailing wire. He wrapped the wire around a chandelier and around his neck, stood on the chair, and kicked that chair away.

Well, bailing wire for a hanging is a bad choice. The wire didn't strangle him so much as it cut into his neck and caused profuse bleeding. The man struggled and kicked, not wishing for this slow death, and kicked out the window in front of him. It was already night fall in the busy city. No one heard the crash. He struggled in vain as he bled to death.

Eager birds found the broken window inviting and flew right in for a feast. They picked at his bloody clothes, his face and hands. They behaved as scavengers would.

Next morning. 6 a.m. Paperboy sleepily starts his shift walking up and down the street. Being a youngster, he spots a marble and picks it up. The marble is an eyeball. He shows it to adults nearby and the suspect it was pulled off a corpse and dropped by a bird. They look around. They find him, and alert the man who owns the building.

The man hurries over, goes to the top floor, and finds a horrendous sight. A bloody, bird-picked corpse so disfigured the man only recognizes him by his jacket.

No one has been eager to visit that floor or room. But when the tourist season dies down I am going to call them and see if they will let me poke around up there.

Oh! Pictures? I took them at night on the tour and they are not very good. I need to try getting more in the daytime. Here's what I have......




Yes, they do suck. I am going to work with them in photoshop, maybe lighten a bit. The focus is the top far left window.

Sound Weird and Smart

Recommended reading for humans with a macabre bent. I just pulled these from my bookshelf, I am sure there are many more. Information to stop conversations at parties and scare away the person you've been hitting on at the bar.

Spook, by Mary Roach : Science tackles the afterlife

Stiff, also by Mary Roach : The curious lives of human cadavers

Stories in Stone, by Douglas Keister : A field guide to cemetery symbolism and iconography

Hidden Evidence, by David Owen : Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped solve them

Among The Cannibals, by Paul Raffaele : Adventures on the trail of man's darkest ritual

Ordeal by Hunger, by George Stewart : The story of the Donner Party

Death's Acre, by Dr. Bill Blass and Jon Jefferson : Inside the legendary forensic lab the Body Farm where the dead do tell tales

Postmortem-Establishing The Cause Of Death, by Dr. Steven A. Koehler and Dr. Cyril H. Wecht : self-explanatory title with lots of pictures

Corpse, by Jessica Snyder Sachs : Nature, forensics, and the struggle to pinpoint time of death. A very good book on forensic entomology

The Mummy Congress, by Heather Pringle : Science, obsession, and the everlasting dead

Dead Men Do Tell Tales, by William R. Maples, PH.D., and Michael Browning : The strange and fascinating cases of a forensic anthropologist

Old Souls, by Tom Shroder : Compelling evidence from children who remember past lives

The American Way of Death Revisited, by Jessica Mitford : A funny, cynical, sarcastic, and honest look at the history and current state of mere mortals vs. the funeral industry. An absolute favorite of mine, it has been re-read nearly to death

After The Funeral, by Edwin Murphy : The posthumous adventures of famous corpses

Written in Bones, by Paul Bahn : How human remains unlock the secrets of the dead

Why People believe Weird Things, by Michael Shermer : I feel this book should be recommended reading in schools as well. It does debunk some ghost stories (and we don't want to believe false stories anyway, so no worries) but also goes after the group of people who do not believe the Holocaust happened, the harmful recovered memory moverment, and the modern witch crazes we have seen in our lifetimes. Another book I have read to death.

Serious Motion Blur or Seriously Obvious Ghost?

Bought my first Victorian Post Mortem pic on eBay a few months ago. Granted, it is not my favorite type, which would be people propped up in chairs a la Weekend at Bernies, but those are pricey pricey. However, this boring dead guy with a big fan club came with a bonus. Check out the girl on the left, about halfway down the line. The super blurry one.




It's an old picture, but not victorian. Probably 1930's-40's and looks to be Eastern European. Now, naturally we must allow for motion blur in a picture from this era. However, there are other children in the picture, and this girl is the only one moving? If you have a kid you know how unlikely this is. Also, if the blur is caused from her quickly shoving in front of the people beside her, why aren't they looking at her as a natural reaction to someone suddenly moving behind and beside you? It's a ponderable, and I wish I knew more about the subjects in the photo.