Shadow People: A True Story

According to Wikipedia, a shadow person is a type of hallucination seen out of one's peripheral vision making it seem as if it were a living, humanoid figure.

Bullshit.

I've seen shadow people and they weren't hallucinations out of the corner of my eye. When I was a child I would often see shadow people walking across my bedroom - passing right in front of my eyes. Other times I would lay in bed and see a black mist in the corner of my bedroom ceiling (I'm still not sure what this was). These occurrences never frightened me because they were such a normal part of my childhood. As the years passed I saw them less and less, possibly due to my mind being less open and less childlike or perhaps simply because I was moved into a different bedroom of our home.

Some people believe that shadow people, whether greyish-white and seen in the dark, or blackish and seen in broad daylight (as was my case), are inter-dimensional beings that have found a way into our world. Others think that they are ghosts who cannot fully manifest themselves into a full-bodied apparition. If so, I find it interesting that I've never seen, read, nor heard stories of shadow people interacting with the living; I've always heard stories recounted as these beings "passing through." My experience was the same: the soft, black entities walking from one bedroom wall to the other and disappearing. Never a nod, never a glance, as the four or five of them would cross my path.

There's also speculation that shadow people are demonic since folklore tells us that the devil is a dark force that will appear in a black form. Again, though, I don't remember hearing accounts of people feeling threatened in any way by shadow people, so I can't say I believe the correlation to the devil.

I also don't agree with those who believe shadow people are alien creatures. This theory actually makes me laugh since I don't believe in alien lifeforms. What? Little Miss Paranormal doesn't believe in aliens? Nope. 'Nuff said.

I'm sure there will be more theories on shadow people in the future (I think there's a shadow people movie being released soon?), but for now I don't know how to explain what I saw during my early childhood. All I know is that all these years later I can still vividly recall their appearance and my experience with them.

If you have any experiences with shadow people, I would appreciate you leaving a comment.

Until next time,
L

It's my birthday (again?!)

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's already been a year since I spent my birthday in haunted Edinburgh! So much has happened during the past twelve months: missing Scotland (of course), going to Japan and getting lost in the largest cemetery in the country, getting back to my singing, taking more photos and improving my photography skills, working out with a personal trainer, having to take a pay cut at work... Ha! All in all it has been a great year and I hope to be better with my blog entries.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and stays safe from those scary fires that are burning around the city!

Until next time,
L

Netflix recommendations can't be trusted!

I had put two movies at the top of my DVD queue due to my Netflix recommendations. Unfortunately, both films fell flat.

The first was Eyes Front starring Michael Madsen and Christopher Stapleton. Written and directed by Darren Doane, and apparently going straight to DVD, this social commentary on serial killers was distributed in 2008. Doane stepped outside of his usual punk music videos to make this full-length film but, in my opinion, he didn't step far enough. The editing, the cinematography, the music all made me feel like I was watching an hour-long music video. The storyline is extremely weak as we follow the separate lives of two killers. Madsen plays a family man seeking redemption after killing his wife, while Stapleton plays a cunning and maniacal serial killer. I understand that Doane was trying to present a controversial perspective on what might lead someone to kill, but neither the plot nor the character development ever went deep enough to make things interesting.

The movie trailer teases us: "Look inside the mind of a killer." I'm glad they cleared that up, because I thought I was simply looking at a really, really bad film.

The second movie was a remake of Brian DePalma's 1973 Sisters, this time with Chloe Sevigny and Stephen Rea. The first few minutes were quite promising with an eerie soundtrack playing behind a beautiful montage of twin fetuses in the womb. But that's where the good stuff ended and this droning, unimaginative remake lost my interest (the acting was pretty awful, too). Also released straight to DVD, this version cannot compare to DePalma's genius in bringing us scares, suspense, and scenes that make us turn away in terror. Do yourself a favor and skip this one, but watch DePalma's original.

Not wasting any jumpers on either of these movies and you shouldn't waste your time.

Until next time,
L

The Walking Dead Season 3 Limited Edition Blue-Ray Box Set

Thanks to the guys at The Nerdist (and to my pal G who happens to be the biggest nerd of all) for the info on this limited edition box set of season 3 of AMC's The Walking Dead. Seems that the packaging was designed by McFarlane Toys while the crew was building the actual "aquarium wall" on-set. Although pricey (Amazon currently has it at a reduced price of $104) this is sure to be a collector's item especially due to its interactive nature. Interactive?! Yes, Todd McFarlane is allowing the consumer to fill the "tanks" with water and, thanks to the hooks on each of the heads, to arrange the heads however desired. Hmm... I wonder if they'd continuously bob up and down if you filled it with carbonated water? Or beer!

Until next time,
L

Hannibal (NBC)

I can't believe it's already April. Perhaps more so because there is still no official word from the Coroner's office about the autopsy of Elisa Lam (see previous Dark Water post). After repeated searches of the internet there is no available update, although I did find some photos of her family and friends attending her funeral - which leads me to believe that the Coroner released her body to the family. So sad.

If you've found any information that I may have overlooked, please post it in the comments section. Thanks and may Elisa rest in peace.

Someone commented to me the other day on how distressed they were that today's society seems to be so obsessed with horror: movies such as Evil Dead and television shows such as The Walking Dead seem to permeate the airwaves and our conversations. He truly seemed disturbed by this so I did my best to hide my delight. I really love this stuff.

So why wasn't I more excited to discover that NBC was bringing one of the best horror characters to television via Hannibal? Could it be because shows like The Following or American Horror Story start out with such promise only to fizzle toward the middle of the very first season? I wasn't going to add another disappointing item into my DVR's to-do list (Lord knows my DVR has been working overtime) until my son urged me to watch.

Hannibal introduces us to the legendary Dr. Lecter (he's not yet legendary in the show, I'm only speaking from my perspective), a psychiatrist with an appetite for human organs. (Kudos to NBC for making cooked lungs look like a delectable dish from Barefoot Contessa.) What I found interesting about the pilot episode is that we get to view the serial killer's mind through another profiler, not through Dr. Lecter. That profiler, special agent Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy), is infintely more interesting than Lecter at this point. He's young, he's gifted, he's squeamish, he's vulnerable. I like this character so much that I'm already dreading his predicted demise at the hands of Lecter. Dancy is the best part of this cast, possibly because I'm not familiar with his previous work so I don't see any typecasting with him. The other cast members, however (yawn*), aren't really holding my interest. Laurence Fishburne is the main FBI agent. Someone needs to tell him that he isn't playing the CSI character anymore. Bo-ring! Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Lecter is also underwhelming so far. He and James Purefoy of The Following could be interchanged and I wouldn't even notice. Same voice, same delivery, same... Bo-ring! And can I mention the annoying Asian female medical examiner? I honestly can't wait for her to get killed in the crossfire.

Nonetheless, I did find the first episode of this 13-episode season interesting enough to throw it into my DVR's season pass list, albeit only for Dancy's portrayal of Will Graham.

You can watch the entire episode here: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi2950997529?ref_=tt_pv_vi_1

Not scary yet, so I'm only giving the pilot episode one jumper. Hopefully I'll return at some point during the season to insert more.

Until then,
L

Dark Water in Downtown L.A.: Life Imitating Art?

*Spoiler alert: You may want to see Dark Water (the Japanese version is better) before reading this post.

Today there was a gruesome discovery at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. A woman's naked body was found in a water tank on the rooftop of the Hotel Cecil on 6th & Main. Upon hearing the news story I immediately told my friend, "It's just like that movie Dark Water!" Yup. Life can certainly be stranger than fiction.

21-year-old Elisa Lam was a student from Canada on her way to Santa Cruz, California. Seems she decided to make a stop to see The City of Angels. Unfortunately, it would be the decision that would cost her her life.

She was staying at the Hotel Cecil, alone, until she vanished nearly three weeks ago. The police have released video footage from the hotel's elevator surveillance camera and I'm posting it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/14/elisa-lam-missing-video-la-vancouver_n_2688168.html

As you can see, Elisa acts in an extremely odd manner throughout the footage. Why was she pressing ALL of the elevator buttons? Who was she looking at/for? Why did she appear to be hiding at one point? If she was in danger, why didn't she run? And was she carrying on a conversation with someone who was off-camera or was she completely disoriented? The Hotel Cecil is said to be haunted and, knowing this, if you watch the video from the perspective that she may have witnessed something paranormal... Well, the video gets a little creepier.

The Hotel Cecil is one of the oldest continually-run hotels in the Los Angeles area. They recently went through a renovation hoping to capture some of the crowd now coming into downtown for sporting events, concerts, and an improving restaurant & bar scene. Still, the hotel is located in a seedy part of town - near Skid Row - which is overrun with homeless people and a high crime rate. The hotel itself has quite a macabre history. Aside from its ghost stories, it was where Richard Ramirez (aka The Night Stalker) stayed during his killing spree in the '80's. (A piece of trivia for all you numerology buffs: Ramirez killed 14 people, stayed on the 14th floor of the Hotel Cecil, and paid $14 per night for his room.) It was also where the Austrian journalist-turned-serial-killer, Jack Unterweger, lived. Stories go back further to Goldie Osgood being raped and strangled in the hotel, and Pauline Otten jumping out of a window in 1962 - not only killing herself, but a pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk below.

Residents of the hotel recently complained about the low water pressure on the third and fourth floors, so a maintenance worker went up on the roof today to check the water tanks. Surprise, Mr. Maintenance Worker! You're now f***ed up for life!

One of the residents said he heard a loud bang from the fourth floor the night before Elisa went missing. He also told reporters that there was flooding on the fourth floor the day of Elisa's disappearance and mentioned that plumbers had determined there was "some kind of blockage in the pipes between the third and fourth floors." Ick. I'm telling you, this is Dark Water in real life!

Now, keep in mind, these water tanks hold the water supply for the hotel. Yes, people were DRINKING this water. Yes, people were brushing their teeth with this water. Yes, people were using this water to cook. Oh my God... Needless to say, residents are completely grossed out.

I'm giving this story four jumpers because it's just too damn creepy and almost unbelievable.

Until next time,

L

Mama

While we all await the return of The Walking Dead (February cannot come soon enough!) I want to talk about Guillermo Del Toro's new film: Mama. Have you seen it? Everyone I've spoken to who has seen it has said that it's super scary. I, myself, can't even bring myself to watch the commercials! I know that has some of you laughing because I pride myself in my love of horror films (I recently scored a 92/100 on a "How Many of These Horror Films Have You Seen?" quiz), but it doesn't mean I'm always brave enough to see a particular movie. I still remember when my friend and I went to see The Grudge and I hid under a blanket the whole time. I think that was a first for me -- hearing a movie, rather than seeing it. Ha ha!

Well, Mama seems to have such an intense eeriness to it that I'm not sure I want to subject myself to it. I'd probably come home and envision good ol' Mama popping up all over my house.

My nephew said it's one of the scariest films he's seen (although he wished for a different ending). A co-worker said she laughed through the whole thing. Puzzled, I asked her if she laughed because she thought it was silly or if she thought it was so freakin' scary that she forced herself to laugh just so she could get through it. She said it was the latter. Boy, that sure sounds intriguing!

What to do? What to do? Maybe I'll just skip this one...? Let me know what you think.

Until next time,
L