Would you buy a haunted house? 1 in 3 say 'yes'
People are fairly evenly split into three camps on whether they would purchase a haunted house, according to a Realtor.com survey.
Respondents who would not consider buying a spirit-occupied place (35%) just slightly edged out those who would (32%) or might (33%) consider it.
Nearly one-third said they would need a price discount of up to 20% to take the leap, however, while 2% said they'd actually pay extra for the privilege.
As for what paranormal activity they’d be willing to live with, nearly two-thirds said they would not be deterred by warm or cold spots, and almost half said they'd tolerate ghostly footsteps and slamming doors. And a hardy 41% said apparitions would not scare them away. - LA Times
220 Fifth Street
Dark Force - The Terrifying and Tragic Story of the Bean Family
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Psychic Allegedly Talks to Steve Jobs' Ghost
Some crazy person who says they’re a psychic (wow, people are really still calling themselves psychic?) is supposedly “in contact” with Steve Jobs‘ ghost, and they say he isn’t having a nice afterlife.
The good news is that the Apple founder is “not in hell,” the so-called psychic says, but “he’s had to do a lot of reviewing of his life. Right now he knows the lesson he has to learn, but he hasn’t learned it yet.”
The psycho psychic person continued, “he’s trying to get out of this man-made hell that he’s in.”
Those ridiculous quotes come from a recent interview between Vice and Betsy Cohen, a popular psychic medium from New York City, in honor of Steve Jobs Day, which is observed October 16th, thanks to a declaration last year by California Governor Jerry Brown.
Cohen says Jobs has “guides” in the afterlife that are trying to teach him that “survival of the fittest is a made up thing,” kind of of like psychics and their ‘ability’ to ‘speak with the dead,’ right?
Cohen claims she had a “rough couple of days” when she first got in contact with Jobs, who she describes as a “very critical spirit,” and if she had to work with him when he was alive, she would probably end up “crying every day.”
Hmph. We’re sure the feeling is mutual, crazy lady! Besides, everyone knows Steve Jobs was a total a-hole to his employees and was known to curse them out regularly. Nothing hew here.
Cohen also claims that during her “contact” with Steve Jobs’ ghost, when she mentioned Foxconn — the manufacturing company that is responsible for building lots of Apple products, including the iPhone, and has been facing controversy due to violations of human rights — he gave her “a lot of harsh laughter.”
Probably just as much laughter as we would give anyone who would take this psychic business seriously, or someone who legitimately (and proudly) supports Mitt Romney. We’re talking about you Stacey Dash! - Opposing Views
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America's Most Haunted Hotels
Ghostbuster, ghost hunter, phantom fighter: Jim Fassbinder doesn't want to hear it. Despite the name of his popular nightly walking tour – the San Francisco Ghost Hunt – the paranormal expert insists, "I don't bust ghosts. I study them." And he's been doing just that his entire life. Fassbinder regularly materializes on the Travel Channel, as well as magazines and newspapers around the country to discuss his favorite subject – especially in October when interest in ghouls and ghosts, zombies and vampires is at an all time high.
But if you can't get to San Francisco this month, there's probably a haunted hotel somewhere near you. To find out, I caught up with this spook spotter to learn which hotels in the country make his personal top-11 list.
1) The Queen Anne Hotel. This one-time San Francisco school for girls, decked out with enough Victorian opulence to befit its ritzy Pacific Heights location, is the stomping grounds of one amiable apparition. "In all my research, Mary Lake," the school's former head mistress, "is the friendliest ghost around," says Fassbinder. "The place oozes with a feeling of love." For those who want close and personal contact with Ms. Lake, request room 410 – the Mary Lake Suite. (1590 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA., 415-441-2828)
2) Myrtles Plantation. Located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, this late 18th-century plantation house-cum-hotel is an axis of antebellum banshee-ism. A ghoul who plays the grand piano and a portrait that changes expressions are just a few of the curious activities that have been reported. "If you're really serious about seeing a ghost," says Fassbinder, "the caretaker's house is the most haunted site on the plantation. Many have tried to stay there, but few have made it through the night without getting spooked." (7747 Hwy 61 North, St. Francisville, LA, 255-635-6277)
3) The Stanley Hotel. This stark white mansion hotel was the inspiration behind the nightmare-inducing book and movie, "The Shining." The fact that it's crawling with ghosts might bring new meaning to the phrase, "Here's ... Johnny!" Literary aficionados like staying in room 217 where Steven King was holed up. But Fassbinder is quick to point out, "The real ghostly goings on are in room 417 where the spirits of F.O. and Flora Stanley, the original owners, still linger." (333 Wonderview, Estes Park, CO, 970-586-3371)
4) Le Pavillion. "This is one of my favorites," says Fassbinder about the 1907 New Orleans hotel, which is set on the cusp of the French Quarter, and drips with Versailles-like rococo extravagance. "The hotel once hired paranormal investigators who identified four ghosts: a young guy who plays pranks on hotel staff, an aristocratic couple clad in '20s garb, who have been seen strolling the grounds, and a lost and confused teenage girl." (833 Poydras St., New Orleans, LA, 504-581-3111)
5) Lizzie Borden's House. Just minutes from Providence and about 50 miles south of Boston, this murder house-cum-B&B features several ghoulish rooms. Stay in the John Morris room where Abbey Borden was killed with an axe or chill out in the sitting room where Andrew Jay's body was found. In the morning, wake up to a breakfast of bananas, sugar cookies, Johnny cakes, and coffee – the same breakfast the Borden's ate the day they were murdered. "I attended a séance once – it was wild and very spooky," adds Fassbinder. "Don't miss this place if you're in the area." (92 Second St., Falls River, MA, 508-675-7333)
6) Congress Plaza Hotel. For the celebrity obsessed – which is most of us – this Chicago hotel is the paparazzi's dream. That is, if you have a camera that can capture ghosts. "The historic hotel's halls are said to be haunted by Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and Frank Lloyd Wright," says Fassbinder, who's not sure why the hotel attracts such acclaimed apparitions. "It used to be one of the most prestigious hotels in the city – in fact, its nickname was 'Home of Presidents' because so many visiting presidents have stayed there." (520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 312-427-3800)
7) Hotel del Coronado. "This is a beautiful place," says Fassbinder, "with a great ghost." This island hotel off the coast of San Diego is a true southern California resort. And it's also, according to Fassbinder, truly haunted. "The resident ghost is Kate Morgan who was murdered down at the beach. She's real friendly," Fassbinder claims. The hotel is very accommodating to ghost gawkers. "They don't rent out room 304 so that anyone can visit it and feel the creepiness." (1500 Orange Ave., Coronado, CA. 619-435-6611)
8) The Lemp Mansion. St. Louis may be the gateway to the west, but if you want to find the gateway to the paranormal realm, this one-time family mansion-turned-hotel is the spot to set up camp. Through the years, various members of the emotionally tortured Lemp family – once famous for their brewing empire – have committed suicide in the house. "If you dare to stay here, listen for ghostly knocks and phantom footsteps in the building," warns Fassbinder. "But if that scares you too much, you can come to the annual Halloween party – that way, you won't have to spend the night." (3322 DeMenil Pl., St. Louis, MO, 314-664-8024)
9) The Farnsworth House. This 1810 brick building, which housed Confederate sharpshooters during the Civil War and contains over 100 bullet holes, is a mecca for more than just history buffs. "The staff claims that there are 14 different ghosts here who walk the corridors at night," says Fassbinder. "In fact, a lot of people who have taken my ghost tour have told me they've stayed at the Farnsworth House and say that they've seen Civil War soldiers marching through the place." (401 Baltimore St., Gettysburg, PA., 717-334-5862)
10) 17 hundred 90. This centuries-old Savannah inn has a perpetually heartbroken permanent guest: in the early 1800s, Anna Powers fell in love with a seaman who never came back. She eventually threw herself off a third-floor balcony on to a brick courtyard. "She wears a white-flowing, ankle-length long gown, and is believed to be haunting room 204, waiting for her lover to return," claims Fassbinder. "This is a really fabulous place. I love it. And, like most of the hotels on my top-11 list, the staff is very open to talking about the ghost." (307 E. President St., Savannah, GA, 912-236-7122)
11) The Roosevelt Hotel. This 75-year-old, 12-story landmark smack in the center of Tinsel Town has long been a lure for legends of the screen – both living and dead. "After a multi-million dollar renovation in the '80s, an employee was dusting off a mirror just before the grand re-opening when she saw a blond woman's reflection in the mirror," Fassbinder says. "When she turned to speak to her, no one was there. But when she looked back in the mirror again, the blond woman was still staring at her. Coincidentally or not, the mirror was hanging in suite 1200, where Marilyn Monroe often stayed." (7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA. 323-366-7000) - Gadling
Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of America's Haunted Inns and Hotels
Haunted Hotels: Eerie Inns, Ghoulish Guests, and Creepy Caretakers
Haunted Inns of America: Go and Know: National Directory of Haunted Hotels and Bed and Breakfast Inns
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Sceptics subconsciously repress supernatural thoughts
Cognitive inhibition is an important mental skill. Stopping or overriding mental processes, whether conscious or unconscious, is often needed – to suppress unwanted or irrelevant thoughts, to suppress inappropriate meanings of ambiguous words.
In other words, it’s a vital part of staying focussed.
Decreased cognitive inhibition is associated with creativity, but also with with anxiety and neuroticism, feelings of threat and uncontrollability, altered states of consciousness, intuitive thinking and biases in logical reasoning. And this led Marjaana Lindeman, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, to wonder whether a lack of cognitive inhibition also plays a role in supernatural beliefs.
So, along with her colleagues she took a group of 23 sceptics and believers in the supernatural, and put them in an MRI scanner (AKA brain scanner). While in there, they were given some short stories to read, and then a picture to look at – you can see some examples in the graphic on the right.
They were asked to imagine that they were walking along, thinking hard about the particular issue highlighted in the story, then they looked up to see the picture shown. What thoughts would the picture provoke?
Both groups showed brain activity in a region called the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG). That’s a part of the brain that plays an important role in processing various signs and their meaning, including spoken and written language, sign languages, pantomimes and gestures and other communicative symbols.
However, although the left IFG was activated the same in both groups, the right IFG light up more strongly in the sceptics than in the believers. That’s important, because the right IFG is an area of the brain that is associated with cognitive inhibition.
As you might expect, the believers were more likely than the sceptics to say that they saw the pictures to be sign of some kind – an indication of how the situation was going to turn out. This suggests that the initial associations, made in the left IFG, were not suppressed by the right IFG.
As a result, says Lindeman, this “supports the argument that the skeptics suppressed the potential idea of a supernatural sign in the pictures as irrelevant, while believers did not. This interpretation is in line with previous findings showing that skeptics perform better on inhibitory tasks than supernatural believers do.”
It also fits with earlier research by Lindeman suggesting that supernatural believers get confused when thinking about how the world works.
And she goes on to conclude that:
Although people’s general inclination toward supernatural beliefs may be understood as a form of natural information processing, weak cognitive inhibition may explain why supernatural beliefs are not typical of everybody but especially of, for example, children, old people, creative individuals, intuitive thinkers, people in distress and with mental disorders, as well as during decreased sense of control and altered states of consciousness.
In other words, although we are born with hyperactive brains looking for signs and signals, we are not all born believers – because many of us are also born sceptics! - Secular News Daily
Science and Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the House of Skeptics
Fringe-ology: How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable-And Couldn't
Spirits Out of Time: True Family Ghost Stories and Weird Paranormal Experiences
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Michael Jackson Was Murdered By Illuminati Music Industry
America's Most Haunted Places: What's Your Favorite Spooky Spot?
Haunted places worth visiting in the Hudson Valley
Spirits don't check out of Burlington library
The Halloween Houdini Séance
The Scariest Games
New Study Suggests Humans Can “Sense The Future”
4 Creepy Haunted Doll Sites
The Ghosts of the Redworth Hall
Ghost Photographed in Champions League game
The 8 Most Haunted Houses in New York
Onaledge, Manitou Springs, Colorado's Very Haunted Hotel
Travel Top 10: White House’s most haunted spots
The Legend of Workman Chapel
Paradigm Symposium: The Million-Year Event
The Teddy Bear as an Occult Talisman
Haunted Earth TV - Chris Halton has a new series of videos...just in time for Halloween
Pinpointing haunted places in London and Edinburgh
Spooky Stays, Haunted Attractions and Macabre Museums
Paranormal investigators return to Ness Islands
Sleuth finds the truth in ghost stories
Premonitions of War and Historic Prophecies
Scariest Shadow People Encounters
Two Girls Capture Ghost Apparition On Camera
Gentleman is possessed by gay demons
Sleepless In Bellingham
Ghost hunters find spirits far and near
Suggested Reading:
Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries
Extreme Paranormal Investigations: The Blood Farm Horror, the Legend of Primrose Road, and Other Disturbing Hauntings
Ghosts: An Investigation into a True Canadian Haunting
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Tales Of Ghostly Horror: Real-Life Encounters With The Supernatural
The Ghost Hunter's Survival Guide: Protection Techniques for Encounters With The Paranormal
Ghost Worlds: A Guide to Poltergeists, Portals, Ecto-Mist, & Spirit Behavior
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