Micah Ackerman's Blog, page 4

SPRING-HEELED JACK: PERVERT, CRYPTID OR DEMON? PLUS BIG NEWS

Today I want to talk a little bit about the English urban legend, that could be true, called Spring-Heeled Jack. First though, I'd like to let you guys in on some news. My second novel "The Third Gender" is complete. It will be polished up with editors and beta's, formatted and then released on Amazon.com later this month or early November. In other news Wormwood is still available for sale on Amazon and has made the best seller's list in it's categories on numerous occasions. The Wormwood three book series will be released by Permuted Press. I will let everyone know about the release schedule for the three books as the time grows closer. The version now available for purchase on Amazon is basically the director's cut (if I'm the director). It's my self-published version and could be considered a collectors item once Permuted releases their super spiffy version, because the current version will no longer be for sale.  In other news my short story "The Shadow People" should be available for sale on Amazon by the end of this month. If you go back through the archives you'll find posts on Shadow People and most specifically The Hat Man. My fictional short story draws inspiration from these eyewitness reports.

Now on to today's subject: Spring-Heeled Jack is a figure from English folklore that started during the Victorian era. It all began with a sighting in 1837, but subsequently the entity was sighted all over London and the United Kingdom. The most common areas for sightings were in greater London, Scotland and an area called the Midlands. Spring-Heeled Jack was a demon-like creature able to make enormous leaps often between buildings. There are many differing opinions as to who or what Spring-Heeled Jack is. Here is the description from Wiki:

"Spring-heeled Jack was described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an oilskin. Many stories also mention a "Devil-like" aspect. Others said he was tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English."
The many different descriptions help to muddle the waters of what exactly this creature could be. Is he human? Perhaps someone who has dressed up like a phantom or devil to scare people. Is he a Cryptid? Some unknown species that has survived for centuries out of public view only to come out to torment it's victims? Or is it a supernatural specter or demon?

Here are some actually incidents again from Wiki: 

"In the early 19th century, there were reports of ghosts that stalked the streets of London. These human-like figures were described as pale and stalked and preyed on lone pedestrians. The stories told of these figures formed part of a distinct ghost tradition in London which, some writers have argued, formed the foundation of the later legend of Spring-heeled Jack.[3]

The most important of these early entities was the Hammersmith Ghost, which in 1803 and 1804 was reported in Hammersmith on the western fringes of London; it would later reappear in 1824. Another apparition, the Southampton ghost, was also reported as assaulting individuals in the night. This particular spirit bore many of the characteristics of Spring-heeled Jack, and was reported as jumping over houses and being over 10 ft (3.0 m) tall."


And some more personal accounts:

"The first alleged sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were made in London in 1837 and the last reported sighting is said in most of the secondary literature to have been made inLiverpool in 1904.[4][5]

According to much later accounts, in October 1837, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to Lavender Hill, where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in Battersea. On her way through Clapham Common, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, "cold and clammy as those of a corpse". In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who immediately launched a search for the aggressor, who could not be found.

The next day, the leaping character is said to have chosen a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a method that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to lose control, crash, and severely injure himself. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a 9 ft (2.7 m) high wall while babbling with a high-pitched, ringing laughter.

Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the press and the public gave him the name "Spring-heeled Jack"

More incidents of eye-witness accounts from Wiki:


"Perhaps the best known of the alleged incidents involving Spring-heeled Jack were the attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, including a piece in The Times,[10] while fewer reports appeared in relation to the attack on Scales. The press coverage of these two attacks helped to raise the profile of Spring-heeled Jack.

Alsop caseJane Alsop reported that on the night of 19 February 1838, she answered the door of her father's house to a man claiming to be a police officer, who told her to bring a light, claiming "we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane". She brought the person a candle, and noticed that he wore a large cloak. The moment she had handed him the candle, however, he threw off the cloak and "presented a most hideous and frightful appearance", vomiting blue and white flame from his mouth while his eyes resembled "red balls of fire". Miss Alsop reported that he wore a large helmet and that his clothing, which appeared to be very tight-fitting, resembled white oilskin. Without saying a word he caught hold of her and began tearing her gown with his claws which she was certain were "of some metallic substance". She screamed for help, and managed to get away from him and ran towards the house. He caught her on the steps and tore her neck and arms with his claws. She was rescued by one of her sisters, after which her assailant fled.[4][11]

Scales caseEight days after the attack on Miss Alsop, on 28 February 1838,[12] 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of Limehouse. Miss Scales stated in her deposition to the police that as she and her sister were passing along Green Dragon Alley, they observed a person standing in an angle of the passage. She was walking in front of her sister at the time, and just as she came up to the person, who was wearing a large cloak, he spurted "a quantity of blue flame" in her face, which deprived her of her sight, and so alarmed her, that she instantly dropped to the ground, and was seized with violent fits which continued for several hours.[13]

Her brother added that on the evening in question, he had heard the loud screams of one of his sisters moments after they had left his house and on running up Green Dragon Alley he found his sister Lucy on the ground in a fit, with her sister attempting to hold and support her. She was taken home, and he then learned from his other sister what had happened. She described Lucy's assailant as being of tall, thin, and gentlemanly appearance, covered in a large cloak, and carrying a small lamp or bull's eye lantern similar to those used by the police. The individual did not speak nor did he try to lay hands on them, but instead walked quickly away. Every effort was made by the police to discover the author of these and similar outrages, and several persons were questioned, but were set free"


So the question is what exactly is Spring-Heeled Jack? To me he could be a combination of things. It could be that one deranged person committed a couple of attacks, or that the attacks were completely fabricated using the legend as an excuse. It also could be a case of coordinated collusion between victims and newspapers. Back in the day it was common for these papers to exaggerate reports and to even fabricate some details. Maybe, a wise reporter used the legend and combined a real incident with a deranged assailant or two and made the connection. Remember this was back before television, radio and internet. These newspapers were all competing and the one with the most sensational stories were often the best sellers. This could be the start of Tabloid News.


Some of these situations become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It starts with one mistaken identity or a vivid imagination and suddenly it takes on a life of it's own with sightings reports and hunts for the suspect, when the suspect can't be found it can then be explained as a mysterious occurrence. Then the cycle starts over and builds like a logarithm. That's my opinion anyway. Either way I think it's a very interesting story.


Always remember if you like this blog please sign up for my mailing list and if you'd be kind enough to help support it and if you're a horror, sci-fi or paranormal fan please buy one of my stories or books.

THE MELON HEADS: CREEPY URBAN LEGEND OR REAL LIFE HORROR?

First I just want to apologize, I told you guys that I'd post more often, but I haven't posted in nearly a month. I had somewhat of a family crisis. I will try and keep up with the blog more and going into the winter it should be back up to at least twice a week. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

Today's post is about a possibly true urban legend. I first heard about the Melon Heads when Rich my co-host from the Megapods podcast asked me if I had heard the story about these abominations here in Connecticut. I hadn't heard of them and started to do some research. What I've found is that this legend isn't just confined to the borders of Connecticut, but has been told and reported throughout the United States most commonly in the Midwest.

The Melon Heads are rumored to be a group of individuals who have either been born with a severe birth defect, have mutated, or a combination of both. Supposedly the group or tribe of people have enormous, bulbous heads and live in the woods. They have been banished or ostracized from society and the live of the land in secluded forests feeding on whatever they can including human passerby's. 

Here's what Wiki has to say about the variations of the Connecticut legend: 

"According to the first variation of the myth, Fairfield County was the location of an asylum for the criminally insane that burned down in the fall of 1960, resulting in the death of all of the staff and most of the patients with 10-20 inmates unaccounted for, supposedly having survived and escaped to the woods. The legend states that the Melon Heads' appearance is the result of them having resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the harsh winters of the region, and due to inbreeding, which in turn caused them to develop hydrocephalus. According to the second variation, the Melon Heads are descendants of a Colonial era family from Shelton-Trumbull who were banished after accusations of witchcraft were made against them causing them to retreat to the woods. As with the first legend, this variation attributes the appearance of the Melon Heads to inbreeding.[11]Melon Heads allegedly prey upon humans who wander into their territory"


The area most well known for Melon Head sightings is a street nicknamed "Dracula Drive." Dracula Drive is a secluded road that runs through Trumbull and Monroe, Connecticut. The actual name of the road is Velvet Street.  The legend usually includes the Melon Heads as an extremely territorial bunch, attacking, biting and eating anyone who treads on their territory.

The Melon heads are also a common legend in Ohio here is what Wiki has on the Ohio Melon Heads: 

The melon head stories of Ohio are primarily associated with the Cleveland suburb of Kirtland. According to local lore, the melon heads were originally orphans under the watch of a mysterious figure known as Dr. Crow (sometimes spelled Crowe, Trubaino, Krohe or Kroh or known as Dr. Melonhead[5]). Crow is said to have performed unusual experiments on the children, who developed large, hairless heads and malformed bodies.[6] Some accounts claim that the children were already suffering from hydrocephalus, and that Crow injected even more fluid into their brains.[5]

"Eventually, the legend continues, the children killed Crow, burned the orphanage, and retreated to the surrounding forests and supposedly feed on babies. Legend holds that the melon heads may be sighted along Wisner Road in Kirtland, and Chardon Township.[6][7] The melon head legend has been popularized on the Internet, particularly on the websites Creepy Cleveland and DeadOhio where users offer their own versions of the story.[8] A movie, "Legend of the Melonheads" was released in 2011 which is based on the Ohio legend and various other legends in the Kirtland area"


Michigan also has a similar legend. To me these myths or Urban Legends are all the same thing. In the past parents and townfolk needed something to dissuade teenagers from going and drinking a whole lot of beer on deserted back roads and turnoffs. It would start with "you don't want to go out there that road is haunted." The legend would change and twist to finally settle on a certain story with a few different variations. In my opinion this is an example of that. Do I think that there could be creepy people who hang out in the woods? Absolutely. Do I think they are mutated spawns of Satan, or some cast off children from Insane Asylums? NO.

WENDIGO FLESH EATERS OR JUST FOLKLORE?

Hi guys, before I get into today's post I would like to give a few updates. My second novel "The Third Gender" is now in the editing phase and should be ready for release in a month or so. My first novel "Wormwood" has held pretty steady and has been on the top 100 best sellers on three different genre lists on Amazon. You can still get it HERE .  I also have a short story that is nearly complete called "The Shadow People." If you are interested in getting updates on my writing and this blog sign up for the mailing list HERE

If you've been following the blog you might remember a post I did about Skin-Walkers. They were based on an Native American legend, but had manifested into sightings of an actual creature. Today I would like to talk about another abomination based on a Native American legend... The Wendigo.  The Wendigo is a half demon, half human entity that feeds on human flesh.  The association with cannibalism is strong and the name Wendigo has been used to describe the more modern medical disorder know as Wendigo Psychosis.  Wendigo Pychosis is used to describe someone with an intense and insatiable craving for human flesh. 

It was believed by the American Indians of the Great Lakes region that someone who was full of greed, gluttony and or someone who had resorted to cannibalism was susceptible of becoming a Wendigo. Here is a description from Basil Johnston an Objibwe teacher:

"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody [....] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption."

The Wendigo myth was used as a deterrent by Shamans and tribal leaders especially in hard times like winter and times of drought and famine. The idea was basically to scare people to walk the straight and narrow (especially when it came to eating family members).  One case of Wendigo Psychosis involved a Plains Cree trapper from Alberta named Swift Runner. Here is the story from Wiki: 

"One of the more famous cases of Wendigo psychosis reported involved a Plains Cree trapper from Alberta, named Swift Runner.[20][21] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. Twenty-five miles away from emergency food supplies at a Hudson's Bay Company post, Swift Runner butchered and ate his wife and five remaining children.[22] Given that he resorted to cannibalism so near to food supplies, and that he killed and consumed the remains of all those present, it was revealed that Swift Runner's was not a case of pure cannibalism as a last resort to avoid starvation, but rather of a man suffering from Wendigo psychosis.[22] He eventually confessed and was executed by authorities at Fort Saskatchewan"


The Wendigo has super-natural implications and is very similar to the Jikininki or "Hungry Ghost" from Japan. Here is the description of the Jikininki again from wiki:

"In Japanese Buddhism, jikininki (Japanese: 食人鬼, "human-eating ghosts"; pronounced shokujinki in modern Japanese) are the spirits of greedy, selfish or impious individuals who are cursed after death to seek out and eat human corpses. They do this at night, scavenging for newly dead bodies and food offerings left for the dead. They sometimes also loot the corpses they eat for valuables, which they use to bribe local officials to leave them in peace. Nevertheless, jikininki lament their condition and hate their repugnant cravings for dead human flesh.

Often, jikininki are said to look like decomposing cadavers, perhaps with a few inhuman features such as sharp claws or glowing eyes. They are a horrifying sight, and any mortal who views one finds himself or herself frozen in fear. However, several stories give them the ability to magically disguise themselves as normal human beings and even to lead normal "lives" by day."

Here is some video of alleged Wendigo sightings:

The problem with these videos other then they are all shaky cam images of who knows what, is that I have seen the same videos used as sightings of The Rake and Skinwalkers. So either it's all the same species or there simply isn't a lot of imagination used in these hoaxes. 

THE FLATWOODS MONSTER: ALIEN, GHOST, CRYPTID OR HOAX?

Today's post is about a creature that could be an alien, a cryptid or some kind of paranormal entity. It's called the Flatwoods Monster or the Flatwoods Phantom. It seems that most researchers familiar with this case think that it came from outer space. The name comes from the fact that the monstrosity had been sighted in the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. 

Here is the description of the first report from wikipedia:  

"At 7:15 PM on September 12, 1952, two brothers, Edward and Fred May, and their friend Tommy Hyer (ages 13, 12, and 10 respectively) witnessed a bright object cross the sky. The object appeared to come to rest on land belonging to local farmer G. Bailey Fisher.Upon witnessing the object, the boys went to the home of the May brothers' mother, Kathleen May, where they reported seeing a UFO crash land in the hills. From there, Mrs. May accompanied by the three boys, local children Neil Nunley (14) and Ronnie Shaver (10), and 17-year-old West Virginia National Guardsman Eugene 'Gene' Lemon, traveled to the Fisher farm in an effort to locate whatever it was that the boys had seen.

Lemon's dog ran ahead out of sight and suddenly began barking, and moments later ran back to the group with its tail between its legs. After traveling about ¼ of a mile (400 m) the group reached the top of a hill, where they reportedly saw a large pulsating "ball of fire" about 50 feet (15 m) to their right. They also detected a pungent mist that made their eyes and noses burn. Lemon then noticed two small lights over to the left of the object, underneath a nearby oak tree and directed his flashlight towards them, revealing the creature, which was reported to have emitted a shrill hissing noise before gliding towards them, changing direction and then heading off towards the red light. At this point the group fled in panic."


When the group returned to their home Mrs. May contacted the local Sheriff and a reporter Mr A. Lee Stewart. Stewart conducted many interviews and examined the woods in the area with Eugene Lemon. The reporter said that "there was a sickening, burnt, metallic odor still prevailing."

Many other people were interviewed after the event and reported similar experiences. The creatures description again from wiki: 

"Various descriptions of the entity exist. Most agree that it was at least 7 feet (2.1 m) tall and that it had a black face which appeared to glow from within, and a black body. Witnesses described the creature's head as elongated, non-human eyes and as either being shaped like a sideways diamond, or as having a large circle shaped cowling behind it. The creature's body was described as being inhumanly-shaped and clad in a dark pleated exoskeleton ; later being described as a shadow. Some accounts record that the creature appeared to have "no visible arms" due to its incredible speed. Others describe it as having long, stringy arms ending in long, claw-like fingers, which protruded from the front of its body"


There are many possible explanations for what the witnesses encountered. Most of the experts seem to suggest that a combination of an owl, a meteor and aircraft beacons combined together to form a whole scenario in which a gaggle of witnesses mistook for an alien.

Here's a video from a man who thinks that there was an air war between US jets and UFO's during 1952. While the documentary is sometimes funny (unintentionally), sometimes cheesy and sometimes hard to believe, it does bring together a lot of this info. It also raises some interesting questions.


So what do you guys think this is? Could it be some kind of cryptid? a phantom or fallen angel? an alien encounter? or a hoax?

POST APOCALYPTIC MOVIES ON NETFLIX

So today I had the day off and I decided to have a Post-Apocalyptic Netflix day seeing as I saw that they've recently added a couple of these flicks to their new releases. 

The first movie I watched was "Goodbye World" a movie about a virus that shuts down the power grid. The movie starts off in a very promising way, a man is about to kill himself he sends out a message to every cell phone in the United States that says Goodbye World. Then we start to meet our cast. These are a bunch of college friends sort of like a modern day St. Elmos Fire. They all end up at a Cabin in the California hills that is relatively well set up. The power grid starts to fail and we get a inkling that it was all started by a computer virus. 

This is where the movie starts to loose its potency. They are riding out the apocalypse and they're partying and having the time of their lives. Then things start to get troublesome in paradise, but not because of the ongoing apocalypse. People start falling in love with each others wives/husbands. Others start fighting. It's like a super-dramatic soap opera about these hipsters love lives. One of the women who starts to become an outcast finally says "You all think you're so intelligent, but you're really just weak... and boring." To me that line sums up the whole movie.  One reviewer of my novel commented that it was a "sort of cushy apocalypse." Obviously that reviewer hadn't seen this movie, because it makes the apocalypse look like a bad day at a hippy commune.

The next movie I watched was "The Last Days" a subtitled film from Spain. If you guys have read my stories you know that I like taking themes that have been played out (like zombies and serial killers) and turning them on their heads. I think this movie does that. It really takes a fresh spin on the apocalypse. The film starts out with a guy who hates his job, he works in a typical cubical in a high-rise.  Something slowly starts causing people to have extreme agoraphobia, the mass hysteria spreads and soon everyone has it. Not only are they scared to go outside, but it is so intense that you begin to get seizures and your brain hemorrhages. 

So here's a guy who is seemingly stuck at his job for eternity. They ration food and do what they can to survive. No one can go outside so eventually they tunnel into the subway. Our main character Marc desperately needs to find his love interest and through an unlikely partnership with the company head-hunter they traverse the city through the subway tunnels and sewers using a stolen GPS.

The movie has some great imagery and the acting is pretty solid. I really liked the idea of "What if you could never go outside and were stuck exactly where you are. It had great symbolism. The end of the movie gets a little shaky especially with a silly scene involving a bear, and the end itself is somewhat schmaltzy.  Overall though I highly recommend this fresh take on the end of times.

The last movie I watched was called "After the Dark" I have mixed feelings about this movie. Again this is a different take on the apocalypse. It's and interesting premise, where a Philosophy teacher comes up with a thought experiment that includes apocalyptic scenarios. The students have to decide which classmates get to live in their bunker which is only big enough for half of the class. They are given different skills which would make them valuable or not. The apocalypse is then played out in a CGI'd alternate reality ie. their imaginations. The problem with this is that we as the audience know that nothing life threatening is really happening. It takes a lot of the "skin" and emotional investment out of the conflict. 

I liked some parts of the movie, but other parts were a little silly. The first big twist is really well done, but the others ... not so much. I do however think it's a movie that has the potential to make you think and being targeted to the "Hunger Games" crowd it is much more worthy than most of that genre.  I think it's worth a watch and if you ignore a few minor plot holes and gimmicks you'll probably enjoy it.

So anyway that's my take on the new Post-Apoc movies on Netflix.

THE KATRINA CANNIBAL: POSSESSION OR OBSESSION

Those of you that have followed this blog know that I have been very prolific often writing five blogs a week or more. Unfortunately I have been so busy that I've had to cut that number drastically. I hope to have more time in the fall and winter and anticipate writing nearly full time then. For the summer I will try to keep posting once or twice per week. If you have a subject that is weird, creepy and or extraordinary please contact me and I will try and cover it. If you would like to post your own scary story, experience or author promo, I would love to have you guest host for a post. If you are interested or simply want to chat use the contact form on this site. Also if you would like to receive updates on this blog and my writing please join the mailing list.


Today I want to talk about an incident that may or may not have a paranormal twist. The incident is the story of Zachary Bowen also known as the Katrina Cannibal. Zachary was a military policeman serving in Iraq and Kosovo. He was highly decorated and earned commendations for his bravery. After his time in the military Zachary moved to New Orleans. During the time when the winds of Hurricane Katrina started pummeling the city he met and fell in love with Addie Hall.  The two hunkered down and sheltered in Zachary's french quarter apartment.  The two became well known locally for refusing to leave the city as the flood waters rose after the storm.


Although the two had a tumultuous relationship often fighting and breaking up, they always seemed to get back together and eventually moved to a second apartment. Here is what happened next - from crime museum.org:

"On the evening of October 16, 2006, Bowen had been out drinking with a friend. He appeared to those who encountered him to be in good spirits and talked about a much needed vacation. His friend even made a comment to him about “being in paradise” the following night. But the night of October 17 turned out to be anything but a trip to paradise for Bowen.

Around 8:30 PM on October 17th, a guest at the Omni Royal Orleans, sitting in an upper level lounge, noticed the body of a man atop the roof of the parking deck. Bowen had jumped to his death from a rooftop terrace with a suicide note tucked into his pocket. His badly mangled body was covered in cigarette burns. Surveillance camera footage shows Bowen walking to the ledge several times before following through with his fateful jump."

Here is what the first part of Zachary's suicide note said : 

"I didn’t contact any of my family, so that’ll explain the shock. This is not accidental. I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took…Every last one of these [aspects] I failed at, hence the 28 cigarette burns, one for each year of my existence."



The most disturbing thing is what the police found in Zachary's apartment. He had spray painted directions on the wall for the police to follow. They followed one particular scrawling to a large pot on the stove. The pot contained Addie Hall's head. In a second pot they found her hands and feet and inside the stove was a basting pan that contained Addie Hall's arms and legs.


The second part of Zachary's suicide note detailed the fact that he repeatedly had sex with Addie's corpse. Reports from eyewitnesses said that Addie's torso was on the kitchen table cooked, but not charred and the legs in the basting pan looked as if they had been picked over and eaten. Official police reports suggest however that the subject of cannibalism was an over-exaggeration made by the salacious press.


Now many people said that Zachary and Addie had been partying in the partially deserted city. It is possible that drugs had a serious impact on Zachary, perhaps he indulged in bath salts? Others believe that the fact that the second apartment was in the "voodoo district" and that evil spirits had possessed Zachary.  Could the spirits or a demon have been so angry that these two lovers were partying while the rest of the city was drowning that they forced a normally mild mannered person to commit this atrocity?


What do you think?

THE LEGEND OF THE DARN MAN

A couple weeks ago I did a post about "The Old Leatherman" of Connecticut http://www.micahackerman.com/blog/the-true-story-of-the-connecticut-leatherman  Today I want to tell you guys about a similar story that is not quite as well known. It's the story of another wanderer nicknamed "The Darn Man."

The Darn Man was known to walk a continuous loop through portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. Unlike the Leatherman, who rarely spoke and was somewhat of a mystery, the Darn Man was very well spoken and wasn't reluctant to tell his story. The man whose name was not known said that he had fallen in love in his youth and was to be married. Unfortunately for him his would be wife never showed up for the wedding.  The Darn Man would wander the countryside looking for his lost love. He was given the name "Darn Man" because of the long suit jacket (with tails) he wore since his wedding day.  The jacket would be repaired with random pieces of cloth and stitched with different colored string, hence the name Darn Man.

The lonely man wandered the countryside depending on working odd jobs or the kindness of others who would take him in.   One story says that he staid at one particular house repeatedly because they had a magazine that he would read repeatedly. It was thought that perhaps a picture in the magazine reminded him of his long lost love.

The Darn Man's days came to their end in a tragic way. He was staying with a generous boarder one evening when he heard a carriage approaching. All day he had been saying that his love was returning that night. As the carriage approached he heard the happy voice of a young female. The Darn Man ran out of the house into the darkened road to meet his love. The coach driver didn't see the man until it was too late and the Darn Man was trampled to death under the hooves of a team of horses. When the Darn Man died he had been wearing his wedding jacket for 60 years.

The Legend goes that if you walk the backroads of Connecticut at night you might hear an approaching carriage. You might even hear the happy voice of a young woman. If you do you should have a needle and thread handy, because the Darn Man might need his coat patched. 

HELL TOWN: GHOSTLY CURSED TOWN IN OHIO

Before I get into the meat of this blog post I want to let everyone know that my novel Wormwood will have a huge sale starting tomorrow and running into the weekend. The novel price Thursday (7/24) will be an incredibly low 99¢ The price will rise until it returns to it's original price. The book is currently ranked:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,324 Paid in Kindle Store#71 in War#74 in Post-Apocalyptic#79 in Dystopian On to the blog post...


I recently found out about a whole town in Ohio that seems to be cursed. The town is nicknamed Helltown. Here is the story of how the town deteriorated into it's current state. From Paranormal.Lovetoknow.com:


" Of all the urban legends in Ohio, tales of Hell Town seem to be the most prevalent. Perhaps this is due to the actual facts that lay at the root of this story. The area known as Hell Town was once known as Boston Mills. The area was bought out by the US government to make way for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The residents were not happy with the situation, but they were given no choice in the matter. Once they had vacated the town, the government officially closed the area. The buildings were occasionally set afire and used to train new firemen, and the once thriving town took on the appearance of a burned out ghost town."



There are many legends that are connected to Helltown including the story of haunted children that reside there. Rumor has it that a school bus ran out of gas near the town and that the driver left to go get help or gas. When he returned he found that all of the children had been murdered. The murders were said to be  the heinous acts of a disturbed mental patient that recently escaped from a nearby asylum.


Here's another one from Paranormal.Lovetoknow.com:


Have you ever heard a tale about a church in the middle of the woods that's used for satanic worship? It seems that almost every place has one, and Hell Town is no exception. In this case, it's the church that used to be part of the Boston Mills community, and it supposedly comes with the standard upside-down cross that is always part of this particular type of urban legend.

Another of the rumor has to do with mutated citizens and that the reason that the town was abandoned was that too many kids were being born with strange mutations. This is from Wiki:





"Rumors began to surface that the government was trying to conceal a chemical spill. Other people, especially tourists, did not know of the eminent domain proceedings, and mistook the empty buildings for a long-standing ghost town. Today the village remains, but some homes are boarded up- these were homes purchased by the NPS and the occupants moved out, but the park has left most of the homes intact. Some have been demolished, including a few around 2008 on Latta Lane.

Rumors of the chemical spill may have come from the NPS's toxic waste discovery in 1985, when a hiker in the park became ill after touching something coming out of some rusted drums at the abandoned Krejci Dump. The Krejci dump is a very short distance from Boston Village, just at the top of Hines Hill Road."




"As mentioned above, a rumor persists about the town being the site of a chemical spill or a chemical plant explosion in the area. Usually, a butane plant is the cause. This is often used to explain the local legend of the "Peninsula Python", a gigantic snake that wanders the area's woods. However, there has never been a chemical plant in the area; the "Peninsula python" myth dates back to the 1940s.[5] There was, as mentioned above, a chemical dump a short distance from Boston Village in Krejci Dump, but no one other than the hiker was ever affected by the spill. The hiker became ill and was admitted to emergency care. It has been proven there has since never been a spill in that area"


The whole story reminds me of the town from the video game and movie "Silent Hill." But that game was actually based on Centralia, Pennsylvania. Centralia is a town that was abandoned when an underground gas fire started burning and basically never stopped. The streets caved in and dangerous sink holes can be found all over the town.


So what do you guys think? Could a whole town be evil or cursed?


In other news: On top of the huge sale for "Wormwood" My short story "Bait" will be FREE tomorrow (7/24) and my other short story "The Manuscript" will be FREE on Friday (7/25) You can find the links in the sidebar.

THE SCARY STORY OF FIRE POLTERGEISTS

It appears that my internet problems have been solved, so hopefully my blog posts will be much more frequent now. Today I want to talk about another mysterious phenomena. The phenomena could be paranormal in nature as no known scientific explanations can be found. While searching deeper into the aspect of Poltergeists I found at least three separate incidents of so called "Fire Poltergeists."

The first incident occurred in January of 1932 in Bladenboro, North Carolina. A woman referred to as Mrs. Charles Williamson was in her home when her cotton dress mysteriously burst into flames. Mrs. Williamson hadn't been smoking, using flammable chemicals or standing near a fireplace. Thankfully Mrs. Williamson's husband and teenage daughter put out the flames, but the poltergeist wasn't done yet. This is from an article on listverse.com

"The ordeal by fire continued the same day inside a closet when a pair of Mrs. Williamson’s trousers burned until only ashes remained. The next day, in front of witnesses, a bed spontaneously began to burn as well as curtains in another room. For three more days, fires sprang out of nowhere, burning blue flames that couldn’t be extinguished until they’d entirely consumed the household object in question. No one was injured by the flames, either. The Williamsons had enough by day four and left the house."

The local police, electricians and firemen examined the house and could not find anything that could have caused the fires. After five days the fires mysteriously stopped. The next incident occurred in April of 1941 in Odon, Indiana. Mr William Hackler was on his way out to his barn when he suddenly smelled smoke coming from his house. The man rushed back into his house to find a fire inside of the wall of an upstairs bedroom. This might sound explainable, in today's houses electrical lines run through the walls, but this house had no electricity. The fire department was called and they came and put out the fire, but like the first incident in North Carolina the Poltergeist wasn't finished. This is again from a separate article on Listverse.com:

"After the truck left, another fire broke out, this time in a mattress in an upstairs guest room. It seemed as though the fire had been set from inside the mattress! Throughout the day, more fires broke out all over the house, some under the gazes of astonished witnesses. By 2:00 p.m., more fire fighters were called in, and by the end of the day, twenty-eight seemingly spontaneous fires were extinguished, including one that started between the covers of a book.

The fires ended as mysteriously as they began. Hackler tore down the house and built a new one from the reclaimed lumber. Neither he nor his family experienced anything like the Odon fire poltergeist again."



The last is a series of incidents that seemed to follow around one family in August of 1958. Here is an excerpt from the site PrairieGhosts.com:

In August 1958, Fire Captain S.H. Joiner of Talladega, Alabama realized that he had a serious problem on his hands. His concerns revolved around a four-room log tenant house that was located about eight miles west of the city. By August 28, there had been 22 fires in this small home and 17 of them had occurred on the 27th alone! “It’s really a mystery,” Joiner told reporters. “ If it’s not a chemical reaction or spontaneous combustion, then I don’t what it could be.”

The house in question was occupied by Calvin Tuck, his wife, Willie Bell, and their six small children, aged from three months to nine years. The African-American family had been experiencing a series of fires that had literally gutted the structure. All four of the rooms had been ruined by smoke, along with most of their personal belongings. They had remained in the house as long as possible but during the eruption of fires on August 27, had finally moved out. Homeless and now destitute, the Tuck’s had no insurance on the house.

Strangely, nearly every 0ne of the fires had started near the ceiling, except for a mattress that had mysterious burst into flames. None of the fires had started on the floor. The flames were all reddish blue in color and “looked like sulphur burning”, according to witnesses. The source of the fires were completely bewildering as the house had a metal roof and had no electrical wiring inside. Talladega County Road Commissioner Leslie Hutto and a local contractor named Ortis Horton visited the house on August 27 and saw a fire start literally in front of their eyes! Hutto later said that he started scraping the wall with a knife and a flame flared up right in his face. He said that he also made a circle on the wall with the knife blade and that exact spot later began to burn. He and Horton reported that a fire started about every 15 minutes while they were at the house - and that they had no explanation for how they had begun!

The fires began a few days before this, around 8:30 am on the morning of August 25. The house caught fire three times and the next morning, it caught fire again two more times. It was not until a dozen fires had broken out that the Talladega Fire Department was summoned to the property. The call was answered by fireman Glover Williams, who said that the Tuck’s story about how the fires were starting was so fantastic that he summoned Captain Joiner to the scene.

News of the mysterious fires made the local newspapers and spread through the community. Within hours, over 200 people had gathered to watch the excitement but many of them stayed on through the night with buckets of water on hand in case a new blaze broke out.

With the first tenant house ruined, the Tuck’s moved into another one that was located nearby. Four new fires broke out in rapid succession and Calvin Tuck, exasperated, frightened and bewildered, did an almost inexplicable thing. He took all of his family’s remaining possessions (except for their furniture, which had been repossessed by the furniture company for lack of payment) and tossed them in a pile about 100 yards from the house. He lit a match to the pile and burned their belongings to ashes - then sat down on the ground and wept. This was the 27th fire and the only one that was ever explained.

The Tuck’s then moved into the house of their brother-in-law, Darnell Suttle, who must have been a brave and loyal relative. As the Tuck’s prepared to leave the second tenant house on their way to the Suttle home, the house immediately burst into flames. Witnesses stated that there had been no one around at the time and when the fire appeared it “all at once was burning all over.”

Calvin Tuck may have believed that by burning the family’s possessions, their troubles had ended, but he was wrong. The fires moved right along with them to the Suttle house. Five fires occurred the first day and were just as mysterious as those that had destroyed the Tuck’s other two houses.


On Labor Day morning, the Suttle house was visited by two police officers, Lieutenant Ben Cooley and Patrolman John Childers. They found the house in an uproar with clothes and furniture scattered all over the yard and the brood of children playing amongst it. Cooley noted that a quilt was hanging on a tree and before his eyes, it suddenly started burning. The whole quilt burst into flames, except for one small end. Within moments, the fire had gone out, leaving the cloth blackened and smoking. Curious, Cooley dragged the quilt onto the ground and attempted to set the unburned end on fire. It smoldered, but it would not burn by normal means. “I saw it, but I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen it,” he said.

It is worth noting that at the time of the incident, Calvin Tuck was not at the house. He had been gone about 16 hours, but his wife was there. She and the Suttle’s showed the officers a newspaper and a window frame that had caught fire just minutes before they had arrived. Tubs and buckets of water had been left standing in every room as a precaution, although there was no running water in the house. According to a later report, two more fires broke out after the police left. A curtain caught fire around 9:15 and a loaf of bread burst into flames on the kitchen table around 10:00.

As the strangeness continued, things got tougher for the Tuck family. Darrell Sutton finally conceded that he had to protect his home and family, so he asked the Tuck’s to move out. Calvin did not own an automobile and so his father came over to move the family and offered to let them stay at his house. They moved into their fourth home in eight days on September 2. The family settled in and once again, buckets of water were placed in each room and even the family washing machine was left filled, just in case.


The source of the fires remained as bewildering as ever but Calvin Tuck decided to try a remedy of his own. Burning their belongings and running from the “fire disease” had not worked, so he decided to consult an “herb doctor” (voodoo practitioner). He was promptly informed that a voodoo hex had been placed on he and his family and for a price, he could provide Tuck with a spell that would remove the hex. Calvin quickly paid."

So what do you guys think? Were these real fire poltergeists? malevolent spirits or is there a scientific explanation?


In other news: This week I will be setting a lot of my short stories as FREE on Amazon. Keep checking back as I will post on this site what story is FREE on what days. I also will soon have some big news about my novel Wormwood which is still available at a reduced rate until August 1st. I will also have some news about the release date of my 2nd novel "The Third Gender" and about the release of the sequel to Wormwood "The Black Swarm" which will be out this winter.

TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED POLTERGEIST

Again, I know that the blog has been quiet lately, that should be remedied very soon. 

Today I want to talk about a documented haunting that left its mark on Hollywood in particular. This haunting occurred in Enfield, England in the late seventies. Police were called by a mother of four children who reported that many strange things were going on. Here is what wiki has:

"In August 1977, single parent Peggy Hodgson called police to her rented home in Enfield after two of her four children claimed that furniture was moving and knocking sounds were heard on walls. A female police constable saw a chair slide on the floor but couldn't determine if it moved by itself or was pushed by someone. Later claims included allegedly demonic voices, loud noises, thrown rocks and toys, overturned chairs and levitation of children. Reports of further incidents in the house attracted considerable press attention and the story was covered in British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, until reports came to an end in 1979.[1][2][3] On Halloween 2011, BBC News featured comments from a radio interview with photographer Graham Morris, who claimed that a considerable portion of the events were genuine."


The reason that I found out about this poltergeist is that I always like to find out about horror movies that are based on true events. It turns out that the movie "Poltergeist" was inspired by this story. Rumor also has it that the word "Gozer" was written on the wall over and over. Of course many of you guys will remember that Gozer is that name of the super duper ghost in "Ghostbusters." The house was investigated by paranormal investigators and the investigators heard strange noises.


I think this could be a real case, but there isn't a whole lot to go on.  One thing that keeps coming back to me is that the children were heavily involved. Now this could represent an evil entity that is preying on children or it could just be a case of practical jokes played by very intuitive, but devious children. This is from Paranormal.about.com:


"The strange activity seemed to center around the daughter of Peggy Harper, a divorcee in her mid-40s. Again, it started on an August night. "Late at night," An Urban Ghost Story relates, "Janet, aged 11 and her brother Pete, aged 10, complained that their beds were 'jolting up and down and going all funny.' As soon as Mrs. Harper got to the room, the movements had stopped - as far as she was concerned her kids were making it all up."

But things got progressively more bizarre from there. Shuffling noises and knocks on the wall were followed by a heavy chest of drawers sliding by itself across the floor. Mrs. Harper promptly got her children out of the house and sought the assistance of a neighbor. "The neighbors searched the house and garden but found no one. Soon they also heard the knocks on the walls which continued at spaced out intervals. At 11 p.m. they called the police, who heard the knocks, one officer even saw a chair inexplicably move across the floor, and later signed a written statement to confirm the events."


What do you guys think?



In other news my short story "The Manuscript" is FREE today. You can get it for the next three days at no cost by clicking here