I’ve enjoyed watching The Medium since its first season and was sorely disappointed when NBC put it on the Wednesday/10pm slot, after Lost, a show that has grown exceedingly tired to many people. I watched this season’s premiere, which was a very powerful episode. Since then, I haven’t watched the show because it comes on too late. Many people are in the same boat.

I wondered how much this would hurt the show. It didn’t surprise me to learn that The Medium is on the verge of being discontinued, along with other paranormal shows, such as Jericho and Crossing Jordan. I agree with BlogCritics in that NBC should have aired the show after Heroes. Instead, we get to watch the greed-fest called Deal or No Deal. Go figure.

Source: Variety

Cases of spontaneous human combustion have been reported since the 17th century. Charles Dickens wrote a novel, Bleak House, which involved an alcoholic who died of spontaneous human combustion. This sparked a popular belief that heavy drinking may be associated with this strange and horrifying occurrence. Many of the modern day stories leave police and fire investigators baffled. These bodies have seemingly cremated themselves, leaving behind a limb or a shriveled skull, while leaving the rest of the room virtually untouched.

Interesting enough, many of these victims were elderly females. Most of them were heavy drinkers and/or smokers. However, I found two cases where the victim was young and cigarettes weren’t a factor.

• Maybelle Andrews (1938) was dancing with her boyfriend in a nightclub when flames suddenly erupted from her back, chest and shoulders. There was no other flame in the room. Maybelle died en route to the hospital.
• Jenna Winchester (1980) burst into flames while sitting next to a friend while they were driving down a Florida road. She survived the ordeal with burns covering 20% of her body.

Spontaneous human combustion is extremely rare, since our bodies our made mostly of water. Wild theories as to its cause have sprung up over recent years, including the factors of stress and obesity. These theories proved unfounded and were quickly dismissed. Scientists and criminologists have conducted research and experiments into the cause of spontaneous human combustion.

Dr. John de Haan of the California Criminalistic Institute conducted an experiment, called the “wick effect”, to see if body fat could burn hot enough to cremate a victim by using an ordinary source, such as a cigarette. He wrapped a dead pig inside a blanket, poured a bit of gasoline on the blanket, and set it on fire. Then he closed the door to the room. Five hours later, he found the pig burned exactly like the spontaneous human combustion victims. A National Geographic special tried to duplicate this experiment, but failed because they left the door to the room open.

Dr. de Haan proved that spontaneous human combustion is not so spontaneous. It takes anywhere from two to five hours of a slow burn to destroy a body in that magnitude, and it is usually caused by an agent such as a cigarette or pipe. The victim burns so slowly that no one realizes what’s happening until it’s too late.

As for the two girls above, their bodies may have been overcharged with electrostatic energy, which may have caused a spark that ignited their clothing.

While researching for information about the infamous Waverly Hills Sanatorium last summer, I found this DVD. Based on the synopsis, I had misgivings about buying or renting it. If you haven’t heard of or seen Death Tunnel, I’ll give you the gist of its plot. It’s about four college girls who find themselves trapped in the haunted hospital in an initiation rite. The object of the game was to spend the night and come out alive.

Although the story had potential, it fell pitifully short. I would have loved to have learned more about the ghosts that haunted the rooms and halls of the place. You’ll learn some information about two of them, as well as a twist about one of the girls which may or may not surprise you. Mostly, the viewer is subjected to a bunch of sex kittens screaming in terror and shouting profanities as they bumbled about. I found myself laughing, rather than jumping, throughout the entire movie.

That said, I enjoyed the cinematography. The producers did a great job gathering the necessary props, and the ghosts in the film moved smoothly, unlike other recent ghost stories, where they jerk about. This is the best part of the movie. You’ll also get the basic history of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, although it’s shoved into the characters’ dialogue.

Overall, Death Tunnel is a typical B-rated horror film.

Rhea A. White’s life took an unexpected turn in 1952, when she was involved in a bad car accident. This accident caused her to have a near-death experience, which changed her outlook on life after death. After she recovered from her injuries, she entered into the field of parapsychology, first studying mysticism, religion, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy and literary criticism. Later, she founded the Parapsychology Source Information Center, Parapsychology Abstracts International and Exceptional Human Experiences Network.

In 1990, she realized that traditional science wasn’t going to answer her question as to why she experienced the NDE and what it meant. Rhea began studying the reports of other people who had experienced NDE’s, along with other non-ordinary and anomalous experiences. She classified this study as “Exceptional Human Experiences,” which students of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology rely heavily on to write their dissertations. Rhea’s career spanned nearly 40 years, earning her the respect of colleagues and students alike.

Quoted from Palyne Gaenir:

From her early studies in Jung’s writings to her research work with J.B. Rhine, she was a driven thinker from very young. Editor of professional Ph.D. level journals much of her adult life, and founder of the Exceptional Human Experience Network, an organization dedicated to recognizing and better understanding the things that move us and evolve us, Rhea was one of those people who put out more work for good causes in the world than any one person will ever know about.

Rhea White passed away on February 24 of an undisclosed illness, which she battled for several years.