I was pleased when I received this book for Christmas because I had put it on my wish list for a writing project I have started working on. Occult Investigator is a collection of true stories by NYC-based investigator Bob Johnson, who owns X-Investigations. The first chapter is an interesting narrative about how he started his paranormal/private investigation business and how he landed his first case.
You’ll find a good variety of stories between the covers of this book. There are ghosts, Santeria demon possession, vampires, werewolves, satanists, etc. I’m not sure which story made me do a double-take: the vampire or the satanist story. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I were to search my teenager’s room to find an ornate silver box filled with dirt and bone fragments hidden inside his closet.
Many of these stories read like bite-sized fiction novels, only without the drama and suspense. Highly recommended.
Pleasanton, California is a peaceful city that is nestled between rolling foothills of Northern California. I drove through this town everyday for two years, on my way to work in neighboring Dublin. Sometimes, I would get to venture out of the office to eat lunch or go shopping. In all appearances, Pleasanton seemed to be quite ordinary and suburban. I wasn’t aware of its rich history until I read an article about Gloria Young, a Northern California ghost hunter who founded Ghost Trackers in 1992.
“It’s very unusual,” Young said. “Urban legends are usually just that — urban legends.” After an early visit to Gay 90’s, Young was looking through still photographs and found a picture taken of an old mirror. It reflected an image of herself, a male team member and Ghost Walk coordinator Rebecca Bruner. What was surprising, however, was the image of a woman with camel-colored hair, also reflected back from the mirror. There was no one else with them that day who looked like that additional image.
Young’s five-week investigation of Pleasanton will be released in early 2008 as a documentary, entitled Ghosts of Pleasanton.
Imagine yourself walking down a street in NYC. It’s 12:30 at night. A woman’s voice whispers into your ear, asking, “Who’s there? Who’s there?”
You look around. The street is deserted, except for a bum sprawled out on the curb. You think your imagination has gotten the better of you, and you start walking again. Then the voice whispers, “It’s not your imagination.”
Would you freak out?
Fast forward to approximately 7:30 a.m. You find yourself walking down that same street to go to work or meet a friend for coffee. That same voice whispers the same message. This time, you happen to see a billboard with a rooftop speaker. The disembodied voice you heard last night is coming from that speaker.
Is this ingenious advertising or invasion of privacy? Joe Pompei, president and founder of Holosonics, said the creepy approach is key to drawing attention to A&E’s “Paranormal State” without adding to the noise pollution that is so prevalent today.
Alex Weprin of BC Beat did not find the concept all that innovative, but felt that it defeated the show’s concept. While he has a less than favorable opinion of the ad and the show, I can neither agree nor disagree because I haven’t had the chance to watch it yet.
Paranormal State is the newest ghost hunting show in a growing stable of supernatural shows. Whether it will become as popular as Ghost Hunter or Supernatural remains to be seen.
Is this evidence of witchcraft, as families and police in Argentina believe? Or, is this merely a brisk wind? I watched the video and found myself perplexed. At first, all three swings were moving in what looked like a breeze. Then the middle swing begins to move more rapidly.
