Something About A Cemetery....

     They dot the landscapes in a variety of displays. Some colorful, many elaborate, often hidden in unexpected places like tree-covered hillsides or forgotten plots in the desert.

     Death is big business because it seems to be one of a few things that have been prominent throughout history. With so many people here and gone, a variety of afterlife displays have come about. But one special version of this ritual comes in the form of a good old cemetery.

You may come across a wild character from history, such as the outlaw poet called Black Bart in Marysville.







Or the worn epitaph on the headstone of strange fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft in Swan Point.

     The feeling of walking into- or stumbling upon- these places usually has a different feel to it, depending on the atmosphere. One may feel a sense of peace in the presence of simple stones, the scent of cut grass, and bright flowers fluttering in the breeze. That feeling might be opposite when surrounded by broken memorials on weeded hillsides and looming tree branches that have not seen a caretaker in years.
     I have seen many varieties of these memorial grounds.

   




Every monument in the Père Lachaise Cemetery has its own uniqueness that seems to be built by an artistic sculptor.









The creeping moss and brooding tombs in Highgate Cemetery breed good reason for the rumors of a vampire lurking around.










Union Cemetery, made famous by the Warrens claiming it to be one of the most haunted in the USA, has tilting stones and dates from centuries ago.







In New Haven, Connecticut there is a cemetery known as the Crypt On the Green. It resides in the basement under a beautiful church.











And the simple headstones from the Winter Quarters coalmine disaster rest on the hill overlooking Scofield, Utah.

Honorable mention goes to the Montmartre Cemetery, much of which resides under a bridge busy with foot and auto traffic. It is full of wild, wandering cats who move about the crypts.

   



     Many of these places seem quiet enough to meditate, but we often hear about the restless side of these places. Virginia City, Nevada has tales of glowing light with no natural source. Boothill Cemetery bares ghostly tales of those who did not survive Tombstone, Arizona. And Bodie, California is known for its deadly curse on anyone who takes even the smallest item from the area. Let us not forget the photos captured of strange figures in Bachelor's Grove, said to be a dumping ground for the mob.

   
     It always baffles me when people would find enjoyment vandalizing these places. How bored can people be? It is one thing to sneak into a moonlit burial ground for the thrill of makeout sessions and fast romps among the tombstones, but it is entirely another demon when monuments that cost lots of money from families who wanted to memorialize loved ones have been toppled over or sprayed with paint for a night of “fun”.

     These people lack any ambition or creative powers to occupy their time creating something, so they occupy their time in sabotage and destruction.

     In other ways, the dead have been disrespected by ghouls and seekers of easy money- like macabre entrepreneurs who sold bodies to medical schools. This practice may have actually lead to more knowledge of the human body that we have today. Double-edge sword indeed.

Then there are those who have dug into crypts for fortune. As was the case with the body of President Abraham Lincoln when his corpse was stolen for ransom. A more depraved reality comes from those who put their muscles to work and dig through the six feet of dirt to do mind-blowing deeds, example being that of one lonely farm owner out of Plainfield, Wisconsin. Another example being the unidentified Ghoul of Whitmire Cemetery.

     It is not uncommon when Mother Nature herself takes entitlement to vandalizing, such as the heavy downpours of rain that have uncovered some burial grounds and the floating coffins of Hurricane Katrina. A more supernatural event of unexplained destruction comes from Barbados, where the Chase Family vault has become a legend for the repeated ransacking of caskets by an unseen force.

     But it is not uncommon for more selfish reasons of defacing these monuments to the dead. People who simply want memorabilia have ruined it for the rest of us. Hence why there is no longer a statue the likeness of the Lizard King on Jim Morrison's grave in Paris, France and why the headstone of Billy the Kid has been caged in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

 
















     For those of us who have learned to respect the memory of those who have passed on, sometimes centuries before our first breath, these grounds are important places. It is no wonder why the Native Americans guarded their own places of tribute to fallen relatives as the influx of people who marked the graves with stone monuments and crosses may have intruded on their original cemeteries.

It is important to remember to give the utmost respect in these grounds. They are dedicated to the lives of many people who still have stories to tell.

     These are stories from different generations across the spectrum of time. Lives of tragic repeats and unsung heroes who heavily believed in the generations of people to be born long after their final breath.

     And, whether you believe it or not, your lack of appreciation for their final resting place could very well lead to them following you home.

We speak lightly here where families shed a tear.

Our naked eye unknowing that souls are near.

It's easy to find fate and future if you search hard.

It's easiest if you walk down to the churchyard.

- JEB

Evidence: The Key to a Paranormal Investigation

                                                               Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

When I first became interested in the Paranormal I read every book and website I could find on the topic. Even though I am not big on reading, I could finish an entire book in two days. I just couldn’t get enough information to quench my desire for knowledge on the subject.
During a visit to my local library I came across a book that I thought was about ghosts and the paranormal. The title was very deceiving. I took it home anyways not really knowing what it was about.

As I read through the book I began to realize that the intent of the author was to discredit the paranormal. He wasn’t interested in entertaining the idea that it was possible that ghosts actually existed. He also wasn’t interested in attempting to capture any evidence to establish any kind of claim or attempt to use that evidence to debunk it. He would simply visit a location that was reported to be haunted, walk around for a couple of hours, and if a ghost didn’t jump out at him and say, “Boo!,” that location wasn’t haunted. By the end of the book, the author came to the conclusion that there were no haunted locations, just “haunted” people. In other words, those that believe are making it up. I will never get the two days back that I spent reading that book!

Today, there are tons of paranormal shows on TV and the internet. A majority of the shows collect evidence during their investigation, but some don’t. Some are based solely on one persons "special abilities" to detect if a location is haunted or not. Not one bit of evidence is collected to support their claims.

One such show, which I will refrain from mentioning the name, involves an individual going to different locations and telling the owner what they sense. It’s usually a demonic entity, which drives me nuts! I will save my disdain for those that believe demonic entities are hiding around every corner for another blog.

I have watched this show several times. If I don’t know someone or if I can’t point to any evidence that can back their claims, I am a little skeptical of their “abilities.” A famous politician once said, “trust, but verify.” I always refer back to that statement in cases where I find myself a little skeptical.

So, several of the episodes involved locations I have never been. Since I have never been there and I don’t know the history of the location, I remained skeptical, but had nothing to go off of. One episode involved a location that I knew very well! They went to the Amargosa Hotel and Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California. I had investigated and researched the heck out of that location.

After spending some time walking around, the star of the show sat down  with the caretakers of the hotel and explained what they felt was happening at the hotel. Everything they talked about was the same information that was common knowledge and you could find on every website about the history of the hotel or legends that had been passed around throughout the years. Some kind of evidence would have been nice to back up their claims. Without evidence, they were simply repeating the stories they have heard and these stories were not based off of any kind of physical proof.
Our team basis our investigations off of physical evidence, pictures/video/audio. We need something physical to present to the client so that they can see or hear for themselves that there is possibly something there. Without that physical evidence, we just have personal experiences that can’t be backed up.

I am sure many would say to themselves, yes, but evidence can be faked so what does it really matter? That is true and all you have to do is look at social media and you can find many instances where people put out fake videos, pictures, or audio in order to go “viral” and gain interest. Apps have also been created where you can insert a picture of a “ghost” into any picture to try and fool people to think that a picture of something paranormal was captured.
For those of us investigators who have reviewed 100s of hours of video and audio and 100s of pictures taken during an investigation, spotting a fake is rather easy. We take spotting fakes seriously. Every fake that comes out damages any credibility real investigators have and makes a mockery of the work that we do.

There is no way that we, as investigators, can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that our evidence is paranormal. There is no method to prove it. Most of what we go off of is based on theories by those that came before us. It would be wonderful if we had scientific proof that our evidence was paranormal. That is why we try to caveat our evidence as "possible" or "probable" when we refer to it. If all other reasonable explanations for what that evidence can be is debunked, then there is a good case to be made that it is probable that we have captured paranormal evidence. How else can one explain capturing a voice on audio that doesn’t match anyone that was present in an area or capturing a voice in an area where no one else was present?

Even though we can’t prove the evidence is 100% paranormal there are ways that we can verify the integrity of our video, photographic, and audio evidence. There are specialists in these fields that can review the evidence and certify that the evidence hasn’t been altered in any way. While this is a good method, it’s not always practical to send out every bit of evidence for every investigation to be verified.

Video, Audio, and photographic evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation. While personal experiences like seeing or having a direct encounter, sensing the presence of something paranormal, and the ability to communicate with ghosts is great, it doesn’t provide a client with the possible proof they are seeking unless something they can hear or see can be presented with the personal experience.

Watching a clients face during a review of evidence says it all. We can talk for hours about our personal experiences and you can tell that a client just isn’t as impressed. When we play a class A EVP for a client, the excitement that they have been validated is obvious. We have even had clients invite their neighbors over to listen to our evidence because they are so excited. It’s this reaction that proves that this form of evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation.

Give Me A Ring Once You Have Expired....

We have all gotten calls from unfamiliar numbers.  Most of us refuse these intrusions and hope that a voicemail reveals the source.  But since long before the days of caller ID and messaging, there are stories of people who answered rings that changed their lives (and their beliefs) forever.

There have been reports of electronic contact from the dead that range from e-mail to pagers, etc. But personal phone calls seem to be predominant in this communication, as if the primary way of expressing ourselves has always come in the preferred form to get a point across- our voice.

Phone calls from the other side are not an uncommon tale. 

Many of these reports reveal a distant rattle of static on the other end. Other times, music from a different era is played in their ear from a disconnected line- like stories from the Santa Fe Union Station in Galveston, Texas.  Yet, on several occasions voices of loved ones that sound distraught or comforting have had a last message that left the living confused and unaware.

The calls usually come from a relative who had very close relationships with the recipient.  They often have an important message to convey, but other incidences have no message at all. It just seems like another small talk session.

It is not long after the conversation that another phone call is answered– a call from the living to tell them about the death of the very person with whom they just held the conversation.

Other reported calls from the dead come on the date of a birthday, holiday, or anniversary. Sometimes it is a lengthily time after the person has passed away.

Imagine those which were never reported.  The otherworldly exchanges that took place on mobile devices, rotary dials, and probably as far back as the crank phone. One incident was even reported to come from a toy phone, long before an episode titled “Long Distance Call” aired on ‘The Twilight Zone’ television series.

Even author Dean Koontz said that he received a jingle on his unlisted number. The voice sounded like his deceased mother warning him to be careful.  Not long after, an altercation with his deranged father and police nearly costed him his life.

A more recent and strange event is the case of Charles Peck who managed to make 35 calls to several loved ones, even though he had died on impact in a Metrolink train crash, and his phone was not found anywhere near his body.

Actor Johnny Depp recalled a voicemail that was left by the creator of Gonzo Journalism, Hunter S. Thompson. In a hurry to meet his hectic schedule, Depp deleted the message only to find out that Thompson would soon commit suicide. He said that he will always regret not giving it a listen.

There is a message of our own to gain from this for those of us who are still among the living. That being, we should try our best to never avoid a call, to never take a voicemail for granted, and to make as much time as we can to hear the voices of people we care for, no matter how inconvenient it may seem at the time. You never know when it will be the last talk.

More importantly, if there is a call of your own you want to make- to a person you have been out of touch with, to anyone whose memory has been aching you to make contact, or just to someone you want to remind that you love them... now is the time to make that call.

If you have ever been the recipient of a phone call or messages from the afterlife, please fill us in. Your story may be relatable to someone who is suffering the result of this strange happening, and it just may touch the heart of someone who needs it....