The Occult Section

Well, 2012 has finally arrived, but 2011 was a great year for The Occult Section. We averaged about 15,000 hits per month, added some writers, added some advertising, and of course, stirred some pots. But in going through our stats, we’ve come across some interesting, funny, and sometimes perplexing trends for the year, which tells us a lot about how some of our readers find us.

Here in this third and final part, I’ll list our most popular stories of 2011, starting with the most popular (according to hits) and working our way down.

1. Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet June 5th: This being our most popular post for the year is really no surprise, especially if you’ve read Part 1 or Part 2 of our Year in Review series. Bigfoot enthusiasts clamored for it, controversy surrounded it, and it’s now in its second season. Love it or hate it, Finding Bigfoot is a very popular show.

2. Zak Bagans to Host Paranormal Game Show: We actually get most of our hits for this post directly from the official Zak Bagans website. He has a following bigger than most boy bands, so it’s not surprising to see lots of searches for him. Once again, love him or hate him, Zak Bagans is a very popular fellow in the field of paranormal investigating.

3. FBI Unveils ‘The Vault,’ Including Unseen 9/11 Records and UFOs: This was huge news when it broke, and I think a lot of people expected some major secrets to be revealed with the FBI finally opening its “vault.” But, like all the other times the government has promised big revelations, conspiracy theorists were left with pretty much nothing. A few little interesting tidbits came out, but nothing earth-shattering. A few UFO stories that were marginally exciting at best was all they could hope for. It is interesting to note that we get lots of hits from government sites here at The Occult Section, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI itself. Welcome FBI and DHS! If you ever feel like telling us any of your secrets, we’d like, be cool with that, and never tell anyone. Pinky swear.

4. Indonesian Crop Circles: Evidence of UFOs?: Ok, this one I don’t quite understand. Before the Finding Bigfoot stories started coming out, this was by far our most popular post, and it wasn’t really a huge story. Maybe locally it was, but I’m still surprised by the amount of hits it got. I’m also not a fan of crop circles, but I guess others are. Haha.

5. New Bigfoot show on Animal Planet: The Finding Bigfoot juggernaut continues. Yes folks, it’s got two spots in our top ten posts for 2011. This is the first post about it, before many details were known.

6. Cropsey: Staten Island’s Boogeyman?: By far our most popular post and subject in 2010, the documentary “Cropsey” still holds a respectable spot on our list in 6th place. The haunting, disturbing yet awesome documentary about the Staten Island child murders is not really paranormal, but the mythos surrounding it almost feels that way sometimes, and the documentary really captures that. Plus, it takes place right in our stomping grounds. See this movie if you can.

7. Ghost hunters denied request to investigate haunted house: A quirky little post about some ghost hunters being denied access to a haunted house comes in at number 7 on our list, but gave us our Number 1 keyword for finding our site with “denied.”

8. “Most Convincing Evidence of Bigfoot” Yet?: This story was a firestorm, not so much on our blog (though it was out 8th most popular post) but around the cryptozoology community in general. In a nutshell, a group of paranormal investigators claimed to have stunning proof of the existence of Bigfoot, called a press conference to announce it, and went on the defensive to anyone who questioned what they actually had. It really got the Bigfoot world all riled up, with people on both sides of the fence, those screaming for the release of the evidence, and those who were blind believers in what these yahoos were proclaiming.  Ultimately, the press conference revelaed that all they had were some smudges on the windows of a truck, and they were asking for handouts to the tune of $5,000 so they could do some DNA tests on said smudges. So once again, a big Bigfoot story fizzled out, and these knuckleheads made a mockery of themselves and the field of cryptozoology got another black eye. The only ones who really got hurt here were the serious researchers.

9. El Chupacabra Mystery Solved?: I don’t really believe there’s much evidence for the existence of the chupacabra, but even I felt that the explanation put forth by Benjamin Radford was a little too neat and tidy, and seemed more about selling books than doing any actual debunking. I feel like he had a valid point, and that his explanation probably contributed in a big way to the mythology of the creaturea, but it’s not the complete story.

10: New Bigfoot Movie from “Blair Witch” Director: This definitely seemed like the year for Bigfoot, and the big guy got 4 spots on our top 10 most popular posts. News that Eduardo Sanchez, director of “The Blair Witch Project,” was doing a horror movie about Bigfoot got me excited, and apparently other people as well. The movie, which will be called “Exists,” doesn’t have a release date, or many other details yet, but I am definitely looking forward to this one. Been way too long since we had a good movie about Sasquatch, and one that wasn’t made for the SyFy Channel.

Honorable Mentions

Most Liked on Facebook - Amateur Ghost Hunters Think Devices are ‘Ghost Finders’: Even though this post didn’t get enough hits to make it into our Top 10, it got the most Facebook likes of any of our posts in 2011. With a nice, even 100 Facebook likes, it was the clear winner. Which makes me happy, since the post was really about the stupidity of people who think their devices are “ghost finders,” which they are not. And iPhone apps that you buy for 99 cents will also not detect ghosts. Which brings us to…

Most Controversial Post - Harsh Truths the Paranormal Community Needs to Hear: Ok, we’ve done these semi-serious, semi-joking “guides” before, and people usually just think they are funny. Most people have enough of a sense of humor and humility to know what’s a joke and what’s something we’re all guilty of sometimes and need to improve upon. But this post caused quite a commotion. Of course, all of the people who had something to say did so cowardly and behind our backs, which is a bit ironic (thanks to our friends who have connections who informed us of these misdeeds). But whatever, we roll with the punches, and most people who we reached out to were very apologetic and just didn’t get the humor, and all is well now. There were a couple of others who just didn’t find it funny, and what can we say? We’re sorry we hit a nerve, but if we did, and you can’t laugh about it a little, then we don’t want to be associated with you anyways.

And that’s it for the year in review. I may be publishing some “repeats” over the next few months, some of our favorite posts from the past year, just so people who missed them the first time have a chance to read them. Have a happy and healthy new year, everyone!

Technorati Tags: 9/11, andre rand, bigfoot, cropsey, cryptozoology, debunking, fbi, finding bigfoot, ghost, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, hoax, humor, media, News, paranormal, people, sasquatch, supernatural, the vault, thoughts, tv show, ufo, ufos

Ever since I did my review on the extraordinary documentary “Cropsey” back in June, I’ve gotten tons of e-mails asking when it will be released on DVD. Well, Fangoria magazine is reporting that it will be available on May 10th.

After winning kudos at festivals and select screenings across the country, the chilling documentary CROPSEY is coming to DVD this May. We got the details and a first look at the cover art.

Breaking Glass Pictures revealed to Fango that CROPSEY will hit disc May 10 under the Vicious Circle Films banner. In the movie, filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio revisit childhood legends they grew up with in Staten Island, NY concerning Cropsey, allegedly an escaped mental patient who lurked around the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution. More frightening than these myths, however, are the real-life disappearances of several children in the area, and Zeman and Brancaccio also investigate the case of Andre Rand, who was accused in the case—and the movie questions whether truth is more frightening than urban legend. The DVD will include 10 deleted scenes, including a further explanation of the Cropsey legend and additional explorations of the Willowbrook grounds, plus press clippings. See Breaking Glass’ new trailer below the art, our review of CROPSEY here and track back through exclusive video interviews with Zeman starting here.

This is definitely a film that leaves you wanting more, so I’m excited that this will be coming out on DVD with bonus features and deleted scenes. Be sure to check this film out. The DVD trailer is below.

Technorati Tags: andre rand, Barbara Brancaccio, cropsey, documentary, Joshua Zeman, media, new york, News, people, serial killer, thoughts, willowbrook

Last month I reviewed the film “Cropsey,” which detailed the late 1970s and early 1980s child disappearances on Staten Island, NY and the suspect in the case, Andre Rand. The film’s press agent, Jason Klorfein, e-mailed me yesterday to let me know that the film is now available nationwide on Video On Demand, with such carriers as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, brighthouse, anc Cox. Once again, I thought the film was great and I highly recommend it. I’m posting Mr. Klorfein’s e-mail below, along with a lot of useful links.

Dear Mr. Stroming,

My name is Jason Klorfein, and I am the Press Coordinator for CROPSEY, the horror-documentary that you were kind enough to review in The Occult Section this past June.

I wanted to let you and your readers know that CROPSEY is now available nationwide on Video On Demand until August 12. We’d appreciate your help in spreading the word to The Occult Section and EPIC blog readers who may not have been able to see the film at the IFC Center. The film is currently carried by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Brighthouse. For many folks outside of the NY area, this is their best opportunity to see the film.

A short tweet or mention on your blog would be incredibly appreciated. Please email me if you have any questions. Thank you again for your thoughtful, well-composed review of the film. Your support means a lot to this film.

Sincerely,
Jason

– 

Jason Klorfein
Press Coordinator
Afterhours Productions
________________________________

CROPSEY is currently playing:
Los Angeles, CA @ Laemmle Sunset 5 
New York, NY @ IFC Center

Coming soon to…
Portland, OR @ The Hollywood (July 16-22)
Indianapolis, IN @ Georgetown 14 (July 16-22)
Seattle, WA @ NW Film Forum (July 23-24)

Watch our trailer:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/cropsey/

Become our fan on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CROPSEY/79662920621?ref=search

Follow us on Twitter!  
http://www.twitter.com/cropseylegend

Soundtrack now available at the iTunes store & Amazon.com!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cropsey-original-film-score/id379967366
http://www.amazon.com/Cropsey-Original-Film-Score/dp/B003U7X3K4

www.cropseylegend.com

Technorati Tags: andre rand, boogeyman, cropsey, new york, News, paranormal, people, serial killer, staten island, thoughts

I first heard that a movie was being made about suspected Staten Island serial killer Andre Rand about 6 months ago. I had all but forgotten until I visited the Ghost Theory blog about 2 weeks ago, and they had the trailer posted. The movie is called “Cropsey,” and I was able to catch it this weekend at the IFC Center in Manhattan.

So why am I blogging, on a paranormal blog, about a documentary based on a serial killer? Well for one thing, the mystery is still unsolved, at least in my mind. But we’ll get to that in a bit. But the movie also examines these child murders from the point of view of urban legend, the myth of the boogeyman who lives in the woods, and how these myths and legends can sometimes be based on fact, or sometimes even come true. In this case, a series of child disappearances and murders was taking place on Staten Island, New York, starting in the late ’70s and into the ’80s. “Cropsey” is the name of an urban legend on the east coast, usually told at summer camp, of a deranged man in the woods who kills children. Sometimes he has a hook for a hand, sometimes a bloody axe. The story is a little different depending on who tells it. The filmmakers tie this urban legend to what actually happened with these child murders. Lastly, the movie deals with the old Willowbrook School and Seaview Hospital, and I want to talk about the stories of hauntings that we heard as paranormal investigators about these killings and these locations.

First the movie itself. If you have a chance to see it, I strongly suggest you do. It’s an interesting story, and I think one that will cause a lot of controversy. The movie tells the story of some missing children, who started disappearing on Staten Island beginning in the early 1970s and continuing until the 1980s. In all, police suspected 7 children were the victims of the same serial killer. Only one body, that of Jennifer Schweiger, was ever found. Her nude body was found in a shallow grave in the general vicinity of the camp of a homeless man named Andre Rand, on the grounds where the Willowbrook State School used to stand. It is now home to the College of Staten Island, of which I am a graduate.

The Willowbrook State School, for those who may not have heard of it, was a “school” for mentally retarded children back in the ’60s through the early ’80s.  In 1972, Geraldo Rivera got his big break by doing an exposé on the school, showing its deplorable conditions (you can view the report here). Overcrowding, neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and illegal experiments were just some of the things that went on at Willowbrook.  It was finally closed in 1987.

Back to Andre Rand. He actually worked at Willowbrook, and once the institution closed, he lived on the grounds in makeshift campsites and shelters, possibly even living in the tunnels underneath the facility. He was arrested in 1969 of kidnapping and attempted rape of a 9-year-old girl. He was working in a complex where Alice Pereira vanished in 1972. Witnesses saw him with Holly Ann Hughes when she disappeared in 1981. And of course, the body of Jennifer Schweiger was found in the vicinity of his camp in Willowbrook in 1987. After that, he was arrested, charged and convicted of Jennifer’s murder. Just recently, he was convicted in a second murder, that of Holly Ann Hughes.

The film uses lots of archival footage as well as recent interviews with detectives, witnesses and community leaders who were involved in the initial investigation of the crimes. The filmmakers, Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, present an interesting film, part urban legend, part crime drama, and it works well. It is thought provoking, it is sad, and it is creepy.

Andre Rand

And it is frightening just how easily Andre Rand was convicted. Granted, this is a man who probably should not be allowed to roam the streets. But all of the evidence against him was circumstantial. Yes, he had prior charges against him, and while that doesn’t mean he should be around children, it doesn’t prove he committed these specific murders. Some witnesses did place him at the scenes of some crimes, but it is revealed in the film that most of these eyewitnesses were alcoholics or drug addicts who couldn’t give specific details at the time, but now 20 years later and after drug and alcohol rehabilitation, can miraculously “remember” seeing Andre Rand, in great detail, with these girls. The film even shows a witness in the Holly Hughes trial, a woman who claims that she saw Rand, in a mask, kidnapping Holly. Not sure how she knew it was him if he was in a mask. She also claims to have known most of the other victims of this series of crimes. Her eyes are bloodshot and sunken in. She looked like she was smoking crack moments before being interviewed. And yes, the body was discovered near Rand’s campsite, but it should be noted that there were many other homeless men living in the same area, and no forensic or DNA evidence has ever been found to link Rand to the one body they did find.

Do I think he’s innocent? Not necessarily. But is he guilty of all these murders? Nobody really knows. There is a lot of reasonable doubt. Yet he is serving jail time, 25 years to life. Not only that, but he has been convicted twice. Because a body was found near where he lived and some drug addicts said it was him. And because he looks crazy. That’s like any of us being convicted of the murder of the tenant in the apartment below ours, just because they live close to us and people have seen us talking in the past. There is no evidence, and save one, no bodies. Are we better off without him on our streets? Undoubtedly. But did he commit these murders? Nobody knows except for Andre Rand and/or the real murderer(s).

Seaview Hospital

There was some mention in the movie as well that Rand may have been involved with a Satanic cult, which supposedly held its meetings in the abandoned Seaview Hospital, which at one time held tuberculosis patients. There are many rumors on Staten Island about the old Seaview facility and what goes on there, and perhaps the biggest rumor is that it’s the home of Satanic cults and their grisly rituals. I’ve been there, and while it’s definitely creepy, there’s no sign of anything going on there besides some kids playing paintball and scaring each other at night, as well as some homeless people spending some nights there. The filmmakers even venture there one night in the flm, with some humorous results.

But an interesting note. While we were ghost hunters, we were told by many of the staff at the College of Staten Island that the grounds were haunted. Not too hard to believe, as the facility had a very tragic and turbulent past (even before Willowbrook, the facility was used as a World War II hospital and there are rumors that POWs were also held there, and probably not treated well). Most of the stories were of children crying, appearing as apparitions, things like that. But one security guard told us of a girl who had been found dead on the grounds, the victim of a serial killer. We were shown the location, and it was said that the first floor women’s bathroom in the building adjacent to where the body was found was haunted by her. We never found any solid evidence when we went to check it out, but we did encounter very strange and very high EMF spikes. We also heard footsteps, voices and chairs being moved on the second floor, in classrooms that were locked, when we were the only ones on campus late at night (with the security guards). Was it a ghost? The boogeyman? We’ll never know for sure. Just like we may never know who took these children from us.

Technorati Tags: andre rand, boogeyman, cropsey, geraldo rivera, media, new york, new york city, News, people, satanic cult, seaview, serial killer, staten island, the last great disgrace, thoughts, unexplained, unsolved, willowbrook