The Occult Section

The Spencer Mountain Mansion, located in North Carolina, is reported to be haunted. Not only is it reported to be haunted, but it has been turned into a Halloween season attraction, complete with a website that includes dripping blood. Classy.

At a time when the paranormal is so “in” that logic is so often tossed out the window, this is refreshing to see. It is a letter to the editor of the local paper, from what I’m guessing is an older resident of the area, who is “Oh Snapping” the sensationalism. I read her letter and got a little sad, even though I have never heard of this place until now.

As former residents of Spencer Mountain, we would like to assure the citizens of Gaston County that there is not and never has been any haunting or paranormal event surrounding the Spencer Mountain mansion. We wish you could have seen this home in its “glory days,” when the Love Family lived there. It was a mansion to us, beautiful and filled with beautiful people. We played with the children and were invited into their lovely home on many occasions.

After the house was abandoned, if there was an occasional light seen drifting through the rooms, it was in their own words, brothers Paul and Dowell McGee and friends who said they had been in the house at most any hour of any day or night and had never seen anything.

Even after the deterioration, we never pass by without a feeling of sadness, but also having pleasant memories and positive emotion about this house. There is no way any evil spirit could reside in a place filled with such happy memories and love. We just want to say that if there was ever a “spirit” at Spencer Mountain, it was a spirit of love, joy, fun and respect for each other then and now … even after 80 years.

Mollie Hawkins High
Gastonia

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We at the New York Paranormal Society are obviously interested in all things paranormal. So when I found this article, I got a bit of a tickle out of it. The scariest thing about spooky occurrences in your home, according to Consumer Reports?? Increased utility bills! Oh no! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!!

That noise coming from the refrigerator? It's not a ghost. I promise.

Kitchen doors and cabinets opening by themselves, appliances unexpectedly turning on and strange bumps in the night. In the wake of Halloween, it’s easy to connect strange incidents to the paranormal. But an industry expert says the real scary feature of these fairly common household occurrences is the increased utility bills they can cause.

“We joke about flying witches in this place, flying squirrels is more likely the culprit,” says Daniel Diclerico, senior editor of Consumer Reports.

Small animals and rodents often sneak through small holes into attics to nestle in the insulation, and get in to walls causing the strange bumps or scratching noises.

This lets air into the house, running up heating bills, Diclerico says,

“The best thing to do is to try to keep them from coming in in the first place and that means plugging holes around the exterior of your home.”

Diclerico recommends lighting incense and looking for the smoke to blow sideways, an indicator that there’s some sort of air leak or inadequate insulation nearby.

The potential safety hazard of kitchen appliances turning themselves on might be even more alarming, but again Diclerico says there is nothing supernatural there.

Last week, over 120,000 Electrolux Smoothtop Cooktops were recalled for doing just that.

And even mysterious movement in kitchen fixtures isn’t necessarily a poltergeist.

“It is low humidity — it’s going to cause the wood to shrink and doors and cabinets will start to open by themselves.”

I actually woke up at 5:15 a.m. this morning to find that my living room floor lamp had turned back on. I am more inclined to blame my cat or a faulty lamp than a ghost, though it was interesting. And funnily enough, my first thought wasn’t a ghost, but my utility bill! We’re in a recession! I can’t have my stuff turning back on!

Technorati Tags: animals, consumer reports, cooktops, Electrolux, Electrolux Smoothtop Cooktops, ghost, ghosts, halloween, haunted house, heating bill, incense, mice, mouse, paranormal, people, refrigerator, rodents, supernatural, thoughts, utilities, utility bills

When I was really little, the annual trip to the local haunted house attraction, put on by a nearby Montessori school, was at the top of my must-do list.  I would get myself in the mood for the big event by watching The Worst Witch for the zillionth time, anxiously awaiting the most amazing musical sequence ever captured on film (clearly this was before Tim Curry went on to terrorize the better part of my childhood with his role as Pennywise in It) and plotting that year’s elaborate Halloween costume (I always strived to look authentic, whether it meant I walked around all night with itchy straw stuffed underneath my clothes when I went as a scarecrow, or painted my entire body yellow to go as Bart Simpson).  Side note:  I think that this longstanding dedication to the art of the creative Halloween costume is what has made me so hostile towards the lazy costumes that I have seen New Yorkers send their kids out to trick-or-treat in since I moved here six years ago.  I can promise you this: you wouldn’t have caught me dead in a plastic Duane Reade mask and getup.

MICHELLE!! ANIMAL!!

When I finally got to go to the haunted house, I was a ball of excited energy; I turned each corner in nervous anticipation, screaming at each creature that popped out at me, and laughing when I realized it was usually something silly, like a character from the Muppets. I would talk all the way home about how CRAZY it was that Animal knew my name, because how scary was THAT?  As you can imagine, I was devastated when I learned a few years later that Animal only knew my name because he was played by none other than my next-door neighbor.  Bummer.

Junior high and high school meant planning trips to scarier haunted houses and hayrides.  We’d pretend we weren’t afraid as the bloodied and fanged creatures chased us through the attraction; we were giggling throughout and yet were secretly relieved when it was over.  I haven’t been to many haunted houses since those days, and I don’t really have a desire to ever go back again – I guess I’ve outgrown them, just like I outgrew the preschool version so many years ago.  Being in New York doesn’t hurt either; with haunted houses costing upwards of $30 for admission, it’s an easy decision to make.

"Dave, you are not taking this theme park job seriously enough. Put some more fake blood on your face, and act crazier!"

I know we don’t typically talk about manufactured haunted houses here on The Occult Section (unless Laura’s hilarious posts about all of the pseudo-celebrities who think their houses are “haunted” counts) but with Halloween around the corner, there have naturally been more and more haunted house stories popping up in the news.  Take this one, for example, published last week in the Sandusky Register, where mental health advocates are taking issue with the portrayal of the mentally ill at Cedar Point’s Halloween attractions.  While I think perhaps it’s a bit unfair to single out Cedar Point, when practically every haunted house I’ve ever been to has featured some variation of a mentally ill character, there are some valid points being made and it’s an interesting discussion.

I know some would make the argument that they’re harmless fun, and others would say that I’m being hypocritical by calling haunted houses a waste of money, when I’m promoting ghost tours, etc. that also cost money, but for me, I just don’t enjoy haunted houses like I used to. I’d much rather go investigate the real thing, and stick to visiting pumpkin patches, seeing a scary movie or taking a historical ghost tour when I’m looking for Halloween entertainment.  What about you?  Will you be going to any haunted houses this Halloween season?

Technorati Tags: attractions, cedar point, halloween, haunted house, haunted houses, media, new york, the worst witch, tim curry

We usually deal with real-world paranormal phenomena here at The Occult Section, but we’ll be doing things a little differently for October. We’ve teamed up with Courtney Mroch of  Haunt Jaunts and Dinell Lamb Holmes of Weekly Spectre for the Spooktacular Halloween Blog Party, a month-long blog celebration of Halloween. So we’ll be featuring some other things on the blog this month, some movie recommendations, some guest blog posts, some features on other paranormal groups, etc. But this blog post will be showing a little love for two great bloggers that I’ve become fast friends with, my partners in the Spooktacular Halloween.

I first made contact with Courtney Mroch back in June of this year. Once we got The Occult Section up and running, one of the first things I did was to start reading other paranormal blogs. And I found some really good ones, run by some great people. Courtney runs Haunt Jaunts, a travel blog that “features haunted places and paranormal tourism of interest to ghost enthusiasts.” The site is a great resource for finding haunted locations and great ghost tours, but it is so much more. Courtney talks about upcoming paranormal movies, all the paranormal TV shows, ghostly books, paranormal news, and more. And unlike many paranormal bloggers who sometimes come off as jaded, sarcastic and cranky (hey, why are you looking at me like that?), Courtney brings a refreshing sense of optimism and open-mindedness to her posts. In 2008 she was diagnosed with Stage 2 B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma, but she pretty much kicked its ass. Way to go, Court! But be sure to bookmark Haunt Jaunts, and be prepared to have some fun while you get scared

I met Dinell Lamb Holmes pretty much the same way I met Court, and it turns out that they were already friends with each other. Dinell runs Weekly Spectre, a paranormal blog with a motherly touch. Dinell used to be a paranormal investigator, but is on hiatus now to raise her kids. But that doesn’t stop her from investigating the paranormal in her own ways. Recently she purchased a supposedly haunted doll called Susan, and she has a live webcam every night trained on it, to see if the doll lives up to its reputation. Dinell is also experiencing some other strange things in her home, so by viewing her live webcam every night, we can all help her investigate. But she also does book reviews, paranormal news, and more. She also runs (and only a mother can handle so many things!) Mommy D’s Kitchen, where she posts great recipes, fun activities for the kids, and other great parenting tips.

Please be sure to visit their blogs. Courtney & Dinell are funny, friendly, and always respond to comments and feedback. They were open and friendly to me when I was just starting out with my blog, and we here at The Occult Section will always be grateful.

Technorati Tags: blogs, halloween, haunt jaunts, spooktacular halloween blog party, weekly spectre

Fun fact: there are apparently insurance policies created especially for those who own “haunted houses.” We all know the type: a big house filled with spooky imagery, scary music, and people jumping out of dark corners to scare the sillies out of you. Well I found this press release that details why one insurance company is ideal over all others to provide insurance to owners of haunted houses:

These haunted attractions are going to get even better, which means more expenses out of the owner’s pocket. However, insurance prices have been skyrocketing with the rise of haunted attraction culture in the USA. Searching for a good package out of the thousands being offered by several insurance providers can get intimidating. InPro Insurance Group, a Michigan-based insurance provider, has been associated with safeguarding the interests of haunted house owners for over 30 years by offering customized insurance solutions. It has gained immense popularity for satisfying the unique needs of its clients by offering flexible and affordable haunted house insurance policies.

If you go to the InPro Insurance website, you can see they have a page devoted entirely to insuring haunted houses. Interesting concept and probably wise on their part, as I am guessing not many insurance companies have this specific niche covered in their policies.

I just hope that the owners of this haunted house in South Carolina had their business insured before their house burned down last night.  (Debbie Downer)

Technorati Tags: ghost, ghosts, halloween, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, hoax, insurance, media, michigan, News, paranormal, people