The Occult Section

Paranormal activity, for the most part, is subtle. A light knock on a door when nobody is on the other side, light footsteps coming from a room nobody is in, a whisper of a voice when nobody else is present. And the best way to tell that something is probably not paranormal is when it sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie. Like people being hit by chairs that were thrown at them by ghosts, Sorry folks, it just doesn’t work that way. If it did, it would much easier to research the paranormal.

The one thing worse than a poltergeist haunting your home: the ghost of a professional wrestler.

When it comes to paranormal activities, a freaked out French family living in a supposed haunted house in the French village of Mentque-Nortbécourt, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, claim to have seen it all.

They’ve witnessed oranges floating across the room, violent attacks by soap trays and earlier this month members of the spooked family were hospitalized after being hit by flying chairs, the regional Voix du Nord newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the local newspaper the family have reported that the strange happenings have been going on since last July. To prove they were not going mad they have brought in others from the village, including the mayor, to witness the events.

“It’s becoming dangerous,” the mother told France 3 television. “My friend had to go to hospital this week after getting hit in the head by stones. It’s serious.”

Paramedics were called earlier this month after one member of the family said he was hit by a flying chair in his face and a soap tray on the back.

The local diocese has sent in an exorcist to try to banish any troublemaking evil spirits that may reside in the home, local television reported.

The ghostly goings-on have become so bad that the family have pleaded with authorities to move them to a new home.

According to the Voix du Nord, the family were first given temporary lodging in a campsite, but now have no fixed accommodation. The local council in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region have told the father they are taking care of their case.

The strange happenings in Mentque-Nortbécourt have grabbed the attention of the media in France, with TF1 television asking whether it’s a case of “paranormal phenomenon or a just a village joke”.

Although numerous people have lived at the home in recent years, it seems none of them reported any flying chairs.

The fact that this family have “pleaded with authorities” to move them to a new home is very telling. As is the fact that no prior residents have reported flying chairs. It seems as though perhaps the family is looking for a (free) way out of their home?

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Michael Jackson’s “ghost” has been getting a lot of media attention lately. In a desperate attempt to stay relevant post-MJ, the Jackson clan is claiming that his ghost is haunting their California compound, going so far as to tap dance around the house.

CNN: Journalism at its Finest

Latoya Jackson is convinced her late brother Michael is haunting the family compound in Encino, California after a spooky chat with one of her mother’s bodyguards.

The singer-turned-reality TV regular has learned of a series of strange events at the home and she’s now certain that the King of Pop is still making regular visits.

And it’s all thanks to a curious minder, who can’t explain the weird things that he sees and hears.

Jackson explains, “He says it happens so much. Every single night the dog barks and he looks up at this certain window… I said, ‘That’s where Michael’s bedroom was, that’s where he stayed.’

“He barks at a certain time every night and he just keeps barking and looking at it… and then over in the other section of the house, he (minder) says that he hears someone tap dancing.

“Michael did that every Sunday for two hours straight; he would do that to keep his adrenaline going.”

La Toya goes on to say she has consulted with a psychic (not the psychic we have recently spoken about) who has given her some peace related to her brother.

Jackson admits she was so intrigued by the family bodyguard’s tales, she called on a top psychic to try and reach her brother, who died in 2009.

She adds, “I was like, ‘If Michael wants to talk, if he wants to tell me something, I want to know.’

“He (psychic) didn’t know that I was coming, he didn’t know it was me… I wrapped myself up and had on glasses, so he wouldn’t know it was me, and he started telling me things and he knew right away… When they tell you something personal that you and your brother only know… then you’ve gotta say, ‘OK, this is really good!’”

And Latoya admits her chats with the psychic, she calls A.J., have helped her find peace after previously insisting her brother’s death was no medical accident.

She explains, “He (psychic) knew about me wanting to really know what happened, and he said, ‘Michael wants you to just rest and move on with your life…’”

La Toya…we ALL want you to move on with your life…

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I’m not a big fan of psychics, and TV psychics in particular annoy me. I think it’s just too easy for these guys and gals to use their parlor tricks and have things edited to make them look accurate. Plus, I’m sure there’s hordes of producers feeding them information so that they appear “correct.” Derek Acorah is one of the most infamous offenders (perhaps beating only Chip Coffey), and it looks like he tried to contact Michael Jackson, but didn’t have enough time. Apparently, it takes a 2-hour TV special (with the appropriate check to go along with it, I’m sure) in order to hold a proper séance.

“I’m getting a word…it starts with an ‘F’…and ends with a…’raud!’

The Doctor Who bookazine isn’t the only SFX special to hit the newsstands today. There’s also our spooky Paranormal special, about which you can learn more here.

In it we interview UK TV’s premier medium, Derek Acorah, about chasing, angry spirits and séances with Michael Jackson, and he had something important he wanted to get off his chest about the last matter:

SFX: You conducted a séance recently with Michael Jackson that proved controversial…

Derek Acorah: “It shouldn’t have been controversial! I answered the call of a person who wanted me to do it, and I was glad to do it because I thought the world of Michael Jackson. But I wasn’t given enough time. All I had was 26 minutes out of an hour. It’s just not known to conduct a séance in under two hours. You’ve got to personally encourage a person to come into the atmosphere and then, when they feel okay, they’ll start conversing. Maybe we didn’t give all of what he wanted to say about the world. That wasn’t my fault. That was Sky TV’s fault. I told them that it needed a two-hour special. But you know what? There’s something going off quite soon. It appears that I’ll be doing a proper séance to make contact for longer with Michael, with his family’s approval. And I can’t wait.”

SFX: Is this for Sky again?

DA: “No. I know that it’s going to be covered by TV, but it’s more likely to be a shared project between an English network and American one. Unfortunately that’s all I can say about it at the moment…”

I just think it’s funny that these people claim to have super powers, but these “powers” only work when they are on TV and getting royalty checks. Where were these guys before September 11th? Or the Boston marathon attacks? Until someone can come forward and predict something before it happens, I’ll never be convinced that these guys are anything but hoaxers preying on the vulnerable and weak-minded.

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I’m always very suspicious of photographs of ghosts, especially in this day and age of apps and computer software that can let you manipulate photos in any way you want. Perhaps one of the easiest things to do is take an image of a person, make it transparent, and superimpose it onto another photograph. Bam. Instant ghost photo. Or, if your PhotoShop skills aren’t up to snuff, just download an app. I’m not saying this woman altered this photo, but if her teenage daughter is like most teenagers, she’s got some cell phone savvy and I wouldn’t put it past her to put one over on dear old mum. Maybe she should have come clean before it went into the paper, though.

“There’s ways of killing yourself without killing yourself.”

A Cleveland-area woman who found a couple of ghostly figures in a photo taken with her cell phone said she’s not freaked out about it.

“To me, it was awesome,” said Marcella Davis. “It’s not scary to me.”

David took the photo about 4 p.m. April 15 at Cleveland High School, where she was trying to get a shot of her nephew, who attends the school.

“He spun around so I couldn’t take his picture, so I got the back of his head,” she said. “I didn’t try to take no more because he didn’t let me.”

Davis, the mother of two teenagers, said she doesn’t understand much about the smart phone she used to take the photos, so that evening, her daughter was showing her how she could zoom in and out.

As her daughter zoomed in on the photo of her nephew, she could see more detail.

“She goes, ‘Mom, look at this.’ I was like, ‘What?’ and she showed me the picture of the ghost,” Davis said. “You could see straight through it.”

A man in a light-colored suit with bell-bottom pants and a dark shirt is standing near the chain-link fence, and a woman, who is less distinct, can be seen behind him.

Because of the man’s clothing and hair style, he appears to be from the 1970s, Davis said.

A life-long resident of the Cleveland area, Davis said she has never had any other encounters with ghosts, but believes it could be possible.

“To me, it’s not something that’s not normal,” she said. “People pass away all the time. Until you’re the one who passes away, you don’t honestly know what happens to you.”

While it’s possible to alter photos with cellphone apps, such as GhostCam Spirit Photography for Android phones or Ghost Cam for iPhones, Davis said she wouldn’t begin to know how to use them.

“I can promise you I did not make that picture up,” she said.

Again, I’m not calling this woman a liar. Maybe there was an error with her camera. Maybe her daughter is messing with her. Maybe the woman did in fact, make these photos up. But just because someone says they didn’t do something doesn’t mean they didn’t do it.

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I’m surprised I don’t come across more stories like this. As the popularity of ghost hunting (and the paranormal in general) increases, there are more and more people out there who want to explore it. At the same time, more and more places are closing their doors or charging exorbitant fees for people to come in and conduct paranormal investigations. So, there will be trespassers:

The owner of Castle Claremont says he is fed up with would-be ”ghost hunters” bothering visitors late at night.

Police removed four teenagers from the property on Saturday evening after the group claimed they wanted to see the ”ghost”.

Rob Young, the owner of the Mt Horrible property, said it was a semi-regular occurrence.

”It’s getting a bit ridiculous now. We have to deal with these things every few weeks. It seems to be a bit of a rite of passage,” he said.

”We sometimes get a whole rush of them at the end of the school year.”

Young said the legend of the ghost might have started with the previous owner, John West.

However, stories of the property being haunted may have also stemmed from the the fact there were old Marist Brothers’ graves on the property for many years, which were subsequently moved off site.

In 2001, West offered $100 to anyone who could spend two consecutive nights in the castle’s supposedly haunted shower block.

The first three participants failed to complete the challenge, prompting Timaru Herald reporter Stu Piddington to spend the night – an experience he summed up as ”eerie rather than scary”.

Young purchased the property in 2005.

”I think [West] stuck a possum in the shower block to scare off the contestants,” Young said.

”I am utterly confident that if there were a ghost, it left in 2005. It’s no longer there and people staying at the castle need their sleep.”

Young was more concerned at the speeds some younger people were driving around the area, particularly late at night.

”That’s scarier than any ghost,” he said.

Castle Claremont was built in 1884 for £5000. The house was a wedding gift to pioneer settler George Hampton Rhodes’ French bride Henrietta.

From 1981 to 1997, parts of the building were used for the Claremont Recovery Centre, rehabilitation facility for alcoholics and drug addicts.

It brings up an interesting point, and one that must haunt (no pun intended) potential buyers for any supposedly haunted business. Do you want to inherit the ghostly reputation and all of the potential troublemakers that could come along with it?

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