Philadelphia | The Occult Section

“Haunted” Car Parts from Fatal Ryan Dunn Crash for Sale on Craigslist

March 21st, 2013 Jason Stroming No comments

We blogged a while back about Jackass star Ryan Dunn dying in a car crash and the alleged paranormal claims that resulted from it. Well, I came across this story today claiming that a person is on Craigslist attempting to sell “haunted” parts from Dunn’s car. It’s good to see that some people on Craigslist are staying classy and not selling their farts or wanting to have sex with people while wearing a clown costume.

As you may remember, Jackass star Ryan Dunn drunkenly crashed his Porsche in West Goshen, Pennsylvania back in the summer of 2011, killing himself and his passenger.

And apparently, someone recovered some small parts from the crash and is attempting to sell them on Craigslist.

Joe.ie tipped me to the posting, which comes from Philadelphia. It offers up the parts (small enough to fit inside a shoebox) for $300.

Apparently, the original collector doesn’t want them anymore – because they may be haunted.

“A week after the accident I went to the accident and scooped up minor parts I saw lying on the ground. The parts are all remotely tiny, and all fit in a shoebox. I don’t want them anymore because weird shit has happened since I put it under my bed. I guess it’s because it’s a weird thing to have, but I was a huge Jackass fan and thought it would be a cool something to have. If you want proof they are his parts, I have pictures of the crash site I took myself,” reads the ad.

We’ve tried to contact the poster and will let you know if we find anything else out. I guess you really can find anything on Craigslist.

I’m guessing the weird stuff that happened to this guy is from karma, and not a ghost. Why anyone would want small parts from a horrific car crash, and then try to sell them on Craigslist is beyond me. But then again, I have a soul. I think. Yeah, there’s still a tiny bit of it still there.

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Categories: Paranormal News Tags: celebrity, ghost, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunted, haunting, hoax, humor, jackass, media, News, paranormal, pennsylvania, people, philadelphia, picture, porsche, ryan dunn, supernatural, thoughts, tv show, West Goshen

Photo of the Week: Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA

September 23rd, 2012 Jason Stroming No comments

Who doesn’t love Eastern State Penitentiary? Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eastern State Penitentiary is perhaps one of the most famous haunted locations in the country. The prison opened in 1829 and closed its doors as a prison in 1971. During that time, the prison was home to thousands of criminals, with the most notorious among them being bank robber Willie Sutton and the infamous gangster Al Capone. These days, the prison is best known for supposedly being haunted, a fact that has been popularized by TV shows such as MTV’s Fear, Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures. Every Halloween season, Eastern State Penitentiary runs its annual “Terror Behind the Walls” event, where patrons can take a tour of the “haunted prison.” The prison is also a popular, if not the most popular, place for paranormal investigators to investigate. Some skeptics claim that the paranormal activity and ghost stories reported at Eastern State Penitentiary are a result of the TV shows and haunted tours, but records show that inmates and prison officials were reporting supernatural phenomena since the 1940s.

Here is another of our favorite photos from Laura’s trip to ESP. Enjoy!

Laura Pennace is a New York City wedding photographer specializing in city hall and courthouse weddings. You can see more of Laura’s work at Pennace Photography (www.pennacephotography.com)

Technorati Tags: eastern state penitentiary, fear, ghost, ghost adventures, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, most haunted, pennsylvania, philadelphia, prison, supernatural, thoughts

Categories: Photo of the Week Tags: eastern state penitentiary, fear, ghost, ghost adventures, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, most haunted, pennsylvania, philadelphia, prison, supernatural, thoughts

Photo of the Week: Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA

July 29th, 2012 Jason Stroming No comments

Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eastern State Penitentiary is perhaps one of the most famous haunted locations in the country. The prison opened in 1829 and closed its doors as a prison in 1971. During that time, the prison was home to thousands of criminals, with the most notorious among them being bank robber Willie Sutton and the infamous gangster Al Capone. These days, the prison is best known for supposedly being haunted, a fact that has been popularized by TV shows such as MTV’s Fear, Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures. Every Halloween season, Eastern State Penitentiary runs its annual “Terror Behind the Walls” event, where patrons can take a tour of the “haunted prison.” The prison is also a popular, if not the most popular, place for paranormal investigators to investigate. Some skeptics claim that the paranormal activity and ghost stories reported at Eastern State Penitentiary are a result of the TV shows and haunted tours, but records show that inmates and prison officials were reporting supernatural phenomena since the 1940s.

You can see more of Laura’s work at Pennace Photography (www.pennacephotography.com)

Technorati Tags: eastern state penitentiary, fear, ghost, ghost adventures, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, media, mtv's fear, News, paranormal, pennsylvania, people, philadelphia, picture, supernatural, thoughts

Categories: Photo of the Week Tags: eastern state penitentiary, fear, ghost, ghost adventures, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, media, mtv's fear, News, paranormal, pennsylvania, people, philadelphia, picture, supernatural, thoughts

Photo of the Week: The Southern Mansion

July 15th, 2012 Jason Stroming No comments

This week’s photo is of the Southern Mansion, in Cape May, New Jersey. Built in 1863 by Philadelphia industrialist George Allen, the house today is reported to be haunted by Allen’s last relative to live in the mansion, Ester Mercur. The house stood in disrepair until 1994, when the Bray/Wildes bought it and restored it to its current state. The apparition of Ester Mercur is still reportedly seen in the home, mainly in the kitchen area, and people report smelling her perfume and hearing her laughing. The mansion has of course been featured on a variety of paranormal television shows like Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted. This photo was taken by our own Laura Pennace of Pennace Photography back in 2010, when we went down to have our own guided tour of Cape May’s haunted hot spots by our resident expert on Cape May, Shannon Baker.

You can see more of Laura’s work at Pennace Photography (www.pennacephotography.com)

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Categories: Photo of the Week Tags: bagel bin, bed and breakfast, cape may, ester mercur, ghost, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunted, haunted house, haunted houses, haunting, media, new jersey, paranormal, philadelphia, southern mansion, supernatural, syfy, taps, thoughts, tv show

Dark Matters: Twisted But True

September 7th, 2011 Jason Stroming No comments

Ok, it’s shameless self-promotion time again. A few months back, I filmed a number of segments for the new Science Channel show called Dark Matters: Twisted But True. The show details cases in history where scientific research perhaps went too far and led down some dark roads. Some of the stories have a paranormal twist to them, and those are the stories I was interviewed for. The show is now airing, with new episodes every Wednesday night at 10pm ET. This week, you can catch the premiere episode at 8pm, which deals with the Philadelphia Experiment, Stalin’s Ape-Man Army and the invention of the electric chair. I’m featured on the first two segments.

Examine what happens when scientific research goes too far, with the world premiere of Dark Matters: Twisted But True. This series takes viewers inside the laboratory to profile strange science and expose some of history’s most bizarre experiments. Hosted by noted science fiction actor John Noble (Fringe, Lord of the Rings), Dark Matters: Twisted But Truedelves into the most unusual research ever conducted, including attempts to crossbreed humans and apes, actual zombie investigations and head transplantation studies. Cutting-edge CGI recreations enable viewers to witness the pivotal moments when brilliant minds face controversy or ethical crossroads on the fringes of science.

“The stories we share in Dark Matters: Twisted But True are as outlandish as a great sci-fi script or as disturbing as a classic horror tale — the only difference is that they’re all true,” said Noble. “The series offers a glimpse into the dark side of science, as well as human nature.”

“Dark Matters: Twisted But Trueoffers a fascinating insight into moments of scientific history where individuals went to extreme measures to achieve a breakthrough. It’s impossible to turn away from these true stories that you always assumed were just outlandish urban legends,” said Debbie Adler Myers, general manager and executive vice president of SCIENCE. “This is real science — just the dark side of it, featuring brilliant minds who eventually took a dramatic turn. John Noble is the perfect tour guide to escort viewers through this bizarre world of research gone horribly wrong, but that in some cases, actually led to technology and science that we use today.”

The series premiere features the shocking story of Soviet scientist Dr. Ilya Ivanov, who in the 1920s attempted to start his own “planet of the apes.” In an attempt to build an invincible army, Ivanov tried to crossbreed humans with apes to create a race of supersoldiers. Viewers also will be introduced to Morris Jessup, a self-identified UFO expert who attempted to expose what he believed to be a military cover-up involving experiments with invisibility. Finally, unorthodox studies by America’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison, result in a dark and unintended invention which remains infamous today.

Also, I have to thank the online magazine Pop Matters for mentioning me in their review of the show.

The show tells this story with breathless enthusiasm, even when it’s revealed to be barely true. (Albert Einstein was a real person.) Along the way, a physicist and a neuroscientist appear; the former testifies that yes, bending light around an object would render it invisible, the latter explains that directed electromagnetic radiation can affect the brain. Neither, obviously, endorses the story, well known in paranormal circles as “The Philadelphia Experiment.”

Instead, Jason Stroming, founder of the New York Paranormal Society, picks up the tale. It’s compelling, with government intrigue, time travel, patriotic sailors made mad by science, and Jessup’s “apparent suicide.” And it’s not so prosaic as one researcher’s hypothesis, that the whole saga grew out of confusion and confabulation about degaussing, an electromagnetic application that made Allied ships “invisible” to mines.

There will be six episodes in all, with the original premiere and a new episode airing tonight, and then more new episodes airing over the next four weeks. Please tune in, and you’ll get to see me talk instead of write for a change!