by Editor
on November 9, 2014
“I See Dead People”: The Sixth Sense
No collection of classic ghost movies would be complete without The Sixth Sense, the 1999 supernatural thriller that catapulted M. Night Shyamaian into prominence as a director. The movie stars Bruce Willis as child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe and Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear, a boy with the ability to see the spirits of the dead. Crowe sets out to try to help Cole with his unusual problems, but by the end of the movie it becomes apparent that the boy has been helping his doctor at least as much as his doctor has been helping him. The boy also provides assistance to numerous other disembodied beings along the way.
Although the movie itself is not particularly chilling, the line, “I see dead people,” which Cole whispers to Crowe, became an instant classic in its own right and has remained in popular use ever since—often being employed in a humorous or ironic context, such as when people are driving past a cemetery. [continue reading…]
by Editor
on November 9, 2014
La Llorona—Latin America’s Most Famous “White Lady”—in la Plaza de Santa Catarina, Coyoacán, Mexico. Photo: Sandrajd01
What Is A White Lady?
White lady ghosts appear to people in cultures all over the world. White ladies are a type of traditional ghost—always female—that is invariably connected with a local legend of great personal misfortune. As the name suggests, they are almost always dressed in white.
Most stories that explain the appearance of white ladies involve romantic tragedies of one sort or another, with betrayals by a husband or lover being the most common, and the untimely death of a betrothed or other lover, or of the young woman and future white lady herself, running a close second.
White lady ghosts are almost exclusively rural manifestations, and they are known to haunt castles, houses, cemeteries, and even entire landscapes that are associated with the terrible loss they suffered in life. [continue reading…]
by Editor
on November 8, 2014
An English Ouija Board
It’s About How The Ouija Board Got A U.S. Patent
Of course there are thousands of strange tales concerning secrets, disclosures, and accurate predictions revealed during sessions with Ouija boards. But according to Ouija board historian Robert Murch, perhaps none has ever been stranger—or at least, more consequential—than an 1891 Ouija seance that took place at the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C.
In an interview with Smithsonian, Murch said that shortly after deciding to manufacture Ouija boards in the early 1890s, the game’s original investors found themselves in something of a bind. In order to stave off competition from Ouija board imitators, their company badly needed a U.S. patent on the product. However, in order to qualify for a patent, a “device” needed to be proven to work . . . and proving that Ouija “worked” in any practical sense seemed impossibly problematic. [continue reading…]
by Editor
on November 8, 2014
Harry Houdini Converses With The Ghost Of Abraham Lincoln In This Photo From The 1920s
Are There Ghosts In The White House?
The ghost of Abraham Lincoln haunts the bedrooms and hallways of the White House. And many reports of Lincoln’s ghost come to us not from a bunch of crackpots who have never set foot in the place, but from otherwise credible sources that include at least two other presidents, a first lady, and a member of European royalty.
In 1942, Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands reported that one night while she was sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom as a guest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she was awakened by a knock at the door. When she opened the door, she was startled to the point of fainting by the sight of Lincoln standing before her in a frock coat.
Roosevelt himself told people that he sensed Lincoln’s spirit in the White House, and so did his cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt. First Lady Grace Coolidge, who lived in the White House from 1923 to 1929, said she she once saw Lincoln standing at a window and looking out at the Potomac River. President Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Maureen Reagan, also reported sighting a “figure” that may have been Lincoln’s. President Harry Truman reported getting up at night on several occasions in order to answer mysterious knocks on his bedroom door—though he never caught anyone, including Lincoln’s ghost, in the act. [continue reading…]
