Spooky Images to Spark the Imagination

As a horror lover, I'm fascinated by the idea of ghosts coexisting with us. The shadow I just caught moving on my peripheral vision, was it my imagination? A ghost maybe? That unnatural sound that echoed through the house at midnight, the dog barking when no one's around... During my teenage years my answer to every one of those questions would've been a ghost.

These days my desire to experience a paranormal event is nonexistent, but my interest in them hasn't decreased. Videos and pictures hold a special place in my heart. A few hours of indulging can leave me hiding under my bed in fetal position. But I'm no fool, I know some of those--too many--are fakes. A few times, though, the evidence shines with the possibility of truth.

I've visited several reputedly haunted places, only once in the company of ghost hunters, yet I have never managed to capture a ghostly image, nor I have been there when someone else does. Maybe someday I will. I hope not. For a horror writer, I'm quite a scaredy-cat.

Here I share with you my favorite pictures, the ones that gave me shivers; maybe tonight I'll have nightmares. No big monsters here, nor blood or gore. It is subtlety that makes these pics so unnerving.

This is a picture of a burning building. The girl you see there supposedly died in it. 

I don't really know the story behind this, but it is the image I'll remember the next time I go camping. *shivers*

A car accident on the Philippines where several people died. This picture was reputedly taken by one of the witnesses and only later the 'thing' under the bridge was discovered. A demon?

This one doesn't need a backstory. It's freaky as hell no matter what.

And this is why I won't get into a coffin until I actually need one.

So, what do you think? If you have a ghostly experience of your own or a pic that has troubled you some, please share. In the meantime, have sweet dreams!

And then there was G.

First I want to wish you all a happy Easter. May the Easter Bunny bring you many eggs full of candies and new publications. =)

Here are the selections for the day.

Movie.

Grave Encounters (2011)
Directed by The Vicious Brothers


Plot: Lance Preston and the crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night and begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize the building is more than just haunted - it is alive - and it has no intention of ever letting them leave. They find themselves lost in a labyrinth maze of endless hallways and corridors, terrorized by the ghosts of the former patients. They soon begin to question their sanity, slipping deeper and deeper into the depths of madness, ultimately discovering the truth behind the hospital's dark past...and taping what turns out to be their final episode.

Review: HOLY COW. This movie knocked my socks off. Another found footage film, and in the best Blair Witch style, the movie is claustrophobic and atmospheric. A perfect selection for a stormy dark night. If you like shows like Ghost Hunters, My Ghost Story, of Ghost Adventures, this will make your blood run cold.

Book.

Ghost Stories by MR James.
Published by Penguin in 1931.

Blurb: M. R. James is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal gothic trappings of his predecessors, and replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.
According to James, a story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself: 'If I'm not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'"


Review: MR James is not very famous in America, however he was quite a figure of his times. He was an English medieval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), as well as of Eton College (1918–1936). Beyond his social stature and fame at the time, the reason why he is mostly remembered these days is his ghost stories, regarded as among the best in the genre. James redefined the ghost story by abandoning the formal Gothic clichés of the time and using more realistic settings. His endurance would surely come as a surprise to him but the fact that he can still scare you from your iPad is prove that he is one of the best.


Thanks for commenting! I'll visit you all soon.

Pedro Paramo, A Review

Note: This Review is part of the contest 2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge. For details or more reviews, please visit Sweetmarie Spooktacular October Reading

This is a very unusual selection to review for an anglo reading/reviewing contest, I get it, but I think this is a master of Literature and deserves a space in any paranormal to-read list.

First I read it for school when I was some sixteen years old and I remembered I liked it very much but all details had been washed away by the many , and believe when I say MANY, years that have passed since. I decided to re-read it since this time around I have a better appreciation for fine writing and good stories and this one for a change, lived up to my young impressionable memories.

It is the story of Juan Preciado, who at his mother's deathbed promises to go back to his old town, Comala, to meet his father Pedro Paramo. He then goes back, though it's suggested he didn't intend to at first, but ominous visions of his mother convince him otherwise. The narrative is fragmented and very confusing at times and intentionally so, as the author is knitting a web to capture the reader and we don't really know how much of what's happening is real, even though we think we know, until the very end.

Think about James' Last Turn of the Screw; Pedro Paramo has the same feeling where you are certain something's not going quite right but there's no way to be sure if it's all a figment of the imagination. The story is interspersed with fragments of dialogs and occurrences from Paramo's life, who lived in a time when the little town was booming, instead of the ghost town it has become. Juan talks to many of his old acquaintances but one after the other, they all seem to have an ethereal sense to them; like if they were dead. The second half of the story happens in the time of Pedro Paramo and the narrative is more lively.

The whole story is told by two contrasting points of view, the one where everything is active and in bloom, and the other where everything seems unchanged, ghostly, and quiet. I don't want to give up too much but this book has it all, romance, mystery vengeance, death, love, hate...

It is a prime example of Magic Realism that mixes everyday elements with unreal ghostly situations so masterfully, that we are swept from our feet and feel like the whole life of Pedro Paramo is flying pass in front of us. Don't miss this great example of classic latin-american literature at its best.