BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS »

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ghosts in Stores and Malls


It is that time of year where the stores and malls will be crowded with people trying to get their Christmas shopping done. They come armed with lists, ads, credit and debit cards and cash, ready to find a bargain for that special person in their lives. The employees work hard to make sure that the stores run efficient. They stay late after the stores close to stock the shelves getting ready for the next day. In some of these stores an unseen force might be feeling frisky and undo all their work.

Some department stores employees and security have reported seeing apparitions, hearing footsteps and voices while the stores where close and all the shoppers were gone. Most of the reports were in stores that have been around for many years with a long history of many souls coming and going through the doors.

A Foley’s Department Store in Houston under construction has had several reports of apparitions and other unusual things happening while the store was closed for the day. There was one time were a temp worker was in the employee restroom late one night. This restroom used to be the customer’s before construction. While at the sink, she heard the door open and a woman come in. This woman was carrying two big shopping bags full of old fashion looking toys. The lady’s outfit looked out of place for the time, almost like 40’s clothing. She thought the lady was lost and wasn’t supposed to be there. The lady asked her to watch her bags while she went in one of the stalls. Right when the lady shut the stall door, another employee came in. She told her that the lady was not supposed to be there and needed to leave. She walked over to the stall and called out to the woman. She didn’t hear an answer and called out again. She peeked under the stall door and saw no feet and realized that the lady was gone. Both of the girls turned to look at the place where the packages were supposed to be, and they were gone too. Was this old woman a customer from long ago that is still shopping at Foley’s?

There is antique store in Bisbee that has a playful ghost. While I was visiting there the owners loved telling us about their ghost. This ghost does its pranks in the basement of the store. They have dolls that are set up in a particular way and place. In the morning these dolls have moved. This has happened on many occasions. They say that other things have been moved over night while the store was locked up tight.

One of the most famous stories about a ghost haunting a store is the famous Toys R Us Ghost in Sunnydale, CA. The employees named their ghost Johnson. They feel that is was a man, murdered in the orchard in which the Toys R Us was built on. This Toys R Us had many stories of things being pushed off the shelves and walls, and objects moving on their own. None of those people felt like they were in any danger, just scared by things suddenly moving. Apparently Johnson likes to play practical jokes.


The Sunnydale Toys R Us is not the only one that has reported unseen forces moving objects. Mike and both of my kids, worked at the Toys R Us in Phoenix. They have many stories about strange things that have happened to them. Click here to read Mike’s blog about his experience. Also just recently, Mike had ghostly experiences at the Buy Buy Baby store he was working at. Hopefully, he will either blog about it or write about his experience in a comment.

Stores are not the only places that ghosts seem to be hanging around. They like the malls too. Security and employees staying late have reported hearing unseen footsteps, disembodied voices and seeing apparitions in various places throughout the mall. In Chile the security camera caught what looks like a child apparition running across a mall. Some believe it to be true and others think it is a hoax. Watch the video and judge for yourself.



Where ever you choose to shop this holiday season, be safe and watch out for the unseen shoppers.

~Julie~

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Giving Thanks


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving from Mike and Julie.
I want to take this moment to send congrats to Mike for losing over 50 pounds so far.
I hasn't been easy but he is sticking with it until he reaches his goal.

Before

After (so far)
Have an Above the Norm turkey day everyone!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Those Scary Little Christmas Characters

I just love this time of year.  The weather in Phoenix is fantastic and the smell of fireplaces burning is in the air.  The holiday season is in full bloom, with lights going up on the houses, people in the stores shopping for family and friends and many fun holiday events are going on all over the place.  Getting together with family, some you might not have seen in months or years is the best.  Then there are those holiday specials with their cute little characters that you just love.   You watch these movies over and over like many of the other holiday traditions you might have.  But amongst the cute little characters are those scary, creepy characters that frightened you when you was a little kid.  Here are just some of them:


The Nightmare Before Christmas


The Grinch


Scrooge


Abominable Snowman - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer


Snow Miser and Heat Miser - The Year Without a Santa Claus


Burgeomeister and

Winter Warlock - Santa Claus is Coming to Town


Uncle Frank - Home Alone

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Paranormal State: A Complete Circus?



We were sent a very interesting article about Mark Johnson's (New Jersey Paranormal Research) experience with the crew of Paranormal State. The treatment and lack of respect for his clients disgusted him and prompted him to make a statement about it.

The show that featured his clients was on last season and titled "Desperate Households". Basically, Mark was contacted by the show looking for new cases. His clients were not sure if they wanted to do the show at first, but warmed up to the idea later. What happened after the Paranormal State team got to their house was nothing but a big disappointment and disaster.
 Click here to read the entire article and let us know what you think.

**Note: We don't know if this article is true or not but it does raise the question about the legitimacy of these ghost huntings shows. It's not so much about the evidence being faked but the shear professionalism of the ghost hunting team.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Road



"The Road follows the premise from the book of the same name. An unnamed father (Mortensen) and his young son (Smit-McPhee) struggle to survive after an unspecified apocalypse and make their way toward the coast for possible food, shelter, safety, or to potentially find other survivors of the cataclysmic events. Along the way, they encounter grave struggles and hardships across the barren landscapes, with scarce shelter and resources available to them, and having to avoid bands of cannibals and other desperate gangs looking to pillage valuables and food. Various flashback sequences occur where the Man remembers events prior to the catastrophe, many involving his deceased wife, who has a much more expanded role in the film than in the original book."
To be released in theaters on Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ghost Hunters vs. Paranormal Activity

So I wanted to post a quick blog about something. Ghost Hunters has been one of my favorite shows for years now. I used to be so excited when it came on and couldn't wait to watch it. In the past two seasons I'm finding myself less and less excited about watching the show. Is it just me, or does something seem off about the TAPS crew lately? For me, it doesn't feel "real" anymore. Everything is becoming more and more "scripted" and a lot of it seems staged these days. Just observe their behavior now compared to the first few seasons...you'll see what I mean. They seem to be doing less debunking and more "catching". They seem to be believing in more these days rather than going in as skeptics. Either they simply just don't care anymore and they are tired of it all...or they were bought off by syfy to make the show more interesting these days.

The film release of "Paranormal Activity" was a huge success. The film has this incredible realism to it, almost a freaky realism. You have to see the movie to truly understand. But all of the "ghostly" things look like authentic like it was actually happening. Here's the thing though, the movie is clearly a fictional story. The movie was made for a measly $11,000. They used one single camera and actors who had virtually no experience. My point is with all this, they came off as more credible than TAPS has recently. That's sad, because the movie...is jut a movie. They were able to fake ghostly evidence. They pulled it off so well that you almost think it IS real.

Am I saying I don't believe in ghosts anymore? No of course not, I still believe. But I've become more skeptical over the past few months. I don't instantly believe anything I see on TV in regards to the paranormal. We can all be duped so easily with fancy camera tricks and good acting. Is Ghost Hunters fake now? I have no idea, but I'm leaning more towards the fact that it just might be. Not ALL of it...but I think a lot of it is now. But I will still watch the show...because it is still entertaining to me.

Watch this clip below from Paranormal Activity and just see how easy it is to fake doors opening and closing.



Again, I'm still a believer, I'm just going into it all now with less naive eyes. This is just my silly observations. Hehe.

--Mike-=-

A Ghost at Stonehenge?

Here is a video I came across and thought it was interesting. Real or not?