To me, one of the creepiest places to do a paranormal investigation would be in a wax museum. Having all those truly realistic wax figures staring at you, is creepy enough during the day, but at night with the lights off, yikes. I have been to Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas and always had the feeling that I was being watched by the eerie eyes of the wax figures, especially in the Chamber of Horrors. You are just waiting for one of those wax figures to come alive and grab you. There are several Madame Tussauds Wax Museums throughout the world such as Hollywood, New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and London, England. Even though all the museums have had reports of ghostly activity, I will focus on the original place in London.Filled with the famous living and a number of ghosts, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is definitely the place to visit. The place has a long and diverse history and saw its beginning in France, in the 1700's. Marie Tussaud learned her wax modeling arts from Dr. Philippe Curtius, a physician and skilled wax modeler for whom her mother was housekeeper. Upon his death, Marie inherited his vast collection of wax models and by 1836 the first home of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was established. The chamber of horrors became the first and most popular attraction. Despite success, Marie Tussaud was viewed by many for being unhappy and a penny pincher. She died in 1850 but her legacy lived on by her sons. The business continued to prosper and by 1884 her grandsons have moved it to its current location, the building they erected on Marylebone Road. The stories of paranormal occurrences that cling to the attractions and its many exhibits are why many paranormal teams, even Most Haunted, come to investigate this place. When the last visitors leave for the night, the Regents Park area is said to come alive with paranormal activity. Ghostly figures appear from the shadows and are known to intimidate anyone that gets in their way. Although the reports go back decades, no one knows who or why they remain in that area. A cinema once stood on the site of Tussauds before WWII, but was destroyed during the blitz on September of 1940. One of the areas once stood a planetarium before converting into what is now known as the Star Dome. A particularly nasty entity has made its home there and is seen dressed in 1930's style clothing, with its attacks being a terrifying one. When this tall, dark and threatening spirit is seen, he seems to freeze people with unequivocal fear. The most terrifying attraction area is the Chamber of Horrors and in the 1800's people were offered money to spend the night down there. The spirit of an 18th century raggedy dressed man is said to walk in that area and believed to be a highway man. The story goes that he either stayed in that area or may have been killed there over 300 years ago. The spirit of a young boy has been also witnessed in that area and said to be filled with fear and dread about a war. Some supposed he was killed in a blitz and may not realize that he is dead. With the many apparitions, footsteps and sudden drop in temperature, Madame Tussauds of London is a very scary place indeed. Perhaps, there are many ghosts amongst the wax.
Fantastic post! I felt that way at Madam's too. It's probably up there with the sensations folks feel around ventriloquist dolls and baby dolls, anything that appears human and stares at you. Creepers! I think it's interesting that memorials like The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC which is not tied to the war itself (different location obviously) but represents the names of the dead, seems to me to be a very haunted feeling place. Can wax effigies and memorials perhaps attract the very souls they represent? If we build it, will they come? I think there may actually be something to that and it's part of a phenomenon I call "intention." Like a person who dies unexpectedly and fast might have had intentions for the rest of the day, the next day, the next week, and that forward energy might continue on after they're gone, it's entirely possible that intention when building lookalikes and memorials might create a similar phenomenon. Is it attracting the souls it represents or is it somehow gathering their energy in one place, sort of like a seance, I don't know. It also might just be that when we remember people these ways, we are haunted by their lives and feel as if they're there with us now. I'd love to see someone do more studies on idolatry such as that. Exciting discussion--thanks for launching it!
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ReplyDeleteI had to put another note. I wanted to share this with someone in the ghost hunting world from the blog-o-sphere. My 21-year-old son, Alex, on a whim sent in an application to Ghost Hunters College Edition. He just got a call from the casting director who wants a video of him. He told him he's a frontrunner for the positions. I'm so thrilled for him! He's absolutely going bonkers. I think he's worried it'll hurt his college career as he's going into his senior year, but what an opportunity! He's a tech specialist and a videographer, so he's an ideal person on the team. He's a skeptic, but he saw an amazing shadowperson that changed his life. He actually saw it with a friend and they still are in shock about the experience. His logical mind couldn't explain it. He goes around photographing abandoned places and has gone on studies with me, so he's pretty knowledgeable. Anyways, I'm thrilled for him. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Wow, that is so cool about your son. I hope he gets it. Please do keep us informed. It's funny that you mentioned the Vienam Veterans Memorial, it was one of the places we visited in 2005 and I thought of doing a blog about it. I saw it in the evening and you do get a sense that some of the souls lost might be hanging around. I do love your comments and the points you bring up in them. There is room for lots of discussion about idolatry and maybe someone will do a blog on it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's pretty cool. He's going to put together a video tomorrow to send the casting director. He wants to get a feel for Alex's personality and such. He's a handsome guy, intelligent, and charismatic, so I suspect he'd be a good choice. He also has a wicked sense of humor. I think he's really hoping to have a chance to hang with J&G and Steve too. Hee hee. I knew I'm not the only one who felt that way at the memorial. I've been to hundreds of memorials in my lifetime and honestly I knew no one in the Vietnam War, but I walked along that thing and I just felt gut punched and wanted to sit down and sob wildly. I actually had to get further back and get a breath and when I did, I thought I saw someone's hand touch a name on the wall--where no one was standing. It was kind of see-through and wistful. I suppose it's possible all those folks seeing that, touching it, and with so much of the population knowing Vietnam era victims, I would suppose that wall is touched a lot and memories may be retained in that black stone. It's probably much more of a "retention unit" when you think that these people have memories and visceral feelings about those who passed. We go to Lincoln Memorial and smile with pride, but we don't remember Lincoln, have no personal attachment to the man, so it's a different sensation. I suppose the Memorial wall is like concentration camps in Germany that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie: Did you see this. I get mad when people take other people's stories, post them verbatim and then don't credit the creator. You might try commenting on it for attention but more than likely you'll have to go to the website directly if even that's possible.
ReplyDeleteAbove the Norm: Are There Ghosts Amongst the Wax? At Hawaiimode weblogWhat's even worse is that they copy/pasted the comments along with the story. grrrr
Welp, scratch that - their comments are closed and there is no contact information for the website. You should contact Wordpress because they're only allowed to utilize 250 words and then link the balance to your Blogger.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff as always Mike and Julie-I think that this would indeed be a creepy experience-I had the chance to see Madame Tussauds in London and passed it up-I usually like the "being scared" feeling-but something about all those lifelike faces staring-huh-uh-no way!!! it would not surprise me at all if a spirit attached itself to a "copy" of it -very interesting-thanks for your hard work!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Atrueoriginall, I had no idea that someone did this. Humm, I will have check this out more closely. Sigh! I don't mind if someone takes the same subject and puts their own spin on it. I have seen that and it's usually written from their point of view. I wonder how many others they have done this to?
ReplyDeleteDevin, it's too bad you missed out on visiting the original place but I completely understand why. Although I loved seeing the likenesses, they still had a bit of creepiness to them.
Last week I visited Madame Tusaud Wax Museum in New York with my mother, sisters and three nieces. While walking thru the chamber of horror, and taking every event as a joke, suddenly I saw a ghost of a man walking toward me, I moved to one side to pass him by and he moved to the same side, so I moved to the other, moving my mother from side to side since I was holding her arm. I was laughing and screaming at the same time but always thinking it was a not true but a trick. Now the thing is that no one else in my family saw anything. Not even my mother that was grabbed to my arm. So, I came to the conclusion that it was a real ghost.....creepy, but I have no explanation... Barbara
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