Scary Question Number 13:

Does watching paranormal shows on TV invite that stuff into your home?

July 16th, 2010
I love to watch shows such as Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State. My family insists that you are inviting that kinda stuff into your home just from watching. What do you think?

Oh I wish this was how it worked, because I often watch the MegaMillions drawing, and that would really come in handy for paying off the student loans. And all those episodes of Top Chef would either turn me into a decent cook or there would just be delicious gourmet food waiting for me when I open the oven. I could watch the fitTV channel and never worry about my figure or cardiovascular health again.

Source: http://science-mathematics.hanep.org/2010/07/does-watching-paranormal-shows-on-tv-invite-that-stuff-into-your-home/

Scary Question Number 14:

Am I possessed after watching Paranormal Activity?

After watching the film “Paranormal Activity” I have had quite a few intense nightmares. I never used to have nightmares until after watching th film for a second time. The first nightmare I was in this room where the walls were made of human skin and I was talking to two men who had bowl hair cuts and were extremely pale with black eyes. They told me that if I said “suicide” within 10 minutes I would have to stay there forever. I managed not to say it and when I woke up I couldnt move my body for a shorrt while and my legs just started to rise from the bed. I found this terrifing and quite disturbing. The second dream I woke from my bed in the dream and my mother was calling me. I went into her and she was lying on the ground face down with her head twisted to the side and she kept saying help me. When I touched her her eyes changed to cat like yellow eyes and her appearnce changed also to a more menacing face and she bit me. I have had more dreams like this one involving other family members and friends and their faces change to the same form to that which my mothers changed and they always bite me.

Does anyone else suffer from dreams like this? What could it be?

I dont listen to rock music or devil worship. Im not a depressed type person and i find this very weird. Can anyone help me please?

I often joke that I think television is magic, because although I technically know the processes by which images are transmitted to appear on a screen in my home, I am somehow still totally amazed that this works and that anyone ever figured it out. As my high school Physics teacher said, “I don’t think Physics is Julie’s best subject, but she tries really hard.” That said, I do understand that television transmission is NOT MAGIC and therefore the programs I watch cannot make things happen in my house or to me. Well, sometimes the commercials seem to make me order a pizza, and sometimes I stay up too late watching a movie and then suffer the next day from lack of sleep, but these things are my voluntary reactions to watching the programs, not the programs actually DOING anything to me against my will.

Nor have I ever interpreted having some scary dreams, especially after watching a scary movie, as me being possessed. Which isn’t to say that the occasional creepy as hell dream hasn’t made me need to go watch cartoons for an hour or so until the trauma of the dream has passed, but a bad dream is just a bad dream. Has this guy seriously never had a nightmare before? Did his parents never comfort him when he had a bad dream as a child? What did they do, tell him it was the work of satan’s minions? Dude, the world isn’t only made up of unicorns and lollipops, so you had better learn not to freak out when your brain copes with some of the nastier stuff by providing you with a nightmare. And stick to the G-rated stuff from now on.

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100709163434AAeLwt4

Scary Question Number 15:

can witch turn herself in vampire by some balck magic spells or ritual?

If you are planning to write some sort of new insufferable paranormal series aimed at teens based on some sort of witch-vampire hybrid situation, please don’t, especially if you are so uninformed of general folklore about vampires and witches that you will ask this kind of question.

Source: http://mysticbanana.com/can-witch-turn-herself-in-vampire-by-some-balck-magic-spells-or-ritual.html

Have you seen a scary question? Let us know!

- Julie

Scary Question Number 8:

What type of person do demons usually go after?

If you have to post this question on a message board, you clearly haven’t been watching enough monster movies and tv shows. You could just about trip over one in your living room these days, so it’s not that hard. I do wonder if this person is asking this question in order to find out how to attract or to ward off demons. Maybe they just want to know if they go after people with blue eyes who enjoy long walks on the beach.

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100530101329AATsybb

Scary Question Number 9:

Q: Have you ever personally experienced something clearly supernatural or preternatural?

A: I once had a panic attack and thought I was possessed. Turns out I just can’t take pseudaphedrine, which is what they use from cold medicine to make meth, and can have quite the effect on the nervous system! But that’s the closest I’ve ever come to anything “paranormal.”

I think this may be my favorite question yet. I accidentally took a double dose of pseudoephedrine once, and it sure as hell didn’t feel like anything supernatural. I had a lot of energy, but I didn’t feel like I could lift a truck off of anyone, so it’s a good thing I didn’t need to. My house sure got clean. How anyone could think feeling jittery and kind of ill while unable to sit still could be possession beats me. That would be one lame-ass demon. Maybe its sister would make her possessed people temporarily feel socially awkward and bad at math.

Maybe I’m just not very creative for thinking “perhaps these are side effects of that new medication I just took” instead of “oh my God, surely I am possessed!” whenever I feel a little strange after taking pills.

Source: http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=105995

Scary Question Number 10:

What is a spell to turn yourself into a witch?

Really? If that was how it worked, how exactly would that work? Wouldn’t you have to be a witch to know and be able to perform spells?

I’ve never even heard of spells to turn anyone into a witch. A toad, yes. Or even a hoagie.

Maybe this is like trying to use Cliff’s Notes for a thesis, or buying a term paper off of the internet (and shame on those of you who do that, by the way)? A shortcut to becoming a witch to avoid the pesky birthright requirement or actual study and practice?

Also, if you ask questions this silly, and are in to loopholes and shortcuts, good luck ever having the sense to practice effective witchery. Might want to check the status of your homeowner’s insurance . . .

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100624163432AAoxQpa

Have you seen any questions about the supernatural that made you cringe or slap your forehead? Please send them in for mockery and snarkiness!

- Julie

The Cincinnati Insurance Company has denied a claim by City Church for All Nations / Cherry Hill Church Ministries and several associated people because it says its liability policy won’t cover injuries sustained during an exorcism of a boy with autism.

A volunteer worker at the church, Edward Uyesugi, told another parishioner he could cure her son’s autism by casting demons out of the boy’s body. What happened next sounds like Uyesugi offered to put the boy in a cast rather than cast something out of him. Uyesugi pounded on the boy’s chest, put his hand down the boy’s throat to pull out a demon (causing the child to vomit blood), and hit the boy in the face. Uyesugi was convicted of felony battery and criminal confinement over the incident. The church and the boy’s family sought to have the insurance company pay for any damages they might be awarded against Uyesugi.

Interestingly, the company says the policy doesn’t cover the injuries not because it doesn’t cover damage from exorcisms, but because Uyesugi was not acting as a representative of or within the scope of his volunteer employment by the church during the exorcism.

The policy does exclude injury “due to the rendering or failure to render any professional services,” so one can infer that the policy won’t cover injuries sustained during an exorcism or injuries caused by refusal to perform one.

So, if you want to be involved in an exorcism, you should probably assume that you are doing so at your own risk, both physically and financially. I guess that’s why the people on the paranormal TV shows stick to some pretty gentle exorcism rituals like smudging or calmly and sternly reading prayers or telling spirits or demons to leave. No beatings, no waterboarding, no restraints. It’s not that they’re afraid of the spirits, it’s that they’re afraid of litigation.

- Julie

Sources:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/07/27852.htm
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/07/Exorcism.pdf

Witnesses said the creature changed colors and was shaped like a doll. It seemed to become annoyed and would move away or wave and shake its head when they shined their flashlights on it. Of course, no one was able to take a good picture of the thing.

Really? It was there for HOURS and no one could get a decent picture of it? Sure, I can see where phone cameras might not have been that great. I can take a picture of my brother dressed in a suit and tie with mine and it will look like I might have finally gotten photographic evidence of bigfoot, and my concert photos look like an alien invasion is upon us, but come on, people. No one had time to run home and get a real camera or go into a convenience store and buy a disposable Kodak?

Oh wait, I get it, the very fact that people tried to get photos on their phones and couldn’t get any good ones must be proof that it’s such a mysterious and otherworldly creature that it can’t be caught on our primitive imagining equipment.

How about at least producing a sketch based on witness descriptions, then?  A crude crayon depiction on a cocktail napkin perhaps? Nope. We don’t even get to see the “bad” phone photos. Maybe the reporter left out the part where the “imp” threw wads of cash down to the witnesses to bribe them into not producing any depictions of it. Or maybe it threatened to come back and eat their children. Whatever. Serious points off for lack of visual aids, folks.

- Julie

Source: http://www.larepublica.com.uy/comunidad/413058-extrana-aparicion-conmociona-a-palmira

Jarrod Wyatt, a 26-year-old cage fighter, drank some wild mushroom tea with friends in Crescent City, California, and brutally killed his trainer several hours later. Wyatt became agitated and said he was convinced his trainer was possessed by the devil and that the only way to stop it was to kill and mutilate him.

You know what, I’m not going to elaborate on the gory stuff. That’s not the kind of thing I want on this site. It’s weird all right, but too far down the gratuitously horrifying and disgusting road. There’s enough weird about this story without it. If you really want to know the details, follow the links below, but you’ve been warned and you will probably wish you hadn’t.

Wyatt was arrested and charged with first degree murder and torture. He is planning to claim that the mushrooms caused him to lose control of his thoughts and actions. Well, it’s either that or the guy really believed his trainer was possessed and that he had to kill him. Either way, he’s going away somewhere for a very long time.

Bad acid may have caused a man in Arcata, California, to mutilate himself a couple of weeks earlier because he thought parts of his body were monsters.

Rule Number One for dealing with possible possessions or monster body parts: don’t take questionable drugs in the first place. Rule Number Two: don’t try to handle that stuff yourself. Call the cops, a priest, or an ambulance. Whatever the cause, you need professional help.

-Julie

Sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282647/US-cage-fighter-Jarrod-Wyatt-rips-training-partner-Taylor-Powells-heart.html#ixzz0q27DKNkS
http://sfist.com/2010/06/02/are_mushrooms_to_blame_for_the_viol.php
http://sfist.com/2010/05/26/stay_away_from_the_brown_acid_in_hu.php

Why is it that when regular Joes fight about religion it’s usually over pretty quickly with limited injury, but when leaders of churches and countries do it, it can result in something like the Hundred Years War and decimating body counts? Budgetary differences? The inefficiency of bureaucracy?

- Julie

Sources:
http://www.kmox.com/pages/7378166.php?imageGalleryXRefId=1880002#imgXR
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=79976&catid=155
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/offbeat/discussion-about-religion-ends.html
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/4650C5DDE99B21278625773700096F0B?OpenDocument

Parishioners freaked out and decided Andel was possessed by a demon. Andel’s mother insists he had a seizure as a result of a medical problem. Police called to the scene noticed the smell of alcohol on Andel.

Andel was found guilty of disorderly conduct after entering a no contest plea.

Sounds like he was possessed by spirits, perhaps, just not the kind his parishioners meant.

- Julie

Source:
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2010/05/21/man-accused-of-demonic-outburst-at-church-sentenced/

Most of Father May’s exorcisms have been performed on houses, with only four or five done on people. Father May has also been busy hosting a radio show about ghosts.

Other Anglican religious leaders in the area agree that demand for exorcism or similar services has been on the rise, but they emphasize that the rituals are reserved until psychological guidance has failed to produce sufficient results.

Some problems with exorcism have turned up. A Catholic priest laid a disabled girl on the church’s altar, spoke in “gibberish,” then ordered the girl to walk. When she failed to get up, the priest left her on the altar crying and howling and proceeded to continue with the regular service. The congregation was freaked out by the priest’s behavior, and the Catholic Church’s representatives said that exorcism was legitimate, but that the priest’s actions did not conform with standard exorcism practice and has been attributed to a “mental condition.”

Also, eight men, including a police officer, were charged recently in connection with an alleged exorcism performed at a camp for youth in South Australia in April 2009.

There may or may not be an increased need for exorcism in Australia, but there is clearly a need for some of the people attempting to perform the ritual to have an intervention with regard to their own mental state. Perhaps Father May could help.

- Julie

Sources:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/7181952/exorcist-in-demand-as-occult-wakes/
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/7166053/priest-conducts-bizarre-faith-healing/
http://padreplod.blogspot.com/
http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2009/12/father-barry-may-padre-plod.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/15/2793372.htm

The article doesn’t mention the time frame of reference being used, but it does state that the increase in population could be the reason for the rise in reporting. I would also guess that better recordkeeping could be at work.

The information comes from a report, “Demonic Britain,” which was compiled for a DVD release of the CW network television show, Supernatural.

- Julie

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7631387/Ghost-sightings-highest-in-25-years.html