Ghosts World Wide

Those who have watched “Super Sapiens” (a.k.a. “Hellboy”) will know about the shady FBI Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence. Their purpose: “There are things that go bump in the night - we are the ones who bump back.” If that’s too “Monsters, Inc.” for your taste, there’s a book by Roy Harley Lewisthat might interest you.

And yes, Hellboy’s nemesis Grigori Rasputin does make an appearance, even if he doesn’t dwell in the dark arts that so perked Adolph Hitler’s moustache.Roy Harley Lewis aims to please. He gives a comprehensive and fascinating guide to the supernatural world. This is as A-Z as it gets, what with everything from the afterlife to witchdoctors being highlighted. I wantedzombies too, but then was appeased by all the ectoplasm thrown my way. It helps that this book is peppered with actual photographs of those pesky spirits. The fun is in reading of how people gave life to the phantoms and poltergeists. Unmasking the hoaxes must have been a real treat. Read FullArticle

This historic East Coast city has long been a favorite of ghost hunters.Recently, The Travel Channel sent a crew to film an episode for its Haunted Hotels series. The team of six spent the first five days of their visit at the Casablanca Inn, which has a ghost of its own.The bed-and-breakfast, overlooking the bay just north of the Bridge of the Lions, is a 1914Mediterranean Revival home surrounded by porches.

In the 1920s and '30s, when rumrunners traveled the coast with bootleg liquor, the Casablanca was a boardinghouse run by a widow. The bootleggers, who would spend a few days at a time at her house, sold liquor to guests and locals.Once revenuers got wind of the operation, they began investigating. The widow was questioned, but kept quiet. She worked out a plan to warn rumrunners when governmentofficials were in town. She would go to the widow's walk on top of the house and wave her lantern back and forth.The widow died long ago, and her lantern has disappeared, but shrimpers and fisherman still report seeing a swinging light at the top of the Casablanca. They believe it to be the widow's ghost. Read FullArticle

A Family got the fright of their lives when they stumbled on what they believe was a malevolent ghost in Lincoln Castle. Richard Hart (43) and his partner Angela Allen (40) were taking their two children up the observatory tower's stone stairs when they both experienced a chilling feeling.Mr Hart used his digital camera totake some snaps shots.

When he got home and downloaded the pictures he found a ghostly image on one of the shots.Mr Hart, an engineer from Birchwood, said: "It was Good Friday and we thought we'd take the children out."They wanted to go up the tower so we started to follow them up."All of a sudden, my partner started feeling really edgy and said she couldn't go up any further."I followed thechildren and although it was quite a warm day, I started to feel cold." He said that the further he went up the colder it got."When we went back down there were some people looking after Angela and thinking she had suffered a funny turn," he said.Read FullArticle

A headless man in a fine blue officer's uniform floats above the Fort Meadow Reservoir day and night, but his ghost is seen only by women. "The Blue Man," as he is known, is so crisp that the weave of his coat and the gold on his buttons are clearly visible, said ghost hunter and story teller Nancy McMillan. Another ghost, who some recognize as a former Marlborough mayor, peers up at those on the Fort Meadow Reservoir docks. "It looks like he's peering up at you from under a sheet of ice," said McMillan, who will lead a free discussion of "Historical Ghosts of New England" on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.in the First Federated Church Hall at 200 Central St.

The event is being hosted by the Hudson Historical Society. McMillan not only leads ghost tours and writes novels during her spare time, she also heads her own ghost detective agency called "In Spirit." It investigates supposed paranormal activity free of charge. "I don't see dead people," McMillan said with a laugh. But her business partner does. McMillan investigates possible hauntings with a friend and silent partner who is "sensitive," a medium who can tap into spirit energy. McMillan said she approaches ghost hunting as a science to prove spooky phenomena have natural explanations, like power surges or loose floor boards. "I'm a skeptic," McMillan said from her home office on Lincoln Street. "I go in more to prove there isn't, rather than there is." Of the 20 or so hauntings "In Spirit" has investigated since its inception two years ago, only two or three were not explainable phenomena. One such haunting occurs at Stones Public House in Ashland, well known for its haunted happenings. McMillan said she and her partner recorded evidence of the ghost of a little girl there, capturing her in light images, and recording "Electronic Voice Phenomena" of the girl saying "I am not dead." McMillan said she would not discuss investigations at private homes and businesses, even if they turned out to beeasily. ...