Angels, Spirits or Ghosts by Rob Daniels

When it comes to the supernatural, few have not had a brush with eternity. Whether you attend church regularly or are the most determined doubter, the miraculous seeks out all at one point or another. Most of us have one or two fleeting incidents which we easily explain away, while an insistent few claim to have regular contact with members of the great beyond. Who are these beings who open the veil and remind us that we are not alone? Are they glorious messengers sent from God, or malevolent tormentors? Tradition gives them names, but what is the distinction between an angel, a spirit, and a ghost?

Stories of angels are as old as history. In virtually every world religion there is an angel figure-a benevolent celestial being who acts as an intermediary between heaven and earth. In scripture, angels visit man on earth to deliver messages. While many Christians believe that angels are the souls of good people who have passed on, official church doctrine generally describes angels as being created by God before the creation of humanity. Instead, saints are defined as virtuous people who have received their immortality. (One exception to this would be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who believe angels are humans who have been resurrected and have bodies of flesh and bone.) Angels are generally virtuous beings, although there are “fallen angels” who become known as demons. Although artists depict angels in glowing robes with halos and wings, the Bible says many entertain angels unawares. If you sense you have been visited by a heavenly being who has delivered an important message, chances are, you have been in touch with an angel.

The definition of spirits is more nebulous. Spirit is used to describe many things, including the part of a living being associated with the mind, will, and feelings. The word spirit is used interchangeably with angel and ghost, although spirits most definitely exist separate from the physical body.

While spirits and angels are almost always part of traditional Western dogma, ghosts are often left out of the religious equation. However, many spiritualists and individuals who have experienced near-death experiences describe ghosts as being individuals who have died, but who have not passed through the “tunnel of light.” They are found in areas they frequented during their lifetimes, and are attired in the styles of their day. Unlike angels, ghosts are in a condition of darkness and lack understanding. They may be confused, may not even know that they have died. Ghosts are almost always associated with haunting-although they may mean no harm. Most ghosts have an attachment to this world, be it unfinished business, emotional trauma, or fears that keep them from crossing over. A visit with a ghost does not have to be frightening. The kindest thing you can do for a ghost is to help him or her to put closure on his or her life and decide to find peace in the next life. A ghost who is particularly evil may have to be exorcized by an authority.

Angels, spirits, and ghosts each serve their own purposes, but one thing they all have in common is they remind us of our own mortality and keep our eyes heavenward.

For more information on the upcoming movie ‘The Ghosts of Crowley Hall’ visit http://www.crowleyhallghosts.com/ – or our MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/crowleyhallghosts

Decades Of Horror Movies

Horror movie reviews are famous due to their appraisal of horror movies, which help the audience to decide if they are too horrific for them to watch, or if they are within their limits. Horror films are films of the horror genre that are designed to elicit fright, fear, terror, disgust or horror from viewers. Horror is defined as an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Filmmakers would continue to merge elements of science fiction and horror over the following decades.

The horror genre has also offered various types of horror movies that deal with Satan. The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the rise of production companies focused on producing horror films, including the British company Hammer Film Productions. Hammer enjoyed huge international success from full-blooded technicolor films involving classic horror characters, often starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, such as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), and The Mummy (1959) and many sequels. Hammer, and director Terence Fisher, are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the modern horror movie. . In the 1960s the genre received a notable enlivening by the addition of three important sub-genres: the horror of personality, the horror of Armageddon, and the horror of the demonic, as observed by Charles Derry. Other analysts used terms such as "psychological horror", with less precision. Films of this time seemed to cross lines between horror and thriller conventions, with an especially notable example in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). For the first time in Psycho, the object of horror does not look like a monstrous or supernatural other, but rather a normal human being. The horror has a human explanation, too, based in Freudian psychology and sex. Films of the horror-of-personality sub-genre continue to appear through the turn of the century, with 1991's The Silence of the Lambs a noteworthy example. Some of these films further blur the distinction between horror film and crime or thriller genre. Ghosts and monsters still remained popular, but many films that still relied on supernatural monsters expressed a horror of the demonic. The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961) and The Haunting (Robert Wise, 1963) were two such horror-of-the-demonic films from the early 1960s, with high production values and gothic atmosphere. Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) had a more modern backdrop; it was a prime example of a menace stemming from nature gone mad and one of the first American examples of the horror-of-Armageddon sub-genre. One of the most influential horror films of the late 1960s was George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). This horror-of-Armageddon film about zombies was later deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" enough to be preserved by the United States National Film Registry. Other companies contributed to a boom in horror film production in Britain in the 1960s and '70s, including Tigon-British and Amicus, the latter best known for their anthology films like Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965). These sometimes controversial productions paved the way for more explicit violence in both horror and mainstream films

The first, a minimal approach which was equal parts Val Lewton's theory of "less is more" (usually employing low-budget techniques seen on 1999's The Blair Witch Project) and the emergence of Japanese horror movies which have been remade into successful Americanized versions, such as The Ring (2002), and The Grudge (2004). There has been a return to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000.

by Samantha Bennett

More on Arron Kasady’s ghost investigations and the upcoming movie ‘The Ghosts of Crowley Hall’ can be found on our official site - www.crowleyhallghosts.com

Horror at Temple House by A Kasady

We had heard about Temple House through a local ghost hunting team that I have regular correspondence with. They told us of an investigation that they had carried out a few weeks previous that had yielded some interesting results. They had decided to go back there in a few months time but asked if I was interested in taking a look as they wanted another team to verify what they had found. With my interest peaked I got the team together and we headed off to see what the location had in store for us.

The place itself is an old building that had been built in the early nineteenth century as a home for a local dignitary. Although the outside had the look of a building that had been standing around for many years its interior was one newly furnished offices and top of the range equipment.

Dr Katherine Copeland carried out her routine tests as always and came back with very little in the way of any abnormal on either the thermometer or on the Gauss meter. She did warn us of the electromagnetic fields that would be a around due to the amount of equipment that was plugged in. We decided that the gauss meter would be pretty useless in these surroundings and decided against taking it with us.

The team had Annabel Keogh our medium try and contact some of the spirits that still may be lurking around in the building and this was where things got a little interesting.

She came back with the name “Alice Carruthers” - which was a name the previous team had come up with – who was a young girl that had been working as a maid to the original owner of the building. She had become pregnant by the owners son but, once she had informed her lover of this, had found herself being pushed down the stairs by the young man who had been worried about the affect this could have on his standing.

The team agree that we would carry out our investigation around the stairs after Ann had informed us that she felt no other presences in this building and that Alice was causing all the paranormal activity in a bid to let the living know she was there. Ann also said that she would help the young female spirit find her way to the other side when the investigation was over. With that in mind we set up the equipment and waited to see what the night had in store.

In started out quietly with nothing much really going on, a few minor sounds that had some of the other team members jumping but other than that very little was happening. It was only when Annabel commented that she could feel the spirit of Alice moving down the stairs that the hairs began to rise on the back of our necks.

We positioned the cameras towards the stairs and sent Katherine up with the temperature gauge. She reported a degrees drop in temperature that she couldn’t find the reason for. We called out and received what sounded like small whistle for our troubles. Although nothing was picked up on the video cameras some orbs were picked up around the stairs on the stills.

We decided at this point that we would hold a séance with a Ouija board. We asked out for information and received on the board the message “Sad” and “Baby”. Ann informed us that the girl was unhappy at not being able to give birth to the baby before she had died. We also received the message “James” which we knew to be the man that had killed her and “Stairs” which we already knew was the place that she had died.

Nothing else of not happened during the session so we packed away the board and waited. On calling out we received some bumps and bangs in answer to our questions and we also had a big drop in temperature that once again Katherine couldn’t find an explanation for. We also heard the strange whistle sound again and several more times after that.

When morning came we had gathered enough information and recorded several strange occurrences that had made it a worthy night. Probably not as much as we had hoped but not so little that it had been a waste of time. We left Ann to cleanse the location of the spirit, something she always likes to do alone, and once that had been carried out made our way to our office to go over all the date and conclude our findings.

More on Arron Kasady’s ghost investigations and the upcoming movie ‘The Ghosts of Crowley Hall’ can be found on our official site - www.crowleyhallghosts.com