Woman in White Ghost Video

This very short video apparently captures the ghostly apparition of a woman in white passing by. Notice that the investigators walking down the stairs appear not to notice, indicating either that they did not see it at the time or it's a clever post-production addition. Judge for yourself!

Robert the Doll

A&E have been showing episodes from previous seasons of Paranormal State, in addition to its newest episodes. We are glued to this show, although we don't always agree with the religious ceremonies conducted to "exorcise" spirits. In Episode 11 (Season 1), Ryan and the team investigates an ugly-looking "haunted piano". When the owners brought it into their home, they inexplicably became sick, having feelings of anxiety and oppression. Indeed, Ryan and the team also start feeling the same, so "disposed of" the piano, smashing it up in a warehouse.

There are many reports of objects being paranormally possessed or cursed, ranging from coins to ships. Everyone probably knows about "Chucky" (the doll from the movie Child's Play), but the notion of a doll that comes to life is just fantasy. Or is it?

Robert the Doll was a wire-framed, straw-stuffed cloth doll given to a Key West painter, Robert Eugene Otto, by a Bahamian "servant" (slave), in the early 1900s when he was still a boy. In many voodoo practices, it is believed that if a "soulstone" (a crystal that will take the soul of another person the moment of their death), the soul of that person can pass into the crystal, thus imbuing it with a soul of its own. It is most likely that the servant placed a soulstone, containing his son who passed away at the time, into the doll. Otto's sister also died at around the same time he received the doll, but he immediately took to it. He named the doll Robert and insisted that everyone else called him Eugene. Throughout his childhood, whenever bad things happened or Eugene was blamed for mischief, but Eugene would say that Robert did it.

Strange and inexplicable events began to occur. Items were thrown across the dining room, servants locked outside, clothing was found torn up, and bedding in long unused rooms were crumpled on the floor. Beloved toys were also found brutalized and mutilated. Servants often reported hearing giggling sounds and snippets of low conversations, first in Eugene's boyish voice then in an entirely different tone.

Eugene eventually married, and the couple moved into "The Artist House". Eugene insisted that the doll never left his sight, not even at the dinner table or at the newlywed's bedside. He even had a custom-built room for Robert the Doll, replete with a lowered ceiling and customized furniture.

Over time, Eugene became increasingly abusive to his wife, Anne, and would frequently lock her in a slanted closet under the stairs (beneath Robert's room) for days on end.

After Eugene's death, he was buried in the Key West Cemetary and Anne returned to her family home in Boston, but allowed the house to be rented out. She locked Robert in his upstairs room, placing a clause in the rent agreement that "Robert must at all times remain the sole occupant of the attic room", otherwise the contract was considered as void. The clause was honored until her death in 1976.

A plumber needing to do some work in the house for new renters unlocked the room and there he encountered Robert! He later reported that the doll appeared to shift slightly in its chair, including appearing on the other side of the room when he heard giggling sounds.

Future occupants continued hearing noises coming from upstairs, including footsteps, laughter and crashes. Further investigations revealed that Robert had moved position from where he had been left, usually with his crossed arms or legs or shifted from one chair to another. Eventually, Robert was locked in a sea chest and left in the attic again, honoring the original lease agreement once more. This only angered Robert even more and it was claimed that he reappeared in all kinds of places. The final straw came when the doll was reportedly found giggling and holding a kitchen knife at the foot of the new owners' bed.

Suffice to say that the owners left hurriedly and gave the doll to the East Martello Museum, in Key West, where he is well-guarded. He was rediscovered years later in storage and was put on display in the museum. Visitors reported new camera batteries draining, pacemakers and cameras stopping and feelings of nausea and dizziness. Some visitors swore that Robert's facial expressions changed before their very eyes. Museum curators claimed that Robert changed position overnight, despite the fact that he was behind a glass case, locked with 3" wooden doors and bars on every window in a brick museum.

The doll even made an appearance at the paranormal convention, Taps CON, held in Clearwater, Florida in May 2008. This was the first time that it had left Key West, Florida in the 105 years of its existence.

Believe the story of Robert the Doll or not, it is still a creepy tale nevertheless.

[The full article can be found at Paranormal News Central.]

Hauntings Across America

Here's a fascinating, hour-long journey into some of America's most well-known hauntings, including some of its famous Hollywood ghosts. It's narrated by Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf from Star Trek for those who don't know).

Happy Paranormal Easter

Happy Easter To All!

While Easter is a welcome vacation from the daily grind, filled with the joys of chocolate Easter eggs and fluffy pink bunnies, spirits remain active. We didn't do much today, since it's raining too hard. Instead, we sat down to a pleasant family meal.

There are countless reports of paranormal activity and sightings occurring on or around Easter Sunday. These are a few of them (with the focus on the UK, my "favorite" haunted country):

Incense Aromas

Location:Church House Inn, Broadhempston, Devon, UK
Type: Reoccurring Manifestation/Haunting
Date/Time: Easter and Christmas

Many guests have noticed, especially at Easter and Christmas, the sweet aromas of incense burning pervade some of the rooms of this historical inn. It is thought that long-dead monks continue their celebrations here, still ritually waving their incense burners, accounting for the mysterious smells.

The Black Abbot

Location: St. Mary's Church, Prestbury, Gloucestershire, UK
Type: Reoccurring Manifestation/Haunting
Date/Time: Easter, Christmas and All Saints Day

A hooded figure with his head bowed, always described as seeming to glide rather than walking, maintains the same route every year, usually appearing around Easter, Christmas and All Saints Day, and occasionally after funerals. He was often seen walking down the aisle of the church, in addition to one of the nearby cottages used as the vicarage, until both buildings were exorcised. Since then has only appeared in the Churchyard, and is often seen crossing the churchyard and disappearing through a wall in the High Street. He has also been sighted in other parts of the village, including the Plough Inn and the Reform Cottage, the garden of which was once a burial ground for monks.

The Charging Horseman

Location: The Plough Inn, Prestbury, Gloucestershire, UK
Type: Reoccurring Manifestation/Anniversary Haunting
Date/Time: Easter

The mystery figure of a horseman charging pellmell through the streets of Prestbury, especially through Shaw Green Lane and The Burgage, can be seen around Easter. It is said that he was a messenger on his way to Edward IV's campsite at Tewkesbury during the War of the Roses, but was killed by a Lancastrian arrow (around May 4, 1471), so never made it to his destination. To this day, he still carries the burden of delivering the message. (During roadworks, a skeleton was indeed found with an arrowhead embedded between the ribs.)

Easter Priest

Location: Holme Hale, Norfolk, UK
Type: Reoccurring Haunting/Anniversary Manifestation
Date/Time: Easter

In and around the Green Room, the ghost of a priest supposedly haunts the building. It is believed that the priest was killed on Good Friday by Cromwell's soldiers, hence the majority of sightings reported tend to occur during the Easter period.

<1-- MOLLY TAPE -->

Molly Tape

Location: The Castle Restaurant, Hurst, Berkshire, UK
Type: Reoccurring Haunting/Manifestation
Date/Time: Easter

In 1971, local news reported the appearance of a mystery woman, wandering down the road wearing little clothing, but she disappeared into a lane, as mysteriously as she had appeared. There have been few sightings of her since then, but locals claim she still appears occasionally around Easter. It is thought that the woman, Molly Tape, had a passionate love affair with a farmer named Dick Darval. Eventually, Dick rejected her after one of their romantic trysts and, in despair, she hanged herself in the lane. Her scantily clad spirit still haunts the location of her death.