| WELCOME TO THE NEW ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER!
11 FEBRUARY 2011 -- "MY BLOODY VALENTINE" ISSUE Welcome to the new edition of the newsletter and I hope that you're surviving all of the chaos that winter had decided to throw at us this year! Like so many of you, the Midwest was buried last week under a mountain of ice and snow. Here in Chicago, we were treated to more than two feet of snow (accompanied by thunder and lightning), which stranded more than 900 cars on Lake Shore Drive! Newspaper photos of the scene the next day -- with lines of abandoned cars and a silent skyline in the background -- made it look as though the "zombie apocalypse" had finally taken place! But let's get on with the newsletter because we have a lot going on this week: 1. HAUNTED AMERICA WEST COAST CONFERENCE: Our San Diego conference (the biggest ghost event like this to ever be held on the West Coast) is now only one week away! This REALLY is your last chance to get signed up for the event and the remaining after-hours activities. We'll be accepting on-line registrations through Tuesday, February 15, at midnight. After that, you'll have to take your chances at the door. So, why wait any longer? Use the link above or click here to go to the West Coast Conference website! 2. "SUICIDE & SPIRITS" -- NEW LEMP BOOK BY TROY TAYLOR: The release date is almost here! Troy Taylor's long-awaited book on the rise and fall of the Lemp family, as well as the hauntings of their former St. Louis mansion, will be available to order starting February 25! Watch your newsletter that day for more info about the book and your chance to order collectible signed, numbered, limited edition copie of the new book! 3. DEAD OF WINTER GHOST HUNTS IN SW ILLINOIS: This is nearly your last chance to get signed up for this year's special ghost hunts in Alton and Lebanon, Illinois. These events allow visitors the rare opportunity to search for the spirits at locations that you may have only read about or quickly visited in the past! Don't miss out on your chance to experience them for yourself. See More Information Below!
4. HAUNTED WEEKEND IN SAN ANTONIO: In the tradition of our other great weekends in spook-filled cities like New Orleans and Gettysburg, American Hauntings has added another great historic and haunted city to the roster -- San Antonio, Texas. Join us for full weekend of ghosts and spirits that includes a two-night stay in a haunted hotel, haunted tours, ghost hunts and more! See more below or click here to go to the Bump in the Night website! | 5. HAUNTED AMERICA MIDWEST CONFERENCE SHIRTS: Our shirt designer came through for us after all and we have been able to belatedly add souvenir shirts for the Midwest conference in June! The shirts are available to conference attendees only and if you have already signed up, just return to the conference registration form and pre-order a shirt. Just make a note that you've already signed up for the event! We'll have your shirt waiting to be picked up at the conference in June! |  | And the newsletter has even more -- including a new PARANORMAL CLASSIC and a contest where you can win a FREE copy of a new Mothman documentary, just released from Virgil Films. Three winners will be drawn from all of those who provide the correct answer to a Mothman trivia question and announced in the next issue of the newsletter! Have a great Valentine's weekend and hope to see you next week in San Diego! -------------------------------------------------------------- | DEAD OF WINTER EVENTS IN SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS We have good news------and better news. The good news is that the American Ghost Society's VP, Len Adams, has been able to put off back surgery once again. He'll always be a mess, but at least, he's entertaining. With that in mind, let's get to the even better news. With Len up and mobile, he will be bringing back some very popular events to help Old Man Winter chill you to the bone. |  | LATE NIGHT GHOST HUNT AT THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH The Alton, Illinois, late-night investigations of the First Unitarian Church are back! Come spend some quality time with Alton Hauntings Lead Tour Guide, Len Adams, as he weaves the history of this very haunted location with the myriad of paranormal tales that has made this the prized location on all the Alton Hauntings Walking Tours. Your history lesson will be followed by a tour of the ghostly locations in the church. You will then be allowed to conduct your own investigations until the event is over. We have two dates for this event: Friday, February 25, 2011 Friday, March 25, 2011. A VERY limited number of ghost hunts will be allowed at each event and the cost will be $40 per person. The event runs from 9pm until 1am. To reserve your spot for, contact Len Adams at leki33@charter.net This is a working church. Only people who show respect for the site and are conducting serious investigations will be allowed. NO ALCOHOL will be allowed and anyone under the influence will be shown the door. You may bring your own water, soda, small snacks only. The First Unitarian Church is located at the corner of East Third Street and Alby. DO NOT contact the church for directions or with any questions! All questions should be directed to Len. HAUNTED LEBANON INVESTIGATIONS For all you ghostly history buffs, what could be better than walking the same streets as one of the greatest writers of all time -- Charles Dickens? Come join Haunted Lebanon Tours creator and tour guide, Len Adams, for a night of desserts and investigations. On Saturday, February 26, 2011, Len will be your host at The Tapestry Room Restaurant for dessert and drinks (non-alcoholic), followed by your choice of several locations to investigate, including the Mermaid House, the St. Louis Street Cafe and the Tapestry Room itself. All the sites have been featured on the Haunted Lebanon Tours and have become fan favorites. Due to the size of the locations, only a limited number of people will be allowed for the evening. There will be a multitude of desserts and tea, coffee, and soda to drink. Don't ask us for a menu. No one has ever left the restaurant disappointed! The Tapestry Room Restaurant is located at 127 West St. Louis Street, Lebanon, Illinois, 62254. The event starts at 6pm at the restaurant and runs until midnight and will feature investigations at some of the most haunted sites in the city! NO ALCOHOL will be allowed and anyone under the influence will be booted out. Small snacks and non-alcoholic beverages may be brought along for the investigations. The evening (including dessert and drinks) is only $35 per person and to get signed up, contact Len Adams at leki33@charter.net All spots will be filled on a first come / first served basis and will not be held until payment is received. When contacting Len, he will arrange payment with you. HAUNTED LEBANONS' ST. LOUIS STREET CAFE Come join Haunted Lebanon Tours creator, Len Adams, for a late night investigation of the always popular St. Louis Street Cafe. Although we never promise that something paranormal will occur, the old cafe has often put on quite a show. This has quickly become one the top spots on our walking tours. The event is on March 26, 2011, from 9pm until 3am (or until we're down to only 2 folks). Only 12 people will be allowed to participate. The cost for your history lesson, haunted tour, and investigation is $25 per person. To get signed up, contact Len Adams at leki33@charter.net All spots will be filled on a first come / first served basis and will not be held until payment is received. When contacting Len, he will arrange payment with you. --------------------------------------------------------------- 2011 HAUNTED AMERICA MIDWEST CONFERENCE! Tickets are on sale for the biggest and best ghost conference of the summer! Forget the imitations, this is the original American ghost conference, now in it's 15th year. Join host Troy Taylor in the historic town of Jacksonville, Illinois at haunted Illinois College for a ghostly weekene of spirits, phantoms and the unexplained. We have an unequaled number of tours, ghost hunts and after-hours workshops and events and of course, the infamous raffle that gives you a chance to take home a piece of haunted history! The Midwest Conference will be held the weekend of June 10-11, 2011 at Illinois College. We hope you'll join us for our best line-up yet of nationally-known speakers on ghosts, hauntings and the supernatural. You may have been to the Midwest conference before -- but you've never been to one like this! Click Here to Register for the Midwest Event! --------------------------------------------------------------- | EYES OF THE MOTHMAN CONTEST!
WIN A FREE COPY OF THE NEW DOCUMENTARY FROM VIRGIL FILMS! American Hauntings has been asked to particpate in a giveaway contest for the new documnetary film "Eyes of the Mothman", which chronicles the strange events that occurred in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966. In November of that year, a group of teenagers encountered a strange winged creature near an abandoned TNT factory outside of this rural river town and soon after, a terrifying series of events began. Before the "Mothman" departed, the community saw dozens dead and hundreds traumatized by what they experienced. Stories circulated of an Indiana curse and mysterious Men in Black, UFO sightings, uncanny coincidences and a real-life bridge collapse that killed more than 40 people. The new Eyes of the Mothman is the first feature-length documentary to delve into the truth behind the unsolved mystery of the Mothman. HOW ABOUT A FREE COPY OF THE FILM? American Hauntings is giving away 3 FREE copies of the movie to readers who send in the correct answer to the question below. We'll save all of the entries we received and randomly pick 3 winners, who will be announced in next week's newsletter. To enter, email Troy Taylor with your answer to the question, full name and mailing address. Here's the question: What was the name of the Athens, Ohio reporter who covered the Mothman story and claimed to have an encounter with one of the strange Men in Black? Send in your answer to enter the contest. Hint: You can find help in Troy Taylor's book Into the Shadows or in the abridged article about the Mothman on the American Hauntings website! |  | --------------------------------------------------------------- AMERICAN HAUNTINGS:
HAUNTED WEEKEND IN SAN ANTONIO
In the tradition of our other great weekends in spook-filled cities like New Orleans and Gettysburg, American Hauntings has added another great historic and haunted city to the roster -- San Antonio, Texas. Join us for full weekend of ghosts and spirits that includes a two-night stay in a haunted hotel, haunted tours, ghost hunts and more! | Haunted Weekend in San Antonio
November 11-12, 2011 -- Friday & Saturday
San Antonio, Texas Lodgings at the Haunted Menger Hotel
Join American Hauntings for a weekend event in one of the most haunted and historical cities in Texas -- San Antonio! For the first time, American Hauntings travels to the Lone Star State in search of the resident spirits!
|  | Join us for an amazing historic and haunted weekend in a place known for its hauntings! Enjoy a two-night stay at the famously haunted Menger Hotel; Get cold chills during a nighttime guided tour of San Antonio haunts (along with a ghost hunt at the legendary Alamo) with Martin Leal and San Antonio's Best Ghost Tours; Hunt the hallways of the Menger in search of the hotel's phantoms; Investigate the infamous Black Swan Inn during a Saturday nighttime investigation; discover San Antonio's renowned Riverwalk; and much more! San Antonio Weekend Includes:
* Two-Night Stay at the famous Menger Hotel
* After Dark Ghost Tour of San Antonio & the Alamo
* Ghost Hunting at the Menger Hotel
* Late Night Ghost Hunt at the Black Swan Inn
* Transportation to San Antonio not Included One of our Biggest and Best Haunted Weekends Yet -- Don't miss out on this event by waiting too long to register! We have a limited number of rooms available at the Menger Hotel and you don't want to be left out in the cold by not getting signed up early! See More about this weekend (and register) on the American Hauntings website! ---------------------------------------------------------------  AMERICAN HAUNTINGS -- JOIN US FOR THIS YEAR'S GREAT EVENTS! The list of great events for 2011 from American Hauntings just keeps growing -- AND they keep selling out. As many of you have found out, it doesn't pay to wait too long to get signed up. We do sell out in advance so if you have your eye on a particular event, it's best to grab your spot before it's gone. Would you like to come face-to-to face with a ghost? We may not be able to guarantee it, but your chances are better with American Hauntings -- America's Original Overnight Ghost Tour Company -- than with anybody else! AMERICAN HAUNTINGS 2011 SCHEDULE (SO FAR!) Eldred, Illinois -- Join us for our first ghost hunting event of the year at one of our most popular Illinois locations! April 29-30: Haunted Weekend in Gettysburg Come back for another of our guest's favorite trips as we explore of the country's most haunted locations -- during the day and night -- the Gettysburg battlefield. Only 2 Rooms Left! Decatur, Illinois -- A Friday the 13th overnight ghost hunt at one of the most terrifying places in America! August 5-6: Bell Witch Weekend Adams, Tennessee -- A favorite weekend of the summer is back! Join us in the heart of Bell Witch country for a history and hauntings weekend, optional canoe trip, tours, after dark exploration of the Bell Witch Cave and more ! Only 1 Room (couple) left for Canoe Trip! Only 4 rooms for the History & Hauntings Weekend! November 11-12, 2011: Haunted Weekend in San Antonio Join us for a new American Hauntings trip to Texas, with a two-night stay at the haunted Menger Hotel, ghost hunts, haunted tours and much more! --------------------------------------------------------------- | PARANORMAL CLASSICS FROM MICHAEL WINKLE
This is the latest installment of a feature that we have recently added to the newsletter. In each issue, Michael Winkle will be uncovering a new, little known supernatural, paranormal or just plain weird feature from the annals of the unknown. |  | Lemmings from Heaven Category: Fafrotskies (Ivan Sanderson’s shortening of “things that fall from the sky”) From: Carrighar, pp. 25-28 and passim. Where: Unalakleet, on the shore of the Norton Sound in western Alaska, about the 64th parallel When: April 1950 Who: Naturalist Sally Carrighar was a “near witness,” and she spoke to others who witnessed the “mice from the sky” How close to source: Sally Carrighar reported this odd lemming legend in her book Wild Voice of the North Phenomena: In 1949-50, nature writer Carrighar lived in Alaska, gathering material for a book on northern animals. She soon focused her attention on the small, plump rodents known as lemmings. Lemming populations grow explosively every few years then their numbers dwindle to the point of near-extinction. During their population spurts, northern predators live almost exclusively on them. Despite their ecological importance, little was known of these bob-tailed rodents. “In every far Northern county, on every continent,” writes Ms. Carrighar, “the primitive people call lemmings ‘mice from the sky.’” As she mingled with the Inuit (Eskimo) inhabitants of the village of Unalakleet, she soon learned why: Several of them claimed to have seen lemmings drifting down from on high, “falling in bigger and bigger circles that turned same way as sun” (that is, clockwise when looking at the ground). Even those who did not witness actual falls were familiar with lemming footprints that started from nowhere and led away to the nearest grass or hiding place. Reggie Joule, a native bush pilot Carrighar held in high esteem, claimed to have seen such tracks on the roofs of cabins at Point Hope, where he grew up. “I think lemmings fly,” was his final word on the subject. One day in April 1950, Frank Ryan, the native postmaster of Unalakleet, told Carrighar that lemmings had just landed at (appropriately enough) the end of the local airstrip. The nature writer hurried out and found, indeed, fifteen spots where the rodents had apparently coasted in for a landing. “The blacktop was covered with less than an inch of new, light, soft snow – too shallow for any lemming to tunnel under it without thrusting up a ridge on the surface.” The tracks continued “more deeply” on from the landing points, as if the animals had been nearly weightless in transit. They were definitely lemming tracks, because mice left tail marks between their footprints and there were none here. The tracks were so new and sharp, even the imprints of longer, dragging hairs on the animals’ paws were visible. “In each case the tracks led off the blacktop to a clump of grass, where the lemming evidently had burrowed down among the roots.” [Carrighar, p. 27] Oddities: While certainly an odd story to the man on the street, reports of small living things falling from no visible source are numerous. The books of Charles Fort are full of them. Even the apparent loss of weight (until touching the earth) is common in “fafrotskies” of all kinds. It is rare for mammals to be the subject of sky falls, however. Fish, frogs, snails and other so-called lower life-forms are much more common. Ending: Ms. Carrighar had the misfortune to spend a year in Alaska during a population crash of the lemmings. Despite the sky fall, not even the native children could find any. Carrighar even convinced the Coast Guard to ferry her out to St. Lawrence Island to seek them, but no one could locate any at all. She left Alaska for the winter and returned the next spring. Legend: The legend most people associate with lemmings is their “suicidal” tendency to march to the sea and drown. This is indeed a myth, helped along by the infamous 1958 Walt Disney film “White Wilderness.” (When the lemmings being filmed refused to march over a cliff into the sea, off-screen grips with push-brooms shoved them over the edge!) A more scientific view is that when the lemming population explodes, the animals are forced to migrate to find more food. Sometimes they wander over cliffs or into rivers in their marches. Even this idea is not accepted by many modern biologists, who believe the whole legend to be greatly exaggerated. Naturalist Dennis Chitty, who studied the animals for nearly fifty years, seems to think there is something odd about lemmings. The notes that he and his fellow naturalists took between 1935 and 1949, such as the following, make interesting reading: “Bake Lake. Lemming were abundant in the summer of 1943. In November they migrated, presumably toward Eskimo point. In May 1944 they were practically non-existent. Numerous carcasses were seen lying in the glare ice on the lakes as if they had frozen to death.” [Chitty, p. 8] Chitty admits that lemmings that move out onto sea ice will die from starvation and exposure, thus they “in a sense are committing suicide.” Explanation: Sally Carrighar tried and failed to think of an explanation for her flying lemmings. They possess nothing like a flying squirrel’s membranous “wings”. A powerful wind might have scooped them up by their long, fluffy fur, but “the snow was as light as eiderdown and it lay as level as it had fallen.” An owl might have dropped one struggling lemming, “but hardly fifteen in a space about twenty yards square.” Comments: Not only are there mysterious lemming arrivals, there are equally strange departures. During her 1950 hunt for live lemmings, Sally Carrighar visited the small village of Shishmaref, located on a mere sandbar, a few acres in size. She and her Inuit assistant found lemming burrows easily and dug into a dozen or more. Even as she admired the intricate construction of the tunnels, Carrighar wondered where the animals were. It was summer, food was plentiful, trails in the grass had been used quite recently, but not a lemming was to be found on the islet. “Since this was a small, narrow island, the only direction the lemmings could have taken was toward the sea. They could only have crossed the wide, smooth beach . . . a migration of two hundred yards, but a death march.” [Carrighar, p. 33] When she finally did obtain five lemmings in 1951 (one of which eventually produced two litters), Carrighar had two habitats built in a large house she occupied in Nome, one on the first floor, one on the second. She studied the animals for several months – then they, too, began to disappear. One, kept upstairs, ended up in a drip-pan beneath an oil heater on the first floor (it died from its oily bath). The writer slowly transferred the lemmings downstairs, and finally there were four left topside. “What became of the final four never was known. I had heard them regularly, running about, spinning their wheel, chirring – and then from a certain day on there was silence.” [pp. 164-165] An Eskimo youth helped her take apart the whole room and sift through the soil, grass, and sticks of the animals’ environment, to no avail. “They were just gone – a fact to be added to the rest of the lemming mysteries.” Perhaps Ms. Carrighar underestimated the abilities of small animals to escape captivity, but the consensus still seems to be – lemmings are strange little critters. Carrighar, Sally. Wild Voice of the North (New York: Doubleday, 1959 [1953]). Chitty, Dennis. Do Lemmings Commit Suicide?: Beautiful Hypotheses and Ugly Facts (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).  FEBRUARY 2011 February 12: Night at the Old Funeral Home -- Jacksonville, Illinois -- Join us for a night at this former boarding house and funeral home and search for the lingering spirits! SOLD OUT! February 18-19: Haunted America West Coast Conference -- Old Town San Diego, California -- Join us for two days of ghosts, hauntings and the unexplained with speakers and presenters, tours, ghost hunts and more. Details and Reservations! February 19: Night at Bryn Du Mansion -- Granville, Ohio -- Spend the night in search of ghosts at this legendary haunted Ohio location! Reservations! February 26: Night at the Haunted Rectory -- Jacksonville, Illinois -- Search for the ghosts of one of our most unusual locations, the spooky Our Savior Church rectory! Reservations! MARCH 2011 March 11-12: Haunted Weekend in New Orleans -- Haunted weekend of ghost tours and haunts in one of the most spirited cities in America! SOLD OUT! March 26: Night at Nemacolin Castle -- Brownsville, Pennsylvania -- Exclusive, private ghost hunt at one of the most haunted locations in the state. SOLD OUT! March 26: Night at the Twin City Opera House -- McConnellsville, Ohio -- Private ghost hunt at what has been considered one of the most haunted locations in Ohio! Reservations! APRIL 2011 April 9: Night at the Mansfield Reformatory -- Mansfield, Ohio -- Search for the ghosts at one of America's most haunted prisons! Deadline to Register is March 1! Reservations! April 10: Night at the Lemp Mansion -- St. Louis, Missouri -- Exclusive all-night ghost hunt at one of the most haunted houses in America! SOLD OUT! April 16: Night at the Eldred House -- Eldred, Illinois -- Join us for a ghost hunt at one of our most popular Illinois locations! Reservations! April 29-30: Haunted Weekend in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -- Come back for another of our guest's favorite trips as we explore of the country's most haunted locations -- during the day and night -- the Gettysburg battlefield. Reservations! April 30: Night at the Hannah House -- Indianapolis, Indiana -- Join us for a night at one of America's most haunted houses! Reservations!
This electronic message is intended for newsletter subscribers. Please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information it contains, is strictly prohibited without the express permission of the sender. Any use of this communication without permission is unlawful and a violation of federal copyright standards. If you have received this communication in error, please return it to the sender. © Copyright 2011 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved |
No comments:
Post a Comment