Well, Maya Maya Maya...Look How Old You Are.

New radiocarbon data indicate the Maya began building their cities as early as 1000 BCE, according to Takeshi Inomata and his team of archaelogists from the University of Arizona-Tucson. Focusing on one site in particular, Ceibal (Guatemala), Inomata says it "predates other examples by roughly 200 years." For years, archaeologists have postied that these Maya were influenced by the older Olmec civ...ilization, but a trend is emerging--one Inomata agrees with--that the sudden emergence of these vast temple complexes were the result of broad-sweeping cultural influence thorughout the entire region over a period of time. This begs one to ask for the other shoe to drop: what was the impetus for this wholesale shift in society from hunting-gathering to religon, agriculture, and massive stone constructions?

REALLY WEIRD ROUNDUP

New design available soon through

Cafepress.com -- Steampunk Roswell

Plan to be buried with your boots on, cowboy? Well, THESE are the coffins for you! I'm gonna cue up Beck's 'Farewell Ride'... http://www.lastrodeocaskets.com/

While you're out west, you might want to stop by Roswell, NM for all of this year's UFO happenings. HERE

According to a recently translated Coptic text, Jesus was a shapeshifter. This would explain why the Romans couldn't kill him. You need that little needle device from the X-Files. HERE

Enjoy the Mexican Edward Gorey, Jose Gonzalez Posada--padre of our modern view of El Dia de los Muertos. HERE

Can't get enough of those old B-movies? Wish they still made them? Check out the trailer for The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. HERE

CHECK OUT MORE STORIES LIKE THESE OVER AT MY FACEBOOK PAGE

Time To Find Frankenstein

Haunted House For Sale

If you are in the market for a home straight out of the Amityville Horror, then the current owners of one nondescript two-story are claiming that is just what you will get when you purchase their delightful house of horrors in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

While I can see a house with a friendly "presence" being a draw for many, I have a harder time picturing even some ghost-loving folks forking over big bucks (well, actually only $30,000) to own what appears to be quite the fixer-upper. This becomes especially true if the home is fully equipped with a spirit that pushes people down stairs and manifests pools of blood.

Apparently it does have quite the documented history though, including investigations by famed paranormalists Ed and Lorraine Wilson who investigated the Amityville case and will be featured prominently in the based-on-a-true-story film The Conjuring due out July 19.

Although from what commentors on this article are intimating (nay, outright stating) the neighborhood in which this home now rests is actually the scariest thing of all.

Elk Hunter's Snag Bigfoot On Video?

Former Hospital Haunted

The Fort Worth Medical College was a teaching hospital for Fort Worth University established in 1894 and then later moved into the building pictured in 1905. Not long after, the hospital moved location again.

Currently, it sits next to the famous Bass Hall and houses offices for the Fort Worth Symphony and other artistic and musical entities.

Office workers have spotted the ghost of a nurse making rounds through the building. The area that once held the morgue is now office space as well and much activity as been reported in there as well.

The Ghost Light

 

While its origins may reside in a more pragmatic realm of saftey, the theatrical legend of the Ghost Light has some otherworldly explanations as well.

To preface, a ghost light is one left activated on a stage even when the house is empty and no performaces or rehearsals are being conducted. It's a bare bulb that burns for no one.
Some say this is so no one hurts themself in a darkened theater, by tripping off the stage into the orchestra pit for instance.

However, theater people being what they are (to wit, a highly superstitious lot) many believe the contraption and its name come from the long tradition of burning a light for the resident ghost--every theater has one. And they're often considered good luck. Some traditions, though, hold that the light is burned to keep them at bay. I suppose it depends on how harsh a critic your resident ghost is.

The King In Yellow, A Lovecraft Inspiration

Have you seen the Yellow Sign?

I opened the box. On the pink cotton inside lay a clasp of black onyx, on which was inlaid a curious symbol or letter in gold. It was neither Arabic nor Chinese, nor as I found afterwards did it belong to any human script.
- "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers

First published In 1895, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is a collection of short stories loosely connected by the presence of a banned book, an infamous stage play entitled "The King in Yellow." These stories describe the plights of certain sensitive and creative people who have fallen under the spell of this mysterious tome or the alternate, somewhat psychedelic, world that it describes. The stage play is comprised of two acts: the first of banal innocence, and the second of unutterable madness that can drive the reader to insanity or hopeless despair. It tells the tale of the mystical King in Yellow, who wears tattered yellow robes, the fabled city of Carcosa, the lake of Hali, and of the mystery of the Hyades. Some believe that this abominable book was the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's own Necronomicon, another book of sanity-shattering truths, though there is some controversy about whether Lovecraft had read Chambers before inventing the famous Necronomicon of the Mad Arab.

The Yellow Sign is the symbol of the King, and when shown to the right kind of person - someone sensitive to it, either through madness or art - it reveals irresistable truths and ensures allegiance to the mysterious King of this otherworld.

I showed him a list of thousands of names which Mr. Wilde had drawn up; every man whose name was there had received the Yellow Sign which no living human being dared disregard. The city, the state, the whole land, were ready to rise and tremble before the Pallid Mask. The time had come, the people should know the son of Hastur, and the whole world bow to the black stars which hang in the sky over Carcosa... I had a blank bit of paper in my pocket, on which was traced the Yellow Sign, and I handed it to him. He looked at it stupidly for a moment, and then with an uncertain glance at me, folded it with what seemed to me exaggerated care and placed it in his bosom.
- "The Repairer of Reputations" by Robert W. Chambers

The Yellow Sign itself is never described in more detail, so its exact appearance remains unknown (except to those who are under its spell). However, the most popular and recognizable version of this tainted symbol was designed in 1989 by artist Kevin Ross for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. [view original article here] http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-king-in-yellow-and-other-horror-stories-e-f-bleiler/1005230973?ean=9780486437507

Good Golly Miss Molly

Miss Molly's Hotel, an historic B&B in Fort Worth's equally storied Stockyards is perhaps the most famous haunt for hauntings in cow town.

Built in 1910 as the Palace Rooms, a respite for cowboys after a long saddled sojourn, it soon became a notorious brothel operating under the name Gayette Hotel and owned by a woman named Josie King. Surviving through prohibition as a speakeasy, the hotel garnered many colorful legends throughout the years.

It is said now that Josie King herself still haunts the place. King's private room is haunted, of course. Mysterious apports (sometimes a penny "tip" for the lusty landlord) will appear.

Investigators who combed the small inn's rooms met up on several occasion with the mysterious way in which doors seem to get stuck a lot. Humidity? Perhaps, but this is north-central Texas and it can get awfully dry here.

Various apparitions appear here and there. A reporter once saw someone dressed in 1920s attire at the foot of his bed. The ghost of a young girl, the daughter of one of the brothel's workers, has been seen at various times. Outside, a spirit named "Jake" has been spotted along the street, walking between the stockyards and Miss Molly's.

Interesting EVPs have been culled by disparate investigators, including one with a cackling voice that declares, "I've got you!"

From The Files: Mysterious Beasts Terrorize Illinois Town

In his book, Mysterious America, Loren

Coleman attributes the sighting to two

melanistic (read: black) panthers that

terrorized the small community.

TV Horror In The 80s

While horror was hopping on the big screen during the 80s, one was hard pressed to find it in their own home. While we might take for granted the slew of television shows and movies that air daily on the myriad channels cluttering out TV sets, at one time the offering were few and far between. However, even among a decade filled with tepid dramas and treacly sitcoms, these offerings managed to claw their way into our homes each week:

Tales from the Darkside, a twisted version of the cult classic, The Twilight Zone--which also saw a revival in the 1980s.

HBO's The Hitchhiker wasn't so much about the supernatural as it was about the super sick, but it still managed at turn of the screw now and then. If you liked your pyschological horror tales to be as tight as your opening credit jeans, then these folks delivered.

Freddy's Nightmares was in the vein of shows like Twilight Zone, Tales From The Crypt, and Tales From The Darkside but decidedly built upon cashing in on Freddy Fever.

Even if it felt a bit cheesy, you have to give this show credit for at least trying to come up with unusual monsters instead of solely relying upon those we know all to well.

And my favorite of the bunch... Friday The 13th: The Series stands out for its dark tone, strong scripts, and innovative horror. And if you don't think Warehouse 13 ripped them off, you can just go elsewhere.

Zoo Keeper Works Overtime--From Beyond The Grave

In January 1987, a zoo keeper named Michael Bell was killed by an Asian elephant named Sam at the Fort Worth Zoo. Over the years since, reports have surfaced of witnesses glimpsing Bell's ghost going about his normal routine. And he might not be alone at the zoo. There have also been reports of a woman dressed in frontier apparel who hangs around the zoo's café.

Legends Linger At The Log Cabin Village

 

Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village is a conglomeration of six disparate historic structures dating to the middle of the 19th century. When they were moved in the 1960s for salvation and preservation, as well as to showcase frontier Texas life, some believe the homes came complete with attendant spirits. While docents and site operators are wont to downplay the ghostly rumors, the stories persist nonetheless.

The phantom scent of lilac perfume has been reported from the upper rooms of the Foster Cabin, which once sat on the Brazos River in Milam Co. The home was built by Harry Foster in the early 1850s. After his first wife died, Foster married a woman named Jane Holt who had been the nanny to Foster's children. She is rumored to have worn lilac perfume.

Footsteps have been heard in the home and some have spotted the apparition of a woman in a long black skirt and purple blouse.

Haunted Stockyard Hotel

Established in 1907, the Stockyards Hotel has housed both country legends and notorious outlaws. And maybe a ghost or two.

In room 305--a suite named after the hotels most notorious guests: Bonnie and Clyde, water in the bathroom has been known to turn on and off by itself.

The original elevator seems to have a mind of its own. That or it is taking phantom guests to their rooms now and then.  It has frequently been spotted ascending and descending of its own accord.

One of these may be the ghost of a little girl who has been seen now and then getting off the elevator at the second floor.  She takes two or three steps and then vanishes.

In the same way the Skirvin residents (the famed hotel in Oklahoma City) have complained of a woman's presence harrassing the men, the Stockyard Hotel hears reports of women who have felt as if someone has just crawled into bed with them. Turnabout is fair play, ladies.

Another room has gotten complaints from staff that the TV and radio turn on by themselves.

The staff in the hotel's marketing office (in the basement) have reported a unseen but nonetheless felt presence.

A night clerk kept getting prank calls one night. The phone would ring and no one would be on the line when he answered. After several of these calls, he looked at the phone and noticed the call was coming from the lobby. He leaned over to catch a glimpse of the lobby phone when the mysterious caller rang again. Once again, no one was on the line. But more to the point--no one was in the lobby.

Some of these spooky goings-on are placed squarely on the shoulders of Jake, a one-time employee who passed on. Those who attibute these hauntings to him simply feel he is still going about his job and isn't out to scare anyone.

Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth, TX--Once the home of the Swift Meatpacking Plant's offices, this now-defunct Spaghetti Warehouse location sits abandoned but in good repair. Former restaurant workers would complain of ghostly activity such as water in the kitchen that would turn on and off inexplicably--sometimes even exploding all over the place violently. A girl mischievously plays in the bathroom also, unraveling paper towel rolls. It is said she died in the bathroom, after choking on a piece of candy. How bitter sweet. And a cantankerous old cowboy has been known to knock over stools and toss glasses. Even after its closure, visitors to the historic Stockyards would catch sight of a woman walking alond the upstairs balcony. At the same end of Exchange Avenue visitors have glimpsed a phantom cowboy riding his horse up the street.