Paranormal Activity 2

Well, it was inevitable. Paranormal Activity 2 hits theaters October 22 (you can demand to see it first!) and it looks freakier than the first one. Remember, it does take a lot to scare me. I have a high fear tolerance when it comes to films about the paranormal, although I greatly enjoy them! (Slasher flicks are a different story. The scare factor in slasher films is a different kind of scary…but that is another post altogether.) The second Paranormal installment looks freakier to me only because there is a child involved somehow, and as a mother, that always creeps me out. I mean, what could be scarier than some terrifying, unseen force focusing its malevolent attention upon your innocent child? Or is that what is going on? I don’t know. I’m boggled on this one. All I can say is, thank goodness for the dog.

Check out the two trailers below and tell me what you think about them. Do they confuse you more than they reveal to you?

The last post got me thinking, and now I want to know. Do you believe in ghosts? Leave me a comment to tell me and don’t forget to be a part of the poll!

Yes!

Recognize me?

No!

What did you just say?

Hell no! I think the concept is absolutely ridiculous!

Zazzle!

I don’t know.

What do you think?

Suprisingly, even my Youngling wanted to answer this one. She said “I don’t know.” Goes to show you, one’s never too young to know their mind! LOL!

Terror

I like to read Ziggy Kinsella’s blog The Feckless Goblin. It’s pretty cool if you ask me. One day I received one of his tweets (you see, I follow him on Twitter), and I rushed over to said blog to read his latest post. It was a really good one.

I read his post Tough on the causes of fear… and for some reason, I was compelled to write. I was stoked to leave a comment, and wrote something I never dreamed I’d ever get down on paper. It terrified me at the time I wrote it. It terrifies me now as I sit here in the quiet of my house late at night, alone in my livingroom while my Youngling slumbers peacefully upstairs. They say writing is cathartic. It can be. This time, though, I’m not sure what to think. I still have no idea why I felt the need to write this experience on paper. Maybe it’s all a part of my “facing my fears mind set” thing I have going on these days. Anyways, take from it what you will. Whether to believe it or not, well, that’s up to you. But tell me, what are you afraid of?

Originally posted as a comment at The Feckless Goblin, author Ziggy Kinsella‘s blog, in response to his challenge, reproduced here at The Scribe’s Desk for your reading pleasure. I give you my comment, newly titled Terror. Much thanks to Ziggy Kinsella for the inspiration to write this. Enjoy!

Terror

What scares the hell out of me? Well, I’ll tell you.
When I was 15, I lay in the comfort of my cozy single bed. My room was small and every shape, silhouette and shadow was familiar to me. It was my safe place, my sanctuary. Then one night, for no apparent reason, a presence entered my room. I heard a growl right by my right ear. So close I could feel it’s breath. I was PETRIFIED with an incomprehensible fear. I could not move and every sense strained for reason — an explanation — though I knew there was no answer that would seem logical or believable. My breath stopped and held tight in my chest, my body so rigid, every muscle tensed, frozen.
I began to pray like I never prayed before in my life. Babbling bits and pieces of remembered prayers, warnings from my mother about spirits and what to do to protect yourself if ever you were unlucky enough to draw their attention. Then slowly I released my breath, listening to the darkness.
Just as I started to relax, thinking I had imagined it, there it was again, that low, deep, menacing growl at the foot of my bed. Feverishly I began to pray again, begging for protection and willing whatever it was come to terrify me to be banished from me, from my room.
The inky darkness retreated and vanished and the moon shone brightly in my window again; as if whatever it was that had visited me had obscured the moon’s pale, silvery, reassuring light.
I have never felt such terror. I was exhausted from it.
Immediately I turned on my excruciatingly bright reading lamp that was clamped to my headboard, and lay wide eyed and filled with dread in my little bed. I no longer felt safe, and from then on for many years later, I slept with the light on. Even now, I sleep in the safety of a little nightlight in my room and in the upstairs hallway.
I don’t like to think about what happened that night in the darkness for fear of drawing the notice of that terrible entity once more. I have never written it down like this before now. And even now, in the safety of daylight in my livingroom with my daughter playing on the floor, the TV on and the comfort of my laptop on my lap, I tremble. What will I unleash in the writing of this?
What did I do to come to the attention of the monster that lurks in the blackness? I don’t know. But everyday of my waking life, I am aware of the things that hover just beyond the light, waiting. Each night before I go to bed, I push away the memory of that night, refusing to think about it.
It scares me now, and I think it always will.

*Originally written Sunday, May 9, 2010, by Kyra Dawson as a comment on The Feckless Goblin, author Ziggy Kinsella’s blog.

Salma Hayek_IMDB_I See Dead People?

Being that it is Friday the 13th, I would be remiss if I didn’t add something a little supernatural to the annals of the unexplained. A little while ago, I heard through the grapevine that the delightful screen actress Salma Hayek claims her 16 month old daughter Valentina has a sixth sense that allows her to see and talk to spirits. When I heard this, the very first thing I thought is, “That reminds me of the movie with Bruce Willis called The Sixth Sense.” I think we can all recall the moment when Haley Joel Osment uttered the words that made him famous. “I see dead people,” is a phrase in cinematic history that definitely gave me chills the first time I heard it.

The Sixth Sense_IMDB

I’ve also heard people other than Salma claim that their children can see spirits or have memories of past lives. I even had an old lady tell me once that my youngling was seeing guardian angels one day as she observed my offspring’s eyes fastened on something at the ceiling that was darting around like a trapped sparrow. If I remember correctly, I was indeed a little freaked out myself. Just ask Salma, so was she!

According to Wikipedia, a Gallup Poll conducted in 2005 states that 73% of people in the United States alone believe in something paranormal, with 32% of people believing in actual ghosts. With those kinds of numbers, it’s no wonder that over the recent years we have seen a major crop of new TV shows dealing with the paranormal and the supernatural. There are actual paranormal research groups that have their own shows, like Ryan Buell and his group at Penn State and their show called Paranormal State. There is also the Ghost Whisperer series, and a show just called Supernatural. Do you guys remember a show called Crossing Over with John Edward? I think that is when the paranormal genre on TV really started to pick up steam. I don’t think there is a station who doesn’t have its own ghost show. You know you’re on to something when even credible stations like A & E with their aforementioned Paranormal State, and Discovery Channel with their A Haunting have hopped on the ghost wagon.

M. Night Shyamalan_IMDB_ Mr. Suspense Himself

Anyway, M. Night Shyamalan directed The Sixth Sense; a movie which went on to enjoy great success, generated a lot of buzz and brought the suspenseful talents of Mr. Night himself into the forefront of thriller directors and screenwriters. It was definitely a cringe worthy movie, and the end twist (which I won’t ruin for you just in case you’ve been under a rock and haven’t seen The Sixth Sense) was definitely jaw dropping. And yes, my jaw was on the floor, and to this day I muse on the fact that I didn’t see that twist coming, and usually I’m pretty good. Mr. Night has my vote for delivering scary thriller movies; even Lady In the Water had me going at moments, though Signs wins hands down for having me wound the tightest the longest and actually making me so afraid I was sweating while watching the flick.

So, since it is Friday the 13th, watch a scary movie. If you want to see a ghost, I think I’ve heard somewhere that the time between 1am and 3am are the best times, for whatever reason I don’t know. I guess the million dollar question is, do you believe in ghosts? What would your response be if someone said to you, “I see dead people,”?

~P.S.~ Be sure to watch for my post on the upcoming movie A Haunting In Connecticut! It looks very scary!