The Shadows Project Gets a Facelift

The Shadows Project web site recently unvieled a new design with easier navigation, stunning graphics and loads of information about the Niagara Region and beyond. It also promises to showcase new investigations.

You can visit the new Shadows Project here:

www.theshadowsproject.com

New "Reality" TV to showcase haunted hot-spots

Aiming to give audiences goosebumps, a new television reality show is exploring the dreaded paranormal phenomena of ghosts.

MTV's latest show MTV Girls Night Out, which airs from today, will have young women left all alone in a haunted location for an entire night to brave the unknown. Being produced by Miditech, the 13-part hair-raising series is hosted by daredevil VJ Rannvijay.

"With no crew, no phone lines and no connection with the outside world, but under the constant vigil of strategically placed cameras, the contestant will be a given a series of tasks to complete during the night," Rannvijay said.

After assessing their performances, one girl will be elected the most fearless of them all and take home Rs five lakhs.

To add scientific and logical credence, paranormal investigators Gaurav Tiwari and Akanksha Kaushik from the Paranormal Organisation of India, have also been deployed. "The investigators will analyse the situation and will also give the participants a lowdown on the gruesome history of the haunted place," Niret Alva, executive chairman of Miditech told PTI.

The investigations will be done with the support of modern equipments like K2 meters, EMF readers, IR thermometers, night vision HD cameras and various softwares for analysis of the haunted locations.

Is the show trying to prove the existence of ghosts?

"No, our aim is not to prove or deny the existence of any supernatural, but to give participants the opportunity to check their fear in a scary situation," he said.

From Imagine TV's Raaz Pichchle Janam Ka and The Chair at UTV Bindass, channels are now trying to delve deep into the supernatural realm.

America's top 10 most unusual haunted places

By Jennifer Oldman
Sep 24th 2010 at 2:00PM


Fright addicts looking for a different way to celebrate Halloween this year might want to visit one or more of the country's most ghost-infested sites.

From Civil War battlegrounds, to haunted highways, to several dozen venues in Vegas rumored to be inhabited by poltergeists, there are plenty of places to keep ghost hunters busy.


A great place to start is the Internet, where ghost chasers throughout the nation offer up myriad tours. A look at the top-10 most unusual haunted offerings:

10. Visit the haunting grounds of Bugsy Seigel, Liberace, Redd Foxx and Elvis in Vegas, including the "Motel of Death," where various celebrities met their demise, with guides who say they received help from a paranormal historian in crafting their tour.

9. Drive the haunted highways of America, including byways in Missouri, Mississippi, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and many more.

8. Take a walk with ghosts of former patients who are reputed to haunt this psychiatric hospital, located on 325 acres in New Jersey.

7. See the sights at Gettysburg, Pa., the scene of the Civil War's bloodiest battle, where 51,000 Americans were killed or wounded from July 1 to July 3, 1863. Hot spots include the Hunterstown Battlefield, the Gettysburg Engine House and the National Soldier's Orphan Homestead.

6. Decide for yourself whether aliens touched down in Roswell, N.M. in 1947, when many local residents said they saw an unidentified flying object fall from the sky and land in a local rancher's yard. Do they still lurk overhead?

5. Civil War buffs might also want to check out what some consider America's most haunted plantations, located everywhere from Louisiana to Virginia.

4. Travelers who are bewitched by Salem, Mass.' checkered past will want to check out Gallows Hill, which is believed to be haunted by the spirits of 19 witches hanged there.

3. Locals advise that visitors should "use extreme caution" before exploring New Orleans oldest and reputedly most haunted burial ground, St. Louis Cemetery Number 1, where voodoo practitioners are said to refuse to rest.

2. Many ghost hunters are fascinated with California, where dozens of locations from high schools, to former battleships, to rehabilitation clinics, are said to be home to poltergeists. Even Disneyland is reputed to be inhabited by the paranormal.

1. Some believe that San Diego's Whaley House -- where many members of the Whaley family passed away in the half century they lived there -- is America's "most haunted house."


See full article from WalletPop: http://srph.it/bR6AN6

The 13 best haunted house attractions for Halloween 2010


By Jayne Clark • USA TODAY • September 24, 2010

Halloween is big business and among its growth industries are seasonal haunted houses that operate from mid September through October. If you're considering venturing into one, here's some advice from a guy who knows from haunted houses: If you see a grim reaper in a hockey mask, get out of the house as fast as you can.

Ideally, before you've forked over the admission. Because it's bound to be one sorry spook-fest.

The whole Jason thing is soooo '80s slasher film.

These days, the best haunted houses are pushing the envelope with intricate story lines, eye-popping special effects and live talent.

Larry Kirchner, editor of Hauntworld Magazine, believes this because he not only builds haunted houses, but he spends a lot of time hanging out in them and comparing notes with other aficionados on his website, Hauntworld.com. The site has just issued its annual 13 best list of haunted houses.

The "haunt industry" as Kirchner calls it, has gotten increasingly sophisticated, thanks in part, to an influx of former Hollywood special effects and makeup people who lost their entertainment-industry jobs to computer animation.

Kirchner estimates there are about 3,000 haunted houses nationwide poised to open this month and next, but the vast majority are home-grown affairs usually staged for charitable causes. And then there are what Kirchner calls "home haunters who just love Halloween." This time of year Hauntworld.com's message boards are abuzz with people swapping fake-blood recipes.

The full-time denizens of the industry, however, are into more elaborate effects that might involve flame machines, fog machines and other pricey accoutrement. A Kirchner favorite seen at a recent Halloween trade show is a hearse with a 20-foot-tall animation of a grim reaper that shoots out of the roof with victims in its clutches.

For a time, some haunted house operators were favoring animated effects over live actors -- a mistake, if you ask Kirchner. "What makes a haunted house successful is the spontaneity the actors can provide," he says.

Other attributes Kirchner believes are necessary to deliver a truly heart-pounding scare:

When you step inside, its realism should make you believe you are where they say you are. "You're in the middle of the plot," he says. "You are Jamie Lee Curtis, and your life's in danger."

The experience should be immersive, with 360-degree effects, not just action taking place in front of you.

A lot of haunted houses crib from horror movies, but that's not Kirchner's style. "Anybody can do bloody bathrooms and circular-saw chases," he says. "If you want to see Freddie Kruger, go rent the DVD."

Fort Erie Beach Blog

Found this terrific blog documenting the Fort Erie Beach. It makes mention of Shadows of Niagara and asks if you've ever seen a ghost at Fort Erie Beach or not. Post your comments on the discussion at:

http://eriebeachbook.blogspot.com/

About This Blog

Out of the Dark: The Ghost Hunting Chronicles is a blog providing detailed investigations of the Out of the Dark team, paranormal news and editorial.

It will also feature the past investigations of paranormal investigator and author John Savoie.