Here's something you might be interested in.
On a whim earlier this evening, I ventured out of the hermitage to see the new film "Paranormal Activity".
My purpose here is not to give a lengthy review of the film. I will say that my palms never ceased to sweat throughout. It's pretty effective, utilizing the type of handheld camera-shaking, in-your-face cinema verite approach that we saw in "The Blair Witch Project" some ten years ago. It's fun. Not recommended for little kids, heart patients, or anyone else who's afraid of the bogeyman. It will mess them up.
I haven't experienced a 'lot' of that kind of activity, myself. Nothing that makes for a really good story. Except for one.
Although I'm not an overly "psychic" individual myself, I've always attracted those who are. One friend I had in Texas was named Sarah. Sarah referred to herself as a "big satellite dish," always receiving signals that she usually didn't understand, but often discovered the meaning of after the fact. Like the night she couldn't sleep and was plagued all evening by four pairs of lost, pleading eyes. The next day, she picked up the paper and discovered that four teenagers had been killed when their car struck a bridge support. But this story isn't about Sarah, either.
It's about Randi. Sarah introduced me to Randi.
Sarah and her daughters had known Randi and his family "down in the valley" in south Texas. Now, he and his brothers had come north, a few years later. From the time they arrived, Sarah had sensed something not-too-pleasant had arrived with them. She also sensed that of the three boys, Randi was somehow the source. She wanted my opinion of the guy.
He answered the door when we arrived at his apartment. Tall and fair, with longish blonde, wavy hair and what I thought were black eyes at the time. Musician. Dressed in black.
As we sit, the evening progresses and we begin to talk about why we came. Randi explained that he had a "friend" of sorts, that had been with him since he was a child, and that was known about by his family and everyone else who'd spent any time with him at all. He said that he'd had it since at least the age of ten. He also said that it wasn't particularly nice, and could get angry, but never really 'did' much of anything but bits of minor destructive household mischief to show its annoyance, which was usually jealousy-related.
He said that it would do things like break mirrors, pull out all the drawers, open all the cabinets and suchlike. Its appearance was actually scarier than its habits, mostly because of its size. He said that it appeared as a very tall, perhaps 7-foot shadow. Not a distinct person, but clearly humanoid in shape.
Sarah and I sat on the floor side-by-side. We were looking across at Randi, who had the kitchen and dining room area behind him as he described the activities and appearance of this entity, speculating about what type it was.
Just as he uttered the phrase, "creature from another dimension," it stepped for a moment into ours. WE SAW IT.
It moved from the edge of the small apartment kitchen through part of the dining area, a space of only a few feet. It was just as he had described. It was huge.
It only lasted for a few seconds, and it was gone.
Now, some may say that was simply the power of suggestion. But considering the fact that Sarah's head and mine whipped around to face each other at exactly the same moment, speaking the same words -- "Did you see that?" -- I would tend to believe it was something a bit more.
There's not much more to tell than that. It didn't 'do' anything, and that was the only time we saw it that evening. We didn't run screaming, and in fact stayed for quite some time talking, but it definitely, um....put a bit of a charge in the atmosphere, I guess you could say.
So, what with Samhain (All Hallow's Eve) on its way, I thought I'd ask this question: Have you ever had an encounter with the paranormal, or do you know anyone who has?
On a whim earlier this evening, I ventured out of the hermitage to see the new film "Paranormal Activity".
My purpose here is not to give a lengthy review of the film. I will say that my palms never ceased to sweat throughout. It's pretty effective, utilizing the type of handheld camera-shaking, in-your-face cinema verite approach that we saw in "The Blair Witch Project" some ten years ago. It's fun. Not recommended for little kids, heart patients, or anyone else who's afraid of the bogeyman. It will mess them up.
I haven't experienced a 'lot' of that kind of activity, myself. Nothing that makes for a really good story. Except for one.
Although I'm not an overly "psychic" individual myself, I've always attracted those who are. One friend I had in Texas was named Sarah. Sarah referred to herself as a "big satellite dish," always receiving signals that she usually didn't understand, but often discovered the meaning of after the fact. Like the night she couldn't sleep and was plagued all evening by four pairs of lost, pleading eyes. The next day, she picked up the paper and discovered that four teenagers had been killed when their car struck a bridge support. But this story isn't about Sarah, either.
It's about Randi. Sarah introduced me to Randi.
Sarah and her daughters had known Randi and his family "down in the valley" in south Texas. Now, he and his brothers had come north, a few years later. From the time they arrived, Sarah had sensed something not-too-pleasant had arrived with them. She also sensed that of the three boys, Randi was somehow the source. She wanted my opinion of the guy.
He answered the door when we arrived at his apartment. Tall and fair, with longish blonde, wavy hair and what I thought were black eyes at the time. Musician. Dressed in black.
As we sit, the evening progresses and we begin to talk about why we came. Randi explained that he had a "friend" of sorts, that had been with him since he was a child, and that was known about by his family and everyone else who'd spent any time with him at all. He said that he'd had it since at least the age of ten. He also said that it wasn't particularly nice, and could get angry, but never really 'did' much of anything but bits of minor destructive household mischief to show its annoyance, which was usually jealousy-related.
He said that it would do things like break mirrors, pull out all the drawers, open all the cabinets and suchlike. Its appearance was actually scarier than its habits, mostly because of its size. He said that it appeared as a very tall, perhaps 7-foot shadow. Not a distinct person, but clearly humanoid in shape.
Sarah and I sat on the floor side-by-side. We were looking across at Randi, who had the kitchen and dining room area behind him as he described the activities and appearance of this entity, speculating about what type it was.
Just as he uttered the phrase, "creature from another dimension," it stepped for a moment into ours. WE SAW IT.
It moved from the edge of the small apartment kitchen through part of the dining area, a space of only a few feet. It was just as he had described. It was huge.
It only lasted for a few seconds, and it was gone.
Now, some may say that was simply the power of suggestion. But considering the fact that Sarah's head and mine whipped around to face each other at exactly the same moment, speaking the same words -- "Did you see that?" -- I would tend to believe it was something a bit more.
There's not much more to tell than that. It didn't 'do' anything, and that was the only time we saw it that evening. We didn't run screaming, and in fact stayed for quite some time talking, but it definitely, um....put a bit of a charge in the atmosphere, I guess you could say.
So, what with Samhain (All Hallow's Eve) on its way, I thought I'd ask this question: Have you ever had an encounter with the paranormal, or do you know anyone who has?