Amityville Horror or Amityville Hoax?

       Various novels, documentaries, and major motion pictures have been created based upon the events that took place on 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville in Long Island, New York. The paranormal events took place during the time that George and Kathy Lutz, along with Kathy's three kids and their dog, lived there, and they moved into the home in 1975. Thirteen months prior to the Lutz's buying the house and beginning to move in, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed all members of his family in their sleep. Two days after, he admitted to committing the murders. This is inarguable fact, as should be the non-fiction novel written about their experiences while living in the colonial style home, yet the truth of the novel has been questioned.

       Here are some experiences as described in the book:

- The Lutz children began sleeping on their stomachs, the same way that the murdered children were found.

- George began drinking at The Witches' Brew, a bar near his home where Ronald DeFeo Jr. used to go regularly. George realized that he strongly resembled the murderer.

- George woke at 3:15 AM every day to check the boathouse; he later discovered that this was around the time that the murders had been committed.
- One of George's friends, upon hearing the history of the house, insisted that they have it blessed. When Father Pecoraro sprayed the first drop of holy water, a loud male voice told him to "get out".
- Doors, windows, and locks in the house were damaged by unseen forces.
       Here are some of the controversies regarding the contents of the book:
- Ronald DeFeo Jr. was a regular at Henry's Bar; there was no bar in Amityville called The Witches' Brew.
- In at affidavit, Father Pecoraro stated that his only contact with the Lutzes was through telephone. There have also been accounts which claim that he did visit the house but nothing unusual took place. In an on-camera interview (in which his face was obscured to preserve his anonymity) he admitted that during his visit to the Lutz's house, he heard a voice saying "Get out". In this same interview, he also said that he felt a slap on his face during the visit and subsequent blistering on his hands. These inconsistent stories bring the honesty of Father Pecoraro into question.
- Jim and Barbara Cromarty, who bought the house in March of 1977, claimed that the locks, doors, and windows were not damaged and they appeared to be the original items that weren't repaired.

       There have been many accustions and lawsuits regarding the portrayal of the events that may or may not have occurred in the Lutz's home. To know which side is true, to decide what to believe, you would have to either trust a novel that was not written by the actual victims of the haunting, or trust people outside of the home who argue against the Lutz's claims. The detail of events in the novel may seem illogical or impossible, but does everything always make sense? Perhaps, some things simply cannot be explained.



112 Ocean Ave. 1970's





112 Ocean Ave. Modern Day









A Ghost for Christmas

       Every year at Christmastime, people receive various types of presents: the "exactly what they wanted" kind, the "I suppose it'll come in handy" kind, and the "well, it's the thought that counts" kind. Except for fourteen-year-old Jason of Savannah, Georgia, the gift his father, Al Cobb, gave him doesn't exactly fit into these categories. Why? Well, would you want a haunted bed for Christmas?
       In 1998, after three days of owning the antique bed from the 1800's, Jason began to complain about it. He told his parents that it felt as though someone had "planted elbows on his pillow and was watching him and breathing cold air down the back of his neck." The next night, Jason noticed a photograph of his deceased grandparents turned over on his nightstand, so he set it back up correctly. The next day, it was facing down once again. That same day, after having breakfast, he returned to his room to find two Beanie Babies next to a conch shell, a dinosaur made of shells, and a plaster toucan bird setting on the middle of his bed.
       This odd occurrence caught Jason's parents' attention, and his dad decided to discover if there was a ghost haunting his son by calling out, "Do we have a Casper here? Tell me your name and how old you are." Al then left a piece of paper and crayons in the room and escorted his family out. After fifteen minutes, the family returned to find, in block-y, vertical, child-like letters, written: Danny, 7.
       Al Cobb continued to communicate with the ghost through these notes, and he came to know that Danny's mom had died in the bed in 1899 so Danny wanted to stay with it. The ghost-child made it clear that he did not want anybody to sleep in it by leaving a note reading, "No one sleep in bed." The same day that the family found that note, Jason, who had now moved out of the room, decided to spread out on the bed and pretend to take a nap. When he returned to the room later to grab his sweater, a terra cotta head that had been hanging on the wall flew across the room, narrowly missing Jason before smashing against the closet door. 
       Jane Fishman, a reporter who investigated the stories about a possible haunting at the Cobb's, wrote, “No one really knows who – or what – is leaving the copious notes, moving the furniture, opening the kitchen drawers, setting the dining room table, flipping over the chairs, lighting the candles, arranging the posters to spell out a person’s name, Jill, then hanging the finished product on a bedroom wall."
       Jason also claims that there are other spirits haunting his house: Uncle Sam, a man who came to get his daughter whom he says is buried under the house; Gracie, a young girl whose sculpture is in the Bonaventure Cemetery; Jill, a young woman who left many notes like Danny's, one of which was inviting the Cobbs to a party in their living room.
       So, are you following this? Believing it? Do you believe: that the antique bed is haunted? That the entire house is haunted by multiple spirits? That Al Cobb just so happened to have the perfect occurence to write a book on? That Jason can suddenly talk with and understand spirits? Do you believe poltergeists exist?
       Well, according to parapsychologist Andrew Nichols, it was not the bed, but rather where the bed was placed. Mr. Nichols stated, "It was the electromagnetic energy of the wall – that Jason started sleeping next to when they moved the bed there – that charged a psychic ability that the boy already had.”
       So, it was a good Christmas present after all, but the placement of it couldn't have been worse.

Poltergeists: A Thing of the Past?

       The stories of possible poltergeist hauntings that I have read are all from before this century. Upon realizing this, I began to wonder: are poltergeists a thing of the past?
       Classic fairytales and fables were created long ago, when storytelling was often used to entertain and pass the time. Reports of "poltergeist activity" could have derived from tales such as these, or perhaps people just had a better imagination in that time. Well, when I came across this website, I was shocked to read about modern day hauntings that are taking place as I type this.
     
       Two weeks ago, a man submitted this story to the website, which he titled: His Fire Burns Dark. To read the entire story you can click on the link. In summary, a poltergeist who allowed for himself to be seen angered the author greatly. His autistic daughter was having a bad day, and when he asked why she said, "Because you aren't even scared of that ghost."
       He knew that neither him nor his wife had discussed the ghost in front of the girl, so he replied, "That's right, I'm not scared. Do you know where the ghost is right now?"
       His daughter answered, "He's standing right behind you." This made the father extremely mad because the ghost had dared to show himself to the daughter. After inquiring his daughter some more he discovered that the ghost's name was Tank, but due to her condition she quickly lost interest in the subject. Later on, he discovered that the original deeds to the property had once belonged to a women whose son was Jacob "Hank" McIntire.

       This story was also posted to the site two weeks ago, and it was titled: The Night It Screamed. To read the entire story you can click on the link. In summary, Cheryl Stevens, who was seventeen at the time, was asked to babysit. During the night, while the baby was sleeping, she heard loud bangs on the wall above her head, as though someone were trying to hit her but just missing. She was frightened because, aside from the baby, she was there alone. She looked around in the room on the other side of the wall but found nothing, and then decided to make sure that the baby was alright. Later on, when she was in the living room again, a sudden loud, drawn-out scream filled the room. No one else was there, but it frightened her so badly that she herself screamed and left the room. When she re-entered, she felt as though she'd be attacked by being in there, and resided in the baby's room until the parents returned. While Cheryl was recalling the events that took place while they were gone, the parents informed her that a women had been brutally murdered in that living room by an invader in the early 1900's. Cheryl then informed them that she would not return to babysit for them ever again.

       After reading these recollections of unexplainable events, do you find it difficult to shrug off the idea of poltergeists being a modern day reality? So, as I asked myself, I now ask you: are poltergeists a thing of the past?

The Enfield Poltergeist

       It is often that children play pranks, though would a child be capable of fooling not only their family, but investigators, for over a year? Skeptics seem to think so when considering the unnatural activity that took place during 1977 and 1978 in Enfield, North London. A single mother with four kids had her life change drastically one late August night when two of her children complained that their beds were "going all funny." She assumed they were making up stories that their beds were shaking, but she would soon come to realize that it was only the beginning.
       The activity that was to follow included knocking sounds on the walls, furniture moving on its own, and toys being thrown without anyone touching them. Peggy Harper took her children,  Margaret age twelve, Janet age eleven, Johnny age ten, and Billy age seven, out of their house and sought help from their neighbors. After having the neighbors search the house and yard and find nothing, she took her children back inside. When the unexplainable happening continued, she called the police. While an officer was there, the officer claimed that she saw a chair move on its own, and even signed an affidavit to confirm it.  
       The strange occurrences continued to take place, and they were now being blamed upon what was deemed the Enfield poltergeist. Various investigations and media coverage took place, including a visit from George Fallows from the Daily Mirror, a reporter who claimed to have been hit on the head by a Lego block that no one had thrown, a thirteen month investigation by two members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), and the book that was written about the haunting that was titled: This House is Haunted.
       Another phenomenon that was reported was Janet speaking in a male voice. While speaking in the false cords, she claimed to be a man called Bill whom had died in the house of a brain hemorrhage. Recordings of this that were taken, as she would speak in this voice for hours (which is believed to be medically impossible), were found to be damaged. BBC had gone to the home and taped it, but the recording crew later discovered that the metal in the machines was bent and the recordings thus erased. 
       Janet was taken to the hospital after these strange episodes of speaking in a male voice, and while she was gone from the home the phenomenons came to cease until her return. At one point, the children were caught bending spoons themselves, and when questioned, Janet admitted that they had been behind some of the happenings, but only "...just to see if Mr Grosse and Mr Playfair would catch us. And they always did." (the two men that Janet named were the investigators from the SPR.) This caused people to question if the phenomenons were the work of a poltergeist, or the work of mischievous children. 

Is Janet truly levitating, or simply jumping off of her bed? You be the judge.

       

Bloggin' about Gloggin'!

       Imagine being able to create a poster that could have a video playing on it and speakers emitting sound. That's a pretty good idea; an idea that could make presentations more interesting and creative. Well, this idea is now a reality thanks to Glogster.
       Glogster is a website designed for people to simply create their own online posters. It has a set of tools that is simple and direct for people to add in images, text, graphics, audio, and video. I was able to easily navigate through it to create my first glog without any tutorials to aid me, and it turned out fine.
       Glogster can be accessed by anybody through the internet, so each glog you create has unique privacy settings whether you want it public or private. There is also an educational branch of Glogster, edu.glogster, and  this allows for the website to easily be used in the classroom. It is a secure learning environment seeing as how glogs can be private outside of the class the student is a part of. Receiving feedback on a school project is also made easier by this great program because the teacher, as well as the students, can comment on each other's glogs, and all comments can be moderated.
       So, to any teachers out there who are tired of having glitter covered floors after making "unique and creative" (or in my words, messy) posters, try Glogster! If you're fed up with sticky glue making appearances in your classroom, or complaints from parents when kids return home splattered with paint, bring Glogster into your classroom! Even if you're one of the lucky teachers who seem to have no problem with messy crafts, Glogster offers a fun new way to teach what could be boring lessons, and creating a glog could be an interesting homework assignment.
       Whether in the classroom or just for fun, Glogster is a fresh new look at online presentations and editing that is straightforward and fun! 


This is the first glog I made about the uses of Glogster: http://gartnerm17.edu.glogster.com/how-to/

Facebook: Revolutionary or Evolutionary?

       There are many concerns about Facebook becoming too large a part of our lives. Some people brush away these concerns; they believe that Facebook is an advanced social networking site that is positive for our world. Well, how do these statistics make you feel?

       48% of 18 to 34 year olds check Facebook right when they wake up.

       57% of people talk more online than they do in person.

       750 million photos were uploaded to Facebook over New Year’s weekend.

      

       Facebook was not the first social networking site nor the first popular means of communication created, and there were many advances in technology to bring us to where we are today. To look very far in the past, we had smoke signals. Centuries later, postal systems had sending and receiving letters as the fad, and soon the invention of the telegraph changed the way that news about the war was heard. Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone completely changed the aspect of long-distance communication - you didn't need to wait months to receive a reply to a letter. Cordless phones came next, and they allowed for non face-to-face communication to continue even outside of the home.

       With the creation of Web 2.0, another aspect was added to communication: communicating and collaborating with people across the globe. The cell phone, or more so text messages, allowed for instant messaging to become even more popular since you did not need to be at a computer to converse with friends. Web sites allowing for friends to connect became popular, but this all brought us to where we are today: Facebook. Not only is there instant messaging, there is also the option to share pictures with the click of a mouse, to share a link of your new favourite song, to comment on seemingly everything and anything that takes place, and the list goes on.

       Facebook has seemed to take our society by storm, but is it really something new? It is just another step on the ladder to the ultimate means of communication. This leaves me with one last question: where will it end?

  

What is a Poltergeist?

       Unexplained banging comes from within the walls, belongings disappear for days before returning to their rightful places, and drawers open and slam shut on their own. These happenings are what people consider the work of a poltergeist.
       Poltergeist is a German word that translates to "noisy ghost". What separates poltergeists from regular ghosts is how they can be responsible for physical disturbances; they've been described as troublesome spirits or ghosts in folklore, although no conclusive scientific evidence has been able to explain what people consider the happenings of a poltergeist. The earliest known cases of poltergeist activity date back to the first century, and cases of the mischievous ghosts are still being reported today.
       This supernatural occurrence is usually focused upon a particular person, and often it is an adolescent. This is one fact that supports the theory that telekinetic abilities manifested by a living person in turmoil is what is mistaken as poltergeist activity, because a teenager going through puberty may be in such distress that they are able to develop telekinetic abilities. Another theory that goes along with this is that someone who has been physically abused may be able to develop such abilities to protect themselves or to take revenge.
       Another theory claims that a poltergeist is a person who died but did not have their spirit move on. If they had unfinished business or were in anger when they died, they may have some impact on the physical world even though they are no longer part of it. This can explain why a child or adolescence is targeted, because they are the most vulnerable and easily influenced family member.
      There have been many attempts to explain the phenomenon of poltergeists scientifically, and theories that have been thought up include ball lightning, static electricity, ionized air, electromagnetic fields, ultrasound, and infrasound. Scientists also claim that carbon monoxide poisoning can cause people to suffer from hallucinations.
       So, what is a poltergeist? You tell me.