Phantoms and Monsters

Ghosts of Tupelo, Mississippi
Fortean / Oddball News - 6/26/2010
Yvette Fielding Leaving 'Most Haunted'

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:48 AM PDT

allvoices - Tupelo, Mississippi has a rich history that lends itself to the paranormal activity that has been reported around the area. The town was originally called Gum Pond due to the numerous black gum trees in the area. However, it would be renamed in honor of the Battle of Tupelo that happened during the Civil War.

The area is such a hot spot that Jumpin Gene Simmons (not KISS Front man) the co-writer of Tim McGraw's hit song, "Indian Outlaw" wrote a song in 1964 entitled, "Haunted House."

A little known fact that also lends itself to the possibility of paranormal activity is that Tupelo was used as a hiding spot for members of the Mafia. According to Dexter Babin, a life long student of the Mafia, "Although the group, "Dixie Mafia" wasn't a member of the Kosa Nostra. It was actually an association of criminals with different backgrounds."

Even just being criminals, the possibility that murders were not in the group is small. Murders tragically end lives shortly and lead to the possibility that some paranormal researchers believe lead to ghostly phenomenon.

One of the paranormal hot spots is "The Lyric Theater," a historic landmark that is still being used to this day. The story of particular interest, at least to enthusiasts of the paranormal is the tornado in the 30s that leveled the town. According to Tom Booth, Executive Director of the Community theater "The information about the use of the Lyric during the tornado that occured on April 5, 1936 is true."

Many sites have reported that the dead and dying of Tupelo were brought to the Lyric. Surgeries were performed by using the popcorn poppers to sterilize the instruments.

Local legends say that the theater is still haunted to this day. Probably the best time to visit the theater, if you want this kind of experience would be during the annual "Haunted Theater" event in October.

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HAUNTED TUPELO

Just south of Tupelo is a sign that was placed by the National Park Service which reads WITCH DANCE..

The old folks say the witches once gathered here to dance and that whenever their feet touched the ground the grass withered and died, never to grow again....

And the sign appears to be right. If you search around the area, you can actually find scorched spots on the earth where the grass will not grow.

These spots have been there for years, catching the interest of even Andrew Jackson, who noted the spots in his journal after a trip along the Trace on the way home to Tennessee.

The Trace is very old. It was traveled along by the explorer De Soto in 1541 and for more than 500 years before that, used by the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians as the best way to travel.... but even they avoided the scorched places in the earth.

It has been told to me that if your car breaks down on the Trace, especially in front of Witch Dance, stay with your car.

Wait for a ranger.

Do not try to walk to get to a phone...

Or you might not make it...ever.

People disappear there. They always have. - Jeff

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My high school girlfriend and I were driving down the road on Lawndale Drive. I was taking her home which was 2-3 mins from my house. As we passed through the red light at the Gliff Cookin Blvd and Lawndale crossing, we saw an old man with a hat on, long coat. He was walking along the side of the road and as we got near him, my girlfriend asked if I had the AC on...said I didn't. When we passed him, I turned my head around and didn't see him again. I wonder if he died along that road or what. This was sighted on 2001 during Summer - Taylor

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On January 11, 2010, me and my friends were bored and decided to go ghost hunting which we do a lot. We wandered on to the Brewer Community Center in Tupelo Mississippi and decided to take a few pictures not expecting to catch anything. Little to our suprise we ended up cathing a green orb, a little girls face that apperared to be about 7 to 8 years old and an orb that when you looked closely had the shape of a skull floating in midair. Several reports of ghost sighting have come from the Brewer Community Center. - Patrick

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I got this one from my neighbor, a Mississipian. This incident occurred near Tupelo. Seems a hunter was out one evening running his coonhounds and they were up ahead of him when he heard them both yelp as if they were scared. Then all was silence. As he came out of the woods he realized he was in an old churchyard, one that had been long abandoned and overgrown. He was calling for his dogs but getting no response. Up ahead he could see the outline of the old church and then he stopped, frozen in terror. Through the broken down gate of the churchyard a woman dressed in long white flowing gown was walking. The hunter gained some composure and crept nearer. The woman walked across the churchyard and disappeared into the church, going right through the nailed shut door! The hunter turned tail and made a run for his truck and when he got to his truck made a hasty drive home, forgetting his hounds. The next day he returned to the church by an old road and found his dogs, they appeared skittish and the hunter figured the phantom had scared them first. - Z

Sources:
www.hauntedamericatours.com
www.allvoices.com
www.ghostsofamerica.com
www.haunted-places.com

Ghosts of Tupelo, Mississippi

Fortean / Oddball News - 6/26/2010

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:09 AM PDT

Laborer Survives With 1/2 a Head

dailymail - While helping to tear down a building without any safety training Alan Hind's life and features changed forever.

Left with half a head and brain damage, the 28-year-old laborer welcomed the conviction of of his boss who was found to have breached safety laws at the work site.

Mr Hind suffered massive head injuries, including extensive skull fractures, a badly broken jaw, a severed optic nerve that left him blind in one eye and irreparable brain damage.

He also suffered kidney damage and was left deaf in one ear following the February 2008 accident.

Surgeons carried out three complex operations and six months after his fall used a titanium plate to replace a large section of shattered skull.

Parts of his brain were so damaged they had to be removed.

At Carlisle Crown Court, a jury convicted Mr Hind's supervisor Eric Murray, 63, who allowed him to work on the roof of a building at Watt's Yard, off London Road, Carlisle, without safety equipment or training.

Murray's older brother Robert, 65, admitted two health and safety breaches at an earlier court hearing.

Following the trial, Mr Hind, recalled waiting for the plate to be inserted in his skull saying: 'That was a frightening time.

'There was nothing to protect my brain - just skin. I was worried to go out.

'I didn't like to be around lots of people in case I bumped my head.'

Mr Hind, of Lockerbie, Scotland, has been unable to work since his accident. He welcomed the guilty verdict but warned other young workers: 'If it's not safe, it's not worth it.'

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Psychics Duke it Out in Connecticut

thehour - The owner of Psychic Tea Room on Washington Street will see what the future has in store for him on Monday at Norwalk Superior Court when he answers to the charges he is facing for his alleged role in a fight with another psychic.

Steve Cola -- a 38-year-old Norwalk resident -- is charged with third-degree assault, second-degree threatening and harassment.

Also facing misdemeanor charges for their alleged roles in the incident are Nino Miller -- a 22-year-old Southport resident who runs Psychic of Norwalk on Connecticut Avenue -- and a 17-year-old male, whose name is being withheld because of his age.

All three men were released on promises to appear in court

The fight began when Cola and the 17-year-old confronted Miller in a parking lot at 187 East Ave., where Miller was looking to rent an office, police said. Miller was accompanied by Sabrina Demetro at the time of the incident, police said.

Miller told police that Cola had been following him around all day and when he saw Cola, a heated argument began, police said.

According to police, Miller alleges that at one point during the argument, Cola asked him: "Do you want your children to grow up without a father?"

A physical altercation ensued and Miller claims he was pushed to the ground and kicked by the 17-year-old and Cola, police said. Miller said he hit his head during the fight, police said.

Miller said he saw Cola run into the building at 161 East Ave. and officers were able to locate Cola, according to police.

Cola told police that Miller had threatened to kill him and that Miller started the fight by punching him. He said that Miller and Demetro were "gypsies" and that he couldn't understand what they were saying during the verbal argument, police said.

Cola also alleged that Miller assaulted his ex-wife Janet Lee -- a Westport-Greenwich psychic -- in Sept. 2009, according to police and sources close to the case.

Lee had told Greenwich Police in September 2009 that a rival psychic gave her a black eye, police said. However, she was later charged with giving a false statement to police after police found inconsistencies in her statement, police said. The charges against Lee have since been dismissed because of her successful completion of the accelerated rehabilitation program.

In addition to the three people arrested for their roles in the fight, Demetro was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear in court.

Cola said his lawyer advised him not to comment on the incident.

Lee told The Hour that the incident "is kind of proof that I was right" about the Greenwich incident but she would not comment any further on the case.

Miller could not be reached for comment.

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Woman Set Office Ablaze So She Could Go Home Early

A Florida woman accused of starting an office fire to get sent home early with pay pleaded guilty to criminal mischief.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Michelle Perrino, 40, drew suspicion during a meeting of Bayonet Point Oxygen employees when she mentioned the May 12, 2009, fire had started in a filing cabinet before workers had been informed of the fire's origins.

Investigators said a friend of Perrino told them she had admitted to tripping the main circuit breaker and adjusting phones to block incoming calls in bids to go home early without sacrificing the day's pay.

Perrino was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of probation. She was also ordered to pay Bayonet Point Oxygen $4,800 in restitution and banned from contacting the company or its employees.

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911 CALL: Brother Killed Brother, Buries Body in Backyard

Click for video

A frantic 911 call made by the sister of a brother who murdered his brother and buried him in the backyard. While she is talking to a very dim and annoying 911 operator, the brother DIGS UP THE DEAD BROTHER'S BODY in the backyard.

Police say Stanley Elias Eckard admitted to strangling his brother Sean and burying the body next to his parents' home. The family discovered the body in the ground.

Phantoms and Monsters - Fortean / Oddball News - 6/26/2010

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Yvette Fielding Leaving 'Most Haunted'

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 09:09 AM PDT

digitalspy - Yvette Fielding has announced that she is leaving Most Haunted.

The presenter made the announcement in a statement posted on the website for the show's production company Antix Productions, which she set up with her husband Karl Beattie.

"It has been a great ten years. However, after a lot of thought and soul-searching over the past year, I have come to a decision. It is now time for me to hang up my long black coat, move on and leave Most Haunted as its presenter in order to pursue other projects."

Fielding said that she is proud of what her "baby" had achieved including being "watched by royalty" and parodied by shows like Saturday Night Live.

"At the start I wanted to bring paranormal investigations to a wider audience, making them more acceptable and with the ever growing amount of investigation groups that have started since Most Haunted began, I feel that this has been achieved."

The 41-year-old confirmed that she intends to continue working in the field.

"As well as continuing with ITV2's Ghosthunting with... - which grows from strength to strength and with some great celebrity guests coming up, it is must-watch TV - I will be carrying on my quest to find paranormal activity on other channels taking investigations further than ever before and extending on what I have already done."

Living has yet to confirm if the show will continue with a new presenter but Fielding expressed her hope that it would.

"I hope that the brand will continue for years to come as it will always be dear to me."

NOTE: Other than the history information that the show provides, it's rarely real probing of paranormal phenomena. Statements made by Dr. Ciarn O'Keefe as well as insight I received from staff and crew while 'Most Haunted' spent time in Gettysburg, Pa. a few years ago led me to come to the conclusion that the show was more geared to entertainment value than actual paranormal investigation. Besides, all the damn screaming and crying got on my nerves...Lon

Yvette Fielding Leaving 'Most Haunted'

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