The existence of Vampires has been documented throughout history, and their stories are truly horrifying. Vlad Tepes (1431-1476), was born in December of 1431, in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara. Vlad was know for his inhumane cruelty, and it is said that he was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Also known as Vlad III and Vlad Dracula, he is one of the most famous and terrifying vampires of all time. It is said that he tortured an unbelievable amount of between 40,000 to 100,000 victims by impaling them on stakes. This was done in a public display, to warn his adversaries, and to punish those that did not adhere to his very strict moral code. This was a without a doubt, the most horrific and slow death anyone can possibly imagine. The process of impaling started with a horse tied to each of the victims legs. When secured a blunted stake was inserted, usually through the rectum and was slowly pushed through the victims body, with extra care taken not to be too quick, because he did not want the victim to die too soon from shock. Adults were not his only victims, as the babies of his female victims were impaled through the chest of their mothers. The bodies of these victims were left to rot for months on end, lining the streets, and detouring would-be criminals and travelers with the stench of their decay.
Vlads preferred form of torture was, unfortunately, not his only form of torture. He was also known to sever limbs, and cut off ears and noses. He sometimes burned his victims or blinded them. He even pounded nails into their heads, sometimes with their very own hats on their heads. He was also known to mutilate his victims sexual organs, especially those of the female kind. He was a very vile man, and none of this gruesomeness seemed to distrub him. He was known to sometimes dine in the midst of many of his dying victims, eating and drinking as if they weren’t even there.
Vlad Tepes, was definitely not the glamorous vampire that we know from the Hollywood screen of today. Edward and his coven of vampires are mere kittens when compared to this man. I am just thankful Vlad Dracula does not exist today.
When I was seven we spent a lot of time at the homes of relatives, and holidays were very special times when cousins from all over the state would come to visit. It was the Christmas of 1977 that me and twelve of my cousins decided to play an innocent little game of “Bloody Mary.” We were at the home of my cousin Jimmy, in Sylmar, California. His house had a the perfect hallway, we were able to close all five doors leading into the hallway, and at the very end was a full length mirror. There were no other kids in the house, and all of the parents were in the living room. At the far end of the hallway were two doors that led to the only two bedrooms in the house. Both were empty prior to us going in and closing all of the doors. It was pitch dark, the only light was from under the one door that led to the living room where all the adults were at the time. One, of my older cousins started to say the magic words….”Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary…….” When she said it the third time we all got quiet waiting to see what would happen. Well….it happened. We all turned to look toward the mirrored end of the hallway when we heard the handle of the door turning. What we saw scared the heck out of me and everyone in that hallway. There was a bright red, luminescent, hand and arm gaping eerily into the hallway, and opening the door. All I can remember is 13 kids running and screaming. In all the chaos and desperation I was nearly trampled on, and we all went out the opposite door and into the living room and we were all overwhelmed with the relief of salvation. We proceeded to sit looking at each other in blatant disbelief. Each of us sitting as close together as possible in silent panic. I remember looking around to see if any of the parents were missing, but they were all there. I don’t know what we saw that night, but we talked about it later in our teen years and everyone remembers seeing the same thing. I have been told several scary “Bloody Mary” experiences since that time, and I can tell you that I have never played that game again.
So, finally got out to see the new movie, “New Moon”……and I have to say that Chris Weitz direction was much better than that of director, Catherine Hardwicke. Many people thought that a man would not be able to capture the true essence of the whole twilight drama, but they were totally wrong about that. I think he added to it by bringing a more masculine side to it by adding a little comedy, and some really good fight scenes and special effects. I read the whole series of “Twilight” books and was very disappointed with the first movie…and script seemed very BLAH, which made the acting by Kristen Stewart even worse than normal. I do have to comment that all of the actors have improved for “New Moon”, maybe it had something with the new direction, and maybe it didn’t. All I can say is that I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in “Eclipse!”
We have been sharing our 3 bedroom home with an uninvited guest, of the paranormal kind, for well over 3 months now. It’s bad enough to have a living, breathing guest that won’t leave, but worse to have one that comes home at all hours of the day or night, without any regard for your sleep. It has been rough on my family, and I just realized how sleep deprived we have all been, especially my kids. Sera rarely gets a full nights sleep, and is exhausted by the weekend. It’s no wonder we all can get so grumpy at any given moment.
Yesterday, I decided that as soon as we can get the money, we are going to have to move. The kids will never be relaxed here because too much has happened. Every noise that they hear, spirit or no spirit, is always going to be a spirit, because that is the way they have been conditioned. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell them that it is a protective spirit or that it is not here to hurt us, it will never be the same. My two-year-old will always see the monster in the closet, my four-year-old will always want someone to go with here any times she leaves the room, my 11-year-old will always sleep with all the lights on, and my oldest daughter will never get any sleep. We will always hear someone walking up and down the stairs, because that is just the way it is.
Yesterday, my 11-year-old, Jake, was here sitting on the couch with his little sister when they heard something walk down the stairs. Jake usually handles it all pretty well, but this time he was sitting and saw and felt something put a hand on his knee and whatever it was held it there for a while. He was scared but did not panic, just sat there waiting for it to go. He isn’t sure how long it was there, but was pretty excited about it and talked about it for the next few hours. They took a little longer than usual to fall asleep last night again, I think it was about 11:15pm. Definitely not the time school aged kids should be going to sleep.
So, I am not sure when, but we will have to move to see if we can get some peace and quiet. I know that there is a chance we will find more ghosts in a new house, or that these will follow us, but that is a chance we are willing to take. This had definitely not been fun!
There have been stories of the existence of werewolves since the early Roman times. Where did these stories originate and why do we continue to have reports of their sightings to this day. My theory is that there must have been some truth to those old stories. In France there was the case of the Beast of Gevaudan that attacked over 200 people, killing over 100 people during a period of four years. Survivors reported a large, red, short-haired, wolf-like creature with large teeth and tail. There are also the court cases of Gilles Garnier who confessed to being a werewolf after he was seen carrying the body of a partially eaten child, while in a wolf-like state. Apparently unable to provide for his new family he came across an apparition who gave him a salve that turned him into a werewolf. He then murdered several young children and ate from their thighs and bellies before he was caught. He was accused of witchcraft and was burned at the steak.
More recently there are reports of sightings here in the United States in Michigan, Georgia, and Wisconsin. The Dogman or Beast of Bray Road has been seen several times in Michigan and is described as a wolf-like creature standing on two feet and or on all fours, usually seen walking, running, or jumping. I have an uncle who was driving home late at night with his wife in Palmdale, California. The were driving on a two lane road and both claim to have come across a white van with two men standing in the road, screaming at them to stop and to not go any further. Thinking they were being set up for a crime, they decided it would not be a good idea to stop. As they continued driving farther down the road they saw a large hairy creature coming at them. They stopped the car and it came to the window. It made a loud noise and they drove away, but it was able to keep up with them for a short time. Eventually they were able to get away from it. Both my uncle and his wife were terrified and both of them were unable to identify what it was, but both claim it was very large and appeared to be a wolf-like man. They called my father the next day and told him about it, but my father laughed. What I don’t understand is how they could both see the same thing if it was not real. I for one, believe that they saw something that night….maybe it was a werewolf, or maybe an escaped government experiment? Either way it was scary and driving in Palmdale will never be the same!
