Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gadillari Has More Haunted Discoveries and Family Secrets To Dig Up, An Interview (Part One)

Haunted Discoveries stands out as a series which focuses on history moreso than others in this genre, and it’s a welcome change than the the usual ghost-hunting spectacle offered in broadcasting these days.

Haunted Discoveries Main
Also available to view on YouTube via SnootaTV

When travelling the byways and highways of Kentucky and Illinois to the northeastern seaboard, there are plenty of places to check out in Haunted Discoveries. Interest in the paranormal developed differently for Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gadillari. For the latter, it wasn’t until he was 18 that he started looking for answers.

“I started delving into the history of our family home, and I learned some things about the previous resident; it all confirmed what we were experiencing,” said Gadillari, “Ever since then, I was hooked. I joined a local team, did some investigations, and eventually went hardcore. I later became part of Ghost Hunters, where I met Brandon.”

Alvis’ route was different. While the two share a similar ethos in why they investigate, they chose to focus on what matters most to them rather than becoming just another paranormal reality show. He didn’t go into detail about the incident that started it all, but he did say he’s been studying the field for over 20 years. His ongoing work as the founder of the American Paranormal Research Association speaks for itself. With experience as a filmmaker, director, and editor, what they’ve built shows control and intent rather than chaos. As he explained, “It’s been a lot of fun to look at history through the paranormal angle and understand that what happened before us still echoes into our time.”

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TokyoPOP’s Disney Manga Calender is Hot This Spring

Disney manga fans have a few collected editions to consider, which are mostly reprints, but for those who haven’t read them yet, these new editions are hardcover editions.

Disney Stitch! The Manga Collection
Available to order on Amazon USA

New hardcover and translated editions of TokyoPOP‘s Disney Manga are coming to bookstores, featuring some of this studio’s beloved characters in manga-style format. Whether it’s a certain Jack Sparrow or a certain blue fuzzy wuzzy, these editions are worth considering if those softcover copies are looking worn from repeated reading. Two of the three are available now, with the third coming soon.

While my money is on the upgrade path for Stitch! The Manga Collection, that’s because the two volumes that make up this set are now in one package. Even though Best Friends Forever! is not part of the collection, maybe it’ll be added in due time. Stitch and the Samurai has its own compiled collection (Amazon link), so that’s what fans need to know when comparing this upcoming release to past editions.

As for the other titles, they include:

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Gou Tanabe’s Next Manga, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is on Trial!

Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has begun in Japan, but English-language readers may have a long wait ahead. Thankfully, several Lovecraft-inspired graphic novels are arriving soon to keep cosmic horror fans busy.

The Case of Charles Dexter WardThe news is real. Gou Tanabe is adapting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and the first chapter is out in print! Although a translated release is likely years away, fans can either seek out the original or wait. The current release is seeing print through Kadokawa’s Comic Beam magazine. Fan translations may exist, but for now, that’s all readers are going to get. And considering this is one of Lovecraft’s longer works, don’t expect the story to wrap up for at least two years.

Tanabe tends to expand source material with sweeping vistas and densely detailed art. Like other artists invested in world-building, such as Mamoru Nagano and Gothicmade, formerly Five Star Stories, readers living abroad are at a disadvantage. By the time this adaptation reaches tankobon format, there may be two volumes.

While fans wait, the following are due out soon:

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When Hotori Doesn’t Have To Sing Along to Billy Joel’s “Pressure”

Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope is a short anime about a girl losing herself to an unknown condition and the android built to inherit a dead child’s memories, and their unlikely bond asks the most essential questions about what makes us human.

Hotori Wishing for HopeThe quest for memories is the focus in Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope, a short film about a girl who can’t have a tomorrow. She’s struggling with an unknown condition that’s steadily erasing who she is. She’ll become a shell of what she was, and in contrast, she meets an android built to inherit the memories of a deceased child. His parents know Suzu is no replacement, but when a life is cut too short, is it a fair trade to gain what another has lost? That’s the existential crisis at the heart of this heartbreaking (or is that warming?) story about why life is precious, and why we shouldn’t take every day for granted.

Hotori originally aired as a Japanese television special and was directed by Takashi Anno (Maison Ikkoku, Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma). It won third place at the 2004 Animax Grand Prix awards and although this release comes very late, the themes feel timely when you consider what defines an AI, its personality, and what exactly constitutes a soul. Memories aren’t the only piece of the puzzle. There’s “Personality,” which can apparently be extracted and put into code. We’re not meant to unpack how all of that works, and what’s genuinely poignant is the relationship these two tweens share.

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Is It Souls Chapel or Soule’s Chapel? Even Kentucky’s Ghosts Can’t Decide.

Souls Chapel builds on real-world folklore but struggles to ground its story in Appalachian roots. Strong ideas and atmosphere are there, but uneven pacing and missed cultural depth keep it from fully landing.

Souls Chapel Movie PosterDesktop Entertainment
Available on DVD and VOD

Jack C. Young and D.W. Daring’s Souls Chapel has its heart in the right place. It draws from what they present as a real-life legend, with Young directing and Daring digging through urban legends to shape the story. I suspect just where the writer found inspiration is from the Lake Cumberland Tactical Innovations LLC website.

What is confirmed is that a chapel once stood there, and that the American Civil War fractured its congregation. Those are noted in historical records. Beyond that, the details which included who was the pastor fade into speculation. That isn’t necessarily a flaw. Folklore often fills gaps where history falls silent. When stories pass through enough voices, they shift and take on a life of their own, especially when tied to a burned site and that there’s a cemetary nearby.

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Go Nagai’s Giant Secret: Why the World Already Knows Grendizer U Inception (And You Should Too)

Grendizer U Inception revisits Go Nagai’s legendary super robot saga with expanded backstory, deeper character motivations, and a modern retelling that gives longtime mecha fans and newcomers alike a fresh way to enter the world of Duke Fleed.

Grendizer U InceptionTitan Manga

With Grendizer U Inception, this latest take is not necessarily part of a reboot that began with Grendizer U, but instead is a deeper layer of backstory added on top. With Tatsuto Higuchi handling this prequel of sorts, the update feels like it’s in good hands. Back when Go Nagai shifted from one kind of story to another, he probably didn’t realise his work would help define the giant robot genre. It began with Mazinger Z in 1972, and when he introduced Grendizer three years later, the 74-episode series set a precedent before Gundam came along.

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