Tag: Ghosts

“Victoria’s Most Haunted” Gets A New Book by Ian Gibbs!

51nsewsef1l-_sx322_bo1204203200_By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Presentation at Bolen Books 
1644 Hillside Ave #111
on May 9, 7pm

Many long-time residents of Victoria, British Columbia will not dispute the fact that this garden city is haunted. More ghosts are said to spook specific streets here, and most of the downtown core and neighbouring districts are covered in Ian Gibb’s debut book, “Victoria’s Most Haunted.”

From bars to homes to restaurants and schools, this variety of sites is welcome. A few places are missed—some of which I had the fortune to check out during my time with PARAVI, a local paranormal investigative society (understandably not mentioned in the book because it’s no longer in operation)—but to get every story crammed in means obtaining permission not only from the group but also from the current business operators to talk about them.

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[Victoria Film Festival 2017] Redefining the Ghost Story with Personal Shopper

mediaBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

This movie will get a wider release in the USA on March 10.

To delicately write and direct a ghost story often means understanding the underlying aspects of what makes this sub genre a delight to watch, if not read. Most stories are focused on an individual feeling isolated instead of terrorized and in some cases, the protagonist feels like a great weight is upon him or her. To be free means all of that is lifted.

The appeal of Olivier Assayas’ movie, Personal Shopper, is in how this subject is gently explored. He does a great job of making a film that is more of a thriller than a Woman in Black style spookfest. The heroine in this story, Maureen Cartwright (Kristen Stewart), does not like her job of being a fashion barista for celebrity-model Kyra (Nora Von Waldstätten) whom she rarely sees and fortunately (or not) she has a side job of being a medium. She can sense dead people and perhaps help them move on. But when she has her own dead weight of dealing with the death of her twin brother is more gifted, just what she’s looking for is actually closure. She is waiting for a sign from him.

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Ouija: Origin of Evil is a Better Treat for Fans of this Franchise

The game is hardly over with the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil. A few more tales can be spelled out but just how long interest remains depends on the desire of players wanting to toy with fate.

ouija_two_xxlg-jpegThe game is hardly over with the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil. A few more tales can be spelled out but just how long interest remains depends on the desire of players wanting to toy with fate.

This latest movie is better than the first (I reviewed it here) mostly because of the setting. The late 60’s was a time where plenty of geopolitical terrors were lurking about. The aspects of historical rife made it so; the ongoing Vietnam War was on the minds of some politicians, the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 began the year. The end of this decade was rife with uncertainty as the future looked grim.

People were looking for answers; some turned to spirit contact for messages in what the future may hold. Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) offered her skills as a medium (when she really had none) to give solace to those concerned about the world at large. Most of her clients wanted council because of the passing of a loved one. However, most of her séances were faked. The deception is known by her daughters Doris (effectively played with creepy finesse by Lulu Wilson), the youngest, and Paulina “Lina” (Annalise Basso), the eldest as they sometimes help mom out. However, when the Hasbro game is introduced and Alice decides to use it in her own game of deception, the supernatural forces lurking in her home are awakened!

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Royal Canadian Mint to Finish Releasing a Trilogy of Haunted Canada Coins

154468_hero-185By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The Royal Canadian Mint‘s Haunted Canada series of coins is coming to an end. September 8th marked the release of this third and final coin in the series. To own all three will certainly be a delight for paranormal enthusiasts and coin collectors alike! As viewers gaze upon this lenticular image, it will transform from a pretty spirit to a shrieking one! Artist Susanna Blunt crafted this ethereal image.

While the television series Creepy Canada explored close to 100 famously haunted places all around this country, not all of them are all that well-known worldwide. If I was to choose the most famous, I have to say the Ghosts of Fort Henry (Fort Henry, Ontario), the Bell Island spirit (Newfoundland/Labrador) and the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel (Banff, Alberta) are the best known.

From this list, the Mint is recognizing Bell Island this year. Last year had Vancouver’s Headless Horseman (2015) and the year before the Ghost Bride (2014). The single coins are more or less sold out, but sets, which includes a series of stamps from Canada Post shows that both companies love their spooks!

This year’s release is very promising:

On Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bell Island, a restless female spirit is said to haunt the marshes near Dobbin’s Garden. She appears in two forms: one, as a beautiful woman dressed in white; the other, as a frightening old woman. Men who have dared to walk through the area have gone missing for days, only to emerge unaware of any passage of time. But what they do remember is the sudden apparition of a grotesque old woman moving toward them, pushing them to the ground, while the smell of death hangs in the air.

Hopefully Canada Post will continue their run since the list of haunted houses is enough to make into a book. To see this company continue the love for the paranormal, I’m willing to bet these spirits are sure to “stick around.”

How Many New or Old Editions of Tobin’s Spirit Guides Do We Need?

Tobin’s Spirit Guide is a must for any collector of Ghostbusters lore, but which edition is considered definitive?

Tobin’s Spirit Guide Front CoverFans of Ghostbusters now have three versions of Tobin’s Spirit Guide to explore the film’s paranormal lore. One is an out-of-print role-playing game supplement by West End Games, designed for gameplay and organizing ghosts by country of origin. The other two are recent editions: one attempts to be a comprehensive reference sorted alphabetically, while the abridged version categorizes entries by ascending danger. The foreword in the latest Insight Editions version notes that this pocket guide provides the essentials for those haunting New York City and the Eastern Seaboard.

For anyone hoping to tackle the authoritative edition, consider it a “sanity roll” (as in Chaosium Inc.’s Call of Cthulhu RPG) to avoid prematurely aging while absorbing the massive 35-pound tome from which these editions are derived. Between the smaller volumes, each entity’s origin and classification are included, and for the bold, locations are listed—though only the fearless need apply.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Haunting the Stage with Hitodama, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Hitodrama

LOCATION:
The Roxy Theatre
2657 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC

SHOWTIMES:
Aug 31 | 7:45 pm
Sept 2 | 7:45 pm
Sept 5 | 3:45 pm
Sept 6 | 8:45 pm

DURATION: 60 minutes

If you love scary campfire ghost stories told in the vein of Tales of the Crypt, then Hitodama is one fun play to see. This title is also the Japanese name of what Westerners know as Will-o’-the-wisps and they are far more sentient. This production from Mochinosha (also known as The Wishes Mystical Puppet Company) will certainly show how well versed the producers are in the lore from the land of the rising sun. They also performed the raunchy show Oni at last year’s Fringe using the same techniques as before. They use paper cut-outs to create shadows on a silver screen and this style is very àpropos when considering how the supernatural is often perceived. As an avid paranormal enthusiast, I wanted to see this show as fast as humanly possible. But even on premiere night, which was last Friday, the only way I could have made it is if I had a doppelgänger. As long as it was psychically connected to me, my third eye would know all.

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