Edward Theodore Gein , also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American convicted murderer and body snatcher. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin.

The story of Ed Gein has had a lasting effect on American popular culture as evident by its numerous appearances in film, music, and literature. The tale first came to widespread public attention in the fictionalized version presented by Robert Bloch in his 1959 suspense novel, Psycho.
Gein served as the inspiration for myriad fictional serial killers, most notably Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Buffalo Bill (The Silence of the Lambs) and the character Dr. Oliver Thredson from the TV series American Horror Story: Asylum.

Join Dr. John Stamey and Tony Felosi of the Murder123 Team as they discuss the life and murders of Ed Gein.
Here is the podcast.

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I have noticed that the question is often ask "what is a good bigfoot film I can watch?".  A few years ago I did a top 5 Bigfoot movies video and of course it was totally based on my opinion, which resulted in some films not making the cut. It also resulted in some people getting mad because a film they liked was not on the list. Since then there has been some new films come out and some of them I have watched and others I haven't.

So to start off the new year, I thought I would write a post with some bigfoot film recommendations. Once again, this is my opinion, so don't get mad if your favorite film is not mentioned. This will not be an all inclusive list, there will be some quality films not on the list, but it will be a good starting point for what to watch.

Here we go!

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It is almost time for this year's Haunt Fest! I will be there along with my teammate and filming partner, Tony Felosi. This will probably be the last time you will have a chance to meet me in person at an event for a little while. I just need a break from events and some time to catch up on some projects. But never fear I will be back doing them at some point.

This year's Haunt Fest is loaded with some quality special guest and events.
Check it out.

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Making A Great Scary Video To Share Online

If you’ve got a scary story you want to tell the world, you can film it on your smartphone - 52% of people make videos on their phones. It’s a simple way to make a short movie that is high quality, and perfect for sharing online. In America, 92% of people watch and share videos online; in fact, 82% of all internet traffic is video. This means that your homemade creepy video could quite easily go viral and get a mainstream following.

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Native American legends are full of stories about giant hairy men. Some are sweet and spiritual stories, while others are full of murder and mayhem. Many of the stories tell harrowing tales of the natives’ problems with these “giants” snatching and even eating their children. Most of these were dismissed as legend or myth by others, but Native American legend is based in truth...or the way in which they perceived the truth. And it very well may be that the “giants” they were referring to may very well have been bigfoot in some of the cases.

And it seems that may be true in this case.

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Roosevelt Island, New York, is two miles long and situated on the East River between Manhattan and Queens.  Even though it’s considered to be part of Manhattan, it provides a beautiful contrast to the concrete city with its lush picnicking areas and natural atmosphere.

But it has a very dark and harrowing past. Once known as Blackwell Island, it was once the resting place of an infamous insane asylum known as the Blackwell’s Women’s Asylum. And when this madhouse was still intact, it had a lot of stories to tell. But the most significant one was the story of Nellie Bly.

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When we speak or write about a Golem, most people probably think we are talking about Gollum from the J.R.R Tolken's Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movies. But while they may have some similar traits, we are not talking about that creature and his pursuit of his precious ring. Nope, we are talking about an animated anthropomorphic being from Jewish folklore. The golem would normally be formed out of clay or mud and would be brought to life and then controlled. The method of this seems to vary with different tales.

The oldest stories of golems date to early Judaism.  In the Talmud, Adam was initially created as a golem, created out of mud. Early tales of golems lean toward them not having the ability to speak. One of the methods, at least early on, to bring a golem to life was to use various letters from the Hebrew alphabet to form a "Shem", any one of the names of God, and write it on paper and insert it into the mouth of the golem. You could later stop the golem by removing the paper. In some cases removing the paper from the mouth of the golem caused it to return to dust other times it just put it on pause.

Another method of animating and controlling the golem was to write the word "emet" on the being. In Hebrew "emet" means Truth. Usually this was written on the golem's forehead but I have seen stories where it was written on the back of the hand or other methods used.  The golem would be stopped or deactivated by removing the "e" from "emet". That leaves you with "met" which would mean Death or Dead in Hebrew. So you would go from Truth to Death by scrubbing off the letter. In some stories, the golem would be deactivated once it completed the bidding of the person who was controlling it. In some cases it was used to do hard work, to get revenge or settle a score.

The Golem on DVD

There is a long history and many hand me down tales about golems. There is even one about a Nazi trying to stab a golem during WWII in an attic of a church. The attic is not open to the general public but in 1984 a film crew was able to visit and film the attic. They came away with no evidence to support the old WWII claim.

Golems have often made appearances in movies, TV shows, games and cartoons. Even in today's popular shows and movies golems can be found. I would assume that most people have no idea that golems are actually rooted in Jewish history and folklore. That many people have and continue to believe in the creation of golems.






While I can see that there may be some confusion about golems, and just what they are, I heard it explained like this:

A Ghost is a spirit without a body, a Golem is a body without a spirit.  

And I know a lot of us believe in ghost, but what about Golems?
Maybe it is worth taking a deeper look before making up your mind. 


Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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Demonic Possession: Is It Real?
A Yale-Educated Psychiatrist Weighs In
By Dorraine Fisher

Any of you who have followed my work with The Crypto Crew have probably read some of my articles and seen my podcasts. And you probably know that I tend to push the envelope of science just a bit. To me, science is limited. It only goes as far as what can actually be seen. And then, there are many of us, like me, that have come to realize, often the hard way, that there are many things in this world that as yet can’t be explained. As well as many things that are believed to exist but can’t always be seen. So, of course, it fascinates me to read about a scientist who’s witnessed some very unusual phenomena first hand and is forced to stray outside the scientific method and imagine that many things in the world aren’t always black or white.

Richard Gallagher, a board-certified psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College is just such a scientist. After years of working with a priest/exorcist in hundreds of mental health cases involving individuals afflicted with supposed “demonic possession,” he’s been forced to reevaluate his beliefs on the subject, and said so freely in an article for the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago.

Gallagher, a Yale-educated psychiatrist, did not give into his new beliefs willingly, but was asked nearly 30 years ago by this priest/exorcist to evaluate a patient’s state of mental health. A patient who was believed at the time to be demon-possessed. And they had some success, obviously, as this unlikely partnership has continued all this time. Dr. Gallagher has helped filter out many cases of mental illness, that he claims make up a good portion of these cases, from the cases he is unable to explain as mental disorders, or the so-called “devil’s work.”

And when asked what he actually believed about the concept of demonic possession after years of analysis and thought and in spite of his scientific education, the doctor had this to say:
“Most of my scientific colleagues and friends say no, because of their frequent contact with patients who are deluded about demons, their general skepticism of the supernatural, and their commitment to employ only standard, peer-reviewed treatments that do not potentially mislead (a definite risk) or harm vulnerable patients. But careful observation of the evidence presented to me in my career has led me to believe that certain extremely uncommon cases can be explained no other way.”

But I ask, how do they discern the difference?

After a long google search for a scientific explanation of demonic possession, it became abundantly clear to me that science rejects the subject overall and hesitates greatly to offer any scientific explanation for this possibility. Or maybe they just can’t come up with one. But those who witness these supposed possessions make very consistent claims of the victims speaking languages that weren’t previously known to them, isolated cases of levitation, and expressions of knowledge the victim did not previously have. These included personal information about certain individuals involved in the case, including their whereabouts, how their loved ones died, or their secret sins. All of these are things that can’t be explained away as mental illness. All of these depend on some psychic or preternatural ability, according to Gallagher.

So, this goes back to how I often say that those who actually witness these phenomena while having the education to prop themselves up are sometimes the ones who bravely cross over the bridge into the unknown, throw their hands up in the air, and say they’ve seen some weird things and they can’t intelligently and in good conscience discount them, no matter what their education might dictate.
To this, Doctor Gallagher said, “I have personally encountered these rationally inexplicable features, along with other paranormal phenomena. My vantage is unusual: As a consulting doctor, I think I have seen more cases of possession than any other physician in the world.”

The doctor explained that some patients exhibit symptoms of what is known as pseudo-possession in which the patient identifies with possession and interprets his or her personally destructive feelings as a possession. These patients are deemed psychotic. But then there are the other types that might suddenly begin speaking perfect Latin.

And the doctor did stress that when he gives his evaluation, he never claims the patient/victim is “possessed” per se. He only informs the clergy that he can see no medical explanation for his or her symptoms and behavior.

In recent years, the clergy has tried to stay more on the side of science, but the demand for help with demonic possessions seems to be growing in spite of this. And it that’s the case, more psychiatric professionals will be called upon to aid in these highly controversial matters. And although this is just one psychiatrist making these claims, it could represent others who haven’t dared come forward with their new thoughts on the matter...yet.

It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for this belief that doesn’t seem to die in the modern world. But you can bet, I’ll be watching.

He has an upcoming book on demonic possession in the works and you can read the entire article by Dr. Richard Gallagher in the Washington Post HERE.

*********DF


This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a Professional Writer, photographer, a nature, wildlife and Bigfoot enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Dorraine conducts research, special interviews and more for The Crypto Crew. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!


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Where to start.... well, first this film was shot in the forest of far North Queensland and to my surprise, the area looks a lot like my neck of the woods here in Kentucky. The scenery is nothing short of breath taking. I went into this movie knowing a little bit about it and always thought it looked interesting. I finally got around to purchasing it and giving it a good watch.
The plot line is pretty straight forward, two down-on-their-luck pest exterminators set out to search for lost gold in the thick forest.  Of course, anytime you are dealing with a large sum of money, greed always comes into play, and it is no different in this film. What is different, different than your typical "look for treasure" films, is that this area of forest is home to the Yowie. The Yowie is basically what us Americans call Bigfoot or Sasquatch. So, as the film progresses the fortune seekers are being stalked by a Yowie.

During the course of the film, we learn that several people have gone missing while in this forest. This is where you get to meet a familiar face in the film. Vernon Wells, who you will probably recognize from the movie The Road Warriors or one of his other numerous roles. He plays a deeply embedded detective trying to solve the case of the missing people.

I know, with us being a Bigfoot site, you want to know about the Yowie creature in the film...well here it goes. The creature in the film, the suit used, is not the best in the world, but it is not bad either. The director, Travis Bain, does a good job letting you see the Yowie without really seeing the flaws in the suit. Another plus is that you get the see the creature very soon into the movie and very often in the movie. So, considering that the film had a limited budget, the suit, along with the filming, makes it more that adequate.

During the course of the film, there are some intense scenes between the treasure hunters, the detective, and the Yowie. Of course, I don't want to post any spoilers, but there is a lot of gun play in the film. There is also some gore in the film but it is limited and done pretty good for the most part.

In the end, I enjoyed the film and found it to be entertaining. It is far better than much of the corny films you see on the SYFY channel. Please be aware, that this is a horror/adventure film and that the Yowie is not a cuddly forest friend in the film.

Also, of note is that the DVD contains a lot of extra content. It even has several of Bain's older short films, which I found entertaining.

So, if you are looking for a pretty solid fright type of film, Throwback, fits the bill pretty good..


The film was very well made and the picture quality is crisp. The pace of the movie is pretty good and there is very little lull time.

Here is my final rating.
Rating: 3 out of 5 


Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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**********DF


This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a Professional Writer, photographer, a nature, wildlife and Bigfoot enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Dorraine conducts research, special interviews and more for The Crypto Crew. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!




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This film is directed by Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, but probably the most recognizable name associated with the film is Kim Henkel. Henkel is probably most known for his work on the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre but also worked on other notable films such as: Eaten Alive, The Unseen, and Leatherface, Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, just to name a few.

Another interesting aspect to the film is that it is based on a real legend and true events. The Wild Man of the Navidad legend is believed to be one of the first sightings of Bigfoot in Texas. It was first widely reported in 1837 throughout the early settlements along the Navidad River bottoms, circa the modern-day town of Sublime, Texas, in Lavaca County.  The movie is based around this legend and around the journals of Texan Dale S. Rogers.

As, you can see the film has a lot going for it and it appears the research has been done. I can tell you that I did enjoy the film, even though I understand many will not. The film has an overall 70's feeling to it, which again may not be appealing to some, but I liked it. The film is what many would consider very low budget. It is rather slow moving but I still found the characters interesting enough to keep me watching. While watching the film there is a sense that you are just watching normal people doing things they do everyday. 

Another aspect of the film, that I liked, was the fact that there was only a handful of professional actors and some of the cast was made up from local town folks. While again, this may seem to be something not good, it works out very well. In fact, one of the best performances was by Edmond J. Geyer, a local, who plays the sheriff in the movie. He does a very solid acting job, as do several others. Even the narrator, William 'Mac' McBride, done an amazing job and he was another local person who not only did the narration but played in the film.

The Wild man/Bigfoot is where the film was a little disappointing for me. The suit is noting more than various animal skins sewn together and is just not bigfoot looking to me. While this may have been the plan, I can't help but think the limited budget played a part in the wild man costume.

The heart of the film is old classic drive-in horror movie from the 70's and on that point it succeeds. I know many will dislike this film just because of it's low budget and slow pace. People looking for a really good bigfoot movie, will probably be disappointed in this film as well. So, even though I liked the film, I know most people will not and for that fact I have given it a lower score. I guess I appreciated it for the historical documentation and the classic horror feel, more than most will. The film has a Legend of Boggy Creek type appeal to it with sprinkles of humor. The DVD version I used for this review has some very good extra features. One in particular was of the locals talking about being in the movie. So, if you do end up watching this film, make sure to watch the special features.   


This film is definitely not for everyone.
Here is my final rating.
Rating: 2 out of 5   

Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.



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First let me post up the plot line for the movie.
"Charles Thomas takes his son Tim on a weekend hunting trip to the woods only to have that outing violently interrupted by the appearance of Bigfoot. What starts as a vacation turns into an intense battle of survival against malevolent forces."

Now, this movie has a little star power in it as well, it features Zach Galligan of "Gremlins" fame and it also has Robert Miano of Donnie Brasco fame. The film also features Audra Wise and while you may not recognize the name, I'm sure you have heard of some of the movies she has been in...like The Dentist 2, and Unspeakable, just to name a few.

Now, with all that going for it, I can tell you I had high hopes for this film and really wanted to watch it. But in the end I was very disappointed in this film. The acting was about as bad as it gets, and the bigfoot costumes were dreadful. It appears that most of the funding for this film went to pay the stars, who really in the end, just did not deliver. The film quality is good, the plot line has promise but for me the film just fell so flat. Maybe I was over expecting. Another thing that really got me was that some of the "facts" about bigfoot were things that were odd and not consistent with bigfoot , at all. For example, Bigfoot has eyesight like bats and can not cross car lights,...yes I know this is silly but it happens in the movie.

While, I was sorely disappointed in the movie, it seems to have found an audience and is getting good reviews. So, you may just have to take a chance on it and see if it is something that falls into your realm of entertainment.

Nightbeasts trailer


You ca purchase the film on Amazon by - Clicking Here

Rating: 1 out of 5



Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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Lets see, where do I start with the movie Scarred ....hmm the plot is pretty straight forward, lovely young models go a photo shoot in a beautiful country setting. The only problem with the shoot's locations is that it is near the abandoned land of the Kandie family. The Kandie family story is one of a murderous and cruel father who disfigures his son, Jonah, and then kills his wife and himself. According the the Kandie tale, all were assumed dead, but the body of Jonah was never found.

Now you are up to speed on the backstory.

This movie may be considered a slow starter, but at least you have some pretty models to look at until the gore train kicks in. At around the 40 minute mark things start to pick up and the killing begins. The gore is pretty good and should satisfy most of the gore hounds. There are a few gore scenes that are pretty cringe worthy.  It seems that now grown Jonah Kandie has grew to hate pretty people and feels the need to ugly them up. His weapon of choice is a hammer but he also welds the ol' chainsaw a few times, along with other items.

At times the acting is pretty good and at other times totally terrible. The movie fits well into the 80's slasher flick genre. Of course, just like many 80's horror movies, there is nothing ground breaking here. But if you like pretty girls and slasher type movies, it is a decent watch.

What I find funny about this film is that it has grew on me. When I first watched it this morning, I was like "it's decent I guess", but as the day wore on I got to thinking more about some of the scenes and the movie in general and started to think "yeah, it was alright."

There is something else that might appeal to true horror fans. We all remember the original Friday the 13th, and we remember at the end a young Jason Voorhees splashes up out of the water and grabs the girl in the canoe. The actor who played that very first young Jason (Ari Lehman) is in Scarred. I didn't realize who it was at the time but his character was one that stood out to me, so it was cool to discovery who he was.

In the end, the movie is nothing new but it should have some appeal to those who like 80's style horror flicks. Make sure to check out the movie website - scarredthemovie.com

 Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Thanks
~Tom~
PS - Yes, I know this has nothing to do with Bigfoot and whatnot but it is another hobby of mine. :)





This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet



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The tale of the S.S. Ourang Medan

I recently had a friend send me a CIA document she ran across during her many document searches.
The old document was in reference to a story I knew a little about but had never dug up the full tale.

So of course, I had to do some research and find out more about the tale of the S.S. Ourang Medan.

Here is the story in a nutshell -  "In June of 1947, two American vessels sailing the Strait of Malaca in Indonesian waters received a distress call from a Dutch merchant ship, Ourang Medan. Message read, “All officers including captain are dead lying in chart room and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead,” followed by a final transmission “I die.” One of the American ship, SS Silver Star attempted to hail the ship, but to no avail. When they boarded the ship, they found the deck littered with corpses. The entire crew was dead, including a dog aboard the ship. The bodies of the crew all showed signs of being frozen in terror at the moment of death. Their facial expressions horrified, teeth bared, eyes pointing at the sky. They had no visible signs of trauma. The ship finally exploded and sank."

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Ghost in the video store?

This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a Professional Writer, a nature, wildlife and Bigfoot enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Dorraine conducts research, special interviews and more for The Crypto Crew. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!


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Exists is a Bigfoot movie directed by Eduardo Sanchez. Some of you may remember Sanchez from the film The Blair Witch Project. I was not a big fan of The Blair Witch Project but do appreciate it for the marketing strategy. I ran a video store at the time Blair Witch came out and the marketing used portrayed the film as being real and it really hooked people.

Sanchez also directed one of my favorite movies, Altered. Altered was a rednecks find an alien film that was just fantastic in my eyes. I may do an in depth review of it as some point, but for now lets get back to the new film. 

With Exists the filming is very similar to Sanchez's earlier work in The Blair Witch Project. There are a lot of hand held video shots, shaky camera scenes and heavy use of GoPro cameras. But, the camera work is very effective in this film. Don't let the idea of the the shaky hand held shots put you off, this movie is filmed very well and this type of filming is a corner stone for Sanchez.

The plotline in Exists is pretty straight forward. A camping trip to an uncles cabin becomes a nightmare of terror from an unknown creature in the woods. Of course, this creature is none other than our beloved Bigfoot.

Some may be put off at the idea of a Bigfoot being a murderous monster, but there is a revenge element to the film. I will not get into this, as it would contain some spoilers and I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

The Bigfoot suit used in this film is top notch and may be one of the best in recent memory. There are a few scenes where I can see some clever trickster ripping it from the film and posting it to youtube as a personal sighting, so beware.

The film does an excellent job of building terror and suspense. There are a few "jumpy" parts that might make your heart skip a beat. That's always fun.

One thing, of the few, that I didn't like about the film was the Bigfoot howls. I don't think they represented the recordings I have heard or what others have described. But this is just a minor issue and most people will not even notice or think about it.  There is also some rock throwing that was pretty good and it made me think of the numerous reports and accounts I have heard and read about that included this Bigfoot behavior.

So in closing, I can recommend the film for anyone who has an interest in Bigfoot or just likes a good scary movie. Hats off to Sanchez for doing a fine job and beating my expectations. Also the DVD version I purchased has some great extra content, like deleted scenes and stuff, that I recommend you also watch.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars 



Exists - Official Trailer 1 (2014) - Eduardo Sánchez Horror Movie HD       
Thanks
~Tom~




This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.



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Now Available! Issue #5!
For those who don't know Dark Dossier is a monthly magazine devoted to coverage of Ghosts, Aliens, Monsters, & Mysteries and investigations into all things paranormal!

It is a fantastic read and very well done. We (TCC) have a section in this issue that I think you will enjoy.
Here is what is featured in this issue - The Reign of the Reptiles by Alan Connell, Investigation: Hounds of Hell!, The Sargasso Monster by Edsel Newton, Interview: Horror Writer Hunter Shea!, Crypto Crew Corner with Thomas Marcum!, Paranormal News from around the world!, Book Reviews!, Horror Comics!, Photos and Artwork! and More!!

Now, one thing I really like about the magazine is the fact you don't have to do a yearly subscription, you can buy each issue separately, or course there is a yearly subscription option as well.

So, check out their website to buy back issues and more - http://www.darkdossier.com/Magazine.html
or just jump over and purchase the newest issue -  http://payhip.com/b/u9S0 (Instant downloading)

I know you'll like it!


Thanks
~Tom~



This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.









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SlenderMan

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.
Just who or what is The Slender Man? Some may liken the name to a super hero name like Spider-man or Batman but The Slender Man is a far cry from any kind of hero.

If you have seen the news, then you know about the recent events where two young girls, ages 12, lured a classmate into the woods and stabbed her 19 times. The girls blame it on The Slender Man, and say it was an attempt to become a "Proxy" for The Slender Man.
(Proxy is an agent or substitute authorized to act for another person or a document which authorizes the agent so to act.)
The stab victim did not die, thank goodness, and is recovering the last I heard.

The Slenderman is also sometimes spelled with a space, The Slender Man but either way it's origins are pretty traceable or so it seems.

The Slender Man was created by Eric "Victor Surge" Knudsen around June 10th, 2009 on a website forum called Something Awful. The website had started a thread in which people where to superimpose a supernatural being into photographs. This is how The Slender Man was born.

When Eric Knudsen submitted his photos, he also included somewhat of a little story snippets from supposed witnesses. Of course this caught fire and the Slender Man started burning up the Internet. The basic premise of The slender Man is that he stalks, abducts and terrorizes people, mostly young children. Eric "Victor Surge" Knudsen registered a copyright on the name "Slender Man" in January 2010. Which was a very good move for him. 

It didn't take long until other people where adding their own stories and art about The Slender Man. It got so popular that people interested in the paranormal called into George Noory's Coast to Coast radio show to ask about The Slender Man.

As the tales about The Slender Man continued to grow so did the popularity. Youtube videos started popping up and The Slender Man was even made into a survival horror video game called Slender: The Eight Pages. Several video game spinoffs were made and also a sequel title Slender: The Arrival.  There is also several independent films that are either in the works or that have been released. Once of which is Entity (View Trailer by Clicking Here), but a quick search on youtube will net you a pretty large list of The Slender Man videos. There is also a running series about The Slender Man by Marble Hornets on youtube, make sure to check it out.

The Slender Man managed to crossed over into real life, as people continue to report seeing what they call The Slender Man. Just take the recent story with the two girls and the stabbing, one of  the girls believes that The Slender Man can read her mind, can teleport and is watching her.

I'll admit I find the idea of The Slender Man very interesting and can see the massive potential for films being made about it. It does somewhat remind me of Freddy Kruger from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies but most in this current generation have not actually watch those films. The Slender Man will be their "Nightmare on Elm Street".

Eric Knudsen, creator of The Slender Man, said this:
"I just want something amazing to come of it... something that's scary and disturbing and kinda different. I would hate for something to come out and just be kinda conventional."

I'm sure Knudsen was talking about films and stories and not about real life murder attempts. I guess the question remains, is Knudsen's art created from real reports of The Slender Man?  On the forum he also posted this "I've heard there may be a couple more legit "Slender Man" photographs out there."

The original forum thread is archived and can be viewed by Clicking Here, of course most of the photos on the archive have been removed over time. Still there is some interesting reading.

The Slender Man is also on Facebook and has over 1 Million likes/followers. You can view the facebook page by Clicking Here.

Now you know some about The Slender Man ......so Beware!

Thanks
~Tom~


[Source: Wikipedia ]







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This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a Professional Writer, a nature and wildlife enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!



When we’re searching for monsters, we’ll tend to skip right over Illinois for anything interesting. But amazingly, it was the location of sightings of one of the strangest cryptids ever recorded. Enfield, Illinois is a tiny town of a little over 600 people in Southeastern Illinois and the scene of some very strange happenings in 1973.

The townspeople probably thought their fellow Enfield citizen, Henry McDaniel, was crazy when he first started telling everyone about the weird events that he claimed took place at his home on April 25 of that year. Enough that the sheriff threatened to lock him up. But McDaniel kept on warning people and some frightening events followed.

According to McDaniel, something started beating on his door that evening. And he probably thought he was seeing things we he opened it only to find the weirdest creature anyone could imagine. He described it as grey in color, with three legs, two little short arms coming out of its chest, and short body. He claimed it stood some 4 to 5 feet tall and was trying to get into the house.

He opened the door again and opened fire at the creature with his pistol and felt sure that he hit it as he claims it hissed at him. But it ran away, McDaniel said, covering 75 feet in three jumps. And it disappeared in some brush near his house.

When the police investigated, they found tracks something like a dog’s, but they had 6 toe pads on each foot. And two of the footprints were four inches wide while the width of the third foot was slightly smaller.

Not long after, they learned a young boy named Greg Garrett who lived just behind McDaniel, was also attacked in his yard shortly before McDaniel’s incident. He claimed a deformed looking creature appeared out of nowhere and jumped up and down on his feet with it large, sharp, curled claws, and shredded the boy’s tennis shoes. But he somehow managed to escape into the house, obviously terrified.

Some two weeks later, McDaniel woke up in the middle of the night to the neighborhood dogs howling strangely. And when he looked outside, he saw the creature again. This time standing by the railroad tracks near his house. He said the creature just walked slowly down the tracks, not seeming to be in much of a hurry.

And then, five hunters were arrested on May 8 for violating hunting regulations. It seems they had been shooting at some "gray, hairy thing" they’d seen in the brush. They said they thought they hit it, but it ran off before they could know for sure.

The town was subsequently flooded with reporters and thrill seekers from everywhere. A reporter, Rick Rainbow, the news director from an Indiana radio station, along with some others, spotted the monster near an abandoned house not far from McDaniel’s house. They didn’t see it very clearly, but they described it as being about five feet tall and hunched over. Rainbow did manage to record the strange hissing/crying sounds it made. And those cries were heard for several days afterward near the same railroad tracks close to Henry McDaniel’s home.

But then, the sightings ended abruptly. No one knows what happened, though many have speculated wildly about things like UFO sightings in the area at that time. Or did it simply succumb to gunshot wounds and die? It’s likely the mystery of the Enfield Horror will never be solved. ******DF

[*Special thanks to Troy Taylor and his book Weird Illinois.]


©The Crypto Crew
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Mock-up Photo by *viergacht

The Goatman of Maryland is a legendary half-human, half-goat creature that carries an ax.

Wikipedia -
According to legend, Goatman is an axe-wielding, half-man, half-animal creature that was once a scientist who worked at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The tale holds that he was experimenting on goats, the experiment went awry, and he began attacking cars with an axe, roaming the back roads of Beltsville, Maryland. A variation of the legend tells of Goatman as an old hermit who lives in the woods, seen walking alone at night along Fletchertown Road.
Folklorist at the University of Maryland Barry Lee Pearson said modern examples of folk legends like Goatman are most commonly generated by teenagers, and the stories end up stirring interest in sites like Fletchertown Road
[Source: Wikipedia]

The Goatman has been described as being between 6 and 7 feet tall. The first reports of Goatman date to around 1957 but sightings have continued over the years. The Goatman also gets around some with numerous sightings from various places, including Texas, California, Indiana, and Canada. Let's just say he hoofs it. (Sorry bad pun)

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