Thursday, October 9

It’s not everyday that the oppurtunity of a lifetime falls from the heavens into your lap. For over thirty years I have dedicated my life to answering one of mankind’s greatest questions, does human intelligence survive the death of the body? Or are we, as my more mainstream colleagues believe, just a bunch of soulless robots operating on some kind of advanced animal instinct? I am hoping this trip to Maysfield House, reportedly the most haunted house in the world will provide me with the evidence I and millions of others desire to answer this fundemental question.

As anyone will tell you I am not a religious man but a man bourne of pragmatism. I do not believe in the fairy tales that says that some great omnipotent ruler resides in the sky and sits as judge, jury and executioner over his human subjects, and yet I can not shake the notion that there is so much more to man then just being a shaved ape. I guess you sould say, despite my lack of faith in a supreme being, I do accept the mystical idea of the human soul a ghost in the machine if you will. Perhaps this is why I spend my life and my education chasing shadows.

I first heard of Maysfield House and it’s alleged hauntings only six months ago from one of my students, Jacob Weintraub an enthusiastic student of the paranormal, who due to his knowledge and research concerning Maysfield is accompaning me on this little road trip. When Jacod told me about Maysfield he was astonished that I have never heard of this gem of the supernatural that virtually sat in our own backyard. Jacob informed me that Maysfield House was perhaps the most haunted home in the United States if not the entire world. I informed him that over the years I have visited many homes, not just in this country but in Europe as well that could lay better claim to such a dubious title. I further explained that although I have had many personal experiences at many of these locations I have yet to obtain that one piece of irrefutable evidence that I can present to the world and declare with all confidence, “See there is a great beyond and here is the proof.” To this all Jacob could say was at Maysfield I will obtain that elusive proof.

At this point my curiosity was piqued and I needed to know more about this haunted house that literally scared the crap out the general population of northern Illinois. I cornered Jacob after a class and asked him if he wanted to go get a bite and a beer and perhaps tell me more about the the most haunted house in the world. Jacob was all to pleased. Over a pizza and a pitcher of brew Jacob launched into what seemed like a rehearsed oratory on Maysfield House. Jacob Informed me that Elijah Maysfield, world traveler, adventurer and some might say occult quack returned to Illinois in 1897 after living abroad in some of the most isolated spots the world has to offer for many years researching the religious and cultural beliefs of some very obscure native peoples. When he returned he brought with him a beautiful Tibetan woman that he had married while living in the Himalayas and three children, twin girls aged eight and an infant son. Jacob went on, Elijah loved his family and was a doting father to those three children and a devoted husband to his wife so it really came as no surprise when Elijah, spent a large portion of his fortune and had Maysfield House built as a gift for his beloved family who had never lived in anything grander than a shack in the foothills of the world’s tallest mountain range. Some might say it was at this time that odd things began to happen.

Shortly after moving into the mansion, Maysfield a devoted student of the occult allegedly attempted to summon a powerful spirit in a ritual he learned from a wizard in Africa. Maysfield was told by this wizard that this spirit would give him and his family long life and great wealth but due to a minor mistake or miscalculation in the ritual, Maysfield lost control of this spirit, which was actually a demon, and the entity turned the Maysfield into a literal hell on earth which resulted in Elijah Maysfield completely losing his freaking mind and brutally murdering the wife and children that he so completely adored. Now I realize, Jacob said, that their is no objective proof to back up these claims and they could really be nothing more than stories, but many who have either lived in or visited the home have claimed to have had eerie and frightening experiences that even drove one female lodger completely mad. I tracked down this woman and she does in fact exist and is living out a catatonic existence in a home in northern Wisconsin. All I could think was wow, what a load of crap, however imagine the feeling of Irony when two days after this conversation the Illinois State Board of Historic Homes contacted the university to see whether or not they had a department or an expert on the subject of ghosts and hauntings. The state wanted a thourough investigation done and they wanted the reports and the stories of ghosts and goblins put to rest before they turned the home into a museum. And just imagine the elation Jacob Weintraub had when I called him and told him to pack his gear and gather his courage because he was going for a five day trip to this alleged abode of demons and other dark forces. I feared Jacob would explode.

More soon.

Rick E. Hale
t_seeker@hotmail.com

As Daniel Hastings, guided his car down the lonely tree lined country road a cold chill shot through his body like a bolt of lightning. It was the kind of sensation that made him feel as if he had just walked over a freshly dug grave that would soon receive it’s dead occupant for an eternity of peaceful sleep. For ten years Daniel had been employeed as the overnight staff at the Northern Illinois Institute For The Criminally insane and for those ten years he had oftentimes felt this elusive sense of forboding the closer he came to large imposing building. It’s not that Daniel was blessed or cursed with psychic ability at least he didn’t think he was, but he had been on a much needed vacation for the last week and was unaware whether or not the esteemed institute had received any new and potentially dangerous clients. He did his best to try and shake off this feeling as he pulled into his parking spot but no matter how hard he tried, Daniel just knew that something was not right.

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Introduction:An Explanation for my insanity

I love a good horror tale, but not any old old tale of horror. Not the kind of horror where brain hungry zombies over run the world or a story of a sexually repressed madman who grabs the closest kitchen knife and carves up big tittied coeds like it ain’t no thing. No my favorite tales must have an element of the supernatural and unfortunately our modern world is seriously lacking a good ghost story. I love the stories of wispy apparitions that send a family of four running for the hills due to it’s unleashing it’s untold powers of scaritude. Those are the stories that I can not get enough of.

I wrote the Dark Thing almost twenty years ago in my sophmore year of high school as I wiled away the hours of a three day sentence of detention, I will not bore you with the why I was in detention but I can assure you I deserved every second of it and it’s mind numbing monotony. But I digress. I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Prendergast, a nice guy and throwback to the days of old when hippies roamed the earth and love was free. Prendergast did not care what we did as long as we were quiet and did not cause him any grief. As I sat with pencil in hand this tale of terror came to me almost like a gift from the gods and my pencil began to move.

As I wrote, Mr. Prendergast inquired as to what I was doing. I informed him that I had a great idea for a ghost story and it was intention to have it finished when my sentence was over. Prendergast, explained that he loved a ghost story and would love to read it when I was done. At the end of the three days I happened my masterpiece over.

The very next day Mr. Prendergast sought me out and eventually found me in the dining hall. As he laid it down in front of me all he could say, “You got some talent. But kid you are one sick little monkey.” All I could do was smile I accomplished a goal, I managed to scare someone. Does this make me a little insane? Perhaps, however I prefer the term eccentric. It is my hope after you are done reading my opus of horrors you will sit back and think the same thing that teacher thought over twenty years ago, “You are one sick little monkey.” So turn out the lights, light a cigarette and crack a beer for in the coming days you will be introduced to my insanity and “The Dark Thing.”

Rick E. Hale
2/18/09
t_seeker@hotmail.com

When you think of magic what do you think of? Perhaps you think of the outragerous exploits of Harry Houdini, the escape artist who stunned millions in the early part of the twentieth century with the idea that no chain or rope could ever hold him captive. Or perhaps you think of that dude with the reality television show who struts around without a shirt throwing decks of cards at windows and flying through the air with the greatest of ease(Man, put a shirt on a get a real job.) Although these things may be impressive and mind boggling this is nothing more than staged effects and has nothing to do with real magic.

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Since the advent of modern paranormal research and investigation in the late 19th century, poltergeist phenomena has always been at the top of the list as the most common form of haunting and the most controvesial. For the most part researchers seem to agree that the activities of the poltergeist is not caused by a discarnate spirit or a demon but rather by a human agent who is experiencing a time of great turmoil and rather than deal with that turmoil in a constructive manner they internalize the stress and put it out in a series of terrifying phenomena that has sent many families fleeing from their homes in abject terror. Although I agree with these esteemed researchers I have always maintained a belief that the energy expended by a poltergeist is capable of attracting other spirits human and otherwise. While there are many cases on record that confirm this belief the jury is still out with many paranormal researchers. In 1889, at a small farmhouse in Quebec, Canada a poltergeist ruthlessly attacked a family and may or may not have been caused by a human spirit that was hellbent on raising hell and driving a family insane with it’s exploits.

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I have to admit, I have never been to college. I hold no fancy pieces of paper that states that I am smarter than the average bear, heck I have never even so much as drunkenly stumbled into the halls of higher learning however I do feel that if a person is going to call themselves a responsible paranormal researcher and investigator it is important to have at least a rudimentary understanding of two scientific disciplines. The first being anthropology. When it comes to the ghostly legends of many of the worlds cultures they have gone beyond mere curiosity to being a main component of their spiritual beliefs. In most Asian cultures the belief in ghosts and what they are capable of is closely intertwined with their daily lives. Most temples and villages are believed to have a guardian spirit that can either work in their favor as long as they are properly propitiated or work against them if some offense has been committed. In other words do not mess with the village spirits because they are believed to be capable of making your life a living hell.

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