Essay 3: Horror...

Horror, we fear it, but we are so intrigued by it. The reason why horror films have been so popular, is the social, and the norm that all Americans live through. With such horror films that have changed the industry to the films that really get us freaked out they all are great. One horror film that has been the greatest and most intriguing to me, was the last film we watched in class, Poltergeist. Growing up, we mostly watched comedies and horror wasn’t really a stable in my life at all. That really changed while taking this class and the real aspect of the not so obvious things happening within the film. This film, Poltergeist, really was a game changer and has had two other’s films remade after it. As Stephen King said in the piece, Why We Crave Horror Movies, “Which is not to say that a really good horror movie may not surprise a scream out of us at some point, the way we may scream when the roller coaster twist through a complete 360 or plows through a lake at the bottom of the drop” (King, 1). With horror comes laughter, it may be nervous laughter but sometimes it can be comedic laughter and that is what makes horror films so great. This one being the original really has stuck with me and wants me dig deeper into it and relate everything that I’ve learned in class within this essay.

 The first thing that really catches your eye in this film is the comedic side of it, and that really isn’t a normal thing in horror films. It’s a relief and an attention grabber in the beginning to draw you in and then scare the pants off of you. This film does that to you in such an amazing way, by the use of comedy and then the deep dark horror. This film, really touches on the historical “American dream” and the cultural issues that we are faced with every day. Within this essay I will talk more and get into depth on these issues and topics within the film.

 The historical idea that the “American dream” is that the man has a good job, able to support his family, with a house and everything that comes with it. With the “normal” man in this film, working to support his family, at a job that he seems to be growing with and the new house that was built by that company, they seem to be living the “American dream”. This all has a setback though and these are seen more towards the end, where the first storm comes in and tries to disrupt the family. The tornado tries to take the little boy, but the man, the father saves the day and pulls the kid in. This scene really shows this historical and cultural aspect, that the man or the dad has this super power within society to save and be the hero, while the women really just watches. This social norm, really takes a turn later in the film and really believe that this was the first film to do so. After the daughter was gone for a while, the cleansers were there and the time has come to go in and get the girl, the hero, the mom was in charge and as the film said, only the mom can do this, it’s the only way. This really shied from the norm and set a precedence to the film after the earlier norm of the man doing the hero work. The integration of having a women in this film, be the hero, or the one who turns the horror around really plays off the typical horror films that really just stick with the man. I really enjoyed seeing this and it really was at a time when women were looking to grasp more prominent roles and be the figure people looked up to.

 The next big thing that really caught my eye was the house itself, being newer and looking very nice. The later thought of the house brings up an uncanny feeling, the thought of the burial grounds that it was on, that horrible tree and the muddy, un-done pool in the back yard, mixed with skeletons and the fear of being sucked in really created an uncanny feeling of the house. Freud said in the Uncanny, “To many people the same acme of the uncanny is represented by anything to do with death, dead bodies, revenants, spirits, and ghost” (Freud, 15). This excerpt really touches on the feelings of uncanny within the home and the grounds around it. The dead bodies or skeletons, to the sprits in the house creating havoc. This change, really is set on the “American dream” of owning a house and it being perfect. As we know, that was quickly changed by one person and that being the owner of the house builders company. With his lack of care on the land that it was before, and the use if not relocating the bodies, instead just the headstones, really created a uncanny and true horror for the family. This really all ties together with the cultural aspect played out in most horror films. The push for the neutralization of equal power between man and women but still touching on the things that have been in society for so long.

 This film, really brought together the cultural and historical norm for horror films and then added to it in so many ways. Between the comedic relief of the film to the uprising power given to the women figure. This film and the producers really created a new genre of horror, and stayed away from the normal, “American dream” aspect of the social discrepancies. This created a refreshing film that was perfect for its time and was able to really transition most newer horror films into this type. The excerpt from Opening Up, by Clover, “Like horror in general, the great majority of occult horror is scripted, and virtually all of it is directed and produced by men, and despite my impression that occult films have a greater share of female viewers than other sorts of horror, it would seem that the constructed viewer is also male” (Clover, 63). This excerpt by Clover really plays into all horror films and shows the male dominance within the industry. Even with this film being produced and directed by a male, they really worked hard on making the female a key apart within it, which was really not exposed of during this time. This really created a film that changed the game in a lot of ways, from the female role to the “death” of an American dream, it helped push the movement in the horror genre.

Blog 18: Poltergeist

The film Poltergeist, was really an amazing film. I wasn't expecting it to be such so funny and captivating, but it sure did the trick. The way that this term really came full circle and ended with a recap or assurance of hauntings was really great and not something I was expecting. The film really took a while to get to the haunting of the dark closet but once there really showed its true powers. The way that the portals of occult really focus on women is something that I am not sure of, but almost want to refer it back to hauntings, and the American dream, and that the man most be present to fulfill this dream of owning a house and such. Maybe that the way the girl and then at the end the mom had to go in to get her, had a significance to this thought. The Native Americans really played a part in this film and along with other films based on hauntings, I believe that the way the land was abused by the developers, caused this. The developer at the end claimed that he did not remove the bodies and relocate them to another cemetery but he just moved the headstones and that really caused fury within the lands. With the suburban life really being most popular and getting the largest in the 80′s this thought of the poltergeist disrupting it, was a fear that the American dream was alive and well, families were coming together within there neighborhoods and people were thriving. Within this film, the together-ness of the neighborhood really wasn't shown, other than the bickering of the TV channel with the neighbor, that was really all that was shown. Another thing is the relevance of the little girl to the normal haunting films that depict a blonde hair and very white lady, was this just a first up close comparison of how she will be in the future? who knows?! Overall great film, and the connections of the haunting and the Native American burial grounds playing full circle really made for a great term. 

Blog 17: Carrie

This film, Carrie, really is a movie that touches on cultural anxieties that has always dealt with, generation after generation. We all have that awkward, not pleasant experiences in high school, and really feel vulnerable afterwards. This film really touched on the way we are treated for such petty and normal things that have graced our culture for a very long time. The film really touches on women and the issues that arise with young women and the struggles on how to deal with it in such harsh conditions of school and the up bringing of a faith forward home. The connection of the mother at the end and that the way she insisted that she should have killed herself when she was pregnant, was absolutely scary and really connects back to the horror that isn't always visible. As Stephen King says in the piece, Why We Crave Horror Movies, “I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside asylums only hide it a little better”, this passage, really shows Mrs. White, with the insane-ness of her faith and the role that it plays in her life. Some say that people who are deep in their faith and push it on other are crazy, and that relates back to being ill. We all are crazy in our own ways, and the degrees will always be different. The connection of Carrie and the statue she has in the closet of her mother with knives stuck into her, really had no significant impact until the end, when we se her replicate this to her mom. With the horror of this film, being really different then what we are used to, I believe that it really touches on the mentally ill and why there is a connection of something that may be more crazy than the self and that we crave things that we are not use to. The crave ability of something that we can't have or something that we don't want, is a great money maker and a way to reel consumers in. I really enjoyed how the film started with a bloody shower and ended with a bloody shower, was a resemblance on the significance of how she conquered her insecurity, even if it was in er way. The blood symbolized the fear we all have in life and on high school mostly. We can all connect with Carrie and also be so different with the destruction she caused over the humility that she was caused. 

Blog 15: Freaks

The word horror, means an intense feeling of fear, shock or disgust. Within the movie “Freaks” and with the time period that this movie was shot, the world was in a deep depression. Which for a lot of people meant no food, little sleep, very bad hygiene and the poverty rate was very high. This was also a time that horror was largely popular within the film industry, almost a way to get some sort of relief and have a decent night. The sub-genre of freak being added into this, really comes from the way these individuals look and was a way to showcase them all within a screen. The word freak means, a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality. Which becomes a freakish think to many and causes fear or shock, even if we know it’s not right. 

This movie, really did a great job on the aspect of showcasing these individuals. The historical anxieties, that were going on in this time created a universe that really shunned these people and this is what really created the fear of the so called “freaks”. But this movie, shows that these individuals don't care about there looks, or disformalities, they work together to help safe baby man and rid of the “princess” who is trying to kill him and create conflict through it all. It also shows that what is happening in real life with these individuals but turned around. Normal people with out these issues, try and create issues with them, and shows that this isn't right. 

Blog 14: Magic

“This is a natural parallel for the mind to draw, but in occult theory the connection between evil and things which are reversed is not merely symbolic but real. Man is a tiny replica of the universe. If two things are naturally associated together in the human mind, which is an image of the ‘mind’ of the universe, this is evidence of real connection between the two things in the universe” (Cavendish, 21). This passage from the text, in the analogies and correspondence section, really resonates and showed this power that magic has within our lives. The thought of something as simple as the cross turned upside down, is looked at as demonic or not as the human or universe insisted it be. This also is true with the American flag, when upside down, means we are in trouble. This symbolism, with objects being inverted, and the demon or evil side that accompanies it, creates a true upset within the universe. 

The next passage: “On the other hand, the left is associated with evil. Black magic is ‘the Left-hand Path’. Moving to the left in magic is done with evil intent an attracts evil influences” (Cavendish, 22). This is also another analogy that the left is the evil side and that the right is the angel or good side. It shows in the devil and angel on our shoulders. The angel is always on the right shoulder and the devil is always on the other, the left side. This also shows within the way most of the world is right handed and the term left in Anglo-Saxon word “lyft” which means weak, and with many right handed individuals the left side and the had in particular is usually weaker. In the terminology of the “right” way to do something and the “wrong” way to do something, seems to show that the “right” is correct and usually the good way. 

Essay II: Walking in the Night

 The living dead, undead, walking dead, soulless corpse, all are a-parent to one thing that has us all, either on the edge of our seats, or in total fear of the dark. The modern-day zombie, is no new phenomenon, trend or fear of the unknown, but it is making an incredible appearance in modern television and films. Zombies have been around since the dawn of time and will be around until, well, way after we are all gone. This flesh-eating, decaying corpse, has been popular in films, shows and even music. Within this essay I will cover all the juicy topics you can’t wait to devour about zombies and the origins behind them.

 “The Ancient Greeks may have been the first civilization terrorized by a fear of the undead” (History staff, 2017). This thought of the undead first being seen within the Ancient Greek civilization, comes from the unearthed skeletons that were held down by boulders and heavy objects. The zombie folklore has been around for centuries in the Haitian civilization, as we witness in the first movie produced about zombies, in the 1932, American pre-code horror film, White Zombie. This film really showed the depths of the slavery of the Haitian people within the sugar mills, and the horrific effects this work had on the African slaves, that only death would bring the freedom they oh’ so wanted.

 The modern-day zombie, has been changed in a way that creates anyone who has been bitten by a zombie can, and usually will become one themselves. This modern zombie, was shown in the 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, in which we see a very intriguing story of a women who has been terrorized of the fact her brother was still out there with the zombies as she fends for her life with a set of strangers and the rise of the black character in this film. This film really added to the gendered role, that the women is always scared and cannot help herself. It also brought in race, as a precursor to the normal racial use of black characters. It created the leading role, as a black man and this was revolutionary to this time period in America.

 The 90s generation on, really has been the generation to fully embrace this idea of zombies and really take it from the religious overview that it was then and bring it to the forefront of modern folklore. Shows like Scooby Doo, The Walking Dead, iZombie, music like Thriller, and films like World War Z, and Zombieland, have created a whole new tourist attraction. Things like zombie walks, zombie festivals, zombie memorabilia, and zombie video games, have really blown this scary thing into a money-making industry. This really has been able to ease the mind of the human race and be able to almost create a love affair with zombies. 

 The past has shown the racist stereotypes and the problematic associates to zombies with the absence of the black community. The herds of zombies in almost every film and show are mostly white, and this has still been true to the shows of today, like The Walking Dead series. I also see this as a way of creating a stereotypical norm around the way we see and deal with race in this country. We all want to unite and be one but we can’t seem to get past this racial stereotype within films and shows, depicting the undead and zombies. It has created a cultural horror that the woman is always scared to death and that she becomes this white, almost, useless being that we know not to be true, and forget about a black, women being the center of attention. The old way of the American dream, has changed and society and the film industry has been lacking on the transformation on this issue.

 “The zombie, by its physical nature, inspires fear” (Crockett, Zarracina, 2016). The thought of zombies, the image that we all see, really brings fear to the human mind. This thought of a zombie apocalypse has brought fear in so many through such films and shows as The Walking Dead. This horror that films try to create, is actually something deeper, it is the racial sublimation, atomic destruction and mass contagion. This more political way of imposing fear has added to the racial side of the zombie. From the Haitian Voodoo, and the fear that slaves of African descent were used to do manual labor and created this zombie like appearance that really deaminizes this race. A man named William Seabrook was made aware of the zombie by the sight of a Haitian Sugar Company, tour of sorts, that lead him to recount the experience by this passage:

  “The supposed zombies continued dumbly at work. They were plodding like brutes, like automatons. The eyes were the worst. … They were in truth like the eyes of a dead man, not blind but staring, unfocused, unseeing.” (Seabrook, 1920)

 This passage revisits the racial demonization of the Haitian people and the black community. We see zombies as the dead coming back to life but in reality, these were living humans, being forced to had labor, and were so “dead” within, that they looked like zombies. It is a way of telling the truth behind slavery and even to this day of the routine, robot like forced labor that is going on.

 Zombies and the undead will always be an attraction to the modern person, it has grown over time into a money-making empire, and will continue to see growth. There are three things that cause satisfaction, and those are money, sex, and fear. With fear playing a huge role in films and shows, sex being played into them to create added benefit, and the use of money as the coverall of the greedy industry that creates it. We will forever enjoy the films, shows and cultural events that take place at zombies, but we will not ever get to be able to truly live the past and the creation of the true story. This is so true any many facets of the film, and show business industry that we only hope can be changed.

Sources:

History.com Staff. “History of Zombies.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2017, www.history.com/topics/history-of-zombies.

Crockett, Zachary, and Javier Zarracina. “How the Zombie Represents America's Deepest Fears.” Vox, Vox, 31 Oct. 2016, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/31/13440402/zombie-political-history.

Blog Post 13: Witches and Feminism

Witches, seem to always be women and have the power that they all so deserve. They are portrayed in movies and shows as the powerful, in-charge woman, and I believe that this connotation come from the time period that witches, witchcraft and paganism came to the US. This religion, thought or other meaning of the craft of witchery, came to the US in a time when women had no real power and wanted to feel or the need to have power. This witchery, gave them to power they ever so wanted, and that is what created the image of witches, as being, women. 

In the 1960′s the feminist group, “Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell” or W.I.T.C.H, groups was formed and were mainly looking for social change. These women, demonstrated by doing witchcraft like hexes on wall street and other government entities. Groups like this one were more prominent in the years after this and were mainly centered around women and feminism. 

The witches hat, or the pointed headwater that they are known for is actually from China. The story goes that, three female mummies that were uncovered in the Chinese region of Subeshi. They were known as the “Witches of Subeshi”, and were famous for wearing pointed headwater or hats with brims and points. 

Blog Post 12: Witches

“I use Pagan to mean a member of a polytheistic nature religion, such as the ancient Greek, Roman, or Egyptian religions, or, in anthropological terms, a member of one of the indigenous folk and tribal religions all over the world” (Adler, 9). This quote from Adler, really opens up the thought that witches, in our day and age, are no more than someone who believes in more than one god or goddess. The term witch, comes from the old english term wicca, or a member of the pagan or Polytheistic religion. The thought of witches, really is something that, we Americans, think of at halloween time or to do with gargoyles and witchcraft. But in fact this belief was and still is today a belief around some parts of the world. Which brings up the word witchcraft and the meaning behind it, which is an older english meaning of a man or women medical practitioner. This meaning behind witchcraft, comes from the times when medicinal “craft” was used to help heal the sick, and the newer meaning has the aspect of black magic or spells and spirits behind it. 

In todays meaning, I believe that the term witch, really isn't a scary thought or description of someone. But it all goes back to the power of women, the thought that when have stronger power and for some reason that scares or puts fear in some people. Movies today, about witches, really ride this scare train and portray them as women using power to scare and betray us. This seems to show a not so usual side of women and seems to demeanor them into, making women seem as if their power is actually all just fake and a spell or spirit. It really does show the powerful side of women in these movies about witches, it portrays women as the leading role and having the power to control it. 

Blog: The Night of the Living Dead

I was very impressed with this film, I wasn't expecting it to be that great and was not to thrilled to see another older film. But... I was wrong, this film was amazing, and I really enjoyed it. Barbra, they’re coming to get you, Barbra. This first scene, really opened the film up very well with the trip to the cemetery and the comedy thrown in. With this film and the story from the book by Bruce, the use of a black character that is prominent and shows control, which was a un-seen thing in the film industry at the time. The way that they made a black actor the lead role in a film on the living dead, was a huge thing, not only for the black community but also for the white community, it showed transparency, in the film industry between races. I really enjoyed seeing this use of race and the black leading the film and the way they introduced the white man to try to take over the power, and then not letting him. This really changed the way films are made even today and introduced so many more actors and actresses. 

The film, to me, seemed a little like The Uncanny and the American dream from the ghost and hauntings weeks. It showed that even though, something is trying to disrupt our lives that, our home, the American dream of owning it will in the end save us. The lead role with the man in charge and the lady in distress, also shows the roles of the time period, and the role that the man will provide and protect his home, or a home, and a lady. The use of the black character, and then the use of the white lady, in all white, showing the good and the perfect whiteness, almost took away from that fact. The house, also was very uncanny, with the middle of no where feeling, the victorian style, and the old creaky wood paneling. The dead home owner, at the top of the stair case, which seemed like a great way to make her come back a live as a zombie and reck havoc in the house, was a part of the film I was waiting for. This unusual situation, the role of the black actor, the nuclear war time period, the power, controlling white guy, and the American dream of our house will protect us, all came in to connect in this film. The Night of the Living Dead, and the reading “Guess Whose Going to be Dinner”, both have the same context but use it in a different, I guess, relationship to zombies and the use of film, created a visual aspect that made in very intriguing. 

Blog 10: Zombies

Being someone that is not all sure of ghost and the paranormal, due to the lack of seeing or feeling anything through out my life, zombies, for some reasons, are more real than to me. This reading, shares a lot with the concept of zombies, the fact that they have been ignored in horror and by many critics. The thoughts that have been published, or spread about this religion have made it seem to be bad or have a stigma around it, the religion is vodou, and it is a Haitian religion. The practices they believe in are very interesting, the zombification of the dead, which revives them into mindless, souls bodies. 

I believe that that the stigma around zombies has changed, if that possible, knowing the its a lifeless living person, but within movies and television, it really has picked up. The show that everyone watches, The Walking Dead, has changed the way we look at zombies, in film and television. 

The uncanny feeling of a zombie is something that most are afraid of, most want to not think of and most think is just a fantasy. This lifeless being, having lost its psyche, and revived to cause terror onto others. With zombies being creepy, dead people coming back to life, it has that uncanny feeling and the thought for us living, to even grasp, is difficult. As humans we either fear death or wonder what it will be like, and this idea of coming back from the dead as zombie invokes fear on so many. 

Source

Moreman, Christopher M., and Cory James Rushton. Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition. McFarland & Co., 2011.

Vampires

Count Dracula or Vlad III, which is the real person based on the character Dracula in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula”. This man, named after his father and then Vlad II’s father, was later named Vlad the Impaler, after his terrible feat of trying to become the leader and after several attempts, he would impale anyone and I mean anyone with a stick if they questioned it. The character Dracula coexist with Vlad III, by the means that they are both hungry for blood and that shows with the impaling buy Vlad III. Vlad III, later was killed by soldiers after his second and last attempt of being leader. That was for sure short lived. 

Vampires, and Dracula, while I was growing up and still to this day, are just some sort of blood sucking, garlic hating characters made up in novels and movies. The true meaning and background of a true Dracula, is something that amazes me. The way he fought, or had other fight for him, to the way he loved seeing blood of his enemies, by the means of imp-ailment. This man links to the way that Freud describes the uncanny, its eerie and unlike anything that we think of. 

Ive always heard that garlic fends off vampires and decided to do a little background investigation on this topic to see where it came from. I come to find out that the same author who created Dracula, was the first to use the topic of garlic in a novel about vampires, and it seems that it comes from the thought that mosquitoes, are repellant to garlic, and since they also suck blood that vampires too, must be repellant of garlic. It also goes on to say that vampires are allergic and don't like Italian food. (http://garlicshaker.com/blog/a-clove-of-garlic-9-reasons-why-vampires-fear-it/)

Vlad the Impaler, doesn't seem to look like your typical vampire, but that mustache though. 

Blog 7: Lemp Mansion

This episode of Ghost Adventures, was the first episode that I have watched of this series. The depiction of the Lemp mansion from that of Dickey’s story in Ghostland, is not only different but lacking so many details. The Lemp, mansion is called to be extremely haunted, eerie, that uncanny feeling throughout and the guys of Ghost Adventures base the whole episode mostly on the tunnels underneath the the Lemp Brewery, that lead to the house. The lack of history, family values and just plain respect is really lost in this episode. The one part that really got me, was when they are listening for voices and they type what they want us to hear on the screen, and then at the last one they say, “we don't want to program you into hearing what we heard” but it’s probably because you can't hear what was said, and why did you then show us what you heard on the voices before. I believe that this whole show is for fun, to have and almost make fun of these hauntings and disgrace the family past. The silliness, almost unreal ways they do things seem to show that thy really don't care. They next thing that bothered me was the way they shoot the whole episode in the pitch dark of the night. Why not go during the day, to shoot the outside scenes and then go in at night. The whole history around the Lemp family is lost, and the true reasons why most of the family members have killed themselves is not even spoken of. This show is entirely for entertainment, as you can tell with all the laughs of the class and the quirky things that were done. 

... and just for fun.

Essay 1: Screams of Cathedral Park

45*35’18”N 122*45’29”W, the coordinates of yet another mystery that has had a ghostly past. The newly done Cathedral Park, is not the only thing that rest underneath the St. Johns Bridge, but the deadly night of Thelma Taylor in 1949. This story, of a young, 15-year-old high school girl is not only sad, but also has a past that keeps on haunting this park. The story of Thelma Taylor lives on today and is included in Colin Dickey’s “Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places”, which covers the background and newly discovered hauntings of this park.

 The Cathedral Park was built in 1980 and was part of history before that, from the fact that it is supposedly one of the 14 Lewis and Clark landing sites in the Vancouver-Portland area. To the haunting death of Thelma Taylor, which happened on the night of August 6th, 1949, Thelma was held captive and later killed by a man named Morris Leland, a 22-year-old ex-convict. She was on her way to a nearby town for some work, when she encountered Morris and was forcibly made to stay with him, after an attempt to rape her, Morris decided due to her nature of being a virgin, he would not. The next day, Thelma tried to scream for help and ended up being killed and buried underneath the St. Johns Bridge.

 The story goes that you can her the screams of Thelma to this day, underneath the bridge, where she was brutally murdered. The whistling of the wind and the gothic style cathedral arches of the bridge add to this haunting story. It is said that Thelma is heard screaming and often seen as a ghost in the dark of the night under the bridge to this day. In the story, “The Wind Through Cathedral Park” in chapter thirteen, Colin Dickey covers the haunting and he talks with some paranormal researchers, on the phenomenon of residual haunting. The fact that the water and the limestone blocks, used in the making of the bridge, recorded the sounds of Thelma screaming some years ago. Dickey says, “As Ghosthunting Oregon puts it, ‘Inanimate materials’ such as stone, can absorb energy from the living, much as a tape recorder absorbs the voice of the living, especially during episodes of high tension, anxiety, and fear” (Dickey 215). He goes on to say that once the energy is recorded it can be released at any time throughout history.

 This haunting of Thelma Taylor, resides with the Western order that sex is a virtue, and men, some that are mentally insane will do whatever it takes, in this case death, to get what they want. The dominance of a white man to get what he wants and will not stop until he does, in a sense, Morris was showing his dominance and showing his power as a young white male does, in order for his and only his pleasure. The ex-convict, was living or staying at this time under the bridge and felt the need to show the little confidence and power that he had left, and took it out on a young, innocent girl.

 The Uncanny, by Freud, has some points that I feel directly correlate to this place and story. Where the big, cold concrete, gothic arches meet the dirty, warm dirt and overgrown vegetation, a young girl was killed. This unhomely feeling, mostly related to a house or a place of a family, closely relates to this vacant, hidden place, by the means that it was, in ways Morris Leland’s “home”. In The Uncanny, Freud says, “Starting from the homely and domestic, there is a further development towards the notion of something removed from the eyes of strangers, hidden, secret” (Freud 129 ). This shows the transformation of this desalinate land under the St. Johns Bridge, which was converted into a park, to somewhat cover up or remove from the eyes of stranger. This park, however doesn’t do that in the sense that Thelma, to many, still lives on under the bridge with her “residual haunting” of her screams.

To many this park is scary, maybe a way to make money of the land, or maybe a way to cover up the history of it. But as we see in a lot of hauntings, the land never dies, even once people move on, houses are built and new families move in. The land will always speak, and this park is no different, the past is the past but it will always find its purpose in the future. If we truly see this or it is a thought and augmentation of our minds, we will never truly know. In the book Ghostland, Dickey says this passage that stuck out to me from the time I read it till now. It goes, “Rather than see spirits as distinct entities, capable of agency and will after death, he argued that we the living act as spiritual television projectors, capable of sending ideas mentally that are then picked up by others and interpreted as ghost” (Dickey 215). This passage, almost fully interprets what I believe about the thoughts behind ghost and hauntings. The idea of someone trying to project their thoughts out for others to see, are then interpreted into what we call ghost. I really do love this passage and it resonates with me in a way that I haven’t gotten from this book so far. The way, we as humans project out thoughts and feelings, can, most of the time, be projected in ways that make the dead feel alive again.

 The story of Thelma Taylor, will live on in the minds and city of Portland’s people forever, it will be projected and interpreted in the ways they see fit, but the story of her death will never change. The haunting of Thelma, I’m sure has changed since 1949, and will change again in the future, but that’s what makes ghost, hauntings and the paranormal an interesting topic.

 May Thelma rest in peace, as well as she ever can, knowing that her screams are being heard today.

Thelma Taylor

The St. Johns Bridge, Portland, OR.

The St. Johns Bridge, Portland, OR.

Sources:

 Freud, Sigmund. “The Uncanny.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works.

 Wang, Amy. “Cathedral Park Is among the Stops in 'Ghostland,' a Tour of Haunted Places.” OregonLive.com, OregonLive.com, 7 Oct. 2016, www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2016/10/ghostland_cathedral_park_st_jo.html.

 Dickey, Colin. Ghostland: an American History in Haunted Places. Penguin Books, 2017.

Blog Post: Fairmount Cemetery

I walked through and took pictures of the Fairmount Cemetery, this cemetery is the oldest cemetery and one of the largest in the U.S. The cemetery is suppose to be one of the most haunted places in Denver, and that is due to the fact that it became the new home for some of the bodies from Cheesman Park. 

The day I went, the scene was set along with a dark, cloudy sky and a slight wind that only started once I was there. The grounds are really actually fascinating, from the old tomb like headstones and the old stone chapel. It was quite a slow or not busy day and that added to the fact that I, in my head was seeing things. 

This is a pic of the Chapel, I wasn't able to get into it but the architecture and the vibe of the old stone and the tall roof made for a great pic. It’s also the picture where I believe I saw a ghost of some sort. In the right side of the pic, it looks like a person with a dark colored hood on. (scary)

Here is the “ghost” circled. 

This is a pic of the tomb I was talking about. 

Blog 4: The Birth of the Asylum

In the chapter Madness and Civilization, Foucault, examines and goes into depth of the birth of the places where people, who were deemed madmen. The two men that changed the way the world looked at the mentally insane were both, Phillippe Pinel and Samuel Tuke. These two men, took a different stance on the topic and created their own institutions to treat the mentally ill. The route Samuel took was, not confining the individuals and main them be seen as an observation, Phillippe took a stance where he took out religion and created a system to where the individuals made had task to do and not just suffer throughout the day. With these two different approaches the mentally ill where able to get help and not be chained up for months on end. The religious side of Samuel, who was a Quaker, was able to help a young man who was brought into the retreat, wearing chains, was freed from them and was able to recover after just  a few months. The other side, and non religious side, was Phillippe, he helped a young women be freed of hysteria and the possession of a demon, by the use of task and assignments for the individuals to complete. This young lady was helped and fully ridden of the demon possessing traits she had. 

This is the York retreat by Samuel Tuke. 

This is Phillippe Pinel, ordering chains be taken of a young girl. 

Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization. Tavistock, 1971.

Blog 3: After Hours

In section 2 of this book, Colin Dickey introduces new places to find hauntings, and ghost, most of which we don't see because the places are lit and more friendly when we are there. The businesses and hotels, have a eerie side to them once the places are un-lit and almost vacant. They can come of as unhomely and show that even a store front can have ghost and unpleasant visitors inside. The Stanley hotel is one of the most iconic and popular hotels for ghost and hauntings, which spawned a book by Stephen King. These places are usually busting with people and as Dickey says “ The sense of emptiness is key to a good haunting”. This shows that when a place empties out, is when the place becomes scary. The Toys “R’ Us in California, is known to be built on a long gone plantation, where a worker was killed by cutting open his leg and bleeding to death. This worker still haunts the place today, and is still said to be working at the plantation. The use spiritualist, almost, to me at least, give a depth of something that they want to experience or to tell a story of, with the lady in this reading, always being wrong, according to the police, which she has tried to help on certain cases. This goes onto show the people from the reality shows of Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures, They are just looking to give a show, or tell a story that they believe is true. The Stanley hotel, is a very nice, luxurious place with a lot of character and background. I went there a few years back and walked around the place and had breakfast, the sense of ghost was not there at the time and I believe that goes back to the sense of emptiness is key to a good haunting. The filling of old, a little high life times, and luxury from the 20′s was all around but never had any spirits or feelings while I was there. 

This is a picture of the restaurant inside where I had breakfast, it has that old 20′s to 30′s feel to it and can sometimes mimic ghost or a haunting sort of background. 

Blog: The Amityville Horror

This film was very eye catching and made you wonder what was going to happen next, even if you know the original story. The use of the nuclear family, in this film, was perfect for its time, in the 70′s this was the usual and one parent families wasn't really as common as it is now. The 70′s were full of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, and in this film it portrays that in a bunch of ways. First, with the newly discovered ghost while they are having sex, to the sex appeal of the baby sitter. Second, with the use of drugs by the baby sitter in the scene of the boy about to be exposed to the story and history of what went on in the house before them. The use of a space, as the center of this film, goes back to the way hauntings, and ghost are tied to spaces. The house in this film is very uncanny, its old, kind of beaten up, it’s on a lake and always seems to be windy and gloomy outside. In the film, George says, “We have the American dream... we are not going to get rid f it now”. This shows that as Americans and as a role of a man, that we want to be able to show masculinity, and a feeling of achievement within the world, even if it’s going to make us go insane. The first catch, that I got of the Indian symbol, before they showed that the house was on the lands of tortured Indians, was when George was in the basement and the TV came on and portrayed the Indian head and a symbol. This role of toxic masculinity also goes back into the Defoe family, they were a family of two “normal” parents, and kids, that lived in a great big house. This seems to also play true, in the new family, but also gets a little off centered, when George was, technically, the step dad and that, doesn’t really fit this role of the nuclear family.