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View this newsletter online at: http://www.ghostvillage.com/newsletters/Apr15_09.htm

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Dear Ghostvillagers,

I have this friend who has a cousin whose former roommate used to work with a guy who knew someone who picked up this girl hitchhiking by the Old County Diner. About a mile down the road, the girl just vanished. He later learned he wasn’t the only one to pick up the ghost of former waitress Mad Maude who was killed after her shift one night on this very road.

Sounds reliable, doesn’t it? You know those stories that you know just can’t be true (can they?), but you love to hear them and then tell others? This month we’re going to explore urban legends. You know, phantom hitchhikers, the ghosts of slain school children who push your car over railroad tracks, staring into mirrors and saying “Bloody Mary” three times, and the myriad of other tales that appear all over the world and are told in similar fashion. Be sure to tell us about your favorite local urban legends in our message board of the month!

Hey Facebook fans, be sure to become a fan of Ghostvillage.com on FB. You can check out our page here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=56707943589.

Over the next month, I’m going to be working on the second edition of Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. The first edition had over 100 contributors from all over the world writing up some of their favorite local haunts. For the second edition, we’re expanding our international section. If you’re a ghost investigator or researcher located outside of the United States and would be interested in contributing, please email me for more information. The first edition was a big hit in the United States, and with dozens of new entries, the new book will help raise the profile of even more great researchers worldwide.

I’m working on many interesting new projects right now, but one will be ready next month. Watch for a new regular feature to appear live on Ghostvillage.com in mid-May… that’s all I can say for right now.

Over the next month I also have several speaking engagements. Whether you’ll be at Mt. Washington, Tewksbury, Bellingham, or Waverly Hills, please come by and say hello so I can teach you the secret Ghostvillage handshake.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter below!

Jeff Belanger
Mayor of Ghostvillage.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/ghostvillager

Monthly Contest

Congratulations to Bridget Colontonio of Port Charlotte, Florida, who was last month's winner of an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's book, Who's Haunting the White House?, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!

How to win: Entries will be accepted up until 5:00 PM (eastern time) today (April 15, 2009). At 5:00 PM, we will draw a winner at random from the correct entries that have been received. You no longer have to be the first, but you only have until 5:00 PM to get your answer in. If you click on this link: http://www.ghostvillage.com/index.shtml#winner, you see today's date, and "We have a winner!" that means the contest has ended. Sorry, please try again next month. To submit your entry, simply reply to this email with the correct answer.

On to this month's question: This question can be answered by reading a page on Ghostvillage.com. Remember, reply by 5:00 PM today to be eligible to win.

If author Kimberly Molto could only have one junk-food treat the rest of her life, what would it be?

At 5:00 PM, we will announce the winner on our home page. Good luck! (Only Ghostvillagers who have not won a prize from us in the last year are eligible.)

This month's prize: We're giving away an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's latest book, Who's Haunting the White House?, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!


Didn't win? Want to buy a copy? Click on the graphic.

It Takes a Village - Charity of the Month

April is Earth month, and with Spring in the air, it’s time to put our focus toward Mother Nature and do what we can to help protect our fragile planet.

Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to look after communities, wild places, and the planet itself. They are the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in America. Some of their current priorities are researching energy sources beyond coal, curbing carbon, clean energy solutions, green transportation, resilient habitats, and safeguarding communities.

For over a century, our society has relied on fossil fuels to run our factories, power our cars and trucks, and heat and cool our homes. Now we are being hit with the consequences. Six of the last eight years were the hottest on record. Polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, coral reefs are suffering, plant and animal species are disappearing. And the wilderness areas and wildlife the Sierra Club has worked so effectively to protect for more than a century are being threatened and lost.

But we have the means to reverse global warming and create a clean, renewable energy future. Working with some of the world's top climate scientists, engineers, and energy experts, the Sierra Club has developed a Climate Recovery Agenda --a set of initiatives that will help cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create a clean energy economy and protect our natural heritage, communities, and country from the consequences of global warming.

To donate money online, click here

Other ways to help the Sierra Club:

1. Join the Sierra Club. In addition to helping protect America’s natural resources, your membership will also earn you a one-year subscription to Sierra magazine, members-only outdoor adventures, automatic membership in your local chapter, and discounts on Sierra Club calendars, books, and other merchandise. Learn more here

2. Sponsor a wild place. For as little as $20 a month, you can help support conservation efforts in a place of your choice, such as Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Learn more here

3. Take action. Sign online petitions and pledges supporting causes such as protecting sequoia national monuments, opposing liquid coal, and protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining. Learn more here

Also on a green note, from the book Picture Yourself Going Green, here are 10 simple tips to help green up your life:

1. Recycle
2. Install energy-saving light bulbs
3. Drink from a reusable water bottle
4. Tote a reusable shopping bag
5. Buy green power
6. Buy carbon offsets
7. Add organic food into your diet
8. Take a 5-minute shower
9. Unplug at home
10. Plant a tree

Supernatural Calendar

The Supernatural Calendar is the place where thousands will learn about your events of interest to the supernatural world. The service is only available to registered members of the message boards, and it's free! Ghostvillage.com now syndicates our calendar of events so other Web sites can also display these supernatural happenings at no charge! To learn more about installing our calendar of events RSS feed, please visit our syndication page. Adding your own local events to our calendar is more important than ever!

April 16: Ghostock 7 - Salem, Massachusetts
April 17: Mount Washington Hotel Conference - Bretton Woods
April 18: Armley Mill Ghost Walk
April 21: A Weird Massachusetts event - Tewksbury, MA
April 24: Mount Washington Hotel Conference - Bretton Woods
May 3: Jeff Belanger on Shadows Of Doubt Paranormal Talk
May 8: Mary King's Ghost Fest 2009
May 10: Waverly Hills Conference - Louisville, KY
May 16: Witchfest South 2009, Celestial Celebration
May 22: Alamo Conference (UFOs)
May 29: Jeff Belanger at Book Expo America - New York City

Jeff Belanger's Upcoming Events

This is the place to find out where author and Ghostvillage.com founder Jeff Belanger will be speaking on the subject of the supernatural. If you're interested in booking Jeff for a conference or other event, please email us for more information.

Events Scheduled:

Beyond Reality Events: The Mount Washington Hotel Conference - Bretton Woods, New Hampshire - April 17-20, 2009
A Weird (Massachusetts) Event at the Tewksbury Public Library - Tewksbury, Massachusetts - 6:30 PM, April 21, 2009
Beyond Reality Events: The Mount Washington Hotel Conference - Bretton Woods, New Hampshire - April 24-26, 2009
A Weird (Massachusetts) Event at the Bellingham Public Library - Bellingham, Massachusetts - 7:00 PM, May 7, 2009
Darkness Radio Events: Waverly Hills Sanitorium - Louisville, Kentucky - May 10-13, 2009
Book Expo America Conference - New York, New York - May 29, 2009
East Central Indiana Paranormal Conference - Muncie, Indiana - July 9-11, 2009
Dining With the Dead: Windham Restaurant - Salem, New Hampshire - 7:00 PM, July 27, 2009
2009 Chicago Ghost Conference - Chicago, Illinois - October 2-3, 2009
A Weird (Massachusetts) Event at the Sutton Historical Society - Sutton, Massachusetts - 7:00 PM, October 6, 2009
MASS Monster Mash - Watertown, Massachusetts - 6:00 PM, October 17, 2009

Who's Who in the Village?

Get to know some of your fellow Ghostvillagers.

>>Frither<< and >>Mystic Hippy<< - members since October 7, 2004 and January 21, 2007

What are your names?
He says: My name is Curtis Guldenschuh, but no one calls me Curtis except for my parents. Everyone else knows me as Ceg.

She says: My name is Sarah Guldenschuh. At least within earshot, I'm known as Sarah or Mrs. G.

How old are you?
He says: Old.

She says: Yeah, yeah husband ~ no matter how old you get, I'll always be 11 months younger and to answer the question, he's 53 and I'm 52.

Where do you live?
He says: Bugtussle, Oklahoma.

She says: Yep, there really is such a place! It's in Southeast Oklahoma, on the southern end of Lake Eufaula.

What do you do for a living?
He says: I work for Simonton Windows, which manufactures vinyl windows and vinyl patio doors, and we own AnandaQuest Spiritual Retreat and Prayer Garden. That's out on Buzzard Gap Lake, which is south of Wilburton, Oklahoma.

She says: I'm currently doing the housespouse gig.

How did you two meet?
He says: Online, but I know she's going to elaborate on the answer.

She says: Well, it is an interesting story, mo cridhe! It was December 1999 and I was on the vacation of a lifetime ~ the 'small-town-girl-doing-the-grand-tour-of-the-continent' thing. Because of a scheduling mix-up on my return ticket and the holiday blackout, my plans to get home in time for Christmas weren't going to happen, so there I was stranded in an itty bitty inn in an itty bitty village in an itty bitty corner of an itty bitty country. A long-term hobby of mine is collecting regional folklore, particularly folklore pertaining to ghost stories, so I was tooling around on the Internet when I ran across alt.binaries.ghost-stories. Someone had posted something about how to say "Merry Christmas" in different languages and my intention was to make a reply about how to say "Merry Christmas" Okie style. What came out though, was a convoluted tale of woe of being a very homesick Southern belle stranded in a foreign country at Christmas. The first reply to my post was from Ceg who simply said "about time you dragged it around" and the rest is history. Of course, there's a whole other long story concerning this but I'll save that for another time.

How did you get interested in ghosts?
He says: Well, I've been psychic since I was a kid. I've always seen ghosts and I thought everyone else did.

She says: In my case, it's a case of genetics or prenatal exposure or something along those lines. I grew up in a family where 'people with abilities' were the rule as opposed to the exception and belief in and interaction with the spirit side of the path was just an accepted trait like the unusual eye color that came from my father's side of the family and the halfway-between-blonde-and-auburn hair that came from my mother's side of the family. Actually, it was rather a rude shock to grow up and eventually discover that not everyone had a father, grandfather, and aunts that talked to dead people (and they talked back), had mothers and uncles who had dreams that regularly came true, had grandmothers who could diagnosis illness and heal with touch, had 'imaginary' friends as a kid that you communicated telepathically with ~ 'imaginary friends' who one day became your honeybabysweetiepiesoulmatebestfriendhusband... I like to think that growing up in that environment helped me prepare for living with Ceg and his abilities!

Do you both share the same beliefs in regards to the paranormal?
He says: I believe that there are a number of different spiritual and paranormal abilities and believe that we focus on certain ones that possibly, for reasons unknown to us, we find some personal interest in, much like we have favorite things like scents or colors or how people have different strengths and weaknesses.

She says: I don't use the word "paranormal" because to me, there's nothing "para" about it. I believe that we're all spiritual beings temporarily inhabiting fleshly containers and it's all part of the experience.

Flowers or chocolate?
He says: Flowers.

She says: Just gimme the chocolate and we'll all live to see another day!

Last Month's Theme - Featured Content

Our last month's theme was Celtic Legends. Here's what you missed if you haven't checked in since last month:

Books: Druid Power By Amber Wolfe - Library
Encounters: My Mischievous Faery - Rouses Point, New York - Encounters
Books: Celtic Astrology By Phyllis Vega - Library
Features: The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt By Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
Features: Celtic This, Druid That, Saint Patrick Hit Me With a Wiffle-Ball Bat By Marcus Foxglove Griffin

Shopping at Ghostvillage.com

Have you checked out our Ghost-Mart and Ghostvillage U.?

Ghostvillage U.: "Professor Paranormal" Loyd Auerbach and the HCH Institute's Distance Learning Certificate Course on Parapsychological Studies is now available through Ghostvillage.com. Ready to take paranormal investigation to the next level? Check out the online courses.

Ghost-Mart:
Digital Voice Recorders: Going for EVP? Think DVR.
Paranormal Books: Ghost-Mart has many of the leading paranormal titles.
EMF Meters: Check out our line of EMF meters from cell sensors to tri-field.
Closed Circuit TV: From inexpensive to the high end, we have them all.

Supernatural Library

Ghostvillage.com's book reviewer, Lee Prosser and the staff have brought you new book reviews and author interviews since our last newsletter.

This past month's Library additions:

More True Tales of the Paranormal by Kimberly Molto [Author Interview]

Recent Encounters

We receive personal encounters from all over the world. Many are scary, some are touching, but they are always profound. If you would like to share your own experience, please click >>here<<. Since our last newsletter, we added the following new encounters:

Accident Premonition - Singapore
Attempted Possession - San Antonio, Texas
My Mischievous Faery - Rouses Point, New York
Ghostly Tricks - Marysville, California
My Cat's 9/11 Premonition - Baltimore, Maryland
The Drowning Girl - Gloucester, Massachusetts
A Civil War General - Carthage, Missouri
The Glowing Nun - Santa Margherita Ligure, Genova, Italy

News

This is the place to find news items on paranormal happenings around the world. If you have a news item you'd like to submit, please see our guidelines.

From the Desk of Chris Balzano, New Editor:
With urban legends the theme for the month at Ghostvillage, it is a great time to think about what might separate a FOAF (Friend of a Friend) tale and a genuine haunting. It is something paranormal investigators have to battle with all the time, and the investigators does not always win. Too often the romantic notion presented in the tale entices, and a level-headed person falls into the trap.

How is one to know the difference then? When all of the equipment is put away, people will have to rely on stories that can be confirmed, and the best evidence may be official town records. It did not make too much of a splash when it first came out, but one town in Massachusetts may be cementing a haunting by adding a ghost to its official town record.

A few weeks ago a news story came out from the town of Middleboro. A little over a year ago, the Enfield Paranormal Society was allowed to go into the town hall and investigate rumors of paranormal activity. After extensive research, they determined there was a ghost in the building, and the case should have been laid to rest. There was nothing particularly haunting about the experiences, and stories like this play themselves out across the country every week.

Then Selectman chairman Patrick E. Rogers asked people to submit information that should be included in the town’s annual 300 page report. Someone had the idea to document EPS’s investigation, including results, and included the line, “spirits exist within the walls.” Once signed off on, it etches in stone, or at least paper, a confirmed ghost roaming a very public building in New England. Future generations will be able to go back to the town’s 2008 town report and confirm that a spirit was said to be real. It is something out of Miracle on 34th Street. If the government says it is true, it must be.

The typical small town politics ensued. Some officials were offended, and citizens hit the message boards to debate the value of including such a line. After debate, it was determined the quote was all in good fun, and since the publication of the original news report, it has been stated it will remain. 

In a few years it will not be remembered that the haunting was included with a chuckle and a grin, and all that will remain are the black and white words accompanying a town seal. It was not uncommon in days gone by for there to be official references to the paranormal. In his book Who’s Haunting the White House?, Jeff Belanger makes reference to several presidents and officials who wrote about experiences, but modern times is a different situation. This is not Cotton Mather discussing the possession of a young girl in his home. Ask Bobby Jindal if acknowledging the existence of the unknown helps people get elected. 

People will still be fooled by the story of the little ghost children who move a stalled car off the train tracks as long as there is an Internet to spread it and an investigator who thinks the story makes sense, but serious researchers try to back up the legends with fact. It may mean hours of combing through dusty records at a town hall, or surfing through page after page on the Web as your housework collects dust, but you search for the passing comment that confirms the stories people have been spreading. In Middleboro, Massachusetts, researchers will have an easy time of it. Their ghosts are now a matter of town record.

This month’s headlines are below:

Bank claims Seven Sisters; ghosts said to be upset Ocala.com Ocala, Florida -April 10, 2009 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Ghost Hunters returns to the Mount Washington Resort - and the Public is Invited
Spooky image shows ghostly figure The Chronicle Toowoomba, Australia -March 26, 2009 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Castle figure wins 'ghostly' competition BBC News North Berwick, Scotland -March 27, 2009 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Hartford Murder Suspect Says Ghosts Taunted Him The Hartford Courant Hartford, Connecticut -March 24, 2009 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Work halted on Warwick Castle over haunting scare The Birmingham Mail Birmingham, England -March 16, 2009 [EXTERNAL NEWS]



WANT THESE HEADLINES ON YOUR SITE FOR FREE? Syndicate our news! If you have a Web site or blog, you can syndicate our news feeds to your site for free. Join the growing list of Web sites who carry our news by visiting our syndication page.

Features

Our "Features" section is a place for editorials, research articles, open letters to our readers, and other content of interest to Ghostvillagers. If you have a topic on your mind, agree or disagree with something you read recently, we want to hear from you! For guidelines, click here.

New features added since our last newsletter:

A Journey Into the Future? by Richard Senate By Richard Senate - April 9, 2009
Investigating Turtle Mound - Ghost Chronicles - April 8, 2009 [PODCAST]
Spring Evolution By Tiffany Johnson - April 3, 2009 [COLUMN]
Spiritual Healer, Kelle Eli - Ghost Chronicles - March 25, 2009 [PODCAST]
Most Haunted's Richard Felix - Ghost Chronicles - March 18, 2009 [PODCAST]

Hot Threads and the Ghostvillage.com Community

In the past month, hundreds of new people registered for free to join our supernatural discussion! Have you?

If you have registered for our message boards but haven't validated your account yet, it's simple to do! Look for the email that was automatically sent to you when you registered and click on the account activation link in the email (note: some bulkmail filters may block this email, so you'll need to check your bulkmail folder if the validation email didn't immediately come through). There are always great discussions going on in our huge message board community. We hope you'll get involved. It's free to register if you're not already a member. Here are some of the hot topics this month:

The Poltergeist
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=2639
Fact or fiction?

Ghosts in the News
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26974
Horror film draws unwanted visitors to Connecticut house.

Paranormal Movies
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26732
The Haunting in Connecticut

Paranormal TV
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26685
Lost Tapes

Paranormal Web Sites and other Paranormal
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=27117
Rotherham ghost club members wanted.

Spiritography
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=27072
Haunted Schluter Home - Texas.

EVP
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26957
EVPs from house investigation.

Spirit Videos
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=10013
Bertha's Grave - a flying orb.

St. Louis Legend
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=27079
The story of Pearl Curran and Patience Worth.

Haunted Land
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=13174
Dice Road Cemetery, Saginaw, Michigan.

Haunted Water
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23689
La Llorona, Mexican Legend.

Haunted Dwellings
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26737
110-year-old haunted house, Home that is inhabited by many spirits.

EMF Readers
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26706
Should your EMF reader detect AC, DC, or both?

A Tingling Question
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=26951
What does a tingling hand mean--could a ghost be near?


Board of the Month -- Urban Legends
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showforum=27
From phantom hitchhikers, deals with the devil at crossroads, to staring in mirrors, discuss your favorite urban legends.

Ghostvillage.com Advertising Opportunities

Each month Ghostvillage.com reaches tens of thousands of people interested in the paranormal. We offer the most effective and best-valued advertising and sponsorship packages of any paranormal media outlet. Please visit: http://www.ghostvillage.com/advertising.htm for details.

If you're ready to put Ghostvillage.com to work for your company or organization, send us an email to get started.

Ghostvillage.com Quick Stats:

288,532 Posts in the Town Square Message Boards
24,361 Members in the Town Square
868 "Personal Encounters" published on Ghostvillage.com
1,204 Paranormal Web sites in the Ghost Links directory
28,209 Subscribers to this newsletter
9,779,912 Total Web site "hits" for Ghostvillage.com in March

Support Ghostvillage.com

Ghostvillage.com is the Web's largest supernatural community, the central place where people come to share their experiences, thoughts, and research. Please help us continue to grow by buying a copy of The World's Most Haunted Places, Communicating With the Dead, The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, The Nightmare Encyclopedia, Our Haunted Lives, Ghosts of War, The Ghost Files, Weird Massachusetts, Who's Haunting the White House?, or shopping in Ghost-Mart. Every little bit helps run our servers and helps the site get bigger and better! Please also click on our banner ads and support our advertisers -- when you do business with someone who advertises with Ghostvillage.com, let them know you saw their ad with us and thank them for the support.

Please email us anytime at info@ghostvillage.com. Your comments, questions, and feedback are always welcomed.

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