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<![CDATA[The Paranormal Guide - Blog]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:25:01 +1030Weebly<![CDATA[A strange find in a suburban yard]]>Thu, 25 Aug 2016 07:48:32 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/a-strange-find-in-a-suburban-yard

In 2014 I dug up something strange in my yard... a jar that contained several children's toys and some bound bones.

What was it all about?

You can hopefully help me out and tell me what you think it is.

I moved into my previous home in Greenacres, South Australia, about 2010/2011. It was an oldish house - three bedrooms, quite small but with really large yards (at least for a home in the suburbs). Everything was well, sure, It was not a great place to look at but it was home and had loads of character. We called it the ‘Slanty Shanty’.

A few months after moving in we had our first odd happenings. We would hear people running down the wooden floored hallway - you could be standing right there and could hear them run right past you. At least 10 people had witnessed this oddness leaving them very uneasy.

But then we debunked it.

Our house was on posts, as was the neighbours, as such when their children ran through their house, if the ground was dry, that sound was perfectly carried and translated into our hallway.

Creepy but cool.

At the time we had the footsteps in the hall I had a friend with sensitive abilities tell me what was going on. This was before we worked out what was happening - the sounds of the neighbours children carrying over. She said she does not know about the footsteps but she felt their was a young, female presence in the house.

At about the time all this was happening we started to find random toys strewn throughout the yard. At first I thought maybe the kids next door were throwing them over the fence. It was all just small stuff – bits of Lego (Duplo), toy cars etc.

One day, while outside, I watched the cat digging around in a shallow hole at one of the backyards far corners. While watching him I saw him bring out some more toys and a few bones. I thought this was odd for the cat but maybe he had found a stash a previous tenants pet had buried?

A while later (I can not remember exact amount of time... weeks probably) the cat was digging around in the hole again and was pulling out a few more bits of bone etc so I went over to have a look. In the hole was dirt, a few more toys, another bone and the bottom of a broken jar and some glass. I did not think anything of it and buried the lot for fear of the cat or someone cutting themselves.

After seeing the bones I took these photos.

In early to mid December, 2014, I found one of the neighbours dogs in my yard digging a small hole in the other far corner of the backyard. I scooted it out of the way and went to have a look at what it was digging up. In a shallow hole, maybe 20 cms deep, I could see an exposed jar lid and the top of the glass jar it was attached too.

I was of course intrigued by this so I started to dig it up. I loosened some of the dirt and started to rock the jar back and forth to loosen it further. With this I heard a crunching sound and the jar basically fell apart in my hands (still in the ground). I was hit by a strange smell but nothing too bad.

I started to pull the glass out of the hole and there, to my suprise, was more toys, some more bones and a few small scraps of paper. A lot of it was wet and the dirt that was caught by the bottom of the jar was soaked with some liquid.

Although i cant say 100% that the stuff was in the jar, I am fairly sure it was. As you can see from the pictures it is all in that void.

As for the jar and contents.

It seemed to be a fairly small glass jar with a brown metal lid. There is candle wax (I assume) stuck to the outside surfaces which looks to have been joined to the jar lid. The lid looks to have a 'k' scratched into it but that might have been done by the ground, stones, dirt etc.

The contents were 1 Duplo brick, 1 rubber toy car tyre, two animal bones bound with white, fluffy string (it was when I saw the bound bones poking up that I grabbed my camera). There was also paper tied within the bound bones but that was soaked by the liquid and torn. Was red lettering on it though.

Thats pretty much all there is to tell. I just thought it was interesting. I showed the photos to a few people when I found it and they have different opinions ranging from a 'Curse' or 'Hex’ on someone through to maybe a protection or other spell in a jar/bottle (like a witch bottle?).

I don’t think it has anything to do with me or my partner (or cat) as I believe them to have been buried before we moved in. I believe the first lot of glass, toys and bones was probably also another of whatever these are but smashed before finding it.

We did take to looking in the corners of the front yard, at a suggestion from a knowledgable friend, to see if there were any buried there, making it all four corners of the property, but we never found any others.

My good friend and fellow researcher Spils made an interesting suggestion - maybe a previous tenant had heard the footsteps in the hall, didn’t put together the fact it was sound transfer from next door, got incredibly creeped out and took to protecting the house?

Also please note I am not saying the sensitives thoughts on the house and these objects are necessarily related, I am just giving the details of what was happening at the time.

So what do you think I found in my yard?

I can post more pictures of the contents in the comments if you like.

Have you ever discovered something odd like this in or about your home?

"Basically, I love a good story and even better if it has a dark or paranormal twist."
~ Ashley Hall - The Paranormal Guide.

As well as having written over 300 articles about all things paranormal, strange, dark and bizarre for The Paranormal Guide, Ashley is also the producer and director of the sites videos, and is the producer and host of The Paranormal Guide Podcasts.

]]><![CDATA[Which ghost hunting app do you prefer the most?]]>Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:30:00 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/which-ghost-hunting-app-do-you-prefer-the-most

Ghost hunting phone applications come in many varieties and with many claims of being able to locate, track and communicate with paranormal entities. Be it software versions of well known investigation devices and gadgets, or something new entirely, there are dozens if not hundreds of ghost hunting applications out there.

Have you used a phone app that seemed to help you out on your quest for finding paranormal evidence?

Have you ever successfully communicated with a ghost or other paranormal entity through an application?

Which are your favourite ghost hunting applications?
(yes, you may post links! but if you do please tell us why you like the apps)

Or do you find the apps to be big on claims but light on delivery?
---
Original question: “Which ghost hunting app do you prefer the most? And why?” Asked by David Wayne Stephens Jr.

]]><![CDATA[Himeji Castle - Okiku's Well]]>Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:30:00 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/himeji-castle-okikus-well

Himeji Castle is the largest castle in Japan and is allegedly the location for one of Japan’s most famous ghost stories.
A young, beautiful lady named Okiku was blamed for the loss of a plate - one from a set of ten, a valuable family treasure.
Okiku counted the plates again and again but could only find nine.

The penalty was death.

Okiku's Well - By I, KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0

Okiku was suspended over a well on the castles grounds, beaten, lowered in and submerged to near drowning before being taken out again…. to have the torture repeated until she was eventually killed.

Her body was thrown into the well and then covered.

Okiku has since been seen to appear at the well, count to nine, then cry out in anger, fear and frustration before disappearing again.

It is said you can end Okiku’s suffering, but just for a while, if you say ‘ten’ after she counts to nine… the plates all accounted for she can rest peacefully… for a while until she next appears to repeat her task.

Okiku’s story has been turned into a number of famous plays and has formed the basis for many similar stories, as such you may hear a different telling at times but the poor girls fate is always the same, her life is ended at this well.

]]><![CDATA[Are you superstitious?]]>Wed, 17 Aug 2016 14:30:00 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/are-you-superstitious

Know any interesting ones?
A superstition is a belief in supernatural causality. It is the belief that one event (or object, or action) can cause another without there being any physical process linking the two.

Ideas such as rabbits feet bringing good luck, an apple a day keeping the doctor away, toads causing warts, or that a black cat crossing your path is a bad omen are all types of superstition.

There are many, many superstitions out there from all over the world, some quite sensible (walking under ladders could spell bad luck... if someone working up one drops something on your head!) but others quite out there. Now by saying that I do not mean to detract from a persons belief as when it comes to the paranormal/supernatural you just never really do know... just that on the outside some superstitions can seem a little bizarre to the uninitiated!

Some superstitions can, in a way, be similar to some urban legends or the fact that at their core many urban legends come to form a lesson or a real world warning that has been packaged into a more threatening or intriguing tale. Some superstitions are just really bite sized urban legends.

Do you have any superstitious beliefs or know of some interesting ones?

And what of their origins (if you know them)?

]]><![CDATA[The Vampire of Düsseldorf]]>Mon, 15 Aug 2016 14:30:00 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/august-16th-2016

Peter Kürten, 'The Vampire of Düsseldorf', went to the guillotine for the murder of nine people and drinking some of those victims blood.

His last words were "Tell me, after my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures."

Peter Kürten's dissected head on display.

When you read those final words of Peter Kürten you might wonder why or how the sound of his "own blood gushing from the stump of my [his] neck" could constitute pleasure.

Kürten had a sexual fetish for flowing blood. When he was interviewed about his crimes by Dr Karl Berg, he admitted that the murders were for sexual pleasure and the more stab wounds in some victims was because it took him longer to achieve orgasm.

He went to the guillotine July 2, 1931, at the age of 48. He had been found guilty of 9 murders but confessed to 68. After he was decapitated, his head was dissected so his brain could be studied to see if there were any abnormalities present that could have caused him to become the monster that he was.

His brain was normal.

]]><![CDATA[Do you believe that some UFOs are extraterrestrial vehicles?]]>Mon, 08 Aug 2016 02:18:18 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/do-you-believe-that-some-ufos-are-extraterrestrial-vehicles

A UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) is any object that is seen in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer. Seen day and night these objects can be seen as bright lights through to fully solid structures and everthing else in between.

With thousands of sightings around the world each year is it possible some of these objects are not from this planet?

There are always people out to provide an explanation for the strange things that people see... as a matter of fact that (should be) the job for a paranormal investigator too, to try to provide a logical answer (and failing that maybe, maybe putting it in the 'paranormal' basket).

With these answers generally falling into quite earthly categories - strange cloud formations, geological events, meteors, as yet unclassified aircraft, misinterpretation of known technology - is there room for the extraterrestrial vehicle explanation?

What are your thoughts?

If at least some UFOs are not of our world, what are they... extraterrestrial vehicles or something else?

If you have a UFO experience that leaves you in no doubt that it was not of this planet please share that too!

Photo: No, not a landed extraterrestrial vehicle but rather one of the sculptures found in Lower Light, South Australia!

]]><![CDATA[Have you ever come into possession of a haunted object?]]>Sun, 31 Jul 2016 14:30:00 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/have-you-ever-come-into-possession-of-a-haunted-object

Items and objects come and go throughout our lives and many people believe that some of those objects might still contain the residual (and in some cases intelligent) energies of those who have owned them before us - and that we just might leave a portion of ourselves on the objects we come into contact with.

Have you come across a haunted object?

It is not thought that any old object will form a place for energy to attach but rather objects with meaning, often used, very much loved and with sentimental value.

Objects such as tools of a trade, jewellery (especially wedding rings), clothes, paintings, furniture and in many cases entire rooms or buildings (we will keep haunted houses etc for another time) and more have the potential to be haunted by one or more persons energies who frequented them.

Often these items are passed down through the generations and if haunted or active at least the history of the object is known and often the very 'who' who inhabits it.

But more often than not these objects can end up in second hand stores, car boot sales or just found lying around on disused estates... and these are the real mysteries.

A gift, a good find in a thrift store, an object picked up off the ground... all have the potential to bring something into your home.

Have you ever come across a haunted object?
How did things change for you after it came into your life?
How long did it take for you to realise that the activity might stem from the object?
Did you discover the identity of the haunting?

Picture: Some second hand shop, apparently a good source for haunted objects!

]]><![CDATA[The Leap Castle Oubliette]]>Wed, 27 Jul 2016 02:39:32 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/july-27th-2016

In the early 1900's, workmen cleaning out the haunted 'Leap Castle' in Ireland found an 'oubliette' - a deep hole in the floor with a room at the bottom - a place to send prisoners and forget about them.

Leap Castle - Photo by D. Brands

They also discovered many human skeletons that had been impaled on wooden stakes at the bottom of the drop, so many that it took three cart loads to remove them all.

A person would either be forced, lured, tricked or seduced into a small room where the oubliettes opening awaited. From there it was not so long a drop to kill you outright but long enough to ensure you could never climb back out. What greeted you was a room with only the one entrance/exit - the hole you tumbled down.

However, Leap Castles Oubliette was even more nasty, it had wooden spikes lined at the bottom so at the very least you would be quite injured... and with the hatch closed over it was all you could do to wail and cry until you succumbed to deaths embrace.

Leap Castle is haunted by many spirits, many of which no doubt saw their physical life ended in the oubliette.

]]><![CDATA[What do you want put on your memorial?]]>Mon, 25 Jul 2016 03:47:52 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/what-do-you-want-put-on-your-memorial

We are all going to die... you are going to die, I am going to die... everyone we know is going to die... eventually (this is not a threat but rather fact).

How would you like to be remembered on the little inscription that adorns your place of rest?

If you are not one for having a grave, urn, memorial plaque or commemorative seat named after you, just for participations sake pretend you are going to have it written in the sky.

Will it be something funny, serious, morbid, unique, cliche, touching, angry, provocative or maybe even sexy (yeah I don't know either but there are all sorts out there)?

Let us know!

Asked by Ashley Hall - The Paranormal Guide

]]><![CDATA[Lived Once, Buried Twice!]]>Wed, 20 Jul 2016 04:20:04 GMThttp://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/lived-once-buried-twice

Margorie McCall died from fever in 1705 and was quickly buried for fear the fever may spread.

That night, when grave robbers dug her up in order to take her wedding ring, Margorie sat up - she had been prematurely buried!

The grave robbers dropped dead from fright.

Margorie walked home, where upon seeing her, her husband also died from fright!

Poor Margorie McCall... however she remarried, had a full life and when death once again visited her she was buried BACK in her grave.

Premature burial was not an entirely rare thing back a century or more ago (or even today in some places). In this case it was lucky that 'resurrectionists' were working in the area of Lurgan, Northern Ireland, at the time - graverobbers - seeking corpses to sell to the anatomy schools or, as in this case, to take anything of value from the buried corpse.

However this story is repeated as taking place elsewhere and over different time frames. It is possibly (nay, probably) folklore but many in Lurgan will state it is true and that they have Margorie's headstone to prove it... regardless of the fact that it was put in place 150yrs after the events were said to have taken place...

Either way, a bit of interesting fiction never hurt now and then.

By Ashley Hall - The Paranormal Guide

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