When it comes to paranormal encounters experienced by law enforcement, who better to capture the stories than a former officer. Halifax’s Elliott Van Dusen spent 15 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, starting in Penticton for four years, then moving on to Yellowknife to be a homicide detective before […]
Tag: paranormal
The challenges of being a journalist who digs in the paranormal dirt
I could probably defend the reason why I started the Superstitious Times until my vocal cords seize up, but some people will still see the endeavour as a Fox Mulder-esque pursuit. I prefer Dr. John Montague of Shirley Jackson’s universe because much like him, my fascination with what people believe […]
Being in the right headspace helps to process paranormal
A few years ago, I was having a conversation with an old university friend about the paranormal, and how as a neuroscientist he had induced ghostly sounds and associated symptoms of a haunting in a laboratory. I was hoping that he would share his thoughts in a column for the […]
The Warrens helped steer the cultural shift in paranormal investigation
A staticky ring tone filled the receiver as I dialed up the New England Society of Psychic Research while a student journalist at the University of Toronto. It was 2001 and I was looking to write my monthly Window column, “Paranormal Frontiers”, on the Amityville Horror. A calm and pleasant […]
MUFON Canada investigator launches new reporting system
It’s been a busy month for our Ufology columnist Ryan Stacey The 32-year-old Penetanguishene native has launched both The Experiencer Support Association (TESA) survey, as well as named Director of Investigations for MUFON Canada. For the former, the launch of TESA means the collection of hard data and a place […]
Being employable haunts us, prevents us from opening up about the unknown
In my investigations of Canadian folklore and supernatural stories, one recurring theme has seized potential interviewees: the risk to their being employable. Their concern with getting a job is warranted, because, should it get out that they’ve witnessed a ghost or bigfoot, they could be seen as odd. I get […]
Review: No meat on this creepypasta’s bones
Slender Man Director: Sylvain White Cast: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair Studio: Mythology Entertainment 2.5/5 The digital pastiche that spawned Slender Man on the forums of Something Awful has led to ubiquity. Slender Man is a blend of Freddy Krueger, Pennywise and a Lovecraftian abomination, with its tendrils […]
REVIEW: Lack of linear storytelling severs this family’s ties
Hereditary Director: Ari Aster Cast: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Milly Shapiro, Alex Wolff and Ann Dowd Studio: Elevation Pictures 3/5 It seems as though Hollywood is sweet on witches these days. And I do mean Hansel and Gretel sweet as two youngsters are lured into the world of spiritualism unwittingly, […]
Beliefs aren’t at play when reporting on the supernatural
Sometimes, when I was out-of-line as a kid, my mom would warn me she’d make me read the Bible. One other time, when I was older, it was Bible camp — a passing moment where I made a glib comment about the Faith Baptist bus scooting by. I’m sure those […]
States of Being in the Western States, Part Two: Oddities
How did we get here, from … here? We were on a father-and-son cross-America trek to celebrate a milestone birthday for R-Three. It was designed to be a full family adventure, but an eleventh-hour circumstance tethered my wife to the workplace, leaving R-Three and me to strike out by ourselves […]