Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 improbablylovelyLeave a comment

As you might have guessed, Halloween is my favorite holiday! I love nothing more than costumes, candy and horror films on a crisp and spooky autumn night. While it’s fairly easy to convince Kristin to commune with the dead with me in an actual haunted house, it’s practically impossible to convince her to watch horror films with me. In honor of Halloween today, I’m going to make a few horror recommendations that I’ve loved from this year.

If you’re looking for a series:

hillhouse

The Haunting of Hill House is probably my favorite addition to the haunted house genre. The camera work is extremely beautiful and the mood is solid and tense throughout. The ghosts are scary but it’s really the human relationships and performances that make this a must see. Read more about my feelings on this series here. You can watch it on Netflix.

If you’re looking for found footage:

hellhousellc

Hell House LLC makes excellent use of both the found footage genre and their specific premise. They manage their low budget extremely well by building realistic, well-rounded characters, letting the dread build and having some really nice effects despite the budget. I highly recommend this if you are looking to have trouble sleeping. You can watch it on Shudder or Amazon Prime.

If you’re looking for something as adorable as it is spooky:

Over the Garden Wall is an absolutely adorable mini series that can be watched in one, film length setting. The music is really good and the animation frequently gets rather spooky. I highly recommend for the whole family. You can watch it on Hulu.

If you’re looking for a slasher:

phantom89

Robert Englund’s 1989 adaptation, The Phantom of the Opera is definitely not a classic but it is surprisingly fun! There’s some fun kills and lots of fun easter eggs/ playing with the source material if you are a Phantom fan already. There’s also a very young Molly Shannon in this briefly, so keep an eye out for her. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.

If you’re looking for something funny:

Tucker-Dale-vs.-Evil-550x290

Tucker and Dale VS Evil is such a fun horror comedy that I don’t think gets enough love. Tucker and Dale are lovable hillbillies caught up in a deadly misunderstanding. You can watch this on Netflix.

Regardless of how you choose to spend your Halloween, we hope it’s the best ever. As for us, it’s always Halloween! We will be investigating a theatre this week and we can’t wait to share the results with you. Stay Tuned!

The Old Blackford County Jail

August 8, 2018August 8, 2018 improbablylovely1 Comment

125_E_Main_St_-_Google_Maps — The Old Blackford Co Jail From Google Maps

The Old Blackford County Jail is a popular paranormal hotspot in Hartford City, Indiana. Many investigative teams have stayed the night, including several TV crews, and none, it seems, have left disappointed. The evidence page on their website is teeming with unsettling EVPs (each credited to the team that found it), some of which are startlingly clear. If you’re looking to spook yourself, put on a pair of good headphones and listen to the EVPS here. Seance Sisters and the Friday Night Paranormal crew will be investigating soon and we hope to find our own evidence.

History of the jail has been a little tricky to unearth. So much of it is presented within the context of his hauntings that it has been hard to find a completely objective report. The location does historical tours for locals during certain times of year and the proceeds go to continue with it’s preservation. The Old Blackford County Jail website basically only gives the following information:

it was established in 1879 and was an active jail until 1995.
John Dillinger was held here at some point.
It’s incredibly haunted

I also found a page by the Ghost Research Society which claimed that no one ever escaped from this jail due to it’s granite ceilings, floors and walls, each of which was 8ft thick. You can see their findings here.

I’m curious if the granite used to secure the jail could be contributing to it’s hauntings via the Stone Tape Theory. While not exactly scientific, this is a popular ‘theory’ in the paranormal community that supposes that certain rocks such as quartz and limestone, can have the ability to ‘record’ traumatic events or heightened emotions. This would account for residual hauntings (hauntings that occur at regular intervals, with the same occurrence: seemingly non-intelligent and habitual). The stones are simply replaying events that somehow had their energies recorded in them. While very interesting, there is little verifiable science in involved.

We’re curious to find out ourselves! It seems that we are very likely to have some kind of experience here. Wish us luck and keep a look out for our post-investigation follow-up!

xoxo

Jordan

Women Can Be Anything- Even Serial Killers

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 improbablylovely1 Comment

http://murderpedia.org/female.G/g/gunness-belle-photos.htm — A very chilling photograph of Belle and her three very unfortunate children.

In honor of International Women’s Day, I wanted to a quick write up of one of my favorite serial killers, Indiana’s own Belle Gunness. Belle, a Norwegian immigrant, lived in La Porte, Indiana in a farmhouse where three bodies were found (and several more found on the property itself). This weekend, Kristin and I will be traveling to La Porte to investigate a private residence with the rest of our Friday Night Paranormal team. It is unlikely that this alleged haunting has any relation to Belle Gunness, but she’s a local fascination and I was thrilled to learn we were going to be in her old hunting grounds. Literally.

Belle was something of a Black Widow. Biography.com reported “Not long after Gunness married Mads Albert Sorenson [her first husband] in 1884, their store and home mysteriously burned down. The couple claimed the insurance money for both. Soon after, Sorenson died of heart failure on the one day his two life insurance policies overlapped. Though her husband’s family demanded an inquiry, no charges were filed. It is believed the couple produced two children whom Gunness poisoned in infancy for the insurance money.”

These are certainly suspicious circumstances but foul play should have been expected after her second husband, their daughter and her adopted daughter all wound up dead. If it was, Belle was unaffected by the suspicions. She then started meeting suitors via personal ads in a local newspaper that read:

“Personal — comely widow who owns a large farm in one of the finest districts in La Porte County, Indiana, desires to make the acquaintance of gentleman equally well provided, with view of joining fortunes. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with personal visit. Triflers need not apply.” (Source: IndyStar)

The lure worked and at least 10 men fell victim to the trap via personal ad, however, her total kill count is anywhere from 25-40! It’s safe to say that Belle Gunness was no trifler herself. Could the souls of her victims still wander La Porte? Stay tuned to see what, if anything, Kristin and I encounter this weekend!

-Jordan

Meet the Sisters

February 26, 2018August 8, 2018 improbablylovelyLeave a comment

After a terribly cold and boring hiatus, we have finally our first investigation of 2018 scheduled for early March and we have some cool ideas for how to share our experience with you but we thought it would be best to start out by introducing ourselves. However, the autobiographical paragraph is both a daunting thing to write and a boring thing to read. Please read our very interesting, informative and important About Me surveys below:

Name: Jordan Brown
Twitter handle: @cinegrrrl
Astrological sign: Leo
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Hobbies: singing, writing, reading, amateur yoga in my living room if there are no witnesses
Pets: Norman “Norm” the Boston Terrier

Fears: Heights and S P I D E R S
Favorite Investigative Tool: Spirit Box

Name: Kristin Bowlby (soon-to-be Morrow)
Twitter handle: @kaybee_13
Astrological sign: Libra
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Hobbies: Reading, painting, binge watching Netflix, sleeping
Pets: Callista the pit bull, Zeus the boxer, and Bowser the Turtle

Fears: so many.
Favorite Investigative Tool: K2 meter

Kristin and I have been friends for approximately 20 out of our 26 years. We love all things paranormal and have recently begun to join her fabulous parents’ investigative team, Friday Night Paranormal, on actual ghost hunts. Here we plan to blog about the locations and our experiences there as well as share some evidence. We are novice enthusiasts on a journey to learn about and experience as much of the unknown as we possibly can. We hope you’ll join us.