Jeff Belanger’s Latest Book Introduces New Paranormal Movement: Legend Tripping

Picture Yourself Legend Tripping explores how to find, document, and experience ghosts, aliens, monsters, and urban legends.

Paranormal researcher and author launches new legend tripping resource Web site.

BOSTON, MA — July 13, 2010 — The idea of legend tripping has been around for thousands of years. There’s a good chance you’ve already done it. Remember sneaking off into that cemetery at night as a kid to see if there were any ghosts? Remember hearing there was a monster lurking in that old abandoned building and wanting to check it out? Or hearing about a UFO landing site and wanting to plan your next vacation in the area so you could stand where the craft was said to have left its mark? That’s legend tripping. But it can be so much more. We can become part of the story. Today people still seek out these legends in record numbers in an effort to touch the unexplained. In Jeff Belanger’s new book and accompanying DVD, Picture Yourself Legend Tripping: Your Complete Guide to Finding UFOs, Monsters, Ghosts, and Urban Legends in Your Own Back Yard, he explores how to find, experience, and chronicle these legends.

Legend tripping offers a unique and inexpensive paranormal investigation opportunity for those with a big sense of adventure, and it’s an activity that can be done alone or in groups. You don’t need complicated or expensive equipment, just your human senses and a sense of wonder.

“Legends are real,” said Jeff Belanger, author of Picture Yourself Legend Tripping, “They are born, they can travel, spawn offspring, and they can die. For millennia humankind has told stories of ghosts, creatures from distant planets, monsters, and religious legends to each other as a way to connect with the past and explore the future. These legends can be experienced almost anywhere, and oftentimes they are based on more than just stories.”

Any television program you’ve ever seen that explores haunted places, ancient mysteries, UFO sightings, or strange creatures is legend tripping. First there was a story: a legend that was born and grew because people had unexplained experiences and shared what they saw, heard, and felt.

Belanger draws on over two decades of legend tripping experience to show readers how to find these legends close to home or in their travels. When a person stands where the legend is said to have stood, when they interview eyewitnesses, there’s a transformation that often takes place: stories become real, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you catch a glimpse of something paranormal.

“The journey is everything with legend tripping,” Belanger said. “Imps, fairies, aliens, bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Bloody Mary, ghosts, demons-it’s time to start believing.”

In addition to the new book, Belanger also announced today the launch of a new Web site: LegendTripping.com — an online resource for legend trippers that includes a directory of paranormal legends from around the world. Belanger said, “The goal of the Web site is to have legend trippers everywhere submit their local legends and tell our readers about their own experiences while out hunting the paranormal.”

About the Author
Jeff Belanger (www.jeffbelanger.com) is one of the most visible and prolific paranormal researchers today. He is the author of a dozen books on the paranormal (published in six languages) including the best sellers: The World’s Most Haunted Places, Our Haunted Lives, Who’s Haunting the White House (for children), and Weird Massachusetts. He’s the founder of Ghostvillage.com, the Web’s most popular paranormal destination according to Google.com, and a noted speaker and media personality. He’s also the host of the Cable/Web talk show, 30 Odd Minutes. Belanger has written for newspapers like The Boston Globe and is the series writer and researcher for Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. He’s been a guest on more than 200 radio and television programs including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, PBS, NECN, Living TV (UK), The Maury Show, The CBS News Early Show, National Public Radio, The BBC, Australian Radio Network, and Coast to Coast AM.

About Picture Yourself Legend Tripping
Picture Yourself Legend Tripping: Your Complete Guide to Finding UFOs, Monsters, Ghosts, and Urban Legends in Your Own Back Yard (ISBN: 1-43545-639-4, pages: 228, DVD, price: $24.99) includes a DVD featuring the author and other paranormal experts and is published by Course PTR (a subsidiary of Cengage Learning) in July of 2010. The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and many other booksellers.

2010
07/14
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Book details haunted sites along Route 66

The details from this article came from a posting on 7-12-10 on the News-Leader.com site out of Springfield Missouri.  The article was written by Sarah Bennett.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100712/NEWS01/7120357/1007/Book-details-haunted-sites-along-Route-66

If ghost stories are the sons and daughters of legends, roads must be one of the biggest haunted houses they live in.  From phantom hitchhikers to disappearing cars, the open road has often lifted our imagination and tickled the back of our necks.  There are no shortage of accidents and rumors to feed the possibility for the unknown to try and make itself known there, and when there  are already so many stories to make us feel as if any road may be haunted, ghosts start hidding behind ever street sign.

Writer and paranormal researcher Janice Tremeear is working on a book of such tales involving the mother of all roads.  Route 66 has long been the backbone of the adventurer in this country, and such a famous stretch of land is sure to have its share of supernatural moments, and Tremeear’s work will focus on those tales being told on the Missouri stretch. 

“Tremeear’s book will list Springfield as the birthplace of Route 66 and will include several of Springfield’s haunted locations, she said, including Pythian Castle and Landers Theatre…There are also locations in Rolla, Lebanon, Joplin and St. Louis. Sites in St. Louis include Lemp Mansion, Zombie Road, and Union Station.”

The book will be published by History Press.

 

2010
07/13
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New book challenges the preconceived notions of fairies!

Franklin Lakes, N.J., June XX, 2010 – Fairies are usually portrayed as good and helpful creatures—delicate, ethereal beings, flitting around on gossamer wings acting as guardians with magical powers.  Sometimes also called People of Peace or Good Folk, these names couldn’t be further from the truth!

The sanitized version, courtesy of English Victorians, presents fairies as a type of supernatural creature, basically benign, and friendly toward humans.  This image has been developed and expanded upon by children’s writers and pop culture, like the films of Walt Disney, and has become part of the overall perception of fairies.  

Join Dr. Bob Curran as he explores the not-so-comfortable world of fairies in his new book, Dark Fairies.  Dr. Curran investigates the roots of fairy kind, exposing fairies as beings much different and far more sinister than they are commonly perceived.  

In ancient times, ”fairytales” resembled horror stories, with fairies drinking human blood to survive and snatching children, whisking them off to a demon land.  Fairies were considered to be evil and dangerous, and to be feared and avoided.    

Dr. Bob Curran investigates the folkloric roots of the fairy kind, tracing their origins from the sprites and maenads of Classical times to the sanitized versions of the English Victorians. Among other aspects, he examines the connections in the Christian mind between the fairy kind and demons; the links between fairies and ancient, pagan gods; and the often-strained relations between fairies and humans across the ages. 

Dark Fairies is beautifully illustrated in black and white by Ian Daniels. 

Dark Fairies (EAN 978-1-60163-110-7, pages: 192, price: $14.99) was published by New Page Books. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, and many other booksellers.

For more information about Dark Fairies and other new releases, visit the website of publisher New Page Books at www.newpagesbooks.com.

###

About the author and illustrator:

Dr. Bob Curran was born in County Down, Northern Ireland. After leaving school, he held down a number of jobs and travelled extensively. He now works as a writer and broadcaster, as well as in an advisory capacity for a number of governmental organizations with regard to culture and education. He is the author of numerous books for New Page Books, including Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, and Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms. He currently lives in the north of Ireland with his wife and young family. He appears frequently on Coast to Coast AM and other radio programs.

Ian Daniels has illustrated book covers for Marion Zimmer Bradley, Orson Scott Card, and Poul Anderson. His illustration book projects for New Page Books include Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, Dragonlore, and Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms.

Contact:

Jennifer K. Seaman

jenniferkseaman@gmail.com

JKS Public Relations

(845) 521-1863

2010
07/11
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Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events by Dan Gordon

Haunted Baseball is more than just a solid collection of ghost stories and odd happenings. Dan Gordon and Mickey Bradley have given us a book filled with scares and spirit. The book, like the sport itself, tell something about the people in it, and transcends the sport and the ghost book genre. The ghosts are there, and the tight research from the authors offers background into such famous haunts and Yankee Stadium and the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg. The stories are well researched and delivered in a subtle eerie way. You become comfortable with the facts and then they slip the rug from under you. The ghosts invade the tales rather than overwhelming them. The first hand accounts from some of the most respected and well known names in the game makes the stories seem that more real.
But this book is much more than that. The book tells the history of such infamous curses as the goat of Chicago. These stories are known, but Gordon and Bradley get into more detail and reveal the truth behind the myths. The stories of the deceased still mourned by those left behind are touching, especially when you consider the macho athletes retelling them. It asks bigger questions and gives the reader the ideas of average men who happen to be professional player.
Perhaps the real strength of the book lies in its scope. The stories cover the spectrum of the weird and crosses culture lines. Some of the strongest stories are the ones of the Latin players who cherish the ghosts stories are part of their culture. The book even takes us to the Dominican Republic to hauntings players experienced when they were younger.
The audience for Haunted Baseball might be hard to get a handle on. Are there enough ghosts to satisfy the paranormal world and will sports fans be turned off by an mention of a phantom in Fenway. The authors shouldn’t have to worry. The balance they create allows the reader to enjoy each story while keeping an eye on the bigger questions.

2010
07/10
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THE EYE OF DANVERS: A HISTORY OF DANVERS STATE HOSPITAL by Michael Ramseur

Most people outside of Massachusetts think of ghosts and demons when they hear the name of Danvers State Hospital. The old brick building, now being torn down, is one of the paranormal hot spots of the state and the holy grail of investigations. In thinking about Danvers, too often the great tragedies that took place are thought of just as the cause of the disturbances felt today. The pain left by the people there, and the great stories of recovery, are lost among EVP’s and EMF readings.

But the heart and soul of Danvers has been preserved by Michael Ramseur in his book, the Eye of Danvers. Told through historical records and first hand accounts, it chronicles the rise and fall of a place once considered the crowning jewel of the mental health system and now stands as a representative of all that went wrong with it. The hospital was more than stone and mental and glass. Danvers was built on people, some who suffered greatly there. Ramseur is able to convey the power of the emotion felt by those who called the institution home.

The ultimate power of the book lies in the breathtaking artwork of Ramseur. As an artist looking at the buildings and the people behind the walls for decades, he brings a unique view of the landscape and the inner emotion of the place. If the book had no words, his paintings would still connect the people, trapped in time, and the emotions they dealt with.

As they slowly replace Danvers State Hospital with condos and playgrounds, what happened there will be lost. The people touched, in a positive and a negative way, will slowly die off and their stories lost. All we will have left are written accounts, and The Eye of Danvers will be the complete record, told through words and pictures, of a history many want to forget.

2010
07/10
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Lore of the Ghost by Brian Haughton

This review originally appeared at www.hauntedamericatours.com

Brian Haughton knows his stuff. Over the past few years he has gained a reputation as one of the strongest researcher in the field when it comes to odd people, weird places, and the folklore that lives just this side of unexplainable. With his past work he has always made an effort to keep one foot in legitimate history while stretching the possible past with his work in older cultures and text. His new book, Lore of the Ghost, focuses his skills at looking into several of the haunted motifs that form the tales we hear in old ghost stories and that help to mold the true hauntings we hear about from down the street.

Lore of the Ghost suffers from being written by the smartest man in the room. While his previous work has always taken advantage of his knowledge, it becomes a hindrance in Lore. The book looks to explore the origins of many of these ghost stories, but does little to get to heart of them while offering only retellings of them throughout the years. No origins are found. This would be allowable (most legends are impossible to trace to their true origins by their very nature) if Haughton offered some explanations as to why these legends are spread or how they tell us about ourselves. The book offers neither.

What the reader is left with is a collection of legends with no direction. There are still few out there in the publishing world who can tell these stories as well as the author, but he spends too much time jumping from old tale to old tale. Any of his chapters could be an entire book by itself, and with subjects like phantom hitchhikers and black dogs, the reader wants to know more. He does not stay in one long enough to examine it fully before he is on to the next variation. The jumping can become somewhat disorienting, and ultimately the format he uses becomes predicable and a bit boring to read through. American audiences may also eventually tire of the numerous examples of British and European stories while only grazing some of their American counterparts, especially because there are so many of them to be found on this side of the ocean.

Part of the issue arises with the connection between the legends and folklore that are the focus of the book and their true paranormal origins. Haughton does not take a side as to the truth of the tales and yet offers many classic hauntings as proof of the motifs they involve. This will isolate the folklorist and the paranormal enthusiast. While exploring the folklore he misuses or heaps together ghost stories with tales of odd animals and time slips, and other supernatural occurrences.

Brian Haughton still knows how to tell a story, but his skills are wasted here. With his base of information, it feels he sat down and had a conversation with himself and wrote it down. More likely, his latest conference presentation was a bit fleshed out and submitted to the publisher. This book has the feel of being too easy for him, too phoned in, to offer anything truly unique to the reader. Haughton is someone who deserves to be on the paranormal reader’s bookshelf, Lore of the Ghost is just not the book to add.

2010
07/10
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An Interview with Loren Coleman

Any researcher of the paranormal or fan of the supernatural in Massachusetts is building on a foundation set by Loren Coleman.  Although his name is synonymous with cryptozoology, many of his writings have influenced the field study and methodology of ghost hunting.  A hard line scientist who does not put weigh into hauntings and demons, he has spent the better part of forty-five years bring to light the odd animals of the world.

His connection to Massachusetts began in college.  After studying at Simmons College he did his post-maters work at Brandeis in Waltham.  He was working as a reporter in 1977 when his proximity and approach won him national fame on the Dover Demon case.  It was around this time he began referring to the area in southeastern Massachusetts as the Bridgewater Triangle, although it was not until the publication of his book Mysterious America in 1983 that the world found out what he had known for years, something was not right in Massachusetts.

His work has forced him to ride the line between truth and urban legend, and his writings have included such famous Massachusetts cases as the Killer Clowns and the odd animals of Bristol County. Mr. Coleman has also done extensive work in the field of sociology, studying youth and the effect of media on America.  His book, The Copycat Effect, is a collection of connections between the tragedies we see on television and the ones happening next door.  He writes about the close relationship our new media outlets, the creation of our ideals and the movement of our emotions.

Are there any cases or investigations in Massachusetts that have not hit the mainstream radar yet?

Of course there are but I won’t necessarily know what they might be.  I find that many local and regional phenomena are ignored by the local media because they are taken for granted or thought to, of course, be silly folklore.  For example, the giant frog or frogman of Silver Lake or the reported of a headless horseman in Dover are not of interest to the mainstream.

In an interview you once said the Dover Demon was one of the most interesting cases you were involved in.  Why is this and have any of the circumstances changed in the years since the occurrence?  What do you believe the demon was?

I thought it was an interesting case because it was so well-documented, investigated and mysterious.  The eyewitnesses have grown older, the  mystery has grown deeper, and the international acclaim has amazed me.  I still have no idea what the Dover Demon is or was.

Why are places like the Bridgewater Triangle such magnets of activity?  How might possible “window areas” or vortexes be originally formed?

Researcher bias may be behind some concentrated areas of unexplained activity, but some “triangles” or “windows”, as Vincent Gaddis and Ivan Sanderson felt, might be due to unknown geological forces.  I have no explanations for the reasons behind vortices.  As a Fortean, I am quite happy to point out mysteries, bring them to the attention of others, without coming up with explanations and theories on matters that appear to be beyond my ability to explain them.

How do you approach an investigation when there might be a legend, local or more universal, attached to it?

I always begin with the sources, as best I can, of any local sighting, which needless to say, are the eyewitnesses.  They need to be investigated deeply. If there is tangible and measurable phenomena, then, of course, those have to be investigated scientifically.  If there are additionally folklore and legends, I take this as a clue there is historically an understanding about other forms of phenomena in the area that have not been fully investigated.

How do you approach an investigation where there might be a strong religious aspect to the case?

The only reason a case might have a strong religious aspect would be because of the bias of an eyewitness, an investigator, or a chronicler.  I would take those factors into an examination of a case, and judge it on its merits.  The framework of a phenomenon, whether occult, religious, pagan, ufological, parapsychological, and so forth, often has little to do with “what” the actual phenomenon is.

How are you and other cryptozoologists viewed by the mainstream scientific community and how does this change your approach to investigating?

Cryptozoology is gaining wider and wider membership in the ranks of those in academia and other scientific communities.  The view of others has done little to change my approach, which has always been down-to-earth, global, attempted with little cultural bias, and extremely scientific.

Which do you like better; the field or the library?

I like both equally well.

How does the copycat effect influence the investigation of paranormal activity and unusual animals?

Understanding the influence of the media on cryptozoology events issues from the same arena as my work in human-involved copycat incidents.  It is an influence of the media, for example, that this question would be framed using the word “paranormal” even though I do not apply that to my work or to cryptozoology.

The case of the killer clowns in the eighties has been one of my personal favorites and my story about it has generated a lot of feedback.  How does the copycat effect the creation of legends and urban legends?

The phantom clowns sprang up separately around the country without the influence of behavior contagion or the media copycat effect.  I still do not claim to understand what was behind the phantom clowns’ independent birthing throughout the USA.

How has the teaching of cryptozoology changed the way it is viewed and its acceptance my mainstream science since you taught your first class in 1990?

There has been few classes taught in cryptozoology, and I would assume, therefore, there has been little influence that they have had in academia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis had a bigger impact in establishing cryptozoology as a mainstream science.

There has been a link suggested between violent criminal activity, such as murders or high profit disappearances, and the Satanic calendar.  You predicted, in a way, that a case like Red Lake would occur.  Do you give any credence to the calendar theory and what do you believe might be its place in the clusters you write about?

The significance of the pagan-Satanic-neo-Nazi calendar is great, specifically in the mind of school shootings and other seemingly neo-Nazi criminals.  The influence of the twilight language is on the landscape of much that I have written about in some of my books.

How do you feel about your own status as a trailblazer in the field and now a mythological figure in your own right?

I do not believe I have ever been called a trailblazer or a mythological figure.  Thank you.  I’ll have to think about those words. I am a cryptozoologist, so, yes, I have popularized cryptozoology in my articles, books, blogs, talks, and documentary appearances.  I have
Achieved my objective of sharing what I discovered exploring what I enjoyed doing, that is, conducting investigations of unexplained events and mostly, pursuing cryptozoology, literally the study of hidden or unknown animals.

You do an excellent job in your writing of presenting information and making connections, but never stating what you believe something might be strongly enough to blind the read to other ideas.  Is it hard to maintain this distance from you topics?

No, this is the Fortean point of view.  It is the way I approach all investigations, and coming up with a final theory is not always possible.  I want to leave the door open for others’ thoughts, as well, and stimulate critical thinking.  However, reaching a conclusion something is a fake, a hoax, or a joke, sometimes is possible for me.  I am not afraid to disclose those, when discover them.

Although they are often linked to each other, ghost investigations and cryptozoology are two very different things.  How do you believe they are similar and how are they different?  Have you ever faced a case that blurred the line between the two?

“Belief” is the realm of religion.  I don’t answer questions that come to me with that assumption being there.  I am interested in cryptozoology because it has tangible evidence, usually with a zoological and anthropological component. I am not interested in ghosts and do not conduct or engage in ghost work.

2010
07/10
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Our Haunted Lives by Jeff Belanger

Jeff Belanger has spent the past few years as the ringmaster for other people’s paranormal experiences.  As the creator of Ghostvillage, the most popular and successful collection of firsthand experiences and ghost chat on the internet and the author and editor of several books on haunted locations, Belanger has been at the center of the recent ghost revolution.  Now he is allowing the people to speak for themselves.

In his new book, Our Haunted Lives, Belanger opens up some of his old interviews and discusses cases in a new format.  The book consists of almost forty stories told in the direct words of the people who lived them, a far cry from the usual way of doing business that had flooded the bookshelves in recent months.

The format works for most of the cases.  The opening interview with George Lutz, for example, gives insight into a man who has reached the status of myth in the paranormal world.  Instead Belanger presents us with a fleshed out man who is very much trapped by his situation.  Unlike books about the Amityville Horror, the reader sees Lutz’s reaction to the events around him, but also the reaction to the cases becoming public and his notoriety.

For other stories, the first hand telling becomes somewhat tedious.  People want us to trust and believe their stories and at times go into great detail of their physical environment at the time of the haunting.  Other stories are weighed down by odd word usage or the people’s theories readers might not accept.  For people looking for only the sizzle of the paranormal, the moment you see the spirit or the moment you find the boy you saw in your room might be the little boy who died there twenty years ago, the stories might drag. 

Overall, the effect of the method of storytelling in the book shows the range of people who experience hauntings and the change it has on their life.  In their own words we hear the aftermath of the experiences, an element often left out.  People react differently and it is in the difference that we see them as real people.

Our Haunted Lives is heavily weighed towards individual experiences rather than famous haunted sites.  When the book does discuss known places or cases, the site is only the backdrop for what a specific person experienced.  For example, one story involves the Marriot hotel at Breadsall Priory in Derby, England.  Instead of a straight history the reader is given one man’s moment coming face to face with ghosts.

The tales range from the unexplained to the profound.  The Chapter entitled “Ghosts We Know” is a journey into ten people’s lives and their stories of passed family members and neighbors have a strong emotion effect on the reader.  In these cases, reading their own words allows you to feel the full impact of the experience.  The chapter entitled “While You Were Sleeping” contains classic Old Hag stories with a twist.  The story involving a Jerry Spivey from Brooklyn is one of the scariest to come along in quite some time, and the case about the marching night soldiers of Hawaii might be the most interesting written on the subject.

In the face of “How To” books about the paranormal, Belanger’s stands out.  The often neglected aspect of investigating is the interview.  Here we are given what a true professional asks people to get the full story.  It is his true skill, and in presenting real people in real situations, we see a side of the other side that makes it a bit more intimidating.

2010
07/10
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Haunted Rhode Island by Tom D’Agonstino

It seems that every day a new book is coming out about paranormal activity in a specific state.  Ghosts are now big business, and the best way to guarantee sales is to throw together a title about the activity in a certain area of the country.  This often translates to a book that rehashes old, familiar hauntings and legends written by someone not from the area whose skill in the field does not watch their skill with their computers search engines.

It this climate, Thomas D’Agostino’s Haunted Rhode Island is a breath of fresh air.  It is a collection of stories from all over the smallest state in this country that explores some modern ghost stories while paying homage to the tales of yesterday.  The older stories are not stale and overexposed retellings and the newer hauntings touch parts of the state not readily available on websites. 

D’Agostino connections as a man in the field give the book a genuine feel.  He is not just a storyteller but a paranormal investigator who has been to many of the areas he writes about.  Often he writes in the first person, and the reader experiences what he and his group felt at a particular site.  The tales are based on his own firsthand interviews and his overall historical research is tight despite a few mistaken facts.

Much of the book is devoted to vampires, one of the defining characteristics of the Rhode Island paranormal culture.  Mercy Brown, the most famous of all New England vampires, is discussed, but we also get the story of Nellie Vaughn and some of the lesser known myths.  D’Agostino does a good job of not condemning old superstitions, and this open-mindedness extends to his other segments.

D’Agostino’s tone is often more campfire than academic, and it is this voice that draws us in and makes the reader want to get to the next story and then visit the places he shares.

2010
07/10
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