Final Post (for Genius Hour 2015 at least).

*I'm sorry to my readers coming here for my countdowns or whatever you want to call them but this post is almost purely for school, for more info go look at the last paragraph.

1. What was your favorite part of the topic you chose?

My favorite part of it was the overall fact that I learned things that I myself didn't even know going into this and having it spark an even bigger interest in me.


2. What was your least favorite part of the topic you chose?

How when I tried to talk to people not involved in the project or nonbelievers they just shrugged me off and listened to nothing I had to say. (It may also be why a few people I know haven't been talking to me, its not people from school don't worry.) And at times I only had so much information to go off of since not everyone calls some of the things I've written about the same as the next person (e.g. The Chair of Death goes by like 20 different names)

3. What do you like best about Genius Hour research?

I was able to find people who believe the same things as me and on most of the things i only needed a couple sites to get a very decent sized entry and enough information (e.g. The story for the doll Annabelle.) And unlike others who started to hate they're topics after the second post I'm still extremely interested in mine.


4. What do you like least about Genius Hour research?

It got very annoying at points because some of the sites i tried to use differed so greatly from the stories on other source sites i had to drop the part that i waned to do, other times the sites didn't provide adequate information, and sometimes they were just stupid troll sites. (On a couple of my entries it was near impossible to get them completed because of certain family members, who shall not be named [*cough* Greg *cough*], not letting me have my computer back and the above stated reasons. )


5. What was the most important thing you learned about yourself, how you learn, or research in general as a result of this work?

I learned that i am more easily distracted than i originally thought, and that i learn in a very roundabout way, because if something doesn't interest me the second i look at it i flit away from it then if i hear something interesting about it ill jump at the chance to read up on it more. Its also easier for me to read about things rater than watch a video on it because i can pretty much guarantee that if i only have words playing on a video presenting itself to me, instead of me actually putting all of my attention into reading it, my mind will drift and i will lose interest almost immediately. 


So now time for my end bit; I will most likely to update this blog except, it will only be when I have free time, it may become a bit more rambley (that's not a word but I used it so it is now), it will be for my enjoyment only, and a few entries will probably veer from my original topic, but main thing is that updates will be more random, and less common during my school year than during my summer but even then they will probably still be random updates, and far in-between so please if you're going to follow this blog or continue looking at it don't complain because I'll just direct you to this post, because people on the internets do have other things to do, and have lives going on around them like new people moving into their home or owning five rather large dogs. So until next time, (whenever that may be) Buh-Bye.

One haunted object.

*Note: I will be adding more onto this but as it stands my family decided to go out of town for the weekend, without informing me in advance, and dragged me along. So I'm just a bit short on time.

The Chair of Death

The 'Chair of Death' was the favorite chair of a man named Thomas Busby, who was convicted in 1702 for the murder of his father-in-law, Daniel Auty, whom he supposedly strangled for sitting in his favourite chair after an argument about Thomas' wife, Auty's daughter, Elizabeth. On his way to the gallows in 1702, he asked to stop by the pub for a drink of ale in his favorite chair as his last request. When he finished, he said "May sudden death come to anyone who dare sit in my chair."

Despite this it remained in the pub for centuries, and people were dared to sit in it. During WWII it became a popular haunt for soldiers and the chair became a game to them, and others noted that the men who sat in it never came back. 

Even after all that in 1967, two Royal air force pilots sat in it, and while driving back, they crashed into a tree and died then, A few years later, two brick layers decided to try it, and that afternoon, the one who sat in it fell to his death. The cursed chair has apparently "killed" every person who sat in it, no matter what. Some instances include a roofer who sat in it died after the roof he was working on collapsed, and a cleaning woman stumbled into it while mopping, and was later killed by a brain tumor. 

Eventually, the pub owner moved it into the basement, hoping that nobody would sit in it. However, one day a delivery man was in the basement and sat in it, presumably because he was tired. An hour later, he crashed his truck and died. 

After that death, the landlord asked the local museum to take it, to ensure nobody sat in it again, they hung the chair five feet from the ground. It is said that for some time prior to death (time varies in all cases) the person who sat in the chair experiences haunting experiences, including extreme itching, paranoia, hearing things, confusion, items being moved and written warnings on mirrors and walls about the persons imminent death in addition to many other strange happenings.

*Note: I will be adding more onto this but as it stands my family decided to go out of town for the weekend, without informing me in advance, and dragged me along. So I'm just a bit short on time.

Three possessed and haunted dolls.

*Edit: The off color pieces of text on this post are places where something, that I've no clue how to fix, went wrong. Please ignore them to the best of your ability and enjoy the stories.
1.Annabelle

The inspiration for the conjuring Annabelle wasn't a porcelain doll like in the film but was in fact an antique Raggedy Ann Doll. The events in the actual story are over exaggerated in the movie because - creative license.

Back in 1970 a mother purchased an antique Raggedy Ann Doll, as a birthday present for Donna her daughter. Donna at the time was a college student, getting ready to graduate with a nursing degree, and living in an apartment with her roommate, a girl named Angie.

Upon receiving the doll Donna was happy with it, putting Annabelle on her bed's headboard as a decoration. Both girls thought nothing of it and forgot it was even there until a few days later.

After awhile the girls began to notice things weren't what you would call normal. The doll began to move. It went unnoticed at first because it was only a small, almost unnoticeable, shift in position.

Then they started coming home to the doll in a completely different room, sitting indian style on the couch with arms folded, and in the kitchen, found standing upright, on its feet, leaning against chair legs. 

A few times Donna, after coming home, found her in her bedroom with the door closed after she had put her on the couch that morning.

Then came the messages. The girls started finding messages written on parchment paper, in child's hand writing, like "Help us," and "Help Lou." The creepiest thing to the girls wasn't the messages but the way they were written, because Neither Donna nor Angie kept parchment paper in the apartment when this was happening.

One night Donna came home to find the doll had moved again, to her bed, while this was typical and expected by this point something else was very wrong. Blood. Blood drops had shown up on the dolls hands and her chest from seemingly nowhere. This is when they finally went to a medium.

After a seance, Donna was introduced to spirit of Annabelle Higgins. The medium told the girls the young girls story of how she had lived there before it became a apartment complex, Only seven when she was found lifeless in a died where the apartments now stand.

The spirit then told the medium about how she liked the girls and wanted to stay with them so she could be loved, Donna, moved by the story, allowed Annabelle to stay and reside in the doll. Soon however the girls would come to find that Annabelle wasn't what she seemed.

And then Lou came. he had been the girls friend long before the doll was there and was present the day Donna got it. The doll had always struck an ill cord with him and on several occasions he warned the girls that it was evil and that they should rid them selves of it. The girls refused and in the process made the biggest mistake possible.

What comes next is Lou's experience with Annabelle.

Lou awoke one night from a deep sleep and in panic. Once again he had a reoccurring bad dream. Only this time somehow, something seemed different. It was as though he was awake but couldn't move. He looked around the room but couldn't discern anything out of the ordinary and then it happened. Looking down toward his feet he saw the doll, Annabelle. It began to slowly glide up his leg, moved over his chest and then stopped. Within seconds the doll was strangling him. Paralyzed and gasping for breath Lou, at the point of asphyxiation, blacked out. Lou awoke the next morning, certain it wasn't a dream, Lou was determined to rid himself of that doll and the spirit that possessed it. Lou, however, would have one more terrifying experience with Annabelle.

Preparing for a road trip the next day Lou and Angie were reading over maps alone in her apartment. The apartment seemed eerily quiet. Suddenly, rustling sounds coming from Donna's room aroused fear that someone had possibly broken into the apartment. Lou determined to figure out who or what it was quietly made his way to the bedroom door. He waited for the noises to stop before entering and turning on the light. The room was empty except for Annabelle whom was tossed on the floor in the corner. 

Lou scoured the room for forced entry but nothing was out of place. But as he got close to the doll he got the distinct impression that somebody was behind him. Spinning around he was quick to realize that nobody else was there. Then in flash he found himself grabbing for his chest, doubled over, cut and bleeding. His shirt was stained with blood and upon opening his shirt there on his chest was what looked to be seven distinct claw marks, three vertically and four horizontally, all were hot like burns. These scratches healed almost immediately, half gone the next day, fully gone by day two.

The girls now believing Lou decided to contact an actual expert, instead of a medium this time, Episcopal priest Father Hegan. Hegan felt it was a job for someone higher up in the church so he contacted Father Cooke who in turn contacted the Warrens. (The people who now own the doll in their museum. Go here for more information.) In time they discovered the doll was only being manipulated and that the spirit wanted a human host and that it wasn't that of a small girl but in fact a demon.

 The moving around of the doll was a teleportation type thing where the demon, most likely, hoped to raise the girls curiosity. Then the medium was brought in a mistake because the demon then prayed on the girls emotions, getting permission to stay from Donna. A negative spirit rings about negative phenomena the blood drops, the movements, the notes, and the mark of the beast on Lou were all part of the infestation of the demon. The next stage of the infestation phenomenon would have been complete human possession. Had these experiences lasted another two or three more weeks the spirit would have completely possessed, if not harmed or killed one or all of the occupants in the house. 

They then had father Cooke preform an exorcism of the doll and cleansing of the apartment. "The Episcopal blessing of the home is a wordy, seven page document that is distinctly positive in nature. Rather than specifically expelling evil entities from the dwelling, the emphasis is instead directed toward filling the home with the power of the positive and of God." (Ed Warren). After this as a precaution Ed and his wife took the doll with them when they left. Upon leaving Ed placed the doll in the back seat and agreed he would not take the interstate in the event the inhuman spirit still resided with the doll. 

His suspicions were all to correct when in no time the Warrens felt themselves as the objects of a vicious hatred. At each curve the car swerved and stalled with every corner causing the power, steering, and brakes to fail. Repeatedly the car verged on collision. Ed reached into the back seat into his black bag and took out a vial of holy water and doused the doll, making the sign of the cross over it. The disturbances stopped immediately and the Warren's arrived safely home.

After the Warrens arrived home, Ed sat the doll in a chair next to his desk. The doll levitated a number of times in the beginning, then it seemed to fall inert. During the ensuing weeks, however, it began showing up in various rooms of the house. When the Warrens were away and had the doll locked up in the outer office building, they would often return to find it sitting comfortably upstairs in Ed’s chair when they opened the main front door. The doll also showed a hatred for clergymen who came to the house.

In one instance Father Jason Bradford, a catholic exorcist, came to the house. Upon seeing the doll seated in the chair he picked it up and said "You're just a rag doll Annabelle, you can't hurt anyone," and tossed the doll back in the chair at which point Ed exclaimed "That's one thing you better not say." Upon leaving an hour later 

Lorraine pleaded to the priest to please be careful driving and to call her when he arrived home.

 Lorraine discerned tragedy for this young priest but he had to go his way. A few hours later Father Jason called Lorraine and explained that his brakes had failed as he entered a busy intersection. He was a involved in a near fatal accident destroying his vehicle. This was just one of many such events that occurred over the next few years.

The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside the Occult Museum, where she resides to this day. Since the case was built Annabelle no longer appeared to move but she is thought to be responsible for the death of a young man who came to the museum on motorcycle with his girlfriend. The young man after hearing Ed's account of the doll, defiantly went up and began to bang on the case insisting that if the doll could put scratches on people then he also wanted to be scratched, Ed said to the young man "Son you need to leave,"  and took him out of the building.

On the way home the young man and his girlfriend were laughing and making fun of the doll when he lost control of his motorcycle and went head first into a tree, the young man was killed instantly but his girlfriend survived and was hospitalized for over a year. When asked what happened the young woman explained that they were laughing about the doll when they lost control of the motorcycle. 

Ed warns you. 

"Do not challenge evil, that no man is more powerful than Satan."

2. Robert the Doll 

Robert Eugene Otto -- or Gene, as his family called him -- was just a young boy in 1906 when his family's maid, who practiced black magic, gave him a strange, straw-filled doll to play with and designed to look like a 19th century navy solider holding a stuffed lion. Gene loved his life-sized doll and brought it along everywhere, even naming it "Robert" after himself. It wasn't long, however, before people began noticing signs of Robert the Doll's evil and mischievous nature. Throughout his childhood, Otto’s parents heard him playing with and conversing with the doll, assuming he was replying to himself in a disguised voice. He is considered one of the most haunted objects in the world.

As rumor has it, the Otto's and their servants would often hear Gene in his bedroom, having conversations with himself in two entirely different voices, they however thought nothing of it assuming he was replying to himself in a disguised voice. Furthermore, the Otto's would wake up in the middle of the night to Gene's screaming, only to find the frightened boy in bed, surrounded by overturned furniture. Gene would blame Robert the Doll for messing up the bedroom, while Robert would glare at Gene from the foot of the bed.

Soon after, mutilated toys and mysterious happenings would appear in the home, only to have Gene proclaim each time: "Robert did it!". Though the Otto's didn't quite believe Gene, it was reported that they could hear the eerie sound of Robert giggling around the house, and passersby even claimed to see a small doll moving from window to window. Robert was eventually moved to the attic, where he remained for a number of years.

Gene inherited his family's Key West mansion after his parents passed, at which time Robert the Doll returned to his old bedroom, Gene's turret room on the second floor. By then, Gene had been working as an artist, and local folklore insists that Gene would spend his days alone in his mansion, painting with his old friend Robert.

Gene eventually married and many tales of his wife's disdain for Robert arose. Conflicting rumors surfaced, some alleging that Gene's wife died from "insanity" after locking Robert in the attic, while others report that Gene died with Robert by his side. Today, Gene's residence operates as a bed and breakfast called the Artist House, and visitors can even stay in the old turret bedroom.

Robert the Doll now lives at the Fort East Martello Museum (the museum's site is here) in Key West, Florida, where some believe his hair color -- and soul -- are both slowly fading. Visitor beware, though, as Robert's current favorite mischievous act involves casting curses on those who take his photo without first asking permission. To date, the walls near his glass case are covered in numerous letters from previous visitors and naysayers, begging for Robert's forgiveness and asking him to remove any hex he has cast.

From Roberts wiki page (yes, yes i know wiki bad so sue me, but it's an OK source sometimes.):

Neighbors claimed to have seen the doll moving from window to window when the family was out. Sometimes the doll would emit a terrifying giggle, and the Otto family caught glimpses of it running from room to room. Guests claim to have seen Robert’s expression change before their eyes and he often blinked.

When Eugene died in 1974, the doll was left in the attic until the house was bought again. The new family included a ten-year old girl, who became Robert’s new owner. It was not long before the girl began screaming out in the night, claiming that Robert moved about the room and even attempted to attack her on multiple occasions. More than thirty years later, she still tells interviewers that the doll was alive and wanted to kill her.

 3 Caroline

A porcelain doll, haunted by three spirits all of whom might fight for control of Caroline but have all been owners who loved her. 

She was originally bought in Salem, Massachusetts.

Unlike Robert and Annabelle she's never threatened a soul or caused bodily harm to anyone, instead she plays little pranks like moving things around, putting candles in ovens, and hiding items in odd places. She only speaks sometimes, even then its only quiet whispers, once saying "Make it you," to her owner, John, at the time interpreted as Caroline wishing him good luck.

Caroline herself has fallen from public view with no one knowing where she went or who owns her.

Now that you've gotten to the end I'm going to say one thing Annabelle took over an hour to write and that's why there are only three dolls on the list and not five, its also why the dolls stories got shorter as I went on. Now time for the question.

Do you believe humans and dolls can truly be haunted or possessed if so why, and if not why?

Five haunted places and where to find them.

                                        First up on the list, The Stanley Hotel:

Location: Estes Park, Colorado

It is was opened in 1907 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, the inventor of America’s Stanley Steamer automobiles. Supernatural have gone on since its opening and the hotel is widely considered the most haunted hotel in the U.S. Another interesting thing about this hotel is that its what inspired Stephan King to write The Shining, the hotel living it up by playing Kubrick's film rendition of the book on an infinite loop.

One of the most common ghosts is that of a former housekeeper Elisabeth Wilson, who died at the hotel four years after its opening (1911). She is said to stay in room 217 making herself known by helping guests, by unpacking their belongings and then putting them away for them. 

Children running and giggling can be heard on the fourth floor especially around room 418, the most haunted in the hotel, with impressions of bodies being found on the beds when no one is occupying the room. 

Mr and Mrs. Stanley can be seen and heard in some of the public areas. Mr. Stanley is also seen from time to time in the Administrations Office while Mrs. Stanley has been heard playing the grand piano a popular haunt for her when she was alive.

A young child calling out for his nanny, this one was also reported by one Stephan King.

Along with these sightings staff and costumers report hearing disembodied voices, unseen hands yanking at their clothing, and guests waking to find that their blankets have been taken from their beds and neatly folded.

The hotel also has a resident psychic, Madame Vera. (Look here if you would like to take a glance at their site.)

Second, Gettysburg Battlefield:

Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

One of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, with roughly 8,000 Union and Confederate soldiers killed and tens of thousands more injured, it makes perfect sense for it to be a haunted place.

Ghost sightings usually consist of phantoms being seen with some people having conversations with them before they vanish.

Screams, moans, cannon, and gunfire are all sounds heard around this land are occasionally heard and even in a few rare cases recorded.

There is one rather compelling video shot at Triangular Field in 2001, with pale ghost like figures moving amongst the trees.

Sightings also occur in the buildings dating back to  this time period, Farnsworth House Inn and Gettysburg College to name a couple, with all these different experiences still being reported to this day. (Take a gander at the National Military Park site here.)

Third, The White House:

Located: Washington, D.C.

This is probably one you wouldn't expect to see on a list like this but even the big WH isn't impervious to hauntings.

President Harrison is heard moving in the attic looking for god knows what, President Andrew Jackson is believed to haunt his White House bedroom, and First Lady Abigail Adams is occasionally seen floating down a hallway seeming to carry something.

The most common presidential sighting is however Abraham Lincoln. With Eleanor Roosevelt once stating that she believed she felt the presence of Lincoln watching her as she worked in the Lincoln bedroom. Another during the Roosevelt administration was a young clerk claiming to have actually seen the ghost of Lincoln sitting on a bed pulling off his boots. On another occasion, while spending a night at the White House during the Roosevelt presidency, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was awakened by a knock on the bedroom door. when answered, she was confronted with the ghost of President Lincoln staring at her from the hallway. Calvin Coolidge's wife also reported seeing Lincoln, several times, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, at a window in the Oval Office, staring out in deep contemplation toward the bloody battlefields across the Potomac.(Okay, so for this one I can't really give the White House's site but I can give y'all the HISTORY.com article on it so go here if you'd like to know more.)

Fourth, Eastern State Penitentiary:

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Once upon a time ESP was the most expensive and famous prison in the world, known for its lavish architecture and extremely strict discipline, it was the worlds first true "penitentiary," designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of the inmates. While it was originally designed, and built in 1829, to only hold around 250 inmates in solitary confinement at its height of use it housed over 1,700, going 1,450+ over its original intended number.

One of its most famous inmates, Al Capone, was incarcerated there on illegal weapons possession in 1929. During his stay, it is believed that Capone was tormented by the ghost of James Clark, one of the men Capone had murdered in the infamous St. Valentine's Day massacre.

Other reported hauntings include a shadowy figure that quickly scoots away from people as soon as they come near, a figure standing in a guard tower, an evil cackling is heard from cellblock 12, in cellblock 6 another shadowy figure can be seen sliding down a wall, and mysterious faces are reportedly seen in cellblock 4.

While the ESP is open for tours sadly, or thankfully depending on how you feel about these things, aren't open to the public. (You can visit the site here.)

Fifth, Wicklow Gaol
Location: Wicklow, Ireland

Locally known as "The Gates of Hell," the original Wicklow Gaol (Jail) was built in 1702, where the conditions were appalling inmates were treated extremely harshly. During the great Irish potato famine during the 1840s and early '50s, the number of inmates was to 780 with many prisoners to a cell. An addition was completed by 1843. The building was closed as a prison in 1900, then reopened in 1918 during the Irish War for Independence. It closed again in 1924 and was partially demolished in 1954.

Hauntings consist of being touched by unseen hands;some people have had their hair pulled, a staff member was once physically shoved out of the gates, a mist has been reported to settle on the walkway of the second floor, a woman saw a apparition and when shown a picture of Mary Morris, a matron in Wicklow, she said "That's her, only younger," a little girls ghost haunts the schoolroom materializing from time to time, sometimes just to poke visitors thighs or pull on their clothes. (To discover more go here.)

Do you guys believe in the supernatural? And, if so how do you feel about these hauntings? If you don't then how do you feel about these things?

Is the supernatural real?

 As you (hopefully) gathered from the title I will be doing my project on the supernatural and if they are real. Now, before you start thinking of vampires, werewolves, and other things along those lines I'm doing this on hauntings -as in ghosts- and folklore from different cultures. I also may or may not delve into the lore and ghosts of lost peoples and societies.
         I was drawn to this subject, mostly, for two reasons. One I've always been interested in these subjects and second, I myself recently have just been to focused on school to research things that I like so this was the perfect chance.
        Originally I was going to do a study on mute people in the USA but decided that there most likely wouldn't be enough information to do a full project on it. A little while before April 8th I was on YouTube I came across a video called "15 Most Haunted Hotels In The World," which gave me the idea of doing hauntings. I hope someone will stay with me on this learning journey and if you do I want to say thank you now and welcome to my strange little journey into the supernatural.

       (link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTUya2yvfAQ)