What’s inside the tour of ghostly deaths at the

Texas Capitol

The worst fears of

Austin Ghost Tour

Inside their heads:highschool teens

The Capitol’s

Frights and ScreamsThe ins and outs of the famous

6Top“Based off True Stories”

Deadly Past

A Chilling TaleHuman remains and a long

ignored myth on a Texas family farm

Movies

CAMPFIRE STORIES DONE RIGHT

December 2012

See What You Couldn’t BeforeWithout the high price of traditional night vision goggles!

Available at Amazon.com

The EyeClops Night Vision goggles by JAKKS Pacific

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FEATURES

Rest In Puzzle Pieces7

Touring with the Ghosts12

Badge and Bones18

Bios4

Letter from the editors

6

Top 5 Mythical Creatures

Inside Their Minds

10

20

Top 6 Real

Scary Movies

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Dominant Art Credit goes to Anna Savelyeva

Picture goes with Touring With the Ghosts

OTHERSTORIES

The Very First

The EditingTeamFacesof the

White Noise Fans

Alyssa Cano

Clara Fancher

Anna Savelyeva

Art C

redit Em

ily Heubaum

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Growing up, my mom told me hundreds of scary stories in an effort to scare me asleep or obedi-ent. Most of them I hated, they made me stare from the covers of my bed to the dark space in the closet and have heart attacks anytime I would hear the distant buzz of a city sound. But there was one story that intrigued me to a point beyond fear where I would obediently hop into bed, wailing at my mom to tell me the “next installment” of the story. The story was actually very short, my mom just had a cunning way of making up new details to keep me happy.

The story goes: once upon a time there was a happy family with a mom, dad and their 10 year old son. For a long time they were a perfect family, happy, fun, the envy of the entire neighborhood. One day the husband was fired from his job and escaped into a deep depression. He began drinking and having affairs. His wife found out about one of his affairs and threatened divorce, saying she would take their boy and leave. In a drunken rage, the husband beat his wife to death with a beer bottle. Once he had realized what he did, the husband brought the body to a nearby lake and sunk it to to the bottom with rocks. In a panic he explained to his son that his mom was taking a short vacation and she would be back shortly. Days passed, those days turned into passing weeks and the boy didn’t ask where his mother had not come back.The father grew worried, guilt eating away at him. He prompted the boy, “Aren’t you worried where your mom is?” The boy looked up at his father with question, “What do you mean dad, she’s been right here all along.” The lights shattered and the windows flew open. A single light was still on and the husband could see the faint figure of his late wife still cooking at the oven with a smile on her

face.

Spooky stories are always the best to hear in the dark, with a blinking red light to spark your imagination. I always enjoy watching scary movies or stories late at night, in the supposed comfort of my bed. It’s the most frightening thing at the time, but looking back on it in the morning, it was very fun. My favorite ghost story of all time is a classic, Bloody Mary. The first time I had heard the story, I was on a campout with my girlscout troop, and we were in a cabin. We had already had smores and eaten dinner and we were about to go to bed, when someone mentioned the tale of Bloody Mary.

Anna

The story goes: Mary was a witch of old, who partici-pated in the dark arts, and therefore the king gave the order to mutilate her face, so that all who set sight upon her face would shriek in fear. Even when she herself first looked in the mirror at her own appearance, she was horrified, and never looked at a mirror again. Yet, one night she became curious again, so she looked into the mirror. she was so horrified that she simply reached into the world of mirrors, and she was never seen again in the world of the living. But, you can see her even now, in the mirror world. You can summon her by chanting “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” 13 times in front of an old mirror, lit only by can-dles. It is said that she will come to the mirror and scratch your face, mutilating it in revenge.

Alyssa Myths and urban legends have always been a part of my life. Whether they be told by friends on a walk home from school or by family members sitting in the family room they always intrigued me. However, there was al-ways one myth that intrigued me more than the others. I’ve heard the story many different ways, but I think that’s what makes myths fun and timeless. The story of the Llorona goes: Once there was a girl who everyone agreed was the most beautiful of them, all. Every guy in the town wanted to be with her, but she would refuse anyone who would ask her out. Soon the guys gave up on trying to get her to like them all but one guy. He was the most handsome guy the town had and every girl wanted to be with him. When he finally got the courage to ask her out she immediately said yes. After days together they both agreed that they were in love with each other and should marry. Years passed and they had two children together a boy and a girl, but their relationship wasn’t going so well. He threatened to divorce and leave her and despite her begging, he did. She was very angry when he left and she blamed his leaving on their children. So one night she woke up her children from their slumber and guided them down to the river. There she drowned her children and let the current take them away. When they were gone she realized what she had done and ran down the river looking for them. She wasn’t pay-ing any attention to where she was going, so she tripped on a branch and fatally hit her head on a rock. When she went into heaven, God asked her where her children were, but she didn’t know, so she was not let in. God told her that she would never be let in until she found her children, however he didn’t tell her that he already had them with him. She was doomed to an eternity of searching for her lost children that she will never find, but she will never stop searching until she finds them. Some say that you can hear her at night crying and looking for her lost children. Whether this be true or just a myth this story always intrigues me.

Clara

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It’s campfire time; sit-ting by the roaring flame underneath a sea of endless stars with sharp wisps of

chilling winds brushing your skin ever incidentally. Perfect time for a scare.

Now you don’t want your story to be the usual, the same old same old Jekyll and Hyde, Werewolf, Dracula, hum drum of the super-natural. Everyone wants their story to be the one. That unique tale that sends countless chills and steals any ounce of sleep away that very night. When it comes to urban legends, its the unknown that gives advantage to storytellers.

It’s the stories in the background of the commercialized movies and books that remain the treat of the campfire. When it comes to the rules, there are none. When it comes to scary stories, anything goes.

As the creators of White Noise we know what it is like to hear those extremely lame stories everyone has heard at least 10 times. We also can recognize those stories that make us go “Okay, don’t think I’M getting any sleep tonight.”

W e recognize the needs of both super-natural lovers and just the average teen

with a highly developed imagination and love for a fright. Our magazine offers a wide variety of amazing local stories, so that we can achieve our goal: For every teen in America to have a story to tell at the campfire, and a good story, at that.

So when you’re sitting out with your friends huddled close against the cold, listening to the crackle of the campfire flames and slow unrav-eling of the story, if you feel your body slowly being infested with goosebumps, you know that story is from White Noise.

A Letter From the Editors

Cheers and Happy Haunting, The White Noise Editing Team

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Photo by Clara Fancher

S tructurally unique, the or-nate domed ceiling of the Texas Capitol towers over a lone star mosaic featur-ing the five historic flags of

Texas. Made in an Italian Renais-sance style, the building provides a venue to the government of Texas along with many incidents of tragic and even unresolved deaths. For years there have been stories in and around the Austin and Texas area detailing many different urban leg-ends the Capitol of Texas being one of them.

The Texas Capitol “Rest in Peace” tour has been operational for several years now -- from the be-ginning of October to the day before Halloween. Many people who come from around the world to visit Aus-tin this time of the year enjoy tak-ing the tour get a chance to see how these urban legends affect Austin culture.

“I had a mixed group of children and adults, they seemed to be very happy about their tour,” Nancy the tour guide said.

The tour is guided and is 45 minutes long, exploring from the entrance of the building to the ex-

tension halls in the Capitol that lead out to other government buildings outside the Capitol.The tour also men-tions buildings surrounding the Capitol that are presumed to be haunted. As in most ghost story urban legends, noth-ing is ever proven or certain; this tour leaves the audience both with answers and more questions left unresolved.

“I’m going to leave that up to you. I’m going to present the information that I have to you, and let you make those decisions,” Nancy said.

From tip to tip, the Capitol is con-sumed by stories. Walking into the cavernous atmosphere of the entrance hall, the group comes across the sur-face where in the early 1900s, a man who had worked at the Capitol was found dead. Upon examination, he had with him an ID that identified him as Frank E.Lewis. But after his son saw him in the obituary, he identified him by the name of A.A. Christie. The son explained that his father had lived in Iowa and had recently gone missing. Nancy, the tour guide leading the tour, brings up questions leaving food for thought.

“So was this man posing as some-body else? Did someone steal his clothes and identification? It’s unknown,”

Nancy said. After the first taste of mystery in the

very entrance of the Capitol, the group moves on to the second stop of the tour, the Rotunda. Standing underneath the hypno-tising dome with spiraling floors bringing fo-cus to the star at the top, it’s nearly 218 feet to the beckoning star at the top. Beneath its cavern is the site of a tragic accident.

“Many people ask; ‘Has anyone ever fallen from the top?’ And of course when they see the crack in the seal of the state of Texas, it looks like maybe that is what hap-pened. Actually the crack is from the set-tling of the ground underneath the Capitol. But someone did fall,” Nancy said.

On December 13, 1927 Frank Wheeler, a twenty six-year-old painter fell 39 feet from the fourth floor. He had been painting on the inside of the dome when his scaffolding broke. The floor of the Capitol used to be a glass mosaic tile, and when Wheeler fell, he crashed through the floor and landed in the basement. He died, leaving behind a wife and three children, 12 days before Christ-mas.

After a tale of a regrettable death, the tour moves to the opposite spectrum for the the only recorded murder at the building. A finely chiseled and wooden frame holds a dark history. In the early 1900’s, Robert Love was the state comptroller at the time.

Rest in Puzzle Pieces

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What Lies Inside the Capitol

By Anna Savelyeva

Although this was a light-hearted false alarm, the initial reactions that spread were horror and fear. “As you can imagine there were many laughs but what’s important was what would happen if there had been something more sinister,” Nancy said. As the tour moves down to the Rep-resentative chambers, a chilling story of coincidence and connection is told. In the early 1900s, representative Rountree had gone up to the speaker’s podium to give a very long and “graceful” speech about ex-Civil War veterans. As he returned to his desk and sat down, he promptly died. Cause of death was determined as a burst blood vessel. His wife was ap-pointed to complete the remainder of his term. Thirty-three years later after giving a speech at the podium, Roun-tree’s wife also promptly died af-ter sitting down at her desk; from the same cause. The tour guide, Nancy, flavors this eerie story with a tone of humor. “So coinci-dence? Anyone who’s been mar-ried will go ‘I don’t believe in coinci-dences,’” Nancy said. Close by the Capitol, lies the Capitol of Texas Visitor Center that used to be the old General Land Office. A young man named O’Henry used to work there. He is most known for his work as a writer. met their unfortunate end within

it’s structure. When he worked at the then General Land Office, he wrote a story about a body being buried under the spiral staircase. The story indi-cates that when people walk by, or on the staircase, a cold wind would blow over it. The group members turn to one another with “Ooo’s” and “Ahh’s” as the story reaches its chilling end. From the stairs to the surrounding streets, the “Rest in Peace” tour takes a deeper look at the ins and outs of mysterious activity at the Capitol. The granite walls hold the whispers of the stories that have traveled for centu-ries and the people who have met their unfortunate end within it’s struc-ture.

He was in his office one morning. He was talking to another man named William Hill. A third man man came in wanting to talk with Love. Love has said, “Please wait when I’m finished with this person, then I’ll talk to you.” The third man left, and Love and Wil-liam Hill were left alone. William Hill handed a letter to Love. As Love turned away to read the letter, Hill pulled out a gun and shot Love twice in the chest at point blank range. Hill ran down the corridor through the Rotunda where he was caught in a struggle with an accountant. Hill tried to kill himself by taking some medication that he had with him. He was unsuccessful, but was shot by the clerk in the struggle. Shortly after, Robert Love died on his sofa in his office. Nancy the tour guide made it a very prominent point to indicate that this was the only murder technically re-corded and confirmed.

“There are many other stories circu-lating around the capitol of other more grotesque and inexplicable murders but the story of Robert Love is the only one we can confirm,” Nancy said.

A few stops later, the group ar-rives on the second floor of the Capitol and a seemingly grotesque story is told. In the 1800s there was incident where newspaper reports said that the people of Austin heard terrible noises, howl-ing and wailing, coming from inside the Capitol. One day, health officer Doctor Collins decided to come over and inves-tigate. As he approached the Capitol, he too heard these reported terrible noises. As he went down to the basement, he could still hear them, but they were not originating from the basement. Up three floors he goes to his office, opens the door and finds --a dog. In the back of the tour group, a small child lets out a whimper of relief at this turn of events. The dog was kept there and checked out for pri-vate governmental work. It had grown very lonely and apparently quite loud.

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The famous dome of the capitol building

where Frank. E Wheeler fell 39 feet to his death

from the 4th floor.

Phot

o by

Ann

a Sa

vely

eva

Phot

o by

Ann

a Sa

vely

eva The

Representa-tive Cham-bers where

Roundtree and his wife both

expired.

Top 5 Mythical Creatures

LEVIATHAN

The Leviathan was a biblical sea mon-

ster that was said to be created on the

fifth day of creation. The Leviathan is

also sometimes interpreted as the sea it-

self. Originally God created both a male

and female Leviathan but the female

was killed in order for there to be not

reproduction of the creature. The levia-

than was created so that in later years

it could be killed and given as a feast

for the righteous citizens. Both the Le-

viathans eyes and body possesses great

illuminating power, perhaps that’s what

landed him in our top spot in the count-

down.

DESCRIPTIONGiant sea monster that is said to look like a crocodile.FUN FACTThe female Leviathan was served to the righteous.

DESCRIPTIONA giant monstrous creature with the body is a serpent and many heads. (9 heads being the most common)FUN FACTThe Hydra’s blood is very poi-sonous.

The Hydra offspring of Echidna and Ty-phon was said to live in swamps near an-cient cities. The hydra’s heads if ever sev-ered would be replaced by a new head and one of the hydra’s heads could never be harmed by weapons. The stench of a hydras breath was told to be able to kill a man, the hydra when emerged from

the waters would attack and devour cattle and villagers with its many heads. The hydra is more commonly known for his battle with Hercules. From this, its no wonder the Hydra is second on our countdown of mythical creatures

HYDRA

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There are so many mythical creatures in the world and all of them are awesome. But have you ever wondered

which ones are considered top. Well White Noise would like to take the time to countdown the top 5 mythical

creatures. This list was made from the point of view of LASA students, and the results may surprise you. With

that being said enjoy the countdown.

The Griffin was thought of as the king

of all creatures. They are known for

guarding treasure and precious posses-

sions. It is believed that the Griffin’s claw

had medicinal properties. And that’s

why the Griffin has made it on our list as

number three.

Here’s our fourth pick in this count-

down. Zombies are typically known

for their desire to eat human flesh but

there are also zombies believed to be

risen from the dead by voodoo to per-

form labor or for evil deeds. With that

being said, if you see a zombie run!

Now we turn to our final creature on

this countdown. The siren is a danger-

ous creature who seduced men with her

beauty and voice. When the men were

lured she would eat him. Its believed that

there are only five sirens. That’s what

landed the Siren on the countdown.

Sources: LASA Students

DESCRIPTIONThis legendary creature has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.FUN FACTWhen the Griffin finds a mate they stay together and if one of the two die, the other will continue its life alone.

DESCRIPTIONZombies are basically people who are come back from the dead.FUN FACTAs long as a zombie has its brain it can survive.

DESCRIPTIONSirens are beautiful woman with mermaid like qualities. They are also known for hav-ing some bird like qualities.FUN FACTSirens play a variety of instru-ments but, the harp is most common.

PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE

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I write sins not tragedies :)

HONORABLE MENTION

GRIFFON ZOMBIE SIREN

Here we would like to mention some of the awesome mythical creatures that unfortunately didn’t make it on our list,

like the Loch Ness Monster, dragons, vampires, werewolves, angels and demons. Though they didn’t make the list, they

will always intrigue people. Thank you to those creatures who did and didn’t make the list for being creepy, fun, and just

plain awesome.

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Touring with the Ghosts

What will be discovered on this journey through Austin?

Alyssa Kay Cano

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The house on 253 Red River Street

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Standing at the corner

of Moonshine Patio Bar

and Grill, tourists eagerly

wait for the tour guide

to take them to some of

Austin’s most haunted buildings. A scare

is what would usually be expected from

something involving hauntings, however

that’s not the case with the Austin Ghost

Tours.

“The purpose of this tour is to edu-

cate people to finally know that there

is no such thing as ghosts the way you

would first think, that in fact they are

kind happy ghosts,” tour guide Monica

Ballard said.

Austin Ghost Tours are not like your

usual dark and scary ghost tours. The

tour is taken on the well lit Austin streets

with lots of other people, so its rare that

someone will get scared on one of the

tours. Austin ghost tour could be fun for

the whole family. “All of our ghost tours

are thoroughly researched and are all

history based,” said Ballard

The tourists start the tour at Moon-

shines where they meet their tour guide.

There are five tour guides that could

possibly guide the tourists through the

tour, however that depends on the

date and time decided by the tourists.

The night of Oct. 20, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

the tourists toured with the guidance of

Monica Ballard. Ballard was dressed for

the occasion in a Victorian dress and hat.

She says she has really enjoyed the nine

years she has been working as an Austin

Ghost Tours tour guide.

The first stop is at 253 Red River

Street. This house was once attached to

Saint Davids Church, but in 2003 they

had it moved because it was considered

a historical site. The house is boarded up

and fenced for no one to go in, but not

for long. Ballard was excited to say that

the house was planned to be restored,

and they could probably start hav-

ing tours inside the house. The tourists

are given information about the many

ghosts that haunt the house. Here the

tourist are shown two photos. The first

photo of many orbs surrounding the

house and the second photo taken right

after showing no orbs at all. Ballard be-

lieves this is proof of the haunting of the

house.

The second stop of the tour was

Waller Creek while here Ballard talked

about the Germans who came to Austin

in 1840 and how unprepared they were

upon arriving. Waller creek is believed to

be one of the most active sights out of the

places shown in the tour, not to mention

it’s where Ballard says the most blue orbs

are captured on camera. It was here on

the corner of 2nd street at what is now

known as Iron Works, a woman helped

a runaway slave by giving him her bon-

net, but he was caught on 6th street and

hung. She hoped no one would recog-

nize it was her bonnet or the same fate

would come of her. At Iron Works, a light

bulb fell and shattered at the exact mo-

ment a tourist was taking a photo on

the patio this incident was believed to be

an indication of the paranormal by the

tourists and tour guide that witnessed

the incident.

In between the storytelling and his-

tory of haunted places, Ballard talked

about ghosts in general and their indica-

tions. For one, she told about how ghosts

were attracted to familiar and older

places. “ When someone tells me, I’m go-

ing to look for ghosts in a graveyard, I

say good luck,” Ballard said. Ballard also

informed the tourists about three indica-

tors of a ghost. The first indicator is the

movement of objects, the easiest things

for a ghost to manipulate are plumbing

and electricity. The second indicator is

phantom smell, this indicator comes with

three main scents floral, tobacco and

decay. The third and final indicator is

dimensional shift or that feeling you get

when you know something unusual is in

your space. “ I get a tingly sensation,”

Ballard said.

The tour’s third destination was,

believe it or not, the convention center

where it is reported that at 3 a.m. doors

are slammed and cans are thrown. This is

unusual because according to Ballard, “The ghosts here in Austin are gener-ally good time, happy time, party time ghosts.” The convention center was home to five thousand refugees when Hurricane Katrina hit. Some of the

“The purpose of this tour is to educate people to finally know that there is no such thing as ghosts the way you would first think, that in fact they are kind happy ghosts,” tour guide Monica Bal-lard said.

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Photo of Monica Ballard showing photos from a previous tour

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refugees had illnesses and ran out of their medicine in just seven days. Once it was gone there was no way to

get anymore and eventually died. Bal-

lard told of those who survived, telling

about their time there and how they

could not turn out the lights because of

all the screaming from the refugees. “I

have no doubt that those who passed,

passed in anguish,” Ballard said.

The fourth stop made in the tour

was a well lit place across the street from

the haunted place known as Speakeasy.

Before the building was Speakeasy, the

building burned down on July 26, 1916

its destruction killed two women and

Lt. Jimmy Class. Class lived paralyzed

for eight months before passing away

from his spinal chord being crushed by a

structure falling on him from the fire. He

was the first firefighter to die on the job

in Austin, so in honor of Class, no other

firefighter will be assigned his badge

number 13 ,and fire truck 13 is dedicat-

ed to him. According to the workers of

Speakeasy, Class haunts the closet un-

der the stairs. This closet is known as the

“Scary Closet,” workers suggest maybe

the reason it is so scary is the fact that

only red light bulbs work in the closet.

Ballard says that maybe it’s because it

reminds Class of the fire department he

once worked at.

Next we stopped at the Heierman

Building it was here that cremation be-

came legal in Austin. Ballard tells the

story of Austin’s legalized cremation

hear. Before cremation became legal-

ized a woman’s husband passed on his

business trip however, the woman lived

in London so she requested the body be

cremated then sent to her. There was no

cremation ovens at the time so the cre-

mation was to be done in secrecy in the

Heierman buildings oven, but the cops

found out in the middle of the process.

And when the cops got involved the

community got involved, so to avoid

any issues with the people and their gos-

sip the police told them cremation was

civilized and allowed the process to be

continued. From them on cremation was

legalized. Ballard says it is also here that

a strange wind passes through the mid-

dle aisle of the building.

The last stop was at the restaurant

Carmelo’s, which was once a boarding

house run by a woman named Anne.

Ballard told of the manager of Carme-

lo’s saying that on a hot muggy night he

felt a sudden chill and someone pass by him. He also saw a woman be-lieved to be Anne walking through the

dining room. Another incident Ballard

told about was that one night a guy who

worked for Carmelo’s valet parking was

waiting for the last customer to come for

their car, but they were taking a while so

he decided that he would sit on the steps

of stair in the restaurant he was doz-

ing off and was awaken by the feeling

of someone going straight through him,

at that moment he got up and wrote a

“This tour told me a lot about ghost that I didn’t know before and I will think of ghost differ-ently from this experi-ence. I believe this was money well spent and I would say if you are looking into doing a ghost tour this would be a nice choice,” tourist Josephine Villalba said.

Photo of Carmelo’s restaurant

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note that said “I quit,” and left.

During the tour, the tour guide

showed the tourist some of the photos

that were taken on one previous tours.

On the tour that took place Oct. 20,

2012 and started at 7:30 p.m. a tourist

got a photo of a blue light at Carme-

lo’s. The guides believe that bringing

a camera is a good idea if you would

like to capture something interesting

from the other side. After the tour you

are shown what is believed to be evi-

dence of the paranormal from some of

the investigations they have done. “

This tour taught me a lot about ghosts

that I didn’t know before I will think of

ghosts differently from this experience. I

believe this was money well spent and I

would say if you are looking into doing

a ghost tour this would be nice choice,”

tourist Josephine Villalba said. The

tourist say they would recommend this

tour to people who are interested and

would like to learn about the paranor-

mal.

The tourist concluded that this is

tour is not about being scared. It’s about

learning something new about ghost

that you didn’t know before,and its

about learning history about Austin that

you would not have expected, but most-

ly its about enjoying an experience that

you have never had before. “We like the

ghosts they are our friends,” member of

the ghost team said.

This is a photo taken on the tour of waller creek that shown up red

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Top Scary Realities Made into

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Scarier Movies

Everyone has experienced their fair share of scary movies, whether they end up a corny joke or an exciting fictional suspense. Either way, you sit in a crowded movie theater or in the comfort of your couch knowing what you see is fiction. But what about those scary movies that say “based off a true story?” The ones with even a small kernel of truth to them? Where is that line of comfort now,

where is the line that completely separates you from the horrors on your screen? It’s become a bit blurred. And once that line becomes blurred, what happens to your mind at night after the lights go silent? Many old scary movies are based on some truth but there are few that are said to redefine scary for this century.

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Connecticut 1986, the Parker family moves to Connecti-cut to be closer to better treatment for their son who has cancer. The family realized they had moved to the previ-ous site of a mortuary. They soon began to report bloody floors, voices, and shadowy figures. An exorcism had to be performed. This is the background story to what happens to the Campbell family in the “Haunting of Connecticut” feature film. Prairie Miller from NewsBlaze said, “Factor in eyelid fetishism, occult barfing at seances on rewind, undead wilding, attempted murder by shower curtain, ca-daver liberation, and some nifty house-orcism, and you’ve got a collection of fairly reliable elements for an unnerv-ing horror thriller.”

The story is based off a series of reports made by residents of West Virginia who had seen an unidentified and very large moth-like creature for 13 months between 1966 and 1967. These reports stopped af-ter the Bridge connecting Pleasant Point to Ohio over the Ohio River collapsed killing 46 people. Chicago Reader critic said, “This is the scariest movie I have ever seen.” The story’s premise and background might seem stray from the classic types of urban legends but that doesn’t stop it from sending chills down one’s spine. “Even with your eyebrows raised and your tongue planted firmly in cheek, the whole thing gets under your skin in ways that creep you out,” Rex Reed from the New York Observer said.

The Mothman Prophecies

The Haunting in Connecticut

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3

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Based off the story of Anneliese Mi-chel who was said to be possessed by six or more demons and later exor-cised. “The Last Exorcism” is another documentary style film detailing the attempted exorcism of Nell Sweet-zer, a raised farm girl. The movie’s combined effects of camera work similar to the Blair Witch Project and its own true story are acclaimed for their suspenseful success. Sean O’Connel from the Washington Post said, “Stamm [the director] creates an anxious psychological horror that’s vaguely familiar yet refresh-ingly original.”

Based off the Bell Witch haunting in Tennessee the “Blair Witch Project” is a horrific modern tale of ignorance and gruesomely resulting adversity. Made in a home-made documentary style, the film begins with a note that the video shown was found a year after the group who had made the movie disappeared with-out a trace. The film details three college students who are have taken on a project to document the legend of the Blair Witch in Burkittsville, Maryland. Rolling Stone gave the film very high-praise. “a groundbreaker in fright that reinvents scary for the new millenium,” Peter Travers, “Rolling Stone” critic said. Although the actors in the film are thankfully still alive today, there is that small detail that similar events were rumored to take place in real life.

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Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror is based off the case of convicted mur-derer Ed Gein in 1984. Ed Gein had two known victims he had killed, he had also exhumed several bodies and had done many things similar to the portrayed Norman Bates in Psycho. Dave Kehr from the Chica-go Reader said, “it is the most morally unsettling film ever made.” The film is widely known today and it still has the same haunting impact on viewers. “All those who still get a chill every time they step into a hotel shower, say aye. That, you see, is the power of ‘Psycho’,” Mary-Elizabeth William from Time magazine said.

The Last Exorcism

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

The Blair Witch Project

Psycho

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Story inspired by Henry Lee Lucas who had an accomplice and a roman-tic interest in Ottis’ younger relative. Although he was only convicted of 11 murders, he confessed to being involved in 600 along with his part-ner Ottis Toole. The feature film is a retelling of his story made much more psychologically suspenseful by filming techniques. Caryn James, New York Times Critic said, “Mr. McNaughton’s [Director’s] observations are so chill-ing and precise that they gain some artistic stature even when they cross the line that makes the audience voy-eurs and accomplices.”

Badge and Bones

There are many tales of the indians of early Amer-

ica killing, sacrificing, and sometimes even eating,

their victims, such as yet this family has an interest-

ing story of their farm in Texas, indians roaming in

the woods, and a skull in their backyard.

The brothers were on a hunting trip in the woods surrounding

their house. There had always been findings in the forest, like an

old bow or arrow lying on the ground. “It was at night, they had

their dog, so they thought they were fine,” said Ally Reznicek, the

great great granddaughter of one of the two sisters and three

brothers in the family. After a while, the brothers began to hear

noises; whispers and footsteps. “They’d hear these crackling twigs

and then they’d just stop like they knew that they were being

listened to.”

They went home immediately after that, without any game

caught. The parents had not believed the brothers when they

said they had heard indians, and thought it was just some wild

animals.

The brothers go back out into the forest to hunt the next

night. In the darkness they saw “this weird glow, way off in the

distance, and they heard this weird sort of murmuring, and

they didn’t understand what that was.” They once again rushed

home, telling their parents about the strange light. The parents

don’t believe it, saying that the forest is their land, and no indians

live there.

By Clara Fancher

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D e -spite their

parents’ reassur-

ances, the brothers called the

sheriff, who brought along the deputy

and a few others to begin a three day

search.“First night, they didn’t find anything.

Second night, one of the men didn’t come

back, or his horse. So they sent out a sepa-

rate search party for him, the next night,

and couldn’t find him. They decided to

continue the search, because this was re-

ally suspicious, a man and a horse don’t

just disappear,” said Reznicek

The sheriff continued the search, last-

ing for several days afterwards. One

night, the men heard a few screams,

then everything was quiet. No one

moved, afraid of what caused the

screams.“So then they said they saw a

glow in the distance too,

and they turned it, and only

half of their men came back.”

After this incident, the sheriff told the

family that there were indeed indians

living on their land. He warned them to

never venture into the forest or search

for the missing men and deputy, because

they were likely already dead and they

might be captured too.

Several years after, Ally Reznicek’s

great grandfather, young and reckless,

decided to dig up one of the mysteri-

ous mounds of dirt around the farm. The

family never plowed these mounds down,

because it was said that they were grave

sites, and if you dug one up, you would be

cursed. He didn’t believe such tales.

“He was digging, and he didn’t find

anything, until he found what looked

like a really old cloth, it was kind of tan,

and he kept digging and digging, and he

found what he thought were rocks, long

rocks, then he found a deputy’s badge,”

said Reznicek.

He called the po-

lice department, which

promptly came out to the

farm and dug up the entire

mound. They resurfaced what

appeared to be the skeletal

remains of the deputy that had

been lost in the woods so long

ago. The only thing missing was the

head.Ally’s family still owns the old one

room farm house and woods, albeit

the woods are a mere few trees now.

However, Reznicek’s cousin was recently

digging holes for fence posts around the

property, and as she was digging, she found a hu-

man skull. The police did not investigate,

suggesting that it was just an old burial

site. The family thinks otherwise, believ-

ing it may be the long lost head of the

deputy.“Before, I didn’t really believe the sto-

ry,” says Reznicek, “but then my cousin

found a human skull.”

“He kept digging and digging, and he found what he thought were rocks, long rocks, then he found a deputy’s badge.”

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“I hate porcelain dolls because they stare into your soul!” -Anna

“Weeping angels from Dr. Who. They are the scariest little things I have ever seen.” -Sam

“Mrs. Zappa finding my ad-dress” -Caleb

“... but it’s dark outside and frankly I’m probably more scared of some crazy axe murderer crashing through my window right now.” -Grace

“Gas masks scare me.” -Mia

“Out of everything in the world I’m scared to death of cockroaches. They’re just unsanitary and can give you dis-eases. That’s some scary stuff, when’s the last time ghosts gave you typhoid?” -Jacoby

“Dying a painful death such as drowning or being buried alive and getting stranded somewhere like the desert or the forest.” -Campbell

“Direct eye con-tact, because it feels like they’re reading your mind.” -Summer

“The future terrifies me. Sometimes I wish I could have the security of knowing what I have the ability to do, but then all of the uncertainty, the surprise, the pleasure of the unex-pected would be removed, and what’s the point of living if you don’t get to experience the world as it happens?” -Lia

“Sometimes I get re-ally scared of some-thing for like a week but then it goes away.” -Emelia

“Flesh eating bacteria.” -Neils

“I’m afraid that if I am in complete darkness by myself, I will surely die.” -Sesha

“A bunch of bugs, like cockroaches, crawling up my legs.” -Addie

“Failure because I don’t want to dissapoint anyone, even myself.” -An-nika

“That I’ll die not hav-ing fulfilled my dreams and not having been what I had the poten-tial to be.” -Anna

INSIDE their

“Chickening out of things that I would love to do because I’m too shy or scared.” -Hannah

MINDS

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Everyone has their fears, fears of the dark, of drowning in the ocean, of falling from high places, of bugs. How-ever, everyone has their own unique fear, but some are more unique than

others, being from real life experiences and hav-ing interesting stories behind them. Here are some of those unique fears from INSIDE THE MINDS of 36 different interviewees.

“I dont like the idea of falling, and I don’t like small clus-ters of holes. Spirals freak me out because of a manga called Uzumaki. Also eyes that are completely black, and any dis-torted figures.” -Eme-

“Driving on I-35. I’m just like NO. NO. NO.” -Odalis

“I freak out anytime I see a bug in my bedroom because I think it will crawl into my ears later” -Anna

“Drowning in the ocean, because you feel the life drain out of you and the idea of when you’re dead the bottom feeders would eat your body.” -AJ

“Chainsaws being too close to me and turned on.” -Denise

“I often have nightmares about darkness. Night-mares where I can’t open

my eyes all the way, where I can’t run, can’t hide correctly.” -Rachael

“Well, to be truly honest, I am really afraid of accidentally hurting someone I’m close to. Since I’m not very good with words, a lot of things I say don’t come out the way I want them to and some-things I say I wish I could’ve bit back before blurting them out. I don’t want to say something that can’t be taken back.” -Mia

“I think I’m just a bit scarred by 9/11. I know that’s bad, because that’s giving into what the terrorists want us to feel, but honestly, yes, I’m kinda scared of airplanes.” -Meredith

“Phonephibia: the fear of talking on the phone.” -Summer

“Clowns for sure.” -Carter

“I’m scared of cherries because when I was little my best friend choked on a cherry and sadly did not make it.” -Sam

POPULAR FEARS:*1 in every 3 people are afraid of someone close to them getting hurt

1 in every 6 people mentioned a fear of bugs; half of those were cockroaches

1 in every 6 people are afraid of some sort of height

1 in every 9 people are afraid of the dark

*Statistics are of the 36 people interviewed

21

Art

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ra F

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