Sunday, October 18, 2009

Who ya gonna call?

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats, living together...mass hysteria!"


I just got back from the flick Paranormal Activity. A pretty creepy piece of film making, if I do say so myself. Not the kind of "jump out at you with blood covered all over my body with an axe in my forehead scary" (also known as the Saw XXMLIV method). It was more of a cerebral type of scary, a "less is more" style of filming. The gist of the flick is that a young couple is being haunted (more or less) by a demon or a ghost. The guy goes and buys a high tech video camera, to record what happens during the night. What follows is a test of your nerve, as some freaky stuff goes on, giving a new definition to the phrase "things that go bump in the night". It's a very well done film, and probably one of the scarier ones I've ever seen. It's still not Event Horizon, but it's up there.

The film itself is not why I felt the need to pick up my digital pen, however. It's the subject matter of the film; paranormal activity. I was talking with my buddy Roper on the way back from the movie about whether or not he believed in that type of phenomenon. The answer that I got was pretty much the same as what mine would be:

"eehhhhhh...I dunno. Maybe?"

I think the problem is that if something like that has never happened to you, it's doubly hard to believe in it without seeing evidence. And I'm not talking about the kind of "evidence" provided by those assholes on the show "Ghost Hunters"





I'm talking about firsthand contact, with reliable video and audio evidence. And since most of that is pretty easily faked, actually being present at something like this would be the best (worst) option. If you had the choice, would you be willing to sit in a haunted house and watch shit go down, just to know the answer? Everybody I've asked has pretty much the same response. Goes something like this:


Me: you believe in ghosts? Hauntings, poltergeists, posessions? Shit like that?

Random Street Person: Get the fuck away from me, wierdo! ///hits me with taser


Ok, maybe that was not the best example. Lets try again, this time with someone that I know (and is less likely to send 1,000 volts of electricity through my neck).


Me: you believe in ghosts? Hauntings, poltergeists, posessions? Shit like that?

Person I Know: ehhhh....I guess. I don't know. I'd probably need some proof.

Me: wanna go use a Ouija board?

Person: Fuck no.

So as far as I can tell, most people probably DO believe in this kind of thing, but would rather live in blissful ignorance. I probably would like to know, but would be terrified of the answer. I know for a fact that you wont catch me anywhere near an Ouija board. You can't even get me to say "candyman" three times in a dark bathroom. And what if the answer was yes, there really are such thing as ghosts? It sure would make house buying alot harder. In addition to all the inspections, now you have to hire the midget grandma from "Poltergeist" to give the house her OK before you put an offer down.

In all seriousness, though, I'd like to hear from you guys. Do you believe in this stuff? If so, do you have sack enough to sit down with an Ouija board and put it to the test? What's your opinions? Because when there's something weird, and it don't look good...who you gonna call?