Five True Stories Behind Classic Horror Films...
A quick update before I start, I have been keeping extremely busy and feel that I have gotten out of my funk. Which is surprising to me. I have been really excited for the future and have kept up with all my goals. So, if ever in a funk my advice to you is to ask yourself what it is exactly that you want to do and no matter how impossible it seems just start chipping away at it. It truly makes you feel fulfilled. Now after laying my heart on the table in my last post it seems strange to just jump into my old style of writing. But, I will do it anyway despite my instinct to have some structure and flow to this blog. So without further ado; I was trying to figure out a nice Halloween themed blog to write, trying to stray from the cliche topics. Like those that are just "Top Five Horror Films YOU HAVE TO WATCH." Instead I decided to only be half cliche and seemingly have the same list, but the twist is talking about the true story behind the classic films. Ah, creativity. These stories actually send chills down my spine though, why I so easily tend to believe unbelievable stories without question is a flaw that I don't plan on working on. Like, one thing that gets on my nerves is when you're watching a horror film and the main character that is, oh, I don't know, being attacked by a goblin, runs to their husband or parents and tries to explain that a goblin is going to eat them, their husband, or whoever they tell, NEVER believes them, but instead says something like "honey, are you feeling okay?" I mean it really P's me off. They only believe them when they themselves are being devoured by said goblin. Like, if my husband came up to me and said a vampire was chasing him my first instinct would be okay he is obviously telling the truth let's go fill up squirt guns with holy water and take these suckers (no pun intended) out. So basically the point I'm trying to get at is, when I hear backstory's of a horror film and it sounds unbelievable I tend to keep an open mind instead of trying to find a logical explanation right off. You should too... Let began this list in no particular order...
#5: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose, 2005.
Anna Elisabeth "Anneliese" Michel was a young woman who had famously undergone at least 67 exorcisms in an attempt to rid her of a demon. When looking at her backstory it gets a bit complicated, as Anna had a history of seizures and was diagnosed by doctors of having psychosis. She also had a history of depression and was sent to a psychiatric ward because of it. But still she and her parents felt like the medication wasn't helping and the doctors were misdiagnosing her. She was afraid and fustrated, not knowing what was happening. When she got around age 20 she felt that she had become vulnerable to religious items. She went to a Catholic Church to seek help, their she told them that "she was unable to enter the shrine... the soil burned like fire and she simply could not stand it" She also explained that she had to look away from pictures of saints because they "sparkled so immensely that she could not stand it." Once the church saw her state they agreed to help the family, allowing to send Josef Stangl, a priest of the church, to preform exorcisms on her. As the exorcisms began her parents took her off her medication upon Anne's own request. She would get up to two exorcism rituals a week, around four hours long each time. She soon stoped eating and became covered in bruises and scratches. After a year of this she eventually died of malnutrition and dehydration. When the autopsy was done they found that she was 66 pounds and had broken knees caused from excessive kneeling during the rituals done by Josef Stangl. Both the priest and parents were charged with murder, both claim that it was not under their control. It is well documented with many pictures of her in a terrible state online if you just Google her name... So what do you think, was she a sick girl or was something unexplainable happening to her?
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#4: Fire in the Sky (1993)
Fire in the Sky, 1993.
My number one fear of all time, aliens. They scare me the most because in my opinion they are most likely existing. I mean there's an actual math formula done using Bayesian inference that found that there was a 75% chance life, other than our own, existed in the universe and a 60% chance that that life was intelligent enough to make it to earth. The technical answer to the formula is 3:2, I don't know what that means but take that information and do with it what you will. I just won't sleep at night. This movie is based on one of the most famous alien abductions of all time, the abduction of Travis Walton. What makes this case so interesting is that there were witnesses... kind of. Travis claims he was out in the Arizona forest working with six of his co-workers when they all witnessed a saucer fly up making a high pitched noise. His six co-workers got scared and quickly drove away but Travis got closer. Next thing he knew he woke up in a hospital like room where he fought three short bald creatures that seemed to be examining him. All I can imagine is Travis fighting three angry Paul Shaffers. Next thing he knew a couple of men that looked like humans escorted him to another room where they covered him in a clear plastic. After that the only thing he remembers is walking down a highway and looking up to see the saucer flying away. He found out he had been missing for five days and presumed dead by the police. Years later a prize of 5,000 dollars was offered to anyone with a remarkable alien abduction story to which he entered and told his story. All co-workers involved and Travis were questioned separately and took polygraph test to which they all passed, except one that was considered inconclusive. His disappearance was documented by police and the polygraph test were all passes minus one... Do you think they were all in cahoots? Or could there be something out there?
P.S I am actually so freaked out right now because as I was writing this an alien abduction cartoon started playing on the T.V. I SWEAR.
#3: The Haunting of Connecticut (2009)
The Haunting of Connecticut, 2009.
The year was 1986 when the Snedeker family decided to rent a house close to a Connecticut hospital due to the fact that their son had fallen ill and needed constant care. The family was big, including a cousin, three children and of course Mrs. and Mr. Snedeker themselves. The rent was low and fit the entire family which was perfect since the family was facing financial hardship. Once they began unpacking they quickly found strange mortician tools in the basement, including things like embalming tables. This had them quickly finding out that the home was perviously used as a funeral home. The mortician basement was separated into a couple of rooms and was the only room big enough for the two boys. The supernatural soon began with the family hearing voices, sounds of a hundred birds, and the disappearance of some of their items. The son, who was ill at the time, had a big shift in his personality, he became withdrawn and filled with anger, writing poetry involving necrophilia. He even attacked and tried to rape his cousin, his family had him arrested, after which he was found to have schizophrenia and was removed from the house for treatment. His attitude changed and he got significantly better... until he returned to the house. Strange things continued to happen, including mop water turning red like blood, the smell of death around the house, and multiple members of the house claiming they were raped by demons in their sleep. I mean minions of evil raping you and you still don't break your lease? Must of been a phenomenally low rent with great views and a guest bath! The family asked famous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to find out all they could about the home. They moved into the home and claimed to have witness demonic activity for themselves. They investigated more into the past of the home and found that a mortician that had previously worked there had been charged with necrophilia. They called to have an exorcism done on the home, after which the Warrens claimed the home was safe... It was still full of demonic activity according the the Snedeker family. However, they still stayed for two more years. Many lived in the house after and reported nothing that the Snedeker's claimed happened in the house... So, was it a house full of liars? Or did spirits take a liking to the Snedeker's?
#2: Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984.
I had no idea there was a bit of truth behind this movie. This one is hard to write about, mostly because it involves a child, also because there is almost no information besides one interview with the creator, Wes Craven. Wes claims that he was reading an article in the paper a decade before writing the movie Nightmare on Elm street. The article covered an unexplainable story involving a young boy that was tormented with vivid nightmares. According to Wes the boy's family had previously escaped from the Killing Fields of Cambodia which resulted in the young boy having PTSD. The boy had begun to tell his parents that if he were to go to sleep the thing that was chasing him in his nightmares might catch him and kill him. The nightmares became so vivid and real to him that he refused to sleep for days at a time. Eventually, the boy did pass away in his sleep, mysteriously and with no explanation. That is all I can find on the topic. Dealing with something like that and no one believing him, all while sleep deprived. Just an awful story. Was it the result of PTSD? Or was the boy telling the truth? Did Wes Carven make up the whole thing?
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#1: Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle, 2014.
By now everyone has heard the story of Annabelle the doll, right? The same paranormal investigators involved in the haunting of Connecticut, Ed and Lorraine Warren, famously investigated this case as well. Apparently the doll, which is a Raggedy Ann doll in real life, was first given to a nursing student, Donna, by her mother as a gift in the 70's. Donna found that the doll behaved strangely. She claimed she would come home to find the doll in different positions, first confined to the bed where she would keep the doll, then moving farther and farther from her placement. Donna even found the doll kneeling on a chair, when she tried to put the doll in the same position the doll would fall over. She also claims that Annabelle would leave her messages on parchment paper, which was strange because Donna did not have parchment paper in the house, the messages would say things like "help us." One day she came home to find a few drops of blood on the doll, persuading Donna to contact a psychic medium. Donna asked the medium if she could sense anything about the doll, the physic decided to hold a séance, informing Donna that the doll was possessed by a young girl named Annabelle with no reason as to why Annabelle would want to posses that doll. The psychic had told Donna that Annabelle was killed near her apartment and that her body was found in a field outside. Donna having heard the story invited Annabelle to stay with her. Although, eventually she ended up in Ed and Lorraines museum of the paranormal. Just like the movie Annabelle has hurt people to some extent. According to Donna, her roommates fiancé, Lou, always hated the doll and would call it evil. Lou claims that one night as he was sleeping he woke up and was unable to move, much like sleep paralysis. At the edge of the bed lay Annabelle, he claimed that the doll slid up his leg and chest and started strangling him. He blacked out, once he finally came too he swore that it wasn't a dream. Later he entered a room because he heard loud bangs, on the floor lay Annabelle, he felt like someone was standing behind him. When he turned to look he felt a burning sensation on his upper chest. He found that he was bleeding with seven scratches across his body. Annabelle has even killed a man, according to Ed the paranormal investigator, he claims that once Annabelle was under his care and in the museum a man came to taunt her. He knocked on the glass and told her to do her worst, on his way home he had a fatal motorcycle accident. It is said that if you taunt the doll something bad will happen, a near death experience or maybe even worse. I say I'll just skip the museum trip all together.
