Who are the BEK?

For those who are unfamiliar, David Weatherly recently published a book titled "The Black Eyed Children". It's a chilling read and some have reported to him that strange, potentially paranormal things happen while they are reading the book. Mostly it seems to be electronics malfunctioning. I presonally did not experience that when I was reading the book at the hotel where I work or in my home.


Like many authors and professional people, David has a Facebook page. He has almost 500 friends and he interacts with them often. His "cover" or the picture at the top of the page is the cover of his latest book. He has a picture of himself as his profile picture (as opposed to a car, landscape, celebrity/character, or wild animal).


David posts any interviews or appearances he's making on his page as well as sharing paranormal, political, and fun links. When people post things on his wall, he acknowledges them and at times has engaged in healthy debates.


I enjoy visiting David's page as it is a friendly and welcoming place. He's on Facebook nearly every day so there are lots of updates. I've messaged him several times regarding my BEK site and he's always been very polite and helpful. I ultimately chose David because of the rapport I have with him. I do on rare occasion talk to Ray Garton but not nearly as much as David.


I don't know what the “ideal” Facebook is supposed to be like but he keeps me coming back. He is accessable on the page, his name is in his address, he has a picture of himself, he references other sources as well as his works... all things good self employed people should include on their site.


As an improvement I suppose he could have included a phone number, personal or group email address, or the web link to TwoCrows Paranormal. You can find the site if you know where to look and there is a FB page for it on Facebook but that's in its infancy.


My three author's Facebook pages (David Weatherly, Ray Garton, and Chip Coffey):


http://www.facebook.com/#!/david.weatherly.31
http://www.facebook.com/#!/ray.garton.3
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Chip-Coffey-Psychic-and-Medium/90338070683

Bi Locating Spirits

 

Originally posted 08/22/2011 but was hijacked.

This past week two of my closest friends came to Nashville for a visit and we decided to go on a Nashville walking ghost tour. The first place we went to was the state capital where we heard about Rachel Jackson. Apparently, Rachel haunts not only the capital building but also The Hermitage where she lived with her husband Andrew. Hearing that Rachel was in two locations got me to thinking about other spirits who were also known to haunt more than one location. Elvis Presley, Basil Rathbone, Marilyn Monroe, and Jane Mansfield are only a few celebrities who have been spotted in numerous locations since their deaths. How do they do it?

Paranormal experts agree that hauntings can be divided into two categories: intelligent and residual hauntings. Residual hauntings are hauntings that seem to take place on a loop. For example, footsteps heard climbing stairs roughly the same time each day or the appearance of an operation on the anniversary of someone's death. These hauntings when observed seem to have been without any regard to what's going on in the present day. Residual hauntings result from intense emotional energy being recorded in the environment. Many residual hauntings are replays of battles, apparitions wandering across a field or along a cliff, or other actions that took place immediately before death and are repeated with little to no variation for years to come.

Intelligent hauntings are much more complex and are the source of a lot of controversy and discussion. There are entirely way too many types of intelligent hauntings to discuss in this article so for the purpose of this discussion, intelligent hauntings are any hauntings that interact with living people or current environment. For example, a spirit who calls a homeowner’s name or who moves their items.

They say that when a person dies their spirit is free of all physical constraints which is why someone who dies in a hospital may haunt a house in another town. It's possible that spirit may travel between to two or three locations at will. The spirit may willingly follow a surviving loved one as they move from location to location. The spirit may divide their time between two locations as they did in life. This may account for why so many celebrities seem to get around as much in death as they did in life. Intelligent spirits seem to know what is going on in the modern world and they seem to interact with it as they would if they were alive. Actors, such as Basil Rathbone, Jane Mansfield, and Marilyn Monroe traveled all over for their work and developed emotional ties not only with the people they encountered but with the locations they spent a lot of time at. It is not unreasonable to assume that people who love to travel in life also love to travel in death.

Another theory as to how spirits haunt more than one location might be a combination of intelligence and residual hauntings. Rachel Jackson is often seen peering out the same window at the top of the state capital in Nashville Tennessee. There is no evidence that she tries to interact with people on the street and she has not been seen anywhere else in the capital building. It would seem that sightings of Rachel are residual as she used to peer out the window to look for Andrew. Rachel died in that room the night before Andrew was inaugurated as president of the United States. The people who have seen Rachel Jackson at the Hermitage seem to feel her presence there is intelligent. The Hermitage is where she lived with her husband Andrew and is a place she has strong emotional ties with. Rachel was very proud of the Hermitage and she took great care of it. It makes sense that she wants to stick around to make sure her home is being cared for as she deems fit.

In order to determine exactly how spirits are able to haunt multiple locations, we need to take a look at each spirit as an individual. I have presented two simple theories that may explain this phenomenon but I plan to do more research into individual cases and I challenge you guys to do the same.

Aaron Goodwin: More than Just "Live Bait"

 

Originally posted 10/02/2011 but reposted due to original post being hijacked.

Millions of people know Aaron Goodwin as the down to earth investigator on Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures but he’s more than the ideal choice to act as live bait in some of the world’s darkest and most haunted locations. While the paranormal has become a big part of Aaron’s life, his real passions lie with storytelling, film making, and art. In fact, that’s how Aaron spent his time at Scarefest. He had a table he shared with artists Adam Michaels and Christian Gabriel. Zak Bagans, lead-investigator on Ghost Adventures, had an adjoining table where he was promoting his new book but Aaron’s focus was clearly on his creative ambitions.

Watching Aaron from a distance, you can see a perpetual, genuine smile on his face as people stopped by the booth. While he doesn’t mind talking about Ghost Adventures, his face really lights up when he’s asked about his “Big Steppin’” gear, part of Aaron Goodwin Collections, or the art projects. When asked about plans for expanding Aaron Goodwin Collections, Aaron says “Oh, yeah this is just the beginning. There’s tons of paintings, like 15 paintings and it’s just gonna grow and grow and grow and soon the movie I’m writing is coming out about my nightmares which Adam’s painting. Christian and I with this have something special coming out we’re not talking about yet but it’s gonna be big. Yeah, just going and going. My goal is to make art huge and get more people involved.” How does he plan to do that? “Right now I’m just working with them [Adam and Christian] but we have something big we’re planning with people you’ll see it’s coming up. It’s all top secret right now.”

Looking at Aaron, you wouldn’t immediately think of him as being as creative or as dedicated to the creative arts as he is. So how did he end up at a booth at Scarefest with two other insanely talented artists? Aaron grew up on the west coast and is originally from Oregon. In high school, he played sports and spent time with friends. During his senior year, he started to write shorts, took a writing class outside of school, and developed an interest in film. One day he saw an advert for extras that were needed for “Fox Fire” and signed up. He was able to watch the film making promise and was intrigued with how similar shooting a film was to solving a puzzle. Scenes are shot out of order, reshot from different angles, and edited together at a later time. This experience inspired him to learn how to shoot and edit. Upon graduating, Aaron moved to Las Vegas where he became a freelancer in production, worked as a production assistant, and learned all he could as he worked his way up the ladder. After about four years working in the industry, he began filming bands and creating music videos for local musicians pro bono. Donating his time and skill allowed him to build up his portfolio and build his professional network. As his reputation grew, paying jobs started coming his way and his career was taking off. He never forgot his roots and still does what he can to promote independent artists.

For the most part, Aaron taught himself everything he knows, though he admits he unofficially audited a few classes along the way. It was while sitting in on one of these classes he met Nick Groff who would later co-found Ghost Adventures Crew with Zak Bagans. Aaron says, “One night as I was in a class I didn’t pay for I asked the teacher how to get into the field of film better. He told me to look at the guy behind me and help him out on his projects. I turned to Nick and for 10 years now we have been working on projects for fun and business.” Since the age of seventeen, Aaron’s made over eighty demos and shorts while honing his craft. Eighteen years later, he’s still doing what he loves.

Prior to working on Ghost Adventures, Aaron worked as a cameraman for various projects all over Las Vegas. He was a camera man for UFC fights, was hired to film red carpet events, and worked on his own personal projects. Aaron has a special place in his affections for Indie films and those who create and work on them. “I have always had a passion for Indie films and working with many different artists. Whenever I had a chance I helped anyone and everyone out. This is also how I got to see how tough the industry is. Some awesome talent is never seen because of money or just never having the shot to be seen or heard.” Working on Ghost Adventures has exposed Aaron to fans worldwide. He uses his popularity to introduce independent artists to people who would otherwise never have heard of them.

Ghost Adventures hasn’t only grown Aaron’s network exponentially, it has given his creative muses more material to work with. For example, one of the episodes of Ghost Adventures was filmed at Bobby Mackey’s Music world in Wilder, KY. The hauntings at Bobby Mackey’s are so notorious the location has been nicknamed “Hell’s Gate”. For a year after filming there, Aaron was plagued by vivid, terrifying nightmares. While most people would either seek therapy or quit their job, Aaron did neither. Aaron is glass half full sort of person and found a positive in what seemed like a negative. “For about a year now my nightmares have been so vivid it’s almost like I’m being told a story. So instead of doing nothing about it, I have written them all down. Now I’m having moments in my dreams put on a painting. The dreams I have are in great detail and never stop telling me a story… After all 12 paintings are done it will be an outline of the movie. This movie/nightmare is a whole new look at Vampires and how they were.” He has asked artist Adam Michaels, who he met at First Friday (A monthly art event in Las Vegas) over two years ago, to paint the series of twelve paintings.

Adam isn’t the only artist Aaron is collaborating with. Aaron is also working on several projects with Christian Gabriel, another artist he met at First Friday. Christian has already painted several pictures for Aaron based on stories he’s been told about Aaron’s dreams, experiences, and his visions he sometimes gets. For example one painting, Cowboy From Hell was inspired by a Ghost Adventures filming lockdown in Tombstone Arizona. Aaron says about it, 

“When I was in Tombstone Arizona I always imagined a vampire cowboy walking the streets killing people in his path. As I sat on the road there, I could almost see the past and the future of this town and the hell that went on there. A year later, I met Christian and with my thoughts he turned it to a vision through a painting. With his style of art I couldn’t wait to see what could happen.” Aaron says he has some huge projects in the work with Adam and Christian but declined to elaborate. He prefers to build the suspense and relishes the big reveal, something his fans have come to expect and love.

Aaron is different than most other “celebrities” out there. For starters, he doesn’t view himself as a celebrity. He’s very down to earth and has a huge heart. Instead of looking for ways to self-promote, he works to promote other people and give them a chance to shine. It’s through his generous disposition that he earns the attention and respect of those around him. Aaron is very passionate about art because he views it as “a way to express yourself in so many ways… the art I have and the art that is made for me all say something.” Right now Aaron has been working only with Adam Michaels and Christian Gabriel but he will be working with more artists as time allows. His goal is to make art huge and to “have a team of artists to help me change or help something in the world”. He hopes his efforts will make a lasting impact on the art world.

While art is one way Aaron shares the stories of his visions, film making is another. Film making is his first love and is what he will do until he dies. He is working on three movies he hopes to shoot one day. He has done four music videos and looks forward to making many more, preferably for the independent bands whose talent are hidden on a local level. In five years he sees himself behind the camera working with a thirty million dollar budget on his second film. Right now, Aaron carries his camera with him everywhere because he never knows when something worth recording will pop up. While touring around for Ghost Adventures, Aaron films v-logs to share with his fans. One of his most amazing projects is “Views from a Plane” which is a compilation of footage shot from his airplane window over many journeys. He has a natural eye for capturing the most beautiful images nature has to show us on film.

As if Aaron wasn’t busy enough, he has a website where he showcases all his creative endeavours. A Goodwin Collections is “one of my dreams I have had for 10 years.” The site is constantly growing and includes his signature “Big Steppin’” apparel and stickers, postcards and calendars of his still shots, “Views from a Plane”, and his collaborative pieces. People are encouraged to check back often as new items are always being added.

Aaron is a multi-faceted, creative man. His positive outlook allows him to see potential for creativity everywhere he goes. While Ghost Adventures may have made him a house hold name, it does little to define who he is as a person. Ghost Adventures might be something he’s doing right now but long after the show ends Aaron will be working with artists and musicians as well as bringing his own ideas to life. Unlike many celebrities, Aaron is incredibly personable and is easy to be around. He’s open and honest and surrounds himself with positive and gifted people. He’s kind to his fans and keeps in touch with them on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. He’s the type of man that people genuinely like because they know he’s not being nice just to sell products. He’s being nice because he is nice. He works hard to meet his goal and when he can he helps others reach theirs. Aaron is someone to watch because he will be one of the few to actually make a difference in the world rather than just talking about doing so. He is after all more than just live bait to lure out spirits.

For more information:

https://agoodwincollections.com/ 

http://www.adamsartbox.com/

https://www.artofchristiangabriel.com/