Ghosts:
‘A ghost is a human (sometimes animal) figure, witnessed by someone, which cannot be physically present. Ghosts have been seen at all times of the day or night and any time of year. There is certainly no bias towards Halloween or Christmas, as some people assume. A recent survey found that two thirds of reports of haunting activity occurred in the afternoon. Many ghost reports are one-offs, not associated with any pre-existing haunting.
The duration of ghost sightings can be summarised as brief - usually seconds rather than minutes. It can feel longer to witnesses as weird sights often leave a strong impression. Ghosts have been reported in many different places, but particularly where people live and work. This may simply be because potential witnesses spend most of their time in such places. Ghosts are not, contrary to popular belief, reported more frequently in graveyards. A recent survey found that older buildings produced the most reports of hauntings.
Ghosts usually appear as clothed figures. They are not usually surrounded or accompanied by any background scenery. Most ghosts look like normal people - not transparent, or glowing like their fictional representations. You could walk past one in the street and not notice it. Ghosts do, however, often vanish spontaneously or occasionally walk into walls. They also sometimes appear in enclosed spaces. Although ghosts are sometimes seen in 'period' costume, as if from an earlier era, this only started being reported at the beginning of the 20th century. Before that they were normally reported only in contemporary dress. Some ghosts appear to cast shadows or reflections though it is not clear what proportion as the fact may simply not be noticed in some cases.
People sometimes report areas of dense mist as ghosts. However, solid figures are not reported turning into mist, or vice versa. Nor do such mists behave like humans. Therefore, there seems to be no real evidence to support the idea that such areas of mist are ghosts.’
2009, M.T. (2009) What is a ghost what do we know about ghosts ASSAP. Available at: http://www.assap.ac.uk/newsite/articles/Ghosts.html (Accessed: 8 April 2016).
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| Ghost |
James, P. (2015) Did the ghost of a grey lady sabotage my marriage?. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3258312/Mysterious-lights-Inexplicable-cries-spectre-face-hate-spin-chilling-question-Did-ghost-grey-lady-sabotage-marriage.html (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
‘It’s believed that a ghost is a spirit that has not yet gone to the light. The light is a cleansing process with a life-review, which from what we can deduce, acts as a time of reconciling with the past. Fear is always connected to the past and blocks the way to our future. By removing the past fears, the spirit of a person is able to move on in the life-journey and leave the old, earthly life behind. This is not to say that a spirit of a person cannot visit loved ones here on Earth, but suggests that a brand new perspective is gained of seeing not only the past, but the present and the future, as well. This is quite a healing change of mind.
The future of our understanding of ghosts will undoubtedly be advanced and supported by what is to come in the modern-era. Quantum physics is already putting forth theories that will coincide and explain not only ghosts, but the existence of what has long been difficult to perceive: the invisible, realm of Spirit.’
The future of our understanding of ghosts will undoubtedly be advanced and supported by what is to come in the modern-era. Quantum physics is already putting forth theories that will coincide and explain not only ghosts, but the existence of what has long been difficult to perceive: the invisible, realm of Spirit.’
‘The word monster is derived from the Latin word "monstrum", which in literal terms means omen. Monsters are often described as a character that is morally evil, sadistic, uncaring and larger than humans. The definition of monsters in the dictionary depicts it as an imaginary or legendary creature, having a strange or frightening appearance. It may often combine parts from various animal or human forms.
It is a creature with an evil mind with structural defects or deformities physically, which inspires horror or disgust. Whether real or imaginary, monsters are abnormal with deformed body parts which are frightening to look at. The skin may be patchy with multi-coloured polka dots, or with large hairy extremities which often involve the eyes, arms or nose.
Some of these monsters have become real famous over time, because of their reputation for their fear factor capabilities and the eerie way of scaring people. Having specific unique tactics which are parallel to their own personalities, some of these monsters are commonly used in films, fantasy or role-playing games. Aliens, all kinds of legendary creatures, or mutated versions of regular animals are referred to as monsters.
Sometimes a monster can be a display of God’s anger, sometimes an omen of the future, or even a symbol of moral virtue or vice. They can also occur sometimes as an accident of nature. So we can see that the monster is more than a repulsive creature of the imagination. A kind of cultural category, it is found to be employed in fields as diverse as religion, biology, literature and politics.’
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| Monster |
Jaded (2015) Monsterpalooza. Available at:
‘In popular culture, zombies are people who have died and been reanimated as mindless, nearly invulnerable monsters that band together and attack the living. They are also known as "the living dead," "the walking dead," or "the undead."
Though many people are familiar with zombies from horror movies, TV shows, and video games, their history dates back hundreds of years, to stories in Haitian Voodoo folklore. In the Haitian culture, there are hundreds of stories of people dying and being brought back to life by a witch doctor; the reanimated person has no awareness of who he used to be, though he is not dangerous to others.
Zombies did not gain a strong presence in American popular culture, however, until the 1968 release of George A. Romero's classic horror film, The Night of the Living Dead. The film featured slow-moving, violent, cannibalistic zombies, and many critics believe that it sparked a new era in horror film-making. Romero has directed numerous sequels to the film, all using zombies to represent a critique of society.
A recent British film, Shaun of the Dead, released in 2004, was a parody of Romero's movies about zombies, billing itself as a "zom-com" or "zombie comedy." Other famous zombie films include Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's Braindead, which was titled Dead Alive for its U.S. release, and a 2004 remake of Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
Zombies have also been frequently used in TV shows, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and frequently appear in many video games. In Michael Jackson's famous "Thriller" music video, he and a large group of corpses become zombies and perform a dance routine — the 14-minute clip is one of the most famous music videos in history. Zombies also have a strong presence in music, with bands like metal group White Zombie and 1960s pop group the Zombies naming themselves for the mythical monsters; the Cranberries also had a popular single called Zombie.’
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-zombies.htm (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
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| Zombie |
(no date) Available at:
http://weknowyourdreamz.com/image.php?pic=/images/zombies/zombies-09.jpg (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
Vampires:
‘The word conjures up images of suave, handsome, or strikingly beautiful creatures, such as is depicted in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. One of the most famous vampires of all time is, of course, Count Dracula - the brain child of Bram Stoker who based his immortal monster on the blood thirsty ruler, known as Vlad Tepes, which when translated means "son of the dragon", a nickname that was well earned. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler due to his habit of impaling people on very sharp stakes and letting them suffer until they died a horrible and extremely painful death. The legends of vampires were around long before Stoker wrote his book.
From very early times there have been reports and tales of vampires which means, when roughly translated, "blood drinker". In nature there are all kinds of vampires. Mosquitoes, tick, fleas, bedbugs, and a species of bat that drinks blood, named most aptly the vampire bat.
What about the vampires of legend; do they exist? There are some well documented accounts that indicate they do. There was the case of Arnold Paole. It was reported that Arnold was bitten by a vampire while he was serving as a soldier in his country's army. When he returned home from service he became a farmer. One day while cutting hay Paole had an accident which killed him. A few days later, people started dying from loss of blood. The people started saying there was a vampire in their midst.
There were several eye-witness reports that said they had seen Arnold walking around after his death. His eyes were glassy and his teeth had grown long and sharp. The locals went to dig up Paole's body, and when they had unearthed the corpse, there was no decay and there was fresh blood on the lips and a bloom of colour in the cheeks. Arnold looked as fresh as the day he had died. The locals pounded a stake through the vampire's heart and heard the vampire screech in agony. Then they cut off the head and burned the body.’
(no date) Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Leadenhall_Street_J_Hopkins.jpg (Accessed: 28 March 2016).
Vampires:
‘The word conjures up images of suave, handsome, or strikingly beautiful creatures, such as is depicted in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. One of the most famous vampires of all time is, of course, Count Dracula - the brain child of Bram Stoker who based his immortal monster on the blood thirsty ruler, known as Vlad Tepes, which when translated means "son of the dragon", a nickname that was well earned. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler due to his habit of impaling people on very sharp stakes and letting them suffer until they died a horrible and extremely painful death. The legends of vampires were around long before Stoker wrote his book.
From very early times there have been reports and tales of vampires which means, when roughly translated, "blood drinker". In nature there are all kinds of vampires. Mosquitoes, tick, fleas, bedbugs, and a species of bat that drinks blood, named most aptly the vampire bat.
What about the vampires of legend; do they exist? There are some well documented accounts that indicate they do. There was the case of Arnold Paole. It was reported that Arnold was bitten by a vampire while he was serving as a soldier in his country's army. When he returned home from service he became a farmer. One day while cutting hay Paole had an accident which killed him. A few days later, people started dying from loss of blood. The people started saying there was a vampire in their midst.
There were several eye-witness reports that said they had seen Arnold walking around after his death. His eyes were glassy and his teeth had grown long and sharp. The locals went to dig up Paole's body, and when they had unearthed the corpse, there was no decay and there was fresh blood on the lips and a bloom of colour in the cheeks. Arnold looked as fresh as the day he had died. The locals pounded a stake through the vampire's heart and heard the vampire screech in agony. Then they cut off the head and burned the body.’
(no date) Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Leadenhall_Street_J_Hopkins.jpg (Accessed: 28 March 2016).
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| Vampire |
Photos of real vampires images & pictures (no date) Available at:
http://becuo.com/photos-of-real-vampires (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
Wolfmen:
This was the topic me and my group were given. We each had a sheet and had to brainstorm our ideas of what we thought wolfmen were. I did some research on my phone and came up with a few ideas:
This was the topic me and my group were given. We each had a sheet and had to brainstorm our ideas of what we thought wolfmen were. I did some research on my phone and came up with a few ideas:
’In the last century, several werewolf sightings have been recorded. Many of them have taken place in Wisconsin, where the origins of werewolves are believed to have begun.
As myth's greatest monsters are able to do, the werewolf legend has spread across borders, even across seas and oceans. Vicious animal attacks have been reported for centuries, yet during the day no one can find a trace of the creatures responsible. Those who study mythology have long known that few creatures have the power, speed, and mindless slaughtering propensity the way that werewolves do.
The Shapeshifter Wolf – fans of twilight will recognize this type of "werewolf". Like the character Jacob Black and certain other members of the Quileute tribe, the shapeshifter wolf has the ability to change form at any time. This is believed to have been the original power of the first werewolf before it was taken away. The shapeshifter wolf can transform from human form to wolf form at will, though aggressive energy or anger may increase the likelihood of causing an unintentional transformation.
The shapeshifter wolves considered "werewolves" can only change from human to wolf form, though "pure" shapeshifters can transform from human form to any other animal form, including a wolf. It is believed that all shapeshifters are born into this ability, and one cannot be transformed into a shapeshifter by the bite from the creature. The exception to this is the Navajo Skinwalker, which is not a true shapeshifter, but a witch using an animal hide to transform.
The Wolfman – many "werewolf" stories, including sightings of the legendary Bray Road Beast, describe a creature that is physically a combination of a wolf and a man. This mutant wolf-man typically has a mostly human-shaped body, stands on two legs, but is covered in wolf hair and has claws and fangs. The Wolfman is often called a "werewolf" because in many legends this creature is believed to share many of the traits of the werewolf "curse". Depending on the legend, some wolfmen are humans by day and wolf-men by night while others are in their duel human/wolf form at all times.
It is believed one begins by transforming from human to wolfman on full moons only, then over time it increases to every night, and eventually the body settles into a pure wolfman form at all times. The degree to which a wolfman can control his mind and emotions also degrades as these transformations become more permanent.
The True Werewolf – a true "werewolf", according to most legends, is a human being that uncontrollably transforms into a wolf during a full moon. The original werewolf curse transformed a Shapeshifter Wolf into a Werewolf, effectively taking away the ability to control the shift but also taking away the ability to think as a human while in wolf form.
Werewolves, when in wolf form, have uncontrollable rage and hunger. They are driven to kill everyone and everything they encounter, regardless of their relationship as humans. The curse causes these wolves to lose all control of their minds, and when they wake up in human form in the morning, they don't remember anything (though they may revisit certain memories in dreams). It is this form of werewolf that can transfer their condition through a bite, assuming of course that the human being bitten survives the attack.’
The truth about werewolves (no date) Available at:
http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/werewolves.html (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
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| Wolfman |
SEILER and profile, V. my complete (2006) About me. Available at: http://jasonseilerillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/wolfman-for-t-shirt.html (Accessed: 9 April 2016).
Reflection:
I enjoyed this lesson as I learnt things I had no clue about before. I hadn't ever really done profound exploration into any of the above in this manner therefore had no idea what was coming in the lesson. I briefly knew of the topics however never had confidence in them. As a Christian believer, I have belief in spirits i.e. The Holy Spirit however zombies, vampires and so forth simply doesn't appear to be genuine to me. I believe it's all anecdotal and utilised as a wellspring of amusement for books/movies. I trust no human has control over God to simply choose to transform into a wolf one day or drink blood for tea. That is to say, there might be individuals out there that themselves trust they have this force but at the end of the day, it's all in their creative energy/considerations. They persuade themselves they're something else. I've seen individuals say beasts live under their bed or there are phantoms in their bathrooms, yet genuinely I discover it entirely crazy. It's all fantasy. This however is only my opinion and I know others may disagree with me. Overall this lesson was fascinating, as not just I learnt of the points clarified above, I additionally got the chance to hear the class' perspectives/feelings on them, and what they have belief in.
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