Sunday night equals high quality scripted drama ever since HBO re-conditioned TV viewers to wrap up their weekends with The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire and Deadwood. Then came Mad Men, with its hypnotic take on slow-motion ad agency pyschodrama. Showtime’s under-rated Brotherhood hooked us on the Robert DeNiro-like antics of Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter...
Paranormal Report: The Great Orb Debate
If one watches paranormal investigation TV shows — and I do to an extent that is likely not healthy — one cannot help but encounter “orbs.” These are typically small balls of light or energy that show up in video, still, and thermal images from investigation scenes. All serious investigators agree that most of the time the orbs are natural...
The Return of Ectoplasm
Ectoplasm used to appear a lot, extruding from the various orifices of spirit mediums during séances in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s not something you hear too much about in the 21st century though, so I was startled to read recent claims that a German group photographed this controversial substance just last year. Given its current obscurity, I suppose I...
Fairy Tales Get Scary This Summer
The little people are big news this summer, and they’re more frightening than you might expect. Forget the romanticized fairies of Victorian paintings and Disney films. I’m not talking about pretty little silver-voiced beings flitting around on butterfly wings and sprinkling magic dust. The current trend draws on older legends of sinister, shape-shifting entities inhabiting a supernatural realm that impinges...
Romance and Fresh Rumors Surround Prince Albert’s Monaco Wedding: Is Royal History Repeating Itself?
Guess the name of this famous royal fiancee. She’s a statuesque blonde swimmer with a shy smile, who counts on her much older prince to guide her in royal life. He looks at her with expressions that mingle affection, paternalism, and rebuke. She says she loves children. She’s excited about her introduction to high fashion. She hears rumors of her...
Practical Tips For Keeping Vampires Away
With True Blood back for a fourth season, fans of the hit TV show will know that not every vampire is content with synthetic blood substitute. Some insist on the real deal, freshly decanted from a mortal vessel, and so it’s important to know how to protect yourself. Fortunately centuries of vampire mythology have described plenty of defences you could...
Mr. Opportunist: Interview with Falling Skies’ Colin Cunningham
As Major Paul Davis on Stargate SG-1, Colin Cunningham was often part of a military taskforce whose brave men and women risked their lives to stop various extraterrestrial invaders that were intent on conquering and/or destroying Earth. In his latest gig on TNT’s new Sci-Fi drama series Falling Skies, his character of John Pope is pretty much facing the same...
Donald Harrison: The Mardi Gras Indians Meet Modern Jazz
If you’re a fan of Treme, the acclaimed HBO series about the New Orleans neighborhood on which Congo Square was sited, you may recall the characters Delmond Trumbeaux, a trumpeter (played by Rob Brown), and his father, Albert Lambreaux, a plasterer who doubles as a Big Chief of the Mardi Gras Indian group, the Guardians of the Flame (played by...
Profile: Eastern Pennsylvania Paranormal Society
People didn’t just start ghost hunting, though from watching TV it seems like they have thrown themselves into it with particularly maniacal gusto over the last several years. A noteworthy, even altruistic aspect of Ghost Adventures‘ Zak Bagans’ new Travel Channel show, Paranormal Challenge, is the spotlight it shines on workaday investigation teams out there beating the paranormal bushes, alone...
Where to See Ghosts When You Go to See Ghost: The Musical
Supernatural romance comes to the London stage this week when Ghost: The Musical – adapted from the Oscar®-winning Paramount Pictures film Ghost – starts its West End run at the Piccadilly Theatre. As the show will no doubt put you in the mood for a spot of ghost-hunting, here are some handy hints for what to watch out for when...