Writing and Reality

Four years ago, the writing world said goodbye to one of the most inspiring scifi/fantasy/suspense writers who ever lived.


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Character Profiles

Character profiles of SPRG Book 2: Corpse in the Mirror!
Drawn by Jewie. Visit her page at: JewiesArtSpace

5 True Paranormal Events Involving a Ouija Board

Is It Really Just A Game?

Ouija boards have been around for some time, and most people believe it's just a game board.

(It was actually marketed as a game board when it was first advertised in 1891.)

Scientific Explanations

There are also many sound scientific explanations for how the planchette could move across the board and point to specific letters even when none of the participants "are doing it."

The ideomotor response, for example, is the phenomenon where people make motions "unconsciously" due to the minute tremors our muscles make. When we take this into consideration along with the collective beliefs and expectations of groups of people, then coherent responses can come out of a Ouija board even when no one is consciously making it happen.

Beyond Science

But we all know that life isn't always all explained by science. In fact, there are so many things that scientists can only theorize about but still can't understand or explain.

(Science can explain, for example, that it's our chromosomes and DNA that make up who we are. But science still cannot explain how -- when a fertilized egg starts to become a fetus -- the arms cells know that they're supposed to become arms, and the feet cells know they're supposed to become feet, and they don't all get mixed up as they become a human being.)

So along with the possibility that there are scientific explanations for the Ouija board phenomena, there is also the fact that a number of people have had paranormal experiences following their use of it.

(One of them is the true case of Robbie, which actually became the basis for the movie "The Exorcist.")

Here are some of them.

When Lola Iyay Said Goodbye

January 1, 2010 / 3:00am

It was New Year's Day in 2010 when we got the phone call at 3am.

And you know that it's urgent when someone calls you at 3am.

"It's Lola Iyay," my brother said on the other end, his voice shaking. "She had a heart attack. She's gone."

The 3rd Floor Balcony Was Empty

Photo by bjearwicke

Lola Iyay was our mom's distant cousin, and she was the one who took care of us while we were growing up. She'd been part of our family ever since we could remember.

As we drove up to the building in Caloocan that day, we half-expected to find her where we usually found her whenever we came over for New Year's Day (and any other day we came to visit):

Standing at the 3rd floor balcony, looking out for the sight of our car, excitedly waiting for us to arrive.

But she wasn't there.

The 3rd floor balcony was empty. She was never going to wait for us there again.

Her Spaghetti Was Still There. But She Wasn't.

That day we ate the last platter of the dish she prepared the night before, for New Year's Eve: spaghetti.

Her death hit us hard at that moment. This was the last time we were going to taste her cooking.

Her spaghetti was still there, but we couldn't tell even her how delicious it was.

The Strange Story

As we finished Lola Iyay's spaghetti, I told her friend Eden: "I didn't know that December 28 was the last time we would see Lola Iyay alive."

My cousin's wedding took place on December 28, 2009 in Batangas, and most of the family attended.

After the wedding, on their way back to Caloocan, they all made a stopover at our house for a quick snack, drinks, and a much-needed bathroom break.

They also dropped off my sister at our house. She was catching a flight to Singapore early the next day, and was staying the night with us since our house was closer to the airport.

I remember my sister giving Lola Iyay a tight hug, telling her to take care of herself, and not get angry too much so her blood pressure doesn't get too high.

We all hugged Lola Iyay, too -- we hugged everyone -- and as they left to make the rest of the trip back to Caloocan, we all saw Lola Iyay at the back seat of the vehicle, waving at us from the window the way she usually did.

That was the last time we saw her alive.

"But Lola Iyay didn't attend your cousin's wedding," Eden suddenly said.

What?

"She wasn't feeling well that day," she continued. "I remember it clearly. She stayed in bed the whole day, she didn't go anywhere."

When we asked the rest of our family and relatives, they all said the same thing: Lola Iyay didn't go with them to the wedding, and she certainly didn't visit our house.

More Strange

What made it even stranger than it already was was the fact that my sister said the same thing: Lola Iyay wasn't there at the wedding, and she wasn't there when they dropped her off at our house.

She had hugged Lola Iyay back in Caloocan, just before they left for the wedding.

NOT in front of us, in our house near the airport.

Most "Ghost Stories" Are Actually "Love Stories"

We still have no clear explanation about what happened, or which laws of science made it possible (alternate realities? out of body experience? distorted perceptions?).

All we know is the effect: We were comforted to know that -- 4 days just before her death -- Lola Iyay came to hug us one last time, even though she was actually sick in bed several miles away.


---

In Book 3 of the SPRG Trilogy, "Darkness in the World," there is a scene in Chapter 7 that deals with alternate perceptions like this.

Read the sample chapters of Book 3 here: http://tinyurl.com/darkness-sample.

What The Dead Can Teach Us About Living

Top 3 Things About The Paranormal
(That Give Us Insights On How To LIVE) from A.S. Santos

When Grandmother Said Goodbye

Grandma's Favorite Dog 

Our grandmother died at 3am on January 1, 2010. She had just finished celebrating the coming of the New Year, and a few hours later she was gone.

After her funeral we adopted and brought home her favorite dog, "J," a cute brown shih tzu, because everyone thought we could take better care of him.

J was friendly, toilet-trained, and became instantly protective of the kids in the family; he stayed wherever they were, and usually slept in their bedroom.


40 Days Later

One night--about a month after grandmother's death--something strange happened.

It was a Saturday night and the kids were allowed to stay up late. They were in the living room watching a movie, and J was on the floor near them, looking like he wanted to go to sleep.

According to the kids, "all of a sudden J's ears perked up, his tail started wagging, and he started bouncing around joyfully, running and barking at an empty wall."

A few times he even excitedly stood up on his hind legs, like he was reaching up to someone he loved.

The kids were too weirded out to react or move (it was a quiet night; the adults were reading in their rooms). It really seemed to them that J was playing with someone/something they couldn't see.


5 Minutes Of Playing With Someone Invisible 

After five minutes of this strange behavior, J just as suddenly settled down, returned to his spot on the living room floor, turned around a few times, then lay down and curled up to sleep.

To this day we believe it was our grandmother who came to our living room that night.

The kids couldn't see her, but J could... and she stayed around to play with him, until she had to say goodbye.

After all, J was her favorite dog.