Author: J.I BAKER
Publisher: LIFE BOOKS, an imprint of TIME inc. books
Genre: Magazine/ Horror/Documentary
Unique Elements: Picturesque Actual Photos depicting the scenes of actual events.
Series: Volume 18 No. 19
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Number of Pages: 96
MSRP: Single Issue Magazine $13.99 Kindle Edition $9.99
Website: Click here
Purchase Site: Click here
Final Score: 5.0 Moons (Out of 5.0)
Story
Immerse yourself in a spine-tingling, eerie journey as LIFE Magazine weaves you through a spectrum of the World’s Most Haunted Places. Hold onto your seat and get ready as this picturesque book of macabre, madness, and informative morsels in the school of thought, twists you into stitches and leaves you heaving in goosebumps. For things that go bump in the night, bumped off souls have risen to make themselves known to the physical world.
Interesting Read
Do not dare to trespass the sacred rites of the ancient Indian burials, or you may find yourself stricken into a frenzied possession. “Where did that killing spree come from? What on earth possessed him to kill his wife and children,” a grimly man reminiscent of a Charles Manson photograph ponders. However it doesn’t stop there. The angered spirits want to come out and play. At the bargain price of “way below market value”, a newlywed couple decides to take a chance on their newfound stately waterside home, despite its ghastly reputation. As homeowners for only 28 days, what on earth possessed them to flee that home permanently and leave all of their valued possessions behind? Find it on page 28 as the Amityville Horror House continues.
In the narrow canal tangles of Xochimilco, a district of Mexico City, a hermit recluse caretaker of an isolated island allegedly finds a drowned girl with a doll floating alongside her. Later he heard footsteps and crying around his shack at the wee hours of the night, and he became obsessed that the girl’s restless spirit was haunting the place. As a venture to appease the troubled spirit, he hung her doll in a tree. When the haunting did not stop he began hanging more and more dolls in a frenzied ritualistic-offering panic. It is believed that the dolls themselves became possessed and the island cursed. With whispers and movements the dolls reportedly took on a life form of their own. In 2001, the caretaker also drowned in the same spot as he found the girl. It is rumored that he now haunts the island alongside his frightful companions. Visitors now add their own offerings to the growing collection of dolls on this legendary remote island.
Located off Chile’s Easter Island, an array of massive sculptural works are dedicated in the honor of ancestors. Sculpted to their likeness and resemblance from volcanic ash between the 10th and 16th centuries, these massive stone heads are all as individualized as the honored persons themselves. They weigh up to 80 tons each and even have bodies (which are unseen from the turf) buried underground. Where did these massive works of art come from and how did they create such huge monuments in that prehistoric day and age? On that matter, we also ponder about the Great Pyramids, which are also highlighted in the magazine’s content as well. Here on Easter Island it is reputed by the inhabitants, most likely from hand me down tales of generations on past (or perhaps some sort of prehistoric petroglyphs), that these statues walked and even flew into place by a spirit force. There are reports of apparitions and disembodied voices coming from the region. Some say that this is the work of extraterrestrial visitors from an advanced civilization coming down to leave their thumb print on their point of landing.
A Closer Look
Imagine admiring a painting, then coming back and one of the elements is missing, then returning and it is there again. A strange apparition of a sinister-looking elderly woman peeping in a window is reported to take on a life of its own. The “Now you see it…now you don’t” painting was removed due to the menacing factor that caused a disturbance in hospital patients of Montreal’s haunted hospital, “The Old Royal Victoria.” Wake up and find yourself mysteriously lying in a puddle of blood after talking with a troubled ghost. Unusual flickering of lights and knocking are just a few examples of hauntings that have taken place at the disturbed, unsettling hospital which was recently moved to a new locale. Let’s see what is in store for the new tenants…
Speaking of tenants, one of Manhattan’s most exclusive clubs is “The Dakota”. Money is no issue here, as several of the rich and famous have been denied membership into this apartment building including Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas, Cher, and Billy Joel. On the other hand John Lennon and Yoko Ono were accepted and upon taking residence, they were already well aware that the building was reputed as haunted. They brought in a medium and conducted a seance. One of the several resident ghosts managed to come through that night. It was the wife of former actor and tenant, Robert Ryan of Dirty Dozen. His dearly departed wife communicated that she had no intention of leaving the premises. This notorious building is also the setting in the classic novel Rosemary’s Baby. Ira Levin, the author of this renown horror tale, used several occult elements attached to this particular landmark. A chandelier that once was part of the structure is now an apparition that is sometimes seen through the window, eyewitnesses report. Although it is no longer part of the property in the physical form, its phantom remains. Built by Singer Sewing Machine mogul, Edward S. Clark, the property has a history of unfortunate events including the assassination of our beloved Beatle, John Lennon, who was shot at the property’s entrance. “Killing Me Softly” songstress, Roberta Flack, who is also a resident, claims that the building “has been occupied by a lot of strong people”, then goes on to say, “they come back, they have memories.”
Dynamics
One of the most vexing of the batch is the Mummy Museum that is located in a silver mining town of Mexico. Between the 1860’s and 1958, relatives were required to pay a tax on their deceased loved ones buried in a nearby cemetery. If they could not afford to pay the tarry, the bodies were excavated and stored in an ossuary. In the hot dry airtight crypts, it was discovered to become part of a mummified corpse process. When curious townsfolk started inquiring about the rumors and wanted to see for themselves, the workers started charging admission fees for their viewing privilege. With over 100 mummies, the museum is beyond ghastly. As the well-preserved cadavers are contained in climate controlled cases, they display horrid jaw-dropping grimaces on their faces of terror. As the visitors continued to pay to see this grisly sight, it eventually became a museum
.
Steampunk Librarian
The stench of serial killer Ed Gein’s “Psycho” house can be sighted in this book along with the pristine intact room of his Mommy Dearest. The haunted Stanley Hotel which inspired Stephen King to write The Shining is also highlighted. Several portals to the underworld, including the portal of purgatory shown to St. Patrick from Christ himself, are all listed in this book. The catacombs of France is here, as well as the world’s largest underground church. Made solely of salt (with elaborately carved chandeliers and large statues of salt mine patron saints…all made of salt), it is truly a sight to see. This book is full of history and eerie photographs which lends even more of an interesting read to its content. A Roman skull and bones altar composed of thousands of monks can be seen on page 80. An interesting French gravestone at Pere Lachaise depicts a sculpture of a man laying down, holding a decapitated 
head to his face and staring at it. Pere Lachaise is a Gothic cemetery that is also known as the graveyard that Jim Morrison haunts. At Versailles, a garden statue is reputedly haunted by the ghost of Marie Antoinette. The ghosts of Al Capone as well as Machine Gun Kelly can be found on the Alcatraz page.
I only touched on a few of many articles. There is so much more. Also included in LIFE, is TIME magazine’s “Most Haunted Place of All,” the island of Poveglia, Italy.
It is available for $13.99 New paperback and $9.99 Kindle at Amazon Here
Gothic Fit
This book covers a vast array of information for the jet set Goth Community, including the Witch Hunts of Salem for the Pagan Community. On the contrary, the whereabouts of Prince Vlad’s real home which is now a ruin in Wallachia, Romania, is within reasonable travel distance from Bram Stoker’s
inspiration, Bran Castle. This book offers just about something for everyone in our Goth world. Picturesque in presence, there are descriptive photographs in every article to make it an even more interesting read. While the Tower of London execution block where Catherine Howard, the 5th wife of King Henry VIII, practiced laying her head the night before her execution may appeal to the hardcore death rocker of the world, the charismatic ambiance of Pere Lachaise cemetery may very well
capture a Gothic Lolita’s interest…and who knows? Maybe she’ll get the chance to encounter the ghost of Jim Morrison who reputedly is known to appear in the area.
Theme: 5.0 Moons (out of 5.0)
Presentation: 5.0 Moons (out of 5.0)
Gothic Fit: 5.0 Moons (out of 5.0)
Final Score (not an average): 5.0 Moons (out of 5.0)
