COUNCIL BLOG - BRI BARGER

Veiled in secrecy and stigma, the practice of sin-eating has drifted from whispered ritual into the realm of legend. The sin eaters themselves? Arguably, they martyred their own souls for the salvation of others. Yet rather than gratitude, they received suspicion. Rather than honor, exile. They were seen not as saviors, but as living vessels of sin.

COUNCIL BLOG - TAMANTHA BOWMAN

I’m now confident enough to ask Irma the ghostly piano player to play my request (don’t forget to tip her). If you request one of her favorites she will make the lights flicker!

COUNCIL BLOG - LAUREN CORNWELL

If you’ve never experienced Alton for yourself, I would highly recommend paying a visit to see the history and hauntings for yourself. This town is alive with paranormal activity and filled to the brim with stories waiting to be told. Come visit and take a tour or investigate a building. Who knows, you may leave with a ghost story of your own. 

COUNCIL BLOG - BRI BARGER

Horror, being a popular genre, can be found throughout all corners of human culture and media - normally residing in dark crevices and buried in cobwebs. But something special occurs when nerdom meets spooky vibes: they infect each other, morphing and oozing together like some kind of Cronenberg monster straight out of David Lynch’s meditative state. Gimme. Gimme all of it, or I might bite.

COUNCIL BLOG - TAMANTHA BOWMAN

The fascination with twins has long existed. In the native cultures “The birth of twins is considered a notable event in many Native American cultures. In most cultures, twins are considered good luck, while in some, twins are considered spiritually powerful and were trained as medicine people.”…

COUNCIL BLOG - RACHEL DEMICCO

Whether you wholeheartedly believe these tools connect to the spirit realm, access the subconscious mind or offer a creative pathway to understanding life’s many mysteries, divination invites us to pause and connect with the unseen world. These rituals carry the weight of years of tradition and the intimacy of personal reflection and revelation. In a crazy, hectic world full of noise, they offer quiet moments of self-reflection, insight and sometimes, a little enchantment.

COUNCIL BLOG - BETH LAWSON

Quick facts about the mysterious area between Florida and Bermuda that seemed to fascinate folks for generations.

COUNCIL BLOG - ANDRONIKE JAMES

Happy Pride, spooky siblings! To celebrate, this year we’re dropping a list of a few of our favorite LGBTQIA+ folx in the paranormal and “spooky adjacent” world. Please go give them a follow and check out the work they’re doing.

COUNCIL BLOG - ANDRONIKE JAMES

If an image of a spooky séance in a dimly lit room, ectoplasm oozing out of a medium’s eyes and nose, and possibly some table tipping popped into your head, you’re exactly right (except for the ectoplasm thing, but I love the idea of it). Spiritualism however, offers more of a framework for understanding death as a transition to another plane of existence, rather than an ending.

COUNCIL BLOG - ANDRONIKE JAMES

The Fox sisters’ claims helped spark a widespread interest and belief that communicating with loved ones after they died was possible, and contributed to the rapid growth of the Spiritualist movement, a religious movement based on the belief that the dead could interact with the living. Séances and psychic mediums became popular across the U.S. and Europe,  as people sought ways to connect with their dead loved ones.

COUNCIL BLOG - BETH LAWSON & RACHEL DEMICCO

A deep chill crawled up my spine, and I instinctively took a step back. But the room felt charged, as if the air itself was holding its breath. I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t see anyone else, but I felt watched—intently. A soft, almost inaudible whisper brushed past my ear, though no one was nearby. It wasn’t just the doll. Something else lingered there.

COUNCIL BLOG - RACHEL DEMICCO

In today’s day and age, we mourn the dead very differently, but the Victorian era’s expressive and intimate rituals remind us of a time when grief was worn on the sleeve and sometimes woven into a ring.

COUNCIL BLOG - ANDRONIKE JAMES

"Death comes in threes." "An owl's hoot at twilight spells doom." "A cow's mournful moo after dark? Someone's about to cross over."  Ever felt a chill run down your spine hearing these old sayings? You've just brushed against the edge of Appalachian folklore, a world where the veil between the natural and supernatural is thin, and the past whispers from every shadowed hollow.

COUNCIL BLOG - TAMANTHA BOWMAN

It’s the final countdown!  Are we experiencing the end of times?

COUNCIL BLOG - RACHEL DEMICCO

The United States has a dark history of crime and has produced some of the most notorious names. However, none are quite as horrifying as Herman Webster Mudgett, otherwise known as H.H. Holmes. Holmes is often mentioned as being America’s first serial killer. Holmes was a lifelong criminal, con-artist, doctor, and a stone-cold murderer whose brutal killings culminated in his heinous “Murder Castle”- a labyrinth hotel erected for death.

COUNCIL BLOG - TAMANTHA BOWMAN

As the store shelves are lined with holiday candy for Valentine’s Day, I can’t help but to think of one of my favorite horror films- Candyman- so I ended up watching all four films within a 36-hour period. Re-watching the 1992 version directed by Bernard Rose on Apple TV, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up. I was whisked away back to the early 90s when I had just graduated high school and going to the movie theater was a regular outing. Except instead of being with my friends, I was on the couch with my husband 32 years later.