Paranormal Review Of 2019
December 27, 2019 6:00 AM ‐ Paranormal • Long Reads
This article is more than four years old.
2019 has been another interesting and entertaining year in the paranormal world. It was there year when Ouijazilla - the world's largest ever spirit board was constructed, and the year that no self respecting paranormal investigator would ever admit to not having read Usborne's classic 70s ghost book.
As always there's been the normal controversies and dramas, as well as some extraordinary claims of mind blowing evidence of the supernatural. We've seen new ghost hunting television shows take to our screens, alongside some returning favourites.
Join us as we look back month-by-month at some of the weirdest news stories, strangest happenings, most convincing ghost sightings, and the most intriguing unexplained events from 2019 from the United Kingdom and around the world.
We Met The Kentucky Goblins
Photo: hellier.tv
In January we witnessed a super blood wolf moon eclipse, which some thought my bring about the end of civilisation. It goes without saying that we survived, and in fact January turned out to be a good month when the internet went into meltdown after a teaser trailer for next year's 'Ghostbusters' movie was unexpectedly dropped.
It was also the month that Phil Whyman and his wife Sara went back-to-basics in their new paranormal web series, 'Are You Haunted?', a show which grew in popularity across the year and resulted in two nominations in the Paranormal Entertainment Awards. The show went on to pick up the gold award for 'Best Online Paranormal Show'.
But the thing that had the paranormal community talking the most in January was the claim that there could be goblins on the run in Kentucky in a documentary, 'Hellier'.
The five-part documentary series follows husband and wife paranormal investigators Greg and Dana Newkirk as they team up with filmmaker Karl Pfeiffer and try to get to the bottom of reports of goblin-like creatures in the small town of Hellier.
The series was very well received, perhaps due to its high production values, being filmed in a beautiful cinematic style with perfect audio and a great original score - very impressive for an independently-funded documentary series. Within a week of the show's premiere it had notched up over 150k views on YouTube alone, making it one of Planet Weird's most successful and popular series to date. The story continued in a second season that was released online in November.
The Road To Hell Opened In The Midlands
Photo: youtube.com
The month when we learnt that Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman were parting ways meaning 'Paranormal Lockdown' is no more and the internet debated a UFO spotted in Utah. It was also the month that the road to Hell was opened in the Midlands of all places.
At Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, heritage experts have found hundreds of examples of apotropaic marks – that's a posh way of saying signs that were made to ward off evil, misfortune, or even witches or demons.
What makes the site particularly interesting is that it also contains the only examples of very early ice age art in the UK, meaning man has been lurking in these caves carving things on the walls for millennia.
The sheer number and scale of the anti-witch markings means this site is of particular significance. How terrified must the local citizens have been that they spent time and effort carving over a thousand, and counting, of these marks into the walls of the cave?
Uri Geller Stopped Brexit?
Photo: © Taylor Herring
In March we heard the sad story of how Paul Chuckle is visited by his late-brother Barry from the afterlife, but the main talking point - like much of the rest of the year - was Brexit. The UK was due to leave the European Union on March 29th, but needless to say, it didn't happen. Could that have been due to celebrity psychic Uri Geller's involvement?
Uri wrote a letter addressed to the then-British PM, Theresa May, telling her, "I love you very much but I will not allow you to lead Britain into Brexit." He went on to say that he will use his psychic powers to stop the UK's withdraw from Europe, "as much as I admire you, I will stop you telepathically from doing this - and believe me I am capable of executing it."
In April the celebrated paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren, passed away quietly and peacefully at the age of 92.
Lorraine was a world-renowned "demonologist," who dedicated her life to exploring, authenticating, and documenting some of the most famous paranormal incidents ever reported. Her work, along with her husband Ed, inspired Hollywood movies like 'The Conjuring'.
Although Ed died in 2006, up until her passing Lorraine was still an active member of the paranormal community and even continued to run an occult museum from her home in Connecticut.
According to TMZ, who broke the news, her grandson Chris McKinnell, said, "last night my grandmother, Lorraine Warren, quietly and peacefully left us to join her beloved Ed. She was happy and laughing until the very end."
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Amanda Holden Terrified By Haunting Act On 'Britain's Got Talent'
It was the month when 'Paranormal: Captured' started on Pick, Zak Bagans bought the infamous "Devil's Rocking Chair", and a house in St. Osyth known as "The Cage" was put up for sale. However, the thing that the paranormal community were sharing the most in May was a terrifying encounter that occurred on primetime television.
'Britain's Got Talent' judge Amanda Holden was given a paranormal experience she'll never forget live on the ITV show, when a scary ghost act pushed her to the limit of her fears.
The eerie act called The Haunting was performed during the show's semi-final and frightened Amanda so much that she accidentally dropped an F-bomb during the broadcast, which resulted in her having to issue an apology.
Was Dobby The House Elf Caught On Camera By A Muggle?
Photo: facebook.com
In June, a Welsh man recorded the weird and unexplained sound of people screaming in pain coming from beneath his house, a glowing snake-like UFO was spotted over California, and fans of the paranormal questioned the validity of the claims of a man called Chris Chambers in a documentary about a dybbuk box.
But it was a Dobby-like creature that was caught on CCTV that was talked about the most.
The video clip of security footage showed a strange creature that looked like the Harry Potter house elf. The confused home owner caught the unexplained image on a security camera outside her home in the US. She posted the clip on Facebook saying, "first I saw the shadow walking from my front door then I saw this thing."
Robbie Williams' Home Haunted By 60s Singer Mama Cass
Photo: © Drew de F Fawkes
In the month that 'Stranger Things' returned to Netflix, and we heard that scientists in Tennessee were trying to open a real gateway to an Upside-Down-style parallel universe, we also heard how a former Take That star thinks his house is haunted by a 60s soul singer.
Robbie is well known for his interest in the paranormal having once famously spoken out about his beliefs in UFOs, but this year he spoke about how the LA mansion that he rented from 'Ghostbusters' star Dan Aykroyd 18 years ago was haunted by one of the house's former residents, Mamas and Papas singer Cass Elliot, also known as Mama Cass.
'Ghosts Of Morgan City' Captured Full-Bodied Apparition On Camera
In August a Black Moon was being talked about by lots of witchy-types, and Zak Bagans bought a house in LA connected to the murders of the infamous serial killer, Charles Manson.
The moment that got the most attention in August was a clip on a new US television show that appeared to show a full-bodied apparition of a young girl in a white dress walking through a house in Louisiana.
The Travel Channel's 'Ghosts Of Morgan City' caught the figure on camera during an investigation for the show's third episode, in which they spent the night at the Idlewild Plantation in St. Mary Parish. The figure was seen walking through the dining room while the house was empty. The incident was caught on a static camera placed in an adjoining room.
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Paranormal Investigators Deal With Myra Hindley's Cursed Ashes
In September a failed attempt to storm Area 51 made headlines around the world, and DNA tests of the water in Loch Ness revealed that sightings of the elusive monster are probably best explained by the presence of giant eels.
It was also the month of one of the most controversial moments of 2019 from the paranormal world. Lee and Linzi from the paranormal team 'Ghosts Of Britain' sparked controversy when they announced that they were going to be conducting a paranormal investigation that related to the notorious child killer, Myra Hindley.
Despite the backlash they received, they went ahead with their 'Myra Hindley Revealed' live broadcast. They were joined by Jemma, who claimed to have in her possession a jar of the killer's ashes and now feels her and her family are being haunted by the evil spirit of Hindley.
'The World Of The Unknown: Ghosts' Was Re-Publish
The month of Halloween was obviously a busy one for the paranormal world, with plenty of ghost hunting shows airing - mostly as part of the Really channel's '13 Nights Of Frights'. Zak Bagans and the 'Ghost Adventures' team's Halloween special saw them investigate the house that inspired the movie 'The Conjuring'. Meanwhile, Yvette Fielding and the 'Most Haunted' team conducted an investigation in front of a live audience for the first time in almost ten years.
The paranormal world also got nostalgic in October when Usborne re-released a classic kids book on ghosts. 'The World Of The Unknown: Ghosts' was first released in 1977 and due to demand from fans of the series, the legendary Usborne book on ghosts went back into print with a new foreword by lifelong fan of the book, Reece Shearsmith.
The cult book might be more than 40 years old, and some of the facts inside might not be as commonly believed as they once were, but the book still holds up as a brilliant introduction to ghosts, hauntings and paranormal investigation.
'Help! My House Is Haunted' Returned
Photo: twitter.com
In November over 60k fans of the paranormal voted for their favourite television shows, movies, podcasts and content creators in the Paranormal Entertainment Awards. And, the Really channel announced it would be increasing its paranormal programming with two nights of ghost hunting shows which it calls the #freakend.
One of the shows in the new lineup was 'Help! My House Is Haunted', which made a welcome return for its second series, but with some exciting new changes, including a new team member. Jayne Harris joined the team for series two alongside familiar faces Barri Ghai the show's tech expert, and world renowned psychic Chris Fleming.
This year Barri had to call a fellow team member for "help!" when he felt that something sinister had followed him home from an episode shoot. Chris helped Barri to perform a blessing and cleansing ritual around his house in order to drive the troublesome entities away.
In December we saw our last full moon of the decade, witness a Friday the 13th dubbed "the nightmare before Christmas" and saw Zak Bagans release a new ghost hunting book 'For Dummies'.
It was also the month that the winners of the 2019 Paranormal Entertainment Awards were announced. Fans of supernatural movies, spooky podcasts and ghost hunting television shows had been voting for their favourite shows and content creators throughout November.
We received almost 60,000 votes in total, before locking down the votes and announcing the winners at the start of December.
The list of winners included television psychic Chris Fleming, who picked up not one, but two gold awards. The American medium is best known in the UK for his role as the psychic investigator on Really's 'Help! My House Is Haunted'. Chris received his awards in two categories, Best Psychic and Best Paranormal Podcast, which honoured his work as a psychic and for his monthly 'Spirit Talk' podcast.
'Most Haunted' also won big this year. The long-running ghost hunting show bagged a gold award in each of the four categories it was nominated in, including Best Paranormal Reality Show for a second year running, where it was up against Zak Bagan's 'Ghost Adventures' which won the silver award.
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