Paranormal Magazine

COMING SOON in Paranormal 41: An article on Occult Warfare by Nick Redfern PLUS enter now for your chance to win an xBox 360 console and a copy of WOLFENSTEIN – the exciting new computer game which combines warfare with the paranormal.

In Wolfenstein you play the role of B.J. Blazkowicz, an elite member of the Office of Secret Actions. You are sent on a daring, Top Secret mission right into the heart of the Third Reich to search for evidence of the Nazis’ possession of a mysterious and terrifying new power that threatens to destroy the free world.

While fighting deep behind enemy lines, you find that the Nazis have done much more than develop a new weapon: they have succeeded in harnessing the power of a dark parallel dimension known as The Veil. Their purpose: to create the ultimate weapon of war and take over the world.

In your fight against the forces of evil, the occult and Nazi Germany, you get to command a massive arsenal of Resistance and Axis Weapons, and you will have the ability to unleash the Nazis’ own dark powers and supernatural science against them, using both paranormal weaponry and Veil-enhanced firepower.

A highly entertaining, and visually stunning, new game that skillfully combines the world of the occult with both the paranormal and the wartime activities of the Nazis, Wolfenstein takes you on a roller-coaster ride into the unknown that will keep you entertained for hours!

Paranormal will be offering you the chance to win your own copy of Wolfenstein, plus, for one lucky winner, an xBox 360 console, too!

Look out for Paranormal 41 published on September 30, or for your chance to win go to our competitions page by clicking HERE.

(PS: Paranormal issue 40 is out now with fascinating features on marauding Viking ghosts;  the Moon as a base for UFOs; Harry Price’s most challenging investigation; a haunted jail; top ten fairy sites in the UK; and the mysteries of Turin and of Texas, to name a few.)

Weather balloons are frequently trotted out as an ‘explanation’ for UFO reports but what do we know about them? What contribution have balloons genuinely made to the UFO enigma? NIGEL WATSON investigates.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a UFO? No, it’s a weather balloon – honest.

When all else fails the authorities and sceptics claim that a supposed observation of an extraterrestrial vehicle was really a rogue ‘weather balloon’ seen in unusual circumstances.

Supporters of the esoteric origins of UFOs are more likely to think that the real gas bags involved in the sighting of such objects are the sceptics breathing out the old ‘it was a weather balloon’ explanation.

We all have a vague idea that meteorological organisations in most countries regularly launch these balloons to monitor the state of our weather systems, but can they be responsible for so many puzzling UFO sightings? Lets find out some more about these things before we can say for certain…

The rest of this article can be read in Paranormal Magazine issue 39

Paranormal editor RICHARD HOLLAND uncovers fascinating tales of ghosts haunting prehistoric monuments.

My home-town of Mold (Yr Wyddgrug) in North Wales has an archaeological claim to fame: the finding of a unique, 3,000-year old Gold Cape in 1833. Proudly on display in the British Museum alongside such superstars of antiquity as the Sutton Hoo burial mask and the Snettisham torc, the Gold Cape is the largest piece of prehistoric gold ever found in Europe.

It was discovered by road builders in a Bronze Age cairn they were robbing of stones. With it was a skeleton and hundreds of amber beads which would originally have been sewn into an elaborate cloak, long since rotted away. The cape would have been fitted round the shoulders of its owner, a chieftain or, as some suppose, a priest. I spent most of my youth in a house about 100 yards from this burial site but what makes the Mold Gold Cape even more interesting for me is that its discovery in effect proved the existence of a ghost.

For many years before the cairn was opened, it had gone by the name of Tomen-yr-Ellyllon (‘Goblin Mound’) and the field in which it stood was known as Cae Yspryd (‘Haunted Field’). The reason for this is that the mound and surrounding area was the haunt of a ghost called the Brenin yr Allt, or ‘King of the Hillside’. He was described as taking the appearance of a man of huge stature – a man who was seen to be ‘glittering and shining in gold’!

This article can be read in Paranormal Magazine issue 39

MARK OTTOWELL investigates the spooky accounts of hauntings experienced at the Historic Dockyard at Chatham in Kent.

In 2007 Mick, a member of the local Chatham Historical Society, and his dog Ben, were staying at the Historic Dockyard at Chatham in their campervan. During that evening, Ben suddenly started to growl at something or someone outside. Unusual behaviour for such a mild-mannered dog, thought Mick, trying to calm him.

He looked out of the window but could see nothing in the enveloping blackness that might have caused his dog to behave in such a manner. Mick was uneasy. He looked outside but nobody was there. He went back into the van and Ben started growling again, the hackles rising on the back of his neck. Then Mick saw something that chilled him to the bone.

An inexplicable mist was appearing and disappearing on the side window as if someone were breathing on it. Mick went back outside. Still there was not a living soul in sight. It struck him that the mist on the glass was about the height of a young child. Perhaps the cause of it was the mischievous ghostly children who roam around the Dockyard playing their tricks?

This article can be found in Paranormal Magazine issue 39

Strange tales of statues that move, weep and sing are gathered by KARL SHUKER, together with equally fascinating accounts of apparently genuine mechanical men and beasts.

One of Greek mythology’s most famous stories tells of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, who skilfully carves from ivory the statue of a young woman so beautiful and realistic that he falls in love with her, and which, in answer to his prayers, the goddess Aphrodite brings to life so that he can marry her and make her his queen, Galatea.

Although I have yet to encounter a modern-day factual case quite so dramatic as this, there are many accounts on file of statues, icons and other carved, inanimate effigies that have reputedly exhibited all manner of unexpected behaviour – weeping, moving, blinking, singing, and even wing-flapping and chess-playing.

However, as examined here, could it be that these miraculous entities owe their talents more to a complex mix of human ingenuousness and ingenuity than to any divine intervention?

The rest of this article can be found in Paranormal magazine issue 39

Format: Wii

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom (in-house)

Reviewed by David Valjalo

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Warning: a budget price-point and Wii-specific controls (don’t fret, the Classic and ‘Cube controller options are here, too) are the only new marketing tools of this re-release (of the 2002 Gamecube remake).  It’s lucky for consumers, then, that the sands of time haven’t weakened the guttural grip of the series’ puzzle-based roots.

Set in and around a prim and petrifying mansion that will prove to be the first domino in a series of unfortunate, undead events, Resident Evil sees you take on the role of either stranded S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine as the mystery of what gives corpses hunger pangs is revealed in full, gory detail.

That the original cogs of survival horror turning underneath the gorgeous, pre-rendered chassis still illicit such a sense of palpable fear and tension is testament to Capcom’s original 13-year-old inception.  The static camera, the sluggish controls and the unforgiving save system may put the frighteners on players bred on Evils 4 and 5 but Resident Evil’s miniature labyrinth of treasures, horrors and herbs remains one of the most satisfying risk/reward loops in videogame history.

The cracks in the armour show in the script and voice-acting, but that’s always been this franchise’s Romero-loving vibe and there’s an odd romanticism to the unspoken trust between the two protagonists that layers the experience of playing out their separate, parallel destinies.

It’s a shame to find a lack of exclusive – perhaps retrospective – extras, but with a title as robust, timeless and atmospheric, it’s difficult to file a complaint when you’re scrambling for a clean pair of undergarments.

Format: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Radical

Reviewed by David Valjalo

(1 votes, average: 2 out of 5)

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That Radical’s open-world title feels familiar isn’t just down to the faux-goth stylings that are de rigueur for modern 18-rated titles that act tough but don’t mean it; rather, it’s a product of the genetic make-up from the studio’s last big-hitter – Hulk: Ultimate Destruction – having been carried over almost entirely to this license-free offering.  With the great power of that gameplay heritage comes the great responsibility of upping the ante for a new generation of hardware and, unfortunately, Prototype doesn’t quite deliver on the expectation of its Herculean promises.

Handed the role of a typically hooded and brooding anti-hero shortly before his (and New York’s) transformation into a weapon of gross destruction, it’s time to find out whodunit.  The narrative exposition is handled in a snappy and succinct way (via miniature flashbacks and cutaways) that relieves users of any self-aggrandising schlock-horror plot.  With little of variety to do besides the central missions, it’s the upgrade system that becomes the meat of Prototype’s meal.  ‘Consuming’ enemies to steal their guise and evade The Man is a novel touch that is made redundant by the speed at which users acquire superhuman, helicopter-kicking strength; ambition outweighing execution is Prototype’s fatal flaw.

Radical strides elegantly to each gameplay hurdle before toppling awkwardly over them; a sense of speed is countered by some dire animation, a sense of power is countered by unconvincing physics and poor collision detection – the list goes on.  As a companion piece to Radical’s previous sandbox foray, Prototype almost graduates from pupil to master, but it’s the towering competition from the likes of Crackdown, Infamous and Assassin’s Creed that keep the game in detention.

Directed by: Alex Proyas

Price: £19.99

Reviewed by Fergus McShane

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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When summer blockbuster season arrives you can expect it to land with a bang… then explosion… then screams. What you wouldn’t expect are quasi-religious questions of fatalism and pre-determinism thrown in, but that is what Knowing delivers.

One part disaster/special-effects thriller, one part supernatural Sci-fi, Knowing follows MIT astrophysicist Nicholas Cage as he uncovers a code inexplicably linked to catastrophes that take place worldwide.

Essentially a disaster movie with some Close Encounters thrown in for good measure, the film loses its way when forced to decide exactly what it wants to be. Instead of fully going down the road of apocalypse movies like The Day After Tomorrow, mysteries like The Number 23, or sci-fi’s like Cocoon, it blends aspects of all, leaving a disjointed epic in the wake. There are even scenes slipped in that could have come straight from horror of the Twilight Zone variety (whispering albinos sneakily doling out black stones).

However there are some redeeming features to Knowing – the plane and train crashes are certainly spectacular and gripping, the ending is well executed (if predictable) and for the most part it packs in the entertainment we have come to expect from an early summer blockbuster.

It may not work on all the portentous levels that it tries to, but Knowing is an enjoyable ‘popcorn’ thriller.

Directed by: Thomas Alfredson

Price: £17.99

Reviewed by Fergus McShane

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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Long have vampires inhabited our screens. And like the mythical monsters themselves, vampire films often seem to have everlasting life and the ability to be reborn with every generation. Let the Right One In is the latest of these rebirths and easily one of the best.

Containing all the freshness of the Swedish landscape, the film circles around the relationship between two children – Oskar a lonely boy and Eli a reclusive vampire. The pair naturally come together, forming a friendship (with childish allusions to more) out of isolation and become the focal point of this chilling, often brutal tale.

With all the glamour of the ‘vampire’ wholly removed, we get a glimpse of a ‘true’ demon. Reclusive (living in a bare council flat), fearful of people, being pulled between blood-lust and not wanting to draw attention, Eli lives a miserable life looked after by a murderous, highly disturbing father figure.

The relationship between Oskar and Eli highlights the quality of the film and indeed the novel it is based on. Moving from childishly naïve to playful to horrific and tender, the pair forms the heart of an astonishing piece of cinema.

Alfredson has somehow brought a little bit of love and light into the darkest of landscapes, showing a new side to the vampire in the process. Definitely the right one to let in!

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Price: £19.99

Reviewed by Fergus McShane

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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Many have tried and many have failed to adapt Alan Moore’s meandering comic book Watchmen. Zack Snyder has been the latest to tackle the epic comic and surprisingly he seems to have pulled it off.

After a lengthy legal battle between Paramount and Fox threatening to destroy Watchmen before it even hit the screen; Alan Moore’s discontentment with his work being adapted to cinema; and one of the largest groups of diehard fans waiting with bated breath… the odds were stacked heavily against Snyder’s adaptation.

Astonishingly what emerged is a wholly enjoyable and immensely sized extravaganza. Keeping firm hold of the best aspects of the book while losing the parts mainstream audiences wouldn’t accept from a realistically styled film, Watchmen comes as yet another new way for the superhero movie to go.

At times Snyder’s style may be on the indulgent side, similarly to that seen in 300, but as an ode to Moore’s epic Snyder has stayed mainly faithful. Following the escapades of what would really happen if there really were superheroes among us, Watchmen is a weird and wonderful rehash of history.

For the sheer size of the film Snyder will take the plaudits. It may not reach the quality of the book, but really it was never going to. And if anything, Watchmen’s greatest success will be attracting those unfamiliar with the comic to a new world of everyday superheroes.

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