Anne Rice sinks teeth into vampire 'vooks'

Vook - a video-book hybrid and the name of a California-based company that makes them - is releasing their take on “The Master of Rampling Gate,” a 1984 Anne Rice short story about a vampire and his young love, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to WSJ, the digital version of the story will include the "6,500-word short story (shot through with hyperlinks to definitions of phrases readers might be unfamiliar with ... an interview with Anne Rice in her California home, and an interview with her son, Christopher Rice, in New Orleans, where Rice lived and worked for many years."

 A preview of the Rice vook is embedded for your enjoyment.

New 'Plants vs. Zombies' iPhone game breaks records

Plants vs. Zombies, the iPhone App game by PopCap Games that launched Feb. 15 and currently has more than four thousand five-star reviews on iTunes, broke records as a top-selling game with 300,000 downloads in nine days, reports PCWorld. The game, which initially launched in May 2009 on Windows, pits anthropomorphic planty creatures against reanimated undead brain-food eaters and "hit number one in 'units sold' and 'top grossing' categories on Apple's App Store charts inside 24 hours of launching on February 15, then managed to hold the top spot until yesterday."

Looks like with these lively downloads, PopCap sure knows how to "produce" results. Amiright? Right?

'L.A.Times' op-ed: UFO sightings parallel sci-fi flicks

In the wake of the British government's fifth and largest release (6,000 pages) of UFO files, the Los Angeles Times wrote an interesting editorial on how the extra terrestrial crafts we see change shape based on what's en vogue in pop culture. For instance, in the '40s, flying saucers were the shape of sightings and correlated with those in films such as Forbidden Planet. Then the triangular shape took over in sightings around the same time audiences discovered the Star Destroyers in Star Wars (left).

Granted, some might say it's the aliens influencing pop culture and not vice versa, but who am I to say? I just think it's an interesting observation by the Times.

Didn't you know? 'The Wolfman' ripped off 'Twilight'

There's not much to add to this delicious bit of reader mail that was sent to George Roush of LatinoReview.com. It's a letter accusing Universal Pictures of ripping off Stephenie Meyer's New Moon werewolves in The Wolfman - you know, the remake of their own 1941 film?

If this wasn't so hilarious, the idiocy on parade here would be tragic. I blame the schools.

To whom this may concern:
This movie was a complete waste and I feel that it offends ALL Twilight Fans around the world, that including myself. For one, it was a COMPLETE remaking of the Wolf Pack from the Twilight Saga: New Moon. It gives the werewolves a bad name and makes them look like some deformed mutation of a rabid dog. I actually started to like werewolves after seeing Jacob Black and all his awesomeness on the big screen at the movies. That was until I saw your crappy remake of what you call to be a "were wolf". I don't see how you live with yourself for making it the way you did. If I made this movie, I would be ashamed to even admit that I owned it. How can a werewolf be killed with a silver bullet? Better yet, have you saw the transformation of the man that is "supposed" to be the wolf? He sits in some chair and his entire body turns in to some mutated freak. If you would watch the transformation of Jacob Black, (Taylor Lautner) he doesn't come close to looking as fake, cheap and or mutated as the wolf man. You tell me, who looks to be the better werewolf. Your stupid Wolf Movie didn't even make the top Movie for the charts; Valentines Day WITH TAYLOR Lautner! Get that this is MY oppinion and I felt I wanted to express it because I saw that your email was on your site. I wanted to let you know this is what i thought of the wolf man that sucks.
FREAKIN LAUTNER DID!

U.S. Court of Appeals: Zombies have right to free speech

Although their speech is largely comprised of moaning and the occasional "braainnssss," a U.S. Court of Appeals released a ruling on Wednesday guaranteeing the right of free speech to the walking dead, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The ruling actually refers to seven protesters dressed as zombie (the slow-moving, shuffling kind) who were wrongfully arrested for disorderly conduct in 2006 in Minneapolis as part of a consumerism protest.

The ruling "reanimates the group's federal lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and its police, seeking damages of at least $50,000 for each person arrested."

So while the protesters are suing the city, George A. Romero should sue them for intellectual theft for ripping off his "zombies in mall" Dawn of the Dead plotline.

USA Today: Haunted hotels' ghost stories can be good for business

USA Today published a story, um, today, about haunted histories and ghost tours being good business for hotel (such as The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo., right) and a trend many establishments have come to embrace, despite some skepticism about the legitimacy of the paranormal happenings.

Well, duh.

This is a fine feature story and is newsworthy - three years ago.

In other news, Twitter is popular, kids these days like rock 'n' roll and talking movies might catch on.

'The Eclipse' premieres online

The Eclipse, the Irish ghost story we mentioned last month, has premiered on Amazon video on demand, and it's a compelling flick worth the rental fee, and at the Irish Film and TV Awards, it picked up awards for Best Irish Film, Best Script (Conor McPherson and Billy Roche), and Best Supporting Actor (Aidan Quinn).

If you want to see if it's your cup of Irish Breakfast, watch the trailer below and check out the exclusive clip over at io9.

'Ghost Whisperer': top 100 ghostly gotchas

Over the course of 100 episodes of Ghost Whisperer, medium Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has crossed over 404 ghosts into the light.

To celebrate the centennial episode on Friday, March 5, 8 p.m., EST on CBS, here’s a list of 100 ghostly encounters that have wreaked havoc in the Ghost Whisperer world…

1. Melinda is almost decapitated by a ghost brandishing a chain saw.

2. Family matters are taken to a new low when, Melinda’s own father appears to haunt her from the grave.

3. Melinda is chased by what she thinks is a zombie when a ghost inhabits the body of a fresh cadaver.  (This is known as a Walk-In in the spirit world)

4. Melinda is held captive in a pitch-black closet by an evil spirit. 

'Ghost Hunters' 100th episode details

It's only a week away from the 100th episode of Ghost Hunters - you know, the paranormal pop culture franchise that launched the reality-TV ghost craze - and the party machine is rolling for the big night. More details have emerged about the investigation of Alcatraz (show here in a pic by Ben Peoples) and live "interactive" event hosted by Josh Gates on Weds, March 3. Here's the word about the event straight from Syfy, and two promos for it are embedded below for your enjoyment.

On Wednesday, March 3, join Jason, Grant and the rest of the TAPS team as the Ghost Hunters celebrate their triumphant 100th episode with a LIVE audience from the legendary Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center.  From 9-11pm, the team will present their first-ever investigation at Alcatraz as well as take a look back at the most shocking and spine-chilling moments the hit series has caught on tape over the past five seasons.

Josh Gates (Destination Truth) will host the event, which will feature investigators from all three Ghost Hunters teams gathered together for the very first time.  Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, Amy Bruni, Kris Williams (Ghost Hunters), Barry Fitzgerald, Robb Demarest, Dustin Pari (Ghost Hunters International), Susan Slaughter and Karl Pfeiffer (Ghost Hunters Academy) will take the stage and get the chance to talk directly with the fans, answering audience questions from in the studio and Syfy.com.

Throughout the show, Josh will also reveal some surprises coming up in the Ghost Hunters franchise!

As always, Syfy.com will serve as the ultimate Ghost Hunters destination online, linking viewers to all of the action in the studio in real time.  The site will host an interactive center helmed by investigator Britt Griffith, where fans can log on throughout the evening to be a part of the broadcast.  Viewers will be able to ask questions of all participating TAPS members, leave comments and feedback, participate in polls, read up on Alcatraz history and more!

Then, at 11pm, the show continues online with an exclusive post-broadcast streaming event, “Ghost Hunters Alcatraz Live Extra,” also hosted by Josh Gates.  This 15-minute extension of the live episode will feature a Q&A panel with Jason, Grant and the rest of the TAPS team answering viewer-submitted questions from Syfy.com.

Psychic school headmaster catches ghost pic - Maybe

British newspapers, including The Sun, reported Kevin Horkin - the businessman with a "psychic management company" who is attempting to purchase Gwyrch Castle for the purpose of launching a school for psychics - may have caught a photo of a ghost while touring the grounds of the North Wales castle.

Horkin says he only realized the ghostly girl figure in the window while downloading the images from his digital camera. However, he says, "I did feel a presence there. It was a cold day when I visited, but it seemed warm near the building."

Understandably, some people like the healthily skeptical folks at Ghost Theory, claim Horkin is attempting a hoax to drum up publicity for his psychic school plan. Although the best comments about the photo are coming in from MY Sun reader reaction section for the newspaper. One reader mentions, "I love Photoshop, and all the wonderful things it can do" and another points out the girly ghost looks like Hermione herself, actress Emma Watson.

Hey, maybe after spending so many years at Hogwarts, Watson is ready to enroll at Horkin's new school.

Olympic skeleton guided by spirits

As if the Winter Olympic sport called skeleton isn't cool enough, there's now a little bit of paranormal to add to the wintry mix.

The Calgary Herald is reporting the Canadian skeleton team visited a "sport shaman" last fall to determine their spirit animal.

The shaman, Sandra Molendyk, suggested that racer Jon Montgomery (pictured here) is guided by a spirit turtle, which is why he wears a tribal painting of one on his helmet.

However, having the notoriously slowpoke animal as his spirit guide is apparently helping; the Herald reports that Montgomery had the fastest time in his two training runs this Wednesday.

-Aaron Sagers

Client foretells fraud after NYC psyhic scams her

The New York Post reported this week an unhappy client claims in a lawsuit that her psychic conned her out of more thank 10 grand.

In the suit filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court for $75,000 in damages, Dane Chan alleges Greenwich Village psychic Sylvia Mitchell (who operates as "Zena Psychic") twice instructed her to fill a jar with nine $100 bills, which Mitchell kept for cleansing.  Additionally, Chan claims Mitchell swiped her credit card two times for $4,743 at a Ralph Lauren store, which Mitchell claimed was for ritual materials.

The Amazing Kreskin this "Zena" is not, but something tells me Chan might be just the type of person you could sell the Brooklyn Bridge to.

-Aaron Sagers

Brit's plans for psychic school one step closer to Hogwarts reality

Although Florida is home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it looks like the Brits are taking one step closer to creating a real Hogwart's school.

The Lancashire Telegraph reports that Kevin Horkin, owner of "psychic management" company Parallel, is attempting to purchase Gwrych Castle (shown left in a photo by Dot Potter) in Abergele, North Wales, for the purpose of opening a school for psychics.

Along with renovations to the 19th century castle, Horkin's plans for a "psychic school of excellence" include hotel accommodations for the site, which he hopes to open by late 2012.

Horkin (right) tells the Telegraph,  "It has always been one of my ambitions to open a psychic retreat somewhere and this would work on several fronts." "It will be somewhere where psychics can go to meet like-minded people, to further their interests and develop their psychic senses."

Of course, while we don't have castles devoted to psychic schools here in the States, we do have the well-known Spiritualist retreats in Lily Dale, NY, and Cassadaga, Fla. Still, if this plan for the castlle does happen, I'll be one of the first waiting on line for the train at Platform 9 3/4.

-Aaron Sagers

Demon sheep! Politics gets paranormal (and very weird)

Frankly, I don't know what's more paranormal about this California campaign advertisement below:  The demon sheep with robot eyes or the friggin cuh-razy craisin-munching crazytown residents who thought it would be a good idea to make.  Whatever makes this paranormal, it's certainly indefinable.

The attack ad by senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina is aimed at fellow Republican Tom Campbell. Featuring voiceover by a dude who sounds like an evil Morgan Freeman - and could surely lend gravitas to any bat-crap insane phrase such as, "The End is Nigh ... and we are out of Rocky Road ice cream!" - the spot suggests that Campbell is the dreaded, awkwardly-named FCINO (Fiscal Conservative In Name Only), that fiscal conservatives (or is it his voters?) are sheeple, and that Campbell may be attempting to destroy the world by posing in an ill-fitting, but incredibly soft, fleece outfit with a lame lamb mask and glowing Terminator eyes.

The video has gone viral, but I don't think in the good way Fiorina may hope.  As Steve Pendlebury writes in his roundup of reactions, it makes her look unstable - even if it gets people talking about her. In fact, it seems like the kind of spot our friend the Conspiracy Nut might produce with Final Cut Pro and a small budget.

Pac-Man wall sconces hip haunting purchase

You don't need to eat a power pellet to gobble up these game-inspired decor.

Walyou (via Nerdapproved) brings us this bit of paranormal pop culture comfort living. Designed by Mirko Ginepro, these steel-framed Pac-Man-esque ghosty wall sconces are colorful decor for those with the ultimate geeky bachelor(ette?) pad. They come in classic Pinky, Inky and green colors.

Margaret Cho joins 'Ghost Whisperer'

TV Fanatic is reporting actress and comedian Margaret Cho will begin her recurring role duties on Ghost Whisperer this Friday. Cho will play Avery Grant, a professor haunted by an ex, who is supernaturally a ghost.

Promo for the episode embedded below for your enjoyment.

The Conspiracy Nut Report: The Philadelphia Experiment (not just a movie!)

Known only as The Conspiracy Nut, this writer comments frequently on his theories of machinations, scandals and conspiracies in paranormal pop culture and their connection to the real world. The views reflected in The Conspiracy Nut Report are wacky and (probably, hopefully, maybe?) completely untrue, and definitely not those of ParanormalPopCulture.com.  However, they are fun to read.

The Conspiracy Nut Report

Last year I was in The City of Brotherly Love and ventured down to the naval yards to check out some odd stories I'd been hearing.  Most of you are familiar with the story of the Philadelphia Experiment, or at least have heard of the movie starring Michael Pare (who also starred in Eddie and the Cruisers).  Well, to make a long story short, the naval department outfitted the U.S.S. Eldridge with a series of EMF generators in order to make the ship invisible both optically and to radar. 

As the story goes, the ship vanished from the Philly docks, materialized in Norfolk, Va., then dematerialized again and reappeared in Philly. 

PPC Apps: Monsters, zombies and ghosts on the go

The good folks over at Appmodo are doing a good job keeping me apprised of some new, potentially sweet paranormal pop culture iPhone apps.

The first is M.A.A.- Monsters Against Aliens, a goofy fun spaceship fighter game with 33 levels and 20 galaxies going for $1.99 at iTunes.

The other, far more exciting one is Ghosts 'n Zombies, for an introductory $0.99 at iTunes.  The setup is basically that you play as an old dude (who looks like the brother of Carl from Up) and you shoot ghoulies in an old chapel.  Straightforward, shoot-'em-up fun.  Some of Appmodo's gameplay footage is below.

The Sun: Hubble UFO not alien

Say what you will about the journalistic integrity of Rupert Murdoch's The Sun, but it's always a good read and woo boy, do they love their UFO stories (so much so, in fact, that they'll be reporting sightings to pick up from the Ministry of Defence's decision to terminate its 60-year-old UFO hotline)

This latest article draws readers in with promises of a UFO caught by the Hubble telescope last month - and technically (just barely technically), the object in question is a UFO - and delivers on an interesting, well-reported story about a body with a comet-like tail most likely the result of a 9.3 thousand miles-per-hour asteroid collision.

So no little green men this time, but it's still a cool shot from the Hubble. Read the entire story here.

Rental Reviewer: 'District 9'

Each week, at-home critic Denise Purvis dons the guise of the Rental Reviewer and explores the best (and worst) of paranormal pop culture movies.

District 9

This hit theaters in August 2009, and was released onto DVD Dec. 22. I watched it in the theater, but figured  it was worth another whirl from the comfort of my own home – where I can wallow on my couch in my underwear (too much info? Nah). The film was directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson after funding fell through for the Halo movie based on the video game. It was just recently nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The plot: The story is adapted from Blomkamp’s 2005 short film, Alive in Joburg. When the spaceship of these awfully shrimp-like aliens (known as “prawns”) breaks down above Johannesburg, South Africa, they’re forced to

Psychics say quarterback McNabb not for the birds

When Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb commented last week that he was sure he'd be back next year on the team because, "I have a psychic and she told me," it was the second time he joked about consulting a spiritualist experts.

OK, so McNabb was probably just joking about talking with Miss Cleo, much like he was during the World Series when he said he didn't need his psychic to know the Phillies would win the pennant. Still, the comments were enough to pique the interest of the Philadelphia Inquirer's sister site, philly.com.

While most pundits and fans don't expect McNabb to don the midnight green jersey next season, writer Peter Mucha wanted to see what the seers say. The psychics he speaks with all claim to not be football fans or know who McNabb is, but they all tend to agree the QB isn't going into OT with the team.

Check it out, it's an interesting sports and paranormal pop culture crossover that's also just plain fun.