The hollow plastic sound of a Big Wheel rolling down corridors populated by twin girl specters in blue dresses, and the rampant property damage incurred by a tidal wave of blood and reckless axe usage, are the indelible sensory associations with the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film,
The Shining – and by extension, with the
Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo., that stood in for the fictionally haunted
Overlook Hotel
.
Yet the cinematic Overlook shares less in common with the Stanley than it even does with the Overlook from Stephen King’s
literary source material
upon which
The Shining is based. Instead, as any casual paranormal investigator or ghost story enthusiast knows, the spooks that supposedly frequent the Stanley are as interactive, albeit less murderous, than those of celluloid.
The tales make the Stanley one of the most famous North American spectral spots of apparitional appeal; a haunted hotspot where spirits may gather to roam the hallways, play the piano and carry on as if on permanent vacation. Those tales are also what attracted the
TAPS team there twice in 2006 for a televised
Ghost Hunters investigation and live Halloween event
, and for the July 7
Ghost Hunters Academy season finale – as well as several times since for ticketed events.
The original episodes yielded amazing evidence that rank among the show’s best and earned the “haunted” seal. Each team member seems to have a favorite part of a Stanley investigation after the shows and events.
“The Stanley was one of the big ones we’d always wanted to get to and once we did, it did not disappoint,” says Jason Hawes who says he looks forward to each investigation there – and to pulling pranks on fellow TAPS members if there’s an axe handy.
“Hey brother, it’s
The Shining hotel. How can you resist?”
Actor Leslie Nielsen died Sunday at the age of 84. He was an accomplished actor before he took on parody in the 1980 flick Airplane!
and followed it up with the 1982 series Police Squad!
, which spawned the '88 franchise The Naked Gun
.
, Dracula: Dead and Loving It
, and Scary Movie 3
and Scary Movie 4
(a spoof 17 years in the making) starring Nielsen as the Max von Sydow-esque priest. Linda Blair reprises her role as the target of possession, only instead of "Regan," she's Nancy, a full-grown woman who gets - say it with me now - repossessed by the devil. The movie wasn't very good and 
To choose the scan or the hand – that is the question facing the flying public. Media coverage and the “National Opt-Out Day” protest has placed focus on the new Transportation Security Administration policies that require select passengers either submit to a full-body Advanced Imaging Technology nudie pic scan or be willing to undergo a thorough “pat down.” 
) at the airport because “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” (Bob Dylan).
) and “Wish You Were Here” (Pink Floyd
) messages to friends and family. 
) on the scanner belt. If you observe a religion which specifies you have headwear, do not assume “You Can Leave Your Hat On” (Joe Cocker
).
In theory (don't you just love when things start off that way?), one person would work the remote control to turn Herbie's neck, and the voice actor would speak the lines into a microphone. The voice would activate Herb's robotic jaw, and would also emit from a speaker in the skull so his scene partner could hear the lines. Any lines not picked up by the overhead boom mic could later be dubbed in, but we hoped to not have too many of those. In theory. 
? In our case, instead of, "The shark is not working!" blaring over the megaphone, we heard, "The skull is not working...again!!"
defines me. It is a part of my POP-DNA; having been born into it and grown up with it, I am a proud member of Gen X-Wing. Yet I feel the pull of the Potterheads. 
; it was the second year of college and my pop-culture attention was wrapped up with a movie which wouldn’t be released for another eight months - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
, the first of George Lucas’ prequels (and no, I’d rather not talk about it). It wasn’t until 2000, when book four, The Goblet of Fire
, was published I began to read up on the books and take notice of the Potter mania.
61 Hours: A Reacher Novel
By Thomas Perry
trilogy
