Here's a link to an About.com article about a family of women who are terrified by three nights of poltergeist attacks. Could they be the focal points of the alleged poltergeist activity?
http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa012708.htm
I've never heard of poltergeists being more attracted or drawn to females. Is this a popular theory? Is there evidence to back it up? Also (maybe this sounds naive) but every poltergeist story I have ever heard has taken place inside the home, not outside. This particular story didn't strike me as paranormal activity. Too many possibilities for pranksters in my opinion.
For some reason I wanted to think that some kids were shooting dirt out of a potato cannon (remember those from school?). The one we made was able to shoot all the way across the stadium. Ahh memories....
Out of the 4 types of hauntings, the Poltergeist intrigues me (or confuses,) me the most. Some sources almost make it as if the person being "haunted" is actually creating the phenomenon themselves, but because it is subconcious they think something else is doing it.
If it is not the person doing it, but rather an Intelligent spirit, what makes this type of haunting different from an Intelligent Haunt? Some may be talkers and others like to move stuff, the "energy" requirements may be different as well.
What really makes a true Poltergeist different?
Depends on which school of thought you subscribe to. ;D
Insert disclaimer here: All of the following is based on extensive reading in the field over the course of many years. There are no "experts" in this field, and I certainly am not trying to portray myself as an "expert", so the following is just my humble opinion. As such, please take it with a grain of salt.
The general concensus according to various case studies is that a "true" poltergeist haunting is not a haunting at all. The activity only seems to be focused around one person in the household, usually a pre-teen female, and never occurs unless in this individual is present. Although some of these cases have escalated to such a degree that apparitions and other "classic" elements of a haunting become apparent, much of these reports can be/have been debunked by serious investigations conducted during these "outbreaks". The activity ends as suddenly as it began and usually never happens again. The PK theory seems to be the most likely explanation for this type of activity.
On the other hand, there have been written accounts of non-human hauntings (i.e. Elemental or Demonic) that manifest in a similar manner as the "true" poltergeist events, but with some obvious differences: the acitivity occurs even when the "focal" is absent from the site of the haunting; the activity constantly changes (i.e. reports of activity cover the entire imaginable spectrum, from apparitions, to lights, voices, laughter, footsteps, cold spots, and the obligatory "classic" poltergiest events such as movement of objects, slamming of doors, rain of stones, etc., etc.); the activity seems to have a singular purpose; to scare the crap out of you. In the case of Demonic infestations the activity seems to be designed in such a way as to break down the will of an individual. The motivation for breaking the will of an individual is open for speculation.
Again, just my two cents on the subject.
Regards,
Brian Miller
There have also been reports of Poltergiest activity that builds, peaks, and then goes dormant. Then the cycle begins again until the hauntee becomes of a certain age or seeks phsyciatric help.
carie the movie she was a girl but no poltergiest in that movie.
The difference between Carie and a real Poltergeist is that Carie "knew" what she was doing. In the case of a real Poltergeist it is sub-concious.
Carrie is one of my all-time favorite novels... and the movie was awesome, too.
I agree with Michael; Carrie was telekenetic (I have always liked that word more than psychokenetic) but she couldn't control her telekenesis until she reached puberty. As a child she caused many violent poltergeist type phenomena, including a rain of stones on her house. After the infamous "shower scene" she learned how to control her abilities. There is a scene in the novel that always impressed me; Carrie is nervously waiting for Tommy to pick her up for the prom... instead of pacing she levitated heavy pieces of furniture one at a time. This illustrated how far she had come during the course of the novel... from blindly using her ability for self protection as a child to achieving total control over it as a young woman. And of course the novel didn't end with the infamous "prom scene" either... Carrie walked around in a daze trashing the entire town, starting fires, pulling down power lines on top of crowds of people, opening pumps at the gas stations and lighting the river of gasoline on fire, opening fire hydrants on every corner she passed so the fire fighters couldn't put out "her fires".
The layout of the novel with alternating perspectives and time lines was brilliant; following the course of the story then flashing forward to the Congressional Hearings on the Carrie White Event. And to think that King threw his first draft of this novel in the trash...
Ah, but I digress... :)
Yea the book was pretty sweet. Brian you ever read Firestarter? I'm going to assume yes.
Oh yeah. What an awesome premise for a novel... two college students take part in a paid experiment conducted by The Shop called Lot Six to induce psi abilities in individuals who were prescreened and determined to possess low level psi abilities. By chance they get married and have a daughter. But their little girl is born pyrokenetic; having the ability to start fires by will power alone. The Shop keeps tabs on them, then freaks out one day and tries to kidnap Charlie. Her mom is murdered and her Dad takes his daughter back and they run as long as they can, but they eventually are aprehended. They begin to trick Charlie into using her abilities, which helps her gain control over them. I really liked the test where she incinerated the cinder block bricks. The Shop finally realized that Charlie has the potential ability to cause the sun to go super nova, so they decide to kill her.
I really liked the ability that Charlie's father had... to "push" people into believing what he suggested, such as when he gave the cab driver a $500.00 dollar bill that was really only a $1.00 bill. Pretty cool.
Hmm, I don't remember about her able to make the Sun go Super Nova. I thought she was a prisoner on thier facility doing experiments, then she escaped and basically killed the "the Shop" people.
Rain Bird and Cap had that discussion late in the novel. Rain Bird convinced Cap to let him kill Charley because her ability had the potential to become something far greater than simple pyrokenesis.