Pontianak Caught in Video?

It was about a month ago that this news/rumour/tabloid *whatever you wanna call it...* caught the locals' attention of Malacca, Malaysia. A 50-second *51-sec to be exact* video-clip of a pontianak was recorded with one of the witnessess' cellphone.

Ok, you might be wondering what the heck is a pontianak...

*Some kind of food? way off...
*Some kinky new term for a steamy, erotic escapade? I like the idea...creative, but no...
*A place situated in Indonesia? true in terms of its name, but still no...

*Gather up people, awesome facts... *

In Malaysia, the creature pontianak is believed to exist in real by certain individual and it is considered a legend by some. The origination of the word pontianak is unknown. In the Malay Language, anak means child but the word ponti is unknown.

A pontianak is often associated with long-haired female/woman who appears at night. Usually, she appears young and beautiful to attract the opposite sex *yet to hear about the lesbian version*, seen at the road side or under a tree. Sometimes, she is accompanied by a baby - single mums huh?

You would probably picture someone like this, right?

Smoking Hot~

Well true, probably before she transforms to this:

(Can't get better photo, they don't pose for you to snap)

KABOOYAH!!

Yea, in your face!!

Major turnoff, right?!

It is in general believe that pontianak is the soul of a lady died of child birth. Attacks would be based on claws, and defense probably on leaping or footwork. She is believed to feed on intestines and blood. Pontianak is believed to be attracted by child birth when there is plenty of blood flowing out from human body. In the olden days, measures *which I'm not too sure about too* are taken by the people to prevent the vampire from coming during child birth. She is believed to be scared of thorns.


The Legend

It is said that a woman who dies while she is with a child will rise again as a pontianak, a fearsome nocturnal undead being who will bring violent death on anyone she meets. Such a being resides inside the trunk of ancient trees, but will revert to her old human nature if an iron nail is driven into her neck. The nail remains in the vampire's neck until she dies and is buried with it. Should the nail ever be removed, she will once again become a pontianak and embark on a killing spree. Due to the frightening fighting prowess of one of these creatures, few are willing to attempt to tame one. For this reason, it is considered unlucky to strike a woman, especially a married woman.


Back to local story, the pontianak was sighted and recorded at a bridge of the Pulau Gadong road stretch. According to one of the witness, she appeared to be a damsel in distress, whimpering, asking for the sight of her missing child. *theory proved*

For more details of the news report - the Star.

It would be all say and no solid evidence, so...*not sure how true is it though, you decide...* =)

The Legend of Bloody Mary

Some of you might think it is a cocktail where you mix in vodka, juices, Tabasco sauce, etc... and ta da da daaa~

Well, I hope I'm sharing something less scary like its preparation, but.. *takes a deep breath*.. this is the real deal - the contemporary Western folklore -'THE' Bloody Mary.

Bloody Mary is a ghost or witch said to appear in a mirror when you summon her name several times (there are many variations to it : 1, 3, 7, 13, 100). *try buying lottery with this*

The vengeful spirit goes by many names too: Aggie, Agnes, Black Agnes, Bloody Mary, Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Kathy, Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales, Mary Johnson, Mary Lou, Mary Jane, Sally, Svarte Madame.

Here are some variations/procedures to summon Bloody Mary *try at your own risks*:

• Look into the bathroom mirror with the lights all off, and the bathroom completely black, say "Bloody Mary" thirteen times, a woman will appear and scratch your face up/off.

• Say "Hell Mary" in front the mirror in a dark room for seven times, Satan's image would appear. After three calls, the mirror turns red; after five calls, an indistinct face will materialise.
  
  
• Go into a bathroom, turn off all the lights and begin in a whisper, to chant "Bloody Mary" and gradually louder and louder into a near scream as you continue to chant. While chanting, you should be spinning at a medium pace and taking a glimpse in the mirror at each pass. Near the 13th call, "she" should appear... and....??
  (True Story: a girl tried this and ran out of the bathroom screaming. She was shaking and appeared genuinely terrified, refusing to relate the incident. Those around her at that time noticed that her clenched fingers were covered in blood)
  
  
• Other chants include: "I believe in Mary Worth", "Kathy, come out!", "Bloody Mary! I killed your baby!"
  

• Variations of what the mirror-witch does upon arrival:
  
  1. strike summoner dead;
  2. drive summoner mad;
  3. fiercely scratch summoner's face;
  4. peer malevolently out through the mirror;
  5. drag summoner into the mirror to live with her. *gulp*

Origins:
Bloody Mary Worth is said to be a witch who was executed a hundred years ago for plying with black magic/crafts, or a woman of more modern times who died in a car accident in which her face is hideously mutilated.


Various people also relate "Bloody Mary" as Queen Mary I whose life was marked by a number of miscarriages or false pregnancies. Speculation exists that the miscarriage was self-induced, thus resulting in retelling of tale make "Bloody Mary" - the Queen driven to madness due to the loss of her children.

Other sources claim that the British Queen killed young girls so she could bathe in their blood to preserve her youth.

Pope John Paul II from beyond the grave??

(Left Image: Bonfire in Poland; Right Image: Pope John Paul II at an audience in 2001)
-DM Pictures-

This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance from beyond the grave. Believers said that the Pope had his right hand raised in blessing during a ceremony held in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death.

Service director Jarek Cielecki, a Polish priest and close friend of John Paul II, travelled to Poland after hearing an onlooker had photographed the image.

Father Cielecki said he was convinced the picture showed the former pontiff.

"You can see the image of a person in the flames and I think it is the servant of God, Pope John Paul II," he said.

The image was continuously broadcasted on Italian TV and also posted on religious websites, causing some of them to crash as thousands logged on to view with their own eyes the eerie figure formed by the flames.

The bonfire was lit during a service at Beskid Zywiecki, close to John Paul's birthplace at Katowice, southern Poland, on April 2 - the second anniversary of his death.

Hundreds had attended the ceremony. Gregorz Lukasik, the Polish man who took the photographs, said: "It was only afterwards when I got home and looked at the pictures that I realised I had something.

"I showed them to my brother and sister and they, like me, were convinced the flames had formed the image of Pope John Paul II.

"I was so happy with the picture that I showed it to our local bishop who said that Pope John Paul had made many pilgrimages during his life and he was still making them in death."

-DM News

Well, what do you think??

America's Top 5 Haunted Places

No. 5: The Winchester Mystery House

In 1881, Sarah Winchester, the widow of famous gun maker Oliver Winchester, became convinced that she needed protection from the evil spirits of all the people killed by Winchester rifles.

A psychic advised her to continually add rooms to her San Jose, California, mansion to confuse any ghosts that may try to find her. (Ghost can walk through walls, don't they?? Winchester might have been the confused one.)

She did so for nearly 40 years, adding more than 100 rooms and staircases, until her death in 1922. After Sarah's death, her own ghost was said to haunt the halls of her maze-like mansion. Today the building remains a popular tourist attraction, a bizarre monument to superstition and paranoia.

********************

No. 4: The Amityville Horror

On Nov 13, 1974, six members of an Amityville, New York, family were killed by one of the family's sons, Ronald Jr. ("Butch") DeFeo.

In his legal defense, DeFeo claimed that demonic forces in the home drove him to kill. The new owner of the home at 112 Ocean Avenue later claimed a variety of ghostly phenomena, and the story was further fictionalized into a best-selling novel and horror film.

However, the supernatural events were never proven, and DeFeo's lawyer later admitted that the story was a hoax. (Yea, wait till one of them haunts you....)

********************

No.3: Alcatraz

The San Francisco Bay's resident rock, (or The Rock) and perhaps the most famous prison island in the world, Alcatraz has captured the public's imagination in many films and books.

The prison, a cold, dank hellhole, saw many murders, riots, and suicides during its 29 years of service. Along the way it spawned tales of inexplicable sounds, cell doors closing on their own, disembodied screams, and scary apparitions.

********************

No.2: The Fox Sisters Cabin

Though less well-known than the other haunted places, the Fox Sisters cottage is perhaps the most important haunted house of all, since the phenomena here in many ways set the standard for later hauntings and even launched a religion.

In 1848 Hydesville, western New York, two young sisters named Maggie and Katie Fox began supposedly communicating with the ghost of a murdered peddler. The sisters, in a sort of crude seance, would ask questions of the spirit, who would answer back with mysterious knocks or raps. (Well, atleast in Ghost Whisperer, the spirits SpEak!)

Many people, including their mother, were amazed at what seemed to be genuine contact with the dead. Both sisters eventually admitted that they had actually faked the sounds--there had been no murdered peddler, it had all been a prank. The women even demonstrated how they had done it. But by then the belief had taken on a life of its own as a religion called Spiritualism, which is still practiced today. (All of us got punk'd!)

********************

and......

No.1: THE WHITE HOUSE
(Are you serious??)

The Washington, D.C., home of America's presidents has surely seen untold tragedy through the centuries, from being burned down in 1814 by British troops to several attempted (and accomplished) assassinations.

Among the White House's spooky stories include the appearance of Abraham Lincoln's ghost. Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd, dabbled in the occult and held seances in the White House. Other reputed ghosts include Andrew Jackson, Dolley Madison, and Abigail Adams, though they are rarely seen today. (Wooaahh~ the 'First' Gathering)