Author: Alex Matsuo

The Urban Legend of the Momo Challenge

At first glance, the main image used for the new viral Momo Challenge is nothing short of unsettling. What is even more disturbing is that it is a suicide challenge. Basically, users on WhatsApp and Facebook are challenged to do these small acts that quickly escalate to becoming more deadly and violent. Failure to complete…


People in the Floor: The Forgery of the Bélmez Faces

While I believe this case is debunked, it still gives me the creeps. We’ve come a long way in paranormal education since 1971 when these faces first appeared on a kitchen floor in Bélmez de La Moraleda, a little village in Andalusia, Spain. The Story In August of 1971, a woman named María Gómez Cámara noticed…


Lady Oiwa: Japan’s Most Terrifying Onryō

Being both in theatre and the paranormal, I find myself searching for theatrical ghost stories. When I ran into a kabuki play called, “Yotsuya Kaidan” by Tsuruya Nanboku IV, I felt like I struck gold. At the time, I was looking for something to adapt to the stage as a modern tale in the horror genre. I…


Residential Cases: Why Bother?

I was recently interviewed on the “American Ghost Hunter” show, and I was faced with a question that I often hear these days. Why residential cases? Why indeed… For the past seven years of APS’ existence, our bread and butter have been residential cases. My experience in paranormal investigation goes far beyond the seven years,…


What is the True Story of Valak the Demon?

If you have seen any of the movies from “The Conjuring” franchise, then you’re quite familiar with Valak the Demon, who takes on the form of a nun. To the series’ credit, this is probably one of the scarier demons in a work of fiction, in my opinion. As we all gear up to see “The…


APS to Participate in the World’s Largest Ghost Hunt

The Association of Paranormal Study is thrilled to announce that they will be participating in the 2018 World’s Largest Ghost Hunt, hosted by National Ghost Hunting Day! We’re especially excited for this year because it’s all about historic preservation and saving historic places!  We will be investigating the Trivette Clinic on September 29th, 2018. There will be…


Johnny Cash’s Haunted Mansion & the White Witch of Rose Hall

Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, were two of the most iconic stars in the music business. They have forever embedded their legacy into our pop culture and society thanks to their music and charity work. While we got a glimpse of their personal lives through various interviews and the hit movie, “Walk…


Selkies: The Other Kind of Mermaid

Researching lore of different cultures is another area of research that I feel is important if we were to understand why hauntings and myths exist. From sightings of Nessie to understanding why paranormal activity is occurring in a certain area. Often, this ends up with me going down some sort of rabbit hole where I…


10 Self-Care Tips for the Paranormal Investigator

This will probably be the least paranormal or spooky blog that I’ve ever written. Yet, I feel like this is an important part of the investigative and researching process that no one really talks about; self-care. Sure, I’ve heard plenty of tips and advice telling me to pray for protection from evil ghosts, demons, Bigfoot,…


Layers of a Haunting: Why Limit Ourselves?

This week, I want to put something out there for discussion: When we go out on a paranormal investigation, we seem pretty confident that we know who (and what) we’re trying to communicate with. Well, maybe we’re confident 50% of the time. It’s likely that the statistic is smaller than that. However, we try to…