Doppelgangers

Doppelganger (AKA: a person's "fetch") is the German word for "exact double." It is a term that found its way into the common vernacular from the 1848 best-selling book, The Night-Side of Nature by Catherine Crowe.

There have been reports of people claiming to see someone in the act of doing something, only to later find out that what they thought they saw would have been impossible. For instance, say a woman comes home from work and sees her son, sitting on the couch, playing video games. She walks upstairs, and her son calls out to her...as he's sitting on his bed. The vision of her son on the couch would be his doppelganger.

Throughout history, there have even been people who have claimed to see their own doppelganger. And, no, these people weren't strung out on the latest high-fashioned drugs, either. In fact, it has been said that Abe Lincoln reported seeing his double! When you add to that the legend that seeing a doppelganger foretells the death of the person in question, the fact that America's sixteenth president allegedly saw his own is just a little creepy.

There are two examples of doppelgangers within pop culture that float around in my brain each time I hear the word. The first one came in the form of a literary character in Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. One of the only male Mayfair witches, Julian, was able to be in two places at once. And the second doppelganger to resonate with me was created by Joss Whedon for his television series, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. The sixteenth episode of season three, "Doppelgangland," centers on Willow and her doppelganger, Vampire Willow.

At times, I've had dreams where I run into my doppelganger. While I'm dreaming, it's as if I'm watching a movie and I'm the star. Only when I wake up does the chilling realization come to me that I've encountered my double. I've had dreams like these a number of times over the years, and I'm still alive. So, I don't believe the legend about foretold deaths.

Do you believe in doppelgangers? Have you ever encountered one?

The Amityville Horror Story

When the Amityville Horror is mentioned, what comes to mind?  For me, it's the oddly shaped windows on the well-known house, and the murders that occurred in the house.  For some people, the book that was supposed to be based on true events may come to mind.

THE MURDERS

Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family, in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, NY.

THE BOOK

The Amityville Horror: A True Story was written by Jay Anson, and was published in September 1977.  The book centers around the Lutz family and the house located at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, NY.    The Lutz family was said to have purchased the six bedroom house for $80,000. 

According to the book, the Lutz's also acquired the furniture of the previous owners for an extra $400.  A friend of the family heard of the house's history and insisted the house be blessed.

Some of the paranormal activity mentioned in the book included:

• father waking up at 3:15 each morning (the time the murders took place)
• cold spots
• strange odors
• swarms of flies
• apparitions
• strange sounds
• glowing red eyes
• slime oozing from the walls
• cloven hoof prints in the snow outside the house

The book also claims that a second house blessing was conducted in January 1976.  After this blessing failed, the Lutz's took the necessities with them to a family member's house nearby.  The family claimed that the paranormal activity followed them.  The Lutz's officially moved out of the house on January 14, 1976.

SKEPTICS SAY 

There has been much debate on whether The Amityville Horror: A True Story was actually a true story to begin with.  Some of the things skeptics have brought up have been:

• the book looks too much like what occurred in The Exorcist
• research of documented events in the house do not coincide with what the book claims
• the priest that blessed the house has given different accounts of what took place
• there was no snow on the ground the day the cloven hoof prints were supposed to have been seen
• changes were made in the text with different editions of the book

With all of the evidence debunking the events in The Amityville Horror: A True Story, I think it is safe to say that it is a work of fiction.  To claim truth of a paranormal story is a popular tactic, as is people's willingness to believe everything they read/see, even if told the book/movie is fictitious.  Other sources we've seen this in have been The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity movies, The Da Vinci Code, and more.

Also, the events recorded in the book were said to take place over the course of 28 days, with the Lutz's moving out January 14, 1976.  The book was released in September 1977.  The author was said to have used 45 hours of recorded tapes on which to base his story.  From what I have learned during the past year while I've studied the craft of writing, it takes a lot longer than a year and some change to come up with a novel of historical facts.

What are your thoughts?