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25.01.2022 "Australia's only paranormal and mystical bookshop" - Shopping Secrets.

25.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #121: She was called the old lady of the swamp, Australia's loneliest woman and, since the 1950s, her ghost has been seen on the road near her... home at Tarwin Lower, in Victoria's east. For 43 years Margaret Clement lived with her sister Jeanie in their crumbling mansion "Tullaree" surrounded by dense scrub and blackberries in the middle of a vast Gippsland swamp - until 1950 when Jeanie died leaving Margaret alone and destitute. Every so often, the reclusive 69-year-old former Melbourne beauty and socialite took her faithful dog Dingo on an 11-kilometre hike for supplies in Inverloch until, on the 21st of May, 1952 she vanished while returning from the town and was not seen alive again. Ever since, her ghost has been seen, sometimes carrying an old sugar bag filled with supplies, near a lonely area of scrub beside the old Inverloch road where, in 1978, a skeleton - believed to be Margaret's - was found half-buried with its skull crushed in. See more

24.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #102: An elderly Second World War veteran from Gympie, in Queensland's north, was making an Anzac pilgrimage to the Australian War Memorial in... Canberra when, while studying the life-like dioramas of battle scenes, he suddenly felt faint. "I felt myself falling," he said. "Then a strong arm grabbed my left elbow and another caught me around the waist. It was a young soldier in a World War II AIF uniform. He was smiling and said 'whoa there'. The next thing I remember is sitting on a bench with two attendants fussing over me. I looked around for the soldier to thank him but he was gone." The veteran told the two attendants who helped him that it was lucky the soldier had caught him but they gave him odd looks. "There was no soldier, they said; they had seen me stumble to the bench by myself. I've gone over that event in my mind dozens of times since and I know what I felt and saw." See more

24.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #180: Ian Channell is the world's first government-appointed Official Wizard. Born in London in 1932, Channell moved to Sydney in 1967 where he taught ...sociology at the University of NSW. After becoming the university's Official Wizard in 1969, Channell let his driver's license, passport and social security ID lapse and, "as a fictional character," wandered about casting spells and preaching non-conformity. In 1974, the Wizard moved to New Zealand where, in 1990, PM Mike Moore appointed him the country's Official Wizard. See more

23.01.2022 In memory of John Pinkney, Australias most prolific and respected paranormal journalist, writer and author, whose regular magazine column The Pinkney Report in...spired a young newsboy to follow his dreams and one day establish Australias first paranormal bookshop and Melbournes first ghost tour. Pinkney dedicated his life to the paranormal and now has become a part of it See more

22.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #179: Vali Myers was a renowned Australian artist and witch who travelled between New York's Chelsea Hotel - where she met Salvador Dali, Deborah Harry... and Marianne Faithfull - and a cottage in Italy where she surrounded herself with animals including her fox familiar "Foxy". In 1965, Myers achieved global fame in the doco "The Witch of Positano" before retiring to Melbourne where she became the city's "Queen of Bohemia" and surprised locals with her shamanistic paintings and totemistic facial tattoos resembling - a fox. See more

21.01.2022 The Haunted Bookshop & Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour features on The Great Weekend 5pm this Sunday on Channel 7.

19.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #111: The yowie is a mythical Australian creature that resembles America's reclusive hairy hominid Big Foot. It received its name from Jonatha...n Swift's famous novel, Gulliver's Travels (1726), in which he describes a subhuman race called the yahoos. Over 3000 yowie sightings have been reported around Australia since the 1860s, mostly in the mountainous regions of southern New South Wales. One of the most famous accounts occurred near Tumut in 1895 when two government geologists surveying the area for minerals were setting up camp for the night. Illuminated by the flickering glow of the campfire the men saw what they thought was a large dingo moving around the outskirts of the camp. One of the men fired a shotgun at the creature which then reared up on two legs and scrambled off ape-like screaming into the bush. In the morning the men found traces of blood and tracks near the camp. Two decades later, shortly before the First World War, an aboriginal couple were driving a wagonette through rugged bushland near Buggan Buggan when they were attacked by what they described as a strong man-like hairy beast. Both escaped the attack bleeding with multiple wounds. In July 1975 a skier near Mount Kosciuszko spotted a large hairy ape-like creature moving across a snow-covered hillside shortly after a snowfall. The creature stood at least 2.5 metres tall and left behind large footprints leading some experts to believe the "abominable snowman" might have been a yeti rather than a yowie ... See more

19.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN STORE MEMORIAL: A RETAIL REQUIEM. Over 650 Australian stores have closed in the past six months, with 1600 retail staff gone. Stores that fought the ...good fight over the years include: Allans Music (1850-2012*); McGills (1860-2009); Brashs (1862-1995); John Martin's (1866-1998); Gowings (1868-2006); Georges (1880-1995); Angus & Robertson (1884-2011*); Grace Bros (1885-2004); Fletcher Jones (1918-2012); Darrell Lea (1927-2012*); Batman Records (1934-2003); Mary Martin (1945-2012*); Job Warehouse (1952-2012); Billy Hyde Music (1962-2012*); Dick Smith Electronics (1968-2012*). Lest we forget. See more

18.01.2022 HAUNTED MELBOURNE GHOST TOUR HALLOWEEN DEAL: Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Melbourne's oldest and most famous ghost tour this Halloween by visiting ouffer.c...om or deals.com.au tomorrow where you and a friend can get spooked on the world-class Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour for just $20. That's $20 off the tour acclaimed by the Sunday Age as Melbourne's best walking tour. Bring a friend or give as a Halloween or Christmas gift! But remember: this offer is available exclusively to members of ouffer.com or deals.com.au. See more

17.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #2: "Playing Beatie Bow" is a classic Australian ghost story. The novel was written by Sydney author Ruth Park and published in January 1980. ...Set in Sydney's historic Rocks district, it's about a disenchanted teenager called Abigail who encounters a strange little girl watching a group of children playing a scary old-fashioned game called Beatie Bow; Abigail is drawn into the game and is transported back in time to 1873 where, again, she meets the little girl who wants to know why she is the subject of a spooky children's game. The novel has been read in schools for over thirty years and was adapted into a movie in 1986. See more

17.01.2022 The paranormal world today?

16.01.2022 Melbourne's iconic Haunted Bookshop at 15 McKillop Street is closing in September after 22 years. Thank you for your support and there is a 10 percent discount... on all stock should you wish to support us over the next few weeks. Also, feel free to make an offer on all fittings and fixtures you might have an eye on. See more

16.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #113: Tales of the vanishing hitchhiker, in which motorists encounter a hitchhiker who inexplicably disappears, have been a part of Australia...n folklore since at least the 1970s. In 2011, Adelaide newspaper The Sunday Mail reported how an unidentified young woman covered in blood was encountered by a couple while driving along the Anzac Highway to Glenelg. It looked like she was involved in an accident but there was no wreck nearby. The couple stopped to help her and offered to drive her to a hospital. She got into the back seat but when the couple turned around to ask her where she lived ... she had gone. North of Adelaide, in the Barossa Valley, a young university student appeared to another motorist on a lonely stretch of road outside Rowland Flat. He was dripping wet and looked like he had fallen into nearby North Para River or Jacobs Creek. The motorist stopped to pick him up and the hitchhiker, after introducing himself as a university student called Steve, climbed into the backseat, engaged in a brief conversation, before he suddenly disappeared leaving a puddle of water on the seat. Across the border, in New South Wales, a young male hitchhiker in blue-green overalls, with a lost expression on his face, appeared to yet another motorist on the Bogan Gate Road outside Parkes before again vanishing from the passenger seat; while further east, in Blacktown, a young girl covered in bruises and wearing red shorts and a white top introduced herself as Sabrina to yet another motorist before disappearing from the passenger seat after explaining how she had just been knocked off her bicycle. Perhaps Australia's most famous vanishing hitchhiker story, however, involves a young girl who has appeared to several motorists on Wilfred Barrett Drive at Noraville, north of Sydney. According to local filmmaker Chris Halling, who is currently producing a movie based on some 40 sightings of the girl, she was a hitchhiker who was raped and murdered in the 1970s and, ever since, her ghost has been seen near Noraville cemetery where she was buried ... See more

15.01.2022 Immerse yourself in an evening of eldritch horror with H.P. Lovecraft authority, S.T. Joshi. Necronomicon Australis June 2019. Info & bookings: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/necronomicon-australis-melb

15.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #194: Australia spends millions of dollars each year luring overseas visitors to our shores. But it appears there are some preconceptions no publicity ...can eradicate. Here is a map that appeared on several tourism websites along with questions received from overseas enquirers. Although the map is a joke, the questions are real. And the responses are as dry as a dead dingo's donger: "Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street?" one enquirer asked. "Depends how much you've been drinking," the website replied. See more

14.01.2022 *Pay for your tour in advance through the Haunted Bookshop and receive 20% off the price of your meal at nearby historic, haunted Mitre Tavern (Saturday night or Sunday lunchtime only).

14.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #203: Melbourne's "Godmother of Goth", Hilary Willowsmith, has been dressing Goth since the 1960s. "I always wore black, had streaked hair and wore out...rageous make-up; so people called me a Goth." In the mid-1980s, the 61-year-old dressmaker opened her landmark "dark glamour" store, Mortisha's, in Chapel Street before relocating to Royal Arcade in the city then returning to Chapel Street in the late 1990s. "I started with menswear - making ruffled shirts and frock coats - then moved onto fan dresses and wedding gowns." A few years ago, Hilary vanished from the Melbourne retail scene; however, she was recently seen living in Warracknabeal (VIC) where she is still known as "the weird lady". See more

13.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #35: Australia's unofficial national anthem is based on a true ghost story. The "jolly swagman" of Banjo Paterson's "Waltzing Matilda" (1895) ...is believed to be shearer Samuel Hoffmeister, who torched a woolshed near Winton, Queensland, during an 1894 shearers' strike. Hoffmeister was chased by troopers north to Combo Waterhole at Kynuna, but avoided capture by shooting himself; this gave rise to the legend that "his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong". Banjo Paterson was born on the 17th of February, 1864; he died on the 5th of February, 1941. See more

12.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #183: England's most notorious occultist was inspired by an Australian woman. Born in Bathurst (NSW) in 1880, Leila Waddell was an accomplished violini...st who met Aleister Crowley while performing in London. After participating in Crowley's magical rituals, Leila became his muse and was immortalised in Crowley's "Book of Lies" (1912) in which she is referred to as "Scarlet Woman" and "Whore of Babalon". Crowley also based on Leila his tales "The Vixen" and "The Violinist" and poems "Duck Billed Platypus" and "Waratah Blossoms". See more

12.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #127: Banjo Clarke (ca 1922-2000) was an Aboriginal elder called the Wisdom Man whose perception of the world was Zen-like in that he taught p...eople should not seek to control their environment, only to live in it with respect. Drawing from knowledge passed on by Old People through the worlds oldest culture, the Wisdom Man taught life should be looked upon as a sacred thing, to be handled carefully and not ruined by anger or lashing out. "If something terrible happens," he said, "you stop for a while and have a think, and then you work around the next big problem coming up. Like water around a rock. It's all part of the pattern of life; you keep on going." The Wisdom Man used koan-like tales to enlighten his listeners - such as the starving nephew who was given bread by the spirit of his dead brother - and shared stories of his personal encounters with ghosts, spirit animals and spirit children called Nett-Netts. Before his death, the Wisdom Man said the world would be saved if people returned to Aboriginal principles, which predate Zen teachings by thousands of years and encompass peace, sharing, living in the present, detachment or letting go - and that famous Zen art of non-doing or going with the flow. See more

11.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #108: One of Australia's most discussed ghost photographs was taken by an Adelaide church minister. On May Day 1959, Reverend RSC Blance, of T...usmore Presbyterian Church, was holidaying in the MacDonnell Ranges, east of Alice Springs, when he was told about how an abandoned ceremonial site at Corroboree Rock was used by the Arunta people for the storage of sacred objects. Being a holy man as well as an amateur photographer the minister could not resist taking a few souvenir snaps. When the film was developed, Reverend Blance was shocked to see in one photo a mysterious figure dressed in a white robe with hands clasped up to its chin seemingly in an attitude of prayer. Experts who studied the image said there was no evidence of double exposure or any flaw in the film; they concluded that the figure must have been present when the photo was taken but Reverend Blance denied that this was the case yet could offer no other theory to explain why it intruded on his film. See more

11.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #193: A new Sydney suburb is named after a haunted house. Bungarribee homestead at Doonside was built in 1824 by convicts under cruel conditions. A to...wer was added to the roof so the property's owner, Major John Campbell, could watch prisoners slave sometimes to death; this gave rise to tales of anguished ghost convicts climbing the tower, roaming the grounds or perching near the front gate. Although demolished in 1957, the house's legend lives on - in a new suburb released in 2011 called Bungarribee, postcode 2767. See more

11.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC #122: An elderly man from Melbourne's multicultural suburb of Brunswick was sitting quietly on an old W-class tram as it rumbled down Lygon St...reet towards Carlton. From the corner of his eye he noticed a young lady on the other side of the aisle was gazing longingly at the beautiful bouquet of red roses he nursed in his lap. Approaching his Newry Street tram stop the old man arose from his seat and shuffled down the aisle towards the girl. "I see you like flowers," he smiled, the lines creasing on his time-worn face. "I think my wife would like you to have these; I'll tell her I gave them to you." The girl accepted the fragrant gift and watched in silent wonder as the old man alighted from the tram and shuffled quietly towards the eastern gate of the old Melbourne cemetery ... See more

10.01.2022 Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it - Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.

07.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #182: "Melbourne has historically been a centre of things occult," wrote esoteric author Neville Drury in 1980. He was referring to Kerry Kulkens who, ...at the time, led a coven of 13 witches near Belgrave, in Melbourne's east. Believing she was a "black witch", locals bullied her in the street and smashed her shop windows. So Kerry changed her image with the times, becoming pop astrologer, medium and psychic. But, deep down, most locals knew: Kerry Kulkens, who passed away in 2005, was always Melbourne's Queen of the Witches. See more

07.01.2022 https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/haunted-bookshop

06.01.2022 Haunted Bookshop and Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour celebrating 22 years (1997-2019). Ghost tour starts 8.30pm Saturdays at the Haunted Bookshop, 15 McKillop Street, Melbourne CBD 3000. Cost $20 per adult or $18 concession. Bookings phone 9670 2585 or online at www.haunted.com.au

04.01.2022 Face your fears in an evening of eldritch horror with H.P. Lovecraft authority, S.T. Joshi. Necronomicon Australis June 2019. Info & bookings: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/necronomicon-australis-melb

03.01.2022 Spotted on Saturday's ghost tour. The scary thing is whoever replaces Scott Morrison will become Australia's eighth prime minister in ten years ...

02.01.2022 Australia's largest range of Tarot instore. Over 300 decks available at The Haunted Bookshop, Melbourne.

01.01.2022 WEIRD OZ #35: Australia boasts a geoglyph or earth carving - that's larger than Peru's "Nazca Lines" and England's "White Horse". Called the "Marree Man", the... pictograph measures 4.2 km tall by 2 km wide and is etched into a plateau near Marree, in South Australia's north. It depicts an Aboriginal warrior throwing a hunting stick and is so large that it can be viewed fully only from the air. "Marree Man" was discovered by a charter pilot in 1998 and, despite being the world's largest geoglyph, its origin remains a mystery. See more