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The Witches of Pendle Hill Lancashire – The UK Blair Witch?

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The Blair Witch Project (1999) to some was no more than a few youngsters running around the woods at night while filming each other, screaming and blowing nose bubbles on camera.

But to me (someone who has an overactive imagination) it was much more. Yes it was low budget and yes you didn’t get to see everything that you wanted to but, you have to put yourself in their shoes and think what it would be like to have the events that took place happen to you. Read more here

Heather - The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Heather from The Blair Witch Project (1999) looking a bit worse for wear. Credit DigitalSpy.com

The recent release of Blair Witch (2016) wasn’t much different and I have read other critics name it a carbon copy of the first movie.

They are mere fools. The sequel follows James Donahue the now, all grown up brother of Heather (snot bubble from the first movie) desperate to find the truth of what happened to his beloved sister. Its not a huge story line, but it didn’t need to be, as what this movie offered was a chance to follow James on his journey of discovery and try and piece together the evidence.

Who, or what is the the Blair Witch? When the same occurrences start to appear to James as they did to his sister, it wasn’t because the director was using the same old scares tactics, but it was to tell us that James was on the right tracks.

I don’t want to spoil it too much for you but you get a glimpse of the witch and it is a scary as fuck.

But if you think the one witch mofo is scary how about twelve of them?  The UK is home to some of the richest witching history the world has to offer, so it didn’t take long when I decided to see what creepy shit we had closer to home.  Ladies and Gents I give your the Witches of Pendle Hill.

Sighting of a Witch at Pendle Hill

Sighting of a Witch at Pendle Hill. Credit to Mirror.co.uk

The Witches of Pendle Hill were mostly from of two families the Demdike and Chattox and were believed to be competing against one and other for the profits brought in by healing, begging and extortion. During the 17th century they were trialled for the murder of ten people using witch craft. Ten of the witches were hung and two died in prison before the trial.

Witch Hanging

This was one of the best documented witch trials of the 17th century and the stories have therefore been told through the generations. The witches stories have left such a mark on the Pendle villages that to this day some locals do not like to talk about it.

For years now the Pendle woods at the base of the hills have been a number one destination for Halloween and many will sit on the hill at night hoping to encounter the spirits of the dead.

They held televised seance where the medium claims he did contact one of the very witches and was told that she and the others witches with her did not appreciate the media crews presents.

grave encounters

Credit: Grave Encounters

This started to sound like to story of a movie to me so I decided to dig a little deeper. I found countless statement from people that have experienced ungodly encounters linked to the coven.

Reports of people being visited, struck and even strangled by hands that were not there. Unfortunately I at iHorror was not the first to see a story in the cases and the BBC beat me to the punch. Damn, im sure I could have squeezed some budget out of the editor for a field trip! 

Here’s the Documentary, Enjoy. Oh, and if you are wondering why I didn’t mention  Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), its because I would rather pretend it didn’t happen.

Have you been to the Pendle hills and do you have any stories to share? Comment below.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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