The Blair Witch Project

As some of my readers may know I love fiction I love anything that can send a chill down my spine, and leave me full of wondering. The new movie The Blair Witch Project did exactly that.
As always before I watch a movie I like to do a little research (don't ask it's just something I do). Thinking it was just another made up story. What I found shocked me.
The Blair Witch Project wasn't just a movie made for fun it was actually made by three collage students that disappeared. I wanted to find out more. For those who don't know of the Blair Witch I will tell you.
It supposedly started with a woman named Elly Kedward in 1785 accused of witchcraft. Several children accused her of taking them into her house to draw blood. Kedward was banished from the village and the village assumed that the cold harsh winter took her life. Only a year later Kedwards accusers and many children vanished. The townspeople fearing a curse fled Blair and vowed that they would never say Elly Kedwards name again.
About three centuries later a book was written called The Blair Witch Cult. The book tells about town cursed by a witch. This book though was declared fiction.
Eleven years after the publishing of the book eleven witnesses say to see a pale woman’s hand reach up and pull ten-year-old Elieen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. The body was never recovered but about thirteen days later sticks clogged the river.
Almost fifty years later eight-year-old Robin Weaver was reported missing and a search party was formed. Weaver returned though but the search party did not. There bodies were found murdered and disembowel at Coffin Rock.
Burkittsville, which was located where Blair was, had Emily Hollands, and a total of seven children disappear near their town.
These are just a few of the stories of the Blair Witch. I will have a link for more reading later on.

Now reading just those few passages I was fired up. How interesting, I had to find out more. So I clicked on the link "Filmmakers". That’s when things got interesting.
October 20, 1994 three collage filmmakers Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams decided to make a documentary about the Blair Witch. So they start there documentary by interviewing some Burkittsville locals. Mary Brown, an old and insane woman who has lived in Burkittsville all her life says of seeing the witch. She said it was in the form of a hairy, half-human, half-animal beast.
On October 21, 1994 Heather interviews two fishermen who tells her that Coffin Rock on twenty minutes away from town easily accusable near an old logging trail. So the filmmakers hike into Black Hills Forest and where never to be seen again.
Four days later APB find Josh’s car parked on Black Rock Road. A day later police launch a search of the Black Hills area. The search lasted ten days, aided by hundred men, helicopters, dogs, and even Department of Defense Satellite.
After much search and no success the case on June 19, 1995 was declared inactive and unsolved.
Then in October 16, 1995 students from the University of Maryland’s Anthropology discover a duffel bag. The bag contained film cans, DAT tapes, videocassettes, a Hi-8 video camera, Heather's journal and a CP-16 film camera. Even more the bag was found buried under a 100-year-old cabin. When the evidence was examined it was annocounced that the film and the other things found in the bag did indeed belong to the three filmmakers.
October 16, 1997 the footage of the children’s last days were given to their families.

After reading that now I had chills down my spine and my imagination was going. But there was more. Besides the video evidence there was also Heather Donahue’s journal. I had to know what it said. That also made goosbumps trailed my arms.
As I looked at the ragged paperback journal on the website, I saw the crude words that said “Heather” scratched up at the top. The inside was even more chilling, she wrote about children’s voices, and she constantly wrote about how she desperately wanted to catch the thing that was following her on film. In her words she sounded desperate and almost insane, like she was losing it. If you wish to read it click here.
Though I haven't watched the movie yet, just by reading a little about it makes we itch to pop it in the DVD player and watch it. But I have promised myself to watch on Halloween, I can't wait to see this mind-chilling story.

If you want to read more on the Blair Witch Poject click here. Or if you want to learn about the three flimmakers click here, or click here for some of the footage that was shot by the flimmakers.