Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: mysterious

Sometimes it's hard to tell.

A close-up of a faceless family foursome on a nineteenth-century CDV. See also the full photo .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of flawed memories (photos that are damaged, faded, or have other imperfections, especially ones in which the flaws somehow enhance the image; this includes photos with defective processing, light leakage, and double exposures) . A spooky CDV with an unidentified faceless family. Perhaps their faces were somewhat washed out in the original photo, but they may also have been intentionally rubbed out afterwards. Take a gander at a cropped version of the CDV for a closer look at the family's faint facial features. For another faceless photo, see Who's the Dummy Now?

A mother and son-—along with a tree and wrapped presents-—seem to be materializing out of the ether in this Christmas double exposure. For other haunted holiday happenings, see The Ghosts of Christmas Past and The Ghosts of Easter Past (below).

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the topics of spirit photography / ghostly images / haunted houses (post up to 3 images on any combination of these themes) . Representatives from the spirit world have seemingly materialized just in time to sing "Happy Birthday" in what is actually just a double exposure. See my Ghosts and Hauntings album for more spooky photos.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the topics of spirit photography / ghostly images / haunted houses (post up to 3 images on any combination of these themes) . Ghostly images of semitransparent kids and a grinning bunny make for a haunting scene in this undated snapshot.

A trick or treat photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Although my copy of this stereoscopic card doesn't include any publication information, versions posted on Flickr are titled "The Haunted Lovers" and were published by Littleton View Company in 1893 (see Photo_History's The Haunted Lovers Stereo Card and depthandtime's The Haunted Lovers ). For the full stereoview card, see The Haunted Lovers (Stereoscopic Card) :

For information about this stereoscopic card, see The Haunted Lovers :

A haunted house photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. There's no question that the house in this undated real photo postcard was haunted. We can see that an ectoplasmic substance was flowing down from the roof of the house and drifting toward the men and women below. I don't want to think about what happened to the unsuspecting group when the ectoplasm reached them. In addition, the radiating beams of energy visible in the lower right-hand corner could only have emanated from a ghostly orb just out of camera range. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the orb drifted right through the front door of the haunted house, startling the photographer and causing the photo to be off-kilter. Of course, some investigators are likely to dismiss this clear-cut evidence of haunting as a light leak or some other imperfection in the photo, but I think that the malevolent nature of these paranormal manifestations is obvious. I'm sad to report that I don't have any further information regarding the fate of the photographer or the individuals in the photograph.

A double exposure photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This real photo postcard captured a group of six women posing for a photograph on a porch (note the porch columns to the left and the slatted wooden ceiling above the women). The two women at the front of the group--both seated and wearing hats--apparently did not realize that their doppelgängers were silently gliding along the ceiling above them.

As Wikipedia explains, " Spook Hill is a gravity hill (an optical illusion where cars appear to roll up the spooky hill) in Lake Wales, Florida." "Spook Hill, Lake Wales, Fla. It's weird! Fantastic! Stop on line. Release brakes. Watch for cars when you roll back. Prather's Laundry & Dry Cleaners. Watch for Prather's White Trucks." Description printed on the back of this postcard: "A few blocks from the heart of Lake Wales is that mystifying and fascinating phenomenon, Spook Hill. Here playful ghosts apparently seize your car and in defiance of the laws of gravity and your previous experience in such matters, roll your vehicle gently backward uphill, while they chortle in unholy glee at your mystification. Handwritten message: "Stayed here last night and went to Bok tower but it was so foggy. It is sunny now about 75 degrees. By the time this card is written we'll be in Miami. Torrey. Erna." No address, stamp, or postmark. Todd Franklin (Neato Coolville) also has a copy of this over on Flickr: Spook Hill Postcard .

Strangely out-of-focus, bow-bedecked, unsmiling girls, awkwardly holding hands, surrounded by trees and fallen leaves, with a puzzling misty whiteness visible beyond the trees. Yikes!

Something "mysterious" for the the Vintage Photos Theme Park . This photo was identified as a " spirit photograph " when I bought it at an antique co-op in 1994. Handwritten on the back of the photo is the following: "Camp Silver Bell, Mountain Springs Hotel, Ephrata, Pa." Camp Silver Belle was a Spiritualist group founded by Ethel Post-Parrish , a medium whose Indian spirit guide was named Silver Belle. The group held lectures and meetings at the Mountain Springs Hotel in Ephrata, Pa., and published a schedule of programs as late as 1976 (see Silver Belle Presents Lecturers, Teachers, World-Famous Psychics, 1976 ). Eventually, however, the group became inactive, and the hotel fell into disrepair. Today, the facade of the old hotel remains , but the rest of the hotel site was demolished in 2004 to make way for a Hampton Inn hotel and an Applebee's restaurant. So what is that strange haziness hovering above the audience? An ectoplasmic manifestation from another spiritual realm? Hokum conjured up by sleight of hand and camera? Or just an odd yet coincidental defect in the film or developing?

A real photo postcard, date and location unknown.

A flaw in the image on this real photo postcard makes it look like a lightning bolt -- or some other strange light from above -- has singled out this kid, who for some inexplicable reason seems to be sitting alone on a chair in the middle of a field.