The half of you that haven't already left the site are likely laughing at me (don't worry, the police did the same thing) or reading simply to see just how far my insanity will reach. That's fine, I just need a Fox Mulder out there willing to give this a listen and suspend standard beliefs. Since time is of the essence here (no shit), let me cut the set-up and just lay it on you.

Two days ago I received a videotape in the mail. A small, manila envelope addressed to me with a VHS cassette inside. Most people might already think this a bit strange but with my work, I tend to get a lot of tapes forwarded my way. Trailers, screeners, featurettes, etc. So I thought nothing of yet another tape crossing my threshold. In retrospect, I probably should've noticed and wondered why the envelope had no return address, but that point is moot. That evening while my wife was out shopping with the baby, I tossed the tape in the VCR. For the first few seconds it was just a black screen. It was probably only maybe 5 seconds but it seemed like forever. I began to think something was wrong when the screen went from black to white noise. I went to pick up the remote to fast-forward when the images began. At first they meant little, flashing by too quickly to make heads or tails of them, other than they were disturbing. After I went back and rewatched the tape (it wasn't easy, trust me) I was able to make out a girl combing her hair, a horse (dead?) on the beach, a lighthouse, a well and a black eye. Not a black eye like a shiner, a black eye like a shark's eye. Back to the first viewing. The tape ended about 45 seconds after I first hit play and just then, I mean not a second later, the phone rang. That alone would've been enough to weird me out. But I (and God, I wish I hadn't) answered the call and that's when the slow, thick, static-y voice that's been haunting me ever since said, "You have exactly one week to live." That was almost two days ago.

I know what you're thinking. And you believe this shit? Well, now I do. At first, I was skeptical. While it did seem VERY coincidental that the phone call arrived immediately upon the tape's conclusion, I chalked it up to just that - coincidence. It was creepy enough, however, where I decided to do some research and see if anyone else had heard of or seen one of these tapes. What little information I found turned me into a believer.

In the hours since, I've spent a lot of time on the phone, at the library and on the internet, doing everything I could to find out about this tape and its curse. I can't sleep (in darkness I see those awful images and in silence I hear that screeching feedback) so I've spent the past two nights awake in front of my computer following a trail that may or may not go anywhere. The information I found, after starting at Yahoo and typing in a combination words and phrases like "videotape," "cursed," "phone call," "urban legend," got me started on the cause for concern. It seems there have been documented reports of strange deaths across the world where victims have been found contorted in pain, their faces frozen in fear. All reportedly watched a videotape similar to the one I saw.

Let me now say, I'm not a huge believer in the paranormal. I don't believe in ghosts, apparitions, reincarnation, or that "Crossing Over" show on the Sci-Fi Channel. Well I guess I should say I didn't. Not to say that I'm completely a believer in all that, but when your life is potentially on the line, it's a lot easier to suspend your skepticism. Being that I'm not a believer should only further prove my point that something very serious is going on here. I wouldn't be so concerned if there wasn't a preponderance of evidence to suggest I should be. I've managed to collect enough research to lead me to believe there is a very legitimate concern for my life. Unfortunately, I've reached somewhat of an impasse. OK, so I've figured out this isn't a practical joke. Now what? I'm still destined to follow in the footsteps of the rest who've watched this tape in about 5 days. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

Like I said before, the police have been little help. I can't really blame them, although it's frustrating to hear that cliched line "there's just nothing we can do" in person. I know the threat is real but it's tough to convince a bunch of cops, busy trying to solve conventional crimes, to cross over into the world of spooks and goblins. While I haven't been able to obtain much help, I have been in contact with a female journalist in Seattle. She's been investigating this case on her own and has run into similar issues I have. Luckily through sharing evidence, we've both come further than either of us would've separately. Here's a newspaper clipping which was the first bit of hard evidence I found:

See that horse? That's almost exactly the image I described above in the videotape of the horse lying dead on the shore. Apparently the horse escaped from a local ranch and ran off into the Puget Sound. And it wasn't just one - close to a dozen horses did the exact same thing. The remaining horses on the ranch were, according to this article, also exhibiting strange behavior. I attempted to contact the woman who ran the Morgan Ranch where this took place and had no luck contacting anyone. Then I came across this and understood why:

My journalist friend did some research and found that the woman, whose name was Anna, by the way, that her husband was still alive but that her child, Samara, had previously gone missing. This, combined with the loss her cherished horses, was reportedly the cause of her suicide. What this all means, I dunno. Maybe someone just picked up some local news footage of the horses on the beach and inserted that on this tape.

The question still remains, how could a videotape (a piece of plastic with tape strung through) be the death of numerous people? Could it be that the images are combined to produce some sort of aneurysm in the brain? Or extenuate the radioactive elements of a television? Most of the research I've found has led me to believe there is no reason to believe any of this is possible. But is a "curse" possible?

One word that keeps popping up in my research is "sadako." I wasn't sure at first what that meant in Japanese but from what I read, it found it's the name of a person. I was doing research on psychic phenomena and came across a gentleman on a message board who after talking with a few times offered me this information on Sadako. "Sadako was a powerful psychic, enough to burn an image on a video tape with her mind. X-rays can burn images on metal, why not thoughts on video?" So let's just say for a second that this person used their mind to burn images onto the tape. What does this have to do with a curse?

I probably would've written off the whole Sadako psychic thing, mainly because it sounded it a little too hokey for me, even in the desperate state I'm in. But after cross-referencing some things I had learned, I noticed a connection between the horse ranch and this Sadako person. Sadako, as it turns out, was a young girl, similar in age, height and appearance, to the young girl, Samara, who turned up missing. Sadako reportedly died right around the same time Samara went missing. Was Sadako Samara? Was Samara Sadako? Is Sadako dead? Is Samara alive? I don't know, but what I realized shortly after looking at pictures of these two young girls, sent my heart into my stomach. one of the images that flashed by on the tape was of this very same girl, combing her hair.

In talking with some friends about this dilemma, I've learned a Japanese film titled RINGU was released in the late 1990s that dealt with a similar subject. I did some research on the movie and it turns out "Sadako" was a character in that movie. So scratch that lead. But I have ascertained that Samara and the incidents at Morgan Ranch are in fact very real. In fact, the research I've done in conjunction with my Seattle counterpart has led me to believe the Japanese film was in fact inspired by true events. The first occurrences of the tape spawned this urban legend which caused the Japanese filmmakers to create this idea from the film. This adds an added layer of difficulty now in my search for answers as I have to decipher between reality, film and urban legend. Now I haven't had a chance to see the film (it's very hard to find) but considering it's a fictionalized account, I don't assume it would be much help. Besides, I don't have a lot of time to sit around watching scary movies.

This is as far as I've gotten. Why were images of Samara on the tape I received? Why were the dead horses from her ranch on the tape? If a psychic could burn images onto tape, what purpose would that serve and why would it mean anyone any harm? Why am I still believing any of this? These are the questions I still have no answers for. I have been provided some leads to where more information might be obtainable, but I'm running around so much trying to make sense of it all, I don't have time to pour through all of it. I'm hoping if I drop a few links, a few of you will help me in my cause.

http://www.topy.net/topy/Library/Broadcast4-5/tvmagick.htm

http://www.anopenletter.com

http://www.sevendaystolive.com

http://www.blackhorserising.com

http://www.likepaincomefromheaven.com

http://www.uncarved.demon.co.uk/23texts/tv0.html

Read these sites. Look through them. Search for more sites on these topics and other issues. Try to get in touch with officials in Seattle about Samara's death. Look up information on psychics using television as a medium. I know the information out there, it's just a matter of finding it. And I'm begging you to try to find something, anything that might provide some background information on this tape. If we can find where this tape came from, we might be able to stop this. Please. I've got 5 days left...