Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in Ghostbuster Ray's LiveJournal:

Friday, May 23rd, 2003
3:08 pm	From the former site of Sunnydale, CA I'm alive. If you call this living. To start at the beginning... While I was sure the paranormal event would take place during the night (as these things usually do), I patrolled most of the night without seeing anything -- no people, no vampires, no subterrestrials of any sort. The streets were empty, a lot of store were smashed in where looters had carried away their swag, a few overturned cars littered the roads and sidewalks, and all the power was out. Thank goodness for my multi-spectrun visor. It was just before daybreak when I came across what appeared to be a military depot, what I believe was part of a small army base. And I could see that *someone* had cut away a large section of the fence...a section large enough to drive through. And then I heard thumping sounds from inside the fence. I stole in as quietly as possible, flattened against a small office building and edged around it until I could get a good look at the courtyard beyond. There, indeed, was a truck. And around it were about a dozen men in robes, carefully loading packages they were bringing out of a storage shed. Dark as it was, I was able to adjust my visor for a telescopic view to read the lettering on the side of the boxes. High Explosives. Not being well versed in military ordinance, I couldn't say exactly *how* dangerous the stuff they were loading was, but it was definitely not something to play with. And just then I got a good look at one of the robed men's faces. Oh boy. Ritual scarring over the eyes, talmanic symbols of servitude to ancient evil. And I remember the entry in Weissinger's Guide to Blood Cults. Harbingers. Servants of the Prime Evil. I stood there frozen for what must've been fifteen minutes, and as I watched several of them began to crack open the cases and start adjusting what was inside. At that point I realized, they weren't just thieves. These yahoos were looking to do enact the traditional religious fanatic suicide bombing run. They were rigging this truck as a rolling missle. But for who? Or where? I noticed at that point that things were growing a bit brighter around me. Yanking my visor up, I could see that the sun was rising. So I retreated back through the fence and across a field to a parking lot for an office building, where I crouched behind a dumpster to watch for what they would do next. It didn't take long. A few minutes later the truck rumbled out through their makeshift gate, moving slowly to, no doubt, not set off their cargo prematurely. Keeping out of sight best as I could I trailed after them. I lost sight of them for a few minutes, until finally I caught side of the truck parked in a used car lot (advertising LOW LOW PRICES! on a large Zeppelin-shaped balloon that flew overhead) on the main drag into town. So I positioned myself behind a counter of a Doublemeat Palace (love their fries!) and watched for their next move. They waited. So I waited. This wasn't exactly what I had expected to find. A trans-dimensional gateway or horde of flesh-eating hellhounds, sure, but suicide bombers? Not usually my area of expertise. Call the FBI. And also, I was getting hungry. And then it passed by. It was a school bus. Considering I doubted classes were being held in a deserted town, it was pretty full. Out of towners? People just too stubborn to leave? Or...and somehow I knew this was it...these were the local chapter of the brotherhood of monster fighters. (Or sisterhood, since most of them appeared to be young women.) And they were off to the source of the disturbance I had been tracing. Except they weren't going to make it, because these Harbringers were going to ram them and blow the lot of them to kingdom come. Suddenly I was glad I hadn't had any breakfast that morning...because it would've been coming up on me at that point. I heard the engine of the truck spring back to life, and for a wild instant I stood there paralyzed. Until I remembered my trusty proton pack. I grabbed my discharged, took aim... ...and blasted their front tires flat. Then to be safe, I ran out the front of the restaurant for the angle to shoot and blew their right rear tire clean off. A gritted my teeth as the back of the truck crashed downward, expecting the explosives to detonate. It was kind of funny. I stood there stock still, waiting for the blast. The harbringers stared at me dumbly from the truck's cab, apparently unsure what to do now that their plan had been derailed. And when after a few seconds it became clear that nothing was going to blow up, I let out a sigh of relief...just as a dozen knife-welding maniacs jumped from the cab and the rear of the truck and charged at me. Now understand, my proton weapons had been designed to work on spectral, incorporeal entities. But numerous run-ins across the years with more *formidable* opponents had led Egon and myself to upgrade our weaponry for additional functions. Although I admit I have a tendency to flip the switch in the wrong direction and set the discharger to "Blow Leaves". Luckily this time I remembered the right setting, hit the right switch, and sent out a beam of concentrated electrons. I swung the discharger about wildly, and gave the harbingers the shock of their lives. Heh. When I opened my eyes Uh, when I saw that the lot of them had been knocked unconcious I checked the back of the truck and found wires connecting various explosive devices into, I assume, one humdinger of a bomb. Having some experience in defusing bombs (gained when I helped run down the ghost of Guy Fawkes) I started disconnecting the various detonators, rendering the whole mess useless. No sense leaving it there for the Eye guys to play with when they finally came to. As I unhooked the last connection, I heard what sounded like an explosion off in the distance. For a moment I feared they had armed a backup truck and had hit their goal anyway, so I climbed the roof a nearby van to see what I could. There was a dust cloud that seemed to be getting larger. And neared. Remembering my visor, I pulled it back down over my eyes and hit the button for telescopic view. Below the dust cloud, there was a crater forming. And it was spreading in my direction. I estimated the distance to the crater (about half a mile) the speed it was expanding (TOO DAMN FAST!) and my chances of hot-wiring one of the cars in the lot in time to get away (slim and none). Looked like this was the end. As a parapsychologist I had always been curious as to what lie beyond this mortal coil...but not curious enough to want to miss seeing Ang Lee's THE HULK. So I checked my surroundings. Any helicopters nearby? No. Extra-dimensional vortex? None handy. Helpful and exceedingly large falcons? Uh-uh. Balloon? Balloon! YES! Acting quickly I grabbed the line that tethered the advertising balloon above me to earth, snapped a line belt grappler (never leave home without it!) to the nylon cord, then took aim and severed the line with a stream of focused protons. And just as the dust cloud swallowed me as the ground fell out from under, I was yanked upwards by the freed zeppelin-shaped balloon. The debris falling into the spreading crater caused an updraft, which pushed me violently upward. For a moment I caught sight of (what I assume was) the same school bus that the harbringers had been targeting. It was trying to outrace the collapsing city and seemingly succeeding. And before the dust obscured my view, I though I saw a small figure jump from a building roof and land on top of the bus as it sped away. Eventually the wind died down, and I drifted to a landing behind a small hill. The entire town had fallen inwards, towards what I surmised was a subterranean nexus point. Still, even a gateway to a alternate reality would probably be choked shut by a couple of million tons of California real estate. I snapped my PKE meter from my belt to check. The readings from the direction of the (former) location of Sunnydale showed steadily dropping levels of ectoplasm. Whatever had been down there was gone now. But then I got a curious reading. It wasn't coming from the pit, but rather the top of the hillock above me. I looked up but didn't see anything, so I once again pulled down my visor and started adjusting the astral-tracking. Slowly a figure came into a view: what appeared to be a young blonde woman, staring across the chasm with a look of what I can only describe as pure hatred in her eyes. I checked the PKE readings again. Bingo. Whatever it was, it wasn't corporeal. Not quite a ghost, but certainly an ectoplasmic entity. Finally, something up my alley. "Excuse me?" I said, climbing up the hill a little. It didn't turn. Probably it didn't realize I could see it. Suddenly the figure of the girl changed. Morphed into a man of about thirty, light brown hair and dressed like a priest. And when it changed it suddenly let loose screaming the vilest string of obscentites I had ever heard across the pit. From what I made out, it was vowing to "eat the intestines" and "flay with hot irons" someone it could see over on the far side who was too far away to be visible to me. Then it noticed me. Its head turned as if on a hinge to look at me. I've stared down ghosts and demonic entities, mythological nightmares and extradimensional boogeymen, but I've NEVER looked into the eyes of something that radiated sheer evil the way this thing did. Instinctively I raised my discharger... ...and then the priest was gone, and a huge bat-like thing with glowing eyes and fangs, a monster that seemed to have been molded from darkness itself, was there in his face. It hissed at me... ...and I fired. The protons danced across its surface as a look of surprise came over it. As if it had not expected to even feel anything, but was held tight by lines of protonic force. I unhooked my trap from my pack, tossed it under the thing, and pressed the release trigger. Instantly the trap sprung open and a pillar of electromagnetic energy surrounding the creature, drew it down inside, and finally pulled the trap hinges shut. The metal container shook for awhile as the thing apparently struggled with its cage, but eventually it gave up and settled down. Score one for the good guys. Not much else to tell. I started walking, found a highway and before too long ran into a line of rescue vehicles that came to check out the devastation. One of the police cars pulled over and gave me a lift to a nearby motel where they were putting up the refugees (surprisingly few, as most residents had already left town. Thanks again negative slime!) Anyway, I lost my suitcase with my wallet, checkbook and credit cards. Not to mention my favorite gray shirt. I already fedexed the trap back to the firehouse for containment, and after a good night's sleep I'm going to see about a flight out of here. I've had enough of Southern California. Time to head back to New York. I could use the peace and quiet. Dr. Raymond Stantz P.S. Winston, you know that idea I had about opening a branch office out here? FORGET IT. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 20th, 2003
12:06 pm	Ready for anything I've got the ol' gray jumpsuit on, charged up the proton pack, loaded down with my PKE meter, multi-spectrum goggles and every other piece of equipment I can reasonably carry. Tonight's the night. Looks like Sunnydale is heading for real wrath of God stuff tonight, to go by the signs. And whatever it is, I intend to play my part. To the end. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 14th, 2003
3:02 pm	Recent Activities I know a few people have wondered where I've been. Well, I finally made it to Sunnydale a few weeks ago, took up residence at the local HoJohn's, and started doing some paranormal surveying. I've been over most of the town with PKE meters, valence measures, dimensional distortion instruments and (just for kicks) checked for asbsestos as well. Then I double-checked the results. Then I triple-checked them. And then again. And it all led to the same conclusion: this town is heading for the biggest supernatural explosion since Mount St. Helens. If I'm right (and I am) Sunnydale probably has less than a week until the whole shebang gets sucked down into the ninth circle. So -- what to do? My first thought was to alert the local authorities and see about a mass evacuation. But it appears the Sunnydale Police have grown rather blase about the paranormal over the years, while the mayor's office and city council wouldn't even return my calls. You'd think a nationally-famous parapsychologist and innovator in ectoplasmic defense technology would be afforded more respect. In any case, no one locally seemed to be interested in my warnings. And I doubted shouting from a street corner or wearing a sandwich board proclaiming "THE END OF DAYS!" would be particularly effective either. But...a good scientist should always be able to find a new approach to the problem. As it happens, I had a sample of negatively-charged psychoactive ectoplasmic residue, a.k.a. "negative slime" with me. Just a vial full, but I decided it had to be enough. So I took it down to the place where I knew that there would be enough anger and despair to "feed" it and cause it to increase dramatically in mass. Thank goodness for the DMV! A few hours at the DMV and I had gone from one small vial to a few gallons of the substance. At this point I could see the effect it was having on people nearby...nerves, paranoia, a strong urge to leave the immediate area. Satisfied it was potent enough to do what I wanted, I instigated the second part of my plan: making my way into the sewers, I began to leave small samples of the slime through the subterranean depths of Sunnydale, confident the current level of negative energy in the town would cause it to expand quickly. I was not disappointed. In just a couple of days a few gallons had soaked up enough negative emotions (this is one repressed burg) to expand to a literal stream of bad vibes running completely under the city. And as I hoped, the amplified feedback of their own fears and worries began to effect to local populace to the degree that they started to abandon the town in droves. Most probably couldn't have given any reason for their exodus rather than just an overpowering dread. Those who could justified their actions with any excuse available. But in truth, I had to bring about this evacuation before everything locally blows sky high. (I just hope I don't get sued again.) Anyway, the town's about empty now. Only those of exceptional courage and dedication would remain in the face of the effects of the slime...or perhaps those just too stupid to leave. Either way, the vast majority of the citizens of Sunnydale have been spared from immediate devastation. It just remains to bee seen if what's coming can be contained before it spreads to the rest of the world. As for me, I now have the entire hotel to myself. The power is out (thanks to Egon for equipping my laptop with a self-contained nuclear power source) and I seem to be alone. Tonight I'm suiting up, putting on the proton pack and heading out to check the rest of the town. Part of me (or maybe it's the slime) is telling me to get out while I still can. But another part, the scientist part that just can't pass up a chance to witness the supernatural first hand, won't let me go. Or maybe it's another part, the paranormal combat veteran who won't turn his back on a threat to humanity. Or maybe I'm just stupid. Strangely enough, I'm glad the guys aren't here. While I could certainly use the help, as well as the company, it just feels like no one can stop what's coming. Better I stay here myself, monitoring the situation and sending back reports, so that after the worst happens they're left to deal with the aftermath. And if I don't make it back, well, I've had a hell of a ride, haven't I? Dr. Raymond Stantz Sunnydale, CA May 14, 2003 The future belongs to those who fuse intelligence with faith, and who with courage and determination grope their way forward from chance to choice, from blind adaptation to creative evolution. -- Charles E. Merriam (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 1st, 2003
11:26 am	Hungover Haven't posted in -- days? weeks? -- time gets away from you when you're running around as a happy little moonie, basking in the "love" and "joy" of some extradimensional entity with vast mind control powers who managed to put everyone in LA under her spell...including yours truly. *Sigh* I'll admit I miss it. The sense of belonging, of absolute certainty that the way of Jas...of the demonic entity was the right path. Right now I feel more depressed than the time I accidentally drank the negatively-charged slime back at the lab (what can I say? It looked like my grape smoothie). No doubt it's a side effect of the withdrawl of her control. Might not be a bad idea to sally forth to the closest drug store in search of some anti-depressents. As for what I was doing while under the spell -- some of it's pretty fuzzy, but I do remember singing a rather spirited variation of "Kumbaya" at a Fellowship meeting, and then apparently chasing around town with a mob after some rebel force. Lucky for mankind those rebels apparently managed to break the mind control and free us all, and just as a global broadcast was about to send the whole world down on its knees worshipping a monster. And without knowing the specifics, soon after everyone could just sort of *sense* that SHE was dead. Don't know who saved the world this time, but I wish I could thank them, whoever they are. Hope they made it through this mess okay. But I believe this is how it had to end, no matter how powerful SHE was. The human will can't be surpressed forever. Eventually someone was going to break free and oppose her. And any utopia founded on abolishing free will and independent thought was doomed to end in the same bloodbath it started in. Besides, who would trust absolute power to an entity that was willing to sacrifice thousands of innocents, start rains of fire, blot out the sun and unleash hordes of the undead on the city? SHE claimed to be an agent of love and peace, but as the good book says, "By their deeds ye shall know them." But I still feel drained by the whole experience. Depressed. Empty. Forget the pills -- I need a good stiff drink. Time to get out of this insane city and head on to Sunnydale like I planned. Hopefully I'll find a little peace and quiet up there. I mean, it certainly couldn't be worse than Los Angeles has been recently...could it? (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2003
2:20 pm	I don't want to talk about it I seem to be myself again. When I get the chance I'm going to have Egon email me whatever he's got on soul transmogrification, but in the meantime I think I'd prefer to bury the memory of being...that. Pi-ka-chu! Dammit, I'm never going to get that phrase out of my head! Anyway, decided that with recent events I'd pull over for a rest. I'm on the outskirts of Los Angeles, in a rather rundown motel, but at least it's cheap. Think I'll crash here awhile and catch up on reading Live Journals before heading on to Sunnydale. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 1st, 2003
6:00 pm	Uh-oh This CAN'T be good. Uh...help? (Comment on this)
Friday, March 28th, 2003
4:50 pm	California Adventures Been in Southern California (primarily Los Angeles) for a couple of weeks now. Besides the usual site-seeing (loved Knotts Berry Farm!) I've been researching local paranormal phenomena. Too bad I got here after the sun came back. Apparently LA was abounding with various supernatural creatures during that period, but the sudden return of sunlight supposedly caused a large number of them to spontaneously combust, and the rest are now apparently laying low. I did try to make contact with a man I know out here, Reginald Hawley, who runs a respected Occult Book Store. (When I was running Ray's Occult Books he used to help me fill special orders). Unfortunately Reg has left town for an indefinite period. I spoke to one of his neighbors and was told he was assaulted in his store recently and decided an extended trip to South America was in order. Further, I was told that the perpetrator of the attack was a well-known local vampire. Which brings me to my main findings so far: while on the east coast most supernatural occurances involve ectoplasmic beings, i.e. ghosts, poltergeists, various vaporous presences and disembodied extradimensioal entities, it seems that on the west coast they deal with more coporeal paranormal threats. There seems to be a healthy (best word?) population of vampires, werewolves, demons, occasional robots and a few things that even I never heard about. But very few ghosts, and the ones they have seem rather benign, even friendly. One friendly person told me the local vampires tend to scare away the ghosts, but that doesn't match the known habits of homo spiritus. My guess is that there's some overarching supernatural influence in this area that encourages one type of paranormal activity over another, and redistributes the available ectoplasm accordingly. But that's only a theory -- more research is needed. I've considered making contact with some of the local paranormal defense services (depressing low-tech outfits), but a referral to a group called "Angel Investigations" didn't work out. I called for an appointment, but someone who sounded like a surly teenager told me they were "...busy right now, so get lost." Too bad, as the gentleman who referred me (a successful software developer who sold us some customized anti-Virus software awhile back to rid our mainframe of possession by Trigar the Unmentionable) was quite prolific in his praise of them. Maybe I'll try again later. I've also taken to monitoring local demon activity through the internet. Another difference between the east coast and the west is that I haven't noticed supernatural entities on the east coast being considerate enough to keep online records of their actions. I've made a few contacts with some of the local dark lords, but they seem unimpressed by my reputation. Oh well, I am pretty far from home... Anyway, although my stated goal for this trip was simple research, in truth I was thinking of using my findings to propose to the guys that we open a branch office out here. I know Pete's fond of L.A. (he loved it when he got to come out and serve as the technical advisor on the remake of "House on Haunted Hill", although *I* thought he needed to spend more time working on the script and less at nightculbs), and Egon would appreciate the nearness to Silicon Valley. But the type of supernatural menaces common to Southern California are so different from what we're used to dealing with, it would mean major changes in our methodology. Still, the idea bears further scrutiny -- if we hired the right people with the proper experience, we could probably turn a tidy profit. I've already noticed a young man who, with the proper education, could make a career in the paranormal defense industry. True, he's currently "employed" (if you can call it that) at cooking for a house full of teenaged girls and making amateur documentaries, but I know potential when I see it. In conclusion, I've decided I've seen enough of Los Angeles for now. I think I'm going to drive up to Sunnydale and look into reports of those eyeless cultists...not to mention those rumors of a "hellmouth" in that area. No one knows better than myself just how fascinating dimensional portals into infernal planes of existence are! And if all goes well, maybe I'll move on to San Francisco to check out the Wiccan culture up there. Overall, it's been a great trip so far! Oh, and that "devil" the guys were chasing around Hell's Kitchen? Turned out to be a man in a costume. Extremely limber, but otherwise quite mortal. Heh. Current Mood: pleased Current Music: California Dreamin' (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 11th, 2003
3:56 pm	On my way to LA! After weeks (months?) of reports of major supernatural activity in Southern California, am off on a fact-finding tour of Los Angeles and surrounding communities to determine the nature of the disturbances. Early reports make it sound nearly as bad as the 1984 incidents, though thankfully no giant product logos seems to involved just yet. However, recently rain of fire and sun blockage bear closer scrutiny. Also plan to swing by seaside town of Sunnydale to investigate reports of ritualistic slayings of young girls by eyeless cultists. AND, if have time, drop by Universal Studios Tour! Have always wanted first hand look at the ride they based on us. Sadly, rest of team said they'd prefer to remain in NY to investigate reports of "devil" currently swinging from buildings in Hell's Kitchen. to each his own... Current Mood: excited Current Music: California Dreaming (1 Comment |Comment on this)