A little ghostly activity goes a long way...

I was talking to a bed & breakfast owner about the ghost stories that seem to be continually coming up at their inn, and she told me a fascinating story.

It seems that a couple in one of the rooms had awakened in the middle of the night, and saw a young man standing in a Civil War uniform standing at the foot of their bed. After only a moment, he disappeared, but both husband and wife saw him at the same time.

The couple shared their experience with the other guests (and the innkeepers) at breakfast the next morning, and everyone was very excited, hoping to see a ghost in their room... except for one couple, who checked out immediately, saying that if they'd known the place was haunted, they never would have booked it.

I couldn't help but laugh - the inn is over 100 years old, has been owned by many families over the years, and probably thousands of people have stayed there by now. How could there not be ghosts! Still, a little ghostly activity goes a long way. Some of the guests that weekend have already made reservations for a return trip, in the hopes that something supernatural will happen to them, but that one couple has probably sworn off the place for good. People are funny when it comes to hauntings, I guess.

Poll Results!

This was a poll that I was very anxious to see the results for. The question was "The 'Amityville Horror' case was..."

The reason that I am so intrigued by this is that I still remember seeing the movie as a young man, and hearing all of the hype about it. Of course, then the news came out that it was fake. Which was followed up by the revelation that it wasn't fake, but that the owners were tired of people coming to see the house, so they put out the fake "fake" story. And then the news was released that... well, you get it. This thing has gone back and forth so much that I could hardly wait to hear everyone's opinion. And the results to the question:

"The 'Amityville Horror' case was..."

...based in reality. 22%
...a total work of fiction. 33%
...a haunted place that was exploited. 44%
...an evil place of demons. 0%
...inconclusive for me. 0%

Very interesting!

Away for Mardi Gras!

Sorry that there wasn't a post for the last couple of days, but it's Mardi Gras, and we were out participating in the festival! It has been an incredible weekend: we've thrown beads in parades, caught beads standing on the sidewalk as parades went by, and eaten some incrediblely good (but bad for you) carnival food.

When was digging for a daily dose of the paranormal, I found the following interesting story about a writer who was "Ghost-hunting Illinois":

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/11/07/life/1011137.txt

Ghostly odyssey includes local haunts
By ARLENE MANNLEIN - H&R Staff Writer

Whether or not his readers are believers in ghosts, this time John B. Kachuba's spook-tracking writings take up "Ghosthunting Illinois." He first tackled sites in Chicago, where the Red Lion Pub and the Biograph Theater sit across from each other on North Lincoln Avenue.

The pub is, according to some, visited by the late former owner John Cordwell, the title character in the Steve McQueen movie "The Great Escape." The theater gets visits from the post-Prohibition gangster John Dillinger, who was gunned down in front of it.

Trekking to northern Illinois, Kachuba found two cemeteries. The one in Midlothian has had more than 100 supernatural events reported. The second, in Hillside, is filled with tombstones bearing Italian names,
including some well-known - Al Capone and Frank Nitti whose family name was Nitto.

On Kachuba's Central Illinois list is Decatur's Greenwood Cemetery, where he looked for the "Greenwood Bride." So are the C.H. Moore Homestead in Clinton and six Springfield sites that include the Abraham Lincoln home and tomb.

Southern Illinois is not left out. Kachuba finds more lore at the Old Slave House in Equality and even the Pere Marquette State Park Lodge in Grafton and Fort de Chartres in Prairie du Rocher.

Before taking off for Florida on a research trip for his next book, he answered some questions.

Q: I know you began with an Ohio book last year. Why did you decide to make Illinois ghost sites the subjects of your current book? Does Illinois have a haunting reputation nationally?

A: "Ghosthunting Ohio" is the first book in the Haunted Heartland series from Emmis Books; "Ghosthunting Illinois" continues the exploration of Midwest haunts.

Illinois has a long and interesting history and is a heavily populated state, all of which means that there are plenty of ghostly sites to investigate. The state does have something of a national reputation for its haunts, thanks to several other Illinois writers who have written about the state's ghosts.

Q: Perhaps­;we are just exposed to it more,­;but it seems people are much more aware of or at least interested in ghost lore than in previous years. Do you think that is in fact the case, and if so, how would you explain that fascination?

A: I think there is, indeed, a greater fascination today with ghosts than perhaps ever before. Current television programs and movies bear this out, as do the many ghost books on the market and the incredible number of ghost tours available around the country. The fascination with ghosts lies in part with our curiosity about what comes next after death. That mystery is as old as the caveman. But if ghosts exist, then that would prove that we all go on in some way after death. That is a comforting thought. I think, in hard times like these, when Americans are dying in a futile war, when people are unemployed, when we are unable to aid disaster victims in a timely manner, when our faith in our leaders is at an all-time low, it is natural to look for something better, some hope that things may be better in the future. That future could be an eternal existence in the afterlife, as evidenced by ghosts.

Q: Do you personally believe in the paranormal and/or have what you feel is proof of its existence?

A: I believe that our existence is not limited to what we know as life on earth. There is something beyond death, some other form of existence, but I can't describe it further than that. Proof of that is hard to come
by, of course, but another existence seems reasonable if only in scientific terms. If we accept that Einstein was correct when he said that all the energy of the universe is constant and that it can neither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed into a different type of energy, then I have to ask myself what becomes of the energy that is "me" after death? I think it is that energy that sometimes turns up in photos or manifests itself to the living. Ghosts, in other words.

Footsteps, footsteps, footsteps...

I seem to always be talking about footsteps in my ghost lectures, but it actually seems that this is the most common occurrence of anything else. I tend to always hear things before I see or feel something. The last time that it happened was just a few minutes before wiriting this, when I heard steps in the center stairwell of our 1861 home. There was no one there - at least, no one that I could see...

Searching for spirits at school

By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
jsullivan@th-record.com

Goshen – It's Friday night at Moon Doze Cafe, where Lloyd Rajcoomar and three of his investigators are sitting at a circular table, drawing customer attention away from Molly Hamilton and the karaoke equipment she and a lanky, bearded man have just finished setting up. "Hey, whattya guys want to sing, "Ghostbusters?" '' says Hamilton, while strutting past the men. Rajcoomar and the others smile politely, then turn to business.


Rajcoomar pulls out a clear blue plastic folder containing news stories, photographs and several business cards that say "Paranormal Investigation." He hands over one of the articles headlined "Deadly fall still unsolved in police eyes." It's dated Aug. 25, 2003. "It's been 39 years since someone found little Paul Ramos Jr. facedown on the pavement behind the school dormitory. Even so, questions linger about what happened that summer night so long ago." Rajcoomar knows the story by heart: A 9-year-old boy attending a summer camp in 1964 at the Salesian School in Goshen climbs to the roof at night and mysteriously falls off.

Village police suspect foul play, but have run out of leads, especially since a fire six years after the death destroyed records of all those at the camp that summer. This is what brings Rajcoomar and his investigation team to Goshen. The spirit of the 9-year-old might still be in the school, he says. And it might need their help. "It seemed troubled," Rajcoomar says of the purported spirit he spoke with two weeks ago. "It wanted to communicate, but it was very weak." Goshen just isn't Goshen without a ghost story about the Salesian, a two-century-old, once-450-acre property that belonged to wealthy aristocrats, charities, and an order of Catholic priests. Stories have circulated for years about the abandoned school building, once part of the Catholic boarding school, prompting mostly teens to trespass on the site late at night. The thrill seekers multiplied this past summer, after contractors hired in the spring to tear down the mansion, once the residence of the Catholic students, reported glass crashing down from glassless windows. Reading about the mysterious noises in an article in the Times Herald-Record, Rajcoomar, a 26-year-old security specialist for Wal-Mart, and his troupe of nine paranormal detectives, known as Post Mortum, decided it was time to investigate. The group, formed this past spring, has held numerous interviews with the media, including an article about them in this newspaper. Only four detectives could make it out this night to tape their findings in front of the Salesian gates for a Time Warner Cable show to be broadcast on Channel 23 at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. The four – Rajcoomar, Jarrod Soles, 22, Avelino Jacinto, 37, and Angel Parilla, 67, – are dressed in jeans and black T-shirts and baseball caps, their names and the Post Mortum logo printed in white. Around their necks, they wear crucifixes and medallions of Christian saints. Their preliminary readings from the Salesian School include video footage of flying orbs, thermal measurements of cold pockets in the basement air, pictures of a pentagram drawn on the floor of a room, and audio recordings of subnormal sounds. In other words, ghosts, according to Rajcoomar. "This is him?" asks Dawn Santoro, the owner of Moon Doze Cafe, which is holding karaoke night on this Friday evening."That's hair," Rajcoomar tells Santoro, pointing out the contours of a bright image caught on thermal video camera. "Are you sure?" Santoro asks, then says, wide-eyed, "I think this is so cool." If the ghost of the boy is in the Salesian School, it is not alone, Rajcoomar adds. When Rajcoomar asked the spirit if it was afraid, another voice responded, "Hell no, damn you!" he says. "There are lots of entities in there," Rajcoomar says. "One of them is negative, likely from the pentagram somebody drew on the floor." Rajcoomar says he has informed police of his group's involvement in the case, but they have not yet responded back. A search for Ramo's family has also turned up empty, so far. "We won't say it's (Paul Ramos), but we definitely spoke to a boy," he says. "We're holding off our judgment until we can speak to his parents."

Poll Results!

I was supposed to post the poll results last night, but by the time I got around to posting it was tomorrow. Or I guess that's today, now. Anyway, here we go. Last week's question was:

I think that the phenomenom known as "shadow people" are:

1. Ghosts or spirits, just in another form - 44%
2. A different form of supernatural entity - 44%
3. Alien beings manifesting themselves on Earth - 0%
4. Interdimensional beings bleeding over into our world - 0%
5. Something different that we don't understand - 13%

It's interesting that the first two answers are tied. To be honest, though, I've seen the shadow people and I have no idea what to make of them. I guess that my answer would be torn between 1. and 2. above. Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll... your opinions are ALWAYS fascinating!

Ghost Documentary

One of the things that I really enjoy is watching those "haunted travel" documentaries that show up occasionally on the Travel Channel and a few of the others. An independent film crew visited Jefferson, Texas, and is releasing a new documentary named, "City of Spirits: The Haunting of Jefferson, Texas".

To see the trailer, go to the webpage for The Grove, and scroll down until you see the green "watch the trailer" link:

http://www.thegrove-jefferson.com

Appalachian Ghost Walk

I've take ghost walks around the country, from San Francisco, to Savannah, to Alexandria, VA, and many more. I just heard about one in Tennessee, named the Appalachian Ghost Walk. Here's all the details:

www.geocities.com/AppalachianGhosts/

Doggie Ghosts

When I first started writing this, I felt a little foolish. As I look over at my two bassets snuggled up on the couch, Lilly and Delaney, maybe I don't feel so weird.

I can honestly say that our first basset hound from thirteen years ago has come back to visit us, and I believe that Murphy and Samantha, both of whom died last year, have looked in on us as well. There are just things that can't be denied, like on Christmas morning when a dog walked into our bedroom, its toenails clicking on the hardwood floors. I sat up to see which one of the dogs were up, but they were both soundly asleep in bed.

I know that it wasn't a dream, because Tami woke up at the same time, saying, "Which one of the girls is up?"
Either we had the same delusion at the same time (arguably a paranormal event in itself), or we were visited by one of our previous bassets. Check out the book, "Haunted Encounters: Personal Stories of Departed Pets" by clicking on the book cover to the right. I think that you'll like it.

Haunted Real Estate Values Soar!

Well, I guess that I can't make a sweeping statement like that, but I did have a recent conversation with a real estate agent that led me to that conclusion. He is representing a house that is haunted - I personally know five people that have had experiences there. When I asked him how he was handling that aspect of the house, he said, "It's the first thing that I tell prospective buyers... ghosts sell houses!"

I'd never thought about it in that regard, but maybe that's true. The agent seems convinced, anyway!

Upcoming Paranormal Conference

There's no better place for a paranormal conference than in the mysterious city of Jefferson, Texas. With its pre-civil war buildings and old, brick streets, there is a long history of supernatural history there. On April 22nd, paranormal enthusiasts from all over will descend on the town for a chillingly good time. The conference lasts all day Saturday, and features a slate of outstanding speakers: Tonya Hacker, Mitchel Whitington, Olyve Hallmark Abbott, Chris Moseley, Robert Caruso, and Kathleen Tucci.

There will be ghost-themed tours all weekend, starting Friday evening: A Ghost Walk through the streets of Jefferson to many of the haunted locations around town; The Ghost Train, a ride through the darkness of the Jefferson's boggy woodlands on the famous Jefferson & Cypress Bayou steam railway, complete with tales of ghosts and the unknown; Jefferson's Ghostly Bayou Boat, a night-time trip down the river where you'll hear stories of the spirits of steamboat tragedies, strange creatures along the bayou, and other tales from Jefferson's haunted side; and tours of The Grove, the house that has been the focus of supernatural activity for over 100 years.

Make your arrangements early, and you can spend the weekend in one of Jefferson's haunted B&B's: Falling Leaves, McKay House, and Claiborne House, or at the haunted Jefferson Hotel. For those or any lodging arrangements, call the Jefferson Reservation Service at 903.665.3145.

It is going to be a memorable weekend, so plan on attending! For more information, go to:
www.metroplexparanormalinvestigations.com/conference.html

Haunted Times Magazine

I try to be careful who (and what) I plug with the blog, but here's a blind item that I ran across. An online & print magazine called "Haunted Times" had the following offer:

"The new print and online issue of Haunted Times Magazine is here! Just stop by http://www.hauntedtimes.com to access all of the great new online-only stories and get a sneak peek at the spring print issue of HTM. Make sure to sign up for your FREE membership to our online community."

"More great news: If you subscribe to the print version of Haunted Times Magazine you will receive your first issue absolutely FREE! This is a limited time promotion so make sure to sign up today."

Let me be VERY quick to say that I'm not affiliated with Haunted Times, and I don't know anything about them (although I'm about to go over and browse their site), so keep in mind that this isn't an endorsement - just an interesting item for paranormal enthusiasts that I thought that I'd post for your perusal.

Happy St. Valentine's Day to everyone

Poll results! (after two days of silence)

For everyone who follows the ghost-blog, I have to apologize for shutting down for two days. I could check email, I could FTP, but for some reason every time I tried to access the web my browser would just slow down to nothing, and finally hang. Something was "stuck" somewhere upstream, I guess, 'cause now everything is working fine.

So, it's monday, and time for Poll Results. This week's question was "Is EVP a genuine supernatural phenomenom?"

I've never successfully captured EVP myself, but I've heard recordings from friends that were VERY compelling. So what do the readers of ghost-blog.com think? Here we go:

Yes, EVP is a genuine supernatural phenomenom - 67%
No, EVP is not - 8%
Not enough evidence to decide - 25%

A very interesting poll - thanks to everyone who participated! Be sure to check out the new poll, the results next week, and thanks for reading ghost-blog.com!

Starr and the Kentucky Ghost Hunters...

Gotta give a PsyTech plug to my buddies in Kentucky.

Starr and I were on the same speaking slate down in San Antonio last year, and I have to say that I'm more that a little impressed with her EVP results.

Starr also does a great seminar on dosing rods.

If Starr or the folks from Kentucky Ghost Hunters are even in your area, sign up for an hour or so that's extremely educational and entertaining.

Their website is:
http://www.kyghosthunters.com/

Ghost Hunters at Stocksbridge Bypass

The UK Paranormal Research Group held an investigation in the earlyhours of Sunday morning at Stocksbridge Bypass. The bypass is renowned for alleged sightings of ghostly dancing childrenand monks and Sheffield's newest Ghost-hunting group met at Pearoydbridge at midnight to record paranormal activity.
The group concentrated their efforts on Pearoyd Lane and the publicfootpath above the steelworks. They took photos to try and capture anyvisible evidence of the paranormal and recorded sound, hoping to pick upwhat paranormal experts call "EVP" (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Co-founders of the group Colin Thorpe and Jonathan Slater hold differentphilosophies when it comes to the existence of ghosts and spirits. Jonathan describes himself as "a sceptic who wants to be proved wrong."and Colin is a firm believer in everything paranormal. He said: "Wecan't be the only entities on earth. There's got to be something else."

Self confessed spirit medium and expert in the paranormal, KirstyStevens took some photos which the group claim show signs of "orbs andectoplasm" Kirsty says she has a talent for communicating with spirits and dealingwith things that go bump in the night.

She said: "When I started doing this sort of thing I stopped beingscared. And anyway, it's different because you're looking for them, notthe other way round." Kirsty has been hearing voices since she was about seven years old.Although she admits it frightened her at first, she started attendingclasses to develop the skill and now actively seeks out the paranormal.

Many people have claimed to have caught glimpses of ghosts on the bypassat night. The most popular stories involve a monk materializing insidepeople's cars and the sound of children singing.

By Graham Smyth
http://www.looklocal.org.uk/news.php?id=854

Secret Ghosts

My wife and I live in Jefferson, Texas, that probably has more haunted places per capita than any other place that I've found. The most interesting thing about this to me is that so many people don't want to talk about that.

For instance, we have some friends that live in an old house like ours, dating back to the 1800s. While we readily share the things that happen at our house, The Grove, they've always contended that their place is not haunted.

We were there one night, and my wife was in one of the bedrooms alone, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She said that it touched her with such familiarity that she thought that it must be me. She turned around to say something to me, only to find that she was alone in the room... the hand had pulled away as she turned around.

When we asked our friends, the lady just smiled and said, "One of these days I'll have to tell you some stories."

I guess that some people just aren't comfortable with the idea of others knowing that they live in a "haunted house", and also believe in ghosts.

Props to my buddy Loyd

Loyd Auerbach is arguably one of the foremost authorities on the paranormal in America today. He's investigated a phenomenal number of cases, written about a good number of them, and still finds time to speak to groups around the country.

Aside from that, Loyd is an incredibly nice fellow. The first time that I met him we sat down in a hotel restaurant for dinner and had a wonderful conversation, just like we were old friends.

I could hardly wait for the release of his new book, where he covers cases like "The Ghost in the Bell Jar", "The Ship of Souls", "The Ghost Plane", and many, many more. It's a great read, all three times that I've gone through it. Bravo, my friend!

For a sample of his writing, and a place to order the book, go to: http://www.atriadpress.com/BookPages/AParanormalCasebook.htm

Poll Results!

The topic of last week's poll was, "If ghosts exist, do demons and angels?"

For me this was a slam dunk - for my opinion, anyway. I know that angels exist, because someone very close to me has actually interacted with one in an everyday setting. From there I can speculate that if angels exist, demons must as well. Still, I know that these things that we call "ghosts" or "spirits" aren't the same - at least in my way of thinking. Everyone has an opinion, though, and each is as valad as the next.

I was curious to see what everyone else thought, so here are the results:

17% - No, demons and angels don't exist. They're only other forms of spirits.
75% - They do exist, and are different entities from ghosts.
8% - Demons and angels are what we also call "ghosts".

Very interesting! I'm also delighted to see all of the participation in the polls. It is great to see what everyone out there thinks. Watch for the next ghost-blog.com poll, and remember to vote!

Educated People Believe in Ghosts!

There's a new article out that says something that I personally find astounding... the more education a person has, the more likely they are to believe in ghosts!

Here's a quote from the article:

"Believe it or not, higher education is linked to a greater tendency to believe in ghosts and other paranormal phenomena, according to a new study.
Contrary to researchers' expectations, a poll of 439 college students found seniors and grad students were more likely than freshmen to believe in haunted houses, psychics, telepathy, channeling and a host of other questionable ideas.
The results are detailed in the January-February issue of the Skeptical Inquirer magazine."

Can you believe that the Skeptical Inquirer actually printed that? I'm impressed. If you'd like to read the entire article, you can find it at:

http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060121_paranormal_poll.html

Expect the Unexpected!

I posted last night about not looking for supernatural events at a particular time that seems to be popular in movies and television... midnight, 3 AM, whatever.

The other thing that I'd like to mention is to not go looking "specifically" for things that you've heard about at a particular place. For example, if you've read about our visit to The Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming, on the ghostinmysuitcase.com page, that's a perfect example. Before the trip I kept hearing how there was a ghost of the man that was seen on the stairs, and footsteps that were heard in one particular hallway. The staff that I interviewed said the same thing. On our visit we had something very dramatic happen, but saw no indication of a man in the hallway or footsteps on the stairs.

In fact, the majority of the experiences that we've had have been 1) when we weren't expecting it, and 2) different from what we'd heard that we were "supposed" to expect.

Keep your mind - and senses - wide open, and you may be surprised what you encounter!

Ghosts Afloat!

My wife and I visited Los Angeles a while ago, and although we got to take in many of the sights there, there's one thing that we missed, and I'll always regret it: taking the haunted tour of the Queen Mary. We just couldn't make it work in our schedule, and who knows when we'll get back to L.A.

If you're ever in the area, don't make the same mistake that I did. The ship has some wonderful ghost stories, and instead of trying to relate them myself, I'll turn it over to the experts:

http://www.ghostsandlegends.com/

There certainly seem to be some active spirits on board, and hopefully, we'll be out that way again. You can bet that I'll be first in line to explore the RMS Queen Mary.

Even in Russia...

Yep, there are even ghost stories trickling out of Russia. Take this one, for example:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1627023.html

Haunting experience at Lenin Museum

The director of Russia's Lenin Museum says the ghost of the former
soviet dictator is haunting the building.

Maja Obraszowa, head of the museum located in Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's
former house in Samara, says staff often hear footsteps and see
furniture moving, as well as other inexplicable phenomena.

Obraszowa said: "We walked into the master bedroom one morning and saw
the bed had been slept in, even though the door was locked all night.

"And we can often smell apple cake, which was his favourite food, even
though there is no bakery near here."

The ghost story emerged after a group of school children visiting the
museum swore to have smelt fresh coffee while looking at the former
revolutionary's ancient coffee machine.

Lenin studied law in Samara from 1887 to 1891. His body is on display in
the red square though many Russians feel it should be removed and given
a Christian burial.