If you’ve wondered if your home is haunted, this book will help you find answers… and advice, if your home really has ghosts.

You’ll discover the leading normal reasons why some houses seem haunted. You’ll also find out why at least 80% of “haunted” houses [...]]]> Have you wondered, “Is my house haunted?”

If you’ve wondered if your home is haunted, this book will help you find answers… and advice, if your home really has ghosts.

You’ll discover the leading normal reasons why some houses seem haunted. You’ll also find out why at least 80% of “haunted” houses don’t actually have ghosts.

Based on over 30 years of research in haunted homes and businesses through the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, paranormal expert Fiona Broome will show you…

• What you can investigate on your own, easily.
• Why you don’t need expensive tools to discover if your home has a ghost.
• What to do — and what not to do — if your house is haunted.
• How to protect yourself and your family.

If your home might be haunted, it’s important to take action immediately. This book explains exactly what to do, step-by-step, right now.

Published in January 2010, this book is now available at Amazon.com: Is My House Haunted?

Reviewers say…

“Sometimes when wracking a brain for what may cause evidence, even the simplest of things can escape your mind. Having this book allows you to look at the content and index sections, and answers will jump out at you right away… 4.75 out of 5 stars.” — Sean Paradis

“…if you are feeling anxious, frightened or emotionally disturbed by the energies in your home, it may be time to consider doing a complete analysis of the situation. This is where this book becomes invaluable.” — Elaine Webster

Congratulations, Andy!  Your copy will be ready to ship to you around the third week of January.

That number (5) was chosen with a random number generator, online.

Here’s the original contest announcement:

Win a free, autographed copy of my newest book, [...]]]> The winner is the fifth person who sent us a question:  Andy L.

Congratulations, Andy!  Your copy will be ready to ship to you around the third week of January.

That number (5) was chosen with a random number generator, online.

Here’s the original contest announcement:

Win a free, autographed copy of my newest book, “Is My House Haunted?”

I think I’ve included the most important questions in my new book, but — before I approve it for publication — I’m looking for anything  I might have overlooked.

If you’ve had a question about whether or not your house (or someone else’s) is haunted, ask!

If you’d like to ask something about living in a haunted house, or with your ghosts, ask that, too.

On December 31st, my team will pick a question at random, and the person who sent it will receive a free, autographed copy of “Is My House Haunted?” when it’s published in January.

(International readers are included, and we’ll pay shipping anywhere in the world.)

Check HollowHill.com on January 1st to see if you’re the lucky winner!

Use this form to ask your question.  Only questions sent via this form can be included in the contest. (Also, be sure to provide a real, working email address. If we can’t reach you within 72 hours, we’ll select another winner.)

[The form has now been removed.  The contest is over.  Keep checking for future contests as I write more books, and want to know your questions.]

In general, snow seems to add so many anomalies — and different kinds of anomalies — I’d have to discount all of them in investigation photos.

That said, the effects were interesting when I [...]]]> Snow creates orbs.  That’s not news, but I wanted to experiment with snow effects for my upcoming book, Ghost Photography 101*.

In general, snow seems to add so many anomalies — and different kinds of anomalies — I’d have to discount all of them in investigation photos.

That said, the effects were interesting when I took pictures at a nearby haunted cemetery during yesterday’s blizzard.

The snow was coming down so rapidly, conditions were near white-out.  The skies were extremely dark.  I took about 50 flash photos from different angles (including the picture we’re using for the seasonal graphic at Hollow Hill) to see how snow affects pictures.

In the upper right photo, the orbs aren’t perfect circles.  The one at the right looks like an insect might, except that there were no bugs in the air when I took these pictures.

In the photo at left, I’m very interested in the apparent orb in the foreground.  It’s probably just a snowflake very near the camera, but it’s one of two very vivid orbs images among the 50 photos I took. (The second photo is below, on the right.)

You’ll see a more typical series of orbs (very faint) in other parts of this photo.

If I had a more romantic attitude toward this work, I might think, “Oh, how nice! The ghosts are here to wish me a happy holiday season.”

Though that thought did cross my mind, I try to maintain a very scientific view as I study my pictures.  For research purposes: All of them might be snowflakes, period.

However, as a psychic, I felt more welcomed than usual at that cemetery.  There was a happy, festive energy there.  It made it worth wading almost knee-deep in snow on a cold morning, just to feel the excitement and — no pun intended — Christmas spirit that I remember from childhood.

I’m not sure how to explain it, but on a personal (not professional) level, I think I was experiencing the joy of a Victorian-era Christmas, right out of “A Christmas Carol.”  That’s fitting, for the time frame of that cemetery.

Ordinarily, I don’t visit cemeteries — or any outdoor haunt — once the snow arrives.  However, after this experience, I may make a point of visiting them during the holiday season.

Though my photos showed orbs that represent snowflakes, the visit was unexpectedly rewarding in other ways.

No matter what the weather where you are, visit a nearby “haunted” cemetery and let me know what you discover.  You don’t need to go there at night; my experience was around 8:30 a.m.

Leave a comment, below, and let me know if you encounter anything unusual there, as I did.

*I’m expanding my Ghost Photography 101 book to include winter photography.  The book needed editorial changes anyway, so I decided to take advantage of the approaching season and add more useful information for ghost photographers.

From Fiona:

Thanks to Tom Spitalere, the Essex County Ghost Project and Pelham Paranormal Research for hosting a successful fundraiser at Tenney Gate House.

I was honored to be among the guest speakers at this event — along with Bob Lunn, Chris Gentry, Deb O’Leary, Joe Bella (of the UPDATE

From Fiona:

Thanks to Tom Spitalere, the Essex County Ghost Project and Pelham Paranormal Research for hosting a successful fundraiser at Tenney Gate House.

I was honored to be among the guest speakers at this event — along with Bob Lunn, Chris Gentry, Deb O’Leary, Joe Bella (of the Methuen Historical Society) and Sean Paradis — and to share some unusual paranormal moments at haunted Tenney Gate House and the nearby Grey Court Castle ruins.

It was definitely an evening of surprises!

I’ll be posting my report in the coming week.

Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who joined us for this fundraiser.  100% of ticket sales went directly to the Methuen Historical Society to restore Tenney Gate House’s haunted turret room, and the roof above it.

Here’s the original announcement:

On Saturday night, October 10th, join the Essex County Ghost Project, Pelham Paranormal Research, and Fiona Broome as we return to haunted Tenney Gate House in Methuen, Massachusetts.

We’ll be there from 7 p.m.* to midnight, exploring the many ghosts that haunt this wonderful historical site.

This is a return visit for most of us.  You can read about Fiona’s earlier encounters at Report: Tenney Gate House.

Tickets are $20 per person, or $25 for a family.

All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the repair and upkeep of Tenney Gate House and the adjoining ruins of Grey Court Castle.

Dress warmly and wear shoes that are comfortable for walking, in case we spend much time outdoors. (Tenney Gate House’s property includes several haunted locations.)

We’ll have some ghost hunting tools  for you to try during the evening, or you can bring your own.

Sign up using the Contact Us form at PelhamParanormalResearch.com

Note: Fiona may have a limited number of copies of her new book, Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries, with her.  (It depends on how quickly the publisher ships them.  This book was published on Friday, October 2nd.) If copies arrive in time, she’ll be autographing them and 50% of book profits  will also be donated to Tenney Gate House.

*We earlier reported the event at 6 p.m.  That was a typo.  We apologize for any confusion about this.

Join Fiona for two X-Track panels:

Ghost Stories – Saturday night (9/05) at 10 p.m.* – Hear a panel of ghost hunters talk about their ghostly encounters.  These creepy ‘ghost stories’ are always popular, so arrive early for a good seat. [...]]]> In September, Fiona will be speaking at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.

Join Fiona for two X-Track panels:

Ghost Stories – Saturday night (9/05) at 10 p.m.* – Hear a panel of ghost hunters talk about their ghostly encounters.  These creepy ‘ghost stories’ are always popular, so arrive early for a good seat. (Held in the Marriott rooms 106-107)

Paranormal Research – Sunday afternoon (9/06) at 1 p.m.* – Fiona and other panelists will describe exactly how they choose haunted sites and investigate them.  Learn how Fiona can predict where (and sometimes when) ghosts will be reported.  This will be a sneak preview of Fiona’s upcoming book explaining her unique research techniques. (Held in the Marriott in rooms M106 and 107.)

Also, relax at an Art Show workshop and card swap:

ATCs – Saturday and Sunday afternoons (see schedule*) – On Saturday, learn to make ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) and then swap them with other budding artists on Sunday.  All supplies will be provided, but if you have your own art supplies (pens, pencils, etc.), feel free to bring them.  (At the downtown Hyatt Regency, in Hanover rooms A/B.)

*Always check the Daily Dragon — the convention newsletter — for schedule changes and updates.

Hollow Hill podcasts return!

Fiona is back with fresh podcasts starting August 28th.  Listen every second Friday for new insights about ghosts, hauntings and how you can encounter spirits.

Subscribe at iTunes, check this site for the MP3 links, or visit HollowHillPodcasts.com for the latest podcasts about ghost hunting.

Here’s the upcoming schedule:

28 Aug 09 – Do ghosts get ‘stuck’ in our world? Should you worry about getting trapped here, when you pass?  (13 minute podcast)

11 Sep 09 – Can people go ghost hunting during the day, or should they wait until dark?  Fiona describes why beginners may have the best luck at night, and why some people prefer the daytime for ghost research. (10 minute podcast)

25 Sep 09 – TV shows rarely show ghost hunts in cemeteries.  Learn why Fiona thinks cemeteries are the best places to learn ghost hunting, and to train team members.  Find out how to make the most of your research in cemeteries.

Also coming in September: Fiona’s two newest books will be available late in September 2009.  When they’re at Amazon.com, we’ll announce it, here.

On Saturday evening, join Fiona at a “ghost hunt” in Haverhill, Massachusetts.  Here are the details from Pelham Paranormal:

Saturday July 18, 2009: [...]]]> UPDATE: Fiona is reviewing last night’s photos and will post a summary next week.  Thanks to everyone who supported Hilldale Cemetery last night by attending this interesting ghost encounter!

On Saturday evening, join Fiona at a “ghost hunt” in Haverhill, Massachusetts.  Here are the details from Pelham Paranormal:

Saturday July 18, 2009:

Join us for another Hilldale Cemetery Fundraiser on Saturday July 18. Meet us at 7pm at the cemetery – tickets are $25 and all proceeds go to the Hilldale Restoration Society.

Joining us will be Fiona Broome (www.hollowhill.com) and Tom Lynch (www.paratom.com). We will be doing a short presentation on paranormal investigations which will conclude with a real “ghost hunt” in the cemetery.

Please call 978-376-2807 to let us know if you’ll be coming.

——————————

On Wednesday, July 15th, Fiona Broome appeared on Para-X radio.

She was the guest on Haunted 911, hosted by Ray Jorden and Wayne Punter.

The new version is online, or you can register for the full (and free) four-week series of lessons and receive your Certificate of Completion at the conclusion of the course.

Each lesson includes a printed lesson (PDF) and an audio recording (MP3) with more [...]]]> I’ve updated and expanded my free Introduction to Ghost Hunting course.

The new version is online, or you can register for the full (and free) four-week series of lessons and receive your Certificate of Completion at the conclusion of the course.

Each lesson includes a printed lesson (PDF) and an audio recording (MP3) with more information.  I’ve also added several supplementary pages of information, to answer additional questions.

For more information, or to read and listen to the free course online, start at the Welcome page:  Introduction to Ghost Hunting – Online edition.

—

Photo credit: Gracey Stinson

The hotel is owned by ghost hunters Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (famous for TAPS and the Ghost Hunters TV show) and their families.

In addition, parts of the hotel are delightfully haunted.

I’ve [...]]]> The Spalding Inn in Whitefield, New Hampshire is the kind of location that every ghost hunter dreams of.

The hotel is owned by ghost hunters Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (famous for TAPS and the Ghost Hunters TV show) and their families.

In addition, parts of the hotel are delightfully haunted.

I’ve visited the Spalding Inn several times, and concluded that it’s similar to Louisiana’s Myrtles Plantation… but perhaps even more haunted.

Similar to the Myrtles Plantation, the Spalding Inn seems to transform after dark.

The carriage house at the Spalding Inn

From my investigations, the Spalding Inn’s most active area is the carriage house, shown in the photo at left.  Each guest room in that building has its own odd energy.

Upstairs may be more haunted than the ground floor.  Room 17 is especially active, but Rooms 15 and 16 are also interesting for ghost hunters.

(I detected intense male energy in Room 16, and later discovered that my uncle had stayed in that room in 1978.  So, I might have been hypersensitive to his residual energy.)

Even when the building is empty, apparitions and odd shadow figures have been seen in the upstairs windows… in broad daylight.

After seeing the shadowy figure of a woman in one of the carriage house windows, I commented that all I could see clearly were the pearls in her necklace.  They seemed to catch the light, though the rest of the figure was a vague shadow.  I later learned that a former owner of the Spalding Inn — who may haunt Room 17 — always wore pearls.

To encounter something paranormal, spend the night in the carriage house.   The rooms are very comfortable, and vintage decor adds to their charm.  Each room is “en suite” (has its own bathroom) and offers a view of the hotel, the surrounding mountains, or both.

If you stay in the carriage house, be sure to ask about the haunted telephone and the ghostly message that seems lost between the worlds.

The main building

If the carriage house isn’t open, or if all of its rooms are full, you can still encounter spirits in the Spalding Inn’s main building.

Several (but not all) guest rooms are haunted.  One of them is Room 33 where other guests have described eerie activity that woke them up.

I’ve spent the night there and enjoyed the room.  Perhaps it was the clean, mountain air or the luxurious bed, but I slept very soundly and woke refreshed in the morning.

In fact, Room 33 is my favorite, since it’s far from any noise around the lobby and it adjoins a sitting area with its own ghostly energy.

The sitting area

At the west end of the main building you’ll find a group of comfortable chairs, and windows on three sides.

Spend some time sitting there, quietly, after dark.  Watch the corridor that leads to it.   Several of us noted visual anomalies.  They’re similar to the distortions above pavement on a hot day, or the mostly-invisible creature in the Predator movies.

It’s an unusual phenomenon.  I’ve seen it before, in just a few locations such as the upstairs hallway at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Ghosts… and faeries?

While most of the paranormal energy at the Spalding Inn seems to be residual, some of what I encountered may not be ghostly.

In the first floor corridor of the main building — where the sleeping rooms are — I saw an odd, hunched figure moving slowly across the floor.  It reminded me of Caliban, a character in Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest.

It was there… and then it wasn’t.  It didn’t look like a ghost.

I’ve discussed this with a few other paranormal researchers, some of whom have been to the Spalding Inn.  They agree that I may have seen one of the traditional faeries; they’re larger entities (and sometimes very dark beings) recorded in early folklore and legends.

It’s too early to say if the Spalding Inn is a good location for studying fae entities and ghosts, but that may explain some of the unusual energy at the hotel.

A bonus

If you’re interested in — or at least amused by — a wide range of paranormal mysteries, be sure to stop at Exit 33 (off Route 93) on your way to or from the Spalding Inn.

Fill your gas tank or buy some munchies at the Irving gas station and convenience store, close to Route 93.  While you’re there, visit their rest room.

You’ll see one of the most impressive displays of information about America’s first documented alien abduction, the Betty and Barney Hill story.  Apparently, the abduction took place just a few hundred yards from the gas station.

So, when you stay at the Spalding Inn, don’t just look for ghosts… look for spaceships, too.

In general, the Spalding Inn is a wonderful hotel whether you’re there for a good night’s sleep… or a “good scare.”

For more information about the Spalding Inn, visit their website:

The Spalding Inn
Mountain View Road
Whitefield, NH

As we work on the site, the HollowHill.com homepage may look odd or even return a “page not found” message.  This should last less than 20 minutes, if it happens at all.  (We hope it [...]]]> We’ve almost finished updating HollowHill.com with several website improvements, including our contact form, RSS options, and some homepage items.

As we work on the site, the HollowHill.com homepage may look odd or even return a “page not found” message.  This should last less than 20 minutes, if it happens at all.  (We hope it won’t.)

Most of our planned changes won’t be obvious.  However, one of our changes will make a big difference in how well we can reply to your questions and comments.

Recently, we discovered a glitch in our email routing that prevented some emails from reach us.  A larger problem has been our outgoing emails, which had an issue that sent many of our messages and newsletters to spam folders.

In addition to technical changes, we’re planning some new features to make Hollow Hill even more useful and interesting.

Check back regularly to watch us grow!

Here’s her preliminary report:

What a great event!  The people who attended this event really made it unique.  Every one of them — believers and skeptics alike — were sincerely interested [...]]]> Hollow Hill’s Fiona Broome joined GhoStock host Patrick Burns plus many celebrity ghost hunters for a tremendous paranormal event.

Here’s her preliminary report:

What a great event!  The people who attended this event really made it unique.  Every one of them — believers and skeptics alike — were sincerely interested in the paranormal.

All of the panels, workshops and lectures were fascinating.  I especially enjoyed the talks by Father Andrew Calder and John Zaffis, since they delve into realms that I generally avoid.

I presented information about my research into paranormal patterns, including my discovery of the Salem “Judges’ Line.”

U.K. psychic/entertainer Gavin Cromwell and I talked about fact and fiction in ghost hunting, and how legends and preconceived ideas affects our results — and our reputations — as paranormal investigators.

On Friday night, I was joined by Gavin and his manager, Martin Clowes, as we led a team of investigators as we explored the magnificent Salem Inn.  Not only is it a great place to stay, it has some colorful ghost stories… and it’s very active.  It’s also on the “Judges’ Line” that I’m researching.

(That said, we checked with the staff and the Inn’s ghosts do not disturb the guests.  We feel that, since we were eager to contact the ghosts, they responded to us as researchers.)

In Room 17, we encountered measurable activity with the K-II meter as well as the Ovilus.

This was my first chance to use the Ovilus, and I was very impressed when it said my full name, plus the full name of another researcher as well as the full name of someone who –  according to my later research — had lived in the house in the 19th century.  (The Ovilus is not programmed with names, just random words.)

Another interesting moment was when we were leaving the breakfast room at the Salem Inn, and — according to Martin Clowes  (Gavin’s manager) –  the Ovilus said, “Bye bye, everyone!” (I have since questioned whether that was actually said.)

We were also confused — and amused — by how frequently the Ovilus seemed to shout, “Dick!”  After the investigation, we learned that the Salem Inn’s owners are Diane and Dick (Richard) Pabich.

While the Ovilus’ performance somewhat overshadowed the use of the K-II meter, both tools work well together to comfirm results.

When we were joined by members of Mass. Paranormal, we saw that the K-II meter readings spiked each time, just a split-second before the Ovilus “talked” to us.  (Yes, they checked the K-II with the Ovilus next to it.  The EMF surges were not from the Ovilus’ activity.)

The next morning, I prepared a preliminary research report.  It may interest others at the event and Salem researchers.

This report may also provide ideas for other teams compiling their own research reports.

Salem Inn, Salem, MA – Preliminary Research Report [PDF file]

In general, GhoStock 7 was a wonderful event and I look forward to more events like this.