Hollow Hill

Hearing Voices at Haunted Places?

Admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:09:14 +0000

Can you trust what you hear during a ghost investigation?

When you’re ghost hunting, are you hearing voices? I don’t just mean EVP that you hear in real time or on playback. I also mean anything that sounds like an actual voice.

It barely needs to be mentioned, but if you or someone you know is hearing unexplained voices — especially voices that give him or her instructions to do something — a professional should be consulted immediately. You must rule out mental confusion, or other personal issues.

However, if you seem to hear voices when you’re investigating haunted locations — especially voices from the past — explanations can vary. Here are a few.

1. It’s a prank.

Audible voices of actual spirits are rare. When I hear one, or a team member says they’re hearing a voice clearly, I first suspect that it’s a prank. Rule that out before taking any voices seriously.

Whether it’s a hidden microphone or MP3 player, or someone using acoustics (or ventriloquism) to fool you, even the most convincing “ghost voice” could be a hoax.

People can deliberately set the stage so you think you’re hearing (or recording) a ghost. Here are some reasons why they’d do that:

- Those people have too much time on their hands.

- They’re bitter people who want to make ghost researchers look gullible, and call it a “practical joke.”

- They have something to gain if the location seems really haunted. This includes owners of “haunted” hotels, shops, restaurants and museums, as well as homeowners who plan to write a book about their ghosts, with an eye on a movie deal.

- If it’s a ghost tour, “special effects” are routinely used in theatrical-style tours and presentations. Read the fine print and ask questions before taking any ghost tour, so you’ll know whether the experience is supposed to be real or just for fun.

- A member (or the leader) of the ghost investigation team wants to impress others with his/her choice of locations, or how much more happens when he (or she) is there. Predators and power-hungry people may see ghost hunting as an opportunity to achieve status, control over others, fame, or fortune. Never underestimate what that kind of person will do to achieve his or her goals.

Nobody has the time to screen every location for microphones. You’ve seen that question raised about some TV shows where they hear voices, or their EVP is a little too clear or loud. The more life-like the voice in EVP, the more skeptical I am. During an investigation, if I hear a “whoo-o-o” kind of voice (like ghosts in cartoons and old movies), or something obviously faked, I leave the site immediately. I don’t even go looking for the source of the sound. It’s not worth my time, and that kind of nonsense is a slap in the face for any serious ghost researcher.

2. You’re hearing normal sounds from a nearby location.

In an early episode of Ghost Hunters, the team were investigating Brennan’s, the (actually haunted) famous New Orleans restaurant. Unfortunately, Brennan’s had scheduled a party in a room near the Red Room, where the team were conducting their investigations. The Ghost Hunters team had to leave early, because they couldn’t rule out normal noises and interference from the party.

At another event, someone proudly played some “genuine EVP” for us to hear. Later, the person mentioned that the next-door neighbor had a party that same night. Sadly, the EVP had to be discounted since party noises couldn’t be ruled out as the cause.

Never underestimate the effects of echoes and other reflected sounds. If you’ve ever visited a site where the acoustics are extraordinary — such as Boston’s Mary Baker Eddy building with the Mapparium — you know how baffling it is to hear an apparently-disembodied voice, clearly.

If someone brings a bored companion to one of your investigations, see if he or she is listening to something. No matter how low the volume seems, when you’re filtering EVP or even listening in real time, the voice or music can seem ghostly.

3. It’s a poltergeist.

If your ghost (or apparent ghost) is talking, shouting, or making loud noises, it might be a poltergeist. Some people believe that poltergeists aren’t ghosts, but personality disorders venting a psychokinesis. Many people are certain that poltergeists are ghosts or even demons. Others (including me) believe they’re a collaboration between a spirit and someone in a volatile emotional state.

You can learn more about poltergeists in my free 19-minute podcast about them. (Click here for more information.)

4. You’re confusing psychic perceptions and external noises.

If you think you hear voices speaking aloud at haunted locations, check with others on your team. Do they also hear something? If they do, investigate the source. First, you’re looking for a prank. Then, you’ll rule out other, perfectly normal explanations.

If you can’t find a normal reason for what you’re hearing, and/or nobody else hears what you do, consider a paranormal explanation.

New researchers, especially highly sensitive and psychic investigators, may need time to learn the difference between external and internal perceptions. In my 1999 report about Gilson Road Cemetery (NH), I described the psychic “hearing” of Alan, an experienced investigator, contrasted with Jane, a skeptic on her first ghost hunt: Alan knew he was hearing the voices, psychically. Jane insisted the voices were audible, external to her, and real. Alan was fascinated by the experience; Jane was terrified.

Audible ghostly voices are extremely rare at haunted locations. They’re only slightly more commonplace than full-body apparitions.

“Noisy ghosts,” one of the literal translations of the word poltergeist, are also quite rare.

Pranks and normal explanations are more likely. You’ll also want to rule out auditory, psychic phenomena.

It’s most important to investigate any voices you hear (or record) while you’re at the haunted location. The normal explanation for them — such as a nearby party, or a companion listening to MP3s or the radio — might not be there when you return for your follow-up investigation.

Pendulum Experiments

Admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:44:47 +0000

This past weekend — en route the Mal’s Pals benefit where Kris Williams was speaking — Sean Paradis (of Sleeping Meadows) presented me with a wonderful collection of his latest pendulums. I’ve mentioned them before, because they’re so extraordinary, and they’ve led me to re-think my disdain for pendulums in paranormal research.

My history with pendulums

As a kid, I used a pendulum now and then. Like many teen girls, my friends and I briefly used a pendulum to find out the name of our future husbands. I have no idea of the success rate, and suspect that subtle (and some not-so-subtle) physical movements aided the responses. Perhaps that’s one reason why I didn’t use pendulums for the first 10+ years of my paranormal research; I didn’t take most divination tools seriously.

However, in the 1990s, a few ghost hunters were using pendulums and they seemed to be successful.

So, about a dozen years ago, I conducted pendulum experiments at Gilson Road Cemetery. I assembled a group of paranormal researchers and equipped them with clipboards, survey questions, and pendulums.

They surveyed each marked grave at the haunted cemetery, using yes/no questions and homemade pendulums. These were generally very primitive devices – hardware-style washers on strings, etc. – just to see if the results were consistent. They weren’t. At each grave, about half the people received “no” answers, while the others all received “yes” answers.

After that, I resumed my disinterest in pendulums as a serious research tool. Fun? Yes. Reliable? No.

Then, Lesley Marden‘s research raised questions. Her results with a pendulum have been — and continue to be — remarkably consistent and helpful.

In addition, I’ve tried a wide range of Sean Paradis’ hand-crafted pendulums, and they are responsive beyond anything I’ve seen with other pendulums I’ve bought, made, or tried.

So, I’ve had to revise my opinion of pendulums.

The cemetery that’s not a cemetery

On our way to the Mal’s Pals event, we stopped at a site that can only be described as a cemetery that’s not a cemetery. Something there is not right, and my camera — which had been working fine that morning — actually broke. The lens only opened a tiny amount. (I took photos, anyway.) When we returned to the car, I tried it again, and it abruptly worked fine. Then, at the event, the lens opened partially. I’m letting the camera sit, untouched, to see if it’s an energy issue that will resolve on its own.

This is one of the most dramatic and unique equipment failures I’ve seen in my many years in paranormal research. I’ve had the camera for about a year and a half, it’s always been reliable, and there was no reason for it to fail so abruptly… except, perhaps, the location.

Lava rock pendulum. Photo courtesy of Sean Paradis.

Since the camera wasn’t reliable, I took out about half a dozen different pendulums that Sean had given me. My favorite is the lava rock pendulum, shown at right. However, I also tried the pyrite cube pendulum and the ruby pendulum, and a few others. Each had its own behavior characteristics. Each seemed very powerful and the answers were clear — and consistent — no matter which pendulum I tried.

How I use pendulums

With each pendulum, I do the same thing: I hold the weighted part in my hand for just a second, in case that imprints it with a connection to me. Then, I hold the pendulum from the small, handle-style bead, pin, or whatever’s at the end of the chain or cord.

I say, “Show me a ‘yes’.” I wait to see what the pendulum does.

Then I say, “Show me a ‘no’.” Once again, I wait to see what happens. I have never seen a pendulum give the same response for both answers. For me, a “yes” is usually a vertical swing, and “no” is a horizontal swing. Now and then, it’ll be a circular motion, with clockwise being one answer and anti-clockwise being the other.

I check this every time I use a pendulum in a new location. I’m not sure how much the answer relies on my psychic energy, the pendulum itself, or the energy at the location. I’d never want to mistake a response. So, I make a fresh start with each pendulum and each site where I test them.

The responses of a spirit named Fanny

At this cemetery (that’s not a cemetery), and thanks to Sean’s pendulums, I was able to confirm — repeatedly — the identity of the energy (or spirit). I had several names to work with, from the few headstones nearby. The entity was named Fanny. That was abundantly clear from the pendulum response to that name, and only that name.

However, that’s when the information stopped. No matter what question I asked — and we tried a lot of questions — the entity wasn’t responsive. I’d shrug that off as a quirk, or maybe I was influencing the pendulum with micro movements, but the responses were such a sharp contrast.

Pyrite cube pendulum. Photo courtesy of Sean Paradis.

I think I tried about five or six different pendulums. Each time, the response was nearly identical, though the pyrite pendulum seemed most sensitive at that one location.

Was the entity someone named Fanny? Yes. That was a dramatic swing from a full stop.

Did she have something to say? Yes, maybe… that evoked a sudden halt to the pendulum movement, followed by an indecisive waver I could almost (not fully) attribute to the breeze. It was sort of a yes, but not entirely clear.

There was no response when I asked whether she was frightened, if she was alive and well in her own time, whether her body was actually nearby, if she had unfinished business, and so on.

Every time I went back to the initial question about her name, the “yes” was clear. Nothing else evoked a clear response.

It was a mystery, and remains one.

Nevertheless, I’ll continue to experiment with the pendulums Sean makes. They’re ridiculously inexpensive — about 1/10 the price of similar-looking pendulums I’ve seen elsewhere — and the energy on Sean’s pendulums is clean. That’s unusual. In the past, I’ve always had to immerse new pendulums in sea salt for a few days, to remove others’ energy.

I’m always enthusiastic about mixing low-tech research methods with sensitive, scientific tools. I’m hoping they’ll lead us to results we can document with the scientific method. Alternatively, they may lead us to better “what if?” questions.

I’m very selective about the research tools and businesses I recommend. However, Sean’s pendulums at Sleeping Meadows are an exception, and I can recommend them without hesitation.

In addition, I may conduct more research at the “cemetery that’s not a cemetery” and the area around a nearby ball field, but — for now — if you know the location, I hope you won’t broadly publicize it. If the site attracts too much attention, it may limit our ability to visit the site for undisturbed research.

Contrasts in Ghost Hunting

Admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:44:40 +0000

Ghost hunting… the more it changes, the more it stays the same. Well, that’s how it seemed on Saturday night.

I attended the Mal’s Pals charity fund raiser in Hudson, NH with my husband and our friends (and fellow researchers) Lesley Marden and Sean Paradis. It was a paranormal-themed event, and the main speaker at the event was Kris Williams; I hadn’t seen her in over a year.

The event in Hudson, NH – Presentations and children

The fund raiser was tremendous fun. The initial presentation was about the Bridgewater Triangle. Unfortunately, it was mostly about police investigations into ritual abuse and violence at locations within that Massachusetts triangle. I think it’s important to know some of the history of a site, as well as the risks when you visit it. However, I didn’t think some of the explicit descriptions and some photos were appropriate for an audience that included children.

Generally, I don’t like the idea of bringing children under age 16 (or so) to investigations. There are exceptions, of course, but I always want a parent or guardian to be on hand, to take responsibility for a minor who might become anxious or frightened.

This was a fund-raising event featuring a TV star, so I wasn’t surprised to see children and even toddlers in the audience. However, when making a presentation to an audience that includes kids, I think it’s important to modify — on-the-fly, if necessary — to keep the information family-friendly.

And, unless it’s a ghost tour with over-the-top drama, just for fun, I’m not sure how many details we need to know about a paranormal location. If I’ve been to a site more than a few times, or if it’s made a dramatic impression on me, I might want to know the full history. Otherwise…? I’m not so sure.

Frankly, given its history and how much energy has been altered by visitors (observers) in recent years, I’m not interested in researching on-site at the Bridgewater Triangle.

I’m far more enthusiastic about the Bennington (VT) Triangle, which has been — so far — relatively overlooked by serious researchers.

Ghost hunters – The good

For 2012, I’ve committed to working on my research, writing books, and generally avoiding the spotlight. So, I don’t attend many events.

This event gave me a chance to survey the kinds of people who are currently active in the field — at least in the New Hampshire area — as well as the questions they ask and the subjects they discuss.

Angel cloud photo by Hannah Clemens, MO.

Kris Williams’ talk — and the lengthy Q&A session that followed — impressed me. She’s honest about what’s happened in her research.

I particularly enjoyed her behind-the-scenes stories, including the pranks the cast play on each other. When a star talks informally and honestly about working on a TV show, it brings far more depth to the viewing experience.

From the unexplained figure in her hotel room to the hilarity of smelly cars, Kris’ stories kept the entire audience enthralled as we gasped, laughed, and applauded during her fascinating talk.

Kris was also very frank about what’s real on Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International, what’s staged, and especially what’s omitted. I could have stood up and cheered when she described her very startling paranormal encounters, while explaining that we don’t know what those are. So far, we can’t say that they’re all caused by ghosts… or anything else.

The encounters are real. The phenomena are real. The explanations for them… we’re not even close to proving what causes these strange experiences.

Kris might have gotten far more mileage out of claiming that everything on the show is ghostly. She could have looked at the event as an “on stage” gig where she was playing a part. She didn’t.

Instead, she was honest, entertaining, and connected with the audience with her insights and integrity. In addition, she had volunteered to speak at this event, because it was a fund raiser for a good cause.

Kris Williams is remarkable. I wish all paranormal researchers could be as worthy of our trust and respect.

The bad

At the other end of the spectrum, I felt disappointed when I learned that someone with a poor reputation is still working in this field.

I recommend skipping the next section; it’s simply something I need to say, to be very clear about the problems of working in a field where expertise can be claimed without credentials.

This particular person was brought to my attention about three years ago. It was a month after he began working at ghost-related events, when a parent complained about him touching her under-age daughter.

When I asked him about it, he said it was just an innocent hug.

Then he took inappropriate photos of a young man while they were alone in a rest room at another event. The self-proclaimed “paranormal researcher” admitted that he took the X-rated photos, but said he took them “by accident.”

I’ve heard other, credible, damaging things about him over the past couple of years, yet — this weekend — it was confirmed that he’s still working in this field.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a unique story. I’ve heard reports of inappropriate touching by two other men in this field, and both have been charged (and at least one convicted) of child molestation.

It’s a tawdry side of paranormal research, and I don’t like to talk about it. However, I urge everyone to take my Scams and Con Artists article seriously.

I don’t think people like them are a worthy focus for you or me. Instead, put your time into genuine paranormal research.

Just watch out for the sleazes in this field. They’re still a problem. The simplest solution is to avoid being alone with anyone — male or female, young or old — in settings where you could be at risk.

And, if someone is using me as a reference and I haven’t praised them here at HollowHill.com, ask me if you have any doubts. I won’t confirm the identity of the the man I’ve described, but I will tell you whether or not I can recommend someone.

The wonderful!

Besides Kris’ great talk, I was especially pleased to see the large crowd who supported Mal’s Pals by attending this event. I have no idea how many of them were interested in ghost hunting or paranormal research.

I spoke with several people at the event, and it was great to hear their comments and questions.

I feel badly about dedicating so little space in this article to these great people, but the most wonderful part of the evening was seeing the support for a worthy charity, and the continuing interest in this field.

If you were there, thank you!

The Bennington Triangle – Paranormal Sites

Admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:01:11 +0000

Vermont’s Bennington Triangle has a fascinating history. It’s a lovely place to hike, but it’s not without significant dangers. Like the Bermuda Triangle, people vanish without explanation in the Bennington Triangle.

The “triangle” phenomena are interesting to study. The most famous of these locations is, of course, the Bermuda Triangle.

However, the trouble with the Bermuda Triangle is (a) that location is huge and mostly over the water, and (b) it has been so frequently researched, there’s a massive amount of information to sift through to find any patterns… or any angle or explanation that’s been overlooked. All we can say is: We don’t know why it’s so strange.

Another triangle, the Bridgewater Triangle (MA), offers some interesting quirks that haven’t been fully explored, but the area is densely populated. That’s both a plus (lots of eyewitnesses) and a minus (many locations are difficult to access or on private property). In addition, sensational headlines and a lurid history sometime attract thrill-seekers and people who think it’s funny to terrify others.

We have enough challenges in paranormal research. Frankly, we don’t need stupid people making our work more difficult. Personally, I’m not impressed enough with the Bridgewater Triangle to explore it after dark.

The Bennington Triangle (VT) has remained under the radar for many people. I’ve deliberately avoided saying much about it, but as ghost hunting is becoming less trendy, I’m more comfortable talking about it now. Bennington’s relative isolation also makes it a less-accessible location for thrill seekers. In addition, it’s not really a ghost hunters’ kind of site; a ghostly encounter might be possible, but that’s not the main reason paranormal researchers quietly study Bennington and vicinity.

For the original, most intriguing article about the Bennington Triangle, view this archived link.

Wikipedia gives more geographic information, at Bennington Triangle.

Also check the Virtual Vermonter stories about the Bennington Triangle.

It was no surprise when I learned that author Shirley Jackson (author of “The Haunting of Hill House,” the basis of my favorite fiction-based ghost movie) chose to live there. I’m not sure that I would. If real gateways to other dimensions exist, the Bennington Triangle is probably one of them. I’m happy to do most of my Bennington Triangle research off-site.

The links I’ve listed are the tip of the iceberg. The stories that come out of the Bennington Triangle… they’re not like any other stories I’ve heard in the New England area. Some of them are terrifying, simply because they make no sense. Even more strange: The people who share their first-person Bennington and Glastenbury stories are as credible as any I’ve met. These aren’t the kinds of people you can dismiss as over imaginative, delusional, pathological liars, attention-seekers, or substance abusers.

Most of them seem uncomfortable describing their encounters. Then, once they start sharing the details, it’s like they’re reliving the experience. They get pale, break out in perspiration, and tremble a little. Part-way into the story, they go silent, shrug, and say, “I’ve said enough.” After that, you can’t get another word out of them… not about the Bennington Triangle, anyway.

At a later date, I may post more of my own research. The deeper you look into this strange phenomenon, the weirder it gets.

2012: More Astronomy, More Spirits?

Admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:44:02 +0000

Image courtesy of Gabriella Fabbri, www.i-pix.it

Two upcoming astronomical events and a calendar date may affect ghost hunting.

I recommend scheduling ghost investigations on Friday, May 4th, Saturday, May 5th, and Sunday, May 6th. I especially recommend investigations where you’ll have a clear view of the sky, either outdoors or in ruins where the roof is missing or partially missing.

(Of course, make sure you’re safe. Condemned and falling-down buildings should never be visited for paranormal research or any other reason.)

Some people speculate that spirits are more prevalent, visible, or energized when astronomical influences support them.

For centuries, people have believed that two nights are especially active, each year: The last night of April (first morning of May), commonly known as Beltaine or Walpurgis Night, and the last night of October, commonly known as Hallowe’en or Samhain.

So, I always recommend ghost research on April 30th.

Shortly after that important first of May date, a dramatic combination of events will occur in the skies. Does this lead to an “As above, so below” moment…? Maybe. It could be worth your while to investigate, anyway.

On May 5th and 6th, we’ll see the peak of Eta Aquarids. That’s the name of one of the biggest meteor showers of the year. It means a lot of energy is passing relatively near the earth. Only some of them will be visible to those of us in northern regions. According to EarthSky, “At northerly latitudes – like in the northern states and Canada – the meteor numbers are few and far between. In the southern half of the US, 10 to 20 meteors per hour may be visible in a dark sky.”

However, the meteors may not be as bright as usual, due to two other significant events on May 5th: The Full Moon and its proximity to Earth.

The moon on May 5th will be a Supermoon. That means the Full Moon will occur close to when the Moon is closest to the Earth (perigee). The May 5th moon is sort of a super Supermoon, because it won’t just be close… it’ll be full within an hour of when the Moon is closest to us, and the Moon, Earth, and Sun are all in a straight line. The full moon (already bright) will look at least 10% larger than normal and far brighter than usual. (In other words, have your camera ready.)

Note: If you’re in the UK or Ireland, look to the skies on May 6th, due to planetary rotation.

The Supermoon will have an effect on our planet, including higher tides than usual. Whether that will also affect the spirits… that remains to be seen.

So, for ghost hunting, we’re looking at a series of interesting astronomical and calendar events:

1. The last night of April, when the veil may be as thin as it is exactly six months later, at Halloween.

2. On May 5th (or 6th, in Europe), the moon will be at its perigee, or closest point to Earth.

3. On May 5th (or 6th), the moon will also be a Full Moon and in a straight line with the Earth and the Sun.

Whether these events will also affect the spirits… that remains to be seen. However, since May 5th is a Saturday night when many people are able to go ghost hunting anyway, it might be smart to plan an investigation.

If you have a choice, favor locations where the ghost is most often reported during a Full Moon.

And, if your investigation results aren’t great, go outside and take some photos of the moon and any meteors, if you see them.

One more date to note, while you have your calendar open: Especially in the western hemisphere, look for a dramatic solar eclipse on Sunday, May 2oth. It will coincide with the New Moon, which may add extra energy to paranormal research.

Photo by Gabriella Fabbri, Italy.

But wait, there’s more!

On Monday, June 4th, look for another Full Moon. This one coincides with a partial lunar eclipse, and — on June 5th & 6th — an extremely rare event: Venus will transit across the Sun. In the western hemisphere, we’ll have a partial view of that, around sunset each evening. In other parts of the world, it will be far more dramatic.

And then, on June 19th and 20th, expect more activity as the New Moon and the Summer Solstice occur within hours of each other.

Everything’s back to normal after that, until September 29th and 30th, when Uranus will be at its closest to Earth (look for an odd, tiny green dot) and it’s another Full Moon.

Finally, looking at quirky astronomical coincidences we may be able to use to enhance our ghost hunting results, on November 13th we’ll have a total solar eclipse… but the latter will only be visible from around Australia and New Zealand.

I’m never sure how much astronomy truly affects our research. However, if you’re scheduling investigations anyway, why not plan them for times when our solar system might provided an added boost to the energy available to spirits?

Solar Flares 2012 – Get Ready!

Admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:44:58 +0000

2012 and 2013 are predicted to include high levels of solar flares. Some researchers suggest that solar flares contribute to higher paranormal activity, especially at haunted locations.

With the many solar flares expected, this will be an ideal time to test your own ghost hunting theories about this. Here’s one news story about the latest solar activity — an X5 (high) level flare on Tuesday evening, 6 Mar 2012 — and predicts its arrival, as a form of solar wind at or near Planet Earth, on March 8th or 9th.

Sun unleashes huge solar flare; possible Earth-bound solar storm – Washington Post (blog)

news.google.com

Space Ref (press release) X class flares are the strongest category of solar flares. According to NASA, they can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting …

Here’s NASA’s video about the current activity.

Apparently, “sun’s magnetic cycle peaks every 22 years while sunspot activity crests every 11 years.” That’s what it says at Earth Island Journal, and — according to them — both of these events peak in 2013. That journal raises the spectre of solar activity putting an end to nuclear energy.

Other reports are less hyperbolic, but the effects of solar activity on electrical devices is still a concern.

Solar Flare Big Enough To Cause Catastrophe On Earth Called Surprisingly Likely – Huffington Post

news.google.com

A new study published in the journal Space Weather analyzed the frequency of the solar storms that cause auroras and found that there’s a one in eight chance…

So, with this in mind, it’s important to check science news and reports about the influence of solar activity on electronics. This is important because, especially with highly sensitive equipment, we want to be sure we’re measuring paranormal activity. If it’s simply the influence of solar winds on our EMF meters, EVP recorders, and so on, we need to discount that.

However, the question remains: Does increased solar energy empower spirits to manifest in our world, communicate with us more directly, or anything else pertinent to ghost hunting?

I’m not sure, but I’ll be interested in hearing opinions and results from the upcoming solar impact on our planet.

Ghost Hunting – Scream

Fiona Broome — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:15:28 +0000

I couldn’t resist creating this…

(Feel free to post it elsewhere.)

Rebuild Hollow Hill Project

Fiona Broome — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:22:32 +0000

The Hollow Hill restoration project is progressing at lightning speed!

Update 1: Wow! The response to this request has been astonishing and tremendously gratifying.

At this point, I have so many emails with articles or offers to help, it’s going to take me at least a day to reply to all of them.

I never expected this kind of response, and I wasn’t prepared for it.

I am truly grateful for so many friends. Thank you, thank you!

Update 2: Even more help from caring friends and fans… and we were able to salvage most of articles (close to 400 of them) from before March 2010. Some of the illustrations will be missing. Some of the articles may have garbled text. Some of the comments may have odd breaks in them. Categories (the Topics list) will need to be rebuilt. All of this is relatively easy work.

And, thanks to several RSS subscribers, including Mike F. and Joanne W., I have many of the more recent articles to cut-and-paste into the site.

(Comments newer than March 2010 will be missing. Restoring them would be nearly impossible, not just due time constraints, but software issues. So, as the more recent articles are restored, if you want to repeat what you said earlier… go for it.)

This is going vastly better than I’d dared to hope. Tweaking will be required, and the work isn’t complete, but… wow!

HUGE thanks to everyone who’s offered help, sent articles, and provided good “what if…?” ideas and restoration tips. The site is being restored vastly faster than I’d expected.

Hollow Hill… it’s here, sort of.

Fiona Broome — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:12:17 +0000

Update: Here’s what I’d posted when the initial crash happened. Since then, thanks to friends and fans, the site is well on its way to recovery, with most of the pre-March 2010 content back online.

Thank you to everyone who sent advice, files, and positive thoughts for a quick restoration of HollowHill.com. I could not do this without you!

—

You probably want to know where HollowHill.com is.

Well… it’s a long story.

The short version is: The site broke yesterday (24 Feb 2012) when I needed to install some higher-level security, and the outdated, 8-year-old file structure failed completely.

So, I’ll be rebuilding this site from Nov 2011 backup files, such as they are, but it looks like it’ll be one page at a time, and the comments will be missing.

I’m starting with my highest priorities: The instructional articles and the free ghost hunting course. The latter is here now, and the first articles I’m adding are the ones referenced by the course.

Here’s a more detailed summary:

This site adopted the WordPress format back in the Dark Ages (around 2004), when my hosting service — uneasy about WP — insisted that the software had to be in a separate folder. So, the main WordPress files were in /ghosthunting/.

However, I managed to do something sneaky, so instead of page URLs looking like http://HollowHill.com/ghosthunting/pagename, they were just http://HollowHill.com/pagename.

Of course, that was toxic in terms of SEO and my Google ranking, but… well, I only created this site to help others who were interested in ghosts. As one of the “old-timer” sites, I figured people would find me by word-of-mouth. (And, for a long time, they did.)

But then, my sneaky tactic worked so well, even the software started thinking some of the files were in the top-level domain. And… that’s my problem, now that I’m trying to restore the files on a better server: No matter what I do, the software keeps adding an extra /ghosthunting/ when it’s looking for files. That includes the login sequence, as well.

When the site failure happened, it was too late to salvage the database. I had a WP-Twin backup, but it replicates the problems of the previous installation, and I still can’t log in. Other backups contained the same problems.

This happened on 24 Feb 2012, so I’m still trying various ways to fix it, but it might mean what people have been telling me for years: I need to copy the posts manually, one by one, and fix the links and srcs as I go along.

This is a very odd event, and I’m sorry that Hollow Hill may be a bit of a tangle for awhile. Please don’t think I’m devastated by this. I believe everything happens for a reason, and — to be blunt — I can hardly wait to see what this is about. It’s so odd, y’know?

But, it’s also a relief. I’ve known for years that I needed to fix the code on the site, update many of the articles (they span from 1998 to the present), and bring my files fully into the 21st century.

Grant Wilson Departure from Ghost Hunters – My Opinion

Fiona Broome — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:49:56 +0000

Several people have asked me about Grant Wilson leaving the Ghost Hunters TV show. They wonder if I knew about it ahead of time, whether there was some rift in the team, did Grant have some kind of meltdown, and so on.

The statement at the TAPS site explains it pretty well.

Frankly, I’ve been expecting this for the past couple of years.

Like me, Grant is first and foremost an artist, and always has been. If you’ve heard his music or seen his illustrations, they are absolutely amazing. In fact, his music is so beautiful, I’ve wondered why he ever committed to the TV show, in the first place.

He’s a skilled, professional ghost hunter, but that’s not where he shines.

In addition, the headaches that came with being on the TV show… they were ridiculous. The loss of privacy would drive me up the wall. The mean-spirited (no pun intended) comments and criticism… I’ve always deleted the worst of them from this website, but I can assure you, the snarky comments that appear here are the “nicer” ones.

I have no idea how Jason or anyone else continues to work in front of the camera. It’s why I’ve routinely turned down opportunities for my own show, and I don’t even appear on shows as a guest. Seriously. The money (which isn’t as much as people seem to think) isn’t worth it.

And, like Grant, I’m first & foremost an artist. It’s one reason why I’ve been quiet since the end of 2011: I’m finishing up the books I want to write — about paranormal patterns and paragenealogy — and, after that… I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’ve answered the initial questions I had when I began studying ghostly phenomena… to my own satisfaction, anyway. And, I have a pretty good legacy with this website and my books. For me, that’s enough.

I think the TV show fad has come and gone. I respect those who are still committed to sharing paranormal research via reality shows and unscripted TV programming, but — at this point — I think that has to be a labor of love.

So, it was no surprise when Grant made his decision to leave Ghost Hunters. In fact, I think it was overdue.

I respect both Grant and Jason as paranormal investigators. However, I’m far more impressed with Jason’s wit and Grant’s music and artwork.

This wasn’t a sudden decision on Grant’s part. There’s no feud or meltdown or anything like that.

Grant is an artist. It’s what he does best, and I’m sure it’s far more satisfying for him than anything ghost-related.

For many of us, the late 1990′s surge of interest in ghosts was good because we could help people find answers in their own research, or through our stories and explanations. Because we were among the innovators and early adopters in the field, being active in ghost hunting made sense. We could help people. That’s been a strong motivation.

However, for those who aren’t fully committed to a lifetime career in paranormal research — and who’ve been involved in this field for 15+ years — it’s probably time to get back to what we enjoy far more.

I applaud Grant’s decision, and — as a friend of his — it’s a relief to see him steer his path toward art. It’s what he does best.