GhoStock 7 reports
Apr 20th, 2009 | By Fiona Broome | Category: What's new
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 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 the Ovilus said, “Bye bye, everyone!”
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 weren’t 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.
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what house was the investigation performed? I am assuming it was the Captain West House. what other rooms/loactions in the Salem Inn were haunted? My family and i were looking to stay at the Salem Inn and we want to stay in a haunted room.
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for asking! The Salem Inn keeps a special guest book for people who’ve encountered spirits at the Inn, and they can tell you which are the best, most haunted rooms. It was my first time in the Inn, and it’s a combination of houses, so I’m not sure where we walked as we went up stairs, along corridors, etc.
It’s a wonderful place to stay. I was delighted to find it, so I can tell others to stay there. The location is relatively quiet (important when the Halloween crowds can be boisterous at night… similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter), elegant, and really conveys a sense of the history of Salem.
I’m sure you and your family will enjoy your visit!
Cheerfully, Fiona
What happened at Ghostock 7 (which I had to miss) that seemed to stop everybody in their tracks? No more info on any future Ghostocks online, not much written at all post-April 2009, can’t get a response from Patrick about future ghostocks or anything — did you all (except for this poster) get sucked into a vortex?
Dee,
Thanks for asking! I can’t speak for Patrick, but here’s how I see it:
Like many ghost conferences in 2009, I’m pretty sure that the numbers did not make GhoStock a profitable event. (In fact, many of us appeared at that event, free of charge, to keep the overhead low.) I liked the relatively small crowd, because I had a chance to talk with so many people… but events cost more than most people realize, and attendance is vital to at least break even.
I’ve seen many events canceled at the last minute, since then.
The financial issues are partly due to the economy, but also because there have been a glut of ghost-related events, and ghost hunting is not as trendy as it once was. Many people are moving on to vampires, etc.
There have also been credibility issues. To meet the demand of an increasing number of ghost-related events, entertainers entered the field… and they weren’t always honest about whether they were genuinely psychic, or even very experienced in professional-level paranormal research.
Frankly, I find that even more chilling than any ghost encounter I’ve witnessed. When people pay hefty prices for event tickets, they deserve authentic experiences and advice that will help them with their own research.
Oh, some people — especially those who’ve been visible in this field since before the “Ghost Hunters” TV show launched ghost hunting to extreme popularity — have always been honest, and — like me — they’ve tried to avoid (or even expose) the frauds in this field. But… sometimes we’re fooled, along with everyone else.
So, as much as I enjoyed GhoStock and other events I’ve appeared at, I’m a little relieved that the industry is shifting gears. As the field regroups, I think it will re-emerge with higher quality events.
When fame & fortune stop being incentives for people to misrepresent themselves in ghost hunting, you’ll see the real researchers are still here… while everyone else reinvents themselves to appeal to the audiences (and wallets) of whatever the new trend is.
I don’t mean to sound cynical. This is a normal cycle of fads and trends.
I’m really looking forward to events where everyone is serious about this work, and we can exchange information about our research and what that means about ghosts and ghost hunting. But, until that happens, I think you’ll see fewer events.