People have regularly sent me “prank” emails, asking for help.
Many of them are obviously attempting to use my time, pointlessly:
i am possessed help me
Others pleas for help are less easy to identify as fakes:
I need help my house is haunted i was pushed off my roof my daughter will not go up stairs my friends have seen and even felt them,I do not know what to do.
My replies to these emails bounce back as undeliverable. Generally, the email account doesn’t exist.*
Then there are the odd emails that don’t clearly ask for help, and often include a phone number… but my email reply bounces back. I’m assuming the phone number is also made-up, or belongs to someone else altogether.
i knw u guys get a lot of stories but look up a place called carroll county va courthouse shooting early eightteens. the allen brothers wrongly executed their place of rest is across from our house u giys have to chk this spooky cemetary out thnk its where they arent forgiven. or wrongly killed. our number is 12767288149. u wnt regret it n we need answers please give it a shot.
In addition to the sheer volume of email received by Hollow Hill — making individual replies impossible – “joke” emails like these are why I don’t generally reply to emails, even those that ask for help.
If you need help, please visit the TAPS website. They have TAPS “family” members who are generally experienced enough to help you, and able to handle new cases.
It’s not that I don’t want to help. Obviously, I’ve spent over ten years building this website to help people investigate ghosts and haunted places. I charge nothing for my investigations.
However, I really do wonder if the pranksters also call 911 with fake emergencies, “just for fun.”
*Note: Yes, I could use the full header on the email to track the person down and report them. Frankly, the volume of these prank emails, as well as the time involved, make that impractical.
