When to go ghost hunting
When is the best time to go ghost hunting?
These tips that may improve your investigations.
WHAT OTHERS SAY
“Historically, the most active for ghost phenomena are between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.,” says Tom Ogden in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings. But, he notes that spirit behavior can happen at any time.
In The Paranormal Investigators Handbook, editors Hope & Townsend recommend ghost vigils at night. This is not because ghosts are necessarily more active then, but because it’s easier to observe unusual phenomena at night. You’ll have fewer distractions. That makes it a good time to go ghost hunting.
Witch Patricia Telesco observes in Ghosts, Spirits and Hauntings, “Ghosts are more readily seen and contacted at midnight (the time in between day and night), and on the anniversary of their death.”
OUR ADDITIONAL ADVICE
We’ve encountered ghosts during the daytime. We’ve seen ghosts after dark. We prefer the hours around dusk, but in some cases–such as our investigation of The Myrtles Plantation–activity increased dramatically after 8:30 p.m.
There’s less solar interference after sunset. Just as distant radio stations are easier to pick up at night, ghosts can create more dramatic effects with less energy after the sun goes down. That’s another reason why dusk (or later) is a good time to go ghost hunting.
We also believe in the popular idea that “between” times are excellent for ghost research. Perhaps a door opens between the worlds when conditions are slightly unstable.
The “between” times include dusk and dawn, and both the Equinoxes and the Solstices, when the seasons change.
Since Halloween (Samhain) is the traditional end of the agricultural year, many more hauntings occur on that night. We’ve had good luck — and fewer crowds at haunted sites — at the opposite end of the agricultural calendar, at the last day of April.
And, we’ve heard increased reports around the end of the calendar year, at the end of December and start of January.
Some people believe that it’s easiest to contact the other side while the clock is chiming midnight, another “between” time.
(See our article, Ghost Hunting and the ‘Witching Hour’ for additional information about planetary hours and their possible effects on research. We’re still testing this in our own investigations.)
WHAT YOU CAN DO
When you’re planning an investigation, find out when others have experienced anything odd at that location. We’ve heard few ghost stories from normal morning hours, or even early afternoon.
Generally, manifestations occur after 3 p.m., and most are after dark.
Keep a diary of your encounters with ghosts. See if there is any pattern to hauntings that you witness. If so, it may be a characteristic of the ghosts. Or, you may have heightened sensitivity to the paranormal during certain times. (Compare this pattern with planetary hours–mentioned above–and your biorhythms, too. Every factor, no matter how unlikely, must be considered.)
No matter what rules or patterns you establish for your research, there will always be exceptions. However, ghost hunting is still trial-and-error for most of us. No one can say with certainty that one hour is always better than another for your research.
Keep testing and comparing results with others, even if you think that you’ve found a consistent pattern.
We’re far from knowing what causes hauntings, and your information could be part of a breakthrough discovery that will help all ghost researchers.
When is the best time to go ghost hunting? It depends on the location and many other factors.
Don’t stay at home waiting. Any time can be a good time for ghost hunting.
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When to go ghost hunting? Hmm.
Samantha and I now have a 5 person team. Our team is now called “R Young Ghost Hunting Team” (RYGHT) Our team is young and all teen members but myself. I’m the only adult so far.
Anyway. My team asked me a question I couldn’t honestly answer. “Do ghosts and spirits more active in colder weather or warmer?
We do most of our ghost hunting outdoors. We had two private residences we investigated, but that’s another story. Most of our hunts contain haunted roads, forests, and of course cemeteries. It get’s mighty cold outside at night.
My theory is that ghosts don’t have any concept of time or temperature. I didn’t tell my team this.
Could I be right on this theory?
Rich.
That’s a great question, Rich! I had to think about it for awhile, and then I realized that I’ve heard a lot of complaints from ghosts (“too noisy” or “leave me alone”, etc.) but I’ve never heard one complain about the weather or time of day.
I have noticed that, when the weather is bad (cold, rainy, or whatever), ghosts seem less likely to manifest. However, I’m not sure if that’s more about how receptive I am. When my teeth are chattering from the cold, I’m halfway hoping that it’ll be an unproductive visit from the start, so that I can go home quickly.
I think your theory is correct.
In my opinion, temperature isn’t a significant factors in ghost hunting.
Time (hour or an anniversary date) can make a difference, but that’s more about the ghosts’ experiences in life.
I don’t think that time, in itself, makes any difference. While we seem to observe more ghost manifestations after dark, I’ve always thought that’s because — in the darkness — we have fewer visual distractions and are more likely to notice subtle evidence of something paranormal.