Author: Fiona Broome

At Christmas, Look for Working Ghosts

Christmas and ghost huntingThe Christmas holidays may offer increased ghost hunting opportunities.

Some ghosts and residual energy hauntings are more active at certain anniversaries.

  • The obvious anniversary is the day the person died.
  • Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other significant dates (including when battles occurred) can also signal increased paranormal activity.
  • Halloween marks almost universally greater hauntings, and I’ve mentioned April 30th as its counterpart.

However, many ghost hunters make assumptions about Christmas, expecting the day to be quiet, in ghost terms.

They may be missing some great opportunities for investigations.

Christmas — and other December holidays — have been so widely celebrated since the early 20th century, we assume everyone has celebrated the holiday season… always.

Well, that’s not quite true.

In fact, when Bob Cratchit nervously asked Scrooge for Christmas Day off, Bob was asking for something extraordinary. In the 1840s, people expected to work on Christmas. Working-class families didn’t gather to celebrate Christmas, except at dinner. Even then, the meal was mostly for those who weren’t working 15 – 18 hours every day.

It’s a day that — more than most — may have marked the gap between the wealthy and working classes.  As such, you may find opportunities for ghost research on or around Christmas Day, especially at 19th-century factory sites.

Personally, I’d never prioritize ghost hunting over family celebrations. So, I might investigate during the days leading up to Christmas or immediately after, but not on the day itself.

On the other hand, if your family doesn’t celebrate on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, these may be ideal opportunities for experimental research.

The first thing to do is to find a few sites for research.  If you live near abandoned or refurbished factory buildings and mills, first check to be sure they can be accessed legally and safely.  As recent events have reminded many of us: It can be a grave mistake to ignore “no trespassing” signs.

Then, find out if they were in business during the era before child labor laws were enforced in your area.

Not sure? Here’s part of an article from Wikipedia:

In 1916, the NCLC and the National Consumers League successfully pressured the US Congress to pass the Keating-Owen Act, the first federal child labor law. However, the US Supreme Court struck down the law two years later in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), declaring that the law violated a child’s right to contract his or her own labor.

In 1924, Congress attempted to pass a constitutional amendment authorizing a national child labor law. This measure was blocked, and the bill was eventually dropped.

It took the Great Depression to end child labor nationwide; adults had become so desperate for jobs that they would work for the same wage as children.  In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which, among other things, placed limits on many forms of child labor.

See if the factory had a policy about Christmas Day.  Old newspapers will probably help you understand the dynamics of the factory management, and whether they were likely to give workers the day off (paid or unpaid) at Christmas.  Remember, Christmas wasn’t a Federal holiday in the US until 1870.

Look for a history of workers’ strikes and articles from the 19th century, when charities complained about working conditions for the poor.

It’s a grim era to revisit historically, but it’s something to consider in terms of when a local site might be especially active.

At many 19th-century factories and mills, working on Christmas Day was routine and another painful reminder of the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

It might be an ideal opportunity for ghost research.  I’d focus on EVP and well as real-time communication with spirits at abandoned and refurbished mills and factory sites.

Additional references

Haunted, Unmarked Quaker Graves?

In my book about haunted cemeteries, I mentioned ghost-hunting opportunities at unmarked graves, and at graves just outside cemetery walls.

At the time, I described many of them as the graves of people whose lives (or deaths) did not allow them to be buried in consecrated ground.

For example, a murderer is unlikely to be buried in a community cemetery.

During a recent Saturday investigation in Concord (NH), I discovered another explanation for those “outsider” graves.

The answer surprised me.  It’s Quakers (also known as “Friends.”)

Quakers and unmarked graves

Apparently, between 1717 and 1850, gravestones and memorials at cemeteries were considered “vain monuments” and – according to a decree by members of the Quaker faith – had to be removed from Quaker graves.

In other words, some (perhaps many) unmarked graves aren’t anonymous because the families were too poor to afford gravestones, or because the markers were stolen, but because the burial plots belonged to Quakers.

On the other side of the fence (literally, in this case), mainstream Christians objected to members of the Friends Church (or Religious Society of Friends) – generally known as “Quakers” – being buried in consecrated ground.

This was because Quakers aren’t baptized, or – in Quaker terms – “sprinkled.”

This adds up to a disturbing thought, though it may explain why some homes and fields seem haunted, with no obvious explanation:

Some Quakers may have been buried in fields, and family plots – also unmarked – near their homes.  In other words, you may have walked over Quaker graves many times without realizing it.

Old North Cemetery, Concord, NH

I discovered this during some post-investigation research about the Old North Cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire.  I’d been there with Lesley Marden and Sean Paradis, and we spent about two and a half hours researching the site.

Interested in ghost hunting in haunted cemeteries? Here's a quick way to get started.Sean and I had been there before, and I’d investigated the cemetery on my own, during daytime hours.  (It’s on the edge of downtown Concord, in the middle of a busy residential area.)

Though the site may be haunted after dark, and we noticed many anomalies at the cemetery, I don’t consider Old North Cemetery profoundly haunted.  It is intriguing, nevertheless.

The cemetery is L-shaped and covers nearly six acres and – according to the National Historic Register application – it’s comprised of three areas: The main cemetery, the Minot Enclosure (sort of a cemetery-within-a-cemetery), and the Quaker Lot.  (That’s not quite true, as I’ll explain in a few minutes.)

The cemetery was in most frequent use between 1730 and 1958.

The Quaker Lot

Looking through the fence, past Minot Enclosure in Concord, NHThough I’d been to Old North Cemetery before, I hadn’t noticed the odd, open field in the back of the Minot Enclosure.  That field has just a few markers, and one of them reminded us of a bunker marker.

The arrow indicates it, and the Friends’ (Quaker) marker is in the oval. That part of the cemetery is separated from the Minot Enclosure by a cast iron fence (with a break in it) and a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.

To reach the Quaker burial lot, you’ll exit Minot and walk through the main Old North Cemetery, to where the Quaker Lot begins.  (It’s not fenced off from the main cemetery.)

Once you’re standing in what looks like an open field, about 10,000 square feet, you’ll see just a few markers.  The main one is the slanted memorial listing many of the people buried in the Quaker Lot.  The lot was purchased in 1811, according to the terms of the will of Benjamin Hannaford. He’s one of the people buried in the lot.

The memorial marker is on the left. (Due to the late afternoon lighting, I had to increase the contrast in this photo so that the lettering would show.)

At the back of that memorial, you can see a metal marker for Levi Hutchins.  I think it’s a military marker, and it’s just sort of leaning there.  No one knows where Levi Hutchins was buried, so there’s no actual place for the marker.

On the other hand, Levi Hutchins’ wife, Phebe, does have a gravestone. Levi defied Quaker traditions and commissioned a headstone for his late wife. That’s it in the photo at the lower right.

Phebe Hutchins gravestone in Concord NHThe history of the Quakers in Concord is an interesting story.

The part that caught my attention was that the Friends (Quakers) built a meetinghouse in 1815, but in 1816, the state bought the land from them (it’s where the Concord State House is now). The city moved the meetinghouse to a location just east of the Quaker burial lot, fronting on North State Street.  (Sean, Lesley, and I had wondered about the odd landmarks on the property.)

In those days, that was the edge of the city.

In 1845, the meetinghouse was sold and moved again, to become a school building.  The land it was on was purchased by the city in 1911 for the sum of $300 because it was “in a very bad condition and a disgrace to our city.”

That’s an added reason why the Quaker Lot (and land near it) may be more active than other parts of the Old North Cemetery.

And, from the popular, gated entrance to the cemetery at Bradley Street, the Quaker Lot is – as you might expect – at the back left corner.

Quaker-related activity at Minot Enclosure?

We spent considerable time at the Minot Enclosure, an exclusive section of the Old North Cemetery, surrounded by an elaborate cast iron fence and containing 62 graves.  There, we noticed that random gravestones had been turned so they faced slightly away from the Quaker Lot.

Those random and very slight turns weren’t consistent with vandalism.  That was one of many mysteries we wondered about as we walked around the cemetery.

Now that we know about the Quaker Lot, Sean Paradis has raised an interesting question:

The Quakers in the Quaker Lot are from a time when gravestones were considered “vain monuments.”  Just feet away, the 14th U.S. president, Franklin Pierce, is buried in the Minot Enclosure. Might the activity within the Minot Enclosure be based on the mutual uneasiness of the Quakers and the upper social register in the Minot Enclosure?

That’s a stretch, but it’s fun to speculate.

However, as I was studying the cemetery records, I realized that Old North Cemetery isn’t just a combination of three cemeteries.  I discovered a fourth section of the cemetery, not often mentioned.

The Prison Lot

Original NH State Prison - 1860 photoAccording to the National Historic Register application, “The Prison Lot, comprised of a long 10′ x 75′ rectangular lot just west of lots #384 and #385 in the center of the cemetery, appears on all maps drawn after the 1844 western addition to Old North Cemetery.”

The report also states that the cemetery records note at least a dozen graves there, but there are no records of the names of the deceased in those graves.

And, since the old State Prison – built in 1811 – was replaced in 1880, there’s probably no way to determine who might be in those graves. (The photo on the left shows that 1811 prison, on two acres near the Court House.  It was attached to a three-story superintendent’s house.)

Unmarked graves + prisoners + no records of any kind to tell us who they were… That’s a formula for hauntings.  (If anyone’s giving “ghost tours” of downtown Concord, NH, take note.)

If you’re going to investigate those graves, be sure to check the chronological history of the NH State Prison.

In general, if you’re going to visit or investigate Old North Cemetery, I recommend reading the full National Historic Register application, which is linked below.

(Note: I’ve tried downloading it three times, and it consistently crashes my Adobe PDF reader.  If that happens to you, notice which page you’re on when it crashes, and then use the “go to” page function when you reopen the PDF, to pick up where you left off.)

Both the main cemetery and the Minot Enclosure deserve separate articles, which I’ll write later. Today, it’s important to share what I learned about Quaker burial practices. Remember, as one history of the Society of Friends says, “By 1700, the Society gained considerable influence in most of the New England and middle-Atlantic colonies. Quaker migration to the southern colonies, especially North Carolina…”

In other words, unmarked Quaker graves—and even unmarked (and forgotten) Quaker burial lots—may exist throughout the eastern United States, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Canada.

What you need to know about all Quaker graves and burial lots

  • Expect no grave markers for burials before the late 1840s.
  • Quaker graves could be in Quaker burial grounds, near the person’s home, at the far corner of a family farm or homestead, or in a rural location.  I found one reference that said Quakers “always regarded the physical remains of a person as spiritually insignificant.”
  • The burial was intended to be as inexpensive as possible, within the law.  One Quaker historian commented, “Well into the 20th century, it was not unusual for a country burial to have an unembalmed body.”
  • In some Quaker cemeteries, especially before 1850, coffins were placed in the first available slot in the cemetery, not in family groups.  Philadelphia’s Arch Street burial ground (between Third and Fourth Streets), in use until 1804, was organized so the coffins were four layers deep, and none had markers of any kind.
  • Despite rumors and folklore, I found no evidence of Friends (or Quakers) being buried upright. There was no rule against that practice, but there was no provision for it, either.
  • In the 20th century and later, Quakers generally chose cremation.

Quaker beliefs about death

I’ll let William Penn have the final word about the Friends’ (Quakers) attitude towards death.  This is from a poem published in 1693:

And this is the Comfort of the Good,
that the grave cannot hold them,
and that they live as soon as they die.
For Death is no more
than a turning of us over from time to eternity.

References

Old North Cemetery, Concord, NH – National Historic Site application (PDF)

Fox’s Pulpit Quaker burial ground, Sedbergh, Cumbria

Quaker Burial Practices, at Quaker-Roots-L

Burial Practices of Quakers, at Genealogy.com

The Buried Past: An Archaeological History of Philadelphia, by John L. Cotter, Daniel G. Roberts, Michael Parrington, page 200

Quaker Funeral Arrangements, by Oxford Quakers

Quaker Funeral Customs

Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States, at FamilySearch.org (LDS)

My YouTube channel includes this and many other how-to videos:

Ghost Hunting and Respiratory Risks

biohazardWith the recent death of Sara Harris, ghost hunting health risks are now in the spotlight.

She was a healthy young woman, investigating a site that many others had regularly used for ghost hunting.

She wasn’t wearing a mask. She became ill. And then, despite great medical care, she died.

In my earlier article – written before Sara’s death – I touched on basic health and safety concerns, including respiratory issues and simple steps to reduce your risks.  Today, I’ve had time for a more in-depth study of the problem.

Remember, I am not a medical professional or doctor, and this is not intended to be medical advice.  For information on Hantavirus and recommended protection, here’s a link to the CDC website.  (Scroll down that page to where they recommend N100 masks.)

I’m trying to strike a sensible balance, but even one death is too many, so I’d rather raise excessive concerns than treat this too lightly.

Points you need to know

  • Airborne risks in dusty locations aren’t news.  Since speculation about “King Tut’s Curse,” people have been concerned about airborne diseases, especially those that have been dormant at locations where bodies may have been stored (including abandoned hospital morgues) or tombs.
  • The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists a wide range of rodent-related diseases, from Hanta to plague to one form of meningitis. Most are spread by “breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings.”  Just last week, I’d pointed to a large mouse or rat in one ghost-hunting video, but I think we’ve all investigated sites where mice and rats had once been (or still are), and they’ve left droppings.
  • Many abandoned hospitals that were described as “insane asylums” were also hospitals for victims of tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.  Eloise Insane Asylum  (in Michigan, USA) is a good example of this.  Take extra precautions at sites where people have been ill.
  • Surgical masks are usually designed to protect the environment from the wearer, not vice versa.  If you’re buying blue masks, keep this in mind.  Depending on their design, those blue masks usually test between 15% and 80% effective.  The best are designed to filter the smallest particles, and have something at the nose so air isn’t entering and exiting, unfiltered, at the top edge of the mask.
  • Masks usually filter particles; they don’t disinfect anything.  If you have significant health issues leaving you especially vulnerable, or you’re going to extremes, look for military-grade gas masks designed to protect from chemical and biological agents, as well as flu pandemics.  At that level, you’ll achieve maximum protection.
  • Most medical-style masks do not filter out carbon monoxide or other toxic gases.
  • Indoors (with no open windows), setting up an air purifier ahead of time may help if it’s designed to HEPA standards.  (HEPA filters remove more than 99% of airborne particles, usually down to 0.3 microns.)  However, most air purifiers are designed to filter tobacco smoke, pollen, and dust, not chemical or bacterial agents.  Make sure the air purifier removes dust, and choose an air purifier with a CADR number rating of at least 2/3 the square footage of the space you need to treat. (So, if it’s a room with 120 square feet, you’re looking for a CADR rating that’s at least 80.)
  • Remember that your hands, hair, and clothing can pick up the same particles you’re trying to avoid with a mask.  Keep your mask on when you shake your hair to dislodge particles, and when you change your clothes.  Disposable gloves – available in bulk from many pharmacies and beauty salon supply stores (like Sally Beauty Supply) – can be helpful when you might have to touch items that put you at risk, or in locations that are coated with dirt or dust.

There is a happy medium (no pun intended) between making ghost hunting so complex and fearful it’s a chore, and being far too casual about health and safety risks.  The precautions you take will vary from person to person, and from one investigation site to another.

Someone investigating in northern Maine and eastern Canada will have very different concerns than someone investigating in Louisiana or an area affected by flooding. Someone with severe allergies or respiratory issues will take different precautions than someone who rarely catches a cold and enjoys exceptionally good immunity.

What I’m adding to my own ghost-hunting supplies

  • I brought basic blue surgical masks for my own use and for anyone who was with me who didn’t bring respiratory protection, and a few P95 or N95 masks just to have them on hand for severe situations that surprise us.
  • I like the looks of WoodyKnows nose filters for discreet, short-term use since they’re praised by people who use them for allergies.
  • N100 or P100 masks, preferably with the Cool-Flow feature, for hot climates.
  • I wear disposable gloves for places where I don’t want to touch anything. (I have a very low “ick!” threshold.)
  • A more comprehensive HEPA-style breathing mask, in the $30 – $50 price range.
  • A personal air purifier that’s been proven effective in scientific studies.  As of 2012, one possibility is the Wein As150mm Ionic Air Purifier.  It’s small and can be worn as a pendant.  As long as it doesn’t interfere with electronic sensing devices or other ghost-hunting tools, it’s the kind of thing I’d wear routinely in dusty locations, basements and attics, and abandoned buildings… and when I’m on an airplane.

GFI Poasttown Apparitions

This video is a great example of what real-life ghost hunting was like in 2012. I’m thankful for GFI’s research, especially the work of their cousin and tech guy, the late Joey Thorpe.

As ghost hunters, I think it’s important to remember the importance of every day, and every person we interact with, in real life, online, and at haunted sites.

If it hadn’t been for Joey and the GFI team, we wouldn’t have this kind of record to learn from, today and in the future.

Thank you, Joey, Adam, and GFI.

Here’s my original article, lightly edited in 2020, and with added comments by GFI’s Adam Bennett.

This paranormal investigation video – “GFI Catches REAL Ghosts and Shadow Creatures on Video!” – includes two clips from Poasttown, Ohio.

The first one is good, but I’m not certain it’s ghostly. Also, I need to spend more time reviewing the second one.

These clips are good reminders of how closely you need to study videos, to see anomalies in them.

Note: I recommend muting the music in that video to reduce distractions as you study it. (However, I understand that most viewer probably aren’t going to dissect a video as I do. Also, I’ll admit the music is campy and kind of cool.)

Initial impression

nov2012-green-1822

This first screenshot is from the corridor, when it’s normal.  It’s at the end of the first clip.

Like most night-vision videos, darkness and shadows are always an issue.

Ditto matrixing… looking for form and meaning in something that’s merely odd (not paranormal) at best.

What I’m seeing is a door that has a window, and a somewhat reflective surface on the door itself.  The floor is shiny and reflective as well.  Both of these could explain what happened in this video clip… but do they, really?

A shadow person?

The next photo shows the point that interests me the most.  In it, a shadow figure seems to cross in front of the door, below the height of the door handle.

nov2012-green-1816

It might be a normal shadow.  If someone ducked down and walked in front of the video camera, that could cast a shadow in the light, even though the person’s body wasn’t seen in the video.

Or, the shift in camera position could account for different lighting effects that simply look paranormal.

So far, there’s nothing  conclusive here.

A closer look

To get a better understanding of what I’m looking at, here are two annotated screenshots.

nov2012-greencorridor-300wiAt right, you’ll see a the 11:18:16 PM screenshot again. I’ve placed an oval over the areas that interest me the most.

(As this screenshot shows, the interesting area is dark. You may need to watch the video again, and adjust your screen settings to see it.)

I’m looking at a shadow that crosses in front of the door.  At its tallest, it’s about two feet, maybe two-and-a-half feet, tall. (Less than one meter.)

Then there’s the darker area in front of the door.

Let’s say it is an apparition or shadow figure.

Now, we have two questions:

  • Is the figure at the door, and is it reflected in the shiny floor?
  • Or, is the figure nearly human-sized, but closer to the camera?

Simply, does the oval (in the previous screenshot) include the shadow figure plus its reflection, or does the oval include the entire figure, with no obvious reflection?

Attempt at a clearer image

nov2012-green-shadow-arrowIncreasing the contrast didn’t answer any questions.  An example is at left.  The arrow points to the top of the shadow figure, as I see it.  (Others may see something totally different.)

Except that I discount what seems like easy matrixing, several other frames in this video offered some strange images.  One looked exactly like a line drawing of a head and torso, extending all the way up to the window in the door, and the shadow was in front of it.

Also, I can see a variety of figures – some upside up, some upside down – in the reflection or possible shadow figure in front of the door.

Yes, my speculations go far out on a limb.  That doesn’t mean the anomalies aren’t real.  Based solely on the video, I can’t claim the images are evidence of… well, anything. Yet.

But, let’s not get that serious.  I think it’s important to ask “what if…?” about even the threadiest evidence. (And, frankly, this video is better than many – and maybe most – that I see.)

You never know where your questions will lead.  They may not apply to the evidence in question, but they may trigger ideas for fresh investigation techniques, or new things to check for in old evidence.  (This is why I urge people never to delete old photos, videos, or EVP recordings.)

A shadow person could look that small

GFI Poasttown Shadow PeopleSo, let’s say that the shadow figure is directly in front of the door.  Why would it be that small?

Here are a few explanation:

1. The ghost is walking on a level that existed in his lifetime, and only his upper body extends above the current floor.

I’ve seen this phenomena among apparitions in homes where the floors changed, due to a structural change in the building.

For example, when a Victorian home (with high ceilings) is converted so the attic becomes a new living space – by lowering the floor – or the height of the foundation changes (common in homes renovated after flooding), the ghosts may be walking where the old floor was.

(Similar reports around York, England, describe half-bodies of Roman soldiers, still marching where the ground used to be, but it’s been filled-in, since.)

2. Maybe it’s not a ghost. Maybe it’s what researchers describe as a faerie.  Some faeries, such as gnomes, are about two or three feet tall.

3. Or, perhaps it’s another kind of entity, also small in stature.  (See my book, Ghosts – What They Are and What They Aren’t.)

At this point, as a researcher, I’d need more evidence to be sure that this video is showing something paranormal.

I’d need simultaneous EVP, or regular flash photos capturing the figure, or additional videos with the same phenomena.

Is that realistic for a typical ghost hunting team? No. Most teams don’t have the budget – or a large enough team – for that kind of evidence collection.

This is one reason why – as of 2020 (as I’m updating this article) – I stress the importance of personal observation. Not just what you see or hear, but how it affects you.

Ultimately, almost any ghost-like phenomena can be debunked by a determined skeptic.  (Whether their arguments are credible… that’s another matter.)

Often, the real proof is how the haunting affects you, personally. When you know you’ve encountered something unexplained, no one can debunk that.

This video is odd enough to make additional research a priority.  Something seems to be casting the shadow, but – without further evidence – it’s difficult to tell if it’s a normal shadow, a shadow figure, or something else.

Adam Bennett’s insights

In August 2020, GFI’s Adam Bennett generously shared some of his insights about this video. Here’s some of what he said:

Tremendously slow down the second video. The ear effect was caused by a shadow cross contaminated with the movement of the apparition. As it retreats back into the room you can make out what looks to be a head, upper torso, and arm. The arm looks to extend and push itself back into the room. Hopefully that helps clarify.

Then he explained:

If you pause it as it returns back into the room you can see a transparent head, arm, and torso.

Those are useful tips. (Thanks, Adam!)

Also, I was pleased when Adam added the following information about Joey Thorpe. Personal insights create a connection, and make ghost research mean so much more.

Our video guy and my cousin would be so proud and pumped that the video is is still around. We miss him a lot. We don’t investigate anymore.

What looks like a mouse?

mouse-in-hallThe second segment of this video confuses me.  Maybe I’m not looking at the correct area in the video, because what I’m seeing doesn’t look paranormal.

Many years ago, in our Florida kitchen, we saw mice that looked disturbingly like Mickey Mouse.  (When I set them free, far from our house, I think they just returned to my kitchen, rather than heading to Disney World.)

In the Poasttown video, I see something rush out, pause, and then rush back into the wall or a doorway.  To me, it looks like a mouse or a rat… a rodent with large-ish ears, whatever it is.  Varieties of mice with ears this large include Gremlin mice.

That b&w image (above) was an enlargement of the screenshot.  To me, it looks like a mouse on his hind legs, with his ears at full alert, watching the person in the doorway, further down the hall.

At the correct angle, with the lighting “just so,” this mouse could look like the one in the video.
At the correct angle, with the lighting “just so,” this mouse could look like the one in the video.

Then, he drops back down on all fours, and scurries back to the room or opening where he’d emerged from.

Of course, with a really shiny floor, it’s difficult to evaluate the figure’s height.

Maybe the anomaly is something else in the video.  I’ve watched it several times, and the mouse-like figure attracts my attention every time.

If there’s something else in this video that I’m not seeing, please let me know.  I’d hate to miss a really good anomaly.

Fiona’s analysis (2012, before Adam’s insights)

The first segment in this YouTube video shows something odd enough to make follow-up investigations imperative.  Though I can explain the shadow in a variety of ways, I’d want to visit the site for test like these:

  1. Have someone cross in front of the camera, but just beneath the lens, to see if that creates a similar shadow.
  2. Deliberately film from a variety of angles, filming constantly, to see what happens with shadows and reflections as the focus and angles of light vary.

For most people, that shadow figure puts this in the “scary ghost video” category. That figure is something I can’t fully explain. When I investigate a site, that kind of anomaly is exactly what I’m looking for.

The second segment – the b&w one – the activity at the left side of the screen looks too much like a mouse or a rat.  But, as I said, maybe I’m missing a truly interesting anomaly in another part of the corridor.

Takeaways from this video 

  • Examine each video very carefully.  Sometimes, the anomalies are really subtle.
  • What you think you see in a video may be influenced by what you saw when you were at the site, or your teammates’ opinions.
  • When you post a video online, consider adding an arrow or other indication of where we’re supposed to look. Of course, many viewers prefer to spot anomalies themselves. For them, that makes the anomaly – and the likelihood that the site is haunted – more credible. (Arrows would have made my analysis easier, but are they a good idea? I’m not so sure.)

You can read my conversation with Adam Bennett in comments at a post at my Facebook Page, Fiona Broome News. Thanks again to him, to GFI, and especially to the late Joey Thorpe, who helped us understand ghost hunting better. He will be remembered, with gratitude.

Helping Spirits – My Advice

In the past, I’ve talked about time limits for helping ghosts during routine investigations.

Of course, someone has to help spirits if they’re ready to be helped.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from helping… if they can.

Here’s the problem: Many ghosts seem to be  lingering for reasons that aren’t especially healthy.  They want to turn back the clock and relive their lives.  They want sympathy, or at least attention for their own poor decisions.

Giving them attention only compounds the problem. I don’t think it helps them.

I’ve related this to working with a toddler.  If all the child wants is attention, you have to be smart about it. You’ll reward good behavior and gently guide the child towards healthier choices.

However, the first step is to understand what’s going on with the spirit.  Rapport must be established, but — unless you’ve trained to safely interact with spirits — it may be safer to set time limits. That’s especially true if the rest of your team is there to investigate and collect data.

Time limits as protection

In my opinion, it’s good to set the time limit ahead of time.  Then, everyone knows what to expect and when to say, “That’s enough.”

Later, the psychic/medium may not be the best person to draw the line.   He or she may need to be reminded that you’d already said you’d stop after 10 or 20 minutes, or whatever the time limit was.

Remember, entities aren’t always what they seem. A malicious entity can put you at risk if — in pursuit of rapport — you drop your guard and allow that entity access to your thoughts.

I don’t want to sound overly dramatic, but this must be said: What may seem like rapport to you, may actually be an attempt to gain control over your mind, your body, or your soul.

That’s why psychics/mediums should never be left alone, and may need assistance from the team.

You’re probably not the first person to try to help the spirit.  Some sites — such as Edinburgh’s vaults or the Myrtles Plantation — have been visited by tens of thousands of people.  Some of them tried to help the ghosts.

If the spirits could be helped at those kinds of sites, surely someone else would have succeeded by now.

Everyone wants to feel unique and gifted. You might like to say, “I succeeded where thousands couldn’t.”

That’s bordering on pride, and it’s one of those “deadly sins” that can lure you into dangerous territory, spiritually and psychically.

Could you be the one to help that spirit?  Maybe.  I suppose it’s worth a try.

Keep your guard up, especially at sites with a reputation for being dangerous.

If you can’t, be sure your team knows when to come to your rescue, and acts quickly.

From the start, know your talents and set clear goals

I’m not sure that anyone can help a spirit that’s determined to remain at a site.   That’s something ghost hunters have debated for over a century.

We can agree that every paranormal investigator has unique talents.

Identify yours.  Put them to good use for the benefit of this field, and set clear goals in those areas.

If your goal is to help spirits find comfort and cross over, focus on that.  Don’t dilute your efforts by trying to be the EVP expert, and the EMF genius, and the person who pre-screens sites and… Well, you get the idea.

Remember that being good at something doesn’t mean it’s your calling.

I’m a good psychic.  So are a lot of people.  (I’m also a fast typist and I bake amazing chocolate chip cookies.)

However, what I do uniquely is:  I find unreported and under-reported haunted sites, and I explore innovative research techniques.

Those are my most unusual gifts.  That’s where my attention is, now.

Know where you shine, and focus on that.  If you’re called to help ghosts, one-on-one, that’s wonderful.

However, if it’s not, don’t feel guilty.  Each of us has something to contribute to this field.  Discover what it is, and share it with the paranormal community.

Wilton, NH – Vale End is Dangerous

Recently, a large number of individual New Hampshire students have advised me that they’re planning to visit Vale End Cemetery (Wilton, NH) at night because they’re working on a ghost-related school project or term paper.

I’m sad and angry that so many students are that stupid.

(Yes, I changed that sentence. Someone objected to me saying it about NH students, so I made it generic.  The fact is, anyone who not only visits a dangerous site but also breaks the law by trespassing… that’s probably well past the scope of “stupid.”  And it applies to students and adults alike. But, to keep the peace with people who are looking for me to say something offensive… well, there it is.)

Anyway… anyone who reads my articles about Vale End and still intends to go there — using the excuse of a school paper or project — is stupid, immature, and dangerously naive.

How much more clearly can I say this?

Vale End is dangerous.

This is not a game.  This is serious. I’m not someone who jumps at shadows.  I’ve been working in this field for over 30 years, and I don’t scare easily.

  • I think Gilson Road Cemetery (Nashua, NH) is an excellent research site, though that haunted site terrifies many people.
  • I thought The Myrtles Plantation was one of the most fascinating places I’ve investigated, though many people are so frightened — even before midnight — they leave by 10 pm.
  • I even look forward to returning to a Plague-related site I previously investigated, the Falstaffs Experience (UK).  Terrifying?  Maybe.  Dangerous?  Probably not.

There is only one location I will never go back to again, and that’s Vale End.  I’ve written four in-depth articles about the site, explaining its history and why it’s dangerous.

In 1999, one of my researchers went to Vale End at night, and encountered something that alarmed her. Within a week she died suddenly and without a credible explanation.  To many of us, it seemed directly connected with her Vale End experience.

She was one of my best friends, and the mother of a high school girl.  That mom died the day her daughter was going to a prom.

How much more tragic does this story need to be, to impress people with how serious this is?

If you go to Vale End after reading my warnings and others’, you are stupider than I can deal with.

Going to Vale End is not real ghost research.

Visiting Vale End after dark is:

  • Illegal.  The cemetery closes at dusk.  Full stop. Police patrol it, and I hope they arrest you and call your parents.  If death doesn’t scare you, maybe a permanent criminal record will.
  • Putting lives at risk… for what? For a school paper or project?  For a thrill, or bragging rights?

If you have no idea why I’m so angry, here’s my full list of articles about Vale End Cemetery in Wilton, NH:

Vale End’s Blue Lady Ghost – The legend of the “Blue Lady” and the facts behind the stories.

Vale End – More Ghosts – Additional ghost stories in and near Vale End.

Vale End – Possible Demons – The beginning of my team members’ encounters with something dangerous (and non-human) at Vale End.

Vale End Cemetery Frights – The rest of my story about encountering something malicious and dangerous — something that had never been human — at Vale End.

I wrote and posted those articles, years ago.  People — including some ridiculous TV shows — seemed to rush to Vale End because… Umm… What, they didn’t believe me…?

So, I removed those articles from the Internet for several years.  The result…? Vale End — and my story — became even bigger, practically an urban legend.

Finally, I put the articles back online because people need access to the facts.

This site is about real ghost research.  My work is not fiction.  Though I often write with my readers’ interests and viewpoints in mind, I don’t need to make things up.

I created my original ghost-related website, HollowHill.com, in the 1990s. I hoped to educate new paranormal investigators.  I want to see more competent people in this field, contributing data so we can figure out what ghosts and haunted places really are.

That’s the one and only reason my ghost-related websites have remained online and continued to expand.  Vale End is dangerous.  If you want to do dangerous things, stop pretending that you’re ghost hunting.  Those of us who are serious about paranormal research… we don’t want to be confused with idiots like you.

All that I plan to say about Vale End is already at this website.

I hope that made my point, and conveyed the irritation you’ll encounter if you ask me about this in the future.