Hollow Hill

More Halloween Ghost Hunting Tips

Looking for Halloween ghost hunting tips from a pro?

You’re at the right place. As I’m writing this, it’s Halloween. The last day of October – and the week surrounding it – may be the most active season for ghost hunters and paranormal investigators.

So, friends and I are getting ready for tonight’s research opportunities, but also the challenges that go along with this holiday.

I want your investigations to be successful, too.

These are some of my best Halloween ghost hunting tips.

And here are more Halloween-ish ghost hunting tips, useful all year long.

But, especially if you’re reading this AFTER Halloween, these tips may interest you…

Regardless of when you’re reading this, there are many ways to get the most from your research. So, don’t shrug off these tips, figuring you’ll remember them in October.

Start testing them with your team right now. Then, you’ll be ready to get the most from All Hallows’ Eve, known in some cultures as Samhain (pronounced “SAHH-whenn”). In the northern hemisphere, that was the end of the growing season, when harvest was over or nearly completed. There was a lot of attention on the end of life (crops finishing their annual cycles), which naturally lent itself to a general sense of endings, perhaps death or at least hibernation, and… Well, ghosts.

It’s in those roots (pun intended) that you’ll find the earliest connections between ghosts, spirits, frights, and the last day of October.

Does the resonance of those attitudes and energies improve ghost hunting? Maybe.

Of course, though every time of year provides opportunities for ghost hunters, Halloween is still one of the most popular. The more prepared you are for each investigation, the better your results can be.

Interested in ghost hunting in haunted cemeteries? Here's a quick way to get started. — Click here for this book

Take advantage of the season, and plan for great, spooky encounters and fascinating – perhaps chilling – investigations!

How to See a Ghost – Easier Than You Think!

How often has a ghost been right in front of you, and you didn’t know it?

I’ll be honest. It’s happened to me, a LOT!

Technically, ghosts you can see are called “apparitions.”

And there may be more of them than you expect!

But when I’ve seen them, it’s almost always when I didn’t expect them.

So, let’s talk about what they are… and aren’t.

What is an apparition, anyway?

The Oxford dictionary defines apparition as:

apparition: a ghost or ghostlike image of a person.

But what is “ghostlike” for you?

A shadow person?
A fleeting, translucent white figure?
A solid-looking person, who appears to be in outdated clothing (if it’s a historical ghost)?

I’ve seen all three.

One shadow person seemed so real, I thought it was an actual, cast shadow. (You can see that photo – and learn more about shadow people – at my Ghosts 101 article, Are Shadow People Dangerous?)

This short video explains more:

(See more ghost-related videos at my YouTube channel: Ghost Hunting with Fiona Broome.)

The ghosts we lived with…

In one apartment (in a converted Victorian mansion in Maine that we jokingly called our “Amityville apartment”), we regularly saw fleeting, translucent figures.

I’m pretty sure they were residual energy. They seemed to be accessing other parts of the building through closet doors. But – in an earlier era – those doors probably led to other rooms.

We usually saw the figures so fleetingly, they were gone by the time we realized no one else was in that room, and it wasn’t a trick of the light.

Solid-looking apparitions are incredibly rare.

I’m sure I’ve seen one, and possibly more.

The problem is, they look so real, it’s easy to confuse them with actual, living people wearing costumes. (I talked about that recently, in connection with costume parties and reenactments.)

My advice: Keep it simple. Just wait and watch!

Be open to the cues, clues, and actual anomalies that can appear when we least expect them.

That can be the difference between a disappointing investigation and a wildly successful one.

Skeptics and Ghost Hunting

Do you have to believe in ghosts to encounter one?

From my experience: No.

Can a skeptic change their mind about ghosts?

Yes, but when that happens during a ghost hunting event, it can be a problem.

Not only can skeptics realize – to their horror – that they’ve seen, heard, or felt a ghost; they also have to deal with the fact that they’ve been wrong in the past.

The more belligerent and snarky they’ve been about ghosts, the harder it is for them to accept their mistakes.

That’s why I’m wary of skeptics, but – at public events – I also keep an eye on them. Without warning, they may need to be escorted to a quiet place to have an emotional meltdown, sometimes of epic proportions.

I do my best to be sympathetic.

Oh, by the end of the event – or perhaps the next day – hard core skeptics often go back to being obnoxious.

Usually, they’re convinced we pulled a prank to embarrass them, or something like that. (As if any of us would bother. Or risk our reputations like that.)

If telling themselves that false version of the story brings them comfort, I’m not sure that’s okay, but I don’t know what else to say.

Time and time again, I’ve seen that skeptics don’t have to believe in ghosts to experience something bone-chilling at a haunted location.

In fact, it can seem as if the ghosts take particular delight in tormenting them.

So, if you can tolerate the skeptic’s pre-encounter behaviors, it may be worth following them around, just to see what happens.

Or not. Seeing a skeptic react to a ghost can be interesting, but it’s not why you’re at that location. Investigations should never become a spectator sport at the expense of others.

In fact, the most valuable aspect of an investigation is your deeply personal experience, and what you learn about ghosts and paranormal research as a result.

Have you seen a skeptic become a believer… or were you a skeptic at one time? Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your story.

Dealing with Jokers at Haunted Sites – Especially at Halloween

Halloween can present one big problem for ghost hunters, and that’s dealing with jokers at haunted sites.

I’m about to rant, and – if you’re an experienced ghost hunter – you’ll probably nod in agreement.

Sometimes in autumn – especially around Halloween – when the weather turns cooler and dusk is earlier, jokers visit haunted sites for amusement.

They act as if ghost hunting is funny. As if the actual ghosts are projections of some kind. A special effect, perhaps, by the site owner, to get attention.

I’ve wondered if some people think actually haunted houses (and other sites) are the same as seasonal, staged haunted house attractions.

(Perhaps those jokers really are ignorant. Literally. If they’re among the 35% – 59% who don’t believe in ghosts, they may not realize the harm they’re doing.)

If you encounter jokers like that, here’s my advice.

First, leave the site immediately.

Whether those annoying (and immature) people are acting-out as obnoxious trolls, or they’ve been drinking, or both, they’re looking to get a laugh at someone else’s expense.

Get away from them as fast as you can.

Then, if it looked like they were already vandalizing the site (or seemed about to), call the police.

I mean it. Do not give stupid people an opportunity to cause damage to any site, haunted or not.

Next, go somewhere else (your Plan B) for your investigation.

If your Plan B falls through, The Shadowlands website can provide a few alternatives. However, some of their listings aren’t genuine or accurate. Mostly, use their lists as reminders of other, nearby places with ghostly reputations.

At a different haunted site, start as fresh as you can. Try to shake off the negative energy of the jokers. If you’re distracted by what happened at the previous site, your focus may not be sharp enough to notice important cues and anomalies. Especially if you’re new to ghost hunting, and not sure what to expect, that can put you at risk.

Then, at another time, not necessarily at night, return – with at least one friend – to the location where the jokers had been.

And when you’re there, apologize – out loud – to the spirits.

Acknowledge that the jokers were obnoxious and mean. Let the spirits know that no one should be taunted, teased, or bullied, ever.

Do ghosts hear us? I have no idea. I may be erring on the side of caution, but most ghosts seem to have enough problems, without being tormented by the living as well.

Yes, now and then we encounter belligerent ghosts and sinister spirits. No one should taunt or provoke them without a very good reason. Often they’re acting-out from a place of pain, themselves.

In that case, do not retort, yell at them, or walk off in a rage. Instead, err on the side of kindness. Let them know that you’re different, and you’re there to understand, and to help if you can.

At most genuinely haunted sites, ghost hunters encounter confused, misguided, fearful, or even bewildered ghosts.

Let’s treat them respectfully, and be helpful when we can.

Not Every “Haunted” Site Has Ghosts, But…

Peter Underwood, one of the early, leading ghost researchers of the 20th century, claimed that 98% of hauntings weren’t ghostly.

My own estimate is closer to 80%, but his estimate may be more correct.

The point is that many apparent anomalies have very normal – but perhaps odd – explanations.

Too often, when I decide to watch a ghost hunting TV show—which is rare—I’m immediately struck by how easily the ghostly phenomena can be explained.

Often, the cause is infrasound from a nearby or underground stream (flowing water) or a highway within a quarter mile.

Vic Tandy demonstrated that issue, years ago.

Does that suggest that all “hauntings” near sources of infrasound are bogus?

Of course not. For all we know, infrasound might make it easier for spirits to manifest in ways we perceive as apparitions, voices, and so on.

However, competent researchers double-check these kinds of explanations. They err on the side of caution.

That may not make TV producers happy, but it’s what genuine ghost research is like in real life.

On the other hand, when a researcher like me has investigated every normal explanation for an anomaly and the location still seems haunted, ghost hunting becomes exciting—even thrilling.

That’s why I’m still a ghost hunter. Like Peter Underwood, my interest is sustained—or even increases—when I investigate a site and can find no reasonable explanation for the ghostly activity there.

It’s probably why you’re intrigued by this field of research, too.

Look for normal – if extraordinary – explanations, first.

Once they’re ruled out, that’s when we’re faced with genuine anomalies.

And they just might be ghosts.

This short video explains a little more about apparitions:

(See more ghost-related videos at my YouTube channel: Ghost Hunting with Fiona Broome.)

Find ghosts tonight! Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries – a quick-start guide for beginners.

Are Ghosts Dead? Louis L’Amour’s Questions

This quote from Louis L’Amour resonated with me on many levels. Really… are ghosts dead, or is something else going on?

If you believe quantum theories about parallel realities, it’s easy to see a connection.

And, as both a ghost hunter and an admitted geek, I kind of love speculation about this.

I’ve talked about this before.

So have other ghost hunters, though most aren’t as outspoken as I am. (The late Rosemary Guiley was quietly convinced of parallel realities. She had some surprising evidence, too.)

Many times, it’s seemed to me that what we detect as a ghost is actually alive and well… but in a parallel reality.

Perhaps it’s a world that – in our reality – is in our past.

It’s a complex tangle to consider, because we’d have to dismiss our usual views of time and how it flows.

Despite that, many of us have had ghostly encounters that can’t be explained any other way.

Sometimes, it’s not just the entity that we sense at the haunted site, but an entire realm.

I’m not sure that explains the recurring procession of Anne Boleyn (headless or not) in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.

Is that ghostly, or just a repeating residual energy haunting?

Many other examples seem to suggest we’re not witnessing anything ghostly.

Instead, it seems like something that’s happening at that very moment.

And – for reasons unknown – its resonance is affecting us in a different timeline.

Author: Fiona Broome