Every Halloween, people visit haunted places to see what ghost hunting is really like.
Maybe a ghost will appear or do something weird, just like on TV.
But then, starting the day after Halloween, I hear about people who regretted going out that night.
That’s not because they actually encountered a ghost.
The problem was: the living.
Here’s why the living can be the biggest problem at “haunted” sites…
Haunted places are often badly maintained, and off-the-beaten-path.
At the very least, most people avoid them.
So, those same sites are attractive to people who want to stay off-the-radar of the public, and especially the police.
I can’t even guess how many times I visited Gilson Road Cemetery (before the nearby subdivision was built), and discovered teens enjoying a raucous party in the woods behind the cemetery.
Of course, they wanted us to leave. The sooner, the better.
Ditto the number of abandoned, haunted buildings where my team and I stumbled onto drug deals in progress, and so on.
Can ghosts be dangerous? Yes.
This website is filled with articles about the paranormal dangers of ghosts and ghost hunting.
However, when we include those who answered “not sure” (as opposed to “don’t believe”), the numbers are equal… 65%, whether the question is about demons or ghosts.
That’s a lot.
In other words, the majority of Americans are willing to believe that supernatural beings exist, even if they’re not 100% certain… yet.
Of course, those were American studies.
People in other countries may have different views.
For example, an informal study of British people suggested that 50% of Brits believe in ghosts, and – interestingly – only 23% are afraid of them.
A more reliable – but older – British study [PDF] showed that 34% of Brits believe in ghosts… and 39% believe a house can be haunted. (Umm… how can a house be “haunted” if there are no ghosts? <– Rhetorical question.)
I tried to find statistics for France, but that led to generalizations that “the French don’t believe in ghosts, and pride themselves on their rationalism,” while – at the same time – finding plenty of reported ghosts in that country.
However, statistics suggest that 46% of Canadians believe in ghosts or supernatural beings.
What would make you believe in ghosts?
If you’re reading this article, you probably believe – as I do – that something odd is going on at haunted sites.
And, at many of those places, there’s no reasonable explanation for the ghost-like phenomena. We have to consider ghosts as a legitimate answer.
Some people don’t take a “good scare” seriously. They’re more comfortable laughing it off, if they can.
In addition, some refer to the latter as a “spiritual” experience, while rejecting the idea of ghosts and hauntings.
Is that a matter of semantics, or religion, or something else?
Is science the answer?
In my decades of paranormal research, persistent ghost hunting – even by the most skeptical – seems to lead to a belief in ghosts.
By contrast, nearly every snarky non-believer I’ve met has been on just one actual ghost investigation, or a few light-hearted ghost tours.
In the light of day, it’s easy for them to dismiss anything baffling or alarming they’d encountered.
While I maintain that the best ghost hunting experiences are those that have a personal impact, it’s also clear that ghost hunting equipment is important, for baselining.
Why should ghost hunters “baseline” haunted sites?
When we “baseline” a haunted site, we’re using scientific equipment – sometimes sold as “ghost hunting equipment” – to look for anything odd, abnormal, or weird that’s already at the location.
So, before an investigation, you’ll need EMF devices, audio recorders, carbon monoxide detectors, carpenter’s levels, measuring devices, and so on.
You’ll also need any past evidence of ghostly activity at the site. That could be stories, weird videos, strange photos, odd recordings, and so on.
Even before you actually look for ghosts, you need to analyze that evidenceand see which of them can be explained.
For example, if someone is convinced that the stairs in their home are haunted, you’ll look for a physical cause.
Here’s how…
Do all that BEFORE you start a formal ghost investigation.
That will save you time and embarrassment. (On more than one ghost hunting show, I’ve seen professional ghost hunters get fooled by people – and TV producers – who deliberately rigged their home to seem “haunted.”)
After ruling out normal (if odd) aspects of a haunted site, real ghost hunters do this…
We keep looking for non-ghostly reasons a site seems haunted.
Yes, you’ll do more of the same, just in more depth.
Seek more results.
Look for patterns that may result in normal (but unusual) explanations.
Identify those that defy explanation.
Follow-up with more research efforts at the same locations or similar ones.
Then, with enough evidence that we can’t explain, we’re led to the next level of research, and so on.
It’s like peeling an onion, and the outer layers – normal (if odd) explanations – must be considered.
Ghostly “oddities” DO exist.
Most people agree that ghost-like “oddities” exist outside mainstream science.
Whether some of them are actual ghosts… that’s another matter.
For now, an open-minded scientific approach can be helpful. (Of course, remain sensitive to the possibility that what we’re encountering may be sentient beings, and could be ghosts.)
Keep investigating. Keep gathering – and analyzing – evidence.
That’s the best way to find answers, whether or not you’re among the apparent majority who already believe.
However, the following poignant quote from Washington Irving made me pause and think.
What if many – even most – ghosts are actually lonely?
That may be an important aspect to consider for successful ghost investigations, and not just at rarely visited sites.
Even if researchers actively visit a particular haunted place, do they actually communicate with the ghosts?
Sure, investigators often ask the ghost’s name, and request a specific reaction (approach the EMF meter, or close a door, or turn a flashlight on & off).
But how often do we introduce ourselves as if we’ve just encountered a living person and want to start a friendly conversation?
Ghosts shouldn’t be ordered around, apparently to prove they exist. That could be worse than feeling ignored.
Maybe we should be more sympathetic to how lonely a spirit might feel.
They may feel trapped at a haunted site, and abandoned by friends and family. That would upset anyone.
Their experiences may included loneliness, vulnerability, and confusion.
Perhaps a lot of “why am I here, and why do people not seem to see me?”
Though I think the majority of ghosts have a reason to remain (or visit) our reality, some probably feel lost and alone.
Let’s see what happens if we first offer comfort rather than barking commands at them, as if they’re performers.
Some ghosts want our attention as much as we want evidence that they’re real.
We may want to hear (or see) them, as much as the ghosts want to be heard.
Listening – and I don’t mean recording them with EVP devices, but actually listening to the ghosts – can transform your ghost hunting experience.
It can bring unexpected depths to our research, and it can actually help the ghost.
Sometimes, we forget that haunted sites aren’t there for our entertainment.
The ghosts that linger there were once living people with families and friends.
They have stories to tell, or messages to share.
They’re not lab mice for us to provoke, manipulate, and study.
Every ghost has a story to tell. It may be something they feel that they have to share, before “crossing over.”
So, listening to a ghost that wants to be heard could bring them relief, and escape from a self-imposed prison.
I need to remember this myself.
Far too often, I forget to consider the ghosts’ feelings. I can be so excited to find real ghostly phenomena, that I shift into hyper-focus.
The adrenaline rush takes over.
Suddenly, I’m looking for every anomalous clue or hint, and searching to identify the most active location at the site.
Yes, I want all the evidence, all at once. And, like a little kid, I want it now.
I forget that the ghost is there for a reason. There’s a story there, and the ghost wants to be heard by someone who actually – perhaps patiently – listens to them.
And that’s the problem: It’s easy to forget that – in ghost hunting – we’re often dealing with actual, sentient spirits.
They may linger here because they’re frightened. Or, deeply immersed in regrets, they’re trying to fix something they believe they broke.
Sometimes, it’s their own life that went off-the-rails in a direction they never anticipated.
It’s even worse when the ghost’s in-life decisions caused harm – or even death – to another.
But, whatever the reason those ghosts remain here, they may just need someone to listen to them.
In fact, the ghost may want to be heard, even more than you want evidence that they’re real.
What do ghosts need to say?
Maybe they need to confess something and feel forgiven, or at least understood.
Maybe they need assurance that there is something for them, after death.
Or, no matter how big their in-life mistakes were, that “something” isn’t necessarily a fiery eternity in hell.
Maybe they just want to know that their lives meant something. That, even after death, they’re remembered.
So, as ghost hunters, we may need to pause regularly and see if we get a sense of the person behind the ghostly activity.
A little compassion can go a long way.
I’m reminded of that saying, “We’re not human beings having a spiritual experience; we’re spiritual beings having a human experience.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is credited with saying that.)
When we encounter a troubled ghost, affirming that can be a compassionate part of ghost hunting.
However, if you’re more science-based, you may leave that to team members more focused on spiritual interaction.
Either way, acknowledging the spirits can be an important – even essential – part of ghost research.
Yes, some spirits may want to be left alone, thank you very much.
But even some of them may really need a listening ear.
Perhaps their bluster is really a defense. They’re trying to avoid additional pain… as if being ignored isn’t bad enough.
Take regular breaks from being an investigator.
Some – not all – ghosts want to be heard. (And some spirits aren’t benign and should not be engaged with, in any manner.)
Pause if you become too immersed in your own research – and fascinating discoveries – to remember that many (or even most) ghosts are wounded or terrified spirits.
They may respond favorably if you address them respectfully. Give the ghosts a chance to be comfortable with you in what’s become “home” to them.
It’s worth trying.
It’s also good manners.
Then, they may be more open to confirming that they are ghosts and, yes, they’re actually there.
That’s when you’ll get your best evidence that the site is haunted.
Many ghosts want to be heard. Listen to them.
Working with the ghosts as real people, rather than treating them like lab mice, can produce far better research results.
Despite that, I still believe in ghostly phenomena, even when there’s no visible evidence.
For me, other forms of evidence are more than enough. And there’s plenty of that, if you’re open to it.
Keep an open mind.
If you’re a new ghost hunter, decide what you’ll need to experience, to believe that ghostly encounters are real.
Note that I said “experience.”Not a precise, detailed preconception of what you’d need to see, or hear, or feel.
Maybe decide on, on a scale of 1 to 10, how weird an experience would need to be, to convince you a site is haunted.
Then you’ll know when you’ve found it, or – if it just doesn’t happen (or if it terrifies you) – when it’s time to quit.
However, a far better goal might be encountering something odd, eerie, or strange… but impossible to explain.
Is everything odd a ghost?
Personally, I have no doubt that spirits visit our world.
I’m absolutely certain that ghosts – or ghostly energy of people (and sometimes animals) from the past – exist.
Some are more sensitive to their presence than others are.
Perhaps we pass them daily, in broad daylight, and don’t realize it.
(Are they really from the past? That’s a different topic, best for those – like me – who are intrigued by ghosts, spirituality, and how it might align with quantum science.)
But let’s not insist every weird anomaly is a ghost.
(That may be a “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” issue.)
And let’s not hold such high standards for “what a ghost has to be,” that we don’t pursue curious anomalies that might be ghostly energy.
Understand what you’re looking for, because – in ghost hunting – you’re not likely to see an actual apparition.
This short video explains a little more about apparitions.
There are two main reasons why people like us visit — and perhaps investigate — haunted sites.
One is for the experience. Maybe it’s a “good scare,” or a brush with the supernatural. You’ve seen the YouTube videos and TV shows, and you want to see what ghost hunting is REALLY like.
The other is to find evidence, or some sort of proof that ghosts are real. For that, you may trust your senses, you may use ghost hunting equipment, or both.
I’ll be honest: After confirming that a site has a least a rich ambience (if no actual ghosts), I’m almost entirely interested in the experience.
For me, a unique brush with history and the people who lived in past eras… It makes ghost hunting memorable.
Of course, you might be looking for a different kind of experience. For example, you might be looking for a “good scare,” which — in my opinion — is a foolish and sometimes dangerous pursuit.
Either way, here are some tips on when to go ghost hunting (and it’s not Halloween).
But here’s the problem: Many of today’s ghost hunters focus entirely on evidence. They seek proof, or what they think is proof, using ghost hunting equipment. Meanwhile, they’re missing the truly rich experience of encountering actual ghosts.
Still looking for “proof”? Well, I’m not convinced that there is ever enough proof to banish all skepticism and doubts.
One of America’s most vocal skeptics once told me that he really wanted to believe in ghosts. However, he always found a reason to question the evidence, no matter how compelling it might seem.
I understand.
Lean into your experience.
In my opinion, determining the value of ghost-related evidence is deeply personal. Paranormal ghost hunting equipment shows us that something odd and anomalous is going on, perhaps briefly, at a site.
It doesn’t tell us what is going on. Or why it’s happening, if it can be repeated, and so on.
In other words, on its own, ghost hunting equipment doesn’t provide actual proof of ghosts.
There will always be “logical” explanations for paranormal activity, no matter how extreme and improbable those explanations might be.
And now, a big spoiler…
I’ve been studying one explanation for years: It’s infrasound, and I believe it can be a factor in — albeit not the entire reason for — many hauntings.
(In the past, I haven’t talked about this very much, because I didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun if they’re thrilled and delighted by a site I consider questionable. Now, over 20 years since I started this website, I kind of regret that.)
Ghosts and the infrasound dilemma
The majority of ghost reports sent to me come from locations within 1/4 mile of a busy road, an overpass, or some form of moving water such as an underground stream. And that meansinfrasound could explain many of the “symptoms” indicating ghosts.
This issue was brought to my attention by Vic Tandy, a British scientist. Here’s what you need to know:
Working late one night in a supposedly haunted lab in Warwick, England, computer expert Vic Tandy experienced cold sweats. Next, he experienced a sudden (and unexplained) feeling of depression.
After that, he caught sight of a filmy, gray figure. As he turned to see what it was, it vanished.
That got his attention. Was the lab really haunted?
The next day, while oiling a fencing foil, Tandy noticed the foil vibrating vigorously. That’s when he realized that a nearby fan was in use, and it was vibrating, but at a level so low, he hadn’t noticed it.
Tandy measured the vibrations at 18.9 hertz, just above the threshold at which human eyeballs start to shake or even distend, causing blurry vision and odd imagery.
That’s when Tandy realized that what seemed like a ghostly apparition in the lab… it was simply an optical illusion induced by infrasound.
(If you want to really delve into the topic of infrasound, an early 2002 study and a 2013 report are good starting points. There have been numerous other studies — especially in Japan — on the same topic, noting infrasound emanating from highways, especially those with bridges and overpasses near “haunted” sites.)
And this could really disillusion you…
Watching ghost hunting shows on TV, you’ll notice that many “haunted” locations fit that profile. That is, they’re near a river or busy highway. (Whether or not that’s mentioned, I use a map to fact-check it.)
Does that mean that all hauntings near busy roads, rivers, or underground streams are bogus? Or that TV producers deliberately look for filming locations near sources of water, or highway overpasses?
Of course not! (I’ve worked as a location scout for TV shows, and not once did a producer steer me towards questionable locations.)
In fact, wandering into extreme speculation, it’s possible that infrasound is actually used by some spirits to get our attention, or it diminishes the barriers between our world and theirs.
(I’m not making that particular claim, but mentioning it as a possibility. At this point, I think we need to consider all potential explanations for ghostly activity and what seem like paranormal encounters.)
But for those who want to dismiss every ghost story as fake, infrasound can be a convenient explanation.
After my first few minutes at a haunted site, I rarely use any ghost hunting equipment.
Learn more tips like these…
Click here for this book.
One good reason to use ghost hunting equipment
Here’s why at least one person on your team might (briefly) use some ghost hunting equipment: To rule out normal explanations for apparently paranormal activity.
For example:
EMF detectors can be useful to find bad or exposed electrical wiring, especially in kitchens, workrooms, and basements. That can affect some people, triggering anxiety that could seem “ghostly.” (When my team found electrical wiring wrapped around water pipes in a noted “haunted” house, we had to dismiss all ghostly phenomena in the house. That’s one site where turning off electricity — at the source — could make the site’s ghost stories more credible.)
Other tools, including dowsing rods, can help identify underground pipes or streams in gardens and cemeteries. If a pattern of ghost reports matches where the water runs, maybe underground water generates a frequency similar to what Vic Tandy experienced.
But that’s all. Once you’ve checked the site to be sure nothing normal could explain past ghost reports, then put the ghost hunting equipment aside.
The problem with paranormal ghost hunting equipment
When I participate in events at haunted sites, I’m dismayed to see people almost wholly focused on their EMF meters, ghost apps, EVP devices, and so on.
I understand thatthey want to experience what they’ve seen on TV.They want to prove — if only to themselves — that at least some ghost hunting TV shows are legitimate.
But, by putting all of their attention on those devices and equipment, they’re often missing the best of what’s at haunted sites.
Most of the crowd was in a room, waiting for a Shack Hack to talk. It had been silent for a long time… until John Zaffis entered the room and spoke to it. Then — abruptly — the Shack Hack became chatty. (I was not surprised. John and I have been on many investigations. Both of us seem to trigger ghostly activity… when it’s genuine, that is.)
Since I had little interest in what the Shack Hack might blurt, I left the room and stood outside Edith Wharton’s personal library. There, I sensed the oddest energy, and — in my mind —could hear Ms. Wharton muttering (loudly) to herself, mostly in French. I understood only a little of it. (Mostly, she seemed very angry with her husband.)
Then, I noticed Lesley Marden nearby. Like me, she could “hear” Ms. Wharton pacing and talking to herself in the library. We could feel a breeze, as if she’d just passed us, ranting and gesturing, her skirt rustling with each step.
That’s where Lesley and I first met, and — since then — we’ve been fast friends in ghost hunting.
But, on that day, Lesley and I agreed that the folks so fascinated by the Shack Hack were missing out on the far richer ghost hunting experience: The one that we’d encountered at the doorway to Edith Wharton’s home library.
What will you remember, years later?
Whether it’s…
an unexplained or momentary chill,
a sense that “something is there” but invisible,
a disembodied voice that they hear, or something similar…
… the experience — your physical, cognitive, and emotional reaction — is what matters.
That’s what you’ll always remember, not whether a device’s light seemed to flash for no reason.
Or a needle on a dial shudders or shakes.
Or whether a series of semi-garbled words seemed to kinda-sorta make sense as they blasted from a nearby radio, scanning channels.
What you see on TV is often a shallow version of paranormal research, designed to entertain viewers. Don’t try to “do what they did on TV.”
I’ve seen truly weird, unexplainable phenomena at some sites… Things no one would believe if they hadn’t been there (and, like me, tried to debunk it).
Here’s my best advice:
If you’re intrigued by ghosts and haunted sites, don’t go there as a spectator. Go there for the experience. That’s what matters.
