Hollow Hill

How Much Should I Budget for Ghost Hunting Equipment?

Here’s something most TV shows won’t tell you:

You don’t need ANY ghost hunting equipment.

First, make sure this will be a long-term interest, hobby, or profession.

With experience…

You’ll know what kind of ghost hunting you enjoy.
You’ll know how much you’re willing to budget for equipment (if any).
You’ll have seen others’ equipment, and know what works best where you investigate.

But, whether you’re a beginner or a pro, never invest more money than you can afford to lose.

Expensive Mistakes with Ghost Hunting Equipment

trees and moonlight in haunted setting Expensive ghost hunting tools come with risks.

For example:

– People drop things when they’re startled. In the dark, you might not find what you dropped.

(The problem becomes worse if you drop what you’re carrying, and run away in terror.)

– If you drop a sensitive $5k camera or a $2k heat-sensing device, it can break the same as a $40 camera or a $15 digital thermometer.

If you didn’t buy a replacement warranty, or it doesn’t cover that kind of accident, you may have wasted thousands of dollars.

– Electronic equipment can fail in extremely haunted settings. In fact, unexplained equipment failure can indicate intense paranormal activity.

I think EMF spikes are to blame. Most electrical devices will glitch or fail when exposed to intense magnetic energy. That’s reasonable, unless it’s remarkably well shielded.

If your expensive camera or other device won’t work when you’re ghost hunting, you’ve wasted your money. Worse, it can be difficult to return that equipment if it shows any wear, or if you can’t demonstrate how it fails.

Here’s one of my videos about ghost hunting equipment failing at haunted sites.

Instead, focus on just one aspect of ghost hunting.

For example, if you like ghost photography, invest in photographic equipment.

As a New Ghost Hunter on a Budget…

If I were starting fresh, today, I’d probably spend $100 or less. Maybe far less.

– I’d use the camera in my phone. It’s good enough. I wouldn’t bother with a fancy ($$) after-market lens attachment, either.

For many investigations, that’s all you need.

– I’d use the voice recorder on my phone, or buy an inexpensive one at an office supply store or warehouse. (Make sure the microphone is omni-directional, so it picks up sounds all around you, not just in one direction.)

– I’d buy an inexpensive flashlight with a metal case. I’d make sure the light bulb housing unscrews easily. Then, for fun, I could test yes/no responses when the housing is loosened. (Do I take that seriously? Of course not. There are too many normal – and some odd – explanations, so even correct yes/no answers might not be ghostly.)

– I’d carry good surgical-type masks that protect me from toxins, bacteria, and viruses around me. (This was my recommendation long before Covid. Remember, some ghost hunters have died from exposure to toxic fumes, diseases in rat droppings, etc.)

Since Covid, you’ll find lots of good options. For ghost hunting, I like disposable masks, but be certain they’re actually good. (Many free masks at doctors’ offices are designed to contain germs inside the mask… not keep bad things out. Make sure your mask actually protects you.)

– I’d also add a small, inexpensive first aid kit.

– I’d put all of that in a backpack with several pockets or dividers (to find things in complete darkness).

My own backpack is the basic Amazon one. My cameras, Ovilus, etc., go in the big pocket. Maps, pen & a notebook, small first aid kit, etc., in the next largest. Spare batteries in the outside pocket. And so on.

Don’t spread yourself too thin, in terms of learning or financial investment. Set a firm spending limit and do not exceed that.

It’s easy to get carried away. Keep your ghost hunting expenses low.

Above all, don’t let ghost hunting jeopardize other aspects of your personal, professional, or family life.

When you’re a beginner, see how well you enjoy ghost hunting, before you spend much money.

You’re likely to decide that you don’t need the ghost hunting equipment you’ve seen on TV. In fact, the experience… the ambience, might be what you really seek.

Are All Haunted Houses Scary? What Steve Gonsalves Said

Looking for a haunted house? Not sure what to expect, or disappointed when you visited the (supposedly?) haunted house?

In this short (two minute) video, Steve Gonsalves talks about one of his early investigations.

I agree with him completely: Sometimes, there’s nothing scary about a haunted house. In fact, the ghosts can be comforting.

If you’re afraid of ghosts, especially when you’re in or near a haunted house, some of my other articles may help.

Learn more about ghosts and haunted places at my YouTube channel, Ghost Hunting with Fiona Broome.

Christmas Spirits? Ghosts and the Holidays.

Almost everyone associates Halloween with ghosts, but what about Christmas? I don’t mean Dickens’ ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’, but other ghosts as well.

Many important haunted sites are active at specific times of year.

For example, Gettysburg seems more haunted at the anniversary of the battles. Historic homes notice more hauntings at the anniversary of someone’s death. And, on the last nights of October (and April), we say that ‘the veil between the worlds is thinner’.

xmas-candles-illus In fact, several haunted homes report increased activity on the anniversary of a previous resident’s birthday. People hear children singing or playing. Some detect the odor of birthday candles. Chairs might be tipped over, lights turned on and off, and other childlike mischief occurs.

Others notice residual energy hauntings on that anniversary. (“Residual energy hauntings” are evidence of energy — especially emotional energy and intense memories — stored in the physical environment.)

Spirits seem to return at other important anniversaries, too. If we take time to notice, we may find spirits at Christmas.

Whether revisiting from “the other side” or reliving happy, emotionally rich moments, Christmas should be a popular time for spirits to visit our world.

Every year, hundreds of people send me holiday “ghost” photos. Those pictures show orbs around family members… orbs best explained as loving, visiting spirits.

For most of us, this is very reassuring.

You don’t need to be Scrooge to experience spiritual visits and spiritual renewal during the winter holidays.

Whether you’re alone or with others, pause for a few minutes. See if you feel the presence of spirits with happy Christmas memories.

Let’s not ignore them.

May your holiday season bring comfort and joy to you, and to your friends and family… on both sides of the veil.

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Be sure to read my other articles about holiday ghosts, using tags like Halloween and Christmas.

xmas-greentree-illus

Ghosts – Residual Energy or ‘Real’ Haunted Places?

Sometimes, new ghost hunters ask me if specific hauntings are just residual or “real.”

Since many hauntings seem to be residual energy, it’s important to recognize them. How “real” they are may vary with how much of an impact they have on visitors and investigators.

Let’s start with the words ghost hunters use…

Residual energy

Emotionally charged events leave an imprint- or energy residue – on the physical objects nearby.

What distinguishes residual energy from an active haunting is that the activity repeats, as if on a loop. The energy levels may increase or decrease, but the content remains the same with each manifestation.

By contrast, in an active (or sentient) haunting, the ghost may respond to environmental stimuli and direct contact.

For example…

Residual energy hauntings usually appear the same, over and over again.

There may be an energy spike at a particular time of day, or on the anniversary of the event. (Those events can be happy — such as a birthday party or wedding — or tragic, such as the anniversary of a murder or a battle.)

In some cases, the haunting may draw energy from the investigators, slightly increasing the phenomena.

If there’s EVP, the recordings will sound the same from one visit to the next.
In photos, the manifestations will usually appear the same, as well. That is, the orbs will look alike and appear in the same locations.

Cookie-cutter predictability distinguishes sites with residual energy. Whatever is there, it never interacts with visitors.

But…

Active hauntings — that is, hauntings involving the spirits of people who’ve died — are more rare.

Those spirits may also visit at regular times of day or on specific dates. However, instead of acting in the same way each time, they respond to changes in the environment. They may interact with ghost researchers.

Learn more about residual energy hauntings…

BUT, in some cases, it can be tricky to tell the difference.

One of the best fictional examples is in the 1988 movie, High Spirits, Liam Neeson portrays the ghost of Martin Brogan.

At first, he seems to be a residual energy haunting.

- He repeats the same dialogue.
- His physical movements repeat as well, as he murders his wife again and again.

Then, Brogan is interrupted by an American tourist.

Right away, it’s clear that Brogan is an actual ghost.

The easiest way to tell the difference is to try to interact with it.

Talk out loud to the apparent ghost.
Ask it questions. Make comments.
Stand next to it or block its path.
In extreme cases, you can shout at it, to startle it a little. (That’s not the same thing as “provoking.”)

Your goal is to see if its behavior changes, and if it responds in any way to you and your team.

The ghost may reply.

It may act angry.
It may seem shy or frightened, and vanish.
It may move objects, rap on walls or tables, slam doors, or roll a ball across the floor on command.

The point is: The ghost’s behavior changes with the people around it.

That’s what distinguishes it from residual energy.

Both active and residual energy hauntings are interesting to research.

Both can produce a wide range of phenomena.

So, are residual energy hauntings less real than active hauntings?

NO.

Both are equally ‘real’.

However, to achieve two-way communication with a spirit, you must be sure that an actual spirit is there.

You’re looking for variations.

If the pattern simply repeats, no matter how ‘real’ it may seem, you’re probably witnessing a residual energy haunting.

Consider The Ghosts’ Contexts

I’m about to say something radical.

I believe that some active hauntings aren’t ghosts, but a brush with another time period… a time in which the person is still alive.

Radical? Yes., but it’s not an original theory.

(I’ve written an article, Were the Ghosts of Dickens’ Christmas Carol Real? In it, I describe Shelley’s doppelgangers, and Goethe’s encounter with himself in a future time.)

In a 2008 episode of the Ghost Hunters’ TV show, the TAPS team investigated New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Hotel.

In crystal clear EVP, the “princess” seemed to be speaking from her own time period.

How does this affect ghost research?

For now, it’s just an interesting theory to consider.

However, it might be important.

When communicating with spirits, it’s vital to keep their contexts in mind.

Let’s say that the ghost can hear you.

To him, you’re a ‘disembodied voice’.

If the ghost is (or believes he is) still alive, he may think that you’re an evil spirit… something that’s a threat to his eternal soul.

If he thinks you’re in his own time period, he may decide you’re an intruder, a thief or some other kind of criminal.

You may seem foolish or rude, if you ask him to perform… tapping once for yes and twice for no, etc.

(In earlier times, some actors — especially women — were considered a bit tawdry. If the ghost thinks you’ve mistaken him for a performer, this could be very insulting.)

Let’s say that the spirit is a woman — alive or dead — and she has always lived in a highly structured, conservative society. Your clothing might shock her, because the style is too revealing to wear in public.

Your language, even when you’re not speaking to her directly, could alarm her or cause her to hide from you, temporarily.

I encountered something like this at an historical society in Massachusetts (USA). One of its ghosts was a minister from early American times. He was highly offended by my trousers (jeans), and the fact that I spoke to him directly. In his time, women didn’t speak to him unless he addressed them, first.

I had to leave the room. Then, he was willing to communicate with others in the room, as long as they addressed him respectfully, and through a designated (male) leader.

In the past, people were formally introduced before beginning a conversation. How many ghost hunters introduce themselves before trying to talk with the ghosts?

For more successful investigations, consider the time and culture that your ghosts lived in. By respecting their social rules, you increase your chances of establishing rapport with the spirits.

A little historical research can improve your ghost hunting results.

book-and-applewoodsy For further reading

Did your ghost live during the Regency? For insights, see Instances of Ill Manners to be carefully avoided by youth of both sexes and A Sample of Regency Manners.

George Washington’s Rules of Civility – described as The Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation, was transcribed before that American hero was 16 years old.

Your public library may have books about manners and society from the time when your ghosts lived.

For example, if your ghost is an American who lived during the Victorian era, the Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette can be very helpful.

Halloween and Ghosts – How History & Traditions May Improve Your Ghost Hunting

Halloween and ghosts… what’s the connection?

Most ghost hunters insist that Halloween is the best night of the year for paranormal research.

(I’d add the last night of April as a close second, but Halloween is at the top of my list, too.)

One big reason for Halloween being a “best” night for ghosts, is rooted in Celtic lore.

Whether you’re talking about ghosts, faeries, or anything that “goes bump in the night,” Celtic traditions focus on “between times.”

The Celts — and several other cultures — believed that spirits of all kinds could enter our world during those “betweens.”

In more modern terms, “the veil is thinner” at those between-times.

When are the “between times”?

The between-time can be dawn or dusk; both are between day and night.

It may be midnight, or the “Witching Hour,” because it’s between the calendar days.

Or, at the last day of October, we’re between the end of the harvest and the start of winter. In earlier times when the calendar was based on the agricultural year, the end of the harvest is like New Year’s Eve. The Celtic word for Halloween night is Samhain (pronounced “SAHH-when”).

Keep in mind that, in Celtic history, Samhain wasn’t always Halloween night… the last night of October. It was simply the night when everyone celebrated because the crops were finally harvested, and the agricultural year was over. So, the actual date might vary by days or even weeks.

That between-times (or between-seasons) note is the same reason why the last night of April is good for ghost hunting: Agriculturally, it’s a dramatic change of seasons.

That night is Beltaine in Celtic countries, and Walpurgisnacht in Germany and nearby countries. It marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring… another “between” time.

For ghost hunters, that night can be nearly as productive as Halloween.

Stack those “betweens” for ghost hunting success.

If you’re going to make the most of those between-times for ghost hunting, you’ll stack several “betweens.”

In other words, you’ll be at the haunted location on Halloween night and you’ll choose a between time for your research: Dusk or midnight, or the following dawn.

However, keep in mind that ghosts aren’t the only entities associated with between-times.

Faeries are also known (or notorious) for appearing then, and sometimes wreaking mischief. So, if you see something odd, don’t immediately assume it’s a ghost; it might be something else.

Because the veil seems thinner on Halloween, you may encounter energy or phenomena that are actually on the other side.

This may sound controversial, but he spirit may not actually be in our world.

This is one reason why EVP results can be better on Halloween, as well as real-time communication with the “other side.” Cameras can produce clearer anomalies, too.

Be prepared for anything!

Remember, the increased EMF levels on Halloween night can drain batteries in your voice recorder, cameras, flashlights, etc.

(That’s one reason to carry a glow-stick as a back-up light source, and even a film camera as a back-up for your phone or digital camera.)

Be prepared for anything to happen on Halloween night. It’s the classic “between” time, and ideal for your most chilling encounters with paranormal phenomena.

Here’s my video, explaining why Halloween may – and may not – be a good night for ghost hunting. (It’s from my Ghosts101.com website, featuring answers to top ghost-related questions.)

https://youtu.be/Z1TTutyEr38

Also, if you’re looking for my Halloween checklist for ghost hunters, see my Halloween ghost hunting tips post.