Hollow Hill

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.

What Is a Ghost?

What is a ghost, really?

Is it a dead person who’s “stuck” here?
Is it someone who died and just won’t leave?
Is it any spirit that’s still among us, cheerfully enjoying their afterlife, or even guiding us at times?
Or is it something else altogether?

The Cambridge Dictionary says a ghost is “the spirit of a dead person, sometimes represented as a pale, almost transparent image of that person that some people believe appears to people who are alive.”

Well, yes. That’s the classic definition.

As a professional ghost hunter, here’s my opinion.

That weird thing you encounter may – or may not – be a dead person. (Most ghost hunting shows don’t tell the whole story.)
Ghost-like phenomena can include shadow people, poltergeists, other kinds of spirits (benign or not), time slips, and residual energy hauntings. They aren’t necessarily dead people.
Ghosts are unlikely to appear as an actual, solid – or even somewhat transparent – person. (Full-body apparitions are rare.)
In the 21st century, many people describe “shadow people” – which may be ghosts – more often than they talk about pale, see-through figures.

Here’s a one-minute video about apparitions, and what to expect.

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

How can you tell if something is a ghost?

First, decide what you think a “ghost” is.

Is it the same as a “spirit,” or are there different categories of spirits, and ghosts are just one of them?

For example…

If your great-grandmother visits you in your sleep, is that a ghost?
If something keeps moving your keys or the TV remote, is a ghost responsible?
At a haunted site, when you ask something to rap on a table as a yes/no response, is that a ghost? (By the way, stay far away from Ouija boards. They really are demon-magnets.)
If you see a fleeting, shadowy figure, is that a kind of ghost?

Some ghost hunters claim to know the difference between a ghost (or the spirit of someone who’s passed) and… well, something that’s not a ghost. But do they really know?

Maybe it’s a faerie, a demon, an alien, or some other entity.

Next, talk with ghost hunters. Get their insights.

Most experienced ghost hunters admit we’re just using labels to describe phenomena.

When people ask if they’re haunted, or their home is, or if a ghost followed them from a haunted site… I can’t tell you that.

I’m not sure anyone can. Not with total confidence.

Think of it this way…

Imagine that the power went out in your home, and it’s a hot summer night.

Your flashlight batteries are dead, and you’re not sure where your phone is.

You’d like a cold beverage, while you wait for power to be restored.

Feeling around in the dark refrigerator, you find something cold that might be a beverage.

Or it might be a ketchup bottle.

Or the sweet and sour sauce.

In this case, a quick taste will probably tell you what’s in that bottle. (But you’d better hope it wasn’t that creepy science experiment your little cousin asked you to refrigerate for safekeeping, while she’s at summer camp.)

Remember, it’s not that simple.

Especially in the dark, and when something is there for a minute – and then gone – we can’t say, “Oh, yes, that’s definitely a ghost.”

No one can.

Not me. Not the eager person you met online, who wants to impress you with his or her research expertise.

Not the person on TV, either.

Maybe it is the spirit of a deceased person – what many people call a “ghost” – but maybe it isn’t.

Basic investigation tips

If you’re looking for 100% reliable answers… well, the best we can do is eliminate logical things, like squirrels in the walls, or clanging plumbing, and other, normal-ish things that definitely aren’t ghosts.

Remember that other things can influence people without them realizing it. That includes carbon monoxide (easy to measure) and infrasound (look at maps for highways, bridges, streams, etc.) and unintended visual cues at the location, like horror movie posters or sinister-looking decor.

But…

After ruling those things out, if whatever-it-is still seems like a ghost, maybe it is a ghost.

It all starts with defining the term “ghost,” and deciding what you do – and don’t – believe in.

That’s a personal decision. It may change as you learn more about paranormal activity.

For now, go with whatever makes the most sense for you. See where that leads you. See what else you can learn as you go along.

What to do if you’re afraid…

If you feel like you’re in danger, leave that location right now. Stay with a friend or with family. Trust your gut feeling. Even if it’s not a ghost, something is going on and you may be at risk. Make sure you’re safe, first. Then figure out what it is.
If you’re worried that something is a malicious spirit – whether it’s a ghost or not – talk with someone you trust in your community, not online. Try to do this in the next 24 hours. (Exorcisms might seem to work reliably in movies. In real life, many possessed people require multiple exorcisms, and some never fully recover.)

Start with a face-to-face conversation with an expert in spiritual matters, like a mainstream minister who’s studied theology for years.

(Yes, I’ve made that recommendation before. People keep asking me to diagnose their paranormal experiences anyway. When it comes to your personal or spiritual welfare, don’t trust ANYone, online. Even me. Or someone who might pretend to be me.)

But, if it’s a recurring noise that worries you, you’ll probably start by calling a home repair expert. Really, 80% of a ghost-like phenomena can be traced to something odd… but normal. And it can be fixed.

Most ghost hunters use the term “ghost” to describe phenomena that suggest a lingering spirit of a deceased person.

But, the fact is, we don’t know.

Maybe it’s a dead person. Maybe it isn’t.

And that’s why we keep investigating: We want to know what’s going on at haunted places.

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

Canada’s Poltergeists – The Great Amherst Mystery

Canada's Poltergeists - The Great Amherst Mystery

Yes, Canada has poltergeists.

The Great Amherst Mystery has puzzled ghost hunters and paranormal investigators for over a century. It’s the true story of one of the world’s best-documented poltergeists.

In September 1878, Mr. Daniel Teed and his wife, Olive Cox Teed, lived on Princess Street in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Their household included Mrs. Teed’s niece, 19-year-old Esther Cox. Miss Cox soon became famous as part of “The Great Amherst Mystery.”

Before the ghostly manifestations began, Miss Cox had been the victim of an attempted rape in a secluded part of Amherst. Her attacker, Bob MacNeal, was a shoemaker with a terrible reputation that Miss Cox had not known about. She escaped the attack with minor injuries. The “mysteries” started soon after this event.

The hauntings began with small poltergeist phenomena: little fires, voices, and rapping noise. It soon escalated to include times when Miss Cox would seem to inflate like a balloon, even to her extremities, and then abruptly return to normal size. These events were witnessed by a large number of people.

The Poltergeists Follow Miss Cox to Church

The hauntings followed Miss Cox outside the house. Once, the knocking and rapping noises interrupted a Baptist Church service that Miss Cox attended. Although she sat towards the back of the church, it sounded as though someone was hammering on the front pew, making it impossible to hear the service. Miss Cox left the church in humiliation, and the noises stopped immediately.

Desperate to find the source of the problem, Miss Cox tried automatic writing and consulted spiritualists. The primary ghost claimed, in automatic writing, to be Miss Maggie Fisher. Miss Fisher had attended the same school as Miss Cox, but had died around 1867, before graduating. Miss Cox had not known Miss Fisher, but was aware that they’d been in school together.

More Ghosts – and Poltergeists – Appear

Other ghosts came forward during this time, announcing themselves as: Bob Nickle, age 60, also a shoemaker like Bob MacNeal who’d attacked Miss Cox. Another was Mary Fisher, sister of Maggie Fisher. Other ghosts included Peter Teed, John Nickle, and Eliza MacNeal. The number of ghosts and “coincidences” among names and professions reduces the credibility of this part of the story.

Further, Bob MacNeal, Miss Cox’s attacker, later claimed that he’d been haunted for years by the same Bob Nickle. The accounts sound as though Mr. MacNeal was trying to shift the blame for his violent acts, to the ghost.

Nevertheless, Miss Cox continued to be plagued with hauntings wherever she went.

When Life Gives You Lemons…

Hoping to turn her misfortunes to her advantage, Miss Cox went on tour in June 1879, hoping to draw audiences to hear her story and make a living from the income. She was assisted in this by actor Walter Hubbell, who’d visited Amherst specifically to witness the now-famous ghostly manifestations.

However, the crowds were skeptical and easily angered. One evening in a theatre, a rival theatre-owner leaped to his feet and began heckling Miss Cox and Mr. Hubbell. The crowd joined in, and soon a riot broke out. This was Miss Cox’s last time on stage, as her touring efforts were a clear failure.

The series of manifestations continued until one dramatic event changed everything.

The Poltergeist Sends Miss Cox to Prison

Miss Cox went to work for Arthur Davison of Amherst. Mr. Davison was a skeptic, although he admitted to witnessing numerous poltergeist events at his home when Miss Cox was there. The worst was when the ghost(s) set fire to his barn and it burned to the ground.

Mr. Davison accused Miss Cox of arson, and she was convicted of the crime by an ambivalent court. Her sentence was four months in prison, but public support for the unfortunate woman led to her release after only one month.

It was as if the spell had been broken.

After that, Miss Cox was troubled by minor poltergeist events, but nothing significant.

Happily Ever After?

Miss Cox later married Mr. Adams of Springdale, Nova Scotia. Her second husband was Mr. Shanahan of Brockton, MA.

Esther Cox Shanahan died in 1912.

After her death, Walter Hubbell published a “The Great Amherst Mystery: A True Narrative of the Supernatural” and included a 1908 affadavit that was signed by 16 Amherst witnesses to the hauntings.

(Sources: Snow, Strange Tales…, p. 62; plus my own research)

This article originally appeared in 2001 at Suite 101 as The Great Amherst Mystery, written by Fiona Broome.

Is That Noise a Ghost? Maybe Not!

As I write this, it is December (2005), a time of year when many people start hearing “ghostly noises” in their homes.

In many cases, these will be ghosts.

However, there may be logical explanations, and those should be considered, first:

Temperature changes cause houses to moan, shift, and creak. Desert climates have the widest temperature swings between day and night, but even temperate climates have seasonal changes that can cause your house to shift slightly. And when a couple of floorboards rub against each other and echo in an attic, the noise can sound like someone in agony.

Settling houses make snaps, thuds, creaks, and groans. If your house is new, it may be settling. A hastily-poured foundation, or one poured at the wrong time of year, can produce outrageous noises for years after the house has been built.There are other reasons why a house can “settle.” If you’ve had an earthquake in your region, your house may now be settling back into place. If you’ve had unusually high rainfall, or a drought, the ground around your house will shift. A piano or waterbed moved in or out of a room can cause the whole house to readjust itself.
Critters in the walls or attic can sound bizarre. The scurrying noises alone can sound like little ghostly footsteps. A bushy tail of a squirrel or raccoon, rubbing on all sides of a narrow passageway inside a wall or alongside a chimney… Well, you’ll be convinced that a ghostly woman in a full Victorian skirt just passed you.If two animals decide to argue or chat within your walls, in your basement, or overhead in your attic, sometimes they sound like ghostly whispers, or a full-fledged argument in a strange dialect!
Check for even smaller critters, such as wood ants or termites. If they’re weakening the house’s structure, the house will moan and groan as it shifts its weight.
Is there construction going on near you? Perhaps rocks tumble from their recently-blasted niches, at a certain hour of the night when the temperature dips low enough to cause contractions and shifts. The roof of a new house can make astonishing noises, especially at night. Ask anyone who’s put a roof on a house, or repaired one, about the nails that pop out overnight.
If it happens at the same time every night, it’s not necessarily a ghostly hour. Temperatures and humidity change at night. When these natural effects reach a “critical mass” level, the house may shift. A loose shingle may pop up again. The mortar in your chimney may contract just enough to cause dust to echo as it tumbles to the ground or hearth. These kinds of things happen night after night. It’s part of the natural cycle of a house.This “critical mass” effect is usually at approximately the same time, each night. Seasonal changes and unseasonable variations can shift the hour back or forward, but it’s still within the same approximate time period.
Do you live near a commercial area? You may live far enough from a shopping center that you don’t hear the garbage collectors’ trucks. However, when they lift one of those huge containers of trash and empty it into the truck… wow! If that noise echoes off a neighbor’s siding or cement wall, it can seem as if something is crashing on your patio, or in an another room, particularly if the windows are open.

Not all ghostly noises are this easily explained. However, consider the logical answers first. Perhaps your noise is a ghost, but you won’t know unless you use your critical thinking skills to explore the alternatives.

And, just because the noise could be faked, or caused by something logical… well, that doesn’t mean that it is.

Webmaster’s note: When I was a kid, I used to hear noises in the attic overhead, many nights. My parents dismissed my insistence that it was a ghost. “Squirrels in the attic,” they replied, and nodded sagely.

Well, we did have a lot of very friendly squirrels in our neighborhood, and a nest in our backyard. I tried to accept my parents’ logical explanation of the noises.

However, when we were selling our house and had it inspected, I mentioned the squirrels in the attic.

“No evidence of that,” the house inspector replied. “I’ll check again.”

And so he did. And he found no place where a squirrel could get into the attic, and no evidence that animals of any kind had been up there.

So, even when the answer seems logical, it might still be ghosts. I may never know if our house’s nightly noises had been a ghost, or something else.

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.

What is a Banshee? A Ghost, a Faerie or Something Else?

What is a banshee, and should you be afraid if you hear or see one? Here’s what you need to know, and whether to worry about this legendary spirit.

Banshees are unique in paranormal research.

When someone mentions a ghost, most of us think of cemeteries, haunted houses, and transparent figures draped in sheets.

Likewise, the word “faerie” is usually linked with cute little figures with wings, and merry mischief… like Tinkerbell.

However, mention a Banshee, and people squirm.

That spirit, like a ghost, can represent someone who lived in the past, but that is not her actual role.

She can appear transparent, usually the size of a living person. Nevertheless, like her fae counterparts, she is associated with a more magical Otherworld.

She reminds us that the Otherworld is a vast place, inhabited by many kinds of beings, including faeries and ghosts.

The Banshee – in Irish, the Bean Sidhe (pronounced “bann-SHEE”) – means “spirit woman” or sometimes a spirit (perhaps a faerie) dressed in white. She is usually described as a single being, although there are many of them.

Your Irish Family’s Banshee

According to legend, one Banshee guards each Milesian Irish family. These are the families descended from the “Sons of Mil” who emigrated to Ireland long ago. Often, those families’ surnames start with O’ or Mac, and sometimes Fitz. Remember, many of those prefixes have been dropped, particularly by American families.

In other words, if your ancestors lived in Ireland for a couple of generations, your family — and perhaps your household — probably has its own Banshee.

There is a Banshee for each branch of these families, and the family Banshee can follow the descendants to America, Australia, or wherever the Irish family travels or emigrates.

The Banshee protects the family as best she can, perhaps as a forerunner of the “Guardian Angel” in Christian traditions. However, we are most aware of her before a tragedy that she cannot prevent.

Traditionally, the Banshee appears shortly before a death in “her” family.

The Banshee is almost always female and appears filmy in a white, hooded gown. (The exception is in Donegal, Ireland, where she may wear a green robe, or in County Mayo where she usually wears black.)

However, if she is washing a shroud when you see her, she may merely signal a major life-changing event in your future. The way to determine this is to go home and burn a beeswax candle after seeing her. According to folklore, if it burns in the shape of a shroud, her appearance does foretell death.

The Banshee’s Wail

The night before the death, the Banshee wails piteously in frustration and rage. Her family will always hear her. Many others in the area will, too. For example, Sir Walter Scott referred to “the fatal banshi’s boding scream.”

One of the largest reports of this wailing was in 1938 when the Giants’ Grave in County Limerick, Ireland, was excavated and the bones were moved to a nearby castle.

The crying was heard throughout central Ireland. People said it sounded as if every Banshee in Ireland was keening.

That collective Banshee wail was unusual but not unique. When a group of Banshees are seen, they usually forecast the dramatic illness — and perhaps death — of a major religious or political figure.

In Irish mythological history, the Banshee tradition may be linked to the fierce Morrighan as the “Washer at the Ford,” a legend of Cuchulain. In that story, the Morrighan appeared as a young woman who prepared for an upcoming battle by washing the clothing — or perhaps the shrouds — of those who would fight and lose.

Does the Banshee Cause Death?

Despite her grim reputation, seeing or hearing a Banshee doesn’t cause death. Traditionally, the Banshee is a very kind woman. As poet and historian W. B. Yeats commented, “You will with the banshee chat, and will find her good at heart.”

Perhaps her appearance and wailing before a death are efforts to protect her family from death. or other tragedy that she foresees.

This is the clearest link to what are popularly called “ghosts.” In many stories, the spirit appears to warn the living about danger, illness, or death. Many gothic novels feature a ghost whose appearance forecasts death.

Likewise, in the Sherlock Holmes story, the Hound of the Baskervilles howled before a family death.

In real life, my maternal grandmother and her siblings were individually visited by the spectre of their mother, to warn them of her imminent death in a hospital many miles away, and to say goodbye.

This level of concern for the living is consistent with many ghosts, as well as the Banshee.

Whether the Banshee is a “ghost” or a “faerie” may never be resolved. However, the Banshee provides clear evidence that the lines separating ghosts, spirits, and faeries are vague at best.

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(Most of this article originally appeared as “Banshee – Ghost, faerie or something else” – in October 1999 at my Suite 101 site.)

Photo credit:
Menlo Castle, photographed by dave gilligan, Limerick, Ireland (Eire)