Category: Ghost Hunting

Ghost hunting attracts a wide range of people. Some are believers who just want proof that ghosts exist.

Others are skeptics, and they want to see for themselves how silly and gullible ghost hunters are.

Most people fall somewhere between those two extremes.

Generally, I’m skeptical when I arrive at a haunted site.

Oh, I firmly believe that energy or entities that we call “ghosts” are real.

Likewise, at a haunted location, I’m sure people have experienced something odd there.

I just don’t know what that “something odd” might be, and I’m cautious about announcing that the cause is a ghost.

However, I raise an eyebrow when someone at a ghost hunting event is loudly and obstinately skeptical. I become irked if they insist, belligerently, that an anomaly must have been caused by [add any unlikely explanation here]. Usually, I’ll ask that person to leave.

If we assume that ghosts are real, I can’t imagine how distraught a spirit would feel, not only ignored most of the time, but then dismissed as “a fragment of  underdone potato,” to quote Ebenezer Scrooge.

The facts are:

• We can’t prove that ghosts are real. Currently, beliefs must be founded upon personal experience. No ghost hunting tools can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that apparently ghostly phenomena are caused by actual ghosts.
• We can’t prove that a location is haunted. We can demonstrate that baffling anomalies occur at those sites, and they appear consistent with an explanation involving ghosts.

However, at many haunted sites, I’ll default to Sherlock Holmes.

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

And, since Carl Jung could be honest about things he couldn’t explain, I’d hope today’s skeptics can be at least as open-minded.

Every day, you may go past haunted sites and not see the ghosts in them.

That’s because most people think ghosts only appear at night.

Some ghosts are just as visible (or even easier to see) in the daytime.

Sure, most ghost hunters prefer to investigate in the dark. You’ll have fewer visual distractions.

But… what would limit a ghost to nightly appearances? Really, where else would they go?

Try a few casual daytime investigations before work or school, or on your way home. (I always recommend a daylight visit before a formal investigation, anyway.)

Look carefully at everything around you. Check for anything odd or unexpected: a strange shadow, an unexplained flicker of light, and so on.

If you use ghost hunting tools, bring them with you. EMF surges and EVP are just as likely during the day as after dark.

Limiting yourself to nighttime investigations reduces your opportunities by 50%.

Give daytime ghost hunting a try. What you encounter may surprise you.

Related article: Ghost Hunting in Daylight, with tips and one of my more memorable experiences.

After several decades of ghost hunting (yes, really), I’ve discovered a few shortcuts.

One is:

Act as if ghosts are there all the time, whether or not you sense them, or see a spike in EMF energy, or anything else.

Just talk to them as if (a) they are there, and (b) they’re alive and well and eager for communication.

And maybe they are.

Well-known haunted sites can seem like a “sure thing” for ghost investigations. Beginners should probably start there.

However, ghosts can be anywhere. If you get that “something’s odd, here” feeling, consider acting as if the site is haunted, even if it seems an unlikely place for ghosts.

One possibility is the history of the site.

• An undocumented battle may have taken place at that location.
• A crime may have occurred there, but was quickly covered up.
• Someone (or several people) may have been buried beneath that park, battlefield, house, or other building. And then it was forgotten.

A ghost in an unlikely location

A classic example is the grave of Richard III that was found beneath a car park in England.

In my opinion, Richard III is one of the most likely British rulers to return as a ghost. But really, who’d think to go ghost hunting in a parking lot?

So, the next time you’re in a location that has an odd feeling to it, trying talking to ghosts that might possibly be there.

You can speak quietly, as if you’re talking to yourself.

You don’t have to go full-on Zak Bagans, addressing the ghosts in a loud voice.

And, above all, do NOT invite the ghost to communicate through or otherwise use your body in ANY way. Every time I see Zak do that, I wince. He’s taking risks that I consider foolhardy, even for a pro.

The point is, you can act as if a ghost is there, even if the location seems unlikely.

Then, if a ghost does seem to be at that site, you can research the location’s history.

Though you’re not likely to find a ghostly connection as dramatic as the Richard III’s corpse, you may find a strong historical reason for a ghost (or two or three) to linger at that location.

And, if you do find a ghost in an unlikely place like a grocery store, I hope you’ll let other ghost hunters know about it. Every unique haunting gives us an opportunity to learn more about what ghosts really are.