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If you’re like me, you’re always looking for fresh, undiscovered haunts. Not mild, “well, I suppose that might be a ghost” sites, but locations where ghost-like anomalies are rampant.
Here’s something ghost hunters can use to find those kinds of haunted places… if they have the stomach for it, that is.
The gruesome article – actual history – that prompted me to post this is: The True-Life Horror That Inspired Moby-Dick, from the Smithsonian website.
** I do not recommend reading that article if real horror disturbs you. **
I mean it. That story is vile… but also real. It’s a great example of resources “hiding in plain sight” when we’re looking for fresh places to investigate.
As I skimmed that story – thankfully, not right after eating – I was intrigued.
This may seem morbid (as much of ghost hunting can), but my first thought was, “Is Captain Pollard’s home haunted?”
Searching historical records and to identify where that site is located on today’s maps… Well, it might be a place of interest to ghost hunters.
(If I have the location right – and this was only a fast, cursory search – that building was at risk of being torn down in 2021. However, at first glance, it looks like Zillow currently lists it as “off the market.”)
But, as a researcher somewhat obsessed with history, I’d take it a step further: I’d look at the list of other survivors of that voyage, and find where they lived – and died – after that horrific experience.
And that thought led to another: How many times do we regard ghostly phenomena in a two-dimensional way?
That is, how often do we assume the person just died at the haunted site (or has some other reason to linger there), and overlook what may be that person’s truly shocking past? (And, if it’s as awful as the Moby-Dick story, would they be willing to communicate it to us?)
The Smithsonian article was a reminder that the past – even (or perhaps especially) the mid-19th century – had brutal elements beyond anything we’d want to think about.
For me, reading about Captain Pollard’s life and tragic voyage, I learned two things:
- Intensely “haunted” sites may be found by digging deeper into history, such as the residences of those who sailed on the real-life Pequod.
- We may be over-simplifying, or even whitewashing, the related tragic histories. Historical research could help us understand and empathize with the lingering, ghost-like residual energy of haunted sites.
In ghost hunting, there’s always a fresh way to look at our research. This particular insight – the real-life horror behind the Moby-Dick novel – is an example of resources we can use to improve our investigations.
For history buffs and researchers like me, this is an intriguing discovery.
Do you just want to see a ghost? This short video may help.
Want to See an Apparition? #Shorts
Quick tips about what ghosts might (and might not) look like.
For more on that topic, see my longer article, How to See a Ghost.
Get ready to find ghosts tonight! Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries – a quick-start guide for beginners – is FREE to read in Kindle Unlimited.
