Questioning Convincing Evidence

I've been thinking a lot about convincing evidence when it comes to definitive proof that ghosts exist. Sure the TAPS team of Ghost Hunters fame have captured a lot of interesting and thought-provoking evidence, but have they captured actual proof? Have any ghost hunter groups, whether on TV or otherwise?

THE TAMPERING FACTOR

The trouble with so much of what's on TV is the trust factor. Especially when the guys of Ghost Adventures start using things like that word box of theirs. (I'm sorry, but their explanation of how it works --"spirits manipulate their energy to pick out relevant words to communicate with"-- just doesn't cut it. And then they have the gall to claim that's scientific evidence? I don't think so.)

But gimmicky instruments aside, can we really trust what we're seeing? Or hearing as is more often the case? How do we know that they're really catching EVPs? How can we trust that it's not tampered with in some fashion or that the evidence isn't manufactured or staged somehow?

I WANT TO BELIEVE

I want to believe in ghosts. After a couple of the experiences I had at both the Shilo Inn in Utah and then down in St. Augustine, I believe something paranormal happened.

I also know others have had similar experiences in other places. (Or even at the same locations in some instances.) The trouble is capturing the proof of what our mind's have experienced.

I know that's what paranormal groups are trying to do. Or debunk what happened. I get that. And while I commend Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, and all of the other paranormal investigation groups out there who have brought a more scientific element to the quest, I see room for improvement.

MY SUGGESTIONS FOR CAPTURING MORE CONVINCING EVIDENCE

More and more as I'm watching the various ghost hunting shows or evidence presented by paranormal groups, I find myself wanting to believe but instead donning a skeptic's hat. Here's ways I think would help legitimize evidence and make it more convincing:

• COLD SPOTS: When cold spots are felt, thermometers should be immediately wielded and the incident documented with some kind of camera, either digital still or camcorder. I get so frustrated when I hear someone say, "Ooh, I feel a cold spot!" but don't do anything about it. That's the perfect time to break out equipment and see if you get anything. (I've seen some of the investigators on Ghost Hunters do it every now and then, but even they don't do it as consistently as they should. Or if they do it's being edited out before airing.)
• DOUBLE SHOT APPROACH: I realize orbs, mist, and the like isn't always visible to the naked eye and oftentimes only shows up in evidence review. However, I have a hard time buying any of it as evidence if only one camera catches it. Theoretically, if something's really there and two cameras are taking pictures of it (be they both still cameras or video or a combo thereof), the evidence should show up on both cameras, right? But time and again I see evidence being claimed as real when only one camera caught it. Like perhaps a digital still camera caught something, even when video cameras were rolling but nothing came up on that. If it's really there, more than one camera should be capturing it. (If you take a picture of a landscape with two different cameras, both will capture the same trees, grass, flowers, et cetera, right? So why should different standards apply for ghosts or orbs?)
• EXTENDED INVESTIGATIONS: For entertainment sake I understand many of the TV show investigations can only take place on one night. But for scientific research sake that's not really legit. It's kind of like an archaeological dig. You wouldn't send a team of archaeologists out to a sight and expect them to recover artifacts in 12 hours. Sure they'll dig up some things, but it's doubtful they'd find the true prizes or insights into the place in that time. Ghost hunting is no different. It takes patience, repeated visits, perhaps even lengthy stays to really have a chance at digging up anything. I'd be interested in following the progress of an extended investigation at one location rather than these quickie one-night-stands where they hope and pray it'll be an active night and they'll catch something.
• IMPROVED DOCUMENTATION OF MANIFESTATION TIMES: I'd like to see better documentation of when things actually happen. This one falls more on the shoulders of the people who live, work or play at the haunted sights. Rather than just relating stories of experiences, they need to note times and dates of when activity occurs. If investigators knew when something was likely to manifest it would up their chances of capturing convincing evidence. (I liken it to the geysers at Yellowstone. Take Old Faithful for instance. As noted on the Geysers of Yellowstone site, it erupts every 35 to 120 minutes for one and a half to five minutes. People have a fair idea of when to stop by to see it blow. The same should apply to residual hauntings. Theoretically they should happen with more predictability than an intelligent haunting, and thus should render quantifiable "viewing" times.)

Haunt Jaunts as Fundraising Venues

Increasingly I'm noticing a trend in some of my Google Alerts: stories about Haunt Jaunts as fundraising venues. Especially for historical societies and foundations.

This weekend I came across another one. How the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum in Alabama recently did a ghost hunt as a fundraiser. Specifically, The Friends of the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum held a Paranormal Weekend in conjunction with Southern Paranormal Researchers.

HOW IT WORKS

Oftentimes the venue's historical society (or preservation society, whatever name they might give it) teams up with the local paranormal investigation group. The paranormal investigators, along with members of the historical society, offer a night (or sometimes a weekend) of ghost hunting.

Both groups advertise the event, and usually so does the venue. As you might imagine, it generates a lot of local press. Which is great for all involved.

Also, experienced and novice ghost hunters are usually both welcomed (and encouraged) to attend the events. This offers a really great DIY opportunity for fans of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures to experience the action for themselves.

RECENT AND UPCOMING HAUNT JAUNT FUNDRAISING EVENTS

I think the first one I came across was a dinner at a restaurant where the money would benefit something. Trouble is, I don't remember either the restaurant or the cause... (Sorry!)

But I do remember the Haunt Jaunt that would benefit Historic Fort Wayne's preservation society, which I wrote about in a previous article. Their next events will be on these dates: 8/16, 9/19, and 10/31.

Most recently I wrote about PARA's upcoming event at Fort Mifflin on 9/5. I went to their website today and saw their May 16 and 17 events raised over $6,000 for the fort. That just goes to show if you pair a great location with a ghost hunting fundraising event, you can raise some pretty decent money!

And here's another one I stumbled across: The Preston Castle Foundation (yes, as in the Preston Castle that was recently the focus of an investigation on Ghost Adventures), in conjunction with Ghost Trackers Paranormal Research Group, offers Overnight Ghost Tours. The cost is $100 per person and can be attended on the following dates: 7/25, 9/26, and 11/28. (There was also one for 8/22 but it's sold out.)

Don't be surprised if you see me post more of these as they come up. I think it's a pretty neat idea.

The Othersiders: Too Young To Hunt Ghosts?

While I was watching Cartoon Network's "The Othersiders" investigation of the Queen Mary, I found myself thinking, "Perhaps these kids aren't too young to hunt ghosts after all."

With that said, I guess it's a good time to admit that I shared the sentiments fellow blogger AutumnForest expressed in one of her posts about "The Othersiders." Kids hunting ghosts? (Or as she put it, "drape climbers," which just cracked me up.) Come on, be serious. Someone's really trying to make a mockery of ghost hunting now.

However, the Queen Mary investigation made me stop and go "Hmmm...."

RELATE-ABILITY FACTOR

Personally, I think "The Othersiders" is kind of boring as ghost hunting shows go. (Although, maybe if I was a kid I'd think it was great.)

I also have a hard time believing the five were friends before the show and weren't "casted" for it. However, I have to admit a ghost hunting team comprised of teens might allow for different results than a team of just adults.

For instance, any children ghosts might be more inclined to make contact with someone nearer their own age. Likewise, older spirits may find younger ghost hunters more approachable and less threatening than an adult.

But on the converse of that, people who didn't much care for kids in life might be irritated by the presence of younger ghost hunters. (Talk about a new method of provocation!) Older ghosts (or, rather, people who were older when they passed) might relate more to someone their own age.

DID SHE SING BECAUSE THEY DID?

That's what I wondered when the Othersiders played the EVP of the little girl singing in the pool area. Perhaps they caught that EVP based on something they did during the investigation.

They tried to cajole the girl ghost said to haunt the pool area into singing, as its reported she does, by singing themselves. They picked "Ring around the Rosy." A simple song, a common enough one, but it impressed me nonetheless. Why?

I don't have kids and it's been a while since I was one. When they made the decision to sing period my first thought was, "What on earth song would I have sung if that was me investigating?"

When they went with "Ring around the Rosy" it was both obvious and genius. Of course I knew it. What person didn't sing it at some point in their own youth? But it never would have occurred to me to pick that one.

Now if they truly came up with it on their own or had some help from a producer, who knows. And who knows if they would have caught the EVP anyway without singing, but it was a pretty good EVP...perhaps because of what they did.

GHOST HUNTING TEAMS: THE ADVANTAGE OF DIVERSITY

It was because of the song they picked that I reconsidered my stance on teenage ghost hunters. Instead I thought, "What an advantage it is for those teams that are as diverse as possible."

Think about it. If you have good coverage of the age spectrum (youngsters on up to senior citizens), as well as a mix of males and females plus people from a variety of walks of life, you cover the gamut. The age/gender/ethnicity/etc might be as much of a factor or influence of the type of results your investigations turn up as anything else.

Is There a Law for Becoming a Ghost?

Thanks to the Haunted Formula AutumnForest is working on over at Ghost Hunting Theories and Lisa Logan's Where Would YOU Haunt guest blog, I can't stop wondering: is there a law to becoming a ghost?


You know, like the Law of Gravity, the Law of Attraction...is there a Law of Lingering? (For lack of something else to call it.)


PHYSICAL CONSIDERATIONS


In a previous post I wrote about how AutumnForest is using six criteria to determine whether some places may be more predisposed to hauntings than others. Basically, she's trying to figure out if certain conditions must exist before a person's spirit could remain behind somewhere.


I've thought this is a very interesting way to examine haunted places, but now it really has me wondering some things. Especially after Lisa's post yesterday.


ASSUMING GHOSTS EXISTS

Maybe you can pick where you'd like to haunt. Maybe you don't have to die there necessarily. But can you only haunt places where the conditions will allow you to? (This is assuming you need certain conditions, such as proximity to water, sand/granite/limestone/or other such "conductors" that seem to appear in many environments where ghosts "live"...basically the criteria AutumnForest proposes in her Haunted Formula.)

So now I'm starting to think about how it is ghosts come to be differently than I was before. All of this has raised a whole new batch of questions, such as:

1. If there's something to the Haunted Formula, can ghosts still haunt places that don't have conditions conducive to letting them "live" there? (For instance, if someone dies in a place without the necesaary elements, can a ghost still manifest, or do they "feed" off certain elements to live?)
2. Why is it some people's spirits remain behind at all? I guess this is the question most ghost enthusiasts want the answer to, but now I'm thinking about it in a different way than I used to. I used to think you either died suddenly, or tragically, or with unfinished business, or just so much love for a place you wanted to stay there forever. But now I'm wondering if maybe there's physical properties about places that make it easier for people's spirits to remain behind...if they want to stay behind. But what if they don't want to stay behind? Which brings me to the next question...
3. Are ghosts made by choice or by circumstance? Meaning, when we die, do we have the option to become a ghost if we so choose? Or is it the place, specifically elements about the place, that sort of "trap" them and don't let people's spirits leave? (Maybe there's something about places with residual hauntings in particular that act as "recorders" instead of traps, but with intelligent hauntings...that's what I really wonder about. Are the spirits there by choice or because they can't leave?
4. And what if it's not about the physical elements of a place? What if ghosts don't want to go to the Beyond (for lack of knowing what's really After this life) so they stay Here. Or, what if the Universe is the greatest recycler of all and some ghosts exist because there wasn't a new body for them to go into at the moment of their death?
5. How would the major religions of our world reconcile their beliefs if somehow one day we are able to prove there are ghosts, we find a way to communicate with them, and we understand how it is they come to be and what it takes for them to exist?

I don't know if there's a law to becoming a ghost or not, but maybe one day with all these different people investigating the paranormal we might find out. (Who knows, the next Einstein or Newton might be out there right now as we speak on the verge of making the next great discovery!)

Indian Magician's Ghostly Restaurant

The Times of India ran an interesting article recently called "Meet ghosts at a restaurant in Kolkata." It was about P C Sorcar, a conjurer or magician, who's planning to open a restaurant with ghosts, goblins and ghouls of every variety.

Don't worry. The ghosts aren't real. They'll be members in his troupe who will wait on patrons while performing illusions at the same time.

"Imagine how it will be like if a waiter takes off his own head and puts it on plate while noting orders from the customer. Or if a ghoul springs up from the nearby grave and sits next to you. Or a goblin walks out of the picture frame and asks your name," the master illusionist says.

It sounds spookily delightful doesn't it? I know I won't be heading to India anytime soon, but if you will be the restaurant is set to open in November, post-Diwali.

(I had to look up what Diwali was. It's an official holiday in India, also known as the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil within a person. It lasts for five days and is celebrated on a different date every year. It's always sometime around October/November and has to do with the new moon. Something about falling on "the 15th day of the dark fortnight in the auspicious Hindu month of Kartik," according to DiwaliFestival.org.)

Okay, and if you think calculating the date Diwali falls on is mysterious, here's how the article described where the restaurant will be located: "The restaurant is coming up on a secluded spot beside the National Highway-6, a few kilometres from Kolkata..." in Howrah.

I'm sure there will be more specifics once the restaurant is actually open. Sorcar plans to serve patrons seven days a week, serving them "multi-cuisine dishes," and hopes it will become "a one-stop destination for tourists and local people" alike.

It sounds like a neat concept. I'd Jaunt there. I'm hoping if it's a hit there, a variation might hop overseas here somewhere...somewhere I might actually have a chance of jaunting to!

(But if any of you end up going, I'd love to hear about it.)

Where Would YOU Haunt?

Photo courtesy Stock Xchg

Do we get to choose our Haunt Jaunts if we linger here in the afterlife? Or does the Haunt Jaunt choose us?

I've had a fair share of ghostly experiences (like this one), and from what I've heard and seen, ghostly haunt spots usually make sense. An old woman haunts her favorite rocking chair. A soldier haunts the battlefield where he died. A librarian haunts, well, a library. While the presences of ghosts may well be a shock to many, some of the places they frequent aren't much of a surprise.

Then I read Courtney's post on Thoughts About Ghosts, and this comment stuck out:

Where will he end up haunting? Or what?

I'd never thought about whether I would stick around as a wisp of postmortem vapor, but this made me wonder. If I did, would I choose the location, or would it choose me? If I could, where would I pick?

I thought about home, of course. Sure, there's attachment. But would I want to spend endless years floating around, dust bunnies I couldn't chase driving me crazy and mostly unable to interact with my old surroundings? Maybe freaking out the ones I'd loved? Not really my personality. No. I was going to have to haunt "out."

Photo courtesy of danjaeger on Stock Xchg

Next, I considered the library. Being both a writer and an avid reader, this seemed a natural. A common hot spot for ghosts, rumor has it, and indeed, the stacks at my local library--which is over 100 years old--seems to host some unexplained phenomena. What better place for someone like me?

Then I realized a big potential drawback. Can spirits interact with volumes, flip pages? Would I be stuck floating around books without being able to read any? I'd have to rubberneck over patrons to catch a few paragraphs here and there. Not a very appealing thought.

Photo courtesy Stock Xchg

Then it hit me. The movie house! I'm a huge movie buff, after all, and these would be stories I could watch whether or not I could manipulate my environment. And not just any movie house, no. Give me a mega super duper multiplex to haunt, with thirty screens' worth of different movies at any given hour. Yep, that might even keep me busy enough to resist most of the temptation to mess with visitors. Maybe the occasional plucky employee. So yeah, I think the movie theater.

Where would YOU haunt...or where wouldn't you?

~~~~~~~

Lisa Logan is a romantic fiction author and editor for Eternal Press. Visit her blog at http://authorlisalogan.blogspot.com.

The End of My Hitchhiker Haunting Me

For the last six months I have been haunted by a hitchhiker. (My euphemism for cancer.) Today is the end of that haunting. I completed my 20th and final radiation therapy.

"What does cancer have to do with Haunt Jaunts?" you may be wondering.

Everything!

Let me explain...

MY HITCHHIKER, MY MUSE

I don't know why I didn't include the tale of my hitchhiker in my very first post on this blog. As I explain in the About section on HauntJaunts.net, getting cancer was the major catalyst for me getting off my duff and starting this blog and the website.

As it says on the site, "If she does in fact become a survivor, Haunt Jaunts will have played an ENORMOUS part in her recovery."

Well, after enduring three months of chemo followed by a month of radiation, I'm truly in remission. (I was told on May 19 I was in remission, but I knew I also still had radiation to do so...it didn't quite feel "real.")

But now that I'm done with radiation, and therefore my cancer treatment regimen overall, it does feel like I'm truly in remission. And that I can celebrate that fact.

RIP SWEET HITCHHIKER

Yes, it's been six months of feeling haunted, at times feeling like a ghost of my old self or even wanting to give up the ghost during the worst of my chemo days, but...

It's over.

Tomorrow morning I do not have to worry about getting to any cancer appointments. No more living in three-week chemo cycles. No more daily radiation appointments. I'm free to just...be.

Except, I'm not the same. I think the sentiment I ended with in one of my Facebook notes when I found out I was in remission bears repeating here:

FAREWELL, SWEET HITCHHIKER

I can't be mad that my hitchhiker decided to latch on to me for while. I know my initial reaction was to be upset, BUT...so many wonderful things have come out of this cancer. I've renewed friendships, made new ones, strengthened others. I know what it's like to be loved. Heck, I even got down to my goal weight and my cracked heals are cracked no more! (However, the oncologist said that's a normal, but usually temporary good side effect, of chemo. Drat!)

Still, my hitchhiker ended up taking me places I never would have seen otherwise, refreshed my spirit and invigorated my hope and enthusiasm. So...farewell little buddy. You caused me a lot of grief and pain there for a while, but I guess you had to in order to get my attention. You've restored me in ways I didn't even know I needed restoring in. I'm a better person because of having spent this time with you.

Amen! And rest in peace, my hitchhiker. Your days of haunting me are over!

Ghost Conferences for the Rest of 2009

A while back I wrote about HauntedCon, but this week I got to thinking about other ghost conferences coming up for the rest of 2009. Where were they and when? (I knew I'd seen some others during my travels around various websites, so...)

I decided to do a little investigating and put together a list of what I came across. This is what I dug up.

Whether you're a ghost hunter or ghost enthusiast like myself, maybe one of these conferences will be near you. Could make for a fun (not to mention informative, educational, and possibly entertaining) little haunt jaunt!

1. June 19-20: 2009 Haunted America "Lucky 13" Conference. Where: The "haunted" Lincoln Theater in Decatur, Illinois. Cost: $60 (for both days.) Click here for more details. (Something I thought was neat was that one of the sponsors is Ghostology with Brian and Anna Marie, a show I mentioned in a blog not too far back. I have a feeling they might be the next breakout paranormal hit with their new show due out this fall. Of course, if they're not, you'll have this blog to quote me on...)
2. August 6-7: Paracon 2009, the First Annual Canadian-American Conference. Where: Sarnia, Canada. Cost: $37.50 USD - $72 USD. Click here for more info.
3. August 14-16: The Ohio Paranormal Convention. Where: Dayton, Ohio (Hara area). Cost: $35-$65. Click here for more info.
4. September 24-26: HauntedCon 2009. Where: Hotel St. Michael, Prescott, Arizona. Cost: $99.99-$284. Click here for more info.
5. October 2-3: 2009 Chicago Ghost Conference. Where: The Portage Theater, Chicago, Illinois. Cost: $50. ($30 for students.) Click here for more info.
6. October 8-11: Univ-Con 8 2009. Where: Pennsylvania. (The website hasn't been updated with all 2009 info as of this posting, so I'm not sure if Univ-Con will be held at Penn Stater again.) Advance tickets are on sale though for $25 plus a .99 cent surcharge. Click here for more info. (Click on the Univ-Con 2009 graphic to purchase advanced tickets.)

Thoughts about Ghosts

I don't know if ghosts exist or not. I've had some weird encounters (for instance, the Shilo Inn and Harry's), but I didn't have any kind of recording devices on me to capture any evidence. (And at that time I didn't know about EVPs and such so even if I had had something, I wouldn't have thought to use it.) But, as I've stated before, those kind of encounters sparked my interest in haunt jaunting.

However, yesterday as I watched stories emerge about James von Brunn's shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, I thought about the guard who died. Stephen Tyrone Johns, age 39.

I'm 38. This year I was confronted with my own mortality. (Though it was cancer, not a gunman, whose barrel I stared down.) In fact, Haunt Jaunts the blog and HauntJaunts.net were born out of my will to live. (I explain about all that in the About section of the website.)

I once wrote about attachments and how I believe if I did end up as a ghost I'd probably haunt the house I grew up in. But most importantly I theorized that one becomes a ghost and ends up haunting wherever or whatever they were most attached to in life.

I thought about this again listening to all the hate that fills James von Brunn's heart. (Though he probably doesn't view it that way. He'd probably argue he just feels extremely strongly about his beliefs.) I couldn't help but think, "Wow. With that much animosity, that's the kind of guy who would end up as a ghost...and maybe the not too pleasant variety."

See, the way I view it is he has unresolved issues. Ones that made it necessary for him to feel he needed to take action. Since he's most likely going to leave this world before his vision of perfection comes to pass, he's not going to be a happily departed soul.

Where will he end up haunting? Or what?

And what about that guard who had no way of knowing when he went to work that day that it would be his last? That the old man he thought he was helping by opening the door would shoot and kill him? In years to come will we hear ghost stories from the U.S. Holocaust Museum?

It gives me a new perspective to keep in mind if I do come across ghosts or spirits on my next haunt jaunts. It's something Jay and Grant from Ghost Hunters say all the time, but that I didn't fully appreciate until now.

Ghosts (if there are such things) were once people too.

They had dreams, desires, emotions, and maybe destinies they felt they'd left unfulfilled. When we encounter them it may be normal to feel alarmed, but we shouldn't be frightened. We should extend them respect (most ghost hunters are pretty good about this) and remember to be as compassionate as possible. In fact, we should treat ghosts as unseen people who deserve the same level of respect that we'd like to receive.

Ghost Caught on CCTV in Chilean Mall

I love ghost caught on tape or CCTV videos from YouTube. I love trying to figure out if they're real, tampered with, shadows, reflections...you know. The standard kind of thing most people wonder about when viewing alleged footage of "real" ghosts.

The thing that lends some credibility to CCTV cameras catching ghosts is that who's really going to tamper with them? I know it can happen. I remember watching some camera experts disprove a ghost at a car impound or something. It was a hoax.

But this one I'm not so sure about. It's footage of what's claimed to be the ghost of a boy in a mall in Chile.

How someone decided it's the ghost of a boy I don't know. It's odd, for sure, but I can't make out either age or gender so... I don't know if it's a ghost at all much less one of a boy.

It gets stashed in the weird, unexplained (as of yet) , but interesting file. If I ever jaunt down to Chile, perhaps I'll put the mall on my list of haunts to check out.

At any rate, here's the footage. What do you make of it?

Haunted Golf Courses

I found a story about haunted golf courses when I was slogging through my backlog of Google alerts today and stumbled upon a posting by Stephen Wagner at About.com: Paranormal Phenomena called "The Latest Paranormal News."

Wagner was listing ghost-related or otherwise odd stories he'd found, among them one entitled "Even golf courses have ghost stories" by Joe Morelli at the New Haven Register.

Apparently a book called Haunted Golf: Spirited Tales from the Rough was released this past April. It details incidents like the murder of a woman at a golf course in British Columbia whose spirit is said to haunt the seventh hole. Or the mysterious incidents at the Canton Golf Course in Connecticut. And, my personal fave because it reminds me of Cheeseman Park, the "remnants of corpses discovered at Lincoln Park [Golf Course] in San Francisco."

I never would've thought of adding golf courses to the Jaunts listings. Or amusement parks or anywhere else people go for relaxation and fun. However, this has opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of Haunt Jaunt possibilities!

And I can't help but wonder if any ghost hunters have ever investigated any golf courses? Hmmm...golf anyone?

A 'Haunting Formula' for Best Haunt Jaunts

On one of the blogs I've been following lately, Ghost Hunting Theories, the author has concocted a "Haunting Formula" in conjunction with some research she's doing to rate "50 haunted sites around the US." She uses a criteria of six things to base her scoring on:

1. What the building's constructed out of (i.e. brick, stone, etc)
2. Age of the building
3. The building's history (history or death or other traumatic events)
4. What it's built on or over (i.e. limestone, sand, granite)
5. It's proximity to train tracks
6. It's proximity to water

She may have scored other places using her Haunting Formula, but these are the ones I know she's examined so far:

Ft. Mifflin

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Eureka Springs Crescent Hotel

Iron Island Museum

Bunnyman Bridge

All have earned perfect 6 out of 6s except for the Eureka Springs Crescent Hotel. It got a 5 out of 6.

It's very interesting to me because what great Haunt Jaunts some of these places would make! (Some were already on my list to add to the Jaunt pages on HauntJaunts.net, like the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Ft. Mifflin, but her posts reminded me about the other places that would also be good adds.)

What's even funnier, I just realized today that Ghost Hunting Theories is the brainchild of Autumnforest. If you follow the comments on my blogs, you'll see I have two regular commenters and she's one of them. (The other is Lisa Logan, authoress of the blog Writing in My Wildest Dreams.) I was tickled to find that out, because hers is one of my favorite blogs to follow and here she sometimes leaves comments on mine!

At any rate, I'll continue to follow her findings. It's very interesting stuff and just may provide a new way of looking at haunted places. (Not to mention Haunt Jaunts.)

Bring Home Your Very Own Ghost in a Bottle

My Google alerts notified me about a great story today on Baxterking.com: "Get Yourself A Bottle of Wine Containing a 'Real' Ghost." It was about a company selling ghosts in wine bottles, appropriately named Ghost in a Bottle.

Oh, the array of "spirits" jokes that immediately popped into my mind... I'll spare you and just get on with the story. (But I can't promise refraining from making spirit references...)

Speaking of spirits, this wine bottle is devoid of the type of spirits you imbibe. (Darn, I thought that'd be kind of neat...ghost wine from a phantom vineyard. Tag line: "It'll give you a ghostly hangover." Or, "Wine so good you'll give up the ghost!" Okay, I'll stop now.)

But it isn't devoid of spirits entirely. (Allegedly anyway.)

Apparently, they use a "special technology" to capture and contain the ghosts. Bottles are then sealed with wax to keep the ghosts in. (Is wax all it takes to harness a ghost's energy once you've caught it? While we're on that subject, can ghosts really fit in wine bottles? For the sake of simplicity, and so I can get on with things, we'll assume they can...)

But caution must be exercised. Ghosts in bottles are not to be treated as supernatural novelties, as evidenced by the warnings the seller has all over their Home page. They really emphasize being careful not to open or break the bottles without first consulting their Warnings page, which outlines all the hazards that may befall you if you do.

To own your own Ghost in a Bottle, it'll set you back $20. But it comes complete as a "kit," meaning in addition to your bottled ghost you also get a certificate signed by the ghost hunter who captured your ghost testifying to its authenticity.

So, as the company's motto puts it, "Supernatural or novelty? You decide." Who knows? If nothing else, it would make a fun gift for the ghost enthusiast who has everything...except a real ghost to call their own.

Ghosts, GPS, and Learning

Earlier today I wrote about using Haunt Jaunts to teach based in part on a headline one of my Google alerts popped up with: "Tracking Ghosts in the Valley: Ashby Lee Students Use GPS for New Learning Program" by Aimee Cregger. Well, I finally got around to reading the whole thing this afternoon. This is exactly the kind of thing I think more schools should offer!

AUGMENTED REALITY

The language and speech pathologists at Ashby Lee applied for a grant after learning about a new program called Augmented Reality. The grant allowed them to purchase 30 GPS units and pay for fifth graders from Ashby Lee to travel to New Market and Lexington.

The other day at Examiner.com I wrote about geocaching. Well, this program sort of combined geocaching with ghost hunting.

HUNTING GHOSTS WITH A GPS

In a manner of speaking. The students had read a book called The Ghost Cadet. They used the GPS units to find five different locations at the New Market Battlefield, a Civil War site, where they were asked questions about the book and also located envelopes containing puzzle pieces. (Which, when put all together, formed a gold watch that played a part in the book.)

They also visited places mentioned in the book, like the Virginia Military Institute where the ghost cadet attended.

ON-SITE LEARNING

If I was a kid, learning this way would totally appeal to me. Reading a book, then going to see places mentioned in the book and using a GPS in a sort of scavenger hunt? Oh yeah, that's totally up my alley.

But it's a great example of how ghosts can play a part in teaching kids --and can be fun as well as educational. Granted, it was a fictional ghost in this case, but still...I'd count this not only as a learning excursion but as a Haunt Jaunt to boot.

Eerie Pub HJ: Blake Street Vault

Today I read an article by Kathleen St. John called "Ghost haunting Blake Street Vault helps give LoDo saloon that old-Denver feel." Ah, Denver...my old stomping grounds. Where I grew up. Where, when I visit these days, I barely recognize.

There was no LoDo when I was coming up in Denver. That's an invention of the last 15 years or so. A cool name given to a part of the downtown area few hardly ventured to after dark. Now it's all hip and cool and happening.

Maybe that's why Lydia, Blake Street Vault's ghost, doesn't want to leave?

BLAKE STREET VAULT, A SALOON

The bar sounds pretty cool. The decor hearkens to the era of saloons you might have found in Wild West Denver back before the turn of the century (the one before last): tin ceilings, wood floors and barrels for bar tables. Rustic.

I'm not quite sure if Lydia died in the bar or not. The article wasn't exactly clear on that. Supposedly some ghost hunters were brought in after many people reported having weird feelings or experiences in the place --especially down in the vault. They're the ones who identified the ghost as being Lydia, a saloon girl who worked in the building 150 years ago.

THE VAULT

The vault was discovered during renovations down in the basement. The article's author described the vault as "more historically interesting than paranormally scary, at least until you get to the vault."

I'm assuming what makes it both creepy and perhaps playing some part in Lydia's story is that the author mentioned scratch marks on the vault's ceiling. But it doesn't say if she was shut in down there and left to die or what.

However, the saloon's new owners have a tribute of sorts up to Lydia. There's a mannequin dressed as a saloon girl in the window above Blake Street Vault's entrance.

GHOST ACTIVITY

As far as activity...besides glasses being knocked over and people feeling uncomfortable at times, the best story was of the high-heeled footsteps clicking overhead when the bar's new owner and an inspector were down in the basement pre-saloon renovation. At the time, the floors were still covered in carpet, and when they went upstairs to investigate no one was there.

WHERE TO FIND BLAKE STREET VAULT

If you live in Denver or are planning to visit and want to make a Haunt Jaunt to an eerie pub, you might want to consider the Blake Street Vault. It's located at 1526 Blake Street.

Charleston Haunt Jaunt: The Battery Carriage House Inn

A few weeks ago I added The Battery Carriage House Inn to Haunt Jaunts' Spooky Stays section. I don't remember how I came across it, but when I went to check out their website I saw they have a page dedicated to ghost stories and sightings at the inn.

Very cool.

It gives a brief history of the inn and the types of ghosts people have seen. The creepiest is the headless torso, which most assume is the spirit of a civil war soldier. The saddest is what they call the "gentleman ghost," which some think might be the spirit of a young man who jumped from the roof 100 years ago for reasons unknown.

Then the page goes on to list encounters people have had at the Battery Carriage House Inn. Quite a few are letters from guests detailing experiences they had while in their rooms. Rooms 3, 8 and 10 (in particular 8 and 10) have the most activity.

(They also comment on the elegance and atmosphere of the inn and praise everything from the comfy beds and friendly staff to the wine and cheese served in the afternoon and the delicious breakfasts. Ghosts or no, it sounds like a delightful place to stay!)

Getting a Ghost Fix from Radio and TV

My favorite ghost show is Ghost Hunters, but while they're in reruns this summer I can still get a ghost fix from other TV and radio shows.

GHOST ADVENTURES

In addition to Most Haunted, the Travel Channel also has another paranormal show featuring ghosts and ghost hunters: Ghost Adventures. Starting June 5 they'll be back with more ghost adventures, starting with an investigation of Preston Castle.

I didn't much care for the very first documentary-style show I watched featuring Zak and his crew, however...that was just the start of what turned into a series of shows. Which I do like.

If you've never watched the show, it's similar to Ghost Hunters, except they present evidence as they come upon it rather than doing a reveal to a client at the end. Or that's how they did it last season. Hopefully they'll continue that for this new season.

Also like Ghost Hunters, they don't always investigate places that could be potential Haunt Jaunts. (Meaning the public isn't always allowed in because some of the places are private establishments.)

But it's a good show and I'm looking forward to it starting back up again.

PARA X RADIO - ALL PARANORMAL...ALL THE TIME

A friend of mine turned me on to this site, because she grew up with one of the hosts of Ghostology, a show that comes on Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. EST. I haven't had a chance to tune in yet because she just told me about it this past Saturday, but I will.

And I might find some other neat shows, too. There are a bunch of them (like 35), all focusing on ghosts, hauntings, and other paranormal phenomenon --even witchcraft, UFOs and cryptozoology! They also have live chats and forums. It's looks like a pretty neat place to network with others interested in this field.

Oh, and the Ghostology show I mentioned? The hosts are involved in making a pilot for a TV show called "Ghost Tech" which will debut this fall. (I don't know which station, but I'll keep my eyes open for it.)

Camp Grounds as Potential Haunt Jaunts

I never considered camp grounds as potential Haunt Jaunts until I stumbled across an About.com: Paranormal Phenomenon post called "Camping Encounters with Monsters and Ghosts" by Stephen Wagner.

The only thing I normally think about when it comes to camping and ghosts is telling ghost stories around the camp fire. But Wagner's article related incidents of ghost and monster encounters around camp fires and campsites.

MONSTERS IN THEM THAR' WOODS

I used to camp all the time with my family when I was little. I loved it. I have a pretty active imagination, but I don't remember ever being afraid of the forests we camped near. The only time I ever got a little creeped out was when my cousin Mike started scratching on the roof of the camper shell covering the back of my dad's truck. It woke me up and I didn't know it was him at first, so...there was a wee bit of chaos until my dad told him to knock it off.

However, Wagner told some good monster camping stories. One about a family who encountered some kind of bear-like creature with yellow eyes in the White Mountains of Arizona. (Lucky them. I don't know which is worse: being scared out of your wits by some creature roaring and then suddenly charging into your camp, or camping near that same region and having your dog suddenly bolt out of the tent only to get sprayed by a skunk. Oh yeah, that made for a pleasant experience...)

Anyway, Wagner also told of other stories: a glowing beast that showed up in a field next to where some people had set up camp, and a green "humanoid like" creature that surprised campers near a lake in a nature reserve. (The last one creeped me out because apparently they fled the scene only to return later to pick up their gear but found their tent destroyed and all their gear in the lake.)

GHOSTS IN THEM THAR WOODS, TOO

Well, the ghost stories in Wagner's post didn't really have much to do with woods. But people did spot ghosts while camping.

One was a silver lady a girl in Australia spotted while camping with her family. The other one recounted a tale of a guy who had been camping with his girlfriend and woke up to see a ghostly form hovering over her body.

WHERE CAN I LOOK FOR THESE MONSTERS AND GHOSTS?

That's what I didn't like about the article. It didn't tell specifics about the ghosts sightings, as in where they happened, except in a couple of cases.

Like the creature that surprised the family camping in the White Mountains of Arizona. It at least gave you that much, but where exactly did the family have the experience? I don't know.

The other two monster stories were vague. The settings were described, but states weren't even mentioned.

The ghost stories did give some indication of place. The "silver lady" was spotted at "a beachfront caravan park near Killala Beach, New South Wales, Australia." The hovering ghost encounter happened "along an unpaved forest road in the Manzano Mountains in northern New Mexico."

Wish I could give you more to go on if you wanted to set out this summer on a camping Haunt Jaunt of your own to investigate these places, but...that's all I got folks.

Potential Haunt Jaunt: The Sam Davis Home in Smyrna, TN

This afternoon my husband, Wayne, and I made an unexpected Haunt Jaunt to the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna, TN. It's not far from the hospital where I'm getting my radiation treatments, which Wayne accompanied me to today because he unexpectedly got the day off.

Anyway, I figured if nothing else it'd make a great getaway article for my gig over at Examiner.com, but...I couldn't resist asking, "Do you have ghosts?" when our tour guide kept commenting about doors being unlocked he swore he had locked himself, or vice versa.

Ghost Stories

Wayne gets very uncomfortable when I ask such questions. However, he's also surprised when, 9 times out of 10, instead of looking at me like I'm nuts, people say, "Now that you mention it..." and launch into ghost stories.

Today our guide said there are lots of unexplained things that happen there, but the best ghost story he knew of was one that happened to another volunteer.

The Crying Woman

I forget why he said the guide was in the house, but he was alone...except he heard a woman crying. He ran to see what was wrong, and sadly I don't remember if he was running into the parlor or another room, but when he got to where he heard the crying coming from it stopped.

He went to rejoin the other volunteers and said, "I just had the strangest experience." He went on to tell them and one of the women asked, "Don't you know what week this is? It's the anniversary of Sam's death."

Sam Davis: His Life and Death

I've seen signs for the Historic Sam Davis Home but didn't know who Sam Davis was. I thought he was an old man who was influential in Tennessee politics or something.

In a way he was, but he sure wasn't an old man. He was only 21 when he died and was serving as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. He was hung after he was caught by Union troops and convicted of being a spy. When his mother saw the wagon pull up with his coffin inside, she fainted.

His body was brought back to his home for burial in late December 1863. It was around that time of year some 140 plus years later that the volunteer heard the woman crying...a woman the other volunteers immediately concluded must be Sam's mom, Jane.

The Sam Davis Home made for a fun jaunt I wasn't even expecting to have today. It was a neat history lesson...and a neat new place to add to the Haunt Jaunts files.

Haunted Landmarks

Today I stumbled across a pretty good article on Digg called "Someone Grab Scooby-Doo: The World's Most Haunted Landmarks."

What I liked most about the article: the pics and details of the ghosts supposedly haunting each haunted landmark.

What I didn't like about the article: I was surprised some places were left off. (Stanley Hotel, Myrtles Plantation, Waverly Sanatorium...)

So what were the haunted landmarks listed in the article?

1. Edinburgh Castle - Edinburgh, Scotland
2. The Whaley House - San Diego, CA
3. Bran Castle - Transylvania, Romania
4. Alcatraz - San Francisco, CA
5. Borley Rectory - Essex, England
6. Winchester Mystery House - San Jose, CA
7. Pollepel Island - Hudson River, NY
8. The Queen Mary - Long Beach, CA
9. The Bell House - Adams, TN
10. Rayham Hall - Norfolk, England
11. The Tower of London - London, England

I also learned of a few new places I wasn't previously familiar with (Borley Rectory, Pollepel Island, and Rayham Hall).

Speaking of learning things...I also learned Edinburgh Castle has a canine graveyard, which I didn't previously know, or that there are only two in Scotland.

Which made me wonder: How many canine graveyards does the U.S. have? How many do other countries have?

I like articles that make me think! (Duh. I suppose that's what everyone appreciates about a good article, right?)

But something else I want to know: why was it so slanted towards England and the USA? Besides Romania and Scotland, no other countries made the list. I know darn well there are other haunted landmarks out there.

Maybe the author is saving them for a follow-up article? If not, for any of you more worldly Haunt Jaunters out there, I'd sure appreciate an article on more international haunted landmarks. (Either for HauntJaunts.net's travel articles or to be referred to an already published one.)