Has Ghost Haunted Television Given Paranormal Investigation A Bad Name?

By J. J. Mc Kay © 2008

While flipping through the channels any given night of the week, day or night. Spooks, Specters and real haunted tales fill many of the channels line ups. From the historical famous to infamous ghosts that frighten the willies out of us. Ghost on TV are haunting us everywhere.

Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Most Haunted, Ghost Whisperer, Haunting Evidence, Haunted Investigations, Spooked, Children Of the grave, Medium and Supernatural. What do they do Wrong?

For one they show glimpses of what the general public believe a real ghost hunt or Investigation into supernatural occurrences into a one to two hour format. This Hollywood Ghost hunting product borders as all real investigators so know is ridiculous. Investigations can sometimes take days or months before any evidence actually surfaces. Of course this is real Paranormal Investigation at it's finest! You can see it in the credits you can have someone say it on the show but the public does not register this and usually thinks it's as easy as it's seen on TV.

Believe me I wish I could find out what Grant and Jason have happen to them in the first 45 minutes of any haunted house or Paranormal Hotspot I ventured into. Remember if two Plumbers can do it that fast anyone could too. I'm not faulting or favorite Ghost Hunters we love to hate sci-fi Superstars. It's only because so few in the viewing audience realize all the actual physical work and time involved into getting a few seconds of real paranormal evidence.

The best video evidence from the hit tv show Ghost Hunters. Evidence from the U.S.S. Lexington, Moon River Brewing Co., Copper Queen Hotel, The Sorrel Weed House, Hellfire Caves, Eastern State Penitentiary, New Bedford Armory, St. Augustine Lighthouse, and the Crescent Hotel.
 

Yes shows like theirs and England's"Most Haunted" have paved the way of taking off the true edge and haunted mystique of ghost hunting to the general public. These shows real or not are produced, cut and edited, sometimes scripted. But as we those in the field know the legitimate side of what we do and scoff the fact that the popularity the field has to day or because of the pioneers.

To deem a house or building really haunted you need to cover all your bases. You need to set up experiments to capture and document everything at many different times and also study it until you can prove to your self first that you can stand behind your evidence 100%. So far all those that do or usually laughed at or ridiculed. The Ghost Hunters, the plumbers turned Paranormal Superstars or not at fault. It's just not good Television. www.scifi.com/ghosthunters

The Booth Brothers are closer to showing the fine line between Reality and produced Productions. Not only are their films more accurate to the ghost hunting community standards, but they intrigue even the weekend armchair ghost enthusiest to research more into the haunted world.

in a recent article... http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2008-05-11-0005.html --- The airwaves are populated by shows such as "Ghost Whisperer," "Medium," "Paranormal State" and "Ghost Hunters."

Viewership of "Ghost Hunters," a reality show on the SCI FI Channel that chronicles investigations by The Atlantic Paranormal Society, or TAPS, has doubled since it debuted in 2004 - growing from 1.3 million viewers to 2.6 million.

The Rhode Island-based society currently has about 80 affiliates in 44 states, twice the number of affiliates it had two years ago. And there are about 800 individual members in those affiliates, up from 300 three years ago.

"Thank God for the 'Ghost Hunters' on SCI FI," said Patti Starr, founder of the Lexington, Ky.-based Ghost Chasers International. "Through that show, I think people see we are really serious about what we do, and they've raised the bar."

Even the U.S. Air Force has gone along, inviting "Ghost Hunters" to investigate reports of unusual occurrences at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. The episode showed a flashlight turning on by itself and unexplained knocks and door-closings.

Though their Sci Fi Channel series debuted just a few years ago, Hawes and Wilson of Warwick, R.I., have been investigating haunted hotspots for 15 years as leaders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society. Away from their Roto Rooter day jobs they held, they seek solid evidence of spectral encounters with no-nonsense skepticism, relying on the electronic equipment and techno-geek gadgets rather than the sixth sense of mediums and psychics. Hawes has stated many times "When stalking the paranormal, the proof is often in the plumbing."

So what are we really afraid Of... Ghosts?

"To many of those of us that have dedicated our lives to ghost and hauntings might be just losing creditability." says Lisa Lee Harp Waugh, Known by many as the Great American Necromancerwww.ghosthuntersofamerica.com. " If it looks so easy on TV then anyone can do it with no training or knowledge of hauntings other then what they see on Ghost Hunters each week." " I have seen and heard of many new groups formed over night going into a haunted location and because of their un professionalism getting themselves as well as all future investigations banned for eternity."

"I think Television is great it gives all the ghost haunted info we need to scout out haunted locations with out leaving the comfort of our homes." Says Waugh." But the over saturation of inexperienced Ghost Hunters to the field is what really haunts me." "These people don't know a real spook from a supposed one!" "The damage these fun seekers cause is what is giving us the real researchers of the paranormal a really bad name."

Ghosts in the Crystal Ball

Learn more about Lisa Lee Harp Waugh and "MYTHOLOGY OF NECROMANCY" visit here.

Many haunted Hotels are now a days playing down their Haunted reputations. A major Hotel has even gone as far as banning ghost hunting during it's peak season. A few bed and breakfast owners have told me that they have told ghost hunting guests that the property was recently cleared by a psychic and is no longer considered haunted. This of course they told me was done to stop the damage so many un-professional ghost hunters cause.

"A well known Galveston, Texas B&B owner told me that she has a set price for normal guest and if anyone comes to her property to seek out her spooks and specters then they must carry their own insurance, and pay her a larger fee then other guest just to cover the inconvenience of what it causes her other non- ghost hunting guest." Says Waugh. " She also will as she told me, book Ghost Hunters only for a few day stay during her non peak months at a doubled rate." "The reason she told me is because of what those "Damn Ghost Shows" have done to her stress level." " And the headaches the Ghost Hunters cause her waking her screaming all hours of the night." She said. " I think the ghosts go on vacation when the Ghost Hunters get here they can't take it either."

Many police departments are arresting persons claiming to be professional ghost hunters all across the US. The reasons vary, from trespassing, to curfew laws and vandalism. Many of the mainstream paranormal Investigators see this as a threat to their legitimate research. A few of the nations City councils have even had proposals to make it illegal to do a haunted investigation on public property unless you get a permit to do so first. So far none of these have passed. Also many news stories talk of vandalism to supposedly haunted homes and locations.

I personally went to a supposed haunted Hotel to do a story as I checked in The front Desk person asked me in passing why I was in town. I said to do an article on the hotel being haunted. She said, "Oh, We are not supposed to push that anymore corporate orders." "I said Why?" She said, " To many of those crazy people come in here and running in the halls screaming, crying talking loud all night and disturbing the other guest." " I assured her I would do none of that." She said," Well if you do so , we'll have to ban you from our hotel as we are doing to all those ghost hunting people that we already have."

With stories in the papers of ghost hunters being shot at, beaten or threatened by home owners what can a real paranormal researcher do? Are really running around like a bunch of frightened kids disturbing all the guest?

ECW's Elijah "The Express" Burke on Ghost Hunters Live! He drops his cell phone and takes off when he thinks he sees a ghost on Ghost Hunters Live Halloween Episode. Host Josh Gates replays the action of "Homeboy Dropped His Cell Phone" in slow motion.

MOST HAUNTED the scary one 

Can you imagine the day when you see a sign saying, NO GHOST HUNTERS OR PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS ALLOWED!

Lisa lee Harp Waugh also believes that Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Investigation is still in it's infancy stage and that from work like hers and others in the field the future is in their hands.

Waugh who speaks to Paranormal visitors to her home through the practice of Necomancy says, from her findings there are enough ghosts to haunt everyone in the world 10 times over." I think most spirits and ghosts don't want to call attention to themselves." " I have asked a few their feelings on haunting a location." " They answered me that those ghosts just want attention as they did in life." "And others, feel they shouldn't haunt anyone."

Waugh a campaigner for people Ghost Hunting responsibly adds. " If You don't know what your doing looking for real ghosts, you shouldn't be there in the first place!"

"Too many people are putting too many demands on the ghost that haunt locations open to the public." Imagine your dead." Says Waugh, "The day starts with you haunting the workers, then the people who come in the location." "You do this non stop 24/7 365 days a year." "I'd be dead tired!" " And I think The age of Ghost Hunters and all this Paranormal on Television is causing many Ghosts to abandon their Haunted homes and move on." " At least that's what many have implied to me through my work."

Pioneering The Paranormal Zone

Hans Holzer is a popular paranormal researcher he began by investigating psychic phenomena as it was deemed at the time. Hans Holzer has written 138 books on the supernatural and occult for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and documentaries and has hosted a television show. He is a Today the most renowned parapsychologist in the field. His extensive involvement in researching the supernatural has included investigating The Amityville Horror and some of the most prominent haunted locations around the world. He has also worked with well-known trance mediums such as Ethel Johnson-Meyers, Sybil Leek, and Trixie Allingham. His work alone opened doors for many of todays contemporaries.

Ed and Lorraine Warren www.warrens.net brought the term to the forefront, "Ghost Hunting". Ed Warren (September 7, 1926 - August 23, 2006) was a self-described demonologist, author and lecturer. Lorraine Warren, his wife, a clairvoyant and a light trance medium. The latter is featured in several episodes of the Discovery series A Haunting, in which she discusses some of the cases she and Ed worked on as paranormal investigators.

The Warrens, investigate a poltergeist haunting.  

The Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952 and later opened the Occult Museum. They are the authors of numerous books about the paranormal and their own private investigations into various haunting's. They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 haunting's during their career. The Warrens were among the very first investigators in the controversial Amityville haunting.

The Warrens were responsible for training several current paranormal investigating demonologists including Dave Considine, Lou Gentile, and their nephew John Zaffis.

Troy Taylor www.prairieghosts.com is one of the many writers and investigators that feels that the true side of ghost hunting is finally being opened to the public by these programs. " The real side Of the Paranormal world, and those that seek answers will endure," Says Taylor. " Trends come and go but personal reality is eternal." Taylor believe as so many others do that the pendulum of Ghost Hunting on Television is waning. That does not mean the popularity is negating itself, it's just re posturing for the future.

"More people worldwide are turning to the internet for their haunted scary delights. " " From Youtube videos and the many haunted web sites that make up the paranormal zone of cyberspace Ghosts are hot and in demand." " People want things now." " The reality generation has arrived." Says Ghost investigator Gina Lanier www.ginalanier.com. But in all honesty I see what's happening on the internet and it's popularity is climbing though the public a general interest to these ghost shows has in my opinion declined." " I really don't believe that all that is strange, anomalous and haunted has really been explore to it's fullest." And the fact that no definitive proof has set the world ablaze with and ignited those to believe in ghosts that did not already." I think Sci-fi's Paranormal line up, and the Discovery Channel and Travel Channel has only given the thrill seekers and the curious just a taste to wet their appetites." " When I watch these shows I always walk away with more questions then answers and they just make me want to go out and seek the truth."

Lanier state, "always Get Permission!" "Before you embark on any investigation, be sure you are not trespassing on private property. Many hotels, cemeteries, battlefields, and public places are said to be haunted." " Always get permission before going onto private or public property, to be in a cemetery ghost hunting even if it is not just for after hours." "To many Ghost groups now often think lets start hunting for ghost here and see what we get." "A lot of people in New Orleans are tired of would be Ghost Hunters visitng their establishments un-announced and starting to hunt for paranormal activity." says Lanier. "I hear this all the time from many people." "And sometimes You just need to give the ghosts a rest."

"If I was a ghost I think I might gt tired of scaring people all the time." "All this makes me think of Casper and the three bad evil frightening ghosts and their beliefs on what and how they should haunt the living."

GINA LANIER is a New Orleans native who has studied paranormal activities, the occult and haunting's for nearly thirty years. She has participated in and conducted large-scale location haunting's and recently has shifted her focus to include the investigation and study of haunted toys such as dolls, toy furniture, games and other hallmarks of childhood. Gina owns and operates a construction and refurbishment company in the Greater New Orleans area and this has afforded her exposure to many allegedly haunted locations and people over the years; several of these clients welcomed Gina’s expertise and insight when it came to documenting and investigating their haunted homes and businesses.

Mark Nesbitt was born in Lorain, Ohio, and graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College with a BA in English Literature. He worked for the National Park Service as a Ranger/Historian for five years and then became a Licensed Battlefield Guide. His job with the National Park Service provided him not only the opportunity to spend time in all of the historic buildings located in the Gettysburg National Park, but actually to live in four of the historic houses. Living in Gettysburg since 1971 has provided him with a unique “insider” perspective. Mr. Nesbitt started his own research and writing company in 1977. www.ghostsofgettysburg.com

Mark Nesbitt's Original Ghosts of Gettysburg Tours and the Pioneer Lines Scenic Railway have teamed up to bring you The Ghost Train. Video by Exspiro Productions (www.exspiroproductions.com).  

PARANORMAL TASK FORCE™ is the “One Stop Paranormal Resource Center” with multiple resources, divisions and departments to meet all of your personal paranormal needs. Official Web site: www.paranormaltaskforce.com Greg Myers founder searches for "Definitive Proof" that ghosts are real. Greg Myers states: "To prove the definitive existence of ghost or anything paranormal will take the serious interest and efforts of the true scientific community to conduct research and experimentation into this field with the hopes of furthering the technological advancements in specific equipment where evidence becomes a standard repetitive process that can be presented to others." " Personally myself, I have had personal experiences which already has provided the definite proof that ghost are indeed 100% real."

Greg Myers is one that shares the philosophy that paranormal investigations can come with many unknown dangers which are not properly addressed by most of the paranormal research field. This and other important issues are overlooked and need further avocations to current and future researchers and investigators within this field. Myers adheres to a Humanistic Approach to investigations. Also see: Helping the Paranormally Affected Client.

Greg Myers also is featured in the Booth Brothers latest paranormal Documentary, Children Of The Grave.

Psychic Reese Smith www.reesesmith.com believes this the ghost Hunting Generation is only in its infant stage as The American Necromancer Lisa Lee Harp Waugh does. "I think in the next ten years is when we will see a great surgences in those that believe in ghosts." says Smith. "More people since the advent of Spooked out television are coming forward to tell of their paranormal encounters." " One of my clients said to me he felt left out because all his friends have had ghost sightings but he hadn't."

Smith has been seeing and hearing ghost speak to him since a very young age. "To me the things that go bump in the night in my very haunted house is normal." Says Smith. "People come to my home and are actually often afraid to ring the bell fearing a ghost will answer the door!" Smith's Marion, North Carolina Home is considered one of the most haunted houses in the state. The biggest problem Smith faces is that so many would be and curious people want to investigate and experience his house's hauntings first hand. " I get so many request for paranormal investigations of my home the Ghosts have asked me to say they are not accepting visitors at this time." States Smith. "Now a days I only allow one set of ghost hunter into my home every few months." " And I make sure that I investigate the group and ask for credentials before I allow them access."

Richard Senate California-based author and lecturer. 59 years of age--old enough to know better. www.ghost-stalker.com I have e-mail at HaintHunter@aol.com. Author of Ghost Stalker's Guide To Haunted California (Mass Market Paperback)

Jeff Belanger leads a very haunted life. He’s been fascinated with the supernatural since age ten when he investigated his first haunted house during a sleepover. Since then, the paranormal investigator has been a writer and journalist for various newspapers and magazines, and in 1999 he launched Ghostvillage.com as a repository for his writings and research on the subject of the supernatural. The site has since grown to become the largest paranormal community on the Web, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. Over the years, Jeff has interviewed hundreds of people about their experiences with the profound. His objective approach to the subject makes the supernatural accessible to a wide audience. He brings personality and humor to this subject which makes him one of the most sought-after experts in the field. He's written for many paranormal Web sites and print publications and is the author of several books. Also see www.jeffbelanger.com.

Paranormal Journeys with Jeff Belanger - Lizzie Borden House

Professor Loyd Auerbach is well-known to the public as an expert on Ghosts and Psychic Experience. With a Master's degree in Parapsychology, he is Director of the Office of Paranormal Investigations, a Professor at JFK University, and creator and Instructor of the Certificate Program in Parapsychological Studies at HCH Institute, now available for distance learning. He is a member of the Rhine Research Center Advisory Board. He was a Consulting Editor and columnist for FATE magazine from 1991-2004. He is a past President of the Psychic Entertainers Association, and past President of the California Society for Psychical Study. He is a professional mentalist and psychic entertainer, performing as Professor Paranormal – a title that follows him into his more serious work.

Auerbach is the author of seven books on the Paranormal, including A Paranormal Casebook: Ghost Hunting in the New Millennium (Atriad Press, 2005), Hauntings & Poltergeists: A Ghost Hunter’s Guide (Ronin Publishing, 2004) and Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal (Ronin, 2004). His next book will be taking him in a different direction. Haunted by Chocolate: How to Go from Chocoholic to Chocolate Gourmet is coming from Atriad Press in early fall, 2007.
He has appeared on numerous national and local TV shows including Larry King Live, Oprah, Criss Angel: Mindfreak, Sightings, In Search Of, the Today Show, and Unsolved Mysteries, Late Night with David Letterman, and frequently on A&E, the History Channel, the Travel Channel, the Sci Fi Channel, the Discovery Channel, and The Learning Channel (where many of his appearances are in eternal reruns).

Loyd Auerbach is a youthful 51, and lives with his wife and three cats in Martinez, CA, outside of San Francisco.

He can be contacted via email at esper@california.com or by phone through the Office of Paranormal Investigations at (415) 249-9275.

Visit his Paranormal Network website at www.mindreader.com

Patti Starr, Certified Ghost Hunter is the President and owner of Ghost Chasers International, Inc., which is based in Lexington, Kentucky. She is an experienced and accomplished paranormal investigator with a goal to prove that life goes on even after death.

Over many years of paranormal research and ghost investigations, Starr has captured many anomalies in photos, videos and audios of haunted locations. Patti Starr is very active as a ghost researcher, author, lecturer, consultant, dowser, and teacher. She is also president of her own organization, Ghost Chasers International, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky. Starr has been teaching ghost hunting courses at the Bluegrass Community and Technical College, in Lexington, Kentucky, for the last six years.

Ghosthunter Patti Star investigates ghosts at Sloss Furnace, as featured on the program Airline on A&E. 

She is currently lecturing at numerous universities, colleges, and libraries throughout the United States. In 2006 Patti Starr was voted as one of the Top Ten Ghost Hunter Paranormal Investigators in America for 2007.

Patti has appeared in numerous newspaper and magazine articles as well as national television and radio, including BBC. Articles about Patti have appeared in numerous major publications, like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Patti is also the tour guide for the immensely popular Bardstown Ghost Trek.

She has been featured on national TV, Food Network, “The Best of Fright Food” filmed at the haunted Talbott Tavern, Bardstown, KY and on the A&E Network, “Airline” filmed in Birmingham, AL, at the haunted Sloss Furnaces and a film clip of the investigation on Airline featured on the Montell Williams Show.

Susan Sheppard the creator of the Haunted Parkersburg Ghost Tours aclaimed writer and your guide to the unknown www.hauntedparkersburg.com, she is also well respected for her abilities as a psychic medium. She has worked as psychic and a spiritualist medium since age fourteen and as a paranormal investigator for the last decade. This came about when her friends overheard a well-known psychic tell Susan that she, too, had "the gift" and should use her special abilities to help others. This was no surprise to Susan's family who had witnessed her uncanny abilities since early childhood.

Her West Virginia childhood might have some bearing on her interest in the paranormal. Sheppard is "Black Dutch," meaning she is descended from the less than 850 Shawnee Indians who remained east of the Mississippi River after the other Shawnee (during the "Trial of Tears" removal) were forced onto reservations out west in the 1830s. Susan, along with others in the Friend family, is a direct descendent of Shawnee Chief Big Thunder through his daughter, Bright Lightning, whose name was anglicized to "Anna Friend."

Susan grew up just a few hills away from the first sighting of the famous West Virginia Mothman. It was during this time that Sheppard’s family home underwent a great deal of paranormal activity sparking her interest in the unknown while tapping into her natural psychic talents. However, Sheppard has had direct communications with spirits of her Native American ancestors since around age four when she met the ghosts of two Indian braves on the hillside above her grandparent's house in broad daylight. Though very small, she understood the braves to be both her ancestors and her guides. Ms. Sheppard’s adolescence was spent partly doing psychic readings along with school work and sometimes working with local law enforcement on missing person cases. She later grew up with the aspirations of becoming a published author and an artist, both of which she achieved. Sheppard has authored a number of popular books which are sold worldwide and has continued with her art in many venues. Her poetry alone has won many prestigious awards.

Susan has never strayed from her interests in the spirit world and has continued to work in the field as a medium, as well as a practicing astrologer. In the last few years she has worked primarily as a psychic medium and a paranormal investigator on various ghost hunts and investigations. She also leads séances, does clearings and performs platform style readings before the public for which she is the most famous in her area.

Last year, Susan was featured on the ABC Family Channel’s popular show “Scariest Places on Earth” as a psychic medium at the Shawnee Amusement Park in Bluefield, West Virginia. She has previously taught “Be Your Own Psychic” classes at the Self-Health & Awareness Center and continues appear before audiences and live television as a psychic medium.

Not only is Susan an exceptional psychic, she is knowledgeable in the field of the unknown. She remains up-to-date on the latest developments in research concerning the paranormal. Contact her at sheppard@wirefire.com

Weird Tales:Paranormal Investigation Organization,The Mid Ohio Valley Ghost Hunters,The Haunted Parkersburg Ghost Hunters,The WV Mountain Momma Ghost Hunters investigated an old abandoned graveyard on Silver Run Tunnel 8/17/07

J.J. McKay

J.J. Mc Kay is a Paranormal Investigator who in his vast research now investigates Paranormal Investigators and Amateur Ghost Hunters from around the world. Mc Kay Enjoys going over their evidence and uses it to formulate his own opinions of what is truly paranormal and what is not..

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