Cheerleader Shot in Head at 'Haunted' House Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Associated Press

WORTHINGTON, Ohio. A teenager out looking for ghosts with friends was shot in the head and critically wounded near a house considered spooky by local teens, police said Wednesday.

A man who lives in the house, Allen S. Davis, 40, was charged in the shooting and told reporters from jail Wednesday that he was trying to drive off trespassers and did not intend to hurt the teen girls, whom he called juvenile delinquents.

He said he fired his rifle out his bedroom window Tuesday night after hearing voices outside the home, which is across the street from a cemetery and blocked from view by overgrown trees and shrubbery.

“I didn’t know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were,” he said. “In a situation like that, you assume the worst-case scenario if you’re going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder.”

The 17-year-old girl, Rachel Barezinsky, and two of her friends got out of their car parked near the home about 10 p.m. and took a few steps on the property, police Lt. Doug Francis said. They jumped back in when a girl in the car sounded the horn, and they heard what they thought were firecrackers as they drove away.

The girls, all students at a suburban Columbus high school, drove around the block, and Barezinsky was struck while sitting in the car as they passed the house again and heard a second round of what turned out to be gunshots, Francis said.


Barezinsky, who also was struck in the shoulder, was taken to Ohio State University Medical Center in critical condition, police said. The hospital would not provide an update on her condition Wednesday.

The father of a 17-year-old girl who was shot in the head while ghost hunting with friends said Friday that the group had been out for harmless fun.

"It doesn't make any sense. These were five good kids and this was something they've done in the past," Greg Barezinsky said.

Davis, a self-employed nonfiction writer, said he had prepared the rifle after numerous instances of trespassing but he did not know until Wednesday that teens considered his house haunted. Police should charge the teens with trespassing, he said.

“It’s really something how homeowners defend themselves and the way the laws are written, we’re the ones brought up on charges while the perpetrators get little or nothing,” he said.

Davis, who was charged with five counts of felonious assault, told officers he had been annoyed by trespassers and that he was aiming for the car’s tires from his first-floor bedroom, police said.

Francis said police do not intend to pursue criminal charges against the girls.

Francis said Davis’ home had a reputation at the high school for being haunted by ghosts and witches, and students have been daring each other to knock on the door or go in the yard.

The girls and other high school students have gone out to cemeteries to hunt for ghosts before, Greg Barezinsky said at Ohio State University Medical Center.

I was shocked and sickened when I first read the story quoted above. For the past several months I have been considering a story based on the dangers of ghost hunting; after the recent events in Ohio, that story seems long overdue.

Thanks in large part to the popularity of such paranormal “reality” shows as Sci-Fi’s “Ghost Hunters,” the Biography Channel’s “Dead Famous,” and BBC Living’s “Most Haunted,” amateur ghost hunting and paranormal investigation activities have reached a fever pitch among adults and teens alike. The media saturation has become so thorough that it seems anyone with a camera, a tape recorder and an avid interest in the paranormal is going about calling himself a “ghost hunter” or “investigator.” Obviously, ghost hunting has evolved from the mostly harmless high school or college dare into a kind of recreational sport. Unfortunately, common sense has evidently not been part of that evolution.

Among responsible individuals who are involved in research into the paranormal for the purposes of recording and scientifically validating the existence of ghosts, spirits, demons, etc., there is growing concern about the number of amateurs interloping on the paranormal turf. Although the primary concern is that such untrained individuals immediately affect the validity of other trained and more experienced investigators, and that this may have a negative effect on the public’s perception of the “science” part of paranormal study, there is a very real and growing concern for the overall safety of these anxious, newly-minted fans of the supernatural.

Outside of case studies dealing with specific hauntings in modern surroundings – usually prompted at the request of individuals or families seeking help with spirit activity in their own environment – the natural “habitat,” if you will, of ghost hunters is an extremely dangerous terrain. Because ghost hunting involves seeking out the dead, obviously, a paranormal investigator must go to where the dead can be found – in places such as cemeteries, abandoned houses and buildings, remote and barely-accessible properties in woods or other hard-to-access locations, and even well-known or famous locations to which seasoned investigators might have access but which amateurs often can only access via trespassing or breaking other vagrancy laws.

Each of the areas mentioned has its own inherent danger.

Cemeteries, obviously, have geographic dangers such as open graves and broken or jagged statuary; and although one may go to cemeteries seeking the dead, it is often a haunt of living human beings who prey on others to rob or assault them (the cemeteries in pre-Katrina New Orleans provide a good example of such dangers and this is one reason why access via organized tours is the best way to visit them).

Abandoned houses and buildings offer another set of dangers. Derelict houses can have crumbling walls, ceiling or foundations; there could be environmental dangers lurking in the basement of attic of such places. Debris from years of misuse can cause injuries that can lead to infections later on, and there are literally dozens of stories about amateur ghost-hunters poking around abandoned houses and falling through floors from attics or into basements and waiting for hours to be extricated. And, like cemeteries, abandoned houses often attract the criminal elements that often use them as “shooting galleries” or crack houses. These people don’t like to be observed and don’t take kindly to being disturbed by uninvited “guests.” Abandoned buildings, on the other hand, offer all the same dangers of abandoned houses but these are usually multiplied to the Nth degree. Usually there is more than just one story where haunted buildings are involved and this means accessing upper floors via rickety staircases or makeshift ladders and poking around crumbling architecture that may pose all kinds of dangers to the unwary. In short, getting caught for trespassing in either of these locations should be the very least of the amateur ghost hunters’ concerns!

Properties located in woods and out-of-the-way or mostly rural places present their own dangers, primarily because of their remoteness. An injury sustained in an abandoned house in an urban area is closer to treatment than the same injury sustained in a remote abandoned property, especially if that property is in an area mostly unfamiliar to the ghost hunters. Additionally, rural or remote areas present the ghost hunting amateur with dangers from individuals, such as the man detailed in the story above, who will not hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later!

And needless to say, famous locations present a whole plethora of legal problems if one is caught poking around them without proper clearance or the knowledge of the owners or authorities involved.

With all the obvious dangers and many others that will go unlisted, I am continuously amazed at the overall lack of responsibility shown on the part of people – quasi-celebrities, if you will – who have made the ghost-hunting hobby a popular past time. By this I mean people such as the extremely popular Ghost Hunters team, in particular, and the equally famous Most Haunted team, as well. Despite all the science and speculation, the thrills and chills and hoopla, never has either team added a single caveat, that I have seen, to any of their broadcasts flatly stating that they activities shown on these television shows should not be attempted by the amateur or unskilled! Instead, these popular paranormal “reality” shows encourage all sorts of idiotic and dangerous imitations by the very fact that there are no disclaimers or warnings associated with their series.

Now, I am not detracting from the fact that these are popular shows – I watch both, although Most Haunted is my particular favorite. But never is the subject of common sense brought up – and if the hosts and producers of these popular shows are simply assuming that common sense is, in fact, common, then they had better get associated with liability laws very quickly.

The fact is, none of the activities shown on these popular paranormal shows should be imitated by anyone unfamiliar with the proper investigative techniques used by valid paranormal researchers (including the legal way to access all properties) and who does not know the basic safety precautions to assure that accidents and injuries don’t occur.

Despite all its popularity, there are no genuine credentials in the field of popular paranormal research. There are no licenses or certifications one can obtain that can be used to demonstrate valid education in the paranormal field, and there are certainly no accreditations that will provide the common sense necessary to success and enjoyment of the ghost-hunting hobby.

Most valid investigators of the paranormal will use the proper channels for access to a property they would like to research. This can be anything from a verbal agreement with the owner to a written contract in which the investigator and his team are given specified access to the property in question and to which is generally attached a waiver containing a “hold harmless” clause that will release the property owner from liability in the event of accident or injury sustained by one of the investigative team members. Barring this, authentic ghost hunters will exhaust channels of authority to assure that they have access to the property they are studying and that they are unharrassed while conducting the investigation. Permission goes a very long way and the best way to obtain it is to be up-front and honest about your intentions and the goals of the investigation. This lends a lot to your personal reputation and the reputation of your team and it will set you apart from the thrill-seekers and amateurs who are just out to get scared in a scary place. Because valid agreements work both ways, you are also protecting yourself from liability.

Strange things can happen on any ghost hunt and these are not all paranormal in nature. Usually everyone’s adrenaline is pumped, everyone is excited and the energy is popping. What you want to avoid is having your serious inquiry turn into a comedy of errors when inattentive team members suddenly start falling through dry-rotted attic floors or stairs, or get trapped under shelves and debris in basements; some have even fallen off roofs and become jammed in chimneys in overzealous searches for evidence of ghosts and spirits! And remember, a serious investigation is a controlled and careful one and it is likely that evidence acquired in a sober atmosphere will be more readily accepted than that obtained in accessory to a “frat party” or Halloween hayride atmosphere!

A good rule of thumb regarding any location is to go there during the daylight hours and make an assessment of the property. Identify the obvious dangers, note the possible dangers and possible sources of faulty evidence, and generally get a “lay of the land” so that when you and your team return for the actual investigation there is less danger of an unexpected event – the avoidable kind, that is! No place should be taken at face value and the investigator who forgets this often does so at his peril.

Take for example the story of a cemetery investigation gone horribly wrong:


One recent letter I received tells of a team of six young ghost hunters, mostly in their 20’s, all college graduates, who, inspired by the popular Ghost Hunters TV show set out one night to investigate a local cemetery.

The team had what they considered all the right equipment including cameras and tape recorders to capture evidence of paranormal activity. They headed into the cemetery, excited about their prospects and immediately split into groups of two, setting out in different directions. But what they ultimately encountered was one of the more tedious aspects of ghost hunting, namely, nothing happening at all.

After about an hour of poking around in the dark, two teams ran into each other and began talking about abandoning the hunt. However, they couldn’t resist playing a prank on their remaining team members. In one episode of Ghost Hunters, they said, they saw TAPS founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson scare team members Brian Harnois and Steve Gonsalves during a cemetery investigation. They decided to imitate the “pros.”

The two remaining members were in an older section near the rear of the cemetery where one found an old headstone that caught his interest; the last burial was listed on the stone as 1892. Hoping to get some orbs in a photo, he advanced onto the grave and began to photograph the headstone. Suddenly, he felt the earth moving beneath his feet, but before he could jump off the grave the mud beneath him began to fall in, sucking him down with it! What he did not know at the time was that the coffin from the last burial – nearer the top in this instance – had disintegrated and had collapsed under his added weight. Immediately he struggled and began screaming, but the more he scrambled, the deeper he sunk; his futile attempts to climb out of the mud only pulled it into his mouth.

With four of his friends creeping around trying to scare him and his now-missing partner, there was no one on hand to help him. His partner, poking around among old tombs on the opposite side of the cemetery, was actually overwhelmed with fear when the pranksters jumped from behind some tombs and scared the hell out of him. Soon, however, they all began to miss their sixth member and began fanning out in search of him.

Rain began to fall, light and then harder and the team spent the better part of an hour searching and calling for their lost friend before coming close to the area of the sunken grave. One team member broke away from the rest and was attracted to something moving in the mud ahead of him. Approaching the sunken grave, he called out his lost friend’s name and immediately felt the grip of a cold, groping hand on his ankle!

Yelling out in fear he pulled his leg free but lost his balance in the muck and fell back against a nearby headstone, breaking his collarbone and hitting his head as he fell. It was the screams of this second, injured team member that attracted the others to the spot. When they arrived they found one collapsed in pain on a nearby grave and another up to his neck in mud and God knows what else, standing IN a grave. But the amazing thing is that, when they first caught sight of this, all the other team members began laughing thinking their injured friends were playing a TAPS-like joke on them!

It took some minutes before they realized that their friends were not play-acting, that they were really injured and in dire need of assistance: but the task wouldn’t be easy. The buddy who was sucked down into the muck of the old grave was held in place by wet mud and gravity. They tried to dig him out, but to no avail. The more they moved the mud, the more he sank. And the rain would not let up. There was a very real chance that their friend could drown. Meanwhile, their buddy with the broken collarbone had passed out in pain and was lying prostrate on a sopping wet grave nearby.

It was literally hours, near dawn, in fact, when the amateur ghost hunters freed their friend from his premature burial and roused their injured member enough to get them both back to the car. They all spent several more hours in the emergency department of a local hospital where their soaking wet and filthy state caused a great deal of amazement. The equipment they had brought to the cemetery – cameras, recorder, everything – was left there, ruined by the rainstorms of the night before. They were lucky to have escaped with their lives.

A glaring footnote: When the emergency department physician heard their story, he reported it to a police officer on security detail at the hospital front desk. The team were all charged with trespassing, vandalism, and desecration of the dead. Needless to say, they have never attempted such an expedition since!

Unfortunately, events like this are all too common these days and the growing popularity of paranormal reality shows is doing nothing but fueling the fire for these sorts of misadventures. An in this field, imitation can be dangerous.

Another recent example that has come to my attention concerns a disastrous investigation in the Midwest where the ineptitude and unprofessional behavior rivals anything Brian Harnois – Ghost Hunters’ most reviled and incompetent member – ever did.

In the Midwest there is a popular old hotel that is infamous among students of the paranormal for the many authentic hauntings and spirit encounters associated with the place. Over the years, however, the hotel’s owners have refused nearly all requests from paranormal enthusiasts who want to conduct investigations on the site; the few requests that have been granted have gone to teams of parapsychologists from a local university and, allegedly, to the respected team of paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Requests from television programs and shows about the paranormal have been turned down out of hand.

But recently one team of avid amateurs got through the defenses and gained access to this hot bed of paranormal activity.

Apparently they arrived en masse one night, several young adults and some teenagers, wearing matching black outfits, in black vans filled with all kinds of electronic equipment and technical gizmos. Two members of this bogus team approached the night manager of the hotel and presented business cards saying that they had been “inspired by the Ghost Hunters TV show” and how they watched it religiously. The night manager told them he also liked the show and wished that the Ghost Hunters team would be allowed to investigate the hotel.

The amateur team then told him that they had the same equipment as Ghost Hunters and just as much experience – “after all,” the team leader told the manager, “if plumbers can do it, anybody can, right?”

This bluff got them access to the hotel for the night and at first they proceeded very professionally, setting up equipment and venturing about just as their Ghost Hunters heroes do on TV. However, two members of the team, finding themselves in the hotel kitchen, decided to prepare themselves a snack and raided the refrigerators where they found bacon and eggs. A frying pan was heated up and before long the kitchen was filled with the smell of sizzling hot bacon.

At just this moment, a strange noise in the hotel corridor alarmed the two investigators and they went to the kitchen doorway to investigate it. The untended bacon started to burn and one of them ran back to the stove, tripping on the way there and spattering the bacon grease all over the stove and floor. It instantly burst into flames. The other team member, trying to help his friend get away from the fire now engulfing the stove, slipped in the grease and fell, injuring his leg.

Both managed to escape the kitchen and summon help. The fire department arrived and was able to keep the fire contained in the kitchen and pantry area, but the damage there was extensive and caused the hotel to be shut down immediately for repairs.

When the presence of the “paranormal investigators” was divulged to the hotel owners, they immediately issued statements disassociating the place with any paranormal activity and a planned investigation by a well-known and popular team of valid investigators was summarily cancelled.

The members of the amateur ghost hunting team who sustained injuries that night are, not surprisingly, suing the hotel and it’s owners for injury and any other thing they can think of to sue them for. The hotel has dismissed the night manager and several attendants involved in the botched investigation and have filed a counter-suit against the members of the team for property damage, etc.

This is just one example of how reality is nothing like reality TV, especially when it comes to hunting ghosts on other peoples’ property.

So, what do you do if you are seriously interested in investigations into the spine-tingling world of the paranormal? Where do you start, and where do you get common sense when it’s really not so common?

Every major website worth its salt openly discusses this issue and provides numerous pointers on how to get started in the field of paranormal investigations and these recommendations are sometimes so obvious they are completely redundant. However, I have found a friendly list of some basic rules of thumb that I can share with you now.

COMMON SENSE RULES, excerpted from “Hunting the Dead: Methods of Ghost Chasing” by Brian Roesch.

Never trespass! Most places are indicated with signs. If the places have no signs, that does not mean you can trespass. Always get permission first! You can end up arrested or even killed. I have heard of many places where people have been seriously hurt. A lot of places have guard dogs that can shred you in seconds. I will go as far as saying you could even get killed by gunshots if a landowner thinks you are causing serious harm. So just make sure you use your “common sense” at all times.

Treat every ghost hunt location as if it were your own place. Never vandalize, litter or mark up anything. If you break something, report it! If it was something that broke by accident, the owner is usually nice enough to not charge you for damages.

You should never ghost hunt alone.

Always carry ID on you.

First time areas for ghost hunts should always be thoroughly checked first during daylight hours. At night you will be familiar with the area during your ghost hunt.

Bring flashlights and plenty of extra batteries with you.

Do not ghost hunt in bad weather!

Never take risks!

Avoid trouble situations. If some idiot sees you and starts trouble, it is best to leave.


These are some basic rules of thumb to follow that will ensure your safety and the safety of others who ghost hunt with you.

Ghost hunting and paranormal investigation are burgeoning and popular hobbies these days, just remember to play it safe and use your head and avoid imitating the non-reality of “reality” ghost hunt shows: you want to continue to be the hunter and not the HUNTED!

You can contact Lisa Lee Harp Waugh directly by email with questions or requests for media interviews or personal appearance request at: onthebaylisa@aol.com

Or Visit her web Site: The American Ghost Hunters Society