Have you ever seen or heard about an abandoned, creepy, building, whether it was an old house or abandoned factory or hospital, and remember being told that it was haunted with the spirits of previous inhabitants? Well, here in New England, you will find that there are quite a bit of those types of buildings around here; some are still serving a function today as a museum or even a livable home. Though, when it comes down to the question of ghosts and hauntings, people have different opinions and beliefs on the subject. Some say ghosts do not exist and are just made up to scare people. Others may say that ghosts and spirits are definitely real, backing up their argument with in-depth research in he field of paranormal science. There are, however, individuals like me who are curious on the topic of the existence of ghosts and say that ghosts are not real, but are willing to know more and change their opinion with actual experience. I can honestly say that, since I became a member of the Greater Boston Paranormal Associates, I lean more towards being a believer rather than a skeptic.
In this article, I want to address individuals who are extremely interested in joining a paranormal investigation crew and are completely new to the process. I have been with my group since 2012 and, over the years, I have picked up a few important procedures and rules to follow before, during, and after each investigation. What I will pass on to all you prospecting paranormal investigators are five tips and rules which I feel are most important to follow to guarantee a successful initial investigation, as well as others in the future.
1. Be prepared and gather equipment.
Yes, I agree, this tip seems quite redundant, and most drawn out, but believe me, and I am saying this from experience, you will most likely forget something. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of times my crew and I have left one or more pieces of equipment at home, and it forced us to have to go down to a local hardware store to scavenge for a replacement or we've had to go without different recording devices, like IR camcorders and amplified microphones; it dampened the quality of the investigations. What we do now is, before we leave to meet-up at the location of the investigation, we use a checklist for all of our equipment and double check to make sure we have absolutely everything.
Since most investigations are done at night, and can go on for hours, remember to bring food, snacks, water bottles, and emergencies toiletries. This is especially important for overnight investigations because your hosts or the owners of the place you are investigating will not provide you with food and drinks. Trust me, you will get hungry and thirsty; do not go to an investigation without food items.
On the subject of equipment, make sure to always, always, get one of these guys: a two prong to three prong outlet converter. In the older buildings that still have power, like the Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts, and the Paine House Museum in Coventry, Rhode Island, their electrical outlets have not been changed over to the now mandated versions with a ground outlet. In other words, most of your equipment that needs to be plugged in will not be able to work without using this converter.
2. Always test your equipment before you leave for an investigation, as well as before you begin your investigation.
To be completely honest, you cannot completely guarantee that any single piece of equipment that worked when you tested it at home will work once you set up at the location. Things happen while in transit, even if the ride was smooth and nothing got thrown around. It is very frustrating when it happens, but double testing is really the best way to make sure that you are not all of a sudden blind-sided by a mechanical failure of sorts.
On one occasion, when we had gone to investigate the Houghton Mansion, we had arrived around 3 p.m. so we could take a tour, set up, and grab dinner before the long night ahead of us. Unfortunately, our monitor which was hooked up to the DVR so we could see all of the infrared cameras, as well as one of the cameras itself, somehow broke during the five hour trip and would not turn on, even though they had worked just fine before we left. Thankfully, around the corner was a shop that sold both monitors and security cameras, so we had plenty of time to replace them before we started our investigation. This has been a one time occurrence, but a rather expensive one. The point of this tip is just to remind people that things can happen to equipment for no good reason, and that if they do, make sure to have a back-up plan; if you can afford it, find a replacement at a local shop.
3. While recording audio and video, don't whisper and don't scream.
Whispering is viewed as a taboo in the ghost hunting community. Yes, you may view it as being polite while someone is recording, but it can become somewhat of a nightmare when it is time to review the evidence back home. On a voice recording, whispering, even though you may know that it came from a team member, throws off the evidence reviewing process because it almost sounds inhuman, like a faint, spirit-like noise. When wanting to communicate thoughts or questions to the team during an EVP, just talk normally.
On the other side of the spectrum, screaming is also something that is highly frowned upon. It is understandable that you may feel something touch you that is not there or that you may hear a disembodied voice or noise, and it may freak you out, but you need to stay calm and not scream. Like whispering, it causes drama for the reviewing team. The best thing to do is relax, stay calm, and report on what happened; for example, state clearly that you felt like something touched you or that you heard someone say a name or word.
4. Have a conversation.
In shows like "Ghost Hunters," you will notice that most of the time they are asking multiple questions, waiting for responses from potential spirits in haunted locations. Questions are good, but constantly asking them will yield little to no results. If a spirit or ghost has some sentience, it will act more like a human. Think about it this way, would you be more responsive and feel more inclined to be included in a situation where you feel like you are being interrogated or where there is a possibly interesting conversation going on? Honestly, I would go with option two, and that is what the ghosts usually prefer as well. If a spirit is asked question after question, they will be less likely to want to talk. However, if team members talked and had a conversation, and it could be about pretty much anything they wanted to talk about, a spirit would be curious and want to join in or try to make the investigators pay attention to it.
5. Patience is not just a virtue; it is a requirement.
Though short, this section is very important. Do not let the shows you see on the SyFy channel fool you; ghost hunting is not always as exciting and heart pumping as is portrayed in the media. When I say you have to really be patient, I mean it. For us, an average investigation begins at 8:30 - 9 p.m. and goes on until 3 a.m. It gets very tiring being up throughout the night, and it can be extremely boring due to inactivity. You have to remember, it is nothing like the television shows. Yes, it will seem like the time moves slowly, but in order to really expect to get anything from your investigations, you have to be patient. In the end, it really does pay off, even though you might have not found anything, which is expected, especially on a first investigation. The experience itself is well worth it.
Ghost hunting is not for everyone, especially those who want instant results or are easily disappointed with experiences that are not intense enough. However, I do definitely suggest everyone who is interested in this sort of thing at least try it once. Never had I pictured myself actually becoming a member of a paranormal team, yet here I am today actively investigating and building up experiences from each location we visit. Expect to make mistakes; it does happen. You will always have good and bad days. Maybe you left your infrared thermometer at home and for some reason the DVR is not picking up camera number three, or you underestimated how filling that meal was before your investigation and forgot snacks at home. Whatever the case may be, you live and learn from your mistakes and can use that experience to improve your future investigations with better planning. Take it from me, I mentioned previously that I have been doing this for a few years now, and I still continue to make mistakes, sometimes the same ones over and over again, but I consider it to be a continuous learning experience.
