I am not sure what age I was when I got interested in the paranormal. I remember in the mid-eighties I tried to “will” my stuff animals to move, heck I tried to “will” the brownies in the kitchen to float into my room. Parents were asleep and nothing moved.

My before elementary school and elementary school years I knew of the “Twilight Zone” and “Tales from the Darkside.” I watched “Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century,” “The Greatest American Hero,” “Manimal,” “V,” “The Bionic Woman and the Six Million Dollar Man,” Battlestar Galactica” and many other science fictions shows that had some “paranormal” sense about them.

My last year in elementary school there was a book fair. I went to the book fair and found a “how to” guide to cheerleading and a book about hauntings. I bought both. By this time I already knew who E.T. was, along with Freddy, Jason, and Michael. This was before the age of the X-Files, Friday the 13^th: The Series, and other “scary” shows. My parents were okay with me having a book on hauntings.

The junior high school brought about the hair bands, again I knew who Def Leppard was while in elementary school. It also brought along books by the King of Horror himself, Stephen King, along with Dean Koontz. I got into a show called “Misfits of Science.”

High school, still into the horror books, but add some comic books. The high school also brought along “Tales from the Crypt,” “Freddy’s Nightmares,” and “Friday the 13^th: The Series.” Everything I was reading and watching just fueled my interest into the paranormal. My last year in high school my parents bought me an Ouija Board, and yes we used it. I even had a horror night sleep over. Horror movies, popcorn, and the Ouija Board. Nothing bad happened. Before the board, and after, I heard my named called out. I turned around, there was nothing there.

I still had the board when I got married. The guy knew I was interested in the paranormal and he told me he was okay with it. That all changed after the marriage. The abused started in, along with him wanting me to give up on such shows, which at this point was the “X-Files.”

After I broke away from that marriage in 2002. Thanks to the World Wide Web, I came across a site called “Prairie Ghosts” and an investigator named Troy Taylor. I bought some of his books and started my own “ghost hunting group” called Christian County Ghost Hunters Society. It was just me and one friend. We investigated some of the “hauntings” in our county, which is what the group was named after. I had problems keeping people in the group. They were looking for fun and games, which is not what the group was about. We were there to help people and do so by being safe.

I cannot remember what year it was when I came across an internet paranormal radio show called APSR. The show started Dr. Jimmy Lowery and Todd Bates. I became a regular listener to the program. To where I ended up help out in the chat room being a monitor. Todd Bates left the show and created his own internet paranormal radio show called Haunted Voices. Todd went a step further to where he taught people about EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). Both shows talked with guests about their paranormal experiences, we are talking about John Zaffis, Ed and Lorain Warren, and Steven LaChance, along with the hosts sharing their own experiences. After a while, both shows went off the air.

During this time with APSR and Haunted Voices, yes weird stuff happen to me and to my current husband. In my parents’ home, Bruce and I came back from the store. The front room was smoky. I thought the house was on fire. Bruce and I are the only ones living there, with two cats. Both cats were laying on the couch looking at us running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I stopped and looked at Bruce, we both knew something was in the front room with us. When I reached over to get the camera, we saw the smoke gather to the center of the room and through the ceiling.

What happened to me during my first marriage was taking a hold of me while the years went on. I disbanded the “ghost hunting” group. Which was okay, too many were popping up all over the place. I decided to just research the area in hopes of making a book or incorporate the stories into a story of my own. To this day, I still research my old county and also the new county that I live in. I no longer hear my name called. But once in a while, when I am in a good mood, I can sometimes hear a voice. A cry, my name. It gives me hope that there is a part of my old self still inside me that my first husband did not take away. I am planning on using my experience and research into the paranormal for my fiction stories.

According to Pew Research, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost. 29% believe they have been in touch with the dead. Newsweek wrote that 54% of Americans believe that there is extra-terrestrial intelligent life. I am one that believes in the afterlife and that there is life on other planets. There are so many shows on television today that is geared towards the paranormal.

Todd Bates might have taken a vacation, but he is back. He is one of the very few EVP authorities in the paranormal investigation world. He was also an adviser for the Discovery Channel for a show called “A Haunting” the episode was called “Sallies House”. This time, at his side, is a man named Phil Roell, who is also a paranormal investigator and an EVP analyst. Okay, you heard me say EVP. What the heck is EVP? EVP is known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon. It is when you captured a spirit’s voice on digital or an analog recording device. Normally, you cannot hear these voices with your own ear.

Haunted Voices is live on Tuesday nights. On Tuesday, Jan. 10^th, 2017 their return to the paranormal radio world had the guest of Joshua P. Warren, on the 17^th their guests were Stanton Friedman and Michael Shermer. On the 24^th their guests are Lyle Blackburn and Craig Webb. On the 31st the guests are Matthew Alper and Nicole Strickland. On Feb. 7th guests are Kris Sedersten and Laura Krieser. If you are into the paranormal, then this is the place you want to be. When you there, tell Todd Bates I sent you.