Brandon Alvis - Elements of a Haunting: Connecting History with Science to Uncover the Greatest Ghost Stories Ever Told

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Elements of a Haunting: Connecting History with Science to Uncover the Greatest Ghost Stories Ever Told 2022 by Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gatollari.

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First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738768489

Book design by Samantha Peterson

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Holy Manor cover image by Andrew Sciazko

Photos provided by the authors

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Alvis, Brandon, author. | Gatollari, Mustafa, author.

Title: Elements of a haunting : connecting history with science to uncover

the greatest ghost stories ever told / Brandon Alvis, Mustafa Gatollari.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications,

2022. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021041658 (print) | LCCN 2021041659 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738768229 | ISBN 9780738768489 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: ParapsychologyInvestigation. | Ghosts.

Classification: LCC BF1029 .A48 2022 (print) | LCC BF1029 (ebook) | DDC

133dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021041658

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021041659

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

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Llewellyn Publications

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Manufactured in the United States of America

To David Vadim, for showing me how to fight for

myself, and what to fight for. I love you.

To my wife, Mariam, and my children, Zack and Eva:
when Im doing my best, Im fighting for you. I love you.

To Monday and Wednesday nights,
and Friday afternoons: thank you.

To Distractify.com for always having my back.

Brandon Alvis

To my brothers, Eric and Gary. Thank you for having such a huge impact on my life. To Taylor and my son Lucius, my love for you both will transcend this life into the next. To my parents, Kandy and Gary. Thank you for showing me how important life is on this plane of existence. To those that want answers to the ultimate question, does life extend beyond death.

Mustafa Gatollari

Contents

by Dr. Harry Kloor

: In the Beginning, by Brandon Alvis

: Ghost Science

: Ethics, Protocols, and Standards

: Technology and the Paranormal

: The Grey Lady

: Paranormal Malpractice

: Living in a Haunted Hotel

: Victorian Era Hauntings

: Hospital Phenomena

: A Nurses Cry for Help

Foreword

Throughout history every civilization has created myths about supernatural entities that are capable of being observed by the living. Ghosts, shadow creatures, dark entities, souls, and lost spirits are believed to exist by people all around the world. Often such ethereal entities are mischief makers or downright evil, though occasionally these otherworldly entities are helpful, kind, or simply lost loved ones who have come for a visit to say final goodbyes or tell the grandchildren to behave themselves. Whether one believes in the afterlife or not, we are often entertained by such stories in books, television shows, and movies. And who among us doesnt enjoy a good ghost story around a campfire with friends and family, and of course smores? But do such entities actually exist? For more than a decade, reality TV series have entertained audiences, searching for proof of their existence, but unfortunately fall short of any solid proof that cannot be attributed to the human minds tendency to find patterns, or the limitation of devices to detect anomalies. In science, we have strict rules of evidence, not because we are deniers, but because we know that real phenomena is measurable. If you use an instrument and detect a signal that is in the noise level thats within the sensitivity limits of the device, its not really evidence of anything. The human mind is an amazing thing; we evolved to see patterns, which is why we see figures in clouds, or see animals in shadows when none exist. If we didnt have this ability, we would have perished long before developing tools or discovering fire. But the fact that irrefutable proof of the supernatural has not been found, doesnt mean that it cannot be found. When famed physicist Wolfgang Pauli introduced in 1930 an undetectable, invisible particle to explain energy nonconservation in nuclear decay, many considered it a fantasy. In fact, many called it a ghost particle. Later, it would be named a neutrino, and eventually it would be detected and proven to exist. Its possible that we will discover solid evidence of supernatural entities one day. I, for one, would be thrilled at such a discovery. Like Brandon, I have suffered many losses early in life, including my father at age fourteen, and two brothers. Such loss builds a desire to know if there is something beyond the existence that we see. I was introduced to Brandon many years ago through a mutual friend, who was a member of American Paranormal Research Association (APRA). I joined this team as the resident scientist. Some might call me a skeptic, but all too often skeptics are driven by a desire to prove that ghosts dont exist. I find such people not only to be boors, but to be blinded by their nonbelief. As a scientist I dont seek to believe or disbelieve the supernatural, I seek to find evidence that would explain the phenomena that is so often observed around the world. That there is phenomena of various types is undeniable. Exactly what is that phenomena is what one needs to determine. Is it a trick of the mind? A chemical reaction to something in the environment? Ultralow sound frequencies? Magnetic anomalies that affect the human senses? Or truly supernatural entities? It is likely a combination of some of the above. Determining if one of those is supernatural requires the application of a scientific method, which to date has not really been applied. This is why I enjoy working with Brandon and the rest of the team at APRA, because they not only have a desire to apply the scientific method and to use devices that could actually detect signals above the noise level, but also understand that if supernatural entities exist, they might not all be the same. From different paths, we each reach the same conclusion that if you are to study the supernatural, a classification system is needed so you are not pooling every observation. Imagine going to Africa in search of a lion, and as you searched the forest and found evidence of animal footprints, scat, and heard animal sounds, you classified that all as proof of lions. If you did, you end up with no picture of a lion, as it is a mess of conflicting evidence. It would be absurd to do that. So why is it acceptable that most supernatural investigations just describe everything as evidence of a ghost or haunting? Its because they lack a good classification system. With such a system, you could begin to detail all the conditions around potential phenomena and perhaps find true evidence of various supernatural entities. In the book you are about to read, the authors put this principle into action. Whether you are a believer, a skeptic, or a scientist like me, I think you will enjoy the authors approaches and the application of them to their own experiences/investigations. Now turn off all but one light, sit down with a cup of hot chocolate or a good scotch, and enjoy.