Michael Pye - Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings: Am I Being Haunted?

E XPOSED , U NCOVERED, AND D ECLASSIFIED :
G HOSTS , S PIRITS ,
& H AUNTINGS

Am I Being Haunted?

Edited by Michael Pye
& Kirsten Dalley

Copyright 2011 by Michael Pye and Kirsten Dalley

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

E XPOSED , U NCOVERED, AND D ECLASSIFIED: G HOSTS , S PIRITS , & H AUNTINGS

E DITED BY K IRSTEN D ALLEY

T YPESET BY D IANA G HAZZAWI

Cover design by Ian Shimkoviak/the BookDesigners

Printed in the U.S.A.

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The subject of the afterlife and ghosts has a perennial appeal that transcends time and culture. After all, every single one of us will travel down that road eventually. Humanity has done its best to demystify what happens to us after death, thereby making it less frightening and perhaps even comforting (if indeed we end up in a better place). The ancient Egyptians gave food and sundries to their dead for their travels to the Otherworld; modern-day Mexico observes its Dia de los Muertos with a carnival-like atmosphere of drinking and parties; and Americans still enjoy trick-or-treating on Halloween, another ghostly holiday. But despite these varied and culturally sanctioned efforts to grapple with death and assimilate its grim inevitability into our consciousness, the doubts and fears linger. Death in any guise will always repulse us, and ghosts will always scare us.

Despite these fears, however, some people are drawn to the study of hauntings and ghosts. Some people actually volunteer to spend a night in a haunted house, chase ghosts, or contact the dead. For some, this is not just a job or a hobby, but an obsession. For years science has been reluctant to tackle the issues of ghostly phenomena and life after death, but during the last decade or so, a new openness to the paranormal has found purchase in the areas of scientific inquiry. Much of todays research is built upon the work that Dr. Raymond Moody started with his Life After Life. More recent scientific pioneers include John Lerma, MD, author of Into the Light, and Jeffrey Long, MD, author of Evidence of the Afterlife, both of whom have put their medical careers at risk by coming forward and telling people the truth about what they have witnessed. They do so not to gain fame or fortune, but because they can no longer ignore their deeply held belief that there is an afterlife and that the spirits of the dead are still trying to contact the living.

In this collection you will find a group of people on the front lines of inquiry into the paranormal, sharing their research and stories as only they can tell them. Follow them to ghostly climes as they chase poltergeists; come along to Gettysburg as they photograph long-dead Civil War soldiers; run alongside them as they chase down ghostly animals and cryptids; and observe them in psychiatric hospitals and the groves of academe and science as they seek out more prosaic explanations for paranormal activities and hauntings. But as you do so, remember what Nietzsche saidwhen you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

Are you ready?

Kirsten Dalley and Michael Pye
August 2011

By Andrew Nichols

Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless.

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

The image of the haunted house is firmly planted in our collective consciousness. In the ancient world it was a common belief that every dwelling had its own spirit, or genius loci, and it was honored and respected. Neglecting to make offerings to these guardian spirits of the home would almost certainly result in a run of bad luck, nightmares, or what we would today refer to as poltergeist activity. Most people today consider themselves too civilized to believe in fairies or goblins, but the belief in spirits of the dead and the archetypal haunted house is deeply rooted in the human psyche. The dark, decaying Victorian mansion, draped with cobwebs and probably adjacent to a crumbling cemetery; bats flying out of shattered windows; and shutters banging in the windthese stereotypes, reinforced by Hollywood films and horror novels, actually have some basis in fact. It is true that older homes where generations have lived and died are more likely to be plagued by ghostly experiences than more modern structures, but most genuine haunted houses are far from fitting this image. Many newer homes, including those that have never been occupied, are believed to be haunted. I have even come across several haunted mobile homes and newly constructed apartment buildings. In some cases, a reputedly haunted structure is torn down, and another building constructed on the same site will continue to produce reports of ghostly phenomena. Although houses are the most commonly reported locations of hauntings (or haunts), there are also haunted churches, schools, businesses, apartment buildings, and stretches of road. Most haunts seem to be confined to a particular location, but some will follow the living inhabitants if they move to another location. Many hauntings also seem to be triggered by renovations or structural changes to a property.

A haunting or haunt may be defined as any location where certain types of paranormal experiences repeatedly occur. The most commonly reported phenomena are the sounds of footsteps or voices. These sounds may recur in one location within the house, such as the sound of footsteps on the stairs or down a particular hall. Sometimes these sounds occur at regular intervals, at certain times of night, or on certain days of the year. Another commonly reported phenomenon is the movement of objects or doors opening or closing by themselves. Cold spots may be experienced in the house. These spots may remain in one location or move around. Cold breezes may be felt, as if something invisible had passed by. Sometimes residents or visitors report the touch of unseen hands. Usually these touches are light and harmless, but punches, pushes, and bites are also occasionally reported. Apparitions are also frequently seen in haunted houses. These are the visible ghosts, and most often they resemble a living human being and appear to be completely solid. They are often mistaken for real living people until they vanish suddenly or walk through a wall or closed door. Apparitions may also be transparent or monochromatic. They may resemble a cloud of smoke or vapor, and may sometimes be incomplete or patchy. Sometimes strange lights or shadows are seen. Small, spherical ghost lights are frequently reported floating about in haunted locations. Unexplained smells are also common; these may vary from the smell of tobacco or perfume to terrible smells of rotting flesh or sulphur. Staircases, bedrooms, and bathrooms are common places for ghost sightings. Lights turning themselves on and off, pictures falling from the walls, and sounds of voices speaking, or screams or moans, are also frequently reported. In poltergeist cases, rapping noises may emanate from the walls, objects may fly across the room, and fires may start spontaneously. These are the terrifying events which have sent many families fleeing from their homes.