More at the Lincoln Square Theatre

The Lincoln Square Theatre fails to disappoint. I usually don’t leave without having some kind of experience. And the nice thing about the Lincoln is that the spirits are fun and playful. If you get scared, it’s all on your part, not on the part of the friendly ghosts.

Our Ouija “message”

My first experience with the Lincoln’s ghosts came on an overnight my husband and I did; I believe it was the first one. There were two girls on stage with a Ouija board, and they were frustrated because they weren’t getting anything to happen with it. This was almost at the end of a long night and many of those attending the overnight had left.

So I asked them if they minded if I gave it a try. I happen to be very good with Ouija boards. So I put my fingers on the planchette and my husband did the same. The planchette is the thing that slides across the board and stops at letters or numbers to give you your “message.” Right away, the thing took off and zipped over to “goodbye” on the board and stopped. I tried asking a question, and once more, it took off, zipped around the board and stopped at “goodbye.”

I tried a few more times to ask questions, and each time, the little wooden piece would go zipping off and then stop on “goodbye.” Each time, it seemed to get faster and more erratic, almost as if it were getting irritated with me for not getting the message. After all, what part of “goodbye” were we not understanding?

So we took our fingers off and I told the girls that I thought the spirits were tired of playing with the ghost hunters for the night and were telling us to go home.

Phantom footsteps

At another one of the overnights, once many people had left and there were only a handful remaining, I settled in a seat on the main floor in the center section just off the aisle. People report seeing something up on the Mezzanine from the main floor and I figured I’d stake it out with my camera and see what I could see.

I set my camera bag, all my stuff and my flashlight in the aisle next to me, acutely aware that if anyone came up the aisle, they’d likely trip over my stuff in the dark. At that time, I always carried my big Maglite flashlight with me; I have a much smaller one now. But it would make an easy thing to trip over for anyone walking up the aisle. So I settled in, with an ear toward the door from the stage behind me, just in case, ready to pull my stuff out of the aisle.

Sure enough, about 15 minutes or so later, I heard footsteps coming up the aisle behind me. I quickly moved and reached down to pull my stuff out of the aisle. As I did, I turned my head to apologize to the person who was coming up the aisle. You guessed it: No one was there.
I looked around. There was no one anywhere on the main floor except me.

How do I know it wasn’t my imagination? I can only say that it’s because of my reaction. I immediately went to move my things, convinced without giving it a thought that it was someone coming up the aisle behind me.

So, for a while after that, I kept my back turned and my ears perked behind me, hoping I’d have it happen again. Not a chance. My phantom visitor was gone.

Date night

One really fun spot on the main floor of the Lincoln still defies any explanation for me.

Anyone who watches the paranormal “ghost hunting” shows knows what an EMF meter is. It measures electromagnetic energy in the air. It’s thought that ghosts, of course, are energy and any time they are present, it will disrupt that electrical energy in the air. Of course, other things will set off these meters, such as lights, appliances, anything electrical, including cell phones.

Well, on one of my trips to the Lincoln, I was roaming the main floor of the theater and using my meter to check readings. I found two chairs, just off one of the aisles that registered off the chart on my meter from the bottom of the seat to about where a sitting person’s head would be. Just those two chairs. If I went higher than head level, I lost the reading. If I went back to another seat or farther into the aisle, I lost the reading. It was completely gone.

Yes, there are lights on the floor and on some of the chairs to guide theater patrons to and from seats, but I checked those out and they didn’t have anything to do with it. I got nothing registering from the floor lights, and there were no chair lights on this aisle.

I pulled out my camera to get a shot of the meter going off, and the reading was gone. My meter was at zero, where just a second before, it had been going nuts. The chair next to it was gone as well. Nothing. I waited a few minutes, but it didn't come back.

The rest of the night, I randomly checked out the seats. Most of the night, it wasn’t there, but every now and again, I’d catch it back in the seats. But, as soon as I pulled out my camera or set the meter down, it was gone again.

I mentioned it to someone at the theater, and he jokingly said it was probably some ghost couple enjoying “Star Wars” for the umpteenth time. I kind of liked that. It appealed to the romantic in me.

So, every time since, I check in with my ghost couple in the seats. Still haven’t found any rhyme or reason for the readings, but sometimes they’re there and sometimes not. A few times, it’s only been in one chair, but mostly it’s in both.

Finally, on one of my trips, I was able to get a picture of the meter going off, sitting on the chair, but it was definitely on it’s way down the scale from the high-point reading. Maybe it was hoping that if it let me take the photo, I’d quit bugging it and leave whoever it was alone to enjoy the show.

I still check in at those seats. I’ve sat in them a few times and never felt anything strange. It’s kind of fun. I’d tell you where the seats are, but if you ever get to the Lincoln, check it out for yourself. It’s more fun if you find them on your own.

Still more stories to come …

"Stage Stomper"

The Lincoln Theatre in Decatur is a jewel. It is a jewel for lovers of history and for actors and musicians - the acoustics in the old girl are perfection. It’s also a jewel for ghost lovers.

On Oct. 22, the Lincoln is going to be the site of a benefit for St. Jude’s called Spookapalooza. You can find information on Facebook. It will be a night of partying, costumes, music and fun - all for a good cause. And I’m sure the spirits of the Lincoln will be there, enjoying every minute of it. So, in celebration of the Lincoln and Spookapalooza, I’m going to share some of my stories and personal experiences in the Lincoln.

The Lincoln Theatre opened in October of 1916, and will be celebrating its 95th birthday. It was built on the former grounds of the Arcade Hotel, which burned down in 1915, and took an unknown number of lives. The Lincoln's stage hosted many major vaudeville acts during its heyday, including Bob Hope, Harry Houdini, Jeanette MacDonald, Chico Marx and many, many more. It later was left dark and vacant for years. It has since undergone a renovation process that has restored some of her luster, but much more is needed.

The first time I spent the evening in the Lincoln Theatre, it was a Halloween overnight with a group hosted by Troy Taylor. This was before the renovations had taken place. I remember walking on the original stage, being in awe because Houdini had been there before me and, as a memento of his appearance, a trapdoor that was built for him remained in the stage and visible, especially from below in the basement/dressing room area. Now, the stage is still there, but has been covered over and the trapdoor is no longer visible in the basement because of a ceiling being added and the dressing rooms renovated.

Anyway … as I mentioned, the acoustics in the Lincoln are amazing. Noises on the stage can be heard all the way into the upper balcony. It was perfect for the days when they didn’t have modern amplification systems and such, but not so perfect for modern-day ghost hunters wanting to keep noise to a minimum.

So my first stories will be about noise.

My husband and I, on our first overnight into the Lincoln, had been assigned a group. We were one of four groups, each rotating into a different part of the theater: The basement/dressing rooms, the stage, the main floor and mezzanine, and the upper balcony.

When we were in the upper balcony, I was finding it hard to stay awake. At this time, I hadn’t taken a camera into the theater and very few people brought sophisticated “ghost equipment” as happens now. Most people were there for the experience. It was so quiet up in the upper balcony and we tried not to move around a whole lot to cut down on the noise.

My husband and I were sitting in different places in the balcony, and he said to me after we left that he was really ticked off because someone was inconsiderate enough to be stomping around on stage. It really annoyed him. I didn’t remember any stomping around. He was amazed, because he said it sounded like someone in heavy-soled boots just stomping down, not even attempting to be quiet. I told him again that I didn’t hear it and, in fact, had been bored to tears and nearly falling asleep.

Well, my husband shared his annoyance with the “stage stomper” later with the group. None of them claimed to have heard it, either.

On another overnight, much later, I was sitting on the Mezzanine level in the back row and I was hearing an orchestra tune up. Every time I thought it was my imagination and dismissed it from my mind, it would float through the air to me again. This went on for about a half-hour. There were a few people on the Mezzanine with me and I asked if anyone else was hearing music and they all gave me a “no” for an answer.

I have a very active imagination, I will grant you that. However, I hadn’t been thinking about an orchestra to have conjured one up in my mind. And, the thing it reminded me of? Anyone who has been to Disney World and visited The Muppets in 3D knows what I’m talking about: The penguin orchestra tunes up its instruments before the beginning of the show. It reminded me eerily of that.

Unfortunately, my little “tune-up” performance didn’t appear on my digital recorder. It was obviously for my ears only.

Which brings me to tell those of you who don’t run around with other paranormal investigators that sounds are interesting things. There may be more than one recording device in a room - maybe several - and a particular voice or sound may be picked up on one, several, all or none. I’ve met people who’ve heard the sounds of a battle on one of the battlefields of Gettysburg, only to not have it picked up on a recorder or video recorder. Voices will show up on recorders that aren’t heard at the time and vice versa.

What was heard? Why was it heard by one person and not another? How could it be picked up by one device and not others in the same room? Why would people hear it, but it not show up on audio recorders or audio tracks with video? You’re beginning to get the idea of what keeps us paranormal investigators coming back for more.

More stories of the Lincoln Theatre will be coming. In the meantime, if you’d like to explore the history of the Lincoln Theatre, and Decatur’s other grande dame theater in Decatur, The Avon, I urge you to pick up Troy Taylor’s book “Flickering Images: History & Hauntings of the Avon Theater.” For some fun haunted theater stories from around the country, look up Tom Ogden’s book “Haunted Theaters.” Ogden’s book doesn’t go in-depth into the history of the theaters, just covers the basic stories. Taylor’s books are fun because he’s done the research - for better or worse in regard to legends and stories - and you get a more complete picture of the locations.

Enjoy!

Paranormal poll

Quick blog posting; quick topic.

It’s interesting to talk to the people around you and realize that some of the people you’d least expect either have had paranormal experiences or believe in ghosts or the paranormal or both.

The following item comes from Men’s Health magazine, via the Bump in the Night newsletter from prolific ghost author Troy Taylor. Reading it reminded me of a guy I know who is big, burly, gruff, tough and absolutely the LAST person you’d expect to believe in ghosts. But he does. He had an experience that convinced him. We all expect women to be believers in the paranormal, but it’s kind of surprising out of the guys.

So, here you go, from Men’s Health:

* 2 out of 3 men believe that have souls that will outlive their bodies
* 1 out of 3 believe some of those free-floating souls come back to haunt us
* 41 percent of men believe that its possible to communicate with the dead
* 7 percent say they have tried it by using a Ouija Board
* 25 percent seek out spooky thrills, like ghost tours, while on vacation
* 2 out of 3 believe that places can be haunted
* 1 out of 3 say they know this from firsthand experience

If you are interested in the newsletter or just want to check it out, go to: www.prairieghosts.com/ and sign up. There’s also a wealth of information on ghost tours, haunted overnights, haunted places, books, etc. on this website belonging to Troy Taylor and the American Ghost Society, of which I’m a proud member! I know, shameless plug. What can I say?

Special anniversary

I was going to write about Lebanon, Illinois, and my trip this weekend to that wonderful city and the great time I had on the ghost tour, but that’s going to wait. I want to share what I believe to be a special experience that happened today.

I really do believe my father-in-law called to wish my husband and I a happy 30th anniversary. Why is this experience so special? He’s been dead for more than 30 years. I’ve written before about how I believe he’s stopped in every now and again to visit us, usually when something good or big is happening in our lives.

Flashback: When my niece was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, my mother-in-law and I were sitting in her living room and my hubby was in the kitchen of her home. He couldn’t see us, so he didn’t see this happen. My mother-in-law said she wished my hubby’s dad could be there to see his granddaughter confirmed. Just then the lamp sitting on the table flickered twice. The lamp was one that turned on and off with a tap (a touch lamp). It flicked off and on, very quickly, twice.

My mother-in-law and I looked at each other. We didn’t say anything, but we looked at each other. I told my hubby about it later.

I honestly thought at the time that it was him saying, “Hey, I’m here!” It was his way of letting us know that he wouldn’t miss such as big event in his granddaughter‘s life. For the record, I’d never seen that lamp do that before, and I haven’t seen it do it since. It stuck in my mind because I thought it was very cool.

Flash Forward. Today (Oct. 3) was my husband and my 30th anniversary. I had been at work for a while and my hubby was at home. All of a sudden, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the display. It was my hubby’s cell phone calling, and I was kind of surprised because I couldn’t figure out what he wanted, since he’d left not too long before.

I opened the phone to answer it (no, I don’t have a smart phone, but my hubby does). At first, I didn’t hear anyone on the other end, but I answered it. There was no answer to my “hello.” I looked down and saw that the connection was there, and said “hello” again. This time, my hubby’s voice came over the line.

He’d been holding his phone, but he hadn’t called me. He heard my voice coming over the phone and answered, but he hadn’t “dialed” it. His phone called me. He said “I swear, I didn’t call you, my phone did.”

I started laughing and said, “Your dad called.”

It’s a smart phone. It operates with a touch. Kinda like the lamp?

I know there’s plenty of people out there who are going to pooh-pooh what happened, and while I will acknowledge there are possible natural explanations for it, I believe it was him, getting us on the line as a way of saying “happy anniversary” to both of us. And I know he’s smiling down at us and laughing at how clever he was, using our technology to call on our anniversary. I won’t be the least bit surprised if it never happens again.

Sometime, someday, we’re going to meet again, on the other side, whatever the “other side” is, and he’s going to look at me and say, “You got it!!”

Remember, it’s the little things. A special happy anniversary.

Thanks, Bub. I got it.

Little things mean a lot

Little things.

We say that a lot in life boils down to little things. Little things break couples up. Little things mean the most. Little things can be SO irritating. A little can go a long way.

So, why, when we’re looking for some kind of sign from a loved one from “the other side,” whatever that may be, do we expect something grandiose, something huge and out of a Hollywood blockbuster special-effects movie?

I’ve read a lot of accounts of people who believe they’ve had a sign from someone after a death, everything from finding a feather, to hearing a song, smelling a perfume or particular scent and noting the behavior of a bird. One of the best stories is in the book “Haunted Baseball” and it’s a chapter titled “Jim Thome and the Bird” - no not THAT kind of bird, the kind with wings. It’s a very touching story, but I’m not going to recount it here. You can read it yourself.

The very best story I’ve heard was related to me by a mom who lost her daughter to cancer. I don’t remember all the details of the story, but it involved the mom seeing a rainbow and knowing it had been sent as a sign from her daughter. Rainbows were a special thing for them.

Think about it. If you saw some kind of Hollywood special effects type of display, wouldn’t you be sure it was a fake?

But what about a particular thing - in nature, in your home, somewhere - that has a special meaning only to you and someone else (or maybe a couple of someone elses)?

Whenever people sit down with a medium to “read” them, the really good ones don’t fish around. There’s no trial-and-error, no guessing, no picking up on signals. I had never seen anything so amazing as this medium - a woman - who read a woman in the audience - most definitely not a plant - and the conversation was VERY short, maybe a few sentences, and she answered the question very specifically. It knocked my socks off. If you think you’ve seen this kind of thing on TV and know what I’m talking about - you haven’t. This was absolutely mind-blowing. This woman in the audience wasn’t even asking for herself, but for a friend. Boom, question answered, done. That quick.

Again, we’re talking about a really good medium here. It always seems when a connection is made, the message is something small, something seemingly insignificant, almost something everyday. But if you listen closely, it’s almost always something that holds meaning only for those two people communicating or that particular family. Something pretty darn specific. “This spirit is laughing about the time you went to the store and were trying on hats and you wore this awful purple creation.” “She’s teasing you about the ribbon you won at the county fair.” Things like that.

I believe my father-in-law, who died about a year before my husband and I got married, has visited us a few times. Why? He smoked, and while that alone wouldn’t convince anyone, I would smell fresh cigarette smoke in our house in a specific spot when something was going on with my husband. Usually something good. If you’ve ever lived with a smoker, you know the difference between fresh cigarette smoke and stale, recycled cigarette smoke. This was fresh and very heavy. Then, poof! It was gone. All trace of the smell. Usually as soon as I mentioned his name. At one time, my husband asked me if I thought someone would communicate with something that, well, ethereal - although that’s not the word he used - maybe it was “intangible.”

Why not? It certainly got the point across with me. Message received. Although I think he’s abandoned us for his new great-grandson. Can’t blame him. The little guy is a cutie.

But why isn’t that kind of message good enough? Is it because we expect something really profound?

What if the message is something like “It’s so nice here.” “I’m fine.” “It’s peaceful.” It may be true, but aren’t you inclined to dismiss that stuff? That could be from anyone … it’s so … ordinary … predictable. But knowing about that purple hat … well, that might be some real connection.

Like seeing a rainbow.

P.S. Yes, still working on the cat audio. I haven’t forgotten, because I’ll have more audio to come, as well. And thanks for reading. Invite your friends.

No audio link

Sorry, guys. I'm working on it and will have my crack team take a look. I will get it up, I promise.

Thanks for the patience!

Ghost cat, part 2

So there we all are, at the old Jacksonville Funeral Home, taking a tour of the location and listening to a description of the paranormal phenomena that the people connected with the theatre guild experience. They would have doors open and close, coffee pots turn off and on, strange electrical things (the wiring goes back to the early days of the building, so you expect it to be glitchy), voices, musical instruments, including an organ, violin and trombone, that are recorded, shadowy figures in hallways and a woman in white.

Downstairs is where the viewing rooms were and also the kitchen, which had been the embalming room - think about that when you’re having your Cheerios, eh? The top floor, which is the third floor, was where the Williamsons lived when the funeral home was there. There was a spiral staircase and a lot of rooms packed with clothing, props, etc.

I’ll admit it, I was drawn to all the clothes. Old, new, wedding dresses, everyday dresses. Shoes, jackets, hats. Wow! My idea was to see if I could mine the clothing for something attached to it. But other than having a good time looking, I was getting a whole lot of nothing. Maybe I expected someone to just yell, "hey, you, stop that!" I don't know.

I was in the hat room, which was just a little room tucked into the corner of the top floor. Next to the hat room was a hallway and the stairs led down off it. The hallway went quite far back to the other side of the floor, and there were costumes hanging everywhere in this space. When I first came up, I could see a couple of women messing around at the other end with a flashlight.

For those who haven‘t see it, what they were doing is playing a trick with the flashlight. You set it so it will just come on if it’s touched and then ask the ghosts/spirits to turn it on and off for you. I don’t make a habit of doing this, nor have I seen it done a lot, I’ll confess, but the only place I’ve ever seen it work is on “Ghost Hunters” and it seems to work all the time for them. Maybe that should tell us something - either we need to get easier flashlights to flip on or smarter ghosts, maybe? I’m guessing it has more to do with former than latter.

Across the hallway was another room packed with - guess what? - more clothing. This is where a guy I know took a photo of a shadowy figure down at the far end. This guy has a real knack for ghost photography. He saw and took a photo of it. So that made it a popular place to hang out to see if the shadow would make a return appearance.

So, there I am, across the hallway and taking photos in the hat room and darned if I don’t hear a cat. The first call was kind of faint, but the second sounded like it was right outside the door. I’m kind of internally rolling my eyes at the thought of all these costumes AND a cat wandering around up there. But I don’t see the cat while looking out through the door, and no one is saying anything about a cat.

(I’ll do my best to write an imitation of the noise: “Mrwargh.” Anyone who has a cat would recognize the kind of hide-and-seek noise it was making.)

Finally, I say out into the hallway, “Did anyone else hear a cat?”

I get several affirmatives to the my question.

Finally someone starts calling “Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” which is, in my experience, the best way to make one hide in scorn. But I heard it cry faintly a couple more times, farther back into the walkway of the room.

There was an open window there, and some people making some noise outside the window. However, I was between the window and where the “cat” was, and the noises were coming from distinctly different directions. And, believe me, the cat was closer.

Then, one girl jumped slightly. She’d felt the cat rub against her. Anyone out there with cats, answer this: Which person out of a room full of people do cats invariably go to? The one who can’t stand them. And it held true here. This cat, although we couldn’t see it, was sticking like glue to this young girl, although one other person in the party also got a rub.

By the end of the night, I was half convinced it was a ghost cat and half convinced it was a real cat. At any rate, we joined the rest of the group at the end of the night and were talking about our ghost cat experience and one of the theater women told us that, yes, indeed, there WAS a ghost cat. Several of them had heard it and tried to find it on several occasions. And there definitely was NOT a real cat on the third floor.

Unfortunately, I only caught the sound of the cat briefly - I’d left my recorder in the hat room. While it picked up our voices nice and clearly, it didn’t catch the faint cat cries. Although once it figured out it could brush against someone, the cries pretty much quit.

Play the sound:

Ghost cat, part one

I wanted to put more up tonight, however, the same old, same old technical difficulties.

I wanted to post the audio of my ghost cat at the Old Funeral Home in Jacksonville, but Audacity is being a pain. More like, in the two years it’s been since I’ve used it to isolate and copy a piece, I’ve forgotten how to use it. So … I will have to delay the playing. But not for too terribly long. Sorry about the ineptitude - and I remember it being SO easy!

First I’ll start with a small bit. I work nights and many weekends, so it’s impossible for me to join a regular group. And, believe me, I’ve met some awesome people and groups. So much of what I do consists of trips and groups that are open to the public.

Have I had success with that? Yes. Has it been as good, as secure, as uncontaminated, etc., as in a controlled group? No. But I’ve met some great people with interesting ideas, I’ve visited some amazing places and I’ve had an awful lot of fun. So you give a little and you get a little.
I’ve been all around Decatur, I’ve been in Chicago, I’ve been to Tombstone and Bisbee, Arizona. I’ve been to St. Louis and that area. I’ve been to Gettysburg (twice!) and hopefully again. Anyone who is interested in traveling along, just speak up. You pay your own way and don’t cry if you get scared.

Anyway, I’m going to cover a rather recent experience, since I still haven’t dug my discs of photos out of my pit of an office. (I’ll never pass a white glove test, believe me, and not just because of the four black cats.)

First things first is the location. The old funeral home in Jacksonville, Illinois, refers to the former Williamson Funeral Home, which actually started its life as the Proffit Boarding House in the early 1900s. Many early touring actors and actresses stayed at the boarding house while traveling through to perform at the Strawn Opera House.

Later, the building became the Williamson Funeral Home for 55 years under the helm of Harlan Williamson. He began his career as a furniture maker. He also, obviously, made coffins at that time and worked his way into becoming an undertaker. He and his family lived in the upstairs of the home.

It has now entered its third life, in a case of something coming almost full circle, as home to the Jacksonville Theatre Guild.

So, we all know theaters are known to be highly haunted. We figure funeral homes are haunted. Paranormal investigators DO believe that objects can be haunted and that spirits can attach themselves to objects. If you poke your head to into any of the rooms at the guild, you will find an absolutely delightful array of clothing, furniture, props, hats, wedding dresses … anything that would fire up an actors’ imagination. So why is the building considered haunted?

This particular outing was part of an after-hours investigation during the 2011 Midwest Ghost Conference in Jacksonville. And while it wasn’t a dark and stormy night, exactly, it was a rainy one. So here’s where I’m going to leave you, with our intrepid band of adventurers at the old funeral parlor, armed with all our various cameras, recorders, flashlights … and waiting for something to happen.

Believing in ghosts

Do YOU believe in ghosts?

The answer for me is yes. But, really, there’s a follow-up question. You believe in ghosts, but what are they exactly? And, if you don’t believe in ghosts, how do you explain things that have happened to other people that seem to have no explanation?

Depending upon which poll you look at online, you find that anywhere from about 35 percent to 90 percent of people believe in ghosts. Some claim to have had their own experiences to account for their belief and others will credit events occurring to others. In most cases, a belief in ghosts is linked to a belief in the afterlife. Many times, outright denial of their existence comes with the belief that when we die, that’s it; we’re gone. Sayonara, sucker!

That brings up a whole slew of religious questions. Most major religions carry with them a belief in an afterlife. Whether it be heaven, hell, nirvana, a “happy hunting ground” or however it’s envisioned, there’s a clear place for you to go once your soul leaves your body. Then the question becomes, why do some people “come back” as ghost and others don’t?

Because of a whole slew of experiences I’ve had, especially since I decided to investigate the paranormal, I can’t understand why some people DON’T believe. I, frankly, find it hard to believe we are just a mess of flesh and bone that just happens to work together to create life, personality, soul, feelings, etc. There has to be something that sparks that mass of flesh, bones and brain into life. (Shades of “It’s ALIVE!!”) Common belief has it that ghosts - and maybe souls - are somehow made up of energy. It’s also true, in my experience, that I can’t understand how someone can gaze into the eyes of an animal, the bloom of a flower, raindrops falling from the sky, and not believe there’s some kind of higher power in charge. Yes, there’s science there, but what created science? What created the unique chain of events that sparked life? OK, getting a bit deep here.

In our society today, we are haunted. Quite literally haunted. While it’s true that ghosts have existed in fiction, literature, movies, religion, you name it, since the beginning of time, right now it’s a fascination with “true” ghosts. Movies based on true ghost stories. TV shows following ghost hunters around (yes, there’s a difference between a “ghost hunter” and a “paranormal investigator,” but that’s a theme for another day). I’ve never really had time for the fictional, except in its place of something fun to read. Most of my delving has been in the “true” ghost stories as long as I can remember.

But why are we so haunted today? Why were we so haunted back in the 1970s, when I was in junior high and high school and anything psychic was all the rage. How about at the turn of the century, when the whole Spiritualism craze began? Was it because the human race was on a rocky path, either culturally, economically or politically?

We believe in ghosts, quite simply, because we want to. We want to believe that life goes on after our shell of a body breaks down and can no longer function. We want to believe that our good deeds (or bad ones, too) aren’t for naught and our time here on earth isn’t just some freakish occurrence.

But some of us believe in ghosts because our unique experiences have convinced us.

The Mystery of the Brown Lady

I’m going to begin this blog with the photo of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.

This purported ghost photo was taken in September 1936 by Captain Provand and his assistant Indre Shira, two very well respected photographers. This photo was taken as part of a photo shoot for a British magazine called Country Life and was first published in the pages of that magazine in December 1936. It’s been hotly debated for many years. However, there has been no documentation to either confirm or debunk the photo, although it was allegedly examined by “experts” in 1936.

Is it genuine? Is it a hoax? I have no idea.

And that comes to crux of paranormal investigation and the debate about any validity of evidence collected. Just because something can be faked, does that mean it can’t be genuine? No. Lighting, tornadoes and many other natural events can be reproduced in a lab, but it also occurs naturally in nature.

I do know that I first saw this photo when was young, probably younger than age 10. It was definitely part of what fueled my interest in the paranormal and ghosts. In my journey to find answers, I have had a lot of experiences I can’t explain. Does that mean they’re paranormal? No. It just means that they remain without any explanation I can find.

This photo was taken long before we had point and shoot camera, long before we had computers, photoshop and other manipulation software. As I see it, we just may have to accept that ways to falsify evidence will always keep pace with any and all evidence of the paranormal we capture. Just as there are ways today to fake a ghost photo, so it was in the days of the Brown Lady.

As with anyone else, I can only verify what I’ve experienced and my beliefs and theories on the paranormal are based on them. I’ve also had the pleasure to meet some very intelligent and analytical people in this field, people who take a critical eye and common sense to the paranormal.