What Waits Around the Corner

At the Black Swan Inn in San Antonio, my guide stopped outside the barn and told me what other visitors had reported there: unexplained pulls, scratches and pinches. He also pointed to faded marks on the walls and ceiling. I listened, stepped away from the light, and went in alone.

Nothing scratched me. Nothing pinched me. Yet in the darkness, every creak seemed to ask the question that had followed me across America: What might be around the next corner?

That question carried me to 20 locations from a Reader's Digest list of haunted places and five more I added myself. It took nearly forty years, countless side roads and a final 10,800-mile solo journey to complete the search. I did not come home with proof of ghosts. I returned with a clearer understanding of how history, suggestion, grief and storytelling can occupy the same room.

A Boy and a Watchful Portrait

My search began in 1986 at Our House Tavern in Gallipolis, Ohio, an early nineteenth-century inn overlooking the Ohio River. During a tour, I heard stories about figures in the garden and portraits whose eyes seemed to follow visitors across the room. I was frightened, but I also wanted to know more. That combination of fear and curiosity became familiar.

Growing up in West Virginia, I heard local ghost stories and read Ruth Ann Musick's The Telltale Lilac Bush, a collection rooted in the state's oral traditions. Later, Stephen King's fiction showed me that fear does not always wait in a dark room. It can grow from loneliness, grief, guilt and the decisions people make.

The Shining stayed with me most. Beginning in 2022, I sought places connected to the novel and Stanley Kubrick's film: Timberline Lodge in Oregon, used for exterior images of the Overlook Hotel; Yosemite's Ahwahnee, whose interior design has often been compared with the film's sets; and Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road, seen in the opening sequence. Then I reached the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where King's 1974 stay helped inspire his novel.[1]

The Stanley was the first place that truly unsettled me. Guides discussed hotel founder F. O. Stanley, Room 217 and experiences reported by employees and guests. Late one night, I walked through dark service tunnels beneath the hotel. I did not see an apparition, but I felt the isolation that makes The Shining so powerful. The darkness supplied little information, and my mind supplied the rest.

The Search Changes the Place

Finding a supposedly haunted location can feel like a treasure hunt. I read old stories, compare maps, follow coordinates and sometimes arrive only to discover that access is restricted. At Forest Park Cemetery near Brunswick, New York, a police officer pulled alongside me before I could enter. I explained why I was there and asked permission to take photographs.

At West Virginia's Lake Shawnee Abandoned Amusement Park, fencing and vegetation separated me from the rusting rides until I received permission to walk the property. On Clinton Road in New Jersey, darkness and the absence of streetlights gave every sound more weight. Stories associated with the road include a drowned boy, phantom vehicles and strange creatures. I could not verify those claims. What I could observe was how quickly anticipation changed an ordinary walk.

The limits matter. The Amityville house remains a private residence, and its appearance and address have been altered over time. I photographed it only from a public roadway. The Conjuring House in Rhode Island has also existed in tension between public fascination and the rights of owners and neighbors. A haunted reputation is not permission to trespass, peer through windows or turn another person's home into a stage.

Those experiences changed my approach. Curiosity should not outrank safety, privacy or respect. The most responsible visit begins with permission and with a willingness to leave some corners unexplored.

When Recorded History Is Frightening Enough

Brian Bollinger, Marlana Bollinger, and son Benjamin Bollinger outside Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo supplied by Brian Bollinger)

The places that affected me most were not necessarily those with the strongest ghost stories. They were the ones connected to documented suffering.

In Wisconsin, I used coordinates to locate the former site of Ed Gein's farmhouse. His crimes later influenced novels and films, while repeated vandalism led officials to remove his gravestone from Plainfield Cemetery. Standing near the place where the marker had been, I thought less about the fictional monsters he inspired than about the real victims too often reduced to background in retellings.

At the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, the historical record overshadowed the paranormal accounts. The hospital was designed for about 250 patients but held more than 2,000 during its most crowded years. Its history includes severe overcrowding and treatments now recognized as deeply troubling.[2] Visitors hear reports of footsteps, voices and apparitions, but the documented lives of patients demanded more attention from me than any claim I could not confirm.

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia produced a similar reaction. Opened in 1829, it became famous for a system of separation intended to inspire penitence through isolation.[3] Walking its long cellblocks, I heard the familiar lore of whispers and shadowy figures. What stayed with me was the human cost of confinement: how time, silence and isolation might distort a person's sense of the world.

At the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the building's most disturbing chapter involved Norman Baker. In 1937, Baker converted the hotel into a hospital and advertised a supposed cancer treatment despite having no medical training. He was later convicted of mail fraud connected to the enterprise.[4] Current ghost stories often focus on former patients and the building's basement. Whether those reports have a paranormal explanation is unresolved. The exploitation of desperately ill people is not.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, offered another lesson in presentation. Our guide placed historical photographs in the rooms associated with the 1892 killings. The images did not prove any haunting, but they restored names, faces and physical context to a story often treated as entertainment. Good interpretation makes the past more specific, not merely more frightening.

Two Dolls and the Power of Expectation

Brian Bollinger with the Raggedy Ann doll presented as Annabelle, alongside the film version of the character, at a 2025 horror convention in Rock Island, Illinois. (Photo supplied by Brian Bollinger)

Few parts of my search drew more interest than Robert the Doll and Annabelle. Their reputations arrived before I did.

At Fort East Martello in Key West, our guide explained the custom of asking Robert's permission before taking a photograph and saying goodbye before leaving.[7] I was eager and began taking pictures without following the ritual. My camera recorded a doll behind glass. Around me, other visitors carefully observed the rules. The ritual created a shared expectation: everyone knew what might happen if Robert was offended, even though no one could test that warning under controlled conditions.

I encountered Annabelle in 2025 at a horror convention in Rock Island, Illinois. The doll associated with Ed and Lorraine Warren's accounts is a Raggedy Ann, unlike the porcelain figure created for the films. She sat behind glass as people approached slowly, spoke quietly and lifted their phones. I photographed her and watched the crowd.

The object itself looked ordinary. The atmosphere around it did not. Books, testimony, warnings, films and social media had taught everyone in the room how to react. That did not establish that the doll was dangerous. It demonstrated how a story can shape an encounter before the encounter begins.

Skepticism did not make the moment meaningless. It changed the question. Instead of asking only whether the doll was haunted, I began asking what fear reveals about the people sharing it. Believers, skeptics and the undecided were all standing before the same glass case, but each person had brought a different story into the room.

Author with Robert the Doll, Key West Floriday (Photo supplied by Brian Bollinger)

The Last Three Stops

In 2026, my final three haunted destinations were the Conjuring House, the Winchester Mystery House and the Queen Mary. Each showed a different way that history becomes legend.

At the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, I moved through stairs, doors and rooms made famous by decades of stories about Sarah Winchester. The house is real, as are Winchester's losses and years of construction. The common claim that she built continuously to confuse or appease spirits is disputed by historians, and surviving evidence does not settle every motive.[5] The uncertainty is part of the attraction. Visitors encounter a remarkable building and a legend that has become difficult to separate from it.

I ended the journey with an overnight stay aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The ship's documented service includes its years as a luxury liner and its military role during World War II.[6] Its corridors also carry generations of reported encounters. At night, machinery hummed behind the walls and metal shifted with changes in temperature and movement. Ordinary sounds became difficult to place. Once again, the setting and the stories worked together.

As I walked a corridor, I wondered whether someone else was nearby. I found no evidence that required a paranormal explanation. Still, I understood why the ship continues to generate stories. It is enormous, layered with history and filled with spaces most visitors cannot see. The Queen Mary did not need to produce a ghost to make me feel the presence of the past.

Back in the Barn

Brian Bollinger outside Victoria's Black Swan Inn in San Antonio, Texas (Photo supplied by Brian Bollinger)

The Black Swan Inn remains my favorite stop because I had time to explore without being rushed toward a promised scare. My guide invited me to sit before a mirror and consider whether I might glimpse a younger or older version of myself. Later, alone in the barn, I waited for the pull or scratch others had described.

It never came. But the absence of an unexplained event did not make the visit a failure. It gave me room to recognize what had been happening throughout the journey. A guide's account had focused my attention. Darkness had removed visual certainty. The history of the property and my own expectations had filled the gaps.

Other places raised the same problem. At the Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas, I wondered how the reported story of a young girl dying during surgery had hardened into accepted local history even though key details remain difficult to document. In Tennessee, the Bell Witch legend has shaped the identity of a community for generations. Repetition can preserve a story, but it can also make a claim feel more certain than its evidence allows.

After forty years and 25 haunted locations, I remain interested in what might wait around the next corner. I am simply more careful about naming it. A sound can be real without being supernatural. A legend can be meaningful without being historically exact. Skepticism and wonder do not have to cancel each other.

I left these places without proof of ghosts, but with greater respect for the lives behind the legends: patients, prisoners, victims, workers, owners, storytellers and visitors. A room can gather history, rumor, commerce and belief until one becomes difficult to distinguish from another. Perhaps that is why haunted places endure. They do not merely ask whether the dead remain. They reveal what the living refuse to forget.

The next time I step into the darkness, I will listen for the next sound. I will also ask what I already carried into the room with me.

​Sources

1. The Stanley Hotel History and Stephen King connection https://www.stanleyhotel.com/

2. National Park Service Weston State Hospital National Historic Landmark documentation https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/78002805

3. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site History of the Pennsylvania system https://www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state

4. Encyclopedia of Arkansas Norman Baker https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/norman-g-baker-4885/

5. Winchester Mystery House Estate history https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

6. The Queen Mary Ship history https://www.queenmary.com/history/

7. Fort East Martello Museum Robert the Doll https://www.kwahs.org/museums/fort-east-martello/robert-the-doll

Article header image of the Black Swan Inn front door attribution:

​Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dare You Meet the Owlman of Mawnan?

​​“The owls are not what they seem.” Twin Peaks

Cornish folklore tells of the cryptid Owlman (Kowanden in Kernowek), an owl-like humanoid creature first seen in 1926 in the quaint, but somehow forbidding, coastal village of Mawnan Smith, located in the south of the peninsula.

Johannes_Meiner_Eulenkost

​Johannes Meiner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Cornish ‘Mothman’ if you will.

The most famous appearance of The Owlman was in 1976

Surrealist artist, magician and writer Tony "Doc" Shiels (1938-2024), had a reputation as something of a trickster/hoaxer, and was already associated with a series of Cornish ‘monster-raising’ tall-tales in 1976 (sometimes aided by his coven of nude ‘witches’).

In the Spring of that year, he claimed to have investigated the curious story of two young girls on holiday who apparently witnessed a large, red-eyed, winged humanoid creature hovering above the tower of St Mawnan and St Stephen's Church on April 17th 1976.

St Mawnan and St Stephen's Church, Mawnan

​Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The girls - June (12) and Vicky Melling (9), were so rattled by the "feathered bird-man" their dad immediately cut their family holiday short and took them all home. Shiels said one of girls gave him her drawing of the beast, which he called "Owlman". The events were recounted in Anthony Mawnan-Peller’s (Mawnan?) pamphlet Morgawr: The Monster of Falmouth Bay, circulated throughout Cornwall the same year.

Sheils claimed "Owlman" was reported again a few months later on July 31st by two 14-year-old girls Sally Chapman and Barbara Perry, who had heard of the supposed creature. The pair were camping when they encountered "a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man" boasting glowing red eyes and black, pincer-like claws, reminiscent of Spring-Heeled Jack, subject of a previous investigation of mine.

Spring-Heeled Jack mysteries and terror tales unveiled

Who or what was Victorian England's terrorizing Spring-Heeled Jack? Theories range from extraterrestrial and satanic to staged and supernatural.

paranormaldailynews.com

Irregular sightings of the beast in the vicinity of the church were shared in 1978, 1979, 1989, and 1995. According to local hearsay, a "loud, owl-like sound" was heard at night in the church yard during the year 2000.

​The 1995 incident was witnessed by an American tourist, who sent a letter to the then night editor of the Western Morning News, Simon Parker:

Dear Sir,

I am a student of marine biology at the Field Museum, Chicago on the last day of a summer vacation in England. Last Sunday evening I had a most unique and frightening experience in the wooded area near the Old Church at Mawnan, Cornwall. I experienced what I can only describe as a ‘vision from hell’. The time was 15 minutes after 9, more or less. And I was walking along a narrow track through the trees. I was halted in my tracks when about 30m ahead I saw a monstrous ‘Birdman’ thing. It was the size of a man with a ghastly face, a wide mouth, glowing eyes and pointed ears. It had huge clawed wings and was covered in feathers of silver grey colour. The thing had long bird legs which terminated in large black claws. It saw me and rose, floating towards me. I just screamed then turn and ran for my life. The whole experience was totally irrational and dreamlike. Friends tell me that there is a tradition of a Phantom Owlman in that District. Now I know why. I have seen the phantom myself. Please don’t publish my real name and address. This could adversely affect my career. Now I have to rethink my ‘worldview’ entirely.

Yours very sincerely scared Eyewitness.

​The creature was quiet for a few years but there were other strange occurrences recorded in Mawnan. In 1996 a woman reported a ball of light floating above the church. In 2003, two teenage girls (again) were listening to music in the church car park late at night (possibly indulging in some herbal recreation):

​They too saw a glowing, pulsating globe of light hovering over the church. The girls said that they watched it for a while until it just vanished. The most recent sighting (that I know of ) was in September of 2009. It was reported that a 12 year old girl named Jessica Wilkins (or Wilkinson) saw the Owlman of Mawnan for the first time this century. Why all these strange happenings have occurred in the vicinity of Mawnan church is a mystery. There is some suggestion that the sightings are due to an escaped Great Grey Owl which can have a wing span of nearly 2m, has huge talons and can stand around 4.5ft tall. The only problem with this theory is the length of time over which the Owlman has been seen. Another theory is that the stories have something to do with the church standing in the centre of an ancient earthworks. Or perhaps because some researchers have detected a ley line (earth energy line) passing through the site? Other writers have said that sensitive and perceptive visitors have also described Mawnan Woods as being ‘alive’ with energy. Could that natural Earth energy be connected to the reports of the Owlman? (The Cornish Bird: Cornwall’s Hidden History Blog)

Tony Shiels - from Magonia Archive

​Shiels seems to be an admirer of John Keel, the British edition of whose classic The Mothman Prophecies appeared in 1976. As if in affectionate imitation there then came report of a Cornish counterpart, Owlman. This entity showed himself only to adolescent girls on holiday, who afterwards would chance to meet Doc Shiels, tell him their stories, and never be seen again. Three of the girls produced drawings of what they had seen, though there is some doubt about one variously described as "by June Melling", or "based on the sketch by June Melling", which is not the same thing. If it is her original, then like the other two, she had remarkably excellent draughtsmanship for a pre-teenager; in fact one might have guessed all of the pictures to have been the work of a professional artist (e.g. Doc Shiels).

Barbara Perry and Sally Chapman both wrote a brief description of the 'monster' underneath their drawings. Their handwriting is of interest. Graphologists know that there are some writing habits that can be consciously altered, for instance whether the letters are joined up or not, whereas others are very difficult to disguise. Chapman's and Perry's hands are very different in their alterable habits; Perry joins up some of her letters but Chapman does not but are remarkably similar in their unalterable ones. The ways they wrote "monster" are virtually identical, and they share several other habits, both putting the dot over the i to the right of the letter and beginning the crossbar of the t at the upright stroke. One could almost conclude they were one person pretending to be two.

Years later Jonathan Downes, the portly Devonshire cryptozoologist, did his own investigation of Owlman and located a man who said he had seen it when a boy; though his sketch of it looks like an imitation of the originals rather than an independent drawing from life. The same is true of a letter sent by an American student who had seen it while on holiday. Though she gave an address in Chicago and stated herself to be a student of marine biology, when Downes tried to contact her she was not registered as living there, and no department chief he spoke to on the telephone had heard of her. Downes' best known contribution was to star in the Owlman video, which also featured the director's wife as a naked lesbian Witch, while a professional sceptic was depicted as a maniac gay Nazi.

​But... back to 1926

From Sarah Coomer’s ​100 Ghosts: The Owlman of Mawnan (May 2021)

​There had been reports of a very large angry bird type thing in the churchyard as far back as the 1920s, whose reputation was enough to attract the attention of loved up Surrealists Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst who allegedly performed rituals to try to summon the beast in 1937. But the most famous sighting of the Owlman occurred in 1976 - whilst holidaying in Cornwall, two (probably v bored) young girls caught sight of what they described as a very large bird with glowing red eyes and claws like blacksmith’s pincers hovering over the church, as reported to monster investigator, storyteller, magician and all round character Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels. A number of other sightings were sporadically recorded but dismissed as having been engineered by Shiels, who had a bit of a reputation as a hoaxer. It’s all so obviously utter nonsense, and easily explained away (er, it’s a big owl) but there’s something about it which has captured the imagination of fans of the unexplained / Surrealist painters for decades. The idea itself is terrifying, the environs evocative and a bit spooky and the name of the place is a gift, like something out of Lord of the Rings.

And this from The Cornish Bird: The Cornish Hidden History Blog

​In 1926 the Cornish Echo newspaper reported that two boys had been chased by what was described as a very large and ferocious bird. The terrified boys managed to escape and took cover behind a large steel grating. This first sighting attracted the attention of surrealist painters Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington. The couple visited Mawnan in 1937. There they are said to have performed rituals to try and summon up the half man half bird they called a ‘therianthorpes’. The Owlman featured heavily in both their artworks for the remainder of their lives.

​Lord Of Tears (2013) - In the film, the Owlman represents Canaanite god Moloch, who particularly savoured child sacrifice. Moloch has been connected to Bohemian Grove, a sinister ‘gentlemen’s club’ for wealthy elites who gather in the San Francisco woods and stand each summer before a giant moss-covered 40ft wooden owl statue erected there.

​The Owl Service

The Owl Service Episode One - transmitted Sunday, 21 December 1969, based on the Welsh legend of Blodeuwedd, turned into an owl for betraying her husband to death (all episodes available on YouTube)

​The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Links:

Owlman of Mawnan, Cornwall | Into Horror History | J.A. Hernandez

Many legends of cryptids don't have a clear origin, a story that can easily be traced back to the first sighting. For these creatures, the line between cryptid (an as-of-yet undocumented natural animal) and supernatural is sometimes blurry, as is true with cases such as The Qalupalik of Inuit Folklore or El Peuchen of Mapuche Mythology. In some ways, the controversy surrounding sightings of strange things can make them even more intriguing to explore because there is little in the way of proof for or against their existence. At the core of these legends or folklore is a story, often a tangled combination of truth and fiction, genuine experience and exaggeration.

www.jahernandez.com

Masters of the Universe Go to Camp: Inside the Bohemian Grove

whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu

Hieronymus Bosch - Garden of Earthly Delights

​Hieronymus Bosch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Night Owl (full version) - Gerry Rafferty

Bird Song - Lene Lovich

​Blood Sweat and Tears - Suite from The Owl & The Pussycat (1970)

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle:

Amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

SAMPLE:

Two new paranormal TV shows are changing the landscape of ghost-hunting shows

A few months ago, I joined a team of paranormal investigators, visiting haunted locations for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood. The two shows aim to present a new outlook on the supernatural, showcasing the esteemed specialist in the occult, Michelle Belanger. Her expertise has been previously displayed on several publications such as Paranormal State, Portals to Hell, Conjuring Kesha, among others. Locations have been chosen for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood.

Inhuman Beings

Each episode of Inhuman Beings features a different location with a reputation for high strangeness. Rather than trying to banish ghosts or uncover demons, we approach the unknown with a sense of curiosity, keeping an open mind and looking into ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, the fae, and more.

We use some traditional paranormal investigation techniques, experimenting with REM pods, spirit boxes, a Kinect SLS camera, and an Ovilus. But we also get weird, trying out remote viewing experiments, using dream sigils to communicate with entities, and following our curiosity as far down the rabbit hole as we can go.

That led us to some strange places. During production, we found ourselves crossing a remote river to visit land ruled by the fae, exploring a strange castle with a mysterious past, and investigating the most haunted building in a small town.

As the team’s paranormal researcher, I dug into the locations before filming and was floored by how many anomalies had been reported in each spot.

In one episode, we venture to the area of the original Loveland frogman sightings, along the banks of Ohio’s Little Miami River. While doing preliminary research, I couldn’t believe how much lore was concentrated in one small area and how interconnected the different paranormal phenomena were there.

I had heard the famous 1950s story about a man encountering strange, frog-like humanoids—one of whom carried a wand emitting sparks—but the more research I did, the more reports I found about local sightings of UFOs, cryptids, aliens, and ghosts.

That was my first hint that things were going to get a lot stranger than I had expected. However, I was not fully prepared for the firsthand experiences we had when we arrived at the site and engaged in conversations with the locals, conducted our own experiments, and gained a true understanding of what the place was truly like.

New Blood

Much of the cast and crew of Inhuman Beings are also in New Blood, a longform docu-series about modern-day vampires.

In New Blood, a series of synchronicities leads witch and host of paranormal podcast Follow the Woo Fen Alankus (she/they) to move from LA to the spooky Midwest. There, she conjures an investigative film crew to document a secret society of vampires.

They delve into the mysterious world of vampires while staying in a haunted Airbnb. The experience, which involves visiting sacred vampire ritual spaces, braving the creepy woods of Ohio, and performing out-of-the-box psychical experiments and spells, changes all of them. Season one was a wild ride, and the next phases of initiation have already begun for the team.

The Kickstarter and team

Michelle Belanger (he/she/they) and Fen Alankus (she/they) have gathered a top-notch crew of film professionals and paranormal investigators. That includes historian and medium Stephanie Bingham (she/her), who has been featured on the CW’s Mysteries Decoded, Destination America’s Paranormal Lockdown and SyFy Channel’s School Spirits; tarot/oracle reader Tigresse Bleu (they/she); filmmaker, forager, and hedgewitch Aubrey P. Archer (they/them); and photographer and skeptic-turned-believer Taylor Brown (she/they), and me.

More than 100 hours of footage have already been shot for these shows, and both shows are slated for release in Fall/Winter 2023.

With the Kickstarter funding, the team will finish up the first seasons of both shows, start pre-production on the next seasons, and more. Backers get rewards like magically imbued Ouija planchettes, Bigfoot and Pride Demon T-shirts, subtle-body portrait readings, bonus and behind-the-scenes content, executive producer credit, guest spots on their shows, and more. Spread the word and help bring this fresh paranormal project into the world!

Legal Problems Faced By Paranormal Investigators

If you have a passion for everything paranormal and want to become a paranormal investigator, there are more things to consider than the latest recording equipment or investigative tools. No, you also need to consider the legal problems you could encounter as a paranormal investigator. What kind of legal problems can I face as a paranormal investigator, you may ask? Well, we are about to disclose the legal pitfalls of the profession!

Trespassing Is One Of The Main Legal Problems For Paranormal Teams

One common problem that paranormal investigators often forget about is trespassing. There may be an alleged haunted building in the neighborhood you want to check out, but have you thought about the owner of that particular building? Or has the building been cordoned off because it is unsafe to enter?

Some buildings are associated with local legends, so they are a prime location for paranormal investigators to visit. Unfortunately, some of those buildings can be really unsafe. Even though there may not be anyone inside – or even if the site has been abandoned for years – it does not give you the right to enter the building.

Before you go into any building, home or property, always make sure you have permission to do so. If you do not know the owner of the building, you can head to your local city hall for additional information. In some cases, special permission may be required before you will be able to conduct your investigation safely and legally.

Property Damage On Location

Property damage is another liability you may encounter while you work as a paranormal investigator. For example, a client could ask you to check out a building they own for paranormal activity. Several weeks after you have completed your work, the client can slap you with a lawsuit claiming you have damaged their property. While this is a “he said, she said” situation, you always have to take that possibility into consideration.

Since you can enter someone else’s property during an investigation, it can be a good idea to have a legal document drafted up that ensures you are not liable for damages. Of course, this must be within reason. For example, the document can specify that you will not cause damage to the building and that you cannot be held liable for any damages that are already present. As such, it can be a good idea to take some photographs of the building’s interior and exterior before you bring in any equipment. You may need permission from the owner to take these photographs as well.

Some investigations may require digging or other actions. If this is necessary, then you must have a consent form from the owner of the building. If you don’t have such a consent form, you may be liable for the damages caused by digging, tunneling, or any other actions performed by you during the investigation.

Emotional Distress

You may be surprised just how many legal problems you can encounter as a paranormal investigator and emotional distress is certainly one. For example, a client may claim that your investigation has caused them significant emotional distress. After which, the person in question may deem it necessary to sue you for damages. Therefore, make sure that this particular issue is covered in the legal document you draft for all your clients.

Professional Legal Advice Can Help

Help Lawyer

Now that we have mentioned some issues you can encounter, it is important to get appropriate legal advice before you start your journey as a paranormal investigator. While most people you meet won’t have bad intentions towards you, there is a small percentage that looks to profit from your sheer presence. So, get a legal document drafted by a professional lawyer or law firm and ensure you are covered when someone uses your investigative services. You may also want to look at certain types of insurance, which provide added protection for property damage and other legal problems you could encounter. At the end of the day, good preparation makes all the difference.

The Paranormal Investigator

Photographer: Priscilla Du Preez | Source: Unsplash

The years I spent as a criminal investigator have taught me one vital lesson. That is, to search for the truth, and go to where the evidence takes me to either build a case or find the case unfounded. To do this, the investigator must collect and preserve evidence and information.

Research Information

It must be available for all parties involved in the inquiry to examine and compare. After all, the evidence has been collected and carefully examined, the case is brought to another party, in this case - a prosecutor. The prosecutor then decides whether or not there is sufficient evidence to file the case and send it to court. It is in court that the case is decided by a jury selected from society. So goes our legal system in theory.

The Paranormal Investigator

When building a case for the existence of the paranormal, shouldn’t we use the same standards? If we ever hope to prove the existence to the scientific world, and society, should we have a system in place that allows for common standards and protocols? This would allow all evidence of the paranormal gathered to be considered on common ground. For example, a homicide investigation in Tacoma, Washington will be conducted in a similar fashion in Vero Beach, Florida. Yes, there are differences in some laws state to state. Each investigator will have a different style of interviews and investigation, but evidence will be uncovered, collected and preserved in a similar fashion. Done this way, there could be under certain circumstances, evidence used in Tacoma that could be used to help the case in Vero Beach. This is because basic standards in evidence collection and investigation had been adhered.

I believe this is an important concept. That would allow paranormal investigations that are conducted for the purpose of proving the case of life after death, to be accepted by a jury in society. Now many paranormal investigators will immediately take offense to this saying; “Everybody investigates differently” or “Nobody can tell you how to investigate”. Both are actually true statements. This concept is not meant to tell anybody how to investigate necessarily. What this concept does state, is that regardless of how you ask questions, or in which order you proceed with your work, there must be some protocols that are adhered to if you want your investigation to be considered valid to prove your case.

Some examples of this would be that all EVP sessions should be recorded. That should be prior to any questions being asked, there must be a preamble of: Time, Date, Location and the names of persons present during the session, etc. Now this is already the procedure for many groups, but do we consider it standard amongst all legitimate paranormal investigators? Some groups listen and gain possible EVP evidence but, they are using a voice recorder that cannot be transferred to a computer or other storage device.

If the EVP evidence cannot be preserved, then what use is it in an investigation? If these standards are not followed in criminal court. The evidence revealed during that part of the investigation is in danger of being thrown out. Why is that any different in the case of a paranormal investigation. There are plenty of people waiting in line to refute any evidence saying it is contrived in some way or misinterpreted by the investigator. Standards that are universally adhered to - show that the field of paranormal research, and investigation, is moving towards procedures that will validate their investigations and the evidence collected.

Now there will be those that say, that they don’t care if others believe their evidence. They do things their way and who cares what others think. “I know what I heard” or “I know what I saw” and that is all that is important. First let me say that there is nothing wrong with this line of thought! Everyone has the right to feel that way and conduct themselves in a manner, which is helpful, and productive to their goals and needs. This leads to the motives of those conducting these inquiries.

Many of the paranormal teams that exist today - conduct investigations with little or no thought as to what they are going to do with the evidence they get. I have spoken to a number of teams that keep their evidence in some type of computer storage. I have spoken to many others that share their evidence on their websites and very little other than that. Once again, there is nothing wrong with that way of thinking BUT…

Paranormal Investigator vs. Paranormal Thrill Seeker vs. Spiritual Searcher

What is your motive to investigate or research? There is no wrong answer to this, just the inner search to determine your motives for investigating.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary an investigator is someone: “whose job it is to examine a crime, problem, statement, etc., in order to discover the truth.”

Taking this into consideration, it should be the nature of any investigator to search for the truth through evidence. A paranormal investigator and researcher must use standards that are accepted in the field to put their case together. This includes a systematic way of locating, collecting and preserving evidence.

This evidence then can be examined and compared with other evidence collected by the investigator, (or by other investigators conducting other investigations) in order to find commonalities (I will be discussing this concept in a future article).

The goal in this case is to find evidence, share with other investigators, and find the answer to question of is there life after death. Solving one of mankind’s greatest mysteries should the goal of the Paranormal Investigator.

Paranormal Thrill Seeker

Photographer: NeONBRAND | Source: Unsplash

The term “Paranormal Thrill Seeker” might sound derogatory to some but it truly isn’t. Thrill seeking is a part of our societal make up. Why do people jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Because it is fun and exciting. Why do people swim in the open with sharks? Because it is fun and exciting. This is perfectly acceptable and understood in our world today. Why wouldn’t seeking evidence of the paranormal be the same? All of us in the field have experienced the heart pounding, adrenalin rush of hearing the disembodied voice call your name, a door un-expectantly slamming shut, or the holy grail of “ghost hunting”, the sight of a full body apparition.

Anyone who goes to a possibly haunted location that tells you this isn’t a thrill, I would dare say isn’t being honest with themselves. Many groups who seek paranormal activity simply enjoy the thrill of the event. These teams certainly talk about it regularly, enjoy the camaraderie of those who also enjoy ‘the hunt” and are a vital part of finding evidence. But do they truly use this evidence with the intent of solving the case? For example, how often do groups of this category go to the level of comparing things like atmospheric or solar conditions with other teams that have captured the same type of evidence to find if there is a common link? They know the paranormal world exists. They have theories as to why it exists. But if the issue was honestly addressed, how many actually investigate to “discover” the truth?

Many make it a habit to go to the numerous famous locations worldwide and investigate the already well-known claims but, rarely if ever consider saving their evidence for comparison and review with evidence taken from other investigations. The term “Paranormal Thrill Seeker” should be looked at the same way others who engage in other adrenalin filled activities. There is nothing wrong with being a “Paranormal Thrill Seeker”, we all enjoy the rush. BUT, if the “thrill” is your motive, your goal, are you truly an investigator? This is a question you can only ask yourself, and ask it honestly.

Remember, an investigator is in search of the truth. The final answer revealed in that search, whatever it is, should be the goal of the investigator.

Spiritual Seeker

The term Spiritual Searcher is meant to denote those that are trying to find a personal answer to the question of life after death. The Spiritual Searcher is often one who has experienced a personal tragedy or has had a personal paranormal experience and is simply looking for the answers they need to bring order or closure to themselves. This individual has no other investigative goal but to prove to themselves the existence of the afterlife and providing proof to others is of minimal importance.

Everyone in these three categories have a place at the table in the world of paranormal inquiry. Not one is less important than the other. But the motivations of their goals are important to the field. This entire concept I have provided is surely going to create controversy.

The idea of what a “Paranormal Investigator” is has been engrained into today’s society. Much of that credit has to be given to the many shows seen on television that provide an, at times, unrealistic view of what paranormal investigation entails. When discussing this thought, I like to compare a paranormal investigation to a law enforcement stakeout. On television or in the movies, a police stakeout is an exhilarating adventure fraught with excitement and danger. The truth is a stakeout is most often a long VERY boring affair that MIGHT bring about 30 seconds of excitement and danger. The paranormal investigation is no different at all but that’s not generally what television presents to its viewers.

Paranormal Investigator

When you peel the layers of this concept away, you will find that a paranormal investigator needs to be a serious student of the question of life after death, dedicated to finding the answer. That’s what an investigator does. Because of how society has painted the term “paranormal investigator”, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand what this means exactly. Within my own group, we even struggle with the concept at times. Despite this, we are constantly striving to improve our methods and protocols for the good of the field. But it requires work and dedication. This is the message I want to send to those who are seeking the final answer.

Regardless of which category you see yourself as part of, please understand that all are an important part to the field of paranormal research an investigation is. I just ask that you look within yourself and honestly examine the reason you do this. Share what you have learned. Seek training so that you know what you are heading into (You would never sky dive without receiving training prior to jumping would you?). Have fun with it, learn from it, find yourself in it. More importantly, be part of it.