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Ghost Hunting Getaways

Posted by
on June 7, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Recently I was invited to attend a “Ghost Hunt Getaway” by a new local team here in Oklahoma. I was excited to review this event, mainly because the team had nothing to hide and seemed to be open to a public review.Knowing that I have an often short chain when it comes to supernatural claims and the “teams” that claim them. I was highly impressed that they even invited us to attend. I and co-author Tammy Wilson, of the <a href=”http://www.ghostlahoma.com” Ghostlahoma book series attended this event. We had a few goals, to sign Ghostlahoma books to their guests, hang out and get to know this new team and to review the event. To our surprise, all in all, we were pretty impressed by the organization, customer service and entertainment factor of the entire ghostly social event.
 
Friday evening, on June 5th we arrive at ESP event, titled “”Ghost Hunt Getaway” at the infamously haunted Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie, Oklahoma. ESP is short for “Exploring Spirit Phenomenon” and can be found at http://www.spiritphenomenon.com. I have not entered the Stone Lion for many years, for personal reasons, so it was nice to go back and enjoy the old house.I was greeting by Joe, also known as “Dawg” to the rest of his team and guests. He gave me a quick run down of how the event will be directed and a nice time frame of the evening so I could prepare my notes of the event. Soon after, we were encouraged to dive into the fantastic Oklahoma BBQ dinner set up they provided for their guests. They had ample amounts of food and had tables set up on the shaded porch for family style dining. Compared to many haunted events where they nickel and dime you to death and feed you chips and call it dinner, the team went above and beyond with dinner and displayed true Oklahoma hospitality! The dinner allowed people to mingle with each other and to get to know the team on a personal level. I sat at a table while eating and had a great conversation with a couple from Yukon. The importance of mingling is that it allows people to share their ghostly experiences in a non-judgmental environment. I enjoyed meeting and talking with many guests where all of them seemed to have a fun and memorable story to share when it comes to ghosts and personal haunting claims.
 
 
After dinner, the guests were invited inside for a quick lesson on “ghost hunting”. Now, I will be honest, I personally did not agree with everything that was said, but I will state that the lesson was open to discussion. When people attend these types of events, it’s pretty common practice that the “hosts” seemed to have all the answers. They preach, instead of educate and they are out to convince the world that “their way, is the right way. This was NOT the case with the ESP team. The beauty of the paranormal field is that we do not all have to agree, but the most important lesson is to allow the theories to be open for debate. ESP did a fantastic job with educating the public about paranormal claims. They even had hand outs of the true and accurate historical research behind the inn. Everyone sat attentive as they listened to team lead “Dawg” talk about the history of the house and the importance of common sense thinking while on a ghost hunt. Guests were encouraged to ask questions, which is also rare compared to other “haunted evenings” that are floating around out there.
 
 
After the Q&A session, it was time to hunt some ghosts. It was getting dark as guests headed outside to be divided into groups for the investigation of the inn. It was a very large crowd, 44 to be exact. I was concerned about noise levels knowing how that house has a tendency to carry sound that can be later mistaken for “ghostly phenomenon”. The guests were divided up with an ESP team member and they headed into the house. They tried to keep a floor in between each group, but it’s a very difficult task to control groups of excited and curious people. As the investigation continued, we sat and listened to how the group investigations were controlled. ESP team members conducted EVP sessions, in hopes to make contact with the ghostly inhabitants at the former funeral home. The guests seemed to be enjoying themselves at this point. Tammy and I went outside of the house to see what we could from the windows. One thing we did notice that it appeared to be a strobe light effect in one of the rooms. It was not paranormal; it was groups of people snapping photos one right after the other. This is a big no-no in the paranormal field. It is fine to take pictures, but with so many flashing away at unseen forces, I do have a feeling that it will create a lot of mysterious photos from this event. Will it be proof of paranormal activity? Not so much, more along the lines of a lot of light play, reflection and back lash from many excited digital flash photographers. People do want photos of their evenings, I just suggest they get second, even third opinions about “what” they captured.Later into the evening Tammy and I decided to participate on the “hunt” and we headed upstairs to the attic. In the past, we were able to stay the night alone in the bed and breakfast. We did have some unique experiences that still to this day; we are not able to explain away. We were also able to collect some pretty eerie EVP’s during our visit, so our curiosity pulled us upstairs with the group. After entering the attic, Lisa, ESP team member encouraged us to share some of our personal experiences at the inn. We obliged, and shared our tales. I did ask how many people were carrying audio recorders and more than half of them were wired up to collect EVP’s. In my years of research, when there are large groups of people, it’s very important to control the noise levels. In the dark, it’s impossible to see what everyone is doing and saying at the moment, so the goal is to eliminate false EVP from the audio that is collected. We asked everyone if they were willing to conduct a short EVP research experiment, everyone agreed. We got all the guests settled, sitting and audio recording devices ready. We sat in silence and encouraged people to focus on the room itself, not “who” they assumed to be haunting it. We asked them to clear their minds and speak out loud of any random word or phrasing that came to mind. No matter how odd it may be, they were encouraged to shout it out loud. After a couple minutes, people did start shouting out one word phrases, from “Coke bottle” to “bouncy balls”, they were truly random and the most important thing is that it allowed “whatever” was there to get a word in otherwise. The experiment lasted for about 15 min and was finished up with a bang, literally. Tammy and I pulled a drawer out of a table while sitting in the dark, yes, we were being nosy! We were pushing the drawer back in and to our surprise; it closed with a loud band that startled everyone! Everyone was awake now! We did not do it on purpose, it was really an accident.
 
 
 As the evening rolled around, it was almost midnight. Ghost hunting guests seemed to have a great time and were walking outside speaking about experiences, photos and feelings they witnessed during the event. I do ask that those that attended, to please share their EVP’s and photos with me! Tammy and I stayed around afterwards to talk with the team and to munch on food they had set out in the kitchen. We had a great time talking with them and they are all great people. Honest people without a “lets make lots of cash” What I witnessed through my Paranormal Eyes was not ghosts, banshees or poltergeists. It was nothing more than a fun event at one of Oklahoma’s most infamously haunted places. The getaway was very well organized and guests got more for their money compared to other events hosted by teams. Everyone was treated as guests, not dollar signs.
 
 
 The  ESP team did a fantastic job with keeping the guests busy and entertained.Because I was invited to do so, I offer this review as my honest opinion. With praise there is always room for improvement. First, I will say that I did look for flaw and things for me to critique, both good and bad. With that said, on with the not so good news.Being ESP’s first event on a level such as this one, there were some issues with crowd placement. Having 44 people in even a large house, well that’s quite a bit. As I stated above, it’s very easy to hear someone sneeze in the basement and confuse it with a “ghostly whisper” in the parlor. There are holes in the floor of this establishment, why, I’m not sure, air flow I will assume? No matter what, it is important to keep crowd noise under control. As a consumer, it can be lot of fun to feel as if you are part of a team when you attend these events. It is also important that everyone has a “job” to do while attending. I do suggest to the ESP team that they create fun, interactive group experiments to make guests feel as if they are a part of the team, or they are helping with “paranormal research” of some kind. Ghost hunting is not research, it’s walking around waiting, looking and expecting something paranormal to happen. This protocol works well, but typically with very small groups of people. With large groups, developing interactive tools that a guest can participate in and feel as if their presence makes a difference when it comes to event of this caliber. Standing around watching team leaders communicate and suggest there is something in the room with the group can be repetitive and become pointless after a period of time. I encourage the team to have their guests assist in a research project of some sort and offer some kind of conclusion to the evening. People did seem to have a good time and walked out smiling and chatting about the experiences. People that have an interest in the paranormal would feel more accomplished and likely to return again if the event had some overall point in an applied research project. I do feel the ESP will accept this advice because they honestly want to provide a quality occasion for people that enjoy adventurous outings such as this one. Other than that, everything else ran very smooth and everyone was very friendly and helpful.
 
 
 
KUDOS-I highly recommend that if you enjoy adventurous evenings out, that you attend the next ESP event.The ESP team did not “go psychic” at this event. I commend them for not putting on a bogus and phony act for guests like a lot of teams do here in Oklahoma. They allowed people to experience the inn for themselves and did not have anyone pretending to be speaking with molesting demonic forces from the gates of hell. Kudos to them for not showcasing hysteria and ignorance with the general public! Please do not fall for spurious “ghost hunts” that are floating around out there. They want your money and consumer quality is not top their priority. If you want an opinion about a ghostly tour or event, as always, shoot me an email. I will give you a free unbiased opinion!
 
 
Quick note to my readers:  If you are not being offered real refreshments and treated as a consumer at these “haunted evening” events, please spread the word or contact me. It is important that you get what you pay for at these types of paranormal events. Expect more, ask questions and be very weary to where you put your money. Many teams rake in a lot of money at these ghostly galas. They do not feed their guests, even offer free beverages, they preach at guests as if they are “right” and have answers about life after death. Not to mention, they fabricate historical facts, get “possessed” and pretend to talk to dead people, to make the event “exciting”. Why should consumers pay to be lied to and be swindled? If you are interested in attending one of the ESP events, please contact them on their website. Click on the link titled “events” and keep an eye out for the next haunted getaway.If you would like me to attend your ghostly event, shoot me an email at tonya@ghouli.org 
 
 
 
Sincere blogger,
 
Tonya Hacker  aka
Paranormal Eyes
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Paranormal Myths

Posted by
on January 12, 2009 at 8:25 pm

Outside of filtering through what is fact, fiction and legends while conducting paranormal research, a new concern is growing stronger every day. Paranormal myths are the fluffy stuff you see on TV and read about while browsing through ghost hunting websites. There is a trend starting to set and most of them are based off nothing more than a myth. A lot of teams seem to think they make a lot of sense with what they are doing while conducting “scientific paranormal research” at locations they are already assuming or wishing to be haunted. The truth is, there are more myths floating around out there than ghosts. I wanted to start a blog that helps educate those that are not ghost hunters and I wanted to broaden the mindset of those that are ghost hunters. With this blog, I just hope that people will reflect upon what they believe, why they believe it and what has convinced them that they are reporting the truth compared to a myth. I will start out with a few myths that I have personally observed during my many years of paranormal investigating. It seems to be getting worse with each new team of professional “scientists” that pop up. (Insert sarcasm) 

MYTH-Paranormal Investigations are done and should be done only at night. Teams will say they investigate at night because they can use night shot and things are quieter and it helps with what they call “data collection.” I will admit I used to think like this. Then one day, I remembered I have common sense and started to utilize it once again. For starters, ghosts do not sleep. If you have a theory that they do, please share. Do they have their days and nights mixed up? Giving into the theory that ghosts were once people, people characteristically sleep at night right? So why would a ghost wait until night while everyone is asleep or when everyone is from the house? I find it rather immature and boogie-mannish to assume that ghosts only creep at night. We are not nine year olds right? I have personally conducted better investigations and have been able to witness more unexplainable activity during the day time hours. I have talked with many reputable teams and they agree. Those that continue to run investigations only at night, find out why. What is their theory? They are “scientists” therefore they should have a fantastic hypothesis to share with you and their peers.

MYTH- Ghosts need our help or want our attention. Has it crossed anyone’s minds that a ghost may just be clumsy or forgetful? Just like when they were alive? Nobody is perfect.  So, let’s say you are a ghost and you walk around at night because everyone is sleeping and you accidentally kick a chair or break a glass. So, what makes these ghost hunters think that because the ghost stubbed its phantom pinky toe in the middle of the night, in the dark and moved a chair or made a loud bang is in need of OUR attention?  All these people trying to cross over ghosts and specters need to think; maybe they are happy where they are. Maybe they are working to avoid the living and slip up every now and again. But no, the big bad ghost hunters must bother the heck out of them because they think they want to make contact? There are so many sad and depressed ghosts out there according to most ghost hunting teams out there. Well, sure. It’s probably lonely being a ghost. But would it make you sad, upset or even depressed all the time if the living called you by the wrong name? Shouted at you all the time for you to “Show Yourself”? Maybe it would make you sad because people simply make up lies about who you are all the time. Maybe you are sad because you accidentally scared Little Timmy or you seem to have some paranormal funk scent attached to you? Would you be happy? When teams claim that they are able to do clearings and cast away banshees from your bathroom ask them how they know for sure if the ghost is willing to go. There are a lot of hokey psychics in the paranormal field and unfortunately a lot of them are attached to ghost hunting teams. Just be aware of who is telling you stories or creating a great paranormal case for their website. Ghosts do not necessarily want our attention. If they did, you must ask yourself why there is not more substantial evidence showing the world that ghosts do in fact exist.  

MYTH- Ghosts see in the Dark. Okay… where is it written that we get night vision when we die? Why are ghosts up and roaming in dark places? Perhaps the “orbs” we are capturing are their flashlights? Why do ghosts see in the dark but we the living can not? (PS- Orbs are not ghosts)

MYTH- Ghosts can go home with you. There is a 50/50 chance of this of course. But, I have to ask. If you are a ghost and you have lived in an abandoned Hotel for over 60 years, why at that moment are you able to leave and go home with a schmuck “ghost hunter”? Was the ghost hunter just so “hot” you the ghost had to tag along with them? Were they the “nicest” person you the ghost had ever met, with all the shouting and light pointing that they did? Was the ghost hunter the first person EVER to enter that hotel in 60 years so as a ghost you were so lonely that you had to hitch a ride? What makes ghost hunters so special where they are privy to a tag-along ghost?  If a ghost could leave in the first place… why did they wait for Mr. or Ms. Ghost hunter to show up? Why not haunt the new Holiday Inn down the road? Why not hitch a ride to the local bar? Better yet, why not haunt your favorite celebrity? Maybe retire in Cancun, maybe

Paris? MYTH- All ghosts are demons- Question. If all ghosts, maybe even some were in fact Demons, why are they not providing more evidence for the rest of the world? Why would a demonic ghost be afraid to show themselves, move a couch or even attack someone and throw them down some stairs when the cameras are rolling? They are demons, they are radical and they WANT to take over the world right? 

MYTH- Paranormal Teams that claim to have experience in all types of hauntings. Real hauntings are random and different with each case. Since there are no true and documented base lines for activity, these teams are suggesting that their science is based off random activity, probably searched on the internet and based off other myths. Nobody out there has experience with “all types” of hauntings. There is no type. Paranormal is not common and it’s not yet proven enough to categorize.

 MYTH- More years in the field equals more knowledge. It seems that people that suggest they have more time in the field know more? Well, think of it this way. Mr. or Mrs. Super Smarty Pant Ghost Hunter is taking a report, building a case and taking it seriously from a person that has had very limited time in the field.  The person they are trusting did nothing but witnessed something they could not explain and the smarty pant ghost hunters believe and want to believe everything this inexperienced person has just thrown at them. Here is the kicker with this myth. The person without any “time spent” in the field just witnessed full blown apparitions, moving objects and watched their dog float across the room. Ms. Smarty pant ghost hunters on the other hand are getting NOTHING out of the investigation. Who’s the better person here? Um… my vote is for the witness. They watched paranormal activity take place, Mr. Smarty pants are just hoping that it happens for them and their ghost hunting team. Years in the field does not make a ghost hunter smart, experienced or even half way correct. It’s very easy to regurgitate information passed on by other not so smart or even less knowledgeable ghost hunters out there. I have met researchers that have been in the field for a couple of months and they have more knowledge, common sense, skepticism and critical thinking skills than those that have many years in the field. It’s not how much time is spent, it’s how the time has been used is what counts.

FACT- If a person has spent more than five years active in the field of paranormal research/ghost hunting. They typically have evolved into a skeptic. They may still believe in ghosts but they are not easily convinced anymore. If a team or person seems to be gung ho and haunting happy, chances are they have an agenda that is not related to the truth? That agenda may be a TV show, popularity, fan base and website hits, Truth not so much.  

MYTH- Ghosts can read our minds? HAHAH that’s just dense.   Of course the ghosts were psychic or became psychic mind readers when they died? Perhaps they can enter our brain waves and become telekinetically in tune with our psyche and transparent consciousness… okay I will stop there. Why would they be able to read our minds? Because, ghost hunters believe in myths, that’s why.

MYTH- You can learn to be a ghost hunter by watching TV. Well, this is actually true. Today’s ghost hunters are TV trained. But a excellent ghost hunter/paranormal researcher probably does not watch paranormal TV because they are not that dim-witted enough to mimic an entertainment based TV show… If you do watch TV shows that teach you how to be a “ghost hunter”, please keep it at home or utilize it as a party favor. There is much more to paranormal research than what is seen on a 30 min television show with commercial breaks. So, that myth is in the air?

FACT: A person can learn his or her ABC’s from watching Sesame Street, so anything is possible. Not all paranormal teams follow paranormal myths but sadly enough, many of them do.

I hope this blog helps readers, skeptics and believers understand that there are many wrong things in this field. If they are not wrong than these myths need to be tested more and applied to logic. Today’s Ghost Hunters are no longer looking for supernatural phenomenon. They are doing nothing more than searching for incidences that they as a team are unable to explain. They are ignoring the possibility that someone else may have the explanation for these events. Just because one person is not able to explain it, does not make it a ghost.

FACT- Most ghost hunters are more afraid of peer review than things that go bump in the night.  Here are more MYTHS submitted by real paranormal researchers: MYTH–Ghosts exist and we are studying them and we only need to find evidence to prove that which we believe. MYTH–Electronic gadgets provide this elusive proof of the afterlife. No…They only provide some readings that some paranormal researchers/ghost-hunters think support their beliefs. Period.- TonyaK 

MYTH – All hauntings are because of a previous tenant, owner, breathing life has died and wants to be heard in the afterlife. – LoveYourself

MYTH – You have to take an expensive online class and receive a ‘Certification’ in order to ghost hunt!- Kristy

Myth- Simply because a large number of people believe something it is true, or exists.- ReapSow

Myth, if a paranormal investigation team uses a psychic this is evidence that the psychic is authentic- Chasing Midnight

Myth – When your batteries go dead on an investigation, regardless of type, it means that a ghost obviously stole your batteries power/energy to manifest more easily.- Amanda

Myth- All Cemeteries are haunted. Nobody dies in cemeteries, it’s just a place where the bodies go. It’s rude and disrespectful for ghost hunters to visit them. People do not DIE in cemeteries- TH  

March 21, 2009

OK-PARACON2009- The Oklahoma Paranormal Conference is almost here!

 visit www.ghouli.org for details.

For early bird tickets email tonya@ghouli.org El Reno, OK @ Historically Haunted Elk’s Lodge. Book early and SAVE!

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Ghost Hunters- Closed minded?

Posted by
on November 30, 2008 at 11:22 am


As you visit websites, hear or see teams present themselves to the public you will notice the phrase “we have an open mind” pops up. Other phrases that people should notice are “we believe”, “we can help” or the most classic “we want to find the truth”. There is a Catch-22 more than often as you learn more about today’s Ghost Hunting Teams and it’s not stopping.

 

Claims to believe? If a person makes the conscience choice to believe in such things as ghosts how exactly are they going to help out in certain unexplainable situations? They have already established that they believe in everything the “client” is willing to throw at them. Perhaps the phrase should be “we understand, for now”?

 

Not all paranormal claims can be explained. Therefore “helping” clients is nothing more than an exaggerated declaration made by teams that perhaps need to validate themselves. Making sense of the situation, well, in the real world, that is what we do. We attempt to make sense of the unexplainable events to make the, well, explainable.

 

Finding the truth is not as easy as it sounds. Truth is based off of facts. Let’s face it. The paranormal field as a whole has nothing factual about it. The only thing that may have a firm grip to reality could be history. But we all know, there is flaw in history, especially the history of brutal murders, suicides, hangings and so on.  History is documentation presented by a persons opinion, especially when it comes to pulling history from newspapers, diaries, journals and of course witness accounts.The newspapers can only report so much. The truth is, there is no truth. There is opinion. This is what teams do. They visit locations, conduct an investigation and do nothing more than offer their opinions on the subject. Opinion is not fact. Yes, this even applies to me.

 

The truth may not be screaming banshees in the hallways or tapping on ones chamber doors. The truth may be that there are mice, rats, raccoons, electrical problems and of course over active imaginations of clients and ghost hunters.

 

Teams will throw in the phrase, “we have an open mind” usually hear during media stints and moments of public recognition.  It bothers me to the fullest that I am skeptical about such things as “ghosts”, therefore I do not have an open mind?  Having an open mind is also thinking outside of the realm, speculation and expectation of a location being haunted. It’s applying critical thinking and a rational mindset all of the time. In my years of research, I have noticed too many times that the phrase “open mind” has become converted to “one track mind”. It’s okay to believe, but there should be a stopping point when it comes to paranormal research. More and more teams show up to locations and find ghostly activity. They are either creating it themselves through unintentional taught hysteria or they have mastered the art of blind ignorance. The rare occasion that there may be something “ghostly” on the premises is now being overlooked by pure exaggerated ghostly greed and the closed mindset of one team’s protocol and methods of investigation.

 

Before anyone suggests that I may be harsh on this subject. I wanted to state. I do believe and I want to believe you. But, I want to think rational and apply critical thinking to help you make sense of your ghostly inhabitants. I want to witness what you have witnessed and to help others understand the importance of possibility verses proof of my opinion.

 

Not all things that go bump in the night are ghosts. The closed minded behaviors of teams across the nation and locally are creating more “ghosts” than working to find the truth that they are claiming to seek. In reality, they are not seeking the truth. They claim they believe. They just want people to believe them and their opinions.

 

 

Sincere Blogger,

 

Tonya Hacker

Paranormal Eyes

 

 

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