Sean Paradis

I recently had the pleasure to sit down with Fiona Broome and receive one of her latest books, Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries: A How-to Guide as a review-copy. Ms. Broome explained that the book is meant to help investigators when investigating cemeteries, and packed with her best secrets she has learned over time about hotspots that will be found in 95 percent of active cemeteries. After reading my review copy, I am thoroughly impressed!

Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries is a phenomenal addition to any ghost hunter’s bookshelf, whether they are a new or an expert ghost hunter. Even if a reader has been investigating for years, they will learn something new after reading this book. The major portion of the book is divided into 9 sections (not including the bibliography, glossary, etc.), covering how to choose cemeteries to investigate, the secrets of what to look for when investigating, the stories that gravestone art tells, and what to do after investigating.

The only negative that I can find about Ghost Hunting in Haunted cemeteries, is that it had to end! This book is packed with useful information in ever chapter, loaded with pictures of examples containing arrows pointing out areas of interest, and most important of all, Ms. Broome’s secrets! When reading this book, it has a feeling as if you are in the room with Ms. Broome talking one-on-one. I am hoping to see in the future additions to this book since the first left me eager to read more!

If readers are looking for a book on investigating cemeteries, this is the one to buy without a doubt. Ms. Broome has been in the paranormal field for over 25 years, and has constructed this book out of the knowledge she has gained in that time. I give Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries 5 out of 5 stars. It is worth every penny!

Why do spirits stay on earth, when many religions tell of a “heaven” where everything is better than life on earth, containing more beauty than anyone can imagine. It is difficult to answer this question for every spirit who chooses, whether they are aware of it or not, to stay on earth. However, there are reasons that are common. The major reason is that the spirit is too shy or uncomfortable to move on.

Imagine living in your current home from the day you had been born. Assuming that you like your current home, and the family or roommates you live with, imagine suddenly having a notice to leave. Most would be struck in the heart at the thought of having to leave. This is what happens to a spirit who does not want to leave this earth. They have grown to call it their home and they are not ready to leave. The next scenario is similar to this, and that is that they feel like they need to complete something in their life.

What they feel like they need to finish are as unique as snowflakes. No two reasons are the same. In their life, these spirits may have been the family member whose mind were plagued by common thoughts such as “Did I leave the stove on?” or “I can’t remember whether I locked all the window and doors.” and “I think I left the curling iron on.” The spirit may truly want to move on, but these thoughts fill their mind, preventing themselves from moving on in fear of these thoughts being realities. It is a hard struggle for the spirit to accept that they may not be able to protect those who they left behind and move on. These spirits are one of the hardest to help move on. The next reason is that they are too stubborn to leave.

These are normally the spirits who during their life held onto a pair of old boots or shoes because they were still wearable, despite the fact they were falling apart. The shoe would have to tear into pieces, or be secretly thrown out by someone in the family. They feel that this is their life, even though they may have passed away, and they can still live it how they want, when they want, and where they want. When they are ready to cross over, they will, but no one will tell them when that time will be. The next scenario is when the spirit does not know they have passed.

The event that caused them to pass on was either so subtle they did not know they passed, or so traumatic they blocked it out from their memory. The best way to describe this is waking up to an empty house. Everything is still the same as normal. Where clothes had been left the night before are still in a pile. The dishes are still in the sink. But no one is there. An eternal silence that can only be broken until someone brings them to the realization that they are dead, or the spirit figures it out on their own. Until they do, they may walk the same house or place waiting for someone to show up. The last popular scenario is simply the fear of where they may go.

The idea of leaving this earth and embarking on a journey to a completely new place, where every law of science is discarded scares some. For others, it is an exciting new adventure that can only lead to new discoveries and thrills. Others hold on to what they have learned on earth and hold an iron grip to it. They do not accept change well. These are the spirits that when living will never change a single room in their house. The paint, wallpaper, and furniture setup will stay the same as if frozen in time.

The reason for a spirit to stay behind varies from spirit to spirit. Normally, the reasons seem to normally fall into one of these five categories. However, the reason may not. One of the most difficult things about being a psychic is trying to pinpoint why they have not moved on, and help them cope. I personally have not tried before. In my opinion, it would be like trying to force someone into therapy. You cannot do that to a spirit. They have to choose to appear to you, asking for help. I have not had that happen yet, but if it does it will be an experience I will gladly have, and write about.

Spirits, just like everyone else, react differently to being in the lime light. Some spirits tend to love being in the lime light and produce more activity, while others shy from it, and their energy fades over time. A common misconception about haunts is that their energy will always be there for it to be documented, when that’s not always the case. Spirits are people without bodies, and this is something that needs to be remembered.

The best way to compare this to the living, are celebrities and the paparazzi. The more humble celebrities try to avoid it, whereas there are celebrities who take every chance they can get to be in the lime light. Then you have the celebrities that walk the border who like to be occasionally in the media when appropriate, but otherwise wish to have privacy. Spirits are the same way, and you need to keep this is mind when investigating.

When visiting locations, some spirits love the attention, and cause meters to get readings off the charts, and photos to be filled with anomalies, while others cause meters to go flat and photos to be empty. This is what is caused by the “paparazzi phenomena.”  If you have a spirit who loves the limelight, that’s great for evidence. However, if you have a spirit who doesn’t want to have evidence being taken, respect it, and let them go back to their business so long as it isn’t harming the living.

The basic rule of thumb about following spirits is that if you wouldn’t want it to be done to you, don’t do it to a spirit. They are people without bodies, and they still need to be treated with respect.

When visiting a popular location, it becomes difficult to keep an open mind while investigating. Generally, the top three things that happen in people’s minds at locations that are well known is that they either think every noise is paranormal, they are waiting for something epic to happen because of the locations reputation, or they are in such awe about the location they miss everything.

Generally, when a person believes every noise to be paranormal, it is often because they have heard stories about the place they are visiting, and want to see something so much that they create evidence in their mind. A creaking floor board will be evidence to them, and it is difficult to convince them otherwise. This can happen to anyone. A simple way to experience similar phenomena for yourself is to sit for a minute, and start to think you have a headache. Imagine actually feeling it. A lot of times, the pain of a phantom headache will develop.

This is what happens on an investigation. People hear the stories of the place they are walking through, and they want to see something so bad, they take a normal noise, and believe it is paranormal. They will see fake shadows, or think they are hearing things. The other side of this is when a person discredits everything anticipating larger evidence.

If the stories are of a grand scale, including full body apparitions and hearing voices right next to you, they may be so excited to experience the stories, that they brush off smaller evidence like cold spots, gentle taps on the walls, or footsteps. They may blame someone in the other room making the noise, or blame the cold spot on a draft. Granted, these may be the cause, but not always. Most times they will not even consider it to be paranormal. The third most common thing to happen is for a person to be completely unaware of any evidence.

A person is in such awe about the stories that a majority of their consciousness is focused on the story, trying to wrap their brain around it, and the fact that they are actually there in the location. The best way that I can describe this, is when you are driving and listening to the radio. When you get to your destination, think about what happened during the drive. A lot of times, I do not remember any details except the major ones. This is what happens a lot at investigations. The major portion of their attention is on the story, that evidence that may happen becomes the minor details that they will forget in the end.

The best way to have a balance between looking for evidence, and being able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not, is a few days before the investigation, put the stories away. Do something else that does not involve the location. A highly effective method is to meditate each night and morning for a few days prior to the investigation. This helps to filter and balance out your mind, and will make it easier to investigate without judging evidence too quickly.

If you watch any professional group of ghost hunters on television, often times within 15 minutes of the show, activity begins to happen, unless the location isn’t haunted. The investigations that seen on television last for hours, but normally only have an hour block of air time. When they edit the show, they take the exciting parts of the investigation, and cram it into an hour. When watching these shows, in particular Ghost Hunters, look at the bottom of the screen. There will be an occasional sub-title telling you how long the investigation has been going on. Sometimes, activity does not happen until 3 hours into the investigation. Sometimes nothing happens.

Now, when deciding to go on a ghost hunt, especially a public event, please remember this. You cannot expect things to happen right away. With 25 or more people in one location, it is almost impossible to focus primarily on investigating. Often times, individuals start to become impatient if nothing happens. Some may leave, others may stay.

When group member begin to become annoyed and show it, it affects the entire group. People who are taking the event seriously cannot focus, and neither can the group leaders or the psychics. As a psychic, I experienced the effect that this had on me in the last week. The group was split about evenly between those who were serious about the investigation, and those who turned impatient. Not only did the half of the group who were serious become disgruntled, so did I. The problem was that I was picking up paranormal energy, but it became blurred by the energy of the impatient half. What happens when the group becomes impatient, is that it creates a static, and overpowers the paranormal energy.

What it comes down to is that if a group member is expecting something to happen right away, and it does not, please do not become impatient. If you take the time to allow the investigation to take its course, and relax, things in most cases will happen. When group members sit there and allow their impatience to seethe through them, nothing is going to happen. And if it does, they are not going to notice it. They would be better off to sit in the comfort of their own home, and watch investigations on TV. If they have the patience to investigate with a group, or at a public event, I encourage them to see what it is all about.

So please, if group members become impatient, and they do not think it is going to improve, please keep this article in mind, take a quick break, and join the group after. The only thing that will happen if they do not is ruin the night for themselves, and possibly other members of the group.

What is the biggest mistake that a ghost hunter can make? Many may think along the lines of leaving batteries, a favorite pair of dowsing rods, or something along those lines at home. While errors like these are mistakes that would be a complication, they’re not the biggest one. I know you’re thinking “What could be more important than having batteries?” but the truth is a ghost hunter’s equipment doesn’t make them who they are. How they interpret the evidence their equipment captured using batteries is.

When a ghost hunter has a longer track record, the smaller pieces of evidence do not seem as powerful to someone who is new to the field. Normally, when someone new sees a “smaller” piece of evidence, it does not matter to them if it may be “just another orb.” They will be the one who tends to want to prove or disprove it the most. When an experienced ghost hunter sees an orb photo or video, since they have seen so many, they more-or-less throw it into the case file and almost dismiss it. They do this because they have seen so many “dust particles,” or “bugs,” they feel that most orbs truly are dust, or bugs. I feel that as a ghost hunter, investigators need to look at every angle of evidence, not simply throw it out because of doubt.

Another similar mistake is blaming things on your mind, the wind, etc. This is one mistake that does not seem to happen to only new, nor only an experienced ghost hunter. It all depends on who the person is. This mistake will always be made by skeptics. But in that case, they are not making “mistakes,” they just do not want to believe what they are experiencing. If you are inside, all the windows are closed, the heat or ac is off, and you checked for drafts, chances are it is not the wind. If all the blinds are shut on the windows, and they are all dark enough to the point where no light can pass through, it was not car lights. Just because no one else heard the noise you heard, does not mean it was your mind playing tricks on you. You may be more sensitive than the rest of the group. Grab your voice recorder and try to capture the noise.

The fears of embarrassment or rejection of an idea are two of the most powerful human emotions when in groups. As difficult as it may be for some to break down their mental walls and not be afraid to speak up when they experience something. The first ever ghost hunt I attended with Fiona Broome of Hollowhill.com, I had trouble breaking down the wall at first. I had been seeing a little boy near a tree, but I did not know if it was my imagination. Upon telling Fiona what I saw, she confirmed the boy. If I had not spoken up, I may not have ever found out that I was psychic.

Then you have the complete opposite scenario of a skeptic. This will be the person who will be leaving every place claiming it is haunted, and every twig snapping is a spirit. Even if a piece of evidence has been explained in every normal way possible, they will still believe it is a spirit. It almost seems as if they are reverse-debunking a location. It is unfortunate to see, but it seems as if their mind will not accept that a location that has claimed of being haunted could not possibly be free of paranormal activity.

It may seem after reading this that examining evidence is a headache of a task. And it can be, if you are not it the right state of mind. Just remember: if you can explain it in a normal way, it’s 99% most likely normal. If you have a piece of evidence, even if it is “just an orb,” and you ca not explain it logically, you may have a haunted location. You have to begin to combine it with the rest of your evidence and see where it takes you. Does the evidence match stories about the location? Has more than one group reported the same evidence? If lights have been spotted, is the location near a road where cars travel? If temperature fluctuations occur, could there be a body of water nearby? These are the questions to ask while reviewing evidence. If you find yourself puzzled over evidence, I will of course be happy to give my input upon receiving emails at Sean@SeanParadis.com.