Ghost Hunting

At first, when I thought about having the topic of ghost hunting, I was more excited about having an interesting topic than being intrigued with what I could find. As my time limited with what I would discover about ghost hunting, I turned to my E-book that I had checked out from the Watson library. "Ghost Hunters of the South" by Alan Brown opened my eyes about what exactly it took to capture a ghost on film, or to just merely feel their presence. Contrary to popular belief, people actually believe in the after life, and they believe that the after life can have a presence here on Earth, where living humans still inhabit. In the book, Alan discussed ghost hunting in the southern states. For example, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas were all prime spots for ghost hunting crews to ghost hunt. Many had heard stories of hauntings, sightings and even ghost apparitions which was a bargain for traveling the distance to live it in real life. Alan interviews ghost teams for each state they had investigated, and every team concluded with the same statement, "They are real, and they are out there." Now if this doesn't send chills down your spine, I don't know what will.

As ghost hunting is already a thrill seeking occupation, it is also a huge amount of research before hand. Most of the investigators that Alan Brown had interviewed had done research on previous owners of houses, obituaries in the area, and history of the foundation. And thus, they would link their findings with the evidence in the house, or area, which made their work and investigation easier. It wasn't always like this though, a common interest to seek truth in a house or home to put answers to questions. Ghost hunting dating back in 50 B.C. was actually used as a 'relieving duty' for spirits to leave their old lives on Earth and carry on to heaven or hell, like they should. (Eventdv. 18.5) Ghost hunting was also made famous and made a common interest in America and all over the world by TV shows like 'Ghost Hunters International' on TNT or the DiscoveryChannel. Now, because of this worldwide interest, places like the 'Haunting in Connecticut' setting or 'Amityville Horror' house has been linked to tourist attractions and even made into movies. Ghosts are a popular curiosity among people. Either people try interacting with the 'other side' by using Ouji boards or doing seyonces or they only consider it, but can't come up with the courage to actually do it because of the legends of the bad effects of communicating with the 'other side'. That is where haunting comes into play.

Hauntings are labeled as bad summoned ghosts who come but never leave until something is done, spiritually or methodically with the place they are condemned to. This all seems morbid, but it is the dead we are talking about. Which makes this field so creative and interesting. There are so many people who have passed that living humans would love to communicate with and ask questions, because the unanswered question still lingers for all living things, "What becomes of us, when we die?". And this leads to ghost hunting to supply all those answers, whether the dead wants to give up those answers or not is the question.

Works Cited

"Ghost Hunters of the South" by Alan Brown.

History of Ghost Hunting: Event dv 18.5 EBSCO Host.