In honor of the release of my latest book, A GHOST HUNTER’S GUIDE TO THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSES IN AMERICA, I thought it might be fun to give y’all some information on what’s involved in conducting your own ghost investigation. I wanted to give everyone a different perspective than my own, so I went to a great source: NC Hags (based out of Raleigh, NC). These guys spend much of their waking hours pursuing the paranormal, so who better to enlighten all of you “wanna be” ghost hunters…
Terrance: First, allow me to explain to everyone that NC HAGS stands for NC Haints, Apparitions, Ghosts and Spirits. Please explain exactly what’s involved in a paranormal investigation?
Jeff- A paranormal investigation begins when someone contacts our group with a location that is suspected of being haunted. After researching the property and gathering some facts about said property, we decide if we are interested or not. If interested, we next decide if our team is capable of handling the investigation alone or if we need to call on other teams in the area to assist. These other teams can be groups that we have worked with in the past or teams that we have never worked with, but are located in the vicinity of the haunted property, and therefore may be able to assist with the locations history or getting permissions. Once it is established that we will be doing the investigation and who will be assisting, the next phase is scheduling a date and time. This can be very difficult when there are more than a few investigators as everyone has their own lives and schedules that must be worked around. The actual investigation involves touring the property, possibly getting a history from the owner(s) as we walk through, and choosing locations for our static cameras and other equipment. Next, we split members into groups, send them to the desired areas for investigation, and then rotate as needed to be sure everyone has had a chance to apply their investigative skills in all areas of the property. After the investigation is finished, we go home and begin the process of reviewing all audio, video, and photographs collected to look for paranormal anomalies. When anomalies are discovered, we then have to decide if these are truly paranormal or if they were caused by something completely normal. The process of “debunking” evidence can be tedious and time consuming, and may involve returning to the property to test if the anomaly can be reproduced by factors within the location investigated. Unlike the television shows, we don’t always have a “reveal” session with the owners as some are not really interested and sometimes there is not an owner to report our findings to.
Eddie – Preparation ahead of time. Dates, numbers, locations, times, and all equipment checked and ready to go. Some of it is like what you see on T.V. some is not. It’s difficult to tell all that we are doing before, during and after an investigation. It’s just a process we figured out over time, and have stuck to it. It works well for us. I try to show a little of it in some of our videos.
Terrance: Your group is well-respected in NC and has done lots of investigations all over the state, including working with other paranormal groups. Can you explain how you got into this?
Jeff– I got into this to provide a skeptical viewpoint on evidence collected. Although I am a very spiritual person, I am very skeptical when someone tells me they have a ghost in their house. I always look for the logical explanation when examining evidence. A good example of this would be an investigation that our group and two other groups performed together at a Bed and Breakfast in Virginia. The following is my account of what happened:
Near the end of the investigation, I turned around to see a young girl standing on the stairs behind me dressed in early 1900’s clothing and holding a doll or bear (not sure which). One minute she was there, next she was gone. I ran to the bottom of the steps and looked up the stairs and briefly caught a glimpse of her turning up the next flight of stairs and then she was gone.
Although this was very real to me and I can still see her in my mind, I have to wonder if I only saw what I wanted to see. When reviewing some video footage from an interview with one of the owners, I noticed that the owner had mentioned a little girl in a blue dress being seen by guests of the establishment. I was filming this interview and so I paid little attention to the fact that this girl was mentioned. So I wonder if I saw her only because the seed had been planted earlier in the interview, and my mind contrived this image of what the girl looked like.
Eddie- I grew up with Ghosts and had an interest in finding out whom and what they were. Also, we have been very lucky to work with good people all over the state of NC. We like to share information and help others. The Heritage Hunters Society and G.H.O.S.T.S. of Raleigh have become great friends of ours. We have shared many investigations together, as well as actual friendships.
Terrance: What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a group or joining a group like yours?
Jeff- Anyone can form their own group; you only need an audio recorder or a camera and a desire to explore the unseen to begin. My advice, don’t go into situations alone and make sure you get permission to enter the property before you start exploring.
Eddie – Start your own group with friends. People that you are close to are best. I’ve seen people start groups with strangers so many times, just to figure out later they don’t have much in common, and some are not trust worthy. By Jeff , Mike and I already knowing each other so well, we don’t have to constantly check with each other about everything. We know what the group direction is and just do it.
Terrance: What has been your favorite investigation and why?
Jeff- The Lake Lure Inn is definitely my favorite investigation because we had so many personal encounters with the paranormal while staying there. I personally had enough happen to me while I was there to state that if anywhere is truly haunted, it is the Lake Lure Inn.
Eddie – One of my favorites has to be Lake Lure Inn. We went there twice. There is never a shortage of ghostly happenings; EVP’s, odd pictures, weird feelings, hearing voices with your own ears, etc. You really have to get into the place and just let yourself absorb the history of it all. Lake Lure Inn was built in 1927 and has seen many things in its time. We have been lucky enough to experience all kinds of personal happenings while there. Also, it is a beautiful inn to stay at for a weekend.
Terrance: What would you like to investigate that you haven’t been able to so far?
Jeff-I would love to investigate Waverly Hills Sanatorium in eastern Kentucky and any of the many castles in Europe, Scotland, and Ireland.
Eddie- An abandoned Amusement Park. That is my all time goal. I think because there are so many stories, movies and Scooby Doo episodes about that type place. The amusement park Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley, N.C. was closed for awhile, but I’m not sure now. While it was closed I had contacted the owner, and he seemed interested in letting us do an investigation. Then it all fell apart and he wouldn’t return my calls. I believe this had to do with the fact that we were not with a big TV Show. Before he figured that out, he was friendly and talkative. Well I guess I missed my chance on that one.
Terrance: What do you think is the most indispensable piece of equipment for a ghost hunter and why?
Jeff-I would have to say Knowledge is most important; knowledge of the location, knowledge of the location’s history, knowledge of the supposed sightings, knowledge of your surroundings and how things work. Armed with this information is paramount in preparing for an investigation.
Eddie- Your own Ears and Eyes. It pays to pay attention. Things can be happening right in front of you, and a lot of people don’t even notice. Keeping your ears open for any little strange noise nearby, helps a lot as well.
Mike- Skepticism, it keeps us fair and impartial until we have evidence to the contrary.
Terrance: I know you guys have run into some weird things given what you’re doing, but what is the weirdest thing that has happened during an investigation?
Jeff- Lake Lure Inn-I had just awakened after a late night investigation of the hotel’s many supposedly haunted rooms. Eddie was already up, had been downstairs for coffee and a cigarette, and was now taking a shower. I was sitting on the side of the bed, dressed only in my night clothes, eating a blueberry Pop Tart. Our other roommate was still sleeping soundly in the bed not two feet from where I eagerly devoured that Pop Tart. As I enjoyed my meal I watched in disbelief as the covers on the bed, that held my sleeping mate, rose slowly into a peak about sixteen inches above the bed. It hovered there and then slowly moved up the length of the bed, and then returned by the same path to the exact spot, hovered a moment and then sank back into nothingness. My mind was in total chaos, I could not fathom what had just happened. I slowly regained my thought processes and asked “Can you do that again for me?” About two seconds went by and then, just as before, the covers rose, moved up and back down the length of the bed and then came to rest right where they started. The bathroom door opened and Eddie came out and started to say something to me when he stopped, because he now noticed I was sitting there with a half-eaten Pop Tart in one hand with my mouth was wide open staring at the other bed. Realizing something was wrong; he said “What happened, you look like you have seen a ghost”. I told him, “I did!”
Eddie – While on The Battleship NC in Wilmington, I had an entity follow me around. I do not have ESP, but I could tell exactly when it got near to me. It was like a dark cloud rolled around me and I felt very uncomfortable. It stayed with me from 2 a.m. till about 6 a.m. when we left the ship. Prior to that I had been having a great time and was very comfortable. I did not say anything during that time, but later when off the ship, the other guys admitted they knew something was wrong with me. I couldn’t help it. It was not a pleasant feeling at all.
Terrance: Is your group accepting new team members? If so, what is the process for applying? How about if someone wants your help investigating place that is reportedly haunted?
Jeff- At this time we are not accepting new members. We feel that our current membership is all we need and if we need more help we can always call on one of our many contacts in other paranormal groups. If we were to consider new members in the future, applicants would be considered by what they can bring to our group (i.e. knowledge, skills, equipment, contacts, etc.)
*** If someone needs our help in an investigation, all they have to do is contact us through our website www.nchags.org, or directly through our email: info@nchags.org***
Eddie – NC HAGS is Eddie, Jeff and Mike; it works best that way. I will not say we will never add a member or two in the future, but it’s so much easier this way. If someone wants to investigate with us, the way to do it is find a haunted location and ask us along. We normally do not take people with us that are not already Ghost Hunters, but if someone sets up a good Ghost Hunt that we are interesting in, of course they will be there with us. Most of the time, the person would act as a guide, since they would be more familiar with the place than ourselves. It has to be a good location that we can get to. If we go out of town, it really has to be pretty good. Remember we have real jobs and real lives like everyone else. We do this on the side because it is interesting, fun and we meet lots of great friends in the process.
Terrance: Are there any other groups that you could recommend that might be accepting new members or are also good resources for those needing help investigating a haunted location?
We work very closely with The Heritage Hunters Society (T.H.H.S.), www.theheritagehunterssociety.com, and G.H.O.S.T.S of Raleigh, www.ghostsofraleigh.com, and we have also worked a couple of times with Paranormal Scene Investigators (PSI) from Shelby NC, www.paranormalsceneinvestigators.com.
Terrance: How about a YouTube link to one of your investigations?
Jeff: I think this is one of our best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Thanks guys for sharing so much good information and good luck on all your future investigations!
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