Christmas Ghost Stories

It will soon be time for all those delightful Christmas ghost stories to be appearing on telly - that's if they do this year. The BBC have had some classics in the past. They could do a lot worse than to repeat them again this year. My favourites being Lost Hearts by M.R. James and The Signalman by Charles Dickens. Both spine-tinglers but still quaintly old-fashioned. None of the glossy, Hollywood-style special effects, just excellent acting of equally excellent stories. If you are listening BBC planners, please, please re-run these.

Ghost Investigation - The Feathers, Bridge St, Warrington

We received an email from one of the staff at The Feathers. A pub on Bridge St Warrington. Several staff had seen the apparition of a woman. Glasses had been thrown from tables in front of them and one member of staff had his clothing tugged at in the cellar. There was also a report that the spirit store (no pun intended) where all the whisky, brandy etc is stored, kept unlocking itself.

We arrived there at 7pm and did a full EMF sweep of the building and found quite a few odd anomalies. We also did a yes/no session using the K2 meter and dowsing rods and there was a huge amount of activity. A couple of the doormen were also present. These are guys who don't scare easily. Even they later admitted about feeling a little creeped out during the investigation. Well worth a visit and Darren the landlord looked after us admirably - nice butties Darren :)

Halloween and all that !

Yes, it's almost here again. Your door is about to be haunted - by kids trick or treating!
Has anyone got anything planned. Any investigations?

Halloween Approaches

It's getttng that time of year again when all good paranormal investigators are dusting off their equipment for the impending ghostie fest. That's my job for today.

Ghostly screams coming from hotel room - actual footage

Really cool stuff. Actual security camera footage....and no, no horrible big face will leap out at you.

Ghost appearances explained - 5 different reasons you think you saw a ghost

Many people say that they have seen a ghost. I am not saying that they didn't THINK they saw a ghost, it's just that the bodies senses are easily fooled. Here are 5 reasons that could explain a ghost sighting:

1) Paraedolia 

The mind is hard-wired to recognize faces. It is in us from babies. We need the obvious capability to recognize family and friends and identify enemies. The way a shadow or a mark sits on a wall may appear to take on a human shape. Especially when only glimpsed for a brief moment. Paraedolia is when the brain is trying to piece together the recognition factors and automatically fills in the missing or vague pieces. This happened to me as a child. I happened to be passing my parents bedroom when I swore I saw my dad in bed. I saw his head on the pillow. I went downstairs and told my mother only to be informed that my dad left for work some hours earlier. My mother was worried my dad had come home ill and gone to bed. On looking in the bedroom he wasn't there.


2) Charles Bonnet Syndrome

 Charles Bonnet Syndrome is a condition that causes patients with visual loss to have complex visual hallucinations, first described by Charles Bonnet in 1760. These hallucinations are the brain attempting to make sense of visual signals and "filling in" the missing pieces of the puzzle. In fact, not that far removed from Paraedolia. Sufferers of this condition are quite used to seeing all kinds of bizarre things that they realise just aren't there. One woman reported seeing a young man sitting on her sofa and smiling at her. She could see him in vivid detail and even described his clothing and facial features.


3) Shadows

Light can sometimes play tricks. It can throw a shadow on a wall, and dependant on where the light is coming from and what it passes across, it can cause some human shaped anomalies that the already excited mind sees as spectral.


4) Hoaxers

Yes, believe it or not, not all people are honest. OK, I am being flippant, but hoaxers have to be taken into consideration. Who amongst us hasn't pulled a prank at some time or other? With the advent of paranormal tourism some public buildings whose owners previously used to keep quiet about alleged hauntings are now shouting about it from the rooftops. There's money in them there spooks!!


5) Hallucinations

As Ebenezer Scrooge said to Marley's Ghost "There is more of gravy than of grave about you". He made the very logical connection that food and other stimuli, or indeed illness, can cause people to hallucinate. It's a well recongized fact.

To quote from another fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". If you can say with 100% certainty that all above instances have been ruled out, or indeed the incident was also witnessed by one or more credible witness, then you have seen something that is unexplained. Not necessarily a ghost - just unexplained.

Capturing a ghost - The chance has passed

With the advent of the computer age, virtually anyone with a PC, a bit of software and a modicum of knowledge can now fake any picture or video. With software getting more and more sophisticated, it is now virtually impossible to spot a really good faker. Most of the old ghostie pictures were quite crude double exposures. All you needed was a reasonable SLR camera, a tripod, a cable release and a dark room to make some spectacular looking ghost pics. I made dozens of these things when I was in my twenties. They were great for fooling the unsophisticated.

The point I am trying to make is this. Is there actually any concrete, 100% foolproof way of presenting any sort of evidence to prove beyond any shred of a doubt that ghosts exist? Before people start offering up orb pictures and EVP's, these too can be faked or doctored. All you need to make some great EVP's is to stand in another room from your recorder and speak in a quiet, gruff voice, whilst at the same time have a couple of friends speak at the same time in the same room as the recorder as if they were carrying out an investigation. You then just claim that during the conversation you didn't hear it.

Please believe me when I say I am not being a cynic. There are a lot of people out there who love to be the centre of attention, and twice as many wanting to believe anything that the fakers say. All this goes back to the victorian seance tricksters. Nothing changes, merely the mode of operation. This is actually sad and quite annoying, as any genuine evidence that is captured is then under massive scrutiny and subjected to skepticism.

Popular theories on ghosts and ghost hunting gadgets

There are many things that seem to have slipped into the collective knowledge of ghost hunting and are accepted as an absolute truth. Few of these (if indeed any) can be supported scientifically as an absolute fact. Take my favourite aggravation - orbs. What leap of faith first made someone view dust specs and anomalous spots of light on a digital camera photograph as being the energy of a spirit that is about to materialise (or whatever they say it means)?  We could also hypothesize and say they are fall-out from the vapour trail of a UFO that is leaving earth's atmosphere - where does it all end???

I once took several photographs at a wedding where some 60 or so people were dancing in a ballroom. Now either that ballroom (and a modern building at that) was the most haunted place on earth, or "orbs" are simply just dust. There were thousands of the shiny little critters.

Another accepted theory is that we can "measure" the presence of a ghost/spirit/entity by using an EMF meter, because a nearby spirit causes a spike in EMF readings. Now don't get me wrong. I myself wander around with a couple of these devices wafting them around like some kind of Star Wars light sabre, so I am just as guilty as anyone. I have also had some strange anomalous readings that have just appeared, then as quickly disappeared. This isn't definitive proof that I have had a close encounter from beyond the grave.

Another popular toy is the laser thermometer, and yes, I have one of those too. It's great fun. Making a little red dot appear on a wall some 10 feet away and proudly proclaiming one end of the wall is 5 degrees cooler than the other end. So what?? Most rooms have cold spots, but it's usually more to do with draughts and bad insulation than it is the paranormal.

The best toy of all is a Frank's Box. For those that don't know what one is. It is an FM radio that is made to constantly search through the channels in a continuous loop. When you ask a question you get the occasional snippet of a conversation or a word coming through from a radio station. They are supposedly answers from the other side. Sometimes the answers can be remarkable, but more often they are just noises or utter nonsense. The law of averages says an occasional snippet would probably answer a question. I once asked a spirit if it was male or female and the box gave me the answer of "cream crackers". That's when I realised I must myself be a bit cream crackers for using it. 

Oh I know, I am coming across as some horrible sceptic and a kill-joy. Let those who want to believe in orbs and the like carry on doing so. I am still searching for the DEFINITIVE proof that something paranormal is happening. The chase goes on.

Mill Street Barracks St Helens ghost hunt 14th June 2013

Ghost Grapplers will be holding a ghost hunt in aid of MND at Mill St Barracks, St Helens this friday the 14th June 2013. You can still get tickets at the website http://www.ghostgrapplers.co.uk

This is a really active building. Tickets are only £25 each. Starts at 8-30pm for a 9pm start. Finishes at 1am

Where the Ghosts Walk - a brilliant new book by Peter Underwood

To anyone with an interest in ghost hunting and the paranormal, the name of Peter Underwood needs no introduction. I have read many of his books and treasure every one of them that I own. His new offering 'Where the Ghosts Walk' is set to become the handbook and must-read for every seasoned and every would-be paranormal investigator. 

There are many books on haunted buildings, but this book is different. It is a well laid out volume of haunted locations and their associated spooks and spectres. It is handily broken down into different types of location, such as haunted airfields, haunted railways etc, each entry giving details of what has been witnessed and the story behind the haunting. If I could give this book 12 out of 10 then I would. Excellent work Mr Underwood....excellent, excellent work.

This book is by Souvenir Press http://www.souvenirpress.co.uk 

Here is a link to the book http://www.souvenirpress.co.uk/2013/04/where-the-ghosts-walk/

Charity Ghost Hunt. Dam House, Astley. 19th April 2013

Ghost Grapplers will be holding a Charity Ghost Hunt in aid of MND at Dam House in Astley, Gtr Manchester on friday the 19th April 2013. We are really looking forward to this event. Especially the top floor which is partly restored but in completely original condition. You can read more about it and book tickets here http://www.ghostgrapplers.co.uk

Charity Ghost Hunts at Ordsall Hall

Ghost Grapplers held a Charity Ghost Hunt at Ordsall Hall in Salford, Manchester on the 22nd Feb 2013. We raised almost £400 for a charity that is very close to our hearts. http://josephsgoal.org

We are back at Ordsall Hall again on 23rd March 2013 to raise money for Jordan to represent Team GB at the Maccabiah Games in July and to provide sporting equipment for children in Israel. You can read more about it here and book tickets for this event by clicking HERE

Charity Ghost Hunt at Ordsall Hall Salford. 22nd Feb 2013

Ghost Grapplers http://www.ghostgrapplers.co.uk are holding a Charity Ghost Hunt at Ordsall Hall near Manchester on the 22nd February 2013. Proceeds in aid of Joseph's Goal http://josephsgoal.org

Please help us raise funds for this worthwhile cause.Tickets available at the Ghost Grapplers link above.

Private domestic paranormal investigation - Manchester 11th Jan 2013

We were contacted by a gentleman from the Manchester area asking if we could investigate his property for paranormal activity. After asking a few more questions it transpired that the activity had been happening over many years. There had been many instances of the apparition of a young, blonde-haired girl being sighted, people being pushed and scratched whilst sleeping.

Julian, Derek and I (namely members of Ghost Grapplers) arrived at 8pm to a very pleasant, modern, semi-detached house and did a preliminary sweep of the building in the presence of a handful of family members. We found no anomalous readings in the bedroom where activity had been reported, but we did find several anomalous readings in a small bedroom. on the landing and most peculiarly, half way up the door space (in mid air) to the downstairs front room.

The investigation team, accompanied by the family members, then sat in a circle in the front room with an EMF meter positioned on a cabinet beside the living room door and a K-II EMF meter in the middle of the circle. We then asked for responses to the questions we were asking, but nothing happened with the meter in the centre of the circle, although the EMF meter near the door gave the odd feint blip in aswer to our questions. I then asked if it was afraid to enter the circle, and if it just liked to frighten people. The EMF meter near the door started going berzerk - it seemed we were annoying it. The temperature in the room also started to drop significantly. We had seen enough activity to warrant a more thorough investigation and will be returning in a couple of weeks for a longer stay.