Ghostly Music

My team kicked off an investigation for a client last night where one of the claims was hearing 1920s orchestra swing music late one night.  The gentleman and lady of the house were reading in bed when they heard the odd music seemingly coming from the hall outside their door.  The gentleman went to investigate and as soon as his foot touched the floor it stopped.  Five minutes after he got back in bed the odd soft music was heard again, and again it immediately stopped when his foot hit the floor.

We get often enough, with clients reporting unexplainable wafting riffs of music.  When I first started as a ghost hunter I was well practiced in doing my tag-along prevention routine after investigations, but somehow I didn’t even think about it when I went on my first daytime home interview. Even after the initial visit to this particular house I was suspicious that something paranormal was going on there. For one thing, the homeowners had mentioned that music was often heard when none was being played. When listening to the recordings of our conversations that evening, some unusual music faded in and out, although none was playing at the time.

The first thing I noticed back at my own home was a few issues with my computer popping up – just little annoying things, but enough to make me suspicious. Then a few nights later I was with my family in the living room when we all heard some very odd music play briefly but loudly from an adjacent room. It wasn’t anything that any of us had heard before, and not a sound made by any electronic device we owned.

Luckily my family is very accepting of my paranormal work and the occasional “side effects”, shall we call them. No one freaked out and the only comment I got was a wise crack along the lines of “Bringing home stray dogs and stray cats is one thing, but you need to draw the line at bringing home stray ghosts”.

What makes me wonder about these musical interludes is this: ghostly music must, by definition, fall into the category of “residual” energy.  It certainly isn’t the spirit of some lost soul.  Why, then, do we most often seem to get music in actively, intelligently, haunted homes?  Is the residual energy somehow attached to an earthbound spirit?

In the home I first mentioned where the old swing music was heard, the home had been occupied in the late 1990s by two elderly couples whose fate is unknown.  Perhaps one or more of these souls remains, and the old swing music was a favorite from their romantic youth. Or perhaps the music is just the residual footprint of a song they played over and over.  Hopefully well get a few clues from the investigation.

Let me finish by sharing two musical EVP I captured a few years ago.  The first was recorded during our Preliminary visit to the mid-1800’s home, while siting around the dining room table with the clients.  You can hear us all talking and if you listen closely you can hear something that sounds like old Rag Time music drifting in under our conversation, although no music was playing at the time.

The second second EVP was recorded in the same location a few minutes later.  This time waltz music drifts in and out. I’ve posted them both on my web site for anyone that would like to listen for themselves.

http://ithinkmyhouseishaunted.com/evps.html

If anyone has their own stories to share I’d love to hear them!

Is my house haunted?

So you’d like to know if Your house is haunted…

Usually is starts with the small things… maybe you’ve heard unexplained knocks or seen shadows, felt as if you were being watched, heard or seen doors opening or closing, or noticed your pet obsessed with something no one else can see. Maybe you heard your name being called when you’re alone, felt a hand on your shoulder, or heard footsteps when no one else was around. Or possibly your electronics seem to have taken on a life of their own.

It’s very possible that the things you’re experiencing have a perfectly natural cause. It’s also very possible that something outside of the normal is going on. Be it an earthbound spirit, a visitation from someone crossed over, or something entirely different but equally as supernatural, this world is full of energy and manifestations that are just on the other side of explainable. So if you’re experiencing something along those lines, the first thing you need to know is that it’s not all that unusual or uncommon. In fact, the experience itself may be life changing in many positive ways. It certainly was for me.

If you think your house may be haunted, check out my free guide on Amazon… “So you’d like to… Know if your house is haunted” for common symptoms and experiences… and where to start if you think your house is haunted and you want to learn more… And stay tuned to my blog for more hints on what to do – and not to do – if you are Living Haunted!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R33NO3HH0QDRZS/ref=cm_pdp_sylt_title_1

Ghosts in a newer home (?)

Sometimes people in a newer home are slow to recognize their haunting.  They may have built the place themselves or know for a fact that there was no death or trauma in the home’s short history.  So could it possibly be haunted?  Yes, definitely!

Admittedly it’s less likely to have a spirit sharing a newer home than it is in an older home, but it certainly can – and does – happen.  One of my favorite clients has a home my team has investigated several times, and cleansed several more.  It’s one of the most active – and fascinating – haunted homes I’ve investigated. For the whole story read my book, I Think My House is Haunted!, Chapter 10 – Friend? If Not…Goodbye!  The chapter title showed up on her computer one day, and was a fitting commentary on their current situation.

Ellen lives with her husband in a fairly new home, one her husband actually built.  I believe the spirits there came from the land around it, New Jersey Pine Barrens (of Jersey Devil fame) to be specific.  In fact, at least one of the spirits seems to stay on the land and just come visit.  Others are now more permanent. 

So why did they choose that particular home?  There are others on the cul-de-sac.  Actually, several of the other homes have had unexplainable experiences as well. And this particular home was relatively quiet until the gentleman who built it married Ellen and she moved it.  Ellen is mildly sensitive and may have been a bit of a beacon.  And the child spirit there has, from our evidence, adopted her as a mother figure. So the welcome mat went out when Ellen moved in and a few local spirits took advantage. 

It’s not always the land that brings spirits to a newer home.  They can certainly follow you home from almost anywhere.  I’ve found that these “tag-alongs” rarely stay long, though – a few days to a few weeks at most, usually.  More likely they were attached to an object you acquired.  That not all that uncommon, actually.  Or, sadly, they may have been invited in through a seance or a Ouija Board session.  If you think it’s just a cute little game and it’s over because you put the board back in the box, think again.

Children’s spirits can also show up almost anywhere.  They apparently have less attachment to worldly possessions and often wonder the area looking for other kids to play with.  When those children grow up, they simply move on to find another playmate.  Kind of sad, isn’t it?

My own home is haunted, we believe, buy a few spirits who lived on the property when it was a farm.  I don’t think they’re always here.  They have been sensed in the woods behind our home several times, so I believe they come and go. When I had a recent reading with psychic Chris Flemming (of Psychic Kids and Famously Haunted fame) he started out by asking if I had ghosts.  He went on to describe them, one in particular (an older man), and said he didn’t have to be there.  No, I don’t think he does – he goes back onto the land sometimes, he just chooses to hang around here for some reason.  Then Chris asked if I lived on a farm.  No, but the spirit did when he lived here.

When I married my husband he had a small ranch home that had been built on the property in the 1940s when the farm land had been sub-divided.  A child-sized shadow figure was occasionally seen wandering a particular hall.  So when we built a large addition, including a second floor, I wondered if the spirit would show up there as well.  If it showed up on the first floor of new addition, that was one thing – maybe it was actually just wandering around it’s old farm land and the home just happened to be built where it was wandering. 

But if it showed up in the new upstairs… that would be different.  Proof, in my eyes, that it was intelligent (as opposed to residual) and that it was part of our home and our family, not just attached to the previous building. 

It didn’t take long before we started having some significant experiences in the new upstairs.  The first was when my one son awoke in the middle of the night to see a young boy sitting in the middle of his floor playing with a toy.  He put his head under the covers and waited 10 minutes, and when he looked again the boy was gone.  And after that, just once in a while, even odder things have happened up there.

So yes, ghosts can and do haunt newer homes.  They are just part of our world, a part we aren’t always aware of, but they are always there…

http://www.ithinkmyhouseishaunted.com

Playful Poltergeists

Having grown up with a playful poltergeist, these cases are always favorites for me.  I have the pleasure of one such case at the moment, so I’ve been doing some pondering on the subject.

Poltergeist is a name given to a particularly noisy haunting, typically hallmarked with loud sounds and the movement of objects.  Many parapsychologists attribute poltergeist manifestations to psychokinetics – the movement of objects through the influence of the human mind.  These cases can be extreme in their manifestations in many ways, and can be both fascinating and frustrating for those living with one.

Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson (1918 – 2007) was the founder and director of the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Division of Perceptual Studies, investigating the paranormal.  Although Dr. Stevenson is best known for his work on reincarnation, he studied the poltergeist phenomena as well.  He asserted that psychokinetic poltergeist activity can be distinguished from spirit activity simply by the type of object movement; in psychokinetic poltergeist cases the movement of objects is without purpose and often violent, while cases involving spirits of the dead involve intelligent communication, purposeful movement of objects, and little violence.

The distinction Dr. Stevenson was trying to make is an important one.  In  certain poltergeist cases, such as the one in the 1982 horror movie by that name, poltergeist activity is forceful and often violent.  Generally these rare cases – the one’s in real life, at least – are thought to be the product of psychokinetic activity surrounding one of the family members, called an “agent”.  Often the agent is a pubescent or pre-pubescent girl, but recent findings also identify agents who are epileptic or have similar brain dysfunctions.

The other type of poltergeist haunting is one with more playful types of activity.  Objects such as keys and watches may be hidden, showing up later either right where they originally were or somewhere totally unexpected.  Doors may be locked and unlocked.  Footsteps and loud banks often accompany the object movement.  Entire books have been written about the poltergeist phenomena so I certainly can’t do it justice here, but here’s where I think Dr. Stevenson’s theory needs an amendment…

I agree that the violent books-flying-across-the-room types of poltergeist cases are likely due to the agent alone, with no ghost or spirit involved.  However, I think the other type, the playful poltergeists as I like to refer to them, are a ghosts that are amped up somehow by the presence of an agent.  In other words, when a family member has certain characteristics that a spirit can draw on – adolescence,  epilepsy, or even psychic sensitivities, the manifestations can be stronger than a typical haunting and fall under the category of a poltergeist.

That was certainly my own case, long ago, and it fits the case I’m working now as well.  Here the couple both have sensitivities; the woman’s sensitivities have always been with her, and the gentleman’s are likely from a near-death experience.  A renown medium was brought in and she immediately confirmed the presence of two strong spirits.  The activity there is definitely of the poltergeist variety.  The couple is often locked out of their residence (the front door locks are electronic).  They constantly hear footsteps and loud bangs, as well as voices.  Things are always going missing, despite the couple being very neat and organized. And several times they’ve gone into the kitchen only to find all the cabinet doors and drawers open – another hallmark of a poltergeist haunting.

When I first began working with the clients I suggested that when it locks them out – which happens on a daily basis – they simply ask the spirit to open it back up for them, with some sort of “Ha-ha, that was funny, now can you let me in please?” type of a comment.  They later reported that this does work much of the time.

At our initial client home meeting, the woman was mentioning some odd photos she wanted to show us, but said she couldn’t because her camera had disappeared.  The psychic nicely but firmly asked the spirits to please return her camera.  During our investigation Saturday night the client reported that it did indeed turn up a few days later – she found it, in off all places, in the vegetable bin.  Welcome to life with a poltergeist!

Now we’re working on getting it to return a large sum of cash and a bottle of cologne… I’ll let you know how that goes…

 

 

 

 

Are you living with the Paranormal?

Welcome, all, to a little space in the internet universe where living haunted is a way of life.  Yes, living with the paranormal can be scary, thrilling, exciting, unnerving, disquieting, annoying, fun, and amazing, sometimes all at once.  Here we’ll touch on all of these reactions along the way, and so much more.

First, if I may introduce myself… by day I’m an engineer, and by night I’m a paranormal investigator, researcher, and author.  I’m, the author of I Think My House is Haunted! and the Founder of Paranormal Consulting & Investigations of New Jersey. I grew up in an actively haunted house and thus have never questioned the existence of ghosts.  The house I live in now is haunted as well, although much more mildly.  It’s probably no coincidence – I’m just (oddly) comfortable in haunted places.

Living haunted is a different experience for everyone.  We’ll be talking about lots of reasons why that is and discussing some of the common types of experiences, as well as the unique ones.  There are also so many ways to learn about the paranormal – though personal experiences, though evidence collected by ghost hunters and parapsychologists, through meduims, near death experiences, life-between-lives regressions, and so much more… each gives us a small piece of the puzzle and when we put them all together there is so much to see!  Maybe there’s a reason some of us find ourselves living haunted… maybe it’s an invitation to a broader understanding of the true world, a world that our earthly existence is but a small part of.  Welcome aboard a wonderful journey as we venture into that world.

Joanne Emmons

http://www.ithinkmyhouseishaunted.com