Ghost Hunting.
Put that in your Google and you’ll find “about” 141,000,000” sites. Some are repeats, others new.
I put that in because I’m hunting for ghosts for book 5. And, quite frankly, I LOVE ghosts and ghost stories. I’ve done a bit of ghost hunting with a group here in Houston a couple times. And yes, we found some things.
This photo isn’t one I took but I’ve had some like it, places with orbs floating that you can’t see without the photo and it’s not all bugs.
My guilty pleasure is the Travel Channel. Not for the travel, they’ve quit doing a lot of that, it’s turned into Ghosts and Oddities Central. Looking at the schedule, I find Paranormal Caught on Camera, Ghost Nation by the guys who did Ghost Hunters on SciFi, Portals to Hell (gotta love Jack Osborne), Kindred Spirits, Witches of Salem, and the Scariest Night of My Life. And more, it’s almost All-Ghosts-All-The-Time Channel.
Then there’s Josh Gates with Expedition Unknown, Legendary Locations, and, since the pandemic, Josh Gates Tonight, which is a hoot! Love the guy, he does interviews with people he’s interested in, teaches cocktail making that fits in with the theme of the show, and, quite like Lilly and the skull, he’s got an inanimate face that he talks to. I’ve loved his shows since the first. And yes, there have been a couple of ghost stories in the shows, and he even got to host a Ghost Adventures show.
Which brings me back to the ghosts. I must admit being a huge fan of Ghost Adventures. I’ve literally watched Zak Bagans, along with Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley grow up over the 24 seasons they’ve been on.
At first, I was skeptical and I would talk back to the TV (admit it, you’ve done it too!) and tell Zak to stop antagonizing the ghosts. As time has gone on, he’s learned that most of the time, the ghosts want to talk to him, to get messages across, or just hang out with them. There are still a lot of thrills going on without having to yell at or criticizing the ghosts.
They’ve done a lot of things in these 19 years and they have more coming out. They’ve hunted in almost all the well-known and not-so-well known places. They’ve hunted serial killers, old west gunmen, and a ton of old prisons. Hotels, houses, pubs and theaters have been on their shows.
They’ve hunted in the Gettysburg Battle Ground, the U.S.S. Hornet, the Star of India, the Queen Mary, and Titanic: the Museum. On that one, I did the traveling show when it came to Houston and there are some strong influences attached to that stuff.
They’ve hunted at the Clown Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada where we found out that Zak is afraid of clowns. Or spending time in Hollywood on the Black Dalia killing, the Sharon Tate massacre, other places in Hollywood, including that famous sign.
Below: footage from the Ghost Adventures episode at the Clown Hotel in Tonopah Nevada.
My favorite episodes are where they use trigger objects, like little toys for child ghosts because they are working with the ghost to get the evidence. Aaron still makes me laugh at times when he’s squealing or freaking out; he’s so easy to rile up and I think the ghosts figure that out quickly and take turns messing with him.
If I could have one big wish, it would be for Zak and the gang to come down here and investigate Galveston. With over 6000 killed in the 1900 storm, a couple of big, old hotels, and a battle in the Civil War, I’m quite sure that there are a lot of ghosts down here to go hunt.
Oh, and I have a Fangs & Halos story that is set in 1900 Galveston, at the time of the hurricane. TIt’s with Marcus and Jesse, it’s about two weeks after Lilly dies and goes into the crypt in St. Louis 1 Cemetery in New Orleans. Watch for a chance to get a copy of that one, coming soon.
Another favorite is Dead Files. I have a slight bias where Amy Allan’s part in the show is. She walks the site and talks to the camera (held by her ex-husband…) and explains what she’s seeing and hearing. Then she gets an artist to draw what she sees. I know it would be boring but just once I would love for her to hit a location and find nothing going on. Not every place has Native American ritual or burial grounds, demons, ghosts, or poltergeists. The artist segment is very truncated, you have her describing something and then the artist always says “Is that what you saw, Amy?” and she always answers “Yes, that’s what I saw.” Never “is this really what you saw, this…thing?” because I can’t see every artist just drawing some of this stuff and not being weirded out. It sounds scripted, which is probably is. Let’s see the artist not quite understanding what is being told to them or really not being able to draw some of the strange stuff.
But the main reason I watch is for Steve DiSchiavi. Steve’s a former New York homicide detective. He’s the one who goes to talk to people who know the places, or the families. Genealogists, librarians, county clerks, former neighbors or relatives. He finds that the murder was two blocks away. He finds maps of where things were located and the names of the people in the past.
His job is the one that keeps me watching, as a historian and someone with a small bit of police training (my ex went through a police academy, I helped him study and typed his notes), I love to watch how Steve digs up information on things that happened in and around the location in the past. If I could have a career now, in the dusk of my years (not Twilight, I don’t sparkle…[Joke]), I would be an investigator. Doing what Steve does would rock. I would LOVE to be able to follow him around for a week.
Do I believe in ghosts? Oh yes, I do. I’ve seen some. One house I lived in had the owner still living there, she lost a baby and killed herself. We’ve seen her as a mist or partial apparition.
We’ve got ghosts in the house now. There’s an older man who walks between the dining room, through the entry, then through the wall into the office. He’s not in any other part of the house. I will catch him out of the side of my eye very late at night. My dogs have alerted and barked at the same part of the house so I know they see him as well.
I have had my cat, Morrigan (Bruce’s first present for me) jump onto the bed and sit next to me like she did when she was alive, I feel her walk on the bed.
So ghosts are a “thing” in my life, experience, and fascination. I’ve had ghosts in the Fangs & Halos series, I think we may see some more as time goes on, there are rumors about that in my character lists. I’ve been searching for a good story to include.
I’ve found one and you may be surprised at who the ghosts are and who they are haunting.
Stay Tuned!
References and Further Information
Travel Channel Pages
Ghost Adventures
Dead Files
Expedition Unknown
Galveston Island 1900 Storm and Ghost Stories
Haunted Galveston
Walmart Galveston is Haunted
1900 Storm
PBS Clip about the Bishop’s House and the Great Storm of 1900
Galveston News Remembrance of the 1900 Storm