Melissa Elliott: Everything You Need to Know

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

On May 28th, 2022, I did a paranormal investigation on the property of The Cabin on 360. It consists of a log cabin built in the 80s that was a model home. Next to it sits a house that was the site of a horrifying tragedy. This house is known as the Elliott House. Located in Hanover County, this brick rancher style house in Mechanicsville, Virginia became the site of this awful event that seems to permeate the house and the surrounding land.

A few days ago, I made a TikTok video about the Elliott House and the horrific tragedy of Melissa Carol Elliott, and it went viral. Since my content doesn’t get a ton of visibility compared to other spooky creators, this was shocking. I didn’t expect this to happen.

Here’s the TikTok video for reference:

@thespookystuff

This was one of the saddest and darkest places I’ve ever investigated: The Elliott House in Mechanicsville, VA. #hauntedplaces #mechanicsville #mechanicsvilleva #cabinon360 #thespookystuff #truecrime #hauntedtiktok #paranormaltiktok #demonic #demonicpossession #malevolentspirit #evilspirit #hauntedhouse #ghosthunter #ghosthunting #ghosthunt #paranormalinvestigator #paranormalinvestigation #ReadyForHell #MINDORDERING

♬ Spooky and scary music – LEOPARD

With this in mind, I realized I needed to write this blog post as soon as possible so that people can find sources for Melissa Carol Elliott and know her true story. Someone informed me that a lot of junk links have popped up since my video went viral. This post is to help answer questions and hopefully give people a North Star to use when researching her story.

Who Was Melissa Carol Elliott and What Happened to Her?

Melissa Elliott Memorial, courtesy of The Cabin on 360

Melissa Carol Elliott was a 12-year old 7th grade student at Battlefield Elementary School. She lived in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Her parents were John H. and Treva Elliott, and she had a 17-year old half-brother named Randy Lynn Elliott. Randy was from Treva’s previous relationship and was 5-years old when Melissa was born. On the morning of October 4th, 1979, John and Treva left for work early and left Melissa and Randy home alone.

Around 7:35am, Randy Lynn Elliott sexually assaulted Melissa and then shot her twice in the chest. According to a quote from W.E. Mitchell of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Department, “It appears that the girl was shot inside her single-story brick bungalow home and that the body was dragged 75-100 yards to the field where she was found.” There’s more information in the Living Paranormal Magazine article, written by Ryan C. Jones, whose family owns the property.

Jones does say that Melissa’s body was also placed in a large box and tried to hide it behind the house. He says that two men gathering straw found the box and opened it to see what was inside. I do want to note that the articles I read provided by the Cabin on 360 don’t mention the large box and also state that two construction workers found Melissa. Given that Jones’ family owned the land and the home at the time Melissa was murdered, he likely has insight that the press didn’t publicly disclose.

Randy was seen fleeing the scene, and he was eventually captured in Asheville, North Carolina as reported on October 9th, 1979. He was brought back to Virginia to be charged and tried. He was found guilty of Melissa’s murder and put in prison for a few decades.

Where is Randy Lynn Elliott Today?

In 2018, Randy Lynn Elliott was released. Today, he is on the sex offender registry and residing in North Carolina.

Here’s a clipping from The Charlotte Observer, printed October 9, 1979.

Was Randy Influenced by a Malevolent Entity?

I arrived at the Cabin on 360 late and missed the historical tour given by the caretaker, Dennis Estlock. According to my team members, they were told that it was believed that the malevolent entity that is reported to haunt the Elliott House existed before the family moved in. There’s a theory that the entity influenced Randy to commit his atrocious act against Melissa.

Personally, I don’t believe this is the case and I do find the statement problematic. This is because some may interpret the connection to absolving responsibility from Randy and that he wasn’t at fault. At the end of the day, there’s free will and Randy made a choice to do what he did.

Can I Visit the Cabin on 360 and the Eliiott House?

The Elliott House is currently available for booking through July 2022. You can contact the Cabin on 360 on Facebook to book a visit.

Sources

Living Paranormal Magazine Article – February 2017

“Boy, 17, Held In Girl’s Death” [Durham, NC]. Durham Morning Herald, 9 Oct. 1979, p. 11.

“Extradition Waived” [Charlotte, NC]. The Charlotte Observer, 9 Oct. 1979, p. 16.

How to Become a Better Paranormal Investigator in 2022

Alex Matsuo2 Comments

2022 marks a new year, which means it’s all about new beginnings! One of the things you might be looking to do is to up your ghost hunting game. Becoming a paranormal investigator is a big decision. It’s a choice that takes up quite a lot of time and money, not to mention management on a multitude of levels, especially if you run a team. For many paranormal investigators, going on more investigations seems to always be on the list of things to do to become better. Field work is critical if you want to improve your investigation skills. Perhaps it includes going to that “bucket list” location, or trying new things at an old location. No matter where you are in your paranormal investigation journey, you’re always trying to better yourself.

I know this is one of my 2022 goals. So, here’s a list to help you (and me) learn how to become a better paranormal investigator this year!

Don’t Take Everything at Face Value

When you see someone post a photo, video, or audio clip of their evidence, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Ask the poster why they think it’s paranormal, and how they came to the conclusions they have. Just accepting someone’s posted data as legit paranormal phenomena isn’t necessarily helpful to the field. This is especially true if we find out that the data is a hoax. In a world where people are using filters, string, and other hoaxing methods, I usually go by the idea that if it’s too good to be true, it usually is. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to debunk, but the more you ask questions, the more you will find yourself debunking.

Document More

Documenting experiences doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as easy as writing down an incident with the date and time that it occurred. This is critical to do in the moment, even when you’re freaking out. After you’ve calmed down, you can further explore what happened and find out why it happened. Also, it helps build your credibility. Whether you’re writing down notes, taking photos, making notes of the weather changes, etc., document more of the surrounding events in your investigations and experiences. You might start noticing a pattern, or be better equipped at explaining an incident.

Research Something Different

We have your typical research areas of interest: history, psychic mediumship, and locations. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to research areas within the paranormal. For example, research the psychological effects of EVP, or audio pareidolia. Maybe even research the idea of time loops, adding performance to investigating, etc. Or, subscribe to a parapsychological research journal from the Rhine Research Center or the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. Thinking outside the box this year can really help expand your paranormal investigation methods and expertise.

Hold People Accountable

This is especially critical for people to do when they see someone willingly fake evidence. The growing trend on TikTok and YouTube is incredible “paranormal” events being captured thanks to fishing line, clever audio editing, and poorly performed reactions. This behavior continues because we are willing to stay silent. However, our silence is deafening, and we need to start holding creators accountable for their actions. See the fishing line? Call it out. A video of a door opening by itself too good to be true? Ask to see a different angle. Our singular voices aren’t doing much, but vocalizing as a group may make a bigger impact.

Collaborate with Someone Who Thinks Differently

This doesn’t mean you have to collaborate with a skeptic. Collaborating with someone with different approaches and ideas can help you really hone in on what you believe in the paranormal. I often enjoy talking to people who disagree with me because it gives me the opportunity to expand my mind and see what other people are thinking in the field. Being challenged is often a scary thing in this community, but I promise that it is one of the most valuable experiences you’ll have.

Think Like a Skeptic

You don’t have to be a skeptic to think like a skeptic. Even if you think skeptics are full of it, thinking like one can help you keep accountable in your investigation methods. Work backwards in your investigation and method of collecting evidence. What questions would a skeptic ask you about your experience? What gaps would be pointed out in your investigation? Thinking ahead on these points will help you become a better investigator as well as be able to offer better explanations when asked.

Be Aware of Your Biases

This one is a tough one. We all have biases, even skeptics. If a skeptic (or a cynic) goes into a location with a goal of debunking, it’s a bias. I often catch myself having a bias when I go into a haunted location. As someone who likes to do my research pre-investigation, I have to be aware of my own biases. I can’t assume that the spirit causing the activity is the one I read about online. Heck, I can’t assume that any activity is a spirit. I have to keep an open mind and proceed to try other methods of engagement to see. If I feel a cold spot, and I assume it’s a ghost I read about online, that’s a bias. This can be really counter-productive and even harmful.

Read What Others Are Doing

While it’s nice to stay in your own paranormal bubble, sometimes you have to see what others are doing. If we stayed in our own corners, we would never know about different ideas and methodologies of other people. Part of the reason why this field has stayed stagnant for so long is that we’re not willing to try new things and try what other people are doing. On the flip side, also share what you’re doing. Yes, peer review can be scary, but feedback is critical in this field and we need more of it in order to get better. Could you imagine if the Estes Method stayed within the circle of Karl Pfeiffer, Connor Randall, and Michelle Tate?

Take Classes

Finally, while controversial, take classes. There are lots of free resources online, as well as offerings for an annual membership fee. For example, ASSAP (Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena), offers weekly webinars for an annual fee of about $28. The Rhine Research Center also offers plenty of online events to learn more. Even classes you find on Udemy and other learning platforms can be beneficial. If you find out the class is bad, then you know what sort of quality to look for.

I’m forever a student and believe in the idea of never stop learning. As soon as we stop learning, we become stagnant. There are far too many people in the field who don’t find value in education and it honestly makes me sad. While it’s true that we will likely never be able to prove the existence of ghosts, we can learn other areas of the field. There’s photography, videography, audio, genealogy, folklore, just to name a few. If an investigator doesn’t find value in education, it’s a red flag. Don’t be a red flag.

Advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The paranormal community can be toxic and problematic, especially if you don’t fit into the acceptable dominant group of investigators.

There is a major disparity when it comes to paranormal entertainment. This is especially true for paranormal events where event runners are filling up their rosters with people who aren’t even involved in the field. There is a major absence in women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community on television and paranormal events. Yes, it’s perfectly logical for event planners to fill their roster with a few TV folks. But there are prolific members of marginalized groups who are researching, creating content, and investigating that are being overlooked.

Also, the paranormal community needs to start listening to members of marginalized groups when they speak out. If they point out something that is problematic in the community, investigation methods, etc., we need to listen and see what we can do to make it better. Personally, I’ve met many BIPOC who have told me that they don’t feel safe in the paranormal community. That’s a huge issue.

We won’t get better, become more inclusive, and be a safer space unless we start listening. We’re not listening to marginalized groups, and that needs to stop. Not only do we need to listen, but we need to speak up when a marginalized group is getting oppressed all over again because ghost hunters want to ignore ethical boundaries.

What other things can you do to become a better paranormal investigator in 2022?

The Tragic Tale of Danny the Ghost Boy

Alex Matsuo

CW: Child abuse, physical violence

I’ve been trying to find fresh content when it comes to Christmas ghost stories and Christmas monsters. Mostly because there’s already so much information about Krampus, Frau Perchta, Belsnickel, etc. This story was one that I heard from one of my co-workers. So, thanks for the tip, Joni!

Now in full disclosure and full transparency, I haven’t been able to find any primary source for this story. Any references that I found have come from listicles and blogs. But considering it does exist online it had to come from somewhere. I need your help in solving this Christmas mystery, especially if you’re in South Africa or you know someone from South Africa. 

I’ll be honest when I heard about Danny, I immediately thought of Danny Phantom, the cartoon from Nickelodeon. It was an awesome cartoon and I loved it.

Obsessed with Cookies

The story of Danny the Ghost Boy goes like this; Danny was a little boy (age unknown) who really enjoyed Christmas cookies. He’s a little boy, he’s a kid. That’s to be expected. He enjoys cookies, especially cookies made by grandma. Now grandma warned him not to touch or eat the cookies because some of the cookies were going to go to Santa and the rest of the cookies were going to be for Christmas, which was the next day. But Danny really wanted a Christmas cookie like really wanted it. He could not stop thinking about it. 

So, he tried to think up ways to get a cookie without anyone noticing. Finally, Danny decided to take a risk and eat up a couple of the cookies, hoping that no one would notice. But even if someone did notice, the only person he would have to face would be his grandma. She is a sweet little old lady so you know there’s nothing wrong with facing grandma and just saying sorry. I mean I will admit I’m one of those people that will ask for forgiveness instead of permission, so maybe Danny had the same mindset. It is sweet little old grandma, what harm could come? 

A Tragic End

So, Danny ate some of the cookies. When his grandma found out she was mad. I mean we are not talking like she was just disappointed in Danny not following directions. She was mad. Grandma was so mad that she grabbed a stick and started beating Danny with it. She started beating this little boy just for eating cookies. Granny beat him around his shoulders and his head and just kept hitting him with a stick.

She hit him so many times that Danny did not survive the ordeal. I told you it was dark. So yes, a little boy sneaking in some Christmas cookies managed to trigger the rage of grandma. Triggered to the point where she unalives her grandson, all for a bunch of cookies. Grandma was emotional and really stressed out and Danny taking the cookies was the last straw. 

Now for poor little Danny he did not move on to the afterlife. Instead, he stayed put as a ghost. Danny now wanders the earth during the holidays. He’s looking to haunt naughty children who may want to steal their own Christmas cookies.  He wants to haunt these naughty children so that they do not suffer the same fate as he did. Imagine being so naughty that a ghost warns you not to make the same mistake he made.

Analysis

I have some thoughts on this story like I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. There’s no primary source material for the story. At least none that I have been able to find in the time that I’ve researched this. But to be honest, the only ghost children during the holidays I could find is Ignorance and Want from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. But there are some themes here that I find interesting. Mainly Danny haunting naughty children so that they do not make the same mistake that he did. It very much reminds me of Jacob Marley and him warning scrooge to not make the same mistakes that he did, or his chains would be heavier than Marley’s.

there’s something to be said about this type of ghost story really that’s trying to teach a lesson and warn kids now during you know the holidays and everything it’s not even just during the holidays it’s not uncommon for these stories to come up as a warning to get kids to behave so it sounds like this could be south Africa’s way of scaring children into following directions. it is not that “oh you don’t want to eat Santa’s cookies and you want to be good because if not Santa will bring you coal” it’s “no if you eat the cookies your grandma could possibly unlive you” …all for cookies. That is kind of what boggles my mind too. It’s not anything about money I mean I don’t know maybe grandma really did snap when that happened to Danny.

What do you think of this story?

Feel free to share with your friends and family who also enjoy the spooky stuff especially during the holidays.

The Story Of Hans Trapp: The Cannibal Christmas Scarecrow

Alex Matsuo

Christmas is not only a time for merriment and holiday cheer, but also a time to tell spooky stories. This is especially so if you want to get children to behave. We have Krampus, Frau Perchta, and other monsters to coerce children into being angelic creatures. And yet, one terrifying monster seems to get forgotten; Hans Trapp.

Who is Hans Trapp? He’s a cannibalistic Christmas scarecrow that works alongside Santa Claus. If you’re not good, Hans will kidnap you and take you into the forest to eat you. Let’s learn more about this terrifying monster!

A Monstrous Man

This legend is well known in the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine. He is a lesson to be learned in what happens when you stray from God, turn to the Devil, and become obsessed with wealth and power.

He lived in the 1400s and was very rich and powerful. But he was also merciless and feared by the people who lived in Alsace. He got obsessed with power and started making deals with the Devil to make that happen. In short, he sold his soul to Satan. The Catholic church and the pope found out about it and excommunicated him.

As a result, he was shunned from his community. Hans was banished, stripped of his titles, lands, and money. He resorted to living in the mountains of Bavaria, Germany, and dedicated himself to practicing black magick and the occult. He ended up losing his mind from isolation. Hans went from obsessing over power to wanting revenge on those who wronged him. While this was happening, he had a hankering for human flesh. 

One day, he stuffed his clothing with straw and disguised himself as a scarecrow and placed himself along the road. A 10-year old boy from the village walked by, and Hans stabbed him. He took the body back to his lair, sliced the boy into tiny pieces, and cooked his flesh! But before he could eat, he was struck with a divine lightning bolt. Depending on which version you read, he hits his head on a rock and dies when he fell. There’s another version where the bolt of lighting burst his head open and unalived him.

Consequences

You could say that God was basically fed up with Hans’ evil doing. Today, his spirit lingers and he lives on dressed as a scarecrow. Because Hans is stuck in this sort of purgatory, he works with Santa Claus to earn redemption. We have a “good cop/bad cop” set up where Santa gives the good kids presents while Hans punishes naughty kids. 

Hans Trapp is a warning to children to be good or he will use his scarecrow disguise to get them if they don’t change. He’ll carry the naughty children off to the dark forest, never to be seen again.

The Real Hans Trapp

Hans Trapp is based on a real person named Hans von Trotha, who lived from 1450-1503. He was a German knight and marshal in the Palatine territory. This would be the French/German area. He commanded two castles on the German side of the border.

As the story goes, he got into a land dispute with the church, specifically Weissenburg Abbey. The abbot wouldn’t concede certain properties to von Trotha, so he had the nearby river dammed so that the local village would be cut off from its water supply. When the abbot complained, Hans von Trotha tore down the dam, which flooded the village and damaged its economy. There was now open warfare between Hans Von Trotha and the abbey.

Even the Emperor at the time couldn’t stop it, so they had to get the Pope Innocent VIII involved. Then, his successor Alexander VI asked Hans to come to Rome in 1491 to prove his loyalty to the Church.  He refused to go to Rome to present his defense and wrote a letter instead. He accused the Pope of impure acts and overall, being corrupt and shady. Needless to say, the letter didn’t work. He was eventually excommunicated in 1491.

Hans went on to serve the French court, and he was given the title Chevalier d’Or by King Louis XII. After he died, all of the charges against him were forgiven.

Legacy

You can tell that Hans von Trotha wasn’t well liked since the legacy of Hans Trapp is much more famous than he is. When people hear his name, they think of a cannibalistic Christmas scarecrow instead of a knight fighting over his land. It just goes to show how the dominant group can not only rewrite history, but also our personal narratives.

Why is Cultural Appropriation in the Paranormal So Problematic?

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

According to verywellmind.com, “Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn’t respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression.”

The conversation about cultural appropriation may be uncomfortable for many, but it’s important. It’s an important conversation to not only have in the witch, occult, and pagan communities, but also the paranormal community. It’s fascinating that current paranormal television shows are still getting away with appropriating. Especially in the age of “woke” culture, which includes a plethora of other things like cancel culture, consequence culture, etc.. If you point out when and where these television shows are appropriating, you’ll get swarms of fans coming after you. All for the sake of defending their favorite paranormal television star.

Sadly, it seems that this wave shows no sign of stopping. This is because the television networks, producers, stars, and fans will not listen to the people whose culture it actually comes from.

The Dybbuk Box

The standout appropriating strike lies with the use of the Dybbuk box in the media. For years, the Dybbuk box has been a source of frightening entertainment on television. It even inspired the 2012 movie, The Possession. After it was acquired by Ghost Adventures star, Zak Bagans, who took it and ran. Bagans has used the box for live investigations. He has fueled quite a problematic narrative for the Dybbuk box and Jewish culture. 

This has also inspired countless others to acquire (or even make) their own Dybbuk boxes. Thus, it continues the false and problematic narrative that’s hurting Jewish culture. Why has this narrative continued to exist? According to Zo of jewitches, it’s because, “People wouldn’t listen to Jews […] And if you had just listened to Jews for the past 20 years, you wouldn’t have been scammed for so long.”

In 2021, Kevin Mannis, the original owner of the box, came clean and said that he made the story up. And yet, people believe that the Dybbuk box is real. They continue to ignore people of Jewish descent when they tell them that it’s wrong. 

What’s even worse is that speaking out against the Dybbuk box has sparked a wave of anti-Semitic hate from the paranormal community to Jewish people. Zo has spoken out about how the show has twisted Jewish folklore. She is tirelessly trying to get more information out there. In return, she was sent anti-Semitic harassment.

Ancient Indian Burial Ground

The “Ancient Indian Burial Ground” trope has been prevalent in paranormal television for decades. While many assume it rose to prominence thanks to the Amityville Horror story, it actually goes back to post-Revolutionary times. This is all thanks to poet Philip Morin Freneau. I learned this as I was listening to The Q Files’ podcast episode, “Ancient Indian Burial Grounds – Oh My!” In 1787, he published a poem called, The Indian Burying Ground. This is a trope that has been used time and time again in horror movies. So is it really that surprising that it made its way into paranormal reality television? By categorizing sacred Native American traditions as nothing more than magical people prone to conjuring bad luck and evil hauntings, we grossly misunderstand the culture. Not to mention, stealing something from another culture and twisting it into something that better fits mainstream narratives.

There’s so many more issues that warrant their own article, like the use of skinwalkers and the wendigo. 

Smudging

Somehow, I’ve managed to tick off thousands of people when I publicly said that smudging is a closed practice. Then, I started asking naysayers exactly what they were doing in their smudging ritual. Turns out, they weren’t actually smudging. They were performing a smoke cleansing. It would be like me going out and taking a walk and calling it “going for a run”. The practice of smudging and the plants that are used are considered sacred to Native American/Indigenous Nations. Another issue that is especially troubling is when people feel entitled to use practices from other cultures. They completely distort them from their original intention, and then dig their heels into ownership of the practice. It deviates and steals the spotlight from the marginalized

Sigils & Symbols

Whenever I hear about a group of paranormal investigators seeing sigils and symbols either at a location or on a person, I brace for impact. Anything that “isn’t of Christ” often gets immediately labeled as demonic or evil. Just look at how occult practices are discussed on paranormal television and movies (looking at you Conjuring universe). The occult is often victimized by the perspective of “the other” that has the conventional popular shaking in their boots.

Instead of looking at these sigils and symbols and trying to make sense of them, they’re labeled as evil or demonic. This is offensive for people because those who created these symbols use them for positive reasons. What’s even worse is that there are haunted locations that will look up symbols randomly on the internet. Then, they’ll paint them on their floors and walls in order to look more “spooky”. It would be like getting a tattoo of a random Chinese character and not realizing it means, “toilet”.

Erasure

My friend Ron at White Rose Witching made an important note that pointing out cultural appropriation isn’t enough. We also have a duty to point out erasure that’s happening in the community. Instead of acknowledging a culture’s history and nuance when it comes to certain topics, it’s completely erased for the sake of calling it a demon. Furthermore, it transforms the others in marginalized groups into monsters, ghosts, creatures, basically removing their humanity. The other being erased by mainstream culture causes them to become caricatures of their own existence…and a poorly drawn one at that. 

Will it Ever Stop?

All of the elements I pointed out here can make very good TV. To the ignorant person, these elements are spooky. This proves the argument that we fear what we don’t understand, and paranormal reality TV capitalizes on this. But, it’s harmful to marginalized and underrepresented groups. In the era of “cancel culture”, why these shows continue to get away with this absolutely blows my mind.

Sources

Sharma, K.N. “The Indian Burying Ground: Philip Morin Freneau – Summary and Critical Analysis.” BachelorandMaster, 16 Nov. 2013, bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/the-indian-burying-ground.html

McClelland, Shane. Gum, Lori. “The Q Files.” Ancient Indian Burial Grounds – Oh My! November 2020. https://www.facebook.com/TheQFilesPodcast/

The True Story of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Alex Matsuo

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is truly my favorite ghost story. I was first exposed to it thanks to Disney. A family friend gifted me the storybook version of it when I was a kid. I think it was by Golden Books. Ah memories. Then, I discovered the cartoon on Disney Channel. I loved listening to Bing Crosby’s silky voice sing and narrate the tale. It was also one of the first ghost stories to really freak me out when I was a kid.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is one of America’s first ghost stories, and there’s truth behind the legend. Why not celebrate the spooky season by discussing true ghost stories?

Don’t want to read the blog? Watch the video!

The Real Town

As I got older and my need for spooky content grew stronger, which would have been the mid-to-late 90s, I decided to try to do some research about Sleepy Hollow at the library. At first, I was shocked to find that there was a REAL town called Sleepy Hollow in New York. Then, I was disappointed when the town where it’s located adopted the name in 1996 or 1997. It was originally called North Tarrytown, so you could say that the town was taking advantage of the tourism.

So, Washington Irving was living in Manhattan during his early years. But then the yellow fever epidemic took over the city in 1798. So, Irving was sent to Tarryton to stay with a friend to ride out the illness. While he was there, he learned about the village that would become Sleepy Hollow, the Dutch culture from its residents, and the local ghost stories. He wrote in letters that stated, “Villagers spoke in hushed whispers of the strange cries heard in the woods where the captured British spy John Andre had been hanged.”

At the time that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written, the town didn’t actually exist. One could argue that Irving may have named the town himself? The bridge was real, and it went to the Old Dutch Churchyard. But, I read that the bridge no longer exists today. The town did build a memorial bridge in the cemetery and they have a plaque where the original bridge once stood. What’s so special about this? This brings me to my next point about the Headless Horseman!

The Headless Horseman

The Headless Horseman might be my favorite ghost…ever. And he could be real! They say there’s an unmarked grave of a Revolutionary soldier who was decapitated by a cannon ball during the Battle of White Plains. He’s also known as the Headless Hessian of the Hollow. He was apparently a Hessian trooper. Hessian, meaning he was of German descent…not to mention he would have been dispatched by the British Army. Hessians didn’t see the patriots as favorable and even spread rumors about them. 

This is a great example of Washington Irving creating a story that helps people process the trauma of the Revolutionary War. Literally having a figure to represent America’s enemy as the villain of the story. It’s hard to tell if there was really a decapitated Hessian that existed, let alone learning his name since record keeping back then was a bit…messy.

In a TikTok video by Carter Rodney, he says that on November 1st, 1776, Major General William Heath wrote in his diary about how a cannon took off the head of a Hessian artilleryman. I did find this diary entry and it lines up. So thank you for the tip, Carter. White Plains is also less than 10 miles from Tarrytown.

The Source of the Headless Horseman

In the story, Irving’s alter-ego, Diedrich Knickerbocker, hears about the legend of the headless horseman from a Black mill worker and a Dutch housewife. I haven’t been able to find solid evidence that this was where Irving also heard the legend.

Fun fact, the lore of the headless horseman isn’t just American. There’s the dullahan in Irish folklore and in Scotland, there’s a headless horseman named Ewen. He was decapitated during a clan battle at Glen Cainnir on the Isle of Mull. Because of his premature unaliveness, he was denied the chance to be a chieftain and haunts the area.

Ichabod Crane

Yes, Ichabod Crane was a real person, but his only inspiration in the Sleepy Hollow legend is his name. Irving saw his name in a paper and really liked it. The real Crane served during the War of 1812 and was alive at the same time as Washington Irving. However, the two never met. Crane was a military man and served for 45 years. What’s funny is that he wasn’t exactly thrilled about Irving using his real name in the story. He’s also the exact opposite of the fictional Crane. Had the real Crane come across the Headless Horseman in real life, he definitely wouldn’t have ran away. Irving and Crane were both stationed at Fort Pike, but again, they never met. The real Ichabod also never lived in Sleepy Hollow.

So where did Irving come up with the personality of the fictional Ichabod? School teachers Samuel Youngs and Jesse Merwin seemed to have served as inspiration. Youngs and Irving were actually pretty close friends. He was honestly delighted to be the inspiration for Ichabod. He’s buried at the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow. The other person who was believed to be Ichabod’s inspiration is Jesse Merwin, who was a teacher in Kinderhook, NY. The one-room schoolhouse he taught in still stands today and you can see it in person. It’s been appropriately named the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse.

Van Tassels

Irving’s sister boarded at the Van Tassel home and they were neighbors. He reimagined the Val Tassel’s as a wealthy family. Eleanor Van Tassel Brush is likely to be the inspiration for Katrina Van Tassel. The name Katrina likely came from Elanor’s aunt, Catrina.

What’s interesting is that the real Van Tassels may have ties to the Hessian soldier. The farm of Cornelius and Elizabeth Van Tassel was burnt down by Hessian and British soldiers in 1777. Elizabeth realized that their baby, Leah, was nowhere to be found. One of the Hessian soldiers took her to a shed, where one of the shoulders had baby Leah wrapped in a blanket. Legend says that the Van Tassels were so grateful that when the headless soldier was found, they insisted on giving him a proper burial in case it was the soldier who helped them. Given that the Hessian soldier lost his head in 1776, it’s likely not true, but it’s nice to think about.

Brom Bones

Yes, even Brom Bones was inspired by a real person. His real name was Abraham Martling, nicknamed Brom. He was the town blacksmith and he rode a giant black horse, much like the Headless Horseman in the story.

Now you know the true story behind The Legend of Sleepy Hollow! What do you think? Let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, feel free to share this with your friends and family who also enjoy the Spooky Stuff. Thanks so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next round.

Sources

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/20017/sleepy-hollow-and-its-legend

https://chalkboardchampions.org/teacher-samuel-youngs-the-inspiration-behind-washington-irvings-iconic-character-ichabod-crane/

https://www.delawarepublic.org/post/washington-irvings-headless-horseman-sleepy-hollow-turns-200

Halloween History: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

https://www.history.com/news/legend-sleepy-hollow-headless-horseman

Does Ghostbusters Represent Ghost Hunting in Real Life?

Alex Matsuo

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

One of the most common questions I’m asked is whether or not Ghostbusters is accurate to real-life ghost hunting. Anytime I do conventions like ConCarolinas, AtomaCon, MystiCon, etc. I’m usually on a panel about Ghostbusters in some capacity. Either it’s “Ghostbusters versus Ghost Hunting”, or “Real-Life Ghostbusting”, something to that effect. Because I am a paranormal investigator and also a fan of Ghostbusters, it makes me one of the go-to people for that topic. With the new movie, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), coming up, this is the perfect time to talk about real life versus fiction.

Real Ghost Hunting

There are some things about Ghostbusters that are definitely not true. For one, ghost hunting is never that exciting. In reality, you’re sitting in the dark for eight hours and then you might see like maybe a blip of an apparition or something may fall over that has no explanation. That’s if you’re lucky. But that’s it. You know we don’t really ever see full-bodied apparitions right away or sometimes ever. 

We can’t catch ghosts and put them in a ghost trap. We don’t use proton packs and use the streams to wrangle spirits. 

Also we’re more discreet. When I do residential cases, I’m not in my team t-shirt or anything like that. We tend to dress like normal people in regular street clothes. This happens because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We do our investigations very privately because our clients may not want the neighborhood to know that they have a haunted house. Truly, we wouldn’t be walking around in flight suits and our equipment all hanging out unless we are someplace like Gettysburg where ghost hunting is a thing. But, none of us own flight suits. My team has t-shirts, but we don’t have official uniforms. 

A Family History

I think most, if not all, Ghostbusters fans know by now that Dan Aykroyd has a family history of psychical researchers, parapsychology researchers, and paranormal researchers. His great-grandfather, Samuel Aykroyd, was interested in psychic research and psychic experiences. He regularly held seances in his home and he primarily worked with a medium named Walter Ashurst. So Samuel, Dan Aykroyd’s great-grandfather, had this keen interest in psychics being in touch with the other side. That interest went on to Maurice Aykroyd, who is Dan Aykroyd’s grandfather. They were owners of journals like the American Society for Psychical Research and other academic studies of the supernatural.  

In fact, Dan’s father, Peter Aykroyd, wrote a book called, A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters. You can get it on Kindle for about ten dollars. If you want a paperback copy, you’re gonna be spending almost a hundred bucks right now. I’m guessing it’s because of the Ghostbusters name being so big right now. Everyone’s trying to scramble to get a copy of the book. I happened to find mine at a used bookstore. It’s a great book. Dan Aykroyd wrote the foreword for the book. So Dan took his family’s interest and family history and integrated elements of that into the Ghostbusters movies. 

Zener Cards

So there’s a lot of things sprinkled throughout the movies that you know are exaggerations or embellishments, but they’re not complete fabrications. One of my favorites are the Zener cards. They are what you see in the beginning of the first Ghostbusters movie. Venkman, played by Bill Murray, is doing a test with Zener cards. This is based on testing ESP and intuition. But also, it’s like a probability game too. So people will do these tests and you can do them at home too. There’s actually worksheets available online where you can test your ESP, your intuition, and check off if you’re right or wrong. You don’t even need other people to do this. All you have to do is shuffle the cards and concentrate. I love these cards and they’re really good just to have fun with. 

Witness Interviews

Another thing that is true uh you know when we’re in the first Ghostbusters movie is interviews with witnesses. In the movie, after the librarian sees the ghost and collapses on the sofa, Venkman is basically questioning her. By the way, I love how Venkman is the resident skeptic. Every team should have a skeptic. He’s asking the librarian if she has any family history of mental incompetence, history of drugs or alcohol, and more. This is actually very typical of what my team will ask our clients. We ask similar questions about a history of drugs and alcohol, and have they been diagnosed with anything psychologically. This is to get the full picture and the full story to try to debunk as much as possible.

We don’t want to involuntarily validate someone unnecessarily, so we’ll ask those kinds of questions because we really want to know what we’re working with here. Also, we don’t walk in right away believing the person now. We go in fully understanding that scary experience was very real to our clients, and what we’re there to do is to help them understand what that experience was. More often than not, it’s helping them understand that those footsteps they heard were squeaky floorboards. 

Recording Everything & The Legal Stuff

Of course, we record everything. We got our camcorders,  audio recorders and a full system surveillance setup. There is usually someone watching the cameras during investigations because we want to see everything that’s happening. We can’t be in multiple places at once. So those cameras help us record everything. By the way, in case you’re wondering, yes, we do have clients sign liability paperwork. They sign release forms and they sign contracts.

Another thing that is pretty true is how people react to seeing ghosts. For example, when the guys are seeing the ghost in the library for the first time, they’re like, “So what do we do?” That actually happens more often than you think on ghost hunts. Especially when you do have a skeptic who has an experience. We rarely say “Get her!” or “ Get them!” We don’t do that because more often than not we lose that connection.

The Tech

I wish I had an Egon Spengler on my team. The PKE meter, the  gigameter, the goggles, proton packs, ghost traps…obviously none of them are real. Tny of the tech that we do have as ghost hunters is not made to detect ghosts. They’re made to detect something else. 

Maybe the closest piece of equipment to reality is the PKE meter? You know a lot of paranormal investigators will compare to a K2 meter. What that does is it detects the levels of electromagnetic fields. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a ghost nearby. It just means that the EMF is high wherever we’re at. There is a common belief that high EMF or fluctuating EMF means there are spirits. My team measures the level of electromagnetic fields. If there is a high level of EMF, sometimes that does cause hallucinations or feelings of someone watching you. Many will assume right away that it’s a paranormal experience. But really you might just need to turn off a TV or a computer here and there.

So really, what we’re doing is we’re detecting changes in the environment. We don’t actually have equipment that can detect ghosts. We’re looking for changes in the environment and then seeing if there’s any correlation with paranormal experiences. For example, if someone sees a shadow in the hallway, then they hear a piece of equipment go off, we’ll make a note of it and try to debunk it first. We don’t have the fancy tech like they do in Ghostbusters that actually detect ghosts but we do have tech.

University Research Programs

Another part of Ghostbusters that is kind of true is that there are research programs within universities to study paranormal and parapsychological events. Duke University used to have a parapsychology unit within their psychology department, run by J.B. Rhine. Once Rhine left Duke, he actually took the parapsychology unit with him. Today, we have the Rhine Research Center and they’re still active to this day. they’re still going strong. There are people with scientific backgrounds who are exploring this. They’re doing experiments, and they’re publishing their work in peer-reviewed journals. Universities with parapsychology programs that are definitely not fabrication. If you want to study parapsychology in a university setting, more often than not, you’re going to have to go overseas.

I know the University of Edinburgh has parapsychology under the psychology department. There are even a few people who will get their master’s degrees or get some sort of certificates from these graduate programs in university. I actually know some folks who have PhDs. They’re not necessarily like parapsychology or in the paranormal but they use a paranormal emphasis in their studies. For example, I know someone with a PhD in psychology and she studied the psychological effects of EVP on people. That’s kind of a loophole you know some people will use to still study the paranormal and get that academic credibility. 

Self-Promotion

Another thing in Ghostbusters that’s pretty legit is the commercials. Paranormal investigators are all about self-promotion because there are so many people in the paranormal community. You have to make yourself stand out sometimes if you want to get work. When I say “work”, I mean investigation opportunities. No one’s making money from this. We do take calls and we do take case submissions. I mentioned earlier my clients have to fill out a form and they have to sign paperwork. We do residential investigations, but you have to sign the paperwork and fill out the forms. We do this to prevent future legal issues.

Charging for Services

In Ghostbusters, they charge for their services. In the first movie, I think they quoted the hotel like five thousand dollars. If you charge in the paranormal community today, you are going to have a bad time. It’s very much frowned upon. you don’t charge to help people with their paranormal situations. From a legal standpoint, it’s really sketchy to charge because you can’t prove the existence of ghosts. Rule of thumb: you don’t charge. I don’t charge for investigations. The only areas where I make money from the paranormal are from my books, YouTube monetization, any sort of creator fund like on TikTok. I make the money but I would never charge a client for trying to help them with their haunting.

Poltergeist Activity

The paranormal events that happen to Dana, like the eggs popping and cooking on the counter top, are often associated with poltergeist-like activity. For me I look more poltergeist activity is coming from within like it’s an external response to something happening within. From the research I’ve done, poltergeist is similar to telekinesis and psychokinesis that’s out of control so it’s coming from the person, not a ghost.

There’s also residual hauntings but Ghostbusters doesn’t really cover them. Residual hauntings would be leftover energy that’s still “active”, like at the Battle of Gettysburg. For example, you see a ghost walk across the field at three o’clock every day but he doesn’t respond to you. He just walks across the field. More than likely that’s residual. If the spirit acknowledges you answers your questions, then we would classify that as an intelligent haunting or conscious haunting. 

Possession

The possession aspect with Zuul and Zephyr, the key and the gatekeeper, well…I’m on the fence about possession. But, it is a well-discussed topic in the paranormal field. It’s a lighthearted take on possession. I actually don’t know if I really believe in demons anyway. That’s a whole other conversation for another time. The way that the movie depicts possession is fairly accurate to the beliefs behind the phenomenon. 

Shape-Shifting

Let’s talk about shape-shifting. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when Ray chooses the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man as the form for Gozer. The whole reveal is brilliant. But shape-shifting entities aren’t original to the movie. In fact, it’s a hot topic in the paranormal community. Do we even know we’re dealing with ghosts? What if we’re dealing with inhuman or elemental spirits that are just shape-shifting? This is why we won’t ever prove the existence of ghosts, by the way. There’s so many theories and runarounds. Shape-shifting is a thing in the community too.

Ectoplasm

Another thing that’s in the movie, but very rare….ectoplasm. It’s a hot topic in the Ghostbusters movies. I don’t personally believe in ectoplasm; there are people who do. Ectoplasm was common during the Spiritualism movement because that gave some sort of tangible proof of communication. It was physical “proof” that there was paranormal activity. But usually, ectoplasm ends up being cheesecloth that the medium would regurgitate from their mouth. Gross. 

That’s my breakdown on ghost hunting versus Ghostbusters. Now you know the true story behind this famous franchise. 

Sources

https://www.vikingwarriordesign.com/post/things-you-might-not-know-about-ghostbusters

https://members.huntakiller.com/blog-articles/2021/2/11/the-haunted-history-of-dan-aykroyds-family

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghostbusters-is-real

https://www.yahoo.com/now/dan-aykroyd-ghost-stories-hotel-paranormal-150046932.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10716928/

Exposing the Truth About Ghost Stories

Alex Matsuo2 Comments

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

In September 2021, I made some waves on social media with the following statement:

After I published a TikTok video about trauma and the paranormal, one of my followers suggested that I read Ghostland by Colin Dickey. I have to say, this is probably one of the most important books for any paranormal researcher and investigator to read.

I’ll do a full book review on my team’s website, Association of Paranormal Study once I complete it. I wish I hadn’t sat on this book for so long. It came out in 2016, and yet, I never heard of it until a beloved follower suggested it to me. 

Anatomy of a Ghost Story

Ghost stories have always been a point of interest for us as humans, even more so if they’re based on truth. There’s something about the creepiness of the unknown that not only gives us a thrill, but offers some sort of security blanket that it will never happen to us…or could it? This feeling is very similar to being a true crime fan. Like…it couldn’t happen, but it could. I think that’s the heart of the paranormal community. These events seem so unreal, but there’s an element of truth to them. 

The anatomy of ghost stories, local legends, and lore, has always fascinated me. Ghost stories can tell so much about our history and legacy as a society. The fact that marginalized groups are so often left out of this narrative is very telling. These groups are often treated as the other when they are included in narratives. This is especially true for TV shows. The trope of “ancient Indian burial grounds” comes to mind. Dickey also goes into this in Ghostland as well as in an interview for the podcast, The Q Files. It’s worth a listen. Another is, “They were practicing witchcraft.” And finally, “These two men who lived together for decades were best friends and roommates.” Okay, sure.

The first two points are often used to explain an angry or aggressive haunting. Instead of pointing the responsibility in how these marginalized groups were treated by society, blame is placed on the aggressor. I’ve often noticed that these groups are often lumped into the “evil” haunting or even a demonic haunting.

Ghost Story as Escapism

According to the BBC article, The secret meaning of ghost stories, “Women were contributing around 70% of ghost stories to magazines in the 19th Century.” Ghost stories were a way for women to break against society as well as challenge conventional gender norms of the time. Why mention this? I think it could give us a clue on how ghost stories have evolved over time. But how consciously aware of it are we?

Our bias can also provide us a way of escape, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. As we continue this journey, keep bias in mind. Consider how it has shaped paranormal experiences and ghost stories of real places.

Paul Patterson, Ph.D noted that the earliest ghost stories date back to Ancient Rome. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve heard me talk about the story of Athenodorus. I’ve mentioned the story a few times in my books as well. Patterson mentions that in these early years, the ghosts were just…there. They aren’t harming anyone and really, they’re only tied to unfinished business, like a botched burial. Then, Patterson continues to say that as history entered into the late 18th century, ghost stories became quite dark and aggressive, heralding the genre of gothic fiction.

The Made Up Ghost Story

It’s hard to face the fact that most ghost stories are made up. Throughout history, humans have been conditioned to try to fill in the blanks when it comes to things we don’t understand. As we continue to gain more understanding in various fields of sciences, those mysterious ghost stories we grew up with are now becoming more explainable. Those footsteps you hear from behind you? Floorboards readjusting. The Salem Witch Trials? No witches involved, except for Tituba, who studied root work. Just a corrupt Puritan community hungry for land and power and potential ergot poisoning as the catalyst.

It is from the lack of understanding is where we see who is (or was) the dominant social group of the time. In Ghostland, Colin Dickey recounts the neighborhood of Shockcoe Bottom in Richmond, Virginia. The particular neighborhood has lots of bars and restaurants, filled with ghosts that are predominantly white. However, just down the block, slaves were bought at sold as well as imprisoned. With so much trauma that occurred in one area, why are the ghosts reported as predominantly white?

Dickey made a brilliant point about the neighborhood’s white tourism and the burying of such a horrific chapter of its history. He says “For those who would rather not revisit those days, the city’s ghost lore makes it easy, turning our attention to murdered gunsmiths and fabled prostitutes” (Dickey 117).

Historical Context

In 2014, I wrote a book called, The Haunted Actor: An Exploration of Supernatural Belief Through Theatre. The book was primarily based on my research into paranormal belief as shown through plays and musicals throughout history. From my analysis, I was able to get context on the belief of spirits for a play’s respective time period. For example, exploring the idea of a ghost’s identity was analyzed with Hamlet. The perspective of witchcraft and sorcery during the Elizabethan era can be found in plays like Macbeth, The Tempest, Doctor Faustus, etc.

Through historical texts like plays, sonnets, poems, etc. we truly get a glimpse into paranormal beliefs of that era. However, we’re seeing it through the eyes of the dominant group of that time period. Silence was meted out to those that didn’t have fame or couldn’t read or write.

In my blog, A Different Kind of Therapy: Processing Trauma with Ghost Hunting, I talk about how modern day paranormal investigators and researchers use the paranormal as a way to process trauma. That could be personal trauma, or facing the trauma that is history, especially in the United States.

An Ignored Group

Another point that Dickey makes is the fact that dominant ethnic group often controls the narrative, even when they don’t mean to. A slave, for instance, was not allowed to read or write. This meant that they weren’t able to record their stories; whether that be personal experiences, family history, cultural ghost stories, etc. By the time former slaves were dying off in the 1930’s, the federal government put forth the WPA project recording slave narratives. Thanks to oral tradition, they were able to save many of these stories, but not all of them. There are millions of stories that we will never learn about because the people who knew them are no longer with us.

Also, the dominant group has better control over the narrative of marginalized people. This is especially true in places like Myrtles Plantation and Monticello. Dickey, for instance, tells about sightings of Jefferson’s ghost and how he is regarded as benevolent. Given the dynamic of Jefferson’s problematic personal life (specifically Sally Hemmings) and the fact he enslaved over 600 people in his life, how is it that there isn’t much discussion when it comes to hauntings by slaves?

Another potent example is the La Llorona, also known as the weeping woman. It is often mentioned to me by friends and followers of Latin American descent how the legend is whitewashed, especially in Hollywood. Now, it seems the white woman in Victorian dress dominates the narrative instead of its originator.

The Role of Bias

I realize hardcore believers in the paranormal may say it’s because they moved on. But how do we actually know this? While I’m a skeptical believer in ghosts and paranormal, I also know that we can’t actually prove any of this. Also, we don’t ever really know who or what we’re talking to. So, how can one confidently say that they’re communicating with the spirit of Thomas Jefferson? Why does one assume that if they see a shadow in the wine cellar, it’s that of a murdered white gunsmith? These questions especially puzzle me when the experiences don’t line up with the history.

The impact of the area’s turbulent past on residual hauntings may clarify things a bit if we take that into account. But then again, that also exposes the glaring inaccuracies of record keeping and reports of paranormal experiences. I know that many of these ghost stories were made up for entertainment purposes, and to make a location seem more exciting.

Bias in True Encounters

Several of the stories are also true, so it’s important to recognize that. I find it fascinating to see how they are interpreted by people of different genders, races, religions, and sexual identities. Depending on who you talk to, reactions and interpretations are vastly different.

Since this is the case, will we ever be able to truly identify spirits? Are ghost stories simply a way to process trauma and make difficult topics easier to digest?

I’ll be honest, I truly noticed the role of bias coming through when I work with mediums. If I know them well, it’s even easier for me to spot it. Is this a bad thing? I’m not sure. What I do know is that psychic mediums, empaths, and intuitives can change the dynamic of an investigation from positive to “demons are coming” in a matter of minutes. Being aware of not only our own bias, but the bias of others can help maintain some accountability.

Moving Forward as Paranormal Investigators

I believe, as paranormal investigators and researchers become more aware of their bias, it will help maintain an open mind. Honestly, we will never find tangible proof for spirits. At this stage of my life, I’ve accepted that the paranormal is a personal journey for everyone, much like religion. That personal journey is based on our bias. These biases come from our upbringing, trauma, family dynamic, the list goes on.

I’ve noticed that the more effective and knowledgeable paranormal investigators, psychic mediums, witches, etc. are ones who are self-aware of these biases. Instead of jumping to conclusions, they look at all possibilities and don’t immediately assume that they know the spirit they are talking to. In full transparency, this is something I’m working on for myself.

What do you think?

Gabby Petito Is Not a Ghost To Be Contacted

Alex Matsuo2 Comments

The tragedy of Gabby Petito is nothing short of horrific. A young and bright star was extinguished much too quickly at the hands of a monster. In case you’re not aware, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was reported missing on September 11, 2021. She and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, embarked on a four-month cross-country road trip. It was to be full of camping and visiting national parks. Laundrie returned to his family in Florida on September 1st, but Petito wouldn’t be reported missing until ten days later.

Laundrie became a person of interest four days later, but he isn’t arrested. He disappeared on September 17th, and his family reports that they hadn’t seen him for three days. On September 19th, in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming remains were spotted. Tragically, her remains are identified on September 21st. At the time this blog was written, Laundrie is still missing. Now there’s a warrant for his arrest for bank fraud. It’s a mess.

Helpful or Hurtful?

As Petito’s story started going viral, true crime sleuths started coming together trying to figure out what happened to her. This was long before her remains were identified and she was still missing. The internet can be a wonderful community full of resources like this. In fact, a YouTube video played a major role in helping to identify Petito and Laundrie’s van, which led to the discovery of her remains.

But there were a few other communities that tried to jump on the Petito wagon; paranormal investigators and mediums. For far too long, there have been ongoing issues of paranormal investigators trying to contact the spirits of deceased celebrities through decorated and embellished spirit boxes. These videos are then posted on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter…you name it. Videos of this nature normally get an incredible amount of videos. If the creator is monetized on any of these platforms, they get a nice paycheck.

The psychic and mediumship community is no different. It seems that the way to gain views, followers, and even new clients, is to post videos of their readings and post them online.

Do any of these people contact the deceased’s family in the process? Most likely not. Several in the paranormal and psychic mediumship communities are coming together to call out this behavior and point out just how problematic it is.

“If it was for help, it wouldn’t be posted,” says evidential medium Megan Alisa on one of her latest TikTok videos. She encouraged the creators of this type of content to really sit down and figure out the real reason that their doing this.

Exploiting the Dead for Clout

Simply put, publicly posting spirit box sessions and and readings without the consent of involvement of the deceased’s family is exploitive. Nine times out of ten, the creator has no contacted the family for permission. But honestly, they don’t care. Reaching out to “spirits” of missing persons and murder victims without consent is unethical and gross. Doing so, especially with or without consent of the family, is not helpful. It’s hurtful, it’s traumatizing, and it makes the grieving process so much more difficult.

What’s even a larger issue is that more than likely none of these creators are actually contacting Petito. The videos that I’ve seen have consisted of these creators trying to make sense of “word salad” through muffled and random noises they’re hearing on the box. They never knew Petito personally, so how would they even know that’s who they’re talking to? Even if you’re a hardcore believer in the paranormal, you should be skeptical of this. How would you even know that you’re talking to Petito’s ghost? How would you know that you’re not talking to some other ghost pretending to be Petito in order to protect her spirit?

My personal opinion is that none of these creators have been in contact with Petito’s spirit and are literally making up a story as they go…all for the views.

Trauma Predator

My friend Kat at Spooktasticx said something brilliant to me while we were live on the night of Wednesday, September 22nd. She mentioned that these creators are “trauma predators” in the fact that they are preying on Petito and her family. Not only that, they are preying on their audience who generally believe this stuff to be real.

Creators like these prey on our vulnerabilities and greatest fears and exploit them to their advantage. It’s proof that there is a gross lack of empathy in these practices, and instead of calling it out and being held accountable, these creators are rewarded with fans, followers, views, and an elevated platform.

Pushing the Demon Narrative

Another disturbing trend is that people are blaming demons on the loss of Gabby Petito. By placing the blame on demons and pushing the narrative that Laundrie is possessed, it eradicates any personal responsibility he has in this terrible crime. The whole “the devil made me do it” mindset takes away any accountability from Laundrie. Terrible people are terrible people, and demons aren’t to blame.

I recently made a video reaction to a creator that compared Laundrie to Chris Watts. The original video makes the claim that the similarities alludes that demons are involved. What were the similarities? Well, they looked alike. Sound the alarms, bald white guys with beards look alike. The creator claims that “Demons are said to jump once they completed their mission.”

Honestly? Demons are cop out.

Blaming demons is a way to avoid addressing the real issue at hand. Instead of trying to figure out where we are going wrong as a society with misogyny, abuse, not raising our men to hurt women, racism, etc., we blame demons. We are using demons to avoid facing the fact that we are failing at helping and treating people with mental illnesses and failing victims of crimes.

Instead of taking responsibility, we blame demons and give the people who commit these crimes an easy way out.

Half the Problem

But let’s talk about something that’s even more difficult. These creators are only half of the problem. The remainder of the responsibility lies within the general public and audience. I see these types of videos going viral far too often, especially after a celebrity passes away. In the comments, I see followers and fans requesting other long-gone celebrities be contacted, much like ordering off a menu. This is inhumane on extraordinary levels.

Ordering creators to contact victims and celebrities is the main problem. I’m not sure where the blame lies for this disturbing trend. Perhaps it’s because society sees celebrities and victims as products instead of people. Therefore, their humanity is stripped.

This has to stop. Not only do we need to tell these creators to stop making this kind of content, but we need to hold their fanbase accountable. The creators won’t make this content if it doesn’t give them views. Their fans and followers need to be called out along with them. Someone has to tell them to stop encouraging these types of videos.

Advocating for the Grieving

A few years ago, I confronted one of the original creators of this trend. He accused me of having a skewed view of death. But he completely missed the point. It’s not the spirits that are being harmed with these videos (I hope not).

It’s grieving families that are left behind.

When paranormal creators are making this kind of content 99.99% of the time, the grieving families are not involved. I’d venture to say it’s close to 100% that these families did not give their consent for their loved ones to be used in this manner. But it doesn’t mean that they don’t see the content and they’re not affected by it. Ultimately, this content harms the deceased family that is left behind to pick up the pieces.

We need to do better by the victims and their families.

Paranormal Burnout: Did I Get Tired of the Ghosts?

Alex Matsuo2 Comments

If you’ve been following me on social media, then you know that I’ve crossed the threshold into burnout. A paranormal burnout. What’s exceptionally sad is that I’m not even investigating that much these days. It’s the constant engagement with the community, research, writing, creating content, it’s all been a bit too much. My mind was starting to deteriorate, and I felt like I didn’t know how to exist anymore. Honestly, it got terrifying for a while.

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? Definitely.

Regular Burnout

I find myself in burnout almost regularly, and it made me realize that I needed a break. It also has made me realize that what I was doing wasn’t really working, at least not without some help. Releasing a weekly video, a weekly blog, and a weekly podcast by myself is absolutely insane. But, given that my audience was growing and growing fast, I felt incredibly pressured to continue releasing content on a schedule to keep that momentum going. My biggest fear was that people would leave if I stopped creating content. Not to mention, I had to start investigating again so I could go through that data and create even more content. It’s a vicious cycle.

Eventually, the ongoing creation of content became too much, and I felt like I was going crazy. I barely had time for peace and quiet. What concerned me the most was that I was really starting to resent everything in the paranormal. From ghosts, watching investigations, reading and retelling stories, engaging with the community, it was becoming too much.

So many people told me how much The Spooky Stuff and the Association of Paranormal Study meant to them, so I put pressure on myself to continue cultivating that community. Many finally found a place of belonging in my groups, and I know personally how valuable that is.

Constant Criticism

But, as criticisms of my work came in, it wasn’t helping my mental health. Growing up in the entertainment industry, I’m no stranger to criticism. In fact, I usually welcome it. But there were a select few who constantly criticized my work, and what made it really difficult was that they were friends as well. I valued their opinion. So, when I was getting hit with constant negativity about my content, I took it hard, especially when they never had anything positive to say. I started to wonder whether I was really cut out for this, or if it was time to throw in the towel.

I also got hit with people telling me how to create content, how I need to change my content to better suit their needs, etc. These days, I’m creating content not only for myself, but for the future of paranormal investigators, which mainly consists of the younger generation like teens and college students. In trying to meet them at their level, it means that the style of my content has changed as well. That may not appeal to older generations. In fact, I know it doesn’t because they’ve told me.

I couldn’t continue taking it all in anymore. It was truly exhausting to have multiple people attempt to mold me into what they needed. Remember, I’m offering my content for free, besides book sales. I created APS and The Spooky Stuff because it made me happy.

But it was no longer making me happy. It was making me miserable. It was triggering some really bad anxiety and catastrophizing behavior. I started regressing bad to harmful habits that got me requiring medical intervention. Was it all worth it anymore?

No. It wasn’t.

Making a Decision

I didn’t want to shut it all down…yet. Also, I didn’t want to torch the bridge. I think people forget that content creators are people too. We’re producing content to the best of our ability and to our capacity. Honestly, hats off to the people who investigate regularly, are parents, and continue to produce content. It’s just me, my fiancé, and the cats and I’m barely holding on. I also work a full-time job as well as a part-time job, so that might have something to do with it. Oh, did I mention I’m planning a wedding?

I decided to take a month off from publishing content as well as taking a step back from social media. What was interesting what that I was still creating content. I could only sit on my hands for so long before I was itching to write. But I couldn’t go back to the vicious cycle that I was used to. No. I wouldn’t even survive a week if something didn’t change. I had to make a decision.

When I returned in September, I had to start creating distance between myself and my followers. I had always took pride in the fact that I engaged with everyone and gave them a voice. But, I had to start setting some pretty hard boundaries as well as just ignoring people who were no longer a positive presence in my online life.

Exhausted by the Living

Truly, it wasn’t the ghosts or the stories that I was tired of; it was living people. From people commenting on my articles without reading them, to the criticism, to just plain meanness…I couldn’t take it anymore from the living. But I can’t let that affect what I love…at least not anymore.

At the end of the day, I still love the paranormal. I love ghost stories, I love investigating, and I love reading about how the paranormal has shaped us as a society. All of this is still so fascinating to me.

Personal Responsibility

Finally, another source of my burnout was…me. I wasn’t satisfied with the direction that my paranormal journey was taking me. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault but my own. My team is fabulous but I was doing a terrible job at steering the ship. Essentially, I was letting my burnout, my fear of falling outs, and just my anxiety-filled existence keep me from the very reason I fell in love with the paranormal.

Moving Forward

I have to build up my self-awareness and know the signs of future burnouts. I’ve started recognizing those negative feelings. Once I start encountering those feelings again, I know it’s time to take a step back and take a break. However, I also know that I also need to wait 24 hours before I respond to something. Is it a perfect plan? Definitely not. But I have to change something. Otherwise, I’ll continue to repeat this vicious cycle until I’m merely a shell.

Tips for Dealing with Paranormal Burnout

This list isn’t perfect, but it definitely helped me in dealing with my paranormal burnout.

  • Research the signs of burn out and assess whether there’s too much stress in your life
  • Take a break
  • Step away from social media
  • Do something different for a while (theatre, knitting, reading, skateboarding, hiking, etc.)
  • Journal every day
  • Go back to the things that make you happy
  • Learn how to identify the negative feelings
  • Wait 24 hours before responding to negativity
  • Sort through why you became burnt out
  • Create a list of action items you can do to prevent burnout
  • Go back to your roots as to why you fell in love with the paranormal
  • Set boundaries and enforce them
  • Know that not every person deserves a response from you
  • Sleep…get as much sleep as you can
  • Don’t feel ashamed of taking a break
  • Decide whether you’re really burned out or just done.
  • Prioritize YOU
  • Forgive yourself
  • Listen to your needs and meet your needs
  • Talk to a therapist

What are your tips for dealing with paranormal burnout?