Category: Paranormal

The Reality Behind ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Do It’

Alex Matsuo

Ed and Lorraine Warren were some of the most famous paranormal investigators of their time. Their legacy and career have now been preserved in film format with the “The Conjuring” series. While the Warrens are well known, their careers are controversial. Yes, the movies are entertaining, but are they true? Let’s take a deeper dive into the true story behind “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.”

“Based on a True Story”

Truth time: The Conjuring movies are some of my favorite horror movies.  What makes them exceptionally compelling is that they’re “based on a true story.”

Why the quotation marks? Movies that are “based on a true story” are usually LOOSELY based on a true story. Producers and screenwriters often have to take artistic liberties in order to make the story more interesting.

For example, in “The Conjuring 2”, the movie was centered around how Ed and Lorraine Warren helped the Hodgson family with what is now called the Enfield Poltergeist. But Ed and Lorraine weren’t the only investigators working on the case.Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair from the Society of Psychical Research were actually the main investigators. 

In fact, according to Maurice Grosse, Ed and Lorraine showed up for a very short time.Ed apparently pulled Grosse aside and said he could make a lot of money off the case, and Ed was sent away. There’s a lot more to the story, maybe I’ll tell you more in the future.

With this in mind, we should expect some things to be exaggerated with movies that are “based on a true story.” What’s the true story behind the murder trial that became known as the “Devil Made Me Do It” case? Let’s find out.

First, a disclaimer: Spoiler Alert! If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading right now. I’ll break down some of the more obvious differences between the movie and real-life, and then take a deeper dive into the actual story.

The Town of Brookfield

Before we can talk about the murder trial, we have to start at the beginning. This all started in a small town called Brookfield, Connecticut. It was a sleepy little town with not much going on. In  fact, until “The Devil Made Me Do It” case, there hadn’t even been a murder. The town is located northeast of New York City, and is technically part of the New York Metropolitan area. The town was established in 1788. So, not much was going on.

David Glatzel Was 11-Years Old

Warner Bros.

One of the most notable changes I saw in the movie was that they made David Glatzel younger. Of course, it’s more disturbing to see a young child get possessed by a demon. The choice obviously made David seem more innocent and more baby-like, which is meant to tug at our heartstrings. In real life, David was 11-years old.

Arne and Debbie Lived with Arne’s Family

Arne and Debbie actually lived with Arne’s mom and siblings. At the time, Arne’s mother was gravely ill with cancer. The couple were the main providers for Arne’s family and they were looking for a larger place to live to accommodate everyone.

Debbie Was Older Than Arne

Not that age is a big deal, but it’s worth it to take a look. Debbie was 26-years old and had been previously married and had a child from that marriage. Arne was 18-years old. For the time, an older woman living with a younger guy raised some eyebrows. When the couple first met, Arne was only 12-years old, which would have made Debbie around 20-years old.

Arne and Debbie Were Already Engaged

In the movie, Arne is about to ask Debbie to marry him, and even David is asking him when he’ll pop the question. In real life, the couple were already engaged by the time David was possessed.

David Met the Demon Somewhere Else

The movie makes it look like David became possessed in the Glatzel family home when everyone moved in. What is true is that the former tenants did leave a waterbed in the house. But the house that was the site where David met the demon was a different house. In July 1980, Arne and Debbie had just acquired rental property, and they went over to start cleaning it. 

David said that when they arrived on the property, there was an old man that started terrorizing him and pushing him. Initially, Arne and Debbie thought that David made up the story to avoid cleaning. But then David said that the old man promised to harm the Glatzel family if they moved into the rental.  The rental itself didn’t give Arne or Debbie much concern besides hearing footsteps above them.

What is troubling is when David saw the old man again, he had beast-like features, was uttering Latin, and threatened to steal his soul. But soon after, David started having night terrors, he had unexplained scratches and bruises, and he was starting to act strange.

There Was No Curse

One important detail to note is that there was no curse involved in “The Devil Made Me Do It” case. There were no occultists, there were no Disciples of the Ram, none of that is true. This was all created for the sake of the movie. If there is anything I want readers to get out of this blog, it’s that there was no curse…at all. However, the Warrens believed that the previous tenants of the house in question were into witchcraft and opened a door to the demonic and left it there when they moved. When David came into the house, he was the first to encounter the demon from the open portal.

David’s Behavior Was More Disturbing

Whatever had tormented David at the rental property followed him home. The Glatzel family decided to call a Catholic priest to bless the house. I know…it’s the 80s…mental health care back then isn’t what it is today. Anyway, the priest came to bless the house, but it didn’t work. The family told Debbie and Arne that their rental home was evil.

But the old man, now known as the Beast, followed them. David’s visions and odd behavior started happening in the day time as well. According to the Glatzels, David was being choked and beaten by unseen forces. 

David started hissing, growling, and reciting passages from the Bible and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. He was also speaking in other voices. Members of the family had to start taking shifts during the night to watch David because he would have spasms and convulsions. Debbie and Arne moved in with the family to help them with David.

About 12 days after the original incident, the family or a man named Father Dennis called Ed and Lorraine Warren to investigate. So the Warrens came into the scene, and learned the Glatzels story, they concluded that he was possessed by multiple demons. Ed concluded that about 63 demons had possessed David.

David Predicted the Murder

According to my research, David went through three exorcisms. Lorraine said that David levitated in the air, and even demonstrated precognition abilities and predicted the murder that Arne Johnson would commit.

During one of David’s exorcisms, Arne apparently coerced one of the demons to possess him. He told the demon to “Leave his little buddy alone.” At this point too, Arne was working all day and staying with the Glatzels and helping them with David.

When the story was covered by the show, “A Haunting”, Arne said that one of the demons attacked him by taking control of his car and running it into a tree.This happened a few days after Arne coerced the demon to possess him.

After the car accident, Arne went back to the old rental property and examined the well that supposedly housed the demon. Arne made eye contact with the demon in the well, and apparently became full on possessed. This was also Arne’s last completely lucid moment before the murder.

The Warrens were not happy with this and apparently even warned Arne to not make eye contact with the demon. In the midst of all this, David wasn’t getting better. In October of 1980, the Warrens contacted the Brookfield police and told them the situation was getting dangerous. 

Bruno Salls’ is Alan Bono in Real Life

Arne and Debbie decided it was time to move out of her mother’s house and into their own place. Debbie got a job at a dog groomer, which was owned by Alan Bono. He would also be Arne and Debbie’s landlord. Debbie and Arne got an apartment above her work. It didn’t take long for Debbie to notice that Arne was showing the same behavior as David.

Arne would also growl and hiss, go into a trance-like state, and then have no memory of it. So Debbie is thinking, “Crap, my man is possessed too.”

Multiple People Witnessed the Murder

Arne Johnson’s mother stands next to Lorraine Warren

On February 16, 1981, Arne called out sick from work. He was having stomach issues and not feeling well. He joined Debbie at the dog groomer, the kennel, with his sister Wanda and Debbie’s 9-year old cousin.

Alan Bono took the group to lunch, and he started drinking quite heavily. He insisted that Arne and Debbie drink too. After lunch, the group went to a pet shop to get supplies, and then went back to the kennel. Arne went up to the apartment to lay down.

Judy Glatzel, David’s and Debbie’s mom, called Debbie and told her something was wrong and to get to her house immediately.

Alan Bono was at the kennel and was still drinking. Debbie couldn’t leave work right away but assured she would take everyone over for dinner. But Bono wanted the group to stay for dinner.

Here’s where details get fuzzy. So Debbie took Mary and Wanda to get pizza, but she said she would be back quickly. It seemed that Debbie was sensing that something wasn’t right. When the girls got back from pizza, Bono was completely drunk and intoxicated at this point. Debbie wanted Bono to pass out in his apartment, so they set up the pizza in his kitchen.

The Murder Happened Outside

As Arne, Debbie, and the rest of the crew were getting ready to eat, Bono had become belligerent. The group was trying to leave and Bono wouldn’t let them leave. Debbie told everyone to leave the room.

But Bono was able to grab Mary and wouldn’t let her go. Arne ran into the room and told Bono to let Mary go. Mary gets away and runs to the car. At this point, this debacle had made its way outside of the kennel.

It was reported that Arne had two voices coming out of him, and at this point, he was no longer Arne. Wanda is trying to pull Arne away from Bono as Debbie is standing in the middle to try to mitigate the situation. 

Arne gets out a 5-inch pocket knife and stabs Alan Bono in the chest. Bono died a few hours later in the hospital. Arne managed to get away and was found about two miles away. Supposedly, Debbie and Wanda didn’t actually see Arne stab Bono.

Lorraine Contacted the Police the Day After the Murder

This was the first murder to happen in Brookfield, Connecticut. So, the day after the murder, Lorraine Warren contacts the police and tells them that this isn’t Arne’s fault.

She said that Arne was possessed at the time he committed the murder. The Warrens also fueled the media frenzy that surrounded this case. Even the agents for the Warrens promised movie deals, books, and interviews would soon follow. Basically, it became a media circus, thanks to the Warrens.

Arne’s Lawyer Wasn’t Allowed to Use the Demon Defense

The trial started October 28, 1981. Arne’s lawyer, Martin Minnella, decided to run with this possession idea. Minnella was getting calls from all over the world about this case.

He even went to England to talk to two lawyers who had similar cases, even though they didn’t go to trial. He also wanted to fly in exorcism specialists and even subpoena the priests who oversaw David’s exorcism. Arne entered a plea of not guilty by reason of demonic possession.

The judge, Robert Callaham, rejected Arne’s plea and defense, so his possession could not even be a factor in this trial. Callahan said that there’s no way that this defense could even be used because there’s no way to scientifically prove it and there was no evidence to support it. So, Minnella decided to say that Arne acted in self-defense.

The jury deliberated over three days for 15 hours, and Arne was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter on November 24, 1981. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. Arne got himself out of prison thanks to his good behavior and being a model prisoner. He got his GED, took college classes, and he took the time to get his life together.  Arne married Debbie in 1984, and they remained married until her recent death from cancer.

But he only served five years. So, what happened to the demon that was possessing Arne?

The Demon Continued to Haunt Arne & David After

In Gerald Brittle’s book, “The Devil in Connecticut” he said that the Diocese in Canada intervened and did a proper exorcism on Arne.  I guess the priests that oversaw David’s exorcism didn’t do a thorough job. According to Brittle, the demon still haunted David and Arne. He alleges that the demon haunted Arne while he was in prison.

There Was a Lawsuit Years Later

When “The Devil in Connecticut” was republished in 2006, David Glatzel and his brother Carl, Jr. sued Brittle and the publishers for invasion of privacy, libel, and “intentional afflictions of emotional distress.”

Carl claims that David was mentally ill at the time.  Also, David’s father, Carl, Sr. claimed that he never said his son was possessed. Psychiatrists looking at David’s case at the time also said he wasn’t possessed, but instead, had a learning disability.

He also said that Ed and Lorraine Warren made up the story to exploit his family and profit from their pain and suffering. Here’s what’s really messed up, if it’s true. Carl also claims that the Warrens told the family that if they went along with this, they would make a ton of money. 

Lorraine stuck to her story and said that she, Ed, and six other priests agree that David was possessed. However, while the Diocese of Connecticut confirmed they were helping David through a difficult time, they did not confirm any exorcisms or anything about possession.

Carl said that the media circus, the books, the made-for-TV movie forced him to drop out of school, he lost friends and business opportunities. The book, “The Devil in Connecticut” also made him look like the bad guy. Gerald Brittle claims that he wrote the book because the family wanted the story told and was based on claims made by the Warrens. To this day, Carl claims the whole thing was a hoax.

Moving Forward

Arne Cheyenne Johnson on “A Haunting”, Episode: “Where Demons Dwell”

According to a few different sources, Debbie Glatzel was involved with the filming of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It before her recent death. Arne and Debbie had other media opportunities after the court case. A made-for-TV movie called, “The Demon Murder Case”, starred Kevin Bacon as Arne. As mentioned earlier, the couple was also featured on an episode of “A Haunting” in the episode, “Where Demons Dwell.”

To put it bluntly, this is an incredible story with lots of layers.

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/25/nyregion/the-region-man-is-convicted-in-friend-s-death.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20080829012011/http://www.mmdnewswire.com/brors-sue-world-fmous-psychic-lorrine-wrren-for-flse-ccustis-in-devil-book-2347-2.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/23/nyregion/defendant-in-a-murder-puts-the-devil-on-trial.html

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-250-arne-johnson-20140412-story.html

https://apnews.com/article/c758c33ba4756f757e1dfec4f0abd39e

https://books.google.com/books?id=VsmvAAAACAAJ

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a36529802/conjuring-3-true-story-arne-johnson-now/

11 Tips on How to Buy a Haunted Doll

Alex Matsuo

Since acquiring Madison, I get hit with this question on a daily basis. It’s safe to say that 80% of my inboxes are asking me this question; how does one buy a haunted doll? First, I want to add a disclaimer and mention that I don’t really recommend that you buy a haunted doll. This is because if you decide to move forward with the decision, and you end up having a negative experience, I don’t want you to come back to me and say I gave you bad advice. So, no…don’t buy a haunted doll.

But if you’re insistent, I want to present to you some important tips that will make your haunted doll purchase smooth and pleasant. These are tips I’ve made up for myself as I go through the process of purchasing my second haunted doll. I also picked the brains of my friends who own multiple haunted items (and bought them intentionally).

1. Ask Yourself Why

The first thing you need to ask yourself is why you want to get a haunted doll in the first place. Is it for experimentation? Is it for research? Do you want to be entertained? Are you looking to get scared? Are you trying to get more likes and views on social media? Considering that you’re inviting someone or something in to live with you in your space, you need to work out exactly why you want to buy a haunted doll. Really look deep inside you and ask yourself if you’re ready to take on this responsibility.

2. Talk to the People You Live With

If you don’t live alone, you should talk to the people you live with before you purchase your haunted doll. Consider the fact that everyone in your household might be affected by this purchase, and you want to make sure that everyone in comfortable. You don’t want your mom, your roommate, or your significant other to be fearful of their space, even if the doll is haunted by a friendly spirit.

3. Look at Places Where You Buy Used Things

I found Madison on eBay. But I know other people have had success looking at flea markets, garage sales, Poshmark, estate sales, and even Facebook Marketplace. I have a friend who found her haunted doll from Goodwill. To be fair, she wasn’t looking for a haunted doll. She likes to collect vintage things and is well aware that some of these objects might have some attachments. I don’t know how often people are using Craigslist these days, but it might be worth looking into. Anywhere you can find used things is a good place to start.

4. Read the Description & Ask Questions

Approach buying a haunted doll the same way you would vet a new roommate or a potential date. I know it sounds weird, but buying a haunted doll is no different from online dating. You’re looking for someone that you will get along with, and you have similar interests. Or, if you’re looking for a haunted doll that’s the complete opposite of your personality, you will want to look at the description. You’ll want to look for buzzwords like, “positive spirit” or “negative spirit” or “negative entity.” Depending on what kind of haunting you’re looking for, you’ll find it in the description. Also, ask questions to the seller and ask why they think the doll is haunted, how they know it’s haunted, etc.

5. Take Notes & Record

From the moment you decide to buy your haunted doll, start taking notes as soon as you click on “Checkout.” If you want, buy a notebook just for your haunted doll adventure. Make notes on the type of activity is in the description. From the moment your doll arrives, take notes on its condition, what it looks like, feelings you get from looking at it, and any predictions you might have about the doll.

6. Buyer Beware

It’s important to note that you might end up buying a haunted doll that actually isn’t haunted. Most haunted dolls, especially ones on eBay and online, are meant to be entertaining. You definitely have to exercise caution and be willing to take the financial risk when making your purchase. Since we can’t prove the existence of ghosts in the court of law, you’ll have a hard time taking a seller to court because they didn’t sell you a truly haunted doll. If you can’t afford the financial risk, don’t buy it.

7. Cleanse & Bless Your Space

This is especially important if you already have resident ghosts in your home. It might not be a bad idea to talk to them and let them know that a new spook is joining the household. But also, you want to make sure that your space is clear and clean before bringing in another spirit. You never know what’s already around and how your haunted doll is going to react to it.

8. Open Gently, Introduce Yourself, & Set Boundaries

Regardless of whether or not your doll is haunted, you want to set boundaries as soon as your doll arrives. When the package arrives at your door, be gentle when opening the box. Take special care in unwrapping your doll. You want to be respectful from the moment your doll is dropped off by the delivery person. Once your doll is completely unwrapped, introduce yourself. Also introduce your doll to everyone in your home, including pets. Most importantly, set boundaries. If your pets and kids are off-limits, set that boundary immediately.

9. Get Second Opinions

It’s not uncommon for people to loan their haunted doll to their friends and fellow paranormal investigators. Creators like Amanda from Pretty F’n Spooky and Cherise Williams did an experiment with a haunted doll where they sent it to each other and tried different experiments. It was really fascinating to watch. As you work with your haunted doll, consider loaning your doll to fellow researchers, mediums, etc., and see what kind of data they collect.

10. Do Your Research

This probably needs to go higher up on the list, but definitely do your research. Look into the seller, read their reviews, and see what kind of quality of products they have. Use what information you have and try to find the person that is haunting your doll. See if you can find a way to track down previous owners. It would be nice to build some sort of database. For example, have a single site and assign numbers to haunted dolls to log information so that there can be a place for people to input and read notes. Maybe someday we can make that happen.

11. Have Fun

Ultimately, you want to have a positive experience with your doll. You want to have fun and not be in a constant state of panic and fear. Once owning a haunted doll becomes a negative experience, you need to get rid of it. But don’t lie about the nature of the doll just to take it off your hands. Even if the next owner thinks you’re crazy, tell them the back story. Having a haunted doll should be a fun experience, if not a collaborative one.

Do you own a haunted doll? Do you want to buy a haunted doll? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!

A Different Kind of Therapy: Processing Trauma with Ghost Hunting

Alex Matsuo

In March 2020, I was participating in an online meetup by my team, Association of Paranormal Study. We were chatting with Dr. Ann Winsper and Dr. Rachael Ironside, two well-respected female academics in the paranormal and parapsychology field. Towards the end of the conversation, it was brought up that people use ghost hunting to process trauma. My mind went absolutely wild.

Whether we like it or not, trauma is the norm of our world. It’s not a new thing either. For thousands of years, mankind has been through some sort of trauma. Examples include war, famine, slavery, abuse, just to name a few. This is a constant occurrence in the existence of man, and it’s not stopping anytime soon. If anything, modern society is bringing about new forms of trauma every day.

That trauma is what echoes from the past into the future. Those are the echoes that modern day paranormal investigators are trying to communicate with. When we look at the common definitions of “spirits” and “ghosts”, they can be related back to processing trauma. Earthbound spirits normally have some sort of unfinished business.

What is Unfinished Business?

The term “unfinished business” is fairly vague. It’s a very general blanket statement describing something that person cannot let go of. I suppose that could include leaving the stovetop on (I wonder that everytime I go out) to getting revenge on someone who hurt that person. That hurt could be anything from a failed business translation, assault, or asking for forgiveness. “Unfinished business” is an extremely general term that we often don’t talk about enough in the paranormal world. Asking general questions in the dark and speculating what that unfinished business is isn’t enough.

But it’s not only the spirits who have unfinished business. This is something that the living has as well. How often do paranormal investigators have an experience and want to keep ghost hunting to “search for the truth” and find the answers to the afterlife? Boom. Most of us have unfinished business based on that alone, and we’re processing our own form of trauma from that spooky experience.

Grieving Through Ghost Hunting

For me personally, while I had spooky experiences as a child, I also struggle with the idea of death. I lost the majority of my core family members before I turned 30. Even then, I lose two major parental figures before I was 15 years old.

I struggle with the idea of our consciousness not surviving after death. While most people gravitate towards religion and the idea of heaven to alleviate those fears, I chose ghost hunting. I go on paranormal investigations to get some sort of sliver of proof that after-death consciousness survival is real. Even if I can’t prove it scientifically, if I can get personal validation, I’ll be happy.

But even with the experiences I’ve had, I question myself. Was I hallucinated? Or was it a case of self-fulfilling prophecy and I created the experience for myself? By paranormal investigating, I’m processing my own grief of losing my grandparents and my mother. So, for me, ghost hunting is my way of grieving.

Fear of the Unknown

This might explain why paranormal investigators get so rattled when something does physically manifest before us. In the paranormal community, I’ve noticed that there is an obsession with control. Meaning the investigator or the ghost hunter has to be in control of everything. We want to investigate the paranormal, but only on our own terms based on our own comfort level.

This is definitely a valid need because we don’t want things to happen to us outside of our boundaries. We don’t want our consent to be violated by having the spirits do more than what we are comfortable with. So, while paranormal investigators and ghost hunters want to experience and process certain chapters of history, we only want to experience on our terms and what we are the most comfortable with.

Dealing with Sins of the Past

There are a lot of elements in history that make us uncomfortable; slavery, child labor, abuse from leaders, etc. While modern-day paranormal investigators are far enough removed to not deal with a lot of these traumas first-hand, perhaps it still brings about negative feelings.

For example, many Americans are still just learning about the internment of Japanese-Americans, and it makes them uncomfortable. Some have even tried to justify it, even though they think the Holocaust was inexcusable. Then, I get messages from hopeful investigators asking me how to do a ghost hunt at an internment camp. 

While the situation above is directly related to an awful time on the dawn of the mid-20th century, it’s not all that different from wanting to investigate sites of mass bloodshed, like battlefields. Ghost hunters are also clamoring to get to places like Waverly Hills Sanatorium, St. Albans Sanatorium, and Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The fact that places like asylums and sanatoriums grossly mistreated their patients and even wrongfully held perfectly healthy people captive for the sake of “medicine” is unsettling. 

It’s hard to think that our country, our parents, their friends, and our government may have participated in atrocities that harmed another group of people. Or worse, completely erase a culture.

Facing Our Own Trauma

We might also be affected by some form of trauma or illness and trying to find some meaning behind it in the paranormal world. This may result in researching cases where people have had more paranormal experiences after a car accident or having a near-death experience during surgery. One could argue that someone’s psychic abilities awakening after a traumatic experience could be a form of processing.

Even in poltergeist cases, which stem from extreme emotional distress, it’s a form of processing trauma. In this case, the process is working from the outside in.

Coping in Person

Paranormal investigating gives people the unique opportunity to be “in the room where it happened”, to quote Hamilton. We can go to the Lizzie Borden House and stand in the rooms where Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death with a hatchet. We can stand on the battlefields of Gettysburg and picture the men running and shooting and cannons firing in our heads while feeling the gentle breeze.

Battlefields are popular places to investigate. It also gives ghost hunters and investigators to look at these places in person and really get a sense of the massive amount of death that took place. We can see the actual place where these people once lived. Granted, anyone can do this by visiting historic sites, reading the information boards, listening to the audio tour, etc.

But paranormal investigating and ghost hunting takes it an extra step by making us believe we are talking to the people of that time period. Meaning, we are talking to the owners of the house, we’re talking to the murder victims, we’re talking to former patients of the asylum.

Choosing What to Deal With

Ghost hunting also gives people a specific choice in what kind of trauma and tragedy they want to deal with. For example, there is a lot of queer history with haunted prisons and mental asylums. Until 1976, sodomy was considered a felony in the United States. This means that locations like Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum imprisoned homosexual men for being who they are. And yet, this is a chapter in paranormal media and history that is often ignored completely.

But as paranormal investigators, we have a certain level of privilege to completely ignore that chapter in TALA’s history and only choose to acknowledge what makes us comfortable. It’s not like these ghosts have manifested in reality and made us look at them and acknowledge their existence. Well, most of the time. However, this makes many people uncomfortable. So, while ghost hunting is used to process trauma, it gives the person a safe space to decide what kind of trauma they want to process. That is until a spirit makes itself known outside the box of comfort.

How to Move Forward

Now that we’ve talked about this, what do you think of this? Do you believe that we’re using ghost hunting to process trauma? It could mean different things like grieving, making sense with a problematic history, or trying to process a scary expeirence.

This can also explain why some people take it so personally when you debunk their photos, videos, and overall experiences. While you may be debunking their data, they take it personally because they see you invalidating their grief, trauma, etc. They also see validation in television and other paranormal media. It seems that as time passes, most of these people are able to remove their emotions from the situation and look at it more objectively without personal attachment.

With this in mind, there is something much deeper to the paranormal than just “looking for ghosts.”

The Story of Lady Gaga’s Spirit Attachment

Alex Matsuo

Lady Gaga is one of the most influential artists in the world. Could it be possible that her success has impacted not only the world of the living but also the world of the dead? During her Monster Ball tour in 2010, it seems that Lady Gaga got a lot more than she bargained for…a ghost! I have to mention a disclaimer; this is based on rumors and speculation from various news sources. I’d love to verify this story with Lady Gaga herself

Here’s a story that I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t know about. I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan, her music is so inspiring to me and I think she’s just fabulous. And yet, I don’t know how this story went under the radar. I’m a ghost person, there’s no excuse for me to have missed this. I know my fellow diehard Lady Gaga fans already know about the story (since they told it to me).

But if you’re someone who doesn’t follow celebrity news, then this will be brand new information for you! Some of you may be thinking: Why should we explore celebrity paranormal experiences? Why not? They’re people just like us. Except for fame and fortune.

But given that us normal, poor people have paranormal experiences every day, it shouldn’t be a shock that celebrities have these experiences too. So let’s dive into Lady Gaga’s paranormal experience.

As always, here’s the video version of this blog for your viewing pleasure.

The Monster Ball Tour

In 2009, Lady Gaga went on the Monster Ball tour. The tour started in November 2009 and it went all over the world. So, the story goes that Lady Gaga had a ghost that she couldn’t get rid of. There’s no info on when this haunting started.

People who worked with Lady Gaga on the tour said that she believed that this spirit’s name was Ryan. It was also reported that while Lady Gaga was scared of the spirit. But he hadn’t done anything “too freaky” or “violent” according to the Daily Star. Apparently, he was more “annoying” than anything, and he wouldn’t leave Lady Gaga alone.

Sounds like Ryan was a fan.

He had traveled halfway around the world with Lady Gaga. Rumor has it that Lady Gaga had every venue and hotel room scanned by paranormal investigators to see if there was paranormal activity. By the time the tour hit Belfast, Lady Gaga had enough.

The Séance

The tour started on November 27, 2009, and the Belfast date was February 22, 2010. So somewhere between November 2009 and February 2010, Lady Gaga picked up this spirit.

She contacted a local medium and she and her crew assembled and apparently they had some sort of séance. During this séance, Lady Gaga confronted Ryan and told him once and for all to “Go away.” Again, according to rumors, Ryan’s spirit was never seen nor heard from again.

Look at Mama Monster setting those boundaries.

Gaga’s Ghost Gear

Liverpool and London were the stops after Belfast. Which would have been after Lady Gaga told Ryan to go away. According to the Mirror, when Lady Gaga arrived in London, she reportedly spent $4500 on paranormal investigation gear. This number doesn’t shock me because ghost hunting gear is expensive.

Apparently, she bought the kit before her London tour stop at the O2 Arena. So someone from Lady Gaga’s crew contacted someone named Dan Webb to get the gear. She was freaked about bad energy and evil spirits. So she wanted to do a whole sweep of the backstage area of the O2 arena. According to Dan Webb, Lady Gaga’s aide told him that the equipment had to be robust. Mainly because they were taking it on the road with them.

Again, the reporting sources themselves are that accurate. Now, the paranormal world is really small, or at least it is on Facebook. I couldn’t find a Dan Webb, but I found a Dave Webb in Belfast, Ireland. That would actually make more sense based on the timeline.

Or, maybe Lady Gaga wasn’t feeling super confident after the séance and just wanted to keep her spiritual space in check?

How I Would’ve Helped

If Lady Gaga was my client and she was asking me for help, I would do a few things. I would ask her what kind of activity has happened to make her think this was a spirit. Why was it not something more explainable?

I would also ask her if there was anything significant about her tour stops or wherever she picked up Ryan. I’d also ask where the name Ryan came from.

While it’s not a bad idea to have local teams investigating your hotel and venues beforehand, unless they were working super fast, it’s unlikely they would be able to come to some sort of conclusion about the spiritual makeup of the place. Also, I think I would focus on giving Lady Gaga the tools she needed to cleanse her space, ground, and shield herself.

Like, she didn’t need a séance to tell the ghost to go away. She didn’t even need to hire a medium. You can set those boundaries without those extra steps. While I’m impressed that Lady Gaga bought a ghost hunting kit and electro-magnetic field detection tools, that could do more harm than good.

Like, if Ryan was truly gone, using those tools to still look for spirits could be a way to invite unwanted visitors in. I’ve compared to having a huge lit-up sign above you that says to spirits, “Hey, I’m looking for you.” Some spirits may interpret that as an invitation to communicate.

Another Explanation

Also, if you’re using K2 or EMF meters around the backstage area of an arena…there’s so much electricity in these places, of course a K2 meter would go off.

Thus, making Lady Gaga believes she’s haunted when really, there’s just a lot of electricity. Also, EMF poisoning is a real thing. If you’re exposed to too much electromagnetic field, you can start experiencing hallucinations that can make you think you’re haunted.

From a psychological standpoint, continuing to check for paranormal activity isn’t healthy and can cause someone to continue believing they’re haunted when they really might not be.

Johnny Depp Has a Secret Paranormal Life!

Alex Matsuo

I’ve really been diving into the world of celebrities who have had paranormal experiences. It started with my 12 Haunted Celebrities video and it has snowballed from there. One of the most well-known and talked about celebrities right now is Johnny Depp. He has been having quite a hard time with life right now between his court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard and losing work.

With all of the spooky movies Johnny Depp has done, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had ever had any paranormal experiences. Turns out, he has. In fact, it seems he’s done a little ghost hunting. Who wants to go ghost hunting with Johnny Depp?

So, I’m going to talk about Johnny Depp’s disturbing paranormal experience and what he did about it. If you’re not up for reading, here’s the video.

A Lifetime of Encounters

As I was researching Johnny Depp’s paranormal experiences, I found this article that appeared in a 1995 issue of Premiere Magazine. The first sentence said, “Johnny Depp believes in ghosts.”

What I found really striking is that while he was filming the 1995 movie, “Dead Man”, he was staying at the Mackay Mansion in Virginia City, Nevada. Virginia City is known for being extremely haunted. “Ghost Adventures” has been there a few times and it’s a favorite hot spot for paranormal investigators.

The Mackay Mansion was built in 1860 and has seen a lot of major historical events in its lifetime. While Johnny Depp was staying at the Mansion, he was haunted by a little girl who was wearing a silk dress with a powder blush sash. He would often hear her playing in the room across from his as he was trying to sleep. That particular room had a bunch of dolls in it, so it’s no wonder a little girl liked playing in it.

Amateur Ghost Hunting

During the PREMIERE interview, Depp was talking to a local man named Tito who told him that the entire town of Virginia City is haunted. So Depp and his friend Buck went looking for the ghost of the little girl in the Mackay Mansion. Thus, making Johnny Depp a ghost hunter.

Unfortunately, it was a quiet paranormal investigation though. What I found interesting was that Depp said “They’re not used to people looking for them.” Keep in mind that this was before paranormal TV and ghost hunting being mainstream.

I have to wonder if Johnny Depp is sensitive to spirits. Also, from what I read in the interview, Depp was taking on more of a provoking approach and telling the spirits, “Come on out you bastards.” Yeah, he could use some ghost hunting tips and tricks.

In this same interview, Depp describes an event that sounds a lot like sleep paralysis. He would get these dreams, but he wasn’t sleeping, and wasn’t able to move or speak. He would see this face that would come to him. And he believes it was a spirit.

Blessings from a Ghost

These weren’t his only paranormal experiences. While filming the 2009 movie, “Public Enemies”, Johnny Depp played John Dillinger, a famous bank robber. Keep in mind Depp played Dillinger in the movie. Depp felt like the spirit of the Dillinger was watching over him.

He described that while he was filming, he felt these moments were he felt Dillinger’s presence in the room. Considering that Depp had to do considerable research and step into Dillinger’s shoes, it’s quite possible that maybe he caught the gangster’s attention. Depp did say that he felt like he got Dillinger’s approval to play him, which is always reassuring.

Again, I think Johnny Depp might be sensitive to spirits. But that’s just me. As I go through these stories of celebrity hauntings, I have to wonder.  I have a theory that actors are more sensitive to the supernatural.

Are Creative People More Sensitive?

The American Society for Psychical Research, also known as ASPR, did a parapsychology study on Julliard students back in the day using the Ganzfeld experiment. Basically, it’s a sender-receiver experiment.

One person is wearing white goggles while looking at a red light, and white noise is playing in their ears. They’re the receiver.

The other person is sending images, words, sounds, etc. with their minds. They’re the sender. ASPR found that it seems that those who are artistically gifted were able to detect what was being sent.

Again, truly fascinating.

Actors Are Shamans?

There’s another theory by Brian Bates that says that actors are like modern-day shamans in that they are bridges between the physical and spiritual world. Nicolas Cage is on board with this theory too by the way.

After reading these interviews and getting to know Johnny Depp’s spooky side, it seems that he is very aware of spirits. Not only that, but he also communicates with spirits. It seems that he has always had this awareness of the afterlife, and it made itself known to him before he was even famous.

I would be interested in seeing if he comes forward with his spiritual beliefs more as time progresses.

The House That Terrified Britney Spears & Brittany Murphy

Alex Matsuo

I’ve covered Haunted Hollywood a few times. I’ve talked about the Roosevelt Hotel and I’ve discussed celebrities who live in haunted houses. And more recently, more LA-related, I’ve talked about the Cecil Hotel.

I know Britney Spears has been very much at the forefront of the news lately because she is in an awful situation. She’s trying to break free from her dad as her conservator. Thus, the #FreeBritney movement.

As I was diving into the Britney rabbit hole, I found a really interesting and yet, disturbing story. Britney lived in a haunted house. Then later, Brittany Murphy lived there, and that was where she collapsed and later died.

Seriously, this story is TRULY crazy that it even has THIS skeptical believer scratching her head.

Before I dive into this, disclaimer: I’m not saying that any paranormal phenomenon is an explanation for mental illness and such.

Don’t feel like reading? Watch the video!

Britney’s Trauma

The podcast, “We Need to Talk About Britney”, did an interview with Britney’s makeup artist, Julianne Kaye. She worked with Britney from 1999-2004, which, without a doubt, we can agree was her most iconic period. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake shared this home together.

Julianne talked about how Britney had this house on Sunset Plaza and she described it as really weird. After some partying, Britney needed to relax. Julianne had her friend come up to the house to do a reiki healing session on Britney. She swears that this reiki healer opened some sort of spirit portal or did something.

She believed that a few bad spirits had come through the portal, specifically a male and female spirit. Julianne explains that Britney said that the spirits were fighting and that they tried to push her down the stairs. The paranormal activity ended up getting so bad that Britney left.

Here’s a direct quote from Julianne: 

“It was so bad that she left, she went to the Casa Del Mar hotel to stay there and never went back to the house again. She goes, ‘I know you’re gonna think I’m crazy, I’m not crazy, I know what I saw, I know what I felt,’ blah blah blah. And I was like, no, I believe in that s**t, too, so it didn’t really weird me out that much. But she was very persistent about it and she put her house on the market.”

What happened after is where this gets truly bizarre. Britney puts the house on the market, and guess who buys it?  None other than Brittany Murphy.

A Mysterious Death

As we know Brittany Murphy ended up dying in this house after she collapsed in the bathroom just one year later. Her death is seriously mysterious and could have been caused by a number of things like anemia, pneumonia, prescription drugs, and other pills. I need to make it clear that Brittany Murphy did not die in the house. She collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where she later died.

Then her husband, Simon Monjack, died in the house just five months later. It’s confirmed that he did die in the house, as that was how he was found. I haven’t been able to find exactly where he was found.

Brittany Murphy’s mother filed a lawsuit saying that the couple died of toxic black mold. But lab reports also said that Murphy had an abnormally high amount of heavy metals in her system, which is also weird.

Fleeing the House

What I also found really chilling was the fact that Murphy also wanted to flee the house. Before his death, Simon Monjack said that Brittany would sometimes beg to not sleep in the house that night and go to the Beverly Hills Hotel instead. Also, the only room in that house that Murphy liked was the bathroom. And that was the room she was found. Maybe Brittany Murphy also had similar experiences as Britney Spears?

It’s also weird that Spears thought there was a young male and female spirit in the house. And later, Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack, a young couple, died in that house.

Maybe the house was cursed? I’ll admit, I don’t have any sort of psychic abilities. But even I get weird vibes looking at this house. What is also interesting is that the New York Post reported that since Brittney Murphy and Simon Monjack died, the house has been listed for sale 10 different times.

Theories & Questions

From what I am understanding, the original house where Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack died had been torn down and rebuilt. If this is the case, it means that the paranormal activity taking place there isn’t tied to the house, it’s tied to the land.

Finally, I don’t know if Britney Spears had some sort of psychic abilities. But, what if the male and female spirits that she said were haunting the house were actually the spirits of Brittany and Simon? Meaning, Britney was experiencing and seeing the events of the future.

An awesome paranormal researcher named John E.L. Tenney was also on the “We Need to Talk About Britney” podcast and he thinks that the spirits Spears encountered were Murphy and Monjack as well. Being haunted by ghosts from the future is a popular theory. This goes into the whole theory that time isn’t linear as well.

I told you this case is truly crazy.

Why We Don’t Need to Investigate EVERY Haunted Location

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

This may be the weirdest thing to say as a paranormal investigator. But, not all places need to be investigated. Some places are sacred and should just stay that way.

During my interview with Vanessa Hogle for The Spooky Stuff podcast, talking about her newest book Ghosts Abroad Ireland, she made several excellent points. A few of those points inspired this week’s blog. Vanessa and I were talking about traveling around the world and getting outside of our own box. We also discussed when it’s time to investigate, and when to step aside.

Know When to Investigate, Know When to Remember

I know this idea could be applied to every haunted location. It seems the older a place is, the more “okay” it is to investigate. Even in the United States, we have locations that paranormal investigators avoid. For example, the Freedom Tower in New York City and the location of the Twin Towers. Same deal for the location of the Oklahoma City Bombing. The list goes on. Given that these events happened in the past 30 years, it’s still fresh in the hearts and minds of most of us.

And yet, it seems time may eventually make investigating these locations okay. Or, if the event wasn’t something that affected us personally or something we didn’t experience, then it’s fair game.

Not every haunted location warrants an investigation. Vanessa made a strong statement about this with the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Ireland. This was a place that needed to be remembered, not investigated. If you don’t know the history of this place, you can check out an article here with the backstory.

Think about it, in most traditional paranormal investigations, we say something to the effect of, “Prove to us that you’re here by knocking on the wall.” This isn’t the place for that. We know these children existed. We know they lost their lives. It’s disrespectful of us to even challenge their existence. Some places should just be acknowledged and remembered for what they were. If it doesn’t feel right investigating a location, then it probably isn’t right and should be avoided. Also, consider how someone closely connected to that event may feel if you investigated that location.

Expanding Our Horizons

I think we all know by now that there are no two hauntings that are identical. So why do we approach paranormal investigations the same way no matter where we go? It seems that we tend to look at historical locations and think the same thing; they’re must be ghosts. Not only that, but it seems we put these ghosts in a box and we expect them to act and respond in a certain way.

Do these spirits respond as expected? Sure. But we can take it even further. We can expand our horizons and focus more on the individuality of each spirit. Take into account where the spirit is from culturally, and hone in on their context.

Regionally Different Hauntings

Vanessa mentioned that hauntings are different around the world. No two countries will have the exact same type of circumstances. Of course, every country has had its share of war, famine, trauma, etc. But each country’s context is going to be different. Paranormal activity is regional. The way spirits act in Ireland will be completely different than how a spirit acts in England.

This makes sense because, well, let’s just look at the living. We all act differently around the world and that’s heavily influenced by our culture. A person from Ireland will act completely different from someone who is from France. Of course, we all have awareness of these differences in the living and we’ll make adjustments from there. It’s the same for spirits.

Spirits will act differently not only based on where they’re from but also based on their time period. This is why I appreciate and highly recommend John Sabol’s Ghost Excavation method. He takes this concept and goes even further with it by completely diving into the context of spirit.

Understanding Their Circumstances

I truly believe (and recommend) that every paranormal investigator takes a class on cross-cultural anthropology. Not only will this help us better understand the people around us, but it will help with historical context. We don’t want to look at other people’s cultures only through our own eyes. Instead, we want to see their culture through their eyes. There’s a major difference between being a spectator and being a participant.

Finally, empathy comes into play here. I don’t think a paranormal investigator is truly a successful paranormal investigator unless they are empathetic. Having the ability to share and understand the feelings of someone else is an invaluable skill to have. You can still be balanced as an investigator, even if you’re more scientifically minded. Empathy could be the key to truly unlocking the mysteries of the supernatural.

How to Talk to Spirits

Alex Matsuo

Talking to spirits seems like an easy concept, right? You just talk to them like you would any other person. Throughout my time as a paranormal investigator, I’ve learned that it isn’t that easy. If it were, we would be a lot further in the field than we are now. But what is interesting is that in order for me to learn how to better communicate with spirits, I did have to work on my people skills. Meaning, I had to consult my notes from my communications class in college. See Mom? I’m using my college degree!

If you want to dive deeper into the practice of ghost hunting and spirit communication after this, I highly recommend checking out my book, The Brave Mortal’s Guide to Ghost Hunting.

A lot of these tips were influenced by my years of investigating and working with a variety of different people. One of the heaviest influences was John Sabol’s “Ghost Excavation” method. If you’re looking to elevate your paranormal investigation, I highly recommend checking him out!

History of Modern Ghost Hunting

As we dive into the topic of how to talk to ghosts, it’s important to know where the current style of spirit communication and ghost hunting comes from.

The earliest form of ghost hunting that we know of goes back to the Spiritualism Movement and the Fox Sisters in New York. When they made contact with an alleged spirit by the name of “Mr. Splitfoot”, they were asking the spirit to make rapping sounds for “Yes” and “No” and naming letters of the alphabet. This later caught on as the Spiritualism Movement gained momentum.

Of course, we know now that the Fox Sisters fabricated a lot of their experiences and stories, but that didn’t stop Spiritualism from becoming a full-out religion.

Seances had a similar practice; knock one for yes and two for no.

How many ghost hunters still use that technique? A lot. In fact, ghost hunting on TV hasn’t changed in nearly 20 years since “Ghost Hunters” premiered.

A Rich Man’s Pasttime

As years go by, we have folks like Harry Price, Harry Houdini, Hans Holzer, Maurice Grosse, the Society for Psychical Research, the Ghost Club, Ed and Lorraine Warren, all of these different people were trying to find answers to the supernatural mystery of spirits. They were all doing in their own way.

Harry Price is regarded as one of the original ghost hunters. While he didn’t have a degree in science, he was a researcher and very much a promoter of his own work.

For example, Hans Holzer used a medium during his investigations as a tool and to be that bridge between the spirit world and the physical world.

So fast-forward, and the TV show “Ghost Hunters” hits television, and everyone realizes that they too can become a ghost hunter.

Much of the style we see on the show not only goes back to Spiritualism but with the addition of tech, it seemed that “sciences” had made its way into the field. Well, it’s always been there it’s just that the TV show made it super obvious.

K2 meters were flying off the shelves at hardware stores. Radios were selling out at Radio Shack. People were flocking to this new hobby and it has stayed that way basically ever since. Because TV has been so prominent in it, much of the way that we investigate today is influenced by TV.

Tips for Spirit Communication

These are some of the most common statements you’ll hear on TV. In turn, you may hear this during a ghost hunt.

  • “Give us a sign of your presence.”
  • “Is there anyone here with us”
  • “Do you know that you’re dead”

I don’t like that last one.

It seems that we forget that ghosts are people too. They engage and interact with us the same way that human beings do.

We just can’t seem them. But just because we can’t see them, it doesn’t mean that we turn them into science experiments that don’t have a soul.

So when you’re trying to make communication with a ghost, I always say that the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. Say your name, why you’re here, reassure the spirits that you’re not there to harm them. Also, set your intentions. Speak out loud that you’re only going to communicate with the spirits of the property and only spirits of love and light.

Super important, set your boundaries. If you don’t want to be touched, say so. Unless you want it to be a free for all, then maybe not set those intentions, but things may get messy.

Share Your Story Too

Tell the spirits about yourself. You’re going to be spending the rest of the night asking THEM questions and invading their personal life. It’s only fair that you share some things about yourself too. For example, are you married, do you have kids, did you serve in the military, do you like baking, did you go to school, are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, were you and your family affected by a major moment in history…things like that.

What this does is not only does it allow the spirit to get to know you better, but the spirit might find some common ground with you. Like, maybe they too served in the military, or they like baking, or they are bisexual like you are. If a spirit can see a part of themselves in you, they will be more open to talking to you.

Secondly, when you ask your questions, ask them like you would ask a friend. I wouldn’t get too formal with your questioning because it changes the dynamic of your position. You don’t want to come across as too authoritative, especially if the environment doesn’t call for it.

Also, pay attention to how the rest of your group is feeling. If someone is feeling cold, getting touched, etc. and no one else isn’t, then switch gears and have that person ask the questions because the spirits may want to talk to them instead.

Thirdly, when you do get responses, always say thank you and praise the spirit for the communication. We don’t know how much energy it takes to communicate so always show appreciation for the effort.

Trigger Objects

Don’t be afraid to use trigger objects like toys, alcohol (don’t drink it), music, sewing needles, posters, artifacts or replicas of items from the time period, anything that could be familiar to the spirits of that time.

Again, you want to bring something relatable to the spirits so that they feel more comfortable talking with you.

These methods may not work for every location. You want to make sure you’re flexible and can switch gears to adapt to the spirits you’re communicating with. This is why going with the flow is super important.

Write your questions down too. I’m actually working on a list of questions to ask during EVP sessions. That way, you won’t get stuck if you get spirit communication.

Really listen to the interactions you’re having, and try to mold your questions from that too. Follow up. Be careful asking stacking questions too, meaning don’t ask three questions at once, “What’s your name? How old are you? Do you live here” Be sure to leave about 15-30 seconds in between each question so the spirit can answer. You don’t want to talk over them while they’re answering.

Finally, have fun. You’re going on an amazing spiritual adventure. Be in the moment and see how much information you can learn. Check historical records after to see if anything you picked up can be backed up by history.

Sexual Harassment: Exposing the Dark Side of the Paranormal

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

When the #MeToo movement became a national story in October 2017, it exposed sexual harassment in nearly every community around the world. Millions of women came forward sharing their own story with the hashtag #MeToo. It really brought to light the ongoing issue of sexual harassment around the world. When you see the numbers on paper, there’s no denying there’s a problem. However, there seems to be one community where the movement hasn’t been embraced; the paranormal community.

Sadly, this doesn’t mean that the paranormal community has been spared from the awfulness that is sexual harassment. This past year, it has become apparent that this is an ongoing issue with women (primarily) in the field. But it does affect all genders (male, female, nonbinary, genderqueer, pangender, etc.).

Sexual harassment is defined as, “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature…when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s
work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.”

But as we know, sexual harassment happens beyond the workplace. In the situation of the paranormal community, it is happening among colleagues and friends. The United Nations has created a comprehensive list that not only defines sexual harassment but breaks down the different types of harassment from verbal to non-verbal.

According to a 2018 article from NPR, more than 3 out of 4 women have been verbally harassed. Part of the statistics included cybersexual harassment, which is the most common form of harassment in the paranormal community. A non-profit called Stop Street Harassment found that 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men had experienced some form of sexual harassment during their lifetime.

This survey focused on folks 18 and older, and the results are from 2018.

What do these statistics mean for the paranormal community? Think about how many people are in the community. This means that it’s extremely likely that you’ve interacted with a victim of sexual harassment. It’s an awful pandemic that continues to happen and too many victims are suffering in silence.

But why is no one talking about it? Simply put; victims are either afraid to come forward or they come forward, but no one listens.

A Barrage of Messages

About a year and a half ago, I did a photoshoot in a two-piece swimsuit. In case you don’t know what I look like, I’m plus size. I did it for myself since I had never actually worn a two-piece, even in my skinnier days. I did it as a way to claim my positive body image. It was about body positivity and embracing who you are. Overall, it was well-received. But it also sent me thousands of friend requests and hundreds of inappropriate messages. These messages ranged from harmless flirting to full-out threats of sexual assault.

When I clicked the profiles of these people, I was shocked to see just how many mutual friends I had with them. These mutual friends were all from the paranormal community. They were in Facebook groups, they were on Twitter replying to paranormal celebrities. These people had a presence in the paranormal. They’re being called, “Brother” by my friends in the community.

The more I shared my story, the more people came forward to share their own stories. Often, we had the same harasser. I was also shocked to hear that people I had worked with were also offenders. But just because I had a positive experience with that person, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of sexually harassing others.

Why This Happens

My story is not unique, nor was this the first time I received inappropriate messages. There are countless women and men in the paranormal community who are met with this on a daily basis. This is an ongoing issue that continues to be swept under the rug. Especially when the offender is a star in not just the paranormal community, but also the entertainment industry.

Whether we like it or not, there is a hierarchal structure in the paranormal. It’s also a world where professional lines are often blurred. Perps will take advantage of their status in the paranormal world, abusing their position of power.

The victims who have shared their stories to me have stated that they didn’t report it or come forward because they’re worried they would across as overreacting. Or, they’ll negatively affect their team/event/TV show, they don’t think anything can be done, or…they’ll face repercussions in the paranormal community.

Under the Rug

It’s frustrating when your offender is called, “Brother” by your peers. Ironically, it’s para unity that is the driving force in silencing victims.

It’s hard for people to acknowledge that their brothers and sisters in the paranormal are perpetrating sexual harassment and assault. Instead of facing the issue, folks in the paranormal community dismiss the incidents as lies. Or worse, sweep them under the rug.

Paranormal community members should not have to deal with such issues in order to investigate a location, get media opportunities, or even to become a mod or admin in a group. Everyone has a right to investigate free of harassment regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, identity, experience, etc.

Toxic Positivity

This just doesn’t affect the paranormal community, but also the spiritual community. We have to stop discouraging people from talking about sexual harassment because silence is condoning the behavior. Progress won’t be made if we keep discouraging hard conversations. Furthermore, we need to stop teaching that this behavior is normal and to be expected. Instead, we need to start having the conversation of how to stop tolerating it, especially if the harassment escalates in in-person.

We need to stop silencing victims, especially when they are trying to warn others of their harasser. It only encourages survivors to remain silent. There is a tremendous amount of guilt that can come with silence, especially if someone else ends up suffering because of said silence. Even if you don’t feel comfortable saying something for yourself, consider saying something for the next guy or gal that will endure the same treatment.

For the ones encouraging the silencing, especially claiming that “like attracts like” and insinuating that sexual harassment comes from talking about, just stop. Again, if someone else suffers because you silenced someone trying to speak out, that weighs heavily on your conscience and it can be a deafening and humbling experience.

How to Move Forward

Every paranormal group and organization needs to have a policy and protocol on sexual harassment. If you don’t know your group’s policy, ask about it.

To bring further awareness of sexual harassment in the paranormal community, I would also like to do a survey. Because I want to do it right, I’m going to need some help. If you are interested in assisting me in creating this survey, please contact me.

One of the strongest statements one can make is to confront the harasser directly. If someone is speaking to you in a way that you don’t want to be spoken to, say things like, “Please don’t talk to me like that.” Or “Please don’t touch me.” Say what you see, say how you feel, say what you want, and walk away. An example would be, “You made a comment about my body. I didn’t like it. Do not do that again.” Then, leave the conversation safely.

If you don’t feel comfortable confronting your abuser or reporting it, record it in great detail and tell other people about it. Keep any evidence or proof of inaction plus timelines, dates, etc. You can do this with something like a detailed diary entry. There are also tracking worksheets and downloadable templates in various anti-sexual harassment toolkits online. Venting to Facebook can be a cathartic experience. But it doesn’t always help progress with solving the issue unless you call out your abuser by name.

We need to stop tolerating this abusive behavior because “it’s going to keep happening” or treat it like some rite of passage. There need to be more conversations about sexual harassment in the paranormal community. By coming together, perhaps we can stop it, or at least discourage it and send a message that it will not be tolerated in the community.

How to Support Victims

The paranormal community must watch out for each other and encourage others to speak out. Even if you have only been a witness to sexual harassment, you have still experienced a hostile environment. You are indirectly being victimized by the behavior. This means you have the right to report on your own behalf. In addition, many abusers are repeat offenders, so when you report an incident, you are not just doing it for yourself, but also for the countless others following you.

If someone comes forward to you and tells you that they’ve been sexually harassed or abused, be there to support them. Also, ask them how you would like to support them. This is also important; never out someone by sharing their story. It is not your story to tell. Encourage them to speak out, but also respect their decision to not come forward. Here is a great resource on how to help survivors of sexual assault.

Personal Stories & Quotes

To close, a few people have graciously contributed their own stories and quotes on how to move forward in the community. Please note that these stories and experiences may be upsetting.

Since first embarking on my journey in the paranormal field I’ve encountered sexual harassment and biased at an alarming rate. When I began investigating at 18 years old I had no sense of right from wrong or how to deal with the situations I would be thrust into. The lack of confidence in myself or worth as an investigator has me accepting behavior that today I would firmly stand against. Well-known individuals speaking down to me as a woman, only allowing me on projects if I looked a certain way, coping feels in the dark are just a few scenarios I had to learn the hard way how to handle.

I’ve been sexually harassed by fellow teammates, banned from certain projects due to not wanting to get intimate with males involved, spoken down to during interviews, or told “Ill learn with more experience” when I clearly stated before I had worked on the specific topic in question…it’s a never-ending fight of showing the value in my experience and knowledge outside of how I appear physically.

My message to females in the field is we do not have to continue accepting this narrative. Our work is just as valid as our fellow male investigators. We should not have to succumb to sexual harassment, being belittled, told we have to wear certain clothes, or that our work is less than because of our gender. Stand true to your morals and know that any project that lessens your spark or dulls your spirit is not meant for you. The right ones will value you and never make you feel uncomfortable.

– Melody Knapp

Years ago, I won a trip to go on an investigation with a semi-local team. My wife and I road with the founder for a torturous 4 hours. I was insisted on riding in the front with her. Two hours into the drive is when shit hit the fan. The remaining drive was spent on the founder complimenting how young and attractive I was, grabbing my arms and squeezing. The worst was the stories of her fantasy world where she has multiple boyfriends and what kind of acts they have talked about doing and her asking extremely personal questions about me and my wife.

I tried to be calm and not listen because, well, we were not in our vehicle, we were almost there, and we had already paid our portion for the location. Plus, there were going to be investigators we really wanted to meet there. My wife and I both kept changing the subject, and we both were completely disgusted and just ready to get out the vehicle with her.

Once on location, things were finally better. For awhile. Just before bed, the founder was clearly under the influence, and the harassment was back. My wife was still investigating, and this lady was just stumbling. I didn’t want her to fall and hurt herself, so I kind of stuck by close. She then intentionally “fell” on me in the chair and that was her excuse for grabbing my… well you get it. Needless to say, we hitched a ride elsewhere and never spoke to them again.

– Anonymous

There are too many creepers out there. They’re in all walks of life, granted. We should be calling out their atrocious behavior and standing up to them whenever we see it.

Women deal with this every day in every aspect of the world. It‘s far too prevalent in our field. I’ve heard horror stories from female investigators who were harassed, propositioned, sleazed and creeped on, by males who seemed to think it was not only acceptable, but *entertaining.*

We should not stand by and let this shit happen. It’s a black mark against everybody who stays silent and tolerates it.

– Richard Estep

Resources

United Nations – What is Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

RAINN & National Sexual Assault Hotline. Free. Confidential. 24/7

Stop Street Harassment

Sexual Violence is Preventable – CDC

Why We Need to Debunk Haunted TikTok

Alex Matsuo

As of 2020, there are over 800 million users on TikTok. It is one of the hottest social media platforms around. In one minute or less, you can be treated to a story, a how-to tutorial, a dance, the list goes on.

One of the most popular niches on TikTok is paranormal. From ghost stories to footage of paranormal activity, there are millions of users becoming TikTok famous thanks to the paranormal. However, not all is perfect. Some of the most popular accounts and videos include doors slamming open and shut, things moving, basically some of the most remarkable evidence of the paranormal you can find.

Sadly, most of those videos are not real.

Think about it; some of us are hanging out in the most haunted places in the world, and we’re lucky if we get 20 minutes of spirit interaction out of the eight hours we’re there. And yet, all these people get hours and hours of data and their cameras just happen to be on and pointed in the right direction.

Is TikTok Hurting the Paranormal Field?

In my opinion, yes. It’s creating a weird version of paranormal investigating that’s even further from the truth than what you see on TV. If the paranormal phenomenon was that dramatic, we would have been able to prove the existence of ghosts a long time ago. It’s creating this disillusioned version of paranormal experiences that’s almost offensive. Yet, it’s the creators who are faking who are clearly getting the millions of followers. They have their Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal info in their bio. They’re being sent gifts and other freebies from their concerned fanbase. Not to mention, the TikTok Creators Fund. If you hit 10K followers, you can monetize on the platform and you’re compensated for views. The fake accounts on haunted TikTok are making some money (if they signed up for the program).

Finally, I also think the circus-act of creating poltergeist-like phenomena for the camera is almost offensive to the people who are having true paranormal experiences. Many of them don’t have a camera pointing at it. And blatant fakery like this makes it harder for the folks having legit experiences to be believed.

Easy to Fake

I thought I would have built my TikTok platform on scary stories and ghost hunting tips. But, I’ve become a debunker. Those are my most popular videos. Well, those and making spoofs of Ghost Adventures, but that’s another conversation for another time.

Haunted TikTok and Paranormal TikTok is full of videos that contain nothing more than parlor tricks. In some of these videos, you can even see the fishing line. What is unfortunate is that many of these videos are reaching an audience that isn’t familiar with the paranormal world, let alone debunking.

One of the craziest videos I found (and debunked) included a woman who was using audio from a YouTube video claiming that it was a spirit voice coming from the walls. Even though I debunked this with the actual YouTube video, people didn’t believe me. I was accused of being a hater. Here’s one of the videos in case you’re curious.

@thespookystuff

#stitch with @danceswithwerewolves At least put some effort into it. #hauntedtiktok #paranormaltiktok #paranormalinvestigator #paranormalresearcher

♬ original sound – Alex Matsuo

It’s amazingly easy to create fake haunted videos on TikTok. You just need to use the right camera angle so that no one can see the manipulation of the physical objects. Also, you can find random audio anywhere. What a lot of people don’t realize is that you can edit TikTok videos on professional editing software like Filmora, Adobe Premiere, Canva, etc. It’s not just hitting the record button and then posting right after. People are doing incredible things with their TikTok videos.

How Are People Getting Away with This?

Simply put, no one is asking questions. When I’m scrolling through TikTok, I barely comment unless I’m friends with the creator. What is even worse is that people will reshare the content, not realizing it’s fake. I did call out one creator, and she reached out to me after and explained what happened with this photo she shared of a ghost. Turns out, that ghost came from a ghost app.

Here’s that video. Note: The original creator is a sweetheart, and she definitely acknowledged the flub and did a duet with this video after.

@thespookystuff

#greenscreen Debunking another photo. @kimberlyrhoades112, you were sent a fake. #hauntedtiktok #paranormaltiktok #ghosthunter #paranormalphotography

♬ Baby Elephant Walk – Henry Mancini

We don’t ask many questions on TikTok unless it resonates with us on a level where we want to question it. When it comes to Haunted TikTok, people like storytelling and they like being scared. They may not want to claim the energy in the video, but they’ll keep binging until they fall asleep.

There’s also little-to-no accountability on TikTok. Even if you manage to debunk something, it will get lost in the sea of videos and comments are eventually buried.

Ripple Effect

I think one of the most popular and misleading effects out there on the app is the ripple effect. It has people convinced that they’re seeing ghosts in their home. The ripple effect was made based on a algorithm created to detect body shape. This doesn’t mean it will only pick up ghosts. The AI technology that makes the ripple effect makes it go off based on anything that could resemble a body. This means that random objects can be picked up.

@thespookystuff

#duet with @witchywomanlife Its easy to trigger Reality Ripple. @cherisewilliams.xo covered this too. #hauntedtiktok #paranormaltiktok #ghosthunter

♬ original sound – Alissa Chasse

Look at it this way; we don’t know what a spirit is made of. How can we build a smartphone to pick up on something without telling it what it’s made of? Let alone, how can TikTok build an app to detect energy when we don’t know what it even is? It doesn’t. It’s made to pick up shapes, no matter whether it’s a person or your grandma’s favorite chair.

Why Should We Care?

We need to care because Haunted TikTok is turning into a circus. Don’t get me wrong, there are legitimate creators out there putting out genuine data. But they’re being overlooked by the fishing line and intentional forgery. It’s truly a shame because there are a lot of people out there curious about the paranormal and want to learn more.

Also, there are some very gullible people on TikTok who really don’t know any better. Most of the messages I’m getting these days are from folks who watched a video of an alleged haunting, and it freaked them out so much that they can’t sleep or live life peacefully after. This is why I maintain my presence as a skeptical believer. For some reason, people enjoy my content and they like how I balance between skepticism and spiritual. I also try to redirect my followers to other skeptics and balanced creators who aren’t just posting videos of fishing line for likes, follows, and even money.

What Can We Do?

Ask questions. Debunk and call out when you see obvious fakery like a fishing line. If you see a TikTok video that is too good to be true, it most likely is. Ask the creator if you can see the video from another angle. Also, ask about background and history. Finally, if it seems that they have an ongoing haunting that won’t stop, ask if they’ve had a team come in. What I’ve found is that most of these creators will not get a team involved because they’ll soon find out there’s nothing paranormal happening.

Is All Hope Lost?

Not at all. TikTok is still a young platform trying to find its feet. The people that end up on Haunted TikTok eventually make their way to the more skeptical side. I try to devote a few videos per week to debunking videos. Some of the creators I debunk are really cool, while others are a bit mean and then try to sic their followers on me.

Also, what I really like about TikTok is I can make videos from comments left on my other videos. This puts a face and a voice to my name, and it’s so much more than just text on a screen. TikTok manages to keep reminding us that we’re all people behind these accounts, and that’s why I’m so drawn to it.

If I’m not full-out debunking, I’m honest and share the questions I have to make my viewers think differently. If I can at least plant that seed of critical thinking, I’m doing my job.