Tag: paranormal investigator

Spirits and Shadows: Navigating Sexual Harassment in the Paranormal Realm

Alex Matsuo

Welcome to a candid exploration of a topic that often lurks in the shadows of an otherworldly realm—the prevalence of sexual harassment within the paranormal field. As enthusiasts and professionals dedicated to unraveling mysteries beyond the veil, it’s crucial to shed light on a disturbing reality that affects our community.

In this blog, I’m going confront the misconception that sexual harassment can be dismissed as mere flirtation within the paranormal context. I’ll unravel the layers of this issue, emphasizing why there is no excuse for such behavior and why it is imperative to address it head-on.

No cloak of mystery or ethereal aura can justify the violation of personal boundaries. I’ll delve into the reasons why there is absolutely no excuse for sexual harassment, underscoring the impact it has on individuals and the collective spirit of our paranormal community. By holding individuals accountable for their actions, we aim to preserve the integrity and positive energy that should define our shared pursuits.

Confronting the reality of sexual harassment becomes even more challenging when it involves someone familiar within our paranormal circles. I’ll provide guidance on navigating the delicate process of addressing accusations against someone you know. I’ll also explore the importance of supporting victims, encouraging accountability, and fostering an environment that prioritizes the well-being of all community members.

Join me on this journey of introspection and empowerment as we strive to create a paranormal field free from the shadows of harassment, where our shared passion can thrive in an atmosphere of mutual respect and genuine connection. I’ll be using three statements I’ve recently heard as starting points for discussion.

“But the person has a sex addiction.”

Using sex addiction as an excuse for sexual harassment is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, it can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and misunderstandings about sex addiction itself. True sex addiction is a complex and often misunderstood psychological condition that involves a compulsive and harmful relationship with sexual behaviors. Using it as a justification for harassment may trivialize the struggles of those genuinely dealing with sex addiction.

Secondly, attributing harassment to sex addiction can divert attention from the responsibility of the harasser for their actions. It’s essential to recognize that sexual harassment is a behavior rooted in a misuse of power and a violation of consent, irrespective of any underlying personal challenges.

Thirdly, framing sexual harassment as a symptom of sex addiction may contribute to a culture of victim-blaming. This approach could shift the focus away from supporting and protecting the victims, placing undue sympathy on the perpetrator instead.

It is crucial to address sexual harassment through a lens of accountability, consent, and the promotion of healthy attitudes towards relationships. This involves holding individuals responsible for their actions and fostering a culture that condemns harassment while providing support and understanding for those genuinely struggling with mental health issues, including sex addiction.

“They were just flirting.”

Labeling sexual harassment as flirting perpetuates a harmful misconception that undermines the importance of consent and contributes to a culture that normalizes inappropriate behavior. Flirting involves mutual interest, respect, and the intention to create a positive and consensual connection between individuals.

Sexual harassment, on the other hand, is an unwelcome and often offensive behavior that violates personal boundaries, disregards consent, and creates an uncomfortable or hostile environment. Mischaracterizing harassment as flirting dismisses the serious impact it has on the victims, downplays the violation of personal boundaries, and fosters a culture that tolerates inappropriate conduct.

It is crucial to differentiate between genuine, consensual flirting and behavior that crosses the line into harassment. By using accurate and clear language, we contribute to a society that values respect, communication, and the importance of mutual consent in all interpersonal interactions. Addressing sexual harassment for what it is helps create a safer and more respectful environment for everyone.

“I’m running a paranormal event and have already booked a person with accusations as a guest. What do I do?”

Ensuring the safety and well-being of all event attendees is paramount. In cases of sexual harassment accusations against a guest, it is crucial for event organizers to take these allegations seriously, even when hard proof may be lacking. The potential risk and harm associated with such incidents demand a proactive and empathetic response.

While the legal system may require evidence to establish guilt, the absence of hard proof does not diminish the significance of addressing these concerns. Ignoring or downplaying accusations can create an unsafe environment and perpetuate a culture of silence that discourages victims from coming forward.

Event organizers have a responsibility to prioritize the safety and comfort of all attendees. Implementing thorough investigations, providing a confidential reporting system, and taking appropriate actions, such as restricting access or removing the accused party if necessary, contribute to fostering an environment where individuals feel protected and supported.

By taking a proactive stance against sexual harassment, event organizers contribute to creating spaces where everyone can enjoy themselves without fear, emphasizing the importance of a culture that values the well-being and safety of all participants.

“The person in question is my friend. What do I do? Who do I believe?”

Discovering that a friend has engaged in sexual harassment is a challenging situation that requires careful consideration and decisive action. It’s crucial to prioritize the well-being and safety of potential victims while encouraging accountability and personal growth. Here are steps to take if you find out that your friend has been involved in such behavior:

  1. Believe and Support the Victim:
    Start by believing the victim and providing emotional support. Let them know that you take their experience seriously and that you stand with them.
  2. Confront Your Friend:
    Address the issue with your friend directly but without confrontation. Express your concern, let them know you’ve learned about their actions, and make it clear that such behavior is unacceptable.
  3. Encourage Accountability:
    Encourage your friend to take responsibility for their actions. Acknowledge the impact of their behavior on others and emphasize the importance of learning and growth.
  4. Suggest Professional Help:
    If appropriate, suggest seeking professional help, such as therapy or counseling, to address the underlying issues contributing to their behavior.
  5. Distance Yourself if Necessary:
    Depending on the severity of the situation and your friend’s response, consider distancing yourself if you feel it’s necessary. Prioritize the safety and well-being of others.
  6. Report if Necessary:
    If the harassment involves criminal activity or if you believe there is an immediate threat, consider reporting the behavior to the appropriate authorities.
  7. Promote Education and Change:
    Encourage your friend to educate themselves about consent, boundaries, and respectful behavior. Advocate for positive change and growth.
  8. Reflect on Your Values:
    Take time to reflect on your own values and boundaries. Consider whether maintaining the friendship aligns with your principles and whether it is healthy for you and those around you.

Remember, addressing sexual harassment is a delicate process, and your actions should prioritize the safety and well-being of potential victims. If you ever find yourself uncertain about the best course of action, seek guidance from professionals or organizations dedicated to supporting victims of harassment.

In Conclusion

Hopefully, I have unveiled the unsettling specter of sexual harassment and dismantled the notion that it could ever be disguised as innocent flirtation. This exploration has emphasized that there is no excuse for such behavior, challenging us to uphold the standards of respect, consent, and inclusivity that should define our shared passion.

As we all navigate the shadowy corners where harassment persists, remember that our collective strength lies in accountability and empathy. By supporting victims, holding perpetrators responsible, and fostering an environment that prioritizes safety, we wield the tools to banish sexual harassment from our community. Together, let us forge a future where the pursuit of the paranormal is not tainted by shadows, but illuminated by the shared commitment to creating a space that is welcoming, secure, and empowering for all.

Little Voices from Beyond: How to Speak with the Ghosts of Children

Alex Matsuo

In the paranormal investigation world, it is inevitable that we will run into a location where there are reports of spirits of children. While this can be unsettling to think about, because a life cut short is always tragic, it is a truth we have to face at times. Nothing reminds us more of our mortality than to encounter a life that didn’t have a chance to live.

The best way to communicate with child spirits is to treat them the same way you would when they were alive. However, this can be challenging for people who don’t encounter children in their daily lives or don’t work with children.

What Makes Me Qualified to Speak on This?

I worked in childhood and adolescent education for years. I started my interaction with kids helping in the church nursery in high school. In college, I spent my summers as a unit leader camp counselor for the YMCA. After graduate school, I spent my teaching career as a teaching artist for the local school district teaching theatre to kindergarten through 5th grade. In the summers, I was teaching reading skills from preschool through high school. Then, I was a preschool teacher for three years. I’ve interacted with nearly every age group leading up to adulthood before I eventually left the education field for the corporate life. But I’ve taken what I’ve learned and applied it to the paranormal field.

Disclaimer: These are just my suggestions based on my background as a former teacher and experience as a paranormal investigator. These tips aren’t the “only way” to talk to the spirits of kids.

First Things First: They’re Not Demons

Let’s get the obvious out of the way; 99% of the time, the ghosts of children are not demons. This is a very Christian-centric belief in the paranormal that often takes over the field. I’ve only encountered a few spirits that tried to come across as a child. But even so, it’s only been maybe twice in the 20 years I’ve been investigating. Not everyone in the field believes in the idea of heaven or hell. Don’t treat these kids like they’re evil entities trying to take your soul.

Get on Their Level

If you know the location is reported to be haunted by a small child, avoid standing if you can. Try to sit in a chair, or even on the floor, and get on the child’s level to communicate. Even for living children, getting on their level to communicate and talk to them is a more effective way to gain their trust so the child doesn’t feel intimidated by you. Standing over a child and asking questions could very well make them feel nervous around you and possibly remind them of someone who wasn’t kind to them when they were alive.

Be Mindful of the Tone of Your Voice

Some kids appreciate big, boisterous voices. If you’re a parent or a teacher, that voice may work in your favor in a positive manner. But sometimes, you may run into a child spirit that has been traumatized by an adult, and a loud voice may very well upset them and inhibit them from communicating. When I first initiate communication, I try to have a more neutral tone and volume to my voice in the beginning. This gives me the opportunity to gauge the comfort level of the child spirit and see how much they’re willing to communicate, their personality, and how outgoing they are.

Know How to Talk to Different Age Groups

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone on an investigation that’s reported to be haunted by a small child, and then it’s apparent that the young person we’re talking to is a pre-teen or older. Have an understanding of communication styles of different age groups. You don’t want to talk to a 10-year old the same way you would talk to a 5-year old. One can speculate that even in the afterlife, that spirit will reflect their age and development stage they were in upon passing.

Keep an Open Mind

The paranormal investigation practice isn’t an exact science, and we have a long way to go. This means people can make assumptions and mistakes sometimes. The way that folklore, myths, and legends can grow and evolve can quickly change the origin story for many spirits. This means that the 5-year old girl that haunts the old barn may not actually be a 5-year old girl, but instead, a 13-year old boy. Or, even an old man! Keep an open mind and don’t pigeonhole yourself into insisting on communicating with a spirit that may or may not be there.

Use Trigger Objects

If you know the location is haunted by children, bring trigger objects! This means toys, dolls, puzzles, music, whatever gets someone engaged. When trying to engage with children, people will bring different activities to stimulate that child’s mind. Just talking to people with nothing to entertain them could get bored rather quickly. Just as living children can have short attention spans, one can theorize that this is still the case in the afterlife. Depending on what you believe when it comes to evolving spirits long-term, it never hurts to try different trigger objects.

Talk About Things They Enjoy

This can apply to teenagers and adults as well. You can never go wrong talking about things that a spirit enjoys, whether it was something they enjoyed while alive, or still enjoying during their afterlife. Just like the trigger objects, talking about things like foods, their favorite colors, books, music, and depending on time period; movies and television.

Avoid Talking About Traumatic Topics

Children can sense blood in the water if you’re not comfortable talking to them, or if you have something to hide. It’s like they have that extra sense. So, when a child spirit is comfortable communicating with me, I treasure that moment and try to make the interaction as positive as I can. Talking about trauma for the sake of sparking communication isn’t okay. When you think about the living, majority of society doesn’t candidly talk to a child about their trauma, their abuser, etc. when they first meet them. Even experts in pediatric psychiatry will engage in different modes of play and other engagement methods before diving straight into trauma. As paranormal investigators, we are not that spirit’s psychologist, counselor, etc. and when we bring up a child’s abuser and just yelling things in empty rooms, it causes more harm than good. Now, if they volunteer the information themselves, it means that you’ve established enough trust with them to talk about more difficult topics.

They’re Not There to Perform

While spirit communication can be both disturbing and exciting, especially for content creation, these spirits are not there to perform for us. They’re not there to help us create spooky content. They are existing in their (hopefully) happy afterlife and doing their thing. Every time I encounter (what I believe is) spirit communication, I feel exceptionally honored. I feel even more special when it’s a child.

Final Thoughts

None of these tips are a guarantee that you will have the chance to talk with ghost children, or even that they’ll be interested in talking to you. But in a field where trauma-based ghost hunting is becoming the norm and now very popular, this is an alternative approach to paranormal investigations that doesn’t cause additional harm. At the end of the day, ghost hunting and paranormal investigating is talking to people, or at the very least, talking with something we believe is conscious and intelligent. Just as we expect spirits to engage with us respectfully, we should do the same when we enter these buildings and try to talk to those inhabiting it. If you have the chance to engage with the spirit of a child, take that experience as a gift and have a positive and meaningful interaction.

Happy investigating!

The Importance of Identity in the Paranormal

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

Every human you encounter has their own life story, wishes, loves, desires, dislikes, the whole bit. Every human you meet has had certain life experiences that have shaped them into who they are up to that moment you meet them. They each have their own identity.

Psychology Today defines identity as “encompasses the memories, experiences, relationships, and values that create one’s sense of self. This amalgamation creates a steady sense of who one is over time, even as new facets are developed and incorporated into one’s identity.”

And yet, there’s a common ideology in many paranormal circles that a spirit’s (or ghost’s) identity isn’t relevant as soon as their physical body ceases to live.

Let’s go off with the idea that spirits exist and they’re the remaining consciousness of dead people (sorry, skeptics…) to explore how identity plays a role in paranormal investigations and why it’s important for both the living and the dead.

Why Does Identity Matter?

I had already written the initial draft of this blog a few weeks ago and let it stew for a bit. During that stewing time, I posted a TikTok video lamenting about how cool it would be if the mainstream paranormal television shows had more representation when it comes to diversity in body types, ethnicity, sexuality, and the such. As people started to respond, I was quite surprised over the vitriolic comments from people.

According to Critical Media Project,

  • Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept. We learn about our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organizations, institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life.
  • Key facets of identity—like gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion, age and disability—play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world, as well as shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face.
  • Social and cultural identity is inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and ideology.
  • The media uses representations—images, words, and characters or personae—to convey specific ideas and values related to culture and identity in society.

As you can see, identity matters because it is who we are, who we interact with, and how society sees us. We experience the world based on our identity and how the world identifies us.

Most Common Pushback When Seeking Representation

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed this common saying that’s been used as pushback when I write about and advocate for more representation in the field.

It’s a variation of “Ghosts/Spirits don’t care if you’re black, white, gay, straight, Christian, female, male, etc.”

Personally, from looking at and researching different perspectives of investigators and mediums, one could argue that spirits do care about these things. They care because these things helped shaped their identity, which resulted in specifics experiences throughout many different chapters of their life. 

No two people will have a universal experience, especially lived experiences that include encountering racism, sexism, bigotry, and the like.

This pushback could be coming from a variety of angles. For one, I’ve noticed that the people who’ve said this the most often come from a mindset where they don’t see gender, race, sexuality, etc. This comes from a privileged mindset because they more than likely have not experienced oppression because of their identity.

Why Acknowledge Identity No Matter What

But this is a problematic mindset when approaching paranormal investigations, especially if one is trying to make a connection with a spirit for the purposes of communication. If they don’t acknowledge the spirit for what they are, where they come from, and what their life experiences were, then why are they there?

I often find that interacting with people who don’t care about the things that make me who I am to be an extremely shallow experience. How deep can one actually get if you don’t acknowledge the traits that make up that person’s identity?

Spirits aren’t blank slates that stop caring about the things that make them who they are. From personal experience and talking with other investigators, they still care about their identity as well as our own.

Also, identity not only affects the makeup of the person, but it also impacts the way that the person interacts with different social groups. The acknowledgement of identity isn’t an act of exclusion. On the contrary, it’s an act of inclusion and acceptance.

The Nature of Collecting Data vs. Experiencing

Even if one is going into a haunted location to document and collect data, there is still a whole other side of the coin; there’s usually some sort of interaction that happens in some aspect in an investigation. Usually this is in the form of the investigator trying to start a conversation. 

While yes there have been reports of phenomena occurring while no one was trying to actively engage them, if we look at the context of those incidents, usually there was a topic being discussed that resonated with the spirit.

What resonates with spirits is directly connected to their identity. Maybe it resonates because it’s a reflection of how they experienced the world when they were alive. Or could also remind the spirit of what life was like before they passed away.

It doesn’t even need to be a deep conversation about trauma. It could be something as similar as a shared interest like a favorite book, song, or movie. More paranormal investigators could be asking questions in relationship to identity as opposed to asking questions based in trauma. The field seems to be heading in that direction as more people take on a more compassionate approach to paranormal investigating.

The Benefits of Acknowledging Identity

For many paranormal investigators, they got into the field because they either wanted to have a paranormal experience or get documentation of one. It’s not unheard of for an investigator to be in this field to prove the existence of the afterlife as well. When I started Queer Ghost Hunters on YouTube, I started noticing that the investigators would share their own backgrounds and their stories to show the spirits that they were safe to talk to and they were creating a safe space where the spirit can simply exist.

When the paranormal investigator shares their experiences and takes ownership of their identity, it’s beneficial not only for the spirits, but also their fellow investigators. Sharing similar lived experiences based on identity can help build trust and create a connection between the living and the dead that could potentially create more meaningful interactions.

Those who have experienced oppression because of their identity tend to veer towards the importance of it and they are eager to acknowledge and validate that spirit’s identity. They see the importance of acknowledging a spirit’s identity, whether that is their gender, race, or sexuality. Depending on the context of the time period for that spirit, they may have had their life end because of their identity.

Final Thoughts

Let’s return to the pushback mentioned earlier, “Ghosts/Spirits don’t care if you’re black, white, gay, straight, Christian, female, male, etc.”

The big question would be if the people saying this care about their own identity right now? Do they care about the identity of others? If the former is yes, and the latter is no, then there’s a lesson in compassion and empathy that still needs to be learned by these individuals. When I hear someone say that their faith is important to them, I point out that their faith is an integral part of their identity. If they are married, their spouse is an important part of their identity. Same if they have children, friends from different social circles, it’s all important.

So when someone says that spirits wouldn’t care about identity, I simply say that if the living care, then certainly the dead do as well.

Finally, these concepts aren’t just for spirits. These are critical things to think about as we navigate social relationships within the paranormal community. Acknowledging identity in the field is a step towards representation in the field, and it can help create that inclusive space where everyone can truly feel welcome.

Sources:

Why Identity Matters

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/why-identity-matters

https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/why-do-social-identities-matter

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/identity

https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-national-identity-matters/

How to Not Traumatize Ghosts

Alex Matsuo1 Comment

For decades, it has been typical to see paranormal investigators walk into a haunted location and immediately start provoking and saying things that could be extremely traumatizing to not only spirits and ghosts, but also the living. Is it really necessary to do this in order to get a response during a paranormal investigation? What if this the best way to try to communicate with spirits? Is there another way to go about it?

Personal Experience

I had a TikTok recently that went viral where I shared a (very) short version of the One Bed Over: A Hospital Haunting story. This was the incident of the spirit attachment I dealt with after my car accident on New Year’s Eve 2005. I shared my story with the TV show “Haunted Hospitals” and wrote the book. Telling this story became a healing experience for me, and overall, I’m grateful for the opportunities I had to share it.

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of interviews on different podcasts and radio shows about the story. But in the past few months, I found myself experiencing more PTSD incidents since telling the story more frequently. Nightmares, panic attacks, flashbacks, they were all coming back with a vengeance.

How Do the Spirits Feel?

Why do I bring this up? Because talking about this traumatic chapter in my life just a few times per month has really sparked some responses in my body and soul that’s made me identify the need to step back. 

Yet, what about the ghosts that we try to connect with in haunted locations? Especially locations where there was a lot of trauma and negative events in their lives? There’s a group of strangers coming in and asking about one of the worst days of their lives. Then we expect the spirits to pour out their heart and souls to us, a bunch of strangers, without building rapport or trust. And some of these places see traffic on a daily basis.

Besides a location not being haunted, perhaps this might be a reason that paranormal investigators are met with silence? Or worse, they end up being physically assaulted. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encountered this on the field. But then, a simple subject change will change the activity levels towards a more positive environment. That simple subject change is compassion and empathy.

Example: The USS North Carolina

In 2018, I did my first paranormal investigation at the Battleship North Carolina (also known as the USS North Carolina). I had been investigating for quite a while up until this point. I wanted to dive deeper into the hauntings of this location besides traditional ghost hunting. Taking a page from John Sabol’s Ghost Excavation method, I had my team members (all female identifying) dress in period clothing. Justifying our presence on the ship would be a bit challenging. This is because civilian women on the ship wasn’t necessarily the norm back in the Battleship’s prime.

So we took on a more flirtatious approach as women looking for sailors to take us out on a night on the town. This included contextual flirting, dancing, and all sorts of shenanigans from the 1940s. Yet, when we tried to steer the conversation towards World War II, and more specifically, Pearl Harbor, we were met with absolute silence. But if we brought up drinks and dancing, our equipment would respond and we got more activity on our recording equipment. Simply put, they weren’t interested in talking to us about a tough topic. To be fair, most of the World War II vets I knew (especially my grandpa) didn’t talk about the war, especially with women.

Example: Trivette Clinic

If you’ve read my book, The Hamptonville Hauntings, then you’ve already read this story in more detail. Without going too deep into the history and research rabbit hole, the Trivette Clinic opened in 1932 in Hamptonville, North Carolina as a small town clinic. This was a place where tonsils were taken out and babies were born. After Dr. William Trivette died in 1938, the Clinic was converted into a supper club and detox center, then a nursing home, and finally, a private residence. While not a lot of “horrifying trauma” happened at the Clinic, one could argue that surgery and childbirth is a form of trauma on its own. 

But one of the most remarkable experiences I had at the Trivette Clinic didn’t involve talking about medical procedures at all. It was playing music. Dr. Trivette’s wife Gwendolyn was a singer who had a love for opera. I’ve always been extremely drawn to her for various reasons, and one night, with two of my team members, a series of events led me to believe she was with us. Thinking about her love of opera, I was inspired to use music as a trigger object. Trying to think of popular operas back in Gwendolyn’s time, I defaulted to “Musetta’s Waltz” from the opera, La Boheme. 

Reaction to the Music

As the music started playing from my phone, every device we had in the basement started going off. The lights became brighter when the music swelled in intensity, and the lights dimmed during the quieter moments. It was like there was a reaction in the environment to the music. In my head, I pictured Gwendolyn singing to the music. Needless to say, it was an emotional experience.

Ever the debunker, I decided to play Van Halen’s “Jump” to see if our equipment would react the same way. None of the equipment went off, even when I grabbed my phone and walked around the space. I played a few more songs and still, nothing. No reaction like that.

Example: Melissa Elliott at the Cabin on 360

One of the darker places I’ve been to is the Elliott House next door to the Cabin on 360. The locations are owned by the same person, and sit just feet away from each other. It should be noted that I don’t call the Elliott House dark because of demonic entities or anything like that. It’s because it was the site of a brutal murder. If you want to learn more about the Elliott House, and Melissa Elliott, here’s some more information.

Melissa Carol Elliott was just 12 years old when she was raped and murdered by her half-brother in 1979. Just being in the house and knowing what happened within its walls is enough to give me bad feelings about the place. Knowing this, it made it hard to remove my bias. Also, it’s been said that there is a dark entity in the house.

When my team and I investigated the house, we went into Melissa’s bedroom and set up a few recording devices. I wanted to make sure to focus on things that a pre-teen girl would have liked or been interested in during the late 1970s. If Melissa was still a present entity in the house, I’m pretty sure the last thing she would want to talk about is the end of her life and likely the worst day of her life. But also, avoiding the traumatic topic could give us an opportunity to communicate with other spirits in the house, if there were any.

Shifting Gears

Immediately, I noticed that there wasn’t much response when my other two male members were asking questions. Keeping the nature of Melissa’s death in mind, plus being a 12-year old girl, she may not be comfortable around older males. Pulling out the Osmonds, David Cassidy, and other pop culture icons, it seemed we were getting some responses on our equipment. 

There was a moment where it looked like there was light shining on me for a brief second. I thought one of my team members shined their flashlight on me. My team member thought my Fitbit went off. The only thing that made me hesitant about declaring it my Fitbit was that my little watch will stay illuminated for several seconds, not a brief moment. It wasn’t headlights from the outside either.

Why Avoid Using Trauma

There’s a multitude of reasons to avoid using trauma in spirit communication. To be fully candid, using trauma as the first tactic to get a response is a cheap tactic. I even find skeptics using trauma to also try to elicit a response, which is puzzling. It’s like, “I don’t believe you exist but I’m going to exploit your trauma anyway.” Some of the best skeptics who investigate still respect the space and the people who once lived there.

By avoiding the use of trauma, you earn trust not only with the potential spirit you’re trying to communicate with, but also with the group in your company. I think we often forget that if we use trauma to elicit a response, we risk upsetting our fellow investigators who may have a personal connection with similar trauma. 

When we use trauma, it’s often a very generic approach with broad questions that don’t go any deeper. Also, using trauma right away forces the investigator to go in with a certain bias. They may assume that the house being haunted is haunted by the spirits tied to specific history and so they laser point on that traumatic event. Meanwhile, they miss out on meaningful communication with an entity that’s either not tied to that specific history, or they don’t want to talk about it.

So What Should We Talk About?

For the socially awkward like myself, coming up with topics to talk about with spirits can be tricky. I can’t even do small talk with the living so how can I talk to the dead? I’ve learned a lot about social interactions from paranormal investigating, especially from the examples above.

It also should be said that not every topic will be “trauma free” for everyone. Like, talking about someone’s child to one person may cause heartache and grief to someone else who may have lost children or weren’t able to have their own.

Here’s some things to talk to ghosts/spirits about:

  1. What brings them joy
  2. Their daily lives
  3. What the space looks like to them
  4. Who is around them at that moment
  5. Favorite foods and treats
  6. Entertainment they may have liked (books, music, movies, television)
  7. Recipes
  8. Games

Here are a few more topics to explore, but may have trauma associated with them:

  1. Religion (favorite hymns, Bible verses, etc.)
  2. Were they in love?
  3. Did they have children?

In reality, any point mentioned could bring up trauma. But in this case, the intention is different. Without diving too deep into intent vs. impact, there is a difference between going into a space with the intention of using trauma to provoke a spirit and trying to talk a spirit about something that may have made them happy and you upset them by accident.

This list is just a starting point. What’s great about this list is that you can keep it generic enough to help you pinpoint the historical and societal context of the entity you’re talking to. I like to call this method, “Start Big, Go Small.” Start with a broader topic, and use the responses to get more granular to help pinpoint the person you’re talking to and where they’re from.

Final Thoughts

We don’t need to provoke or say upsetting things during a paranormal investigation in order to get a response. If anything, we could get even better data and evidence by not going the route of provocation.

I see a shift happening in the paranormal investigation community where we are veering away from using trauma as a talking point. This makes me very optimistic for the future of the paranormal. Unfortunately, paranormal media has yet to catch up. It continues to default to trauma as a way to get a response from spirits. Not all television shows are like this (shout out to “Kindred Spirits”), but most of them do this. It’s not terribly surprising since the focus of most TV shows is to get that spooky evidence and then move on to the next location, leaving a mess of shattered feelings and trauma behind.

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?

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/

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?