Ghost Hunters

INVESTIGATIVE FILES Ghost Hunters elief that spirits of the dead exist and can appear to the living is Bboth ancient and widespread, yet the actual study of ghostly phenomena has largely been lacking. So-called “investigation” has ranged from mere collecting of ghost tales to the use of “psychic” impressions to a pseudoscientific reliance on technology applied in a questionable fashion. Real science has largely been ignored. Collecting Tales What passed for investigation in earlier times is illustrated by a “true” ghost story related by Pliny the Younger (ca. 100 a.d.). It has been “regarded as the first investigated ghost story” (Finucane 2001). A hearsay tale, already a century old when Figure 1. Paranormal investigator Vaughn Rees mimics ghost hunters, demonstrating how not to find a ghost. Pliny told it, it involved a house in Athens (Photo courtesy of Vaughn Rees.) haunted by the specter of an emaciated, Victoria’s reign represent not beings of a slamming door might have been caused fettered man. It rattled its chains at night that other world, but of this. and brought disease and death to visitors. by a draft or may have been a prank). Undaunted, however, a stoic philosopher Even in a given era, ghosts seem to Uncritical collections of ghost tales— named Atheno dorus bought the house, behave according to individual expecta- rife with weaselly phrases like “is said tried first to ignore the beckoning phan- tions, being as likely to walk through a to be” and “some believe that” (e.g., tom, then calmly followed it into the wall as to knock on a door before entering Hauck 1996, 1, 12)—are ubiquitous. garden where it vanished. The next day he (Finucane 1984, 223). They include Dennis William Hauck’s had local officials dig at the site where they While collecting ghost stories can be Haunted Places: The National Directory found a skeleton in rusty chains. After a helpful in showing just such trends, much (1996) and The International Directory proper burial which appeased the ghost, that is claimed as the “investigation” of of Haunted Places (2000), as well as a the haunting ceased. hauntings never rises above mere mystery hundred or so books by “ghost hunter” But Pliny’s tale is as suspect as it mongering. Necessarily there is a reli- Hans Holzer alone. is dated, with its motifs of clanking ance on anecdotal, eyewitness testimony. The ‘Psychic’ Method chains, malevolent atmosphere, and ritual Moreover, accounts may be exaggerated appeasement. Over time, people’s notions and are frequently offered with the impli- Actually, Hans Holzer sometimes goes of ghosts and hauntings have continually cation that the “unexplainable” phenom- beyond mere story relating, relying on changed. According to R.C. Finucane, in ena are proof of the reality of spirits. alleged contact with the spirit realm. his Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural Actually, such a view is an example of a Belief in such contact is called spiritu- History of Ghosts (1984, 223): logical fallacy called arguing from igno- alism, and it is as ancient as the Old Each epoch has perceived its specters rance (“we don’t know what caused the Testament’s Witch of Endor who pur- according to specific sets of expecta- door to slam, therefore it was a ghost”). portedly conjured up the ghost of Samuel tions; as these change so too do the One cannot draw a conclusion from a Joe Nickell is CSICOP’s Senior Research specters. From this point of view it is lack of knowledge. Besides, an event may clear that the suffering souls of purga- Fellow and author of numerous investi- tory in the days of Aquinas, the shades not be unexplainable at all, only unex- gative books. of a murdered mistress in Charles plained, possibly later being solved (e.g., II’s era, and the silent grey ladies of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September / October 2006 23 at the request of King Saul (1 Sam. couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who confessed to police that he had fondled 28:7–20). Modern spiritualism began in operate something they call the New the girls as they slept. He used drugs and 1848 at Hydesville, New York, when two England Society for Psychic Research. was diagnosed as schizophrenic (Nickell young girls, Maggie and Katie Fox, pre- Ed, the director, has a business card that 1995, 133–139). tended to communicate with the ghost bills him as a “Demonologist.” Lorraine, While there is no convincing evidence of a murdered peddler. Although four sporting a bouffant hairdo, claims to be that demons were at work in the house, decades later they confessed how their a “clairvoyant.” They have been called the arrival of the Warrens, with their “spirit rappings” had been faked, in the other things, ranging from “passionate publicity-seeking actions, convinced some meantime spiritualism had spread across and religious people” and “ghost hunters” people otherwise. Their book—written by the United States and beyond. to “scaremongers” and other appellations, a professional horror-tale writer and timed Interest in spiritualism inspired ghost including “charlatans” (Duckett 1991). for Halloween release and promotion— hunting. The first organization devoted The Warrens’ usual modus operandi was a travesty. It represented the worst of to the cause was a ghost society formed has them arriving at a “haunted” house the “psychic” approach to ghost hunting. at Cambridge University in 1851. It was where ghost and poltergeist hijinks As such evidence demonstrates— followed by London’s Ghost Club in are blown into incredible accounts of whether alleged psychics claim to enter 1862, the Society for Psychical Research “demonic possession.” Soon the horrific a “trance” state, like Holzer’s favorite (SPR) in 1882, and an American counter- tales become chapters or entire books mediums, Ethel Meyers and Sybil Leek part (ASPR) in 1885. Such organizations touting the Warrens’ “cases,” such as the (Holzer 1991, 24, 36), or whether they attracted both scientists and spiritualists, Amityville “horror,” (Amityville, New rely on “channeling tools” such as a Ouija many hoping to unite science and reli- York, 1975–1976) and the Snedeker fam- board, dowsing rod, or psychic pendu- gion by validating spiritualist phenomena ily haunting (Southington, Connecticut, lum as others prefer (Belanger 2005, (Guiley 200, 6–7, 151–153, 353–354). 1986–1988). 17)—psychics have a poor track record. Out of that tradition comes Holzer, In the latter case, in addition to They typically offer unsubstantiated, even who terms himself a parapsychologist. In Lorraine Warren, “psychics” brought unverifiable claims, or information that his book America’s Haunted Houses he into the house (a former funeral home) can be gleaned from research sources or relates his “investigation” of Ringwood included a Warren grandson and a from knowledgeable persons by “cold Manor in northern New Jersey. Holzer nephew. They were soon reporting their reading” (an artful method of fishing for arrived at Ringwood with “psychic” Ethel own sightings of ghosts and other phe- information). Alternatively, the psychic Meyers in tow, a dubious choice given her nomena, while also denying that there may simply make a number of pro- involvement in the “Amityville Horror” was any book deal in progress. In fact, nouncements, trusting that the credulous case wherein she failed to realize it was a such a book did materialize (Warren and will count the apparent hits and ignore, or hoax. She supposedly made contact with Warren et al. 1992). interpret appropriately, the misses. former servants of Ringwood, saying that Alas, when I appeared on the pre-Hal- Still, not all such offerings are insin- one, “Jeremiah,” had “complained bit- loween 1992 Sally Jessy Raphael show cere. Those who fancy themselves psy- terly about his mistress,” a Mrs. Erskine. with the Warrens and Snedekers, I began chics may exhibit traits associated with However, the curator of Ringwood told an investigation that would thoroughly a “fantasy-prone” personality—a desig- me he doubted the house was haunted, demolish the case (although it was hyped nation for an otherwise normal person’s and disparaged the notion that Mrs. again later with a made-for-TV movie). heightened propensity to fantasize. Some Erskine mistreated any servant—whether “Neighbors of the Snedeker” came on the field research I have done shows a correla- “Jere miah” or not. He observed that the Sally show to debunk many of the claims. tion between the number and intensity present house was never seen by her, One was an across-the-street resident, of ghostly experiences on the one hand and “isn’t even near the location of the Kathy Altemus, who had kept a journal and the number of exhibited traits associ- original house!” (Prol 1993) Thus when during the events and shared it with me ated with fantasy-proneness on the other Holzer writes, “The center of the haunt- when I subsequently visited Southington. (Nickell 2000). ings seems to be what was once the area The journal shed light on the ghostly of Mrs. Erskine’s bedroom” (Holzer 1991, occurrences. For example, “vibrations” Ghostbusters 125), he betrays an utter lack of historical felt in in the house were easily explained With the resurgence of spiritualism in the credibility. by the passing of heavy trucks. Other mid-nineteenth century, mediums sought Holzer, while a prolific mystery mon- events could perhaps be attributed to vari- to prove the existence of spirits through ger, is not the worst such offender. He ous passersby mentioned in the journal as certain physical phenomena. Allegedly in observes: “Amateur ‘investigators’ can do “pulling pranks on the ‘haunted house’” dark-room séances, spirits materialized, more damage than good at times, “espe- (Altemus 1988–92). Certain other inci- spoke, wrote messages on slates, posed cially when they travel as ‘demonologists’ dents—including visiting nieces being for photographs, and produced apports looking for demons and devils as the groped by “an unseen hand”—turned out (teleported objects)—or so it appeared.

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