Paranormal Challenge: Waverly Hills Sanitorium

I just got word that another episode of Paranormal Challenge featuring yours truly will be airing THIS Friday, July 22nd, at 9 PM EDT on Travel Channel! This time, two teams face off at Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville, Kentucky. Tune in and find out what happens when investigators venture alone with a point-of-view camera down the site's notorious Death Chute...

Remember me telling you about my trip to Waverly? Well, now you know why I was there!

It's ALIVE! The Electrifying Resurrection of "Haunted Times" Magazine

Let's face it, niche magazines just don't get the recognition they deserve. These publications are almost always put together by a group of hobbyists or fans, and are funded by what's leftover after paying rent and tipping the pizza delivery driver. What is never lacking, however, is pure, distilled enthusiasm for the subject matter.

What if you could take that enthusiasm and add some consistent structure, talented columnists, head-turning artwork, an experienced editorial staff, and featured content that would BLOW YOUR MIND? You'd have one hellova magazine, that's what!

If the photo at the right hasn't already clued you in, Haunted Times magazine has recently put together that very same magical combination. I was honored to be offered the position of Senior Editor, and I jumped at the chance without hesitation. More than anything, I look forward to finding lots of fantastic new talent to share with readers every month!

Along with the change in staff at Haunted Times comes something else just as shocking - a change in format. Forget the days of having to hunt down the most recent issue in the racks at Barnes & Noble! Haunted Times magazine is about to rock the world of digital reading by launching fully interactive issues for your mobile devices or online enjoyment.

Look for the rebirth of Haunted Times in August, 2011. I'll keep you updated about what's to come, including subscription information and where you can go to find lots of freebies to get a feel for the new style and structure!

Book Review: The Survival of the Soul by Lisa Williams

The Survival of the Soul by Lisa Williams describes the journey of our souls from the energy plane to Earth (and back again) using the information channeled from the author's many Spirit Guides.

As someone who is very skeptical of any claims of communication with the spirit world, I was unsure how much of The Survival of the Soul I would be able to digest before it pushed the boundary between believable and bull. I was pleasantly surprised when the author's grounded explanation of this epic spiritual journey wove together many of the ideas embraced by religions around the world, her personal near-death encounter, and concepts and events familiar to the "well attuned" who have lost loved ones and kept me eagerly reading until the end.

Williams outlines the process by which souls cross over after death, including being welcomed by waiting friends and family and undergoing the often grueling "Life Review" to determine the growth of a soul while in a physical body. Though many aspects of a soul's duties and progress are, according to Williams and her Spirit Guides, intentionally kept secret from the living, the rules and expectations for souls wishing to visit those still on the Earth plane clearly explained in the book.

Have you ever met someone for the first time but felt sure you knew them already? Lisa Williams says the reason for that may be because that person is a member of your "soul family" - a group of like souls who work together in differing roles in both the spirit realm and the physical. Particularly fascinating to me was the section about souls preparing to re-enter a physical body and their selection of parents who would best help to teach (or conversely, to learn) the lessons to better that soul's evolution.

The Survival of the Soul is a spectacular guide for expanding your ideas about how lucid dreams, out of body experiences, spirit communication, and other phenomena are connected to the human personality beyond death. Though you may not agree with every detail, reading this book with an open mind may just bring to light many of the facets of the spirit world your intuition has already nudged you toward.  Perhaps that in itself is a lesson for your soul.

The Survival of the Soul by Lisa Williams is currently available from Hay House Books.

Book Review: A History of Ghosts by Peter Aykroyd

It's seldom I will shell out the cash for a hardcover edition of any book, but I grabbed up A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters by Peter H. Aykroyd and Angela Narth as soon as it was released. Why? Because I'm a hopeless fan of the Ghostbusters movies and couldn't wait to read about the actual events in the Aykroyd family history that inspired the films. Sadly, it was not at all what I had hoped it would be.

I felt a little mislead by the title of this book, for one thing. It is not a historical look at paranormal activity at all - it is instead a summary of the Spiritualist religion in the United States and Canada. If you've ever been curious about the formation of the church and the most famous mediums from its first 100 years, this book provides a decent overview for the casual reader. Peter Aykroyd provides a glimpse at the researchers, like Charles Richet and Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, who were out to expose the frauds in the field, but the author makes only a short reference to one of the staunchest skeptics out to expose the Spiritualist church - Harry Houdini. As so many of the mediums highlighted in A History of Ghosts were exposed as having resorted to tricks and deception, I feel the book could use a little more attention paid to those investigators, like Houdini, who revealed the most convincing trickery.

The most colorful and entertaining parts of the this book were the tales of the Aykroyd circles (seances held in the dining room of the author's grandparents) and the communications between the family's medium, Walter, and his spirit guides. I wish that there had been more of these first-person accounts and less encyclopedic profiles of Spiritualist "celebrities", but alas, what is done is done.

For those new to the ideas of mediumship and channeling, Peter Aykroyd does a wonderful job of explaining the practices of automatic writing, table tipping, early spirit photography, slate writing, materialization, and direct-voice mediumship. While he touches on the study of electronic voice phenomena (EVP), he is quick to discount the findings as natural artifacts of the recordings, while he openly accepts the spirit communications through a human medium as absolute truth. His lack of objectivity on the subject was incredibly frustrating for me as a reader (likely because our opinions differ drastically) but I'm sure such is not the case for all.

I'm not really sure which events from the Aykroyd circles were those that inspired the author's son to write Ghostbusters as they were never clearly identified as such. Maybe the constant talk of spirit contact and the open mind the family has about the afterlife were more influential than any specific encounter? I guess only the Aykroyd men know for sure.

I know it may sound like I've been harsh on A History of Ghosts, but I really felt like there was a bit of "bait and switch" going on with the packaging and marketing of the book. The content itself is a great overview of the activities surrounding the Spiritualist boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is ideal for those seeking a quick and easy read to introduce them to the subject, but a "history of ghosts" it is not.

Overall, I give this book only one thumb up because of its weak cohesion. I encourage you to form your own opinion by picking up a copy and putting it to the test yourself. Peter Aykoyd is 90 years old and currently suffering from rapidly degenerating eyesight. To learn more about him, check out his interview with George Noory on Coast to Coast AM.

Adventures in Kentucky

I've just returned from another exciting adventure, this time at Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville, Kentucky. I feel I should confess - Waverly Hills was at the top of my "Do Not Want" list for many years. I turned down several invitations to investigate there, but a recent dream completely changed my thinking.

In the dream, I was walking down long green and white linoleum halls and could smell the sickening combination of sweat, blood, and iodine. It was icy cold, but none of the people I saw were complaining - they all smiled and laughed. Some played cards and others chatted with nurses and other patients. Bright sunbeams flooded the corridor and made the place seem more like a cheery community center than a building where the terminally ill went to die.

Seeing Waverly like this in a dream really made me stop and examine my reasons for having avoided it in the past. I had been so focused on the negative aspects of the site that I completely lost touch with the positive. This realization opened me up to a great opportunity, one that I am extremely appreciative of and very happy to have accepted.

During my visit to Waverly Hills, I had some free time and spent it roaming the third and fourth floors for more than an hour. While I certainly did not feel alone, I never felt anything malicious either. In fact, that time "alone" in the halls was the highlight of my trip.

Rising to the "Paranormal Challenge"

Okay, the secret is out... I have the honor of appearing as a judge on the premiere episode of Travel Channel's latest adventure - Paranormal Challenge!

Filming took serious strength and stamina!

The show is hosted by Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures, but it certainly should not be considered merely a spinoff of that hit series. Paranormal Challenge puts two investigative teams to the test by sending them out into reportedly haunted locations and then rating their use of historical knowledge, technology, and teamwork during the investigation. The concept is not a race to find ghosts, but a competition of investigative know-how. Talk about a refreshing twist put on paranormal reality programming!

A typical view in Pennhust State School today.

I traveled to the notorious Pennhurst State School near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to work with an amazing crew and a cast that also included Dave Schrader from Darkness Radio and Jeff Belanger of Ghostvillage.com. While my companions were a ton of fun, the location is probably one of the darkest and most sinister that I've ever explored.  A few minutes of reading through the site's history will tell you right away what kind of energy this place still holds.

It was an amazing experience at an even more amazing place! I hope you will all tune in and get a glimpse of what happened inside of those cold and damp walls on Friday, June 17th at 9:00 PM ET/PT, 8:00 PM CT on Travel Channel.

Be sure to check back soon for a few more surprises! I have lots more exciting news to share as soon as I get the green light.

Lectures, Workshops, and Discussions, oh my!

Poltergeists - Not Just Hollywood Hype

It's that time of year again. No, not tax time - Summer and Fall event planning time! While I am still sticking to my "less is more" philosophy that I discussed earlier in the year, I will be visiting a select few libraries, museums, schools, and conventions later in 2011. Because these appearances are decidedly few and far between, I've beefed up all of my talks to deliver quality over quantity. Each is a fun, informative, multi-media presentation that gets people talking, but more importantly - gets them thinking.

I have a handful of openings left in the late summer and a couple of dates still available in October. If you know of an organization or event looking for an awesome presentation, send them my way!

Talks for 2011 include:

PARANORMAL 

Civil War Ghosts - Learn about battlefield haunts of the Southeast, including many lesser-known but intense paranormal hotspots. Find out how to investigate these locations safely and legally while capturing great results. (1 hour)

Poltergeists - This lecture provides a comprehensive look back at the history and study of poltergeist activity. A special focus on the Enfield Poltergeist and the tragic case of Tina Resch offer attendees examples of ongoing scientific research of kinetic haunts. (1 hour)

Capturing and Analyzing EVP - Discover the methods used to elicit messages from the spirit world and how to capture those messages with various audio recording devices. Identify false positives, learn the varying classifications of electronic voice phenomena, and hear real examples of EVP from paranormal field investigations. The workshop demonstrates use of the software program Audacity and its value to the researcher in analyzing recorded audio data. (1 hour)

Haunted Henrico - (see HISTORY below)

SPIRITUALITY

Rootwork in America - This lecture illustrates the history and practice of Hoodoo, a folk religion unique to the United States. Learn how Hoodoo differs from Voodoo and why the two are often confused. A spotlight on rootwork in pop culture offers attendees a glimpse of how this mysterious tradition has influenced and infiltrated American life. (45 minutes)

HISTORY

Elizabeth Van Lew : The Witch of Church Hill - A discussion of the life of Elizabeth Van Lew, the Richmond woman whose clever espionage helped to end the American Civil War. Learn how Van Lew was socially ahead of her time and why her prominent family was forever ostracized by Virginia society. (45 minutes)

Unruly Women of Virginia - Virginia women have been going against the grain and making history for four centuries. This lecture highlights the historic contributions of Lady Anne Skipwith, the Randolph women, the Carter women, Elizabeth Van Lew, Maggie L. Walker, and more. (1 hour)

Haunted Henrico - To celebrate Henrico's 400th Anniversary, this lecture presents the history and haunts of several of the county's most notable locations including battlefields, taverns, homes, and more. (1 hour)

Everyday Haunts

Living in a city that was pummeled by war means that many of the places you pass by every day have a past that's not so pretty. One such building has been on my radar since about 1993 when the true revitalization of the Tobacco District was in full swing, and that is the Pohlig Box Building.

This industrial spot held the record until very recently as being the longest continuously operational commercial building in the US. Built in 1853, the box company kept up operations even when more than half of the structure was commandeered by the Confederate Army to house wounded or extremely sick troops from Alabama. Instead of crates and packaging being produced under its roof, the Pohlig building saw surgeries, amputation, and death.

As with any place having a shadow on its past such as this one, stories of unearthly happenings emerged very soon after the end of the war. These stories, however, really exploded when the Pohlig Box Company moved to a larger and more modern facility and the historic building at the corner of 25th and Franklin Streets was converted into apartments.

I had some very interesting interviews last week about what goes on inside of these walls, particularly in one unit that is difficult to rent. I'm working more on that this week and hope to wrap up the chapter with some stories that are going to surprise everyone!
 

Want to Know What Goes Into a Book?

Image via Wikipedia
I get questions all the time at events about what it's like to research and write books about the paranormal. If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, be sure to become a follower of my Twitter feed! I've decided to dedicate that venue to tweeting about travel, both historical and field research, interviews with witnesses, and more as the last (and most grueling) stage of More Haunted Battlefields comes together.

I hope you'll be there reading!

Truth or Old Wives' Tale? Your Opinions, Please!

Image by Pixteca MX
There is an old hoodoo (or Voodoo, if you prefer) saying that claims after you see a spirit once, you will see them all the time. Part of me wonders if this philosophy grew from the voodoo queens and witch doctors "polishing up" the prize for their students in order to keep them from giving up on charms and rootwork that could take days or weeks to perform. Another part of me wonders if there is any truth to those words.

I think I'm pretty close to coming to my own conclusion about this belief, but I'm wondering what you readers feel about this? Please, comment and share!

Bumps in the Night (and Morning and Afternoon...)

The family and I have just passed our 8th anniversary here at our current home, and the date did not pass without a few strange happenings.

Before I explain the things that took place over the past week, I should first note that the last year was entirely mundane - no paranormal events were witnessed at all. The last few days have certainly made up for lost time.

On Wednesday, my husband and I were in opposite sides of the house (not terribly far apart) and heard a strange tinkling of bells come from the dining room in between. Immediately noticing an out-of-place sound, we both went in to the dining room to investigate. We found nothing that could have produced the bell-like noise and were unable to replicate the sound by shaking furniture, stomping around, jumping, etc. After discussing it for a while, we wrote off the event as "weird", but were not quick to label it the work of "Bob".

The following afternoon, I came in from running errands and found two items in the dining room (a decorative cake pan and a small painting on a stretched canvas) had fallen off the walls and were sitting on the floor. After examining the nails, which were still firmly set in the plaster, I stretched my mind as far as I could for an alternate explanation but came up empty.

On Thursday evening, and again on Friday and Saturday morning, the entire family detected the uncanny odor of fresh tobacco - NOT SMOKE, but tobacco - in one bedroom of the house. The scent seemed to travel from one area to the next, but no one item in the room had the same smell as what we noticed in the air. After getting a bit annoyed at trying to find the source of the odor for days, my husband (the skeptic, remember?) reminded me that the original owner of the house was a lifelong employee of a local tobacco company.

Coincidence? Possibly. We are not discounting the idea that there is a perfectly normal reason for all of these experiences, we've simply not found one yet.

The Gray Lady of Sherwood Forest Plantation

I just found out that the investigation I did with Virginia Currents at President John Tyler's home is now available to view on the web. Enjoy!

“Virginia Currents” #1923 from Community Idea Stations on Vimeo.

Healing and Getting Rid of Ghosts

My heart is still heavy. My father-in-law passed away on March 23rd after a brief, but overwhelmingly painful fight with cancer. He promised to "haunt the hell out of me." From anyone else, this might sound like a threat, but I know he meant it as a gift. Somehow, he even found the strength to laugh when he told me.

Someone shared this great video with me today that I know would have made his day had I shown it to him and promised him this is what he'd get if he tried. Humor is a strange thing - because I know he would have found this amusing, it makes me a little sad.

I hope you can watch this and have a good laugh:

How To Get Rid Of Ghosts

Howcast.com | MySpace Video

Balancing Act

I'm really starting to get into having two books to work on at the same time. If I hit a lull with one, I can still feel like I'm accomplishing something by working on the other. In fact, I'll be doing that very thing today.

The photos I'd hoped to bring home yesterday didn't happen, but there's a pretty funny story attached to why. I plotted my route, starting with the farthest location from my 4:30 appointment and working towards it. All of my photo gear was packed in the car, but I realized before I left that I needed a bundle of new batteries to get through all of the stops. No worries, I thought, there's a store about a half-mile from my first location - I'll just pop in and get some there.

I drove 40 minutes, stopped at the store and grabbed batteries and a drink. When I got to the register to pay, I realized I'd forgotten my wallet. By the time I drove all the way home and collected my necessities, I had about 20 minutes to go buy batteries to use TODAY and then get to my 4:30.

See what happens when I try and "schedule" this stuff? I'm much better at going with the flow than making rigid plans!

Pirates!

Ahoy!

Yesterday was fantastically productive when it came to research. I'm going to keep that momentum going today by turning over more stones involving the case of three pirates that were tried and ultimately executed here in Richmond. That's right - pirates.

No, Richmond isn't really near the coast (2-hours drive in moderate traffic) but we are the seat of the Federal Court for this district. The band of pirates in question sailed from Havana to New York and left a slew of bodies and carnage in their wake. How they ended up here is a story just begging to be told - but not here! Come on now, I can't reveal everything before the book's release.

So, that's today. I might even make it out later to photograph a couple of sites that have refused paranormal investigations, but whose stories are far too good to omit, for the upcoming ghost book. If I do, I'll be sure to share!

I Guess I Should Cherish This Time, Right?

John Marshall - via Wikipedia

It looks as though I may be stuck at home again today because of snow. I have a few books on hand that I need to read for research and a couple of paintings in mind that I'd like to get to work on. Yes, I'm an avid artist and painter, too.

I've been digging up dirt from Richmond's past for the last six months or so (for the upcoming "Wicked Richmond" from History Press - sorry, no ghosts) and have discovered some really shocking things. One that I'm eager to get down to the State Library and comb through more involves the Randolph family and a soap-opera-like scandal from the 1700's that occurred at their plantation appropriately named Bizarre. These folks are the relatives of John Marshall, former US Chief Justice, and the crazy stuff that went on behind closed doors is truly stranger than fiction. The book about this scandal should definitely be a quick read.

It's tough for me to study the history of a site and NOT be able to jump up and go immediately after. I get really fueled up by all of the details and the itch to explore is insatiable. I'm going to limit my reading on local landmarks for a few days for this very reason! Weather permitting, I'll be at Fort Jackson on Sunday (braving the cold for certain) to try and capture EVP while the place is quiet.

Ghostbusters 1954

Ghostbusters Fan Ivan Guerrero has put together this hilarious spoof of what it would be like if Ghostbusters had been made in 1954 instead of 1984. The video splices together a ton of old clips from Ghost Breakers and Flubber (amongst others) to recreate scenes and themes from Ghostbusters.

Get a FREE Copy of "Haunted Plantations of Virginia"

That's right - I'm going to give away my very own advance copy of Haunted Plantations of Virginia, personalized and autographed, to one lucky winner on July 1st, 2009. That's a FULL MONTH before you can buy them online and nearly SIX WEEKS before they hit bookstore shelves!

What do you need to do to be part of the contest? Simply write a short, sweet, and positive review of Haunted Battlefields: Virginia's Civil War Ghosts at Amazon.com. One reviewer will be selected at random (okay, their name will be pointed to by my three-year old...) and notified of their status through Amazon. Make sure your email on file there is current! The winner will have seven days to reply before defaulting and another winner is selected.

So far the list of reviewers is short - that means your chances are GREAT!

Review Haunted Battlefields now for a chance to win a FREE BOOK.