E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeLike nearly everything else, the world of real-life ghost hunting isn’t nearly as glamorous at it looks on TV.
“We don’t go around with our plasma machines like ‘Ghostbusters,’ ” says Sheri Davis, an events director and occasional investigator with Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma. “As a ghost hunter, I have to say the majority of the time it’s pretty boring because you don’t find anything. You have to be pretty patient because you’re probably going to be sitting in the dark for four hours.”
To give the public a more accurate idea of what really goes on during a ghost hunt, Davis’ group is teaming with local group Bellingham Observers of the Odd and Obscure to host the Ghost Hunters Getaway Conference this weekend at Western Washington University. This is the fifth year for the event, which has been held at various venues throughout the Northwest. This weekend’s gathering is open to the public and will feature workshops, ghost tours and paranormal investigations of local spots.
-
IF YOU GO What: Ghost Hunters Getaway Conference
When: 7-9 p.m. meet and greet Friday; registration starts 8 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday
Where: WWU, Arntzen Hall Tickets: $75 for the weekend
Details: For a complete schedule of events, go to www.aghost.us.
BELLINGHAM HAUNTS Sherry Mulholland, founder of Bellingham Observers of the Odd and Obscure, gives her list of the top haunted spots in Bellingham.- Sycamore Square in Fairhaven
- Mount Baker Theatre
- Eldridge Mansion in the Columbia neighborhood
- A private residence in the county (undisclosed)
- Just about all the shops and buildings in Fairhaven
- the Armory Building on North State Street
- Wardner’s castle in Fairhaven
- Western Washington University’s Old Main building.
One spot Davis is looking forward to checking out during the conference is Bellingham’s Bayview Cemetery.
“I have to say, your cemetery is very interesting,” she says. “You have some interesting feelings that I pick up there — very sad feelings toward the children’s area. People still leave toys and dolls in front of the children’s graves. It’s like a continuous mourning.”
During investigations, only the lead investigator will know the details to prevent others from researching a spot and influencing the investigation. Davis says her group likes to keep their research scientific. Though investigations include psychics, they are filled with note-taking and feature tools such as digital and infrared cameras, thermometers to gauge temperature spikes, electromagnetic field detectors and video cameras.
“What our basic goal is, is to find out or document paranormal abnormalities that might be occurring and find out if it’s something that we can repeat or explain or if it is actually something paranormal. Very rarely do we find it really is something we cannot explain,” she says. “Just because something happens, it doesn’t mean it’s a haunting. We usually investigate it until we’re sick of looking at it.”
The false alarms often come in when homeowners hear sounds they can’t identify. But the ghost hunters usually find a natural explanation.
“People can start hearing noises and it’s actually animals. Footsteps in the attic might be raccoons or squirrels that have broken in,” she says. “There are so many houses that are so close together that you could think you’re hearing noises, but it’s actually someone’s book on tape.”
But the hours of investigating and waiting, often in the dark, are worth it to get to the bottom of some of life’s darker mysteries.
“There really is something out there we can’t explain, and it’s so hard to convince people because you can’t repeat it, you can’t get them do it on command,” she says. “I’d like to know if it really is a paranormal phenomena with a different realm or if it is things that happen because of our subconscious energy — because we really want to see Grandpa Joe who passed away that we really love, or is Grandpa Joe coming back?”
-
Caregivers
Click job title for more info -
Customer Service Representative
Samson Rope -
Staff Accountant
Samson Rope -
Maintenance Mechanic 2/Program Coordinator Education
Whatcom Community College -
Workforce Coordinator
Northwest Workforce Council
@Nyx.CommentBody@