Ghost Communication on the Cheap

 A family friend contacted me the other day and told me that they feel a ghost is in their house. They wanted to know what kinds of things they could do to communicate with the ghost without spending money on equipment or ghost contraptions. I thought about it for a bit and then immediately had several options to present to them. It got me thinking, though, that maybe there are others out there who would like to attempt to communicate with the spirits, but feel they don't have the money to get the equipment that people on the various paranormal shows use. Even I've spent 20+ years gathering different types of equipment for my own hunting kit, so I know about the financial frustrations posed by showing interest in this hobby.

The strategies I'm suggesting do not take into account people who are sensitive to the paranormal. For example, if there are spirits present I can typically feel their energy and sometimes I get flashes of information or images in my mind. I also didn't take into account people who have skills for auto-writing or any kind of psychic ability. Additionally, I do not claim that these methods are guarantees for communicating with a spirit in your house. In fact, some are rather old-fashioned, but they can perhaps help open up a communicative door of sorts for you and the other side to set up a means of palaver.  

I would like to mention, as well, that these methods are not necessarily the most scientific methods. I'll try to explain the process in the most scientific and debunking way possible, but I want to stress that these are not reliable methods and are not to capture evidence of a ghost, but to provide a means for communication if you believe you have a spirit present to interact with.

1. Candles

Candles are a versatile tool. They can provide light. They can set the mood. They can be a tool when trying to communicate with a spirit. These tools were used in some of the earliest attempts to reach beyond the veil. Someone would put a tall candle in the middle of a table and those gathered around it would ask the spirit to manipulate the flame. That's the simplest way to explain how it would work. But let's look at how the candle can be used to develop a stronger communication.

Set the Scene: Find a place away from drafts, fans, or vents. Turn off fans and shut windows if possible. Wherever you set the candle, make sure it is far enough away from people that their breath does not influence the flame. Sitting around a table might have an effect on the candle, because of air crossing the table and creating tiny drafts that can cause the flame to waver. You do not have to go completely dark with candles, as it can have a nasty effect on your eyes staring at a bright light in the dark, but low light works well so that you're not straining and seeing what isn't there. You can even do this experiment during the daytime, as ghosts are not purely nocturnal.

As for candle selection, don't just go grab your favorite Bath and Body Works 3-Wick candle. You could go the classic route and use a taper-style candle or a jarless pillar candle where the wick is exposed. You could also use tea light candles, but I'll go into that a little farther down as there is a neat experiment you can do with them.

Once you have your candle set up in a safe space for the start of communication, you'll want to reach out to the spirit you want to communicate with. Explain to them what you are doing and why you are doing it. This might make them more willing to participate in the interaction. Once you've done that, explain how the communication will work. I don't recommend something like, "make the flame waver or move." If you're going to have them manipulate the flame, ask them to cause it to dim to almost out or to try to make it flare brighter, like more oxygen was released around it. What I do recommend might seem tedious, but would give you more reliable results. Have them blow the candle out for "yes" and leave the candle lit for "no." Then start your session with a question, such as "Is there a spirit here with us?" If they say yes, then the candle will go out and you've established communication. If it doesn't go out for several questions, you can conclude three things: 1) there is not a spirit here willing to communicate or 2) this is not the form of communication the spirit is able or wishes to use or 3) there are no spirits, period. The conclusion would depend on what you know about the presence of the spirit prior to this attempted communication. That said, if this experiment yields no results, you certainly don't want to jump to any conclusions. Extinguishing a candle is a pretty big ask, requiring a fair amount of energy on the spirit's part, so no results may simply mean a spirit cannot perform this task. Affirmative results, though, are hard to argue with!

The tea light experiment follows along the lines of blowing out the candle for yes and leaving it lit for no. First, you think of a series of questions you want to ask. Let's say you came up with 5 questions, you would set up a line of 5 tea light candles on the table. If you think of more questions along the way, have extra tea lights on hand to add to the line. As you go through each question, ask the spirit to blow out the candle for yes. Give the spirit time to interact. I still recommend starting with an establishing question, "Is there a spirit here with us?" Then move on with your questions from there.

As with most attempt at communication, things will be hit and miss. Sometimes it's just the type of communication you're trying and other times there isn't anything there to communicate with. Communicating with candles is not, for me, a highly recommended activity, but if you're going for a "cheap" way to communicate and maybe set a little bit of mood, too, then it's worth a shot. Just be vigilant about debunking interactions with the candles. 

2. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs)

Ah yes. The good ol' EVP. This is still a heavily used form of spirit communication today whether you're a professional or just getting into the hobby. If you are already into the hobby, you've probably invested in a reliable recorder. If you're just starting out or just want to learn more about something happening in your home, there are cheaper ways to gather EVPs. Everywhere I've been, as far back as Smartphones were invented, people have recommended the recorder apps on their phones. I recommend these as long as you can save and transfer your recording to a computer for further analysis. This goes for things like your Ring videos, too. I do not recommend using your phone alone for analysis, just in case you record an interesting EVP that is not Class A (The American originator of EVP Classification system, Sarah Estep, describes the Class A event of interest as a "clear and distinct voice or sound that is universally accepted and undisputed, because it must be understood by anyone with normal hearing and without being told or prompted to what is being said or heard. It can be heard without the use of headphones.” [pacificparanormal.com]). 

So to do this on the cheap you'll need a recording app for your phone, headphones/earbuds, and, preferably, a way to closely analyze your recordings for EVPs, such as on a computer. I use Audacity to analyze my recordings. There is a free download for the program on audacityteam.org. I've used Audacity for over 20 years to help analyze recordings. So now that you've chosen your mode of recording, let's set up for a session that could produce reasonable results.

Set the Scene: Be aware of all the noises in your space. This could be vents or fans, animals moving or snoring, appliances or house creaks, neighbors or outdoor noises. Some noises you can control and some you cannot. Get rid of the ones that you can. Once you start recording, make note of the ones that you can't (like neighbors or creaks). You can hold the recorder while you ask questions, but it might be good to set the phone away from you to give the spirit space to approach the device. 

Next, prepare for your recording session. If you can, I recommend writing down or preparing questions ahead of time so that you aren't left flustered to come up with something to ask. Sometimes in the moment other questions come up and that's fine. Going in with a plan is always a good way to start a session regardless of what you intent to use. 

Depending on the type of session you are trying to have, you might stop your recording and listen back to the questions in real time to see if there are any answers. For this, just make sure the volume is all the way up on your device. Having a pair of quick use headphones or earbuds might also be helpful here. If there is something too faint to make out, you'll want to make sure you analyze it on a computer. If you can hear it flat out, then definitely run with the information you've been able to gather. If you don't get anything, again, this might be the opportunity to analyze your whole recording on a computer. 

No matter how you go about gathering your recording, just make sure you are debunking the sounds that aren't justifiable. If something doesn't make sense or you just can't figure out what's being said, you might have to just let it go. 

3. Light Bulbs/Electricity

It is thought that manipulating electrical fields is one way that spirits can communicate. That is how some of the equipment often used in the ghost hunting works. I remember, not long ago, my grandma made the light in my sunroom flicker to let me know she was there. Many ghost stories talk about lights flickering on and off in the presence of a spirit. So if this is something a spirit can manipulate, why not try to interact with them through this medium. 

You can do this electrical manipulation in a few ways, but let's look at the lightbulb. I'll talk about using the light switch a little further down. 

Set the Scene: For this one, you might want to be in a darker setting so that you can see the flickering of the light bulb. If you're using light switches instead, start with the light switch on. Make sure your lamp has a new light bulb to debunk flickering from an old bulb. You can swap them back out later so as not to waste a bulb. Make sure the light bulb is screwed in and not lose. This will eradicate false positives from accidental flickering. Use a lamp without a shade and put it somewhere in your area - on a table or on the floor, whatever works for you.  

As with the other experiments, state what your intention is and what you are hoping to get out of doing this. That way if a spirit is there they are aware of what the goal for communication is. Explain that for a yes, they should flicker or turn off the light. For a no, they should leave the light on. Proceed with your questions and remember to keep them restricted only to ones that can be answered yes or no. If you get some activity, but it seems hesitant, rephrase your question. I say this, because sometimes the answer is maybe and we don't always give them a way to say maybe.

If you are intending to use the electrical current in your house, have the lights on. Be aware of any light bulbs that might be near expiration so that you don't confuse their wear with spirit activity. Establish your intentions for communication by asking them to manipulate something electrical (give them suggestions) and then take it from there. Continue to focus on yes/no questions.

Since it might seem similar, I think it's important that I don't recommend the flashlight experiment that was made popular by Ghost Hunters. I've seen too much evidence of flashlight malfunctions and false positives to feel that I could, in good faith, recommend using it as a means of communication. I only mention it, because it is a light source that has been used in the past for spirit communication. 

4. Make a Noise/Move Something

Another classic communication activity is one that hunters and investigators still use today and that's the "make a noise" method. Basically, you ask the spirit to make a noise in response to your questions or you can ask them to move something of your choosing in response to your questions. 

Set the Scene: Be aware of the natural noises in the space where you are conducting the communication session. Listen for creaking or tapping noises. Are there noises specific to that house that you should listen carefully for? Be aware of the clicking on of A/C or heat and the ice maker in the refrigerator. Do you have pets? Think about the kinds of noises they make or might make, especially outside of the space you are in. Are there outdoor noises that need to be accounted for, such as neighbors or traffic. Do not run your laundry during a communication session, I can tell you that much for sure. If you're using a communication object, such as a ball, toy car, or doll, set them up in a space where it will not be affected by people moving around or animals. Let the item settle on the floor to find its stillness. 

Before you start, as always, establish your intentions. Make sure the spirit understands what you are doing, what you hope to get out of the session, and how they can participate or make themselves known. If you're using objects, you might want to move the objects around to show the spirits how to move them. The same with sounds. If you want to do the "Shave and a Haircut" rapping noise, tap it out for them and allow them to hear the entire response so that they can react to you. Again, depending on your goal for the interaction, you might choose to omit the response if you feel it could affect your interaction. With sounds, make sure your area is as quiet as possible and acknowledge when the sounds are natural to the space.

Start your conversation with the spirit you think might be there. Asking for them to establish their presence is a good start, then you can move on to other yes/no questions. If you're using objects, think about whether you need to reset an object, such as a doll that falls over, or if you're going to leave the object where it has moved to and continue your questions from there. Also think about whether you're going to interact with the objects yourself.

Whichever method you choose to use, please make sure you are debunking along the way. It will make communication more honest and true, allowing for you to make the most of your experience. 

Conclusion

I cannot guarantee that these methods will bring you results. These are merely suggestions for trying to communicate if you think a spirit is part of your space. I have personally had success with EVPs and Make a Noise/Move Something, but I know others who have been successful with the light bulb/electricity. It all depends on the spirit and what their energy allows them to do. Through conversations with both my grandma and my visiting spirit, Becky, I have learned that they prefer certain types of communication, because of how they are able to use their energy. Sometimes it takes more energy to do certain things and less to do others. So, again, it all depends on what the spirit is willing or able to do to reach out to you. No matter what, remember to show respect and offer up pleases and thank yous when possible. They also love compliments when the opportunity arises. Spirits are people and appreciate the "Be Kind" movement just as much as us. 

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due (January 2023)

We have two ghosts living in our house. One of them is a visiting 9-year-old named Becky. The other is my grandma, who used to live across the street from me. My grandma used to have the run of the house and we knew all the activity that was coming through came from her. Then, on December 11, 2022, a new spirit entered the house and took the focus away from my grandma. Whenever something would happen in the house, we immediately attributed the activity to Becky.

For example, we leave a para-lantern up in the living room and it goes off randomly throughout the day. We've just assumed that it was Becky, because my grandma usually only notified me of her presence upstairs on the REM-Pod. So when it would light up we'd say, "Hello Becky!" or "Good morning, Becky." Not thinking anything of it.

Since Becky's arrival, I've noticed my interactions with my grandma have gone down. This was partly because Becky was sending mixed signals about communication. For instance, my grandma would usually make the REM-Pod beep one to two beeps on green. That's how I knew it was her. They were short and crisp and made the point she wanted to make: I'm here. Well, Becky started doing it, too. Even though I had asked Becky to treat my room as a private space for me, she comes to my room often. She makes the REM-Pod go off and then gives me "ghost fuzzies" that sometimes are very similar to my grandma. The other day I had to get the divining rods out and through our interaction she revealed that she was just playing with me and that it was her talking to me the whole time. So Becky has a tendency to be playful and just wants to get attention. She is 9 afterall.

Well last night I got one singular beep on my REM-Pod in my room before I went to bed. I decided to get my rods and hopefully talk to my grandma. Lucky for me, it was her and she was pulling out all the stops to make sure that I knew it was her. It was all of her trademark "ghost fuzzies" and style of rod responses. I asked her if Becky was in the room and she said no. I asked her about the two dark men and she knew about them and had seen them in my room. She didn't know much about them, though. I also asked her if she gave me the "ghost fuzzies" while I was on the treadmill earlier that day and she said yes. (My grandma likes to cheer me on when I'm working hard on the treadmill.) But the discussion finally turned to us. I asked her if she was upset about something or if something was bothering her and she said yes and sent me some very strong "ghost fuzzies." I was having a hard time keying into her energy, but I tried my best to figure out what was wrong. It had something to do with us not talking very much and not getting to communicate much anymore. I apologized for that and said I would try to improve that and explained that we do have another spirit in the house which does make it complicated sometimes. She agreed. We ended our conversation with a ghost hug and I went to bed.

The next morning I went about my usual routine. I opened up the lantern in the living room and set about my day. This time when the first blue flash went off, I did not say "Good morning, Becky." Instead I said, "Good morning! I hope you have a great day!" Subsequent flashes I also said "hello" or "hey" without adding a person. Then I continued on with my day.

Eventually it was time to do my treadmill walk and I got on as usual. Halfway through I started getting my grandma's trademark "ghost fuzzies" on my cheeks and the tingles on my head. They were strong. I greeted her and thanked her for her support and eventually the fuzzies faded. My walk slowly came to an end.

I went to sit on the couch afterwards and the lantern went off to blue. I said hello and then asked if this was grandma. The lantern lit up to green (the next color higher than blue). Is this what you were mad about? That you made the lantern go off and I said it was Becky? The lantern lit up to blue. I asked her if she said hi to me on the treadmill a few minutes ago? The lantern lit up to blue. Is it easier to use than some of the other equipment we have? No response, but then my husband came in the room and all future answers sort of dwindled. I'm not sure why. He's present during our nightly conversations, but in this instance, the two things just seemed to overlap. Later, though, I asked it something (that has slipped my mind) and another intelligent response came through in the form of a blue light.

It dawned on me that we never really knew how my grandma would respond to the para-light. We had only had it for a few days before Becky arrived at our house. I had just made assumptions about my grandma and her use of our other equipment as she only ever used our REM-Pod in the past and even that she would only ever give those one or two greeting beeps and not intelligent responses. It was like the new shiny thing took my attention and I forgot about her. I didn't really forget about her, but we just weren't connecting like we had before Becky had showed up. 

The take away when you're entertaining multiple spirits in your home is to make sure that you honor their individuality. Don't make assumptions about who is attempting to connect with you. On the flipside, I wish the spirits would actually answer the question "is this so-and-so" when a connection is trying to be made. If you make the lantern flash, maybe also flash a yes when asked if it's you. If anything, I've learned that ghosts can be stubborn with their communication. And I definitely don't want to get the divining rods out for every little light flash just to have confirmation. If I make the effort to ask, I've told them the ball is in their court to answer. 

Graveyard Pinging (January 2023)

Lately I've been working on opening myself more to understanding my sensitives as a medium. I've learned that I'm incredibly sensitive to various energies, which is what gives me so many "ghost fuzzies" as I like to call them. It's not quite full-blown goosebumps, but it's this almost indescribable tingle. Becky knows that I can sense her, so she triggers these "ghost fuzzies" in me often. Right now, as I type this out, she is standing next to me sending out her vibes. I've also been working to distinguish the different types of "fuzzies" the ghosts project on to me. For instance, my grandma only sends out a certain type of "ghost fuzzies." I know that when they are of that intensity and in those places that she's near me. The same goes for Becky. But I'm learning, as I understand the location of a "ghost fuzzy" is not a fingerprint. Becky is so active and energetic that sometimes what I feel from her is like what I feel from my grandma, but never vice versa. She seems to have a wider spectrum through which she can interact with me. When I was hunting this past summer and fall, I also realized that "ghost fuzzies" are a way to acknowledge a spirit in your area. 

So today I wanted to put this tingle to good use and try to "ping" some ghosts. What I mean to say is that I believe I can attune myself or open myself up to feel the "ghost fuzzies." That means I just put myself in a calm state and I focus on who I want to make contact with. I've done this with my grandma before, because it's hard to have two ghosts in your house sometimes. I was hoping to try it at my mom's house, where I know there is more than just my mom there. 

As we drove past the cemetary on our way home, I felt this pull. I immediately blurted out, "We should go ping there today for those mean guys." My husband didn't sounded excited about pinging anything, but I was driving, so I turned the car right to head towards the driving entrance. As we drove the two blocks to the entrance, I tried to calm myself and open my mind, focusing on the two men who were in our house, specifically their residual energy that I had picked up on. 

I drove on the snowy path focusing my energy and then all of a sudden, I got a hit. It was a faint hit, but I tried to process it. Was it the masked man? Maybe. I decided to drive on to see what else turned up before committing to every ping I made. This was, after all, still the beginning of the drive into the cemetery. 

We continued forward, past the military memorial flags, down towards the end of that side of the cemetery. I passed the Mueller mausoleum and shortly after, I pinged again. This time it was strong and sharp, coming at me from the left side of the car. I stopped and I immediately knew in my mind that it was the Tweed Man. I turned to my husband and said that his grave was somewhere in this area of the cemetery. I sat there for a moment trying to process. I wasn't getting much more than the sense that it was him and that he was buried in this area, so I moved on around the U of the drive and came up the other side. 

Slightly past the area on the other side from where I pinged the Tweed Man I let out a little gasp. Something had tried to scratch the left side of my cheek and neck. When I raised my hand to feel it, nothing was there. My husband asked me what was wrong, but I told him I didn't want to talk about it. So we kept driving and as we got closer to the exit, I told my husband we should take another turn around to make sure my pings are right.

Back around we went. This time I got a stronger ping from the Mask Man. I stopped and my husband took a picture of where I stopped (for future reference). I wasn't getting much from the ping, though, but it was definitely him. I could see him in my mind and he didn't look happy with me. 

We drove down farther to where I pinged the Tweed Man. I stopped where I felt like stopping, which wasn't perfectly where I was before, but something said stop there. I was pinging like crazy, even more than the previous time around. I stopped next to a grave for someone named Robert and the name and grave stone really grabbed at my attention. It made me wonder if that was actually the Tweed Man's grave. It felt too new to be his, but the name resonated with me nevertheless. My husband took a picture.

I also had a mental image come to me of the two men hanging around the mausoleum. That's where they like to hangout and plan together. It allows for them to get a great view of all the houses across the way from the new cemetery. This was their stomping ground when not out trying to harass people at night. Sadly, I also had a gut feeling that, since they weren't happy with what I just did, they might make an appearance at my house tonight. They typically target my daughter, but now I think I put a target on my back.

After that I knew it was time to hightail it out of there! We honored the 15mph speed limit, but I was ready to go. And as we drove down the exit lane, I started to feel funny. I was getting ghost fuzzies that weren't the two dark men. They were other spirits from the cemetery. I felt really uncomfortable and I admit that I sped up a good bit to get out of the cemetery. These ghost fuzzies were coming from the exceptionally old part of the cemetery. I began to think opening up had drawn attention to myself, made me a beacon of sorts. I was not quite ready for that.

I breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the cemetery and nothing bothered me as we drove down the longer stretch next to the cemetery. But as we turned onto our street I was taken over by ghost fuzzies. Full body ghost fuzzies. I stopped the car and loudly declared, "Anyone who is in this car with us is not welcome and needs to go away, unless you're Becky." The fuzzies went away, but I still felt uneasy.

We walked into the house and as I walked towards the kitchen I was overtaken my full body fuzzies and I called out again that if you were not my grandma or Becky you are not welcome here. I even went for my recorder and was going to do an EVP session, but the dogs were being too loud and noisy for that. So I got out my divining rods and I asked Becky if she was with us in the car, to which she said no. She also confirmed there were not others in the house and she gave me the ghost fuzzies when I walked in. I apologized for yelling at her and we ended our talk with a hug. 

This experience made me feel incredibly empowered about my own abilities. I've been spending time trying to understand what I am capable of and it's starting to blossom. I am also proud to have walked away from this understanding more about the two dark men. I believe I've pegged them as all bark and no bite. They just want to scare people to make themselves feel good. They don't have the energy to actually hurt someone.

It's hard to treat today's exercise as a full-blown success without taking a leap of faith. I have no way to verify the feelings I had or information I believe I gleaned from my encounter. That said, I think I have suppressed whatever ability I have for far too long. I need to learn what I am capable of and try to trust in it. Perhaps someday soon an opportunity will present itself where my feelings and the evidence we uncover will coincide.

Two Dark Men (January 2023)

 My sleep was restless. I remember a point in my night where I was unhooking my Fitbit band from my wrist (which is no easy feat when you can't see it), but I was later woken up by a loud noise and without opening my eyes, I realized I had thrown my Fitbit onto the floor and it hit a box next to my bed. I didn't open my eyes to confirm this. I just knew that's what happened. I debated over getting it and refused, because it felt dangerous to lean out of bed to retrieve it. Later that same night I awoke and stretched down to get the Fitbit and I struggled to put it back on without opening my eyes. Then I fell back asleep and fell into an incredibly weird dream that was uncomfortable for me as it had to do with my old job and my old coworkers. 

Finally, I woke up from this night of restless and disturbed sleep. I went downstairs and I shared with my husband the strange events that happened. Then he told me our daughter had experienced a troubling night as well. 

My daughter had woken up around midnight and told him there were two men in dark shadow staring down at her. One of them had been wearing a hooded mask. She said they really scared her and it had been hard to get out of bed. She finally made it downstairs to tell my husband, who then soothed her and sent her back to bed. 

Hearing this hit me oddly, so I went to check my sleep record from the night from my Fitbit, knowing that a portion would be missing due to taking it off. I discovered that my strange wakefulness activities started at 12:30am and extended until around 3:30am. So if my daughter was freaked out around midnight, what was stopping the spirits from coming down to my room and harassing me in my sleep?

I thought back to that night and I remembered that at some point I woke up, because I was experiencing extreme goosebumps all over my torso. This is not something I am used to feeling in bed, as my bedroom had been considered my safe space until Becky arrived. Even with Becky, though, she and I established that at night I'm sleeping and I'm in my personal space. So to have this feeling in the middle of the night was greatly disturbing and I knew it was a spirit of some sort next to my bed, touching me while I was sleeping. Something was trying to get my attention.

I meditated on the situation for a while, trying to mine my subconscious for anything that I wasn't remembering. Suddenly I was hit with something of a "download" of information. I saw two men. One was shorter than the other. They weren't "living" in my house, but visiting, and I felt like they were from the cemetery about a half mile up the road. Immediately I took to my divining rods and wanted to talk to my grandma about the situation, maybe seeing if the information I downloaded was fitting into the greater narrative.

My grandma wasn't there to answer my questions. Sometimes she's gone during the day. I asked for Becky to see if she could help me with anything and, my goodness, she knew what I was talking about. 

Becky informed me that it is two men. They only show up every couple weeks or so. Their intent is to behave like boogeymen and they try to scare and disturb people. She's seen them in our home before, which made me think back a few weeks to another really difficult night that I had. I started to wonder if that had been them, too. Becky shared that they've been in Isabelle's room and my room. She said that they are not good men, but they just visit when they feel like it. 

I thanked Becky for her help and sat for a bit processing the information and also looking at what supported my own mental download of information on them. Then I sent my daughter some messages to find out more details about what she saw. I figured she could answer during her lunch/recess time when phones were allowed, but it turned out she forgot her phone. So I had to wait until she got home to get to the bottom of this information.

When she arrived home, she answered the questions I sent her, but apparently my husband had sent her the same questions, so all the answers went to him. I had asked her which one wore the mask and was the mask a half-face mask. She sent this picture to my husband:

Then she explained that the mask was just like that, but without the mouth, nose, and eye spots. My husband joked, "So basically Slenderman?" My daughter doesn't believe in the existence of Slenderman (When my husband asked, "You know Slenderman is just fiction, right?", she scoffed and responded with, "Obviously.") but she knew who he was and what he looked like, so she agreed that that would be an accurate description of what she saw. No, we are not operating under the assumption that Slenderman is haunting our house and we will not be entertaining that theory either. Dare I mention that we're from Wisconsin and the Waukesha stabbings are not lost on us. But my husband and I were around for the invention of this popular internet "creepypasta", and while we're *fans* of the monster and its lore, it's just fun fiction. Nevertheless, she saw what she saw so we'll roll with it for now.

My daughter did confirm that one of the men was shorter, wearing a top hat of all things, and the taller one was wearing the creepy mask. She couldn't make out their clothing, so she wasn't sure if one of them was wearing tweed. She said they were just looming over her and then just disappeared after a couple seconds. 

After processing everything, here is my acting theory on these two men:

They are two men who come from the cemetery about a half mile up the way. One of them is taller than the other. They have chosen to behave like boogeymen and get a kick out of "scaring" people. We're not the only people in the area that they've done this to. I feel like they had gone to other houses in our neighborhood as well, especially a certain house on the corner of our neighborhood. When we drove past the house, I felt like they were a prime target for these two men. I also felt that these two men did not know each other in life, but met after death and are from the older part of the cemetery. The other night was not their first time meeting us, but they've been coming to our house for a few years now and we just weren't tuning into what was causing these restless and disturbing nights. The other spirits leave these two spirits alone, because they are so hostile and nasty. They come late in the evening, sometime between 11PM and 4AM, when people are most likely asleep and easily manipulated. My husband has never had any negative encounters, but then he is almost always awake during these hours. I don't feel the taller one always wears a mask, but I feel like he changes up his look to scare different types of people. The shorter one I picture in a tweed jacket and the taller one is in a black suit. 

So I guess I'll have to keep aware of when these spirits come to my house. Since writing this, it has been brought to my attention that they have returned within a week. This time they were focused on my daughter in her room, but she didn't have anything happen to her. I guess we need to stay ever vigilant and if things get really bad, we will look into how to stop them from coming to the house. 

Coming up on Ghost Stories: These lurking men get a taste of their own medicine.

The Year of the Ghost

Somebody asked me what word describes my 2022. I thought about it quite a bit, because so much happened to me last year and it's all so disconnected, yet connected. One word, though, stood out to me and that was "ghost." And as I looked back on my year, it seemed to be the common thread that ran through the good and the bad of the entire year. 

~ My dad came to my house and contacted me, because of my mom. 

~ A spirit was visiting me in my house that took me a while to figure out was my grandma.

~ My husband and daughter got me a REM-Pod for Mother's Day.

~ I started this blog to record my paranormal experiences.

~ Rewatched all of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters Academy.

~ I went on a ghost hunt in July, which I had not done in a long time, at the Sheboygan Asylum.

~ I met Adam Berry and had a small ghost hunting session with him at the Sheboygan Asylum.

~ My mom passed away in July and, post-passing, I engaged with her extensively.

~ Took my daughter to her first ghost hunt at the Sheboygan Asylum in August.

~ In October I went on a ghost tour (with mini-hunt) at The Grand Oshkosh with my daughter.

~ In November my family went on a ghost hunt at The Farm in Shawano, Wisconsin. 

~ For St. Nick I got a mini Para-Light to use for ghost hunting.

~ On December 9 my family went to the Glenbeulah School for a ghost hunt with Adam Berry.

~ On December 10 my family went to the Sheboygan Asylum for a ghost hunt with Adam Berry.

~ On December 14 I learned that we had a spirit come back with us from Sheboygan.

~ On December 15 we realized Becky, who we met at the Glenbeulah School, had come home with us.

~ For the rest of December we interacted with our visitor and my grandma, who was/is still present in the house.

I think that "ghost" really does fill up my year and really embodies an image for where I'm heading in 2023. 

Hitchhiker for the Holidays - Hello! (December 2022)

 I was watching the finale of Lego Masters on Wednesday night when I suddenly got a Discord message from my daughter. Words aren't spelled correctly and it seems hastily written, but I didn't think much of it. What I was able to figure out from the message was that she wanted me to come upstairs. I asked her why and she just begged me to come upstairs to be with her. I immediately knew that it was something paranormal - something had spooked her and it wasn't my grandma.

I took my Para-Light and went upstairs to her room, setting the lantern on her bed (looking back, it went off to a green/blue). She was frozen on her bed, crying, unable to speak. I tried communicating with her, but ended up just comforting her until she came out of her episode. My hand was squeezed so tightly, I couldn't have gotten out if I wanted to. She was greatly shaken up and didn't know what caused it to happen. 

"I suddenly felt really angry and I threw my glasses across the room and then I started feeling sad and depressed and emotional and then I froze up and started crying. I was really scared and I don't know why I suddenly felt this way."

My daughter is a tween, so emotions are a scary thing for them. Think of Inside Out and how Riley goes from a small, simple emotion board to an elaborate board when she hits puberty. That is a great amount of scariness to process and my daughter is often scared of the broad and varied array of emotions she feels. So this particular experience was very troubling to her. 

What stood out to me, though, was the fact that she practically vapor locked during the experience. I immediately thought of the first time my Grandpa Fritz had touched my arm while I was sitting in my bed all those years ago. I felt overwhelmed with emotion and then I locked up, scared to death to move. Then, when I was free, I felt so emotional and I ran down the hall to my mom. I knew my daughter had been touched by something and I realized I needed to get to the bottom of this situation. 

Initially I went straight to my bedroom and got out my divining rods and contacted my grandma. Here's the long and short of the conversation: "Yes, you have another spirit in the house." "Yes, it has only been here since Sunday." "It is a little girl." "She does not mean to hurt anyone." "She is just curious about the family." "We are safe." And she was the reason my grandma had been a bit absent that week. 

Great. We've got a friendly child spirit. The previous weekend we had all gone to a two-night investigation of the Glenbeulah School and Sheboygan Asylum about an hour away. Had something hitched a ride home with us? Of course, years of watching Ghost Adventures unfortunately puts into my mind that this could be a demon! So, as much as I make fun of Ghost Adventures demon-obsession, I went to bed Wednesday night with the fear that we might have brought something malignant home from those ghost hunts.

Thursday

The next morning, after dealing with a two-hour school delay due to weather, I went up to my daughter's room with the REM-Pod and started to try to make contact. I wanted to make sure my daughter was safe and that my family was safe. The first thing that hit me was the energy fuzzies or goosebumps. I could feel them waxing and waning. They started on the landing of our stairs and went to my daughter's bedroom at the top of the stairs. The spirit used the REM-Pod to light it up to purple when she was talking to me. The first time I asked if someone was here, she put it to yellow and the next she put it to purple. Then she kind of stopped communicating and I said I was going to go back downstairs As I turned to leave, the purple light went off long and loud until I turned back. I explained the situation and then went downstairs. 

My husband arrived home during that time and I told him what I was finding. I suggested he go upstairs. As I waited for him to take me up on the suggestion, I heard the REM-Pod go off again on its own upstairs. I told him it was going off and he decided to head up. The interaction was strong for him, as well. At first my husband thought there was an issue with the battery in the device as the center red light started flashing. He changed the battery and it did it again. Changed the battery a SECOND time and it did it again. This time he asked if the spirit could back away from the device and the flashing immediately stopped. It was almost as if the spirit in question's energy was so strong that it had to have distance from the REM-Pod in order to not make it short out. Now, it began to respond to my husband, activating lights and backing away upon request. He was quite impressed. But while the spirit was performative, it did not seem interested in answering questions. Finally, as I had, my husband started to head downstairs, and the REM-Pod again went off, seemingly in protest, until my husband turned back and explained why he was leaving. 

Have I mentioned that this day was my birthday? How crazy to have this happen on my special day!

Later that day I went into my daughter's room and brought my divining rods. My husband is ever the skeptic about them, but I finally found a pair that work so perfectly and greatly reduce user error. We started to ask some questions and we were getting responses. She is a little girl and she is from the Glenbeulah School. It was unclear, but she responded in the affirmative to the name Becky (a name we took from our investigation at the school to inquire about). She told us she was just interested in us, which is why she came home with us. Also, she said that she liked our animals and thought they were funny.

I also taught her how to do hugs with the divining rods. To give a hug, you swing them wide out. To receive a hug, you swing them all the way in. She swung them in and I gave her a big hug. At the end of the conversation, she asked for a second hug. I gave her another hug. I got the ghost fuzzies and I felt really good hugging her. I mean, you're essentially giving yourself a hug but it just felt right. A positive energy seemed to charge the air. Hopefully that's what she was wanting.

We thanked her for sharing her information, set up the REM-Pod for future notifications, and went downstairs. We had explained to her that we would have equipment downstairs, too, and described our Para-Light and K2 Meter. My husband started getting some blips on his K2 (which looked like the blips my daughter got on it when we were talking to Becky at the school), but we realized that certain places in his office were subject to WiFi signals and were setting the K2 off so we had to scratch all interactions due to contamination.

The rest of that day was blips on the Para-Light in the living room, which I thought was my grandma who likes to visit. I did not hear from my grandma upstairs when I put the REM-Pod on, which was disappointing, because it was, afterall, my birthday.

Friday

I started out Friday with a similar approach - attempting to use the REM-Pod in my daughter's bedroom in the morning. After an initial "I'm here" beep on the REM-Pod, we didn't get any responses. I was getting dozens of ghost fuzzies at various locations in the house, kind of like she was following me around and letting me know that she's there. I decided to try to get some EVPs to see if she would share her name or information about her. I was already starting to wonder about her age and had a good idea of what it was in my mind already, as well as what she looked like.  Sadly, my recorder didn't playback anything clearly and wasn't compatible to hookup to a PC to export the recordings, as it is a very, very old recorder. I scrapped it and figured I'd try again tomorrow with our other, more reliable recorder.

Typically when I go to bed, I turn on my REM-Pod in the corner of my room where my grandma's old chair is. She then comes through in a certain pattern of beeps to let me know that she's here and then I talk to her about the day. Sometimes I get the rods out and we talk and she gives me hugs. Sometimes she's not there and then I wait to share until she's arrived back. Tonight the REM-Pod went off and it seemed similar to my grandma, but I was not getting the grandma fuzzy vibes. I was sensing a different energy. So I shared a goodnight message in case it was my grandma and then I turned off the REM-Pod and got into bed. 

I was laying in bed, watching a cooking show on TV and occasionally glancing around the room. My husband was asleep next to me, but his feet were slightly restless and the dog was hot-dogged between us. I glanced over towards my husband's feet at one point and my breath got caught in my chest. I wasn't sure what I had just seen and my mind was processing what had just happened. I realized I had just seen part of a child's face and her hair running around the corner of my bed. She was about 4ft tall with long brown hair and a very childlike face. 

I went to smack my husband on the back to wake up and all of a sudden my entire body was being covered in wave after wave after wave of goosebumps from toes to head and I knew I was being summoned out of bed. 

Finally, I woke my husband up and I got out of bed. As I rounded the corner of the bed on my side, I turned the REM-Pod in the corner on and kept going to the other nightstand that had my divining rods. I was still flush with ghost fuzzies. I set myself up in front of the chair, where I usually stand to talk to my grandma.

I first established who I was talking to and it was, in fact, the little girl. I asked her if she had just appeared to me at the end of the bed and she said she did and also gave me all the ghost fuzzies. I asked her if she was from the Glenbeulah School and she said yes. I followed that by asking if she was used to having lots of visitors and if she was used to communicating at this time of night, to which she answered yes for both. It was between 9:30-10PM when this started happening and was a Friday night, when ghost hunts usually occurred at the school.  I followed this up by asking her age. I just had this feeling she was 9-years-old and I shared that with people prior to this encounter, so I asked "Are you 8-years-old?" No. "Are you younger than 8-years-old?" No. "Are you older than 8-years-old?" Yes. "Are you nine?" Yes. 

Then I talked to her about how at night we're sleeping, so she should probably hang out downstairs with my husband, who stays up most of the night. I told her the people upstairs are sleeping and we don't want to spook them while they're sleeping or anything like that. Plus, downstairs are where all the pretty lights are. She confirmed she understood and then I asked her to show me where she was in the room. She indicated and confirmed that she was sitting in my grandma's rocking chair with all the comfy blankets. 

We closed out the session together and then I went to bed, begging my husband to stay for a little while. I also left the TV on, because, I'm not going to lie, I was spooked. My bed is my safe space. I've had quite a few spirits come through my home, mostly family, but I have NEVER gotten ghost fuzzies in my bed. ::shivers::

Saturday

Saturday had two important events that involved our visit spirit. Today I used the better audio recorder and did some EVP sessions. I asked several questions I hoped to hear an answer from her on, so it was things like her name, age, and where she's from. We were able to get at least one response from her. Below is the link to my GoogleDrive saved mp3 recording.

Child Spirit Responding to Question 12-17-2022

When evening arrived, I had hopes that my grandma would be around to talk to, but instead the young lady made my REM-Pod go off before bed. I got out the rods to talk to her real quick. During this session, she again confirmed her name was Becky. She also, and eagerly, told me likes dolls, has noticed we don't have any dolls, but did notice my Funko "dolls" downstairs. I also asked her if she had watched the movie with us last night and tonight, because the lantern kept going off during the movie and she said yes, but very slowly said yes. I'm not sure about some of her slower answers. 

I also talked to her again about the upstairs at night being for sleeping and she said she understood. She tried to give me a hug by swinging the rods wide, but couldn't get the other one to swing to the left, so she switched it up and asked for a hug instead. I gave her, what I called, goodnight hugs and we closed out our session.

I assumed she went downstairs, because I'm putting faith in her, but I know she was in my room that night. My sleeping was incredibly restless and I woke up more than once to extremely strong ghost fuzzies affecting me. I tried very hard to stay calm and ignore it so that I could actually sleep and she would understand that night time is not for interacting at this house. If she wanted to interact, my husband was awake downstairs.

Sunday

We spent time on Sunday trying to get some EVPs and for the little girl, or Becky, to tell us her name. I really want to hear her say her name, instead of us suggesting a name that she agrees with. Sadly, our EVPs turned up empty or unintelligible. 

We did have quite a bit of Para-Light activity, though. My husband and I would challenge her to get the lamp up to red and she finally did. She'd set it off here and there. We assumed responding to what we were talking about or what was on TV or what the animals were doing.

Before I went to bed, I decided to bring my REM-Pod downstairs and turn it on. We got interactions from her there. Only briefly letting us know she was there. Then I reminded her about sleeping expectations and she made the Para-Light go to green. Then we said our goodnights.

Monday

This morning I put the REM-Pod and Para-Light on the TV table in my living room. I thought maybe she would make it go off when I turned it on. That's usually what my grandma does. But it wasn't until my daughter left for school that she made the equipment go off.

As my daughter closed the door, the green light on the REM-Pod went off and then the blue one lit up for a good bit. Then it stopped. Right as my husband got home, it went off again, this time the green and yellow lights. She did it again when my husband came into the living room. As she played with the REM-Pod, she also made the blue on the Para-Light go off, which was on the other end of the table from her. My husband asked her to light up the purple light, which indicates the highest reading. It took her a bit, but shortly thereafter, the purple light did, in fact, light up.

We thought she had stopped, so I stood up and the REM-Pod went off again and I told her I was just going to the kitchen. When I came back, she kept making a light go off when I stepped in a certain spot in front of the couch. My husband and I tried to debunk it and then she confirmed for us that she was just playing around by switching the light to purple. We did a knocking test on the table to make sure the REM-Pod wasn't strangely reacting to vibration, and debunked that. She continued to be very playful for a bit with the REM-Pod -- a shock honestly as we had given up on using the device downstairs ages ago as nothing ever occurred with it.

The rest of the day was an occasional light burst from blue up to yellow on the Para-Light and a few, very small and faint ghost fuzzies. 

Where does that leave us now? 

We're still hoping to get an EVP with her saying her name. I am a little hesitant about Becky, just because we didn't present other names, just this one name that we already knew was a spirit at Glenbeulah School. 

I, for whatever reason, bought her a Christmas present of a doll. I figured if she goes back to Glenbeulah, they'd let her take it with her to the doll room. But if she's going to be here for Christmas and seems to be a young lady who needs hugs, a doll gift would maybe make her feel really good.

We're hoping to hear from the ghost hunting group that owns the Glenbeulah School and get some details. Maybe even see if they can check on the Becky situation there at the school. So we're hoping for more information to help with more interactions. 

The Grand Opera House Oshkosh (June 2016 & October 2022)

In June 2016, I was taking a class with the Fox Valley Writing Project and we went to The Grand Oshkosh for inspiration writing. I took just a few pictures and as I was listening to the lady explaining to us the history of The Grand, I had my camera out and I was following a light that drifted down the aisle past me and hovered around one of my instructors near the floor. It was a bluish-white color. I couldn’t see the light, except through the camera. The light left my instructor and then glided up to the stage and went back and forth along the back of the stage. If the light went behind the instructor you couldn’t see it anymore. I followed it for most of the speaking time and then it just disappeared. 

I tried to film it and I even have a 2 second video where I say, “Oh! Now it’s gone.” Sadly, I tried twice and both times it didn’t pick up on film. I have two photos. One didn’t pick up on it and the other barely showed it, but I got it before it disappeared behind a chair. It’s not the BIG light, it’s below it by the chair legs, very tiny. That's the spot that moved in all directions and up and down the aisle. The instructor that it passed is the one in the yellow shirt.

I didn't go here hoping to catch something. It was a day out with my class for a writing activity. I haven't returned since, but I've heard that they frequently have activity. I know what I saw and I am confident they have paranormal activity at their location.

I hadn't returned to The Grand until October 2022 when they offered a Ghost Tour and mini-interactive spirit session. My daughter and I went together to learn more about this locally haunted attraction. I, of course, wanted to know if what I had seen had been seen by other people. 

The first part of the tour was the brief history of the Grand and it was followed by ghost stories of various locations in The Grand. They named their prominent ghosts and who they thought they were. The one who frequently appears on the stage was one of the prolific owners of the The Grand. When I thought back to my own experience, watching the light "meander" down the main aisle and then walking around on the stage, I wondered if that's who I saw in an energy form. We also learned about Native American spirits who are prominent in the downstairs dressing rooms.

I don't particularly want to go into all their stories, because I want to support The Grand and I want to recommend that you, wherever you live, learn more about their stories and history. But one story we were told about was about the little boy spirit who lives in the basement. It is speculated that he maybe passed on down there. See, the basement was where they moved carts of coal, if I'm not mistaken. If memory serves me correctly, they speculated that he may have died in a cart accident. Like many ghost hunters nowadays, they felt it was taboo to ask the spirit about their death, so they didn't have details about it. 

The little boy, though, is their most interactive spirit. So on this tour one of the ladies who was guiding us had a set of divining rods (or spirits rods or dowsing rods if you prefer). She used them to communicate with the little boy. I know some people will say it's a parlor trick or just a way to get people excited, but as someone who frequently uses divining rods, I know that they can be effective when used properly. 

The woman leading the interaction would ask questions like "can you point to where you are in the room?" or "can you point at [this person] in the room?" I had never thought to use the rods to ask questions like that before. Then, as the interactions continued, I learned the most interactive experience you could do with the rods and I, again, had never heard of or thought of it. She explained that sometimes the little boy likes to hug. That he'll cross and lock the rods against your chest. A ghost can hug you? I didn't even think a ghost would need a hug! Then it made me think of my mom and I knew that I would be going home and trying it with my mom. 

During the rod session my daughter took part in the activity and the rods locked up on her. The lady said that he was doing that, because he was being silly about interacting. Isabelle said she knew she didn't move them like that and if she was moving them, wouldn't have kept them stuck in the inner hug position. Other people who tried had similar situations to what my daughter experienced, but a few had other experiences where the little boy actually answered their questions. I had an experience while my daughter was holding them and I felt the little boy near us. I slowly had an image of him start to form in my mind, but then it disappeared and I lost connection to what was near me. 

The tour continued, ending with the beautiful view of the stage and a summary of the wonderful stories that make The Grand an absolutely grand place. 

I've had my experiences there and I know there are more to be had. I would go back to learn the stories of the spirits that reside there, but I'd like to learn them from the spirits.