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In recent weeks it has come to my attention that certain parties are using my ghost stories and those of my contributors as references for their own commercial enterprises. If you or someone you know is writing a book on ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, PLEASE DO NOT!!! copy or use the following stories or any other materials within this website as references. Jefferson Davis (25 April 2003)
Here are some buttons which will take you to an archive copy of the last years of the "What's New" section I began in 2001.
Vancouver Informal Paranormal Pub: Monthly Event McMenamins Paranormal Pub: Monthly Event Dark Arts Evening at the Commodore Hotel - 17 February 2017 Oregon Ghost Conference: 31 March - 2 April 2017 International Bigfoot Conference: 1 - 3 September 2017 Port Gamble Ghost Conference: 27 - 29 October 2017 Harvey's Underground Night: 6 December 2017
News, Articles, and Opinions What is the Difference Between a Ghost Hunt, and a Paranormal Investigation? Posted 11 December 2017 What are the rules of a Paranormal Investigation? Posted 12 December 2017 It's Okay to Ghost Hunt in the Daylight! Posted 10 December 2017 Christmas Brings Thoughts of the Ghost Hour Posted 7 December 2017 Visiting Holiday Bazaars Posted 7 December 2017 Harvey's Underground Night: 6 December 2017 Posted 4 December 2017 Video and Newspaper Articles on Spirit Tales of the Vancouver Barracks Posted 20 September 2017 Into the Second Month of Spirit Tales of the Vancouver Barracks, Posted 10 August 2017 I was on the Dead Files New Episode, on 5 August, Posted 21 July 2017 Haunted
England posted 27 April 2017 Native Spirits at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge? posted 25 April 2017 First Encounter with an Ovilus, at the Edgefield posted 26 March 2017 UPDATE The Haunted Commodore Hotel in Astoria 10 Mar 2017 Update on Oregon Ghost Conference & my schedule Posted 6 February 2017 The Haunted Commodore Hotel in Astoria Posted 24 January 2017 Do You Want To Be On A Ghost Hunter TV Show? Posted 5 January 2017
What is the Difference Between a Ghost Hunt, and a Paranormal Investigation? Posted 11 December 2017
Sometime later, I spoke with a friend
about the difference between ghost hunter and paranormal investigator.
I cannot remember his exact reply but my internal filter interpreted
it this way, “Jeff. Jeff,
people might be offended by the phrase ghost hunter, it’s so old
fashioned. We’re all
paranormal investigators now.” While I disagreed at first, we live in
times when people are offended by the natural color of someone else’s
hair. In a discipline like ghost
hunting, (or paranormal research), where there is no international body
publishing dictionaries of technical terms and definitions, what do words
mean? I will try to make my own
definitions, which others may or may not agree with.
To me, a ghost hunter and paranormal
investigator are pretty much the same thing.
They are people who are interested in the lore, facts, and fallacies
in documenting whether there is life after someone dies.
They can go about it using all kinds of technical devices, by
researching historic records, or by using psycho-psychic approaches. True, the phrase ghost hunter is an older
term, with roots in the 19th century, when it this kind of study
was born. Maybe people do not
want to think of themselves as being old fashioned, ie. senile,
superstitious, or ignorant. Looking
at the origins of psychical and other kinds of ghostly investigations, those
19th century investigators were hardly ignorant or superstitious.
Some of the greatest engineering, psychological, and mathematical
minds of their day considered the question of life after death.
Most were forward thinkers. Then again, there is a certain appeal in
using four and five syllable words such as paranormal investigator.
It seems more refined, and scientific.
As someone who has been sneered at many times by close-minded fools,
it would be nice to get a little more respect for the work I have done.
Many of the people I know who try to distinguish themselves by using
the title of paranormal investigator, oftentimes use various technical
devices, as well as a scientific process to conduct their research.
This raises the question, should people who use psychical research in
their work be allowed to call themselves paranormal investigators as well?
How scientific does someone have to be, and can they go too far in
their search for respect? Just using the phrase ‘paranormal
investigator’ does not necessarily mean you are one.
Take for example Yvette Fielding from the British television show Most Haunted. I remember
one episode where she stood in the dark and said, “…I’m supposed to be
a paranormal investigator…” just before a loud noise made her scream,
and run out of the room. She and
her crew carried some of the most advanced scientific equipment the BBC
would purchase for their use.
What are the rules of a Paranormal Investigation? Posted 12 December 2017
Another controversy I came across recently related to rules and policies during ‘paranormal investigations’. A friend was at a haunted locale with another group of people interested in the paranormal. The location was also a restaurant, and they had drinks with their meal. Someone posted pictures of them, with a caption using words such as paranormal gathering or investigation. A third party saw the pictures and immediately flamed them on the internet for drinking during an investigation. Whether they were investigating or not is an open question. It seems these days that instead of discussing issues, modern debate practice consists of achieving some sort of moral high ground over someone else, then abusing the other person for their lack of moral superiority. That practice is not the way to uplift someone to a higher plain of existence! I would like to bring things back to facts and discussion, not abuse. The phrase paranormal investigation (or
ghost hunt) means many things to many people, and seems to defy a
universally accepted definition. I
have many friends who travel across the world, visiting various haunted
locales. They regularly post
pictures of themselves with captions saying they are conducting paranormal
investigations. These seem to
last a few hours, overnight, or an afternoon.
These investigations seem to involve taking pictures, and a bit of
video or audio to post online. If
there is a clairvoyant along, they give commentary based on their
sensations. I have other friends who define an
investigation as a long-term research project, where a group of people visit
and revisit the same location over a period of time.
During their investigation, they design a research strategy, form a
series of questions they want answered, perform experiments in gatherings I
call vigils, and write reports on their findings.
I favor this use of the word investigation.
However, there is nothing wrong with a
group of people holding several separate vigils in many different haunted
locations. This is especially
true if their approach is to sample as many different kinds of haunts, over
a period of years. There is also
nothing wrong with a bunch of people visiting a haunted restaurant or bar
and drinking while waiting for a paranormal event to happen.
So long as they admit, their results will be less than scientific.
However, they are not so passionate about
it that they reorganize their lives, working weekdays, to fund their
research on weekends. They have
just enough time to buy books on the subject, and visit the places that
appeal to them. Sometimes they
are after a thrill, other times, they want assurance that their loved ones
are waiting for them on the other side.
They are the ones least concerned about the difference between a
ghost hunter and a paranormal investigator, or what defines an
investigation. Their interest is
what should motivate everyone who is passionate about the subject, to reach
out and communicate with the mainstream, without getting to technical, or
snobbish. What good is a report
on a haunted location, if there is no one to read it? As for me, since I have been doing this
for a couple of decades, it is alright if someone calls me a ghost hunter.
I am more comfortable talking to people wearing a wool sweater or
tweed jacket, rather than a white lab coat.
Even if we disagree with someone’s definitions, please be
respectful of how and where you disagree.
While we are all humans, and say and do things we regret later, try
not to say anything online you would not say to that person in public.
The paranormal community in the Northwest is not so large that you
will not run into the other person at a gathering somewhere or sometime.
And you might then end up adding to the haunted lore of that
location.
Christmas Brings Thoughts of the Ghost Hour Posted 7 December 2017
or The Dead Hours
are, whenever they are As we get closer to Christmas, I have been thinking about Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol. Because I am who I am, I focus on the paranormal aspects of the story. Many people do not know this, but Charles Dickens, the story author, was a member of the Ghost Club. The Ghost Club has been around since 1862, and its members began the study of what we know today as the paranormal. Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, decades before the founding of the Ghost Club. He brought a great store of knowledge of the lore and beliefs surrounding ghosts to that book. It seems natural that he eventually joined the Ghost Club In the story, the ghost of Jacob Marley tells Ebenezer
Scrooge he will be visited by three spirits.
Each one will appear over a period of three nights, “When the clock
strikes one”, or 1 AM. This
suggests the time when ghosts are most active.
However, many recent television ghost hunter shows have proclaimed
the Dead Hour, the time when spirits are most active, begins at 3 AM.
Rather than a time when the spirits are most active,
perhaps the Dead Hour is the time when we are most likely to perceive their
presence and activities. The
thing about the ghost-witching-Dead Hour is that it is the time when things
are most quiet. Think about the
literature on the paranormal, both fictional and non-fiction.
The story usually begins with a preamble, “All was quiet, all was
calm, when suddenly-!” Could this be a cultural difference between English
ghosts and American ghosts? When thinking about the difference between the
Victorian Era’s ghost hour, versus the modern Dead Hour, there is a
technological aspect to the difference.
In Victorian times, most people went bed by 8 -10 PM, and got up
between 5 – 7 AM. This meant,
by 1 AM, most people were sound asleep, and might have begun early rising by
4 AM. The world around them and
its noises followed the same pattern. These days, while some people keep the same hours as
Victorians, many people go to bed between 10 PM to Midnight.
They are not completely asleep until 3 AM or so.
They do not start waking up until around 7 AM.
This means that the world itself does not start waking up until 6 or
7 AM as well. As a side question, what about daylight savings times?
Do people who lived, died and become ghosts continue their haunts at
the same time, regardless of Daylight Savings Time?
While ghosts who came into being after daylight savings time was
invented change their activity to mirror the changes in our schedules?
What if the time when spirits might be most active may
not coincide with our ability to perceive them?
It's Okay to Ghost Hunt in the Daylight! Posted 10 December 2017 This article is a follow on the article on the Ghost Hour, above. If you have the time and energy, please read that one first.
One answer to the question of daytime and
investigations revolves around distractions.
In the daytime hours, we are often over-stimulated.
Even when sitting in a park in the daytime, we are bombarded with
stimuli. This can come in the
shape of people walking or riding bicycles through the park.
Children and pets roaming round, as well as the scents carried on the
wind, and wildlife can overwhelm some people.
By nature, we have to focus on what is most important to our work or
survival. Survival usually does
not concern detecting ghosts, rather it is the living dangers.
Who knows how many of the people walking by are corporeal beings, or
shades of the dearly departed? We
may not perceive paranormal events because we are too busy to notice their
uniqueness. The opposite can happen in nighttime investigations.
At night it is quiet. If
the investigation is inside a building, there are fewer people to distract
us. We can concentrate on any
unusual sight, sound, or smell. However,
even this has a down side. At night, we might not be distracted, but may become
hyper vigilant. If we are
outside, or inside a badly lit building, our primary human sense, our sight
is impaired. We have to rely
upon our other senses, touch, smell, and hearing.
While some people have acute hearing, over reliance upon it can cause
any observer to magnify the importance of sounds they hear, or shapes they
see in bad light. In other
words, they can see or hear things that are not there.
The reality of physical fatigue can compounded these
errors. Most people work in
daylight hours, and their bodies are used to a certain number of hours of
rest at night. Working a full
shift at work and staying up for another six hours, straining to hear the
sounds of a ghost will tax anyone’s stamina.
Of course, when on television, this mix makes the ghost
hunter TV show much more exciting. To
keep that air of mystique, some shows purposely film in darkness. Why do it in the
dark? I remember several years ago, I met a paranormal
research group, investigating the White Eagle Saloon, in Portland, Oregon.
They set up equipment in one of the rooms, as well as the hallway.
They were quite upset when the hotel staff did not allow them to turn
off the lights in the hallway, because of safety concerns.
I asked their lead person, “Why do you have to ghost hunt in the
dark?” He blinked at me, and said, “Well that’s the way Ghost Hunters does it on television.” When he said it out loud, he paused a bit, perhaps because it sounded kind of lame. To his credit, he got back with me later, after he sent out an information request to the show. They answered back, saying they did it in the dark, because that was when they seemed to get the most ‘stuff’. I have to counter and ask, how can you tell the difference between paranormal phenomena and anomalies created by limiting factors such as fear, fatigue, and bad photography?
The use of infrared, thermal, and low light cameras can
be a good thing in locations where you cannot have normal or electrical
lighting. However, I know many
people who do their investigations in low light conditions, and spend hours
trying to decide whether an anomaly is paranormal, a camera glitch, bad
light, or a computer error. Why
not turn on the lights, or record in real daylight?
It is not sexy, but you can rule out many error factors much easier.
Another potent reason not to investigate late at night
is purely for safety sake. Investigating
in a dark building or outside, increases the risk of injuries, particularly
if someone is running away from the haunt, screaming in fear!
I constantly warn people not to go ghost hunting in cemeteries at
night, not because of the ghosts, but because some unstable people gravitate
toward cemeteries late at night. I
am not speaking about ghost hunters, but desperate people like drug dealers
and addicts, the suicidally depressed, etc.
The same dangers can also be found at abandoned buildings and ruins.
It is better to not risk becoming one of the ghosts yourself, so
visit in the daytime. To some of you who have read my thoughts up to this
point, I am sure it sounds like I said you cannot accurately ghost hunt in
the daytime or at night. This is
not completely true. The
conclusion I reach is that there are weaknesses in investigating at any
time, day or night. However, I
prefer daylight hours, under the right conditions. To me, the best luck I have had is in daylight, when it
is quiet, and there are few distractions.
Sometimes this means visiting a homeowner, when the rest of the
family is gone, and all electronic devices are turned off.
Performing an investigation in a haunted bar or restaurant on a
Sunday morning, before the staff comes in is ideal.
I highly recommend Sundays for many reasons.
Many people are most rested after getting up late on a Sunday
morning. Street traffic, and
their noises are also lower on Sundays.
Even if people no longer go to church on Sundays, for some reason,
they are generally quieter on Sundays than Saturdays or weekdays.
There will probably never be a perfect time to set up a
paranormal investigation. However,
there will be better or worse times, so plan accordingly.
If the haunt is tied to a nighttime murder, try to be there on the
anniversary, but with good lighting. If
the bartender reports activity in the morning when setting up, try to be
there at that time. Tailor your
investigation to your opportunities, the kind of haunt, and realistic
factors. And good luck!
Meeting my Fans Where They Are, Holiday Bazaars are Great! Because I am slightly morbid, even in the midst of
happy holiday times, I tend to think about the paranormal all the way from
Halloween through Christmas. With
the waning of the independent bookstores, I make contact with my fans by
selling books at holiday bazaars. While
some authors sneer at the thought of renting a table at a high school, and
selling directly to customers, I really enjoy it.
In years past, I would book-up at many chain stores
like Barnes and Noble, in late November and December.
These days, most of the chain bookstores in the Pacific Northwest do
not have the time or budget to have a program of talks and readings by local
authors. The same is true for
most independent bookstores, who cannot guarantee advertising or attendance
at a book reading. Like most independent author/publishers, I sell books
on my own website, and have an online Amazon bookstore.
I do get sales, but I am competing with other retailers who sell used
copies of my books, as well as discounts for new books.
I also find these venues are impersonal, and do not help me learn
what people want to read about the paranormal Pacific Northwest. A few years ago, my wife Janine suggested going to a
local Christmas Bazaar, in the Vancouver USA area.
I was dubious about whether she would earn enough money to pay for
the vendor tables, food, gas, etc. I
was surprised when she sold well over a dozen books in a few hours event.
That launched a sales plan that I have repeated every year since. The rest of the year, I have events tied directly to
the paranormal, such as ghost and/or horror conferences, etc.
When I go to those events, I participate and usually have some kind
of sales table. I also meet up
with fellow authors and publishers to talk about our work.
Contrary to popular thought, our number one talk topic is NOT the
most haunted place we have visited; it is how we produce and sell our books.
I know many people who have self-published one book on
a particular topic. About one
third of them have published a second book.
Of that one third, less than half have published a third, and tried
earning a living through their writing talents.
We are something of a fellowship, and when we gather, we want to
share stories of success and failure, to help each other out.
I used to talk about my holiday bazaar sales, with mixed reception.
While everyone was positive about my success, I occasionally observed
a few sidelong looks from some. I
think some of them believe it is déclassé to meet potential fans in such a
setting. After all, I sometimes
share table space with someone who knits mittens, or turns wooden boards
into kitchen signs that say, “Kiss the Chef”.
To them, I say, “You are missing out!” Most people, who buy books as gifts, purchase them in
the Christmas season. To ignore
that reality is to ignore the potential sale of hundreds of books each year.
In addition to their financial value, these books represent many
other things. They let people
know you are still alive, and not some hermit hiding in your library.
Because of personal issues, I have not put out a paranormal based
book in a few years. However,
when I go to bazaars, I sell books to clients who never heard of me before.
The following year, many of them return for a second or third book;
it is all new to them. When I meet fans at bazaars, there is a real exchange
between us. They tell me how
much they liked (or did not like) particular stories.
They share their own stories, which helps me add to my database of
stories for future books. This
feedback motivates me to produce new work, and I have a new book in progress
right now. Yes, meeting fans who
stroke my ego is a good thing, but I try not to forget, I am the tail of the
dog, my readers are the head, heart and body.
These days, there are holidays for just about anybody
or thing, including author appreciation day.
Last time, I pointed out that successful authors would be merely
authors, without fans who like their work, and promote it through word of
mouth and honest, positive reviews. Every
person who buys my book is my client, and I hope they like it.
I try my best to take a few minutes to listen to them, to sign books,
and appreciate the fact that they like my work enough to take the time to
say so. And so, to my fellow
authors, if you do not go to at least one bazaar and meet the public where
they are, you are truly missing out.
Harvey's Underground Night: 6 December 2017
On Wednesday night, I will be hosting a paranormal get together at Harvey's Comedy Club, in Downtown Portland. The doors open at 6 PM, and at 7 PM, will begin a presentation that lasts about an hour. After the presentation, guests will be allowed to go down to the basement, to test rumors that it is haunted.
In 1941, Harvey Dick bought the Hoyt Hotel, and over the years, he made several improvements to the hotel's facilities. He added the Barbary Coast Lounge restaurant, and the Roaring 20's Room, a bar. Both of these facilities, with their gaudy themed decor attracted people from all over Portland, for decades. Sadly, the hotel closed in 1972, and was demolished in 1977.
This year, members of the POPS team visited the basement with a local reporter. They all noticed that the light in the basement was too dark to take good pictures. As if in answer to that statement, several lights which had been turned off, turned on all by themselves! The first time Harvey's opened their basement spaces to the public was on Halloween night, 2017. While many people did not notice anything too unusual, one woman had an extreme paranormal experience, when unseen hands grabbed her by the shoulders, and turned her around in the dim basement.
I hope to see you all there on Wednesday night!!!
Video and Newspaper Articles on Spirit Tales of the Vancouver Barracks Posted 20 September 2017 The Spirit Tales walk is gaining interest, as we get closer to Halloween. Here are links to two media coverage items.
My friends Aaron Collins and Steve Sroba went on my walk, and recorded some of the high points of our trip in a video. The video is about 16 minutes long. There is a bit of talking, but I think you will like the background scenery of our walk.
I had two special guests at my Sunday walk, on the 17th of September, a reporter and photographer from The Columbian. Here is an article on the walk.
Into the Second Month of Spirit Tales of the Vancouver Barracks, Posted 10 August 2017
In July of this year, I began my spooky walking tour of the Vancouver Barracks. It took a while to gain permission to do so, but I think that past tours I did for charity in 2015 and 2016, demonstrated ordinary people are interested in ghost stories. The work is ongoing, any guided-tour business thrives or fails based on word of mouth. So far, all of the patrons who took the tour seemed to enjoy it. I like their feedback, such as tour start and ending times. Many people do enjoy tours that take place in darkness, or partial darkness. I offer two tours on Saturdays, and the second one ends at 9:30 PM. One thing that came as something of a surprise is the number of people who take my Sunday Afternoon Tour, which runs from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. I learned that some families like this time, because they can go to church or other community event, then go out to a late breakfast, and end the day with a ghost walk. Afterward, they go home and prepare for Monday, and the beginning of the work week, by getting a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, in the heat wave of late July and early August, the number of people willing to walk around in 90 degree weather is very small. Tour sizes shrunk, which was disappointing, but then again, it meant I did not have to walk around in the heat leading a tour either. Now that the weather is cooling off, I hope more people think of the tours as a fun thing to do over the weekend. In the coming weeks, there is a possibility that there may be more events in October, as part of the spooky season. If so, I will post more later. Here are a few pictures from the 5 August tour.
I was on the Dead Files New Episode, on 5 August Posted 21 July 2017 On Saturday night, 5 August, I was be on the Travel Channel tv show, the Dead Files. I was in the Olympia area early in 2017, and waited about six months for the episode to air. I was there as a historical consultant again. For those who think all of these television ghost hunter shows are phony, my experience was not. They contacted me, and asked me to do some research on the subject of the Puget Sound Indian War of the mid-1850s. While they had their own researchers, I managed to find some new information, which I brought to the interview. While they interviewed me, as always there were non-committal about whether the interview would be included in the episode. I never met Amy, which is part of their process. When they produce the show, Amy's readings are the focus, which is when Steve brings out the documented historic information. I did not go looking for information based on her impressions. Speaking of impressions, as I recall, we filmed this episode in late winter, or early spring. It was sunny, but cold, standing under the shadow of the roof of the viewing platform. At one point, my right hand was numb from the cold, and I nearly dropped my papers. Steve is lucky he wears a suit coat!
Haunted
England posted 27 April 2017 In April 2017, I took a holiday to England. This was the first vacation I had taken in about five years. To intentionally use a pun, I wanted to visit some of my old haunts to see if anything changed. I am not just interested in the paranormal, I am interested in history and archeology, which are closely related subjects. I also wanted to renew my friendships with school chums Vix, and Kathryn, as well as paranormal friends Philip and Sarah, and her family. I managed to do this, visiting London, Salisbury, and Stratford upon Avon. In these places, I found friendship and fun, history, and the paranormal. I would like to share some stories and links with you. Maybe one day you will go there, and visit some of the places I recommended to you. I had two paranormal highlights in London. One was attending a meeting and lecture sponsored by the Ghost Club, and attending a Jack the Ripper walk of London's East End.
The Ghost Club is the world's oldest organization devoted to the investigation of locations that are purportedly haunted. One of their past members was Charles Dickens, along with academic professionals ranging from engineers and physicists, to theologians and poets. Some of their later members included paranormal investigators Harry Price, and Peter Underwood. The Ghost Club still performs their own investigations, while many of their members write and publish ooks, as well as review them. They also hold monthly meetings. Normally these meetings are for members only. However, for some blessed reason, when I am in London and a meeting is held, they let me attend. On two occasions I have given talks on paranormal investigation practices within the United States. Normally Ghost Club meetings are held at the Victory Services Club. However, this year, their meetings have been held at a pub in the City of Westminster, called the King and Queen.
Within the United States, most paranormal researchers actively try to track down evidence of the paranormal in locations with a reputation for being haunted. Cal's approach was more traditional, focusing on a type of haunting that has been largely ignored within the United States in the last few years. He studied incidents where ordinary people have been visited by the spirits of people who had recently passed on. These incidents are not tied to a location, rather they are tied to people, and a series of recent events. They are not as predictable as visiting a haunted house. This type of haunting has been reported in the literature over the years, and follows a pattern. Someone is going about their daily business with no thought of ghosts. Suddenly they look up, or they hear noise, or they awaken from a sound sleep, to see a friend or family member. That family member may say something, or may simply wait to be identified, and then vanish. It is only later, that the person who saw the apparition finds out that the person they saw was dying, or died shortly at the time of the incident. There are variations within this pattern. Sometimes there may be sounds or smells that are symbolic of the deceased. Oddly, sometimes the apparition of a living person appears, as if to signal their future demise. It is hard for science-gizmo researchers to document this kind of haunting. They are usually single-time events and not repeated, though Cal found some cases where the departed returned at intervals. He used information from earlier surveys, as well as surveys of his own. (I did not take notes of this lecture, so any numbers or percentages I give you may be off to some degree.) In his research, Cal found that around half of the people who responded to the surveys reported some kind of death visitation from friends or families. Of these, a small but significant minority did not know the person they saw was dead, at the time of the event. Half of these visitations took place within two weeks of a death, though some people reported visitations nearly a year after the person passed on. Nearly everyone felt hopeful after these visitations, and it helped them pass through their grief. Only one person out of 50 reported a negative effect of the death visitation they received.. Some psychologists might suggest that these were hallucinations brought on by extreme grief, as part of the subconscious minds efforts to find some kind of healing. However, that does not explain the people who did not know of the death. Furthermore, many of the people who reported these visions or experiences did not have a history of mental disorders or hallucinations. I spoke with him briefly after his presentation, and we discussed further personality studies of informants. That was not the focus of his research, though he hopes other researchers will do so in the future. Cal Cooper has written several books on his paranormal research. You can find out about them by visiting his website.
It has been a great pleasure to meet professional researchers and scholars who are much better than myself. Philip (one 'l' not two,) Hutchinson is one such person. Philip has held offices with the Ghost Club in the past, and is a respected researcher on the subject of Jack the Ripper. He has written numerous articles and books on the subject. He is also the best Jack the Ripper tour guide in all of Britain. He gives tours for a company called Discovery Tours. I have lost track of how many companies with physical storefronts or internet sites, advertise and give nightly Jack the Ripper walks. I am sure there are more than half a dozen. This can make it interesting, when visiting the murder sites. After all, (according to some) Jack the Ripper only killed six women. There are also entrepreneurs who stand outside the Whitechapel district tube stations with cardboard signs offering tours. I have been on five different company's walks myself. I do not normally give such an overwhelming endorsement, but if you are going to take a Jack the Ripper walk, I recommend Philip. Philip is also involved in historic preservation and the paranormal in his home town of Guildford. He owns a company called, the Ghost Tours of Guildford. I have been on that walk, and recommend it as well. Below are some photographs of myself and Philip taken on the day of his Jack the Ripper walk. Oh, and one photo of me recreating a scene from one of my favorite horror movies. This London Underground tube tunnel is where they filmed a chase scene from American Werewolf in London.
Salisbury is also the gateway to Stonehenge, which is listed as a world heritage site. Many bus and train lines from London and other major cities converge in Salisbury, dropping off tourists who want to visit Stonehenge. This year, I paid a modest 29 English Pounds for the privilege of traveling from Salisbury, less than 10 miles, to a parking lot and visitor's center, about two miles from Stonehenge. Once there, I made another bus trip of about two miles, to another parking lot, and then toured Stonehenge. My entry fee included a self-guided audio player. These days, tourists are kept away from the stones, by walking along a maintained path. It is possible to register with the authorities and walk through the actual monument, but I did not have the time to make arrangements. Once I finished my tour of the site, I had to catch another bus to return to the visitor's center. The bus drop off point was on a path that took me directly to the gift shop. The only way I could leave was by passing through the shop. The steward at the door and I chatted for a few minutes, and he blamed American museums for this little innovation. Humm. However, there are a few other ways to visit. There are normal public busses that will take visitors to places like Amesbury, where they can walk to Stonehenge, and several other significant prehistoric sites. If you trust European drivers, you can also rent a bicycle and make about a 20 mile loop from Salisbury to Stonehenge and back.
One location I usually come back to is called the Haunch of Venison. This began its life in the Middle Ages, as a kind of hostel for workmen, building Salisbury Cathedral. In the years since, it has at various times been a hotel, store, bar, brothel, and unofficial meeting place of judges and lawyers participating in the various trials taking place in Salisbury. According to some rumors, in World War 2, on the eve of D-Day, the pub was shut down, and used as a meeting place for Eisenhower and Churchill. There are several ghosts in the Haunch of Venison, including a card sharp, whose hand was cut off for cheating. There is no clear date of when this happened, but in the early 20th century, workmen discovered a human hand still clutching playing cards in a bricked up niche in a second floor fireplace. There is a replica of the hand on display.
Stratford Upon Avon is a very old English town. For centuries its secret to wealth and trade came from the River Avon, which flows through the town. It is still famous for the swans and water canals. Fortunately, much of its Medieval through Tudor architecture remains. It was the town of Shakespeare's birth and death, and is the home of the Royal Shakespearean Theater. I spent several days there. The high point was when I spent most of one day with my school chum Kathryn and her family. I also saw the play Antony and Cleopatra. The play was so well acted, I really came to believe the actors were the same wishy-washy weaklings Shakespeare had portrayed as being. I also hung out in a pub called the Garrick Inn, oh, and attended one ghost tour.
The inn was named for Garrick a few years after his death, which DID NOT take place there. However, other people did die in the Garrick Inn. One of them was a young man named Oliver Gunn, who may have been the towns first plague victim, in 1561. The staff believe he or others may haunt the inn, and have a two page handout on events that have happened there over the years. I did not see any spirits other than the hard cider I had with my dinner in the bar. The food was excellent, better than ordinary pub grub, but not too froo froo, to make me forget I was in a pub. If they are not too busy, I found the staff friendly, and open to talking about the ghosts and many other subjects.
The museum is located within a small complex of buildings, all dating to the Tudor period. Patrons pay a modest fee for guided tours of the open yard, as well as tours of the buildings, where there are several different dioramas set up illustrating life and death in the Tudor period. Some of them use mannequins, which can upset people who remain after hours, to attend the ghost tour.
He told many stories about paranormal events that had taken place over the years, witnessed by patrons as well as guides. This included stories from the plague years, which decimated all of Stratford. There was also the young man beaten near to death by mercenaries staying in one of the buildings. He managed to crawl into an attic and hang himself, rather than suffer another beating. Then there was the knife maker/sharpener who still seems to haunt the space where he used to have his workshop. With the scary stories, and lack of light, several of the patrons thought they heard strange sounds. The guide did point out that a lot of sounds came in from the outside world. The same for strange smells. They also had a small stereo outside, which played spooky music and sound effects. All of this may have conspired to scare some of the younger people taking the tour. Even though I do not think we had any paranormal events, I enjoyed myself and would recommend the museum in the daytime and at night for tours. In addition to this tour, there are spring through summer ghost walks on Saturday evenings, with special walks in October. Every day there is a normal city walk beginning at 11 am, starting at the fountain. This talk normally runs for about two hours, but on the tour I took, a core of us stayed with our knowledgeable guide for a full three hours of interesting walking and talking.
Native Spirits at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge? posted 25 April 2017
In late March, I received an email from Rielly, a young lady from Ridgefield, Washington, north of Vancouver. She described several odd and unusual incidents that she others experienced at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It hosts a large population birds and other woodland and aquatic animal and plant species in its 5,200 acres. Here is a link to their website for more information. In addition to the wildlife, Native Americans, archaeologists, and others know that in the past, a large Native American population lived in and around what is now the refuge. Many believe that this community was known to explorers such as Lewis and Clark as the Cathlapotle village.
Although that was less than 200 years ago, many people forgot the exact location of the village site. By the late 20th century, archaeologists and historians investigated many prehistoric sites in and around Ridgefield, looking for Cathlatpotle. Eventually their investigations led them to the Native American site within the Wildlife Refuge. In 2005, volunteers working with the Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland State University, and the Chinook Nation complete construction of a replica plank house, of Chinookan style. The Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge hold interpretive sessions at the site.
The Ghosts of Cathlapotle? Rielly wrote me a lengthy letter about some things she and others experienced within the boundaries of the refuge. If you are interested in the full letter, here is a link. I will also summarize some of the more memorable phenomena from her letter and other sources. Rielly and others have noticed that there is a certain heaviness within the refuge. They described it as similar to being out of breath, but more spiritual, rather than a real problem with lungs. It is as if some force wants visitors to leave as quickly as possible, and not linger in any one place. Another visitor to the refuge named Olivia described this feeling in another way. For her, it was as if she walked into a party room late, and all the people there stopped what they were doing, to watch her before going back to what they were doing. This heavy feeling is particularly strong on one high hill, with a lone tree standing on the hilltop. On another hill, other people reported hearing a strange buzzing sound, which stopped when they walked off the mound. Another person, a young man decided to walk to the refuge, to meet some friends. It was around 9 PM, when he walked through the refuge, near the plank house and stopped. He turned around when he heard the sound of someone running up behind him. It did not sound like someone wearing heavy shoes, or bulky clothing. Rather, it sounded like someone running very light-footed and quick. The sound got closer, and he felt someone brush past him, but he never saw any living person or animal. After being brushed lightly by the invisible runner, he heard the sound of continue past, and eventually it faded away. Although the young man did not frighten easily, this alarmed him, and he went home soon after. In another case, a man and woman were walking through the refuge, on a rise, when they saw a man on the trail below. The woman reported that he was walking around shirtless. He was dark skinned or deeply tanned, was wearing long brown shorts or a kilt, and had long dark hair. She described his face as soft and young looking, as if he was in his early 20s. He looked somehow out of place to her. She thought he might have been homeless. However he moved as if he belonged there. She and her male companion looked away for a few seconds, and when they looked back, the shirtless man was no longer visible. He could have ducked into hiding somewhere, but he would have moved fast to have hidden so quickly. At first the woman did not think this was related to any Native American spirits, since she had never heard any ghost stories about the refuge before. Other people have reported hearing odd sounds and an unquiet feeling within the refuge, both in daylight or at night. One person heard the sound of a woman whispering, in a remote portion of the refuge.
A Visit to Cathlapotle
On 4 April 2017, I visited the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge with my clairvoyant friend Andrea, and local person Rielly, and her friend Olivia. We paused a while to talk about their experiences before entering the refuge. We agreed that Reilly and Olivia would lead the way, and Andrea and I followed. I asked them not to tell us anything, but to wait for Andrea to note down her experiences. We would compare notes along the way, and at the end of our walk.
trees within the refuge
Andrea investigated the plank house
Unfortunately for us, the weather was rainy that year, and the river was high. This meant the marshy areas of the refuge were flooded. Many of the paths ended in pools too deep and large to walk across without getting too wet. We missed the high hilltop Rielly and Olivia mentioned. Once across the bridge, we walked along a path through grasses and shrubs to the plank lodge. There are a series of paths from the lodge, leading through the refuge. We took one that went upward in elevation, toward a line of trees. As we got closer to the trees, Andrea received the word or impression of the word SACRED. She had many impressions of life energy, and saw children playing in the woods. She also detected a series of spiritual watchers, looking after the spirit children, and other native remnants. Andrea also had the impression of burials, where the dead were placed in canoes on the water, and sent down the river. Neither she, nor Rielly or Olivia knew that many people who lived along the river sent their dead to a final rest in this manner.
A few minutes later, we paused to try contacting any spirits through electronic voice phenomena, using a digital voice recorder. We only made one attempt, where each of us asked two questions each. We did not hear any significant sounds in this attempt. A few minutes later, the Ovilus came up with more words, OUR, FOREST, LEDGE, SEVERAL, DAVID. As we finished our walk around, Andrea, Reilly, and Olivia discussed some deeper meaning to their feelings and their impressions of the visit. They all expressed a belief that there were spirits in the wildlife refuge. These spirits were watchful, and perhaps welcoming of visitors, if those visitors respected the history and heritage of the place. That the spirits wanted people who were disrespectful to leave. When those people visited the guardian spirits of Cathlapotle did their best to hurry them along. To learn more about
the spiritual beliefs of the Chinook and other people of the Pacific Northwest,
there are two good sources/authors to look into. In the 1850s, the US
Government hired an ethnographer named George Gibbs to gather information on
the region’s tribes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gibbs_(ethnologist) Decades after
Gibbs’ death, a woman named Ella Clark published his collected stories, as
well as other tales she gathered
from other sources. These stories are as
close as you can get, except for visiting living, Native American
heritage-speakers. Here are some links to places to download or buy copies
of Gibbs/Clark’s works. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20612219?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/cg146.htm https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=ella+clark&tn=&kn=&isbn=
First
Encounter with an Ovilus, at the Edgefield posted
26 March 2017
In the later 1900s, newer social welfare programs
caused Multnomah County to close the poorhouse, which had become a geriatric
facility. It sat vacant for many
years, until the McMenamins Brothers purchased the vast brick building and
its grounds. The McMenamins are
entrepreneurs who led the vanguard of the brewpub-hotel movement that has
captured the Pacific Northwest. Over
a period of decades, they converted the Edgefield into a successful hotel,
with a brewery, winery, movie theater, and golf course.
Even in winter, it is very difficult to get a weekend room at the
Edgefield, without booking well in advance. As people visiting my website might expect, the decades
spent as a poorhouse seems to have left many unhappy memories within the
brick walls of the Edgefield. Memories
that may manifest themselves in a paranormal way, perceived by the many
guests who stay there today. The
staff keep a log book at the front desk, where guests share their
observations. These experiences
have taken place from the attic to the basement and the three floors in
between. I wanted to talk
briefly about an odd occurrence that took place as Andrea and I toured the
building. Today, the basement is taken up with general storage,
as well as an area with large beer brewing tanks, and stack upon stack of
barrels of aging wines. This
makes an excellent backdrop for the popular wine tasting bar.
However, in the past, as the Edgefield’s inmates grew older, the
staff brought them down to this basement at night.
This was not some form of torture.
It was an economical way for the nursing staff to monitor the inmates
en masse as they slept, rather than making nightly bed checks on each
inmate. Some of the inmates died
in their sleep down there, and may have left some spiritual remnant behind. While we were in the basement, NOT sampling the wine
menu, Andrea and I talked about the many ghost stories surrounding the
building. As we had walked
around, she activated her Ovilus IV device.
I am somewhat of an old school paranormalist.
Over the years, I have watched many people employ scientific devices
which have ordinary uses, to look for evidence that when we die, we leave
something behind. Because these
devices were not designed specifically to find the paranormal, I am
sometimes skeptical of paranormal investigation usage.
I prefer to learn the scientific principles of how the devices work,
and whether their paranormal uses are in line with the original design parameters. The
Ovilus IV is one of a long line of electronic devices manufactured
specifically to find evidence of the paranormal.
Below are excerpts of a description of the devices from the website
for Digital Dousing, who manufactured and sold the OVILUS
IV
The
Ovilus 4 is a major step forward in ITC Devices designed for paranormal
research. ITC
“Instrumental Trans Communication” is a term used to describe
devices that use an electronic or mechanical means to allow spirit
communication. For
the first time with Real Human Voices. Full
Color Touch Screen.
Ships
with 4 different voice options:
Male English Voice
Female English Voice
Male Spanish Voice
Female Spanish Voice The
Ovilus IV converts environmental readings into voice. The
Ovilus IV does not employ any random generation or algorithm to create
speech in any sequence or structured form. When energy changes are detected,
the magnitude of the change is used to select 1 of 2048 predefined words.
During normal operation the Ovilus IV will voice many words. This is
the environment changes around the Ovilus triggering the voice. Based on the description, it is clear that the Ovilus
IV can speak with different gender voices in different languages.
It has a dictionary, as well as a phonetic function, where the voices
will ‘sound out’ individual syllables.
Users can also shut down the audio output and have words appear and
be recorded on an LED screen on the device.
There are many other functions available on the Ovilus IV, which I
will not explain. Despite all
these technical details, one thing not explained to my satisfaction is, how
does it really work. I am paraphrasing what I think is the makers
explanation. They suggest changes to the electromagnetic environment
cause the Ovilus to generate the words.
However, it is not clear what kind of changes make up which specific
words, and whether this is a constant effect. That is, will the same
electromagnetic field readings, temperature changes, motion, and who knows
what else, will cause the same word to be generated, or not.
I admit that the website is quite large and I may have missed
theoretical details, but if I do not have diagrams and a detailed
explanation, I find any ghost hunting gear suspect.
Having said that, in the interest of being open minded,
I will not dismiss the Ovilus and similar gizmos out of hand.
This category of devices should be put to rigorous scientific
testing. Which Andrea and I did
not do at this time. However, we
did have an interesting experience that might have been causation or
coincidence.
It would have taken great precision and strength to get
the barrel turned and balanced, to sit sideways on top of the stack.
The vintners did not believe this was the work of a lone prankster.
It would have taken at least two men. Knowing
the history of the basement, they finished their work, and left quickly. As I told Andrea of this occurrence, she had her Ovilus pointed toward the barrels of wine. A few seconds later she showed me the screen, which read, “barrel”. This could have been a coincidence, but what a coincidence. Out of over 2,000 words, it selected the one word that could have described my tale. Is this a case of some spirit reaching out to us, which is causation? Or is it a highly interesting instance of random chance generating a word, to which our own minds make a correlation between the Ovilus readout and my story? Andrea has many paranormal interests. She and her friends work at Paranormal Portland Society of Associated Services. You can also find them on Facebook. I borrowed many of Andrea's photographs for this article. Thank you Andrea.
The
Haunted Commodore Hotel in Astoria
Posted 24 January 2017
The Commodore soon shut its doors for lack of
clientele, and remained sealed up for decades.
With the recent increase of overnight tourism in Astoria, a group of
entrepreneurs purchased the Commodore and renovated it, as one of
Astoria’s affordable hotels. Soon
after opening the hotel, many staff members noticed strange things in
different places. The staff
often find the room to one room on the second floor open, even if there are
no guests staying there. Several
of the staff have felt strange things in the basement, near their break
room.
We went to the far corner of the basement, where Suzy
and most of the employees reported uneasy feelings.
We sat at a table in that corner, with a Tri-field electromagnetic
radiation detector, and a digital audio recorder.
We had gone throughout the basement and identified several areas
where the EMR was relatively high because of power lines, outlets, or
magnetized metal. Near this
corner, the EMR was relatively high, at around 3 milligauss, but there were
no obvious reasons for the reading. We
made four attempts to make contact with any entities through Electronic
Voice Phenomena. In each attempt, we each asked a series of questions that needed short answers to respond. After each question, we waited several seconds for the digital audio recorder to pick up any response that was not obvious to us in real time. We sat very still while asking our questions, which lasted about two minutes with each attempt. After each attempt, we immediately listened to the recording, hoping to hear a response.
Attempt
1
On 17 February, Suzy will host an event called The
Dark Arts Eve at the Commodore Hotel. Part of that event will be a
visit to the basement! I think
attendees will find it interesting. Even
if you cannot make it to the Dark Arts Eve, you can visit the Commodore
later. The rooms are nice, the
lobby was comfortable, and some of the staff were willing to talk about
their experiences.
Dark Arts Eve at the Commodore Hotel, Updated 10 March 2017 Sorry it has taken me a while to write about the Dark Arts Night. It very interesting! I recommend people read the results of this interesting event, and maybe take part in another one in the future.
Suzy asked me to attend to provide some historic information to her guests, but she did not need my help organizing the event, or her experiments. Although she tried limiting attendance to 20 people, closer to 30 people showed up. We were a bit short on chairs though. Suzy's approach was very traditional. While I brought my own electromagnetic field detector, Suzy relied on a swinging pendulum, candle flame, and spirit board, which some people call a ouija board. In this case, Suzy's board was custom made, and about twice the size of ones made by Parker Brothers.
High tech paranormal investigators may not use the pendulum and candle flame methods of spirit communication. These methods date back to the 19th century. In the case of the pendulum, the medium, or clairvoyant raises their hand or arm, holding some kind of weight on a string. They ask a question of the spirits, and after a few seconds, the bob at the end of the string moves. If it moves on one direction, the answer is yes, if it moves in the other direction, the answer is no. Some people have even placed pieces of paper under the pendulum with letters on them. The pendulum will swing over letters or words, like a ouija board.
In the case of the candle method, it is very simple. When someone asks a question, they look at the candle flame. If the flame erratically grows or shrinks, the watchers can interpret that as a yes or no answer to questions, or some evidence of paranormal agitation.
I do not think I need to explain how the spirit board works. These are all very old, low technology methods of communicating with any spirits present. Like all methods, there is no technical proof that they are totally effective in spirit communication. There are many skeptics who point out that all three of the methods can be influenced at the subconscious level by the people practicing them. In the case of the pendulum and spirit board, the participant's inner desires, fears, and theories can be manifested in the results. In the case of the candle flame method, the fear or excitement of the flame watchers can affect their perception of the candle flame. I must also point out that using high tech electronic devices suffer from these weaknesses, as well as weaknesses inherent in using energy based tools, such as battery failure, ordinary energy conduits creating EMF fields, etc. Having pointed out the valid skepticism, that does not mean these methods are all invalid. Oftentimes, the results are verified later, by independent research. As a group we identified many possible trends or answers to the questions asked. Oftentimes the results of the various devices or experiments coincided. For instance, at the same time as Suzy asked a question, several times the needle in my electromagnetic field detector raised, or spiked, AND the candle flame jumped, or flickered. When two or more of these anomalous results happen, I think there is a greater chance that the experiments are valid. Suzy managed to contact two separate entities. The first entity was that of a child, who had remained behind in the hotel. It may or may not have died there. It wanted to leave but was somehow trapped in place. It may have been the one who played pranks on the guests and staff. At first this entity seemed to be very strong, and responded to the pendulum. However, it faded abruptly, as if it ran out of energy. It was soon replaced by the spirit of an Asian man, who may have come to Astoria in the mid-1800s as a Coolie. His spirit predated the construction of the Commodore Hotel. Coolies were people who were sold (by themselves or their families) into slave labor. Theoretically this was a form of indentured servitude, where the person would serve for a certain number of years in return for money, or other services. One of the reasons the Coolies came to the United States was to become rich. The stories of the wealth of the California gold and silver fields spread worldwide in many languages. In reality,Asians were not allowed to own and work their own mining claims in most areas. Many of the Coolies who came to the United States from Asia never lived to the end of their contract. Some died from labor conditions, overwork, diseases, or were murdered. Along with becoming rich, the other ambition of the Asian laborers was to return home. If they could not do this in life, they hoped to send their bones home to their families. Through the length of the séance, it seemed that the unquiet spirit of an Asian laborer was not buried properly, and his bones were not sent home. Lost, he wandered the vicinity of the Commodore, which has been a familiar space, when he was alive. The skeptics may be right, and these spirits might be the product of the collective imaginations of Dark Arts Night patrons. However, some of the answers would have needed a lot of historic information to make sense. I did not provide that kind of background before the event, and to the best of my knowledge, none of them had a great amount of knowledge about this part of Astoria's past. I think other paranormal investigators would be interested in visiting the Commodore in the future. Maybe they should try to contact Suzy?
January 2017, Vancouver Informal Paranormal Pub Discussion on Group Etiquette Posted 22 Jan 2017
As some visitors to this website know, (and many do
not,) once a month I host what I call the Vancouver,
Informal Paranormal Pub. This
is a Facebook centric event where people interested in the paranormal meet
once a month at a location in Vancouver, Washington.
We do not have any paranormal group orientation, or fixed set of
discussion topics. We meet, eat,
and talk about current paranormal events, and our life experiences.
Some people talk about recent investigations and trips.
Others talk about equipment and techniques, and so on. I find it a great way to connect with people near me
who share an interest. The group
has about 30 members who are invited to the pub, but there is no requirement
to attend every get together. There
are some regulars, and other people just drift in and out, which is fine.
I know they come to the pub when they want to, not when they MUST.
I do not head my own paranormal investigation group,
but over the past 20+ years I have seen them come and go.
Generally, what happens is, one person is interested in the
paranormal, and they recruit group members from the people around them.
This means the group usually begins with a membership of friends,
family members, and co-workers. Because
of this group intimacy, these groups integrate quickly, and have early major
successes. However, over time the groups grow to include friends
of friends, or complete strangers. The
newcomers are often attracted by the theoretical approach of the group, or
their geographic area of interest. As
the paranormal group grows, I have seen many of them reach some kind of
crisis point, where they become so adversarial that they break up, and the
original members either form their own new group, or leave paranormal
investigating entirely because of the negative memories.
In some cases, group members have sued each other in court, or
harassed each other for months or years.
On the surface, these differences can be theoretical.
For instance, a group may start with both clairvoyants and technical
(gizmo) approaches to paranormal investigation.
Over time, individual members may want to go one way or the other.
In other cases, the division of labor is an issue.
Oftentimes, one person, or a small number in the group core do most
of the tedious work of scheduling investigations, updating websites, writing
reports, etc. Some members spend
a lot of money on equipment used by the group, while others pay very little,
and sometimes damage the equipment. Some
people seem to take more credit for the group accomplishments than others.
This includes some leaders seemingly not listening to the input of
the group. If unresolved, these
inequalities can lead to deep resentment.
Some or all of these divisions can factor into the
implosion of a paranormal group. However,
in my opinion, these are only surface factors, while the real reasons for
conflict are rooted in the dynamic of the group itself.
Because most paranormal groups begin as an extended family or social
group, the members tend to behave or act like they are at home.
That is mostly good, but what if the extended family paranormal group
is dysfunctional. If someone is
the leader in their family, they might think they should act that way with
the group, who should obey. If
someone is the ‘baby’ of the family, they tend to bring that to the
paranormal group as well. If
people are not aware that they are acting out, as if they are in their
family, the end result will always be disaster. In my opinion, one way to lower the risk of the
paranormal group dissolving into chaos is to appeal to the member’s sense
of business professionalism, not their sense of family unity.
Many paranormal groups begin, or later add a series of documents to
codify group behavior. These can
include a mission statement of why the group exists.
The best groups also have a code of conduct, which spells out how
group members are supposed to treat each other.
Most successful groups also have some kind of leadership board, which
oversees the group’s progress, and whether they are meeting the letter and
spirit of the founding documents. There
are many different subjects and dynamics a specific code or business model
can address. Group meetings should always have some kind of business
component that looks at past performance and the future.
If people do not follow the rules, the group has the right to remove
members, and individual members have the right to leave, without harassment.
I hate to say this, but successful paranormal investigation involves
more than running around, looking for evidence of the spirit world.
I encourage anyone thinking of starting a paranormal group, or who
are members of one that is struggling to think about my suggestions, before
it is too late.
Update on Oregon Ghost Conference 2017 Updated on 6 February 2017
I met last year with the conference organizer, Rocky Smith who along with a dedicated circle of volunteers, have made the conference an interesting and pleasant experience. He told me that he wanted to keep the conference fresh, and have new speakers, and new topics for classes and discussion groups. He and his staff sent out requests for new topics and events last year, and now he has a formal schedule of events. Here is a link to the 2017 conference. This conference I will be very busy. I will be giving ghost walks around Seaside, as well as participating in two panel, and putting on one educational class. Here is a link to the entire conference schedule. I am unsure which days I will be giving ghost walks around Seaside, since they are scheduled both Friday and Saturday nights. I recommend you make your reservations as soon as you can. Last year the walks sold out within hours of the conference opening. On Saturday I will be participating in two different events. Between 2 - 3 pm, I will be on an author's panel on the main state. Between 6 - 7 pm, I will be the moderator for a panel discussion entitled, So you want to be on a Paranormal TV Show. Then I will probably eat a quick dinner and give an evening ghost walk. On Sunday, between 1 - 2 pm, I will be in the Haystack Room, teaching a class on self-publishing for authors. I am kind of old school, so I will focus on paper publishing. I hope lots of budding author-publishers attend.
Do You Want To Be On A Ghost Hunter TV Show? Posted 5 January 2017
I also think almost everyone who has had a paranormal experience would like the chance to share their experiences with a television audience. And everyone who has become a paranormal investigator would not only like to appear on someone else's show, they want to host their own show as well. Of course most of the time, people get their own television shows after appearing as a guest on someone else's show. Even if some people complain about some shows, most will still agree to appear on these shows, for the chance of their own future show. If people deny this, or a desire to be on television, it is because they have been turned down, and are suffering from a case of sour grapes. Sort of. I have been to enough conferences and paranormal meetings to hear many criticisms of the various shows currently on the air, or those that have been cancelled. Complaints usually range from critique of ghost hunting techniques; to creative editing to make a boring story more interesting and thereby false; to out-and-out fraud on the part of the entire television cast. That is where there is a bit of genuine concern on the part of would-be television stars, as well as sour grapes. I have heard many people claim they would never appear on this or that television show. Some critics have been true to their words and turned down appearance, while others have dampened down their objections long enough to stand in front of the camera. Which makes all of us human beings. That is why I recommend thinking of the people on television, and the staff behind the scenes as human beings as well. Because I am probably in the top ten of Northwest ghost hunters to not appear on his own show, sometimes I talk to other ghost hunters; ones who want to be on television, or have been contacted by producers of existing television shows. The best advice I give them is, if you are turned down, it is nothing personal on the part of the production staff. They are putting together a television show, and they have to please the viewers, the on-air stars, and an inverted pyramid of people at the television station. Their bosses include television station producers, their lawyers and bankers, as well as the producers, bankers, and lawyers of their own production company. It is not an easy job. They have to be flexible, and that means if you want to be on their show, you have to be flexible as well. I will give you a for instance. Several years ago, an international travel show was coming to Portland and wanted to film a spooky episode to aire on Halloween of that year. They contacted me, and I contacted other paranormal groups, and the managers of several haunted locales. We had everything set up to allow them to attend a paranormal investigation, and tour several historic, haunted locales around Portland. I traded emails with the show runner up to the day they flew out from their home base. Then nothing.
I want to speak a bit about most of the people in the television business who I have worked with. They are professionals, and they have good ethics, if you bear in mind, how complex their jobs are. Most of these shows are billed as 'reality television'. As a whole, reality television is real, and yet it is not. In the course of recording a one hour (44 minutes of show, with 16 minutes of commercials) television show, the director may shoot 30 or 40 hours of footage. This has to be edited down to its 44 minutes, with some kind of act break and fade in around commercials. Along with this, what happened during the shoot? Who was it, what did they do, and what was the resolution of the episode/incident/visit? Someone has to take all this footage and fit it into the 44 minutes, while convey everything through editing. Sometimes they get it wrong, according to some of the participants. Sometimes the television audience does not get it. There are dangers of bad editing and deliberate deceptive editing. Most of the time, I have found it has been accidental. I have high praise for most of the television staff I have worked with. I single out Joshua Alper for everything I have seen of his work. He was ethical and cared about everyone I saw him work with. Joshua was a long time producer - writer for Haunted History and many seasons of Unsolved Mysteries. He always told me the truth, even if it meant telling me my television ideas sucked! He took the time to educate me on some film techniques, and the culture behind it.
I appeared as a historian, a job which I have done for several years. It just so happens, I write books on historical haunts. Although they have their own historical staff, part of the reason I believe the Dead Files has me return is because I have always been able to dig out more historical facts and perspective on the haunted locale. They have listened to me, and let me talk about the history in my own words. I have spoken with people who have been guests on different shows over the years. Some have good experiences, some have very bad experiences. Word gets out, and shows that screw over their guest experts and ghost hunters develop a reputation. I advise people who might appear on a television show to do their due diligence. Watch a few episodes of the show. Understand the show concept, and whether its premise and episodes fall within your sense of good or bad technique. Go online, and contact former guests. Ask these guests if they were treated fairly. If the former guest complains, evaluate whether the guest is disgruntled for some non-factual reason. What did the producers promise you, versus what do you hope they will do for you? Make your own judgment, and if things go wrong, be prepared for the consequences. Above all, remember you are on the show to help them get-it-right in some way. The show does not exist to make you famous. Understand this, and you and the television show staff will both be happier.
Vancouver Informal Paranormal Pub I really enjoy going to ghost hunter/paranormal conferences. One bad thing is, most conferences are only once a year. Although we share and interest in almost anything paranormal, we are also people. Oftentimes, I enjoy the talk at meals, or in the hallways between classes more than the discussion or classes themselves. There are some paranormal groups, mostly in Portland who hold monthly meetings. However, as a Vancouverite, I am reluctant to attend some meetings. Show of hands please, who hates driving in and around downtown Portland, even on a weekend? While I cannot see all the hands, I suspect that there are many of them in the air right now. I also wanted something in my home town of Vancouver, Washington. In 2016, I decided to start an informal discussion group in Vancouver, where people could just hang out and talk ghosts, ghost hunting, and related topics. I picked a location in downtown Vancouver, the Uptown Barrel Room. They are nice enough to let us set up in their back room, which accommodates about a dozen people. We eat, we chat, and just hang out.
Thank you Tara-Ann for pictures of my gatherings! There is no formal schedule of who will talk, and about what. Some people have shared pictures of their recent paranormal vacations, or investigations. Oftentimes in sharing experiences, though informal discussion, people have learned different strategies for their ghost hunting investigations. Although there are over 30 people on the Facebook members list for the Vancouver Informal Paranormal Pub, there is no requirement to attend all meetings. Click this link to visit the page, and send us a request to join. I recommend people try out this arrangement in their own home town, or come visit us some time. We meet once a month, on a Sunday at 5 PM. You can drop in, or send me an email to let me know you are interested in attending.
Some time ago, the McMenamins Mission Theater in downtown Portland began their Paranormal Pub, with the local chapter of MUFON. Their meetings are generally the last Sunday afternoon of the month, beginning at 6:00 pm (doors open) followed by a two or so hour talk beginning at 7:00 pm. The Mission theater is located at 1624 N W Glisan, Portland, OR. Parking can be a bit of a bear though, even for a Sunday. You will have to go through their website to find out the paranormal talks each month.
On 18 February, Astoria's Fort George Brewery will be releasing a new line of beers. The release event is called the Festival of Dark Arts The evening before, on 17 February, Suzy Olsen will be at the haunted Commodore Hotel, hosting her own dark arts celebration. She calls this event The Dark Arts Eve at the Commodore Hotel. For a nominal fee, guests will be treated to local ghost stories from Astoria and invited to share their own. There will be many other happenings, I am sure.
Oregon Ghost Conference 2017 Updated 6 February 2017
In 2017, the Oregon Ghost Conference will be in its fifth year. By 2016, it grew so large, its organizer, Rocky Smith moved the conference to Seaside, Oregon. The conference was a supernatural success, attended by many paranormal experts from as far away as Southern California. It included panels, seminars, readings, and discussion groups. On one evening, I and other paranormalists gave ghost walks around Seaside, and conducted investigations in one of Seaside's more haunted locales. This year, the conference will have as many as four ghost walks per evening, depending on demand. While many people (like me) return year after year to give talks, panel discussions, or conduct teaching seminars, our presentations have changed from last year to this. That way, it will be fresh for you, and everyone else. This year there are a lot of how-to seminars and classes, ranging from beginning ghost hunting, to equipment, to producing videos. There will also be guided ghost hunts, and many social events to mix and mingle with people who share a similar interest. Here is a link to the 2017 conference.
Port Gamble Ghost Conference 27 - 29 October 2017
According to some, the paramount paranormal conference of the Puget Sound is the Port Gamble Paranormal Conference, over the Halloween weekend. The organizers of the event are based out of Port Gamble, one of Washington's most ghost hunter friendly towns. Many of the Pacific Northwest's most talented and accomplished ghost hunters and clairvoyants go to this conference to teach classes, give readings, and learn more about the paranormal themselves. If you live close, and maybe far away, I recommend you attend. Registration opens 1 May 2017 and here is a link to their website. You can follow links there to take you to the conference
This website is not just about ghosts, it includes critters, such as the hominid some people call bigfoot, and an exploration of whether it is a mythical or real being. There are local gatherings across the country, but this year, the International Bigfoot Conference will meet in Kennewick, Washington. Some of the people making appearances include Bob Gimlin, Jeff Meldrum, Lyle Blackburn, Clyde Lewis, and many others. For more information on sponsors, talks, presenters, and vendors, visit their website.
My Personal Appearance Schedule for 2017 9 February 2017, I will be at the Brookwood Branch of the Hillsboro, OR library at 6:30 pm. 17 February 2017, I will be in Astoria at the The Dark Arts Eve at the Commodore Hotel at 9 pm. 24 February 2017, I will be at the Whatcom County Library, talking about Weird Washington March 31 - 2 April 2017, I will be in Seaside, OR for the Oregon Ghost Conference. May 31, 2017, I will be at the Stevenson, WA public library at 6:30 pm. I will be talking about Weird Washington. June 5, 2017, I will be at the Battle Ground, WA public library at 6:30 pm. I will be talking about Weird Washington. June, 2017, I will be at the Goldendale, WA public library at 5:00 pm. I will be talking about Weird Washington. September 16, 2017, I will be at the Hillsboro Library Writer's Fair. On 28 October 2017, I will be emceeing a Halloween fundraiser for the Vancouver Barracks Military Association. 4 November 2017, I will be selling books at the Ladybug Bazaar at Battle Ground High School. 11 November 2017, I will be selling books at the Mountain View High School Christmas Bazaar. 17 and 19 November 2017, I will be at Orycon, on various panels 25 November 2017, I will be selling books at the Prairie High School Christmas Bazaar. The school is located at 11311 NE 119th St, Vancouver, WA. 2 December 2017, I will be at the Hockinson High School Bazaar selling books.
Copyright © 1996-2002 by Jeff Davis | Maintained by J. Davis |
A
year or so ago, I submitted ideas for discussion panels at a ghost
conference.
How
dedicated does someone have to be, to consider themselves ghost hunters or
paranormal investigators?
If
ghosts exist, they are an extension of human life.
For
my presentation, I will discus the history of this part of Portland. The
history of Harvey's is tied up with the historic Hoyt Hotel, which stood next to
the
same block as Harvey's. Parts of Harvey's current business include
buildings used by the Hoyt. The Hoyt was built in 1912, and had 175
rooms. The Hoyt was one block away from Portland's Union (train) Station,
and served the many travelers coming and going through Portland. Not to
sound ominous, but historically, many travelers disappear in the anonymity of
places like train stations, and nearby hotels. In the case of Portland's
Old Town, the traveler hotels closer to the train station were generally
inexpensive, but well kept. The further south travelers went, in general,
the seedier hotels became, until Burnside Street. Most of Portland's grant
hotels were built South of Burnside.
Although
the Hoyt is gone, it was not the first building on the block. Under
Harvey's there is an extensive basement, which was probably tied into the 19th
century tunnel system, which ran throughout Old Town Portland. I will talk
a little bit about Shanghaiing, and Opium Dens in Portland. All was not as
mysterious in these tunnels, as some historians suggest. During daylight
hours, workers moved various goods from the docks into the basement storage
areas of shops, through these tunnels. Later, different tunnels were built
for utilities and other purposes. Then again, people walking around these
tunnels during the daytime would have a different purpose and demeanor than
those hanging out there at night. Some of the nighttime activities may
have affected the basements, even today. Just ask some of the people who
have been in the basements, even in the daytime. 
Over
the years, many of the tunnels which linked the docks to the basements of
businesses collapsed or were filled in. This happened to the tunnels under
Harvey's. However, about 20 years ago, the building owner dug out a
portion of the buried tunnels. In one case, something happened that was so
frightening to him, that he filled that tunnel in. 
In
1805, Lewis and Clark visited a village near modern day Ridgefield, with 14
large plank houses, and as many as 900 residents. The people living
there were the Cathlapotle, a Chinookan speaking people. There are
multiple spellings for these people, including Quathlapotle, who may have
called their village Nahpooitle. Lewis and Clark were followed by
other Euro-American explorers and trader. With them, and sometimes
ahead of them came many epidemics. By the 1830s, most of the Chinookan
folk left the village, and other native peoples, such as the Cowlitz and
Klickitat moved into the abandoned village. By the mid or late 1850s,
they also left the village site. For more information on Cathlapotle,
please visit this 
Andrea
also brought her ovilus, and reported the following words as we moved
through the refuge, MUDDY, WARRIOR, ROW, CHILD, VIOLENCE,
RESTORED. Of course, these could be randomly generated words, but they
seem to correlate with the environment and situation around us. 
On
16 March 2017, I met with Andrea Stenger at the Edgefield, in Troutdale,
Oregon.
One
of the stories I told Andrea centered on the stack of barrels in the
basement, stored behind glass walls.
In
mid-January, I visited the 
Suzy
Olsen owns a local business, 
In
the audio, while I think there were a few anomalies, there were no obvious
voice-answers.
On
22 January, we had our first pub of 2017.
For many people from Oregon and Southwest Washington, the Oregon Ghost
Conference has become an important part of our year. For the past five
years, the conference has been on the first weekend in April, and has kicked
off the spring and summer season for people conducting paranormal
investigations and planning haunted holidays across the Pacific Northwest.
It has attracted speakers from as far away as Southern California, and the
Canadian border. Last year, the conference included talks and workshops
on a variety of subjects, ranging from past life regression and hypnosis, to
finding your own psychic voice, to the latest equipment used in paranormal
investigations.
About a week later, the
show runner sent me an email apologizing for not letting me know, the
producer/star of the show changed his mind in mid-flight, and they went with a
second production idea. I was furious at the time. I had put myself
and a lot of people out, preparing for this television show. It was a
learning experience. I spoke with my friend Joshua, who has produced MANY
television shows on the paranormal and other very serious subjects. He
reminded me about the perspective of the television producers. They answer to
many bosses, and have to be flexible, otherwise they will lose their jobs.
The fact that it was not personal on their part took away some of the sting,
after about a year.
I
have also enjoyed working with the producers, directors, and cast and crew of
the Dead Files. From what I have seen over the years, the show is pretty
much as they portray it on the air. I have never met Amy, who is not
supposed to meet or be influenced by anybody on site. Steve really is a
former Marine, and a retired cop. He is both funny and serious at the same
time. You cannot stand nose to nose talking with someone for two hours,
(waiting on camera set ups) without learning something about them. He and
the production staff are very serious about getting the facts right, because of
criticism of other television shows.
