Every year when the temperature starts dropping and the leaves begin to get crisp, many ghostly tales resurface themselves for another round of terrifying anyone who is unfortunate enough to be in earshot of their horror. Many nightmares, uneasy looks into the dark, and scary reflections could be avoided if this simple question was answered: is the existence of the paranormal just a figment of the human psyche, or is there significant evidence that proves otherwise? The answer is no. There is not any proof that any such “undead” walk among us. This can be disproved by debunking some of the bogus evidence out there, examining some of the most common “paranormal activities,” and understanding the sensory part of our brain that triggers these fears.
First off, a general understanding of how the common ghost story got started needs to be in place. It is speculated that the tale of Anne Boleyn was the first recordation of ghostly happenings. Boleyn was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I and the second in a whole series of wives by King Henry VIII. She was executed after being tried and found guilty of a whole slew of charges. There are tales that Boleyn haunts the grounds in which she lived, and was ultimately executed some four-hundred years ago. It is speculated that when a person dies with “unfinished business” they haunt the place where they lived or spent their last hours, as with the story of Ms. Boleyn. Tales of ghostly happenings have circulated the world since transcontinental communication became prevalent. If given a second thought these stories can be disproved simply by following any of the preceding methods.
Notably, it is a commonly known fact that many people long to be famous. Another commonly known fact? They don’t car...
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...ence, taking a closer look what why these things could happen, and underingstanding why they happen in our brain. Although it would be a fun idea to think the undead walk among us, it is simply a silly fantasy. But who is to say the spooky tales that generation after generation of people have enjoyed have to stop just because they are untrue? Let there be ghost stories! Even if that is all they are, stories.
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon, Karen Springen, and Kurt Soller. “Why We Believe.” Newsweek 152.18 (2008):
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Kelly, Lynne. The Skeptic’s Guide To The Paranormal. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
Philips, Helen. “Spookiness Is In The Brain Of The Beholder.” New Scientist 175.2353 (2002): 17.
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Our encounters with the ghastly and glorious ghosts of St. Albans are fairly typical of the experiences of the other paranormal investigative teams you will read about in The Ghosts of St. Albans Sanatorium. So, sit down with me and read a spell.
"Investigation of the Lodge." Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 07 Aug 2001. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.sgha.net/lodge.html.
One night, around 1:00 a.m., my roommates and I were sitting in the common room, and I asked the group if they knew of a compelling ghost story. My one roommate, a 20 year old from Pennsylvania, said she had heard a ghost story at the summer sleep-away camp she had attended when she was younger. She heard the story around a campfire in the woods of Camp Tonikanee, which is in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She described her story as one that the counselors would tell the campers to convince them the camp was haunted.
The book, What’s So Super About the Supernatural tells of well known stories about poltergeists. A poltergeist is a noisy or high energy ghost who might perform violent activity. A young girl by the name of Tina Resch lived in Ohio and is known to be a poltergeist. “No ghost was ever seen or heard on camera; however when the camera was inadvertently left running, the tape showed Tina surreptitiously pulling over a lamp” (Gardner). The evidence was found after people were reporting the activity. Newspaper reporters went to the scene to check out the action only to find evidence of Tina throwing objects violently around the house. Another example of proof that ghosts exist goes back to a case involving a poltergeist in England. An eleven-year-old boy by the name of Matthew Manning performed several violent actions that his dad had noticed and reported. Gardner writes, “ On one occasion, Matthew’s bed was thrown about and left leaning at an angle against the wall” (Gardner). These examples are not the only reported cases regarding ghosts and paranormal activity. Many stories about the supernatural have been told and passed down for several generations. Spirits are even mentioned in well known religious books that have been passed down for hundreds of
Do not open your eyes! One thinks to themselves as you believe there is something or someone there. It is dark your breath getting heavier and heavier, faster and faster, shaking and slowly you open your eyes… No! The fear paralyzes you, something is there it is getting closer and suddenly Ah! Suspenseful right? Every once in a while we may get frightened at the supernatural events that occur to us, but we never stop to think about how it impacts our society. In the article “Vampires Never Die” by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan they reveal their perspectives about why the supernatural is important in our society. The supernatural impacts our society by using the supernatural popularity to make profit, connecting the human desire to the unrealistic and using technology to keep individuals interested in the supernatural.
The storyteller made the legend very believable in the way she described young women who I know who have had ghost encounters.
Before that night, I didn’t believe in the paranormal. Now I sure as heck do. I had been chased out of my house after a fight with my step-parents because I wasn’t doing well in school (I had dyslexia), and I had taken shelter in what seemed like a normal house. I realized what I had gotten into after the sun set. The doors were locked without a sign of anyone going near them.
The Nelly Butler hauntings is referred to as the first recorded ghost story in American history (LiBrizzi 5), and possibly the most exciting hauntings to date as there are still many unsolved mysteries. The apparition appeared on more than 30 separate occasions to over 100 witnesses in Sullivan, Maine, just over fifteen years after the American Revolution (5-6). Although the Nelly Butler apparition is one of the most convincing ghosts of all time, it was subject to suspicions of fraud. These claims turn out to be groundless as the evidence reveals the ghost to be genuine.
Envision yourself as encircled by strange, yet terrifying and evil spirits that trouble you in your worst nightmares. The spirits could desire something from you. In fact, they could aid you in locale of frightening you. Should you attend to them? What do you contemplate they are trying to notify you? In one of the inquiries above, notice the ironical use of the word “fact” that endeavors to obscure the fictitious nature of ghosts. It displays that the meaning of the word “ghost” is equivocal. In supplementary words, the word “ghost” is multivalued, that way that ghosts can purpose in extra than one way.
...t al. "Paranormal Encounters as Eyewitness Phenomena: Psychological Determinants of Atypical Perceptual Interpretations." Current Psychology 29.4 (2010): 320-327. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
On September 19, 1936, the “brown lady” was sighted yet again. Colonel Loftus was visiting Raynham Hall in England for the holidays when he saw the brown lady. He told others of his experience and more people then came forward to say they too had seen a strange figure. Soon after this experience, a photo was captured. The photo of the brown lady is “believed to be one of the best and most convincing of all known ghosts photos” (Dennis & Cohen). Another ghost sighting happened in 1919, of the Goddard’s squadron which had served in WWI. A photo was taken of the squadron, and an extra ghostly face appears in the back of the airman placed in the top row. This figure is said to be Fr...
Ghosts are Real Ghosts, as with any other misunderstood group or people, have been preyed upon by others without understanding. The lack of knowledge about ghosts and haunting activity has led people astray as to what they really are. What Hollywood and television portrays is very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon as truthful. They show these spirits of the dead as being evil in nature, filled with malice and harmful intent. But this is not the case.
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
4. Miller, Karen, ed. "Chapter 2, Section 3." Paranormal Phenomena. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. 98-100. Print.
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html