With all the
Paranormal Television shows the many hundreds
of Ghost Tours and Ghost hunting groups around
the world, and of course the very haunted
internet, many believe that the Paranormal
generation is here to stay. And others in
the field believe big changes are on the way.
It's happened
before in generations past. The growing enthusiasm
in occult sciences, Ghosts, and hauntings,
from astrology to seance's all had times of
great popularity. But never in one span has
the focus since the advent of the internet
brought such supernatural awareness to so
many at one time.
by
Glenn Mayweather
'Haunted
Internet Location Is Everything'
Just like real
estate, the same holds true for Ghost hunting.
Your chances of finding a haunting -- or any
Ghost hunting or ghost tour related job, really
-- depend on where you live. Larger cities
always seem to be more haunted then their
haunted smaller town counter parts. Unless
you really go digging for the dead that roam
these places and their stories.
There have
been always studies of the unknown going since
the dawn of time. As many people struggle
to believe in ghosts haunting's and the supernatural
in a weakening economy, some Paranormal ghost
tours and haunted travel locations and companies
often viewed as Paranormal mainstays are being
forced to file for bankruptcy or close their
doors. Consider that people and things die
every day, so do rends fads and peoples interest.
This of course
does not mean they are becoming dinosaurs
or going the way of ghostly extinction. In
essence it just means that they need to be
more focused on holding their prices low and
making their business more exploitive of the
paranormal occurrences they promote. Larger
city ghost tours are all expanding to smaller
communities.
Mark Nesbitt
Writer and Founder of Ghost Of Gettysburg
Candlelite Tours, has his beliefs as so many
others of where the future of paranormal research
is headed. he states. "In the next ten
years, I think ghost tours will continue to
entertain people." "Some of the
smaller companies may go out of business,
but the larger ones, like Ghosts of Gettysburg,
should carry on." "People always
love a well told ghost story." "
As far as ghost hunting and paranormal groups
are concerned, I think some of the people
(non-professionals) involved will get bored
and fall by the wayside." " Technological
break-troughs will periodically give the Paranormal
Investigators and die hards actual discipline
a boost."
"People
today want cheap thrills now a days,"
says Paranormal investigator Dale Perriguin.
"It's not that too many web sites charge
you to see the same old ghost photos at price.
" Yes, it's that too many have the idea
that members areas need to be cost effective
and make them cash for doing nothing more
then having a private paranormal blog or ghost
photo area." "These sites seem to
be falling by the way side." Ghost Tours
that feature the same old tours year to year
are having to find new areas in larger cities
or closer smaller cities to expand their tours
only because the majority of those that have
taken their tours are no longer interested
in the same old tour.
In going through
Haunted America Tours 20 Questions
area I found some interesting statements
that a few well noted Paranormal investigators
stated to what they feel the next ten years
holds for the current trend of Paranormal
research. You should visit the section and
go through the many answers as I did. You
certainly will see that many have their though's
on the pulse of what's really happening in
the world of the paranormal today.
Paranormal
expert Troy Taylor has stated. "The good,
well-researched books and web sites, along
with the legitimate ghost hunters, will still
be around, doing what they do." "For
those of us who have been in the field for
a long time (22 years for me) and on the internet
for more than 10 years, as I have, we have
seen and weathered many changes and fads already."
" A lot of people have been complaining
about the “I just want to be on TV”
fad that seems to be affecting many new “ghost
hunters” who are coming to the field
today but I advise them just to wait."
" It will pass as the others have done
and the good researchers, books and web sites
will still be around."
Shannon McCabe
of Hpi Paranormal says. "I see a ton
of paranormal groups popping up all over the
place right now" " . There seems
to be quite a trend going, it's awesome!"
" I think that in 10 years, there will
be some really incredible equipment for us
to use and, maybe, we might even have a device
that would let us go over to the "other
side" to see how it really is for ourselves."
" That would be really cool!" "
But speaking for HPI, I would like to see
us all retired and living in our mansions,
sipping Mojitos on our porches, with our ghostly
friends at our sides." "Ahhhh...."
And renowned
Ghost hunter Patti Starr says, "I see
only growth to the fullest extent in these
fields. So long this was a taboo subject and
now it is getting the attention and respect
it deserves." And Dr. Ed Craft believes.
"I think that "para"normal
investigators will be around as long as man
exists. It is in our human nature to seek
answers to unknown questions and to explore
those questions. The well-written and researched
books will always be available and in demand,
as always. Web sites, as with any, will come
and go and only the truly informative sites
will go the distance. It is with the legitimate
ghost hunters, ufologists and crypto zoologists
that will still be around seeking answers
and further details. Investigators who have
been researching and investigating for over
20 years, like myself and others, that have
seen the many changes that come and go will
continue to withstand the test of time. I
have witnessed many "pop-up" groups
and investigators and even have their very
first interviews, that become self-proclaimed
"experts" in a years time in hopes
of landing a TV or video deal. Time and the
"school of hard knocks" has taught
me over the years that only hard work, an
open mind, years of investigation and research
can allow anyone to reach a point where they
can actually only begin to start searching
for the "Real Truth". Being a Radio
host/producer and a part owner of a network,
I have a lot of faith in quality "para"normal
talk radio, but see the currently growing
list of shows begin to decline, leaving only
the informative and high quality shows."
Many Paranormal
Tours are becoming more targeted to their
clients. Some now offer not only general ghost
tours but others are developing in suit behind
tours like Haunts of Owensboro, which now
offer specialized Ghost Hunters Only tours.
David Wolfe II is also a certified Ghost hunter
and is quick to point out that these tours
seem to be more for the enthusiast deeper
paranormal curious who want to get their feet
wet on a deeper level then just listening
to ghost stories. Wolfe States, " I think
everyone who has a paranormal experience of
some type knows instinctively to themselves
what is real." " It's all in what
your heart and head wants to mutually accept."
" As I tell people on my tours its not
what happens to me or you on my tours, its
what happens to you personally and what you
alone truly believe." "Many Ghost
Stories and strange encounters with the dead
happen in Owensboro, Kentucky's third largest
city 24/7." " Some citizens openly
talk about it while others keep dead quiet."
Tommy Netzband
of Haunted Haight Ghost Tours tells us. "I
think ghost tours are going to grow. We are
in a new age of the paranormal" "
. It is becoming more and more the normal
rather than the paranormal." He goes
on to affirm. " Education. Telling ghost
stories is not enough." "One thing
I stress on my tour is education. People learn
all about parapsychology and hauntings."
" I explain to them the equipment we
use and this is greatly appreciated. "
" People go away with more than ghost
stories, they leave with an understanding.
"
Cities like
New Orleans where ghost tours were once big
business have become passe. The tourist are
slowly starting to come back to New Orleans
as it recovers from the devastating effects
of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The area is
still not as developed as it was in tourist
trade and many ghost, Voodoo, Vampire and
Haunted Cemetery tours have fallen to the
wayside. Yet Haunted tour guides in New Orleans
and income generated to the area from ghost
and Especially Vampire hunters has been anemic
in recent years.
Hurricane Katrina
knocked several Ghost Tours and regular tours
out of business. Today only a few remain still
haunting the city with more ghosts on the
tour then actual live people.
How
to get and stay haunted in these trying times
Despite the
need to do haunted networking face to face,
Many Paranormal Conferences and conventions
are reporting low turn outs, or registrations
forcing many to just cancel the haunted events.
A small amount of online networking to promote
your conventions is always worthwhile. But
it should be done sparingly and specifically
on sites that you know get the most visitors.
Many Ghost hunting groups and larger organizations
that promote these conferences are not exploring
their options. Greg Myers of Paranormal Task
Force states." With technology reaching
higher levels at more affordable prices coupled
with the saturation of paranormal topics within
the media, I see even a further increase in
the Paranormal realms within the next 10 years."
As far as Conferences and Conventions he believes,
" Recently there have been many failed
attempts by groups trying to host such paranormal
conventions." " I do think they
will grow, but not in the vast numbers of
individual one which produce many failed attempts
that pop up everywhere, but rather they will
become more strategic in location and grow
within larger metropolitan areas which host
a very diverse populous to draw from."
Sites like
Haunted America Tours, and hand full of others
reach much larger targeted Paranormally intrested
markets, and promote free listings to Paranormal
Groups conventions. Yes these seminars and
events or occurring every week, to few actually
take advantage of this offering and find their
conferences only filled with only ghost. It
seems many Paranormal sites feel that their
traffic from their web presence alone is enough
to generate a large turn out, but they are
feeling the gas crunch that is dotting the
world and not realizing it. Many Ghost Hunter
groups seem to be to clannish and not open
to promoting themselves as they should. Or
they just don't know how to market themselves
or their ghost tours out side of their cities.
And we all know this year anxiety levels are
heightened because of the tightening economy.
Ruffhouse of
Parahub Radio has a few though's of his own
when it comes to the paranormal craze in the
future. When asking him where does he see
the trend going in the next ten years he states.
"Hopefully back to where they were before
all the paranormal shows became the latest
craze" " . I see this current fad
of everyone thinking that "ghost hunting"
is cool and fun, fading away." "Most
of the current groups will probably have disbanded
and only the real investigators that have
the time and resources will be doing actual
research." "Either that or apes
will have taken over the world."
The key is
adverting and to many do not understand that
low cost internet ads can generate big business
even for a ghost tour or group in a small
city or extremely unknown location. Gina Lanier
states, " I am not a psychic and am not
in the habit of making predictions."
"However, I do anticipate much more interest
in these areas of the paranormal, the unexplained
and Ghosts in general." " I think
that with technological advances further proof
of the paranormal will be available to us
very soon." " I use conventional
and sometimes just out of the ordinary equipment."
" I also search for real haunting's in
the mundane areas of the world."
Opportunities
for Paranormal Investigations and Groups are
available in many of the following areas:
Paranormal gear product design and development;
merchandising and marketing; merchandise planning
and presentation; sourcing of paranormal books
and related services; Haunted locations and
ghost Tour management. Paranormal opportunities
include Ghost Hunter Tour managers who hire,
train and assess employees and their development
and management of the many ghost tours that
dot the world. There are also opportunities
in Haunted B&B management and in House
Hotel Ghost Tours.
Well respected
Paranormal Investigator Loyd Auerbach tells
us.
The internet
has taken a lot out of the sale and writing
of many Paranormal Authors. Often people feel
they can learn more on the internet then a
first hand involvement with a trained are
learned individual. You also have to look
at people who originally started training
people to be ghost hunters says Gina Lanier
a self taught Paranormal investigator of over
30 years chasing ghosts." One person
starts up a course they certify many people."
" Someone from that group starts a online
course another just says send in 20 bucks
and become a certified ghost hunter."
Then the process starts all over again."
Not that this is bad business practices she
related, But remember a few unscrupulous people
often take advantage in these situations and
and the haunted business side of it all starts
to fall down.
It seems so
many have jumped on the haunted band wagon
as a way to make fast money that the dedicated
paranormal ghost tour owner or real ghost
hunters are losing out to those only after
a fast buck. Gone or the days when a handful
of of researchers dared to study haunting's
ghost and demons.
How
to Ghost Hunt in a Recession
Dale Kaczmarek,
President of the Ghost Trackers, Newsletter,
editor of Ghost Trackers Newsletter, and director
of Excursions Into The Unknown, Inc., states
"I would hope that paranormal explorations
will continue to prosper and stay with their
strict protocols in ghost investigation and
research." " They should be objective
but also a bit skeptical at the same time.
Healthy skepticism is good but it should be
tempered with an open mind."
"Web sites are just hard
to keep current with the latest information,
techniques and networking groups. " "
It's a constant struggle to get the word out
in a timely and quick fashion. "Running
a group is not that bad but it's keeping your
team members interested and busy which can
be hard at times with some groups however
the Ghost Research Society usually has some
investigation or outing planned almost all
the time." " I believe that every
group should have a standard of investigations
or protocol and stick with it." "
That their evidence gathering techniques should
be refined and that they don't jump to the
conclusion that it's always a ghost without
first conducting a thorough investigation."
Concerning Paranormal Conventions
Paranormal Investigator Mark Nesbitt relates,
"Conferences are great." "The
only way to gain respectability in any field
of endeavor is to air your theories out in
public and let people pick them apart if they
can." " The sophistication of the
audiences has grown in just the last few years
and they ask some very intelligent questions."
Said Kaczmarek.
Author Jeff Belanger has these
words of wisdom to impart.
"The subject of ghosts
and the supernatural is a really hot topic
right now because it’s being fueled
by a show on every television network and
cable channel, there’s hundreds of thousands
of Web sites, many books, and tons of paranormal
investigation groups all over the place"
" I don’t think the subject of
ghosts can maintain this level of popularity
too much longer." " In fact, I’m
already seeing groups start to diversify the
paranormal phenomena they will investigate."
" Five years ago, everyone specialized."
" It was just ghosts, just UFOs, just
Bigfoot, etc." " Today we’re
seeing groups delve into all of those subjects."
" There’s also an
ebb and flow to interest in the paranormal.
In the 1860s, Spiritualism was huge, and a
big reason for that was the United States
Civil War. In the 1940s, Spiritualism again
went through a revival--we saw another spike
in the late 1960s and early 1970s just after
Vietnam--but this time there was more of an
occult angle to the interest." "
The 1970s was also the time when the UFO phenomena
really took off – heavily fueled by
the belief that Vietnam taught Americans that
their government doesn’t always tell
them the truth." " September 11th
played a big role in the next big interest
spike in ghosts and the supernatural."
" Whenever there is heavy turmoil in
the world, people will seek spiritual answers."
"Ten years from now the
interest in ghosts will not be as high as
it is today, but that’s okay."
" In some respects, all of the attention
the subject receives right now has taken ghosts
out of the realm of the weird and made it
okay to talk about." "This is a
very good thing." " Ten years from
now we’ll be taking ghosts more for
granted." Said Belanger.
Lisa Lee Harp Waugh And Ken
Deel also have their beliefs. Waugh weighs
in with this final statement. "CONSIDERING
THAT BACK IN THE 1960'S, EVERYONE THOUGHT
THAT PEOPLE NOW WOULD BE TRAVELING AROUND
WITH JET PACKS, AND HAVE PERSONAL ROBOTS DOING
THEIR EVERY WISH, I HAVEN'T A CLUE."
" BUT WITH ALL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY COMING
OUT, I WOULD HOPE THAT THIS FIELD WOULD HAVE
A VERY POSTIVE FUTURE AND JUMPED TO GREAT
LENGTHS THAN PRESENT." "I THINK
SOON EVERYONES CELL PHONE WILL RING AND IT
WILL BE A REAL GHOST ON THE OTHER END."
Ken Deel of
Iamhaunted.com believes that current field
of paranormal research is in a precarious
state. "Probably backing off as the “fad”
era starts to drop off." : Where people
don’t join groups simply to say “I
am in a Ghost Group” as too often for
some it is like boasting to your friends that
you are in a “cool rock band”."
" But anyone can claim to be a ghost
hunter, and be “Tone def”, which
concerns me." " There is a rise
on awareness of the reality of Ghost, we will
probably see it more and more." "
I see it rising significantly before it falls
off however, not exactly sure how far it will
go until my projected ‘fad’ prediction
takes place." "However, I feel that
there will likely be a rise before the fall."
Paranormal
Investigator Pete Haviland seems to sum all
this up best. When he says "I see some
major breakthroughs ahead. " (Also
see his article: Ghosts:
my passion, my calling, my life...
) "Throughout the years I have witnessed
people play off the paranormal for lots of
things: monetary gain, attention, enthusiasm
and knowledge. Which brings me to how I became
involved with Lone Star Spirits." "Members
have come and gone, but we have now become
technologically advanced, mediumistically
accurate and we are forever searching for
the truth, no matter what." "So,
as I age and my path grows, I will follow
my passion, my calling, my life."
You
can see how many different people have many
different answers you can also check out how
they feel about other Paranormal issues and
their beliefs Please Visit here. HAUNTED
AMERICA'S PARANORMAL ZONE.
Each week Haunted America Tours turn on the
Ghostly Spotlight on some of your favorite
Paranormal Experts, Ghost Writers, Paranormal
Investigators and Ghost Tours from Across
America. Who will be the next Haunted Paranormal
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