Put away the Ouija Board and that voodoo doll experiment designed to tease that last bad relationship partner. It's Halloween season and time to get down and dirty with something spooky - paranormal activity.
Science sadly reveals very little about paranormal activity as most universities have not yet begun researching the reality. Think Rhine Research Center, for example, as your go-to education resource - well intentioned leaders in the field who are way beyond doubting and are actually attempting to study the phenomena. Director Sally Rhine Feather's parents coined the term ESP - a respectful start in what has become an internationally recognized organization for the study of all things paranormal.
But paranormal activity is a rather broad term. Many Americans hear those words today and seem to focus on devilish spirits invading their space and driving them - running and screaming - out of house and home. I think there was a movie or two made by the same name that might be responsible. But the reality is that there are many pieces of the phenomena puzzle that fall under that expression with fewer deaths and mayhem.
Focusing for a moment on let's say - the dead - well, spirits from the "other side" somehow communicating with living and breathing people today - we have a number of choices.
The paranormal is actually very natural and really a lot less scary and evil if approached correctly. Yes, there are those nasty evil tales - the Catholics invented the exorcism prayer for a very real purpose - and yes, there are real nasty cases happening even as I type this sentence - but they are thankfully rather rare.
Most of what you might describe as paranormal activity is actually a natural, helpful bent Mother Nature built-in to the human existence. And like sex, society somehow has it hidden away in dark places - it's there, but we're not supposed to talk about it. Admitting a paranormal moment somehow paints you as naive and vulnerable - comical in Neanderthal circles - and certainly corporate death in the American boardroom.
Whether you're planning a Halloween party with a paranormal theme or just gathering a few of your most outrageous friends for an afternoon of serious ghost talk - here is a sampling of considerations to get your thinking kick started. And the nice thing about this time of the year - even those stuffy corporate folks and mainstream media freely talk about the paranormal every October while they dress in silly costumes - and in low voices - maybe admit to just one or two paranormal moments in their life or describe in juicy detail what Aunt Tilly saw on her deathbed.
Film: Put the right movie up on the flat screen and you can maintain about 90 frightening minutes in the room. Here's my recommendations: (1) The Presence; (2) The Changling; (3) The Ring. Serve popcorn.
EVP: Use a digital recorder to attempt to gather spirit voices as the Electronic Vocie Phenomena (EVP) has proven to be a rather plentiful system of listening in to what the "other side" has to say. Here's what one group captured at Broughton Elementary School. But beware - I have tried to capture an EVP unsuccessfully for several years - although the paranormal world is weird and I think I may have had a more natural experience once in a Chicago cemetery. The paranormal world can have a sense of humor sometimes.
Ghost Hunting: Pick a spot with a haunted reputation - just make sure you have permissoin to be on the property. Part of the art of ghost hunting is simply looking and listening. The network shows seem rather complicated - with all those monitors and wires. Keep it simple - a digital camera or video recorder; a digital audio recorder. Use the EVP suggestion mentioned here or some other style of "deadly" communication. Some groups place a flash light on the ground or floor, ask questions, and attempt to get the ghosts to turn it on or off in a yes-no fashion. Has never worked for me - but hey, you may get lucky. You might also do a little advance research and tour your area - going to several locations - and offer your guests an overview of the haunted activity.
Personal Stories: Gather a group of people together and get a chain story going. Who has personally had what they believe is a paranormal experience? Then expand out - what paranormal stories have they heard. Kick it off with a personal paranormal story of your own - or research one in advance and bring it along to read aloud. Or read aloud some of the true paranormal stories from Jason Offutt - amazing stuff collected. Or take your pick from a wide range of paranormal stories with the daily material flowing through The Anomalist.
Haunted Tales: Your local book store or library is ripe with books full of haunted tales. My recommendation if you want to read a few personal tales out loud. Haunted Tales from the Holler by Grace Morrow and Susan Doll. Short and sweet and well done - a classic.
UFOs: The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is America's largest UFO study group. Stop in a check out their witness database - spend a few hours pulling up cases from your state - or cases close to you. Put together a presentation about what's been going on in the skies over your town. Peter Davenport at The National UFO Reporting Center also houses a large collection of UFO reports that can be scanned by state and date - in search of the spooky near you.
ESP: Test your fellow ghost hunters for their extrasensory perception. There are so many different ways you can do this. You might bring out a box, for example, with a simple item inside - and allow your guests 10 minutes to write down or sketch what is inside. Then go around the room and ask everyone to say or show their best guess - and then reveal what's inside. If your gathering overlaps with your state's daily lottery pull - say a three-digit number - ask everyone to write down their guess for the three digits. You might actually send someone to the local convenient store and play those numbers - and then watch the live drawing on television with everyone holding up their number. Or you might have a photograph sealed inside an envelope and ask your guests to write down or draw the image. Give them 10 or 15 minutes; then go around the room and see what they came up with - and then reveal the image. My personal favorite is to take a deck of cards - choose 12 cards - 11 black cards and one red card. Shuffle them and lay them out - three rows of four - face down. Then ask each person to turn over the cards - one-by-one - with the idea that they must turn over the red card last. The idea is that they have to "tune-in" to where the red card is and avoid it. You can score everyone easily too. Or try best of of three scores.
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