The Internet is chocker with ghosts. Forums disclosing experiences, videos on YouTube and TikTok supposedly capturing real time activity, and historical photographs apparently showing evidence of grey ladies, white ladies, black cloaked monks or disembodied limbs moving around midair as though attached to a larger body. And yet, despite all this so called evidence, can many of us resolutely say we believe in ghosts, or have had a truly unquestionable experience of paranormal activity?
If you’re anything like me, the idea of ghosts is both fascinating, terrifying, and comforting. Fascinating because, why and how would a person’s spirit still roam the living world, causing malevolent or benevolent mischief around those they may or may not have known in a previous life? Terrifying because, well, do we really want our darkest fears manifesting at 3am at night in the kitchen while we’re tucked in our beds… alone? Comforting… that’s a strange one. But I quite like the idea of sticking around (and if ghosts do exist, are we ever alone?)
So like many others who are interested in this kind of thing, I spend quite a bit of my spare time watching YouTube videos (I don’t have TikTok despite my fiancé’s ardent attempts to convince me there’s some educational material on there). Mainly Slapped Ham and Nuke’s Top 5. And… increasingly, I’m finding that I’m watching them simply to pick holes. “… or is it all just an elaborate hoax?” is very often receiving an affirmative nod.
Now, I confess that there are some compelling videos out there, and, if they still can be explained, then they’re good for scares. Some masks can be genuinely creepy afterall. But I think the main issue with the growing mass of content for ghost or paranormal sightings/ activity is the why. Every day, more and more people decide to make YouTube, TikTok or social media channels dedicated to ghost hunting or the activity in their homes or workplace. In my mind, the creators who go out and do this (and this is just from my mind) have the interest of the growth of their audience in mind. It’s in their interest to make sure something happens. Whether it be a slamming door, a face in the window or a flickering light in the next room that also has a conveniently placed wall to hide behind, I’m finding that each photograph or video has an explanation. Even photoshop or CGI.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I regard myself as an openminded believer. There’s still room for doubt, and I’m not going to declare any piece of apparent evidence 100% real. But I do believe, because to me it makes sense. There’s no evidence to say they don’t exist, right? The odd case has been debunked, such as the Amityville House or various modern videos on YouTube that are not only very clearly acted, but also cuts and splits in the video itself are clear to see. But for every false video or staged voice in an abandoned bunker exploration video, there’s the classic photos that have confounded experts.
I think whether you believe in ghosts or not is certainly a very personal experience. Anyone can tell someone else a story about their very real encounter. For example, I love ghost hunts. Spending several hours in a haunted location with a bunch of strangers might not sound like everyone’s idea of fun, and they are absolutely not for everyone. My first one was in Dudley Castle, West Midlands. And this was my most active. In one particular room, the Zodiac Room, I was volunteered by my ever loving mum to stand in a dead end alley in the corner of the room in pitch darkness, and stay there for a few minutes. It was cold, everyone was quiet save for the few nervous giggles, and there was a metal cone on the floor a few feet away we were waiting for to move. It was tense to say the least. Now, before this joyous little experiment, we were given no information about the ghosts that haunted this area. So after a few minutes when I felt something, or someone, grab my hand very gently, something like a child’s hand, I knew that no one had been hiding behind me, because I looked down the alley with a torch moments before. No children were aloud because of the nature of the tour.
After I’d returned to the safety of the masses and the metal cone had wobbled a bit, a couple of people said they saw the shape of a small child between the alleyway in which I was standing and the cone. I can’t remember the exact moment or feeling, but oddly enough, it wasn’t scary at all. Unnerving? Yes. But also validating.
In hindsight, however, I look upon such events with skepticism. Did I really experience something paranormal? Or was it just a nothing of my imagination that was already overactive, responding to a scenario that fed into it? If you take yourself on one of these ghost tours, more often that not they will not outwardly say something is paranormal. They will acknowledge and move on, and maybe even start the evening with a kind of brief concerning what you might encounter. Suggestion, environmental factors and human error may also serve as a likely reason as to why you heard that whistle in the next room. Human error is another way of saying a couple of drunk assholes are sniggering while making owl noises down the hall during free time. I encountered some of these during a tour of the Darner in Shrewsbury, and heavens it was satisfying when one of them got the crap scared out of him when a bit of cobweb tickled his ear.
The thing is, not everyone is going to buy your completely authentic 100% REAL ghost sighting. Not everyone will be able to look past the many plausible ways that very old picture of a child with glowing eyes could have been faked. There’s always going to be another way it could have been done.
So what is it that draws us in? Is it something as silly and shallow as cheap scares? Or is it something deeper, like hoping there is something else for us afterwards? It’s all very personal, and I think it’ll stay that way as long as we rely on others to provide us with evidence. If you really want answers, I recommend a ghost tour, with a real insured team and a bunch of others to get terrified and giggly with. They’re great fun, and very informative, even if nothing happens. And, as one guide promised us before our drive home at 3am, “Don’t be scared of looking in the rear view mirror and finding another face staring back at you.”
Yeah, thanks fella.
Paint a Mental Picture 