Hallopalooza Day 2! Guest Blogger Marley Gibson on "Things that go bump in the night"

In March 2006, my amazing agent, Deidre Knight, stepped off an airplane at Boston’s Logan Airport and said enthusiastically to me, “I have the title of your next series. ‘Divining Women.’ Now you just have to come up with an idea.”

Ummm. . . okay. Seeing how I write for teens, I thought “Divining Girls” would be a better title. But what would it be about? Girls on the farm looking for water sources? Huh?

Deidre was in town to attend the New England Romance Writers Conference, of which there was a workshop entitled “Ghost Hunting 101” by the New England Ghost Project. I remembered that one of the speakers, Maureen Wood, had spoken at the conference a couple of years before about dowsing. . . a form of divining. So, I started putting two and two together and showed up for their workshop. As they were showing pictures they’d captured in their ghost investigations, as well as sound recordings they’d gotten, I was suddenly struck with the entire arc and storyline for the book that would sell in November 2006 and be known as GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING.

Aparently, these guys weren’t the only ones hunting ghost. There are groups all over the country—all over the world—doing this! How did I not know? What rock had I been under? Sure, I’d grown up loving Poltergeist and Ghostbusters, but I’d never given any credence to actually going ghost hunting.

I consumed every TV show that I could—and boy, let me tell you how many there are! I watched hours of Ghost Hunters and Dead Famous and Haunting Evidence and Most Haunted.

This was in the main stream! In writing GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING, my husband, Mike, and I began going out on investigations of our own. I’m the type of writer that really likes to get into the research and make sure I know as much as possible so I’m writing accurately. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it can’t be realistic.

Here’s a picture of some sort of wispy image or vapor captured at the Buttonwoods Museum in Haverhill, Massachusetts. We were up in the attic where the spirit of a child named Molly supposedly lives.



Also, at the Buttonwoods Museum, we experienced a “cold spot.” It’s thought that entities use the energy in the air to try and interact, therefore, lowering the temperature. It was a 90+ degree August night in a two-hundred year old house with no central air conditioner and we got a thirty degree drop in the temperature with cold air swirling around out legs.

In March of 2007, we visited The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. A stately manor on the side of the mountain, this place held many encounters and personal experiences like hearing a "hello" from no where. This is the exact same EVP gotten by the Ghost Hunters, Jason and Grant, when they investigated here. And by the way, here I am with them!



We also got to investigate Room 217 of The Stanley with famed demonologist John Zaffis in the room where Stephen King and his wife stayed when he got the idea for THE SHINING. In this room, we used a tool called a K2 meter to measure electro-magnetic energy in the air.

Also, at The Stanley, we investigated with TruTV’s Haunting Evidence star, Patrick Burns, using a device known as a “Shack Hack.” It a transistor radio from Radio Shack that has been “hacked” to stop the device from stopping on a station when searching up and down the dial. Patrick also offered to write a forward for my first GHOST HUNTRESS book. What a guy!

At Rolling Hills Sanitarium, we investigated with Chris Fleming from The Biography Channel's Dead Famous. Chris is a psychic/medium who uses channeling and his own psychic intuition to connect with spirits, as well as the latest technology.

The other night, we attended the New England Ghost Project’s Spectral Evidence event in Salem, Massachusetts and got some incredible EVPs in the Charter Street Cemetery. Got a cool shot of me ghost hunting...



And, back in July at the Waverly Hills Sanitarium, Mike and I ended up playing ball with what is believed to be the spirit of a child who had died there in the early 1900s from tuberculosis.

But the most compelling evidence of all had to have been the ball video itself. I hope you’ll tune in to The Biography Channel on Thursday, October 30th at 10:00 p.m. to watch footage of the ball moving during the premiere of My Ghost Story. The show will run again on the 31st, 1st and 2nd. Check your local listings.



I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my evidence. It’s certainly been amazing collecting it and growing less and less skeptical. Do I believe there are spirits and angels around us? Yes, I do. Unequivocally. What do you think?

Hope you’ll pick up GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING in May 2009. Look for GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE in October 2009 and GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON in May 2010.

Thanks!
Marley = )