Ghost-hunting
Book - 2020
"Dive into the ghostly world of the supernatural with America's leading paranormal investigator. Inside, paranormal investigator, star, and executive producer of The Travel Channel's hit series, Ghost Adventures and founder of the award-winning Haunted Museum (Las Vegas' most popular attraction), Zak Bagans takes readers on an exciting journey into the supernatural world. With insider information on the history of ghost-hunting to learning about ghosts with all kinds of temperaments, Ghost-Hunting For Dummies is peppered with true accounts and stories from Bagans' famous cases and investigations. Featuring expert advice on picking a haunted location, setting up cameras, and dealing with unwieldy ghosts, this book s...hows how today's investigators use the tools of modern science to study a wide range of paranormal activity"--
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Genres
- Handbooks and manuals
- Published
-
Hoboken, New Jersey :
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
[2020]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Item Description
- Includes index.
- Physical Description
- xiii, 426 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Also available in electronic format - ISBN
- 9781119584759
- Introduction
- About This Book
- Foolish Assumptions
- Icons Used in This Book
- Beyond the Book
- Where to Go from Here
- Part 1. The Basics of Ghost-Hunting
- Chapter 1. Searching for Spirits: Why Do We Do It?
- My Approach to Ghost-Hunting
- The Search for Life After Death
- Chasing Ghosts
- Is All the Work Really Worth it?
- Chapter 2. The Phenomenon of Ghost-Hunting
- Ghosts in Antiquity
- Egyptians
- Arabs
- Greeks and Romans
- Scandinavians
- Indians
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Native Americans
- Classic Encounters with Ghosts
- The Drummer of Tedworth
- Old Jeffrey
- The Cock Lane Ghost
- The Bell Witch of Tennessee
- Spiritualism and the Beginning of Paranormal Research
- Rapping with the Fox sisters
- Levitating with Daniel Dunglas Home
- Investigating the Eddy Brothers
- The First Ghost-hunters
- The Society for Psychical Research
- Harry Price
- Hans Holzer
- Ed and Lorraine Warren
- Chapter 3. Believing in Ghosts and Spirits
- Incorporating Ghosts into the Christian World
- Ghost Stories
- Exploring American Belief in the Supernatural
- After-Death Communications
- Arthur Conan Doyle
- Harry Houdini
- A personal experience
- Chapter 4. What's Science Got to Do with It?
- The Relationship Between Science and the Supernatural
- Testing for spirits
- The role of spiritualism
- Applying the laws of science
- Science and spiritualism meet up
- Sir William Crookes and the Paranormal
- William James and "One White Crow"
- Thomas Edison and Communicating with the Dead
- Examining Mysteries with J.B. Rhine
- Ghosts Don't Always Perform on Command
- Adapting the Scientific Method
- Using History as Science
- Chapter 5. Seeing the Spirit World as Entertainment
- Having Fun with the Spirit World
- Writing about the spirits
- Participating in mediums, séances, and spirit circles
- Creating magic shows
- Transforming into spook shows
- Viewing Ghosts at the Movies
- Changing Ghost-Hunting with the Internet
- Watching How Television Changed It Again
- Chapter 6. Preparing to Look for Ghosts
- Getting in the Right Frame of Mind
- Ghost-hunting with an Open Mind
- Maintaining a healthy balance
- Fitting into the scientific framework - or not
- Achieving a balance
- Things to Know Before You Begin
- Gathering information
- Keeping accurate records
- Analyzing your evidence
- Affording the research
- Part 2. Investigating Ghosts and Hauntings
- Chapter 7. Researching the Spirit World
- What Are Hauntings?
- Traditional Hauntings
- Residual Hauntings
- Poltergeist-Like Activity
- Portal Hauntings
- Demonic Hauntings
- Common symptoms
- My approach to demonic hauntings
- Haunted Objects
- The Dybbuk Box
- The Devil's Rocking Chair
- "The Hands Resist Him"
- Robert the Doll
- Annabelle
- Chapter 8. Where the Ghosts Are
- Finding Ghosts
- Homes
- Cemeteries
- Theaters
- Ghost towns
- Schools and colleges
- Hotels
- Battlefields and crime scenes
- Hospitals and asylums
- Jails and prisons
- Chapter 9. The Ghost-Hunter's Toolkit
- Exploring the Basic Items for Investigations
- Ghost-Hunting Experiments
- Working with trigger objects
- Testing for psychic abilities
- Ghost-detection Devices: The Basics
- The compass
- Dowsing rods
- Ghost-detection Devices: The Advanced
- Using an EMF meter
- Basic EMF meters
- TriField EMF meter model TF2
- TriField Natural EM meter
- Using Other Detection Devices
- The REM pod
- Infrared motion detectors
- Temperature sensing devices
- Relative humidity gauge
- Combination devices
- Final Thought on Ghost-hunting Equipment
- Chapter 10. The Dangers of Investigating
- What Not to Do as a Ghost-Hunter
- Health Hazards from Ghost-Hunting
- Allergies
- Dust and mold
- Histoplasmosis
- Asbestos
- Carbon monoxide
- Part 3. Putting Your Paranormal Research into Action
- Chapter 11. Ghosts on Film: Using Your Camera to Capture Evidence of Ghosts
- A Brief History of Photography
- Capturing the light
- Developing daguerreotypes
- Working with wet plates: Ambrotypes and tintypes
- Photographing movement
- Taking snapshots: The rise of Kodak
- Improving overtime: Further developments in photography
- Advancing to digital cameras
- Understanding Cameras
- Using a camera in an investigation
- Photographing the unseen: The history of spirit photography
- Capturing ghosts: The strange case of William Mumler
- Exploiting spirit photography: Novelty photos and widespread fraud
- Gaining credibility
- Photographing ghosts
- Evaluating Anomalies in Photographs
- Understanding orbs
- Dealing with mists
- Photography in Paranormal Investigations
- Using 35mm cameras for investigations
- Ghost-hunting with digital cameras
- Using full spectrum cameras
- Using Video in Your Investigations
- Reviewing footage
- Verifying anomalies
- Analyzing Your Photographs
- What to look for in paranormal photographs
- When it's not a ghost
- Detecting trickery
- Chapter 12. Talking to Ghosts
- Table Tipping
- Automatic Writing
- Talking Boards
- The history of the Ouija board
- Using a talking board safely
- Understanding the dangers of talking boards
- EVP - The Voices of the Dead
- The history of EVP
- Classifying ghostly voices
- Experimenting with EVP
- Analyzing your EVPs
- Using Devices to Talk to the Dead
- Instrumental transcommunication
- Ghost boxes
- The Koenig Generator
- Spiricom
- Frank's Box and others
- Using the P-SB7 Spirit Box
- Using the Ovilus
- Chapter 13. Putting It All into Practice: The Paranormal Investigation
- What to Do Before You Get There
- Tracking Down Leads
- Guidelines for Your Investigation
- Setting Up the Nerve Center
- Starting and Conducting an Investigation
- Learning Ghost-Watch Skills
- Chasing the Poltergeist
- Examining the House
- Investigating Outdoors
- Tracking down battlefield haunts
- Tracking down graveyard history
- Investigating your outdoor locations
- Going out in the Dark
- Chapter 14. Interviewing the Haunted
- Sample Questions for the Paranormal Witness
- Interviewing Children
- Chapter 15. Authenticating the Ghosts
- Reaching into the Past
- Land deeds and directories
- Newspapers
- Online resources
- Architectural drawings
- Maps
- Biographical encyclopedias
- Building permits
- Photographs
- Bringing the Dead to Life
- Chapter 16. The Mundane Side of Ghost-Hunting
- Building Your Case Reports
- Picking a Case Manager
- Organizing Your Records and Files
- Releases and Permission Forms
- Covering Your Assets
- Chapter 17. When Things Go Wrong
- Afraid of Ghosts
- Equipment Failures
- Weather and the Paranormal
- When Spirits Attack
- Faking the Ghosts
- Chapter 18. Going Beyond Just a Hobby
- Making Contact with Other Investigators
- Building an Online Presence
- Building a Presence in Your Local Community
- Attending Lectures and Workshops
- Starting a Ghost Tour
- Part 4. The Part of Tens
- Chapter 19. America's Ten Most Haunted Cities and Towns
- Virginia City, Nevada
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Hollywood, California
- Salem, Massachusetts
- Savannah, Georgia
- San Francisco, California
- Alton, Illinois
- Vicksburg, Mississippi
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Chapter 20. Ten of America's Most Haunted Places
- Goldfield Hotel
- Washoe Club
- Crescent Hotel
- Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
- Queen Mary
- Pennhurst State School
- Bobby Mackey's Music World
- Winchester Mystery House
- Waverly Hills Sanitorium
- The Haunted Museum
- Chapter 21. Ten Signs Your House Is Haunted - and What to Do Next
- Unexplained Temperature Drops
- Electrical Glitches
- Unusual Smells
- Movement of Objects
- Unidentifiable Sounds
- Odd Behavior from Your Pets
- Feelings of a Nearby Presence
- Sensation of Being Touched
- Seeing Shadows and Movement
- Feelings of Depression and Sadness
- Actions You Can Take
- Keep a log or journal
- Decide what you want to do
- Contact a qualified paranormal investigator
- Index
