There are a few different types of hauntings you should be aware of when you feel your home or space is occupied by more than you and your invited guests and family members.

Spirit activity can sometimes be recognized by a feeling of heaviness in the air, a feeling of someone touching your skin, or by the hairs on your arms and back of neck standing up. You may feel a cold chill, a feeling of dread or not being wanted, or by a feeling of pressure on your face or near your body. These are only a few of the ways a spirit may try to get your attention. For those who are not readily able to pick up the subtle clues our bodiless visitors send our way, they may at time resort to poltergeist activity (see below). Barring spirits and before assuming you have found a ghost, however, make sure to rule out electromagnetic fields, which also cause several of these types of symptoms.

Residual Haunting:
The first type of haunting is most always non-harmful. The residual haunt is much like the replaying of a movie or event. Parapsychologists believe the energy from a tragic or high-energy event leaves its mark on our world in the form of a residual impression. The residual haunt repeats the same scene over and over again. It happens on the same date, time, place, and in sequence of events. It may happen annually or every night at 6:02 p.m. It depends on the event and the strength of the energy and emotion that was generated at the time of the original event. They never interact with people, but simply replay a past traumatic event.

Intelligent Haunting:
The intelligent haunting is believed to be the interaction between the living and disembodied spirits. During investigations of intelligent hauntings, it is quite possible to record EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) on a digital voice recorder in response to your questions or comments. Similarly, K2 meters can be effectively used for simple yes/no responses.

In my own experience, the evidence of an intelligent haunting took place one night while my family and I were fast asleep. I was awakened by what I thought were my daughter's footsteps coming up the stairs to my bedroom. Just as I woke to open the bedroom door to find no-one there, I heard someone outside our garage trying to pull open the garage door. When I ran to the window and flipped on the outdoor light to see what was going on, I witnessed a man running from our property and making a mad dash over the fence behind our home. I believe a protective spirit in our home used the sound of footsteps to awaken and warn me of the intruder.

This was not the first time our friendly ghost interacted with us. Our cat, Smokey, also witnessed our house-mate. Around the time of Christmas, I was seated in my swivel rocker, next to our Christmas tree, and heard what I believed to be my cat walking around on the packages under the tree. I turned to shoo him away, when I heard him growling from the steps on our staircase. His gaze was fixed on the Christmas tree, about in the area where I heard the footsteps. I didn't feel any negativity coming from the area, so I took a breath and calmly went back to what I was doing.

Poltergeist:
This third type of haunting is not only interactive, but can be harmful if you happen to be in the way of a moving object. There are two theories on poltergeist activities.

Intelligent haunting with kinesis:
The disembodied spirit has acquired the ability to move objects at will. This is perhaps the scariest of the hauntings. Most times, however, it is simply the attempt of the spirit to gain our attention, not to harm us. Poltergeist activity seems most prevalent around those who fail to acknowledge the presence of a spirit. Can you think of a better way to get someone's attention than tossing something in their direction or making an object move?

Adolescent kinesis:
Some parapsychology research has credited many of the poltergeist claims of activity to adolescents, primarily girls. My own personal experience tends to support this theory.

When my now-adult daughter was in her early teens and up until the time she moved out, we experienced activity in the forms of knocking on walls, cabinet doors being opened and lights being burned out after only days or hours of replacing them. The light bulb issues were by far the most exasperating and costly!

Demon Activity:
This last type of haunting is by far the most serious and dangerous of the hauntings. Demon activity is characterized by strong feelings of dread and literal darkness in a room where there should be light, or if there is light in the room, it will appear dark or dimmed. There may be sounds of scratching inside the walls or growling sounds. The people living in the space with this type of activity may experience personality changes, sleeplessness, insomnia, nightmares, or be awakened by feelings of physical force or pressure on their bodies. The victim might wake with scratches, bites or claw marks on their skin. If you suspect demon activity, seek help from your local Priest who specializes in exorcism. Leave the house until the source of the activity has been effectively removed and the home feels "light" again. If, in the event the victim leaves the home and activity continues to occur in the new space, it is quite possible the victim is being haunted – not the residence. In this case, a professional in the area of demon possession should be consulted. Do not attempt to remove this type of haunting yourself or consult someone who is not very familiar with this kind of activity. It is a serious situation deserving of serious attention.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule an investigation into your haunted space, please feel free to ask. We do not charge a fee, as we do this to gather information for research purposes. We will not disclose your name or any other information. Your case will remain confidential.