Every year when the temperature starts dropping and the leaves begin to get crisp, many ghostly tales resurface themselves for another round of terrifying anyone who is unfortunate enough to be in earshot of their horror. Many nightmares, uneasy looks into the dark, and scary reflections could be avoided if this simple question was answered: is the existence of the paranormal just a figment of the human psyche, or is there significant evidence that proves otherwise? The answer is no. There is not any proof that any such “undead” walk among us. This can be disproved by debunking some of the bogus evidence out there, examining some of the most common “paranormal activities,” and understanding the sensory part of our brain that triggers these fears.
First off, a general understanding of how the common ghost story got started needs to be in place. It is speculated that the tale of Anne Boleyn was the first recordation of ghostly happenings. Boleyn was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I and the second in a whole series of wives by King Henry VIII. She was executed after being tried and found guilty of a whole slew of charges. There are tales that Boleyn haunts the grounds in which she lived, and was ultimately executed some four-hundred years ago. It is speculated that when a person dies with “unfinished business” they haunt the place where they lived or spent their last hours, as with the story of Ms. Boleyn. Tales of ghostly happenings have circulated the world since transcontinental communication became prevalent. If given a second thought these stories can be disproved simply by following any of the preceding methods.
Notably, it is a commonly known fact that many people long to be famous. Another commonly known fact? They don’t car...
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...ence, taking a closer look what why these things could happen, and underingstanding why they happen in our brain. Although it would be a fun idea to think the undead walk among us, it is simply a silly fantasy. But who is to say the spooky tales that generation after generation of people have enjoyed have to stop just because they are untrue? Let there be ghost stories! Even if that is all they are, stories.
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon, Karen Springen, and Kurt Soller. “Why We Believe.” Newsweek 152.18 (2008):
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Kelly, Lynne. The Skeptic’s Guide To The Paranormal. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
Philips, Helen. “Spookiness Is In The Brain Of The Beholder.” New Scientist 175.2353 (2002): 17.
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"Investigation of the Lodge." Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 07 Aug 2001. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.sgha.net/lodge.html.
“The strange thing about the paranormal is that no matter how often [a person proves] it, it remains unproven” (Chopra). Given personal experience and evidence by professionals that have dedicated their lives to find answers regarding the paranormal and the afterlife. There will always be skeptics so long as there are humans with their own thoughts and opinions. Despite what skeptics say,ghosts exist; there are several eyewitness accounts, religious traditions, and traditional cultural stories that support the paranormal.
The University of Maryland has a rich history dating back to its founding in 1856 as the Maryland Agricultural College. Built between 1804 and 1812, The Rossborough Inn is the oldest building on campus today (Ghost Tour, 2). With its history, it is no surprise that the Inn has been a hotspot for ghost activity. Knowing that there have been numerous reports of ghosts at Rossborough, I visited the Inn to ask current employees at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, located in Rossborough Inn, if they themselves had experienced anything bizarre or if they had known others who had. I entered the small office where three women were talking and with their permission asked about their experiences with ghosts at Rossborough. Upon asking my question, all three smiled, although shaking their head, they indicated they had not. However, they all had heard of the stories, and one of the women replied and told me to speak with the University Archivist. She told me that she has spoken with the archivist, and upon learning the stories, she said that she “got freaked out and really wanted to go home.”
I searched until I heard a story that gave me the chills. It comes from right around the block from where I live on campus, at one of the sorority houses at the University of Maryland. I collected this story the weekend of April 2nd, at my fraternity house. I asked my friend, a junior from Pikesville, if she knows any ghost stories. Her face lit up as if she was dying to tell me this story since the first time we ever met. She asked “you never heard the story of the ghost in the sorority house?” I replied no. The normally quiet woman demanded my attention away from the TV and went into her story.
St. Albans Sanatorium is a destination known by serious paranormal investigators as a place where they can seek answers to the mysteries of what lies beyond death. Some of these investigators were able to find resolutions for themselves to a number of these age old riddles through their experiences at the sanatorium. The frightening and true stories found within the pages of this book are about these inquisitive investigators’ encounters with The Ghosts of St. Albans Sanatorium.
Through the years there has been many ideas to what goes bump in the night. Mysterious, unsolved happenings blamed on the so-called supernatural. There are many myths, legends and lore based on these so called mysterious happenings. Through this research paper I am going to help to explain the biggest threats, conspiracies, and misunderstandings of aforementioned legends, myths, and lore.
Before that night, I didn’t believe in the paranormal. Now I sure as heck do. I had been chased out of my house after a fight with my step-parents because I wasn’t doing well in school (I had dyslexia), and I had taken shelter in what seemed like a normal house. I realized what I had gotten into after the sun set. The doors were locked without a sign of anyone going near them.
Envision yourself as encircled by strange, yet terrifying and evil spirits that trouble you in your worst nightmares. The spirits could desire something from you. In fact, they could aid you in locale of frightening you. Should you attend to them? What do you contemplate they are trying to notify you? In one of the inquiries above, notice the ironical use of the word “fact” that endeavors to obscure the fictitious nature of ghosts. It displays that the meaning of the word “ghost” is equivocal. In supplementary words, the word “ghost” is multivalued, that way that ghosts can purpose in extra than one way.
One night, around 1:00 a.m., my roommates and I were sitting in the common room, and I asked the group if they knew of a compelling ghost story. My one roommate, a 20 year old from Pennsylvania, said she had heard a ghost story at the summer sleep-away camp she had attended when she was younger. She heard the story around a campfire in the woods of Camp Tonikanee, which is in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She described her story as one that the counselors would tell the campers to convince them the camp was haunted.
The Nelly Butler hauntings is referred to as the first recorded ghost story in American history (LiBrizzi 5), and possibly the most exciting hauntings to date as there are still many unsolved mysteries. The apparition appeared on more than 30 separate occasions to over 100 witnesses in Sullivan, Maine, just over fifteen years after the American Revolution (5-6). Although the Nelly Butler apparition is one of the most convincing ghosts of all time, it was subject to suspicions of fraud. These claims turn out to be groundless as the evidence reveals the ghost to be genuine.
Do not open your eyes! One thinks to themselves as you believe there is something or someone there. It is dark your breath getting heavier and heavier, faster and faster, shaking and slowly you open your eyes… No! The fear paralyzes you, something is there it is getting closer and suddenly Ah! Suspenseful right? Every once in a while we may get frightened at the supernatural events that occur to us, but we never stop to think about how it impacts our society. In the article “Vampires Never Die” by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan they reveal their perspectives about why the supernatural is important in our society. The supernatural impacts our society by using the supernatural popularity to make profit, connecting the human desire to the unrealistic and using technology to keep individuals interested in the supernatural.
Are ghosts real? That is the question that most of society deliberates day after day. The true definition of a ghost is a soul or spirit of a deceased individual that can appear in visible form or other manifestations to the living. Ghosts are of the most common paranormal belief in the world. Most people believe in ghosts because of a personal experience, whether that was seeing or sensing an unexplained presence. Who wouldn’t want to believe that our beloved family members are looking for us?
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
Whether we choose to believe in the paranormal or not, we all have to realize that
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html