Posts tagged with “paranormal”
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Haunted Ontario

I've almost always lived in Ontario and I don't think I have seen a ghost. Not something I could prove to myself or anyone else for certain. I explore abandoned, old buildings and never feel they are haunted. I don't expect to see a ghost and maybe that's why I haven't. But, I do believe in ghosts.

I don't think I've ever seen a ghost. How can you ever really be sure though? Something spotted from the corner of your eye... an odd light in a photo you took... a sudden draught in the room... Would you say you've seen a ghost, for sure?

So many people believe in ghosts - you feel it must be true. But, everyone should use their own judgement. Take what you see and use what you know to make our own decision about what you believe to be true.

Haunted Towns and Cities

Haunted Ontario Groups

Start Your own Ghost Hunting or Paranormal Investigations Business

You don't have to turn your ghost hunting into a business. You could keep it a little more casual and turn it into a society for your area. Get others with the same interest in ghosts to come together. Talk about your own experiences, your beliefs, places you have explored and then make plans to explore and document a location as a group.

Or, you could try turning it into a business. A unique home business.

How to be a Ghost Hunter

Articles to Read

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Do You Believe in Haunted Toys?

I've read about haunted toys, as a concept, before. Each time I just think -- how gullible are these people? How badly do they want to believe in ghosts, spirits and hauntings? I don't believe you see, not to the point of overlooking common sense.

I do think there are ghosts, of some sort. Feelings and emotions left over from the past. Turbulence doesn't just disappear because the cause of the disturbance has gone. It's like having a huge fight with someone. You can feel it in the atmosphere.

But, I don't think that's all there is to the ghost thing. I don't know exactly what I do believe. I haven't quite pinned it down into so many little words. My Grandmother did see ghosts, her sister and her husband both appeared to her soon after they were gone. Gone in a permanent way, not just out of the room or out of town. Seeing ghosts scared her. Me too. I don't trust them all to be benevolent or casual or just want to come over for tea and a chat. So, like my Grandmother before me, I picked a day and spoke out loud and told everything (whatever everything is) that I don't want to see ghosts. My Grandmother was told to do this by a psychic and she said it worked for her. She stopped seeing anything once she clearly said she did not want to see anything, of that sort.

Anyway, the idea of haunted toys annoys me. Why take something simple and kind of innocent and turn it into something frightening?

When I watch the ghost hunting shows I can see through almost everything they do. I understand the difficulties with proving the existence of ghosts when others are watching and the people filming can't show they really didn't cause the camera to shake or prove they really do feel a cold air pocket. But, it seems to look so phony I just can't take it very seriously. It seems scripted, pre-planned.

So I don't believe in haunted toys. I don't believe children who have died would hang around an old toy and try to harm people or scare them with it. Children aren't like that, except in movies.

One good thing about the haunted toy thing, it's a great way to bump up the value of vintage toys. If you can show the toy as haunted... the interest in having the toy (even if just to prove or disprove the ghostly haunting) will help to sell it and sell it for a bigger price. Which just throws more doubt on the concept of haunted toys.

What do you believe? Have you had a haunted toy? Has an old doll given you the creeps? Do toys mysteriously move when you know no one and nothing is logically making them move?

I have felt creeped out by an old doll. I admit. But, I'm sure it was just my own doing. I let myself feel that way. It was based on nothing, just a suggestion by someone else. But, I can remember the feeling. I didn't like it.

One interesting side note... the haunted toys all seem to be dolls. Co-incedence? Not likely.

Robert, the Haunted Doll

Haunted Toys and Dolls

Haunted Doll Stories

Flickr: Creepy Dolls

Misbehaving Toys and People

Annabelle: The Haunted Doll

David's Haunted Dolls

Haunted America Tours: Real Haunted Doll Gallery

Haunted Dolls.net

YouTube: Scary Doll

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Finding and Exploring Canadian Ghost Towns

Exploring Ballycroy, Ontario

My first ghost town exploration (Ballycroy) fell pretty flat. I had found it on the map. I got my directions so I could drive there. I brought my camera, I was ready. I had read about the old town in a newspaper article about local history. There was a photograph of an old ruined stone wall and a vintage illustration of the original town as it once would have been.

But, the ghost town wasn't there. Or, not much of it. I found one building remaining but it had been renovated from the old general store into a modern home. I didn't see so much as the old outhouse left standing along side the house.

There were woods around but all marked as private property with "No Trespassing" signs up on the fences. I knew there was more, likely in the private property area. But, I didn't know who owned it to ask for permission to explore farther in.

I did see the sign for the town of Ballycroy and a heritage plaque. That was my first ghost town adventure.

Ballycroy: The 1st Ghost Town that Wasn't There

Exploring Malcolm, Ontario

The next time I wound up in a ghost town I found even less to see. One historical plaque to mark the spot, that was it!

I did drive down the road a bit and see some black young male cattle. They were romping around, beating each other up and doing other things you can imagine young men doing. I felt a bit sad, knowing they were likely to have a short life ending up on a plate in some kitchen or dining room. But, they were having a good time that day.

How to be a Ghost Town Explorer

Ghost town exploring is not all you would expect it to be. New explorers will find a destination and arrive there with great expectations. Just like in the movies.

Expect less and you won't be too disappointed.

Sure there are some ghost towns with a lot more to see. These are sometimes tourist attractions now. If you really want to find a ghost town you need to go off the beaten path. I know of one which I may never get to see myself. It's in an area which has become immersed under water most of the year. It is only reachable by canoe. There is a bridge which you could risk driving across, with the right vehicle.

Generally, ghost towns are just a memory and a heritage plaque.

Tips for Finding Ghost Towns

  • Read local history and make notes about the locations.
  • Read local legends, like ghost stories, and see if any of those towns have fallen off the map a bit.
  • Watch the local news and newspapers. Search their websites for ghost stories and ghost towns.
  • Go to your local library, try the history section.
  • Pay attention to the writers when you find a book about local history. Contact them and ask for tips on places to see.
  • If you can find a local paranormal/ ghost hunting group, join up. Show up when they get together to explore or give tours.
  • Look on Flickr, search for photos from urban explorers in your area. Try other photography sites with the same plan.
  • Join, and participate in, activities with your local historical society. Keep your membership card handy when you are out exploring.
  • A great map of your area, including back roads, is a huge help in finding ghost towns - especially once you are on on the road. Look at your map, observe dead end roads that seem to leave blank spaces on the map. Look for blank areas where a town might once have fit in.
  • Learn something about architecture, so you will know what you're looking at when there isn't much to see other than some foundations and the scattered remains of a building or two.

Guides to Exploring

There are Ghost Towns Across Canada

Photo Galleries and Resources

Historical Societies

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I Like Science Fiction

I like thinking about the possibilities without having to know or consider all the cold, hard facts. I like thinking about time travel, robots, aliens and my favourite… how civilization staggers upright after an end of the world catastrophe. It’s all creative ideas. True, it should grounded in facts somewhere along the way. But that doesn’t mean it has to be taken 100% seriously either. It should make your mind work, make you wonder.

If you could time travel where would you go, past or future? One of the things that bugs me most about eventually dying is not being here. Think of all the things I will be missing. It’s so unfair. That’s why I would go into the future. I want to see what gets invented. Like reading ahead to see how a really good book ends. Only, we assume, there really is no end to this story.

I want to believe in aliens too. It just seems silly to think that of all the stars and all those planets we are the only one capable of supporting life. Quite likely we are arrogant enough to assume all that life is very much like our own, breathing air, washing in water and walking around on land. What if life really was something that would fry our brain cells just trying to understand it.

Other stuff, like the paranormal interests me too. I’d like to think dragons are out there. I don’t believe it but I prefer to keep the possibility open. Why close that door completely if I don’t have to? Ghosts spook me, I do believe I have seen something, had some contacts in that direction. I don’t want to further those kind of contacts. I believe there is a lot we still have to learn about our own human brains and it’s very likely psychic powers are up there floating around in your very own grey matter. We just don’t know how to work it, no one has the instruction manual. Would you actually read it, if you had one?

I wouldn’t. It would kind of spoil it, to know everything and have all the answers too soon. Someday people (or whatever we become) will know the things we only wish we knew. But, we won’t be here. I wonder if there was a woman living a thousand years ago who was sitting doing her laundry one day and thinking, wishing she could take a peek into life a thousand years ahead. I wish she could be here for coffee and chat. It would be quite the conversation.