What Kind of Ghost Hunter Are You?

First, I wanted to start with this wicked cool book trailer that my son, Alex, created (he did the book cover too) for my upcoming book "Was That a Ghost?" that helps folks to know if what happened to them was paranormal or not. The book will be coming out on Nook/Kindle in a couple weeks. I will keep you updated. Love this trailer! Very cool!


Let's look at the types of ghost hunters:

Preoccupied by/fear death: (example Steve Gonsalves TAPS “Ghost Hunters”)
These hunters often present as young hunters, goth types, those with grief/depression issues chronically, those who’ve come close to death through illness or accident, and those who carry a preoccupation of thoughts about death and dying. Their motivations are vast, but they all fall within the realm of fear of death and a need to prove to themselves there is an afterlife.
The strengths of these hunters are an openness to the possibilities, they don’t generally fear the concept of ghosts, in fact, they are excited about it, and they are morbidly fascinated with places of death, types of death, and how people were killed and so therefore not squeamish.
The weaknesses about these types of hunters are that they’re often not eager to take on a leadership role, will often believe anyone who seems wise such as psychics or experienced hunters, and are sometimes hard to motivate to stay on task.
The best role in your group for this type is documentation. These hunters are very good at focusing when given a task of concentration such as keeping notes, documenting times and readings, writing down observations. When they’re given a task it often times keeps them from focusing on their inner world in their mind where they run a constant conversation that takes them off task.


Unanswered questions/Seeking a Truth:
(example Jason Hawes TAPS “Ghost Hunters”)
These hunters often present themselves as logic-minded people who are quick to tell you they don’t believe in ghosts and supernatural. Still, they have experienced something their logic can’t explain. They’re in search of debunking skills, pondering all the approaches to ghost hunting—knocking them off their list one by one as they dispute the false logic in others' belief systems. What they’re often left with is more questions than answers. Nothing seems to ring true to them.
The strengths of these kinds of hunters is that they can’t be taken in by anything or anyone, are quick to debunk, and won’t get carried away with fear.
The weaknesses of these kinds of hunters are that their minds are not open to accepting what anyone says, they need to experience something and apply their own logic to come to a reasonable conclusion, and they don’t like to be followers.
The best role in your group for this type is debunking. These hunters will go to great lengths to not look stupid by finding explainable reasons behind what’s happening. They’re pit bulls when it comes to using logic to explain anything that happens.

Adrenalin jockey: (example Zak Bagans “Ghost Adventures”)
The strengths of these kinds of hunters is that no place is too creepy, no height too tall, no spider too scary. They're ready to go and go now!
The weaknesses of these types are that they often times don't take guidance well, they think they know how to do it and when to do it and will often times disregard instructions.
The best role in your group for this type is reconnaissance. They should be the ones to test the site, check out the rickety stairs first, poke around a dirty basement, crawl in a tight space, and generally protect the group from any unexpected squatters or other dangers like rusty nails sticking out of boards or unstable railings. Some would also say that these types of hunters are ideal for taunting and they certainly are, if you’re of a mind to taunt.

History buffs/romantics: (example Yvette Fielding “Most Haunted”)These types of hunters want to explore historic sites, feel the floorboards, stand where others have stood, knowing that generations have gone by, events have occurred, and the ambiance is exciting to them.
The strengths of these kinds of hunters are they are great at finding neat locations, love to take photos, and are usually the most charming representative for the group with clients.
The weaknesses of these kinds of hunters are they’re the most likely to not like poking around in the darkness, crawlspaces, or sitting for long periods of time in the dark.
The best role in your group for this type is researcher. These type of hunters would like nothing more than an afternoon at the library or registrar for the city to look up titles and histories of buildings. They want to know all the romantic details of the illustrious past of the dead or the location. You can be sure that they won’t just take someone’s story about a location as fact, they want to know the “true unvarnished” history.

Pious/Righteous Minister: (example "demonologist" Lorraine Warren)
These hunters enter the field in order to prove to people that ghosts exist, that they know just what they are, and that others must accept what they say without question. They have THE TRUTH. They're the experts.
The strengths of these kinds of hunters are that they can work independently. In fact, they’d really prefer to do their own thing because no one else is doing it right.
The weaknesses of these kinds of hunters are they tend to overtake a group, try to become leader, insist things be done their way, and completely poo-poo anyone else’s viewpoint causing a lot of infighting.
The best role in your group for this type is as a consultant. This is someone you want to call in, but you don’t want to lead the group.

Psychic sensitives/caretakers: (example Ryan Buell “Paranormal State”) These types of hunters are often time psychics, empaths, sensitives, and caretakers. They have a tendency to want to protect and help others.
The strengths of these kinds of hunters are they take their time in locations and let their senses dictate where to go. They have great patience. They keep care of the others on the team.
The weaknesses of these kinds of hunters are they let their emotions rule their actions. They become involved in the group’s dynamics as a peacemaker and have dark and sullen moods and withdraw upon occasion.
The best role in your group for this type is EVP sessions. Honestly, I’ve found that people with tender hearts and sensitivity, especially nurses, teachers, mothers, and psychics are excellent at getting responses on audio.

Show me/I want to believe: (example Dave Tango, TAPS “Ghost Hunters”)
These types of hunters haven’t yet experienced a paranormal event, but they desperately want to. They want to see something that makes them believe. They want to know what it’s like to feel something unexplainable.
The strengths of these kinds of hunters are they’re very eager. They’ll do anything, go anywhere, try anything. They have endless energy.
The weaknesses of these kinds of hunters are they think everything is a ghost. They startle easy. They don’t have a body of experience or knowledge to be beneficial yet.
The best role in your group for this type is tech work. These are the ideal people to review film and audio searching with great detail for any sign of anything.

You’re probably going to ask me, "Autumnforest, what kind of ghost hunter are you?"

The three I haven’t been are preoccupied by/fear death, pious/righteous Minister one, and the show me/I want to be believe.

I have been a little bit of the psychic/sensitive/caretaker, Adrenalin jockey, history buff/romantic.

My primary role is definitely the unanswered questions/seeking a truth.

That’s probably why I have a “Ghost Hunting Theories” blog.

Comments

  1. I think I'm preoccupied with fear and death, but also a history/romantic.
    I'm fascinated by the mysteries of the unknown and supernatural and I do love places with a lot history. I'm always trying to picture a place the way it was a few hundreds years ago.
    In calif. One of my fav places to visit were the Spanish missions. You can walk into some of them and be blocked from the current time. You can't see any of the other modern buildings or hear any motor vehicles, etc. You feel trapped in their time. And of course, most of them are
    haunted

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  2. The one that fits me the most is history/romantic. I am the one that would love to find those historical places and take a moment to feel what happened in that place many years before me. This is probably why I love our abandoned places trips... the history. I am also a bit of a researcher too which goes well with finding the history of these haunted places.

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  3. Got a couple of romantic gals here. Not unusual. The best ghost hunting historians are women or very bookish men who are into reenactments in their spare time. Sandra; I get you on the Spanish missions-our indian ruins here have an amazing energy. The very stone of these structures make them ideal spirit vessels. Julie, you are definitely an historian and photographer. You want all the stories to be dug up from the past. I admit to being a bit more tactile in my love of these places--I just want to be in them and touch them, absorb their cumulative knowledge.

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  4. Awesome post! I'm very into team-building and finding all the pieces to make them fit, so I appreciate this breakdown, both of the technical roles to fill out an investigation, and of the personality types needed to get there. :)

    I'm definitely the preoccupied with death type, with a hearty helping of history buff/romantic (that's why I love to travel in general). But yeah, most of my interest in the paranormal comes from a desire to find proof of an afterlife. I'm a little spooked by the prevalence of the residuals-as-hauntings theories these days, because to me that seems entirely plausible, and there really is no such thing as a ghost in the old-fashioned sense. But i want to get out there and draw my own conclusions!

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  5. AndAlex;
    Glad to inspire you. I always say that everyone can contribute to ghost hunting, even if someone is limited in mobility, he can always do the research or run the website. If he's scared of dark places and spiders, he might be the one who goes to the city registrar and learns the background about prior owners or perhaps gets some beautiful pictures of historic sites to put on the blog. Whatever seems to be their passion, use it.

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  6. First off I love the trailer! I'm gonna tweet ya. 2nd I think I'm a mix of sensitive & historic and...

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  7. Becca;
    Thanks. You'd be a great asset to a team.

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  8. Nice. I love a good book trailer.

    I'm unanswered questions/history buff.

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  9. I knew that about you Pangs, but I highly suspect that there is an adrenalin jockey under all that, my friend. Thanks for the trailer compliment. The book will live up to it, I am certain.

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  10. That's an awesome book video! I've never been on a ghost hunt, so I can't honestly say which type I am.

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  11. HN;
    I suspect you would be seeker of the truth and show me/I want to believe.

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  12. I wonder where I would fit with a BA in History, Religion, and Philosophy?

    lol

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  13. Barry; I think I'd want you to do history/research, but you might come in handy with counseling if folks are of a more religious bend and a need a bit of spiritual confidence.

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  14. Nice book spoiler. Kindle books do save lots of time.
    if i were ghost hunter, i'd say kind of seeking truth,unanswered questions and history sites.

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  15. Echo;
    Thanks. Sounds like you're an ideal combo.

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  16. I'm more of a truth seeker, with logic prevailing in most times. I look to debunk before I believe, so I know exactly what I am seeing/sensing. I believe in the paranormal, but also believe that most actions are mislabeled by overzealous people.

    An amazing post as always! Can't wait to see the book!

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  17. L.I.I;
    The book was seriously written for you and other intelligent and skeptical thinkers. You're going to love it. Once people have their heads in the right place, experiencing the paranormal is no threat but an absolute wonder, but first you have to know if it's the real deal.

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