13 replies to this topic

[jenbrown]

How did your group form? Did you have a group of friends that shared the same interest in the paranormal or did you set out to form a group based on soley your interest?

Why am I wondering? Well, I am lonely! No, not lonely, but I do not know anyone in my area that shares the same interest I do. Oh, sure, I do know a couple of people believe in ghosts but no one who would seriously venture out to investigate with me. I can't very well do any investigating in my area alone. Also, I don't have a huge cache of haunted places to visit and I want to find others in my area that do know of places to investigate and that maybe share my interests, experiences and philosophy on the paranormal.

So how did you do it? What advice can you give me to go about starting a group? Any ideas?

[lorddraven2000]

I became interested at a very early age thanks to a few teachers who felt I would find interest in Hanz Holzer books and I did. I did the solo thing for some time and then in high school met a few like minded people and the result was Dravenstar.

[blueivvy]

jenbrown, on Oct 19 2005, 11:38 PM, said:

How did your group form? Did you have a group of friends that shared the same interest in the paranormal or did you set out to form a group based on soley your interest?

So how did you do it? What advice can you give me to go about starting a group? Any ideas?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We met most of our group online, through yahoogroups, meetup.com and our own website. We've also met a bunch of wackos this way, too...the meetups are the best idea, as they're held in public places and you can be as anonymous as you like.

You best idea might be to join an established group.

[Mist]

I'd love to have a group here to go out and investigate.

[FLJeepTJ]

Tell me if I am speaking out of turn here because I haven't been around the website for nearly a year.

Getting an investigation group started is very easy. Getting a GOOD group together that can actually do a real investigation is a whole different story.

I have been interested in the paranormal for as long as I can remember. Hauntings, ghosts, spirits, Bigfoot, Florida Skunk Ape, UFO's, whatever was out there and hard to explain intersted me. I was the weird kid in high school that wanted to go check out the stories we heard growing up. If there was a ghost down at the old movie theater then I was ready to go looking for him! Problem was I had to go by myself because everyone else was too scared....

I tried a few years back to get a group together in the area I live. I am probably more skeptic than believer and that caused a lot of problems. While I do think there are such things as ghosts I am not willing to accept such things as "orbs" and "evp" just because someone captured a glowing circle on film or a garbled kinda sorta maybe perhaps coulda been voice on a tape recorder.

In my search for members I came across every kind of ghost story you can imagine as the reason someone wanted to join the group. They had an experience as a child or when someone close to them died. I had one person tell me that Grandma had moved in with her after she died. She knew it was Grandma because of the noises she made. Another one told me that they knew ghosts were real because they had photos to prove it!

Those reasons were not disqualifying in themselves and made me consider the person for the group. It was when I would go to the persons house or we would meet in public that threw up a big red flag to me.

Grandma turned out to be pipes rattling in the wall behind her bed.... I walked out in the garage which was on the same wall as the bedroom while she was using the restroom and guess what happened when she flushed? Yep, Grandma rattled the pipes on cue! Either she was a little too easy to convince or Grandma loved the sound of the toilet flushing and played chop sticks on the pipes every time.

The other person I mention brought me about 20 photos they claimed showed spirits when we met for dinner one night to discuss the group. The photos were taken at a local "city of the dead" and had so many "orbs" you couldn't even see the person he was taken a picture of. After showing interest in the photos and the number of "orbs" shown he began to tell me how spooky it was that night. Lightning, thunder, pouring down rain.... He had to have someone hold an umbrella over him to keep the camera dry.... I was starting to get the feeling I was dealing with the crew of "Most Haunted Live"! Although they are very entertaining I have my doubts about them.

Well okay I still had my female friend/kinda sorta girlfriend/medium that I lived with and her 13-year-old daugther that was the best ghost hunter ever! The three ghostkateers ride again! NOT! Girlfriend/medium was just too busy with work to commit to being part of the group, pretty much the same as commiting to anything else outside of work including me! Daughter was all for going ghost hunting with me until one fateful day when I took her to a hockey game. Instead of buying EMF's, infared cameras and motion detectors, I was buying hockey sticks, ice skates, shoulder pads, compression pants, shin guards, elbow pads, helmets, lions and tigers and bears! OH MY! Oh yeah and lets not forget she found boys about the same time she found hockey.... SOooooo much for her helping out on any wondering around in the dark looking for evidence of ghosts!

This all brings me to my current situation. I am now married to my highschool flame of 20+ years ago. We are very much in love and she has a very strong Christian background as I do. However! I am still fascinated with all things paranormal and want to continue on my quest for the truth. She wants nothing to do with it because she isn't quite sure how it fits in with the bible and God.... She has told me of her own paranormal experiences with her mother shortly after her death. But that was not the same as wanting to go out looking for the paranormal activity.

My best advice to anyone wanting to start a group is NEVER GIVE UP!!! Don't do what I did and say "Oh the hell with it." Get some folks together, weed out the ones you can do without and keep the good ones.

Oh yeah, if you are in the Central Florida area and need some help let me know. But I will warn you that I don't think much of about 99% of the orb photos I have seen.

[jenbrown]

See the trouble with starting my own group here is that I live in a place where either there is absolutely no one haunting the area (very doubtful) or no one wants to talk about it maybe because it's not sophisticated enough for my area. I live in Wine Country here in CA and it seems to me that some people here are all about the wine and nothing else.

For example, there was a recent article just in time for Halloween about some "haunted" bed and breakfasts in the area. But the owners of these b&b's totally downplayed any ghostly phenomenon because these are the places the "wine country tourists" stay when they come here. They don't want to scare potential income away. The article even omitted one particular b&b that some in the ghost community have read about, the Madrona Manor. I stayed there in June and while I was sitting in the parlor reading a good ghost book, the only other couple hanging out downstairs was blabbing about the wines they plan on tasting the next day and their wine collection.

To the west of where I live there are more hippyish/earthy communities and they too believe in paranormal but to a wacked out extent. Lots of self proclaimed "psychics" and "mystic healers". I am caught in the middle. I do believe 100% in ghosts but I do also know that 90% of "hauntings" are not real. I have had plenty of experiences but I rarely ever say I for sure experienced a ghost.

I can't exactly go out and join another group because there aren't any. If I want to drive a couple of hours everytime, there are other groups around San Francisco and Sacramento but they seems really too big on themselves to let someone join their groups. And some of them are those "Look, an orb! I have a photo of a ghost" kinds that I don't agree with. I do know a couple of people who believe but either they are too busy or just want to believe and not investigate seriously. My husband loves the fact that I drag him on mini vacations just to stay someplace haunted but he will never believe in ghosts until one jumps up and bites him in the behind.

So in a nutshell, I, for now, am what one refers to as an "armchair ghosthunter". I read countless books on the subject, watch every tv show I can possibly and I get to covort with wonderful ghost lovers from all over the world (except my area) on GV. I guess that will have to do.

[CajunKnight]

Your best bet for getting started is to find a small group of friends that are interested in the same subject. Do some small hunts / investigations. Pay attention to how the members respond and take it from there. Dont be to serious in the beginning. Make sure that everybody is mature enough not to play or try and scare anyone. Make sure you keep respect for any area you are in. It will take a while to get a good group together. Remember to pick your people right. Friendship doesnt count in the end, professionalism does.

Edited by CajunKnight, 17 November 2005 - 03:19 PM.

[aloha_spirit]

I'm in the same boat. I live in Happy Valley where at least 85% of the population has strong Christian backgrounds and it seems like nobody will openly talk about ghosts. There aren't even the usual urban legends about the local schools.

The few places that might be haunted (such as the Area 51 dance club) aren't open for investigations. I can't even get into the MTC to see if the shadow person has returned.

A group would be great, but only after we find places to check out...

[Grim Undertakings]

Hi Jenbrown,
I applaud your patience! Do not be discouraged with having to be an "armchair ghosthunter", because to me it is your interest and dedication to the subject that counts.
I've had an interest in ghosts all of my life, but I wasn't aware of ghost investigations until I started checking it out on the internet. I had no idea what EVP's, orbs, etc. were. I assumed maybe there were a select group of people who looked into this in the world. People who had special degrees from special institutions.
So when I began reading about it (yep, the ol' self-teaching I'm sure we've all pretty much done here) I was actuallly really skeptical.
That is until you start to experience it for yourself. Then I was hooked.
Enough rambling!
At first it was just my friend and I going out looking around. It's been four years now and I finally have an amazing group of people who make up Grim Undertakings. And we're still learning. But it's been a crazy road. I can identify with the "Look an orb! Ghooooossstttssss!" people you mention. Plus, the "I just want to be scared, take me along with you people", too.
I don't know if this will be of any help, but when I was trying to find people, I used the "dip my toe" in the water method. I would be talking to someone and weave ghosts into the conversation. If they were all "Ghosts. Give me a break!" I would move on to the weather. If they perked up their ears, I kept going.
So, keep trying, I guess. From the sounds of it I think you would have a really great team, or be a welcome edition to any existing team!

[TKE448]

I know everyones feelings...I live in the boondocks of east ky and there is noone around to investigate with...I would love to establish a small (yet thorough) group, but alas, having an hour and half commute to work (one way, three hours total)...that seriously cuts into investigation time (once again, if I had a group....). I would simply love to find a group that I could investigate with once maybe twice a week and spend the other time going over data...

[Grim Undertakings]

Hi TKE,
I don't know if this will be of any help, but when I started out it was only me at first. Then a good friend of mine came on board. It was just me and him for about a year. When I attempted to expand the group a wee bit (I was aiming for three more people) I went through a lot of trial and error. I eventually found the right people.
I did this by just casually bringing the topic of ghosts up with people to see how they would react (there were people who thought I was nuts!).
It did work out for the best in the long run though. So good luck, and hang in there, and I hope you find some excellent people to research ghosts with who will also turn out to be great friends too!

[dan_nwmps]

Me and some friends had a habit of going out to some abndoned places once or twice a year.. then we decided to make a group and do it for a hobby.. that was about 7 years ago.. we just slowly went up from our core group of 3..

You never kbnow who may be interested maybe make an email acct at hotmail or something like it.. then put adds around, in paper, library schools etc.. Just list the email as contact info that way you remain semi anonamous and you can see how much interest you can drum up.. you never know how many closet ghost hunters are around.

As far as finding places. It goes slow at first but the more you get out there and meet people word of mouth spreads. People just dont go around saying they live or work in a huanted place. But if they know you will keep thier identities anon. they will come forward.
Just hit a few of the places you do know or puvblic areas that might be haunted. Until some juicy ones come along..

Once nwmps got to be known around our small town i was surprised at the number of people that wanted to join or had places they wanted investigated. we have a population of like 11,000 and lke 20 churches.

Hope this helps a little.

Edited by dan_nwmps, 16 March 2006 - 07:40 PM.

[chowder]

Me and my father along with my brother in-law were all members of a masonic lodge that is housed in a haunted building "the haunted houghton mansion" and all heard about the hauntings for years. I was am a frequent listener to coast to coast am and have heard many investigators as guest on the show and after hearing one, one night said why don't we get the Mansion investigated.

We shopped around and choose the New England Ghost Project who came out and did a wonderfull job. After being present during the investigation we were capitivated and decided to start our own group that consisted of mostly family members and a couple outsiders. We bought up all the equipment studied up on the subject and about a year later offically started a group.

There was alot of boring stuff inbetween but won't bore you with it.

[KatieKintner]

My group was formed through the TAPS message board. Our group founder just posted a note there asking for interested persons from the area and got a number of responses. We met at his house and discovered we were all different ages, from 16 to 55 (me!) which I think is a good thing. Initially we had about 11 people but lost the youngest and another person a few months after forming. We have done some residential investigations, a two story retail store and a former small college campus which was fascinating.

I think even if our group disbanded, I would go on as an independent investigator, as my involvement over the last year has let me get to know people in the area who are also interested in ghost investigation. It would be fun to conduct independent investigations with them on occasion or just me and my husband do smaller investigations on our own. It is a learning process but I've enjoyed it for the most part so far and am interested in expanding my knowledge and experience.