September 19, 2005
Today's Cults of Personality
Dear Ghostvillage.com,
Today we have a wave of new and old ghost hunting shows. The
ghost hunting plumbers of TAPS to the British group crouching in
the dark, freaking out at every noise. Is this good for the
field of paranormal research? I think not.
Not only are we asked to believe that the TAPS guys are plumbers
and paranormal investigators on top of husbands and fathers,
they are represented by theatrical agents and are booked as
speakers for events around the country. Twenty-four-hour days do
not leave time for all of this, but the cult of wide-eyed
innocents grows.
And as for
Most Haunted, the faked possessions with fits
a child finds funny because they're so bad does terrible harm to
the community. The public sees this and believes this is normal
paranormal practices. If an event occurs, the impression is that
we will arrive swinging dead chickens while reciting chants of,
"Eanie beanie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to
speak." Paranormal researchers do not break out in demonic
possessive fits, and those who use those with gifts would find
this distasteful.
This is not to attack anyone. Its an appeal to keep it real.
Theres more than enough mystery and wonder out there to amaze
us all without faking anything.
Any false claims degrades
us all.
Wayne Harrup
Waynesboro Research Group
Ghostvillage.com welcome's open letters to the paranormal community. Please see our
submission guidelines for details.
