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Next week, Cheryl and I will be staying at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The main reason we are staying there is because of the reported haunted activity aboard the ship. Would we stay there if the souls of the deceased weren’t said to walk the ship’s halls? Probably not, but then that is what we search for, supposed haunted places to visit.
What we have encountered at most sites that offer ghost tours is a hefty price tag. At the Queen Mary, if we want to “hunt ghosts” we have to pay an additional $75 per person for the two-hour paranormal investigation night tour, and even then we would still only be allowed to use our camera — no video or audio equipment are allowed on night tours.
Which brings me to my question: Are all these pay-to-hunt sites, even the ones that put restrictions on the equipment used, a valid form of paranormal investigation? Some of these pay-to-investigate sites that I’ve been to recently include Waverly Hills Sanatorium, the Villisca Axe Murder House, the Whaley House, and, soon, the Queen Mary. There are many more out there that claim to hold a plethora of stuck souls, but in order to experience them fully you have to part with your hard-earned cash.
I guess to answer the question of their validity, you must first ask why you are going there in the first place. Are you there for the thrills, are you seeking proof of the afterlife, or are your reasons for shelling out $50 to $200+ a mixture of both?
To me, these locations do serve a function — offering the average Joe & Jane a chance to try something that is not normally available. And if these types of sites didn’t offer these tours/investigations, I’m pretty sure that the curious would still seek out spooky places, sometimes breaking the law to gain entry. At least pay-to-hunt sites offer a somewhat safe environment in which to search for ghosts.
Some might consider me foolish for spending my money at pay-to-hunt paranormal sites, but I look at it this way: Ghost hunting at these sites is no different than going to a play or even a movie (albeit a very expensive movie), going on vacation, or contributing finances to a hobby.
So are pay-to-hunt paranormal sites valid locations and worthy of the purchase price? I think it depends on what an individual is seeking. To me it’s worth it. These types of locations allow people who wouldn’t normally be able to go on a ghost hunt to experience, to some degree, what it might be like.
What do you think?
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I think it is worth it for a thrill. Certainly a third party restricting that you cannot use some very basic equipment could not be counted as a proper investigation I wouldn't think. Well, to be fair, I'm just talking about the Queen Mary there. I think pay-to-hunt sites are fine though. Really there is nothing unethical about it that I can think of. Unless of course they are manufacturing ghosts and the experience.
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The best part about this forum is our geographic diversity.
Everyone should be looking for places that have never been
investigated before of course everyone would love to experience
the famous Queen Mary. The ability to do so is now limited to a
persons financial means. I can only wager a guess that there
are an infinite amount of very good investigation sites out there that have
yet to be discovered.
In hot rod building we call it hoarding the old metal.
If I find a junk yard or hidden field with great old metal in it…..I keep it to myself
until I have purchased or recieved permission to remove junk from that site.
Half the fun of this is teasing other gear heads that hunt for the same stuff
with it's location!
Just a tip for "ghost hunters", salvage yards are very interesting even in
the broad daylight. I would never pay to investigate anywhere. I would take
that as a no and move on. Equipment , time and fuel are expensive enough without
paying an entry fee. I'm sure that standpoint will earn me countless hours of complete
silence and no paranormal activity……but it hasn't so far.
If any PUG member ever visits South Texas I can give them at least ten sites that cost nothing
and would be interesting to say the least.
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First, I think if anyone is going to a paid investigation for anything but the thrill or social aspect then they are wasting their money. These places all capitalize on the tragedies, incidents and stories of the past. Hey are set up as tourist attractions to make money and nothing more. I also don’t think a couple hours constitutes an investigation but maybe a ghost hunt. These places also understand there is a big draw and buck in the paranormal and that’s why they play up on the paranormal aspect but I do think they might be fun. People should also remember that literally thousands of people have gone before them and so far no one has come up with any legitimate evidence of the paranormal.
I think the statement;
(Ghost hunting at these sites is no different than going to a play or even a movie (albeit a very expensive movie), going on vacation, or contributing finances to a hobby. )
best puts it in perspective. If you go into it with this attitude then it is worth it, although I think some are way over priced for the experience.
So are they valid locations for an investigation? No, I don’t think so.
Are they worth it? Yes, for those who go into it with a good attitude.
On the other hand, if we have learned anything from history, it is that many great discoveries have been made by accident or mistake and even by the amateur. So you never know…
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Depends on the person. Some will think it's worth their money, some won't. No one is forcing anyone to go there and spend money. I spent $10 for a night time haunted tour of the Mytles Plantation. Was it worth it? I'd say yes, since we debunked some stuff they claimed were caused by the paranormal. Would I be so lucky at other places? Who knows. I wouldn't mind paying for a tour or trip to look around a place reported to be haunted.
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Personally I don't think it's worth the money unless you're really really into it.
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We are planning a trip to Waverly Hills next spring. It has some restricitons: must have ten in a group, no more than 40 in a group. The price is high for ten, but for 40, it becomes VERY reasonable. You get an overnight instead of two hours. You can use any equipment you want. The funds collected go towards renovation and maintenance of the Sanatorium. I'm all in for that. Waverly holds a fascination for me and I can't wait to investigate there!
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The best part about this forum is our geographic diversity.
Everyone should be looking for places that have never been
investigated before of course everyone would love to experience
the famous Queen Mary. The ability to do so is now limited to a
persons financial means. I can only wager a guess that there
are an infinite amount of very good investigation sites out there that have
yet to be discovered.
In hot rod building we call it hoarding the old metal.
If I find a junk yard or hidden field with great old metal in it…..I keep it to myself
until I have purchased or recieved permission to remove junk from that site.
Half the fun of this is teasing other gear heads that hunt for the same stuff
with it's location!
Just a tip for "ghost hunters", salvage yards are very interesting even in
the broad daylight. I would never pay to investigate anywhere. I would take
that as a no and move on. Equipment , time and fuel are expensive enough without
paying an entry fee. I'm sure that standpoint will earn me countless hours of complete
silence and no paranormal activity……but it hasn't so far.
If any PUG member ever visits South Texas I can give them at least ten sites that cost nothing
and would be interesting to say the least.
I couldn't have said this any better. I think pay sites are taking advantage of the unexperienced "Ghost Hunter" fans and the actual investigators. Every pay site I have ever heard of (except Octagon House in Kentucky) have either boundaries you can't cross or equipment you can not use. Either way, I would refuse any kind of restriction on an investigation. Can you imagine going to investigate a non-pay site and being told you could not, for any reason, go upstairs? How seriously would you take that investigation?
I take a different approach; we pay and pay often.
Why? Some locations are worth it. Some locations are historical, like the Meeker Mansion in Puyallup, and the renovations/upkeep are astronomical. They have a fire code / blocked off grand front porch that can't be used. It's going to take 60 grand to fix it and get it up to code. We host teams around the area to investigate the Mansion for 50/hr, with all proceeds going to the mansion.
I say some places are worth keeping a live.
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I take a different approach; we pay and pay often.
Why? Some locations are worth it. Some locations are historical, like the Meeker Mansion in Puyallup, and the renovations/upkeep are astronomical. They have a fire code / blocked off grand front porch that can't be used. It's going to take 60 grand to fix it and get it up to code. We host teams around the area to investigate the Mansion for 50/hr, with all proceeds going to the mansion.
I say some places are worth keeping a live.
I stand corrected, then. If the funds are, as you said, going to keep a historical building alive and available as a resource, then I would agree with that. You do, though, have to question the price some charge. Why should you need 40 people at an investigation just to make it decently affordable? I dunno. Make it affordable for small groups so they can do legitimate investigations and I'd agree even more. So they have to run more tours. They still make the same amount of money and, I think, more respectable results from the investigations. If you guys are only charging 50 bucks an hour for an entire team, I don't think that's bad at all. With only 4 people, it only comes to 12.50 an hour per person. I could spend more than that walking through the mall on Saturday on junk I'll never see or use after the first time.
50/per hour per team. One team at a time max. 5 people. That make it like 10 bucks a person per hour. We try to keep it affordable, but also beneficial for the location.
We also chaperoned the team that's investigating, and we have them sign a liability form that states they break something, they pay for it. It's doesn't come out of our team, etc. Basically it comes down to accountability, which alleviates those thrill seeking "Ghost Hunter" fans trying to run amuck.
To pay, or not to pay, that is the question!
Well, I have gone to some places that are "public hunts" that cost $50, and throughout the night they serve soda pop, coffee, water and pizza and cookies. I agree with them and I disagree.
Paying places are cool because it allows the public into a place, usually vast, historical and with some scary stories attached that they most likely wouldn't have access to normally. So they can amend their curiosity of a location in that aspect. I think those kinds of places are also great for amateurs because there are usually a few other people there who have been investigating for some time and can help those starting out, or just help answer questions about ghost hunting in general. Last, for me, I go to help others and it's great practice for myself.
The downside, yes it can be crowded at first and the surroundings wouldn't be totally controlled because you can't control the people screaming when they see a bat in the other side of the cell block which echoes into where we are trying to record EVPs. It's extremely annoying from that standpoint, BUT, by midnight the 100 people are down to 25, by 1am they're down to 10 and by 2am there is usually about 5 of us left.
I don't think they're wrong in charging for the few places I've paid to go in the past because that money goes toward saving and renovating wonderful historical structures. I'm all about history and preserving the little amount of "awesome" historical buildings America has left, so the more I can help save some history, the better. I loooove Kirkbride buildings, and the only Kirkbride building I paid to go into (though a private tour for my hubby and me) was the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The other Kirkbrides, I wrote letters to the grounds owners telling them who I am, what I do, what I want to do and asked for special permission to have access to the grounds and it worked for me every time.
In regards to people having a higher interest for investigating big old abandoned places, I think the atmosphere adds to the human curiosity. The stories may or may not be true, but it doesn't make the place any less interesting to us. I've investigated privately/personally and publically many hospitals, prisons, asylums and huge mansions, and for a variety of reasons. I always get permission to investigate them, and these are the reasons why they intrigue me:
- The live, true history of the building
- The architecture
- The stories, true or not
- The controlled environment when I have the grounds to myself
- In such places, the amount of lives lived, emotion, death, murder, torture, illness, etc., all those strong emotions of such over so many decades tend to build up quite a bit of energy. It makes for great residual-type documentation.
- Intelligent beings do tend to "reside" in these locations as well, and I've found them to patients who enjoyed their time there, considering it home. Prisoners who are afraid to be judged on the other side, and are afraid to move on. People who don't realize they're dead and are still "working". The reasons, types and "who" are numerous.
Cemeteries I do not investigate out of respect for the families of the dead more so than the dead themselves. I've never found or thought a cemetery to be haunted, but that's not to say some are not. I don't feel right walking all over the bodies of other people's family members for the sake of my own research and hopes of documentation.
I might think of more and will come back later to post more thoughts. I'm just happy to finally get into some "meaty" paranormal discussions here. Love it!
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I'm all for the "pay to play" sites that offer ghost walks, tours, etc. – for the most part.
It all really comes down to cost, time and interest for me personally, though. If a place is relatively affordable, has a very interesting history (which you can research – very important!), and is someplace that I want to visit, I have no problems with taking part. I'm not necessarily "ghost hunting" as much as checking it out & mingling, though; you can meet some great contacts, and maybe even catch something that you personally can't explain…
Private investigations (meaning your group gets to investigate for a fee, with nobody else around), they are a bit different, though. Our group draws the line on these places IF they have any limitations on what you can share (i.e. no publication on websites, sharing with peers, etc.), or if the price is unreasonable, when a cheaper tour is available. Where I live, there's no legal way an "open to the public" place can say you can't film or document anything during a tour, so there are some boundaries with these things (for us, anyway).
Cemeteries are strictly off-limits, both for me and the folks in our group. I know a lot of groups tend to get their start with visiting cemeteries at night & all that… but I just don't care for that. Glad I'm not the only one!
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Cemeteries are good training places as long as people follow rules. It's best to visit during the day time when it's legal.
As for other pay to play places, they have their value. For some people this is the only time they get to play "Ghost Hunter" so they take what they can get.
Cemeteries are good training places as long as people follow rules. It's best to visit during the day time when it's legal.
The problem I have with cemeteries is the same problem I have with a lot of other places – it's outside – not a controlled environment. Not to say that people haven't captured paranormal activity on film and video, or recorded great EVPs in cemeteries at times, but I personally prefer to go where I can control as much of the environment as possible. Between traffic, people, wind, birds, other animals, insects… Way too much of a disturbance.
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That's true about all the contamination. But around where I live it's just as bad inside as outside. For example our last investigation was a house that being repaired for new renters. The house is about 1/4 mile from a major interstate (I-35) and then on the other side of the interstate is a busy railroad, probably less than a mile from the house. During our investigation highway noise was awful and while we heard the train whistle, the vibration was horrible. During audio review, I listened to the train whistle and then a minute later the rattling of the window from the train going by.
My house is just as bad but I'm closer to the highway, about 50 yards. So what audio recording I've done has been a hassle. Still I caught one decent EVP at my house that I couldn't explain.
The cemetery that we train at is directly off the Interstate near a major tourist attraction for the city. Despite all of this evidence review is hardly and more things have to be thrown out. There is another cemetery that I visit for personal reasons that is out in the middle of nowhere. No traffic noise, no train tracks, nothing but an occasional coyote howl.
So they are good for training for a new group or person.
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I stand corrected, then. If the funds are, as you said, going to keep a historical building alive and available as a resource, then I would agree with that. You do, though, have to question the price some charge. Why should you need 40 people at an investigation just to make it decently affordable? I dunno. Make it affordable for small groups so they can do legitimate investigations and I'd agree even more. So they have to run more tours. They still make the same amount of money and, I think, more respectable results from the investigations. If you guys are only charging 50 bucks an hour for an entire team, I don't think that's bad at all. With only 4 people, it only comes to 12.50 an hour per person. I could spend more than that walking through the mall on Saturday on junk I'll never see or use after the first time.
I guess I can elaborate on my earlier statement:
Waverly is $1000 for an overnight (8 hour) investigation. With the minimum team it averages out to $100 per person. With 40 people, that comes out to $25 per person for 8 hours of unlimited investigation. That is what I meant when I said VERY reasonable. (I'm sure I will be corrected if my info is incomplete or incorrect but this is how the breakdown was explained to me.)
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If you pay to hunt at a commercial site -- does your evidence really count??
Call me cynical, but if these places are being kept alive by ghost hunting income, then they have motive to 'create the atmosphere' -- so to speak…..
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Very true. Still they are great for people who are not into this as a hobby or what a lot of people here do. Evidence doesn't necessary have to be thrown out but very carefully analyzed. Plus it's great to be able to say your group investigated someplace famous.
The Catfish Plantation that GL just did, my group was supposed to investigate there this month but it was canceled. They wanted $25 a person, that includes a meal of either fried catfish or chicken fried steak, tour of the place and a 3 hour investigation. I don't know if that 3 hours includes the time for the meal or not.
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Very true. Still they are great for people who are not into this as a hobby or what a lot of people here do. Evidence doesn't necessary have to be thrown out but very carefully analyzed. Plus it's great to be able to say your group investigated someplace famous.
The Catfish Plantation that GL just did, my group was supposed to investigate there this month but it was canceled. They wanted $25 a person, that includes a meal of either fried catfish or chicken fried steak, tour of the place and a 3 hour investigation. I don't know if that 3 hours includes the time for the meal or not.
Thats not too terrible, it does include a meal, and if the 3 hours was minus the meal time, then its not a bad deal. That place seemed interesting with all the reports of objects moving…
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