Posts Tagged ‘Ghost Hunters International’

Listen live at ZTalkRadio.com on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific.

We talk with new Ghost Hunters International investigator Scott Tepperman, as well as Ghost Gadget Guy Michael Kravchuk. (We had some technical difficulties during this show, but we stuck it out and ended up having wonderful conversations with Scott and Michael.)

Air Date: July 8, 2010
Topic: Ghost Hunters International, Scott Tepperman, and Ghost Hunting iPad Applications
Guests: Scott Tepperman, Michael Kravchuk
Hosts: Rick Hale, Chad Wilson
Producer: Cheryl Knight

www.paranormalunderground.net

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–Thomas “Mr.T” Perryman, paranormal & crypto researcher and public speaker (E-Mail flmvp@hotmail.com)
–The book Turned: A Vampire Legend (www.turnedthenovel.com)
–Paranormal romance author Michelle Pillow (www.michellepillow.com)
–The book Lake Monster of Central Pennsylvania (http://raystownrayexposed.com)
–The Ghosts at Wellington Tour (www.nwpia.com)
–The Poetic Works of Sonia Knife (www.oflightanddarkness.info)
–100 Days of Namasté (www.namasteproject.org)

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlights
–Scott Tepperman: The New GHI Guy
–Flying Monkey Paranormal Investigations: Spirit Chasers of California

Special Report
–Paranoia WIll Destroya: Five Strange Conspiracy Theories

Haunted Sites
–Stonehenge: The UK’s Mysterious Monoliths

Haunted History
–Aleister Crowley Was the Great Beast

Cryptids & Mythological Creatures
–Is the Loch Ness Monster a Shapeshifter?

Are We Alone?
–An Entombed Extraterrestrial

Personal Experiences
–Ghost Hunter Case Files: MCPRG Versus the Inhuman
–Family Ghost Story
–Heidi’s Haunted Hikes: Madame Sherri’s Castle & Forest

Fiction: Featured Author
–“Cthulhu Dawn” by Michael Kleen

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Stacey Kade

Also
–Equipment Update: The Phantom Lite
–TV Watch: Mary Knows Best and Fact or Fake: Paranormal Files
–Reader Profile: Andrew Selfridge
–Review of the Month: 2012: The Paranormal Cookbook
–Paranormal News
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

Benign happy childhood icons or something more sinister?

On tonight’s broadcast of Paranormal Underground Radio (6 to 8 PM Pacific on ZTalkRadio.com), we’ll be talking to the newest guy on SyFy’s Ghost Hunters International, Scott Tepperman. One of the interesting little tidbits in Scott’s bio is that he’s a Juggalo – a fan of the band Insane Clown Posse. I’ve never listened to or heard the band, but I know they have a lot of fans.

One of the reasons that I’ve never heard the Insane Clown Posse is this – fear. I don’t have a lot of phobias, but I have a few. They are, in no particular order:

-Snakes
-Sensible shoes
-Clowns

I find clowns creepy enough in and of themselves, and I can only guess that the band does the whole clown face painting thing. That would be enough to keep me cowering under my seat all by itself; but, if they are also (as advertised) insane – then I’m pretty sure I’d find insane clowns even more frightening than your garden variety creepy clowns. Just saying….

Funny thing, fear. It can be so irrational. One can see how I might be afraid of slimy snakes – after all, they are all slimy and wrappy and poison and bitey and stuff. And certainly the sensible shoes phobia would make a helluva lot of sense to you if you knew me well – given that I am also vaguely afraid of ugly handbags. The clowns one though – it doesn’t necessarily make any sense. Aren’t clowns happy icons of childhood, with their shiny balloons, menacing red noses and terrifying giant feet?

I would go on, but I now have myself freaked out and will very likely have to spend the next hour or so curled up in the fetal position in my shower crying as I try to scrub the images of creepy clowns from my mind.

I bring this all up for a reason, and not just to show you all that I’m slightly off kilter and could probably benefit from several months (years?) of therapy. I wanted to talk a little bit about fear.

When I was younger, I used to love really scary books and scary movies. Loved them. It was so much fun reading or watching something truly frightening and getting that delicious shiver of fear. I know I am not alone in this pursuit – there’s a reason why horror is such big business and why kids crowd around campfires to share ghost stories. With the safe fear that comes from listening to a story or watching a movie comes a tiny hit of adrenaline. Safe fear satisfies our primal need to feel victorious after surviving through a “fight or flight” situation.

So here’s my problem: I haven’t had the opportunity to feel triumphant like that in a while. It seems that as I’ve delved into the paranormal, it’s become more difficult to scare me. Books and movies that others find positively frightening just seem kind of “ho hum” to me. The most I can muster these days is a little bit of apprehension during an investigation – but not enough to really get that adrenaline pumping.

I’ll be honest. I kind of miss the fear. Nothing has come along in a good long time that has caused that shiver to run all up and down my spine. And maybe it isn’t that I’m braver now – maybe it is that nobody can write a good, scary story anymore. Or maybe it’s time for me to up the ante and find something that really gives me a good fright. A trip through the snake house at the Woodland Park Zoo. A day of shopping at the Naturalizer shoe store. Or maybe I should just head out to the nearest clown college or the next Insane Clown Posse concert or Juggalo convention. That ought to get my blood pumping.

Listen to Karen and Rick Hale on Paranormal Underground Radio. Tonight’s guest is GHI’s Scott Tepperman. The show airs from 6 to 8 Pacific (9 to 11 Eastern) on ZTalkRadio.com.

If you enjoy Karen’s blogs, then check out her new book Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington which is now available from Amazon.com.

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlights
–Brandy Green Goes From Desk Jockey to Worldwide Paranormal Explorer
–Parachasers: In Search of New Discoveries

Special Report
–Living in a Haunted House as a Paranormal Investigator

Haunted Sites
–The Customs House Holds Spirits Within

Haunted History
–Germain, Count St. Germain: (With Respects to Mr. Bond)

Are We Alone?
–Now That’s What I Call a Close Encounter

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Should I Call Him a Ghost or Something Else?

Paranormal Perspective: Guest Editorial
–Exorcism: Psychological or Paranormal?

Fiction: Featured Author
–“Where Memories Lie (Part I of IV)” by Lettie Prell

Nonfiction Paranormal Book Excerpt
–Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Shelli Stevens

Also
–TV Watch: Living With the Dead
–Review of the Month: The Time Traveler’s Wife
–Member Profile: Richard Lombardi (movieman)
–Paranormal News
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

Paul Bradford, new Ghost Hunters International investigator, will sign your copy of Paranormal Underground’s December issue. Check out Paul’s Investigator Spotlight on page 14! Just send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (8.5 x 11) to Paul with your magazine, and he’ll sign and return it to you.

C/O Paul Bradford
Creepy Hollow Gear
P.O. Box 22336
Tucson, AZ 85734

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlights
–Paul Bradford Joins the Ghost Hunters International Cast
–Colleen Quinn-Beltramini Investigates With NESPI

Special Reports
–Will We All Die in 2012?
–High-Tech Oracle? The Web Bot Project and 2012
–2009 Paranormal Year in Review

Haunted Sites
–The Charlesgate Hotel

Haunted History
–Memento Mori: Photographing the Dead

Are We Alone?
–Why Don’t They Believe Us?

Quantum Musings
–2012: Will Neutrinos Be the End of Us?

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Tales From the Road: Return to the Old Wheeler Inn
–What Was That? Inside the Live Ghost Adventures Special

Fiction: Featured Author
–“The Turn of a Friendly Card” by Richard Tingle

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Denise A. Agnew

Also
–TV Watch: Ghost Hunters Academy
–Reviews of the Month: 2012 and The Fourth Kind
–Member Profile: David Galvan (PLA)
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlight
–WPRS Strives to Better Understand the Paranormal

Special Report
–So, You Want to Be a Ghost Hunter, Eh?

Haunted Sites
–Paiute Imp

Haunted History
–Fear and Loathing in Salem, Mass.

Cryptids & Mythological Creatures
–Fairies: Myths & Legends

Are We Alone?
–The Green Fireball UFOs in New Mexico

Fiction: Featured Author
–“Rewind” by Ann Smathers

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Megan Hart

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Ghost Hunter Case Files: A Haunting in Hopkinton: The Mcneil Home
–Ghost Investigation: Kentucky Farmhouse

Also
–TV Watch: FlashForward
–Review of the Month: Paranormal Activity
–Member Profile: Rick E. Hale
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Paranormal Investigator Spotlight
–GHI’s Robb Demarest: International Ghost Hunter
–NWPIA Explores Pacific Northwest Haunted Sites

Author Spotlight
–Hypnotherapist Lisa Watts Learns Lessons From Many Lives

Special Report
–The Impact of Paranormal Authors

Haunted Sites
–The Queen Mary: Paranormal Queen of the Sea

Paranormal History
–Does the Wolfman Crave Cheese in Wisconsin?

Are We Alone?
–Public Opinion, Hollywood’s Influence, and an Age-Old Question

Cryptids & Mythological Creatures
–Demon Dogs of Doom

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Ghost Hunter Case Files: An Avalanche of Spirits — Meeting Up With the Ghosts of Wellington
–Wellington: Our First Investigation
–Activity in Our Home

Also
–TV Watch: Warehouse 13
–Review of the Month: The Possessed Documentary
–Equipment Update: Infrared Photography
–Member Profile: Elizabeth Diaz
–Paranormal News
–Ghost Hunter comic

by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground e-Magazine

The influx of television shows about paranormal investigation has been both a blessing and a curse to the paranormal field.

On the one hand, it has helped to bring the paranormal and paranormal investigation into the public eye. People are less likely to look at you funny if you share a paranormal experience. Others who are having difficulty with unexplained phenomenon now realize that there is someone they can call to come in and help them find out what’s really going on. These are good things.

On the other hand, the entire field is now being evaluated by what is seen on television. The paranormal teams on television are set up as the gold standard of how to conduct an investigation, how to analyze evidence, and they set the standards by which “proof” should be judged.

Certainly, these shows have inspired numerous fledgling paranormal investigation groups across the country who know only that you go in and wave an EMF meter around. Or provoke in hopes of getting EVPs.

And so, there is great wailing and gnashing of teeth. There are no standards! Where is the science? Where is the critical thinking? Where is the PROOF?

And then there’s the issue of the paranormal newsmakers. Like TAPS Con (which explained in the title what was about to happen. The only better name for it would have been TAPScrew). Or a convicted sex offender is found to be going into people’s homes as part of an investigative group.

These things all cast a bad light on a field that makes people just a little suspicious anyway. After all, the spiritualist and paranormal movements have been historically laced with charlatans and con artists. Certainly, the paranormal is a fringe filed, at best.

That seems to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. There are paranormal investigators out there doing good work. Legitimate work. They are investing their own time, their own expense and their own energy into helping terrified, desperate people. They don’t charge a dime. They do it because they believe in the field, because they want to help, and because they believe that they have ideas can help further the understanding of the paranormal.

There are paranormal groups out there that are nothing like what you see on television. They are trying new methods and searching for the science behind the phenomena. They have excellent critical thinking skills. They call nothing proof – only unexplainable evidence.

Yes. There are charlatans in the field. There are people pushing personal agendas. There are people emulating poor investigatory techniques. All of these things are true. But these people don’t cancel out the ones doing the good work to advance the field.

There will always be differences in quality. There will always be differences in integrity. But the paranormal world isn’t the only place where this is happening. It is everywhere. Can you say Bernie Madoff? Does Bernie Madoff render every other asset management firm a Ponzi scheme? Okay – I get that in today’s economy, many of you might answer yes, but I hope you see where I am going.

How can we raise the standards of paranormal investigation so that more teams are doing the good work? By taking new teams under our wings and allowing them to learn from someone other than on television. By an exchange of information and ideas among groups. Through education – both of the public and of other teams. By participating in groups and discussions where a free exchange of ideas is encouraged – such as Paranormal Science and Assistance, Truth in Paranormal Science, DeadScience or our humble little magazine and forum.

Its up to each and every member of the paranormal community to take the responsibility to hold themelves to the highest standards and help others do the same. In doing this, there’s no telling where the field will go.

by Chad Wilson, Publisher
Paranormal Underground e-Magazine

Hello everyone! Welcome to Paranormal Underground. I hope you are enjoying the magazine and the new site. This is my first blog on the new site. My name is Chad Wilson, and I am the co-creator, a writer, and the publisher of Paranormal Underground’s eMagazine.

I work at Disneyland in California, and I have to say, I love my job. I am also a Paranormal Investigator. It is one of my hobbies, but I like to think of it as a passion. It drives my writing, even how I live my life, and was the inspiration behind the eMagazine.

One thing I want to discuss today is the criticism of the paranormal field, specifically by people who visit Website forums, etc., and make judgmental and condescending comments about paranormal TV shows/media or people who support those shows or are sharing their own personal experiences.

Personally, I don’t care whether someone on a forum believes me when I say I might have experienced something. I present the facts as I experienced them and let the reader decide, as is also the case when I write articles. I don’t have to prove it to science, I don’t have to prove it to anyone I know, and I don’t have to prove it to someone on a Website.

Why is it the responsibility of “ those who experienced the paranormal” to prove what happened to them? My belief is that people share their experiences because they are trying to make sense out of what has happened to them or even to just “get it off their chest.” Can they prove it happened or why it happened? Probably not.

There is no way to currently prove that the paranormal exists, so I wonder why people constantly say “prove it” to the person experiencing the phenomenon. Prove it how? Take a picture? Capture an EVP? Get 10 people in a room to witness the experience? How about a combination of all three of the previously mentioned things?

Furthermore, instead of wasting energy on trying to make someone who might have possibly experienced something paranormal look silly, why not turn that energy toward a positive pursuit of the truth. Find out what might have happened; investigate the unknown so-to-speak. Who knows, something might be uncovered that we didn’t know about before.

And as far as the paranormal TV shows go … I do agree that there are shows on the air that give the paranormal field a bad name, whether it be because of bad editing of the program or a lack of the show’s ghost hunters to answer fan questions. However, because I have been on investigations, I can relate more to say, Jason and Grant of TAPS, than I can to most of the “you’re frauds” people online. Just because we may not agree with what is being portrayed as paranormal doesn’t make someone a fraud. I guess I’m putting myself in their shoes. As a paranormal investigator, I would hate to be called a fraud, especially if I am out there investigating and trying to further the paranormal field.

I encourage everyone out there who is interested in advancing the paranormal field to do their own investigations and research. I recommend researching and joining a local, reputable paranormal group, and joining them for investigations. I can say that investigating is an eye-opening experience and I am able to contribute to a field that someday will provide answers for those who seek them.

Don’t get me wrong. Questions are great. They are necessary. But there is a big difference between questioning and calling someone a fraud.

Join our panel (including special guest panelist, Shannon Sylvia) as we discuss all sorts of hot topics. Should paranormal investigators have background checks? Did JD mock the (Dibbuk) box and experience a string of bad luck? What did everyone think of The Haunting in Connecticut? Are we a product of brain chemistry only, or is there something more to us? What are demons? We discuss these – and more.

Moderator – Karen Frazier

Panelists Shannon Sylvia
JD Harrison
Teresa West
Cheryl Knight
Chad Wilson

Once you’ve listened, check out Teresa’s blog that shares her thoughts about participating in this podcast.

Don’t have time to listen online? We’re available for download on iTunes. Go to the iTunes store and click on the podcasts link. Search Paranormal Underground presents. Click on our logo, and you should come upon all of our podcasts. Download is free!