Book Review: Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums by Jamie Davis

Any regular reader of this blog knows that I've got a thing for ghosts (it's the whole worshiping death and spending quality time in the underworld thing).  I consume pretty much any and all media I can get my hands on regarding ghosts - whether I expect it to be good or not. 

When I stumbled upon Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums: Inside Abandoned Institutions for the Crazy, Criminal & Quarantined by Jamie Davis I knew I had to read it.  You see, most ghosts are totally benign and absolutely nothing like the rampaging fright-makers you see on sensationalist paranormal television.  However, the ghosts of criminals, the insane, and the criminally insane are a different story.  I've dealt with an insane ghost and it was terrifying.  I came to this book in the hopes of finding new and interesting information on atypical hauntings, but was disappointed.

Reading the introduction to this book I was immediately put on guard by the author describing her view of ghost hunting as a thrill-seeking activity.  Don't get me wrong, I totally see the appeal of spooking yourself silly in "haunted" places, but lauding it doesn't exactly give me confidence in the veracity of ones stories.  Thankfully, the author is really good about identifying her experiences as only that and doesn't make mountains out of molehills.  No shifting tree branches that are obviously signs of demonic activity!!!! Just honest experiences of being creeped out in exceedingly creepy places.

This books is basically a paranormal tourism guide and it serves that function pretty well.  Each chapter is about a visit the author made to a different paranormal hotspot and contains some basic historical information, the author's experiences while there, and info on how you can visit (many location offer regular tours or Halloween attractions).  It's written in a very matter-of-fact, guidebook style (which is fine, but it's not exactly flowing prose).  I do like that author has a webpage with all of the video, audio, and photos taken at each location so you can look and see for yourself.

This book is fine when the author is talking about the history of the location, but I had some trouble enjoying her descriptions of her personal experiences.  The problem is that the author is clearly an amateur ghost hunter, so she doesn't exactly offer deep insights into the paranormal.  If I want to hear about someone being freaked out by shadows I'll watch it on tv where I can enjoy the jump cuts and the soundtrack can get me invested.  Reading about it just falls flat.  Nothing all that extraordinary happens.  There's really not much in this book that you can't get from surfing the web, though perhaps not quite so conveniently packaged.  This book feels like the writer watched a few seasons of Ghost Hunters and then spent some time cruising paranormal hot spots to see what all the fuss is about.  While there's nothing wrong with that, it's just not the book I wanted to read.

If you're a seasoned ghost hunter or serious paranormal enthusiast, don't bother with this book.  There's just not enough added knowledge or even entertainment value to make it worth the money.  If you're an armchair ghost lover or someone looking to plan a trip to a haunted place then you might enjoy it, but there are better sources out there.

Book Review: Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter

The other day I was looking through book reviews in back issues of The Cauldron and saw one that caught my eye.  Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter: A Cautionary Tale of Encounters with Malevolent Entities and Other Disembodied Spirits by Von Braschler was the book.  The title sounded like it was right up my alley and The Cauldron rarely steers me in the wrong way.  I wasn't disappointed.

The problem I have with most books about ghosts, hauntings, and ghost hunting in general is that they either make all ghosts seem as friendly as Casper (Oh, all ghosts want is to be loved and acknowledged.  Please, feel free to go and try to hug the angry elemental.)  or they make ghost hunters look like white knights fiercely laying to rest malevolent monsters that lurk in every corner (An evil demon, fear not! My mighty flashlight and salt shaker shall save you!).  I was delighted to find that this book did neither of those things.

This is, quite possibly, the most realistic book I've ever read on what encountering spirits and other metaphysical beings is actually like.  At first I was skeptical.  Braschler explains that his "training" to "de-ghost" houses consisted of two meetings with a cheerful new-ager who said to talk to the spirits and get them to move on, and to simply "stake and salt*" the house if it didn't want to go.  As you might imagine, this did not inspire my confidence in the tales to come.  However, Braschler then details just how insufficient that information was and how problematic it made his later encounters. 

The encounters described in this book will be instantly recognizable to anyone experienced with the paranormal as residual hauntings, intelligent hauntings, spirit flight, and non-human hauntings - though Braschler never describes them as such.  The details of the hauntings Braschler experiences are incredibly authentic in their sheer banality.  Most hauntings that you read about in books are fairly spectacular (books flying off shelves, screaming in the night, scratches on the unwary etc.), but the average haunting is just not that interesting.  Real hauntings are made of fleeting images out of the corner of your eye, odd chills at unexpected times in unexpected places, and utterly unverifiable "coincidences" that make you think you're losing your mind. These are the hauntings Braschler describes, with a few exceptions.  

The thing that most struck me about Braschler's tale that make me actually believe him is the way he describes his experience of the paranormal.  He doesn't talk about glowing lights or strange writing, he talks about having to ground and center himself and deliberately open his mind to the frequency where the paranormal can be perceived.  He doesn't describe it as easy or natural, but as a skill that requires practice and effort.  He talks about freaking himself out when going into a building that he's been told is haunted, but never really perceiving anything there that can make him confidently say the place is or isn't haunted.  He doubts his perceptions and he doubts his ability to do anything about what he perceived.  That is the reality of dealing with the paranormal: thinking you probably understand what's going on but always doubting and always needing more proof.

 There are, of course, exceptions to the normally dubious veracity of the paranormal.  I've come across the undeniably paranormal (think demons trying to eat your head) two or three times.  Braschler deals with it twice.  This is totally believable, unlike those ghost hunters who claim to banish demons every damned day.  In the last encounter described in the book Braschler gets called in by a friend to de-ghost their trailer and ends up facing down a dark non-human entity that he's woefully unprepared to deal with.  It doesn't go well. This should surprise no one.  It takes a trained and experienced practitioner to deal with the nastier dark entities. 

If you're interested in dabbling in the paranormal I highly recommend you read this book first.  Read about what actual encounters are like before you go into that purportedly haunted house.  If you recognize yourself in the stories then do yourself a favor and get some solid defensive training before you hurt yourself.

Experienced practitioners that enjoy tales of the paranormal will enjoy this too.  I know I did.

*Braschler describes the process of staking and salting a property as driving four large iron spikes (think railroad size nails) into the ground at the cardinal points of the property and calling the watchtowers to guard the property, then to create a line of salt as a perimeter to keep the spirits out.  Yes, these actions can be a part of a successful banishing but alone they're not going to do much against something that really wants to stick around.

Poltergeists

Sorry this post is a few days late; this week seems to have eaten my brain.  I went to a CLE (continuing education for lawyers) yesterday and met my husband in town for dinner.  We then drove home (I take the bus to work).  This morning I go to the garage to go to work and there’s no car.  We forgot to swing by the park and ride and pick up my car last night.  This did not start my day off as I had hoped.  Ah well.

So, last weekend I finally went to the Seattle Metaphysical Library.  I’d passed the sign on the sidewalk many times but had never managed to be there when it was open.  On Saturday Rae and I were enjoying an afternoon in Ballard and it happened to be open so we went on in.  It’s really quite nifty.  It’s a decent sized room in a building basement, reached by a long, sparse hallway.  If you happen to be in the area when they’re open (2-6pm most day) I recommend popping in.  We were the only people there other than the volunteer working that day so we decided to sit down and have a chat on metaphysics (what else would we do?). 

Eventually we got talking about ghosts and hauntings and the gal working at the library asked for my opinion on Poltergeists.  Poltergeist activity consists of things like objects being moved by unseen hands, knocking heard in the walls or on floors, doors slamming, or lights turning on and off on their own.  Poltergeist activity is not subtle and can also be scary; it is one of the only kinds of hauntings that can actually cause physical harm (usually from flying objects).

These types of haunting are quite rare and have caused a lot of controversy as to just what causes them – ghosts or people.  Some people say that all “poltergeist” activity is caused by people with latent psychokinetic abilities (they can move things with their minds but don’t realize it).  This theory tends to look to adolescents (particularly pubescent girls) or people who are emotionally disturbed for the cause of the activity.  It’s true that extreme emotions (often caused by trauma or stress) can cause latent psychic abilities to manifest, so I believe that in some cases poltergeist activity can be caused by people.  I know from personal experience that poltergeist-like things often happen around people who are first learning to use magick.  Something about opening up new areas of the brain and flexing psychic muscles causes things to go a bit haywire for a while.  I once accidentally made a terra cotta pot explode because I was having a bad day and hadn’t yet mastered grounding – I’ve long since fixed that little issue.

However, I do not believe that all poltergeist activity is caused by people. There are instances of poltergeist activity that do not involve a particular person being present, don’t match up to emotional states in the location, or otherwise don’t appear to have anything to do with a particular person. In these cases a spirit, often that of a mischievous child, is a possible cause.  It’s also possible to get poltergeist activity that’s caused by non-human entities.  There are lots of things out there that want to get people’s attention, from goblins to faeries to infernals, that can potentially cause poltergeist activity. 

The only way to know what’s actually causing poltergeist activity is to really pay attention to what’s going on.  Keep a log of all activity.  Record what happens, when, to whom, and under what conditions.  The more information you have the better.  If the activity only happens when your 13 year old nephew is over – and then happens consistently, then he is the likely cause.  If the activity happens at dawn and you always see sparkling lights when it happens then you might have a faery issue (or brain issues if you’re the only one experiencing things – never discount the mundane!).  If the activity happens all throughout the day, is accompanied by a horrid smell, is extremely frightening or even physically harmful…well…then you might have a very big problem.  In any case, pay attention to what’s going on and do your best not to jump to conclusions.  It’s a big world out there and there are lots of potential explanations.