From Ghost Hunters to GhostBusters, people seem to have an obsession with the paranormal. TV shows, movies, podcasts, Weird NJ books, the list goes on and on. No matter the medium, we love consuming ghost stories. Even those who don’t believe in ghosts will huddle around a campfire if, by chance, this time there will finally be enough proof of the other side. The chance of persuasion hovering just under the surface of their doubt. But what is it about these deceased visitors that’s kept us hooked for so long?
America’s widely accepted first case of a documented ghost dates back to 1799. Her name was Nelly Butler. She first appeared in the cellar of the Blaisdel farmhouse in Machiasport, Maine as an incessant tapping sound and quickly grew to a full body apparition capable of answering questions and holding conversation. After just one year of haunting the house, over 100 people had given sworn testimony to seeing and hearing her. Some of these testimonies included her still-living father and the local pastor that had been charged with recording witness statements. He visited with Nelly intending to debunk her very existence but quickly became convinced, adding his own testimony to the records. Nelly would appear in front of crowds of up to 20 at a time and, in one of her last manifestations, participated in a moonlit parade through the town.
Now every state has their most haunted attraction, bringing throngs of hopefuls looking for answers or, in the very least, an entertaining scare. Pennsylvania has the Eastern State Penitentiary which has been featured on numerous ghost hunting shows and every Fall runs a tour called ‘Terror Behind The Walls’. While there isn’t any hard evidence of the prison’s hauntings, it almost feels easy to believe that a place is filled with ghosts when so much suffering happened there. From physical torture to solitary confinment, Eastern State’s history induces a deep sense of evil and pain. The penitentiary’s own website claims the prison was designed to induce “deep regret in the hearts of prisoners”. Though the panopticon prison is long abandoned, the feeling of being watched remains and has grown even more sinister over the years. Across the country, each state offers up its own legend of haunted happenings. In Hawaii, the Waipio Valley holds the legend of the night marches, a story of ancient warriors forever marching to a battle long forgotten.
Our ghost stories build on themselves, evolving their legend through the years, until they seem to become a shared experience. Take for example, The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which became the inspiration for Stephen King’s horror novel ‘The Shining’ in the 70s. Thanks to the popularity of the book and Stanley Krubrick’s film adaptation, a classic in its own right, people from all over the world travel to the hotel in hopes of an encounter of their own. Before the book, there weren’t any legends about the isolated vacation spot and without it, would have fallen into obscurity decades ago. King didn’t even go to the hotel because he had heard it was haunted, he went because he was writing too much about Maine and needed a change of scenery. He experienced nothing paranormal during his stay,, King just had a nightmare about his son being chased down the hallway by a fire hose and that served as the main framework for the novel. Now, The Stanley Hotel is a global attraction all because of one man’s bad dream. Something so mundane and average has cascaded and become a pillar of American pop culture.
The concept of ghosts appears to have always existed. A restless spirit seems to be a universal idea. I always wanted one, like Casper or Geena Davis in Beetlejuice. We would have adventures and they would never change. How perfect: a friend you can really count on. I don’t know if I would want one now though. I value my alone time too much as an adult and I feel like it would all be taken up trying to explain the internet to my deceased bestie.
But what makes a ghost? And why are we, as people, so obsessed with the idea of being trapped behind the veil, where no one can see or hear you? It must go beyond wanting more time after death. Maybe those that believe are just hopeful that there could be a chance their dearly departed stay with them till the end. Others would never wish such a fate on anyone, especially their loved ones. Sometimes, when I try to reconcile science with the emotion of it all, I theorize that ghosts are just a phenomena that happens when two universe’s planes get too close together. They overlap and only the watermark of a person gets through, and then that feels silly too. Maybe they’re just us. Pieces we throw out, memories we tried to forget.
Sometimes I think that ghosts are just feelings. Whispers of something you’ve felt before. When your hair sticks up and your skin gets cold. Suddenly, the room smells different and the thought that wasn’t there before, passes before you grasp it. Perhaps that’s all they ever are – feelings. Some people just have an easier time letting them pass by than others. The ones that can’t let go, reach out a little harder each new time, manifesting the feeling into something they can see. Whichever way you look at it, it always feels poetic doesn’t it? Ghosts are born from grief. They foster and tend to it, solving or enhancing, and they do their job well. I can’t help but to feel like they hold the key to understanding our own minds. Our own fears. Maybe it’s okay that we don’t know the truth about ghosts or death. We can fill in the gaps with whatever comforts us the most.
