Haunting, haunting, who’s had a haunting?

Imagine sitting home alone reading a book and enjoying the quiet when the silence is shattered by heavy boot-falls pacing across the upstairs bathroom floor.

Today, with interest in all things paranormal reaching an all-time high (countless tv shows including Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, and A Haunting; books like Weird NJ and many novels and teen fiction; and associations such as South Jersey Ghost Research among many others), this might sound like an excerpt from the latest paranormal romance novel or a clip from the newest ghost hunting television show.  This actually happened, and still happens very frequently along with several other strange activities, to me in my parents’ house.  Since then, I’ve been interested in ghost, hauntings, and ghost hunting.  I was surprised when ghosts were mentioned when I first came on a tour of Rowan.  During the tour, my guide revealed that there a number of ghosts who haunt the older buildings, including Elizabeth Tohill who was a drama professor from 1930 to 1956.  Although I’ve never had the courage to research it on my own, this seems like too good an opportunity to pass up.

Although my experience, which is probably pretty tame compared to other people’s experiences, is driving my interest, why are others interested in the subject?  Why do ghosts fascinate the living?  What other kinds of experiences have other people had?  Have they conducted any research based upon these experiences?  Where do people have these experiences?  How do other cultures/countries explain ghost activity/sightings?

While I have primarily written fiction, this topic could generate so many different genres that could work for my final piece.  If I did stick with fiction, there are a number of publications that publish fantasy short stories, including Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Leading Edge, and Tales of the Talisman, but I could see this piece also as a multi-genre that could incorporate pictures and sound bites. I’m hoping my research will generate a lot of experiential information, and fiction seems like it may be the best way to incorporate all of the the emotional and sensorial details in a way that will impact the story.

I’ve already started researching online just to get a feel for what information is out there (There is so much!), but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  I can research how early people began ghost hunting, why did they start, and so much more.  I would like to go on a few ghost hunts myself, and once I start connecting with people, I’ll get a better ides of where I can do that.

Now that I have a topic (breathes a HUGE sigh of relief), I’m excited to start researching!

Heart, Soul, and Objectivity

While discussing the pieces we had to read for Core 2 last night, I felt like I was having heart failure after I realized how much research (time, effort, energy, money, brainpower, etc.) went into writing every one of those articles.  The longer I sat on class, the more panicked I felt about conducting all of this research, a feeling that was only compounded after Dr. Wolff went over the requirements for our research proposals (due by Sunday, by the way).

My first thought: What the HELL am I going to write about?

My second thought: How am I going to be able to remain objective towards my topic after compiling months and months worth of research?

I remember while reading Amy Ellis Nutt’s piece and thinking how difficult it must have been for her to, after shadowing this man and his family for an extended period of time, remain objective towards her topic of research.  This story was her baby, something she nurtured from inception and watched it grow and flourish into the amazing article that it is today, but at some/multiple points while conducting her research, she must have had to remove all of her emotional attachment and examine her piece critically.

As a writer, I think that can be the most difficult thing to do.  To write is to put your heart and soul into every piece you create, and to take a step back and really think about what you’ve managed to do so far and how much farther you have to go can be a daunting task to undertake.

This class will be challenging, but I’m hoping it will push me to push myself more than I ever have before.

Now all I have to do is think of a topic and then I can start….