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!