FOXSYLVANIA

Ghosts and hauntings are not my usual stomping ground in this blog, and I have no intention of making such topics a routine consideration…but Halloween came a bit early to Monsters and Mysteries Unsolved in their S1/Ep08 installment called “The Haunted,” an investigation of ghostly phenomena that likely comes under the broad category of mysteries, so we’ll cover it as we have other considerations of the series.  I’ll try to organize the key segments presented, as the series usually bounces back and forth between one incident and another without presenting each to conclusion in a linear fashion, which I find frustrating.
A cornerstone of the hour was an investigation of a haunting in Mansfield, Connecticut where a woman called Amy Moore in 1989 got a bargain buy on a run-down house.  It turned out not to be such a bargain as there were reports of the walls vibrating, doors slamming, unexplained footsteps, and a door with a hook and latch leading to a third floor opening by itself.  House guests also reported unexplained sights and sounds such as growling and a flying water bottle.  When these incidents intensified over time, paranormal investigator Joe Gallant was called in.  Using multiple cameras and an EVP detector, the investigating team captured some EVP’s, but they were of poor quality.  

A second segment involved an investigation of a supposedly haunted “island of the dolls” in Xochimilco, Mexico.  The original owner of the island collected dolls to ward off spirits.  Following the drowning of a girl there, the haunting is said to have started with the dolls moving and emanating sounds.  An investigation was made by paranormal researchers, with their EMF detector showing that some of the dolls registered magnetism. While the dolls hanging everywhere were creepy, it was felt that their movements were more due to thermal changes and changes in water and moisture.  Beyond that, the power of suggestion takes over.  Sounds could come from intermittent battery operation of voice units still operative in the dolls, or be misinterpreted cries of passing cats and other animals in the environment.

England is reputed to have considerable hauntings, and so Muncaster Castle was profiled, reputed to be known for door handles inexplicably turning, and the cries of unseen children audible.  A team led by cognitive psychologist Dr. Jason Braithwaite positioned volunteers for a night in separate bedrooms of the castle, only one of which was reputedly haunted.  The volunteers, however, didn’t know which of their number was assigned to the “haunted” bedroom.  Only a third of the sample subjects reported feeling uneasy during their nocturnal stay.  Dr. Braithwaite expressed his belief that haunted experiences are all in the mind, and that the physical environment can trigger bodily reactions.

The overall tone taken by the hour was skeptical, with researcher Dr. Christopher French offering scientific explanations of paranormal experiences.  According to Dr. French, expectation is all, and ghostly experiences are essentially hallucinations, although they appear real to people having them.  The perspectives of Dr. Braithwaite were similar to this, holding that the power of suggestion can predispose haunting or ghostly experiences in the susceptible.

So there you have it…but you may want to keep the Ghostbusters in mind, just in case…