"A Haunting:" What do you think?

[HURAKAN]

Wikipedia:

"A Haunting is a television series on Discovery Channel that, according to its website chronicles the "terrifying true stories of the paranormal told by people who experienced real-life horror tales." It presents the stories of people who believe that they have lived in haunted houses, or have been the victim of a personal haunting."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Haunting

What do you think? It's based on truth or just another work of fiction?

[arkess7]

I wonder that too......I've seen the show a few times and some of them really creep me out but then some of them are questionable??? I think that some of them are true stories but then some fiction is thrown in there too.

[gtalum]

They may be "true" in that the people involved really believed they were seeing something supernatural. That said, I don't for a second believe there is anything supernatural going on. The human imagination is boundless, and can often even fool the person doing the imagining...

[HURAKAN]

But can your imagination also cause physical harm to you?

Also, why I have never met a person with a ghost story?!?!? I want to believe that it's possible but I have only seen cases in the TV, never a story from someone that had experienced something like that. And God forbid I experiencing something like that!!!

[gtalum]

But can your imagination also cause physical harm to you?

No, but there are always other explanations... Narcolepsy and sleepwalking will explain most of those kinds of stories.

[Stephanie]

I do believe in the supernatural and people having psychic powers. I believe that the dead do try and speak to us - if we are open to it.

Long story short - my cat, Derby, dies about 3 years ago in September. We had him cremated and his ashes are sitting next to a picture of my Grandmother, a woman that loved her cats and spoiled them rottern. She would actually heat up her cat's food in a pan on the stove before she served it to them. She fed them "Figaro" cat food. I will always remember the little black and white cartoon face of a cat on the cans. They still sell it to this day.

Maybe a week went by when a neighbor that has a Boston Terrier walked by to visit us and my Boston Terrier, Rudy. Her cat died as well and she new that we had cats, so she brought over her toys and left over food.

When I brought the bag in and opened it, I found 3 or 4 cans of Figaro cat food in the bag. I ran over to my Grandmother's picture and grabbed it and Derby's ashes and hugged them and cried. I KNEW it was my Grandmother saying that Derby was with her.

A few days later, this neighbor came back again with left over litter. It was the brand, scoop away and at the time there was a picture of a brown tabby cat, like Derby that was laying on his back, sleeping and looking peaceful. THAT was Derby telling me that he was alright and Grandma was spoiling him.

I know I've had the sense of deja vu' - I've dreamt of or thought of things and then I find myself actually seeing them in person later. Or, there will be times when I think of a movie, song or something that I haven't heard about, seen, etc. in a while and then I hear/see it.


I've seen that show and it is fascinating. I'm sure that none of you would be surprised to know that my favorite stories to read are ghost stories.

[HURAKAN]

I'm open to the idea that there may be more than what we can see. But since I have never had an experience with a ghost or anyone close to me has had this kind of experience, it's very difficult to believe that ghosts or demonic entities exist.

What I know it's true that everything has energy, and energy cannot be created nor destroyed. Therefore, when a person dies the energy of that person must remain. Most likely in another form, but it most remain.

This is something that ancient civilizations based their religions on. As humans have "modernized" our "faith" has been shaped and this kind of beliefs are thought to be "pegan."

[Beam]

It's all in their head. There's no such thing as spirits or the paranormal, etc. Our consciousness, or "soul" is the result of synaptic activity in the mind. Death is when something causes said activity to cease permanently, thus ending the consciousness. Saying that a person leaves behind a "ghost" after death is tantamount to saying that an unplugged computer leaves behind some ethereal copy of itself that can still perform calculations with no electricity, as the human mind is essentially a vast and complex microprocessor.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming the people who have those stories, I'm sure most of them really believed that they were being haunted; the mind is a very powerful thing after all, capable of deceiving itself at times.

[Cookiely]

But can your imagination also cause physical harm to you?

Also, why I have never met a person with a ghost story?!?!? I want to believe that it's possible but I have only seen cases in the TV, never a story from someone that had experienced something like that. And God forbid I experiencing something like that!!!

I have had several experiences. A friend of ours stepmother had a stroke and was placed in a nursing home. We moved into her home. We visited her once in the nursing home. She wanted so desperately to come visit her home but never did prior to her death. About six months after her death, I was in a room between the kitchen and laundry room about five in the morning. The kitchen door had a a large glass and I saw the former owner in the kitchen making coffee. She went from the refrigerator to the stove. She was in a nightgown and an old robe making herself at home. When I approached the door she went poof right in front of me. She did not look like a "ghost" she looked solid and real. I saw my father several times after he passed away. It was in the month after he died. About eleven months after he died, I was at the cemetery by myself, and crying in the car. I felt and heard my father say quit crying and go help nano (my grandfather). The seat belt was undone. All of a sudden the seatbelt came across my body. I clicked it closed and went to my grandparents who lived nearby. My ninety year old grandfather was on a ladder trimming a tree in the front yard.
The last time was hilarious. I was attempting to trim a large tree by myself. I didn't see them but I could hear my father and grandfather having a running dialogue of suggestions. After it was done, I was going to get a drink and my nano said "look she's going to leave those tools to get rusty in the rain". I just hollered no I'm not I'm coming back in a minute. I don't believe that the dead can harm anyone.

[Windswept]

Many years ago, I rented a first floor aprtment in a very old 3 story house that had been divided up into 3 apartments. On move in day, within an hour of unpacking my car, my right arm began to burn like I had touched something very hot. I pulled my sleeve back to find rows of bright red raised welts. They iched terribly and felt hot to the touch. They looked similar to deep long scratches. I lathered on the Benadryl and they faded away. I didn't think anything of it at the time, assuming it was a reaction to cleaning supplies or something in the boxes. The following day, when I arrived home from work - within a few minutes of being inside my apartment, the welts reappeared. Again, Benadryl was applied and they faded. This continued every single evening for a week. Several friends insisted I must have a ghost in the house that didn't want me there and was trying to send a message. I wasn't convinced, but was a bit perplexed as to what was causing it. That weekend, I decided to do a bit of yard work because the bushes by the driveway were somewhat overgrown. Right next to where I parked my car was a huge Night-blooming Jasmine bush. Within a few minutes of trimming .... yep... huge nasty ichy raised red welts like scratches formed. Apparently, I am extremely allergic to that plant and was brushing up against it everytime I got out of my car.

Alas .. no ghost..just over sensative skin.

[Cyclenall]

But can your imagination also cause physical harm to you?

No, but there are always other explanations... Narcolepsy and sleepwalking will explain most of those kinds of stories.

How does this make any sense if these people don't suffer from both of those medical conditions plus there is video, audio, and photographic evidence of this (the people are not sleepwalking, not the paranormal exactly)? If it was just a "story" form another person...maybe but if there is a video camera recording the whole thing, there is no possible way.

[gtalum]

How does this make any sense if these people don't suffer from both of those medical conditions plus there is video, audio, and photographic evidence of this (the people are not sleepwalking, not the paranormal exactly)? If it was just a "story" form another person...maybe but if there is a video camera recording the whole thing, there is no possible way.

Video is easy to stage and to manipulate. Occam's Razor tells us that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one.

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Most of these stories are based on misinterpretation, hallucination, and outright fabrication. For an upcoming expose of the infamous "Devil in Connecticut" case, featured on "A Haunting", see the below link:

http://www.geocities.com/devilbustedinct/

[JonathanBelles]

I just started watching this show the other day,

and I am HOOKED!!
I love this show now. I dont know why I didn't watch it before.

[Tstormwatcher]

It's all in their head. There's no such thing as spirits or the paranormal, etc. Our consciousness, or "soul" is the result of synaptic activity in the mind. Death is when something causes said activity to cease permanently, thus ending the consciousness. Saying that a person leaves behind a "ghost" after death is tantamount to saying that an unplugged computer leaves behind some ethereal copy of itself that can still perform calculations with no electricity, as the human mind is essentially a vast and complex microprocessor.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming the people who have those stories, I'm sure most of them really believed that they were being haunted; the mind is a very powerful thing after all, capable of deceiving itself at times.

You are very wrong. I have had personal experiences that could not be explainded on several occasions. Most people are skeptics until they have their own personnal experience.

[Squarethecircle]

I've had three personal experiences. I don't believe in the supernatural. So many things happen in a chaotic world that your brain is unable to process all of it and thus leaves things seemingly "unexplained." In addition, you can have minor hallucinations without even having a cause (a common example is waking up in the middle of the night, but it can happen in broad daylight); it's very unusual, but it definitely does happen.

Oh, and even though the show (in my opinion) is fiction, that doesn't mean it doesn't rock .

[HURAKAN]

What I find really creepy are the EVP.

[Cookiely]

What I find really creepy are the EVP.

I love horror movies but White Noise really creeped me out.

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Interesting Internet radio show I recently discovered related to this topic:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/3PARAmigosRadio

I'm a man of science, and as such while I think something might be occurring in these cases (other than the small percentile which are outright fabrications, or the product of already deeply disturbed minds) I'm not sure exactly what the cause is (e.g. ghosts, entities, physchokinesis, imprints, electromagnetism, chemical contamination, mass hallucination, misinterpretation, or a mixture of several of these factors). With the above stated though, the stories covered by the hosts of the site in question, are certainly very frightening no matter what the causes or causes may be.