Examination of Haunted Houses
Any structure can become haunted, but houses are the most common type of haunted structures. A haunted house is a dwelling inhabited by one or more ghosts. These houses often exhibit many types of paranormal activity such as moving objects, unexplainable noises, strange lights, apparitions, etc. Most haunted houses are not dangerous environments to live in, but they can be frightening for people who are not prepared to experience ghosts. There are different theories as to why homes become haunted. The following is a list of eight different theories.
The Basic Haunting: A basic haunting is the most common haunting. It involves a single ghost. The ghost is usually a previous owner who died inside the home or on the grounds. A wide variety of paranormal phenomena occurs in the house but the haunting is usually not violent. The ghost seems content to remain in their home after death and continue to conduct daily routines. The ghosts are intelligent and curious. They do not try to scare people but they will protect and watch over their property.
Multiple Spirit Haunting: A multiple spirit haunting is one step up from the basic haunting. Multiple haunts have two or more ghosts haunting the same location. The ghosts in a multiple haunt do not have to be related to each other and they do not have to be from the same time period. Different ghosts can cohabitate and share the dwelling. Each ghost will have a unique personality and each will have a separate cause, meaning and origin. The ghosts work independently from one another and even seem to aggravate each other at times.
Sacred Ground Haunting: Homes built on sacred ground often create a hot spot for ghostly activity. The sacred locations can be old graveyards, cemeteries, churches, ancient burial grounds, ceremonial buildings, worship altars and sites of religious practices. At the time of a home’s construction, it might not be known that the land was previously used for religious practices. In some grisly practices, entire graveyards are moved to new locations to permit the land developers to build housing subdivisions. The deceased are dug up and relocated to new cemetery plots. In this situation, the deceased have been moved but their ghosts stay behind and haunt the land and any building erected on the site. The ghosts move into the newly built homes and continue to haunt.
Grasping Vines Haunting: A grasping vines haunted house consists of a single structure or a source house that branches out to nearby homes like vines growing out to take over the other houses. The paranormal activity will become weaker as the activity moves further away from the source house. The community of homeowners is not always aware that their neighbors are having the same problems because ghosts are a suject of conversation that people keep to themselves. Even neighbors who do talk about their similar experiences might not realize that their homes are connected by one main source house. If the source house is eliminated, then all of the paranormal activity in the nearby homes will dissipate. Removing the source house is like breaking a link in a chain.
Buried Inside Haunting: A home that has a dead body buried inside it or on the grounds has a good chance of becoming haunted. The deceased bodies might have been secretly placed inside the house to cover up a murder. Murder victims have been sealed inside walls, placed under floorboards and buried in basements. Murder is not always the cause in this haunting. In past centuries, people who died during the winter months when the weather was too bad for burial would be buried temporarily in the basement until springtime. In many cases, the deceased were not dug up and the bodies were left buried inside the home. This haunting can involve the spirits of people and animals. The bodies of deceased people and animals are usually discovered when the homes are undergoing renovation. Once the body has been discovered, it can be laid to rest in an appropriate manner and the ghost might stop haunting the location.
Unusual Anomaly Haunting: There are houses that exhibit all of the characteristics of a common haunted house but there are no known ghosts inside. Instead, the house is located where natural earth energies and incredible electromagnetic forces are being released into the environment. The electromagnetic energies rise up from deep within the earth’s crust. The energies are invisible, but powerful enough to disrupt electronics and EMF fields. The built-up energies cause the home’s environment to exhibit the signs of a false haunting. There are some paranormal researchers who believe that ghosts and other supernatural entities are drawn to homes where electromagnetic energies are being released from the earth. There is no way to stop this haunting because there is no way to cap or divert the energy away from the house.
Tragedy Haunting: The simple formula for a haunting seems to be that tragedy leaves behind ghosts. Catastrophic events that result in loss of life are common causes for haunted houses. These horrible events can include murder scenes or places where disastrous accidents occurred. Sudden and tragic events burn into the natural environment leaving behind a haunting. These haunted locations can be inside or outside a dwelling and can involve multiple ghosts. The ghosts of a tragic haunt are usually sad entities that are seeking ways to express their feelings to the living. These ghosts exhibit the typical haunting characteristics.
The Living House Haunting: The living house haunting is the most radical theory for haunted houses. The premise is that a person has died and their ghost departs from its mortal body, using the structure of a home as a new material container. Instead of freely haunting the house, the ghost actually joins with the house. A human body is made up of organic material just like a building. The process is similar to a possession, but instead of a human, it is the dwelling that becomes possessed. In this haunting, the ghost can take full control of the structure.
In metaphorical terms, the windows of the house become the ghost’s new eyes. The electrical systems that run throughout the home become the ghost’s nervous system. The walls of the house become the ghost’s skin. When a ghost takes control of a house, the dwelling itself seems to become alive. The rooms will darken and feel less friendly. Visitors feel like they are constantly being watched. The air inside the house becomes heavy, and stale and even the water tastes different.
There is a bad aspect to this haunting that is not experienced in a common haunting. Ghosts that join with a house seem to lose part of their own personality and humanity. The ghost changes its behaviors. This could be because the ghost is now living in a different existence. It is no longer human and no longer a ghost. The ghost becomes something else that has a different perspective and motivations. Do not underestimate the supernatural powers of this haunting. The ghost has total control over everything that occurs inside the house. Normal reality has been replaced with the supernatural. It can seem that the house has gone insane. There is almost nothing, short of demolishing the house, that can be done to stop this haunting. This is not a common haunting and should not be treated as such.