Texas Hauntings Society: Always Searching...

Inexcusable Delays, Halloween

2010-09-25T12:34:00.004-05:00

I've just realized that I haven't updated our blog since July...tsk, tsk on me. Every single time I make plans to post or update the Texas Hauntings Society website, something happens. Time restraints, silly drama at home, (involving an unnamed teenager in the house)... yadda, yadda.

Within the next week or so, we'll be experiencing the horrors of dial-up internet access for quite some time. We're fed up with our satellite server after five years of crappy service...unfortunately though, cable or DSL isn't available in our area, hence the reason we're stuck with Satellite. Gives me yet another reason to hurry and update before we move over to dial-up.

Fall is here, and with that, my most favorite night of the year approaches...Halloween! For us however, it's not the act of making the house look spooky or passing out treats to the kids, it's observance of the belief that the veil between this world and the Otherworld becomes thin, allowing spirits to pass through. And as paranormal investigators, a good night to conduct research and record EVPs. (then again, any time is good for conducting research...spirits don't wait until the veil is thin on All Hallows Eve in order to make themselves known).

So onto getting serious about blogging more often, and updating our website!

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Investigating Texas Cemeteries At Night

2010-07-16T10:52:00.004-05:00

We recently received an interesting email about the legal status of cemeteries in Texas. At least it was interesting to us! Back up North, we were always in the habit of asking permission from local law enforcement to enter cemeteries at night, for the purpose of paranormal investigation. We also knew it was against the law to enter a cemetery at night. We assumed it was the same here in Texas.

I'm quoting part of the email sent to us by a very nice visitor to our site:

".....I noticed something not so accurate on your website about cemeteries in Texas. I'm a mortuary college student and the legal status of cemeteries is very liberal in Texas. Anyone can enter a public cemetery to visit their relatives at any given time they so desire. The only exemption would be privatly owned cemeteries on private (individualy held, fenced in and signs posted) areas. The only real danger that could be associated with cemeteries is with older ones, normally with tombstones dating from the 1800s and onward. These places might have footstones, damaged stones that are left on the ground and tree limbs that pose a tripping hazard."

That being said, we'll be looking forward to night investigations in certain cemeteries now. In the same vein though, old habits die hard with us, and I'm sure we will feel somewhat leery if an officer drives by and sees us walking around, taking photos at night.

I've toyed with the idea of removing the warning from our web pages, ("Don't enter cemeteries at night, it's again the law"), but I guess we shall keep that warning listed. We know from experience that local law enforcement doesn't take too kindly to those few persons who trample through cemeteries at night, or think it's 'fun' to vandalize final resting places. And we can't blame them for feeling this way.

But we do thank our dear web visitor for this email, and have posted it for general information.

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Playful Spooks Have Interrupted Our Tour...

2010-07-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

.....Or so the saying goes, lol. I've recently discovered that our website email has been spammed...repeatedly. Despite efforts to curb the problem, complain to my email server, threaten to 'haunt' them... the spam goes on and on. I've been working on answering all of our dear friends who visit our site, and who are kind enough to write us. Chances look good that I may be changing the email address, but we'll give it a bit more time and hopefully the spammers will knock off the crap.

And I seriously need to update our website as well !

Good news...at least for me, LOL...is that Jim might be changing work shifts in August. Daytime hours, three days off, lots of time to start investigating again. Of course it's up to the boss to make the final decision on who gets that daytime job, we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Harvey, our ancient yet loyal "Ghosthunting" truck is out of commission for the time being. He's awaiting a new battery, starter, wheel alignment, shift linkage either needs replacing or adjusting...and a new inspection sticker. All is not lost however, we have Jim's truck to adventure about in...but I miss my old fart of a truck more than ever. And he's alot easier to get out of forbidden places in a hurry, not like Jim's massive vehicle, ha!
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I Don't Believe.....

2009-11-25T20:40:00.004-06:00

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....that once again, it's been too damned long since I've updated this blog! My apologies as usual, as I type this with a red face.

Lotsa stuff happened since May and now though...my son and his family moved to another apartment, I spent a week in the hospital recovering from a severe asthma attack, then another week spent with my leg propped up since I'd gotten Cellulitis (that was a first!!), more minor renovations to the old homestead, then other general stuff that life seems to throw our way.

At least I'm finally in the process of answering emails and updating our website. I've created a YouTube channel for Texas Hauntings Society, and have been making short video clips featuring past and present EVP recordings to feature on that channel.

We returned to two cemeteries in Wylie on Nov. 22 for additional research. Nothing showed on film but we did capture a few EVPs.

I'm going to try and put alot more time into our website and investigations...even though life has prevented us from spending more time doing what we really love, (investigating the paranormal, the weird and the abandoned of course!), I've simply got to concentrate on making the time to do this.

But once again, I want to thank everyone for writing us with such kind words of support and encouragement...you're the best !
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It's Been Kind of Rough.....

2009-05-24T21:30:00.008-05:00

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Damn! Has it really been that long since I've posted??

And it's been an equally long time since I've updated the Texas Hauntings Society website as well, I'm planning to catch up this coming week. I've not forgotten everyone's emails either...again, forgive my lateness in replying to all of you. I'm always deeply appreciative of our web friends who write us with updates, haunted and abandoned sites that we don't yet know about, etc. It's you people who make Texas Hauntings Society great.

Lots crazy stuff happening for quite some time. I'm hoping things will calm down so I can get focused on doing what I really love....paranormal investigations, and working on our website.

On the paranormal side of things, an EVP that I recorded a few months ago at a cemetery in Wylie was rewarding. A woman's voice faintly spoke my name, after I had introduced myself at the gravesite. Gotta put that on the site soon. In our own house, Jim heard someone calling him. He thought it was me, but it definitely wasn't me. At my son's house, no more spirits playing with Paige's toys. Could have been a 'pass-through', who knows.

So, a new week....time to get focused.
Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!
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The Ghost That Likes Toys

2009-02-18T23:11:00.004-06:00

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When I arrived at my son and his wife's house this morning to babysit my granddaughter, he jokingly asked if I had my camera with me.

My granddaughter has numerous toys that play music, make noise, parents know how that goes. When I entered the livingroom, I did hear music playing from one of the toys, and my granddaughter was in her bedroom. My son casually mentioned that the toy had been playing music on its' own earlier as well.

Later that morning, after my son went to sleep, his wife left for work, and my granddaughter was napping, I heard the sound of a cow mooing. It was coming from one of the toys. Grabbing my camera, I snapped a few photos of the corner of the room and the toys. While previewing the photos, I saw a small orb located against the back door, lined up right next to the toys that had been making sounds on their own. That's when I spoke out loud, inviting 'whomever' to show itself as I took more photos, and that it was alright to play with my granddaughter's toys.

I 'tested' the area as well...walking past the toys to see if footstep vibrations had set them off, touching them, etc etc....but nope, nothing of a general, physical nature was causing the noises coming from those toys.

All I got was one photo of that small orb, and that's good enough for me. Later on in the day, I reminded my son that since his house is located so close to two cemeteries, it's not uncommon to experience paranormal occurances in such homes.

The former renters only lived there for three months....claiming they couldn't afford the rent any longer. I wonder if that's not the only reason they moved....
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A Cemetery Across The Street

2009-02-12T19:38:00.006-06:00

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Not across the street from us, but my son and his wife!

The rental home they just moved into is located in a seemingly quiet neighborhood. There's a cemetery directly across the street from them, and one right behind them. Two cemeteries that Jim and I have investigated in the past, as well.

While the move on my son's part was totally unexpected, (they had a bastard of a landlord at the former home, to put it mildly), I was thrilled to discover where they had moved. Not only am I planning to do some night photography at one cemetery, I can also take my granddaughter for walks there during the day...which is what my son and I plan to do tomorrow.

Well hey, since one of the cemeteries is right across the street, I might as well start teaching my granddaughter the finer points of paranormal investigation, right?!

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At Least They Have Some Taste....

2009-02-12T19:05:00.011-06:00

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I'm talking about the music-loving spirits that were annoying us in our home.

For the longest time, whenever Jim was trying to get to sleep, he would hear the faint sounds of music coming from the livingroom. The house was absolutely silent, as was the neighborhood.
Yet he would hear music from the 1970s. He couldn't make out exactly what songs were playing, but he'd hear it.

Recently, I started hearing it too. Again, very faintly, but it was there. I was a teenager/young adult in the 1970s and I still love that era, but it was starting to get annoying. One night I finally opened the bedroom door and yelled, "If you're going to listen to tunes, play some Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath or Deep Purple!"

I guess they don't like my sarcasm, we haven't heard any music since then. But, they seemed to like the 1970s.
And in my opinion, they have good taste!

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Why We Investigate (mostly) Cemeteries

2009-01-19T22:55:00.006-06:00

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We've often been asked why we investigate more cemeteries than we do private homes or businesses.

While we welcome the occasion to investigate private homes, businesses and the like (within our local area for the time being), there are a number of reasons why most of our investigation and research involves cemeteries.

Over the years that we've been conducting paranormal research and investigation, both together and separately before we met, we realize that spirits of the departed often choose to remain at their 'final' resting place. Sometimes they don't know how to 'cross over', sometimes they just don't wish to leave either this realm or their graves. Sometimes they don't know that they're deceased, among many other different reasons.
We know that each cemetery visit is either a 'hit' or a 'miss'. There's been times where we have conducted research at burial sites where even when we haven't captured anything on film or tape, Jim often feels spirits around us.

Some don't like the idea that they're deceased. We've captured many an EVP where spirits are angry, downright mean on occasion. Some are sad, some are confused. Sure, we've gotten some good EVPs in homes, but we seem to gather more in cemeteries that we visit.

I photograph tombstones not only for our paranormal research, but for genealogical purposes. While in a cemetery, we both photograph a wide variety of stones so that we may include those photographs on genealogy sites, and places such as "Findagrave" as a gesture of kindess for family and friends of the deceased who live out of state, or live too far away to conduct local genealogy research on their own.

I also enjoy photographing unusual and impressive tombstones because they are quite simply that.....impressive, and awesome. I find the sight of beautiful and elaborate monuments a moving, loving tribute to those loved ones who have passed on. Even simple homemade stones are very touching to me.

On a side note, while we don't get a chance to investigate many abandoned places in our area, I have to admit that I'm sometimes a "chicken". It's one thing to get busted or chased out by the law. I'm actually more afraid of getting shot at by a local!

And in closing, as a rule we don't investigate cemeteries late at night, unless we've asked permission by local law enforcement to do so.
So far, we've not made any nighttime visits here in Texas.....yet. We don't know how well we will be received if we do ask permission.....but we've never had a problem back in Massachusetts when we've asked. We shall see how it goes out here, in the future.
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Site Updates, Emails, Winter Colds

2009-01-19T21:29:00.008-06:00

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Over the past few months before the new year, we were graciously invited to conduct several investigations of private homes. At the request of each owner, we agreed not to publish our findings on our site. Both investigations proved to be uneventful, but the owners were just as happy to learn that they did not have a haunting.

When I finally did find time to update our website and get going on our emails, I got hit with the flu, big time. Then a few weeks later I came down with a cold. It just seems to run in cycles....
but since it's winter, 'tis the season for the damned colds and flu, right?

It's been too cold for me to stop at some local cemeteries to take photos and make recordings, and that aggravates me to no end!
Jim (my partner and cohort in paranormal adventures) claims that I've "climatized"....I complain that I'm cold when it's 60 degrees here in North Texas!

Maybe he's right. We're both from the Northeast, born and raised. Jim is from Massachusetts, I'm from New Jersey. When I spent 24 years in New England, I've experienced severe snow and ice storms that native Texans would never dream of. We know what it's like when our former state has shut down because of those storms. We've been residents of Texas for six years now, and Jim laughs when I reach for my jacket or coat when the temps drop below 60 here. So yeah, I think I've climatized.

But I'm very happy to be getting back to a regular schedule of website updates and answering those emails. We always enjoy hearing from our web friends, what would we do without you guys? You're all great!

Let's just hope I don't get anymore colds or flu, once a year is enough for me!

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A New Year, A New Blog

2008-12-27T16:25:00.010-06:00

We've decided to add a "News and Rants" Blog to our website, hosted of course by Blogger.
I thought this Blog would be a good place to report on news, updates, investigations and explorations, and perhaps rant whenever the mood strikes me.

It's been a very long time since I've updated the Texas Hauntings Society website!
Lots of personal issues have kept us busy over the months, but we hope to get back into the "swing of things" with the new year approaching....including working harder than ever on the website, getting back out into the field again, and answering all of our web-friend's emails.

Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoy our new blog!
-Best Wishes for a Safe, Happy, Healthy and Haunted New Year!

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