Ghost hunters say this is their biggest Halloween fear. And it has nothing to do with ghosts - CNN
(CNN)David Schrader is creeping through the darkened hallways of the most-haunted house in America, looking for trouble.
It's well past midnight, and his paranormal team has been summoned to the 19th-century brick house in San Diego because people say a malevolent spirit dubbed "Yankee Jim" has taken up residence. They report hearing his footsteps clanking down the stairs at night, strange mists floating through rooms, cold spots and the sensation of being watched.
As Schrader feels his way through the darkness, he senses that something is stalking him. So does Cindy Kaza, a psychic on his team who whispers to him, "I don't want to be here."
"If you're trying to influence Cindy you need to back off," Schrader, a burly man with a shaved head and a goatee, announces as he scans the room. "You do not have power or authority over her."
Then someone, or something, slams into the 6-foot, 280-pound Schrader. He's knocked to his knees as if he's been sucker punched -- and no one has touched him.
"Something just shoved me straight on," he says, a look of bewilderment crossing his face. "That's nuts."
What's scarier than ghosts?
It's just another night at the office for Schrader, one of the nation's top paranormal investigators. For the past 13 years, he has tangled with dark entities, listened to disembodied voices and visited many of the world's most haunted places.
That haunted house smackdown was filmed for Schrader's new show, "The Holzer Files." In the Travel Channel series, he and a team of paranormal experts reinvestigate the "secret files" of Hans Holzer, one of America's first ghost hunters.
Every day is Halloween for people like Schrader, one of a new wave of celebrity paranormal investigators who have inspired countless people to form amateur ghost-hunting teams across America.
People routinely ask him about scary stories. But when CNN asked Schrader and other famous ghost hunters to share their biggest frights, none mentioned confronting entities such as "Yankee Jim."
People spook them more than spirits, they all say. One of the biggest secrets of the paranormal field is that it is filled with all sorts of earthbound hazards that newbie investigators never contemplate: Mentally ill people who physically attack investigators during house calls; unscrupulous investigators who stage supernatural encounters; criminals robbing and beating ghost-hunting teams in abandoned buildings.
"The living are much more scary than anything paranormal I've come into contact with," Schrader says.
"The living are much more scary than anything paranormal I've come into contact with," Schrader says.
And then there is another, little-known occupational hazard -- the sheer terror of tedium. Nothing happens during most investigations. An estimated 80% of paranormal disturbances are ultimately attributed to things as mundane as bad housing construction, investigators say.
"There is something out there, and we don't know what it is," says Elaine Davison, an Oregon paranormal investigator. "But I will tell you that most of it is bad wiring."
Why ghost hunters do what they do
So why do paranormal investigators persist despite the dangers?
The reasons vary. Many had childhood experiences that stoked their curiosity. Schrader's grandmother used to visit him as a kid after she died.
Others mention similar experiences: A ghost kissed one investigator on her cheek as she feel asleep one night; another says they witnessed an exorcism, and another famous ghost hunter started seeing apparitions after visiting a healer.
Some also pursue this unique calling because they want proof of life beyond death. Others like the adrenalin rush. And virtually all say they're providing a service. They help grieving families who often have tried everything else to heal. Sometimes, they say, they even help ghosts.
What ghosts want is often what humans want -- acknowledgment that they matter, Schrader says.
Full story at site....it's long but interesting.
(CNN)David Schrader is creeping through the darkened hallways of the most-haunted house in America, looking for trouble.
It's well past midnight, and his paranormal team has been summoned to the 19th-century brick house in San Diego because people say a malevolent spirit dubbed "Yankee Jim" has taken up residence. They report hearing his footsteps clanking down the stairs at night, strange mists floating through rooms, cold spots and the sensation of being watched.
As Schrader feels his way through the darkness, he senses that something is stalking him. So does Cindy Kaza, a psychic on his team who whispers to him, "I don't want to be here."
"If you're trying to influence Cindy you need to back off," Schrader, a burly man with a shaved head and a goatee, announces as he scans the room. "You do not have power or authority over her."
Then someone, or something, slams into the 6-foot, 280-pound Schrader. He's knocked to his knees as if he's been sucker punched -- and no one has touched him.
"Something just shoved me straight on," he says, a look of bewilderment crossing his face. "That's nuts."
What's scarier than ghosts?
It's just another night at the office for Schrader, one of the nation's top paranormal investigators. For the past 13 years, he has tangled with dark entities, listened to disembodied voices and visited many of the world's most haunted places.
That haunted house smackdown was filmed for Schrader's new show, "The Holzer Files." In the Travel Channel series, he and a team of paranormal experts reinvestigate the "secret files" of Hans Holzer, one of America's first ghost hunters.
Every day is Halloween for people like Schrader, one of a new wave of celebrity paranormal investigators who have inspired countless people to form amateur ghost-hunting teams across America.
People routinely ask him about scary stories. But when CNN asked Schrader and other famous ghost hunters to share their biggest frights, none mentioned confronting entities such as "Yankee Jim."
People spook them more than spirits, they all say. One of the biggest secrets of the paranormal field is that it is filled with all sorts of earthbound hazards that newbie investigators never contemplate: Mentally ill people who physically attack investigators during house calls; unscrupulous investigators who stage supernatural encounters; criminals robbing and beating ghost-hunting teams in abandoned buildings.
"The living are much more scary than anything paranormal I've come into contact with," Schrader says.
"The living are much more scary than anything paranormal I've come into contact with," Schrader says.
And then there is another, little-known occupational hazard -- the sheer terror of tedium. Nothing happens during most investigations. An estimated 80% of paranormal disturbances are ultimately attributed to things as mundane as bad housing construction, investigators say.
"There is something out there, and we don't know what it is," says Elaine Davison, an Oregon paranormal investigator. "But I will tell you that most of it is bad wiring."
Why ghost hunters do what they do
So why do paranormal investigators persist despite the dangers?
The reasons vary. Many had childhood experiences that stoked their curiosity. Schrader's grandmother used to visit him as a kid after she died.
Others mention similar experiences: A ghost kissed one investigator on her cheek as she feel asleep one night; another says they witnessed an exorcism, and another famous ghost hunter started seeing apparitions after visiting a healer.
Some also pursue this unique calling because they want proof of life beyond death. Others like the adrenalin rush. And virtually all say they're providing a service. They help grieving families who often have tried everything else to heal. Sometimes, they say, they even help ghosts.
What ghosts want is often what humans want -- acknowledgment that they matter, Schrader says.
Full story at site....it's long but interesting.
