Ghost Hunting 101

Conducting a Paranormal Investigation

As a new ghost hunter, you’re no doubt wondering how to get started. For simplicity, we’ve broken down this ghost hunting guide into three sections: our basic ghost hunting roadmap, summarized for quick reference; the basics for preparing; and tips for conducting the investigation itself.

Road Map

• Plan, Strategize, and Prepare for Your Ghost Hunt
• Divide Investigative Tasks and Confirm Understanding
• Place Ghost Hunting Equipment in Strategic Locations
• Conduct Interviews, Be Diligent, and Record Everything
1. Review Findings, Analyze the Investigation, Re-Strategize

Preparation

First things first, never go ghost hunting alone. Sure, there are plenty of experienced paranormal investigators who do, but we don’t recommend it. If you see it happen on our TV show, remember there is at least a camera person, audio grip, or producer around somewhere watching.

If for no other reason, tag-teaming is a safety measure. Your investigation may be paranormal, but you conduct it in the real world, where having a buddy is always the better option. Twisting an ankle, breaking a leg, stepping on a nail - these are not only possible but, given the standard setting for most investigations, could be quite likely.

Plan, Strategize, and Prepare for Your Ghost Hunt

• Where are you going? How are you getting there?
• Have you done background work? What is the Purpose of the investigation?
• Once you're there, will you set up static equipment, or will you simply collect data on the go?

These are important questions that should be answered before you even think about starting your hunt. Other vital questions include:

• What equipment are you taking?
• Has equipment been cleaned, storage cleared, and have the batteries been charged?
• Where will you keep spare SD cards and batteries?
• Which cameras will be mounted and which will you carry?
• What’s the history of your target location?
• What questions will you ask in each room/location?
• What do you do if your target location isn’t empty/abandoned?
• What is the protocol in the event of an emergency?

Divide Investigative Tasks and Confirm Understanding

Proper preparation prevents poor performance by keeping your ghost hunting team informed of what to expect and what is expected of them. Once you’ve answered the previous questions and have created a strategy, you must divide up tasks amongst your team.

After every team member is briefed, they should recount to the team what they will be doing at each step of the investigation. This play-by-play confirms that each member understands their role, and reinforces the strategy for the whole team. With an informed and prepared team, you’ll be more capable of adapting and improvising to unexpected situations.

Place Ghost Hunting Equipment in Strategic Locations

It’s unlikely you’d have had sufficient knowledge (blueprints, pictures, etc.) to pre-plan where you’ll place your equipment. Therefore, finding strategic locations is the second task to be completed (after ensuring your location is safe). Survey the scene, and determine the best places to set up your equipment.

Your Ghost Boxes And Spirit Boxes should be located with you, in the area of investigation where you plan to ask probing questions. Install static cameras in high-traffic areas, around your primary objective, that cover angles you may not capture with your Handheld Or Mounted POV Camera.

Also consider setting up your static cam in any secondary locations that either contain high paranormal activity, or which may have resulted in unusual data readings on your equipment. For example, if an area triggered a response on your EMF Meter when you surveyed the scene, that may be an ideal place to install a static cam.

Conduct Interviews, Be Diligent, and Record Everything

Once your equipment is in place, your team is ready, and your cameras are rolling, you’re ready to conduct an interrogation, of sorts, by asking your prepared questions and recording the results. Be thorough and diligent.

Ask the questions you’ve prepared and any others that you or your team can think of on the spot. Record everything.

Your cameras and EVP Recorders should capture audible and visual phenomena, but you and your teammates should be writing notes and documenting data. This could include the time of any activity, the temperature when activity occurred, and the radio frequencies that detected interference, if applicable.

Review Findings, Analyze the Investigation, Re-Strategize

Amateur ghost hunters get home and post their investigation to YouTube. Professional paranormal investigators exhaustively review their exploration before publishing their findings.

They take note of interesting artifacts or activity in the audio and video recordings they’ve captured, and cross-reference these notes with the data they’ve collected on the scene. Then, they formulate hypotheses that may, or may not, require additional ghost hunting excursions to the location in question. Only once they have a clearer understanding of what they experienced do they publicize what they’ve discovered.

So, while you may be super-excited to post that raw video for all to see (and get those social follows and subs), remember it’s always best to review and make educated calls first.