Monthly Archives: September 2013

Education in the Paranormal Field

Often, when people think of ghosthunting, they don’t generally think of education being a big part of the field. Sometimes it’s not, but many ghosthunters pride themselves in backgrounds ranging from psychology to medicine to science. All of these disciplines lend themselves to better ghosthunting research, but do you believe that further education is necessary?

Many organizations, small paranormal shops, individuals, and even some colleges now offer ghosthunting courses and certifications. One example is The Ghosthunter Shop out of Lexington, Kentucky. Patti Starr owns and operates the shop with her husband Chuck Starr (these are the same folks that produce Scarefest) and they offer an introductory course, a certification class, and a certification from home class for reasonable prices.

The question is, what do you think about ghosthunting education? Do you believe it’s necessary for a ghosthunter to be certified to be considered an expert?

New Book Uncovers Windy City’s Ghosts

The newest addition to the America’s Haunted Road Trip series, Chicago Haunted Handbook, brings you 99 ghostly places you can visit in and around the Windy City. Authors Jeff Morris and Vince Sheilds profile 99 of the most haunted spots in Chicago, covering all the important information such as location, directions, a brief history of the spot, the ghost story behind the spot, and tips for when and how to visit.

Are you ready to hunt for ghosts in the Windy City?
All 99 locations are open to the public, and suggested tours are included in the back (Paranormal Pub Crawl, Gangland, etc.), which make this guide the perfect tool when planning your next ghosthunt in the Midwest. Combine this book with John Kachuba’s Ghosthunting Illinois or Helen Pattskyn’s Ghosthunting Michigan and make a real road trip out of it!

Chicago HH Cover (2)Ghosthunting-MI-lo-resScreen shot 2013-09-30 at 2.01.58 PM

All books in the AHRT series are available at AdventureKEEN. 

Scarefest 2013 Success

Just this past month, America’s Haunted Road Trip attended the 6th annual Scarefest Horror & Paranormal Convention in Lexington, Kentucky. Produced by Ghost Chasers International, Scarefest has become one of the largest horror conventions in the United States, and this  year was no exception.  

This year’s star-studded guest list included Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Star Trek Generations), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Jim Parrack (Hoyt), Janina Gavankar (Luna), and Jessica Clark (Lilith, the Vampire Goddess) from True Blood, Chandler Riggs (Carl from The Walking Dead), and of course, the Scarefest staple babe, Danielle Harris.

There where were more vendors than ever before at Scarefest 2013, with 82,000 square feet of artists, entertainers, tattoo artists, paranormal groups, booksellers, ghosthunting gear, novelty items, and much more. Seminars from experts in their fields stacked the 3-day schedule and drew huge crowds.

Both at Scarefest 2013
Both at Scarefest 2013

 We had an extremely successful year this year at Scarefest 2013 and we can’t wait to return next September 12-14, 2014!