One of the interesting things about living in a place like Virginia is
that it has a lot of history, and with a lot of history comes a lot of
dead people, and with a lot of dead people come the inevitable ghosts (or
zombies, but that's a whole other article). That is of course, if you
believe in such silly things, but I'm going show you a series of
bone-chilling photos that just might change your mind about whether or not
ghosts are real.
Now, one of the things you'll hear is that Virginia and Massachusetts are
the two most haunted states in the Union, and this makes sense if you
think about it, because not only are they home to the two oldest English
settlements in North America, but also, a lot of horrible shit happened in
these places.
If you happen to live on the East coast, you'll likely have old Civil War
battlefields you can visit, but every state has its haunted sites, and you
can find plenty of encyclopedic web pages listing them on the internet.
While wandering around on a ghost hunt, you want to keep your eyes and
ears open, because that way you can more readily convince yourself that a
firefly or a screech owl is in fact a ghost, and frankly it's a lot more
fun that way.
If, after reading this, you plan to prepare your own inadvisable ghost
hunt, I am legally required to inform you there are several things you
will need:
• a flashlight
• at least one "Mulder" (a believer)
• at least one "Scully" (a scientific skeptic)
• batteries for your flashlight
• a bag lunch
• a proton pack and trap for ghost collection
• at least one friend who's slower than you in the event you all have to
run for your lives
• a backup flashlight so you can see to change the batteries in your other
flashlight
• still more batteries for your camera
• a tape recorder
• seriously, even more batteries for your tape recorder
You'll want a camera because some spirits won't be visible to the naked
eye, but after you go back to your photo lab and develop the pictures (or
hit the "review" button on your digital camera), eerie things may appear
in them that will give you chills.
The other night some friends and I went ghost hunting at the Civil War
battlefield at Gaines Mill, and my friend Scott took some pictures (until
he ran out of batteries—see why my list is important?). Upon getting the
pictures "developed" to my "hard drive" and examining them closely, I
noticed some bone-chilling elements present within them...
Here I am standing alone next to an old cannon, but wait—what's that
beside me? Am I as alone as I think, or is that an "orb" floating next to
me? It seems that this ostensibly normal site may be a "hotspot" for
supernatural spiritual activity after all!
Here's another shot of the same cannon with a flashlight shining on it.
Everything appears normal, but WAIT! What is that there, under the wheel?
Is that the human face of some long dead soldier manifesting in the grass?
Look closely... if you DARE!
And look at this picture of some of us walking along, completely
OBLIVIOUS of the SCREAMING FACE OF THE DAMNED manifesting in
the air to the left of us. Look closely and you may just be able to make it out.
Take a good look at the darkness above this fence. See anything unusual?
Those of you with keen eyes will no doubt see a BIZARRE SHAPE floating
above the wood! What is it? A lens glare? A glitch in the camera? Or
something MORE?
Scott shined the flashlight in my face, blinding me and taking a picture
because he thought it'd be funny. But I wonder, am I making a face out of
annoyance, or am I making a face OUT OF FEAR because I feel the strange
presence of SOMETHING THERE WITH ME?
Look carefully at this picture. Do you see a mysterious, wispy shape
floating next to my knees? Is it just a trick of the light or something
more sinister? It's hard to say.
Barely discernible above the wooden fence, you may be able to make out
some vague features that look almost like a human face. Oh, sure, "it
could be anything" you say. And that's true. Maybe it's just a cloud, or a
weather balloon, or an exhalation of breath into the cold night... but
maybe, just maybe... it's a face.
Look above the cannon there, blending into the tree line. You may need to
magnify this photo to see what I'm talking about, but there, in front of
the trees, barely perceptible, is a shape. A shape I cannot identify.
Could it be something mundane and normal? Could it really? Or do you just
want to keep on living in your safe little world that badly?
Here I am about to walk into a dark trail in the woods. Now that I've
examined this picture more closely, I'm glad I stayed out of them! Notice
that vague, hard-to-make-out shape on the trail next to me? Sure, it could
be a firefly, I suppose, but it could also be a SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE!
See that large cloud above the cannons there? Now look a little more
closely. Yes, that's right! THAT'S NO CLOUD AT ALL! I mean, I think
it's not a cloud. You kind of have to use your imagination, but it almost looks like it could be some kind of ghost, doesn't it?
And speaking of clouds that might not be clouds, if you squint your eyes
just right, you can almost see a spectral pirate ship floating over
the tree line instead of a mere and simple cloud.
Oh, it's true that a lot of this is open to interpretation, and there's a
certain amount of suggestibility present when you're "in the moment" out
in the middle of a spooky dark field (covered in ghosts). That's why I
always make sure that when I review the photos after the fact, I wear a
lab coat, a monocle, and smoke a bubble pipe so I know I'm treating it
with the amount of gravity this sort of thing deserves.
If you do have supposedly "haunted sites" in your area, this can be a fun
thing to do with friends, but be warned: most of the time you are going to
be trespassing at these locations, especially if you're there at night.
And there are probably far scarier things in a jail cell than there are at
one of these haunted sites. Just something to think about.
