GHI

I am obsessed with shows about the paranormal. It started with Ghost Hunters, but now that has expanded to Ghost Hunters International (GHI), Psychic Children, and Paranormal State.

Why this obsession? I blame it on a report I had to write in the 7th grade, over winter break. I don't remember which class and why I chose a report on paranormal activity, but I checked out all these books at the library on topics from the Bermuda Triangle to the famous Crystal Skull (Mysteries of the Unknown: Time-Life Books). I immersed myself in all of this while my parents were at work. It rained two straight weeks that break, and George Harrison's "I Got My Mind Set on You" kept playing on MTV. I thought that video was creepy.

The thing that stuck out about what I was reading was a report of an area in England called "Chestnuts." There had been strange disappearances, sightings of supposed demons, and even UFOs. Dogs would mysteriously disappear and be found dead, but at an advanced state of decomposition that didn't correlate with the time they'd been gone. A priest disappeared. A large, black 10 foot shadow was seen by a man one night. The next day, cloven footprints were found where that shadow had been seen.

All of this creeped me out to no end. One night while I lay awake thinking about everything, I noticed the walls of my bedroom start to glow (though it was probably an illusion caused by the fact that I kept my eyes open too long). I had the sensation of my sheets levitating off my body. I was convinced I was haunted, and that if I looked down the hallway, I'd see that black 10 ft demon shadow.

Until I graduated high school, I would only sleep on my back so I could keep one eye on my bedroom door. This probably lead to sleep paralysis incidents that I will discuss in a future post.

Fast-forwarding to now, and my GHI watching, last night the GHI team investigated the Clark Air Force Base hospital in the Philippines. The hospital is a ruins now because the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 sent 11 ft of ash through the place. The team recorded some of the eeriest EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) that I've heard in all my Ghost Hunters watching. You could really hear disembodied voices clearly, saying actual words.

The thing that was so fascinating to me with this investigation is, this is where I was born. I saw the ruins personally in 1996, but seeing them now in their haunted state, and knowing it was once a working, vibrant place where, 33 years ago, my mom had a c-section and there I was- well, it was intriguing.