Hi,
Im looking for a little info, I have come across a few websites who run commercial ghost hunting events who are advertising for 'event hosts'. what I'd like to know is has anyone been on one of these commercial events and what exactly was the hosts role? Thanks, Ben

Hi Ben,

first of all a warm welcome to our forum.

Personally I haven't been on one of those events, yet because of a few reasons.

The main reason is, because I am a team member of an excellent ghost hunting team, so I am on investigations on a regular basis.
Then there is the main issue, that most of the event hosts have mediums on their events.... don't get me wrong, I have nothing at all against mediums, as a fact, we have a very good one in our team as well .... BUT I am not psychic myself, so to me it is important top get results like audio or video evidence. To me, as a paranormal investigator, personal experience is of course interesting, but nothing that I could present to others saying: "Hey, look! Here's what I've experienced, see for yourself."

My conclusion about most of the event hosts is, that they are mainly showing the thrill factor, but not the real thing about a proper investigation. It is more like Most Haunted .... a high scare factor, but no real evidence.

As a matter of fact, some of those event hosts have the habit of faking things with fishing line etc. Some hire fake guests, that are merely there to freak out the other guests by screaming, stating that they have been touched etc.

Some of the big event hosts actually don't even take part themselves, but hire local ghost hunting teams... which can end up as a disaster, because the teams are unexperienced or unprofessional.

Because of all these (and more) reasons we have founded The ghostfinder Paranormal Experience, to give interested people the opportunity to join a professional team for one night to one of the most haunted locations in England. We show people the real thing... how to use the huge variety of professional equipment, what to look for and why we actually do the things the way we do them ... a proper workshop with a NO-FAKE-guarantee. Our team members are always there for you, making sure you are safe and always willing and able to answer alls orts of questions about the paranormal.

I don't know where youre priorities are ... the scare factor or gaining knowledge, maybe both.

my advice to you is: choose the event host carefully if you want value for money. O)f course not all of them are faking, some of them are really good. Please understand, that I don't want to name any hosts, good or bad (legal reasons).

Should you be interested in one of our events, check out this link: http://www.ghostfinder.co.uk/events.html

Our next one will be Bodmin Jail in Cornwall and there's more to come soon.

Regards,
Hella

Thanks for your reply, I'm looking into the hosting because I'm sick of my job and want an interesting one! I'm fairly open minded of what happens and I'm really for info on how to get out there and do some investigating myself with gadgets an stuff! I haven't found any answers to any of my questions anywhere yet!
I want to know EVERYTHING I could possibly need to know to go out with some friends and find 'evidence'. Where are good place to look on the net for this info?

Hi Ben,

Well, on my last count we were 16 members in our team. Most of us started off as trainees, which is the usual procedure. Everyone of us is looking for THE piece of evidence.

I can only speak for our team here. Unlike the big hosting companies we started off as a normal paranormal research team (which we still are) and because of the reasons in my post above we decided to do workshops for people who are interested in this subject, showing them the reality of an investigation.

Our workshops are run by the team. Because we all have jobs and - or family in our private life, we do not do as many events like the big hosts, mainly because we just dont have the time. This is, why we cannot pay wages. Depending on the amount of tickets being sold, we cover the expenses, such as location, petrol etc. The money left over usually goes towards the equipment.

To give you an idea .... our equipment, including the items privately owned by our team members has an estimated value over £ 22.000, most of it funded from our own pockets.

I cannot say how the other hosts do it. As far as I know equipment is not their main issue. I can say for sure though, that they dont use CCTV systems some of them not even EMF-devices and they also dont make the effort to analyse all of their material.

Our work is extremely time consuming. After an investigation, no matter if private or workshop, it takes us up to two weeks to analyse and discuss our material and, in the end, write a decent, deatailed report.

From what I know, only one or two of these event hosts do their tours full time. plus, they either have a core team or hire local teams, mediums etc.

For you it might be worth making inquiries at your local tourist center. Nottingham (do I remember that right???) is a very old town with lots of history and haunted places. as far as I remember, they also do ghost trails or tours.

Because our team is merely a non-profit organisation, we do not employ staff.
But should you be still interested to join our team to find out more, feel free to email Barri (who is responsible in our team for that area of England).

coming to your questions about the paranormal:

Just ask!!!! and have a look around our forum, you might find a few of your questions answered that way already.
We really try to answer any type of question related to the paranormal.
you can also join the chat on the main page of our homepage. There is usually always at least one of the team members there in the evenings.
We love discussions and always welcome new people. Dont be shy to join the chat, we all started off as newbies and everyone of us has this in mind. This, and our main goal: to help people.

there are also a few paranormal forums on the web. just google a bit. They are much bigger than this forum, thousands of members usually, which means, that you would have to filter the information that you get there, because most of those forum members dont have the practical experience. But it is definitely worth a try, I started off like that too.



I hope, I could answer some of your questions,
Hella

Okay, what does EVP stand for? I gather it is some kind of recording/recoding equipment.

When Im out at a location, how do I get started? Do I just take photos seemingly at random? or do ghosts appear then I take a photo? What am I looking out for? Should the flash be used all the time? Would a red cover over a torch be a better light for making 'spirits' feel more secure? I have avideo camera I'd to use, it doesnt have a light, but could I just use a small torch held close to it?
Thanks. Ben

Hi Ben,

please check this link out, I've opened a new thread for your questions.

http://www.ghostfinderukforum.com/general-ghost-talk-f8/faq-general-questions-asked-about-ghost-hunting-t1463.htm#8322

And to get some visual explanations, i would suggest that you watch TAPS and GHI, both of the can be found on youtube.

greetings,
Hella