Fear Factor – Scared vs. Afraid
pertaining to Paranormal Research

When people began to believe that they have/had a ghost haunting their home, their fears tend to help push their reported experiences along; creating an environment where anything, no matter how logical/illogical, becomes something paranormal/supernatural. People who live in reported haunted locations may begin to actively participate in the reported haunting themselves, not realizing they are part of the reason for these experiences. Thus, due to their reports and experiences, adrenaline is released into their bloodstream, the body and mind become anxious, and any little sight/sound seemingly becomes magnified along with their other senses. They may lay awake at night staring into the darkness of their rooms until finally they convince themselves that they see something that is not there; a dark apparition, a shadow moving, or evil face looming back at them. When there is a suggestion of a ghost or haunting, exploited “Hollywood-ized” and irrational fears tend to cause people to expect or overreact to an experience of the paranormal/supernatural.
Have you ever noticed the difference between a good commercial haunted house and one that is just okay. The good one will have activities happening outside, while you wait in line. This mentally “prepares” you to become scared. Exactly what several “reality based” television shows replicate to prepare their contestants before taking them to a reported “haunted” location.
Of course, this does not mean that there isn’t a ghost or haunting occurring behind all the strange and sometimes staged occurrences/reports, but it is important to understand that the human mind can involuntarily create an atmosphere of unnecessary fear. So why is fear plausibly bad? Let’s casually define some terms typically misquoted or wrongfully associated in today’s terminology.

Afraid – An instinctual emotional and/or physical reaction to an event or situation that can result in a lapse of judgment, movement, or other health factors.

Scared – A (temporary) emotional and/or physical reaction caused by fearful consequence of an event or situation that may/usually results in a lapse of judgment, movement, or other health factors. Usually something in which can be overcome through perseverance and dedication to move forward.

Fear – is absence of the genuine realization of consequences/results of an event/situation, substituted by the rationalizing of self imagination of the consequences/results.

Being afraid is natural and is usually an instinctual trait within all living forms of life, a defense mechanism. (I say usually as there are some reports of medical situations whereas these instinctual traits are missing due to mutation or accidental events) Being scared is also very natural, however not typically healthy unless there is a desire in which to go beyond or overcome that fear, thus promoting both self esteem and mental growth of an individual. Distinguishing between the two aspects is usually a difficult process, however rewarding. There are a few questions one can ask oneself to help discover the difference as each case arises.

1) Am I afraid of the situation because: there is a serious risk of consequence or is it because I feel/picture that there may be based upon what I know?
2) What is the likelihood that the consequence/picture I am foreseeing would occur?
3) Is the situation/event something in which: I am personally experiencing or something I am envisioning experiencing?
4) How can I grow beyond the resulting consequence/picture I am foreseeing?

Now these may seem simple and possibly vague, but let’s put these questions into a situation that may occur while conducting paranormal research. For Example:

You are research a hallway with reports of objects having been found thrown off of shelving or tables. It is dark and quiet, and there is an eerie feeling about the area. You hesitate before entering the hallway feeling uneasy. Now ask yourself the questions from above. Such answers may likely include:

1) feelings based upon what I know may get me hit by something flying off a shelf/table.
2) its never actually been seen, just speculated because of objects found on the floor.
3) I am envisioning an object hitting me from flying off a shelf/table.
4) I can conduct the investigation to find that nothing actually occurs or that there is something in which causes things to fall of shelf or table unrelated to a paranormal nature.

Now of course, as circumstances change so will the outcome. For instance: if the above scenario was in a hallway where the structure was unstable (missing floor boards, broken pieces of ceiling hanging, etc.), pointed objects obstructing a clear path (nails, pieces of structure such as metal, glass, etc.), and there was no lighting available (flashlight is dead, device lighting is out, etc..), then of course, those consequences would be different as the likelihood of injuring yourself is far greater than something flying off a shelf and hitting you.

The truth is that a high percentage of reported “haunting” cases are not violent and nonintrusive. There is usually nothing to be afraid of but your own mind playing tricks on you. Mostly, the terror felt comes from a fear of the unknown and the plausibility of what one may imagine happening. Through education and understanding, we are able to realize that “ghosts”/”spirits” are not the threat as reported. In many of the cases (where as possible evidence is obtained) the “ghosts” are unaware of the presence of living individuals or are there to possibly scare them and not typically hurt them; not in all reported cases, but in most. Many people who have learned to live with “ghosts” inside their homes have described it as an enlightening spiritual experience.

As such, being afraid and becoming scared are a normal part of paranormal research. It is important that an investigator learn to control one’s fears and overcome them when possible; while at the same time being very aware of the reality of potential dangers in which they may come across during the course of an investigation.

Submitted by,
Chris Ratliff
PGR-IN

edited outline and phrasing by C.Ratliff

The 1^st thing involved in learning to properly research is to understand these points:

• You. It is your responsibility to do the research. Very likely, there’s no-one who will just give you help if you’re not willing to do the work. You’re the one that has got to have the drive and it has got to come from within you. You must know how to answer the question(s) that may arrive from your research.

While your research evolves, you may find yourself receiving technical help, wisdom, and support from many qualified and knowledgeable people — but you need to remember that asking for that help is vital, should you find you need outside resources.

• Do. It is important that you start the research — experimentation, survey, simulation, data analysis, studying, cross-examination of multiple view points — as soon as you can. A general mistake that is made is to think, plan, read, but then never get around to the actually doing the research. As you start, you may find that the difficulties and issues in doing the research are quite different from what you originally planned or thought.

There are several components to learning to research properly; for example: proposing the hypothesis(es), discovering the answers hypothesis(es), and communicating those answers as best as possible. It may be noted that not all of these points are necessary but those that are needed are essential.

While the following mainly focuses more on the basics of project researching, the same points of information can be applied to the aspects historical research, area research, and fundamental theory research.

• Though the hypothesis may be idealistic or vague, you can still collect at least some data, summarize it, and report the any results that have been obtained. Of course, if you’re the first to ever research this hypothesis, that’s all you may need to do. And if the data is ever changing from year to year (e.g., phenomena, weather, reporting, socialization, etc…), than this type of study may always useful to some degree on a greater or lesser extent.
• If there is no answer, the question may be too broad, narrow, or well thought that it requires involving other qualified people. (It could be that there isn’t enough time, it’s an uninteresting conjecture, or that you might not competent in either the necessary techniques or possess the proper equipment to come to a reasonable conclusion.)
• Sometimes you don’t want to communicate your question and answer. The hypothesis may have turned out to be less interesting or unproductive than originally planned; or you might want to wait until you’ve done additional study/research.

Places to Research.

- The Local Library:
Research does not have to be mind-boggling. One of the first steps to researching is the location. Think of who, what, when, where, and why. Your local library is an excellent place to begin. Start with simple and basic historical facts.  Find a book outlining the past events or areas of the project. Search for the styles of social thinking, events which took place at an area, period music, medicine, etc. Check encyclopedias and reference books.

But how do you find those hidden facts? Where are those untold stories? Reference books and biographies can provide a lot of information. But your best source is your librarian. Ask for help, and tell the librarian what you are researching and where you can find additional information that encyclopedias and reference books may not provide. Your librarian should be able to direct you to the best information available.

- Local Historical Societies:
Local historians are usually involved in or run their historical society. Go in and ask questions. Ask to see any documents that might enhance your information. Not only do historical societies have original documents and pictures, they might also have works of art and photographs.

- Historical Sites:
If possible, take a historical tour of the area, site, or field you are researching. Visit the sites as though looking through the eyes of someone during that time period.

- New and Used Bookstores:
Many out-of-print history books may be found at your used bookstore, and local bookstores may have an excellent history section.

- The Internet:
The internet is a well-spring of information. While researching, you can find sites on everything from period social thinking, detailed historical events, to specific details about area locations.

The Strive for Research.

Doing the research is a strong indicator that you have the ability to try and answer the hypothesis; maybe at least, finding enough of an answer to work out a way of furthering the research. Thusly, you might be building a better foundation of additional information. As a general rule, if there is a course, study, reference paper, or guide pertaining to the hypothesis,  it is recommended to review/learn as much as possible as it relates to your project. As to non-technical aspects of answering the question, there is some advice below.

As you get results/information to relay, write a report on it. Don’t wait until the whole project is finished. That may mean writing many entries/notes over a period of time.  The simplest notes to write are basic descriptions/entries of the research, what you discovered, what the results may mean, and any all references you may have reviewed. Imagine you’re talking to a friend and write down what you might say about your findings. Then, revise and edit, revise and edit, revise and edit as needed.

Some research has to be done on a deadline. This can make a difference, as it makes it possible to get things wrong due to a lack of time. One consequence is that appears you may failed at getting all relevant and pertinent information, but that does not mean you are not adequate to research, only that  in a more normal environment there would be time to review more information which may have progressed your research further.  This is something in which you may want to take a note on and come back to reviewing if possible.

Something to watch out for is that it’s normal to spend too much time reviewing and not enough time being critical as to whether the research does or does not help your project. Notes/information needs to be confirmed and accurate (historically, reasonable, and scientifically) as much as possible. Focus on the central information, critique imprecise/questionable information, dissect the essential from what is less relevant, and demonstrate (with accuracy) the best possible information has been reviewed and obtained.

Involve yourself into the research review.

• Talk to someone about your research. Brainstorming with your colleagues is a good start; you will be able to talk more efficiently using relevant terminology and jargon. It is valuable when those within your circle can help expound upon your ideas and provide other resources for you to possibly review.
• Review with an open mind. (But remember what I said earlier: review by reading is not only what research is about.  There are times where too much reading may pose more problems to finding an answer than usual, skewing the original goal of the research to something that may not be relevant.)Reviewing:
• How to read: read the title, skim the abstract, look at the pictures and maybe the tables.  If anything relevant is found, then consult the text making sure to look for that specific information.
  • What to read: many of the “prestigious” journals may be avoided, if they are too well rounded, encompassing too many aspects instead of the specific topic.  Some of these journals have got a habit to the attending unimportant details that may not be involved within your specific research. Look more into resources that provide more focus and attention to your goals. (that is not to say that these journals may not be useful, but be diligent to briefly review the information contained and do not become overwhelmed by the un-needed details contained within)
    • Comments and letters in specific journals. Look to see that points are made quickly. Sometimes areas of both debate and fact may be highlighted for you.
    • Journals from outside countries that may relate with different views however specific to your project.
    • Lower prestige journals may publish simple data on unusual questions — topics which may attract you, topics which may contains ideas for improving the method, or topics which may generalize the results. This may help in coming to simple conclusion or different ideas in which to research further upon.
  • Your attitude: sympathetic criticism. Approaching/reviewing information with a degree of skepticism is appropriate with most reference material, but temper this with sympathy: there may be materials useless to you, and it may even be clear (by any reasonable standard) that the research was a waste of time, but the method may be useful.  Detail of the results may be just what a researcher is looking for and it may also clarify different points relevant to the project.

If someone says your paper is trash, retort that anyone can write a decent paper, journal, or evidence review, but it takes real talent to get rubbish into print and still get it read by others.

• Think seriously about what information really concerns your goals. Even though you’re trying to keep your mind on the ideal, you will find practicalities obtrude themselves. However, some of these practical problems may be useful to your project.
• Use computerized databases. Try searching them with an unusual combination of words, ideals, and terminology.
• Ask successful researchers within your circle of colleagues whether they have any particular methods for gathering to information.
• Making lists and then organize them. Questions, experiments, surveys, sources of data, concepts, historical references, etc…
• Draw an analogy. (theoretical or methodology of analysis)
• Experimentation and conjecture; i.e. if the results were to be X, then we could conclude that X…. On the other hand, if the results were Y, then the conclusion could be Y….

Suggestions for what information you can provide.

• • Can I improve on the project?
  • Can I improve on the theory/method?  One might replace a discrete variable with a continuous variable, or vice versa.
  • Can I refine the goal or purpose of the information?
  • Can I broaden the circumstances in which the effect occurs?
  • Can I simulate this on the computer?
  • Can I improve the statistical analysis? (“Two of a trade never agree”, it is said, and certainly no two statisticians have agreed with each other this century.)
    -Improvement does not necessarily mean additional complication. Sometimes, simple descriptive results are overlooked in the rush to perform a complicated hypothesis test. If nothing better comes to mind, try confidence intervals in place of hypothesis tests, or nonparametric methods in place of parametric, or Bayesian weight of evidence.
  • Can I provide a different view point in which to arrive at something unoriginal.

General advice.

• If you have a rigid deadline to work to, it is vital that you are not reliant on someone else for anything important. Among the possible areas of difficulty are: administrative approval from an outside body, construction of equipment, computing. You must have a workable plan that can be implemented if approval is refused/the equipment isn’t delivered/the computing expertise is unavailable, etc…
• Do not underestimate the importance of the physical aspects: i.e.: going through 500 files a second time because you didn’t extract a particular item of information the first time, coming in to the lab on Sunday afternoon to try out an idea you’ve just had, driving at 4am to another city because the evening news told you of a “natural experiment” there that day, taking 60 journal volumes off the shelf to skim through for the key paragraph you wish you had made a note of, and so on.
• Write down an idea when you have it, because you may easily have forgotten it by the time you are able to do the research. Some people even keep an ideas book for this purpose; but the trouble with this is that it really need to be physically very small, so that it can be always with you.
• Work around the research, if you can’t find it. Use suitable other phrases, definitions, or similar events pertaining to the project. (area, event, reports, etc…)
• Sometimes a problem is best handled by defining it in a different way or researching the negative of the project. i.e. cant find information regarding X, try looking for information regarding why X cannot be –X.
• Remain of flexible. It is important to not only remain flexible to time and resources, but also the information toward the project.  There may be times where the information being researched cannot be found because it does not exist or does not have a reasonable answer.
• Diversification - don’t have too many resources open at once, but only maintain to looking into a few resources at one time and coming back to others as needed.
• Don’t be afraid to admit ignorance. The nature of research is that one is continually venturing into areas/fields previously unknown to the researcher. While it may be unpleasant to admit this, the earlier you do, the sooner you may get an explanation/resource you can get a bit of extra information from.
• Attention to detail is a virtue – Taken to excess, it is a vice.
• Some researchers seem to suffer from a “fear of success”, different from obsessive perfectionism. What happens is that they perceive the successful completion of their research as the end of one review and the beginning of another, to which they are reluctant to move on to the next review.
• Don’t miss any deadlines. If you do, then (depending on the nature of your excuse) you might not be asked to participate further within the project.
• Remember these 3 points: (i) specific intelligence-gathering may be considered as research, (ii) exploratory research may be both useful and appropriate to the project, and (iii) the project may be too complicated to research properly, formed mainly by subjective experience and experimentation.
• Avoid cliché’s most of the time, but not every use of them should be condemned. (In some allegedly scholarly fields of study, they seem to be compulsory.)
• Don’t worry about the possibility of someone else duplicating your research. It is rare for this to happen, and, when it does, it is stimulating to examine the similarities and the differences.
• Don’t despair if it becomes necessary to destroy your research and work. This is quite common, and can sometimes mean that you have reviewed so much that you finish the whole project too early or presumably with not enough reference.
• If you do happen to discover something important, be sure to review/relay it at the right time and place. Perhaps you remember the inventor of the Infinite Improbability Drive: “just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute’s Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn’t stand was a smartass” (The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Ch. 10)
• You should appreciate that there are a number of resources in specialized fields available to you. You need only to ask around or get help to find the appropriate places to review the information.
• Make personal contacts.  People interested in the same information are enthusiasts and will usually be delighted to find someone who shares that enthusiasm. Be Aware: Alleged enthusiasm without an appropriate level of specialist knowledge and native intelligence will get you nowhere.

• Get friends to read your research. One of them may not even be in the field of your research (perhaps your spouse/partner); however, the other should ideally be someone involved within your project research.
• Find out what format your group or others in the field use to record citations/notes/events. Begin to create an annotated list of citations in this format from the very start of your research. Keep full and consistent bibliographical records of what you read. This can save an enormous amount of frantic last-minute effort.

Advice regarding research.

• There is often tension between the respective advantages of standardizing on one particular method of answering a question, and of using a variety of different methods. Think of scientific reporting vs. experience reporting, for instance. On the one hand, there is a standard, reproducible, method — comparisons from month to month, reasoning which defects are present, and which remaining variables are constant over time, producing information that is reliable and referable. On the other hand, any practicable method is bound to have peculiarities and biases, and may be synthesized from several different methods, leading to information which is subjective and reliable through the reports of experience though not reproducible or proven factual.

The following is very much a broad-brush statement, to which there must be numerous exceptions: too often, information is adopted too early in through the research. In research, one usually wants the “real, true” answer, whereas for public review or pertaining to a deadline, one may prefer reported/experienced information without genuine fact (usually referring to experience of events or a sensual phenomena).

• Meta-analysis: this term refers to quantitatively combining the results of previous studies of a subject, in order to arrive at the right answer. There are some difficult principles and practicalities involved, and inadequate handling of these led critics to refer to meta-analysis as being “meta-silliness”. There have been substantial improvements within the methodology but usually there is a bias so serious as to vitiate all conclusions from the project that reviews of such research has serious a impact against meta-analysis than on a review of traditional format.
• Moderate-sized research implies larger studies.  Project sizes with lots of research tend to imply collaboration between many investigators.  Simpler studies in many areas of project research might result with information of greater value than results from larger collaborative projects and would itself valuable for the quality information. Be sure to specify and credit all references.
• Don’t get carried away with the information. Tell the story of your project using the tools from your research beginning to end.  Do not just leave out pieces because their relevance may be questionable though compelling.  Let the reader/listener their own conclusions from your research but provide the information which accurately depicts the research for everything it encompasses.
• Be careful paying attention to notation.
• Imagine all possible knowledge is a flat surface. That which we know is symbolized by a big blue blob in the middle. The edge of the blue blob, where it joins the rest of the plane, is the limit of what is known. Doing a research is like taking a single step out from the blue bob into the unknown. To achieve this you need to find the boundary and then take a carefully considered step beyond it (discover new knowledge). Build upon your first step to take a second further step.

Many thanks to multiple references as provided by:
- T P Hutchinson, 21.July.97: phutchin@bunyip.bhs.mq.edu.au
- svr-www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~rwp/tut/research.pdf
- Rita Gerlach: http://users.starpower.net/rpkg/index.htm

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ASSOCIATES (vol. 8 no. 3, March 2002) – associates.ucr.edu

*Library Life:

A Column of Eclectic Rantings*

by

Katie Buller Kintner
Communications Library
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
kintner@uiuc.edu

So you don’t believe in ghosts, huh? Well read on.

The book stacks at the main library of the University of Illinois scare me. The east stacks consist of long, dark, deceptive corridors of terror. The ceilings in some of them are so low that at 5’8″ tall, my head is brushing and bumping the pipes criss-crossing them. I’m always seeing shadows and hearing voices when no one else is around. The west stacks are newer, but the automated shelving there resists movement, then creaks and moans when it finally decides to slide open. There is no way to see if anyone else is around and finding a living soul there usually results in a startled glance and quick movement away.

Nervously, I find my books and leave, always looking over my shoulder and down adjacent aisles, wondering if I’m truly alone or if an unseen “librarian” is monitoring my every move. When I finally make it out the main stacks exit, I’m always relieved–I survived once again.

Back in my days at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library, I was a shelver in the Cutter stacks in the library basement. These stacks consisted of many rows of compressed-shelving drawers, nearly a dozen high, holding a good portion of the library’s original Cutter collection. While shelving there, I often heard disembodied voices when no one was apparently around, shadows moving in the empty aisles and spotted strange substances on the floors. Ok, well maybe I was imagining things and maybe the strange substances were contraband Coke spillage, but who ya gonna call besides the custodian, huh?

At the University of Wisconsin, rumors persisted for years that the ghost of the University’s first librarian, Helen C. White, could be seen floating through the library stacks, clutching a pink overdue slip in her hand. She was probably chasing down some unlucky ghost student. Okay, the pink overdue slip might be overdoing it a little. However, if you ever saw the photograph of Ms. White in the elevator lobby of the building named for her, you could believe that she might not have left her biblio-realm willingly.

Whether or not Ms. White is still around, a personal experience at the SLIS Laboratory/Library in the same building left me wondering. The library itself is a clean, relatively modern facility with open stacks. There would seem to be few spooky spots but there are old photos depicting early 20th century library school students working in a cataloging lab. We often examined the photos, marveling at how “contemporary” some of the students looked, even with their “Gibson Girl” hairdos and mutton-sleeve blouses. One of them seemed to reading a book and enjoying it far too much for the stern surroundings, smiling widely at the pages she was examining. The “girls” seemed almost real. Maybe they were too real.

The library was closed for Christmas break but although the library itself was locked, library staff and student assistants were inside the library doing “catch-up” work.. One afternoon a student assistant came into the library’s technical services room, a strange smile on her pale face. She told me she had been in working in the reference stacks when she heard a woman’s voice softly say “Sally Brown”. There was no one else in the library at time. Who the heck was “Sally Brown”?

Out of curiosity, we checked the school’s alumni records but found no reference to anyone by that name. Yes, it could have come up through the building’s ventilation system, but then we would have been hearing voices all the time and certainly hearing more than just “Sally Brown”. Had one of those cataloging students finally come out of the photo and made her presence known? You decide.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who believes that some libraries may have staff they don’t know about or invisible patrons wandering the aisles. Just do a little asking around. You’d be surprised at what you may find out, even about your own library. (Please note: “ghost-hunting trips” should only be conducted after securing permission from the directors of the libraries mentioned here).

“Joe” at cwby2tuff2@yahoo.com offers this story: “The Carnegie Library in St. Joseph, Missouri…is supposedly haunted by the spirit of a former librarian. I believe they call her “Rose”, and she does NOT like the library being noisy at all. When nearing closing time, there have been reports of hearing footsteps (usually on the second floor; you can see the second floor from the first floor, because it’s kind of off-centered, and almost “balcony like”). There have also been reports of hearing someone whispering, giggling, playing with your hair or neck, and saying “shhhhh”. More accounts even claim that after an employee has put a book in the correct spot on the shelf, they will turn around to find the book in the same spot, but in another bookcase, opposite the one it was originally put in.”

Unusual or “spooky” events at the Pendleton Public Library (formerly Umatilla County Public Library) in Pendleton (OR) are often attributed to “Ruth”, the library’s reported ghostly entity. “Ruth” was at one time Ruth Cochran, assistant librarian and president of the Eastern Oregon Library Association. Back in 1947, Ruth became ill while closing the library and went to rest in the library’s basement. While resting she became too weak to move and was eventually found the next day and rushed to the hospital, where she died. Until the library moved to a new building, odd noises were often blamed on Ruth. Ruth apparently did not move with the library however and the new building is apparently “Ruth-free”.

“Toby” haunts the Cairo (IL) Public Library. “Toby” is blamed for footsteps and other odd sounds, ghost “lights” and creaky chairs. “Toby” was apparently a library patron at some point but other than that, I haven’t found much more about him. Anyone who has further information is welcome to email me directly at kintner@uiuc.edu.

On the other hand, “Phyllis” the Bernardsville (NJ) Public Library spirit is so well-known that she has been issued her very own library card. Phyllis has been spotted as an apparition in the front room of the library building. She is supposedly the spirit of Phyllis Parker, a revolutionary-war era innkeeper’s daughter who lost her mind after the British executed her boyfriend for being a spy. Phyllis was last seen in 1989 when a little boy said “hi” a lady in a long, white dress in the reading room.

Ghostcams are prevalent on the web and libraries are no exception. There are two library ghostcams I want to mention here. The first is the Snohomish Library (Everett, WA) ghostcam, which can be seen at http://class.heraldnet.com/ghostcam/. The Snohomish Library is apparently home to a female grey-haired spirit wearing a blue dress. It is believed by library staff that this may be the ghost of beloved Catherine McMurchy, librarian at Snohomish between 1923 and 1939.

The other ghostcam is at the Willard Library, Evansville, Indiana, which probably has the best-documented library ghost. This cam can be found at http://www.courierpress.com/ghost. This perfume-wearing spirit is known as the Grey Lady and has even been known to follow staff home during a library construction period. Canadian ghost-hunter “Maer” has a great Grey Lady story. I’ve boiled it down a little and removed names, but basically intact, here it is:

“…We were invited by the Library Director…to stay the night in the library and see what we could experience. …Joining us on the overnight were a local radio DJ, a Paranormal team from Kentucky, and a group of high school journalism students who, along with the Para Team, won the opportunity to be there.”

“While we were at the library (name deleted) was going around taking digitals and looking at books. In one set of stacks (incidentally the one where most of the cam watchers see anomalies) he was looking at books about Jay County (where his grandmother comes from). From behind him, a book came off the shelf and hit him in the back of his arm and elbow before it fell on the floor. Now I’m not talking out of class when I say that (he) is VERY thin. He weighs about 105 and is 5’7. So imagine how far out a book would have to fall to hit a guy like him who was looking at a book across the stack! The book, by the way, was a listing of wills for…Vandeburgh County.”

“The grey lady is thought to be the ghost of Louise Carpenter, daughter of Willard. Louise’s mom’s will is listed in this book (but not Willards). …People believe…that Willard was the one who kept Louise from inheriting from his estate, and that he kept the Library from her. In actual fact. It was Louise’s mother, Lucina who left very little to Louise. She borrowed Louise’s inheritance to pay things…not sure why, the woman was very wealthy in her own right. You see between the time Willard died and the time Lucina died, Louise divorced her husband. Lucina was VERY taken with Louise’s husband ~ even if Willard wasn’t. When the will came through, Louise got the same amount or less than her nephews got from Lucina. This had to be an insult to Louise….I mention it only to let you know why that book might be significant.”

“I’m sure you have heard of the story of the little boy who was in the children’s room when “Betsy’s Wedding” fell off the shelf. One of the journalism students at the Library that night noted that “Betsy’s Wedding” has many names in it that are pertinent to this story: Louise/Carpenter/Willard. Sometimes you’ll find them all on one page. …Earlier in the evening, (name deleted) was giving the kids a tour while we were on the comps in the Research room. There is an old sink hidden behind a partition…this sink turned itself on as a few of the students walked by. The (students’) scream was audible! One of our crew turned the sink off and told us that it was some work to do it. In other words…not an easy thing to flip on. The water was not trickling, it was a definite run.” (note: the Grey Lady is noted for turning faucets off and on — Katie).

“Earlier in the day, before we went for dinner, we all decided to see the library at daytime…for the experience….There was a definite cold metallic feeling on my neck at the right base of my skull. It felt like a butter knife handle pressing into my skin. I wasn’t nervous in the place, and the feeling, while chilling in itself didn’t scare me. …The feeling lasted between 10 and 15 seconds and was gone. I can’t say for sure it was of paranormal nature… We had an incident where one of the investigators had an EMF meter go off in one spot while it sat on the Research Room checkout desk. This went on for about 5 minutes (minimum) and then promptly stopped. There were no apparent causes for this to have occurred. One last thing I can recall is that a motion sensor in the adult reading room went off several times, and the Investigators were at a loss as to the cause.”

You can watch two ghostcams at the Willard Library. One is in the main research room while the other is in the children’s reading room. There is also an archive of “ghost” photos turned in by viewers and nearly as many hilarious ghost “spoof” pictures. Real or not, the Grey Lady of Willard Library is a real web star!

So next time you are in the book stacks and have that creepy crawly feeling that someone is watching you, just remember—the ghosts may not all be in the movies. Pull up your collar, say a little prayer and finish your business. You’ll feel better back out in the light.

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Here are a few other reported library hauntings:

Fort Concho Museum (San Angelo, Texas): Ghost lights in the museum library, doors open by themselves, doors locking by themselves.

Lewis and Clark Community College (Godfrey, IL): Former college headmistress Harriet Haskell reportedly haunts the college library. Patrons and staff are occasionally “touched” by invisible hands and there are “cold spots” reported.

Rocky Mountain High School (Byron, WY): Footsteps heard going into the library, screams when no one is present, a smelly “haze” in the hallway.

Sweetwater County Library (Green River, WY): Lights go off and on, “flapping” sounds, dancing lights, typewriters typing on their own. Apparently one harried Interlibrary Loan librarian turned away from her computer briefly, but found her name spelled out on the monitor screen when she turned back..

Felbrigg Hall Family Library (Great Britain): A gentleman reading books in front of the fire faded away in front of a staff member. Apparently, for many years the butler at Felbrigg Hall placed selected books at the fireside for the ghost of William Windham III, an 18th century lexicographer, to read.

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This article was helped substantially by the individuals quoted above and:

Sno-Isle Regional Library Staff. “Staff Believes ghost haunts Snohomish Library”. http://class.heraldnet.com/ghostcam/. Accessed 2/18/02.

Eberhart, George M. “Phantoms among the folios: a guide to haunted libraries.” American Libraries. Oct. 1997, v.28:9, p. 68.

Source: http://associates.ucr.edu/ckint302.htm
by kind permission of Katie Buller Kintner