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I recently searched Google for ‘most haunted places in Britain’ and the results were telling: the top hit was Parkdean Resorts, offering a list of 10 most haunted places and ghost hunting days out. (29) It’s clear that now, ghost hunting is a pastime for many people in the UK. In fact, statistics from YouGov (2018) report that ‘1% of the UK population… say that they communicate with ghosts or take part in paranormal investigations’. (30) Mark A. Eaton suggests that ghost hunting may be a modern-day ‘quest for authentic spiritual experiences’, a symptom of the decline in confidence in organised religion. (31) Indeed, The Guardian newspaper reports that ‘Religion is even less likely to provide comfort and answers now – in the latest British census, less than half were expected to say they were Christian, (32) a fall from 71.6% 20 years ago.’ (33) Ghost hunting for fun is a big departure from the hoax versus real debate in the newspapers from the 1970s surrounding the Enfield poltergeist case and a step through the screen into our own Most Haunted fantasies. Far from the SPR’s ‘scholarly research’ (34) goals, a ghost hunt in the UK today is a night out, a hobby and a social gathering. A presenter ghost hunter I interviewed told me that he got into ghost hunting after a suicide attempt, ‘one doctor just said, kind of bluntly, you need to get out the house more’. (35) Certainly my experience of a ghost hunt in Nottingham involved a kind and supportive community of people and fits perfectly with Hobsbawm’s description of an ‘invented tradition’: ...a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past. (36) On my UK Ghost Hunts experience, the tradition and practices are followed thus:
A legend-trip involves a journey to a specific location and/or the performance of certain prescribed actions that, according to local legend, have the potential to elicit a supernatural experience… [with the] belief that the legend could be more than just a fictional story. (37)
The terminology used in the ghost hunt was notable. ‘Vigil’ was used to describe sitting in the dark and watching and waiting which has spiritual or religious overtones. It could have been a ‘session’, a ‘gathering’, an ‘observation’ or anything else. Likewise ‘spirit’ is used in connection to the ghosts that are being hunted and is suggestive of afterlife. Although the ghost hunt asks the participant to make their own assumptions around what is occurring, we are led via the terminology of positive assumption. A hypnotist friend who attended the ghost hunt with me drew my attention to the verbal ‘framing’ by our hosts. (38) In pointing out when sounds or movements weren’t spirits, they actually implied that other occurrences were spirits. Trubshaw is in accord, noting that ‘Vocal emphasis and numerous ‘framing techniques’ in the narrative style are employed (more-or-less self-consciously) by the teller to enliven the narrative’. (39) We cannot yet discover solid evidence that ghosts are or are not spirits of the dead, so to have a ghost hunting experience and allow our confirmation bias is gratifying. Linda Degh suggests a possible reason for the lure of the supernatural in contemporary culture: While their lives become technologically and scientifically more efficient, people turn to the unresolvable mysteries of life and death, and they crave more religious miracles and supernatural verifications than ever before. (40) Self-described sceptic Hayley Stevens also noted that ‘...people who participate in Ghost hunting like this are more primed to find meaning in randomness…’ (41) I was born in 1979 and when I read about ghost hunting, I asked a friend if I could stay in her haunted pub and if we could use a ouija board and recording equipment to look for ghosts. I didn’t have access to the internet until years later. Stevens says that the online connection initially helped potential ghost hunters to find one another, but ‘If you tried to [do a private ghost hunt] now, you probably wouldn't be able to. A lot of places require you to have public liability insurance, quite rightly.’ (42) A timeline of a growing contemporary ghost hunting tradition The recognisable methodology of ghost hunting appeared in the mid 1900s and was later popularised in the UK by the Enfield poltergeist case of the 1970s. The case was broad-reaching via newspapers and on television and analysed in a hoax/real dichotomy. In the 1990s, the Ghostwatch accidental hoax in popular culture galvanised a nation in their fear and excitement around ghosts in a time when TV was sparse in its channels and 11 million viewers saw the same show in real time. In the early 2000s we got to see the ‘real’ version of this event on Living TV’s Most Haunted and experience the methodology through the presenter and her team. Now, we get to partake in ghost hunting ourselves for the price of a ticket.  Image taken at my participant observation in Nottingham (with faces obscured for anonymity) and posted on the UKGE Facebook group after the event. In taking part in a legend-trip with no possible conclusion apart from those we draw ourselves, we are satisfying our need for fun, connection and acknowledgement of death. With our disappearing faith, we have invented a growing folk tradition of ghost hunting that involves ritual, belief, science and community to celebrate our lives. (29) 10 Most Haunted Places in England | Ghost Hunting Days Out Accessed 29th February 2024 (30) https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/21446-who-are-people-communicate-spirits Accessed 14th March 2024. This is public data. (31) Eaton, Marc A. “‘Give Us a Sign of Your Presence’: Paranormal Investigation as a Spiritual Practice.” Sociology of Religion 76, no. 4 (2015): 389–412. P 390 http://www.jstor.org/stable/24580020 (32) Sherwood, Harriet. “Less than half of Britons expected to tick ‘Christian’ in UK census“. The Guardian. Accessed 23rd April 2024 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/20/less-that-half-of-britons-expected-to-tick-christian-in-uk-census (33) Saner, Emine. “Spooky Britain: how ghosts became a national obsession”. The Guardian. 2022. Accessed 23rd April 2024 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/06/spooky-britain-how-ghosts-became-a-national-obsession (34) Society for Psychical Research. Accessed 2nd April 2024 https://www.spr.ac.uk/ (35) Appendix 2. (36) Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. of Canto Classics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. p 1 (37) Kinsella, Michael. Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat, University Press of Mississippi, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/herts/detail.action?docID=746925 Created from Herts on 2024-04-17. (38) Appendix 3. (39) Trubshaw, Rob. Contemporary Folklore. House of Albion. 2002. p 76 (40) Degh, Linda. 1991. “What Is the Legend After All?”. Contemporary Legend 1 (December):11-38. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/cl/article/view/33555 p 28 (41) Stevens, Hayley. “The Worst Ghosts of 2003”. Hayley is a Ghost. Accessed 7th March 2024 https://hayleyisaghost.co.uk/the-worst-ghosts-of-2023/ (42) Appendix 1. BibliographyJournals:
Books:
Online Source
Images:
TV:
Radio:
Appendices: Appendix 1: Transcription of interview with Hayley Stephens Appendix 2: Transcription of interview with Paul Gannon Appendix 3: Transcription of interview with Lloydie James Lloyd Note: All agreed to have their names used herein. Contact author for appendices.
1 Comment
Fascinating read! "Ghost Hunting as a Contemporary Folk Tradition: Ghost Hunting Today" brilliantly highlights how ghost hunting has evolved into a modern cultural phenomenon. It's intriguing to see how technology and folklore blend together in today's paranormal investigations, creating a unique fusion of old and new traditions. The way communities come together to explore the unknown and share their findings truly captures the essence of contemporary folklore. This blog offers a fresh perspective on ghost hunting, making it more than just a hobby but a part of our cultural fabric. Thanks for shedding light on this intriguing aspect of modern society! Leave a Reply. |
AuthorKaty is an improviser, writer, theatre maker and folklorist-in-training. ArchivesCategories |
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