What Type of Ghostly Hauntings Are There?

Paranomal investigators break down the types of hauntings by two categories - Residual and Intelligent.

An intelligent haunting is one in which a spirit/ghost seems to interact with the living. This may be through sounds (knockings, bangings, voices), smells (perfume, cologne, food or tobacco smell that may associate the living with memories of the dead), items moving, disappearing, reappearing or apparitions.  In some way the spirit is trying to make contact with us. They want us to know they are here, whether positively or negatively.  

In my 20-plus years of paranormal investigations I have yet to confront any truly evil type of entity. I've been touched, pushed, had my hair tugged, but I have never engaged a demonic or purely evil spirit. That being said, I am certain there are evil spirits out there. What we were in life, we will be in death. It is that simple. If you are a good and kind person, a funny, fun-loving person you will be so in death. Even people who were considered to be very serious in life sometimes turn into the most engaging fun-loving spirits. It is as if death has somehow released them to be who they truly wanted to be.

At the same time, if you were a mean, evil person you will be mean and evil in death. These are the spirits who do the frightening things — horrible noises, smells, sounds and sometimes, if they have the energy, personal attacks.

When I say this in the classes and programs I do there is always someone who becomes quite concerned that such a statement means there is no salvation after death. In this case it depends upon your personal belief system. I personally do believe in salvation after death and it's not just because I am a minister. I guess many of us need to believe in such an ending for ourselves. I believe that while a spirit can be truly evil, once they fully choose to cross over into the light, they are saved. But that is just my personal opinion.

Residual hauntings are those in which a spirit may appear as an apparition but does not try in any way to connect with the living. They often appear to be living their lives in death just as they did in life.  In some cases this may have to do with a tragic event — spirits reenact battles or murders at the location where they died.  It is an event so horrible that the imprint of it seemed to get caught in the web of time and it replays itself over and over again. 

There is a home in Concord that has this problem. Many, many years ago a woman was murdered in the kitchen there. Since then every owner has seen the murder occurring over and over again as clearly as it is were happening at that very moment! Owners have cleansed the kitchen, remodeled it, even gone so far as to tear it down and build a new one. The apparition continues to appear. The only consolation for these poor homeowners is that the actual spirits have moved on or crossed over and what they are seeing is not the spirit of the poor woman being murdered over and over again, but the imprint of it caught in time, like a loop on a video.

A restaurant in Hudson has both an intelligent and residual haunting. The manager reported that the staff would set the place up at night for service the next morning and when they opened the restaurant the next day things would be moved all over the place. In this case they had the mischievous spirit of a little boy who could interact if he chose — an intelligent haunt — but instead enjoyed just driving everyone crazy by moving objects. There was also a woman at this restaurant. She appears to people in old fashion garb, her hair up in a bun, a bustle at the back of her dress. She appears but there is no recognition that anything, from a different time, is happening around her. To this spirit the home she once lived in is still standing and she is going about her daily life. We can see her, she doesn't see us.

Next time we'll talk about how spirits manifest. Until then, I hope you'll join the conversation, share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

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