XII. Buyer Beware

We wrote this book with mainly people like us in mind who have average incomes from regular jobs, with or without children, normal bill obligations and, oftentimes, living from paycheck to paycheck.

It was important for us to share that we believe you can be an investigator no matter how much or how little equipment you have or even if your time is very limited, you can still offer up evidence of the paranormal just as good as those people who have a lot of money, time and equipment. We hope that we have conveyed this successfully because, as said a number of times throughout this book, the more evidence there is, the closer we all get to possibly coming up with some answers to this mystifying field of research.

We truly do not feel that it is necessary to pay out hundreds of dollars to “become a member” of a paranormal group you find on the internet just to get information on how to ghost hunt, to view the “best” photos which are oftentimes sent to them by people who don’t have tons of experience, or to be given the privilege of getting higher tech equipment at a discount which often is not a discount for you at all.

Some do offer discounts, if you pay for membership, for such things as books, paranormal seminars, and places to investigate, but we advise that you weigh the advantages before pulling out your credit card. You might be able to find that same book at your local bookstore, or on amazon.com, for a cheaper price. You may not be able to travel to the investigation place or the paranormal seminars at the only time they are being offered, so make sure you can manage what you are paying for. Also, find out if there is a refund if you cannot make it.

Personally, we prefer not to charge anyone money to view photos or listen to EVP’s that other people have sent to us for our website. We did not do the work to get these photos or sound, so all of these items shared with us on our site can be viewed for free.

Also understand that we are not saying that making money on the internet is wrong. We all want to make extra money. However, if a site charges for nearly everything they offer, you might consider going elsewhere because a lot of what you find on that particular site can also be found for free.

What we are saying is that researching a little about becoming a member of a paranormal site, price comparing, and using your own budget and common sense to decide if you “really” need an item for what you want to do is a good idea.

As an example. In the equipment section, we made comment about the gauss meter and IR thermometer that Chris purchased when deciding to become a member of a certain very popular paranormal website a number of years ago. Chris paid $250 for the privilege of becoming one of their members. This allowed her discounts to seminars, two pieces of high tech equipment, the opportunity to view the “best photos” on their site, and a book on ghost hunting that came as photocopied pages, 3-hole punched in a notebook. This information on ghost hunting was a reworded version of much that was free to read on their site. Needless to say, it was wasted money, but she fell for their sales pitch, hook, line and sinker.

We’ve all done this and kicked ourselves afterward for wasting our money.

To us, books and magazines are never a waste of money. No matter how many ghost hunting books you read, you will always find some new ideas that you can implement if you choose into your own investigations. If even one of these ideas is successful for you to capture even better paranormal activity than you’ve had previously, it was well worth it. Books are oftentimes the cheapest way to build your education on any subject. It’s the varied opinions and theories of others’ experiences that allow us to expand on our own in ways that we may not have thought of. It is also what causes our brains to say, “Why didn’t they do this? What if I were to try this?” which may bring about a revelation in the ghost hunting field.

Interviews with people are in the same category as books and magazines for us. It’s real people sharing their knowledge on a particular subject and, if it is a subject of interest to you and necessary to pay to listen, it may well be worth it to you… just don’t pay an exorbitant amount as you may be able to find another website where you can hear an interview with this person for free or for a lesser amount of money.

Ghost hunting tours, in our opinion, are not a waste of money either in most cases. You can usually go on these tours for about $10 per person which is  the amount that most of us spend on junk food, pop and movies pretty frequently. These tours give you an education in areas that you might not have time to research for yourself and also the opportunity to take photos of these places on the tour, and even after, at some point if you choose to.

The main point is… is what you are planning to give your hard earned money to something that you can learn from or something you can use for a long time in the future? If you are paying to view photos, will these photos do you any good several weeks later? If you are buying a piece of equipment for ghost hunting that is based on theory, is this piece of equipment going to aid you in a specific way (something you may want to test) or is it just something you’ll carry and get nothing out of?

More than likely you already have everything you need to start investigating. If you are reading this book, you already have a computer. Most of us have cameras, video cameras or recording devices now days or know someone who does that might be willing to join you or let you borrow for a short time. Most everyone has internet, TV or newspapers to allow finding weather information and there is always a spare notebook and pen around somewhere. There’s usually a flashlight around the house as well. What more do you “really” need?

Please, don’t spend an arm and a leg on things that you don’t need unless you really want to and know it will not cause your budget hardship. To be among the ranks of ghost hunters, you don’t really need to.

Our suggestion is to go out and investigate, formulate your own theories and ideas, continue to build your education with as much reading material as you can find whether it’s from a book you buy or from surfing other paranormal sites, collect your own paranormal evidence and test your own ideas.

You have EVERY right to do this even if you don’t have high tech equipment and haven’t had years and years of experience! You might be the person who comes up with a solution, an explanation, or an answer to even one small portion of the paranormal that will aid others in this quest. It is possible. But, if you don’t go out and investigate because you don’t believe that you have the right or enough knowledge, you’ll never know if that person could have been you.

The Night Watchman and Christina M. Schumacher