For hundreds of years, thoughts of ghosts and lingering spirits have instilled tremendous fear in the hearts of those who believe, and there are still people out there who search for proof of this distrusted phenomenon. Do ghosts exist? Do the spirits of the dead remain on earth to “haunt” the living? Are photographs of ghosts really just tricks of light and “photoshopped” illusions?
I haven’t seen proof that ghosts exist, but I haven’t seen proof that they don’t. Therefore, I reserve judgement until someone concludes one way or the other. But regardless of how you feel about ghosts, it is fascinating how many people truly believe in their existence, and how many pictures have been taken to illustrate ghosts at work.
Ghost Research Society
A real-life, modern-day Ghostbusters clan, the Ghost Research Society vows to research, investigate and try to explain reports of ghost activity all over the world. They have an extensive database of ghost photographs, and they even accept freelance submissions. The Ghost Research Society will go to any home or place of business to seek out the source of paranormal activity and will view any documented footage containing images of ghostly forms. They offer three levels of membership to residents of llinois, northwest Indiana and southern Wisconsin, and all members are required to help with “Field Excursions,” during which the Ghost Research Society travels to homes and businesses where ghost activity has been reported.
The pictures of ghosts that the Ghost Research Society posts on their site include both photographs from their own collection and photographs that are fake or explainable. The “explainable” photographs all give details of the photographic mistake, and the “real” photographs have stories behind them.
For those interested in ghosts, you can also find articles, details of investigations and links to other ghost sites on the Ghost Research Society website.
Hollow Hill
This is really more of an informational site than a “ghost pictures” site, but it does have several good photographs of orbs and other ghostly images. Of course, they could very well be carefully doctored products of Photoshop and a scanner; who am I to say?
Many of these photographs appear to be overexposed or double exposed, though some are clear. The owners of the site go on random expeditions to reportedly haunted sites in hopes of capturing candid pictures. These “ghost hunters” are not as uncommon as you might think, and there are more haunted places in the United States than I ever would have thought!
At Hollow Hill, you can also find ghost articles, ghost hunter lessons, a guide to haunted places and a ghost hunting blog. Apparently, the world of ghosts has gone amazingly technical!
The Psychics & Medium Network
You can decide for yourself whether you think that this site is more or less hokey than the others. In essence, this site stakes claim to different reasons for ghost behavior, such as psychic imprints left on this world by the deceased. They offer psychic readings and “true” stories of psychic interventions, but they also have several pages of ghost pictures.
The ghost pictures on this site are different than the others in that they claim that ever ghost present has something to tell the owners of the picture. For example, they claim that one of their pictures is of a girl who was murdered, and effectively led the authorities to the man who had killed her. Crazy? Maybe. But people are very much involved in this type of ghostly investigation.
Real Ghost Pictures
This site is dedicated more to “orbs” than to anything else. Although theories abound, most ghost hunters believe that orbs are balls of spiritual energy that travel wherever the spirit wants to go. Pictures of orbs range from single bright lights hovering in the sky to multiple clusters of orbs all floating in unison.
For the most part, I think that “orbs” are the product of overexposed film, or film that was dirty with particles of dust. But there’s no convincing the ghost hunters who make it their priorities to take pictures of these orbs and to find them in old photographs. I’ve got several in a drawer at home that they can play with all day, but I don’t think that they have anything to do with ghostly presences.
Shadowlands
Shadowlands is more than twelve years old, and publishes the ghost pictures and accounts sent in by their loyal readers. Owners Dave Juliano and Tina Carlson both claim to have experienced ghostly phenomenon, and have dedicated their lives to finding and handling ghost activity.
This is the only site where I actually got creeped out looking at the pictures. Like the Ghost Research Society, Shadowlands publishes pictures that are both assumed as real and determined as false. Most of the pictures posted on this site are of “ghosts” that look like real people, and were supposedly not present at the time of the picture taking.
Althought ghost pictures may not be real, they are certainly fun to look at, and are great for a good scare if you fall victim to that sort of thing. If you feel that you have been haunted, or that you have seen ghosts yourself, you can contact any one of these sites for advice on how to deal with the haunting and how to handle your own personal feelings when it comes to ghosts.
