Two weeks ago, I used this space to make what could be easily construed as disparaging comments about the existence of ghosts. Since that time, I have been afflicted with sensations of coldness, dizzy spells, and the growing awareness of a certain "presence" at my back while I type on my computer. (Please stop it, Casper, the not-so-friendly-ghost. You're really freaking me out!) I'm clearly under attack by otherworldly beings offended by my flippant attitude. So I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the following: The Headless Horseman, the Grey Lady, and all members of the exalted Order of Orbs and Vortexes (for my rather "shapist" perspective). I prostrate myself at your ectoplasmic feet … um, whatever.
That ought to do it. But if the Spirit-Realm Social Hour continues to be held at my house, I may have to call in the experts — the S.P.I.R.I.T.S. of St. Petersburg. This local volunteer organization will come to my house — armed with compasses, dousing rods, digital photos and EMF readers — and try to figure out exactly what my personal poltergeists want.
Judging from the list of "published investigations" to be found on their Web site, these ghost hunters have tons of experience at communicating with the other side of Tampa Bay. Since Friday is All Soul"s Day, where the boundary between the living and the dead is reportedly at its thinnest, this might be an opportune time to follow up on some of their most successful field trips.
They got great results at the Tampa Theatre, the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, and several places on St. Pete Beach and in Tarpon Springs. Check it out. The Web site includes the results of all their investigations, including exhaustively catalogued photographs, where every smudge, every out-of-focus blur and every pinprick is noted as a possible mist, aura or orb. And believe you me, I now know better than to discount them as anything else.
Unfortunately, S.P.I.R.I.T.S. (which stands for Servicing Paranormal Investigators Reporting Information Through Study — and boy, that one wasn't a stretch) does not offer 'busting services. So my ghosts are safe for now. But spirits beware! I am on the lookout for E.X.O.R.C.I.S.T.S. of Clearwater. —Diana 'I See Dead People" Peterfreund
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2002.