In this four-minute mini-podcast, Fiona Broome talks about this new podcast series. (Update: Fiona has since integrated this with her Hollow Hill podcasts.) She also speculates about the influence of EIFs (Experience Inducing Fields) on how we perceive normal and paranormal events.

In this 2-minute podcast, Fiona talks about the clothing we wear when ghost hunting.  If all-black is your default wardrobe, you may want to reconsider that for ghost investigations.

In the first of Fiona's new series of mini-podcasts, Fiona talks about Friday the 13th and why it might be a good day (or night) for ghost hunting.

In this 16-minute podcast, Fiona Broome talks about the waning popularity of ghost hunting, and why that might be a good thing.  However, on TV and off, people are going to extremes to try and maintain their corner of the market.  Parts of this field are imploding in a flurry of drama, catfights, mudslinging and flame wars.

Fiona plans to sit this dance out.  She'll be speaking at Dragon*Con 2010, but otherwise expects to keep a low profile -- and keep writing books -- through the end of 2010 and perhaps early 2011.

Also in this podcast, Fiona warns about the folly and liabilities of focusing more on ghost hunting tools than on the haunted environment around you.  She offers several tips, including ways to use your real-time communication devices (EVP, Puck, Ovilus, Frank's Box, Shack Hack, pendulum,etc.) to plan ahead for a ghost investigation.

Finally, Fiona recommends reading the beginning of Embraced by the Light, by Betty Eadie.  As one of the most detailed descriptions of a reported near-death experience, we can learn from what she describes.  If some ghosts go through the same steps, this may help us understand where they are and what they're dealing with, before they "cross over."

In this long (nearly 18-minutes) podcast, Fiona Broome of Hollow Hill talks about several topics mentioned regularly in emails.

• Why she rarely uses the phone, even with fellow professionals. 
• Who to call for different kinds of scares, including ghost and demon problems.
• Demons: They don't appear, all claws, overnight.
• Why most homes have some level of "paranormal" energy, if only particles (aka "residual energy") in your physical environment.

She also explains how she categorizes most ghostly activity, including:

• Parallel realms.
• People who don't realize they've passed away.
• Spirits with unfinished business.
• People who are afraid of what's next, usually because they're sure they've behaved badly.

Fiona also recommends the movie, The Haunting (b&w version), for all serious ghost hunters.

She also reminds people that, in the TV "reality" shows -- even those with serious ghost problems -- rarely (if ever) result in advice to move out of the home. 

Music: Zombie, by Devin Anderson

Stop treating ghosts like performing seals! In this 13-minute podcast, Fiona Broome talks about manners, clothing, cultural contexts, and how they can dramatically improve our ghost hunting results.

Mentioned in this podcast

An historical site on Water Street in Haverhill, Massachusetts (name not revealed, by request of the site's trustees)

John Sabol [MySpace]

Recommended books

What Jane Austen Ate & Charles Dickens Knew, by Daniel Pool - One of the best overviews of daily life in the English-speaking world of the 1800s.

Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps, by Adam Selzer - Flippant and fascinating survey of ghost encounters and stories, especially around Chicago.

More recommended books

Digging Deep, by John Sabol (one of many great, unusual books about ghost research)

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England from 1811 - 1901, by Kristine Hughes - Trivia and etiquette from England in the 1800s. Your public library may have a copy.

Daily Life in Victorian England, by Sally Mitchell - More than the average ghost hunter needs to know, but a superb and detailed account of everyday life in 19th century England.  To really get inside the mind of a ghost from the 1800s, read this book.

English Society in the Eighteenth Century, by Roy Porter - British, college-level textbook about England in the 1700s.  (Remember: Until about 1776, America was part of Britain, and American life was very focused on English society.)

For more ghost hunting information, visit Hollow Hill, the ghost hunting website.

Music written & orchestrated by Devin Anderson

Learn from a pro: Paranormal researcher Fiona Broome discusses what she'd do if she was starting all over as a ghost hunter.  She talks about what she did right as well as her biggest mistakes... especially the ones that wasted valuable time in the field.

Here are some of her points.

Would do differently:

• Study paranormal, scientific and religious material that might have anything to do with ghostly activity. Recommended reading: Conjuring Up Philip.
• Involve a wider age range in team research.  By starting with high school and college students -- who'd leave the team after a year (and sometimes less) when they graduated -- Fiona spent years constantly training new people.
• Go to a wider range of locations -- cemeteries, battlefields, haunted homes, eerie ruins, churches reporting odd activity, and living history sites -- for a broader perspective.
• Document each ghost hunt more thoroughly.
• Have more in-depth briefings before and after each investigation, sharing the actual history (what happened there was well as the paranormal stories & folklore) with the full team.
• Choose one niche to focus -- as the team's central theme -- rather than build a website with "Heinz 57 varieties" of ghost-related information.
• Use a team (and website) name that includes the word "ghosts."
• Don't run from the media.  This has turned into a fame-driven field, and -- for people to learn about you and take you seriously -- some media exposure is vital.

Did right:

• Returned to the same locations over and over again, every two weeks for about two years.
• Used a mix of approaches, scientific & spiritual, skeptical & believer, encouraging people to narrow their niche specialties to become experts.
• Didn't insist on just one "correct" interpretation of what happened at a possibly-haunted location.

Book review

Hello from Heaven by Bill and Judy Guggenheim - Not too "cute" or ridiculous, this book reminds readers that encounters with ghosts and spirits can be happy or at least interesting.  Ghosts aren't always scary, sad, or angry.

More importantly, this book describes a wide range of phenomena that ghost researchers should keep in mind when they're investigating.  If you know what you're looking for, you're likely to be more observant in haunted settings.

For more information: Hollow Hill, the ghost hunting website

Podcast music: Zombie, written & orchestrated by Devin Anderson

In this podcast, Fiona Broome describes some minor deceit at a recent event... a "gotcha" that she fell right into.

She contrasts this with the intelligent debate and banter of healthy skeptic Robin Bellamy.

Fiona also describes the two figures that vanished at Ontario's Fort Mississauga, some other chilling experiences there, and her eerie conversation with Christopher Moon and his Telephone to the Dead (aka Frank's Box).

For more information about ghosts and ghost hunting, visit HollowHill.com.

Music:  Zombie, written and orchestrated by Devin Anderson.

In this podcast, ghost hunter Fiona Broome talks about the speakers and guests at the May 2010 G.H.O.S.T.S. Conference in Ontario, Canada.

Her topics in this podcast include:

Meeting Al Peacock, one of the founding members of the Philip study, documented in Conjuring Up Philip.  This study -- and the book about it -- are among the 20th century's most important contributions to understanding ghosts and hauntings.

Talks by the following paranormal professionals.

John Sabol, "the ghost excavator," cultural anthropologist, archaeologist and author of many innovative books about paranormal research.  One of ghost hunting's most energetic and enthusiastic speakers, John shared some extraordinary new approaches to paranormal research, and videos that even astonished the professionals.

Christopher Moon, senior editor of Haunted Times magazine.  He spoke about the Telephone to the Dead, also known as "Frank's Box."

Robin Bellamy, who spoke about cryptozoology and about the "gray areas" (no pun intended) of paranormal research, including "white noise."

Michelle Belanger, one of the stars of Paranormal State, who spoke about the show and working in paranormal fields, in general.

Fiona also explains her views on TV programming and networks' efforts to meet the demands and expectations of the viewing audience, equating it to a roller coaster attraction.

For more information about this conference and ghosts in general, visit HollowHill.com - the ghost hunting website.

Music: Zombie, written and orchestrated by Devin Anderson