Hazards

Dan Mewhinney is the founder of DangersoftheParanormal.com. He has given me permission to help get information out to the public that where the paranormal can be fun it can also be dangerous. Before you start into a life in the paranormal field make sure you are well informed of the risks involved not only to yourself but also your family.

Emerald Valley Paranormal does not handle demonic or violent cases due to the risks to ourselves and our families. If you have a violent case or believe you might be dealing with a demonic case you may contact Dave with G.O.P.R.S. He is a Lay-Demonologist and has extensive knowledge and experience in these types of cases.

The Risks

The long and more detailed list

The list below applies as a general guide for both newcomers and seasoned investigators who are part of a group of looking to join a group. Novice ghost hunters need to realize that this list has been comprised from Teams with many years of real life experience. Parents use this as a guide for your kids. There are so many more dangers than most people ever realize exist.

Dangers at your Location and in your Environment.
Anytime you are at a location and exposed to the environment there are many risks and factors involved:
Physical Exposure – while investigating at outdoor locations, you may be exposed to the sudden changes in the weather such as excess heat or excess cold. These changes can result in hypothermia or dehydration. Long hours at an investigation site, without proper food or water will affect any investigator. The reverse of this is the investigators who embrace a fast food diet, grabbing whatever is the closest to the investigation location. This often leads to health problems.

Long hours at an investigation site with a lack of sleep and too many stimulants (such as coffee or energy drinks) will alter and affect anyone’s mood. The greatest danger occurs when these stimulants wear off, especially on the long drive home. Many investigators have fallen asleep at the wheel in the wee hours of the morning while attempting to drive home from an investigation location.

Anytime you’re going out into the environment, make sure that you are dressed appropriately and that you have proper food and water. Endorse the buddy system and never investigate alone. Always have a first aid kit and cell phone handy in case of emergency. Once again, never explore or investigate alone and always be prepared for sudden changes in the weather or in your environment.

Whether outdoors or indoors, wear proper shoes and long pants in case of accidental slips or falls. You may encounter splinters, rusty nails, spider bites, fleas, ticks, mold, black mold, open holes, open graves, animal attacks, wasp or bee stings, poison ivy, poison oak and other environment related injuries. Often times cuts and scratches will lead to nasty infections, especially staph infections. Be prepared for any natural injuries that may occur. Always let somebody know where you are at all times in case you get lost or go missing during your investigation. Have check-in times with your team members and utilize two-way radios to keep in touch.

Animals

When in an outdoor environment or inside a client’s home, be aware of possible animal attacks. You do not know your client’s pets and they do not know you. In an open environment, trespassing into the animal’s territory you may find yourself endangered by wildlife. In other wilderness situations, at night especially, you may encounter mountain lions, coyotes, skunks, rats, snakes or rabid animals. Ticks, fleas and mosquito’s often carry Bubonic plague or other diseases. The simple act of using insect repellant can be the most important thing to bring on an outdoor investigation.

Constantly being aware of your environment is of key importance. Many hidden dangers exist that you may not be made aware of until you are affected. Abandoned buildings often have unstable wood floors or dangerous basement areas. I myself have cut myself on an unseen nail while climbing around in a client’s attic. Fellow investigators have fallen through ceiling panels that could not hold their weight. These environments may be filled with microscopic dangers such as animal or insect excrement, black mold, natural gas or other factors that may affect your breathing and respiration. If you have allergies, prepare ahead of time. If you have asthma, bring an inhaler with you. Notify your fellow team members if you have life threatening allergies beforehand. If it seems dangerous, use common sense and don’t put yourself or fellow investigators at risk.

Always remember that while in these environments, you and the investigators are always prone to a spirit attack. You may be shoved, hit, cut and slapped, you may have the wind knocked out of you by an unseen force or find yourself pushed down a flight of stairs. Some investigators have found themselves on the brunt end of a flying object that was thrown at them by an unseen force. Use common sense and always be aware of your environment. It is a standard rule to always scout your environment in the daytime before performing an investigation at night. Have extra flashlights and batteries and use common sense.

No trespassing or hopping fences at posted and abandoned locations. The police will arrest you and the owners of the property will often press charges. Too many abandoned houses have been temptations for novice investigators. Those who trespass ruin it for other credible teams and often place themselves in danger. You may encounter squatters, homeless people, gang members, drug addicts, prostitutes, occultist activities from the human factor in run down, abandoned or depressed areas. Never go scouting alone. When parking at a location, observe all street signs and carry a picture ID and insurance card with you at all times. Cops have the tendency to show up when somebody calls them complaining that they see flashlights shining in that abandoned house down the street. Additionally, there’s nothing like the shock of walking back to your car after an investigation to find it has been towed with your wallet and cell phone inside because you failed to notice you parked in a no parking zone. If you are investigating in an unsafe neighborhood, inform the authorities beforehand and have a list of all team members present. Never go investigate alone. Secure all belongings in your vehicle. Fellow investigators vehicles have been broken into at these dangerous locations and all their gear was stolen. In other areas investigators have been threatened or attacked as well. Be safe. Be aware of your environment. Realize that even the cemetery you find yourself investigating at 1am may be the local party spot for local gang members. More than once we have left a public cemetery because of this reason. Use caution.

Clients - the human factor.
Oftentimes the most dangerous thing you’ll face in an investigation will be clients themselves. Remember that you and your fellow team members are volunteering to walk into a stranger’s home who you do not know. Many clients and those claiming to experience paranormal problems are susceptible to mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism or other factors. You do not know if your client is mentally unstable. They may lie on the questionnaire they filled out. You may find yourselfin their home and completely at risk. Your clients may have guns, weapons and may not be afraid to use them. Many clients may be experiencing psychological duress from the spirits that may haunt them. There may be partial or full possession, depression and other factors you may become aware of after you are at the location. Many clients have an unsafe mental obsession with the paranormal. You need to use caution at all times. During investigations, clients under spiritual duress may lash out emotionally and physically at investigators if their claims of paranormal activity are not substantiated. Many clients are looking to be understood and if you do not share their understanding, they may act out or lash out, especially those clients who are schizophrenic, delusional or mentally ill.

Always document your actions while at the client’s location. Have the proper forms for liability and permission to investigate signed beforehand. Remember if the police are called and you do not have your forms in order, you can be considered trespassing. It is the clients word against yours. If you or fellow team members knock over or break one of the client’s possessions, you will be held responsible. Keep this in mind, that you are walking into their environment to investigate their claims of their personal experiences. You are completely at their will.

Often times investigators may find signs of drug use or alcohol abuse, paraphernalia, stolen property, or other potentially criminal activities. You can be found guilty by association so always document your words and actions and watch your back. The client may not like that your camcorder is accidentally documenting his drug use. At the first sign of any lying or deceit or instability from the client, leave immediately.

In the past we have experienced clients under partial possession who have threatened us with household items. This was documented and we were in danger despite all precautions.

Other team members
The paranormal doesn’t just attract mentally healthy people. Many clients and investigators to be, have dark obsessions with the paranormal or fantasies and delusions that lead them into this hobby. Many newcomers are dabbling in witchcraft or the occult without proper training. Many investigators are mentally unstable and may change personality when in an environment at a haunted location. Often times new team members will cause discord with core team members. Friends may turn against each other on investigations. Groups may split and reform. Often times pride and ego will disrupt a team, evidence may be stolen and constant conflicts will abound. Whether this is because of human nature or a side effect of the spirit world affecting these investigators, we have seen people change in a matter of weeks after jumping into the paranormal.

The paranormal changes people. To many it becomes an obsession that takes priority over religion, relationships, employment, friendships, hobbies and other interests. It starts as a casual interest but slowly consumes their lives. Financially, in a matter of months, they find themselves in trouble. Equipment will fail and malfunction and need to be replaced. They will lose their jobs and friends. Some may start drinking or abusing drugs. They will have changes in personality, suddenly show signs of reckless behavior, and become reclusive.

Many times this is because of a spiritual attachment. When you stick your head in the spirit world, it may follow you home and disrupt your life. Many investigators deal with sudden urges and obsessions, a sudden onset of mental illness, intense times of depression and spiritual oppression. Your family may suffer attacks from the spirit world. Your life may suddenly be filled with traumatic events or unexplained accidents. You may find yourself physically ill and sick with no medical cause or explanation. Overnight everything that was important to you may change. These are cycles that we have seen repeat over and over, primarily with new investigators who find themselves dealing with a spirit attachment. Usually no one told them this was possible. No one told them the signs to watch out for. Usually no one offered to help them in the midst of these attacks.

During investigations if you experience a spiritual contact you may pick up on and feel the emotions and memories of another entity. Feelings of anger, rage, sorrow as well as memories that are not yours. This will disrupt the logical thinking of most adults when it occurs. You may find yourself questioning your faith or having your reality destroyed after a spirit contact with an entity. Sudden fits of panic, confusion, anxiety, anger, a lack or change of identity, or a questioning of religious beliefs may ensue. Many investigators leave the paranormal after the loss of a loved one makes you question your intent.

Many investigators find themselves hearing voices when under a spirit based attack. They will be kept awake for days, pushed, shoved, and touched. They may experience uncontrollable shaking, cold, or fevers around them. This is usually caused by a separate entity affecting their physiological functions. If you feel like something has followed you home from an investigation, let people know. The worst thing is when an investigator simply disappears from the paranormal community because of an attachment and never gets the help or support that they need to remedy the situation.

Spirit communication
EVPs – any time you are attempting to collect or play EVPs you may be welcoming the spirit world to affect your life. In the same way that a ouiji board or séance opens a door to communication with the spirit world, the simple act of asking questions of a spirit in an EVP session can open the same doors. In playing back EVPs, the vibrations of the spirit voices captured often attracts other spirits. Many times novice investigators will play back the EVPs they’ve just captured while walking back to their vehicles. The spirits whose voices they’ve captured find a valid reason to follow them home in their vehicles. It is recommended that you listen to your recordings after leaving a haunted location in order to prevent hitch hikers. Upon leaving a haunted location every investigator should make a statement that they do not give permission for any spirits to follow them home. This should be done multiple times to help ensure that nothing tags alone, follows you home and essentially disrupts you life.

Provoking
Television and media portray provoking entities in exchange for evidence, on a frequent basis. This is dangerous. Provoking a spirit can lead to a spirit attack. You should treat all spirits with respect. This is common sense. Put yourself in the spirits position. If I was in the spirit world and you walked into my home and provoked me, in order to capture your evidence, I would be upset and probably follow you home and disrupt your life as much as I could.

Demonic or inhuman hauntings
Many investigators who find themselves with a spirit attachment will often go through a cycle of collecting some impressive evidence on EVP. It seems that the spirits let themselves be recorded by the investigator. This usually ends up in a spirit attack on the investigators. Investigating paranormal activity at a location other than your own home is always preferred. The common rule is never investigate where you want to sleep. If you have a spirit follow you home you believe to be inhuman or demonic, do not document any activity. Contact your local church or clergy for assistance immediately. If you are a team investigating a location and find any reason to validate that it may be an inhuman or demonic haunting, leave with your team immediately and refer your clients to the church clergy, or a demonologist. These high level inhuman hauntings have the capability of completely destroying lives. We’ve seen it happen over and over, time and time, again and again. It is never worth the evidence when it destroys everything that you’ve considered valuable to your life. We have seen a demonic haunting follow home investigators, kill their animals, and put them in the hospital. Equipment has been destroyed, and people have been completely taken over, losing all sanity in the process. Every investigator should know something about spiritual protection and embrace whatever faith system you believe in. High level hauntings and inhuman hauntings are often attractive to the novice investigator. They’re never worth the evidence. The results will usually destroy everything you value before you realize the nature of your attacks.

Never use Ouiji board, séances, magic or witchcraft during an investigation, as you may put everyone present at risk. Even professional mediums and psychics using these spiritual communication methods during investigations have shut them down after something evil slipped through. These methods have been attributed to most high level hauntings, inhuman and demonic cases that are referred to clergy and demonologists. It’s like a loaded gun and never worth the risk. Many of the stories our clients tell us start with a Ouiji board. They end up much worse…..

In closing, these are just some of the dangers of the paranormal. Many investigators, both amateur and professional have left the field after their lives have been affected by the paranormal. It is a cycle we have seen over and over. Many investigators have lost friends and fellow group members due to these dangers. Television, media do not warn you about these possible dangers of the paranormal. Too many seasoned investigators, we have heard these stories firsthand and know the reality of these dangers exist. Many former investigators have become our clients. Too many children and teens are running out, not knowing the dangers of the paranormal. If you have an interest in the paranormal, educate yourself on spiritual protection, investigation techniques and know the signs and dangers that you may face in the future. By simply knowing the risks that you may experience, you are preparing yourself in case something does happen. Exploring the paranormal can be a fun and rewarding hobby. It can also be dangerous. If you are a parent, monitor your children and know that these dangers exist. Too many of our clients have been children or teens running out and emulating what they have watched on television, never knowing there was any danger involved. We have tried to help these children and teens and the families they belong to, repair their lives after finding out the hard truth, the paranormal is unknown and often lashes out at those of us attempting to document it does exist. Get training. Do research. Be prepared just in case you find yourself one day facing the Dangers of the Paranormal.