Types of Hauntings

Intelligent Hauntings

Intelligent hauntings are defined as spirits that are able to consciously interact with their environment and the living around them.  At rare times, the spirit will manifest but the investigative observer must be clear that the spirit is interacting, or attempting to interact in order to classify it as an intelligent haunting and not residual.  If the spirit is interacting with objects, it must be clear that the object is not something that is caught in a residual cycle.  More will be explained on this in the Residual Haunting section.

I have classified three stages of intelligent haunting.  Each stage has progressively more and intense activity.  Below are examples of the types of activity in each stage.

Stage 1:

  • Cold spots
  • Strange noises
  • Odd odors and smells
  • Hearing footsteps
  • Unusual animal activity, such as dogs and cats running from rooms, etc.
  • Feelings of being watched

Stage 2:

  • Whispers, laughs, or giggles
  • Moans or shrieking
  • Moving shadows
  • Breezes in closed areas
  • Visible clouds (base apparitions)
  • Strong static electricity
  • Marks on floors or walls (not writings)

Stage 3:

  • Lights and other electrical appliances turning ON/OFF
  • Unseen hands grabbing or touching people
  • Writings on walls or pattern markings
  • Doors that Open/Close or Lock/Unlock
  • Hearing voices or words clearly
  • Full apparitions or dark figures
  • Showing levels of communication with living people

Investigation of intelligent hauntings are some of the easiest.  During these investigations, the spirit can interact with “trigger objects” or even the investigators.  You can ask the spirit to knock on something or make a noise.  Usually these spirits are trying to interact with people.  However, sometimes the spirit only cares to interact with a certain person, or family.  This will cause investigations to be more difficult.  Over a series of investigations, the person or family member can be brought in if they are willing to aid in the process. 

There are also different types of intelligent hauntings.

Guardian angels

Unfinished business 

 

Residual Hauntings

Residual hauntings are defined as non-intelligent spirits that are caught in a loop of activity that occurred during their lifetime.  An example of this would be the anniversary haunting or the death loop haunting. The residual cycle is the loop of activity that the spirit makes.  For example, a lady who was waiting for her husband to come back from the sea would walk up the stairs to the widow's walk to look out at the ocean, looking for him.  If she dies before he comes back from his voyage, she could possibly continue this cycle- walking up the stairs and waiting- until he comes home.  The death loop is a spirit replaying the method of their death over and over again.  This can often happen in gruesome deaths, or deaths where there was a lot of emotion (such as suicides or family murders).

According to Taylor 2007, it is more common to see an apparition in this type of haunting.  He lists the following as signs of a residual haunting:

  • The ghosts reported will be like moving pictures and will be unaware of the living people around them. Such cases do not have any interaction between the ghost and the witnesses.
  • Strange sounds are common, like footsteps, voices, knocking, rappings, etc.
  • Residual hauntings will not involve missing or vanished items, as there is no consciousness present.  While windows or doors may be opened and closed, it is because of energy expending itself, not because it is physically being manipulated by spirits.  Although objects may be moved if they are involved in the loop. 
  • There may be high levels of humidity at the location, as this eems to be a possible sign that a residual haunting is taking place.  It's been suggested that water embedded in the location may hold a sort of “recording” of the haunting that is taking place.

 

Poltergeist-Like Activity (PK Hauntings)

Poltergeist-like activity is usually unknowingly caused by a living person, known as the “human agent.” 

Taylor 2007 lists the following as signs of a PK haunting:

  • Reports will often escalate as time goes by but will peak early and then fade away
  • Keep an eye out for a young female or an adolescent to be present in the house.  Usually the activity will be centered around this person in particular.  They can be isolated or removed from the house to rule out connected activity.
  • Always try to rule out human involvement (including fraud) before assuming that the phenomena has anything to do with ghosts.

 

Portal Hauntings

Portal hauntings are an entryway for spirits to pass through from the spirit world to the living world.

“The majority of events that might fit into a “portal haunting” category seem to come from cemeteries, although no location can be ruled out.  With cemeteries, the best way to watch out for them is to be on the lookout for graveyards that are rumored to be haunted.  Be aware of stories that involve glowing balls of light that are seen with the naked eye, odd creatures, strange shapes, or unexplained images.  With a home or building, these doorways can be harder to ascertain.  In this type of haunting though, the spirits that are present may be more numerous than in a traditional haunting and are always unconnected to the history of the building.  The site may be nothing more than a crossover point, which can be confusing to those doing research.” (Taylor, 2007).

 

Crisis Apparitions

These are said to be apparitions of the “living dead.”  These ghosts appear as people who are very much alive and is possible that they are not known to be dead at the moment of their appearance. It is believed that these are people who appear at the moment of their death or shortly there after to say goodbye to loved ones.  They can appear surreal and have a glowing aura around them. 

 
Waking Dreams

These are up for debate on whether they fall under the true paranormal category, but I list them here for argument sake.  Waking dreams are when you are asleep and vividly dream about a real place, whether it be present day, future, or in the past.  They can seem uncannily real.  Many people believe that these dreams predict the future or give hints about the past.

 

Visitation Hauntings

Visitation hauntings are spirits who basically come and go as they please.  They are not tied to a certain location and are believed to be intelligent hauntings as they often interact with their environment and the people around them.  Most often visitations are made to people that the spirit knew and loved in life. 

Visitation hauntings can also be just connected to people.  “Guardian angels” fall under this category.

These are hard to investigate as the spirit often only wants to communicate with chosen people.

 

Ghost Lights (Spook lights)

Ghost lights most likely have nothing to do with ghosts but most are unexplainable nonetheless.  Some of these lights can be explained away by geographical means and natural gas reacting with the air around it.  They appear near earthquake faults, water sources, and railroad tracks.  These lights are often seen in remote locations- most likely because its dark.  These lights are tied to ghosts and hauntings because of the legends locals tie to them.