Hey, humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here. Thanks for listening to another episode of hey human podcast. This is episode 417, and my guests is Richard As, haunting at his grandparents sparked his curiosity, but it was years before Richard began to investigate the paranormal. You may have seen him on shows like Tvs haunted case files or paranormal 911 among others or maybe you've read a few of his 30 plus books ranging from killers, do haunting, do fraud and histories.
His book of grave undertaking comes out next month. It's all about the Bloomberg family who bought the haunted funeral home, Heather, it was on the show. A few weeks ago on episode 413. If you haven't listened to that, definitely check that out. Richard went and interviewed them and spent time in the house and wrote the grape undertaking book, so that's very cool. And as if all that wasn't enough to keep him busy, he's also a paramedic he's a good guy. Really enjoyed talking to him.
Good head on his shoulders, proper amount of skepticism, p, and curiosity. It's a good combo and that is always intriguing to me when it comes to things so the paranormal to know that somebody really is not just all in for the sake of being all in that that they're really looking at it intellectually, I guess is the best way to put it. I mean, with feeling as well, I think you have to have your senses alive and these sorts of things. But I'm I'm excited for you to hear the
episodes. It's gonna be cool. In other news, I was looking for something to watch. I was getting overwhelmed with all the politics and things from a couple weeks ago, and I started watching a show called ghosts. It's a Cbs show, but it's on Paramount plus. And I gotta tell you the first few episodes I thought, Is kinda corny, but it's a sweet kind of corny, so I'm digging it. And then I just got sucked in. When I tell you I binge watched the whole thing, and
it made me feel really good. There there something incredibly wholesome about it and It made me feel like how I felt when I watched Ted Lasso or Shit's Creek, just really good. I don't know if it's up your alley. Don't get paid to tell to watch it or anything. I just thought you'd like to know. It was it's just a warm and fuzzy watch, and I really needed that. So I'm passing on to you what I thought about it. Okay.
General stuff. I'm on Patreon at susan ruth, check out hey human podcast dot com for links and they'll learn more about my guests in the show. Check out susan root dot com to learn more about me and my other artist endeavors, follow Susan Ruth and hey, human podcast on social media, find my albums on Spotify. I music, Amazon music or wherever you get your music, and I've just recently done a couple videos for Tiktok. I don't know if I'm gonna be any good at it. I feel like it's so
iffy at best, but whatever. I... I'm giving it a college try. And that's under Susan Ruth as well on Tiktok. Rate, review and subscribe to, hey, human podcast on itunes or wherever you get your podcast podcasts, Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing this and being a part of this for 8 years so far. Be well, be kind. Love, lift each other up. Here we go. Richard, Ace. Welcome to hey human. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Absolutely. I'm really excited to speak with you because you are a fascinating human the things that you do and we are gonna get into all of it. But let's start with your chart to tell me where you're from, and what's set you on your path I come from the Uk originally, the Midlands, a city code Les, which is famous, I guess, mildly famous for its soccer. More famous because we hide our kings under the car
under parking lots and last. But that was home until my mid twenties when I relocated to the Us. In 19 99. So I spent exactly half of my life on each side of the Atlantic at this point. In your childhood, did you begin to experience things that other people couldn't see. How did you get into becoming someone that was interested in the ether. No. I didn't, and I still don't. I, I've been fascinated with with ghosts especially haunting
things. But Ufo and things of that nature, the whole gamut of the unexplained since I was a boy, growing up, my grandparents had a a friendly ghost in their haunted haunted home, a suite old lady that had been a former resident and had died there and and stuck around and made appearances every so often So I was fascinated with the subject from childhood, and, of course, there was no Tb
then, the paranormal Tv I should say. So probably a good thing because if you wanted to satisfy your curiosity about what things went and wonderful. You enter the library. You got a library card, which I did and checked out every book 5 times over. By people like Hand holt, and Peter underwood and Harry Price and some of the lu areas in the field. And that is how I really got my education and and passion for. Things that go bump in the nights.
Was there something that struck you as a common ground to have the compliments that made a haunting happen or was it happens stance depending on the house or place? Well haunting, I think is an umbrella term. It it's 1 that we use and I think it's lazy for us to to default to haunting equals dead people. I think it's stranger than that. And there are many different categories and subcategories of haunting, many
different type of phenomena. There are no true commonalities in every case, which is what makes researching them so interesting, and so frustrating at the same time. So you have different things that you do. You go around and you investigate paranormal activity, you're a paramedic, which is an interesting choice because I'm sure you see the the fine line between living and dead and that kind of profession, and then you are an author writing about all the things that you have,
research. So let's start with the paramedic part. Yeah. I know desire to be a paramedic at all. When I came to the Uk, from the Uk robert to the Us in 19 99, while I missed apart from the obvious home sickness and culture shock, I was in the British Army territorial army when I was in the Uk, and I missed the camera being in a platoon of of that kind of meaningful hands on work and that kind of service and mentality. But I had an It career.
My life here the Us was kinda dependent on that It career. I also wasn't gonna just up and join the military. So I really didn't do more than ponder that for a couple of years, and then 09:11 happened, and Of course, the cliche is we all know where we were and what we were doing on I'm 09:11, and I was at my job for a computer company at the time, monitoring networks watching it happen on Live Tv and just felt that I wanted to do something.
So I've been pondering the National guard. I ended up instead going to my local firehouse and saying how do I sign up? So I became a volunteer firefighter to do that. You have to become an Emt, which I did. I found how much fire, the fire department doesn't do anymore. 80 percent of what most fire palm do
are emergency medical calls in this country. I remained a firefighter, 5 to for 15 years, retired 4 years ago from that, but I still continue to run 9 more 1 calls I'm in my 20 third year right now, serving as a paramedic and a paramedic educator. And I enjoy being able to not only serve community and my fellow human beings. I I also enjoy almost everything that comes about the discipline and art of paramedics. Did you found the the code green campaign
or is that something you're just... Not part of. Okay. Tell me about the Yeah. My first book in such the paranormal it came out. The code green campaign. So there is a significant issue with mental health in the emergency response field. Many of us have mental health challenges, depression, anxiety, things of that nature, suicide happens far too often. I'm afraid. And the code green campaign was charity that was founded specifically help educate and direct resources
to first responders. And so I was aware of it and when my first book came out. I wanted to donate a percentage of your profits. 10 percent of the royalties from, in search of the paranormal were donated to the code green campaign. That's lovely. It is unfortunate. It's just like the military Ptsd funds and things. I just did... It's really sad that that that is the offs shoot of people who are really serving humanity and the price set they pay for that. But, there is definitely a price that goes
with it. When it comes to the military at least, we are far too quick to send out military to war. And yet we are less willing to help them pick up of pieces of s lives afterwards. It's similar with the emergency services, I think also none of us are drafted. We all choose that professional. We all choose that location. Nonetheless, you know, it it would be impossible to... To experience the things we experience and not have some degree of psychological shoulder.
So, of course, it's never a competition or anything like that. Some people are hit significantly harder than others, based upon a variety of factors and they need and deserve our compassion and our systems. I agree. I talk about these sorts of things a lot on this show. I think it's incredibly important. Tell me about when you were younger, at your grandparents house, did you you, I assume saw her, the the ghost... Did you interact with her? Did you not ever her and only heard about her? I
already heard about her. My step father had told me the stories, and she appeared during the 19 forties when my grandfather was serving in the Be campaign fighting against the Japanese army. So, my grandmother was alone, you can imagine 1 of those War war 2 era families she's trying to raise a gag of kids on her own, Meanwhile at night, the the lift offer for the German air forces bombing, you know, the heck out of the
city, it was a very stressful time. I often think that the the ladies that primarily stepped the home front. Do not get nearly enough credit as part of the greatest generation because they raised families not knowing if they were widows. They were
they raised families in these horrific conditions. And my grandmother or she mail it have the help of this former resident of the house because this this lady would go into the children's common bedroom that they shared at night, after bedtime, and would just make sure that always as it should be after lights out that they were all tucked in, and it didn't occur to 1 of the kids that she wasn't the flesh and blood human being, you know, in that way that children just don't ask
questions, an the adult walks into the room. She would come into the room, look around, make sure it big everyone was good and then leave again. And they only really mentioned after my grandfather returned from the poor and my grandmother was, like, there was no there was not a lady describe her. And the the the kids, of course, all told the same story. They described the same lady. Which was the woman that had, owned the house before they did and had passed away downstairs.
I heard that story and and I thought this is really cool. But when you're sleeping in that same bedroom alone, it's terrifying as well. So your mind turns every creaking floor board, you know, into a fountain foot step, And and and I think half of me was kind of hoping that I would have a ghost encounter in half of me was terrified that I would. You know, it's the ultimate kind of yin yang duality. And I never did. It would be too hollywood story if
I did. Right? But it did set me on this road to being fascinated with ghosts and haunting and why they are the way they are. There's nothing really for those kids scary about this haunting at all. And it's a classic example of a ghost with a mission. And once that mission, which was, you know, to help out while, my grandmother was under all the stress, But once that mission was completed,
she didn't stick around. She went She never appeared again, and I like to think she congratulate herself for a job well done, and moved on to whatever comes next. And now that my grandparents had both passed, I like... I really do like to think that maybe they got to to have a chat and and sit around it and finally meet in person and laugh about that. But without her, I would not have this career, I would not be this teller of ghost stories. So I owe that, that long dead lady my thanks to.
That's a great story. I was thinking about this last night actually, while, contemplating questions I would have for you. And I thought, you know, gosh, He wouldn't love to be able to sit down and talk. There's that show ghost. Right? And I thought, how wouldn't that be so wonderful And at the same time, I think, I would probably be scared to death if they first showed up. And like you said, what a what a duality that is because
I want that so badly. But then I think, oh, I would I just be screaming crying and running the other way. Even if they were a nice ghost. I mean, there they're really just people without me too So, you know, it's it's it's kind of interesting. Right? As we as we think about why they're sort frightening to us, the answer really is Hollywood.
We've all in store. If you had never seen hollywood ghost story, you know, if you would never never been exposed to that, I think that natural curiosity and sense 1 that we have as human beings, especially children would be the overriding emotion. We've conditioned ourselves to make them scary. And I bear some responsibility for this. I mean, I've I've gotten some scary book covers out there on purpose. Which is kind of a bait switch in
some cases. Because I do want people to actually pick up the books and read them, and the sad truth is, especially these days Most people are not that interested in pleasant nice friendly ghosts. That's not what sells to our great mis fortune. But in reality, I think the vast majority of cases I've investigated have been friendly or or at worst, you know, neutral pointing. There have been some dark and aggressive ones. They do have them, of
course, they do. But I would not say they're in the majority. You can say the same about people. You know, you you need say yeah. You know, should we be afraid of some goes? Sure. We should be afraid of some strangers? There's a reason we still lock our doors at night, You know, unfortunately, women know this far better than males do. You know, and so, I won't patron you by by having to tell you that. It's just worth remark that there are dangerous individuals out there and living
and dead. But I do think the majority of people are decent kind and friendly, you know? And I think the same is true with ghosts spirits or cold and what you will. I wonder if scenarios like the woman that was in your grandparents house if she didn't necessarily hang around there, but when she was needed, was pulled back to do a job. And then once that was done, sort of Mary pop and style said Seal. Maybe drafted. You mean kind of the... Yeah. Yeah it's possible.
I'll tell you that I... I mean, my my most common area of... I shouldn't say expertise but concentration is haunted hospitals. I mean, I'm known for to that show primarily for several books on haunted health care. And I get asked the lot about, you know, why our hospital so haunted. Leaving aside the death and those kind of things. Something that is Well worth bearing in mind is that the medical profession is is filled with men and women who feel cold. It's of calling. There are...
There are some people that go to medical school or or nursing or whatever for the money, of course. But there are easier ways to get rich. But vast majority of people, whether they're physicians taking the hip credit oath or Emts staffing in ambulance or hospital cleaners. They feel compelled to service of their fellow human beings. And I think that you know, I've run into so many cases of medical staff being on duty long after they actually died. I don't really run into this with stock
broker. I've yet to meet a a phantom bank manager stock broker, advertising executive, computer network engineer, killer salesperson, I don't run into that. Why? Well, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't stick around and wanna do that job for all eternity. You know, even... I wouldn't wanna do you know, certain kinds of jobs administrative bureau bureaucratic jobs. I wouldn't wanna do that and they to life but helping people, that's the this sacred component to that. You
know? I don't mean it in a religious sense, but I mean at a fundamental spiritual level, it's a sacred thing. Human beings taking care of other sick vulnerable human beings. And I think that imperative sometimes
survives the death of the body. And there are number of cases of medical facilities I've investigated where it seems as though some of those doctors, nurses, and so forth, x extra technicians in 1 case, they are still taking care of people or at least they believe they are long after they punched the clock for the last time. I wonder if they take care of other ghosts or haunted persons. I don't know what the the proper
terminology is. But, ones who have passed from their illness, and it would be interesting if the medical ghosts are still taking care of the ghosts that are sick. Yeah. I, I hope not. Mediums tell us that disease, pathology, illness does not come with us beyond the physical body, which which would make sense to me. Yeah. You know, percentages of the body should probably be left behind with the body. But I do think that the
word caring has a wide definition. And we care for 1 another countless different ways, You know, Not all of it is putting on bandages and and things of that nature. I'd like to think that the tele goes are actually demons. Calling at 07:00 while we're eating dinner. Yeah. Is there a... Is is there some kind of spiritual no call list I can get on. So I don't get E piece from them that'd be great.
It's the gist the joke is net. I'm still waiting for the E p, or the the Ou board message that tells me we've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty. Yes. 6 tell them, so you've written over 30 books. Yeah. 34 I think it is the moment. I'm sure every time you get interviewed, you do get asked for the highlight real So
let's take it 1 level down. What are some interesting stories that you came across that aren't necessarily the big woo, but something that you haven't talked about a lot. I don't just write ghost stories. I mean, that's that's something I I write through crime books. I've written a book about corruption throughout Us history I've comic books to Dc Thompson's Commando comics, Military comic books.
It's a broad net that is cast. And right now, I'm just gearing up to go to Chicago to, research a book on moth man for next year. So I'm always looking for what's a good story. And a good story has human beings that
it's heart, a good human interest story. The reason the ghosts fascinating me so much, I think is that these are people that had, you know, they may have lived hundreds of years before we did but they have the same stresses, the same aspirations, the same hopes, fears, dreams, anxieties, concerns. The the more you study history, and I think ghosts are really a reflection of history given form and voice, the the the kind of like echo echoes
are, in a way. The more you study it you realize the old saying that the more things change the more they stay the same is absolutely true. So it it it almost to me doesn't matter whether I'm writing about a haunted house or whether I'm writing about the battle of Getty or whether I'm writing about some other facet of a human life, Any any person or people that I can connect when connect to and help readers connect with ta me, and I love telling those stories.
Mh. Have you been physically touched by something you can't see? Yeah. More than 1 occasion. I mean, the most the most blatant mom was it a place called fox hollow farm in Indiana, which was the home of the serial killer... Excuse me Herbert Ba, the I 70 str, and in his pool room, the room of the swan pool, the pom room that adjacent to the pool which houses the pump machinery in operating gear. I was very very clearly touched on the Tri. Cares crest is the word I would use.
It was most definitely a creepy touch. And, of course, her bow was a a serial killer who, although he was married, was in the closet. And targeted only males as his victim. So I had just swam in the swimming pool in which she committed most of those murders. And so that kinda cares of the of bought back of the arm. I can feel it now, and I'm going cold just just relating the story to you. I was recently indicator Alabama at a place called the Mc House, and we were filming a documentary, and
the camera equipment was just going haywire. So my Dp said, hey, could you just... We get it or on your turf, but just let it be? And then everything went to normal again. But she and I in different parts of the house during different parts of the day without saying it to each other, both felt the same things, a cold... The house is on a river. Yeah. Cold wet hand, grabbing our right ankle. Interesting. Both times the right ankle. Both times the right ankle. I wonder if there's some significance
to that. I I could feel It was cold and wet. What you said about the equipment is interesting too, because usually, they seem to want acknowledgment. And if you just treat them with that kind of respect, I'm not saying you a disrespectful. I'm saying it doesn't occur to most people that go into a place and ask bin air to be nice. You know? It just... It's it's not logical for. It's it seemed logical to us. We be like, hey,
we get it. We're on your turf, but we're just gonna be here for a short while. But but it was only after you said that that your equipment stops going on there. That is true. Yeah. So it's it's almost when you make that that acknowledgement, that, hey, yes. I understand this is your term. Please meet us halfway will be respectful and then we'll be on our way. It's amazing how often that works well. Yeah.
Although that the hands were disconcerting. And it felt like different than whatever was messing with the... It you could... It's weird how you can feel the difference. Mh. To me at least. Yeah. Yeah. I love that kind of experience. Have you ever been just downright terrified.
Of ghosts, generally not. Yeah. I would say very disconcerting, but you have to be aware of of what you bring in with you, you know, what I mean by that is that if you bring a fearful approach to this, then you're more likely to encounter something, that will manifest and kind of feed on that fear. If you go in full of respect and courtesy and light and optimism generally your experience will be a positive 1. I mean, not a hundred percent at the
time. But when you're in conversation with a stranger, if you are nice and polite, friendly and personable. Chances are that interaction is gonna get better. Alright? They having a really bad day no matter what you say. It's gonna be bad, But for most people. I think that's true. And so the same is it's true this. I encourage people that are investigating or or visiting or locations, you know, show these people the same kind of courtesy in respect you want shown to you.
And when you do that, it removes a lot of the fear. There's sometimes an a factor, you know, the serial killers I was like I said, that was definitely, you know, not a pleasant thing to experience. But for the most part, if you control your own mind and approach it in a rational and respectful weight, there's usually nothing to fit. Do you believe that we're all capable of seeing and or feeling them versus how mediums really can tune in. You think that's a gift that everybody
has. They just don't necessarily... I think about kids, kids seem to be really open. And then as you get older, you are hold that, oh, no, it's on your head or there's nobody in the closet or under your bed or whatever. Yeah. That medium seemed to have a way to figure out how to get past the gatekeepers. Do you think we're all capable of that? I don't know that we're all capable as adults in the same way that we're not all capable of performing certain functions or tasks.
Some people have an aptitude attitude. Some people have a an artistic aptitude, but can have no formal training and yet be able draw paint or sculpt the most beautiful thing. And then there are others that work hard and painstaking we to develop that to. I think that's possible in some cases as well. But do I think we're
all sensitive? There's adults not necessarily, as children, as you pointed out, you know, I still vividly remember being a a young boy, and you believe that there are fairies at the bottom of the garden
and you believe that magic is real. And you know, you you're exposed to those kind of stories and you don't question it, which is good, and then the world kinda catches up with you, you know, and you learn about skepticism and cy and mock and the cruelty of other children, and we stop believing in magic. And so I think belief underpins a lot of the spiel, what you believe is is a huge significance. Mh. What do you think of the idea of mimics?
Certainly, mimic has happened to me. I think that, it's tempting to as prescribe that to a malicious, male malevolent entity, because sound really sinister. Right? The idea of, of of seeing another version of you or Do gang or hearing your voice come from a place where you are not.
But I also wonder about things, like alternate explanations, time slips, interactions with other dimensions, ultimate universes, you know, is this an alternate version of us bleeding over into our world, is this a future or past version of us? That we are encountering. And and it it comes back to the idea that, you know, we equate ghosts to dead people. I think it may in some cases be far weird than that. I like that theory.
It's no less viable an idea. Than that we survived death and we're able to talk to the living? There are a lot of tiktok accounts that do the the E, the ghost boxes. What do you think about those? So ghost boxes, they're a tool that I use sparingly. Audio is a thing. And Paranoia. I don't know if you're familiar with the Ted. I am. Okay. But did but they may not be. To just for your viewers or listeners, paranoia is the idea that our brain desperately wants to create sense out of chaos.
A great example of Paranoia is the man of the moon. You look to put the moon, you're told there's face. And as soon as you see it, you cannot see it. You look at a cloud, you see what looks like an elephant chasing a dragon or whatever. And then you cannot see it. Now, of course, these are obviously random pants. There isn't literally a face on the moon. But our brain struggles to make sense out of the... Chaos. It wants to turn
the chaos into be ordered familiar. A lot of the time, the spirit boxes the way those sessions will often work will be that you'll hear the kind of random static, the crack holder And then you hear a burst of noise because. And the host will say something like, it said kill jeff. And now all your breaking in here when they replayed is k jeff. You've you've been auto suggested. Suggestion, confirmation bias, those are huge when it comes to spirit boxes.
There's a real danger that the ear here's what it wants to hear. You know, there are some great content creators on social media, and there are also some absolute shi. Yeah. There are some delusional individuals that are doing it to a themselves. And then there are the genuine storyteller that are really passionate about telling truthful stories. So as as with any other field in life, I think evaluate and choose your mentors, your role models, the people you look up to choose them carefully.
Find those creators that have integrity, and that are interested in in telling the story. There are far too many out there that are trading on, you know, the night. I almost died in the demon house of death. And I've been to many of these houses isn't had someone of the best life I sleep in my life. I'm not saying they're
not necessarily haunted. I'm saying that it's a race to the bottom them in terms of who can say the most shocking thing who can, you know, make the most horrifying claims or for views or for clicks. Right? You started a society to investigate all... What year did you start that the paranormal investigation society? Poe founded that with my watch lori in 2005, I believe it was. And it... It's no longer active in that form.
Primarily what it does now is, myself in a small group of trusted colleagues. We investigate haunted locations, Very rarely we'll do health cases, but private cases, but for the most part, we invested haunted locations as part of my book projects. Okay. Do you think Or are a thing? I think the vast majority of Or, 99.9 percent of them. Are, poll, dan dust, insects, particles that get very close to a lens, and then they almost always appear when a flash is used. Which is a big giveaway.
I started investigating in the mid nineties when there were no digital cameras, we did not get or. Why? Well, number 1, we were really careful about where we took pictures because you had to pay to have them developed, which meant that rather than just fire off, you know, burst of them in a row in a a very dusty underground basement or tunnel or whatever, you chose your shots carefully. When you did use a flash, the flash was usually offset from the lens more than it is on a phone.
Problem with the old effect is you get this flash, the photons go out. They hit this object that's close to the lens. Relatively small particle of called a above whatever it might be a droplet of moisture. They come right back, at a very narrow angle and you get that all effect. This has really been a phenomenon that's unique to the age of the digital camera
when photographs became very affordable. They're free. So you can shoot a thousand photographs in a night, then we talked about Para, it didn't we. The idea that you look at this glow or and you see a face and if you're suggestive enough. And also, you know, 1 of the concerning things is if you're breathe if you really want to believe as we all do that the dead are not gone forever, you perhaps your brain influences you to think that kinda of looks
like my lost loved 1. When in reality, it's it's a perfectly natural phenomenon. That being said, there are also light phenomena which aren't explain in that way. If you're seeing these lights with the naked eye, there's no camera flash involved. Then you've got something that's harder to explain, and then I'm very much interested. Mh. I was... Again, this is D. There's a bank building there that is no longer a viable bank. It's a museum, and
I went into the safe. They have said that it was haunted. And I tried using my phones recording, just the the voice recorder didn't get anything. And then I remembered I have that app that, is for sleeping, that, you know, it's it's a att to be able to pick up the tiniest tiniest sound and then turn off if you're breathing or whatever. Right. And I thought I'm gonna use that and see what I get. So I sat in there by myself door shut with this thing. And I'll began, there was a little girls.
Saying her tummy hurt, and there was a man w a whole tune, and I came out of the vault, and I went into the office, and I said, these are the things I got, And then Was like, oh, yeah. That cesar are. 2 of the people that are here and I thought, is she just saying that here. Did I really get that? No. I'm all I me. That's terrific. You have some... Eye witness testimony to to act as verification. You clearly have voices that were not present. At the time. Like, you didn't hear them with your own
voice. Nobody was speaking. That is far more impressive to me than they're just crackling his static that may or may not have been a voice. Yeah. So yeah. Give me give me a good E. I'm I'm a a big fan of those. The book about the funeral home in Ontario. Is that out now? Out next month. The bloomberg. Very exciting. I interviewed them, and I want to go stay there desperately? You should. It's terrific. Sleep 1 I have. How is your personal experience there. I know
you've got the books. So let's talk a little bit The books coming out. Let's talk about it. Yeah. I mean, that... That's 1 of the more active locations I've ever investigated. The the Tv show The only criticism Have of the show was that it was too short. I wish you'd have been twice as long, because I think there's such a colorful family and there's such a rich seem to be mined there storytelling. But they were nice enough to give me complete access to the house and to them,
we we put them to work. We taught them how to investigate. Rather than just kind of peripheral characters in the book, they are the core of the book. We had communications, what 1 that really brought to everybody's eye. Was that, noah, the the teenage daughter. She has the entire third floor to herself. For a while, she'd been hearing footsteps walking around the third floor while, she was alone of that. And then would wake up in the night several times because she felt somebody sitting
on the end of a bad. And when she would wake up and look up those, Not that. So, we tried a few methods of research. Got some interesting E. Finally, threw down a talking board, and I know that many people have biased against talking board or ou your board. It's a tool like any other and as long as you set, good boundaries and intent. It's it's no more harmful, I believe. We're than using any other method of attempted
communication. We made contact with a communicator that claimed to be a local lady who had not died in the funeral hub, but her husband came through the funeral arm and she'd been here because of his funeral. She had died locally, and was still around and was drawn to noah because she missed her own children. Now, I'm always health skeptical of of talking boards. So because there are those theories never valid
that sometimes what you're doing. Is you are communicating with the subconscious of 1 or more of the participants that they are moving that plan share without consciously knowing they're doing it. You know, that is a thing. So I decided to test it. Upstairs in the kitchen. We were down in the cellar in what was the old and farming room. So I went upstairs to the kitchen my aaron, the dad was preparing dinner, and I said Aaron, Once you do me a favor, I want you to write on this piece of paper,
a number between 1 and a hundred. Do not tell me what it is. I'm going back downstairs, but write it, leave it face up on the kitchen counter. And he did. And then we had this session, you know, it was very emotional for everybody, especially for Noah, and her mom, I asked the board Do me a favor. Would you please write theirs and look at the piece of paper on the counter and tell me that number. Now there's a 1 in a hundred percent chance you could get this sprite randomly or by guess word.
Those are not gray odds. The number of Are chosen was 78. The plan shut, and we notice the time. The plan went to 7, then 8. Then 7 again, and then still off the board. So I'm, like, 78 or 87 and the plan chat, we put it back on and say, yes. I texted Aaron what was that number and he sent me a photograph, and the the the board was right. So now this still doesn't mean that people, It could be an interesting form of psychic information transfer.
Maybe Heather is so in tune with our husband that she was without knowing it subconsciously literally reading his mind. That's also as possible as dead people. But they're good friends of mine, but still, I I try not to leave stones and turn. So I said, Heather, I'm really sorry to ask you this, but may I see your phone. I need to see your text messages with Aaron and your husband. My skeptical side was like, if they were gonna fake this, He could just have texted her that number
the minute. I went downstairs And I would never know. And so I looked at her text string for the day, and There's all, you know, Min share, Mundane stuff, and nothing to do with a number. There is no way that board could randomly have come up with that number. 1 in a hundred percent chance. Yeah. So it was a very fulfilling and very emotional, Ou board session down in the. And bombing room of that old funeral. Oh, that's so cool. I really wanna go there.
Absolutely How do you go about picking where you're gonna go? I have a bucket list despite growing up in Britain, I've always been a massive civil war enthusiasts, and also of Weston. So last year, I decided I wanted to go, experienced Tombstone, Arizona. So I got together my small team of friends and fellow investigators, and we did an Epic road trip. We did haunted Tombstone. We were lucky enough to get into the Okay corral. For example, which is somewhere I've always wanted to go
and investigate there. The, mines, the, silver mines underneath the town because they're investigating there. And then on the way back, Lincoln County, New Mexico on the trail of Billy D kid. Mh. I'm really, I am just... Fulfilling 1 lifelong bucket list. And I'm taking readers along with me, and fortunate that my friends are supportive that they they will at the drop of the hat, drive halfway across the country to go stay in some haunted h because it sounds cool.
Yeah. Well, add me to that list. If you ever need another person, I can have a heavy lift. You never know. That it depends on... I I get across the country. I turn up in all kinds of weird in wonderful places. So you never know. Yeah. And you get to go to the house of the shining, the what is that hotel called? The The Stanley? Yeah. The stanley? I gave tools there for 3 years, and I very much enjoyed it. I can't write about that because I'll choose my words carefully.
The the ghosts are not something that the hotel encourages people to write about. Let's put it like that, which is unfortunate, but I certainly respect that they have that opinion. They have that right, rather. How do they feel about the shining? I I can't speak for for them? I will say personally that without Stephen Cain, that hotel would not still be in existence.
Stephen King really saved to stanley lam. It was bankrupt twice believe it was throughout its history because it's now known as the shining hotel, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and there is so much more to it. There is the rich history. It's it's a very cool place to go. I encourage anybody to visit. There's so much more to it. Than the Stephen king connection and the ghosts, but those are still the 2 reasons people flock to that hotel for Good for.
Of all the hotels you've been to, is that 1 of the more haunted? It absolutely in my experience lived up to its reputation. It seems like, every hotel has its ghost, in the same way that every hospital does. And and it's an open secret, you know, with a lot of hotel managers and owners. That there is usually at least 1 ghost story affiliated with every hotel. So I would say this Stanley definitely ranks high up there. Am. Definitely. But I've got a lot more to try hopefully.
Do you... When you go into these places that are allegedly haunted Do you do any sort of protection practice around yourself or do you are you all walking protected person and everything you do? I didn't use to. I used to, actually sc at people the dead which is Hub and Quite Arrogant. They say pride go before the fall. So I ended up bringing something from a haunted location, something Unpleasant, I think. Or the very least it was disruptive because my wife and I was seeing shadow figures
inside the house. My dog would go, you know, bananas when there was no 1 there. We had a woman's voice calling and the house. Things like that. And then the last straw was when a bunch of framed photographs just prepared to jump off of the mantle piece and almost landed on my cat who's sleeping down below. And that's when I got angry. You know, mess with us, it's 1 that you mess with my animals. We are going to war.
So although, I'm an agnostic, I called a friend of mine, Steven, who was a a catholic priest and a a certified and He came to the house, and he blessed the house. He spent about 2 hours going from room to room. He would an annoy the doorways and windows with Holy Water crosses. And I asked him, I, you know, Steven, I'm an agnostic. I'm not a Christian is, I I don't believe in in the same thing you do, and he said, that's okay.
That you believe is what matters, not specifically what you believe, which I found very enlighten and interesting. And he went he went systematically from room to room floor to floor, almost as if you were sweeping dust and dirt out of your home, you know, you would go from the back to the front and then sweep it all out the front door. That's what he did. And the disturbances has stopped instantly. Yeah. I think it's about boundaries. And
Yes. I agree. I feel like people have dominion over themselves regardless if they believe in a higher power or not or any of this, and it's 1 of those things like I think, well, maybe it's not whether I believe in them, but whether they believe in me. I think you make a great point and people do have to dominion know himself. So I did learn some protection, and I will set down verbally. When I leave a location, I will, categorically state that nobody or nothing is permitted to attach to
me. Nothing can follow me from this place or anybody that I'm with. And then I envision. I do some basic light work just some visualization of, like, a, you know, a the golden kind of light that is coming down from above, and it's kinda washing any negativity, anything. That may have attached to you out of you going from top to bottom, and then you leave it behind, like, an ic muddy puddle on the floor out of it go. And it really is just giving a focus to that very specific belief I think.
Yeah. Since I've done that, There's an old saying if it sounds stupid and it works, it's not stupid, and this is officially not stupid because it's it's worked for me ever since. Do you think when you pass away, do you wanna stick around for a minute and do a little ghost action or do you wanna go wherever it is to go? My my fault is that... Again, I think it common mistake we make. You talk about a place being haunted, and we tend to
assume it's always wanted. 03:00 in the morning on Ban Holiday, Monday, it's haunted Christmas day at 9, it's haunted. It's haunted Wednesday night. I kinda of think if there's any such thing as, you know, the free will in the next life or or whatever form it takes. I like to think we get to travel and we get to visit and revisit. The mediums that say that spirits don't experience time in the same ways as the living. I find that very encouraging. I hope I can
revisit my childhood. I hope I can revisit places and times long gone. Maybe bounce ahead into the future who knows I like to think that there will be variety that we are not psychic shack or chained to 1 specific time and place. That's my my hope. It makes no sense to me that, a being of some other form of energy that's no longer subject to the rules of, you know, earthly physics. Why would you be stuck in 1 place? It just doesn't make sense. I like that thought to that we
can go anywhere at any time? That's a nice thought. If somebody wants to get into this, what are some of the top hints of or the plan of action? I'd say probably, reading is is Kim, I'm very biased. As we all have our biases. So I think it's very tempting to assume because you've seen it on Tv, it's the right way to do it. And I think that that is a mistake. What you see on Tv is primarily entertainment. It is heavily edited and sometimes it's
grossly distorted. I I suggest finding somebody knowledgeable and ethical that you can, work with, read widely. And read the classics too. I mean, there is some terrific books out there. I would always recommend Dia and Play book. This house responded about the En field haunting. It's it's 1 of the most definitive case studies of a haunting you've ever seen and that dates back to the 19 seventies. The book as relevant today as it ever was.
Read widely, choose your role models carefully, and you don't need to invest an entire rent or mortgage payment in equipment. That's a common perception. You can get what you need to do a thorough solid investigation for under a hundred dollars. If you think about the original psychic researchers, so all of the large, william Crooks off conan doyle, Catherine Crowe, people of that nature and I should probably say Catherine Crowe first.
Because she was really the old guard. They did not have the gadgets that we have today. They didn't have these massive tech budgets. They didn't have infrared cameras and Sls cameras and things like that. They had a pencil, a notepad, and most interestingly, all, I think an in rational logical mic. If you have that, you can record E on your phone, just using its voice memo function. You can snap photographs that way.
So it it can be very affordable. There are no shortage of, s and Hoe that are willing to try and separate you from your money. So I would also advise you that in the paranormal field isn't many fields in life. Your willingness to believe somebody's claims, you should factor in how hard they're trying to separate you from your money. Yeah. That's good advice. Yeah. I do think that those sleep, for anyone listening the sleep apps that record you while you're sleeping.
That's... They seem to be more pickup quieter things. Mh. Better than the regular voice recorder. At least in my experience of 1 time... Yeah. I mean, it worked. It sounded like you got great results. Yeah. And I'm not saying you shouldn't buy equipment either. But by the same token, if you're gonna start strength training, you can begin with push ups. You don't have to go buy a home multi gym or an annual gym membership. Right? You can start out, and then you can modify.
You can slowly add. And by the same token, there does not need to be a steep buy into this. Start with an inquiring in positive mind, educate yourself read wisely read widely rather, and wisely went off. Don't assume that the Tv will teach you what you need to know. There is some good stuff on Tv. There are some ethical people working on Tv. The same is true of Youtube, the Tiktok and Instagram places like that. But there are also... There's definitely a dark side to that as well. Yeah.
And how might people find you? What's the best way? And what if somebody has a haunting that they're unsure of, can they reach out to you? Or is that something that you're not really into just random people. I I do... If people ask me for advice, I do give it. Bear in mind that, free advice is worth what you pay for it. And I never charged revise. That. That's not what I mean. Can reach me through my website, richard s step dot net. And I do love talking to people an interest
in this field I really do. So reach out to me there on Facebook. I'm richard est Author on Instagram, I'm Est r, same thing on, Twitter or x or whatever, Elon is calling it this month. So, cash social media you as well. Okay. Great. I really appreciate your time. It's such an interesting field. I'm really glad we got a chance to talk. Thank you for being open to it. Was a pleasure. Thanks for the invitation. Absolutely. And everyone, the book, the new book
comes out. It's a a grave undertaking, and that'll be out at the end of August. End of August. A gray undertaking and I hope you dig it. That's great. Thank you so much, and thank you for listening everybody. Bye. Bye now. Great to review and subscribe to hey human podcast podcasts on itunes wherever you get your podcast. Thanks. Bye.