Ghost Hunting and Urban Exploration: Some Things to Consider

by Chris Chaos

How priming can set you up for failure. Priming is activating particular associations in memory. An example might be watching various paranormal shows on TV prior to investigating a location, or reading books concerning ghosts. Although popular concenses may state that the particular location IS haunted, consider all possibilities as to why and how people came to this conclusion about the location. Many locations get the attribute of being haunted for many reasons. Some may be for tourism reasons, others may be that it was a former mental hospital or prison where many atrocities have occurred. Some business owners have been known to start the rumor that their establishment is haunted to draw in interest and more business. For once you have a belief, it influences how you perceive all other relevant information. If you enter a location believing that it is haunted, then every noise you hear, every shadow that you see will convince you further that the place IS haunted. Most likely the noise that you heard came from another team member clumsily stomping around, or a mouse, a bird or possibly a homeless person that seeked shelter in the building that you are investigating. Entering a location with a neutral frame of mind will produce far greater and accurate results. For every piece of information that you gather that confirms your original thoughts and suspisions, try to find a piece that will disprove it. Opposing information is just as important as information that is confirming, if not even more important.

A healthy and appropriate amount of skepticism will usually yield correct results. With each piece of evidence that confirms your beliefs or what you suspected, please reserve some skepticism to test if the original theory is correct. Confirmation bias (a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions) is usually counter productive without "conflicting" evidence.

William Shakespeare said it best: "The error of our eye directs our mind: what error leads must err"

Usually when one has a solid belief in if a location is haunted or not they ignore all contridicting evidence. This is called Belief Perseverance (persistence of one's initial conceptions, such as when the basis for one's belief is discredited but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives). Many are enticed by the unknown and thrive on the thrill of the hunt, not really caring about the futilness of actually finding anything that is logical.

Amatuers fueled by the popular ghost hunting TV shows, riled up by the stories in Weird NJ and inspired by reading a ghost story may prematurly set off to a location and conduct an impromptu “ghost hunting” session having not properly conducted the research needed to come to any sort of logical conclusion. Usually this behavior is mirrored by individuals that feel the need to either vandalize, take souvenirs or drink and party at the location, disrespecting everything in the process.

"We hear and apprehend only what we already half know" Henry Thoreau

I never really liked the term “ghost hunter”, it always conjured up images of rednecks hopping into a pick up truck and heading off to an adventure. Also are you really hunting ghosts? Or are you investigating a specific location that was rumored to be haunted, using scientific measures to determine if the place is haunted or not? For us we do enjoy venturing to locations that even angels fear to tread. Many of the locations that we researched and documented are/were in danger of being torn down in the name of progress. As reported, after we walked through, took photos, did tests and noted the history and logged our experiences many of the locations have been torn down.

We have documented the history, researched why the location might have been deemed haunted, took photos/videos and conducted experiments to see if there were any spirits at the location. We consider ourselves urban explorers, documentors of historic architect, investigators of the paranormal, preservers of legend and lore. We preserve the various legends and lore of the place with the scientific research of the history of the location to come to our conclusions.

Sometimes this works backwards and the Misinformation Effect may marry Hindsight Bias. The Misinformation Effect is incorporating misinformation into one's memory of the event, after witnessing an event and receiving misleading information about it. Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along effect or creeping determinism, is the inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it, prior to its occurrence. What this means is that you may go out and investigate a location, gather all your information and then when the investigation is complete an outside source may tarnish the gathered evidence by interjecting information that was misleading or bad information. You may look back and figure that whatever was said might have actually happened.

Happy exploring and documenting!

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

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The Crossroads: Robert Johnson's Deal with the Devil

 by Chris Chaos

Where is the the Real Crossroads?

 

Artists impression of Johnson meeting with the devil

Many know the story of Johnson supposedly selling his soul to the Devil to become a better Bluesman......

Johnson's wife was pregnant but her and the baby died in childbirth. Understandable Robert was distraught and did not know what to do. He decided to leave town for some time, and upon his return he was a changed man. He could play his guitar like a seasoned vet and his voice was silky smooth, a stark comparison to the terrible musician that the town locals remembered prior to his disappearance. Many attributed his marked progress to meeting the devil during his travel and Johnson sold his soul in exchange for becoming a better musician.

Some new speculation has emerged concerning Robert Johnson and the location of where he made his pact with the Devil.

Modern Crossroads marker

Many fans go to the crossroads at highway 61 and highway 49 in Clarksdale to pay their respect due to them thinking this is the legendary location where the pact with the Devil way made. Some new evidence may suggest this may not be the correct location.

Many of the 80 and 90 year old southern bluesmen along with many historians and blues music researchers suggest that the location Robert was talking about is in Rosedale.

Robert Johnson

Although of course no one will TRULY know but his song does mention in the lyrics the city: "Going up to Rosedale, got my rider by my side”. But Son House states that he knows for a fact where this deal was made. According to the legendary blues musician he states it wasn't in Clarksdale. The claim is that it was where highway 8 intersects with highway 1.

 

The Devil marks his territory with an "X", the crossroads, According to voodoo claims and legends, the Devil has to hang close to the river, meaning the mark could never be made so far from the river as Clarksdale. Rosedale is located right by the river and this verifies the folklore.

Only the Devil and Robert will only truly know which are the correct crossroads. Truth is that Robert never went to the crossroads looking for the Devil, he was waiting for him as Johnson passed through from Beulah on his way to Helena. The Devil and his dog greeted Johnson here and the dog seized Robert and shook him violently; When he did, the strings in Johnson’s guitar shook and vibrated and the blues emerged from those sounds.

 Robert Johnson "Crossroads"

The devil told Johnson, “.....the dog is not for sale, but you can buy that sound.” Robert wanted it so bad, the deal was made. From there, he was a master.

Plaque outside cemetery where Johnson's body is located

At the age of 27, Johnson died on August 16, 1938, some say that the devil came to collect his due, but others stated that he was poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman that Johnson flirted with.

While strychnine has been suggested as the poison that killed Johnson, at least one scholar has disputed the notion. Tom Graves, in his book Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, relies on expert testimony from toxicologists to argue that strychnine has such a distinctive odor and taste that it cannot be disguised, even in strong liquor. Graves also claims that a significant amount of strychnine would have to be consumed in one sitting to be fatal, and that death from the poison would occur within hours, not days. Contemporary David "Honeyboy" Edwards similarly noted that the poison could not have been strychnine, since Johnson would have died much more rapidly, instead of suffering for three days.

 Who knows the truth though? Science and logic says he got that good through diligent practice, and a natural ability. But the blues (and music in general) was never about Science, was it?

 Johnson's stone

NOTE:
Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early Influence in their first induction ceremony in 1986.

In 2010, David Fricke ranked Johnson fifth in Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

The Devil's Tower: Alpine New Jersey

by Chris Chaos

A legendary tower featuring tales of suicide, Satanists, martial infidelity and ghosts which is located in Rio Vista, New Jersey. It was stated that some of the work crew members died when they attempted to tear this structure down.

Another legend says that if you drive your car around the tower six times in reverse, the ghost of sugar baron Manuel Rionda's wife (or the Devil Himself) will appear. We did this several times but nothing happened. Eventually the tower was sealed up because of break-ins.

In 2012, Forbes ranked Alpine as America's most expensive ZIP code with an average home price of $4.25 million, many of hip hops elite call this zip code home, along with Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey and Chris Rock.

The Devil's Tower is located in Rio Vista and is an upscale neighborhood in the southern section of Alpine. The Tower is a stone clock tower that is claimed to be haunted, that was originally built by sugar baron Manuel Rionda (1854–1943) in order to allow his wife to see New York from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. His mansion was the biggest one on the Palisades, with a mansion on the cliffs where the present-day Alpine Lookout is located.

The legend has it that when his wife saw him with another woman, she committed suicide by jumping off the tower. In reality Harriet Rionda died of natural causes in 1922 and was interred nearby for approximately 20 years; her coffin was moved to Brookside Cemetery, Englewood. The estate was later sub-divided into 197 housing sites consisting of miles of roadway, infrastructure, and related facilities in the mid-1980s but was mostly woodlands through the 1970s.

Devil's Tower video

More info can be found at:
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(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

Are Cemeteries "Spirit Free"?

By Chris Chaos 

Where is a spirit or ghost most likely to haunt? The location where in human form they passed away, or do they linger near where the body is kept or entombed? There are many opinions and misconceptions on this question.

    Many say that a ghost haunts the area/home/building of where the person passed away, especially when it comes to a violent death or suicide. They say that a strong bond is formed with a particular location and that is why the spirit may linger in these locations. So going with that theory it would appear that a graveyard would be incredibly peaceful and free from haunting specters. Since almost no one dies in an actual cemetery or graveyard you would think these locations to be spirit free. A cemetery is simply just a location to keep and immortalize loved ones. Their bodies, memories or ashes are kept at this location so family and friends have a place to go to and remember the dearly departed in a respectful manner. A place to come to and mourn and remember if you will.

    











 It seems that most locations that people state are haunted are long abandoned hospitals, prisons, mental asylums or houses. Which would make sense since these are also locations that the average person would fear, the unknown. The dark basement, under the bed, in the attic, these are many locations that the average person is afraid to go in alone or when it is dark, when in reality they are no more fearsome than any other location in your house. They are just rooms that you do not venture into all that often. Humans fear the unknown the most. These fears of the unknown or locations that are dark are fears left over from our primitive states, they are natural fears but have little to no rational use in the modern age. Although there is a small chance that a murderer might be hiding in your basement but other than that, what is there to logically fear in your attic or basement?

   

 Another popular theory would be that the ghost/spirit stays close to the body that it inhabited. Going with that, then houses would be minimally  haunted and graveyards would be extremely haunted and loaded with spirit activity. Following this train of thought then what would happen when a body is cremated? Would the spirit dissipate? Would it disintegrate? Would it get watered down and scatter with the ashes? Would the spirit untether itself and roam free?

   Reincarnation is a wonderfully hopeful concept that was man made and created to put a positive spin on the "afterlife". In some angles it holds true and could be based on science. The circle of life: organism dies, nutrients and meat get consumed by other animals, plants and insects; thus providing source of life for other walks of life. In some respect you do live on..through another animal or life form. But the aspect of a soul leaving one body and entering another upon death just carries no scientific weight or logic.

  

  Mankind's version of reincarnation is that when a person dies they magically are reborn in infant form randomly somewhere else on this Earth. But is this how it works? When you die, is there a soul that leaves the body? Some say that you lose 21 grams in weight when you die and they attribute this to the weight of your soul. Or does the electrical energy that was once "you" transfer over to some other non-intelligible form of Nature such as wind, light, static electricity etc?

   Dr. Duncan MacDougall ran several tests in the past on which he measured the weight of a body pre and post death, the results did vary but all bodies averaged out to weigh 21 grams less once death was confirmed.

Your thoughts?

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)