Haunted Hoarder

By Pamela VanderPoel and Jim Pfister

This is more than a collection of stories about haunted objects. We are hoping to pass along how these hauntings came about and how all this is possible. We hope our firsthand research of each item and our experience in the paranormal field will help explain the different types of hauntings and what may have caused these objects to contain this

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
• Release date: Sep 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638377092

Pamela VanderPoel

Paranormal Picker...wha'? The term originated with me. I have been lured to old sentimental objects for as long as I can remember. I feel the imprints of time on objects or places and have experienced vivid pictures of history while digging in the earth. I believe that we all can feel the legends around us. Perhaps because I was blind for the first few months of life, my tactile and hearing sensors remained on high alert. The Picker moniker happened naturally as I made myself familiar with every thrift and antique store within a fifty-mile radius of wherever I called home. On one of these fine adventures of lore, I caught myself looking at things that I would not have given a glance to normally. I started with some odd fifties-era dishes and then added a few other souvenir items from Yosemite. Then from across the store I spotted a hideous avocado green bread box that had a gravitational pull on my psyche. I felt relief when my hands reached it; I did not know why. Did it remind me of my childhood? No. I opened it and found a matching plate to the dishes that were already in my stack. Weird, I thought. How did that happen? I proceeded to the counter, and the clerk, whose name was Bella, told me that I had almost completely reassembled a box of items that she had put on the shelves that morning. I had put many things together that had just come in, and I could have saved her some work had I just been there a little earlier. Accidental, coincidental, or intentional? This all struck me as something I needed to explore. The hideous green bread box now holds garden supplies on my patio, and each of the dishes are under a flowerpot, all awfully close to one another as the spirits suggested...fruition for the Paranormal Picker.

Book preview

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his is more than a collection of stories about haunted objects. We are hoping to pass along how these hauntings came about and how all this is possible. We hope our firsthand research of each item and our experience in the paranormal field will help explain the different types of hauntings and what may have caused these objects to ­contain this energy.

You will hear each haunted object's amazing story, its history, and how it came into our possession. We hope to keep your attention through our rambling of how science can help, collaborate, or debunk a haunting and why we are convinced they are haunted.

There are many different types of hauntings, so these principles would also hold true for different types of haunted objects with different explanations. One cannot look for a single observation or a popular belief. There are many well-known hauntings that have been talked about through stories that have been passed on through generations. Some facts have been changed or forgotten. So, when an investigation is being done in Sherwood Forest, why do people think it's Robin Hood coming through in an EVP? I am sure many people have died there, so why can it not be some poor hunter who fell off his horse and died, who never made it home to his family, and they never knew what happed to him? The same holds true with stories of haunted items throughout history. We cannot talk to people who observed these items. Stories and facts change through time. This is another reason we chose to talk about these items that we have acquired through the years: all observations and occurrences have been witnessed by us, and as weird as this may sound, these haunted objects are choosing us, not just us choosing them.

We will take you on a journey from the tunnels of Chinatown, to the Queen Mary, to the childhood homes of Superman and a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, to the evil that rose during World War II. Rarely does a collection of haunted items come together to create and tell their amazing tales as in this book.

Join us in this accounting of these acquired objects and the haunted mysteries surrounding them.

CHapteR oNe

How is tHis Possible?

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an an object be haunted? If so, why, and what caused it to be haunted? What type of haunting is it: a traditional, residual haunting or perhaps an intelligent haunting? Does the Stone Tape Theory explain why an object could be causing paranormal activity? Is psychometry a real science? Can anyone really prove any of this without a doubt? You must be thinking, Oh great, another question—but the answer to these questions is a resounding NO. I am not trying to burst anyone's bubble, but the paranormal field of research is not a science. It is a question that leads to more questions in our hobby/quest. This is just a fact, so do not take it wrong. There are many people out there who are particularly good at this adventurous hobby; you would be completely amazed when you listen to them speak on this fascinating subject.

We have been doing this type of research (hobby) for a long time. If you combined all of our years of experience, it would seem like a lifetime. Even though it is not a science per se, we try to use any type of scientific tool and method available and always push the envelope to come up with new ways of advancing the work in the paranormal field. Combining the evidence and getting positive results from more than one device or method at the same time can help corroborate the evidence. This is what we are to trying to accomplish here with our haunted objects. First, always remember the investigator's best tool is his or her brain. Always eliminate all the possible reasons something could be causing the occurrence or happening: logical reasons, man-made reasons, or many other reasons that something is going on. Even the low-­frequency sound of a fan (infrasound) can induce neuro­logical effects that could explain many of the experiences people witness at a supposedly haunted location. Infrasound can play a key role in shadows that are reportedly seen in peripheral vison. Our eyes resonate at a frequency of eighteen to nineteen hertz. The quivering effect on the eye is just significant enough to make your brain register movement and blurs with your peripheral range of vision. It also causes the feeling that you are being watched. These are some things that need to be considered before jumping to a conclusion that an object is haunted.

People who experience haunting-type phenomena always wonder if or why they were chosen. It is an understandable question and one that we must try to answer whenever we are called in on an investigation. Sometimes the answer is apparent. In some cases, the clients moved into a house that had some history with it. We believe that houses can be haunted. So too can land. We have worked cases involving houses that were brand new, houses without any history so to speak. In some of those cases, it turns out that the land itself was haunted. At one point in time here may have been a tragedy on the property. In that case, the spirits may still be there. They may stay there or visit periodically forever.

Sometimes an investigation will reveal some action on the part of the victim that brought the haunting on. It might have been because of occult practices or some form of evil act or behavior. However, in other cases, there seems to be no logical reason for a haunting. Granted, it is impossible to know everything about a piece of land or even, in some cases, a house. Something could well have happened many years ago that no one knows about. It certainly adds to the mystery.

Occasionally, you will come across people who seem to have problems wherever they go. Sometimes due to their having strong psychic abilities, they become magnets for spirits. In other cases, the people themselves can be haunted. The reasons why are usually unclear—you might say the luck of the draw. Truthfully, in many cases where this happens, there are simply no explanations.

Now we know that places and people can be haunted; however, it does not stop there. You see, objects can be haunted as well. Spirits stick around for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is because they do not realize they are dead. To some, that may sound ridiculous. How can you not know you are dead, right? Well, it appears that there is no such thing as time once you leave this physical plane. If that is the case—and all the evidence suggests that it is—then it seems less impossible to believe. A month or a year is a day. Other spirits stay around because of fear or because they are attached to someone or something like a house or, yes, an object. The point is that they do sometimes stay around, and when they do, they may remain around something that was precious to them.

For that reason, whenever we work a case where there does not appear to be an obvious cause for haunting activity, we always ask whether any antiques have been purchased recently. It does not have to be an antique; it can simply be something that was previously owned. However, antiques are more likely suspects only because the older something is, the greater the likelihood that it has been owned or touched by numerous people, and it is more likely to have a strong sentimental value to someone. That sentimental value could explain why a spirit attaches itself to the object.

Should you think twice about buying an antique? Absolutely not! I personally love old things, be they furniture or trinkets. There is something about holding something in your hands that has been around much longer than you have. You can almost feel a powerful energy when you touch something with history. What you are feeling are the vibrations of the object or of the person who owned it. Even so, I still love old things, and I would never abstain from buying something I liked simply out of fear that a deceased someone may come with the object. Let common sense rule here. If you are looking at an object, and for some reason that you cannot explain, you are both attracted to an item but also get a bad feeling about it, pass it up. Trust your instincts; you have them for a reason. I have heard of cases where an object seemed to bring bad luck to whoever owned it. In many of those cases, the owner will tell you that there was something about it that he did not like, but he bought it anyway. Sometimes a buy appears to be too good to be true. There is usually a reason for that. I am sure that many collectors have a story or two to tell.

I would also suggest staying away from any object that you know was in a haunted house, especially if the haunting was negative. That might be asking for trouble. Whatever had terrorized the previous owners may decide to do the same to you. Negative does not necessarily mean demonic. It could be from a traumatic event that left a negative imprint on the item. Aside from that, we would never be hesitant to purchase something old. Keep in mind also that simply because a spirit may be attached to something does not mean you will have a problem. When I think about it, I sometimes believe that almost anything old has someone attached to it in some way. We all have things that are precious to us, and if for some reason we decide to stick around, there is probably an item we would want to stay close to. That certainly does not mean that we would haunt the new owner.

Always keep in mind that the mere presence of a spirit does not constitute a negative haunting. Spirits are around us all the time. Just because we do not usually see them does not mean that they are not there. However, it is exceedingly rare when a spirit tries to do something hurtful or even frightening to us. They are often as afraid of us as we are of them. They still think in terms