Paranormal Press
Volume 1, Issue 3
Located at the corner of 3rd and Franklin in St. Joseph,
Missouri, Darkwood House should prove to be eerie
family fun for all this Halloween Season. Set in one of
the oldest buildings in Saint Joseph, Darkwood House
takes you back in time with authentic Victorian
furnishings and a story to make the skin crawl.
Tantalize the senses and be taken back to the golden
age of Darkwood House, where guests check in but
they may not check out.
This haunted house attraction is ideal for families who
seek less gore and more eerie chill for their buck.
Watch the PSJ page for this featured investigation.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 Darkwood House
1-2 Provoking Ghosts
2 Featured Photo
3 Featured Haunting: The White House, Part 2
Paranormal Press 1
July 2010
Provoking Ghosts.
I'm not a ghost hunter, nor am I a paranormal
investigator. I have never been on a ghost hunt and I
know absolutely nothing about how one would go about
hunting ghosts, other then what I have seen on TV
programs like Ghost Hunters or any of the numerous
other programs of that nature. And I don't suppose
these ghost hunter programs really depicts what
happens on a real ghost hunt because so much has to
be edited for time constraints and entertainment value.
I suppose staying up all night with the hopes of seeing
or capturing an image of an apparition could be quite
boring, but I also suppose that if the ghost hunter is
fortunate enough to see or actually capture that
apparition or ghost on film or with a digital camera,
would be quite exhilarating. But I also think that there is
one ethical question that I think should be considered
when investigating the paranormal, or hunting ghosts. I
am not going to give up my basic beliefs and
skepticism about the existence of ghosts and the
paranormal, but like the web address of this site
indicates I am open minded enough to believe that
ghosts may be real, and possibly do exist.
Therefore, for the sake of the argument on the ethical
question I have, I am going to make an assumption that
ghosts are real and do exist. And if I make the
assumption that ghosts are real then I must also
assume that these ghosts or spirits are probably the
souls of people no different than you or I. People who
once walked the earth, and are now deceased.
The ethical question I have in mind is this. Is it ethical
for a ghost hunter, to go into a supposedly haunted
location, and use tactics such as taunting, provoking or
similar techniques in their attempts to make contact,
get EVP's or photographic evidence of any entities,
ghosts, or spirits who may reside there? If we make
this assumption, and the paranormal investigators go
into a private home, one that may have been occupied
at one time by a person who had passed away and
Provoking Ghosts (cont. from page 1)

now haunts or resides in that same home or building, as he or she once did in life. And let us also assume that this
spirit or ghost does not realize they are deceased for some reason, or simply that it is comfortable in their
surroundings and feels that they are home, and these ghost hunters come in and start using the tactics of provoking
and taunting. How would you feel if some beings came into your home and started taunting, and provoking you into
contacting them? Wouldn't you feel that these beings were trespassing on your privacy? And perhaps even your
right to exist.
I wonder if these ghost hunters believe that a person loses all rights to privacy and dignity, because they have
passed away and now exist in the realm of the spirit world? Whatever happened to the idea of letting the dead rest
in peace? If you haven't watched the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman than I suggest you do so. The end of
the movie has a pretty strange twist, but it does give an idea on what ghosts or spirits may feel or believe about
themselves. I don't see anything wrong with the idea of attempting to contact the ghosts or spirits that may be
haunting a particular residence or location, but I do believe that if these entities are real and do exist than I also
believe they have the right to be treated with the same dignity and respect that you would treat a living person in
their own home. Some of these paranormal investigation groups seem to treat the ghosts or spirits, if they exist as if
they don't deserve the same respectful treatment you would give to that same person if they were still alive.

I have also come to understand that some of these ghost hunters think this practice of taunting an evil spirit has an
element of danger to it. They seem to think that if they provoke an inhuman or demonic ghost then they are more
likely to be attacked. Let me say this, first of all I don't believe in demonic ghosts at all. Evil spirits may exist, simply
because evil people exist. And when evil people die, perhaps they become the evil spirits. But I don't think it matters
whether the ghost is malevolent, benevolent or neutral, if a paranormal investigator goes into a building that a ghost
may consider it's home, then I think they should expect to get attacked if they use such tactics as provoking. If they
came into my home and started provoking me, I know damn well I would attack with all the force I could muster.
including perhaps even using a weapon if I had one at my disposal. To sum all this up, I think paranormal
investigators should treat ghosts, if they exist with the same amount of dignity and respect you would show a living
person in their home. If these entities are real they deserve no less.

By Martin Burns openmindedskeptic.net

Featured Paranormal Photo

This photo was taken with a cell phone.

According to the young lady taking the
photo, the little girl in the background
was not there. No one associated with
this photo knows who the girl is or
where she came from. Look for this
photo on the PSJ investigations page.

Paranormal Press 2
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Yellow Oval Room Grace Coolidge first saw
Lincoln’s ghost in this room. When Lincoln was alive,
he used the room as a library and spent a lot of time
meditating here, while gazing out the windows. White
House employees have seen his figure standing in
front of those same windows. Army Chaplain E.C.
Bowles remembers Lincoln's sad look as his ghost
stared out a window here. The 16th President's
biographer, Carl Sandburg, said he felt Lincoln come
stand beside him at that window. Mary Todd Lincoln
encountered the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson and
John Tyler in this room. Cesar Carrera, valet to
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, said he once heard
someone calling his name in the Yellow Oval Room.
The voice seemed to come from a distance, saying,
"I'm Mr. Burns." A similar story arose during the
Truman years when a guard heard a soft voice saying,
"I'm Mr. Burns." Could it be David Burns, the former
owner of the land where the White House now sits?
(The Yellow Oval Room is next to the Lincoln
Bedroom on the second floor. The window is above
the front entrance to the White House.)
Paranormal Press 3
Part 2: The White House has a reputation for being one of the
most haunted homes in America. President Harry Truman said
the place was haunted "sure as shooting." Kennedy’s Press
Secretary James Haggerty admitted to sensing the presence of
Lincoln’s ghost in the White House, and Clinton’s Press Secretary
Mike McCurry admitted he was a believer: "There are, from time
to time, reports that the White House is haunted by mysterious
appearances of figures from history, and I believe them. There
have been serious people who have serious tales to tell about
these encounters, and there are many people who seriously
believe that there is a haunting quality to the White House."
Rose Bedroom The ghost of Andrew Jackson is said to haunt
his old canopy bed here. White House personnel have reported
an inexplicable cold spot and the sound of hearty laughter coming
from the empty bed. In 1865, Mary Todd Lincoln reported
encountering Jackson's ghost “swearing up a storm,” and in the
1930's Jackson's ghost was heard laughing in his former
bedroom by many staff members. In the 1950s, White House
seamstress Lilian Parks felt Jackson's presence lean over her,
while she sat hemming a bedspread in a chair next to his bed. An
aide to Lyndon Johnson heard the cussing, hollering ghost of
Jackson in this room in 1964.
The Rose Room is also known as the Queen's Suite, because
visiting Queens have often stayed there. Queen Wilhelmina of the
Netherlands was sleeping in this room, when she answered a
knock at the door. Standing in the hallway was the ghost of
Abraham Lincoln, whose bedroom was right across the hall. (The
Rose Bedroom is on the second floor of the White House.)
Other Second Floor Bedrooms President Johnson's
daughter, Lynda Johnson Robb, sensed Willie Lincoln’s spirit in
his former bedroom on this floor. The cries of Mrs. Grover
Cleveland have also been reported coming from this area of the
White House. She was the first president's wife to have a baby
in the building. In another bedroom, in 1953, the ghost of a
British soldier appeared carrying a torch. The husband and wife
who stayed there said the ghost tried to burn their bed. The
same ghost has been seen on other occasions in the White
House and is thought to be the spirit of a soldier involved in
setting fire to the structure on August 24, 1814. In 1952,
extensive repairs were done to the second floor of the White
House. Since then, the ghosts have not walked so actively.
(The bedrooms on the second floor are used by the presidential
family and are not open to the general public.)