# Where Is The Best Place To Encounter A Ghost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706 "2003-09-05T12:34:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/1 "2003-09-05T12:34:48Z")
Since Halloween is on the horizon, I’ve been wondering how best to have an encounter with a ghost. Since I’ve never been in contatc with the shades before, I ask you all how I might INTENTIONALLY have an encounter with a ghost. Some ideas: -an old cemetary (lots of dead people closeby, although why a ghost would choose such a location is beyond me -old house: seems logical, lots of people died at home in the old days -old battlefield: might be promising -old historical sites Can any of you psychics advise on how best to summon a ghost? Do these entities respond to humans in any way? Or are they totally oblivious to living persons?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/2 "2003-09-05T12:39:21Z")
In your Public Library. Look under: Poe, Edgar Allen Stroker, Bram or Shelley, Mary ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/3 "2003-09-05T12:54:03Z")
Any place where you expect you might see one. If you can set yourself up into belief mode, then walk into some creepy place like a deserted factory where a mass hanging was suspected to have taken place\*, chances are your brain will automatically assign the term “ghost” to any puff of smoke or shimmer of light that you catch out of the corner of your eye. You’ll leave the place fully convinced that you’ve seen something unexplainable. \*It doesn’t matter whether it took place or not, you just have to think that it might have taken place. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/4 "2003-09-05T12:57:37Z")
The old abandoned movie theater I used to work at reportadly bad two ghosts in it. I don’t really believe in ghosts, but I gotta say…when I was cleaning that back theater at one in the morning by myself with the lights off, or wandering around in the projection booth alone late at night, I really got some funny vibes. It seems every movie theater has some sort of ghost story tied to it, so try sneaking into one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/5 "2003-09-05T13:00:08Z")
You could follow up [this guy](http://www.noveltynet.org/content/paranormal/www.parascope.com/articles/slips/fs30_2.htm), and go somewhere where there’s a steady noise at a frequency of 19 cycles per second … (I’m not sure how well this works. I once set a tone generator for 19 Hz, and listened to it for a couple of hours without seeing anything more ghoulish than my co-workers. Of course, I might just have had crappy headphones … ) ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/6 "2003-09-05T13:15:42Z")
Oh, anywhere is equally likely, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/7 "2003-09-05T13:31:58Z")
Try your imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/8 "2003-09-05T15:27:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > **when I was cleaning that back theater at one in the morning by myself with the lights off, or wandering around in the projection booth alone late at night, I really got some funny vibes.** Does your cat’s breath also smell of cat food? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/9 "2003-09-05T15:45:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\*Oh, anywhere is equally likely, I’d think. \*\* Since I don’t believe in ghosts I agree with this but if you buy ghost lore then certainly some places seem better than others (cemetaries, old battlefields, etc.). I don’t know where **ralph124c** lives but many cities (at least larger ones) offer haunted tours. I know Chicago has some where you get in a bus and they’ll take you around to supposedly haunted places. No guarantees of seeing any ghosts however. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/10 "2003-09-05T15:57:03Z")
No, I don’t wear tinfoil hats, but my suggestion would be the Myrtles in Mississippi…it’s an old plantation that’s now a b&b. It’ll be booked for Halloween though. Let’s just sy I didn’t believe in ghosts before I went there…now I know there are things that are currently unexplainable w/ todays knowledge… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/11 "2003-09-05T16:07:51Z")
This GD thread suggests a few places you might look for ghosts: [Ghosts: If there aren’t any, how do we explain all the sightings?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186276) It also supplies links to a few studies on hauntings: > [@](#): > > The results were striking: participants did record a high number of unusual experiences in the most classically haunted places of Hampton Court, areas such as the Georgian rooms and the Haunted Gallery. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/12 "2003-09-05T16:31:53Z")
Buy a purple van, grow a scraggly goatee beard and get lost in the backwoods at night with your great dane dog. Stop off at the first broken-down house you can find with really long repetitive corridors and plenty of doors. Run around in terror with your arms stretched out in front of you. Pedal your feet furiously without actually moving. Say “Zoiks!” often. All sure a way as any. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/13 "2003-09-05T16:36:21Z")
In St. Augustine, Florida! The ghosts are all over the town. In the hotels, stores, houses, streets. I took a ghost tour and the tour guide gives great stories on why a particular ghost haunts a certain area. It is entertaining. I didn’t see any ghosts but the wind was sure blowing cold when we passed the old cemetary. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/14 "2003-09-05T17:35:22Z")
In addition to an old building, I’d suggest an old building in an old town. New Orleans has a few good ghost stories, but Savannah, GA is like the hauntedest town in the world. ---
**Author:** ![knock\_knock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@knock\_knock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knock_knock)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/15 "2003-09-05T19:32:16Z")
There are some good suggestions here, but none of them are a sure thing. There’s only one foolproof procedure for seeing ghosts: Step 1: Die … ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/16 "2003-09-05T19:44:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BottledBlondJeanie \* > \*\*No, I don’t wear tinfoil hats, but my suggestion would be the Myrtles in Mississippi…it’s an old plantation that’s now a b&b. It’ll be booked for Halloween though. Let’s just sy I didn’t believe in ghosts before I went there…now I know there are things that are currently unexplainable w/ todays knowledge… \*\* [The Myrtles is in St Francisville, Louisiana.](http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g40411-d77074-Reviews-Myrtles_Plantation-Saint_Francisville_Louisiana.html) If you go, take the night tour. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fireman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@fireman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fireman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/17 "2003-09-05T21:01:47Z")
You could ask the police to let you spend the night. [Haunted Police Station](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/GMA030905Ghostbusters.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/18 "2003-09-05T21:36:39Z")
Make a solemn pact with someone you know really really well. Then kill them. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/19 "2003-09-05T22:14:51Z")
Apparently England has the ‘highest density’ of ghosts in Europe. There’s a small village (dans Angleterre) whose names escapes me which has about 15 ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706/20 "2003-09-05T22:16:04Z")
Sorry, higehest density in the world!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-encounter-a-ghost/199706.md?page=2)