Spooky

Funny how things evolve.

This song has become something of a Halloween song, even appearing in Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” movie about a decade ago.  Percy Sledge, R.E.M., Andy Williams, Imogen Heap and David Sanborn are just a few of the artists that have put their own stamp on it.

It was a top twenty hit for the Atlanta Rhythm Section, which included three former members of the band Classics IV, who took the song all the way to number three!

And that version by the Classics IV was actually a cover of the original version, which was an instrumental by Mike Sharpe.  The Classics IV added lyrics to that version.

And if you look at the lyrics, you’ll see that it’s not really a scary song at all.  It’s a relationship song, as a guy tries to figure out a woman.  She says one thing and does another.  She always keeps him guessing.  He never knows what he’s thinking.  And he finds that spooky.

Maybe “spooky” meant something different back then.

It certainly means something different today, at least to me.

The most recent example that I have for this is a Psychic Tapestry show which featured Maritza and Colleen from the San Diego Ghost Hunters.

If you didn’t catch that show live, and haven’t heard the podcast, yet, you can listen to it RIGHT HERE!  Let me caution you, though.  It is, without a doubt, the creepiest show I’ve ever done.  Spooky.

Maritza and Colleen had sent me some audio clips to use on the show.  These clips were from different paranormal investigations that they had done, including, but not limited to, the Whaley House.

The clips contained two different kinds of phenomena – ovilus recordings and EVPs.

For those who don’t know, an Ovilus is an electronic gadget which some spirits can communicate through.  The theory is that spirit can manipulate their energy, which gets translated into words in the built-in vocabulary of the Ovilus. 

Maritza and Colleen use this quite a bit at the Whaley House, and get pretty good results.  And the words they hear aren’t always things that are in the kind of vocabulary built into one of these devices.  Like Maritza’s unique name.

EVPs, on the other hand, are the actual voices of spirit.  EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon.  Essentially, it’s when you record something and then, when you play it back, you hear another voice or sound that you didn’t hear when you made the original recording.

Here’s a good example of that from the San Diego Ghost Hunters:

So on the Psychic Tapestry show I was talking about, I had a bunch of these kinds of audio clips, and Maritza and Colleen were both on the line, connecting on their phones from their homes (or wherever they were that morning).

Things got kind of spooky right from the start.  As the music played and I started the show, it sounded fine to me.  I could hear myself in my headphones and it seemed like everything was normal.  But what people actually heard was something pretty different.

Yes, that’s my voice popping in and out, before going away completely, replaced what sounds like echoing footsteps.  Neither Maritza nor Colleen heard those footsteps.  But people listening to the show did.  The chatroom was buzzing about it!

Now I know internet connections aren’t always reliable, and in the past, I have occasionally lost my connection and had to dial back in.  Rare, but it has happened.

On Saturday’s show, I was disconnected sixteen times.

And while I’ve heard EVPs before, footsteps are a new one for me.

This went on throughout the show.  The San Diego Ghost Hunters attributed to the Whaleys, and said they must be excited about our upcoming event (which you can read about, and get tickets to, RIGHT HERE).

Speaking of the Whaleys, Martiza and Colleen both seemed to think Francis Whaley might be the one behind the technical problems, as he is always interested in technology and gadgets, and frequently on their investigations, he turns everything off, until they ask him to turn it back on again, and then everything comes back on.

So I thought I would try to appeal to Francis Whaley, and ask that he allow the show to continue.  And while I didn’t hear it when I originally said it, I did hear his immediate response when I addressed him by name.

And as far as the Whaleys’ excited over the upcoming event, and their appearance on the radio, well, it does sound like some says “Testing” while Martiza is talking in this clip.

I must admit, I kind of like the idea of Francis Whaley testing out whatever spiritual microphone he’s using to appear on our show.

On another part of the show, we were talking about another investigation that was done at the Whaley House recently, and how that show was rather rude to the Whaleys, demanding that they show themselves (which they didn’t).

Anyway, while we talked about that other group, it sure sounds like someone says, “Don’t Bring Them”.

Near the end of the show, Colleen was talking about something she and Maritza caught on their recording devices, and I thought I responded to them, but what you’ll actually hear is the sounds of those footsteps again, doing some kind of dance step that ends with a voice saying “Ha ha ha”!

Spooky.

I don’t have any kind of giant conclusion to make here.  But I thought you might like to hear those particular clips.

And ever since I first announced our Whaley House investigation and broadcast, people have contacted me about their trips to the Whaley House, and how some were disappointed because they didn’t hear or see anything.

I certainly can’t guarantee that anything in particular will happen on our investigation, but I think this particular show is a pretty good indication that they are ready and excited for us to come to their home!

So if you’re in the San Diego area, or are going to be, on Friday September 19, and you’d like to come along to our exclusive, after-hours investigation, CLICK HERE for all the details and to get your tickets! 

Maritza and Colleen from the San Diego Ghost Hunters will be along, and you are welcome to bring any of your own ghost hunting equipment along!

And if you aren’t close enough to come along, I hope you’ll tune in!  It should be a very cool evening.

And spooky!