Expert tips for ghost hunting

By Berit Thorkelson

updated 9:21 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2009

Hunt on the ghost's time
"Nighttime is good for ghost-hunting because the absence of noise, people and other distractions of the day helps your sixth sense stay in tune with your environment. That said, any time can be good, depending on who's doing the haunting. The elderly lady who haunts my home, for example, knocks on the walls throughout the day, but stays quiet at night, unless we've done something to upset her, such as running the vacuum too late. In that case, she knocks loudly and often, as if to keep us awake as payback." —Garret Moffett, who leads Springfield Walks' ghost tours and wrote "Lincoln's Ghost: Legends & Lore"

Bring a trigger object
"Know your history of the place and of the haunting, then bring something the spirit can relate to. If it's a kid, for example, bring a toy, or if you're at a bank where there was a big heist, bring money from the era of the heist. Talk about it. Ask questions. You may even get enough spirit energy to move it." — Aaron Goodwin, a member of the paranormal investigation crew for the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures series

Be childlike
"Adults walk around with blinders on. We've got so much on our minds. Children are open to everything. Wide open. They see things before we do. When I go into a historic (and therefore possibly haunted) spot, I'm fascinated and ready for anything. I believe the ghosts sense that you're sincere; that you want to see them." — Robert Edgerly, a haunted-tour guide in Savannah (one of America's most haunted cities) who literally wrote the book on Savannah Hauntings

Document evidence
"Digital recorders are a really good, basic tool. Cheaper ones are great because they generate white noise, which spirits speak within. EVPs [Electronic Voice Phenomena] can be Class A, Class B, or Class C. Class A is so unbelievably clear you can easily make out the words. At our last location, we were asking questions and then playing back some EVPs, and the spirits said our full names, in clear voices, actually responding to our questions. Really bizarre." — Nick Groff, a member of the paranormal investigation crew for the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures series

Engage all senses
"You feel a presence, your hair stands on end, you hear sounds or feel a touch, then turn around and nobody's there. Then there are smells — earth, old perfume, roses, body odor. In Savannah, if it's built in the 1840s or 1850s, it's built by slaves. Imagine the anguish, the longing. That stays. So you're standing there by yourself in one of these buildings, and all of a sudden there's a strong smell of body odor and it ain't coming' from you, that's an apparition." — Edgerly

Paranormal perspective
"I find that spirits hanging around have usually suffered a sudden, tragic death and are just trying to get their story told straight. It's rather like the movie "Ghost".

INTERACTIVE Top 10 places to get spooked on Halloween Check out this frightful blend of spine-chilling cities, weird wayside towns and baffling bodies of water.

They may be angry. Nothing says everybody's all sweetness and light. But for the most part they are not demons. Remember, they are people, just like you and I." — Bonnie Vent, a spirit advocate who documents her communications, including those with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson, at BonnieVent.com

Understand the risks
"You're not hunting rocks. You're not hunting seashells. Provocation is very serious. Things can follow you home. I've had to have my house blessed twice. In this season's premiere episode, I was overtaken by a dark entity. I suddenly wanted to attack Aaron and I started breaking our equipment. I don't remember it, and watching the video was very disturbing. I don't mess around with this stuff." — Zak Bagans, a member of the paranormal investigation crew for the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures series

See some of these tactics professionally employed during the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures LIVE Special on Friday, October 30, from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., when Groff, Goodwin and Bagans voluntarily lock themselves in what's considered one of America's most haunted locations, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum .

Don't miss these Travel stories from msnbc.com FAA investigating Southwest Airlines repairs Getting around the Games without going crazy Tips for maximizing happy travel coincidences Body found in landing gear of N.Y.-Tokyo flight Readers’ travel photos from around the world

MORE FROM SEASONAL

Seasonal Section Front

Getting around the Games without going crazy World’s strangest Olympic souvenirs Insiders’ guide to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Company nixes plan to use ship as hotel for Games On the road to the Winter Olympics Stay safe and scam-free at the Winter Olympics Explore Vancouver’s Asian diversity Vancouver International puts on its Games face Late-breaking deals for the Winter Games Vancouver tips: Prepare for rain, border delays Seasonal Section Front   Add Seasonal headlines to your news reader: