Q&A for How to Find Ghosts in Your House

That's a very personal perspective. They seem real to some people and are definitely not real to others. It depends on your beliefs, your faith, your attitude toward spirits and "other worlds". Despite attempts to "prove" their existence scientifically, from a scientific perspective, there are no ghosts but that doesn't stop people trying to prove they exist, and that's what science is all about, continuing the search for truth.

Listen and try to find the source, as it might be a television or radio, the wind, the house creaking or something very ordinary. If all this real life investigation fails and you believe in ghosts, consider researching who once lived in the house.

Decide whether it could be cause by environmental factors, such as a draft or anomalous air current, before worrying too much. Turn off your air conditioning or heat at night and leave the door shut all the way. Chances are, it won't budge. If you do discover that it's still opening and closing throughout the night, call a paranormal investigator immediately--that's not normal!

There's no way of knowing. If the ghost is a spirit of a deceased person, they may possess the same sensibilities, reactions and fears as the living. It's also possible that they could be "trapped" in the emotional state they were in when they died, and are stuck in an endless cycle of these feelings in a realm beyond the living world.

It could be. Have the photos analyzed by a photography expert. They'll be able to look for evidence of environmental factors, tricks of light or tampering. And keep taking photos. You may catch something definitive sooner or later!

You don't need any special gadgets to feel closer to your grandfather. He'll always be with you. Talk to him privately in your thoughts and prayers, and listen for his replies in your heart. You'll know when you feel him there.

Having a relationship with a ghost is unusual but not impossible if this is something you believe possible. However, realize that other people probably won't believe you and may even worry about your mental health. Perhaps keep it to yourself or share only with others who have like beliefs.

You can do one of the following. One, you could investigate the source of the noise, which may well be an appliance, a loose item flapping in the air currents, a door banging, mice, or goodness knows what but something real and very much in need of attention by way of repair or removal. Two, you could ignore it totally (at the risk that something structural in your home or a rat's nest/pest infestation might actually require attention) and just accept it's a noise that's part of the house. Three, you could choose to believe it's a football coach's ghost endlessly tossing a ball for whatever bizarre reason he has. Which pathway seems the most reasonable to you and your family? Do you trust that the people who sold you the house kept it in fantastic condition?

Ghosts (most likely) exist as residual energy, which means they don't have thoughts and desires the way we understand them. For this reason, it's unlikely that a human could strike up a friendship with a lingering spirits. The best you may be able to do is attempting to understand whether the ghost gives off a friendly or malevolent energy and treating it accordingly.

Presuming that this house is on the market as "haunted", then you can by all means move into it. Other than being informed by ghost believers that it is haunted though, you'd have no way of knowing, sensing or caring less whether or not it is haunted. Given your beliefs, your rational self would find out all the reasons for the creaks and bumps in the night, so you should be fine.

Then it is either a shadow of another person or of an object. Look more closely to see who or what is casting that shadow.

Ghost radars are notorious for being gimmicks. They work by randomly generating ghost "signals" in your vicinity, which appear and disappear without rhyme or reason. You're better off sticking with your own senses and some basic recording equipment if you want to get proof of ghostly activity.

Since ghosts used to be people like you or me, it stands to reason that there would be a few friendly ones out there! If you experience ghostly phenomena around your home, determine whether it seems harmless or whether it may be a warning from darker forces. Benign ghosts won't make it a goal to terrorize you.

Do some research into the home's former owners, especially if any other them died in or near the property. Use a Ouija board to ask the ghost who it was in its former life, or question the entity aloud and record its answers on a video or audio recording. Also, keep an eye out for any clues it may be pointing out that will inform you of its identity, such as photographs or old letters and other belongings. For its own sense of peace, the ghost might want you to know who it was and how it lived.

Very possibly. Keep investigating; if you can, take some photos or video and perform a EVP recording of that area of your house. If recording technologies turn up anything, they'll be able to tell you much more conclusively what you might be dealing with.

It's difficult to say. Things that appear to be physically impossible, like doors and cabinets closing on their own or disembodied creaks or sighs, can often be explained away by simple physics--a draft, the foundation of your house settling, etc. However, if these things happen recurrently with no apparent explanation, and your dreams have a strong, unignorable significance, it may be the influence of spirits.

It sounds like a delusion caused by your sleepy state. Our minds tend to play tricks on us when we're only half-awake because the chemicals surging in our brains are reacting to sensory stimuli that we see in dreams. Wait until you're fully awake before making a determination. If you still see them when you're alert and attentive, it may just be a spectral visitation after all.

There's no real reason to think so. Because of their disembodied state, ghosts have a limited ability to interact with our physical world. Rest easy--you really have nothing to fear from a ghost, except possibly the mysteries that it raises about the unknown boundaries of life and death.

Use your mobile phone, laptop, a digital recording device, etc. Many things make recordings these days and tape recording is definitely on the wane.

It's hard to say for sure. Ghosts ordinarily can't "touch" the living, as they lack a physical form. If a ghost were to be capable of interacting you in a way that manifested physical sensation, it would mean that it has an immense presence.