Conference in Hackettstown will focus on hunting and tracking ghosts
I don't believe in ghosts. I also don't believe in vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's monster or the 2006 Philadelphia Phillies.
However, all of the above either scare me, make me sick or intrigue me.
But for those of you who do believe in apparitions, poltergeists or the post-"Seinfeld" career of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, drive to Hackettstown this weekend.
The New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society is holding its annual Ghost Conference at the Hackettstown Community Center on Saturday.
L'Aura Hladik, founder of the society, said the weekend-long event isn't just for the diehard believers, but also for those who might just be curious about the undead reappearing in the form of a gigantic, glowing orb, or Marlon Brando.
"Going to the conference is your shot, really, at walking away at the end of the day being prepared to hold your camera just as a paranormal investigator (would) who's had years of experience," said Hladik, a Hackettstown resident.
Hladik and her members routinely investigate, research and document houses that are purported to be haunted.
"It's all (equipment) any mainstream person would have," she said. "I don't have a thermal imaging camera. (But) we do have thermal scanners, motion detectors. digital audio recorders. ... What's really cool is the audio, when you hear a ghost voice."
Most of the gear can be purchased at Radio Shack, meaning that not only can the gadgets detect the unearthly images and voice of some phantom, but it also sounds like they can be tinkered with to find nickels at the beach.
The weekend kicks off for pre-registrants with Friday Fright Night from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Washington Theatre in Washington Borough, where the movie "Poltergeist" will be screened, and followed by an investigation of the supposedly haunted theater.
"The owner can't wait for us to get in there and investigate," Hladik said. She said people there have seen shadows go by, and when they went to check on them, nobody was there. Workers also described putting tools down while on the job only to have them vanish.
Saturday's the big day, with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. conference at the Community Center. There will be more than a dozen presentations, authors and speakers, and plenty of vendor tables.
One of the presenters, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, will discuss tales of a New Jersey house that traps the doomed souls of its residents, including ghosts of suicide and accident victims, and a lustful ghost who likes to have sex with the living.
Wow! That alone is worth the price of admission, but leads to the following thought:
Can you imagine this actually happening, and then having to explain to your boss why you were late for work? Just take the sick day.
That evening, from 7 to 10 p.m., there will be a dinner and investigation at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse in Hackettstown.
Charlie Brown's is haunted? By whom? Charles M. Schulz?
"They have a much longer history,"Hladik said. "They used to be, way back when, a hotel."
Apparently a young girl who was pregnant fell asleep in a bathtub and died. People have seen her ghost floating around.
If there's one thing that can spoil a steak dinner, it's a translucent, naked, pregnant girl hovering above the salad bar.
Hladik said that more than anything, ghost hunting is fun; it gets the adrenaline pumping. She said the dream of any ghost hunter is to photograph a full-body apparition -- which usually is a glowing orb.
"It's like getting on a roller coaster. You know it's going to scare you, but you know you're going to have fun,"Hladik said.
She said she's been able to convert a few nonbelievers.
"Even the hard-core skeptics would show up with the arms folded across their chest (and afterward would) unfold their arms, scratch their head and say, 'Wow, maybe there's something to this.'"
Source: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... COLUMNISTS
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